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Post by Dante on Dec 24, 2020 6:53:50 GMT -5
(Final chapter on the previous page.) Excellent finale, Sherry Ann! The mystery holds together technically as well as being colourful and enjoyable, and the character quirks and humour were on-point. It was a pleasure to look back on some very old 667 references and memories, too; a well-researched piece. As for my theory, it was largely correct on the information given, but swapped two roles around. I'm not disappointed, as both were very satisfying; fortunately, I'm as at home with the role of villain as I am with the role of detective. I shall look forward to tomorrow's epilogue. Because it was funny? (It was funny.) |
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Post by Christmas Chief on Dec 24, 2020 10:29:31 GMT -5
Thank you for your kind review, Dante, and for your comment B.! Did I really include that many old references, besides Misery and Woe? R.: A good question. It’s hard to choose villains when writing about real people, because I didn’t want to offend anyone. So I narrowed it down to three: Tragedy is a classic villain, and I also had his permission; I had written Dante as a villain before so had a good feeling he wouldn’t mind; Jean Lucio, the self-appointed “Mean Master” in Spyfall I thought would make a great villain, and I believe I gave him a realistic motive, too. The next problem was that because these were “obvious” choices, I had to reveal them early on (Tragedy) or try to draw attention away from them (JL and Dante). You all seemed to guess Dante anyway, even before he appeared, which, fair enough. Incidentally, Antenora was supposed to be a red herring villain (where was she when ewok40 was kidnapped? Why wasn’t she on her usual patrol?) but no one suspected her. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2020 12:15:36 GMT -5
I finally got a chance to read through the rest of this, and wow what an enjoyable story. I'm no detective so I wasn't good at following any clues but the detectives in the comments helped me follow along. I love all the sweater jokes, and Dante disappearing into the shadows. Wonderful work Sherry Ann
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Post by Optimism is my Phil-osophy on Dec 24, 2020 14:20:54 GMT -5
it's because I don't have the Christmas spirit to be harvested ... So I was the most likely accomplice. And I am subordinate to bosses by nature. Great story! I loved being the villain. Or rather, the villain's unexpected helper despite the fact that there are many good tips left by the author. It is a pity that I did not suspect myself.
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Post by Hermes on Dec 24, 2020 19:42:43 GMT -5
So - more of a tribute to Sixteen's Christmas Carol than we realised. That was, as I pointed out at the time, part of a series of stories in which Tragedy is reformed. It's sad that Sixteen is no longer with us. (Is he the bperson who...?)
I think Jean makes a very splendid non-villainous villain. In truth, I suspected him from the start, as he has an alibi which seemed very carefully set up, and yet fallible. As for Dante, that was a clever double bluff; but, villainous though he is, I will still refrain from murdering him.
I am glad the puzzle about my memory resolved itself in the way it did. My uncle remains a mystery, but hopefully we will hear more about him in the Epilogue.
It strikes me that if Tragedy was targeting those who most clearly manifested the Christmas spirit in their names and avatars, you, Merry Ann, must also have been a possible target.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Dec 24, 2020 20:16:13 GMT -5
Thanks, @jacobm, Optimism is my Phil-osophy, and Hermes! It strikes me that if Tragedy was targeting those who most clearly manifested the Christmas spirit in their names and avatars, you, Merry Ann, must also have been a possible target. Indeed: “But what about the other Christmassy 667ers, like Santenora and Merry Ann?” roxy222 asked. “Why didn’t you kidnap them?” “Because I’m inconsistent,” Tragedy remarked. “It’s one of my most fascinating attributes." The 667ers looked unsatisfied. "Fine. Antenora was armed and knew about most of the passageways, and I gave Merry Ann too much power as administrator. They would have been able to escape, and possibly taken my other subjects with them.” I have a good feeling that you shall. |
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Post by Christmas Chief on Dec 24, 2020 23:14:12 GMT -5
EpilogueIt was Christmas morning, and the 667ers were gathered in the lounge for toasting, gifts, breakfast, and general merriment. They caroled selections from a songbook baudelaiire had put together while Marlowe played the piano. They exchanged gifts: Zortegus received a large bag of peppermints from Bee; roxy222 received a new set of paintbrushes from Terry; gothicarchiesfan received an unmarked DVD, signed only by “C.,” and immediately went to the theater to borrow its projector. Ewok40 passed around his signature cocktail to adults of legal drinking age, and every partaker agreed it was absolutely delicious. (Hermes passed.) Jean Lucio and Dante stood in a corner of the lounge with Be Sure to Lock Your Homes open before them. Jean excitedly pointed out passages to Dante as Dante took deep, polite breaths. Willis, Sherry Ann, Anka, and MisterM had woken up early to chop fruit, bake scones, prepare oatmeal, and scramble eggs in the restaurant next door, and now they offered plates to their fellow residents. Antenora and Hermes passed out tea and coffee as they discussed the cultural significance of the two beverages in their native lands. Even Hermes’s Great Uncle Alfie was there, having flown in on a strange, bright red contraption all the way from Canada to surprise Hermes on Christmas morning. “Sorry I couldn’t have come sooner. I’m always busy on Christmas Eve night,” he winked. His charming, humorous, and jolly demeanor - not to mention the gifts he had brought - immediately endeared him to everyone, and currently he was perched on one of the plush leather chairs in the lounge entertaining Zortegus, Bee, and Terry Craig with a story about herding unusual caribou in his hometown. Sixteen and roxy222 sat at a small table, putting together a scrapbook of all the 667ers’ favorite Christmas memories using photos Sixteen had pulled from Boring Business and Polaroids roxy222 had taken throughout the morning. Sixteen shared stories of 667’s days gone by with roxy222, and roxy222 caught Sixteen up on 667’s current events, to their mutual fascination. After a while, gothicarchiesfan returned with a projector from the theater. He set up the equipment and inserted his DVD. After some fiddling, the words “ A Series of Unfortunate Events: THE SILBERLING CUT'' illuminated on the screen. gothicarchiesfan cheered and everyone, even Alfie - who everyone had already taken to calling their Uncle Alfie - came over to watch. klausfan1 was the only one to notice the clock. “Guys! It’s time!” gothicarchiesfan shut off the projector and everyone rushed to the window. Glimmers of sunlight danced through the branches of the bare oak trees, lined with snow. “Is everyone ready?” Tragedy asked over the intercom. Shouts affirmed that they were. The 667ers cried together: “THREE … TWO … ONE … MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Multicolored lights, glowing stars, and even a small Nativity scene lit up outside the building. The 667ers stood in silence, the brilliant reds, greens, and blues illuminating their smiling faces alongside glints of the morning sun. As a final touch, Tragedy flicked off the overhead chandeliers in the lounge. All went dark and quiet inside, but this time, no one worried. They knew the lights would come back on eventually. THE END
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Post by Dante on Dec 25, 2020 4:52:36 GMT -5
A heartwarming conclusion. Thank you for this excellent fic, Sherry Ann!
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Post by Hermes on Dec 25, 2020 8:47:20 GMT -5
Splendid conclusion! Every moment is worthy of praise, but I especially liked the Damte-Jean Lucio interaction. And my uncle - well, well. That seems to recall a story Pen once wrote about me. But any reason why Alfie in particular?
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Post by Christmas Chief on Dec 25, 2020 10:46:53 GMT -5
Thank you very much, Dante and Hermes ! And my uncle - well, well. That seems to recall a story Pen once wrote about me. So it does! Pen's story was an inspiration for that. When I first devised him, he was just a cheery man from whom you inherited your generosity; it wasn't until halfway through writing the story that I realized I had essentially reinvented Mr. Claus. I decided not to change his name because "Alfie" seemed like a nice, wholesome name that Santa might use in the off-season. |
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Post by Marlowe on Dec 25, 2020 13:46:22 GMT -5
What a wonderful Christmas gift. Thank you, Sherry Ann.
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Post by Skelly Craig on Dec 29, 2020 15:06:43 GMT -5
I'm late to the finale party, but I enjoyed it muchly. Antenora's sharpened reindeer antlers were probably my favorite detail. Jean Lucio's "Wait - can I say no?" made me lol, too.
The last lines of the epilogue are a very nice touch for a story about a building on "Dark Avenue", quite poetic. Thank you for this, Sherry Ann!
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Post by Christmas Chief on Jan 1, 2021 21:59:49 GMT -5
I'm glad you enjoyed, Marlowe and Terry!
There is one last loose end I want to tie up, which is to give credit to the artists whose work I used for the chapter "illustrations" and provide explanations for why I chose each image for those who might be interested, now or in the future.
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Post by Christmas Chief on Jan 1, 2021 22:02:11 GMT -5
Photo Notes & Credits"Chapter X" links directly to the final Chapter Image.
Chapter 1The mobile shelves and the vaults. These were just product images. I wanted to show what mobile shelves looked like for those who may have never used them. Chapter 2Bowery Hotel in NYC. This image depicted the right amount of space and used the red furniture and dark brown wood I was looking for. It also had a fireplace. Chapter 3Coat Room at the Old Schoolhouse by Priscilla Burgers? I can’t exactly tell who the artist is from the website. I etched the secret door into the Chapter image. Can you find it? Chapter 4FULL STOP by Tom Burckhardt. Showed the right balance between order and chaos, and had the big canvas in the middle. Chapter 5The lounge - I can’t trace the original source because it’s a Pinterest image. Linking to Pinterest is also not working. But I chose the image for its bookshelves, furniture, and windows. Old Office by Moustafa Shaheen was another contender, and I still really like it. Chapter 6Vintage Office Room by Radu Petre Tragedy’s office / study, and my favorite image. Chapter 7Faraday’s Magnetic Laboratory by Harriet Jane Moore. Tragedy’s closet / lab / backroom This was a perfect image in many ways to give the right impression of Tragedy’s lab, but I was especially pleased with the archway in the back. I ended up turning it into a solid wall for the chapter illustration, but originally I thought I would make a second version where the tunnel is visible but leads to darkness. In the end, my attempts weren’t sophisticated enough to be convincing. Chapter 8On imgurAgain, can’t trace the original source. I considered many options for the library illustration, but settled on this one because it gives you a taste of the aged books and overall luminescence I wanted to convey while leaving the rest of the large space to the imagination. That was necessary, too, because I describe tables, opening shelves, closed shelves, aisles of shelves, etc. It was unlikely I would find a wider-view image that wasn’t confusing. Chapter 9Old Books on a Shelf by John Frederick Peto. I like many things about this painting as a work of art, but for the story I thought it would work as the shelf Homes was pulled from. Perhaps someone had rifled through that particular shelf to find it. My other contender was Old Books Painting by Juan Álvarez Cebrián, which I also really like, but didn’t work as well with the story. Chapter 10A Shot of Jack by Craig Stephens. I had already done an image of the library and couldn’t find a good illustration for a table (which I would have used to digitally add the “SUBJECTS” list to). I decided to focus on an object instead, and the cocktail Hermes was drinking at the beginning would come back a chapter later. It was also how this chapter ended, so I made the image purple and voila - the Festive Grape. Chapter 11The vial of “golden” liquid - Poison Vial by Julia Moshack. Another color adjustment, another focus on an object since both Tragedy’s office and backroom had been depicted. I wasn’t sure about doing two close-ups of liquids / beverages in a row, but I think it’s the object that best represents the chapter and the conclusion of the story. Title, Epilogue, Willis WonderlandThe Peninsula Paris Finally, to answer Marlowe ’s question from the beginning of the story, The Peninsula Paris is the real-life building off which I based the exterior of 667. It was surprisingly difficult to find a nice, old building that wasn’t too big or too small, so I was very happy when I found this one. (The real Peninsula Paris, outside this “preview” image, is far too big.)
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Post by Sixteen on Jun 26, 2021 19:12:17 GMT -5
“You can think of me as a ghost of Christmas past,” the figure replied, “though I’m very much here in the present.” Occasionally, once a year or so, I find myself thinking of the forums where I spent many a day as a younger man. So I return in an attempt to catch up on what I've missed. Sometimes I haven't missed much, sometimes I've been absent for great tragedies. This time it appears I've missed the thing I've missed the most. Thank you Sherry Ann, for reminding me of the best of times. Stories like this are what 667 means to me. |
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It’s amazing, but why’d you have to make Optimism is my Phil-osophy the villain?? 
