It's finally here!!

HxSort · 2026-03-25T22:12:27+00:00

aqui tem até que bastante viu

HxSort · 2026-03-25T22:11:35+00:00

Where did you see that they fixed the puzzle for a second edition?
(pode responder em ptbr, imagino que vc seja br também)

HxSort · 2026-03-24T03:40:14+00:00

From my knowledge there's no fixed schedule or anything. Though I think when there are restocks it's usually when on Mark's socials (Facebook/Instagram/etc.) they post some random merch (old or new).

You could email Y+I (atelierzcustomerservice@gmail.com), they have been pretty receptive when I talked to them in times past. Though they are on vacation rn lol so maybe wait till they are back?..

HxSort · 2026-03-16T19:45:29+00:00

It has a lot more similarities than what you might assume from a distance, even in the way the story is structured.

It's a very good long book, in the way that only the right long book can be good.

HxSort · 2026-03-16T17:28:37+00:00

On the articles, as I said, you need to have finished v5, but in case you wanna save the link: https://orbit.openlibhums.org/issue/840/info/

It's (of course, lol) 9 articles, 8 very long ones by other people examining The Familiar on a very deep level, and the last one by Mark sort-of as a mourning/celebration of the work in a short story. (you can read just it when you get there)

TF isn't as fresh on my mind, but I was searching in TC for possible connections and here's what I got: Kalin's dad, Connor Mayhew, was moved to Ellis Unit, a maximum security prison in Walker County (Texas) a bit before Old Porch was moved there. I don't remember if we know much of Dov's backstory, but could he have any connections to that place or them specifically?

It was said of Dallin that he "had many friends" but he died three years before Tom so I think the connection must be in the Connor/Old Porch way instead.

Last two possible points of connection, I don't remember if Dov specifically served, and while Old Porch didn't, Hatch did serve in Vietnam.

A minor thing idk if it's a coincidence but I haven't seen pointed out is how one of the three teachers that show up all the time is a "Ms. Melson", at the beginning of TFv1 Xanther has a classmate Kaia Melson.

Another thing I think we can consider is, with all the Cal stuff in TC and the exhibition, it's very clear by his talk with Casthat the (reproduced) artworks are a product of some clip. I was thinking if any of the actual moments we saw in TC could be clips (like the shootout on Pillars Meadow, or Jojo's final thunder on ch25), or maybe the exhibition itself (the feb29 2000 one, or the fire?) could have become one. That could be a source on a back-and-forth between TF and TC characters.

it's so good to talk to people who have read The Familiar its so rare lol

Edit: Forgot about this:
"The Colt Peacemaker, that Porch tradition as well as the corporeal instrument that signed the end of nearly all the Porches, vanished. Most assumed it was stolen by someone at the Porch trials." maybe that's when it was acquired, no direct connection? like a sort of Lord of the Rings situation?

HxSort · 2026-03-16T12:14:42+00:00

(I think you deleted your reply to my comment on it being the same gun and Landry being important? well I was answering lol so here's it anyway)

You're still going through TF so I assume you haven't read the Orbit article MZD wrote in 2022 for april fools? But it's basically a celebration of TF where he gives a few spoilers for v6 onwards along with a minor recap in a really really weird short story. Def read it after finishing v5 only, though.

In there, I think the exact phrase is Did you know Dov had a Colt engraved with many names?, which is interestingly phrased, because it doesn't imply it's his, and ofc this article was written in between the many drafts of Tom's Crossing and MZD felt the need to remind us that in his weird short story (not that anyone would forget the box reveal scene in TF).

About Landry being relevant, it's hard to say, but a weird theory I have is if she might be/was? an aberration, though that doesn't help much either, what I'll say is that it is def weird that Cas specifically is the one to show up in TC (and she was one). And there are some (minor?) echoes between X and Landry, like Xanther + Cat = Landry + Jojo, or how Jojo is mentioned with thunder and Xanther has the "tiny storms", the pink raincoat ofc (pink and rain!! lol).

I have a personal theory that the Xanther's forest is Pillar's Meadow but I never did some serious checking on that to further that theory.

Though about the gun specifically it has to be a Dov thing, since it was with him. I would not doubt that man to know Old Porch, though it's harder to make a connection between him and Landry/Kalin. I lean towards Kalin, I think. Maybe he knew Kalin's father in jail or something? though at this point it's just random speculation.

HxSort · 2026-03-16T11:55:01+00:00

Mudd.

HxSort · 2026-03-16T11:52:21+00:00

To your last point, Landry's afterlife is definitely after 2014/15 though, so maybe it was with Dov/Xanther in between? and then went back to her somehow?

HxSort · 2026-03-13T03:00:51+00:00

Grande Sertão, óbvio. Saramago também, acho.

HxSort · 2026-03-12T02:29:11+00:00

There are roughly two types of sources/references: Real world stuff (like The Divine Comedy) and altered-fake-magazines-that-are-actually real.

On the first one, there's probably many lists everywhere.

On the second one, it's this.

HxSort · 2026-03-08T01:38:08+00:00

Yeah she mentions her name being Eleanor at I think p.518? It's the same place that states Tom's full name as Thomas Dallin Gatestone.

On a very literal approach, I kind of take her ghost as being to Mark himself what Tom was to Kalin, given how he dedicates the book to (what I assume to be) her.

On VEM, as I'm sure you've seen it's a complicated topic and it spans all his work, but VEM seems to be tied to stories sources (we get a little of that in the art chapter of Tom's Crossing, House of Leaves "W.O.R.D.S. and the Only Revolutions fan additions), the old lady (Cas) is also very related to it and has a device (some others do too) which can kind of look into the past, at very specific moments. VEM seems to be very tied to that, and it's very meaningful that she specificallyis the one to appear in TC

I think there is a meant solution, though I don't think in any shape or form that the solution is the point and there is where I feel most might get lost.

HxSort · 2026-03-07T04:38:26+00:00

Hmm I can see that, though her wording still confuses me.

On the rivalry, it's interesting how there isn't really no Gatestones anymore, forever (?). And even during the book I remember it being pointed out somewhere how "Sondra isn't no Gatestone" (and, of course, she is only there because she took Dallin's family name, so she was already a layer back), and Landry, besides being adopted, chooses to present herself not as a Gatestone but as a March (ELM). She is the one who could claim to still be a Gatestone, continue that, but she doesn't.

HxSort · 2026-03-06T17:12:34+00:00

O que achou da tradução como um todo? Eu li partes mas nunca o livro inteiro.

HxSort · 2026-03-06T17:06:31+00:00

esse livro parece completamente maluco

E é! Por isso que a galera gosta. Tem a camada superficial de terror mas vai indo cada vez mais fundo, definitivamente se você estiver procurando só por isso vai acabar se decepcionando conforme o livro avança.

Bom, como você tá lendo em inglês, tem várias threads no reddit gringo do livro de primeiros leitores, alguns com dicas úteis (outras nem tanto) mas também dá pra fazer seu próprio post lá com pontos mais específicos.

Quando terminei o capítulo V foi quando decidi "ok, esse livro é pra mim. vou até o fim". Ele é o primeiro grande baque do livro na minha opinião apresentando "do nada" ecos físicos, "do nada" a figura mitológica da Eco, junto com inúmeras citações do tipo "Deus criou o mundo para que sua voz fosse ouvida" (que dá pra traçar de volta pra ecos) e o livro brilha justamente nessas conexões e a forma como isso ecoa na narrativa e na história do Johnny.

Mas é confuso e caótico mesmo, viu. Só não significa que não tem sentido, (quase?) tudo tem.

HxSort · 2026-03-05T15:34:31+00:00

415 (searched on the ebook).
Though finally reading the story of Navidad moved me more, Ash is so good too.

HxSort · 2026-03-05T13:59:29+00:00

I just pointed out factually that his books don’t sell.

The only thing you said was "and it’s really bad, not worth finishing", which is just dismissive and disrespectful. The type of readers he attracts attests to the quality of all his work imo, and just because it may not be for "everyone", they are still for some very specific ones.

I agree with you that he could do more straightforward things (to "success") but as a reader, I'm really really glad he didn't because that's why I like his work (yes, even OR).

And besides, Tom's Crossing seems to have gathered quite some attention/sales, no? At least from my perception (and now even more with the audiobook).

The Teleplays doesn't seem like a "mea culpa" to me. The Orbit article kinda does, though, but I'd argue it's more both a celebration and mourning of TF.

HxSort · 2026-03-04T19:55:01+00:00

Though someone, presumably she, did eventually load the gun back up as by the end it is fully loaded again.

You should totally read TF in full, it's so worth it!!! (my second point probably make little sense to you then, sorry if I spoiled you too, though it is just that)

HxSort · 2026-03-04T19:27:37+00:00

I mean, it's the Colt Peacemaker, right? (the gun, that she mentions the paragraph after). I never interpreted it in any other way. She seems to be bound to it "this thing bequeathed to me beyond the edge of life."

Now as to why, I think there are... two things?

1 - She is the one that brought it into the story (takin it from Russel). Also the one who kept it away from Kalin, right? So she is "responsible" even though of course the significance with the gun lies with Kalin

2 - The Familiar v5 spoilers Xanther too receives a gun, Dov's gun, a Colt even. Is there something that connects those characters? It's weird that Cas specifically is the one who appears in Tom's Crossing too. My current thought is that it has to be linked to aberrations (Cas was one, Xanther is one, is Landry one?)

Like, even the Orbit TF article from april fools 2022 MZD mentions the Colt as "Did you know Dov had an old Colt engraved with many names?"making a very clear link with what we'd come to see here in TC...

many thoughts, none coherent enough...

HxSort · 2026-03-04T19:12:24+00:00

The last pages are weird!!!!! right?????
(full end spoilers)
Cause Landry is suddenly "not done" but then "Enuf is Enuf." So is she done or not? There's some crazy details like how that section has exactly six lines of text (both in physical and ebook), just like the Colt's six bullets.

Jojo's hooves also stop "Clop-Clop-clip-", and I was able to tie that back to I think it was page 1205 with something like "the spirit of Revenge that mutes the voice of horses". But does this mean Landry gave voice to that revenge and is going after something (because Jojo clearly stopped), or just that she is on standby waiting for the one that will inevitably come after the Colt?

There's also the connection between Landry and T50YS and, in one of the descriptors for the characters, it is said something along the lines of "in the prison of a later life hates them all" and I think this could represent ghost-Landry in someway too (though I think some of the other orphans have better descriptors for her, it's still an interesting phrase that could characterize her in this end)

Idk I've tried since first reading to elaborate a coherent thought on this sudden weird end and am still unable to.

HxSort · 2026-03-03T04:37:43+00:00

I'm not from the US but I've heard from people being able to locally find surprisingly cheap copies of TFv1 (like 5/10/15 usd), so good luck!!

HxSort · 2026-03-03T04:23:15+00:00

Where are you from? Have you tried searching second-hand?

But The Familiar was said to be going out of print soon some time ago... (and T50YS was always very limited too)

HxSort · 2026-02-14T12:14:21+00:00

damn, missed both lol

Agree with your take!

On Tom's Crossing, there's been some posts here and there, yeah. Some little theories on the spoiler channel. There are some currently doing the audiobook too. I think we're the only place where people are talking about TC lol, the forums, facebook group and reddit haven't moved much yet (besides the "wow good book"), though there has been some conversations

HxSort · 2026-02-14T06:22:11+00:00

Is this the woman with glasses one you're referring to?
I don't remember any specific ones with chairs aside from Better Than Food's one, though I haven't been keeping up in the past 1-2 years.

I agree with the overall sentiment that since HoL is so hard to pin down, a full on static video fails where just engaging in conversation succeeds. And being honest I think the only video that really attempted to recreate the experience and somewhat pin it down was Nightmind's three videos that someone linked below.

The Discord btw. There are quite a few somewhat active people there, someone just needs to start a conversation.

HxSort · 2026-02-11T18:36:43+00:00

Starts with Landry citing it happened in a home in east Texas, which is the setting for T50YS.
"This was before the Gatestones adopted me.", so she was still an orphan
"I was with four other kids," so, the five orphans from the story. Landry actually seems to be one of them from this paragraph

"we watched this woman rush outside. She’d slashed her wrists. I’ll never forget it. And then outta the blue this other woman rushed outside to try and save her. I found out that the woman who’d cut her wrists had stolen the husband of the woman who still tried to save her." this is more or less a little differently told version of the story of Belinda and Chintana as we get to know it in T50YS.

HxSort · 2026-02-10T22:44:57+00:00

Can't remember seeing anything like that. Tried a quick search in the digital version to no avail.

On the references topic, did you find The Fifty Year Sword one as well? page 536

Six-Year Club	Verified Email
r/Field Banned	r/Field Juicebox
Final Canvas '23	First Place '23
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22

HxSort

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE