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samtheflamingomain · 1 year

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the mystery machine

I'm into mysteries of all sorts - games, books, shows, what have you.

I started at 5, reading Nancy Drews and solving them halfway through and skipping to the end to confirm it. I expressed the simplicity of the stories to her, and then my mother gave me an Agatha Christie.

Those were a bit harder, and it didn't help that the first one was And Then There Were None, which was an insanely difficult solve for a 9 year old.

But I did solve it.

See, ATTWN actually has an epilogue that tells you whodunit, and my mother taped those pages shut because she didn't want me to spoil it and that's probably the closest she's ever come to understanding me.

It made me think for DAYS, rereading it twice. It was a lightbulb moment, I rushed home from school to say "Warren did it!" and my mother was fucking astounded. She really thought she was gonna get me.

From there, I kept reading Christies, but also other authors, and also, when I was 10, I got a Nancy Drew video game for Christmas. #11, Blackmoor Manor. My most-replayed video game by far.

If you're 9 playing a Nancy Drew start-to-finish on the first go, it could take well over a week, maybe 2. Today, speedrunning, I clock in at just under 3h.

I have played and won every single Nancy Drew game. Nowadays that's not much of a flex, but 20 years ago? Before the existence of the forums that have a thread for literally every puzzle? Add another 5 years before I even knew it existed, and the fact I solved every single game on my own till #14 or 15… it's probably the thing I think of most when I think about my level of intelligence.

(Kind of an aside but one day I was home early from school and caught my father... playing the ND game I was in the middle of, to get ahead of me to seem smart by pointing out the way to go. No, it wasn't to help me. It was for him to appear smart, and I know this because he literally said so.)

Fast-forward ten years, and I partake in mysteries of different kinds. Oddly enough, rather than video games, I've been into card/board games of mystery. Mainly the one-play EXIT games. A good 2-3h of mysteries as a game, $20, but only playable once due to having to cut up cards and such.

For Christmas, my best friend got me 2 kinds of mystery - a game in the EXIT series, and a book with 100 pages out of order, the goal being to put them in order, and only 3 people have ever solved it.

All this to say, I have a few categories of interactive mysteries. Does it have hints? Does it need hints? Do hints hinder the experience?

I started the book, Cain's Jawbone, and I already have several pages in order. It's… oddly, intuitive to me. I truly believe I will solve it. I haven't even looked up hints, though I likely will.

In terms of hints making a game worse, I'd point to something like Thief Sim, which is pretty damn specific, a $3 Switch download with a surprisingly well-made system of play. It's very smooth, very intuitive and not too punishing. But the game is absolutely blasting you in the ass with hints. Every house you burgle you somehow know the exact daily routine of every tenant. It would be harder but a lot more rewarding with fewer hints.

Hints that improve a game? Odyssey. I can't stand an open world without a map and directions. Odyssey, to me, is unplayable without the arrows because the world is just too open.

Time-travel back to when 9-year-old Sam started Blackmoor Manor. Ask me if I need a hint anywhere along the way and the answer is yes fucking please. I got none. I still won. But I'd have saved a lot of bullshit with hints. Again, there is a forum. But the games themselves have no hint system - well, okay, hold on.

So some games, you can access the internet. Sometimes you can call Bess and/or George and/or Ned to help… but their answers are usually just another riddle in themselves.

Early games have no hints, though. I'd say Blackmoor is the last of the early games, and the last one without a dedicated hint system. You do get internet, but it doesn't hint, it's part of the puzzles.

EXIT games come with Hint Cards. A LOT of the puzzles are just very badly written and even Hint 1 and Hint 2 don't help, and the first sentence of the Solution card is just the answer so very often you can't really get a step-by-step on how to get there before you're just told the answer.

Each game has 12 puzzles. The best one had 10 good puzzles. The worst had 2 good puzzles. We've played 4. Never have I had to pull the Hint 1, Hint 2, and Solution cards for more puzzles than that last game, and every single one was something stupid or something we were severely over-thinking and could never dumb ourselves down enough to get it and I'm not kidding.

But I think the best mysteries lie in a sweet spot of some amount of hints, but ones you don't necessarily need to consult to get the answer.

Ironically, the best example of this is actually one of the puzzles from the bad EXIT game I just talked about. When we do these games, only one of us pulls hints and then we try to guide the other to the answer. Sometimes it's just not possible because it's so dumb. Sometimes, it's rather seamless.

I got obsessed with a certain puzzle so Connor pulled the hints for me. The first hint tells you what exactly you need to solve. This hint was "You need Riddle Card E". I had it. No help.

Well, not no help - it lets you know you only need that one thing to solve an entire puzzle, which is honestly pretty rare. Usually you need at least 2 Riddle Cards and multiple pages of the book. Not this. Just that one card.

E was a simple 4-line rhyme that mentioned paying close attention to #13. Immediately, we went for the book (the game comes with a "journal" or some such with usually 10-15 pages of puzzles and letters/notes and stuff) but ours only went to page 12.

He's leafing through the book looking for a 13. I go through a few thoughts - when do they ever, EVER mention a number?? Usually it's symbols. We don't have page 13. Where else do numbers show up? Well, there's 3 decks of cards in each game - Riddle Cards unlocked as you go, A-Z. Hint Cards that help you, each with the puzzle's symbol on it. But Answer Cards, for when you think you've got it, are numbered. I almost think I'm cheating but I go for #13.

And there it is. A big yellow X. Wait, yellow, not red? Usually when you get an answer wrong it will tell you to pull a card from the deck with a big red X saying put this card back and try again. This card said "Put this card back unless you want the code 338".

But the funny thing is, I showed it to Connor and he groaned. I laughed and handed it to him and he just looked at me. "READ IT!!" He's like holy shit good catch.

Then 10 minutes later I'm absolutely adamant I'm going to solve this card so he pulls hints and it's the angriest I've been in 5 years.

Hint 1 - you only need the card you're holding. The card I'm holding has every letter of the alphabet, =, and a number 0-9. The top says, "What is the the wrong thing?"

I'm pulling fucking algorithims outta my grade-11-math ass, thinking syllables, checking how many of each letter appears in the book. Connor is dying. "It's just that card. Just… read it."

George is getting upset! I'm throwing everything at him. "What? What's wrong? A=3? How do I know if that's right or not??" There's an equation at the bottom. A few numbers added = 18, and it adds up. That's not wrong. So I start assigning those numbers to the letters but there's 6 possibilities for a 1…

"Stop. Read. The. Card."

Ugh. Okay so "'What is the wrong thing?' Those words are in order, so that's not wrong-"

"Are they?"

And instantly, there it is. "What is the THE wrong thing?" Like a goddamn Facebook post pointing out you didn't notice they skipped #4. Perfect case of overthinking, but then again, the entirety of that card doesn't matter except that extra The. Whoever made an entire fake cypher? I just wanna talk. Outside. I'm free after 4.

But some puzzles are legitimately so hard that you need to think that deep.

My favourite EXIT, and probably my favourite interactive mystery ever, is "Murder on the Orient Express" - the only game in the series with a 5/5 difficulty. And the only game where, for the very last puzzle, you only get one guess.

Every other game, if you're wrong, you pull a card saying "try again". We got Orient on the first try, so for a few minutes we just celebrated. Then we read the one card left and realized if we'd been one digit off, we would've outright lost the game.

Technically you could just pretend you didn't get it wrong and try again, but this game had a dedicated card to all 7 wrong answers telling you that you are murdered by the culprit. But it's cool cuz someone else solved the mystery.

I get why, I do, it's one of the lowest-rated games. It's very, VERY hard to pick the culprit among 8 suspects.

However, I started taking Game Notes at age 9 and I know how to notate a game with items you need instant/repeated access to.

Me and Connor have a routine. I lay out a table and tell him to read me every 3rd word, every time a food is mentioned, every date etc. and know how to organize such info.

It got away from me a bit, but I was trying to talk mystery with regard to hints. So let me finish by going back to Cain's Jawbone.

I'm used to, nowadays, having infinite hints just by a simple Google search. If I ever solve Jawbone, I personally wouldn't feel any amount of pride if I didn't at least give a hint to those attempting to solve. Because some things just need a word or a phrase to ignite a lightbulb. Gatekeeping a puzzle because of its exclusivity doesn't jive with me.

Some puzzles need hints. Some don't. I think the distinction is worth discussing.

Stay Greater.

#puzzle #writing #mystery #sam

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thanksjro · 3 years

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More Than Meets the Eye #33: In Which I Write the Word ‘Quantum‘ 19 Times

Dang, I forgot what happened at the end of the last issue. It was pretty important, too, but I don’t have time to reread. Maybe the establishing shot can help me out?

Oh, that’s right, Rewind happened!

Everyone’s pretty jazzed that Rewind is here, non-exploded, and supposedly alive. Megatron carries this ridiculously small man over to a table, while Skids is busy admonishing Nightbeat for trying to put the pieces of this mystery together.

That’s one of the two first canonically, openly gay Transformers, Megatron. You bet your ass he’s important.

Nightbeat’s dragged Nautica over to look at that poster for Crosscut’s play they saw last issue. Together, they discover something interesting, and it’s not that Nightbeat’s chin has elongated to the point of absurdity. On this future ship, the play was completed and produced a mere few weeks after the initial launch of the Lost Light.

While this is going on, Rewind wakes up and asks Skids what the hell is going on. Skids, likely not wanting to poke at farm-fresh trauma, glosses over the fact that everyone on this ship was violently murdered, and that they found Rewind blacked out inside the hollowed torso of his brother-in-law.

…This is a dark story line.

You see, the joke here is that “Dark Cybertron” sucked major chrome.

Megatron reminds everyone that they’re still in grave danger every moment they stay aboard this ship, but Skids is more concerned with Rewind’s mental health. Which is sweet, but maybe not the thing to prioritize in such a precarious situation.

Rewind takes the fact that Megatron is an Autobot now pretty friggin’ well, as well as the introduction of gender into his species. That is, until Nightbeat, the king of social graces, saunters up to the scene to ask Rewind what the hell happened to the ship. He does get his answers, despite Rewind being horrified to the point of speechlessness.

Over at the hole in the wall, Nautica and Riptide are taking a gander at the quantum drums, which house the quantum foam for the quantum engines so quantum jumps can happen.

As Nautica explains the process by which quantum travel works, she realizes that the answer to what happened to everyone who disappeared was right in front of them this whole time.

Quantum, quantum, quantum- doesn’t even sound like a word anymore, does it?

The data slug Rewind made corroborates this theory, showing a series of events that definitely didn’t happen to the Lost Light we’ve been following throughout this story so far. The data slug contains this Rewind’s version of dead Rewind’s “Little Victories”, the travelogue that was never completed, where the question “are you happy?” revealed just how emotionally unhealthy most of the crew is. I’d like to imagine this Rewind’s film is called “Small Achievements”, or perhaps “Dear Fucking Lord, We’ve Been on this Trip for Three Hours and the Captain Has Been Killed by a Goddamned Soul-Vampire”, or maybe even “Where the FUCK is Our Therapist”.

The DJD came into the equation by way of someone having led them to the Lost Light. We get a flashback panel of the gorefest, in which Tarn appears to have learned how to fly, given the angle he’s coming from.

Because Rewind’s big thing in this series is being the guy who records stuff, the DJD take the opportunity to make some movies of their visit to the space yacht.

James, why do you keep getting Rewind involved with snuff films? I’m starting to get concerned.

Now, the thing about Rewind is that he’s almost always accompanied by his other half. Where is Chromedome, anyway?

He’s dead, that’s where.

Turns out, when you tell the DJD that you won’t do the thing they want you to do, they have a habit of doing nasty things in retaliation. Chromedome got stabbed in the friggin’ visor with his own finger needles, because Vos enjoys ironic deaths, I suppose. There’s some other stuff that’s implied to have happened, but we’ll get to that once we learn a little more about the DJD themselves.

While Rewind recounts the grisly tale of his husband’s demise, Riptide notes that the quantum foam has begun to spread at a remarkable rate. This is a bad thing, because that shit can and will explode, given half the chance, and this wreck is floating right above a potentially-inhabited planet.

Though I could have sworn we established that this planet was a Smartplanet, and therefore very much populated by students and staff. I don’t know. Maybe we conveniently forgot that, so we could make this a learning moment for Megatron.

Jiminy Christmas, Megs, do you even listen to yourself?

Skids, who has had a very long day of finding corpses and learning about quantum theory, snaps at Megatron, telling him that in order to actually be an Autobot, you have to have a little frickin’ compassion for those outside of your peer group.

Which is sort of contradictory to the Aequitas trials, the Killswitch debacle, the POW situation back on Cybertron, and whatever the fuck Prowl’s whole deal is, but maybe Skids is speaking about his own, personal relationship with being an Autobot. Hopefully so, otherwise he needs a class on critical thinking, STAT.

Never mind all of that though, because the problem just got a lot worse- the quantum foam has expanded to a point where any holes in the stuff are too small for the Rod Pod to get through. We’re going to have to get creative if we want to save the day.

Luckily, we’ve got a quantum duplicate of just about the tiniest little dude in the franchise here to do the job. Now we just need another, equally tiny little man, so the quantum drums can be shut off at the same time. Nautica commits more microaggressions, and this gives Getaway inspiration for a witty quip, which in turn gives Skids a brilliant idea.

The gang heads down to Brainstorm’s lab, to look for the mass displacement gun that was used for treating Ultra Magnus’s nanocon infestation back in the 2012 Annual. While they search, Nautica explains just why the hell the Lost Light disappeared in the first place. You see, quantum duplication acts on the Cain Instinct— it’s fine, as long as the duplicates don’t perceive each other. However, the moment contact is made, it says “oh man, guess I’m gonna have to end you” to one of the duplicates. The contact in this case happened when the Coffin Rodimus was brought aboard the ship.

Anything that wasn’t aboard the Lost Light at the point of the takeoff/explosion was never duplicated, and thus wasn’t erased from reality once shit started going to hell. This is why the Rod Pod is still around, and why the remaining cast are— well, the remaining cast.

While this conversation is going on, Nautica and Nightbeat uncover yet another dead body; it’s Brainstorm, and he’s a little underdressed.

…Someone run a paternity test, I think Cyclonus might be the father.

Also, Brainstorm’s a double agent.

Fucked up.

Getaway is furious that a Decepticon has been living on the same ship as him for the last six months, right under his proverbial nose. Even Megatron’s surprised, stating that Brainstorm isn’t usually who the recruiters aim for.

So, no mass displacement gun, and now they’re aware of the fact that there’s a traitor on the ship who’s had access to a LOT of weapon tech. It’s at this point that Megatron decides to stop lying by omission and tells everyone that he can mass-displace, since he used to turn into a handgun.

Smashcut to Megatron and Rewind floating out in space, the former now not much taller than the latter, as they traverse the web of quantum foam to get to the drums. Nautica instructs them from the Rod Pod. If this works, anything produced or connected to the quantum engine will be neutralized, and maybe we’ll even get the other Lost Light back! YAAAAAY!!!

Y’all really let this man go out there to fuckin’ kill himself for the greater good, didn’t you?

Rewind is honestly pretty chill with ceasing to be, seeing as he watched 200/+ people die today, including his long-time spouse.

Jesus. I’d say get him a therapist, but in order to do that, we’re going to have to wipe him off the map anyway.

Rewind asks Megatron if the Chromedome that isn’t his and his duplicate are still together. And I mean…

Luckily, Megatron has the good sense to lie.

With that, they flip the switches, and deactivate the drums.

And that’s a series wrap on Rewind! Congrats to Mr. James Roberts for the esteemed honor of burying the same gay twice!

Later on, everyone is back inside the Rod Pod, as their disappeared shipmates return from being nonexistent. Chromedome pops back in, and Skids is on him like a shark, telling him to go on the roof. Skids doesn’t even try to explain why. Which, fair. How the hell do you explain to someone that their dead husband’s quantum duplicate survived both a terrorist splinter cell attack, and the laws of quantum sci-fi bullshit crashing down on his tiny, tiny body, and that he’s right there on the roof waiting for them?

Welp, there goes the Chromedome/Dominus endgame. Shame, that.

Looks like Chromedome finally hit the threshold for having earned Roberts’ pity, and won’t be directly targeted by the plot for a little while. This isn’t something you see very often, so let’s really soak this in.

…Someone had to have told Rewind what happened to the other Rewind, right? I wonder what that conversation was like.

Back inside the ship, Blaster gets word that the Lost Light has reappeared. As they navigate towards it, Megatron requests that an encrypted call be made to Rodimus, to discuss the Brainstorm problem.

In the interim, Ravage is offered the opportunity to be a part of the crew, so he doesn’t have to keep skulking around in the shadows. We don’t get an answer from him, as our focus shifts over to Nightbeat and Nautica.

Nightbeaaaaaaaaaat, stop stating the themes of the comic verbatim! People are going to start thinking you’re a shonen anime protagonist!

Nightbeat’s somehow managed to keep ahold of the briefcase that they found on the other Lost Light. Unless Brainstorm’s boyfriend is in there, I don’t think this one was the work of Huey Lewis and the News’ hit single from the Back to the Future soundtrack.

Over on the Lost Light, specifically in Swerve’s, Brainstorm’s making his way through the crowd, briefcase held gentle like hamburger as he goes. He makes it to the bar, where Atomizer tells him he can’t have his briefcase in here. Brainstorm has what most would accept to be a healthy response to being told “no.”

It’s what I would do.

#transformers #jro #MTMTE #slaughterhouse #issue 33 #maccadam #Hannzreads #text post #long post #comic script writing

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polandspringz · 3 years

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Sorry to bother you but, are you still working on your obey me shall we date series Siberia? You haven’t updated it in a while.

Sorry again cams have a good day/night!

I'm super sorry for the delay! I promise I intend to finish the story, it's just been difficult for me to sit down and focus on writing recently, because I have trouble prioritizing my tasks, mainly what fic to work on first. After publishing a lot of one-shots in the last long gap between updates on Siberia & YDRWS, I swore to focus only on updating both these fics, but because they both have very long chapter lengths they take a long time to write, not including time it takes rereading the previous chapters to make sure I do not mix up details, which is important in a mystery like Siberia.

Also, because I wanted to focus on updating Siberia AND YDRWS, because when summer hit I had not updated both of them since around February, I've been focusing more on updating YDRWS, since Siberia got two updates and YDRWS only got one. I had actually written the full chapters of 3 & 4 for YDRWS but realized that a lot of things sounded really contrived and I wasn't happy with chapter 4 at all so I've been struggling to fix chapter 3 so I can rewrite chapter 4. It's a lot of piecing together elements and scenes from the original version I like and then working them into the new flow of the story.

The only other things that I can say for the delay is that, well it's summer and this is the only time I get to really hang out with my friends. One of them goes out of state for school the rest of the year and rarely comes back on breaks due to work, and because of lockdown I did not get to hang out with any of my friends still living in state until now. Also, when I hit writers' block on my fanfiction stories, it happens a lot because I feel like I should be prioritizing my original works instead, so I've been revisiting some personal stories. I am not just a writer, but create art and sew, and that plays into my struggle of prioritizing, so when my laptop broke in late June/early July I ended up working on art which took me out of my writing zone. Also (I hate saying "also" so much but oh well), a big thing that has affected my ability to work on stories I started last year is that I'm just in a different state of mind. A lot of my series from 2020 had strong focuses on touch & being starved of it, loneliness, and isolation, all brought about due to my mental health during the start of lockdown. While things have not changed much, being able to see people again has made it harder for me to dive back into those themes as strongly as I did before.

I promise that not a day goes by where I don't think "Oh god I need to work on Siberia (and other fics)" because I genuinely don't want to leave these works unfinished. My whole reason for starting Siberia was because I visualized a scene that can only happen near the end of the story, and that's what has been keeping me going. As I always stress, the entire story has been mapped out since the beginning, but I want to ensure I deliver the best possible chapter I can with each update and don't leave anything out. I'll confess that I haven't played OM in a few months and have been stuck at Lesson 22, and usually when I hit a roadblock it would be because I lost sight of the characters and would go back and play a bit to get me back in the zone, but I just haven't had the focus for that recently. Again, I'm super super sorry for the delay! I've been holding off on writing other long length stories because I know I need to put all my energy into working on the ones I started already. But, as it stands I probably will still only be able to deliver one update a month if I get back on my normal schedule of writing. I originally estimated the story to take around fifteen chapters, and we are approaching the one year anniversary of it's start. Siberia was honestly my first long-term story idea I've ever done, at least for fanfiction and published in a public space, so I do not know if it will be fifteen or maybe closer to twenty chapters to finish, but I estimate it will take us into next year at the very least.

I'm sincerely sorry, and I hope you understand! And please don't feel bad about sending me this ask! Getting messages like this actually helps motivate me to work on my stories, because Siberia has actually felt like one of my OM stories that I got the least response on (I mean, compared to how I still get comments about CYDRWG), and it's nice to see I have a few dedicated readers each time a chapter goes up.

I don't have much to show for work on chapter 9 yet, and don't want to show the outline obviously for spoilers, but if people were interested I've been thinking about showing some of my notes/my process in my notebook for crafting stories like this? At least for the earlier chapters (just so you can see how I attack each chapter)

#thank you for your message I swear I will work on it today!#ask poland #obey me #writing #my writing #siberia

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a-dandelion-dreamer · 4 years

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Word Wanderings Post #1 – The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

This is the beginning of a reread. I’ve loved this author for years and The Raven Cycle is a particular favourite of mine. Please note that if you haven’t read this book, this post will definitely contain spoilers!

The Raven Boys is the first book in a quartet and juggles a multitude of characters, including our four main characters (Gansey, Ronan, Adam and Blue) and our plus one (Noah). While it does have some external conflict, it is mainly driven by the characters and their relationships with one another. This book is complex and dense with detail, with a structure that is a little unusual. Most books or series have a driving hook that catches readers right at the beginning and is the selling tagline. For example, in the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, it’s Percy finding out he’s secretly a demigod, which directly turns into monsters attacking him and his mom disappearing. In the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, it’s the existence of a game that forces children to fight to the death and then subsequently Katniss volunteering to take her sister’s place at the Reaping. In Six of Crows, it’s a crew of six misfits embarking upon an impossible heist.

Ostensibly, the hook of this book is that Blue is destined to kill her true love with a kiss. That’s what it says on the back of the book, and it’s certainly an overarching threat present for the rest of the series. Tied in as well is Gansey’s search for Glendower, a sleeping king Gansey believes is buried somewhere on a ley line. This is another whole-series thread. The real heart of the story, however, is the boys and Blue and their friendship and their interactions with the other messy pieces of their lives and their search to find meaning and happiness. This type of storytelling is not for everyone, especially those who might enjoy more action-driven tales, but it’s the kind of storytelling I love.

(And in writing and other personal creative projects, I think it’s important to let what you love drive you forwards).

Here are three points I took away from reading this book:

Point #1: Keeping readers interested by embedding small mysteries

The trick is to make your readers want to know what happens next. This is something I have trouble with and therefore I’m particularly interested in seeing how other books handle it.

Each chapter in this book is written from a different character’s perspective. I’ll include the first and last lines (which I think are brilliantly done) in the form: (first line/last line). Following that, I’ll describe some mysteries that the chapter raises.

Prologue: Blue (“Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she’d been told that she would kill her true love.”/”’You’re Maura’s daughter,’ Neeve said, and before Blue could answer, she added, “this is the year you’ll fall in love.’”) – pg. 1-4

We’re introduced to the idea that Blue will kill her true love if she kisses him

Which immediately raises the question: who is he? And how does she get from being determined not to fall in love to killing someone with a kiss?

We learn about Blue’s psychic family, which I think is super interesting

Blue’s half-aunt Neeve comes to town and really hits us with that: “This is the year you’ll fall in love.” Pay attention, that line says.

Chapter 1: Blue (“It was freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrived.”/“’There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve, Blue. Either you’re his true love,’ Neeve said, ‘or you killed him.’”) – pg. 5-16

Blue and Neeve watch for the future dead

Blue, the only non-psychic in her family, sees a spirit for the first time

The guy she’s destined to kill or fall in love with (or both)

His name is Gansey, and now we’re wondering who he is

Chapter 2: Gansey (“’It’s me,’ said Gansey.”/”’That seems obvious,’ he answered. ‘We find out who you were talking to.’”) – pg. 17-28

Brilliant cut to Gansey

This guy is very real and because of the previous scene, we want to know who he is

We learn about his quest, which adds another layer of mystery

Gansey also heard Blue, on his recorder, so now he’s wondering about her

We ask ourselves: how will these two meet?

Also, introduces Gansey’s friends Adam and Ronan

Ronan has a tumultuous relationship with his brother Declan

THEY HAVE A NUMBER FOR A PSYCHIC (guess who belongs to a psychic family)

Chapter 3: Blue (“Mornings at 300 Fox Way were fearful, jumbled things.”/”’Blue,’ Maura said finally. ‘I don’t have to tell you not to kiss anyone, right?’”) – pgs. 29-37

Introduces Blue’s house

Introduces Blue’s relationship with her mother Maura

Neeve scries and learns that something is strange about Henrietta

Again, we wonder how Blue and Gansey will meet. And also, is it possible to save Gansey from his fate?

Chapter 4: Adam (“Adam Parrish had been Gansey’s friend for eighteen months, and he knew that certain things came along with that friendship.”/”’Excelsior’, said Gansey, and shut the door behind them.”) – pg. 38-51

Introduces Monmouth Manufacturing

Delves further into Gansey’s quest (will Gansey find what he’s looking for?)

Adam is suspicious that someone is spying on their search

Develops tension between Ronan and Declan

Chapter 5: Whelk (“Barrington Whelk was feeling less than sprightly as he slouched down the hall of Whitman House, the Aglionby admin building.”/”It was possible that Czerny’s death wasn’t for nothing after all.”) – pg. 52-56

Adam was suspicious in the previous chapter and now here’s Whelk, being suspicious

What is this guy’s deal?

Whelk hears Gansey is researching ley lines and suddenly gets very interested

Who is Czerny and how did he die?

Chapter 6: Blue (“Blue wouldn’t really describe herself as a waitress.”/”Neeve had to be wrong. She’d never fall in love with one of them.”) – pg. 57-64

Blue goes to work at Nino’s, the same place Gansey and his crew are going

Blue’s mother calls: Gansey has scheduled a reading

THEY MEET! This is great. They meet and they both dislike each other. They immediately conflict and neither realizes the other is the person they’re looking for.

The dramatic irony is fantastic

Adam is interested in Blue and Blue is a little bit interested in him

How does Blue end up liking Gansey, who she currently hates?

Truly, a mystery

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE TWO MEET AGAIN AT THE PSYCHIC READING???

I could do this for the whole book, but you get the picture. There’s always something the reader is left wondering, even if it’s something small, or a future interaction they’re looking forwards to.

A note: this is particularly effective when it’s tied to personal agency. You want to see what your characters will do, and this means more if you have dynamic characters who make choices.

Point #2: Atmosphere and memorable locations

Another big strength of this book is the personality that it imbues its settings with. Take three examples: 300 Fox Way, Monmouth Manufacturing and Cabeswater.

300 Fox Way – the chaotic, full-to-the-brim house where Blue lives with her mom and her aunt and her mom’s two best friends Persephone and Calla and a multitude of other psychic women, all showcased through background details. I love this house and its aesthetic.

Quote: “Mornings at 300 Fox Way were fearful, jumbled things. Elbows in sides and lines for the bathroom and people snapping over tea bags placed into cups that already had tea bags in them. There was school for Blue and work for some of the more productive (or less intuitive) aunts. Toast got burned, cereal went soggy the refrigerator door hung open and expectant for minutes at a time. Keys jingled as car pools were hastily decided.” – pg 29

Monmouth Manufacturing – the abandoned factory that Gansey, Ronan and Noah have made their home. They live on the upper floor and the description of the space really doubles as a character portrait for Gansey. Use settings to reveal and further describe your characters!

Quote: “The high ceiling soared above them, exposed iron beams holding up the roof. Gansey’s invented apartment was a dreamer’s laboratory. The entire second floor, thousands of square feet, spread out before them. Two of the walls were made up of old windows—dozens of tiny, warped panes, except for a few clear ones Gansey had replaced—and the other two walls were covered with maps: the mountains of Virginia, of Wales, of Europe. Marker lines arced across each of them. Across the floor, a telescope peered at the Western sky; at its feet lay piles of arcane electronics meant to measure magnetic activity.

And everywhere, everywhere, there were books. Not the tidy stacks of an intellectual attempting to impress, but the slumping piles of a scholar obsessed. Some of the books weren’t in English. Some of the books were dictionaries for the languages that some of the other books were in. Some of the books were actually Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Editions.” – pg 41

Cabeswater — a magical, sentient forest. I love this forest so much. I love the overall portrayal of magic in this series and this forest is my favourite example of that. The trees speak Latin, time is fluid and sometimes the very air manifests your thoughts, so keep a watch on them.

Quote: “The stream trickled sluggishly out of the woods from between two diamond-barked dogwoods. With Gansey in the lead, they all followed the water into the trees. Immediately, the temperature dropped several degrees. Blue hadn’t realized how much insect noise there was in the field until it was replaced by occasional birdsong under the trees. This was a beautiful, old wood, all massive oak and ash trees finding footing among great slabs of cracked stone. Ferns sprang from rocks and verdant moss grew up the sides of the tree trunks. The air itself was scented with green and growing and water. The light was golden through the leaves. Everything was alive, alive.” – pg 219

What can I take away from this? Using small, specific details to make a setting unique and memorable can add atmosphere to your novel, showcase characters and make a reader fall in love with a particular place.

Point #3: Evolving arcs

This story contains a lot of interwoven plot threads. This can be hard to balance (I know from personal experience) but I think this novel pulls it off. It’s very, very good at doing many things at once. The important thing to think about is a beginning, middle and end for different story arcs that you introduce. Here’s one example (of many) from this book.

Example 1: Noah

Oh Noah. Noah is a brilliant example of an arc in this book and also one of my favourite demonstrations of the fact that sometimes you can hide things right in the open.

First mention (pg. 26). Noah goes out for pizza with the crew, but there is no mention of him going to school or otherwise having a life. This theme will continue: while Gansey, Adam, Ronan and Blue have conflict and fleshed-out internal worlds, Noah is a static character. The first time I read this book, I was like Gansey. I didn’t notice how much Noah was missing until it was explicitly called out.

First line of dialogue: “I’ve been dead for seven years,” Noah said. “That’s as warm as they get.” (pg. 47) (IT’S RIGHT THERE, but yet I didn’t pick up on it. Clever, clever.)

Noah’s room is also described as ‘meticulous’. As in, practically unused.

“Noah, we won’t make you eat,” says Gansey. “Need some more alone time?” says Ronan. More little hints.

The character descriptions are honestly so good, worth a study all in themselves.

Noah doesn’t come to the psychic’s reading or the helicopter trip, which the other boys do

Somehow, he has a canny knack for knowing things and sharing secrets.

“Don’t throw it away.” (pg. 165) (to Gansey)

Gansey calls for Noah but he’s not there (pg. 233)

“Blue permitted Noah to pet the crazy tufts of her hair” (pg. 238). Not particularly arc related but SUPER CUTE.

The gang visits Cabeswater again and finds Noah’s old abandoned car, a red Mustang (not that they realize it yet). In the trunk is a dowsing rod, a sign someone else is looking for ley lines. Noah throws up (from the trauma of his murder).

Blue and Gansey visit the old church and find a body. “The face on the driver’s license was Noah’s.” (pg. 274)

THE BIG SCENE IN WHICH NOAH IS REVEALED AS A GHOST (what a brilliant scene)

“Adam,” he demanded, “what is Noah’s last name?”

“Tell me,” Gansey said, “which classes you share with Noah.”

“When does he eat? Have you ever seen him eat?”

“Does he pay rent? When did he move in? Have you ever questioned it?”

These are all questions Gansey asks his friends, but are also questions we must ask ourselves. We have been fooled in the same way as they have.

“I told you,” Noah said. “I told everyone.” (pg. 278)

“The question is: Who killed you?” (pg. 279)

Noah acts like a real ghost (disappears, reappears, knocks objects off desks)

“Maybe moving it off the ley line had stolen his energy.” (pg. 298) (in regards to Noah’s body)

Noah appears, using Blue’s energy. “I want you to know,” Noah said, “I was…more…when I was alive.” (pg. 305)

“You were the sacrifice, weren’t you Noah? Someone killed you for this.” (pg. 307). It turns out Noah, the friend they didn’t realize was dead, was killed in a ritual similar to the one that is attempted at the end of the novel by their Latin teacher, and is the reason Gansey is alive.

Remember: “Someone else on the ley line is dying when they should not, and so you will live when you should not.” (pg. 271).

It’s all very circular and interwoven and very good plotting.

Noah said, “But you already know.” (pg. 309) (In regards to who killed him) JUMPCUTS to a scene with Whelk

“I’m going to fix Noah. Somehow.” (pg. 335) (says Gansey)

She allowed him to pet her hair with his icy fingers. “Not so spiky as usual,” he said sadly. (pg. 353)

“Don’t throw it away,” Noah whispered. (pg. 371) To Adam, this time.

Noah warns Gansey that Adam is gone (he is now 100% a spooky ghost boy)

THE MURDERED/REMEMBERED SCENE (breaks my heart). They’re all in Cabeswater again for the climax of the novel and Noah, who doesn’t exist in bodily form, traces words into the dust on his old car

Noah’s funeral: “Please say something to them.” / “Mrs. Czerny, he’s sorry for drinking your birthday schnapps.” (pg. 406-407) (ouch, my heart)

They dig up his bones and rebury them on the ley line

“Can we go home? This place is so creepy.” … ”Noah!” Gansey cried gladly. Blue hurled his arms around his neck. He looked alarmed, and then pleased, and then he pet the tufts of her hair. (pg 408)

Broadly, the arc looks like this (look how actions lead to consequences which lead to further actions):

The boys have a friend named Noah, who is sometimes there and sometimes not

LOTS OF FORESHADOWING

They find Noah’s dead body

They confront Noah and find out he’s a ghost

The police move his bones so he starts acting like a real ghost

They figure out he was used in an attempted ritual and also that their Latin teacher killed him

The dig up his bones and rebury them on the ley line

Noah comes back

Given what happens later in this series, it’s very important to me that we remember Noah.

In conclusion

What this book does well:

Keeping readers interested by embedding small mysteries

Atmosphere and memorable locations

Evolving arcs

These are just a few things I noticed on my read-through of The Raven Boys. Stay tuned for further Word Wanderings posts and feel free to give suggestions for books you’d like me to analyze!

Personal Challenge: Pick a book you’re currently reading or an old favorite and try to figure out what keeps you reading, whether it’s little mysteries, character dilemmas or rising tension.

#the raven cycle #trc #maggie stiefvater #the raven boys #writing #writing advice #writers on tumblr #blue sargent #noah czerny #gansey #adam parrish #ronan lynch #word wanderings #my post

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megamanxfanfics · 4 years

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What the Hell is going on w/ Ep. 5?????

Hey World,

I just wanted to pop in and say what’s been going on, as it’s been a whole Season in between episodes.

So... I guarantee you, I was working on it. Pretty diligently at first. I don’t know how many sessions, but I did X6 playthroughs while pausing and writing out the stage directions and reactions, etc. etc. Some of this was humdrum and boring and then ideas popped out at me where I took some risks and really opened up the creativity. Whenever I do that, I always think it’s shit at first. But then upon a second or third look I get a different feel and decide whether it’s okay or not.

So, I promise you that it wasn’t really a Motivation thing. Not X6 wise, anyway. The episode is roughly 7/8ths finished. That’s for sure. The file for Ep. 5 was last modified on July 26th, so what the Hell happened?

What stopped me was Life, itself.

...We all know that in April, my Mother passed away. Right when I was in the midst of Writing Ep. 2. Somehow I plowed through that. Then, in May and June life became about working out, eating right, exercising and going on dates actually, believe it or not! I was writing Ep. 3 and even 4, during that time. I was making some decent progress.

But then... Dating wise, things fell apart.

And this is where I need to spare the details, because this is a MMX Blog and not a Relationship blog. However, you could basically say that for the month of June I was enjoying myself with someone. Then, when that didn’t work, in July I quickly moved on to someone else and then That didn’t work out either. Like, at all. And a combination of the two events just shut me down in August.

I just got hit so hard with the timing of everything. I thought I was ready to date, but I really wasn’t. And for the first time in my life I was straight up couch-ridden depressed. Like, actually not wanting to do anything. No video games, no shows, no music... not eating... Not working out... and Certainly not writing MMX6.

So... I had to pull myself out of it. And how did I manage that, you might ask??

Well... for the entire months of August and September (and even now), I’ve spent a LOT of time working on myself. For everyone, this is different.

But for me, I found a great comfort in writing out everything that has happened. And I’m talking about really digging deep and diving into all of my life choices for the past 5 years of my last relationship.

My Diary Entries weren’t just about the relationship, but also Life before Covid. It was very nostalgic, therapeutic and cathartic once I got to the hard stuff and really analyzed what the Hell happened here and there. (This Project was part of those entries as well.)

My favorite writer, Brian Michael Bendis says, “A Writer writes every day.” And no matter how true that is for you, I definitely found that to become my own form of therapy. Getting over myself, as it were.

And within days and weeks, I was enjoying this new project of Self-Reflection while listening to new music on Spotify. Having the company of just 1 friend to do puzzles with and stuff, and eventually play video games again. The shows came back. Soon I was living my life and this project was becoming it’s own chore. Even the exercising and eating right came back, although not in full force as it was before.

I also can’t forget that as of August and September, our Federal Help situation drastically changed. So I had to get over the rut of seriously looking for new jobs again. At this point, it still sucks, but I’m used to it now.

My life is applying for jobs and then treating myself to either my Self Reflection Project or any other hobbies that I’m feeling that day.

Video Game wise, I enjoyed finishing the MMZ saga and finally delving into MMZX. What I can say there is that I loved MMZ3, which is a pretty popular opinion. MMZ4′s story was too different for me to care. They did a serious disservice by eliminating the Guardians in 3. But either way, I surprisingly Loved ZX. I thought by then, I wouldn’t care. But I actually thought Vent was awesome. I really appreciated their nostalgic throwbacks to X1 with Giro (clearly being a Zero, boss figure) and Area D-3 being the frickin Central Highway stage!!! That lightened my heart and made me so happy, even though the game is so different. And those transformations into the Guardian Model Letters, (beyond X & Z) was just really well done. It was the next phase in the evolution. Despite the Metroidvania open-map being confusing as Hell. I enjoyed the attempt a lot.

[Save-assist states also really enhanced this experience for me.]

MMZX Advent however... The only positive thing I have for that one is that, I actually LOVED that you were Model A the whole time. I always kind of wanted an Axl game, and in a way, this was it. But... that game is very flawed, and transforming into all of the psuedoroids on Top of gaining all the Model Letters (including ZX) was a bit much. Meeting Aile as Model ZX, in my play through as Grey was probably the only nice throwback to the canon of that game. It’s sad to know that when you play it on hard there’s a cliff-hanger that could’ve lead to the Legends series. But as someone who was never into the Legends series, I’m fine getting the Normal/Medium ending where Grey & Aile save the day and now they just want to live and travel around. I also liked any open-ended chemistry they had. (Would they have been an item in a future game? It doesn’t matter anymore.)

Lore rants, aside, playing through the ZX series brought me back to X6 a lot, because it made me wish I could play through the game in the same way that I’ve been writing this Anime Fic. That you could just press a button and freely transform into your Falcon Armor or new armors that you acquire.

So what brought me back was a long-term plan in a way. That friend who did the puzzles with me, as I mentioned expressed a Serious interest in reading my Long-Fic. So I told her the best jumping on-point to get into Season VI stuff, which is actually starting at Xtreme2. And I was so excited that she’d be reading it, that I relived it myself too. [I even made some important edits to Duff McWhalen along the way.]

From there, as I’d go through my routine of job-hunting and soul searching, I’d also treat myself to reads of Xtreme 2, which turned into new routines of reading Season IV and V first, then applying to jobs, then going about my Self-Reflection Project. Video Games wise, I also just decided to go through the whole MMX Legacy Collection. So very quickly I went through X1 and X2. X3 took a whole night. X4 was a pretty quick Afternoon. X5 was a decent day and X6 took a while (to play through in the way that I envision this fic.)

And then in the past week, you could say I’ve finally caught up, in more ways than one. Self-reflecting wise, I’ve actually caught up to April 2020, right at the worst moment of the year. And it was good for me to go through that. Video Game wise, X6′s playthrough only spoke to me for the 1st Arc, mostly but it gave me a little more of an idea on how I’m tackling certain bits of the 2nd Arc. The 3rd Arc is still a God damn mystery as is the exact ending, but I’ll figure it out. Ideas are slowly forming.

And lastly Season VI wise, I quickly reread up to Ep. 4 and just opened up the file to Ep. 5 today!

I made new edits, came up with an Episode Title like I thought I would and at the stopping point, of course I was let down, but I was left with some new ideas on where to go from there.

Now I find myself actually wanting to rediscover what can happen next.

I have things to do today, and obligations weighing on me such as job-searches and stuff. But now that my Self-Reflection thing is quickly catching up to the current day, I’m looking forward to alternating my writing days with X6 again.

Music is coming back to me, and funnily enough, someone swiped on me in September!! So I started dating again, lol. I’m not half as invested as I was in the Summer. I know what I want more, this time around and yeah...

Other than the whole Job thing, life is good for the most part.

...I’m looking forward to getting the next episode out soon.

And finishing the 1st Arc by the end of the year. That seems like a reasonable enough goal.

Until then, folks.

#Season VI #Writing Diaries #What the Hell is going on with Episode 5?????#Life #Covid-19 #Unemployment #Dating #Depression #Job Hunting #Soul-Searching #Self-Reflection #Moving Forward #Gaming #Reading #Writing Again

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ladyherenya · 4 years

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Books read in October

Twenty novels (including two audiobooks), three graphic novels, one novella and two rereads: more books than are pictured above. I can’t remember the last time I read so much in a month. Maybe when I was high school?

It was a combination of factors: Rainbow Rowell’s latest books became available at the library, I realised that Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells books are murder mysteries, and I made the very exciting discovery that I could get Ellen Emerson White’s previously-out-of-print novels as ebooks.

Favourite cover: Life Without Friends.

Reread: Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher, Hold Me by Courtney Milan (and then The Road Home).

Still reading: Mapping Winter by Marta Randall and When We Were Warriors by Emma Carroll.

Next up: Warrior of the Altaii by Robert Jordan.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing. And also Dreamwidth.)

The Princess Who Flew with Dragons by Stephanie Burgis: Princess Sofia is unimpressed when her sister’s latest plans involve sending Sofia on a diplomatic mission to Villenne. Sofia wants to stay in her room and read, not remind everyone that she struggles to be a perfect princess. But in Villenne she discovers unexpected opportunities to attend lectures and make friends. And when calamity strikes, it’s up to her to save the day. A solid adventure about friendship and what it means to be a princess, a philosopher and a person all at once. It��s the sort of book I’d like to send back in time to my twelve-year-old self.

The “Uncommon Echoes” trilogy by Sharon Shinn: Set in a world where many of the nobility have “echoes” -- identical copies who follow them, more substantial than shadows but not capable of speech or independent action. Or so people believe. Begins with Echo in Onyx.

Echo in Emerald: After a story about an ordinary woman pretending to be an echo, here is a woman pretending her echoes are ordinary people. Chessie has the ability to shift her consciousness between herself and her two echoes, enough to give the impression that they are three different people with different personalities and jobs. Usually she keeps to the lower classes, but one day she’s asked to deliver a message to a noble who is investigating a recent murder.(Another inversion, another case of themes and variations, as the first book is about trying to conceal a murder.)This builds upon the first book, deepening our understanding of the political context and of echoes. Chessie’s experience of identity is fascinating.

Echo in Amethyst: A story about echo who slowly gains sentience and independence from her original is a good idea in theory, a logical progression for this trilogy. But it turned out to be a massive misstep. The echo belongs to a woman who is abusive towards her echoes and rude towards nearly everyone else. The echo spends a long time incapable of being anything other than a passive observer of unpleasant people. I skimmed bits and seriously considered abandoning this. Not recommended -- but the first two books standalone sufficiently that you could read just those without this series feeling naggingly incomplete.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks: Super cute! All through high school Josiah and Deja have worked together at the pumpkin patch every September and October. Tonight is their last shift. Deja is determined that Josiah is finally going to speak to the girl he likes. Nothing goes to plan. This is a story about changes, chances and choices. It’s also a love letter to everything Josiah and Deja love about the pumpkin patch -- which includes their relationship. I really liked the characters, and the artwork does such a wonderful job of bringing them, and this place, to life.

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan (narrated by Jayne Entwistle): Unexpectedly entertaining, a cosy mystery full of excitement, danger and character growth, set against the backdrop of the London Blitz. Mrs Braithwaite, divorced and deposed from her position as head of the village Women’s Voluntary Service, tries to find her missing adult daughter. Mrs Braithwaite is a very forceful personality. I really liked that she is not only challenged to reevaluate her attitudes, she discovers that qualities like bossiness and tenacity can be great strengths. Large, loud and assertive middle-aged women are so often been relegated to irritating or comedic minor characters, rather than getting to be protagonists.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson: Isobel has spent years painting portraits of the fair folk. She knows to speak courteously, make bargains carefully, and avoid jeopardising her family’s safety. And then she meets the prince of the autumn court. I have mixed feelings. I really liked Isobel, with her practical streak and her passion for painting, and liked the way she describes her experiences. The people she’s closest to are quickly established as interesting, complex and individual. However, this story leans heavily into a portrayal of the fair folk which I don’t find very appealing. A matter of personal taste rather than quality.

Artistic License by Elle Pierson (aka Lucy Parker): I wasn’t sure what to expect from an early self-published novel about an art student and a security guard in New Zealand, especially as the London theatre world is a big part of why Parker’s other books appeal to me. But Queenstown is such a scenic setting and the characters immediately felt like the sort of people Parker writes about. I particularly enjoyed Sophy’s internal dialogue, and how she and Mick become very protective of each other. They’re so mutually caring! In hindsight, this book could have been stronger... but I liked the characters and their interactions. Sometimes that’s enough.

The Printed Letter Bookshop by Katherine Reay: A story about cross-age friendship and forgiveness, about three different women working together in a bookshop. Madeline, a lawyer, has inherited the bookshop from her aunt. Janet is angry and has an ex husband, adult children who rarely speak to her and old friends she wants to avoid. In the middle is Claire, aware of the shop’s precarious finances and trying to juggle work with motherhood. I’d nearly finished this when I realised it’s classified as “Christian fiction”. I really liked how it is about forgiveness and messy, complicated relationships. Not a perfect book, but it surprised me.

The “Heather Wells Mysteries” by Meg Cabot:

Size 12 Is Not Fat: I discovered that this series isn’t just chick lit, it’s murder mystery chick lit about a former pop singer now working as an assistant director for a college dorm. (Talk about misleading covers!) When a student is found dead, Heather is convinced that it wasn’t an accident but murder. At times Heather reminded me of Mia from The Princess Diaries, which I found fascinating and frustrating (some attitudes are more understandable coming from a teenager than from a woman approaching thirty). Anyway, Heather is kind and humorous, I liked the setting, and the mystery had enough twists to satisfy me.

Size 14 Is Not Fat Either: More of the same, except that this time when a student turns up dead, it’s obvious to everyone that she has been murdered. Instead of trying to convince everyone of the need for a murder investigation, Heather is trying -- unsuccessfully -- not to get involved in it. I like how supportive Heather’s friends and colleagues are. Her father has been absent (in jail), her mother and her manager ran off with Heather’s money, and her long term boyfriend was unfaithful, but she’s still got people in her life who care and who are there for her. And I did enjoy some of her song lyrics.

Size Doesn’t Matter (US title: Big Boned): I was relieved that this time round the murder victim is not another female student. Yes, murder is horrible regardless, but there can be something particularly unpleasant if a story keeps only killing young women. I definitely don’t want murder mysteries to be all grim and bleak, but I prefer it when murder mysteries aren’t this light-hearted. This isn’t a criticism, just a realisation about my personal taste. I kept reading to see some resolution in Heather’s love life. (I know, priorities). I’ve no idea the woman on the cover is wearing a wedding dress. Marketing is weird.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell: Simon, Baz and Penelope set off on a roadtrip across America to see Agatha, who Penelope is convinced is in trouble. Rowell is so good making me care about her characters and their relationships. I liked how this is a journey of discovery -- exploring a new country, finding out things about the world they live in and learning more about themselves. I enjoyed reading this but wasn’t so enthusiastic about the final act (it becomes a story about vampires) or the conclusion (busy setting up for a sequel, it leaves emotional arcs unresolved). Expectations and personal preferences, I guess.

Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White: I was so excited when I discovered that this had been released as an ebook. A decade of wanting to read something may be an unfair amount of pressure to put on any book, especially on a teen novel from 1987, but I was not disappointed. White is so good at writing smart, acerbic teenage girls dealing with trauma and intense emotions, like guilt and grief. And Beverly’s relationship with Derek is so believably awkward and tentative and hopeful -- two people with their own flaws and fears making the effort to get to know each other. It’s, like, everything I want from teen romance.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers: A team from the 22nd century explore four habitable worlds in orbit around a red dwarf star. It’s a fascinating glimpse into what the future might be like -- what space travel and other worlds might be like -- and a thought-provoking meditation about space, science and life. When it comes to the characters, there’s something quite elliptical about it -- which is fitting, given that Ariadne is writing this account for a specific purpose. It left me feeling unsatisfied, but I think that’s because there are particular things I’m looking for and this novella intentionally -- and effectively -- focuses on something else.

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl by Theodora Goss (narrated by Kate Reading): The Athena Club return to London from one extraordinary adventure and are plunged into another. Their teenaged kitchen maid Alice has been kidnapped, Sherlock Holmes is missing and there is a plot afoot to impersonate the queen. This story has adventure, teamwork, mystery, unexpected twists, more cameos by characters from popular Victorian fiction, and commentary on late Victorian concerns (like empire and eugenics). My favourite part was the Athena Club's interactions when they interrupt the narrative to discuss their lives together, highlight what they think is important or argue about what Catherine included. They’re a team, a household, a family.

All Emergencies, Ring Super by Ellen Emerson White: A teenager asks Dana, a former actress working as a building superintendent, to investigate a building fire. This was curiously lacking in tension --- until things became intensely personal. By the end, I was seriously disappointed that there isn’t a whole series about Dana solving mysteries. I like that Dana investigates by doing research at the library, making use of her acting abilities and enlisting support from friends. Her friendships are one of the highlights -- smart, difficult people who are honest with each other is an interesting dynamic. And the way White writes about the aftermath of trauma is compelling and thoughtful.

The “Echo Company” series by Ellen Emerson White: I read all five books in two days. They’re fast-paced and some aren’t particularly long -- they were published by Scholastic in the early 90s -- but that is only part of why I read them so quickly. They are compelling and unexpectedly fascinating.

Welcome to Vietnam: Eighteen year old Michael Jennings is conscripted to fight in Vietnam -- and I really wanted to see him to find his feet, make friends and survive. I can relate to how much he cares about his dog, and his sense of humour makes him an entertaining character to spend time with, even though he’s been thrown into a terrible, terrifying situation. Even knowing what wars can be like, I was still surprised by conditions the soldiers faced. I was also surprised by how interesting I found it all. It left me thinking about a lot.

Hill 568: Michael has made some friends (and some enemies), he’s grown accustomed to some of the realities of life on the frontlines in Vietnam, and he takes on more responsibility. White’s characters are lively and, in spite of the situations they’re in, often humorous. That humour is a huge part of why this is an engaging story, like an antidote to the horrors of war, but it also serves to emphasise that all those horrible things are happening to a bunch of ordinary young men barely out of school. This book made me laugh, and made me worry about the characters.

‘Tis the Season: Twenty-one year old Lieutenant Rebecca Phillips is a nurse working in the ER of an evacuation hospital in Vietnam. Although already dealing with grief and difficult family relationships and a nightmarish workplace, she’s a bright, upbeat person who goes out of her way to entertain others. Self-appointed “Court Jester”. During the Christmas ceasefire she goes out on a medical helicopter -- and everything goes to hell. There are more medical details than I, a squeamish person, really prefer, but once I got to know Rebecca -- and also once her circumstances became tense and terrifying -- I was very, very invested.

Stand Down: This has some tense moments, but otherwise feels a bit lighter -- a welcome change of pace after everything the characters have been through. Michael spends a lot of time moping over correspondence (or lack thereof) from a nurse he’s met once -- but in context, that’s very understandable. He so desperately needs something positive and hopeful to focus on. I like that Michael’s and Rebecca’s initial interactions aren’t easy, because that feels realistic in the circumstances, and because it’s a positive sign that they’re able to get through awkward conversations; it sets them up to be honest with each other.

The Road Home: I stayed up stupidly late reading this, on a school night too. White is so good at writing about dealing with the aftermath of trauma, and about smart, difficult people making an effort to build relationships -- friendships as well as romances. This follows Rebecca’s final six months serving as a nurse in Vietnam, and the months afterwards. It’s about the things that get her through the war (letters, friendships, alcohol) and the difficulties of adjusting to life back home. I love how this book deals realistically but hopefully with so many things. I have a lot of feelings and favourite passages.

Applied Electromagnetism by Susannah Nix: Two colleagues who travel interstate to do a job with a deadline find themselves under extra pressure due to complications of bad weather. I liked all the references to Olivia and Adam’s nerdy interests, and I thought the discussions of Olivia’s ADHD and her experiences as a woman in STEM were interesting. Otherwise nothing jumped out at me as deserving of criticism or praise, it was all just okay. Less humorous than I expected from something book described as “romantic comedy”, but that was okay. (And maybe someone else would find it funny, humour is such a your-mileage-may-vary thing.)

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill: I love the concept of tea dragons and a tea dragon society. And the dragons are really cute! But the way people’s expressions are drawn in this graphic novel didn’t quite appeal to me and I think that coloured how I felt about the book as a whole. And it’s not a very long story, so it doesn’t have so many opportunities to win over a reader who isn’t enamoured with the illustrations. I’m sorry, book, I’m sure there are other readers out there who will appreciate you!

Runaways: That Was Yesterday (volume 3) by Rainbow Rowell and Kris Anka with Matthew Wilson: Follows on from Find Your Way Home and Best Friends Forever and involves the reappearance of someone from the Runaways’ past, the appearance of children of old enemies and Christmas. I read three volumes of the original Runaways comics last year -- and this volume really left me feeling like maybe I’d appreciate it more if I’d read those more recently or else if I’d read more of them. Or maybe it was just that it focused a lot on a character I don’t like as much? But, I still liked it. I definitely would like to read more.

#Herenya reviews books #Sharon Shinn #Rainbow Rowell #Ellen Emerson White #Stephanie Burgis #Margaret Rogerson #Lucy Parker #Katherine Reay #Meg Cabot #Becky Chambers #Theodora Goss #Susannah Nix #Katie O'Neill #Finally posting this

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mishellejones · 6 years

Text

To Build a Home Ch. 1

Read on AO3

Heyo! Here is chapter 1 of my new bellarke fic! Updates will be weekly. I have the first few chapters written. Much love and enjoy!

Life was funny.

It was funny in the way that everything could be perfect one moment and in shambles the next. It was funny in a way that somebody out there could be having a completely normal, boring day while another’s world could be falling around them. It was funny in a way that … every moment was fleeting – every life was fleeting – and in the blink of an eye everything would be turned upside down and inside out. Backwards and irreversible.

It was funny in a way that… you could survive hell but still feel like you were in it.

It was funny in that way… where it wasn’t funny at all.

It was tragic. And scary. And full of sharp turns and plummets that made someone’s stomach feel like it was trying to eject itself from their head. And it was ironic – oh-so freaking ironic.

See, some people – the lucky ones – could live their lives oblivious to the tribulations that the world had to offer. They could be ignorant to pain. To the horrifying things that one person could do to another. They could live in bliss and in wealth. They could glide through their lives as easily as a knife cuts through flesh…

Clarke Griffin had looked to be one of them. Two successful parents. A big house. Intelligent. Beautiful. A promising, bright future. Talented… She had everything. But she knew pain. She knew just how swiftly life could come up and steal happiness.

Because it did. It came up, saw the perfect casing of her “perfect” life and said, “You’re too lucky.”

And it took from Clarke her happiness. Replaced it with pain. Then kicked her while she was down.

Because sometimes… Sometimes the “perfect” were the unlucky ones.

+++

She hated being the new girl. It was her first time ever being new anywhere and she already knew she hated it.

Clarke Griffin stood perplexed in the brightly lit hallway of Ark High School as she read and reread her newly printed schedule. The students milling all around her paid her no attention as she drew her brows together and frowned. After ten minutes of walking up and down the maze of hallways the town of Ark, Oregon called a school, Clarke proclaimed herself lost. And most definitely directionally challenged.

She glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand, as if she hadn’t already committed it to memory, and read: Anatomy and Physiology, room 106. One of the few electives that she got to take – one of the few classes she was actually going to enjoy – and of course she would end up making a fool of herself the moment she stepped foot into the classroom after the bell.

Clarke had no intention of being revealed as the new girl, but she’d bet all of her art supplies that the teacher was probably going to be one those kinds. The ones that would inevitably make the new person stand in front of the class and introduce themselves. She really wanted to just silently slip to the back of the class unnoticed… but being late would’ve made that rather difficult.

A series of expletives ran through her mind.

As much as Clarke really hadn’t wanted to have to use the map the lady in the front office had given to her – c’mon, it was like having an “I’m new!!” sign flashing above her head – there were little options. She’d have rather taken this route then being permanently stapled as the helpless new girl by whatever teacher it was that was teaching her A&P class.

Clarke was anything but helpless. She just really didn’t need any sort of extra attention brought to her.

Damn she really hated being new. And she was slightly beginning to panic. Starting her Junior year at a random high school in the middle of nowhere… well, it wasn’t going to be fun.

But… she was Clarke Griffin. She had been through a lot worse. She could handle being a new girl. She could handle a simple hallway (even though it seemed like a fucking maze at the moment). And she could sure as hell handle dealing with whatever trouble the boring town of Ark, Oregon threw at her. Because, quite simply, there was no greater hell than that horrific night…

She shook her head to steer her thought process from delving into a dark part of her mind and started forward, pulling the crumpled school map from the messenger bag at her side.

She was going to get through this. She could prove her mother wrong and she could try to live a normal life again.

Distracted, she must have picked up speed because when she whirled around the corner she had no time to register the person looming in front of her. She collided with the weirdly hard human, belongings scattering all over the hallway floor. She swore, Jesus Christ was this person a fucking wall? She was supposed to be avoiding drawing any attention to herself, and here she was making an embarrassing scene.

Absolutely fan-fucking-tastic!

“Are you blind?” she heard a deep voice growl from above her, “Because I’m pretty fucking sure I’m not invisible.”

She looked up, fully prepared to snap a quick, insincere, apology back at the mystery person she had just assaulted but was taken aback for a moment. The boy standing above her was possibly the most gorgeous person she had ever seen. Dark disheveled hair curled around his ears. His eyes were slanted ever-so slightly in a way that suggested he must have had some kind of Asian ancestry and a spattering of freckles danced across his olive skin.

He looked to be the epitome of tall dark and handsome. Chiseled jaw, muscular build, and the classic bad boy scowl plastered across his face.

Clarke immediately decided she hated him.

“So, you must be deaf too.”

Clarke snapped out of her reverie and scowled. She forced herself up, belongings tucked back under her arm, and faced the new-found ass standing in front of her. He was at least another half foot taller than her, and could probably lift three times her size, but Clarke didn’t let it intimidate her.

Don’t get into any more trouble than you already have. Echoed her mother’s words in her head. If you really know what’s best for you, you’d lay low.

Balling her hands into a fist at her side, she fixed him with a tight smile, “Not blind or deaf, just new. Don’t quite know where I’m going. Sorry.”

The ass in front of her quirked an eyebrow, “New huh?” His eyes flickered up and down her body and a smirk settled on his handsome face.

The only thing that stopped Clarke from snapping at him was the incessant lay low repeating in her head. Even though she had exchanged all of six words with the boy standing in front of her, something about him put her on edge. Like his very point of his existence was to be a nuisance in her life.

“Yes, new. Now please excuse me while I try to find my class,” she quipped, moving to step around him.

That was when she noticed the little two-person entourage standing behind him, nervously exchanging glances. One was handsome with dark, caramel skin, the slightest hint of a 5 -o’clock shadow, and sported a red beanie, while the other – well, the only way she could describe him was that he had almost impish features. He was shorter than the first, had a mop of brown hair that looked almost as if it hadn’t been washed in a week, and brandished a deep bruise just below his cheek bone. He caught her studying them and gave her a wink.

Clarke only scowled and readjusted her shoulder strap. Of course mister jerkface would have a little posse of delinquents. Just her luck.

As she moved to walk past them, she felt a warm hand encircle her arm. For half a second her thoughts nearly went spiraling back into the dark places she had tried so hard to crawl out of for so many months, the touch bringing back brutal, unwanted memories.

Lay low.

She jerked her arm out of the delinquent leader’s grasp and sharply spun back around to face him, “Don’t you ever touch me again, you hear me?”

If the new boy was surprised at her outburst he didn’t show it. Instead, he merely gave a cocky half smirk and said, “Brave Princess.”

Clarke flared her nostrils and opened her mouth to ask this kid who exactly he thought he fucking was when the taller of his two little henchmen spoke up behind her.

“Bellamy, just leave the poor girl alone.”

Bellamy, huh? So this asshat had a name after all… Kinda melodious, she had to admit. A beautiful name for a beautiful boy. It disgusted her.

Bellamy ignored him, “You got a name, new girl?” he said sardonically.

And it was in that moment that Clarke realized the whispering. She glanced around and noticed that the once bustling bodies of rushing students, well, they weren’t rushing around anymore. They were lingering, scattered around them watching every movement as if it were their favorite soap opera.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Nope.” she said, deadpan. There was an almost audible gasp from a person somewhere off to her left.

Too much attention. There was way too much attention on her.

Apparently not liking the answer, his mouth formed a tight line before deciding to reply, “Nope?”

“Yup.” And she turned in an attempt to escape this unwanted, unneeded, spotlight that this infuriating boy had thrust upon her.

She made it two steps when he opened his mouth again.

“Just watch where the fuck you’re going next time,” she heard him say in a low voice.

A deep breath, and she took another step away from him. She had, what? Thirty seconds before the bell rang at this point? She really didn’t have time for him.

But apparently, he didn’t like the fact that she had ignored him because the next thing she knew he was right behind her, hand firmly placed on her shoulder. And before she could stop herself she was turned around and in his face in half a second.

“Listen, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, or if you’re just dense, but I’m nearly positive that not ten seconds ago I told you not to touch me. And if you had an ounce of intelligence in that big head of yours, maybe, just maybe, you’d know how to respect boundaries.”

She was not even inches away from him at this point, but she didn’t care. Not about the gasps or the way Bellamy’s eyes seemed to darken… All she saw was red. She did not move across the damn country to be harassed on her first day in her new high school.

And then, before her very eyes, this infuriating boy whom she knew nothing about and just verbally assaulted, threw is head back and laughed. It wasn’t a genuine laugh, but a short and barked - one that seemed to mock her.

The kids surrounding them seemed to laugh nervously, unsure of what to make of what they were witnessing… but Clarke… all Clarke could think was What in the everloving fuck was wrong with him?

As her fists curled at her sides, she fixed him with a quizzical stare. How dare he laugh at her in such an utterly dismissive way?

“Cute,” he said unenthusiastically, the scowl he now held completely replacing any sign of the mischievous twinkle he showed before, “Listen, stay out of my way and you and I won’t have any problems. Got it?”

It was Clarke’s turn to bark a laugh. She took another step closer to him, standing as tall as she could and looked directly into Bellamy’s molten brown eyes. He would not underestimate her. She had endured a lot worse than a self-entitled jackass causing unnecessary trouble.

“The only thing I’ve ‘got’ is the new-found knowledge that your dick is probably the size of a tic-tac because the only way you could be this big of an asshat is if it all went into your personality,” she heard the two goons behind her break into exasperated laughter and felt herself smirk, “Now, I don’t know who pissed in your cheerios this morning, or if you’re just a misogynistic, pompous prick who loves to talk down to women because it feeds his falsely masculine ego, but you should know that I am not one to be trifled with. How about you stay out of my way and we go on minding our own damn business.”

A flicker of unreadable emotion went across Bellamy’s face ending in a vicious scowl. But it wasn’t directed at Clarke this time, it was directed at his friends that stood behind her - whom of which at this point were absolutely hysterical with laughter. All the kids that were scattered around them stood frozen in shock, staring stupidly with their mouths slightly ajar.

Bellamy’s gaze met hers for one menacing moment and she watched as his jaw ticked with malice.

But Clarke did not care. In fact, she felt more invigorated than intimidated. She stared at him right back, a challenge glinting in her eye. Screw laying low, at least for right now – this was the first time since… since the incident that she had felt even remotely exhilarated or proud of herself.

And it stayed that way for all of half a second because in the next moment the bell signaling the start of class sounded and all she could think was fuck.

#bellarke #bellarke fic #bellarke fanfiction #bellarkefanfiction #my writing #the 100

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geek-patient-zero · 5 years

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Part 1, Chapter 6

Or: Phantomas of Notre Dame

Blood War: Masquerade of the Red Death Trilogy Volume 1

Paris—March 12, 1994

The official smile of Paris is the sneer. The rich sneer at the middle class. The middle class sneer at the poor. And they all sneer at the hordes of tourists who flood their city each year.

I’ve actually remembered these lines since I first read them as a kid. I don’t know why, beyond it being Baby’s First French Stereotype Joke, but I did. I forgot what book they were from though, so when I reread Blood War and found them again, it was a nice surprise.

Their mockery, according to the guidebooks, is part of the charm of Paris. The city, with it’s great restaurants, fabulous museums, superb monuments, and long history, breeds contempt for the lesser achievements surrounding it. The average Parisian citizen considers himself far superior to anyone from outside the city.

It’s only Paris being singled out here, but still, I want to apologize to any French readers. It isn’t going to get much better for you guys in this book. But hey, at least your capital city isn’t a gang warzone.

That attitude explains, at least in theory, the joy the natives get from telling tales of the Phantom of the Paris Opera.

Not only are Parisians assholes, but they bug you into reading their Phantom of the Opera fanfics.

There’s some cliffnotes about the story (written by Gaston Leroux, demented genius living under the Paris Opera, hideously scarred, etc.), then we learn the titular Phantom is the French equivalent of Australia’s drop bears: a made up monster they tell gullible American tourists about to fuck with them.

Parisians loved to elaborate on the fantasy for gullible tourists, saying how, though he had reportedly been destroyed, the body of Eric, the Phantom, had never been found. And that every year, a few unwary tourists to the Opera House disappeared without a trace.

It was typical malicious Parisian humor. Often, the story was accompanied with a breathless attempt to sell bootleg souvenirs such as an authentic map of the catacombs or a page from the score of the Phantom’s infamous lost opera.

Or those little Mickey Mouse paper dolls that supposedly dance to music but are just attached to a motor by an invisible string. My ma fell for that one.

I don’t know if Parisians in real life actually do this, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I hear the Louvre used to give The Da Vinci Code themed tours. This sounds more fun than that, and less soul-crushing.

I admit that I’ve never read The Phantom of the Opera. I saw the play on an elementary school field trip to Broadway, but I barely remember it. I know the book begins with an intro where Leroux claims it’s a true story, but I figured it’s a true story the way The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a true story. I looked it up anyway, just so I don’t look like an uncultured moron if I dismissed it and was wrong. Turns out, the story was inspired by a real incident at the Paris Opera where a chandelier counterweight (not the chandelier itself) fell down and killed someone. There was a crackpot theory at the time that the accident was actually an assassination attempt. That’s something I didn’t know. Guess I owe Weinberg one for getting me to learn something.

Back to the story. Parisians like to use the Phantom to fuck with tourists, but there are other stories they don’t tell them. Stories that poor shopkeepers tell each other behind closed doors like the superstitious European peasant stereotypes they pretend they aren’t. Stories that were handed down from generation to generation about unexplained disappearances plaguing the Île de la Cité (aka the place where the Notre Dame cathedral is).

Common to every narrative was the same name. A title that when said aloud could cause the most elegant Parisian to blanch in terror.

What, Quasimodo’s some kind of French cryptid too? I know the original book character wasn’t as nice as the Disney version, and he’d be an obvious candidate for a Nosferatu (or a Ravnos if you wanna be a dick) but he was hardly-

Phantomas.

Oh. Alright, yeah, different literary character, but I can go along with it.

Officially, the French Sûreté (cops, pigs, po-po, babylon) dismiss such rumors as the insane ramblings of demented poets living on the West Bank. No mention is made of a file, five inches thick, hidden deep in the files of police headquarters. Contained in it are hundreds of reports, dating back a hundred and fifty years to the time of Chief Inspector Vidocq, detailing the circumstances surrounding hundreds of disappearances in the vicinity of the famous cathedral of Notre Dame.

I bet at least one report blames Quasimodo.

One actual report is a six page article, never made public, by a historical commission about the hundreds of myths and legends surrounding the church, all connected by a ghostly figure seen in the Cathedral at night. I’ll give you one guess at what it actually is.

Though he is called by a dozen different names in the tales, he is always described as incredibly ugly. And a drinker of human blood.

Yep. A goddamn mage.

In turn-of-the-century France, the vampire’s name had gained such notoriety that a series of mystery thrillers featuring an arch-fiend called Fantomas became best-sellers. None of the stories explained the origin of the mastermind. Or why he preyed on the citizens of Paris. They were works of fiction, not fact.

In case old French pulp isn’t your thing, Fantomas, spelled with an F, was a character created in 1911 by Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre. He’s a master criminal like Arsène Lupin, except instead of a gentleman thief he was a sadistic murderer and Grade-A pure evil bastard. There’s nothing supernatural about Fantomas. He’s just a regular human who’s really good at murder, framing innocent people for said murder, and getting away with it. Apparently, thanks to the 1960′s film trilogy, he’s usually remembered in French pop culture wearing a blue mask that covers his entire head.

You can see how that guy would inspire a Nosferatu character. Also Destro from G.I. Joe.

But as just explained, in this setting it’s the other way around. And despite being portrayed as what the French call “a homicidal piece of shit”, the “real-life” Phantomas is a big fan of the stories.

The subject of these various novels, reports, and studies found them all vastly amusing. He had enjoyed the Fantomas novels immensely and had even sent the author several anonymous letters suggesting future ideas for plots. To his intense disappointment, none of his ideas had ever been used. Once or twice he had mentally debated visiting the novelist to plead his case. But Phantomas suspected his physical appearance might do his cause more harm than good.

That... is goddamn fucking adorable. He’s just been introduced and I already hope he survives the trilogy and discovers online fanfiction.

The vampire readily acknowledged his ugliness. Standing exactly five feet tall, with skin wrinkled as a prune, eyes like raisins, and a nose the size and shape of a sweet potato, he had caused more than one drunken Parisian to swear off red wine forever. A gaping mouthful of yellow teeth and bulging red eyes propelled his face out of the realm of the bizarre into the domain of the grotesque.

Eh. Someone in this fandom would still bang him.

Wait, eyes that were both “like raisins” and “bulging”? How does that work?

Phantomas is the Nosferatu on the cover of the second book of this trilogy, if you want a visual reference.

See, he’s even still got some hair. He’s not that bad looking.

Phantomas might enjoy the fiction he inspired about a murderer, but he’s not happy about being blamed for real murders of innocent people, regarding it as “cheap slander”. The centuries of recorded disappearances were the results of more natural and obvious crimes.

While he occasionally satisfied his thirst on some poor unfortunate, Phantomas rarely killed innocents if it could be avoided. A quiet, gentle soul, all he wanted was to be left alone in his underground lair, pursuing his research.

Over the years a host of villains had used his presence on the Île de la Cité as an alibi for their murders. Their victims ended, not in his hideaway, but dumped in the Seine. Most had escaped the guillotine. However, Phantomas was less forgiving. And his justice was as sharp and final as any blade.

So other than a few accidents, the only people Phantomas “disappeared” were the criminals responsible for the rest of them.

Phantomas isn’t thinking about that dark business right now. He’s feeling great because he’s on his way to a party. The Prince of Paris, one Francois Villon, holds court once a month, and today’s such a day. Villon’s both a Toreador elder and French, so obviously he holds court in the Louvre.

Dozens of Kindred, along with several hundred of the Prince’s favorite ghouls and kine, attended the festivities. This evening the Prince entertained an important Tremere wizard visiting from Vienna. Phantomas loved such events. Though never invited, he never missed one.

There goes my heart, breaking for poor old Phantomas again...

But this time the snub isn’t a case of a Toreador being a snob to a Nosferatu. Villon just doesn’t know Phantomas exists.

The Prince was under the mistaken impression that he was the oldest, most powerful vampire in the City of Lights. He was neither. Phantomas had come to the Île de la Cité with the invading legions of Julius Caesar in 53 B.C.

I should apologize to the French again. Turns out Phantomas isn’t one of you guys. He’s a nice Italian man.

From here we’re launched into Phantomas’ pre-Phantomas backstory. In life he was Varro Dominus (Strong Ruler or Master), a young noble and soldier who worked under Caesar himself, and was in charge of recording his military campaigns. Ceasar’s legions arrived in the Île de la Cité, then called Lutetia, using it as a stepping stone across the Seine. Unfortunately for Varro, living among the easily conquered native tribesmen, pretending to be a forest god, was a fifth-generation Nosferatu named Urgahalt. The invading legions fascinated Urgahalt, what with their military strength, impressive latin names, and neat centurion helmets, and he Embraced Varro so he could introduce him into Roman society.

There’s an obvious flaw in this plan, since it’s difficult for a guy to introduce you to his culture when you’ve just made him an outcast from that culture, turning him into a shriveled prune monster with a sweet potato nose. And Varro knew it too. The Romans, or at least Varro, knew more about Kindred (or lemures, as they called vampires) than Urgahalt realized, including how to kill them. Pissed that bumping into this guy cost him his life and career, Varro staked him in the heart and turned him into a bonfire.

Convincing the legions to take him back would be a hard sell now, so Varro stayed behind on the island, pretty much never leaving during the millennia as modern Paris rose up around the guy.

He was as much a part of the city as the Eiffel Tower.

Which undersells Phantomas quite a bit since the Eiffel Tower’s only been around since 1889, but you get the point.

Turning into an ugly son of a bitch also turned Phantomas into the ultimate introvert, aside from those parties he likes attending. He stays hidden from everyone, including other vampires. Even other Nosferatu.

More than two hundred Kindred inhabited Paris and its suburbs. The Toreador Clan held control of the central city, but several other bloodlines roamed the streets, including rebel bands of Brujah, Gangrel, and Malkavians. Rumors spoke of a Sabbat pack anxious to spread dissension and revolt, with headquarters in the slums. At least a half-dozen Nosferatu lived in lairs beneath major museums and churches [sic] Yet even among the Kindred Phantomas was a legend, an unseen presence with no basis in reality. He was a phantom to the living and the undead.

Good call. If Parisians are like how the opening paragraphs describe them, I wouldn’t want to talk to them either.

In order to stay hidden, Phantomas lives in a huge underground lair hundreds of feet under Notre Dame, connected by a network of tunnels that stretched across Paris. He’s also a master of Obfuscate, the discipline that allows vampires, especially Nosferatu, to go around unnoticed, commonly by turning invisible. Right now, in order to get into the party, Phantomas is using the Mask of a Thousand Faces, the third-tier Obfuscate power that disguises a vampire as a random nobody human or an unimportant vampire, depending on whose looking at him. Looks like it also lets you pretend to hold an invitation and get away with it.

Shortly after midnight, he strolled past the two Assamites guarding the glass pyramid that served as entrance to the Louvre. They nodded without interest as he displayed an imaginary invitation and walked into the main hall.

That pyramid pissed a lot of older Parisians off when it was first built. Yeah, they complain about everything, but since the artsy-fartsy Toreador control the city, you’d think they would’ve prevented its construction. Unless the pyramid’s a Toreador idea, in which case no wonder everyone hated it.

(Parisians are over hating the pyramid these days, so don’t mention it unless you want them to think you’re in their city for one of those Da Vinci Code tours.)

Phantomas muttered a word of thanks to his Roman gods that Villon considered electronic monitoring devices provincial. His psychic camouflage worked flawlessly with humans and vampires. It was useless against cameras or television monitors.

The Louvre doesn’t have any security cameras? None at all?

In Phantomas’ opinion, the Prince was a pompous dandy who wouldn’t recognize true art if it hit him in the face.

Looks like Phantomas agrees with me about Toreador tastes in art.

Master of the Louvre, the finest art collection in history, Villon ignored the treasures of the past for the ephemeral pleasures of the moment.

Alright, In Villon’s defense, I think grandpa here might have some bias.

His mercurial tastes dominated the Parisian fashion scene. He surrounded himself with the most beautiful models in Paris, blood dolls who sipped on blood and dreamed of immortality. Like too many of the Kindred, Villon had never come to terms with his undeath.

I like Phantomas and all, but it’s not Villon sneaking into one of his parties, so what right does he have being judgmental?

But I think I get what Phantomas is thinking. Villon owns one of the most famous historical art museums in the world, but he only cares about celebrity shit and making beautiful but angry-looking women wear weird shit nobody else will actually wear.

The party was being held in the glass-roofed Cour Marley, but Phantomas was in no hurry to go there. Though he had visited the Louvre many times, he never skipped the opportunity to visit the galleries housing the Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities. The museum housed perhaps the finest such collection in the world and, though Phantomas had the face and body of a monster, he possessed the soul of a poet.

This is the real reason he loves these parties so much, isn’t it. Grandpa just wants an excuse to visit the museum for like the billionth time.

Ten minutes he spent staring at the Venus de Milo.

Art appreciation, or the closest he gets to seeing boobs?

He walks around admiring other things, like “Winged Victory of Samothrace”, “Winged Bull”, and the statue of Queen Nefertiti.

The bust of Agrippa drew him to the Roman section. The famous general, the hero of Actium, had served Octavius, the grandnephew of his mentor, Julius Caesar. Staring at the statue made him feel old. Two thousand years separated him from his heritage.

I feel the same way whenever I meet someone born after Spongebob Squarepants first aired.

If not for a chance encounter in Gaul, his children might have fought against Mark Anthony. Or served in the Senate with Cicero.

Not if you stared at potential mothers the way you stared at the Venus de Milo and Agrippa’s bust.

He finishes his tour and finally heads to the party. If you’ve been paying attention to the plot, you know what’s about to happen.

As he drew closer to the courtyard, he frowned. There was no music. Villon’s parties always featured a loud rock band playing the latest hits. Tonight, the corridors were strangely silent.

Nirvana was supposed to play “About a Girl” but Villon kicked them out when Cobain let his turtles wander around and shit everywhere.

A tall, young man slender [sic], with blond hair and bright blue eyes, stood in front of the door leading to the Cour Marley. Dressed in a white suit with an open-necked white shirt, he nodded in greeting as Phantomas approached. It was almost as if he had been waiting for [sic] there for him.

Weinberg’s editor must’ve quit before getting to this chapter, after reading the part about Flavia’s rock hard leather-penetrating nipples. Also, ‘sup Reuben? What’ve you been doing the past two years?

Reuben doesn’t introduce himself. He just warns Phantomas not to go in. Phantomas is shocked that a human is talking to him at all. Mask of a Thousand Faces is supposed to disguise him as someone so boring not even Kindred are interested starting a conversation with him

“The Final Death waits inside,” continued the stranger, evidently not troubled by Phantomas’ concerns. “If you enter, you may never leave.”

“I am no coward,” stated the vampire simply. “After twenty centuries, I fear very little.”

Let’s see if that lasts longer than a page.

The young man smiled. “I suspected you would say that.” He stepped to the side. “Beware the Red Death, Phantomas.”

“Who are you?” asked Phantomas, startled. “How do you know my name?”

But the stranger had vanished. It was as if he had never been there.

Good old Reuben, scaring an old man, the trolling bastard.

Successfully freaked out, Phantomas opens the courtyard doors. To no one’s surprise, everyone’s dead. Even the regular non-ghoul humans.

The smell of charred and blackened human flesh assaulted his nostrils. A horrified glance around the courtyard revealed a dozen bodies of Villon’s favorites, their beautiful features burned beyond recognition. The fashion runways of Paris would be missing a number of familiar faces tomorrow. Mixed among the dead were the remains of twice as many ghouls. Nowhere was there life.

How he’s able to tell the models and ghouls apart, I don’t know.

Villon was gone. As were all other Kindred. However, dark shadows on the ground indicated to Phantomas that more than one had departed the Louvre permanently.

Can the French art and fashion worlds finally recover from the dark and untalented reign of the Toreador?

As if in answer to Phantomas’ unasked question, a gruesome figure stepped from behind the Marly Horses. Tall and lean, he wore a rotted shroud of funeral cloth held together by strips of moldering bandage [sic]. His face was

-that of a long-dead corpse, chalk-white skin, blah blah blah it’s the Red Death.

Slowly, the monster smiled.

“The meddling record keeper,” said the Red Death. He stretched out a skeletal arm. Phantomas could feel the heat thirty feet away. “Your termination will be a fitting conclusion to the celebration.”

Confronted by this horrifying fire monster who just massacred an entire party of vampires, ghouls, and humans, what does the famous Phantomas do? Something that both proves him a hypocrite and the smartest person in this goddamn book.

He hauls ass out of there.

Hundreds of years hiding beneath the streets of Paris had taught Phantomas an important lesson. When threatened, flee. Immediately. Don’t search for alternative solutions, don’t negotiate, don’t look back. Run as fast as possible until you reach safety. It was a basic survival technique that worked in the past. It served him tonight.

Phantomas ran. He burst through the doors of the Cour Marley, raced down the halls leading to the glass pyramid, and sprinted out into the night air without turning his head once to see if he was followed. Short and misshapen, he ran astonishingly fast.

Phantomas doesn’t stop running until he’s safely hundreds of feet underground in one of his tunnels. He escaped the Red Death.

He had escaped for the moment. But Phantomas felt certain he had not seen the last of the monster.

It had named him the record keeper. Somehow it knew of his great project. And the Red Death obviously disapproved.

We’ll find out more about Phantomas’ hobby the next time we catch up with him. For now, Chapter 6 ends on that mystery.

#vampire the masquerade #vampire: the masquerade #vtm #vtmb #world of darkness #blood war

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skabunny · 3 years

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Summer Reading Adventure

When I was a kid the best day of the year hands down was the day we would sign up for the summer reading program at the Denver Public Library. I couldn’t wait to fill in the map and earn my free pizza. As an adult I can now buy my own rewards, but I also I have this blog which means that I can challenge you all to a summer reading adventure. Read through to the end for something exciting.

For the Denver Public Library, their summer reading list is 15 books to be entered into win the grand prize. Below you have 15 of my reads from this year, specifically picked out for summer.

Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid - There is something about music, the 60’s, and California that make me think of perpetual summer. This is a fun quick read and was totally unexpected.

A Man Called Ove - Fredrick Backman - Bring a box of tissue, this one pulls the heart strings. One of my favorites by Backman this story starts at an end and takes everyone on an adventure of starting over.

Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia - This horror novel takes on the pulp fiction style of writing in the mountains of Mexico. As you follow the protagonist into the deep depths of a notoriously secretive family, you start to question your own sanity. Not for the faint of heart, but 100% worth the read.

The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides - Every time I try to find a way to describe this book without ruining the twist, I end up saying you need to read this book so I don’t give anything away. It’s a very adult thriller, but getting from the beginning to the end is worth the ride.

Back When We Were Grown Ups - Anne Tyler - This is a cute story about looking back while moving forward. It was unexpectedly charming.

With the Fire on High - Elizabeth Acevedo - Get out of the heat of summer into the fire of the kitchen with this challenging story of trusting yourself and growing up. It’s quick read and one of my favorites by Acevedo who has become one of my absolute favorite authors this year.

Homie - Danez Smith - This book of poetry starts with a disclaimer, Homie is a replacement for a word that has a long sordid history. I was blown away by this collection that covers race, life, and the experience of being black. I totally added this one to my list because I loved the cover and I will be adding it to everyone’s list because of the poetry it contains.

The Diary of the Serial Killer’s Daughter - L.A. Detwiler - This one is here for 2 reasons: A) there is something about a thriller in summer that makes summer more alive. B) true crime and summer go hand in hand. This story of a girl learning about her father’s “art” and it’s history starts with a bang and keeps you sucked in all the way to the end.

The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater - This young adult novel about a girl who enters a horse race because she doesn’t want her brother to leave her, is a challenging exploration of family and myth. Each character has so much to learn and so much that they share. A great introduction to Stiefvater’s work.

The Thin Man - Dashall Hammett - A former detective and his wife try to have a quiet holiday in New York City. Murder and mischief ensue and Mrs. Nick Charles is one of my favorite women in all of pulp fiction detective novels.

Know My Name - Chanel Miller - Back into non fiction for this memoir of pain and growth. So far there have been several books on this list that have people coming of age or to terms of an event, but this one was not only real, but also a moment in recent history that set off change through out the world. Miller is a clever and honest writer who doesn’t pull punches about how her trauma and the resulting court case effected her. You can read her moving victim statement online, though it is also included in the book. It’s a rough read, but it is genuinely brilliant.

Caste - Isabel Wilkerson - We cannot stop learning about the systemic racism that has continued to benefit a select few to the detriment of the many. Caste is one of my favorite books on this topic. Not only does Wilkerson use history, statistics, and personal experience in this complex discussion, she frequently challenges readers to really evaluate their own behavior. The book was truly illuminating and I will likely reread it this summer as we continue to fight for the rights of everyone.

Red White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston - Every summer needs some romance and while this is a book about 2 college age boys falling in love, you cannot even imagine the ride. Sit down, turn off your phone, and laugh as they navigate love on a grand stage.

The Death of Vivek Oji - Akwaeke Emezi - I really debated which LGBTQIA+ book I wanted to put on this list and I have many I could include, but the story of Vivek Oji was one of the first books this year that I felt totally blindsided by. This story of the aftermath of the brutal death of Vivek Oji is heart breaking and also beautiful. I felt like I was with each character as we learned who this child was and how everyone struggled with their own grief. It’s rough, but like Caste a brilliant story worthy of every beautiful summer day.

A Royal Affair - Allision Monclair - Who doesn’t want to attend a royal wedding? This is the second book in the Sparks & Bainbridge mystery series and it sends the ladies of the Right Sort Marriage Bureau on the adventure of a lifetime all for true love in service to the crown. This is charming and fun with a bit of mystery and romance along with the mystery.

So, there are 15 books here, and I challenge you to finish 15 books before the end of the summer. Keep a list and submit it to me via email, with the dates read and would you recommend, by August 15th, 2021 and you’ll be entered a to win 1 book of your choice. This is a US only challenge as I can’t afford international shipping. You can add in entries by tagging @sibbyreads on Instagram as you post pictures of what you’re reading. Only books and posts read/ made from June 1st through August 15th will be considered.

This is also an opportunity to diversify your reading list. Take a chance on an author or topic that you’ve found daunting in the past. Reread books you loved in the past and challenge the themes to see if you can learn anything new. Whatever you’re summer adventure, I’m excited to join you for the ride. Find me on August 15th with my list of 15 books I loved this summer and 3 I hated. It’ll be an interesting challenge.

Until next time adventurers -

You Can Find This Book And All The Others I Suggest On Audible Or From Your Local Library. Tag Me In Your Social Media Posts So I Can See What You Think.

If you’re struggling reach out to someone you know or trust. If you need help or to chat the crisis text line is an option or you can reach out to me at [email protected]. Also please reach out if you have a book recommendation or want to talk about any of the books I have already reviewed. xoxo - Lala

#lists #Summer Reading Challenge #more to read #Dream Job

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