#brother ania ahlborn

[fetalabduction]

Brothers awesome

[manonwitchkiller]

misty dawn morrow, from brother by ania ahlborn

She pushed him away and sat up, her face slathered with tears and spit. Her hair was plastered across her cheeks and forehead in wet, matted strips. She looked at her mother, narrowed her eyes, and hissed, “It’s true. Misty Dawn is gone. I’ve come for Michael. I’m a no-good filthy whore. Now kill me, you stupid bitch.”

[thismustbeso]

Brother, Ania Ahlborn / Wyoming, 1973, Boyd Norton (photographed for the EPA)

[monstraduplicia]

"I don't wanna live here forever, Raybee," she said. Her nickname for him always made Ray laugh, made him think of rabid dogs foaming at the mouth.

Ray "Rebel" Morrow / Lauralynn Morrow

[emiliosandozsequence]

chained (2012) dir. jennifer lynch / in defense of vultures, nature's early warning systems that are holy to many people / brother, ania ahlborn / national geographic - vulture facts & information

[in-your-walls]

Brother, Ania Ahlborn / Hick (2011)

[myqueenmarceline]

The Final Girl

Summary: What if Alice’s story ended differently?

Based on the ending of Brother by Ania Ahlborn. Full of spoilers and blood, and if you haven’t read the book you will be missing quite a bit of context.

Warnings: major character death, implied incest, major character injury

Read it on ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49161601

It wasn’t like the movies. As Michael folded, he leaned into her instead of falling backwards. His weight fell on her good side, knocking her backwards.

The two of them fell to the ground. All she could feel was pain. The worst of it radiated up from her side, her hand offering little protection from the hard dirt road. A second ache, dull but insistent, stabbed into her shoulder. She squirmed, but that only made it worse. There was something hard on the road underneath her, pressing into her shoulder blade firmly.

A clammy breath ruffled the hair on her cheek, and the touch of sticky fingers made her jerk her head away. She brought her booted foot up and slammed it into Michael’s side, jostling him. His hand fell across the top of her chest instead, the touch making her skin crawl even more.

He wasn’t moving any more. Alice blinked, taking a deep, shuddering breath. She could only fill her lungs about halfway; the rest was being squished too tightly. He was heavier than she had been expecting. As she breathed in again, she realized that she couldn’t feel any breath joining hers.

She was going to be sick. She was going to scream. She stared up at the night sky, everything blurred by her tears into one immense, black void ready to swallow her whole.

She had to get out of here. She wiggled, keeping her hand clamped to her side. She placed one foot flat on the ground, and pressed her hand and other boot against Michael. She took a deep breath.

Don’t think about the wetness. Don’t think about the smell hanging heavily in the air. Don’t think about the whine of mosquitoes circling around. Don’t think about the pinprick of tiny legs on your skin, or about how they’re going to be descending on him with even more hunger.

She pushed. A wave of dizziness hit her. She could feel the blood trickling out between her fingers from the strain. After a few seconds, the pain was too intense for her to continue. She slumped back down.

His hair was almost fully covering his face, only part of his mouth and chin exposed in the low light. The cut on his lip was still obvious, dark and scabbed. She turned her gaze away, ignoring the sinking feeling in her body. She had to get out of here first; she would go back to everything else later.

His body had shifted slightly to the side, his weight mostly lying on her limbs now. She grabbed his arm, pushing it up and away from her chest with as much force as she could. It flopped back by his own side, making his torso shift ever so slightly.

With the new position, she could feel something digging into her stomach. She blinked, reaching down and patting the edge of his pocket. When she pressed it, a small ball attached to a chain slipped out.

The keys.

She pulled on the chain frantically. It slipped from her fingers. She wiped her fingers on her jeans, then tried again.

Her hands were still slick, but this time, she was just barely able to keep her grip. The keys clinked as they came free, sliding against her palm. The feeling of the cold metal pressing against her palm gave her a boost of energy she hadn’t thought possible. Her heart pounded, and the feeling of her pulse racing through her was even more intense than the pain.

She pushed again, and this time, Michael finally slid off of her. His hair fanned out around his head, matching the puddle of dark red growing underneath him.

The keys jingled as she sat up. She sucked in a full breath, sighing in relief. She was rewarded with an immediate stab of pain from her side, and she began breathing shallowly again.

She turned her head towards that awful, accursed, rundown farmhouse, but her focus was entirely on the car in the driveway. She might actually make it.

Alice pressed her good hand against a spot of dirt next to her that hadn’t been stained with blood yet. The keys dug into her palm, but she didn’t let go. She pushed herself up, first on one knee, then slowly, shakily rising to stand. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she wiped her face.

She walked up the driveway as fast as she could. She was going to make it out of this godforsaken place, even if it was the last thing she ever did.

[uughlyssa]

Anyone else read Brother by Ania Ahlborn? 👀

I don’t know about you guys, but I never saw the plot twist coming and I was definitely thankful for that.

[rebeccasthoughts]

Best Books of 2023!!

2023 reading stats: Top 10 books of 2023 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ #10 The Poppy War – R.F. KuangThe Poppy War is definitely a book that lives up to the hype around it! I think the story is engaging and fascinating. The setting of the book is also refreshing despite being an objectively overdone fantasies school setting. I think the second half of the book is where it fully embraces the the grimdark tag that is…

[feymaid]

Brother by Ania Ahlborn

[fetalabduction]

Brother images fineliner ..aaand send tweeche

[oddishfeeling]

do you have any book recommendations? pls i need lots 💙💙

this is such a loaded question friend. but lucky for u, i am procrastinating assignments, my take out has yet to arrive, and i just finished another book!

horror fic has been my choice for the last several books

the centre by ayesha manazir siddiqi is about a young Pakistani woman living in the UK. she's a translator for Urduru films. language and translation are central to this book. people are becoming fluent in a matter of weeks in complex languages.... the centre is gorgeous if not entirely mysterious, magical even. but whats the catch?? beautifully written. vivid details. anisa is a flawed, honest, and genuine feeling mc, as are the people in her life. i just finished it a couple hours ago n i miss my girls.

slewfoot by brom is set in 17th century Connecticut. our protag, Abitha, is not from this town but she does he best to adhere to the Puritan standards, if not for her well being, than that of her husband's. something stirs in the outskirts of the village, in the forest and beyond. she finds help from an unlikely source while also fostering a deep inner power of her own. these characters felt so well thought out, the writing is magnetic and the action is well paced. it puts so many preconceived notions right on their head. i loved this book and can't wait to read brom's other novel, the child thief, a retelling of peter pan and the lost boys!

sister, maiden, monster by lucy a. synder was oh so gay and oh so cosmically horrendous. this is like h.p. lovecraft wasn't a weird racist. this is like if biblically accurate angels were once just women in love. this is horrifying, visceral, and relevant to our COVID world. i was gawking at so many of the details. there are so many monster themes actually, it's perfect. the story is told through 3 povs of 3 different women. and we love women! and horror! i didn't expect to pick this one up but I'm so glad i did.

mary: an awakening of terror by nat cassidy do u know what it's like to be virtually invisible? forgotten? disaffected? do u know the pure joy of having a precious collection, adding to it over time, and it being almost ur only reason for living anymore?? then you're a lot like mary. and mary is a lot like plenty of women who get the chance to live beyond adolescence, who are cast out by society-- deemed invaluable. mary is utterly lost at a time in her life she feels she should have it all figured out. she goes back to her hometown, an ambiguous small town in the middle of the desert, and some unlikely characters help her piece things back together. i finished this book feeling so close to mary. we are friends now. there is mystique, horror, fables, myths, bad guys, mysterious architecture, and well mary is not the most reliable narrator. loved this one too.

the last house on needless street by catriona ward i had no idea where this book was going and i loved piecing the narrative together through several characters and their povs. it forces u to confront ur own biases regarding mental health. u are sympathetic to the characters in the most painful, heart wrenching ways. there is murder. there is mystery. there is missing children. there are cats. this book surprised me and it was fun to have to find a couple reddit threads to be sure i was understanding the story correctly. i felt like i read this kind of fast! which is always fun too.

brother by ania ahlborn this one pissed me off a bit. but in a good way because i was so deeply invested. this one is set in Appalachia. i'm not one for stereotypes, especially bc i think Appalachians have a bad rep and it's of no fault of their own. that being said, the insular feel of the book and the absolute claustrophobia those mountains create in this story were like a character in it of itself. our protag, michael, knows there's something beyond. he's seen them on colorful postcards. but his own mind and his own heart seem utterly trapped here. this one is heartbreaking. it's horrifying. and it'll make u dizzy from the amount of times u change ur mind. excited to read her other novel, Seed, because this one stuck with me so much!

a couple honorable mentions that fit the theme:

the vegetarian by han kang korean food. infidelity. art. nightmares. inexplicable mindfucks! this story was scary because it felt very.. possible? no monsters this time. no spells. just... the mind deteriorating. could happen to any of us.

a certain hunger by chelsea g. summers what if girlbossing is just a quick pivot from sociopathy?? what if the crimes are so much more gratifying than say, fame or fortune or even love?? women can be sociopaths too, you know!! this one is fun bc the protag is crazy and it's fun to slip into these characters. cathartic even. omg did i mention, she's a foodie too! just like me :-)

[stardustprompts]

brother - ania ahlborn sentence starters change tenses/pronouns as needed !!  some lines have been edited for clarity / length / ease of roleplaying tw ;  death , horror , language , murder , abuse

‘get away from me! get away, you fucking freak!’

‘why are you doing this?’

‘you couldn’t change if your life depended on it.’

‘oh, what? suddenly you can’t take a goddamn joke?’

‘you’re my trouble. ever think about that?’

‘what’s with you questioning every goddamn thing today?’

‘i’m tired of someone else telling me how to live my life.’

‘it feels bad for someone to mess with your shit, huh? it feels bad for them to do what they want with it like it belongs to them instead of you, doesn’t it?’

‘i’m sick and tired of your shit, (name). this is your last chance.’

‘just remember, if you ain’t my friend, you ain’t friends with no one.’

‘i’m not gonna be weird.’

‘so you’ve got some taste after all. good to know. though I already suspected that.’

‘I just feel like I’m suffocating. don’t you ever feel like you don’t belong somewhere, like you’re out of place?’

‘you know what they say—- some people get addicted to feeling bad because whenever they feel good they feel guilty.’

‘what’s wrong? you say something stupid?’

‘must be nice knowing someone’s taken an interest in you, huh? must feel good to get some attention instead of being ignored all the time.’

‘can you think about it? you able to process that little nugget of hard fucking truth?’

‘your mind’s getting muddy. you ain’t thinking straight.’

‘sometimes things only make sense in retrospect.’

‘I guess I just wanna see what else is out there. it wouldn’t be so bad seeing it if I wasn’t alone.’

‘don’t forget who you’re talking to, shithead.’

‘I asked you a fucking question. you best answer before I get pissed.’

‘you want her you gotta bring her into the fold.’

‘I was just kidding, you idiot. take a fucking joke.’

‘I told you. it’s a secret. you can’t come.’

‘nobody’s gonna hear ya. nobody’s gonna save ya. nobody’s gonna remember. i’m gonna wipe ya out.’

‘you protect me, don’t you? because you love me.’

‘I don’t wanna talk about her. I just wanna go to sleep.’

‘you already forgot me. i’m nothing to you.’

‘I love you. I want you to be happy, but what about me?’

‘what the hell is wrong with you today? you sick or something?’

‘you look like hell and you’re acting weird.’

‘for you, nothing matters. you gotta have free will or some guts for shit to matter, and you don’t got neither.’

‘calm the fuck down, huh? I worked a long time on this. don’t ruin the fun.’

‘refusing gifts is rude.’

‘we all know you’re lying, and that’s against the rules.’

‘time to prove you’re really worth something after all.’

‘what are you doing ? what have you done?’

‘please. I never meant to hurt no one.’

‘you just did that to yourself.’

‘I never meant for any of this to happen.’

‘i’m gonna cut you free. but you gotta promise me you won’t run.’

‘we’re gonna get out of here together, but you gotta trust me. okay?’

‘did you kill ‘em?’

‘revenge is hard to resist. I got personal experience with that.’

‘can’t blame me for looking away from the thing that hurt me and looking toward the thing that would hurt you instead.’

‘go on. put her out of her misery’

‘you ruined her life. you think she’s ever gonna forgive you for that?’

‘you think a sorry sack like you could do something right for once?’

‘after she dies you won’t wanna live anyways.’

‘(name) would’ve love it if she wasn’t already dead.’

‘you and me, to the death. an eye for an eye.’

‘I trusted you. I thought you were special.’

‘I was going to run away with you. now I’m just running away.’

[monstraduplicia]

Ray "Rebel" Morrow from Brother by Ania Ahlborn

[emiliosandozsequence]

illustrations by samuel araya from the suntup limited edition copy of brother by ania ahlborn

[in-your-walls]

Brother, Ania Ahlborn / The Survivor, 1950 René Magritte / unknown