Opening
A sleepover after Aled Last’s birthday peels back every guard. Frances Janvier finally tells the truth about Carys, Aled’s relationship with Daniel shifts from tension to confession, and a chaotic podcast episode catapults Universe City into viral fame. Intimacy, panic, and the internet’s spotlight collide, forcing the friends to confront what they want—and what it costs.
What Happens
Chapter 36: BLANKET BUNDLE
The party winds down with Frances and Aled wrapped in blankets on his living-room floor while Daniel Jun sleeps on the sofa. They talk about Aled’s estranged twin, Carys Last. Aled shares that his mother, Carol Last, “properly hates” Carys and refuses to say where she is—another sign of the Abusive Family Dynamics shaping his home life.
Frances can’t keep lying. She admits she kissed Carys and believes she drove her away. Aled is shocked but gentle; he absolves Frances, insisting it wasn’t her fault. The two pull their blankets together—one “giant blanket bundle”—and recommit to their bond, a warm emblem of Platonic Friendship and Love. They talk about Universe City’s growing audience. Aled says he doesn’t want to be famous; he wants to be special. Frances tells him he already is, nudging him toward Finding Your Voice and Pursuing Passion without surrendering himself to the crowd.
Chapter 37: DARK BLUE
On a nighttime trip to the bathroom, Frances overhears Aled and Daniel in the kitchen, lit “dark blue.” Daniel confronts Aled for ignoring him all summer and asks for the truth. Aled’s defenses crack: “Well, why would we do this if I didn’t like you like that?” Frances realizes what’s coming just before Daniel kisses him. She turns away, recognizing the moment’s intimacy and the story’s step forward in LGBTQ+ Identity and Representation.
Later, Aled wakes Frances in the throes of a panic attack—shaking, crying, unable to breathe. She holds him while he sobs, “I don’t want to go to university,” exposing the crushing force of Mental Health and Well-being and The Pressure of Academia and the Education System in his life. When Frances finally drifts off and wakes again, she connects the dots: Daniel is February Friday, Universe City’s romantic lead. The revelation feels hollow, and the purple shadows under Aled’s eyes darken her unease.
Chapter 38: THE WORST EPISODE
Morning brings a fragile calm. Aled and Daniel sit together, peace tentatively restored, watching a video on Aled’s phone. Frances joins—and realizes it’s last night’s drunken Universe City recording. Aled cringes, calling it “the worst episode we’ve ever made,” but the views already sit above 30,000. Their most chaotic, unguarded work has become their most popular.
Chapter 39: 5 WEIRD THINGS I’M OBSESSED WITH
They soon learn why the numbers exploded: a mega-YouTuber featured Universe City in “5 WEIRD THINGS I’M OBSESSED WITH,” praising its mystery and linking the bizarre new episode. The sudden exposure shows the whiplash force of The Power and Dangers of Fandom and Internet Culture: one shout-out turns a niche project into a sensation. Aled is shaken. He hates that their “ridiculous and shit” episode is what went viral and regrets breaking his careful Friday schedule. Overwhelmed, he leaves; Daniel follows. Frances sits with the spin of it all, alone with the noise.
Chapter 40: UNIVERSE CITY: Ep. 126 – ghost school & SLEEP NOW
The chapter presents two artifacts. First, a transcript of “ghost school,” the viral episode—drunken, fragmented, and painfully honest. Voices blur. Carys surfaces (“obsession with Bukowski”), Aled rails against expectations (“I hate people telling me what I have to do”), and he confesses disorientation (“I don’t remember anything I’ve done, or why”). The mess reads like a confession broadcast by accident, a raw display of Identity and Authenticity.
Second, texts between Frances and Aled trace the show’s rapid climb through late August and early September. Despite his dread, Aled decides to ride the wave. He officially asks Frances to join as a permanent collaborator; fans love Toulouse. He even wants her “tone-deaf” singing for a future episode. Their messages become a lifeline—banter, check-ins, and a late-night “lullaby” as school looms—renewing the story’s core of Loneliness and Connection.
Character Development
Frances and Aled move from secrecy to radical honesty, binding themselves more tightly just as the outside world floods in. Daniel steps from the sidelines into the center of Aled’s private life, forcing clarifying truths.
- Frances Janvier: Her confession about Carys marks a leap in self-honesty and care. She shifts from fan-helper to co-creator, advancing her Coming of Age and artistic agency.
- Aled Last: His panic attack and anti-university confession bring his buried conflict into the open. He wrestles with control vs. fame, craving specialness without spectacle, and lets Daniel in.
- Daniel Jun: He demands clarity and names the relationship, culminating in the kiss. As the real-life February Friday, he reframes past episodes and reshapes Aled’s emotional landscape.
Themes & Symbols
The section fuses private authenticity with public exposure. The blanket bundle crystallizes a deep, non-romantic intimacy: Frances and Aled create a family of two that runs on honesty, care, and creative trust. Their bond steadies Aled as the internet storms in, and it anchors Frances as she steps into authorship.
Academic pressure and mental health combust in Aled’s panic—his body records what his words evade. The “dark blue” kitchen becomes a chamber of truth: a melancholy threshold where secrets tip into speech. That color returns in the purple beneath Aled’s eyes, hinting at harm festering at home and foreshadowing revelations about Carol.
Fandom’s sudden embrace brings validation and disorientation. Viral success amplifies what is least controlled—the drunken, most revealing episode—and threatens to strip meaning from the art even as it expands the audience. Universe City’s transcript and texts fold the novel into its own digital world, where receipts and fragments become evidence, misread or adored at scale.
Key Quotes
“Well, why would we do this if I didn’t like you like that?”
Aled’s line breaks months of evasion and claims the relationship plainly. It transforms confrontation into consent, clearing space for Daniel’s kiss and for Aled to accept desire alongside fear.
“I don’t want to go to university.”
This confession punctures every external expectation surrounding Aled. It links academic pressure to acute distress and reframes “success” as something potentially harmful to his wellbeing.
“The worst episode we’ve ever made.”
Aled’s horror at the viral episode underscores his need for control over his art. The irony—disaster equals success—sharpens his dread of fame’s randomness.
“I hate people telling me what I have to do.”
In the “ghost school” transcript, Aled articulates a core grievance: coercion masquerading as guidance. The line ties family, school, and public demand into a single pressure he must resist to remain himself.
“I don’t remember anything I’ve done, or why.”
The admission captures dissociation and the dangers of living on autopilot. It also explains why the accidental honesty of the episode resonates—people hear something unedited, even if it’s painful.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
This is the novel’s hinge. Private truths—Frances’s confession, Aled and Daniel’s kiss, Aled’s panic—collide with public acclaim as Universe City goes viral. The shift forces the friends to define what they are to each other and what their art is for. Frances steps into authorship; Aled’s need to be special strains under exposure; Daniel moves from subtext to text. The momentum promises opportunity and danger, setting up the central conflict between authenticity, control, and the unforgiving churn of an online audience.