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2024.05.14 18:12 Jpwolfe99 PyMuPdf doesn't recognize every fillable element in a PDF form
I am trying to use Python to read in a PDF form so that I can fill all the elements and then create a new filled in PDF. I found code from this repo and everything works correctly for the most part, but some elements aren't being recognized. Below is what the form looks like when I am editing the elements: https://i.sstatic.net/oTn5wiGA.png
However, when I run my code most but not all of the elements get filled in. In this example I am filling each box with "STRING". https://i.sstatic.net/AQn06u8J.png
In my code, when I list all of the element names ("other, route_to_1, route_to_2, etc) all the names are correct and have been checked over and over. When I debug my code and look at the variable that stores all the form elements, it's simply misreading some of the elements. I am not sure what is causing this. Whether Acrobat made the form incorrectly, or if there's a problem with the code. Any help is appreciated. Here's the code I have:
create_pdf.py
submitted by Jpwolfe99 to learnpython [link] [comments]
However, when I run my code most but not all of the elements get filled in. In this example I am filling each box with "STRING". https://i.sstatic.net/AQn06u8J.png
In my code, when I list all of the element names ("other, route_to_1, route_to_2, etc) all the names are correct and have been checked over and over. When I debug my code and look at the variable that stores all the form elements, it's simply misreading some of the elements. I am not sure what is causing this. Whether Acrobat made the form incorrectly, or if there's a problem with the code. Any help is appreciated. Here's the code I have:
create_pdf.py
from pdf_processing import ProcessPdf DATA_OBJECT = { "other": "string", "route_to_1": "string", "route_to_2": "string", "route_to_3": "string", "route_to_4": "string", "route_to_5": "string", "route_to_6": "string", "route_to_7": "string", "route_to_8": "string", "route_to_9": "string", "route_to_10": "string", "route_to_11": "string", "route_to_alt_1": "string", "route_to_alt_2": "string", "route_to_alt_3": "string", "route_to_alt_4": "string", "route_to_alt_5": "string", "dep_aerodrome": "string", "dep_elev": "string", "dep_atis_id": "string", "dep_atis_freq": "string", "dest_aerodrome": "string", "dest_elev": "string", "alt_dest": "string", "alt_elev": "string", "chan_id_1": "string", "chan_freq_1": "string", "chan_id_2": "string", "chan_freq_2": "string", "chan_id_3": "string", "chan_freq_3": "string", "chan_id_4": "string", "chan_freq_4": "string", "chan_id_5": "string", "chan_freq_5": "string", "chan_id_6": "string", "chan_freq_6": "string", "chan_id_7": "string", "chan_freq_7": "string", "chan_id_8": "string", "chan_freq_8": "string", "chan_id_9": "string", "chan_freq_9": "string", "chan_id_10": "string", "chan_freq_10": "string", "chan_id_11": "string", "chan_freq_11": "string", "chan_id_alt_1": "string", "chan_freq_alt_1": "string", "chan_id_alt_2": "string", "chan_freq_alt_2": "string", "chan_id_alt_3": "string", "chan_freq_alt_3": "string", "chan_id_alt_4": "string", "chan_freq_alt_4": "string", "chan_id_alt_5": "string", "chan_freq_alt_5": "string", "course_1": "string", "course_2": "string", "course_3": "string", "course_4": "string", "course_5": "string", "course_6": "string", "course_7": "string", "course_8": "string", "course_9": "string", "course_10": "string", "course_11": "string", "course_alt_1": "string", "course_alt_2": "string", "course_alt_3": "string", "course_alt_4": "string", "course_alt_5": "string", "dep_clearance_id": "string", "dep_clearance_freq": "string", "time_off": "string", "dep_app_cont_id": "string", "dep_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_1": "string", "dist_2": "string", "dist_3": "string", "dist_4": "string", "dist_5": "string", "dist_6": "string", "dist_7": "string", "dist_8": "string", "dist_9": "string", "dist_10": "string", "dist_11": "string", "dist_total": "string", "alt_route": "string", "alt_app_cont_id": "string", "alt_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_alt_1": "string", "dist_alt_2": "string", "dist_alt_3": "string", "dist_alt_4": "string", "dist_alt_5": "string", "ete_1": "string", "ete_2": "string", "ete_3": "string", "ete_4": "string", "ete_5": "string", "ete_6": "string", "ete_7": "string", "ete_8": "string", "ete_9": "string", "ete_10": "string", "ete_11": "string", "ete_total": "string", "ete_alt_1": "string", "ete_alt_2": "string", "ete_alt_3": "string", "ete_alt_4": "string", "ete_alt_5": "string", "eta_1": "string", "ata_1": "string", "eta_2": "string", "ata_2": "string", "eta_3": "string", "ata_3": "string", "eta_4": "string", "ata_4": "string", "eta_5": "string", "ata_5": "string", "eta_6": "string", "ata_6": "string", "eta_7": "string", "ata_7": "string", "eta_8": "string", "ata_8": "string", "eta_9": "string", "ata_9": "string", "eta_10": "string", "ata_10": "string", "eta_11": "string", "ata_11": "string", "eta_total": "string", "ata_total": "string", "eta_alt_1": "string", "ata_alt_1": "string", "eta_alt_2": "string", "ata_alt_2": "string", "eta_alt_3": "string", "ata_alt_3": "string", "eta_alt_4": "string", "ata_alt_4": "string", "eta_alt_5": "string", "ata_alt_5": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "tas": "string", "mach": "string", "dest_tower_id": "string", "dest_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_1": "string", "leg_fuel_2": "string", "leg_fuel_3": "string", "leg_fuel_4": "string", "leg_fuel_5": "string", "leg_fuel_6": "string", "leg_fuel_7": "string", "leg_fuel_8": "string", "leg_fuel_9": "string", "leg_fuel_10": "string", "leg_fuel_11": "string", "leg_fuel_total": "string", "alt_altitude": "string", "alt_tower_id": "string", "alt_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_1": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_2": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_3": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_4": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_5": "string", "efr_1": "string", "afr_1": "string", "efr_2": "string", "afr_2": "string", "efr_3": "string", "afr_3": "string", "efr_4": "string", "afr_4": "string", "efr_5": "string", "afr_5": "string", "efr_6": "string", "afr_6": "string", "efr_7": "string", "afr_7": "string", "efr_8": "string", "afr_8": "string", "efr_9": "string", "afr_9": "string", "efr_10": "string", "afr_10": "string", "efr_11": "string", "afr_11": "string", "efr_total": "string", "afr_total": "string", "efr_alt_1": "string", "afr_alt_1": "string", "efr_alt_2": "string", "afr_alt_2": "string", "efr_alt_3": "string", "afr_alt_3": "string", "efr_alt_4": "string", "afr_alt_4": "string", "efr_alt_5": "string", "afr_alt_5": "string", "cont_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_1": "string", "cont_fuel_2": "string", "cont_fuel_3": "string", "cont_fuel_4": "string", "cont_fuel_5": "string", "cont_fuel_6": "string", "cont_fuel_7": "string", "cont_fuel_8": "string", "cont_fuel_9": "string", "cont_fuel_10": "string", "cont_fuel_11": "string", "alt_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_1": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_2": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_3": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_4": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_5": "string", "dep_tower_id": "string", "dep_tower_freq": "string", "lbs_ph": "string", "lbs_pm": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_1": "string", "notes_2": "string", "notes_3": "string", "notes_4": "string", "notes_5": "string", "notes_6": "string", "notes_7": "string", "notes_8": "string", "notes_9": "string", "notes_10": "string", "notes_11": "string", "notes_12": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_id": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_alt_1": "string", "notes_alt_2": "string", "notes_alt_3": "string", "notes_alt_4": "string", "notes_alt_5": "string", "alt_time": "string", "route_dest_iaf_fuel": "string", "route_alt_iaf_fuel": "string", "approaches_fuel": "string", "in_air_used_fuel": "string", "reserve_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_dest": "string", "lighting_dest": "string", "fuel_dest": "string", "ils_dest": "string", "loc_dest": "string", "asr_dest": "string", "par_mins_dest": "string", "tac_mins_dest": "string", "arr_gear_dest": "string", "pubs_dest": "string", "notams_dest": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_1": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_2": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_3": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_4": "string", "etc_dest": "string", "last_cruise_req_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_req_fuel": "string", "bingo_req_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_appr_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_appr_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_alt": "string", "lighting_alt": "string", "fuel_alt": "string", "ils_alt": "string", "loc_alt": "string", "asr_alt": "string", "par_mins_alt": "string", "tac_mins_alt": "string", "arr_gear_alt": "string", "pubs_alt": "string", "notams_alt": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_1": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_2": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_3": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_4": "string", "etc_alt": "string", "last_cruise_res_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_fuel": "string", "add_res_fuel": "string", "stto_fuel": "string", "total_req_fuel": "string", "total_aboard_fuel": "string", "spare_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_total_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_total_fuel": "string", "bingo_total": "string", "waypoint_1": "string", "waypoint_2": "string", "waypoint_3": "string", "waypoint_4": "string", "waypoint_5": "string", "waypoint_6": "string", "waypoint_7": "string", "waypoint_8": "string", "waypoint_9": "string", "waypoint_10": "string", "waypoint_11": "string", "waypoint_12": "string", "waypoint_13": "string", "waypoint_14": "string", "waypoint_15": "string", "waypoint_16": "string", "clearance_cleared_to": "string", "clearance_altitude": "string", "clearance_freq": "string", "clearance_transp": "string", "clearance_route": "string" } data = DATA_OBJECT output_file = 'final_pdf.pdf' temp_files = [] pdf = ProcessPdf('pdf_temp/', output_file) ''' PDF_TEMPLATE_PATH = path/to/your.pdf ''' data_pdf = pdf.add_data_to_pdf("Blank Jet Log Fillable.pdf", data) temp_files.append(data_pdf) pdf_processing.pyimport os import re import fitz # requires fitz, PyMuPDF import pdfrw import subprocess import os.path import sys from PIL import Image ''' replace all the constants (the one in caps) with your own lists ''' ''' FORM_KEYS is a dictionary (key-value pair) that contains 1. keys - which are all the key names in the PDF form 2. values - which are the type for all the keys in the PDF form. (string, checkbox, etc.) Eg. PDF form contains 1. First Name 2. Last Name 3. Sex (Male or Female) 4. Mobile Number FORM_KEYS = { "fname": "string", "lname": "string", "sex": "checkbox", "mobile": "number" } This FORM_KEYS(key) returns the type of value for that key. I'm passing this as 2nd argument to encode_pdf_string() function. ''' FORM_KEYS = { "other": "string", "route_to_1": "string", "route_to_2": "string", "route_to_3": "string", "route_to_4": "string", "route_to_5": "string", "route_to_6": "string", "route_to_7": "string", "route_to_8": "string", "route_to_9": "string", "route_to_10": "string", "route_to_11": "string", "route_to_alt_1": "string", "route_to_alt_2": "string", "route_to_alt_3": "string", "route_to_alt_4": "string", "route_to_alt_5": "string", "dep_aerodrome": "string", "dep_elev": "string", "dep_atis_id": "string", "dep_atis_freq": "string", "dest_aerodrome": "string", "dest_elev": "string", "alt_dest": "string", "alt_elev": "string", "chan_id_1": "string", "chan_freq_1": "string", "chan_id_2": "string", "chan_freq_2": "string", "chan_id_3": "string", "chan_freq_3": "string", "chan_id_4": "string", "chan_freq_4": "string", "chan_id_5": "string", "chan_freq_5": "string", "chan_id_6": "string", "chan_freq_6": "string", "chan_id_7": "string", "chan_freq_7": "string", "chan_id_8": "string", "chan_freq_8": "string", "chan_id_9": "string", "chan_freq_9": "string", "chan_id_10": "string", "chan_freq_10": "string", "chan_id_11": "string", "chan_freq_11": "string", "chan_id_alt_1": "string", "chan_freq_alt_1": "string", "chan_id_alt_2": "string", "chan_freq_alt_2": "string", "chan_id_alt_3": "string", "chan_freq_alt_3": "string", "chan_id_alt_4": "string", "chan_freq_alt_4": "string", "chan_id_alt_5": "string", "chan_freq_alt_5": "string", "course_1": "string", "course_2": "string", "course_3": "string", "course_4": "string", "course_5": "string", "course_6": "string", "course_7": "string", "course_8": "string", "course_9": "string", "course_10": "string", "course_11": "string", "course_alt_1": "string", "course_alt_2": "string", "course_alt_3": "string", "course_alt_4": "string", "course_alt_5": "string", "dep_clearance_id": "string", "dep_clearance_freq": "string", "time_off": "string", "dep_app_cont_id": "string", "dep_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_1": "string", "dist_2": "string", "dist_3": "string", "dist_4": "string", "dist_5": "string", "dist_6": "string", "dist_7": "string", "dist_8": "string", "dist_9": "string", "dist_10": "string", "dist_11": "string", "dist_total": "string", "alt_route": "string", "alt_app_cont_id": "string", "alt_app_cont_freq": "string", "dist_alt_1": "string", "dist_alt_2": "string", "dist_alt_3": "string", "dist_alt_4": "string", "dist_alt_5": "string", "ete_1": "string", "ete_2": "string", "ete_3": "string", "ete_4": "string", "ete_5": "string", "ete_6": "string", "ete_7": "string", "ete_8": "string", "ete_9": "string", "ete_10": "string", "ete_11": "string", "ete_total": "string", "ete_alt_1": "string", "ete_alt_2": "string", "ete_alt_3": "string", "ete_alt_4": "string", "ete_alt_5": "string", "eta_1": "string", "ata_1": "string", "eta_2": "string", "ata_2": "string", "eta_3": "string", "ata_3": "string", "eta_4": "string", "ata_4": "string", "eta_5": "string", "ata_5": "string", "eta_6": "string", "ata_6": "string", "eta_7": "string", "ata_7": "string", "eta_8": "string", "ata_8": "string", "eta_9": "string", "ata_9": "string", "eta_10": "string", "ata_10": "string", "eta_11": "string", "ata_11": "string", "eta_total": "string", "ata_total": "string", "eta_alt_1": "string", "ata_alt_1": "string", "eta_alt_2": "string", "ata_alt_2": "string", "eta_alt_3": "string", "ata_alt_3": "string", "eta_alt_4": "string", "ata_alt_4": "string", "eta_alt_5": "string", "ata_alt_5": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dep_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "tas": "string", "mach": "string", "dest_tower_id": "string", "dest_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_1": "string", "leg_fuel_2": "string", "leg_fuel_3": "string", "leg_fuel_4": "string", "leg_fuel_5": "string", "leg_fuel_6": "string", "leg_fuel_7": "string", "leg_fuel_8": "string", "leg_fuel_9": "string", "leg_fuel_10": "string", "leg_fuel_11": "string", "leg_fuel_total": "string", "alt_altitude": "string", "alt_tower_id": "string", "alt_tower_freq": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_1": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_2": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_3": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_4": "string", "leg_fuel_alt_5": "string", "efr_1": "string", "afr_1": "string", "efr_2": "string", "afr_2": "string", "efr_3": "string", "afr_3": "string", "efr_4": "string", "afr_4": "string", "efr_5": "string", "afr_5": "string", "efr_6": "string", "afr_6": "string", "efr_7": "string", "afr_7": "string", "efr_8": "string", "afr_8": "string", "efr_9": "string", "afr_9": "string", "efr_10": "string", "afr_10": "string", "efr_11": "string", "afr_11": "string", "efr_total": "string", "afr_total": "string", "efr_alt_1": "string", "afr_alt_1": "string", "efr_alt_2": "string", "afr_alt_2": "string", "efr_alt_3": "string", "afr_alt_3": "string", "efr_alt_4": "string", "afr_alt_4": "string", "efr_alt_5": "string", "afr_alt_5": "string", "cont_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_1": "string", "cont_fuel_2": "string", "cont_fuel_3": "string", "cont_fuel_4": "string", "cont_fuel_5": "string", "cont_fuel_6": "string", "cont_fuel_7": "string", "cont_fuel_8": "string", "cont_fuel_9": "string", "cont_fuel_10": "string", "cont_fuel_11": "string", "alt_fuel": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_1": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_2": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_3": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_4": "string", "cont_fuel_alt_5": "string", "dep_tower_id": "string", "dep_tower_freq": "string", "lbs_ph": "string", "lbs_pm": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_id": "string", "dest_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_1": "string", "notes_2": "string", "notes_3": "string", "notes_4": "string", "notes_5": "string", "notes_6": "string", "notes_7": "string", "notes_8": "string", "notes_9": "string", "notes_10": "string", "notes_11": "string", "notes_12": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_id": "string", "alt_gnd_cont_freq": "string", "notes_alt_1": "string", "notes_alt_2": "string", "notes_alt_3": "string", "notes_alt_4": "string", "notes_alt_5": "string", "alt_time": "string", "route_dest_iaf_fuel": "string", "route_alt_iaf_fuel": "string", "approaches_fuel": "string", "in_air_used_fuel": "string", "reserve_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_dest": "string", "lighting_dest": "string", "fuel_dest": "string", "ils_dest": "string", "loc_dest": "string", "asr_dest": "string", "par_mins_dest": "string", "tac_mins_dest": "string", "arr_gear_dest": "string", "pubs_dest": "string", "notams_dest": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_1": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_2": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_3": "string", "fuel_packet_dest_4": "string", "etc_dest": "string", "last_cruise_req_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_req_fuel": "string", "bingo_req_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_appr_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_appr_fuel": "string", "rwy_length_alt": "string", "lighting_alt": "string", "fuel_alt": "string", "ils_alt": "string", "loc_alt": "string", "asr_alt": "string", "par_mins_alt": "string", "tac_mins_alt": "string", "arr_gear_alt": "string", "pubs_alt": "string", "notams_alt": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_1": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_2": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_3": "string", "fuel_packet_alt_4": "string", "etc_alt": "string", "last_cruise_res_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_fuel": "string", "add_res_fuel": "string", "stto_fuel": "string", "total_req_fuel": "string", "total_aboard_fuel": "string", "spare_fuel": "string", "last_cruise_total_fuel": "string", "map_to_iaf_total_fuel": "string", "bingo_total": "string", "waypoint_1": "string", "waypoint_2": "string", "waypoint_3": "string", "waypoint_4": "string", "waypoint_5": "string", "waypoint_6": "string", "waypoint_7": "string", "waypoint_8": "string", "waypoint_9": "string", "waypoint_10": "string", "waypoint_11": "string", "waypoint_12": "string", "waypoint_13": "string", "waypoint_14": "string", "waypoint_15": "string", "waypoint_16": "string", "clearance_cleared_to": "string", "clearance_altitude": "string", "clearance_freq": "string", "clearance_transp": "string", "clearance_route": "string" } def encode_pdf_string(value, type): if type == 'string': if value: return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode(value.upper()) else: return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode('') elif type == 'checkbox': if value == 'True' or value == True: return pdfrw.objects.pdfname.BasePdfName('/Yes') # return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode('Y') else: return pdfrw.objects.pdfname.BasePdfName('/No') # return pdfrw.objects.pdfstring.PdfString.encode('') return '' class ProcessPdf: def __init__(self, temp_directory, output_file): print('\n########## Initiating Pdf Creation Process #########\n') print('\nDirectory for storing all temporary files is: ', temp_directory) self.temp_directory = temp_directory print("Final Pdf name will be: ", output_file) self.output_file = output_file def add_data_to_pdf(self, template_path, data): print('\nAdding data to pdf...') template = pdfrw.PdfReader(template_path) for page in template.pages: annotations = page['/Annots'] if annotations is None: continue for annotation in annotations: if annotation['/Subtype'] == '/Widget': if annotation['/T']: key = annotation['/T'][1:-1] if re.search(r'.-[0-9]+', key): key = key[:-2] if key in data: annotation.update( pdfrw.PdfDict(V=encode_pdf_string(data[key], FORM_KEYS[key])) ) annotation.update(pdfrw.PdfDict(Ff=1)) template.Root.AcroForm.update(pdfrw.PdfDict(NeedAppearances=pdfrw.PdfObject('true'))) pdfrw.PdfWriter().write(self.temp_directory + "data.pdf", template) print('Pdf saved') return self.temp_directory + "data.pdf" def convert_image_to_pdf(self, image_path, image_pdf_name): print('\nConverting image to pdf...') image = Image.open(image_path) image_rgb = image.convert('RGB') image_rgb.save(self.temp_directory + image_pdf_name) return self.temp_directory + image_pdf_name def add_image_to_pdf(self, pdf_path, images, positions): print('\nAdding images to Pdf...') file_handle = fitz.open(pdf_path) for position in positions: page = file_handle[int(position['page']) - 1] if not position['image'] in images: continue image = images[position['image']] page.insertImage( fitz.Rect(position['x0'], position['y0'], position['x1'], position['y1']), filename=image ) file_handle.save(self.temp_directory + "data_image.pdf") print('images added') return self.temp_directory + "data_image.pdf" def delete_temp_files(self, pdf_list): print('\nDeleting Temporary Files...') for path in pdf_list: try: os.remove(path) except: pass def compress_pdf(self, input_file_path, power=3): """Function to compress PDF via Ghostscript command line interface""" quality = { 0: '/default', 1: '/prepress', 2: '/printer', 3: '/ebook', 4: '/screen' } output_file_path = self.temp_directory + 'compressed.pdf' if not os.path.isfile(input_file_path): print("\nError: invalid path for input PDF file") sys.exit(1) if input_file_path.split('.')[-1].lower() != 'pdf': print("\nError: input file is not a PDF") sys.exit(1) print("\nCompressing PDF...") initial_size = os.path.getsize(input_file_path) subprocess.call(['gs', '-sDEVICE=pdfwrite', '-dCompatibilityLevel=1.4', '-dPDFSETTINGS={}'.format(quality[power]), '-dNOPAUSE', '-dQUIET', '-dBATCH', '-sOutputFile={}'.format(output_file_path), input_file_path] ) final_size = os.path.getsize(output_file_path) ratio = 1 - (final_size / initial_size) print("\nCompression by {0:.0%}.".format(ratio)) print("Final file size is {0:.1f}MB".format(final_size / 1000000)) return output_file_path 2024.05.09 23:29 osmosis-jonestown Consult for bisalp went well!
I posted a couple of days ago mentioning that I was nervous for my appointment which was yesterday. I got some wonderful advice on my initial post and spent all of Tuesday night hustling to get a basic sterilization binder together using the template suggested by the wiki editor.
As the title suggests, my appointment went very well! The doctor was punctual, had a sense of humor, and didn't bingo me once. All he asked was, "why are you looking to get sterilized? Not that it matters, I was mostly just curious." He never gave any pushback, explained the bisalp process clearly and concisely, double checked if that's what I wanted, and had me sign the consent form once I confirmed. And I didn't even have to refer to my binder!!!
Now, we're just waiting for my insurance to send the approval and then we can get a date set. Once the surgery is done and over with, I will message the mods so they can add my testimonial to the wiki.
Id like the thank those of you that left encouraging comments and advice :)
submitted by osmosis-jonestown to childfree [link] [comments]
As the title suggests, my appointment went very well! The doctor was punctual, had a sense of humor, and didn't bingo me once. All he asked was, "why are you looking to get sterilized? Not that it matters, I was mostly just curious." He never gave any pushback, explained the bisalp process clearly and concisely, double checked if that's what I wanted, and had me sign the consent form once I confirmed. And I didn't even have to refer to my binder!!!
Now, we're just waiting for my insurance to send the approval and then we can get a date set. Once the surgery is done and over with, I will message the mods so they can add my testimonial to the wiki.
Id like the thank those of you that left encouraging comments and advice :)
2024.05.07 20:47 Voodoo_Clerk I'm Indebted to a Voodoo Shop (Part 4)
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5
The ointment that King Creole had given me was not permanent. Much to my shock and horror when I woke up and went to the bathroom I saw the giant scar and stitches staring back at me. Turns out, the ointment lasts only eight hours before it needs to be reapplied. Which was annoying, and forced me to have a timer go off just before eight hours was up to reapply the ointment to my scar. Just another thing forced upon me because of my entanglement with King Creole.
A week or two after my last job for him, I was rudely interrupted by him calling me again. I was in the middle of dinner with my mom, my dad was out at work on a late shift. I stared at my phone for a long time. Everything in me was telling me just to ignore him. It took everything in me to answer him and bring the phone up to my ear.
“My darling Mace!” Creole’s excited voice greeted me, causing an annoyed exhale to come out of my nostrils. “Sorry to interrupt dinner with your lovely mother, but an urgent matter requires your attention. Finish your dinner and then get your lovely self down to the shop. See you then.” He didn’t even bother waiting for a response or let me respond at all. The call lasted probably all of ten seconds.
“Who was that?” My mom asked as he took a sip of her drink. I stuffed my phone into my pocket and picked at the chicken and rice staring back at me. My mom is a great cook, but it was hard for me to feel any kind of appetite when all I could think of was the horrible shit I had seen and had gone through. I had almost been murdered multiple times, one time being at death's door, and I had no one to turn to. Very hard to feel any kind of appetite after all that shit.
“Scam call,” I told her and I forced myself to eat an entire forkful of food. She nodded and kept eating her share of the dinner. After I had eaten enough to pass for a normal amount of food, I pushed my chair back and carried my plate to the sink. Rinsing it out after I placed my leftovers back into the pan that they had come from. “Mom I’m going out for a walk. Do you need anything while I’m out?” I asked her once I had finished with my plate.
“No sweetheart. Just be careful out there. Lots of weirdos out there nowadays,” she said as she passed me with her empty plate. Oh if only she knew the shit I was mixed up with. But I gave her a nod and a hug. I ran upstairs to my room to get my essentials. My lockpicking kit and now a new weapon to my arsenal, pepper spray. It might not exactly work on Creole but it would stop a repeat of a knife ending up in my throat.
As if to harp on that point, my timer went off, prompting me to go into the bathroom to quickly apply my ointment. It seemed that whenever it began to run low and I had to think about having to go back to the shop on my ‘days off’ the container would always refill itself. So I guess that was a nice plus.
With everything ready for my next horrible errand, I hugged and kissed my mom goodbye before leaving my house and heading in the direction of the voodoo store. Despite it clearly being labeled ‘Half Priced Voodoo Store’, my mind constantly wanted to call it a voodoo shop. Something about it just rolled off the tongue better. Maybe Creole had a branding issue or something. The sun was just about to dip below the horizon and the streetlight flickered to life, creepily illuminating my way towards the shitty part of town where the shop/store was located.
This time thankfully I didn’t run into any drug dealers or crackheads. But my hands never left my pockets the entire time. I had my finger on the trigger of the pepper spray ready for anyone that might want to jump me. But I arrived safely at the store and opened the door, the sad rusty bell signaling my arrival.
Waiting for me at the register was Jacob. It hadn’t gotten any easier to look at him. He was in a new outfit, however. Before he had been in a suit similar to King Creole’s, but now he was wearing a bellboy outfit. It was bright red with shiny gold trimmings. He looked like some sort of ornamental nutcracker or something with how new and shiny he looked. His stitched-up mouth was now curled up into a smile as he eagerly waved hello to me.
“Doesn’t he just look positively lovely?!” Creole shouted excitedly, causing me to yelp in surprise as he suddenly appeared behind me. He wrapped his arm around me and led me closer to the register. Jacob took his hat off and did a little bow to me and I awkwardly waved hello to him, more worried about getting Creole off of me.
“He looks…good,” I said, shrugging his arm off of me and letting out a sigh of relief when he finally let me go. If he was offended by my shrugging his affection off he didn’t let it dampen his excitement over how Jacob looked.
“Doesn’t he? I wanted to try something new with him and I’m absolutely adoring how he turned out!” he shouted with giddy excitement. Jacob placed his little hat back on before bowing again and excusing himself to the backroom. He left us alone and I suddenly found the atmosphere much less inviting without him there.
“So…how’s business?’ I asked him, trying to cut some of the awkward tension in the room. He craned his neck down to look at me. I could swear that his head was about to break its stitches and his head would go tumbling to the floor with how he was staring at me.
“It’s great! Can’t complain about it at all actually.” Creole let out a big chuckle before slapping me on the back hard and heading behind the counter as if to escape any imaginary retaliation I might want to do to him. “Don’t worry Mace, I won’t let you kill yourself with small talk,” he said as he sat down in the chair that sat behind the register. “I need you to get me a mirror. A very special one.” His smile dipped a bit, this was something serious.
“What does it do? I assume since you want it, it probably isn’t normal.” I walked up to the counter and noticed that the voodoo template doll was staring back at me.
“You catch on quickly.” Creole snickered at me in a patronizing tone. “It’s best if I don’t tell you what it does. In fact, for your own safety, I’d advise you not even to glance at this mirror.” He raised his arm and fluttered his fingers, a scrap of paper appearing between his index and middle finger. “This place is also quite far away and I know y’all aren’t gonna make it walking. So I’ll give ya some help,” he said as he handed me the scrap of paper.
I took it from him and looked down at it. It was only what I guessed was a room number. “Where exactly is this?” I asked, looking back up toward the register. Only to find him not there anymore. I quickly spun on my heels to see if he was behind me and sure enough, the tall bastard had somehow teleported over to the entrance to his shop.
“An abandoned hotel in Pennsylvania. Quite the walk for you I know,” he said with that stupid smile on his face. That was at least a several-day nonstop walk, and there was no way I was making it there without my parents noticing.
“How exactly am I to get to Pennsylvania?” I asked him, stuffing the room number into my pocket. He giggled a bit as he motioned for me to come closer. I took a few steps over to him and watched as he again fluttered his fingers, soft purple flames emanated from his fingertips. He proceeded to draw on the door, and I watched with a hint of wonderment as it subtly gleaned purple and then died down into nothingness.
“It’s just a simple step away, darling.” He opened the door for me and I was more than a little surprised to see that the door didn’t open to the outside. It opened to the lobby of a hotel. I quickly walked over and stuck my head through the door. The other side was an almost pitch-black hotel room with dust and cobwebs floating through the air.
“You might want this also,” he said as he handed me an electric lantern. I nodded and grabbed it from him. I took a deep breath and entered the hotel. “Remember, don’t look at the mirror,” he warned me before shutting the door behind me. I stared back at the door and stayed in place for a few seconds in the pitch-blackness.
It took me a few seconds to figure out how to turn the lantern on, but when I at last illuminated the lobby I was more than happy. Not a single sound was being made in the hotel. Not a creak in the floorboards, no wind blowing from outside, not even the sounds of rats scampering around. It was absolute silence. The only sound I could hear was my breathing. If it wasn’t for the lamp I might have thought I was in a sensory deprivation chamber.
I fished the room number out of the pocket and stared down at it with the lantern. Room 1145. There were at least 11 floors to this hotel and I knew for damn sure that even if this place had an elevator there was no chance of it working. I walked over to the front desk and stared down at it, there was a bell there to ring for staff but something in my gut was telling me that it would be a terrible idea to ring it. So I simply moved on and headed towards the stairs, following the signs that pointed me the way.
While this place was abandoned it also seemed to be frozen in time. As I walked past the kitchen and dining area I was shocked to see food out and ready to be served. Breakfast foods were piled high and ready to be eaten. The coffee was warm, the milk was cold, and the fruit was fresh and ripe, it was like this place had been abandoned and left in limbo.
“This place is weird,” I mumbled to myself as I continued to walk towards the stairs. I opened the door that led to the stairwell and was immediately blasted with the overwhelming smell of rot. It was enough to cause me to drop the lantern and let out a retch that echoed throughout the entire hotel. I quickly picked the lantern back up and ran back toward the kitchen. I grabbed a cup of coffee, and quickly took a giant inhale of it just to get something else into my nostrils.
“Fuck,” Was all I could reasonably think of saying. Before I could even think about going back toward that stairwell again, I quickly picked up some giant napkins from one of the tables, the kind that you usually put on your lap, and wrapped them around my mouth and nose in a makeshift face mask, making sure to dampen it with coffee to give me at least something else just as strong to counteract the smell.
With my makeshift mask ready, I once again braved the stairwell. It didn’t take me long to find the culprit of the noxious smell. A pile of decomposed bodies was lying at the foot of the stairs. I couldn’t even begin to count how many of them were there, as their limbs were all tangled together. I shoved my mask as close as I could to my nostrils and did my best to focus only on the coffee smell. Time may have stopped for food in this hotel, but dead bodies sure as hell still decomposed just fine.
I was forced to step on them since there was no other way to begin climbing up the stairs. The sickening crunch and snapping of bones were enough to get another retch out of me as I desperately tried to focus on the smell of coffee. I moved as quickly as I could towards the stairs and began running up them as fast as possible. I didn’t dare take off my mask until I reached the 11th floor. Opening the door to the floor I quickly ran into the hallway and shut the door behind me. I took my mask off to see if I could breathe easier and was relieved to be away from the horrible smell of death.
I was never more grateful for the smell of something normal. I stood there catching my breath after running up 11 flights of stairs, and took a look around, moving the lantern up and down to see if anything else was up here with me. The halls were empty, but every single door on this floor had a do not disturb sign on the doorknob. After my breath was sufficiently caught, I started making my toward room 1145. The eerie silence was enough to start playing tricks on me. Every single step I took it felt like something was following close behind me. I would stop and shine the lantern behind me, but there was nothing there. But every time I started walking again I swear I could hear a second set of footsteps just after mine.
When I arrived at room 1145 I was happy to see that the door was an old one. It didn’t have the electronic locks that hotels have now, this one needed a key. And that’s why I had been sent here. I sat the lantern down next to me and got my tools out, ready to work on his lock. I was surprised by how this lock acted. It was almost like the lock Creole used for the Voodoo shop. The tumblers seemed to be changing constantly and every time it felt like I was close to getting somewhere all my progress was erased.
“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled as I fiddled with the lock. I wasn’t about to let some ancient probably magic-infused lock show me up. So with way more brute force than skill, I started attacking this lock with everything I had learned. And to my immense satisfaction, I heard the satisfying click of the door unlocking. I quickly turned the doorknob pushed the door open and clapped with joy over how I had finally gotten through the lock.
I quickly packed up my tools in their bag and stuffed them into my pocket. I made sure to look down at the floor just in case this freaky mirror was just standing there waiting for me to stare at it. I decided to use my makeshift facemask as a blindfold. I wrapped it around my head and reached my arms out to feel out in front of me. I left the lantern in the hallway since I was going in completely blind anyway.
I patted my hands out in the darkness to begin building up my surroundings. It wasn’t easy and I bumped into pretty much anything and everything I came across. Finally, after a few minutes of bumping into things, I got a general layout of the room. But I hadn’t figured out where the mirror was. It was then that it hit me, what size was this mirror? Creole hadn’t said if it was a body mirror or a handheld mirror or the fucking bathroom mirror.
Exiting back into the hallway I took off my blindfold and tried to think of a better way of doing this. I looked back into the darkness of the room and then down at the lantern. I picked up the lantern and then tossed it into the room. Immediately I could tell that there was no mirror right at the entrance so I would be okay to enter at least there with some light. I walked in with the lantern and looked around where the light touched. With that crossed off, I picked up the lantern and looked around for something to cover up a side of it. Lucky for me there were towels just hanging on the coat hanger on the door to the bathroom.
I covered one side of the lantern so that light could only appear on one side. I then extended my arm out into the main room of the hotel and slowly began to rotate the lantern as if it were some sort of makeshift lighthouse. My thinking was that if it came into contact with a mirror then the light would be reflected onto the wall not illuminated by the lantern since that side would be covered by the towel. And to my amusement, I was proven right when after a few turns, the light appeared on the other wall.
“Bingo,” I giggled as I quickly pulled the lantern back and placed it back on the floor. Then I tied my blindfold back on and quickly went out in the direction in which I had pointed my light. After a few seconds of groping in the darkness, my fingers came into contact with the cold and slick surface of a mirror. I must’ve been smiling a big stupid grin when I reached it. I felt the mirror up a bit and figured that it was some sort of standing mirror. I tried lifting it and found it relatively light.
Confident in my abilities I started walking towards the door. Of course, in my excitement over finding the mirror, I happened to have forgotten where I had placed the lantern. I tripped over it and fell with the mirror down onto the floor. I groaned in pain and surprise, feeling like a dumbass over how I had forgotten the lantern. And when I looked up from the floor I was shocked to see my reflection looking back at me. The fall had pulled down my blindfold.
“Shit!” I quickly sat up and grabbed the lantern. I half expected that I would explode or spontaneously combust or turn to dust. But after a few seconds, nothing happened to me. I closed my eyes and reached out to the mirror and sat it up completely. The first time had been an accident but the second time curiosity at last got to me and I opened my eyes to look at the mirror.
It was just my reflection. Nothing horrible about it, just me. I moved my arm around and did a few moves and it followed it perfectly. It seemed like a normal mirror. Had I gotten the wrong one? That train of thought was quickly derailed when I saw that my reflection was smiling at me. When I for sure wasn’t smiling. I backed up from the mirror and yet my reflection didn’t follow what I was doing, it just stared at me with a look of total malice in its eyes.
I watched with complete and utter terror as it began to contort and change. My limbs grew gangly. It looked like some sick funhouse mirror version of me. Her nails grew longer until they had completely turned into claws and my small stature was completely erased into some horrible stretched-out version of myself. It would’ve been scary enough if that was all it did, but then she started crawling out of the mirror.
“Oh fuck this!” I screamed as I quickly turned around and started sprinting towards the stairs. I probably haven’t run that fast since I was forced to run a mile in PE. My gym teacher probably would’ve loved the form I was using, it was probably textbook. I reached the stairs in no time flat. Only to discover that it was locked. “You gotta be fucking kidding!” I screamed and began fighting with the lock.
I looked back down the hall and screamed in absolute terror when I saw my reflection chasing after me on all fours like some skinwalker-looking thing. Her creepy smile was accompanied by some new sharp and jagged teeth that were no doubt ready to tear me to shreds. She didn’t even bother saying words to me, only cackling uncontrollably as she quickly closed the distance between us.
I wasted no more time on the locked door and sprinted down the hallway to my right and was more than happy to see a fire escape warning above the door at the end of the hall. As I was sprinting down the hall though, I could hear that my reflection was rapidly catching up with me. And I could feel that if I ran toward that door there’d be no way for me to make it there in time. I was about to look behind me when I noticed one of the hotel rooms was open. In a split second, I changed directions and ran into the room, quickly slamming the door shut behind me, locking and deadbolting the door. My reflection came slamming into the door but the thick wooden structure withstood her attack for the time being.
I lay on the floor catching my breath for a moment before I started looking around either for escape or for some sort of defence. I fished in my pocket for my pepper spray and got it out. I didn’t exactly know if my reflection would be affected by it but having it with me gave me a little sense of safety. I was also glad that through my blind panic, I had somehow managed to keep the lantern with me.
Any sense of safety was quickly erased when my reflection began banging on the door again, and I noticed cracks beginning to appear on the door. I couldn’t waste any more time. I looked around and tried to find something or anything to get me out of this situation. I thought about calling Creole but when I pulled my phone out I was met with the dreaded no signal. With that idea expended, I looked around the room and discovered it was one of those rooms that was separated by another with a door. If I could pick the lock I could sneak into the other room and maybe make it to the fire escape.
Quickly pulling my tools out I didn’t bother wasting a second and began trying to figure out which tool would do the best job. All the while my reflection was screaming an otherworldly scream and smashing herself against the door. To my immense relief, this lock didn’t seem to have any magic fuckery infused into it. And in no time flat I had picked the lock and had managed to enter the other room. I dimmed the lantern and quietly closed the dividing door behind me.
I waited in the dimly lit room until I heard the sounds of the door being broken down and my reflection entering the room. I was waiting at the door and the moment I heard her enter the other room, I slowly opened the door and exited into the hallway. I could hear her tearing the room apart looking for me. And I started making my way toward the fire exit. As quietly and as quickly as I could. I was about ten feet away from it when I heard her scream. I looked behind me and saw that she had exited the room and had seen me.
I sprinted toward the door and flung it open, I half expected to be put outside but instead, I came tumbling into the voodoo store. I was never more happy to see the dust-filled shop in my entire life. The fire exit had been linked to the front door of the voodoo shop and I had ended up smashing into one of the shelves of shrunken heads.
“Mace? Goodness darling! You in some kind of rush?” Creole asked as I heard his footsteps and cane rapidly approaching me. Before I could even look at him though I looked back at the door and reached out towards it.
“Quick! Shut it!” That was all I got out as my reflection came sprinting towards me. She leaped through the door and was about to lunge toward me when Creole swung his cane like a baseball bat and sent her flying into the glass window of the shop. The hit must’ve knocked her unconscious as she went limp after she hit the floor.
“I see ya looked at the mirror,” Creole said in clear disappointment. I stared up at him and then over toward my corrupted reflection. I quickly put him between me and her and did my best to try and explain how it had all happened. I must’ve been talking a million miles an hour and yet Creole seemed to understand everything completely. “I see so it was an accident,” he said after I was done and catching my breath.
“Yes, sir.” I nodded jumping a bit when Jacob suddenly appeared next to me with a glass of tea. I’m not normally a tea drinker but after what I had just gone through, I gladly accepted it from him and took a big sip of it.
“Well, there’s no harm in a simple mistake. Though why didn’t ya just put a blanket over the mirror once you found it?” Creole asked me as he walked over to my reflection and poked her with his cane. I nearly choked on my tea when he asked me that. The thought had never even crossed my mind and it was such a good idea.
“I…didn’t think of that,” I admitted to him. Embarrassed over having not thought of that. What had my plan even been? Walk down the stairs blindfolded holding a giant mirror? I felt like a dumbass.
“Ah, don’t worry about it Mace.” Just go and bring the mirror back here, I’ll deal with our long friend here,” Creole said as he rubbed his gloved hands together with giddy excitement. I nodded quickly and handed the nearly empty cup of tea over to Jacob before entering the hotel again through the voodoo shop’s entrance. When I rounded the turn to where I had left the mirror standing in the hallway I quickly shut my eyes as tightly as I could and began walking towards it, arm stretched out in an attempt to find it. I finally touched it and picked it up, carefully walking with it until I was back in the voodoo shop. I felt it being taken from me and figured it was Jacob taking it out of my hands.
“You can open your eyes now, Mace.” Creole greeted me with a chuckle after I had stood there with my eyes shut for a few minutes. When I opened them I saw that the mirror was covered by a thick white sheet and that Jacob was carrying it over to Creole’s office.
“Where’s…my reflection?” I asked, seeing that she was no longer crumpled in the corner.
“Oh while you were getting the mirror I tossed her back into the hotel. She shouldn’t be too much of a bother.” Creole let out one of his strange hums at this and beckoned me to follow him back to the register. “That’s four favors done and only one last one to do until you’ve cleared your debt with me.” Creole sat down and held up a single finger to me.
“Sir? What is that mirror even for? Why would you want something like that?” I asked him, really not caring at the moment that I had only one favor left to do for him.
“Call it an insurance policy, my darling Mace,” He said with a grin on his face. “If I ever need a way to come back, why not come back as a nightmare?” He asked me with a series of low and creepy laughs. He shooed me away as he began cackling and I was more than happy to leave him in a laughing fit. After everything I had just gone through, I wanted nothing more than to collapse into my bed and rot away.
One favor left. That’s all I had to do. Then I would be free. If only it had been that simple.
submitted by Voodoo_Clerk to nosleep [link] [comments]
The ointment that King Creole had given me was not permanent. Much to my shock and horror when I woke up and went to the bathroom I saw the giant scar and stitches staring back at me. Turns out, the ointment lasts only eight hours before it needs to be reapplied. Which was annoying, and forced me to have a timer go off just before eight hours was up to reapply the ointment to my scar. Just another thing forced upon me because of my entanglement with King Creole.
A week or two after my last job for him, I was rudely interrupted by him calling me again. I was in the middle of dinner with my mom, my dad was out at work on a late shift. I stared at my phone for a long time. Everything in me was telling me just to ignore him. It took everything in me to answer him and bring the phone up to my ear.
“My darling Mace!” Creole’s excited voice greeted me, causing an annoyed exhale to come out of my nostrils. “Sorry to interrupt dinner with your lovely mother, but an urgent matter requires your attention. Finish your dinner and then get your lovely self down to the shop. See you then.” He didn’t even bother waiting for a response or let me respond at all. The call lasted probably all of ten seconds.
“Who was that?” My mom asked as he took a sip of her drink. I stuffed my phone into my pocket and picked at the chicken and rice staring back at me. My mom is a great cook, but it was hard for me to feel any kind of appetite when all I could think of was the horrible shit I had seen and had gone through. I had almost been murdered multiple times, one time being at death's door, and I had no one to turn to. Very hard to feel any kind of appetite after all that shit.
“Scam call,” I told her and I forced myself to eat an entire forkful of food. She nodded and kept eating her share of the dinner. After I had eaten enough to pass for a normal amount of food, I pushed my chair back and carried my plate to the sink. Rinsing it out after I placed my leftovers back into the pan that they had come from. “Mom I’m going out for a walk. Do you need anything while I’m out?” I asked her once I had finished with my plate.
“No sweetheart. Just be careful out there. Lots of weirdos out there nowadays,” she said as she passed me with her empty plate. Oh if only she knew the shit I was mixed up with. But I gave her a nod and a hug. I ran upstairs to my room to get my essentials. My lockpicking kit and now a new weapon to my arsenal, pepper spray. It might not exactly work on Creole but it would stop a repeat of a knife ending up in my throat.
As if to harp on that point, my timer went off, prompting me to go into the bathroom to quickly apply my ointment. It seemed that whenever it began to run low and I had to think about having to go back to the shop on my ‘days off’ the container would always refill itself. So I guess that was a nice plus.
With everything ready for my next horrible errand, I hugged and kissed my mom goodbye before leaving my house and heading in the direction of the voodoo store. Despite it clearly being labeled ‘Half Priced Voodoo Store’, my mind constantly wanted to call it a voodoo shop. Something about it just rolled off the tongue better. Maybe Creole had a branding issue or something. The sun was just about to dip below the horizon and the streetlight flickered to life, creepily illuminating my way towards the shitty part of town where the shop/store was located.
This time thankfully I didn’t run into any drug dealers or crackheads. But my hands never left my pockets the entire time. I had my finger on the trigger of the pepper spray ready for anyone that might want to jump me. But I arrived safely at the store and opened the door, the sad rusty bell signaling my arrival.
Waiting for me at the register was Jacob. It hadn’t gotten any easier to look at him. He was in a new outfit, however. Before he had been in a suit similar to King Creole’s, but now he was wearing a bellboy outfit. It was bright red with shiny gold trimmings. He looked like some sort of ornamental nutcracker or something with how new and shiny he looked. His stitched-up mouth was now curled up into a smile as he eagerly waved hello to me.
“Doesn’t he just look positively lovely?!” Creole shouted excitedly, causing me to yelp in surprise as he suddenly appeared behind me. He wrapped his arm around me and led me closer to the register. Jacob took his hat off and did a little bow to me and I awkwardly waved hello to him, more worried about getting Creole off of me.
“He looks…good,” I said, shrugging his arm off of me and letting out a sigh of relief when he finally let me go. If he was offended by my shrugging his affection off he didn’t let it dampen his excitement over how Jacob looked.
“Doesn’t he? I wanted to try something new with him and I’m absolutely adoring how he turned out!” he shouted with giddy excitement. Jacob placed his little hat back on before bowing again and excusing himself to the backroom. He left us alone and I suddenly found the atmosphere much less inviting without him there.
“So…how’s business?’ I asked him, trying to cut some of the awkward tension in the room. He craned his neck down to look at me. I could swear that his head was about to break its stitches and his head would go tumbling to the floor with how he was staring at me.
“It’s great! Can’t complain about it at all actually.” Creole let out a big chuckle before slapping me on the back hard and heading behind the counter as if to escape any imaginary retaliation I might want to do to him. “Don’t worry Mace, I won’t let you kill yourself with small talk,” he said as he sat down in the chair that sat behind the register. “I need you to get me a mirror. A very special one.” His smile dipped a bit, this was something serious.
“What does it do? I assume since you want it, it probably isn’t normal.” I walked up to the counter and noticed that the voodoo template doll was staring back at me.
“You catch on quickly.” Creole snickered at me in a patronizing tone. “It’s best if I don’t tell you what it does. In fact, for your own safety, I’d advise you not even to glance at this mirror.” He raised his arm and fluttered his fingers, a scrap of paper appearing between his index and middle finger. “This place is also quite far away and I know y’all aren’t gonna make it walking. So I’ll give ya some help,” he said as he handed me the scrap of paper.
I took it from him and looked down at it. It was only what I guessed was a room number. “Where exactly is this?” I asked, looking back up toward the register. Only to find him not there anymore. I quickly spun on my heels to see if he was behind me and sure enough, the tall bastard had somehow teleported over to the entrance to his shop.
“An abandoned hotel in Pennsylvania. Quite the walk for you I know,” he said with that stupid smile on his face. That was at least a several-day nonstop walk, and there was no way I was making it there without my parents noticing.
“How exactly am I to get to Pennsylvania?” I asked him, stuffing the room number into my pocket. He giggled a bit as he motioned for me to come closer. I took a few steps over to him and watched as he again fluttered his fingers, soft purple flames emanated from his fingertips. He proceeded to draw on the door, and I watched with a hint of wonderment as it subtly gleaned purple and then died down into nothingness.
“It’s just a simple step away, darling.” He opened the door for me and I was more than a little surprised to see that the door didn’t open to the outside. It opened to the lobby of a hotel. I quickly walked over and stuck my head through the door. The other side was an almost pitch-black hotel room with dust and cobwebs floating through the air.
“You might want this also,” he said as he handed me an electric lantern. I nodded and grabbed it from him. I took a deep breath and entered the hotel. “Remember, don’t look at the mirror,” he warned me before shutting the door behind me. I stared back at the door and stayed in place for a few seconds in the pitch-blackness.
It took me a few seconds to figure out how to turn the lantern on, but when I at last illuminated the lobby I was more than happy. Not a single sound was being made in the hotel. Not a creak in the floorboards, no wind blowing from outside, not even the sounds of rats scampering around. It was absolute silence. The only sound I could hear was my breathing. If it wasn’t for the lamp I might have thought I was in a sensory deprivation chamber.
I fished the room number out of the pocket and stared down at it with the lantern. Room 1145. There were at least 11 floors to this hotel and I knew for damn sure that even if this place had an elevator there was no chance of it working. I walked over to the front desk and stared down at it, there was a bell there to ring for staff but something in my gut was telling me that it would be a terrible idea to ring it. So I simply moved on and headed towards the stairs, following the signs that pointed me the way.
While this place was abandoned it also seemed to be frozen in time. As I walked past the kitchen and dining area I was shocked to see food out and ready to be served. Breakfast foods were piled high and ready to be eaten. The coffee was warm, the milk was cold, and the fruit was fresh and ripe, it was like this place had been abandoned and left in limbo.
“This place is weird,” I mumbled to myself as I continued to walk towards the stairs. I opened the door that led to the stairwell and was immediately blasted with the overwhelming smell of rot. It was enough to cause me to drop the lantern and let out a retch that echoed throughout the entire hotel. I quickly picked the lantern back up and ran back toward the kitchen. I grabbed a cup of coffee, and quickly took a giant inhale of it just to get something else into my nostrils.
“Fuck,” Was all I could reasonably think of saying. Before I could even think about going back toward that stairwell again, I quickly picked up some giant napkins from one of the tables, the kind that you usually put on your lap, and wrapped them around my mouth and nose in a makeshift face mask, making sure to dampen it with coffee to give me at least something else just as strong to counteract the smell.
With my makeshift mask ready, I once again braved the stairwell. It didn’t take me long to find the culprit of the noxious smell. A pile of decomposed bodies was lying at the foot of the stairs. I couldn’t even begin to count how many of them were there, as their limbs were all tangled together. I shoved my mask as close as I could to my nostrils and did my best to focus only on the coffee smell. Time may have stopped for food in this hotel, but dead bodies sure as hell still decomposed just fine.
I was forced to step on them since there was no other way to begin climbing up the stairs. The sickening crunch and snapping of bones were enough to get another retch out of me as I desperately tried to focus on the smell of coffee. I moved as quickly as I could towards the stairs and began running up them as fast as possible. I didn’t dare take off my mask until I reached the 11th floor. Opening the door to the floor I quickly ran into the hallway and shut the door behind me. I took my mask off to see if I could breathe easier and was relieved to be away from the horrible smell of death.
I was never more grateful for the smell of something normal. I stood there catching my breath after running up 11 flights of stairs, and took a look around, moving the lantern up and down to see if anything else was up here with me. The halls were empty, but every single door on this floor had a do not disturb sign on the doorknob. After my breath was sufficiently caught, I started making my toward room 1145. The eerie silence was enough to start playing tricks on me. Every single step I took it felt like something was following close behind me. I would stop and shine the lantern behind me, but there was nothing there. But every time I started walking again I swear I could hear a second set of footsteps just after mine.
When I arrived at room 1145 I was happy to see that the door was an old one. It didn’t have the electronic locks that hotels have now, this one needed a key. And that’s why I had been sent here. I sat the lantern down next to me and got my tools out, ready to work on his lock. I was surprised by how this lock acted. It was almost like the lock Creole used for the Voodoo shop. The tumblers seemed to be changing constantly and every time it felt like I was close to getting somewhere all my progress was erased.
“Son of a bitch,” I mumbled as I fiddled with the lock. I wasn’t about to let some ancient probably magic-infused lock show me up. So with way more brute force than skill, I started attacking this lock with everything I had learned. And to my immense satisfaction, I heard the satisfying click of the door unlocking. I quickly turned the doorknob pushed the door open and clapped with joy over how I had finally gotten through the lock.
I quickly packed up my tools in their bag and stuffed them into my pocket. I made sure to look down at the floor just in case this freaky mirror was just standing there waiting for me to stare at it. I decided to use my makeshift facemask as a blindfold. I wrapped it around my head and reached my arms out to feel out in front of me. I left the lantern in the hallway since I was going in completely blind anyway.
I patted my hands out in the darkness to begin building up my surroundings. It wasn’t easy and I bumped into pretty much anything and everything I came across. Finally, after a few minutes of bumping into things, I got a general layout of the room. But I hadn’t figured out where the mirror was. It was then that it hit me, what size was this mirror? Creole hadn’t said if it was a body mirror or a handheld mirror or the fucking bathroom mirror.
Exiting back into the hallway I took off my blindfold and tried to think of a better way of doing this. I looked back into the darkness of the room and then down at the lantern. I picked up the lantern and then tossed it into the room. Immediately I could tell that there was no mirror right at the entrance so I would be okay to enter at least there with some light. I walked in with the lantern and looked around where the light touched. With that crossed off, I picked up the lantern and looked around for something to cover up a side of it. Lucky for me there were towels just hanging on the coat hanger on the door to the bathroom.
I covered one side of the lantern so that light could only appear on one side. I then extended my arm out into the main room of the hotel and slowly began to rotate the lantern as if it were some sort of makeshift lighthouse. My thinking was that if it came into contact with a mirror then the light would be reflected onto the wall not illuminated by the lantern since that side would be covered by the towel. And to my amusement, I was proven right when after a few turns, the light appeared on the other wall.
“Bingo,” I giggled as I quickly pulled the lantern back and placed it back on the floor. Then I tied my blindfold back on and quickly went out in the direction in which I had pointed my light. After a few seconds of groping in the darkness, my fingers came into contact with the cold and slick surface of a mirror. I must’ve been smiling a big stupid grin when I reached it. I felt the mirror up a bit and figured that it was some sort of standing mirror. I tried lifting it and found it relatively light.
Confident in my abilities I started walking towards the door. Of course, in my excitement over finding the mirror, I happened to have forgotten where I had placed the lantern. I tripped over it and fell with the mirror down onto the floor. I groaned in pain and surprise, feeling like a dumbass over how I had forgotten the lantern. And when I looked up from the floor I was shocked to see my reflection looking back at me. The fall had pulled down my blindfold.
“Shit!” I quickly sat up and grabbed the lantern. I half expected that I would explode or spontaneously combust or turn to dust. But after a few seconds, nothing happened to me. I closed my eyes and reached out to the mirror and sat it up completely. The first time had been an accident but the second time curiosity at last got to me and I opened my eyes to look at the mirror.
It was just my reflection. Nothing horrible about it, just me. I moved my arm around and did a few moves and it followed it perfectly. It seemed like a normal mirror. Had I gotten the wrong one? That train of thought was quickly derailed when I saw that my reflection was smiling at me. When I for sure wasn’t smiling. I backed up from the mirror and yet my reflection didn’t follow what I was doing, it just stared at me with a look of total malice in its eyes.
I watched with complete and utter terror as it began to contort and change. My limbs grew gangly. It looked like some sick funhouse mirror version of me. Her nails grew longer until they had completely turned into claws and my small stature was completely erased into some horrible stretched-out version of myself. It would’ve been scary enough if that was all it did, but then she started crawling out of the mirror.
“Oh fuck this!” I screamed as I quickly turned around and started sprinting towards the stairs. I probably haven’t run that fast since I was forced to run a mile in PE. My gym teacher probably would’ve loved the form I was using, it was probably textbook. I reached the stairs in no time flat. Only to discover that it was locked. “You gotta be fucking kidding!” I screamed and began fighting with the lock.
I looked back down the hall and screamed in absolute terror when I saw my reflection chasing after me on all fours like some skinwalker-looking thing. Her creepy smile was accompanied by some new sharp and jagged teeth that were no doubt ready to tear me to shreds. She didn’t even bother saying words to me, only cackling uncontrollably as she quickly closed the distance between us.
I wasted no more time on the locked door and sprinted down the hallway to my right and was more than happy to see a fire escape warning above the door at the end of the hall. As I was sprinting down the hall though, I could hear that my reflection was rapidly catching up with me. And I could feel that if I ran toward that door there’d be no way for me to make it there in time. I was about to look behind me when I noticed one of the hotel rooms was open. In a split second, I changed directions and ran into the room, quickly slamming the door shut behind me, locking and deadbolting the door. My reflection came slamming into the door but the thick wooden structure withstood her attack for the time being.
I lay on the floor catching my breath for a moment before I started looking around either for escape or for some sort of defence. I fished in my pocket for my pepper spray and got it out. I didn’t exactly know if my reflection would be affected by it but having it with me gave me a little sense of safety. I was also glad that through my blind panic, I had somehow managed to keep the lantern with me.
Any sense of safety was quickly erased when my reflection began banging on the door again, and I noticed cracks beginning to appear on the door. I couldn’t waste any more time. I looked around and tried to find something or anything to get me out of this situation. I thought about calling Creole but when I pulled my phone out I was met with the dreaded no signal. With that idea expended, I looked around the room and discovered it was one of those rooms that was separated by another with a door. If I could pick the lock I could sneak into the other room and maybe make it to the fire escape.
Quickly pulling my tools out I didn’t bother wasting a second and began trying to figure out which tool would do the best job. All the while my reflection was screaming an otherworldly scream and smashing herself against the door. To my immense relief, this lock didn’t seem to have any magic fuckery infused into it. And in no time flat I had picked the lock and had managed to enter the other room. I dimmed the lantern and quietly closed the dividing door behind me.
I waited in the dimly lit room until I heard the sounds of the door being broken down and my reflection entering the room. I was waiting at the door and the moment I heard her enter the other room, I slowly opened the door and exited into the hallway. I could hear her tearing the room apart looking for me. And I started making my way toward the fire exit. As quietly and as quickly as I could. I was about ten feet away from it when I heard her scream. I looked behind me and saw that she had exited the room and had seen me.
I sprinted toward the door and flung it open, I half expected to be put outside but instead, I came tumbling into the voodoo store. I was never more happy to see the dust-filled shop in my entire life. The fire exit had been linked to the front door of the voodoo shop and I had ended up smashing into one of the shelves of shrunken heads.
“Mace? Goodness darling! You in some kind of rush?” Creole asked as I heard his footsteps and cane rapidly approaching me. Before I could even look at him though I looked back at the door and reached out towards it.
“Quick! Shut it!” That was all I got out as my reflection came sprinting towards me. She leaped through the door and was about to lunge toward me when Creole swung his cane like a baseball bat and sent her flying into the glass window of the shop. The hit must’ve knocked her unconscious as she went limp after she hit the floor.
“I see ya looked at the mirror,” Creole said in clear disappointment. I stared up at him and then over toward my corrupted reflection. I quickly put him between me and her and did my best to try and explain how it had all happened. I must’ve been talking a million miles an hour and yet Creole seemed to understand everything completely. “I see so it was an accident,” he said after I was done and catching my breath.
“Yes, sir.” I nodded jumping a bit when Jacob suddenly appeared next to me with a glass of tea. I’m not normally a tea drinker but after what I had just gone through, I gladly accepted it from him and took a big sip of it.
“Well, there’s no harm in a simple mistake. Though why didn’t ya just put a blanket over the mirror once you found it?” Creole asked me as he walked over to my reflection and poked her with his cane. I nearly choked on my tea when he asked me that. The thought had never even crossed my mind and it was such a good idea.
“I…didn’t think of that,” I admitted to him. Embarrassed over having not thought of that. What had my plan even been? Walk down the stairs blindfolded holding a giant mirror? I felt like a dumbass.
“Ah, don’t worry about it Mace.” Just go and bring the mirror back here, I’ll deal with our long friend here,” Creole said as he rubbed his gloved hands together with giddy excitement. I nodded quickly and handed the nearly empty cup of tea over to Jacob before entering the hotel again through the voodoo shop’s entrance. When I rounded the turn to where I had left the mirror standing in the hallway I quickly shut my eyes as tightly as I could and began walking towards it, arm stretched out in an attempt to find it. I finally touched it and picked it up, carefully walking with it until I was back in the voodoo shop. I felt it being taken from me and figured it was Jacob taking it out of my hands.
“You can open your eyes now, Mace.” Creole greeted me with a chuckle after I had stood there with my eyes shut for a few minutes. When I opened them I saw that the mirror was covered by a thick white sheet and that Jacob was carrying it over to Creole’s office.
“Where’s…my reflection?” I asked, seeing that she was no longer crumpled in the corner.
“Oh while you were getting the mirror I tossed her back into the hotel. She shouldn’t be too much of a bother.” Creole let out one of his strange hums at this and beckoned me to follow him back to the register. “That’s four favors done and only one last one to do until you’ve cleared your debt with me.” Creole sat down and held up a single finger to me.
“Sir? What is that mirror even for? Why would you want something like that?” I asked him, really not caring at the moment that I had only one favor left to do for him.
“Call it an insurance policy, my darling Mace,” He said with a grin on his face. “If I ever need a way to come back, why not come back as a nightmare?” He asked me with a series of low and creepy laughs. He shooed me away as he began cackling and I was more than happy to leave him in a laughing fit. After everything I had just gone through, I wanted nothing more than to collapse into my bed and rot away.
One favor left. That’s all I had to do. Then I would be free. If only it had been that simple.
2024.05.05 21:04 Real_JC2 If you get more than 1 bingo you get a cookie! (+ template incase y’all wanna make your own)
 | submitted by Real_JC2 to MySingingMonsters [link] [comments] |
2024.04.17 01:23 CatWatt April 16th Special Days - Featuring Mushroom Freebies!
2024.04.10 22:21 thethirdworstthing Decided to do one of the "faker bingos" (included blank template)
(I did debate giving a "sort of" on the OSDD1b, solely because we do have very effective methods to communicate inside, but those were set up by sysmates, not by default)
submitted by thethirdworstthing to plural [link] [comments]
2024.04.10 00:13 masala-chomper [TW: FDC mention] just did the DID faker bingos (credit to u/Alexizking for the blank templates)
submitted by masala-chomper to plural [link] [comments]
2024.04.10 00:01 CatWatt April 8th Special Days - Featuring Zoo Freebies!
2024.04.04 16:44 kjmichaels 10 Years of r/Fantasy Bingo - A Retrospective
Bingo is now officially in its 10th year. Given its milestone anniversary, I've been feeling nostalgic in the lead up to this year's announcement. So I did what any reasonable person would do in that situation: I dug through every official post in Bingo's history to compile a timeline of Bingo's evolution and begged dozens of people who contributed to Bingo's history and evolution to talk with me about Fantasy's favorite yearly reading challenge.
You are about to read the results of that work. I present my Bingo retrospective.
Even in its earliest form, you can see nascent themes that would drive Bingo for years to come. A desire to increase sub participation (Square 6: Novel by an Fantasy AMA Author), an interest in bringing attention to underread authors (Square 10: Novel from Fantasy's Underread and Underrated List), and a focus on diversity (Square 4: Novel by an Author on Fantasy's Women in Fantasy List and Square 7: Novel Originally Written in a Language Other Than English). You can even see most of the staple squares were there from the very beginning with the debut of Self-Published Novel, Novel Published in [Current Year], 5 Fantasy Short Stories, and Any Fantasy Goodreads Book of the Month.
I asked lrich1024 about why she decided to start bingo and what she expected from it:
What's striking about this early period is how far less communal the challenge was despite the sub excitement. The number of posts about Bingo from this time period are quite minimal. Most users appeared to just take the challenge at face value and not really seek much discussion about it. This is reflected in the participation rate at the end of the year. At the time of the final thread, only about 80 people had turned in cards. It was a small start but there was clearly a lot of enthusiasm from people who had participated.
I asked a few users who had participated in Bingo every year since the start about their first Bingo. u/unconundrum said this about their first Bingo:
The final turn in thread was posted midway through March 2016 and users had to manually type up their entire card to submit it. It was definitely a clunky way to do things but due to the small participation size, very doable. There was no tracking for how many people submitted cards but from manually counting submission comments in the turn in thread, I estimate just over 80 people participated.
The recommendation thread was adopted as an official part of the Bingo process and posted the same day as the announcement by u/lyrrael, enabling users to plan as efficiently and quickly as possible. What's striking to me seeing this earliest official rec thread is that it's already in its mostly current form. The OP posts the thread and makes individual comments on each square so users can suggest books for said square. There wouldn't be another major innovation to the Rec thread until 2021. I asked u/lyrrael about what it was like incorporating the Big Rec thread into part of the official workload:
On the user end, the challenge started to develop a slightly more communal bent. People began to improvise their own shared methods of tracking bingo progress. u/alexsbradshaw had produced a tracking sheet in 2015 and, after users asked about it, provided an editable copy for everyone in the comments of the 2016 announcement thread. This would eventually lead to a yearly tradition of fan made resources being prepped for each subsequent Bingo year but at this stage, there were only a smatter of options.
Another major innovation from 2016 was the now much loved Bingo Stats. u/FarragutCircle, then a fairly new user, analyzed all of the turned in cards and shared info about each square like gender breakdowns in reading, number of unique books read per square, and what the most popular books for each square were. Farragut had this to say about his decision to run stats:
2017 was the first year users became really involved in helping boost Bingo via resource creation that was ready right at the start of the year. Several users either contributed graphics or tracking sheets to the running of Bingo to make it easier for everyone. u/thequeensownfool unveiled a fancy Bingo visual while people like u/shift_shaper and u/Millennium_Dodo both provided tracking sheets. u/thequeensownfool had this to say about making resources for Bingo:
At this point, Bingo was on its 4th year of running, had found its groove as a recurring community feature, and was a fully absorbed part of the mod workload. It was now just as official as any Top Novel poll or Stabby award thread. The details are a little murky at this point but I believe 2018 is when the first official Bingo team was created behind the scenes to help lrich run Bingo. I can't fully tell if it was created prior to the 2018 announcement or if it was created during this stretch prior to the 2019 announcement but either way it appears that the Bingo team came into full existence during the 2018 calendar year. Essentially the mods spun off a side group that was responsible for all things Bingo and help run all the various features that had gotten too big for any one use to handle on their own. There had been intermittent help from random users throughout the years but this would have marked the first time there was a dedicated group working in tandem to host Bingo.
This was also the first Bingo u/happy_book_bee participated in who will eventually become a major Bingo figure in a few more years. I asked her about what drew her into Bingo and here's what she had to say:
The 2018 Stats reveal that 264 users participated.
The April Fool's card this year was Australia focused and authored by u/Megan_Dawn. It included "OFFICIAL" in the title to help sell the joke but later April Fool's cards would drop "OFFICIAL" from the title to help users better distinguish between the April Fool's card and the Official card.
Behind the scenes, Bingo collaboration was in full swing. While u/lrich1024 remained the main driver, an official Bingo team of experienced mods was handling the majority of upkeep and answering questions wherever possible. Perhaps the most notable example of how big Bingo had gotten can be seen in how many people had to help launch a successful Bingo release day at this point. Farragut had this to say about the challenges of running a successful release day for Bingo:
The April Fool's card was entirely in French with an English translation provided at the end. As it turned out, the theme that year was Canada.
2020 was the first year of the Reverse Bingo Rec thread. The original thread was deleted but luckily a copycat thread by u/VictorySpeaks lives on. This was a solution to the problem of people trying to rec books for multiple squares in the Big Rec thread. The Reverse thread allowed users to post books they wanted to read for Bingo and users would tell them which squares those books would fit. The Reverse rec thread is still not an official part of Bingo to this day but users always generate at least one of these per Bingo year since 2020.
The 2020 Statistics saw a major change as u/FarragutCircle announced his retirement from doing the stats every year. As Bingo scaled up, it had become difficult for any one person to keep up with the demand and so Farragut promised that while the data would be made available to enterprising users who wanted to do the stats for themselves, he personally had hit his limit. Farragut had this to say about his decision to retire:
The Rec thread of 2021 got its first major innovation since it became an official part of the Bingo launch in the form of a navigation matrix. Instead of having to scroll for each square, users could simply click anywhere in the box to jump to that square and its recs. I reached out to the user who added the navigation matrix, me, and asked myself why I implemented the feature. Here's what I had to say:
The 2021 Statistics were taken over by u/SeiShonagon with help from u/fuckit_sowhat and u/ullsi. From combing the raw data, I was able to confirm that this year there were a stunning 665 participants.
2022 was also the year of the Taylor Swift April Fool's thread, a bingo card composed entirely of Swift song titles and references. This is just a couple dozen upvotes shy of tying with the Horror April Fool's card from 2021 for most popular April Fool's thread. I spoke to the main writer of the Taylor Swift card and here's what they had to say:
I spoke to u/happy_book_bee about what it was like finding her footing as the new Bingo Queen:
submitted by kjmichaels to Fantasy [link] [comments]
You are about to read the results of that work. I present my Bingo retrospective.
2015 - Origins
On April 4, 2015 at around 7 pm EST, the first Bingo challenge ever was announced by u/lrich1024. The sub was positively tiny back then with only around 70,000 users so the challenge may look like it only attracted modest attention with 70 or so upvotes and around 200 comments but believe me, it was huge for the sub at the time. Comments were enthusiastic and supportive with many people talking about what square they were most excited to try.Even in its earliest form, you can see nascent themes that would drive Bingo for years to come. A desire to increase sub participation (Square 6: Novel by an Fantasy AMA Author), an interest in bringing attention to underread authors (Square 10: Novel from Fantasy's Underread and Underrated List), and a focus on diversity (Square 4: Novel by an Author on Fantasy's Women in Fantasy List and Square 7: Novel Originally Written in a Language Other Than English). You can even see most of the staple squares were there from the very beginning with the debut of Self-Published Novel, Novel Published in [Current Year], 5 Fantasy Short Stories, and Any Fantasy Goodreads Book of the Month.
I asked lrich1024 about why she decided to start bingo and what she expected from it:
Well, like all my best ideas, it was created completely on a whim. It was around the time that there was another book challenge going around that everyone was complaining about because it promoted diversity in reading and another user (Krista) and I were talking about that on a post about it and how silly it was because there’s all sorts of reading challenges and you can either do them or not do them. Then I mentioned I had a done a book bingo the previous year and said something like "Oh, I should make an Fantasy book bingo" and suddenly everyone was like "you totally should!" and the rest is history.As with all new things, there were some growing pains as people independently fumbled their way towards ideas that are now staples of the challenge. As an example, the first Bingo recommendation thread didn't get posted until June 30, almost 3 full months after Bingo's launch, by u/juscent.
What's striking about this early period is how far less communal the challenge was despite the sub excitement. The number of posts about Bingo from this time period are quite minimal. Most users appeared to just take the challenge at face value and not really seek much discussion about it. This is reflected in the participation rate at the end of the year. At the time of the final thread, only about 80 people had turned in cards. It was a small start but there was clearly a lot of enthusiasm from people who had participated.
I asked a few users who had participated in Bingo every year since the start about their first Bingo. u/unconundrum said this about their first Bingo:
Honestly, I had no plans on participating in that first one but about a month from the goal, I realized I only had a handful of books left.u/improperly_paranoid:
I first stumbled upon Bingo when I was fairly new to the subreddit. I don't remember why did I decide to participate anymore (look, it's been almost 10 years lol) except that it seemed like a fun thing to try to do.u/kjmichaels (me):
I had been on Fantasy for 2 years by this point and was just starting to get bored with the predictable recs. So when a big challenge popped up to shake me out of what was starting to feel like a reading rut, I jumped at the chance to participate.u/The_Real_JS
I think back when bingo first started, everything was very fresh for me. I'd been on the sub for a few years at that point and was fairly involved in things, so bingo was of course something I was going to do. It wasn't even a very hard sell; I knew others who'd done reading bingos outside of Fantasy, and I'd wanted to give it a shot.For all the excitement around the initial post, Bingo didn't take up much space outside of the first and final posts. People did not post reviews of their Bingo reads as much and there were relatively few threads where people tried to find books to fit the squares. I'm not sure how much of this is due to these first squares potentially being easier than later squares versus the fact that Bingo was not as communal as I said earlier.
The final turn in thread was posted midway through March 2016 and users had to manually type up their entire card to submit it. It was definitely a clunky way to do things but due to the small participation size, very doable. There was no tracking for how many people submitted cards but from manually counting submission comments in the turn in thread, I estimate just over 80 people participated.
2016 - Becoming Official
2016's card debuted on April 1st and that has been the official start date of Bingo ever since. This year saw the debut of the Graphic Novel square which would be a staple square for several years. The biggest change from the previous year is that the 2015 Bingo assumed all of its squares were self-explanatory but the 2016 Bingo now includes a lengthy text section explaining each square as best as possible -- a mistake which has haunted Bingo ever since and led to endless litigation over what counts for each square. The re-read rule was also introduced allowing users to use one book they had already read previously as a square filler. Additionally, a FAQ was also added to address recurring questions from the previous year. Lastly, u/lrich1024 closed out the post with a heartfelt thanks to the Bingo community and since then all official announcement posts end with a similar message of positivity and brotherhood.The recommendation thread was adopted as an official part of the Bingo process and posted the same day as the announcement by u/lyrrael, enabling users to plan as efficiently and quickly as possible. What's striking to me seeing this earliest official rec thread is that it's already in its mostly current form. The OP posts the thread and makes individual comments on each square so users can suggest books for said square. There wouldn't be another major innovation to the Rec thread until 2021. I asked u/lyrrael about what it was like incorporating the Big Rec thread into part of the official workload:
Fantasy was a lot smaller at the time and I really wanted people to be exposed to books beyond the obvious books that are recommended all the time. At the time, I was spending a lot of time writing recommendation lists for literally anyone who had a question and was getting all the obvious answers. I still do this, but on a much smaller basis. When I heard lrich was working on a bingo challenge, I got really excited about the possibilities of exposing people to books, genres, and authors that were beyond the prominent discussion and latched on hard.A burgeoning problem with the rec thread was that some users didn't read the post instructions and so there were always stray comments breaking the post rules. The most common issue is that recs have to be in response to a square prompt comment but plenty of users make a separate top level comment to just rec a single book for multiple squares. Bingo would eventually find several alternate approaches to solving this problem in later years.
On the user end, the challenge started to develop a slightly more communal bent. People began to improvise their own shared methods of tracking bingo progress. u/alexsbradshaw had produced a tracking sheet in 2015 and, after users asked about it, provided an editable copy for everyone in the comments of the 2016 announcement thread. This would eventually lead to a yearly tradition of fan made resources being prepped for each subsequent Bingo year but at this stage, there were only a smatter of options.
Another major innovation from 2016 was the now much loved Bingo Stats. u/FarragutCircle, then a fairly new user, analyzed all of the turned in cards and shared info about each square like gender breakdowns in reading, number of unique books read per square, and what the most popular books for each square were. Farragut had this to say about his decision to run stats:
In the comments to the turn-in thread for the 2nd Bingo (2016, posted in 2017), someone had asked lrich1024 a question about the most used author, and she didn't know. But I thought "I bet I could figure it out."From these first Bingo stats, we have our first official tally of Bingo participant: 145 users. A solid based from which to grow over the coming years.
2017 - Chugging Along
The 2017 card featured a few minor updates to the 2016 card. The staple square Graphic Novel was changed to Graphic Novel or Audiobook to account for visual impairment.2017 was the first year users became really involved in helping boost Bingo via resource creation that was ready right at the start of the year. Several users either contributed graphics or tracking sheets to the running of Bingo to make it easier for everyone. u/thequeensownfool unveiled a fancy Bingo visual while people like u/shift_shaper and u/Millennium_Dodo both provided tracking sheets. u/thequeensownfool had this to say about making resources for Bingo:
I discovered Fantasy bingo when I was kinda in limbo. An arm injury made my previous hobbies impossible for a while so I turned back to reading. What I loved about bingo was how it helped me read widely and introduce me to a group of online fans I could share my love with. It helped me tailor my reading to what I was actually interested in, instead of bouncing off the best-sellers list like I'd been doing.It's difficult to imagine Bingo now without the fan-made resources. I can personally attest that u/shift_shaper's tracking sheet has been my go to tracker for years at this point. I asked them about what led them to making their sheet and here was their response:
I use spreadsheets for pretty much everything. So, when I first got into Bingo, I set up a sheet to track my own progress and fill out my card and it kind of evolved from there. I showed it off to one of my book friends, and they (gently) suggested the obvious - other people would probably find it helpful as well. The rest is history. I will also say that I thoroughly enjoy the challenge each year of keeping it up-to-date and trying to add in features that other Fantasy members suggest.Author Krista D Ball maintained the big rec thread in this early period and had this to say about it:
I genuinely enjoyed—indeed, looked forward to—running the unofficial Bingo recommendation lists. It remains one of the most positive parts of my decade-long history on Fantasy.The 2017 Stats show that 228 users participated this year. A significant jump from the first year.
2018 - Becoming an Institution
2018 saw a big change to the Bingo announcement in the introduction of the now recurring April Fool's announcement. From talking around to various Bingo people, it seems that the first April Fool's thread was masterminded solely by u/lrich1024 but that subsequent Bingo threads were handled collectively by the mod team with one user taking lead in writing to the agreed on theme and the other mods providing feedback and ideas. Here's what she had to say about starting the April Fool's thread:Funny thing about the April start: I was originally going to wait until the next year rolled around and start then but one of the mods at the time (probably u/MikeofthePalace) said "just start it the beginning of the next month" which happened to be April. I don’t exactly remember what spurred on the first April Fool’s day Bingo card except that people were looking forward to it and thoughts were bandied about that it would be fun to put up a fake card and watch as it slowly dawned on everyone.The official 2018 thread also featured a number of new innovations to Bingo. The biggest one was the introduction of Hard Mode options to voluntarily make the challenge harder on yourself if you chose. With this add on came a change to make Bingo slightly easier: the substitution rule that allows users to swap out one square for any square from a previous Bingo sheet. Clearly, Bingo was trying to find the right balance between enabling users who wanted a serious challenge while also helping users for whom reading 25 books in a year was already a pretty steep challenge.
At this point, Bingo was on its 4th year of running, had found its groove as a recurring community feature, and was a fully absorbed part of the mod workload. It was now just as official as any Top Novel poll or Stabby award thread. The details are a little murky at this point but I believe 2018 is when the first official Bingo team was created behind the scenes to help lrich run Bingo. I can't fully tell if it was created prior to the 2018 announcement or if it was created during this stretch prior to the 2019 announcement but either way it appears that the Bingo team came into full existence during the 2018 calendar year. Essentially the mods spun off a side group that was responsible for all things Bingo and help run all the various features that had gotten too big for any one use to handle on their own. There had been intermittent help from random users throughout the years but this would have marked the first time there was a dedicated group working in tandem to host Bingo.
This was also the first Bingo u/happy_book_bee participated in who will eventually become a major Bingo figure in a few more years. I asked her about what drew her into Bingo and here's what she had to say:
Bingo came into my life at a weird time. I was recently graduated from college and starting my first full time job at a law firm. I suddenly was no longer required to read books decided by my classes (though, to be fair, I did read some incredible books via my English and Creative Writing classes) and I had…. Time?The 2018 Final Thread featured the introduction of the first ever Official Submission Form for Bingo. Yet another mark of Bingo's growing popularity, it was no longer feasible to have every participant simply post their card in the comments. Going forward, this retrospective will stop featuring Final threads because they become less interesting without cards to check out.
The 2018 Stats reveal that 264 users participated.
2019 - Bingo Turns 5
The 2019 official thread featured the announcement of Hero mode which added the challenge of reviewing everything you read for Bingo during the course of the year even if it was only a single sentence review. The Fantasy Book of the Month square was also expanded to allow users to pick a book from any book club or readalong past or present.The April Fool's card this year was Australia focused and authored by u/Megan_Dawn. It included "OFFICIAL" in the title to help sell the joke but later April Fool's cards would drop "OFFICIAL" from the title to help users better distinguish between the April Fool's card and the Official card.
Behind the scenes, Bingo collaboration was in full swing. While u/lrich1024 remained the main driver, an official Bingo team of experienced mods was handling the majority of upkeep and answering questions wherever possible. Perhaps the most notable example of how big Bingo had gotten can be seen in how many people had to help launch a successful Bingo release day at this point. Farragut had this to say about the challenges of running a successful release day for Bingo:
The main thing we needed to do was to 1) finalize the new card, including whether the square descriptions and (later) the hard modes made sense, 2) lock the turn-in form, 3) post the new card, 4) post the big list of recommendations (after u/KristaDBall doing that one for a couple years). We managed the moving parts by a lot of volunteer work stepping up to help lrich1024 and expanding to about half of the mod team during "crunch time." [ed. note: "half the mod team" would mean about 6 to 8 people at this point]There aren't really innovations to discuss when it comes to the stats or final thread but it's a good time to check in on the participant total. 296 people participated in this year, more than double the confirmed number of participants from year 2. All in all, a rather sleepy year that kept pace with previous years.
2020 - Bingo in the Time of COVID
Bingo 2020 came at an interesting time. A little more than a month in to a global pandemic, people were itching for something to do.The April Fool's card was entirely in French with an English translation provided at the end. As it turned out, the theme that year was Canada.
2020 was the first year of the Reverse Bingo Rec thread. The original thread was deleted but luckily a copycat thread by u/VictorySpeaks lives on. This was a solution to the problem of people trying to rec books for multiple squares in the Big Rec thread. The Reverse thread allowed users to post books they wanted to read for Bingo and users would tell them which squares those books would fit. The Reverse rec thread is still not an official part of Bingo to this day but users always generate at least one of these per Bingo year since 2020.
The 2020 Statistics saw a major change as u/FarragutCircle announced his retirement from doing the stats every year. As Bingo scaled up, it had become difficult for any one person to keep up with the demand and so Farragut promised that while the data would be made available to enterprising users who wanted to do the stats for themselves, he personally had hit his limit. Farragut had this to say about his decision to retire:
The biggest challenge I gave myself was usually the standardization--people tend to be very loose with how they write down authors and titles (looking at you, RuinEleint), sometimes even mixing up who wrote what.Farragut's 2020 stats were the last stats to feature a total number of participants (480, for the record). All future stats only listed number of cards or squares completed. It is striking though that Bingo in 2020 had nearly twice as many participants as in 2019. It's probably due to an explosion in people needing things to do caused by COVID happening.
2021 - Bingo: The Next Generation
2021's April Fool's card was horror themed and is to date the most popular and upvoted prank card. Though the AF cards continue to be mostly popular, they're not without controversy. Some users complain about them every year since they arrive a few hours before the official card and it can take a minute to catch on that it's not the real card. I spoke to one such user, u/RevolutionaryCommand for a dissenting perspective on the April Fool's cards and perspective on how Bingo has evolved over the years:I just don't think it's funny, and given the repetition of the joke and the fact that the April's Fool card always gets me, it can get a little annoying. I'm always excited for the new bingo card, and then I get "blue-balled" every year. It's no big deal, really.The official 2021 card retired the staple square Graphic Novel or Audiobook. Users had regularly complained about having a permanent format restricted square and so it was finally dropped. There was also a significant visual update to the Bingo card as it went from seemingly being made in Microsoft Word to being made in Canva which made it nicer to post around the Internet. Another minor change is that the Daily Simple Questions and Recommendations thread was announced as the best place to get rulings on whether books would count for Bingo during the course of the year.
The Rec thread of 2021 got its first major innovation since it became an official part of the Bingo launch in the form of a navigation matrix. Instead of having to scroll for each square, users could simply click anywhere in the box to jump to that square and its recs. I reached out to the user who added the navigation matrix, me, and asked myself why I implemented the feature. Here's what I had to say:
I thought it would cut down on the number of people commenting in the wrong place during the Rec thread. It didn't. But people loved how easy it was to use so we kept it anyway.2021 was also the first year that the Bingo challenge was exported to Storygraph by u/Nat-Rose. The exporting of the challenge to Storygraph would be taken over by u/hellodahly in subsequent years. u/hellodahly had this to say about getting involved with fan resources:
As I'm sure is the case with many people, Bingo really helped revive my interest in reading (along with Fantasy in general). It is such a fun way to expand my reading horizons, and get recommendations for books in categories I never would have thought of like weird ecology or fantasy romance (it turns out I love them).The biggest change to Bingo ever came in the Halfway thread. I've mostly avoided talking about the halfway threads because there's not much to say about them. However, this year was different. After several years of running Bingo, u/lrich1024 retired from her position of Bingo Queen and publicly handed the reins over to u/happy_book_bee who has run Bingo ever since. Here's what lrich1024 had to say about retiring:
I never really did bingo 100% alone. I bounced ideas off of others, friends I made in the subreddit, and later off the other mods. Bingo became more of a group project. People made various templates, helped count the cards, came up with a system for turning in cards to count them easier, etc. Bingo couldn't run without these volunteers. And coming up with squares…well I was always asking for suggestions! I only kept arranging the final card to myself because I loved to try and balance the rows and columns well.The community largely handled lrich's retirement in stride, thanking her for her work starting this annual tradition and wishing her luck on any future endeavors. Happy book bee ably concluded the year's Bingo with the help of the Bingo team and if there were any complaints about her performance during this transitional period, they weren't in any of the official threads.
The 2021 Statistics were taken over by u/SeiShonagon with help from u/fuckit_sowhat and u/ullsi. From combing the raw data, I was able to confirm that this year there were a stunning 665 participants.
2022 - Under New Management
Bingo 2022 was the first year fully under u/happy_book_bee's stewardship. She made her new approach to Bingo known with the the introduction of modest democratic reforms to Bingo in the form of the Bingo Vote square. This now yearly post goes up at the beginning of the March before Bingo is announced and gives users the chance to select one of the 25 squares from 3 competing options.2022 was also the year of the Taylor Swift April Fool's thread, a bingo card composed entirely of Swift song titles and references. This is just a couple dozen upvotes shy of tying with the Horror April Fool's card from 2021 for most popular April Fool's thread. I spoke to the main writer of the Taylor Swift card and here's what they had to say:
The Bingo team looooooooves to work on April Fool's threads. When I was an official part of the team, it was pretty common for the AF threads to be pre-written long before the official threads because of how fun it was to work on them.The official announcement was pretty standard by this point. As queen, happy_book_bee stuck very close to the common format of the previous announcements only changing out the squares and adding a new personal message of appreciation for the Bingo community to replace lrich's original personalized message.
I spoke to u/happy_book_bee about what it was like finding her footing as the new Bingo Queen:
I joined the mod team around the time u/lrich1024 was getting ready to retire from Bingo. Maybe it was just how passionate I was about the challenge but the other mods gifted me control of bingo almost immediately. A complete honor, though I quickly realized I was a little out of my depth.The 2022 Statistics were taken over by u/smartflutist661. Again, combing the raw data, we find that there were 742 participants in this year. In 8 years, Bingo had grown to be about 10 times as big as when it first started in 2015.
Continued Here
2024.04.03 04:03 C0smicoccurence 2024 Bingo Recommendations for Kids
Hey fantasy! For the third year I’m presenting options for those looking to do Bingo with kids and teens in their life (or who want to read YA or Middle Grade books for their own bingo). This project originated after I had some students ask about the bingo challenge I talked about in class; I teach middle and high school English, and setting reading goals is something we do four times each year. Bingo-related goals are pretty common for me fourth quarter. Since then I’ve started doing this list, which I share with students who express interest, but also to you all to look at or ignore at your convenience.
The books below are options I think are good recs for a variety of kids, with three per category. This list includes both Middle Grade and Young Adult, but leans more towards Middle Grade this year, since that’s been my curriculum focus recently. I’ll flag when I haven’t read a book and why I still recommend it.
While some here will be familiar to folks, I really wanted to include books many here might not know, since oftentimes book recs for kids here tend to be from 15+ years ago. This doesn’t mean those recs are bad, but more that there tends to be a specific set of books this sub recommends for kids from their childhood, without any knowledge of the awesome books being published now!
First in a Series
Wilderlore: this is basically animal companions, the series! Kids love them, and it’s a staple in my 6th grade classroom. Really fun series.
Scythe: this is my YA Dystopia of choice, and I think it does a really good job of leaning into YA tropes while making them work for the premise. Basically in order to avoid overpopulation in a world that has solved death, specific individuals have the job of being able to permanently kill folks. This book follows two students who are selected to train as Scythes. The later books have lots of fun things to say about how we view history through a tainted lens!
Mage Errant: popular here, but one not widely recommended for kids. It’s a great magic school story, and perfect for kids who might like something a bit like a Marvel movie in level of substance and epic fight scenes.
Alliterative Title
Eva Evergreen the Semi-Magical Witch: Inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service, this book is lighthearted and fun for someone looking for an enjoyable romp.
A Wolf Called Wander: This is a great little book that follows a wolf trying to find his place in the world. Its only speculative elements are that we’re inside a wolf’s head, but kids have loved it.
The Lion, The Witch, and The WardrobeThe Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: a classic of the fantasy genre, and many kids still enjoy it. I tend to find its a bit heavy handed, but the series undoubtedly has some magic to it.
Under The Surface
Daughter of the Deep: The newest Rick Riordan book! Or one of the newer ones. He publishes a lot. This one leaves behind his normal schtick of mythology, and I think he does a good job of maintaining his identity as a writer while doing something new. Most fantasy loving kids will adore this on author’s name alone.
Gregor the Overlander: A nostalgia childhood pick about a normal kid and his baby sister who fall into an underground world filled with oversized talking animals. Bat Riders, Chosen Ones, Prophecies, and Cockroaches abound. Great series, and Suzanne Collins was a wonderful writer even before Hunger Games
Somewhere in the Deep: I have not read this book, but it’s recently published (Feb 2024) and I didn’t have other great recs for this.
Criminals
Six of CrowsSix of Crows: Most here know this one, but it’s a gold standard for criminal fantasy in general, YA or not. A crew of six criminals breaks into the world’s most secure vault. Kids now might know them from the Netflix show.
Cosmoknights: queer women fighting the space patriarchy with mechs! A wonderful set of graphic novels with a good balance of action, theme, and character development. Appeals to young and old alike, and gives a breadth of representation for queer women.
Artemis Fowl: Boy genius believes in fairies and kidnaps one to blackmail the culture for gold. Another pick from my childhood. It’s worth noting that the writing style (especially in the opening bits) have posed a challenge to students, and is harder than you likely remember it being.
Dreams
Wynd: Another great graphic novel! A pretty classic heroes journey setup of a kid who has to run quickly to avoid being captured as a monster.
The Nightmare Thief: another phenomenal horror book set in a small coastal town, following a girl who works in the family business of selling dreams. Things go wrong when she’s blackmailed into making nightmares for a mysterious woman though.
Raven Cycle: Haven’t read it, but a 10th grader who could likely write this list better than me recommended it.
Entitled Animals
When You Trap a Tiger: a magical realism book pulling on Korean mythology, this one was pretty widely acclaimed in librarian circles.
Beetle and the Hollowbones: A graphic novel that skews towards the younger end. Beetle is filled with fun characters and great illustrations. Just a fun story.
Leviathan: World War 1, but with mechs and genetically engineered whales. Solid trilogy for those who like alternate history, girls dressing as boys to sneak into the military, and snarky princes who improve over time.
Bards
The Last Cuentista: a dystopia that bucks a lot of the trends of YA dystopias. Follows the last person who remembers earth after the spaceship captain she was in deep-sleep for takes over and changes the mission of the last humans to flee Earth. She is the holder of the memories of the older world.
A Snake Falls to Earth: a Lipan girl tells stories using social media meets a snake-person who is trying to save his best friend. A great use of mythology to tell an interesting story that doesn’t draw on existing middle grade literature as a template to copy/paste off. Really wonderful book.
Inkheart: A girl discovers she can read characters out of books, which goes horribly wrong when she accidentally reads the villain of a fantasy book into her world.
Prologues and Epilogues
Sir Callie: This series is wonderfully queer and features a nonbinary protagonist (fleetingly rare in fantasy, especially for kids). The story itself won’t push you too much, but it’s sweet and fun.
Steelheart: Brandon Sanderson’s take on evil superheroes. Kids tend to love or hate this action packed series. Book 1 follows the main character’s quest for revenge on Steelheart, who totally isn’t Superman.
Ranger's Apprentice: an addictive series from my childhood that relies on classic tropes, moody atmosphere, and sneaky/smart characters. It’s pretty formulaic, but a lot of fun. After the first two books, the supernatural elements vanish, and it’s a mundane world that sort of maps onto ours. Sassy ponies abound.
Self-Published
The Journals of Evander Tailer: This is one of my favorite magic school stories being published right now! A good balance of social commentary, cool magic (the main character leans into crafting/witchcraft instead of battle magic), and a wholesome gay romance on the side.
Dreadnought: One of the more read books for Superheros in 2023, it follows a trans-girl who magically transitions as she assumes the mantle of Dreadnaught (also totally not Superman). I think the stronger parts of the book are examining how her life changes after transitioning, with the superhero elements being a little more simple.
Trapped in a Video Game: A kid gets trapped in a sci fi video game. A classic premise, written for middle schoolers.
Romantasy: Nothing really that I could think of for middle school, but I’m sure others could provide some options.
Cemetary Boys: my favorite paranormal romance where a brujo must solve the mystery of a murdered teen who is haunting him. Along the way they fall in love.
So This is Ever After: I’ll be honest. This book is stupid. In the best way possible. If you want a mindless fantasy romance, this is your pick. The Chosen One must marry before his birthday or fade into nothingness. So he tries to date his way through his adventuring party because the one he has a crush on totally couldn’t like him back.
Graceling: My pick for kids who don’t like romance as much. This one has a good blend of action and romance, following a cutthroat enforcer whose magical gifts are used to terrorize the people by her uncle. Only she’s working night shifts with the rebellion trying to right all her uncle’s wrongs. This book has the scariest villain in fantasy I’ve read.
Dark Academia: Another tough one, since Academia tends to imply college or above. I did my best.
Amari and the Night Brothers: A girl goes to magic school to hunt down clues for her missing brother only to find she is one of the most powerful mages in the world. This book seemed poised to take up the mantle of Harry Potter. I don’t think it quite hit that level of popularity, but the books are great.
Charlie Bone: dark gothic school with a kid who can talk to portraits. This whole series feels like it was written in black and white. Can get creepy, but never quite enters horror.
Schoolomance: Is this YA? I think book 1 fits, but not so much the sequels. Regardless, the author has accepted nominations YA awards, so I don’t feel too bad putting it here. If it is adult, teens will be fine reading it. Imagine a magic school where everything is trying to kill you: the students, the monsters, even the furniture. Oh and the main character is a warlock of doom destined to destroy the magical world as she knows it. And she’s grumpy, but ultimately a golden human being despite how much she glares at people.
Multi-POV
The Magic Fish: Probably my favorite book on this list, and a true masterpiece. It weaves together stories of a young Vietnamese boy trying to come out to his mother, her history of immigrating to the US, and three fairy tales from different cultures. Beautiful art, beautiful story, and has enough thematic depth to stand up to rereads. One of the only books I’ve ever used as a whole-class read.
Gearbreakers: sapphic action dystopia with mechs and romance! Enough said.
Theo Tan and the Fox Spirt: So much great middle grade fantasy has been coming out recently, and this one was a joy. This book blends classic fantasy action, Chinese mythology elements, and dealing with grief.
Published in 2024: I have read none of these, but I desperately want to soon.
Kindling: What happens to child soldiers after they’re no longer needed?
Curse of Eelgrass Bog: seems like a very vibe-y supernatural mystery book that leaves the action packed fantasy behind for something more thematic.
A Tempest of Tea: I know precious little about this book other than that vampires are involved and the cover is insanely good.
Disability
Magesterium: Cal desperately wants to flunk out of magic school to make his dad proud. Very Harry Potter inspired, with a good take on the chosen one trope. MC walks with a limp.
The Spirit Bares its Teeth: an autistic trans man is put in a correctional boarding school for misbehaving spirit-interacting women. A pretty dark book (thematically and also a lot of body horror) but very well written and with research to back up how women and people with disabilities were tried to be ‘healed’ in horribly cruel ways.
One For All: I have not read this book, but I wanted a non-limp physical disability (there were surprisingly many of those). It’s a feminist take on the three musketeers with a lead who has chronic illness.
Published in the 90s
Dealing with Dragons: Inspired by fairy tales, this book has a pretty typical 90s take on feminism, but is a lot of fun to read and has a good sense of humor.
Dragon Rider: A wonderful adventure with fantasy critters across a world. This book was a part of my childhood and I’m enthused to recommend it here.
Wild Magic: Tamora Pierce is awesome, and this was my first ever audiobook! Daine can talk to animals, but is terrified of her powers. She joins on as an apprentice to a housemistress and is thrust into a world of acceptance she’s not ready for. But her fear of what she can do is confronted by the growing need to master her skills. If you can listen to it, the fullcast audio production is phenomenal.
Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins oh My!
Fablehaven: a pair of siblings stay with their grandparents and discover they run a nature preserve for magical creatures. A troll plays a decent role in book 1, but later books would not qualify.
Tank and Fizz: a funny story about a goblin with enjoyable mysteries. Teens won’t enjoy it, but great for younger readers.
The Princess and the Goblin: Want to go back to the origins of fantasy novels? Look no further than George MacDonald! Great for kids who want to explore the history of the genre.
Space Opera
Dragon Pearl: a fox spirit goes on a search for her brother and ends up entangled in some interstellar conflicts. A wonderful blend of Korean mythology and science fiction elements.
Cinder: a retelling of Cinderella with a cyborg main character. The Lunar Chronicles have been a staple in my classroom for a while, and the quality of their writing is high the whole way through. Significant romance elements for those for whom this matters.
Skyward: Perhaps too action-focused to be space opera (though book 2 almost certainly is). A young pilot in training fights against the legacy of her traitor father, deals with a snarky AI, and has to save humanity from an alien invasion as they hunker on their asteroid home.
Author of Color
Legendborn: Arthurian mythology meets traditional Black spiritual beliefs with a big heaping of commentary on racism and the legacy of slavery in America. One of the best YA books of the last five years.
Lei and the Fire Goddess: Hawaiian mythology following the Percy Jackson mold. One of my preferred in the swamp of middle grade mythology books, and pretty recently published.
Ghost Boys: a magical realism story that follows a black boy killed by police. It tells the events leading up to his death and what happens after he becomes a ghost, alternating between chapters to slowly unravel the story. A masterpiece.
Survival:
Frostheart: a ship sails on an ocean of snow. It’s childish and fun, with a Sunday morning cartoon aesthetic, but quite well done. Fun illustrations too!
Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins changed the game with this book, and Dystopia took off. Can a girl avoid dying in a reality TV deathmatch?
Leon and the Spitting Image: can a fifth grader survive a fifth grade teacher who will make class … SEW! … seriously though this book is insane and also wonderful and totally overlooked.
Judge a Book By Its Cover (obviously subjective, but here are some of my picks)
The Girl who Drank the Moon: One of my favorite covers ever, and also one of the best fairy tale vibe stories that isn’t a retelling of an actual fairy tale. The town sacrifices a baby to keep themselves safe from the witch. The witch is pissed that they keep leaving babies in the woods every year that she has to rehome.
Professor Gargoyle: an eldritch middle school filled with vaguely goofy mysteries. The cover of the book has that thing where the image changes based on where you’re looking at it from (one image is an old man, one is a demon with his features)
Mamo: is it any surprise that a graphic novel would have a great cover? Mama is a bit like Studio Ghibli got turned into a book. Vaguely witchy, great landscape shots, fun food. A really good story about what home means.
Small Town:
Root Magic: one of my favorite reads of the last few years because of how it bucks middle grade trends, Root Magic features competent adults, a historical setting where the history matters, and treating kids as able to handle serious situations. This book cannot be read enough in my book.
Cece Rios: a bruja must save her sister, and teams up with the spirit of Cyote to do so. This book does a great job blending mythology, serious topics, and a great story without needing to dip into corny humor to do so. And they only get better as the series goes on!
This Poison Heart: in upstate New York, a girl with plant powers inherits a mansion filled with deadly poisonous plants, and a bunch of strangers who seem to know that the house holds important secrets.
Short Stories
(insert short story collection here) by their favorite author: Lots of popular authors will release a series of short stories in their universe. Rick Riordan, Tamora Pierce, Eon Colfer, etc. If the kid has a major hit series, there’s probably a book like this that goes along with it.
Scary Stories for Young Foxes: my favorite middle grade horror! It lands more on unsettling than horrific, and involves an elderly fox telling scary stories to kits. Content Warning for abusive parents.
Other Ever AFters: This great graphic novel has a set of fairy tales reimagined from a queer and feminist lens. All are original stories, but they have the feeling of old school originals.
Eldritch Creatures
Pet: in world where ‘monsters’ have been eradicated to form a utopia, what happens when a young kid summons an eldritch abomination who says that a monster is living in the house of her best friend.
The Supernaturalist: a wonderful little sci fi dystopia book with strange creatures that few can see. The main character gets roped into an organization of kids that fights them, as they gather at sites of tragedy.
Bartimaeus Trilogy: an aspiring magician summons a sarcastic djinni to do his dirty work. This book has horrible covers, but some of the best character writing in kids fantasy. The footnotes are mandatory.
Reference Materials:
Fart Quest: Its … it’s an adventure book for kids who like fart jokes. I don’t know what else to say about it.
To Shape a Dragon's Breath: a great story that tackles colonialism in America as a young native girl is forced to go to a dragon trainer academy, where her culture’s beliefs about dragons clash with the nordic society that has colonized America. Has more nuance and depth than I’m used to seeing in YA books, and that was a joy to see.
Eragon: Another oldie, but it remains a good book for teens ready to start transition into more adult epic fantasy. It isn’t perfect, but it doe the tropes really well.
Book Club
The Darkness outside Us: This gay space romance is very much YA (or potentially new adult) with some steamy scenes in it. Two spacefarers from not-NATO and not-Russia are supposedly on a rescue mission ... but something isn't quite right. It starts a bit slow, but when the plot and characterization hits, it hits hard. It ends up deep, philosophical, and existential despite being penned as a more simplistic romance. Great, great book.
The Hobbit: Lots of kids these days haven’t read the classics (which is very much okay and not a bad thing. I will die on this hill). However, for some, this will be the perfect opportunity to explore some of the roots of the genre that they love now, and Book Club square is a great excuse to expand you horizons to the past!
submitted by C0smicoccurence to Fantasy [link] [comments]
The books below are options I think are good recs for a variety of kids, with three per category. This list includes both Middle Grade and Young Adult, but leans more towards Middle Grade this year, since that’s been my curriculum focus recently. I’ll flag when I haven’t read a book and why I still recommend it.
While some here will be familiar to folks, I really wanted to include books many here might not know, since oftentimes book recs for kids here tend to be from 15+ years ago. This doesn’t mean those recs are bad, but more that there tends to be a specific set of books this sub recommends for kids from their childhood, without any knowledge of the awesome books being published now!
First in a Series
Wilderlore: this is basically animal companions, the series! Kids love them, and it’s a staple in my 6th grade classroom. Really fun series.
Scythe: this is my YA Dystopia of choice, and I think it does a really good job of leaning into YA tropes while making them work for the premise. Basically in order to avoid overpopulation in a world that has solved death, specific individuals have the job of being able to permanently kill folks. This book follows two students who are selected to train as Scythes. The later books have lots of fun things to say about how we view history through a tainted lens!
Mage Errant: popular here, but one not widely recommended for kids. It’s a great magic school story, and perfect for kids who might like something a bit like a Marvel movie in level of substance and epic fight scenes.
Alliterative Title
Eva Evergreen the Semi-Magical Witch: Inspired by Kiki’s Delivery Service, this book is lighthearted and fun for someone looking for an enjoyable romp.
A Wolf Called Wander: This is a great little book that follows a wolf trying to find his place in the world. Its only speculative elements are that we’re inside a wolf’s head, but kids have loved it.
The Lion, The Witch, and The WardrobeThe Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe: a classic of the fantasy genre, and many kids still enjoy it. I tend to find its a bit heavy handed, but the series undoubtedly has some magic to it.
Under The Surface
Daughter of the Deep: The newest Rick Riordan book! Or one of the newer ones. He publishes a lot. This one leaves behind his normal schtick of mythology, and I think he does a good job of maintaining his identity as a writer while doing something new. Most fantasy loving kids will adore this on author’s name alone.
Gregor the Overlander: A nostalgia childhood pick about a normal kid and his baby sister who fall into an underground world filled with oversized talking animals. Bat Riders, Chosen Ones, Prophecies, and Cockroaches abound. Great series, and Suzanne Collins was a wonderful writer even before Hunger Games
Somewhere in the Deep: I have not read this book, but it’s recently published (Feb 2024) and I didn’t have other great recs for this.
Criminals
Six of CrowsSix of Crows: Most here know this one, but it’s a gold standard for criminal fantasy in general, YA or not. A crew of six criminals breaks into the world’s most secure vault. Kids now might know them from the Netflix show.
Cosmoknights: queer women fighting the space patriarchy with mechs! A wonderful set of graphic novels with a good balance of action, theme, and character development. Appeals to young and old alike, and gives a breadth of representation for queer women.
Artemis Fowl: Boy genius believes in fairies and kidnaps one to blackmail the culture for gold. Another pick from my childhood. It’s worth noting that the writing style (especially in the opening bits) have posed a challenge to students, and is harder than you likely remember it being.
Dreams
Wynd: Another great graphic novel! A pretty classic heroes journey setup of a kid who has to run quickly to avoid being captured as a monster.
The Nightmare Thief: another phenomenal horror book set in a small coastal town, following a girl who works in the family business of selling dreams. Things go wrong when she’s blackmailed into making nightmares for a mysterious woman though.
Raven Cycle: Haven’t read it, but a 10th grader who could likely write this list better than me recommended it.
Entitled Animals
When You Trap a Tiger: a magical realism book pulling on Korean mythology, this one was pretty widely acclaimed in librarian circles.
Beetle and the Hollowbones: A graphic novel that skews towards the younger end. Beetle is filled with fun characters and great illustrations. Just a fun story.
Leviathan: World War 1, but with mechs and genetically engineered whales. Solid trilogy for those who like alternate history, girls dressing as boys to sneak into the military, and snarky princes who improve over time.
Bards
The Last Cuentista: a dystopia that bucks a lot of the trends of YA dystopias. Follows the last person who remembers earth after the spaceship captain she was in deep-sleep for takes over and changes the mission of the last humans to flee Earth. She is the holder of the memories of the older world.
A Snake Falls to Earth: a Lipan girl tells stories using social media meets a snake-person who is trying to save his best friend. A great use of mythology to tell an interesting story that doesn’t draw on existing middle grade literature as a template to copy/paste off. Really wonderful book.
Inkheart: A girl discovers she can read characters out of books, which goes horribly wrong when she accidentally reads the villain of a fantasy book into her world.
Prologues and Epilogues
Sir Callie: This series is wonderfully queer and features a nonbinary protagonist (fleetingly rare in fantasy, especially for kids). The story itself won’t push you too much, but it’s sweet and fun.
Steelheart: Brandon Sanderson’s take on evil superheroes. Kids tend to love or hate this action packed series. Book 1 follows the main character’s quest for revenge on Steelheart, who totally isn’t Superman.
Ranger's Apprentice: an addictive series from my childhood that relies on classic tropes, moody atmosphere, and sneaky/smart characters. It’s pretty formulaic, but a lot of fun. After the first two books, the supernatural elements vanish, and it’s a mundane world that sort of maps onto ours. Sassy ponies abound.
Self-Published
The Journals of Evander Tailer: This is one of my favorite magic school stories being published right now! A good balance of social commentary, cool magic (the main character leans into crafting/witchcraft instead of battle magic), and a wholesome gay romance on the side.
Dreadnought: One of the more read books for Superheros in 2023, it follows a trans-girl who magically transitions as she assumes the mantle of Dreadnaught (also totally not Superman). I think the stronger parts of the book are examining how her life changes after transitioning, with the superhero elements being a little more simple.
Trapped in a Video Game: A kid gets trapped in a sci fi video game. A classic premise, written for middle schoolers.
Romantasy: Nothing really that I could think of for middle school, but I’m sure others could provide some options.
Cemetary Boys: my favorite paranormal romance where a brujo must solve the mystery of a murdered teen who is haunting him. Along the way they fall in love.
So This is Ever After: I’ll be honest. This book is stupid. In the best way possible. If you want a mindless fantasy romance, this is your pick. The Chosen One must marry before his birthday or fade into nothingness. So he tries to date his way through his adventuring party because the one he has a crush on totally couldn’t like him back.
Graceling: My pick for kids who don’t like romance as much. This one has a good blend of action and romance, following a cutthroat enforcer whose magical gifts are used to terrorize the people by her uncle. Only she’s working night shifts with the rebellion trying to right all her uncle’s wrongs. This book has the scariest villain in fantasy I’ve read.
Dark Academia: Another tough one, since Academia tends to imply college or above. I did my best.
Amari and the Night Brothers: A girl goes to magic school to hunt down clues for her missing brother only to find she is one of the most powerful mages in the world. This book seemed poised to take up the mantle of Harry Potter. I don’t think it quite hit that level of popularity, but the books are great.
Charlie Bone: dark gothic school with a kid who can talk to portraits. This whole series feels like it was written in black and white. Can get creepy, but never quite enters horror.
Schoolomance: Is this YA? I think book 1 fits, but not so much the sequels. Regardless, the author has accepted nominations YA awards, so I don’t feel too bad putting it here. If it is adult, teens will be fine reading it. Imagine a magic school where everything is trying to kill you: the students, the monsters, even the furniture. Oh and the main character is a warlock of doom destined to destroy the magical world as she knows it. And she’s grumpy, but ultimately a golden human being despite how much she glares at people.
Multi-POV
The Magic Fish: Probably my favorite book on this list, and a true masterpiece. It weaves together stories of a young Vietnamese boy trying to come out to his mother, her history of immigrating to the US, and three fairy tales from different cultures. Beautiful art, beautiful story, and has enough thematic depth to stand up to rereads. One of the only books I’ve ever used as a whole-class read.
Gearbreakers: sapphic action dystopia with mechs and romance! Enough said.
Theo Tan and the Fox Spirt: So much great middle grade fantasy has been coming out recently, and this one was a joy. This book blends classic fantasy action, Chinese mythology elements, and dealing with grief.
Published in 2024: I have read none of these, but I desperately want to soon.
Kindling: What happens to child soldiers after they’re no longer needed?
Curse of Eelgrass Bog: seems like a very vibe-y supernatural mystery book that leaves the action packed fantasy behind for something more thematic.
A Tempest of Tea: I know precious little about this book other than that vampires are involved and the cover is insanely good.
Disability
Magesterium: Cal desperately wants to flunk out of magic school to make his dad proud. Very Harry Potter inspired, with a good take on the chosen one trope. MC walks with a limp.
The Spirit Bares its Teeth: an autistic trans man is put in a correctional boarding school for misbehaving spirit-interacting women. A pretty dark book (thematically and also a lot of body horror) but very well written and with research to back up how women and people with disabilities were tried to be ‘healed’ in horribly cruel ways.
One For All: I have not read this book, but I wanted a non-limp physical disability (there were surprisingly many of those). It’s a feminist take on the three musketeers with a lead who has chronic illness.
Published in the 90s
Dealing with Dragons: Inspired by fairy tales, this book has a pretty typical 90s take on feminism, but is a lot of fun to read and has a good sense of humor.
Dragon Rider: A wonderful adventure with fantasy critters across a world. This book was a part of my childhood and I’m enthused to recommend it here.
Wild Magic: Tamora Pierce is awesome, and this was my first ever audiobook! Daine can talk to animals, but is terrified of her powers. She joins on as an apprentice to a housemistress and is thrust into a world of acceptance she’s not ready for. But her fear of what she can do is confronted by the growing need to master her skills. If you can listen to it, the fullcast audio production is phenomenal.
Orcs, Trolls, and Goblins oh My!
Fablehaven: a pair of siblings stay with their grandparents and discover they run a nature preserve for magical creatures. A troll plays a decent role in book 1, but later books would not qualify.
Tank and Fizz: a funny story about a goblin with enjoyable mysteries. Teens won’t enjoy it, but great for younger readers.
The Princess and the Goblin: Want to go back to the origins of fantasy novels? Look no further than George MacDonald! Great for kids who want to explore the history of the genre.
Space Opera
Dragon Pearl: a fox spirit goes on a search for her brother and ends up entangled in some interstellar conflicts. A wonderful blend of Korean mythology and science fiction elements.
Cinder: a retelling of Cinderella with a cyborg main character. The Lunar Chronicles have been a staple in my classroom for a while, and the quality of their writing is high the whole way through. Significant romance elements for those for whom this matters.
Skyward: Perhaps too action-focused to be space opera (though book 2 almost certainly is). A young pilot in training fights against the legacy of her traitor father, deals with a snarky AI, and has to save humanity from an alien invasion as they hunker on their asteroid home.
Author of Color
Legendborn: Arthurian mythology meets traditional Black spiritual beliefs with a big heaping of commentary on racism and the legacy of slavery in America. One of the best YA books of the last five years.
Lei and the Fire Goddess: Hawaiian mythology following the Percy Jackson mold. One of my preferred in the swamp of middle grade mythology books, and pretty recently published.
Ghost Boys: a magical realism story that follows a black boy killed by police. It tells the events leading up to his death and what happens after he becomes a ghost, alternating between chapters to slowly unravel the story. A masterpiece.
Survival:
Frostheart: a ship sails on an ocean of snow. It’s childish and fun, with a Sunday morning cartoon aesthetic, but quite well done. Fun illustrations too!
Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins changed the game with this book, and Dystopia took off. Can a girl avoid dying in a reality TV deathmatch?
Leon and the Spitting Image: can a fifth grader survive a fifth grade teacher who will make class … SEW! … seriously though this book is insane and also wonderful and totally overlooked.
Judge a Book By Its Cover (obviously subjective, but here are some of my picks)
The Girl who Drank the Moon: One of my favorite covers ever, and also one of the best fairy tale vibe stories that isn’t a retelling of an actual fairy tale. The town sacrifices a baby to keep themselves safe from the witch. The witch is pissed that they keep leaving babies in the woods every year that she has to rehome.
Professor Gargoyle: an eldritch middle school filled with vaguely goofy mysteries. The cover of the book has that thing where the image changes based on where you’re looking at it from (one image is an old man, one is a demon with his features)
Mamo: is it any surprise that a graphic novel would have a great cover? Mama is a bit like Studio Ghibli got turned into a book. Vaguely witchy, great landscape shots, fun food. A really good story about what home means.
Small Town:
Root Magic: one of my favorite reads of the last few years because of how it bucks middle grade trends, Root Magic features competent adults, a historical setting where the history matters, and treating kids as able to handle serious situations. This book cannot be read enough in my book.
Cece Rios: a bruja must save her sister, and teams up with the spirit of Cyote to do so. This book does a great job blending mythology, serious topics, and a great story without needing to dip into corny humor to do so. And they only get better as the series goes on!
This Poison Heart: in upstate New York, a girl with plant powers inherits a mansion filled with deadly poisonous plants, and a bunch of strangers who seem to know that the house holds important secrets.
Short Stories
(insert short story collection here) by their favorite author: Lots of popular authors will release a series of short stories in their universe. Rick Riordan, Tamora Pierce, Eon Colfer, etc. If the kid has a major hit series, there’s probably a book like this that goes along with it.
Scary Stories for Young Foxes: my favorite middle grade horror! It lands more on unsettling than horrific, and involves an elderly fox telling scary stories to kits. Content Warning for abusive parents.
Other Ever AFters: This great graphic novel has a set of fairy tales reimagined from a queer and feminist lens. All are original stories, but they have the feeling of old school originals.
Eldritch Creatures
Pet: in world where ‘monsters’ have been eradicated to form a utopia, what happens when a young kid summons an eldritch abomination who says that a monster is living in the house of her best friend.
The Supernaturalist: a wonderful little sci fi dystopia book with strange creatures that few can see. The main character gets roped into an organization of kids that fights them, as they gather at sites of tragedy.
Bartimaeus Trilogy: an aspiring magician summons a sarcastic djinni to do his dirty work. This book has horrible covers, but some of the best character writing in kids fantasy. The footnotes are mandatory.
Reference Materials:
Fart Quest: Its … it’s an adventure book for kids who like fart jokes. I don’t know what else to say about it.
To Shape a Dragon's Breath: a great story that tackles colonialism in America as a young native girl is forced to go to a dragon trainer academy, where her culture’s beliefs about dragons clash with the nordic society that has colonized America. Has more nuance and depth than I’m used to seeing in YA books, and that was a joy to see.
Eragon: Another oldie, but it remains a good book for teens ready to start transition into more adult epic fantasy. It isn’t perfect, but it doe the tropes really well.
Book Club
The Darkness outside Us: This gay space romance is very much YA (or potentially new adult) with some steamy scenes in it. Two spacefarers from not-NATO and not-Russia are supposedly on a rescue mission ... but something isn't quite right. It starts a bit slow, but when the plot and characterization hits, it hits hard. It ends up deep, philosophical, and existential despite being penned as a more simplistic romance. Great, great book.
The Hobbit: Lots of kids these days haven’t read the classics (which is very much okay and not a bad thing. I will die on this hill). However, for some, this will be the perfect opportunity to explore some of the roots of the genre that they love now, and Book Club square is a great excuse to expand you horizons to the past!
Sufficiently Advanced Magic: This is another one of those books that I don’t think gets labeled as YA even though it almost certainly is. It’s a magical school story that feels very influenced by anime (to me at least), and will really enrapture students who are looking to get lost in a magic system.
I hope you all enjoyed these recommendations! They are by no means the only good YA/MG books out there, but I hope you encountered something new and interesting here! I'm confident at least a few of these are all but unknown here.2024.04.01 04:38 moondewsparkles 2023 Bingo Card - My first fully filled card!
 | It's my third year participating, and I'm happy to say I finally managed to get a blackout on the card this year! I had a lot of fun filling in the cover art using u/shift_shaper's Interactive Bingo Card template. submitted by moondewsparkles to Fantasy [link] [comments] https://preview.redd.it/8s76482b3src1.png?width=1030&format=png&auto=webp&s=3bc9f76788996ec93f080a1495f158b4d4e3a934
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2024.03.31 20:19 Amarthien 2023 Bingo Retrospective with Stats!
 | Phew! That was close! I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it in time but managed to finish my final book yesterday! 😅 submitted by Amarthien to Fantasy [link] [comments] So this is my 4th time participating in the bingo and 2nd time completing the whole card. Below are my thoughts on each book and some general stats. Let's dive in! ThoughtsTitle with a Title — Hex of the Witch by Heather G. HarrisThis series has kinda become a comfort read for me. It’s a self-pub urban fantasy series featuring witches and a slow burn romance.Superheroes — Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots I’m torn on this one because it started as if it would deconstruct superhero tropes which was promising but went to a whole different place which was disappointing.Bottom of the TBR — Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino Did you know that Marco Polo actually had a travelogue that documented the cities he visited and the time he spent with Kublai Khan? Learn something every book. Anyway, this was an interesting read, though I’m sure a lot of it just went over my head. Some of the cities reminded me of my own city.Magical Realism — Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel My second book by Mandel. It didn’t hit me as hard as The Glass Hotel did but I still enjoyed the exploration of topics it focused on.Young Adult — The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner The first half of this book, which was needlessly long and exasperating, almost made me throw in the towel. Did we really need that many pages to establish and familiarise with the characters? No, we did not. Also, Gen’s characterization didn't seem consistent and his petulance came across as annoying rather than endearing. Not sure if I will continue with the series.Mundane Jobs — Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty This was such a wild ride! A generational starship, fascinating technologies, interesting characters, and a murder mystery as cherry on top! In the crew we have a doctor, an engineer, and a general maintenance/cleaning/cooking worker. Writing seemed a bit clunky though at both sentence and paragraph levels, mostly at the beginning.Pub in the 00s — Ozanın Şarkısı by Göktuğ Canbaba This book is by a local author from my country. The title can be translated as Song of the Bard or The Bard’s Song (I know lol). It’s a standard epic fantasy with an ensemble cast and a main quest. It was supposed to be the first book of a series but no sequels have ever been published as far as I know. There were some serious issues with writing and editing which killed my enjoyment but it also made me feel nostalgic for this sort of fantasy.Angels & Demons — Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk Not a big fan of noir but I did enjoy this one since it didn’t have the distasteful tropes of the genre. Though I’ll admit I couldn't get invested in the main relationship as much as I’d hoped.Short Stories — I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here with You, and Other Stories by Julianna Baggott My one and only 5 star book on this card. It was such a thought-provoking and emotionally packed collection. There are fifteen stories in total in a wide range of genres that explore themes like identity, memory, and family. I've been going through a period of severe existential crisis, contemplating things like life and death, existence and non-existence, consciousness and memories, and some of these stories really hit hard, as in made me ugly cry. Highly recommended.Horror — Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes Titanic meets Event Horizon! The first half of this book was just chef's kiss. It was incredibly creepy and atmospheric and did a great job at building the sense of dread. I read those parts mostly in bed at night and let me tell you, it wasn't easy at all to go to the bathroom in the dark! The second half, however, left a lot to be desired. Also, the romance angle was unnecessary and should have been cut out. The writing itself was decent, if a bit repetitive. That first half, though. Damn, I loved that so much.Self-Pub — Murder on the Lamplight Express by Morgan Stang I really liked Murder at Spindle Manor but I’m torn on this one. First, I have a problem with Isabeau in this book. Replace her with a random cynical and stoic man, of which there are copious amounts in fantasy, and nothing would have changed. It's understandable she was like that in the first book because she was a lone wolf back then, but here she's still the same. Heck no, she’s even worse. There's no depth, no personality to her anymore. Second, there was a notable decline in writing. Weird sentences, repetitions, missing words, extra words... all of which grated on my nerves. Third, some parts made me cringe so much, ugh. On a positive note, the murder mystery was gripping, there were so many twists and turns, and we learned some more about the setting.Graphic Novel (2018) — Bloodlust & Bonnets by Emily McGovern My substitute for the Middle Eastern square. I was reading The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz for that but it made me so sad and angry that I couldn't read more than a few pages in one sitting and realised I wasn’t going to finish it in time. Anyway, this graphic novel features badass characters, vampires, and Lord Byron himself! Some of you may know Emily MvGovern from her My Life As a Background Slytherin comics and so if you like her style, I’d say give this one a try.Pub in 2023 — A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher I really like Kingfisher's brand of humour. This one didn't really feel like horror though. It was more like a thriller or suspense for the two thirds building a growing sense of dread and then went crazy wild in the last third. I also found the bits about archaeology and entomology fascinating, even though I'm not a bug person.Multiverse — Piranesi by Susanna Clarke My first book by Clarke and it gave me a lot to chew on. Piranesi's kindness and empathy, his sense of wonder, his reverence for the House and harmonious existence within it touched me deeply.POC Author — The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Ann Older I really love unique and imaginative sci-fi settings such as this one. Rings and platforms around Jupiter sound cool af! Mossa and Pleiti definitely give Holmes and Watson vibes but Pleiti is way smarter than Watson, that's for sure lol. No idea why this is billed as romance, though. I felt like there was no chemistry or attraction between the leads and I'd prefer they remained friends. Also writing was a bit weird at times on a sentence level and I had to reread some sentences more than once. Imagining the environment in my mind was also a struggle. I’ll still check out the sequel though.Book Club — Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett What I truly loved about this book was the portrayal of fairies. Malevolent and trickster fairies, dangerous bargains, rituals and traditions… I found it all so fascinating. As for the characters, dealing with Emily's social awkwardness on top of her rigid academic approach was a struggle for me. She was just so formal and serious and flat all the time it became tiresome fast. Wendell Bambleby was much more relatable to me, and also more fun and interesting compared to everyone else. The romance was the least convincing part and added nothing to the story. As an aside, this book helped me pinpoint a pet peeve of mine in romance. I really don't like it when the woman is the shy and inexperienced one, having maybe one or two relationships in the past, while the man is quite the womaniser whose dalliances are known by everyone including the woman herself. Ugh.Novella — And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed This writing style didn't gel with me at all. Paragraph long sentences and so many commas everywhere. That is not how you do stream of consciousness. And it keeps telling, not showing. Also, social commentary was surface level, like rich people can do whatever they want and the rest of us peasants ain't worth shit? Yeah, tell us something we don't already know.Mythical Beasts — Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling This one is a big sized hardcover in my native language with illustrations that I bought years ago. I would have given it a higher rating in the past but it’s been a long time since the illusion shattered and I lost the feeling of magic of the Harry Potter world. Now it all seems so cheesy with all those ridiculous names and weird conventions. Like how exactly do these magical creatures are cared for on such a massive scale? And how in the world can Burkina Faso, a country that is ruled by violence and military coups where 40% of the population lives under the poverty line, have a ministry of magic? I didn’t like the illustrations either, they were so mediocre and forgettable.Elemental Magic — Into the Labyrinth by John Bierce As far as magical school books go, this one is fairly straightforward and even predictable, but I had fun with it. I'm an absolute sucker for elemental magic and here we have much more than the basics. I believe this is what people would call a hard magic system since it has spellforms, mana channels and whatnot. Writing was a bit too repetitive at times and I also noticed several typos here and there. It's possible that this book didn't go through an editing process, considering it's a self-published title, but even a single round of editing would have helped smooth out the rough edges.Retellings — Heart of the Moors by Holly Black Disney's Sleeping Beauty is one of my childhood favourites and holds a special place in my heart and I also love the first live action Maleficent movie. This book presents an original story set between the two movies. It was my first book by Holly Black but I can't say I'm impressed with it. I know this is a young adult book but the writing is too simplistic and the overall tone is too juvenile. It tries to be serious and dramatic but comes across as kinda cheesy. Also there were too many references to the events of the first movie but they felt clumsy and heavy-handed. The only thing I liked was Maleficent’s portrayal.Queernorm — A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers I should have loved this duology because one, it features a post-capitalist world where societies are built and work humanely and two, the philosophical musings resonate with me as I've been struggling with similar questions myself. Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case, and I believe the main reason for that is Dex. Mosscap is just delightful to be around and I would happily spend hours with it watching trees or discussing books, but Dex is just so cold and bland I’d probably feel bored to death if I got stuck with them on the road. I get that these characters are foils to each other but Dex as our window into this world didn't work for me. Another reason could be that the philosophical stuff was a bit too on-the-nose for my liking. What a shame. Crown shyness is so cool though.Coastal — The Changeling Sea by Patricia A. McKillip A lovely tale, beautiful and bittersweet, full of wonder and magic. This was my first book by McKillip. I'd been curious about her works because her name always comes up whenever someone asks for recs with good prose. While she didn't exactly mesmerise me with this book, I can see that she has a way with words, which is something I appreciate and very much enjoy in books. Looking forward to reading more from her.Druids — The Druid and the Dragon by Kristin Butcher Another lovely tale with a sense of wonder, magic, and adventure. What baffled me in this story is that druids act as teachers, seers, and bards. They provide moral and spiritual leadership, settle disputes among common folk, and give guidance to kings. How cool is that?! Turns out that is how it was in ancient Celtic cultures, which I wasn't really familiar with if I'm being honest, and I absolutely loved it.Robots — I, Robot by Isaac Asimov So Asimov can imagine a future where robots walk and talk and eventually run the world but he apparently cannot imagine women being more than nagging wives or being both feminine and intelligent. Sigh. Also, too many hot-tempered assholes. Interesting ideas on robots though.Sequel — The Spirit of Solstice by Charlotte E. English This book is the 6th entry in my current number one comfort read series. It’s set in a secondary-world Victorian-esque city where it’s constantly cold and snowy. We follow Konrad Savast, who is the chief servant of a death god, while he investigates murder mysteries and carries out his master’s judgement. Each book has a self-contained mystery case and is about novella length. Stats!
Visual Cardhttps://imgur.com/a/AlftRiQCredit for the template goes to u/shift_shaper |
2024.03.29 17:48 bmullberry Bingo Card - Year Three!
 | Third time doing Bingo. I cannot overstate how much bingo has changed my reading life over the past three years. It's opened my eyes to books and authors I would never have otherwise encountered that I now consider among my favorites, and pushed me well out of my comfort zone (shout out to Fourth Wing for being the horniest book I've ever read). It's helped me be more purposeful/thoughtful about what I choose to read, and above all, it's fun! Can't wait for next year's card. submitted by bmullberry to Fantasy [link] [comments] Thanks to u/happy_book_bee for running the show and u/shift_shaper for the beautiful card template. https://preview.redd.it/ogsu3zfuxarc1.png?width=973&format=png&auto=webp&s=847ba95107cfa9de0c53edf62186e40de94c9ad3 |
2024.03.28 20:00 RyanAprentice My Episode 7 Bingo Card (I Didn't Make The Card Template)
 | submitted by RyanAprentice to MurderDrones [link] [comments] |
2024.03.25 17:27 Llamallamacallurmama Spring Challenge - A Correction!
 | Hi Everyone - submitted by Llamallamacallurmama to RomanceBooks [link] [comments] As a mod team, we try to keep the sub an inclusive and welcoming place for all users. Sometimes, we make mistakes or fall short. A user kindly pointed out to us that the Spring Challenge included a square that made the activity less accessible and welcoming than it should be. We'd like to thank them for reaching out, and correct the short-fall. The square in question is the "Read a Book on Audio" square. The board below replaces that square with "A Book with Your Favourite Colour on the Cover". If you'd like to use the audiobook square, feel free! If you'd like to use the favourite colour square, please do! If you'd like to exchange a completely different square for either of these, please consider the two options for this square "wildcards." In future, we will be more conscious of how the square choices may limit accessibility for participants and will include several "official wildcard" options for anyone who needs or wishes to substitute them in. Feedback helps us make the sub a better place and being accountable for and correcting our own mistakes is an important part of our moderator philosophy. We really do appreciate when people point out places where we can do better, especially as regards inclusivity and accessibility. So, without further ado, we present the Spring Challenge once again! The Romancebooks Spring Bingo Challenge Board Join us for our Spring Reading Challenge, a fresh and fun mix of prompts! Above is the challenge bingo board - this time each square has a different prompt so hopefully everyone will find something to get excited about. Choose any romance that fits the prompt and get started! The challenge will run through the Northern Hemisphere's Spring season, ending on 19 June 2024. Resources:
Happy reading! |
2024.03.25 04:23 ZL1275 Therian bingo template (I tried hard to avoid conflicts T^T)
 | Disclaimer: doing any of these does not make you therian. submitted by ZL1275 to AlterhumanMemes [link] [comments] In order not to spam this sub I suggest posting yours in comment section only. I feel like it's far from perfect and suggestions/modifications are welcomed! Thank you! https://preview.redd.it/6y6knhomeeqc1.png?width=874&format=png&auto=webp&s=74e59c6930dd943b438ebe721d3239d194453ba8 |
2024.03.24 22:45 incredibleazda I present to you my totally accurate and ideally thought out canto vi bingo (thanks to @citroncynique on twitter for the template)
(has spoilers for library of ruina if you understand them)
submitted by incredibleazda to limbuscompany [link] [comments]
2024.03.20 23:56 Johilein GMMTV Part 2 Bingo Template
 | submitted by Johilein to GMMTV [link] [comments] |
2024.03.19 15:01 Llamallamacallurmama RomanceBooks Spring Bingo Challenge! 🌸
 | Update: We changed one of the squares to improve accessibility. The new board is posted here. submitted by Llamallamacallurmama to RomanceBooks [link] [comments] _________________ Join us for our Spring Reading Challenge, a fresh and fun mix of prompts! Below is the challenge bingo board - this time each square has a different prompt so hopefully everyone will find something to get excited about. Choose any romance that fits the prompt and get started! The challenge will run through the Northern Hemisphere's Spring season, ending on 19 June 2024. The RomanceBooks Spring Bingo Challenge Board Resources:
Happy reading! |
2024.03.13 13:53 CatWatt March 11th Special Days - Featuring Frankenstein Freebies!
2024.03.12 17:21 atmosfierce 1.6 Update Bingo Card (link to the template to create your own in comments)
 | submitted by atmosfierce to StardewValley [link] [comments] |
2024.03.12 15:24 R3d_R4y I Love doing These! Tell me if y’all have any other bingo cards I can do or if there any cool number game templates!
 | submitted by R3d_R4y to teenagersbuthot [link] [comments] |