The curtain opens.

Piecemeal

Chapter 1: The Rats

Summary:

How did you do it?

How did you escape from Serenity?

Content Warnings: Implied child abuse, brainwashing, cult stuff. Also Victor is a big spider. And there's a guy named The Infestation. And some rats. They don't do anything.

Dust and Hoofbeats

Chapter 1: Cowboy Planet

Summary: Your name is Frank Lee.

When you are thirty-six years old, an angel appears. It touches down on the rock in the center of the oasis pond, awash in blue flames, and beckons you to it.

Life is complicated on Cowboy Planet.

Content Warnings: Parental death mentioned in backstory. Heights. Dehydration in the desert. Guns.

Image Description:

Four book-cover–like images with black backgrounds, ornate gold borders, and bold neon text. All of the titles start with “Tales from The Neon Sanctuary,” followed by a secondary title.

The first cover reads “The Humble Ringmaster” and features a black silhouette of a locomotive, against a blue cloud of smoke or steam.

The second cover features two spotlights cutting through the darkness, landing on the word “Exeunt” at the bottom of the image.

The third cover reads “Dust and Hoofbeats,” and features the black silhouette of a cowboy on horseback, against a red cloud.

The fourth cover reads “Strawberry Fool” and features three red and green neon line-art strawberries. A flat-lining vitals monitor passes through the title.

End image description.

The Humble Ringmaster

Chapter 2: Questions

Summary: Your grandmother is always prompting you to ask more questions. And you are eager to keep her talking.

Exeunt

Chapter 3: Re-Write

Summary: It has been too long, by any measure, since you last saw another mortal. Since you last saw anyone but The Presenters in costume, or a mannequin, a puppet, a doll. You are staring.

Content Warnings: War and nuclear weapons referenced. Homesickness. Heights. A little bit of blood. And Gideon is probably having a panic attack.

Exeunt

Chapter 2: The Toy Soldier

Summary: People are made by choices. Choices are made by people. People make themselves every day, brick by brick, fresh paint over lessons learned, windows boarded against the whims of strangers and the happenstances of fate, those external forces that would see people un-made.

Content Warnings: A boy witnesses his father's death during the sacking of Constantinople. Other, similarly violent events are alluded to. Nothing graphic.

A story of The Neon Sanctuary...

Exeunt

Chapter 1: The Spectator

Summary: Your name is Gideon Gladwell, and you want to go home.

A story of The Neon Sanctuary...

The Humble Ringmaster

Chapter 1: A Regal Entrance

Summary: Your grandmother Mouo’s cloak is a beautiful and dignified thing. Understated where it could be resplendent, subtle where it could be garish, but it gleams in the spotlight.