#lumberjanes fox

[haveyoureadthistransbook]

Lumberjanes by N.D. Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters and Brooklyn Allen

goodreads

At Miss Qiunzilla Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet's camp for hard-core lady-types, things are not what they seem. Three-eyed foxes. Secret caves. Anagrams. Luckily, Jo, April, Mal, Molly, and Ripley are five rad, butt-kicking best pals determined to have an awesome summer together... And they're not gonna let a magical quest or an array of supernatural critters get in their way! The mystery keeps getting bigger, and it all begins here.

Mod opinion: I've read Volume 1 so far and liked it, but I'm hoping to finish the series at some point.

[ineffable-gallimaufry]

anyways here's the list!

books on this list range from things i read from around 2013-2020 i think :3 anyways. not all of these are recommended but they are mostly nostalgic sooo.

also note that this is not a complete list cause my memory sucks. anyways check some of these out maybe if you want to know a thing i like/liked

- holes

- the giver

- hatchet

- the kane chronicles*

- stargirl*

- the phantom tollbooth

- smile*

- drama

- ghosts

- little house in the big woods*

- the fog diver*

- unusual chickens for the exceptional poultry farmer

- the inquisitors tale

- maybe a fox

- all's faire in middle school

- baby sitters club (graphic novels)*

- 5 worlds*

- the pals in peril*

- the witch boy*

- the one and only ivan

- the mysterious benedict society*

- circus mirandus

- iron hearted violet

- the witch's boy

- the girl who drank the moon

- the mostly true story of jack

- the invention of hugo cabret

- savvy*

- echo

- down down down

- zita the space girl*

- the neptune project

- upsidedown magic*

- the girl who circumnavigated fairyland in a ship of her own making*

- flora and ulysses

- cleopatra in space*

- the heros guide to saving your kingdom*

- the ghosts of tupelo landing †

- roller girl

- space case

- a handful of stars

- nightmares!*

- hamster princess*

- the great shelby holmes†

- friday barnes*

- the key to extraordinary

- the last kids on earth*

- the bicycle spy

- me and marvin gardens†

- the miscalculations of lightning girl†

- the cardboard kingdom

- shadow weaver†

- gallagher girls*

- nimona

- from the mixed up files of mrs basil e frankwiler

- tiffany aching*

- coraline

- my side of the mountain

- the war that saved my life

- hilo

- amulet

- bone*†

- mr lemoncello's library*

- misty of chincoteague

- serafina*

- the wolves in the walls

- cinnamon

- the day i swapped my dad for two goldfish

- fortunately the milk

- the incorrigible children of ashton place*

- judy moody*

- goddess girls*

- dragonbreath*

- babymouse*

- a snicker of magic

- york: the shadow cipher*

- the lost treasure of tuckernuck

- the twenty one balloons

- the secrets of eastcliff by the sea

- the ordinary princess

- the tale of emily windsnap

- calpurnia tate

- the frog princess*†

- foxcraft†

- the number devil

- good omens (i read it in 6th first, i can count it)

- percy jackson*

- the heroes of olympus*

- magnus chase*

- awkward (svetlana chmakova)*

- theodosia and the serpents of chaos*

- the serpent's secret*

- starry river of the sky

- where the mountain meets the moon*

- the storm runner*

- revenge of the flower girls*†

- raymie nightengale

- the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy*

- jeronimo stilton*

- lumberjanes*

- the wizard of oz*

- ivy aberdeen's letter to the world

- the mighty heart of sunny st james

- thaw (elyse springer)†

- sidekick squad*

- the wrong side of magic

- the selection†

- the princess in black*

- the school for good and evil*

- the jumbies*

- animal farm

- pax

- the wild robot

- wishtree

- aru shah*

- sal and gabby break the universe*

- akata witch*

- the library of ever*

- the graveyard book

- the afterward

- bloom

- keeper of the lost cities*

- last night at the telegraph club

- a wolf for a spell

- beetle and the hollowbones

- komi can't communicate*

- scary stories for young foxes*

- martin mclean, middle school queen

- etiquette and espionage*†

- autoboyography†

- redwood and ponytail†

- the prince and the dressmaker

- the lost coast†

- geography club†

- spinning†

- every day†

- two boys kissing†

- the fire never goes out

- the very nearly honorable league of pirates*

- the gay teens guide to defeating a siren†

- loveless

- time bomb

* means there's a sequel/more books

† means i might not like it now/don't remember it SUPER well

[fallloverfic]

Folks, Nimona is getting a single film. Just a film. Not a show. Not a series. A film. A movie. And only one of them. It'd be cool if it was getting more than that, but it's not. It has a runtime of just under 2 hours.

The Netflix YouTube teaser page even says this in the summary: from the Netflix Film "Nimona"

In the article Netflix released the day of the teaser, they have these:

"In the animated film that shares her name, the young changeling"

"share a first teaser trailer for our film"

"even more so in the movie now"

"[Nimona] reached out from the movie"

"You can catch up with Nimona when the movie hits Netflix on June 30."

In the extra footage reel on the New on Netflix video, there's a box of text on the top left corner of the Nimona footage that says "N [for Netflix] Film Nimona June 30".

For all the other general confusion I'm seeing around, I made a Tumblr post summarizing most of the stuff with the film and its history. Shorter summary of some common confusion I'm seeing:

Nimona is a webcomic (2012-2014) by Nate Diana Stevenson/ND Stevenson (he/him) that was published as a single graphic novel in 2015. While the comic was ongoing, Nate co-wrote Lumberjanes. The Nimona adaptation rights were purchased by Fox in 2015, and it was in production to become a film under Blue Sky Studios, using the Paperman (2012) art style (one of the directors, Patrick Osbourne, was animation supervisor for Paperman, and directed Feast the short film (2015), which used the same style). Disney purchased 20th Century Animation in 2019 (including Blue Sky), and work was ongoing. Disney shuttered Blue Sky and cancelled the still in production film in February 2021. The crew went searching for a new home for the film and it was picked up by Annapurna as producer, DNEG as the animation studio (using Blue Sky materials), and Netflix as distributor (they just seem to be handling distribution and marketing, not actually working on the film), which they officially announced in April 2022, for a planned 2023 release. The film also seems to have been completed sometime around February 2023. The PG-rated film premiered at the Annecy Animation International Film Festival on June 14th, 2023, and will release in select theaters on June 23rd, and be on Netflix for streaming on June 30th, 2023. There have been preview events for crew, press, and certain small organizations going back to February 2023, and at least a few people have gotten advance review copies.

Nate was also the showrunner for She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (November 13, 2018-May 15, 2020), the reboot of She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985). Again, Nimona's adaptation rights were bought by Fox in 2015, and it was being made by Blue Sky Studios. She-Ra (2018) began production in April 2016 under DreamWorks Animation and Mattel (owner of the IP), and was distributed by Netflix. 20th Century [Fox] Animation was bought by Disney in 2019. She-Ra (2018) concluded in May 2020. Nimona was cancelled by Disney in February 2021. Nimona was officially revived in April 2022, under Annapurna Animation (production), to be made/completed by DNEG (animation) and distributed by Netflix. Netflix wasn't involved on Nimona until after it was in production for around six years, around a year, minimum, after She-Ra (their last project with Nate) ended. Every other company is different and it'd be weird for them to say "you only get this if this is successful" when that makes zero sense on timing.

Lumberjanes is being adapted into an animated series on HBO Max, with Nate as executive producer. We haven't really heard anything more about it since 2020.

You can still buy and read the Nimona graphic novel in physical and ebook form, as well as the full-cast English audiobook (also available in the link). The graphic novel has been translated into 16 languages! The only thing that changed for publication was that Nate redid some of the very early pages to improve the art/panelling and make it more in line with later pages and acceptable for physical publication. That's all!

[libertyreads]

40 Books Before 40 End of Year Update--

I’ve made some serious progress on this project this year. I only have 4 books left after DNF’ing The House on Infinity Loop. Under the cut will be the full list as well as the rating I’ve given for the ones I’ve read so far.

1. Failsafe by Traci Hunter Abramson, Guardian #1. Rating: 2.5 stars.

2. Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard, Realm Breaker #1. Rating: 3.25 stars.

3. High School is Hell by Jordie Bellaire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1. Rating: 2.5 stars.

4. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries, #1. Rating: 2 stars.

5. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Rating: 3 stars.

6. Spellslinger by Sebastian De Castell, Spellslinger #1. Rating: 3 stars.

7. Traitor’s Blade by Sebastian De Castell, Greatcoats #1.

8. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl #1. Rating: 3 stars.

9. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, The Expanse #1. Rating: 4.25 stars.

10. The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Passage #1. Rating: 2 stars.

11. Pines by Blake Crouch, Wayward Pines #1. Rating: 2.75 stars.

12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Rating: 3 stars.

13. The House on Infinity Loop by Bonnie K.T. Dillabough, The Dimensional Alliance #1. Rating: DNF’d.

14. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Rating: 3.5 stars.

15. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Rating: 3 stars.

16. Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Rating: 3.5 stars.

17. Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Rating: 1.44 stars.

18. The Humans by Matt Haig. Rating: 3 stars.

19. An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard, An Unkindness of Magicians #1. Rating: 3.5 stars.

20. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

21. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Rating: 2 stars.

22. Fool Me Twice at Christmas by Camilla Isley. Rating: 3 stars.

23. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. Rating: 2.5 stars.

24. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle #1. Rating: 3.5 stars.

25. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. Rating: 4 stars.

26. Jade City by Fonda Lee, The Green Bone Saga #1.

27. Love Like This by Sophie Love, The Romance Chronicles #1. Rating: 2 stars.

28. The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace, Women are Magic #1. Rating: 5 stars.

29. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Gentleman Bastard #1. Rating: 5 stars.

30. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy. Rating: 4 stars.

31. Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. Rating: 3 stars.

32. The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis, The Initial Insult #1. Rating: 3.75 stars.

33. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. Rating: 5 stars.

34. At Midnight, All the Agents by Alan Moore, Watchmen #1. Rating: 2.42 stars.

35. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel, Themis Files #1. Rating: 4 stars.

36. Terrier by Tamora Pierce, Beka Cooper #1.

37. Across the Universe by Beth Revis, Across the Universe #1. Rating: 2.5 stars.

38. If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. Rating: 4 stars.

39. Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Lumberjanes #1. Rating: 4 stars.

40. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Rating: 1 stars.

The average rating for this project so far: 3.14 stars. Which isn’t actually that bad now that I think about it. I made the list from books I had my eye on and all of those book lists about “100 books to read before you die” or whatever.

[themangledsans0508]

@mindless-pidgeon lol I was supposed to be working but instead I finished this

Um quite a bit of blood so watch out for that

It was worth a shot, Mal thought to herself. She was lying on her back in the dirt, ferns clinging to her body as she felt the warm blood seep into the ground surrounding her from a bite in her legs. She had no idea what that thing was, both what it shapeshifted into once again and what it was naturally. Just a huge wolf, this time it was even bigger.

She didn’t feel anything. Emotion-wise, that is. Her back hurt like someone had broken her spine right in half, her arms burned from the scratches she received during her attempted escape and her legs…

God her legs.

They were coated in blood, both having been bitten and stabbed by sticks and rocks and anything with a damn point on the end. She had been dragged by her legs to her current position and it felt like her legs were nerves that got irritated at any touch.

So a lot of touch was really fucking painful.

She didn’t even know if she was even gonna live to make it to the monster’s destination. She didn’t know how she felt about that. 

 However, she was at peace with the fact she was going to die.

On the one hand, she really didn’t care. It was like running from the monster under your bed before you finally meet it face to face. It’s far scarier when it’s unknown. She was staring death in the face.

And she was laughing at her. She was laughing at death.

She didn’t think anyone would remember she fell off that cliff. Nobody would come looking for her. She had even driven her own murderer away before the job was finished. 

Did she hate herself? Meh. Not all of her, but probably a fair amount. However, she had always been scared of dying.

Of being forgotten.

Now she had come to terms with it. 

She looked up at the sun for the last time.

It was almost as bright as someone’s laugh had made her feel.

That girl could make her truly smile, to forget all her fears. 

She had dated others before, but she was different.

Molly was different.

The clock in her head stopped ticking.

She closed her eyes.

~

Five minutes passed.

Then ten.

Twenty.

The clock in her head starting ticking again.

Started beeping.

She refused to die here.

She didn’t believe in god besides when he was useful in her cussing, but maybe she did believe in fate. There was a reason this had happened, she had come to this camp, she had met those fellow girls, and she had fallen in love. She was ready to start throwing around the “L-word”.

She knew she couldn’t get up, but she could keep breathing and wait. She wasn’t even going to try to get up. She may be strong enough to live, but she wasn’t in one of Ripley’s animes.

She heard distant gunfire and cussing. Lots of cussing.

Who the hell owned a gun in these words? Everyone just had hatches and bows.

Wait. There is someone with a gun. She remembered. Trampling and more gunfire came from the surrounding forest, closing in upon her.

“I wasn’t looking for a maniac! I was just looking for directions!” She recognized the voice, but the fear was unusual for something that had tried to murder her. She glimpsed the large dark mass leap past her line of sight.

“You found me anyways, fox! You want directions? Ask the Grootslang!” The voice was feminine and powerful. And another she recognized. 

Abigail ran in fast pursuit of the fox, shotgun in hand and in the process of reloading.

“Hey,” Mal called as loud as she could. Abigail froze and scanned the area, eventually laying eyes upon Mal. She cussed and ran over, dropping to the ground right beside her.

“What happened kid? What’s your name?” Her voice was soft but infuriated. Mal assumed about either her condition or the fact that the fox had gotten away.

“Hey. Um. Name’s Mal. I’m one of the Roanokes. The ones who tried to stop you from waking the Grootslang?” Mal’s voice trailed off. She didn’t first think that maybe when your life depended on the kindness of a psycho, you shouldn’t bring up the fact that you were previously her adversary.

“Roanokes? You’re a Lumberjane then.” Abigail seemingly chose to ignore the rest of her statement, which Mal respected and appreciated. 

“Yeah. I kinda got into some trouble and-”

“I can see that. What were you doing out here by yourself?” Mal thought of how to answer that. She didn’t know this woman, besides the fact that she may have been dating Rosie at one point. 

“I fell off a cliff,” she said. It wasn’t the full truth, but not a lie either.

“This doesn’t come from falling off a cliff. What did those bite marks come from? A wolf? A bear? Tell me Mal.” Mal sighed.

“A weird shape-shifting fox thing,” she confessed. “The same thing you were hunting.”

“She doesn’t usually cause harm herself. Did she say anything?” Abigail inquired.

“She was doing someone a ‘favor.’ I don’t know who,” she said. Abigail nodded.

“Alright. You need help. That’s a fact. My cabin is too far away to carry you in this state. However, if I remember correctly, the Lumberjanes camp is that way.” She pointed north. “Correct?”

“Uh, I actually don’t know,” Mal mumbled. “I got kind of disoriented in the process of ending up here, so, maybe?” 

Abigail pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply.

“Okay, well then we’re going with my gut instinct.” Abigail bent down and gingerly picked Mal up, sending searing pain through her body. She squeezed her eyes shut and held in a scream. 

“Alright, let’s go.”

~

Molly was hearing things.

Upon discovering the mess of red, Molly had briefly collapsed. Rosie remained as determined as ever, insisting that Mal was alive. She decided they split up, Rosie and Jen, and Molly and Nellie. She wasn’t blind to the fact that they hoped it would distract her, that she would be so preoccupied with asking questions that she would be able to get her off track while Rosie did the real heavy lifting.

Unfortunately for them, it didn’t work.

Molly ran through the woods, Nellie on her heels instead of the other way around. Molly hadn’t asked any questions, and Nellie had no sarcastic comments to make to the girl.

She could hear things, voices surrounding her. The trees themselves spoke to her. They told her directions, right, forward, left, back. She could sense animals that had meant harm avoiding her. She could even feel the portals to the other dimensions around her.

Then she saw a light.

And she ran straight towards it.

~

Nellie struggled to understand how people felt so attached to others.

Maybe it was because she was always a person who preferred to be alone. Maybe it was because she would rather deal with things herself, and let everyone else deal with their problems, or maybe it was because the only thing she truly cared about was these woods.

This camp.

This girl.

There was something different about her, she could tell. It was written on her. Rosie could see it, Abigail could see it, she could see it herself. The girl, Molly, could only feel it.

But there were other things that could see it too. Things that want to use it to remove the seal that kept these woods away from the rest of the world.

Despite all of this, she was different even for a guardian. Nellie herself would readily admit that she could use magic, but that doesn’t mean every guardian can. Molly, however, could use magic even better that she could. 

If she knew, that was.

Perhaps she felt obliged to care about her, perhaps she felt bad for her, perhaps she saw a bit of herself in her.

Whatever it was, she wanted to help this kid.

But, she couldn’t help this if she kept running into every dangerous situation she saw.

For instance, running into that area of woods.

His area.

“What do you think you’re doin’ girl?” She was lucky she was part bear, otherwise, she couldn’t keep up with that kid. She took off running after the stream of blonde, taking notice of the fact that wherever she stepped, the ground seemed to instantaneously die. 

~

Although she felt like she was burning to ashes, Mal was still awake and could see the sea of green pass above her as Abigail raced through the forest. Clinging as tightly as she could in her current state she held to Abigail’s back. She felt dizzy for several reasons, blood loss being a major one. Abigail was strong, but she couldn’t run as fast as either of them wanted.

She suddenly stopped, nearly slipping in her haste. She looked into the abyss of plants, her eyes fixed on something Mal could not see.

“There’s someone coming,” she said flatly. She carefully stepped towards the object of her interest, before freezing once again.

A burst of blonde dived out of the woods, eyes fixed solely on Abigail. Mal recognized her the moment she emerged from the dark.

Molly, with small scratches littering her body from dashing through the woods, stood directly in front of Abigail with anger and fear dominating her eyes.

“Molly!” Mal called. Her voice was weak, but she could hear her.

“Mal!” She rushed towards Abigail.

“You. Let. Her. Go. Now!” She demanded. Mal let go of Abigail’s back with one hand, loosely holding it in front of them.

“Molly! Wait! She saved me. It’s not her fault. But, um, Abigail? Could you let me down? I might be able to walk.” Abigail nodded, gently crouching down and releasing her. Mal tried to get a firm grip on the ground, but immediately almost fell back into the dirt. Abigail’s firm grip kept her upright. She turned to Molly.

“You might want to help her, I don’t want to leave her trying to stand by herself.” She nodded and rushed over, carefully wrapping her arms around Mal’s waist. Mal felt warmth flood to her face, being touched in any way by someone you really love can make you blush.

She learned that fast after meeting Molly.

~

Molly held Mal tightly like she was the only rope holding her up from falling in hell. She was never letting her go again. Metaphorically, that is. She felt tears escape the prison she had locked them. She closed her eyes and rested her head atop Mal’s. If Mal hadn’t been in danger, she would have wished the moment could last forever.

~

Nellie emerged from the woods at last. She wanted to see how the girl would handle it. But god, did she hate tears. She approached Abigail silently, before turning back to a human and resting her hand on her arm.

“You did good, girl. But don’t think for a second this means you can do whatever you want in these here woods!” She scolded, removing her hand and crossing her arms.

“You old bat! She would have died if I hadn’t come along! I should hang you up and-” she took a deep breath. “Thank you. For the compliment.”

Nellie nodded, a silent understanding embracing the two.

“Your girl is on the other side of the woods if you want to see her. I know you watch her from the woods, kid.” Abigail clenched her fists.

“Thank you, grandma,” She sneered and rushed off before Nellie could give her a lashing with her words. She turned back to a grizzly and approached the girls.

~

Sutela watched from the treetops, careful not to be seen. True, she was a small fox at the moment, but that old hag could recognize her if she was a rock. She lost the girl, the only thing the boss wanted. On the flip side, she found someone with even more potent energy to her than the flannel girl. He’d want to hear about that. She carefully lept from the trees back to her home and her boss, where she hoped she could make up for her failure.

~

Mal woke up at last. Coated in bandages and under bunk-arrest, she couldn’t go anywhere or do anything. She had slept for a while, exhausted and scarred (literally) from the adventure.

She didn’t know how Rosie managed to convince her mom that nothing had actually happened, and it had simply been a nightmare. That took talent. Or drugs.

Lots of drugs.

She breathed deeply. The warmth of her bunk reflecting on her body and making her feel safe.

Until the door creaked open.

She felt panic fill her body. Everyone was supposed to be at activities, it couldn’t be one of her cabin-mates.

“Mal?”

Or maybe it could.

Molly stepped into the cabin, carefully closing the door behind her. She came and knelt next to Mal’s bunk. She reached her hand out and placed it on her cheek.

“Are you okay?” She nodded and moved over, patting the bunk to invite her on. 

Molly complied, carefully climbing onto the bunk and laying on her side adjacent to Mal. She reached out and pulled Mal towards her so their foreheads were touching and intertwined their legs.

“Mal, I-” She squeezed her eyes shut, breathing raggedly. “I thought you had died.” Mal laughed weakly and moved one hand to hold hers.

“I did too. Molly, when I was out there, I think I almost died. And not to be sappy but, I think it was you that helped me hang on. I was about the throw in the towel, and I did. For like a half-hour, it was just dark. Then I realized I had to try and live because I had to see you again. “ She felt tears slide down her face as she spoke. She tried to keep her voice from cracking as she continued.

“I thought about you and the fact that I-I love you. Like I’ve said that before to other girls when I dated them, but you’re different. I think about things with you routinely that would have never crossed my mind with them. I want to grow up with you Molly. Through everything. I want to stay with you. And if you don’t feel that way, fuck, we aren’t even dating, it’s okay. I can respect that.” Mal held her breath.

Molly couldn’t help but feel jealous, angry even, hearing about the fact Mal had previously dated other girls. She had to remember that it was in the past. Even though she feared that maybe Mal was lying, she could feel the truth in her words. She was telling the whole truth.

“Mal, I did nothing but search for you for hours. I’d do it again, and again, and again. I want to be with you, Mal. I think I-” she hesitated briefly. “I love you too. A lot. I would do anything for you. And hearing you feel the same way, I can’t believe it. I get to call you my girlfriend. I’ll be so happy once it sets in.” Mal laughed.

“What’ll help it set in?” she asked. 

“Sleep,” Molly smiled. Mal scooted closer to her, nuzzling into her neck and wrapping her arms around her back.

“Well, I’m under bed-arrest, so we can do that for a while.” Molly grinned like a kid with candy and looked down at Mal, softly kissing her forehead. She held her tightly.

“I love you, Mal.”

“I love you, Molly.”

lol ill tag the wattpad stuff later but if you wanna request you can

[stonecoldaries]

couple of low quality lumberjanes memes

[catboy-joyfriend]

Lumberjanes Fox: >:3

My unrelated OC Fox: :\

[incorrectlumberjanesquotes]

Fox: I’m not talkin’.

Bearwoman, sharpening a knife: I’ve got ways of making people talk.

Bearwoman: *Cuts a slice of cake*

Fox: Can I have some?

Bearwoman: Cake is for talkers.

[mrwyx]

Fun facts for today.

1. Anastasia is now officially a Disney Princess

2. Getting Lumberjanes right is in Disney's hands now.

[meret118]

The fight for author royalties from mega-studio Disney has gained a new ally. BOOM! Studios has joined the Disney Must Pay Task Force‘s efforts to reinstate royalties for authors and creatives behind huge franchises. While BOOM! made a name for themselves with indie titles like Lumberjanes, they also publish licensed titles like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which was previously owned by Fox and now owned by Disney since the two studios merged.

[notalisonyet]

Lumberjanes (2014-20)

featuring the work of:

Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, Brooklyn Allen, Carolyn Nowak, Kat Leyh, Carey Pietsch, Ayme Sotuyo, Maarta Laiho, and more

It’s hard to say anything about Lumberjanes that won’t be either (1) so obvious it goes without saying to anyone familiar with the series or (2) a big spoiler for anyone who hasn’t read it. And I would hate to spoil this for anybody.

So, in short, Lumberjanes is a long-running comic-book series about a group of cabinmates at a weird summer camp where strange things happen and they get through it using intelligence, hard work, book knowledge, craft skills, guesswork, determination, the piecing together of seemingly unrelated facts, the power of friendship, and a raccoon.

There may or may not be Greek statues that talk and play games, yetis, punk mermaids, rule-breaking,* lanyards, pirate ships, glitter,** moose travel, fox mischief, mysteries being slowly revealed, outhouse portals, bird romance, human romance, someone’s abuela, and kitten dieties.

Along the way the girls get to know each other and themselves better, and maybe even learn better ways to communicate who they are. The series is fun and intelligent and clever and thoughtful and well-stocked with things you didn’t expect.

My favorites are Ripley for her quirkiness and Molly for her quiet angst.

Occasionally girls from other cabins witness the strange things (I’m not even talking about the dinosaurs) and I take it as a reminder that although the stories focus on one group of girls there is no reason to think the other cabins aren’t out there having their own bizarre adventures and seeing their share of mysteries.

I’ve read the first five volumes of the To the Max hardcover editions (collecting issues 1-40), and I’m waiting impatiently for a retailer to ship the copy of volume 6 I’ve already ordered.

“Jen help”

*Okay, yes, there’s definitely rule-breaking.

**Thankfully, no actual glitter that falls out of the books and stays on your clothes and in your carpet for five years.

[bubblestheraccoon]

Music Mixes

Lumberjanes “Arts and Crafts” Program Field

Treble Maker Badge

“Some Risks are worth the Reward”

Music fuels the mind and thus fuels creativity. A creative mind has the ability to make discoveries and create innovations. The greatest minds and thinkers like Hildegard von Bingen, Barbra Strozzi, and Florence Mary Taylor all had something in common in that they were constantly exploring their imagination and creativity. As a Lumberjane it will be vital that we not only enrich our minds, but enrich those around us. Music is just one of the many mediums that can create an empowering environment, it is one of the few mediums that can be enjoyed at any time.

Finch’s Notes:

This post is based on a section from the bonus content from Lumberjanes: To The Max Edition Volume One. I did not create these playlist, their titles, or the blurb at the top of the post. If any of the links are wrong or broken, or if I should add any more disclaimers for song content, please feel free to let me know!

*D-Slur Warning.

**Only version of the cover I could find on youtube, here’s a version of song without the extra audio but it’s on a Russian website that overwrote my adblocker a little bit so visit it at your own risk. Here’s the song it was covering if you want that instead.

***Could not find cover on youtube. Link instead goes to band camp.

****F-Slur Warning.

Fox Fight Jams! By April!

Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks

Bad Reputation by Joan Jett

Run the World (Girls) by Beyonce

Northshore be Tegan & Sara

Woo Hoo by The 5 6 7 8s

Wilderness by Sleater-Kinney

Wolf by Now, Now

Spin Around by Josie and the Pussycats

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme

Jet Pack by Dog Party

Pirates by Jenny Owen Youngs

Dance Apocalyptic by Janelle Monae

Bamboo Bones by Against Me!

Push It by Salt-n-Pepa

I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift

Up All Night by One Direction

Roar by Katy Perry

Eye Of The Tiger by Survivor

Say You'll Be There by the Spice Girls

Ribs by Lorde

Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks (”Best Song Ever”-April)

River Adventure Mix of dooooom by Mal

I Was An Island by Allison Weiss

Shark In The Water by V.V. Brown

Let's Submerge by X-Ray Spex

Eyes Open by The Gossip

Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill*

Giant Kitty by Shonen Knife

I Won't Follow by the Secret Someones

4Ever by The Veronicas

Sk8er Boi by Avril Lavigne

Take Me Away by Fefe Dobson

Borne On The FM Waves by Against Me! & Tegan Quinn

Ain't It Fun by Paramore

3 Small Words by Josie and the Pussycats

Anchor by Letters To Cleo

That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings

Independent Woman Part 1 by Destiny's Child

Crush by the Sleigh Bells

Oh! by Sleater-Kinney

Tropical by Plumtree

Rhiannon by Best Coast or Fleetwood Mac 

The Con by Tegan & Sara

The Competition by Kimya Dawson

Cave Tunes by Molly

I Have Confidence by Julie Andrews

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell

Tightrope by Janelle Monae feat Big Boi

Just A Dream by Taylor Swift

Heartbreak Dream by Betty Who

Corner of the Sky by the Jackson 5

Valerie by Amy Winehouse

I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston

Call Your Girlfriend by Robyn

Let It Go by Idina Menzel

Build Me Up Buttercup by The Foundations

Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

Jolene by Dolly Parton

Rock ‘n Roll High School by Shonen Knife

Don’t Save Me by HAIM

The Cave by Dia Frampton**

She Keeps Me Warm by Mary Lambert

This Is For by Ingrid Michaelson

Cut It Off by Mal Blum

Smash Into You by Beyonce

Jen’s Perfect Camp Mix by Ripley

Gravity Falls Theme Song

Summertime by Audra McDonald

Strong Enough by Kina Grannis

(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care by Cee Lo Green

Waterfalls - TLC

Just A Girl by No Doubt

Nobody Knows Me At All by The Weepies

I’m Beginning To See The Light by Ella Fitzgerald

Bad Girls by M.I.A.

Spice Up Your Life by the Spice Girls

Magic To Do by Patina Miller & Ensemble

***Flawless by Beyonce

Come On by Josie And The Pussycats

Don’t Stop Believin’ by Journey

Here Comes The Sun by The Beatles

Jo’s really rad! Mix by Jo

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Theme

Androgynous(Live) by Joan Jett and Against Me!

Tous Les Memes by Stromae

Sunshine by Rye Rye feat M.I.A.

L.E.S. Artistes by Santigold

What About Your Friends by TLC

Just One Of The Guys by Jenny Lewis

Melody by Kate Earl

Red Cape by Priscilla Ahn

No Wow by The Kills

I Found You by Tilly and the Wall

Do You Remember the Morning by Kid in the Attic***

Cheerleader by St. Vincent

Concrete Wall by Zee Avi

You Can Count On Me by Panda Bear

Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac (”<3″-Jo)

Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds

Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

Oblivion by Grimes

Q.U.E.E.N. by Janelle Monae and Eryka Badu

Rapid Decompression by Against Me!

Roanokes Rule: The Mix[!][!][!] by April

Rattlesnake by Saint Vincent

Transgender Dysphoria Blues by Against Me!****

Amazon by M.I.A.

Another One Bites The Dust by Queen

Art-I-Ficial by X-Ray Spex

Separate Rooms by Now, Now

What’s Mine Is Yours by Sleater-Kinney

Sci-Fi Wasabi by Cibo Matto

Tennis Court by Lorde

Son Of A Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield

Dreams by Fleetwood Mac

Desire Lines by Deerhunter

Hot and Cold by Ex Hex

White Daisy Passing by Rocky Votolato

Misguided Ghosts by Paramore

For The Best by Gregory and the Hawk

The Hymn Of Acxiom by Vienna Teng

Capture The Flag by Broken Social Scene

From A Shell by Lisa Germano

Rosie’s Turn

Feeling Good by Nina Simone

Annabelle Lee by Sarah Jarosz

Terrible Things by April Smith & The Great Picture Show

You Can’t Be Told by Valerie June

Wild Geese Blues by Gladys Bentley

The Day Is Short by Jearlyn Steele

One Dime Blues by Etta Baker

Hard Way Home by Brandi Carlile

The Devil’s Paintbrush Road by The Wailin’ Jennys

To The Bone by Okou

Panic Cord by Gabrielle Aplin

Cups (You’re Gonna Miss Me) by Lulu and the Lampshades

Crayola Doesn’t Make A Color For Your Eyes by Kristin Andreassen

Complimentary Me by Elizabeth & The Catapult

Blue Spotted Tail by Kina Grannis

Sorry About The Doom by Slow Club

You Know I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse

From Texas: Big “D” by Julie Andrews & Carol Burnett

Finch’s Notes Cont:

Hi! I made this post to avoid work. But mostly I made this post because Lumberjanes is something really important to me, and these playlist are a part of my enjoyment of Lumberjanes I don’t see people talking about a lot! So I decided to make a post in order to share them with y’all. I remember hunching over my phone making a spotify playlist (here, though it’s missing a few songs that aren’t on spotify) while on a trip to California in the summer of 2018 when I first got into Lumberjanes. I probably listened to these songs while I made my first ever Lumberjanes fanart. These mixes helped me to discover artist I really love, like Janelle Monae and Mal Blum. I hope you enjoy them as well!

Other notes: Sk8r Boi is crossed out as that is the way it appears on Mal’s playlist. Also, I tend to shy away from music videos as a personal preference, so that’s why there are so few included on this playlist, though I’m sure many of these songs have beautiful music videos. I might reblog this post in the future with some youtube playlists of these mixes, but if you want to find them yourself there are a lot of playlists of these songs made on youtube already! Or you can make your own playlists using this post. 

And, just for fun, have one final Lumberjanes themed music recommendation:

Lumberjanes by Various

[libertyreads]

40 Books Before 40 Project--

It’s time for the final update for the 40 Books Before 40 Project! I 100% cannot believe that this project is over. And so soon. That’s what happens when you hyper fixate and then get burnt out and can do nothing but read for 6 months. I will have the full list with the ratings down below as well as the overall average rating for the project.

1. Failsafe by Traci Hunter Abramson, Guardian #1. Rating: 2.5 stars.

2. Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard, Realm Breaker #1. Rating: 3.25 stars.

3. High School is Hell by Jordie Bellaire, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1. Rating: 2.5 stars.

4. The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries, #1. Rating: 2 stars.

5. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Rating: 3 stars.

6. Spellslinger by Sebastian De Castell, Spellslinger #1. Rating: 3 stars.

7. Traitor’s Blade by Sebastian De Castell, Greatcoats #1. Rating: 3.25 stars.

8. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl #1. Rating: 3 stars.

9. Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, The Expanse #1. Rating: 4.25 stars.

10. The Passage by Justin Cronin, The Passage #1. Rating: 2 stars.

11. Pines by Blake Crouch, Wayward Pines #1. Rating: 2.75 stars.

12. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Rating: 3 stars.

13. The House on Infinity Loop by Bonnie K.T. Dillabough, The Dimensional Alliance #1. Rating: DNF’d.

14. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Rating: 3.5 stars.

15. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Rating: 3 stars.

16. Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Rating: 3.5 stars.

17. Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.Rating: 1.44 stars.

18. The Humans by Matt Haig. Rating: 3 stars.

19. An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard, An Unkindness of Magicians #1. Rating: 3.5 stars.

20. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Rating: 1 star.

21. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Rating: 2 stars.

22. Fool Me Twice at Christmas by Camilla Isley. Rating: 3 stars.

23. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. Rating: 2.5 stars.

24. Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl’s Moving Castle #1. Rating: 3.5 stars.

25. The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. Rating: 4 stars.

26. Jade City by Fonda Lee, The Green Bone Saga #1. Rating: 3.75 stars.

27. Love Like This by Sophie Love, The Romance Chronicles #1. Rating: 2 stars.

28. The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace, Women are Magic #1. Rating: 5 stars.

29. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Gentleman Bastard #1. Rating: 5 stars.

30. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy.Rating: 4 stars.

31. Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell. Rating: 3 stars.

32. The Initial Insult by Mindy McGinnis, The Initial Insult #1. Rating: 3.75 stars.

33. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne. Rating: 5 stars.

34. At Midnight, All the Agents by Alan Moore, Watchmen #1.Rating: 2.42 stars.

35. Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel, Themis Files #1. Rating: 4 stars.

36. Terrier by Tamora Pierce, Beka Cooper #1. Rating: 3 stars.

37. Across the Universe by Beth Revis, Across the Universe #1.Rating: 2.5 stars.

38. If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio. Rating: 4 stars.

39. Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Lumberjanes #1. Rating: 4 stars.

40. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. Rating: 1 stars.

Overall, the project got 3.10 stars. Which isn’t bad considering I was trying to flesh out my project with things the book world seems to agree should be read. For the books I specifically chose for myself and myself alone, my rating is more along the lines of 3.66 stars. I don’t plan on doing another big project like this any time soon, but I’m proud of myself for doing this and managing to see it through.

[bookwrecks]

Lumberjanes: Parents' Day! by Shannon Waters

Leyh, Kat & Watters, Shanon. (2018). Lumberjanes: Parents’ Day!. BOOM Box. There is never a dull moment at At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. When the campers’ parents visit the summer camp for Parents’ Day, April, Jo, Mal, Molly and Ripley are determined to keep the fantastical creatures and beasts of their beloved summer camp a secret from their parents, who think they’re learning about nature and wilderness survival tactics. One mischievous fox, however, threatens to blow their cover if he doesn’t get what he wants. The Lumberjanes must work together to help protect the future of their camp and save their parents from the dangers of the forest.

There is never a dull moment at At Miss Qiunzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types. When the campers’ parents visit the summer camp for Parents’ Day, April, Jo, Mal, Molly and Ripley are determined to keep the fantastical creatures and beasts of their beloved summer camp a secret from their parents, who think they’re learning about nature and wilderness survival tactics. One mischievous fox, however, threatens to blow their cover if he doesn’t get what he wants. The Lumberjanes must work together to help protect the future of their camp and save their parents from the dangers of the forest.

All the copies of the Lumberjanes books I see on my library’s shelves are show generous signs of use because patrons absolutely love this series. Teens looking for lighthearted fun from their next graphic novel read should absolutely consider giving this one a read. Since many of the Lumberjane adventures are so self-contained to camp participants, having the parents of these campers enter this world makes for a refreshing adventure and also reveals a lot about why the lumberjanes love their summer camp so much. One camper, whose parents arrive late to the grounds after getting lost, immediately berate her with finger pointing and admonishing her directional skills. This camper is accepted by the parents of her friends though and finds comfort from being with them throughout the day.

[themangledsans0508]

Ugly Tricks

@mindless-pidgeon here ya go my friend! sorry it took so long

Mal was well-aware that the scavenger hunt Rosie had put together was not supposed to end up with animals launching a full assault on the scouts and their parents. Bees, birds, squirrels, raccoons, and rabbits unleashed the wrath of the animals upon them. Markers were uncapped and bees, which turned out to be plastic, were thrown.

In seconds, two raccoons were on Mal, running as fast as they could while trying to keep their balance. Their claws dug into her. She wasted no time, breaking a stick and swinging it to make her attackers lose balance. She swung it around carefully as to not actually hit or hurt the animals.

She kept them away for a short time; long enough for them to lose interest and leave. She was briefly proud of herself. Then she heard a shout.

“Mal!”

“Molly?” She spun around quickly, trying to catch a glimpse of her blonde hair or shirt.

“Mal!” Looking towards the source of the noise, Mal could see the dark of the woods. For once, she wasn’t scared. Nothing was going to stop her from helping her best friend. Her girlfriend.

“I’m coming, Molly!” She ran towards the darkness. She couldn’t be too far in, right?

“Stop!” Mal began to turn around, just enough to catch a glimpse of Molly and her mother, but it was too late. She tripped over a log, falling onto her back. The ground crumbled beneath her, and she was gone.

~

Mal looked up to the distant sky. She was dizzy. She could feel something warm on her left leg and right arm. Of course, she had gotten cut by branches and rocks. Even a bit of her flannel had been ripped off. Just her luck.

“Mal!” She could faintly hear Molly’s voice from far above her, like an angel or a goddess.

“I’m okay! I’ll find a way back up!”

“Baby, you stay just right there. We’ll go get help, and a rope!” her mother called down. That’s fine, better than her plan to try and climb back up, she decided. She looked at her surroundings. It was nothing she recognized.

She looked at her bleeding limbs. They were not too severe, but still enough to get a scar. She sat up, looking for anything that she could use to make a bandage out of. Her body ached a little bit, but not enough to immobilize her. 

She looked at her now-stained shirt and jeans. She sighed, but she wasn’t worried about clothes. She had more identical pairs anyways. She pushed herself up and scanned the area. 

Still, nothing looked familiar, or helpful for that matter. She saw the ominous woods looming above her. Most likely hiding something, and nothing good she guessed.

She took a few careful steps towards the shadowed forest before hesitating. She could swear she heard something rustling in the bushes. Something breathing.  Something coming towards her.

Her senses heightened. She could feel her breaths get shallower and shallower. She couldn’t keep the air in her lungs. She looked for any signs of movement while trying to calm down. A panic attack would just make things worse.

She couldn’t see anything through the densely packed trees. It was like one of her comic books, and a monster was about to leap out. Her eyes passed over something and swiftly locked back on them. Red.

Red?

How could she see red in a sea of black? Was she dying? No, that wasn’t it. Whatever those are, they were glowing. 

She stepped backward, tripping over a log once again. How did those keep being in the way? She pushed herself into a sitting position and looked back to the glowing orbs. Well, they weren’t perfect orbs, but that didn’t matter.

The orbs were coming towards her rapidly, and she had nowhere to really run. She leaned back and braced herself for the teeth that were going to tear her apart.

At least that’s what she assumed would happen.

When the orbs emerged from the woods, they revealed themselves to be eyes. Glowing red eyes for a big wolf.

Calling the wolf big was no exaggeration. It was five feet tall, far taller than a wolf should be. Fully black, its eyes completed its classification as a demon. It wasn’t a be-warewolf, she knew that right away. But it was definitely something she would beware in the future. 

If she had a future.

The wolf made a sound similar to a laugh and took a few steps forward. It sniffed her and growled a tiny bit.

That was not a very wolf-like growl, she thought. Not that she had ever heard a wolf growl, but she was almost positive it wouldn’t sound like that. 

Then the wolf tried to bite her.

Mal decided that it was tried, but felt like the wolf intentionally missed her leg, which she swiftly pulled to her chest.

Quickly pushing herself to her feet, she ran towards the woods. She knew she had no chance of getting away if she just tried to run like her mind was telling her to. She felt the wolf biting at her heels, skinning the materials off the shoes and grazing her skin. Great, more ruined clothes and blood.

She reached the forest and ran along the tree line, looking for the perfect weapon. 

She eventually saw it, a fairly bulky broken stick resting on the forest floor just inside the woods. She jumped in, grabbing the stick with both hands. She lost balance and tumbled for the third time. 

She saw the wolf panting and approaching. She waited. 

It was finally within her reach. She lifted her stick above her head and swung downwards.

“Ow! Kid, whaddya think you’re doin’!” The wolf jumped backward onto its hind legs, its form melting away to reveal a brown and orange pattern.

“What the hell are you?”

A fox. It was a fucking fox.

It laughed, sounding like a maniac on a killing spree. 

“Don’t worry about that kid; where you’re going it won’t matter,” it cackled.

Whatever that meant, she had no intention of going with that fox or getting eaten. She started pushing herself up from the ground.

“I wouldn’t bother, I could catch you in seconds if I wanted.” Mal ignored that statement, but she didn’t doubt it.

It made sense now actually, foxes are considered trickers, sly, and sometimes beautiful.

She knew a beautiful fox, and this one was not her. 

She reached down for her stick, gripping it tightly and holding it like it was a heavy sword.

“Kid, just work with me. I’m doing a friend a favor right now, I’m not gonna kill you.” It looked mildly irritated as it spoke, crossing its arms and looking down at her. Part of her believed it, the other part called bull. 

However, both parts of her agreed she had no intention of going anywhere. 

“I think I’m good right here, thanks,” she stated, trying to put as much power into her voice as she could. The fox sighed.

“Last chance. I don’t want to have to drag you there, but I will if I have to. Make the right choice girl.”

She tried to think of all her options. Go with the shapeshifting monster and probably get murdered, try to run and hide and probably get murdered, try to just run and probably get murdered, or try to fight and probably get murdered. She sighed internally. Don’t get her wrong, she was one-hundred percent terrified, but she also wasn’t naive. 

She tried to raise her stick as much as she could without being noticed.

“Okay fox, you win. I’ll just surrender…” Mal felt like a supervillain, pretending to surrender before really kicking some ass. 

The fox took a few steps for her, coming far enough within Mal’s range for her to feel comfortable enough to try and defend herself. As fast as she could, she whipped the stick at the fox. It yelped in pain, and she took the opportunity to make her escape. She ran as fast as she could, back to where she fell from and tried to find a place to hide.

She had just barely dived into a bush when she heard a howl, and something even bigger than a fox or a wolf running at her.

~

Molly was in no hurry to waste time. She had to save Mal, she just had to. It wasn’t about morals and not even about friendship, it was about someone she loved. She hadn’t admitted it to her, even though they were “basically dating”, or so April told her. She’d admit, they had held hands, and cuddled as they fell asleep, and maybe even kissed each other a few times, but she had not yet said “I love you,” or even called Mal her girlfriend for that matter. Had Mal done any of that either? She couldn’t remember.

But she knew she loved Mal, more than she had ever loved another human being. She didn’t love her mother, and her relationship with her two younger siblings was hard to describe. Somewhere she did love her father, but it was hard to truly care about someone who allowed you to get hurt time and time again.

She loved her friends, but she loved Mal just a bit more.

And watching Miss Yoo do everything in her power to find her daughter was really inspiring. 

She was running behind Rosie, Jen, and Nellie who Rosie had found on her way. It was surprising how fast the old lady could run while complaining at the same time. 

They ran to the cliff where Mal had fallen and Rosie tied a rope to a nearby tree. Molly didn’t wait to test if it was secure, or even check if the rope reached the ground before she jumped off with one hand gripping the rope.

She ignored the searing pain the rope left as she slid down it, she had one mission and nothing would stop her.

She hit the ground hard, but only hard enough to cause a small bit of pain. She looked quickly for any signs of Mal, but quickly hated what she saw.

Blood staining some of the rocks and adorning patches of dirt. A bit of flannel caught on a branch, and footprints and some paw prints trailing through the mud. 

Worst of all was the final trail of some blood, a messy line from dragging a person, and some marks in the dirt that were definitely not anything she could recognize.

Like it? Check me out on Wattpad!

Feel free to send a request!

Also pidgeon (not sure what i should call you lol) if you want a part two i can do it for you

[isoscele]

Lumberjanes Week Day 6 - Ghost Stories/Land of Lost Things

.

In Xian’s bullet journal, in purple gel pen, the four of them wrote their last will and testament. It was an incontrovertible fact, said Presley, that they were going to die here. One, it had snowed every single one of the four days they had been here, and showed no signs of stopping. Two, despite their best efforts to ration their fruit leathers and peanut-butter-banana sandwiches, they had run out of food. Three, Ana’s ankle was sprained and they were probably not going to be able to get back up on the cliff they had fallen from. Four, despite what fantasy books said, kids on hiking trips did not actually survive tripping into a desolate, war-torn alternate dimensions, no matter how much moxie and general perseverance they showed.

It was hard to argue with that. So they divvied up their belongings among parents and siblings and pets, taking turns with the pen in a kind of grim ritual.

Once they finished, they surveyed their work.

“Don’t give your rollerblades to Peter,” Ana told Xian. “He’s going to break his collarbone immediately.”

“If I have to become a ghost, I want to spend my afterlife watching Peter eat it in the Walmart parking lot,” Xian said firmly.

The sky here was a kind of burnt-rubber color. The snow kept coming down, so there must have been clouds up there somewhere, but it was difficult to distinguish them from the blank slate of horizon.

There were no plants, no animals, nothing but a long line of snow-covered earth. If you dug down to the surface, as Siobhan had, there was only scorched dirt. There was a little rubble, but not much. As far as otherworldly apocalyptic wastelands went, it was disappointingly barren. There were no helpful clues, or conveniently-placed newspapers with pictures of mushroom clouds. Even the breaks in the landscape looked harsh, a continual jag of cliffs and valleys and something that smelled like it might have been a swamp, a long time ago.

When they’d first set up camp, Siobhan had knelt down to wrap Ana’s ankle and Presley had started clearing space to make a campfire, and so Xian had gone around looking for something to help start it, trudging through the knee-deep snow with her windbreaker tied around her legs to keep herself from getting frostbite.

Mostly, she had been walking towards a massive rupture in the snow that looked like it might have been a felled tree. Probably, it would be too damp to burn, but Presley had mad survivalist skills wrapped up in her little band-geek brain, so maybe she would be able to scrape the bark off or something. Or maybe there would be something they could eat. Even then, back in the halcyon days when they still had two out of four fruit leathers left, that was a pressing concern.

As Xian approached it, though, it started to look less and less like a tree. It was curved in a weird way, and it didn’t have any branches. It took a long time for her to reach it, so by the time she reached out one hand to wipe away the snow, there was a part of her that already knew what she’d find.

It was a rib. More specifically, it was the rib of something that had ribs the size of a school bus. It was picked completely clean of meat, as pristine as a museum exhibition.

Xian had to take a step back and stare at it. It filled her whole vision, and she couldn’t get over how clean it was. Her first thought was scavengers! Her second thought was HUGE scavengers! Her third thought was no, that’s dumb. It’s just old.

Siobhan’s theory had been nuclear war. Presley agreed with her–maybe not with the method, but she thought they were in an alternate dimension that had destroyed itself somehow. Ana had suggested time travel, like they’d tripped into Earth’s first ice age.

But something bad had happened here. With that understanding came a powerful, terrible relief. Of course they were standing on a graveyard too vast and ancient for them to ever understand. Of course this was a place of tragedy. It still was, the white of the ground and the orange of the sky and the way that Presley had said we should find some kindling, as if they were ever going to find any kindling.

Xian had looked at the bone for a moment longer. She thought about how, in horror movies, the characters always tried to find some justification for what was happening to them, had some big why-me breakdown. From an audience’s perspective, though, it was easy to tell who was earmarked for catastrophe. From the moment they stepped onto the screen, they were tasked with telling a story. They were suffering because they were only ones who could tell it. It wasn’t their fault.

Xian didn’t know what that meant about them. They were teenage girls, which could make some sense within certain narratives, but they were teenage girls who were probably not going to get out of here. Girls who were plucky and inquisitive and charming and still would not be saved.

Then again, sometimes the answer to why-me was just you were there. Sometimes, it was as simple as an extinction event, coming to wipe you and everything you knew clean.

Xian turned around and started the long walk back to camp.

.

The hike had been Siobhan’s idea. School had just ended and it was Presley’s last summer before she moved away, so everything was terrifying and big and moved in slow-motion. It felt like every minute the four of them weren’t doing something amazing together was a minute wasted. Siobhan imagined growing up like a skin you shed in reverse. The more you crammed  into those early layers, the harder it was to lose them.

She’d packed the bag, which was another mark on her ledger. If she had brought a first-aid kit, if she had brought more food, if she had brought a second water bottle, things might be different. Never mind that it was only supposed to be a day trip, and her mom would’ve lost her mind if Siobhan had packed for an overnighter.

The third thing that she could never ever be absolved of was that she was the one who saw the fox.

It had streaked through the trees, a blur of formless red, but for a second it had looked at her and–and Siobhan wasn’t exaggerating, time stopped. Its eyes were golden and a million years old, and somehow she had known exactly what it was saying to her.

They’re leaving you they’re leaving you every second they are getting farther away from you and you can’t do anything to stop it and you’re the only one who wants to anyway, you’re the only one selfish enough to ask for forever.

And then time had unstuck and it had leapt back through the trees, and Siobhan had pushed past Ana and almost tripped over Xian and she hadn’t even realized that she had started running, it was more like she knelt into the air and kept going.

She hadn’t realized the others would follow her, but of course they had.

So Siobhan couldn’t sleep. She was cold, and she was hungry, and she was ashamed that during their will-writing she’d made up people to give her things to because she wanted her friends to think that she had friends other than them, that she too had cool cousins in New York and family members she could trust with the contents of her bedroom.

And she was ashamed about everything else, too, every dumb decision she had made in possibly her whole life, and then Presley said “Siobhan?” and she realized she was kind of crying into the snow.

“I’m okay,” Siobhan said, “I’m okay, I’m fine.”

Ana reached out and touched Siobhan’s elbow. Her fingers were cold, but steady, and it did make Siobhan feel better.

“I think I’m gonna go look for food,” Siobhan said. She hadn’t realized she was going to say it until she did, but it felt right. She couldn’t stay here. She couldn’t just lie down and try to sleep through another night that looked exactly identical to the day.

“Okay,” Xian said. She pushed herself onto her elbows and tried to brush some of the snow off her shirt. “We’ll come with you.”

This was how they got into all kinds of world-ending trouble, but Siobhan supposed there were worse things.

She didn’t think she could get any words out if she tried, so instead she reached out and helped Xian get the snow off her shoulders.

.

Ana’s ankle didn’t hurt much anymore, but Presley still stoically bore the task of giving her a piggyback ride. Ana liked this arrangement because Presley would kneel down and wait for Ana to loop her legs around her waist and then she would say, with all the seriousness of a soldier about to pull the knife from his dying comrade’s stomach, I’m going to do it, get ready, get ready, and then she would stand up.

They didn’t have a direction, and none of them were entirely sure which way they had come from, so they were just kind of walking. Most likely, they had already gotten turned around three or four times, but Ana was hoping it would eventually cancel itself out.

But then again, it probably didn’t matter whether they got anywhere new. Already, the snow had probably completely concealed their old campsite. Everywhere they stepped was a new world, fresh and footprintless. Packed with promise.

Presley and Xian were talking, but Ana was a little too tired to follow the conversation. Instead, she tried to catch Siobhan’s eye and silently communicate something deep and necessary to her. She didn’t know what that deep and necessary thing was, but she trusted Siobhan to figure it out.

They walked for a long time without finding any kind of break in the landscape. Ana let herself feel reassured by the steady rhythm of Presley’s footsteps below her, the slow thread of Xian’s voice. It almost felt like home, pacing circles around Siobhan’s trampoline or getting marched to the principal’s office for “disturbing the classroom environment.”

So of course, she was the last one to see the cave.

It looked a little like a wasps’ nest, fat and bulbous and buzzing from the inside out with a pale yellow light. Shadows stretched across the entrance, flickering in stop-motion. The cave, whatever else it meant for them, was inhabited.

Ana looked down at Xian, who tended to be the most genre-savvy of them all. But Xian wasn’t looking at the cave; she was staring into the sky with a look of abject terror on her face.

“Presley,” Ana said. “I think we should–”

Presley locked her arms around Ana’s ankles and took off running towards the cave.

Ana had to duck so they could get inside, pressing the side of her face against Presley’s crown of braids. Then, the light was everywhere, and she had to blink hard to disperse the pink clouds that spotted her vision.

“Oh my God,” Siobhan said from somewhere behind her.

Xian shuffled closer. “What is that?”

In the center of the cave, a candle had burned almost to a stub, giving off the unmistakable smell of pine. Behind it, half-submerged in the pool of light, lay some kind of abomination.

It was a wolf and yet it wasn’t, couldn’t be. It had thick white fur and a distinctly lupine body, but it had human hands, bent and weathered. An old woman’s hands.

Oh Grandmother, Ana thought, inanely. What big teeth you have.

And if it was dead, which it could very well be, it had not been dead for long.

As slow as the shifting of a tectonic plate, it lifted its head and opened one blazing eye. Ana understood with a jolt that it had known they were there the whole time, that it had been listening.

It surveyed them, looking very old and very tired. It locked eyes with Ana. Then it spoke, in a voice so gravelly and ancient that Ana had no problem believing that it had been here for as long as there had been a here to be.

“Kids come with two heads these days?”

“Yes,” Ana said automatically, because even in her mindless terror she had to indulge her favorite hobby, which was tricking old people into believing things about The Youth. “But only the ones who are on social media too much.”

Presley frowned so hard that Ana could feel it from her shoulders, like an earthquake. “That’s not true,” she said. “We’re two separate kids. Stacked on top of each other.”

Wolf Lady huffed and closed her eyes again, apparently done with the conversation.

“Hey!” Siobhan said. “Hey, ma’am, please–can you help us?”

“We fell down a portal,” Presley supplied. “We’ve been here four days, and we’re going to die here.”

Wolf Lady smiled. It was the smile of a rotting jack-o-lantern, and it showed a glint of teeth. “Not a bad place to die,” she said, almost to herself. “But most people deserve better.”

“Do you have food?” Xian had crouched down, like she was speaking to a sleepy child. “Or–or do you know how to get some?”

“No,” Wolf Lady said. “No. You don’t need to get food. You need to get out.”

Silence. Outside, the wind wailed.

“What happened here?” Xian asked. Her voice was tight, thin. “I found these–all these bones.”

“You what?” Siobhan said.

“War,” Wolf Lady said. There was something inarticulable in her voice, a kind of grief that had exhausted all other avenues and therefore had no choice but to live forever in this cave.

“They were huge bones.”

“Big war.” Wolf Lady opened her eyes again. “Maybe you’ve noticed it. Wasn’t the kind of thing you can get out of the carpet. You, two-headed one. Grab my specs.”

“Specs?” Presley said, confused, but Ana tapped her head and then pointed to one edge of the cave, where a pair of thin, cracked glasses had gathered what looked like years’ worth of dust and melted snow.

Xian was the one who picked them up, but she handed them to Ana. On some old impulse, Ana slid them over the bridge of her nose.

Immediately, the world exploded in a paroxysm of color, spreading across the four of them like an oil slick. Wolf Lady seemed to be the center of it, bleeding orange from every inch, but there was so much of it coming from everywhere that Ana had to pull them off again.

“You can use those to get home,” Wolf Lady said, in the tone that one might say you can use salt to improve this soup. “Find the portals. For the love of God, get out of here.”

Ana cradled them against her chest. Siobhan looked openly skeptical, but she hadn’t tried them on. Ana believed that the glasses could do whatever they had to. Could reach through time and bring them back to some soft, scared world where everything they needed was still in one piece.

“Are you coming with us?” Xian asked. Her voice had gone quiet again, the way it did when she already knew the answer. Like when she predicted the endings of movies, the sad, certain everyone dies.

Wolf Lady laughed. As strange and animalistic as the rest of her was, her laugh seemed very human. “A very, very long time ago, I worked at a place where the only rule was that the kids had to make it out okay. The rest of us–well, it depended on how the forest felt. But we made it a long time, on that rule. I’m not breaking it now.”

“Thank you,” Presley said. Every word out of Presley’s mouth had an incredible gravity to it even in the silliest of situations; now, Ana could hardly bear to hear it. “We’ll remember you forever.”

“Oh, don’t do that to yourselves,” Wolf Lady said. “My name is Rosie. Think of it every once in a while, and forgive yourselves for the rest.”

.

Outside, everything was degrees of white and black, the snow bracing itself against the sky. Presley’s stomach was a black hole, and the rest of her was so numb as to cave in on itself.

She took one of Siobhan’s hands and one of Xian’s. Ana reached down and squeezed her shoulder.

They began to walk, and across the end of the world, a portal blinked into being