#but again aren't all novels ultimately mystery novels?

[affectionate-team]

Phantom thief

October TWST collab with @jade-s-nymph - day 13.

(Riddle × reader fluff)

There was still a week or two left before Halloween, but, punctual as always, the Heartslabyul Housewarden started preparing in advance. Considering this event will gather residents from all over Sage Island, including high-standing individuals and elite of all kinds, putting any less than maximum effort into costumes and decoration is ultimately out of option.

Not like Riddle has ever done anything other than his best. His mother would have had his head on a platter if he had - after all, Mrs. Rosehearts expects only perfect reputation and flawless image from her child.

That means every little detail must be in order. And whatever is happening right now is, in fact, nowhere close to order.

"WHAT?!", rings out an outraged screech, loud enough to crack glass, alarming students from all around.

Riddle was pacing back and forth in the common rooms, leaving a clear circular pattern with heel imprints in the carpet. Deuce sweatdrops, having already regretted coming here. The Housewarden had already been stressed enough on a daily basis, but the shade of red that his face this time around gained was alarming.

Barely a minute ago, he was notified of serial disappearances all around the dorm; Some fiend had apparently thought it would be a great idea to steal all the clock and watches in the entire Heartslabyul! As absurd as it was, the little prank set Riddle, a natural perfectionist, off on a whole another level. His card soldiers always come late as it is, but with all the watches disappearing every day is bound to become a disaster.

The Queen's most trusted soldiers, Trey and Cater, had to go an extra mile to console their dormleader that day. The former even decided on baking extra sweet strawberry tarts just to avoid the younger boy's mental meltdown.

"Just think about it - a phantom thief appearing as if out of nowhere, disrupting peace and urging the detective to unravel the mystery behind their act... It's, like, straight-out-of-a-novel scenario!", Cater exclaims, "Take it easy, consider this a game. Or, eh, a... puzzle of sorts? You like those, right? Leave all the prep work to froshies and go catch the criminal!"

"YOU- You think this a game?! How can I-", the red-haired boy takes a deep breathe. 'Keep calm, breath and count to three...', he repeats to himself. "How am I supposed to 'take it easy' when I have a rulebreaker on a loose? The Queen of Hearts' rule number 53, stolen items must be-"

"He's right, Riddle", Trey chimes in, wiping hands with a towel, "You've been running yourself ragged lately, way more than needed, and Halloween is over a week away." He steps closer to the counter, leaning on it and giving one of his signature smile - warm and reassuring, befitting a typical older brother, "Our dormmates are working extra hard, all of them are excited for the holiday, so they're motivated to do their best; and aren't all these preparations the same we do before unbirthday parties? We got it down to a fine art, nothing bad will happen if you leave the freshmen unattended. At worst, Cater and I can supervise them. Right, Cater?"

The boy in question didn't answer, too occupied with choosing hashtags for his new photo (he switched his attention from one thing to another again...), mumbling under his breath. Trey heaved a sigh, planting hands on his hips like a stern teacher that was forced to deal with a notorious troublemaker.

"Cater.", he said in a harsher tone. Having gotten used to Clover's usual patience and soft voice, both Cater and Riddle shivered.

"Y-YES, sure thing!"

Nobody would ever want to deal with an enraged Trey...

"Why are they so insistent on me doing this personally and, moreover, alone...? These two are acting strange.", Riddle was standing at a balcony overlooking the Gardens, where students of Heartslabyul were working on preparing decorations. Everyone had a task of their own - no slackers in sight. 

The two upperclassmen managed to talk Riddle into stepping away from his duties to focus on investigating. Which was weird, as there was nothing 'fun' about having to fish out troublemakers and give out punishments, at best it only added more stress to his life...

Taking a deep breath, he slid a card out of his back pocket - Seven of Hearts. Deuce said that cards like this one were found in place of every stolen item. Whoever was behind this all was being bold, to leave a piece of evidence on purpose? But why a card; was it a reference to their dorm setting? A mocking in the face of THE Queen of Hearts?

"Unacceptable...", the Housewarden grumbled, "I'll see to it that the rulebreaker receives a suitable punishment."

Another 'surprise' was waiting for him in his own room. The tall Grandfather clock, surprisingly enough, was standing steady in its natural place. Nothing would've been amiss, if not for the lack of clock hands. In their place was pinned another card - seven of Hearts. The floor under the grand clock had faint trails of scratches, as if somebody had tried moving it but, after failing to do so, had decided to put everything back in place. Riddle took a long furious stride towards the clock, heels clicking with each step. Even with the shoes' added height, he finds it difficult to reach the card, which infuriates the boy even further. With a stomp and a 'hmph' Riddle (unwillingly so) goes to fetch a stepping stool.

"I can't believe this petty little-... what does this mean?!"

"Dear Mr. Detective ;) Riddle,

You must've noticed some things missing in Heartslabyul. I hope you don't mind me stealing some of your precious time.

If you want me to return all that has disappeared, I expect to see you tonight, south of the rose maze. Make sure to look your best!

Truly,

Your phantom thief.~♡"

...were they... toying with him? Who would dare to demand an unscheduled audience with him, and in such a bold manner, too?! The audacity them must have to assume he'd just follow their demands blindly!

Late evening rolled around, just an hour before curfew. Even the tough fabric of his school uniform couldn't keep the chilly autumn wind away. Riddle folded his arms, tucking palms into his jacket to preserve warmth. Rose bushes and hedges stretch out far, high and wide.

...He came here out of his own will, not because he had no other option. Of course.

Nobody's in sight. Only crickets' song fills in the cold silence. Whoever had left that note must've played a prank on him to make him out as a fool. That's what he was about to think of, if only he hadn't noticed a faint glow of a candle from behind a bush. Rounding a corner, Riddle notices a path of rose petal leading deeper into the maze, straying from the general path.

Getting into a ready stance with a magic pen in hand, the Housewarden sets off to follow the trail.

A hint of a classical piece, one from his personal collection of favorites, plays from afar, growing louder with every step taken forward.

The petals take him to a clearing. A round table is served with a dainty teapot, a set of matching cups and plates with a colorful flowery pattern. Next to them are fresh tarts and cupcakes that emit mouthwatering aromas and puffs of heat. Fairy lights decorate the area, painting it in a warm pink glow. An old-fashioned gramophone creaks with every spin of the needle, playing a merry tune. This setting doesn't seem hostile.

He only lost his composure for a second, but that was more than enough for the phantom thief to make their appearance without being noticed.

"Do you like this?", they whisper in Riddle's ear, blowing some air and almost making him squeak in fear.

The flustered boy turns around, just to come face to face with the Ramshackle prefect, [Name]. Their figure was covered by a dark coat, the cape falling off their head to reveal a mischievous smirk on the prefect's face. After taking a step closer to Riddle, they take a hold of his hands, placing gentle kisses on knuckles of each with a fond smile.

"Sorry about making you worry and run around all day long...", they mutter out, "...but I just couldn't find a way to keep you from entering the gardens otherwise. I know for a fact that Ace and Deuce wouldn't be able to distract you without spilling everything, and Trey and Cater are already busy."

"Are you saying that they were all in on your scheme?", the boy asks, bewildered. How hasn't he noticed sooner?

"Aha, ma~ybe? It doesn't matter! Now, as a payback for wasting so much of your time today, let me treat you to some tea.", [Name] loops their arm with Riddle's, leading him closer to the table and move a chair out for him.

He hesitates for a while, making prefect furrow their brows in worry.

"You should've already memorized it by now... All stolen things must be replaced. So you better make this worth the time I spent.", he says, turning to look them in the eyes, grabbing them by the collar of their shirt and pressing a kiss on their cheek with a little too much effort, almost making them fall backwards. He takes a seat on his chair with a huff, desperate to mask his growing embarrassment, and hides his blossoming blush with a hand.

[Name] takes a few seconds to process the notion before they erupt in a fit of giggles, taking a sit opposite of the housewarden, happy with the outcome.

This evening date promises to be a pleasant one.

[sage-nebula]

I finished Persona 4 Golden last night, so like I did with Persona 3 before it, here are my overall thoughts on the game now that it's over. (And yes, I did go through Marie's dungeon, so I did get the full and complete True Ending.)

Overall Score: 6.5/10

The Pros:

— The gameplay was good, which isn't a surprise since it's the improvements in P4 that translated over to P3P. Unlike with P3, I had the option to control my party members on from the get-go, and I also enjoyed how Rise's scans became increasingly more OP the more you completed her social link / leveled her up. It's nice to not have to play a guessing game with enemies to figure out what their weaknesses are. Although all the yellow on the UI hurt my eyes, the menus were still easy to navigate and weren't too busy, something that I unfortunately can't say for the sequel yet. — As far as the murder mystery element goes, they did a good job not making the actual culprit too obvious, while also sprinkling in some red herrings here or there. That's not to say the murder mystery element was handled perfectly (it really wasn't), but they did well not making the real culprit too obvious from the outset, which was one of the flaws that P3 had. (Although, P3 wasn't trying to be a mystery, so there is that to consider.) — The characters that were good were really good. I enjoyed Naoto and Kanji the most, but Yukiko, Rise, and Nanako were also really good characters. Even Chie grew on me, even with Erin Fitzgerald's tendency to hurt my ears with all her screaming. — Being able to work on schoolmate social links outside of school was a huge improvement over P3. I had a very hard time both finishing the SEES social links and also having stuff to do near the end of the game because of how schoolmate social links couldn't be worked on during off days. That not being an issue in P4 was a huge improvement. — At first I didn't like that we were staying with family instead of in a dorm, but the Dojima family really grew on me and I enjoyed their social links. I managed to max both Dojima and Nanako's social links before shit in the fan later in the game, and it made everything have a heavier impact. — It's cool that the party members you don't bring with you can come in as calvary units sometimes. It makes sense that they would, since they're ostensibly all going on the missions with you even though you can only have four party members at a time. — Being able to change costumes without having it affect armor is another improvement over P3. Sometimes I want to look cool without having to sacrifice defense for it, ok. Lemme be fashionable. You can't save the world if you aren't cute etc. — I did enjoy the visual novel style of P3P, but also I liked being able to see the characters actually interact with each other in the real world too (which I knew FES had, so it's not as if that was never a thing for P3; it was just P3P). Maybe someday we can get a version of P3P that fully utilizes the updated hardware it's ported to. — Some of the music was really catchy. — I loved being able to visit Tatsumi Port Island and Gekkoukan High again . . . just like I love how Inaba itself is a place that we visited briefly in P3, and Yukiko is a character we'd met previously when she was in junior high. I LOVE continuity like that, it makes my heart so happy.

The Neutrals:

— My feelings on Marie are really mixed. On the one hand, it's interesting to have a character that is a through-line for the plot; she's the third person that Yuu meets upon arriving in Inaba (because she picks up that paper he dropped and gives it back to him), she's almost constantly in the Velvet Room, and ultimately she's kind of the final boss, in a way. Like she's a part of the final boss. Her theme music is also pretty and some of her interactions were fun.

On the other hand, it's 2023, so tsundere characters aren't really appealing to me at this point in my life and it was aggravating as hell to go into the Velvet Room and have to button mash through another stupid poem when all I wanted to do was fuse some Personas so I could get on with the dungeon. Marie getting upset ten times in a row because I was forced to read her stupid poetry did not endear me to her character. Ultimately I don't hate Marie, but I think that she could have been better implemented, and her shtick of being tsundere hasn't aged very well. — Similarly, Yosuke was really hit or miss. For a lot of the story he worked well as The Leader Who Could Talk since Yuu is basically a silent protagonist. He kept the group focused and on target of solving the mystery, and had a personal stake in it from the get-go given his crush on Saki. But on the other, his homophobia toward Kanji was fucking rank, as was his perversion toward the girls, particularly the scene where he tries to guilt-trip them into changing into the bathing suits he bought them. Ultimately Yosuke is not one of my favorite characters in the game, but I don't hate him, either. There's worse characters in the game that save him from the scrappy heap. — I understand that this is a game series made by a corporation, and so it makes sense that it's not going to go gung-ho against the anti-capitalist message, but it still is disappointing that the very realistic plot of "big box store comes to small town and ruins their small businesses / gentrifies the area" was not only never followed through on, but also had its teeth completely ripped out in the ending scenes where Junes is playing nice with the small businesses by allowing them to set up shop in the building. Again, I understand that this isn't Night in the Woods, the anti-capitalism / anti-gentrification message isn't the point, and so it's not the biggest deal in the world. But it still was a little disappointing. — This game suffers from something a lot of JPRGs suffer from, and that something is The Illusion of Choice. It's something where you're given multiple dialogue options to choose from, but no matter what you choose the end result—sometimes right down to the dialogue—is the same.

Again, this is a standard of the genre; JRPGs by and large don't have multiple endings (or at least not ones that are determined by your response), so The Illusion of Choice is something to expect when picking one up. But still, something that would be fun for Atlus to consider in the future would be something akin to what you see in WRPGs, which is a party member approval system. If I act like a jackass to my party members, they should treat me accordingly. The social links I build (or don't) should have at least a minor effect on the plot (like Dojima's treatment of Yuu after the warning note should differ depending on whether you bonded with him or not). Again, it's not a make-or-break thing, it's expected in the genre, but it still is a little disappointing. — The whole sequence with identifying the target —> asking around for info about the target —> go into a reskinned dungeon to find the target felt very repetitive after a while. As did hearing the "oh noes don't say it!!" re: the "you're not me" scenes, which felt forced at times. This is a minor nitpick, because it wasn't a huge detriment to the game or anything, but it was just a little repetitive is all. — I have complicated feelings on how Naoto's story played out. She's one of my favorite characters in the game, easily. But everything about how her Shadow was presented made it seem as if she was actually a transboy, only for the game to play it as "she's not trans, she just has internalized misogyny." Which, okay . . . but even later in her social link she's saying again that she wishes she could have been born a boy? Only to walk that back again? But she also has no issues with she/her pronouns and dresses more femininely in the epilogue. I don't know. I don't want to misgender her, which is why I use she/her pronouns since that's what she uses in the game after the gender reveal, but it's just a very weird and complicated situation, particularly since it was written with a Japanese audience in mind rather than an American one. I don't know where I stand on it.

The Cons:

— The anti-queer bigotry in this game is . . . immense. From the stereotyped way that Kanji's Shadow behaved, to Yosuke's homophobic treatment of Kanji (right down to lowkey accusing him of being a rapist during the camping trip), to the transphobia surrounding the drag show (both in how everyone reacted to the male characters dressed in drag, to how the male characters acted toward having to do it) . . . it was bad. I've seen some things that say that P4 was progressive for its time in letting Kanji be a main party member, and I can acknowledge that perhaps that's true. But it didn't make it any easier for me, a queer woman, to sit through in 2023. It was super gross and severely lessened my enjoyment of the game. — There's also a lot of fatphobia and . . . uglyphobia? . . . I don't know what to call it. But like, Kubo was creepy looking, and he turns out to be a murderer. Morooka-sensei is a horrible teacher and person, and he was designed with massive buckteeth and bad hair. Hanako is cartoonishly obese and an awful person, and her weight is turned into a joke when she breaks Yosuke's scooter by just sitting on it, and so on and so forth. The game basically holds the idea that, "If you are ugly and/or fat, you're a bad person," which again, is not funny nor good, and I don't think is even a "fair for its day" thing. It's just really distasteful, especially since there are scenes with these characters that you can't avoid. — I really hated a lot of the sexualization when it comes to the female party members. The biggest offender here is Rise's Shadow. The whole strip club thing was bad enough, but you could try to argue that, hey, Kanji's was a bathhouse, so it's fair play. But during the battle against Shadow Rise, when she uses her ultimate attack, her Shadow literally humps the stripper pole and lets out a loud, sexual moan. That's vile. Rise is a sixteen-year-old girl, and even though that was her Shadow instead of her . . . the Shadow is part of her, and the Shadow is meant to be like, sixteen-year-old girl but monster. I understand these games are made with a teenage audience in mind, but it's still super gross and I was disgusted and super uncomfortable by it. — In addition to Shadow Rise, there were multiple strip tease shots of the girls in bathhouses; female characters who were introduced by the camera panning up their legs and over their bodies; many, many, MANY jokes made about Teddie and Yosuke trying to peep on the girls, etc. These "jokes" would also go on for unbearably long at times, be in animated cutscenes, etc. It's not funny. The humor didn't land. I didn't enjoy it.

— Speaking of Teddie! I fucking despise him! I hate literally everything about this stupid fucking bear. I hate his voice. I hate how perverted he is, and how it's played for laughs or played as charming. I fucking despise how often he flirts with / talks about hitting on Nanako (like when he wanted to greet her with a kiss when she came home from the hospital? Nanako is SIX YEARS OLD you filthy fucking creep, stay away from her!!). His scenes are not funny. His character is not cute. "I was a Shadow that somehow gained sentience" isn't a plot thread that was handled in a remotely interesting way, especially with everything else going on; it just felt distracting and pointless, since I hated Teddie so much by that point that the only reason I maxed his social link is because the game gave me no other choice. I was so excited when it looked like he died and so disappointed when he was brought back. I hate him more than I hate the main villains of the game. If I could light his stupid bear costume on fire, I would. Worst character by far, bar none, this is a Teddie Hate Blog. — Speaking of plot lines being handled poorly: while I'm glad that ultimately she didn't die, Nanako being temporarily fridged for the drama is not something that I appreciated or liked, especially since how she came back to life was never explained and made no sense. I mean, she was dead for a while. Her brain was without oxygen for a long time. As someone whose mother died from her brain being without oxygen for too long, it's just not realistic nor possible for Nanako to have come back from that without severe brain damage. I get that there are a lot of unrealistic things in this fantasy game, but still. Made no sense, was done for cheap drama, and ultimately shouldn't have been. Either stick to your guns and actually kill the child, or just don't have that enter the equation at all. — I also feel that there was just too much of a Guide Dang It element to getting to the True Ending. Like I was reasonably suspicious of Adachi by that point in the game, but I still needed to look things up beforehand to know that not following through on the revenge impulse against Namatame was necessary in order to avoid the Bad Ending, and I feel like a lot of players would believe the game telling them "yeah Namatame did it, he confessed to doing it, he's not sorry for doing it" and be tricked into the bad ending therefore. Then there's everything with Marie, and hunting down Izanami . . . I had to look up how to trigger the real ending by going to Junes a second time since there was nothing in the game telling me to do that. Kind of frustrating how missable things like that are, and not the best game design. — I know they couldn't exactly repeat the whole thing with Tartarus and the Dark Hour (or at least they wouldn't be able to without some serious plot explanations of Persona 3 and why what was done at the end of that game was undone or whatever), but I was never able to take the "we went into the TV!!" thing seriously. It sounded stupid from beginning to end. And while I understand wanting to have this game accessible to people who didn't play the third one (like how the third one was accessible without having played the first two) . . . I kept trying to rationalize this "TV world" with Tartarus and the Dark Hour and I was never able to connect the dots to make it seem like cohesive worldbuilding. It's like they took the worldbuilding from the first game and just chucked it out the window. Which would be fine if this was a different universe, but with characters like Yukiko being in it, it's very clearly not. It kept taking me out of the game over and over again and I wish they had built the story of Persona 4 to better mesh with what was set in Persona 3.

— Lastly, I think they tried to cram multiple plots at once into this game, and it just did not work. If the game focused solely on the murder mystery—nothing about Teddie being a Shadow, Marie being a fragment of a goddess, the goddess herself having beef because her ex-husband was a jackass—then they could have really beefed up the murder mystery and made the whole plot feel more cohesive and grounded, even with the lunacy of traveling into another world via TV sets. As it stands though? The goddess plot felt wholly separated from the murder mystery plot, and as a result felt a lot like a "plot twist" that was tacked on at the end just to pad out the game and make it longer. Yes, Edogawa-sensei told us the story of Izanami and Izanagi when we were at Gekkoukan High; but I got rid of Yuu's original persona so early that I forgot his persona was even called Izanami to begin with, so again, it felt out of left field to me. They just tried to do too many things with this game, and as a result ended up making all of them pretty lukewarm. In the end, this game was okay. I will probably never play it again, because I think P3P was much better and I would rather replay that one if I was going to replay a Persona game. But it wasn't completely awful, either.

[squigglysquidd]

I saw your tags on the ME post about working on some original stuff. Looking at your profile, it looks like you've already published two novels! Congratulations!

I was curious about your original writing. First of all, what is your series about (I assume it's a series)? How has your experience been so far, both with the writing and publishing? Do you have a long term vision for your series (or your writing plans just in general)?

Again, congrats! That's such an accomplishment!

Thank you so much!

Pieces of Eden, so far, includes Neon Utopia and the following Apple of Eden. It's a cyberpunk romance with a bit of adventure and, in the case of the second, mystery. I tried to focus a lot on worldbuilding and creating a chance for readers to envision a world that's beautiful on the surface, but goes much deeper into the dark side the closer and longer you look at it.

As for my experience? I saw there's good and bad. The best way to explain a lot of what I experienced is to compare it to fanfiction. Though it's not a perfect example, it's the best one I can relate to.

Unlike fanfiction, you don't get that instant gratification on posting a chapter. Even if you get no comments, you can still say 'hey, I wrote that and I'm happy with it.' With original stuff, you have to keep a bit of it under wraps because ultimately, you're trying to sell it. When I first tried to write original, I gave up because I didn't have something to, basically, cheer me on.

Then I found a friend through my FF writing, @wafflesrock16, who also wanted to use her experience in FF to get into original writing (i highly recommend her fantasy romance series, Rifts, btw). Waffles helps me tremendously because she's my Alpha reader. We bounce ideas and she reads my very rough, very first draft to give me tips. Then came finding a dedicated Beta (which I, unfortunately, didn't have for Neon Utopia - and it sadly shows) and sometimes even an Editor. Being a long fic, I didn't have the money for that so after a Beta's advice, I went through it a handful more times using different techniques to try and polish it up.

Publishing wise, I have to say I went the route of Self-Publishing. I do this for fun, not money, and yes, I did let it get to me last year, but I've realized that bad comments, just like FF, ultimately don't mean anything. People like it or they don't. Also, self-publishing helps me stay calm when I write because I don't have deadlines or have to write query letters to attract agents, then have to double check the agent and publishing company aren't frauds, etc. Plus, all the money comes back to me which, when I sell so few, comes in handy.

The hardest part of the whole process overall is MARKETING. Getting your name out there is hard work and doesn't always work out. I guess that's one good thing about traditional publishing but I still wouldn't trade it.

I, for sure, have one more PoE book in mind but I kinda like how it's more of an episodic series and not one continuous storyline. I don't know if readers will like it so we'll see about reception before I start on the third book.

Writing wise, I want to eventually start my fantasy series. Writing a Fantasy AU for Mass Effect really got me in the mood for it. So, when I finished Fibonacci, get PoE in a place I iike, and feel confident enough to try, I'll start the long process of worldbuilding. Everyone who knows me knows I'm an absolute sucker for worldbuilding so sometimes I get too deep. We'll see when we get there, though, right?

Sorry for being so long-winded! I guess I had quite a bit to say!

Thank you again. And thank you for asking such interesting questions. They really got me thinking about the future and what it holds. :)

[semitransparent-glob]

i will ask questions on the condition that you never use the pleading meat emoji again (please). what're the motives? what's the puzzle/solution you're most proud of? do you incorporate dr traditions like a double murder in ch3 and the buff one dying in ch4? what character made you the most sad to kill off?

LMAOOO ok i promise <33

tysm for sending questions 🥰🥰🥰🥰

I think i am going to put this under a readmore bc i am going to ramble so so much

I definitely followed conventions of the 3 visual novel dr games, and studied the trials and motives to make my own motives and trials. I found as many consistencies as I could and tried to stick to them for my fangan, just to give myself a framework to work off of and I thought it would be fun :^))

For the motives: I have all of them planned out pretty well except chapter 4 and 5, which need some ironing out but i have some ideas.

Chapter 1: The motive is the idea that one among them has already killed someone, but since the person wasn't a student, there will be no trial. What actually happened was that one of the people working for the mastermind was killed by the mastermind, because that person was planning to betray the mastermind. The mastermind then staged her body in a spot where the students could find it, and claimed that one of the students had killed her in secret. But because none of the students actually killed her, they aren't able to figure out who among them did kill her, and so they just keep throwing accusations and tensions rise, leading to a killing on false suspicions.

Chapter 2: This motive is kinda specific to Shin, my Ultimate Ghost Hunter, but because the mastermind has all information on the students, she can do something like this. Basically, there's a horror movie that follows a serial killer butcher, but throughout the movie there are subliminals that activate a curse/pact Shin has with a demon that he made in the past. The deal is, he has to kill someone or else he will die horribly from the curse, and he has a time limit. So this leads to him killing someone, and then staging it like the movie to frame my ultimate Butcher character. (this follows the "revealing a serial killer" convention (even tho it's fake))

Chapter 3: The motive this time is a time limit, but its so that if they don't kill anyone, they get to go free, but they will all have their talents completely erased from their brains, and will have to live as talentless people. Junichi, who can't stand the thought of losing his talent and livelihood, ends up killing two people to keep it.

Chapter 4: for this one I have a sort of end goal in mind, where the Real goal was to create a complex murder and prolong the trial as long as possible so that one of the people working for the mastermind can work behind her back while she's distracted to slip information to the students. There needs to be something more to push for a murder, and i'm still working on that

Chapter 5: Like v3's chapter 5, the motive this time is to create an unsolvable murder in order to break the killing game. I also think that Kazuya may be getting too much info at this point, and the mastermind may cook up a motive to put a target on his head specifically, like how Junko did to Kyoko in chapter 5. I am still workshopping this one as well.

OK for puzzles, i am still working on my trial puzzles, and honestly not super confident in those, BUT i am kinda proud of some of the hints for the bigger mystery. I think the ch 3 motive is one of them, the indirect hint being that if Monokuma has the power to just. take away someone's talent, that might say something about the talents and their legitimacy. (foreshadowing for the fact that their talents are fake like in v3)

To add to that, Kazuya (my lesbian komaeda clone) starts the killing game not knowing his talent, but later finds a letter of acceptance to Hope's Peak in his room that wasn't there before, and it claims that he is the Ultimate Lucky Student. He will tell this to Emiko (main character) and say that the fact that it was clearly intentionally placed there might mean something; basically, this is information that the mastermind *wants* him to know, and he is aware of that.

In the end, it will be revealed that Kazuya was originally supposed to be the Ultimate Character Designer, and that is foreshadowed by his drawing gloves >:^) (that was an idea from a friend hehe <3)

HONESTLY i was sad to make any of em die, but i think the one that's gonna hurt me the most to write is Rokurou's death, not only because I am very attached to his character but because he's a killer and is gonna get executed </3. I wanted his death to mirror Gonta's in a way, and dear god that trial Hurted me.

but also just look at him. He's a sad cowboy who does math.

ALSO KAZUYA. like i knew the moment i made him he had to die but also like. I like him so much ...

[the-small-cimarron-paparazzi]

i choose to embrace it

Everything is just coming together too neatly.

Let’s try to piece together how the human side of the boxes situation might be like.

Basically, we know that at the start of Carolia Arc Big Cimarron had (just got?)  the Wind box

"In this world, four objects exist that are not to be tampered with under any circumstances," said Conrad. "The humans, and the humans of the superpower Shimaron at that, have managed to bring one of those objects under their control. The name of the box is 'the End of the Wind.' If it remains in their hands, they will open it sooner or later."

(quoting BT, c1, n5)

and was sneaking into Shinma with Wincott’s Poison to try to get control of its key. (and yes, they knew it was Con, though they [accidentally? intentionally?] cut off Con’s arm)

The Wincott’s poison they got from Flynn, offering her a deal:

“A secret messenger from Big Shimaron came with a proposition.  The Wincott poison is supposed to be in the recesses of the Gilbit Estate.  They wanted that terribly.  Furthermore, they were in a great hurry.  It is the only substance in the world that will let one control another at will.  If a body is afflicted by that poison, it will become a puppet of the descendants of the Wincotts.  Whether it’s alive or not.  I gave them that poison.  In exchange for the lives of the Calorian soldiers.”

(BT, c8, n6)

In the same chapter we hear from Hube that Small Cimarron has put their hands on another one, the Earth Box, having got it via the rotten Luis Biron (from novel 4) and ultimately from Suverera, before which the royals in Suverera tried to open it with Hube’s left eye, but failed.

Again in the same chapter Hube speaks of how the Earth Box was originally buried in Suverera’s soil, near the parts of the MA flute (from novel 3), and either because of the box or flute that part of Suverera harbored houseki of strange property (only mentioning maseki won’t do this not how normal houseki would do?), and the removal of box followed by flute made the place stop turning out these houseki.

Although the esoteric stones certainly brought them immense fortune, that was simply a byproduct.  Svelera wasn’t mining for stones; they were looking for something much more terrible in the places where many esoteric stones were.

[...]

Yes, they were looking for a box. 

[...]

While Svelera was digging for esoteric stones, they finally dug that up.  Deep, deep within the rock formation, where only emaciated women and children can reach, in a place like a labyrinth.

And near that place, the treasure of the demons, the Demon Flute, was sealed.  As soon as they discovered the box and brought it out of the esoteric stone pit, I had my acquaintance inconspicuously sneak down there and secure the Demon Flute.  The power slowly leaking out of the box over hundreds of years may have slowly changed the surrounding bedrock into esoteric stone. Or, the part of the earth fighting against the power of the Demon Flute may have resulted in its quality being changed.  At any rate, once the two objects were removed, for some reason esoteric stones completely stopped appearing and the Sveleran citizens lost their jobs.

(BT, c8, n6)

he also said Suverera’s king acted strange mining those houseki (as the cover of looking for the box)

At that time, the kingdom of Svelera had put much effort into the procurement of their esoteric stones for the betterment of the kingdom and many of the unemployed citizens began to work in the mines.  

[....]

Anyway, it is no exaggeration that there was something abnormal with the mining of esoteric stones in Svelera.  No matter how little rain fell or if the drinking water dried up, at the bare minimum they had to raise the crops for the next year’s seeds.  However, the king of Svelera did not protect the farmland or the farmers and continued to do nothing but dig up esoteric stones.  If he wanted to dig, he should have at least dug a well.  It was as if the finances for the next year were in some way guaranteed.

(BT, c8, n6)

Skipping forward into the story, from Seisa Arc we know this about Seisakoku’s houseki via Sara:

Do you know what power this country has? Manpower and houseki in abundance

(BT, c7, n11)

there being also:

On the other hand, the pale pink ring Saralegui put on my finger has not budged at all, acting like a normal stone. Apparently it’s a precious houseki that can only be mined in Seisakoku, and yet it hasn’t reacted in the slightest.

(BT, c11, n12) though I mildly suspect this can be just a metaphor about Sara

And we know that the Fire Box has been in Seisa for

After staying in the same country for seventy years, I know a lot more about this country than the kids born here.

(BT, c3, n12, not remembering where to find other sources I turned to the timeline of Hazel) 

Although to be honest we don’t know what the houseki relevant circumstance in Seisa had been like before this, but this time span is long enough to cover the whole experience with Seisakoku of Sara +Yel+ Probably Alazon.

Also Gilbert might have been able to tell.....? randomly off topic

Back to Suverera c8n6, Hube talks about how

Naturally, the king of Svelera did not know the significance of the box nor the power it had.

[...]

Since Svelera did not have the key – the left eyeball of a certain bloodline – and could not open the lid, they sold it to a large country. 

even if they had the right idea of where to look for it and some idea of possibility of opening it with the left eye of whom.

So did they originally came to know about this box all by their own?

(OR: Another possibility- them selling it was not about reasons above but failure in opening it lead to practical worries about having neglected about finances.)

And did Small Cimarron find out about this Earth Box after it was put out to be sold by Suverera or did something else entirely just happen here?

Although certitude regarding this might never be achieved, but we know that in chapter 10, novel 6, Maxine was saying:

「ところで諸君、労働に従事する日々とはいえ、現在この小シマロンを始め、シマロン両国を宗主とする大陸全域が、魔族との聖戦に向けて一丸となっていることはお聞き及びだろう。その一翼を担う諸君にも、非常に関わりのある朗報がある」

But gone are your days of repetitive manual labor! No doubt the whispers have already spread to you; here and now starting with Small Cimarron, this continent with the Cimarrons as its countries’ suzerains, is coming together to wage our holy war against the mazokus. This is a much relevant and joyful news for you, who are after all going to undertake a part in this feat.

and answering Yuuri’s question about if the boxes are in fact things fairly easy to come by, Flynn was saying:

“It’s not easy.”

Flynn had a look on her face that looked like she was going to start chewing on her thumb’s fingernail.

“Numerous countries have been competing and searching for them for decades.  They weren’t quickly found.  But for them to fall into people’s possession one after another… I thought only Big Shimaron had a box and key.”

(BT, c10, n6) 

which means something must had changed between the current situation and that of the last decades (or more innocently it can be just the miracle of perseverance but anyways I’m asking↓).

So this added to Maxine’s talk about how this new (yet-to-happen-or-be-stopped) war the humans were planning to do with mazoku was engineered by Small Cimarron, 

Would this something be SARALEGUI?

Though Sara claimed he didn’t remember anything from his early years in Seisa

“But Saralegui, why didn’t you mention to me that you were born in Seisakoku? Not only that, back when we were in Shou Shimaron, didn’t you say that be it your country or yourself, this is your first time contacting Seisakoku?”

This means that throughout that long journey before, he was always lying to me.

“Yuuri, I never lied to you. That’s because all that happened when I was young, so I don’t have any recollection of it myself.”

(BT, c7, n11)

but for one thing he was fluent enough in Seisa language to write up a treaty for both Seisa (able to read it and thus held possibility of exploiting flaws?) and Shinma to sign. (or it can always be forgotten and re-learnt later in life but anyways I mean to say↓)

Then there were mentions of the shinzoku twins-lords corresponding after Saralegui became king in Small Cimarron

「だからって、十三年間一度も連絡取らないはずはないだろう。双子の兄弟がさ、一方は父親の国の王子様で、一方は母親の国の王子様だぞ？国交が無かったのは本当だとしても、白鳩の一羽くらい飛ばすだろう」 Even if you say so, it’s hard for me to believe you never had any contact throughout these whole 13 years, the pair of you twins being the princes of your father’s and your mother’s countries. Even if you didn’t have an alliance, do you expect us to believe there wasn’t even a single letter?

「飛ばしたよ。わたしが即位してからだけど」 We did write letters. But that was after I became king.

(c7, n11)

Also in the catacombs he was showing signs of some knowledge about (at least this part of) Seisa

“Although I heard that there are ruins underground, I never thought they would be this large in scale.”

After walking for around an hour, Saralegui seems to sigh with emotion. In contrast to me now, his condition is much better than it was a while ago.

(BT, c10, n12)

Which leads to the conclusion of this post (finally), that

If he had any impression about the circumstances of houseki yield in Seisa and a legend of miracle box, or if anything along the lines was brought up in any casual (?) correspondence with Yel,

→having the advantage of insight about a country with plenty of houseki (Seisa) and experiencing the lack of it (houseki being rare and valuable at opening of c8, n3) in the world outside Seisa

→Saralegui might be able to realize what the Suverera’s houseki mines really mean (or he might be guessing like us everyone else and happening to come to the same conclusion as marumafan-san did in here)

and this could lead to him discovering about the key to finding boxes. or just the one box to par and panic and affect Big Cimarron.

Sara being Sara, it seems legit if he just found out about the Suverera box and sold the royal family a lie making them locate and extract it only to inevitably let go of it for Small Cimarron to get.

(Although he actually seemed to not know if the arm would work...or can it be intentionally done so only to wreck Carolia and punish Flynn? Then, how about his way of pinpointing where the soushu forces strike? Was it in fact a successful opening of Earth box because things more or less went his way?)

So the last thing is, if we remember Guenter said in novel 1 that Yuu-chan was summoned back to the other world earlier than planned because Humans were making a move (it must be somewhere in n1 but I don’t seem to kind the source)

the situation named Saralegui might very likely be the reason everything STARTED TO HAPPEN

And though it’s not the point of this post but since we’ve got this far there’s no need in holding back before asking:

Are we really not having the slightest chance of Shinou being all benign (+only YANDERE about Daikenja or whatever old acquaintances) and really arranging all things trying to save the day?

(OR: Another possibility- Shinou somehow made Saralegui happen and that lead to everything else.)

why it is suddenly Shinou or Sara I somehow want to be able to love them both

MY GOD THAT WAS HARD FOR MY STARVED BRAIN TO SORT OUT

AS SOMEONE ORIGINAL ONLY CONCERNED ABOUT SARA’S PERSONAL HISTORY AND CHANGES IN STATE OF MIND I’VE REALLY COME VERY FAR

At the VERY end I’d like to quote a certain Professor Quirrell from chapter 26 of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality:

"Mr. Potter, one of the requisites for becoming a powerful wizard is an excellent memory. The key to a puzzle is often something you read twenty years ago in an old scroll, or a peculiar ring you saw on the finger of a man you met only once. I mention this to explain how I managed to remember this item, and the placard attached to it, after meeting you a good deal later."

Because he is probably very right.

[wildflowers-of-trolberg]

Top 5 favorite episodes of Hilda

Okie so:

1:

This is absolutely my comfort episode, and I think I've rewatched it more times than any other. I make it no secret that I love the Bellkeeper, and the scene where he and Hilda talk in his cabin is so soft and comfy - it's possibly my favourite scene in the whole show. But I also really like Operation Deerfox Thunder Team; every member of the main cast gets a chance to shine, including Alfur and Tontu, and they call back to the S1 character details they otherwise largely forgot in S2 with the codenames. There's a really sweet Frilda moment, and we also get a little bit of Gerda which is always nice. And finally, I really appreciate the ending for what it didn't do - it would have been very easy to have this be the incident that Johanna grounds Hilda over (the novels did it unfortunately), and you know how I feel about that plotline. Having Johanna react like she did in S1 and just pull Hilda into her arms was amazing. And of course, there's that mysterious Bellkeeper moment at the very end...

2:

I'm cheating a bit with this one - this would absolutely be on this list, but it's this high up for a very specific reason. Victoria van Gale is my favourite antagonist, and seeing her again was something I never expected and really appreciate, but the one thing this episode really did for me was feed into my headcanons and specifically one of my AUs. Canon having her build a portal device, when her whole plan in that AU involved a similar portal device, was just too perfect. Besides that I really like her nisse, and the general use of Nowhere Space; it was really nice to see David vindicated, since I think he can be a little overlooked; and This Is Nowhere was the perfect ending song for the mood of the finale.

3:

This is just here because of Victoria van Gale. I've already mentioned how much I love her as a character, but I also really like her laboratory. The aesthetic of the Weather Station is just so perfect, and the whole sequence where they try and fail to summon an air current is another I could watch over and over. Hilda ultimately solving the issue with understanding, helping the weather spirits stop arguing and freeing the trapped baby, was also really nice to see.

4:

Honestly, this is here because it has the absolute best of Johanna and Hilda's relationship. They aren't perfect, and they both make mistakes, but they both own up to it and Johanna's a super supportive mum and it's just the best thing ever. The scene on the belltower especially gets me now, with what season 2 did, because it has a moment where Hilda thinks her mum wants her to change and Johanna reassures her that no, she doesn't want her to change, she just wants Hilda to have the best childhood she can. This is what I missed more than anything else in the new season; it's sweet and soft and it's why I call S1 Johanna the best fictional parent in any media I've ever seen, period. If Old Bells didn't exist, this would be my comfort episode.

5:

Johanna and Hilda's argument gives me hives, but apart from that this episode hits everything I love. We get reintroduced to everyone, we meet Gerda and the Bellkeeper for the first time, there are trains and an airship and Hilda's joint best design in the entire series. But more than all that, I really like all the foreshadowing in this episode. So much of the season is set up here, and it took me a couple rewatches to notice some things, like the ruined belltower becoming the one in Old Bells or Alfur talking about how truthful and widely-read his reports are. It's honestly briliant.

[notbecauseofvictories]

Hi Sarah! My friend and I are starting a bookclub (as much as you can with two people who aren't pressed for deadlines) and I was wondering if you have any recommendations? (That is if you have time to rec anything!) We're starting off with Deathless and have Fitzgerald next in line somewhere but I def want to try to expand the genres we read and tbh from years of following you, I trust your judgement

I don’t...like giving recommendations? At least not directly, it seems like too much opportunity for getting it wrong. Everybody has their own tastes, after all, and even the best of friends don’t necessarily vibe with what you vibe with. (I’ve experienced this with multiple friends, so I know what I’m talking about.) Truly, one of the reasons that my whole “I’m going to get back into reading for pleasure!” push has been so successful is that I only bother with books that interest me, and stop reading when they fail to catch my attention.

But I’ve now read at least 60 books in 2020, which is approximately 60 more than I’ve read in the years prior, so I’m happy to share that. Below is my list of recent reads, beginning to end, along with a very short review---I keep this list in the notes app on my phone, so they have to be. Where I’ve talked about a book in a post, I’ve tried to link to it. 

Peruse, and if something catches your interest I hope you enjoy!

2020 Reading List

Crazy Rich Asians series, Kevin Kwan (here)

Blackwater, Michael McDowell (here; pulpy horror and southern gothic in one novel; come for the monster but stay for the family drama.)

Fire and Hemlock, Diane Wynne Jones (here; weird and thoughtful, in ways I’m still thinking about)

The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (here; loved it! I can see why people glommed onto it)

Swamplandia!, Karen Russell (unfinished, I could not get past the first paragraph; just....no.)

Rules of Scoundrels series, Sarah MacLean (an enjoyable romp through classic romancelandia, though if you read through 4 back to back you realize that MacLean really only writes 1 type of relationship and 1 type of sexual encounter, though I do appreciate insisting that the hero go down first.)

The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden (here)

Dread Nation, Justine Ireland (great, put it with Stealing Thunder in terms of fun YA fantasy that makes everything less white and Eurocentric)

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson (VERY good. haunting good.)

Tell My Horse, Zora Neale Hurston (I read an interesting critique of Hurston that said she stripped a lot of the radicalism out of black stories - these might be an example, or counterexample. I haven't decided yet.)

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society, T. Kingfisher (fun!)

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen Russell (some of these short stories are wonderful; however, Swamplandia's inspiration is still unreadable, which is wild.)

17776, Jon Bois (made me cry. deeply human. A triumph of internet storytelling)

The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey (deeply enjoyable. the ending is a bittersweet kick in the teeth, and I really enjoyed the adults' relationships)

The Door in the Hedge and Other Stories, Robin McKinley (enjoyable, but never really resolved into anything.)

The Hero and the Crown, Robin McKinley (fun, but feels very early fantasy - or maybe I've just read too many of the subsequent knock-offs.)

Mrs. Caliban, Rachel Ingalls (weird little pulp novel.)

All Systems Red, Martha Wells (enjoyable, but I don't get the hype. won't be looking into the series unless opportunity arises.)

A People's History of Chicago, Kevin Coval (made me cry. bought a copy. am still thinking about it.)

The Sol Majestic, Ferrett Steinmetz (charming, a sf novel mostly about fine dining)

House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (immensely enjoyable read, for all it feels like fic with the serial numbers filed off)

The Au Pair, Emma Rous (not bad, but felt like it wanted to be more than it is)

The Night Tiger, Yangsze Choo (preferred this to Ghost Bride; I enjoy a well-crafted mystery novel and this delivered)

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula Le Guin (unfinished, I cannot fucking get into Le Guin and should really stop trying)

The Ghost Bride, Yangsze Choo (enjoyable, but not nearly as fun as Ghost Bride - the romance felt very disjointed, and could have used another round of editing)

Temptation's Darling, Johanna Lindsey (pure, unadulterated id in a romance novel, complete with a girl dressing as a boy to avoid detection)

Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton (a strange, dark psychological portrait; really made a mark even though I can't quite put my finger on why)

The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins (slow at first, but picks up halfway through and builds nicely; a whiff of Gone Girl with the staggered perspectives building together)

Stealing Thunder, Alina Boyden (fun Tortall vibes, but set in Mughal India)

The Traitor Baru Cormorant; The Monster Baru Commorant, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (LOVE this, so much misery, terrible, ecstatic; more here)

This Is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone (epistolary love poetry, vicious and lovely; more here)

The Elementals, Michael McDowell

Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (didn't like this one as much as I thought I would; narrator's contemporary voice was so jarring against the stylized world and action sequences read like the novelization for a video game; more here)

Finna, Nino Cipri (a fun little romp through interdimensional Ikea, if on the lighter side)

Magic for Liars, Sarah Gailey (engrossing, even if I could see every plot twist coming from a mile away)

Desdemona and the Deep, C. S. E. Cooney (enjoyed the weirdness & the fae bits, but very light fare)

A Blink of the Screen, Terry Pratchett (admittedly just read this for the Discworld bits)

A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (not as good about politics and colonialism as Baru, but still a powerful book about The Empire, and EXTREMELY cool worldbuilding that manages to be wholly alien and yet never heavily expositional)

Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller (see my post)

Last Werewolf, Glen Duncan (didn't finish, got to to first explicit sex scene and couldn't get any further)

Prosper's Demon, KJ Parker (didn't work for me...felt like a short story that wanted to be fleshed out into a novel)

The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

His Majesty's Dragon, Naomi Novik (extremely fun, even for a reader who doesn't much like Napoleonic stories)

Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone (fun romp - hard to believe that this is the same author as Time War though you can see glimmers of it in the imagery here)

A Scot in the Dark, Sarah MacLean (palette cleanser, she does write a good romance novel even it's basically the same romance novel over and over)

The Resurrectionist, E. B. Hudspeth (borrowed it on a whim one night, kept feeling like there was something I was supposed to /get/ about it, but never did - though I liked the Mutter Museum parallels)

Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang (he's a better ideas guy than a writer, though Hell Is The Absence of God made my skin prickle all over)

Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fun, very much a throwback to my YA days of fairytale retellings, though obviously less European)

Four Roads Cross, Max Gladstone (it turns out I was a LOT more fond of Tara than I initially realized - plus this book had a good Pratchett-esque pacing and reliance on characterization)

Get in Trouble, Kelly Link (reading this after the Chiang was instructive - Link is such a better storyteller, better at prioritizing the human over the concept)

Gods Behaving Badly, Marie Phillips

Soulless; Changeless; Blameless, all by Gail Carriger (this series is basically a romance novel with some fantasy plot thrown in for fun; extremely charming and funny)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James (got about 1/3 of the way through and had to wave the white flag; will try again because I like the plot and the worldbuilding; the tone is just so hard to get through)

Pew, Catherine Lacey (a strange book, I'm still thinking about it; a good Southern book, though)

Nuremberg Diary, GM Gilbert (it took me two months to finish, and was worth it)

River of Teeth, Sarah Gailey (I wanted to like this one a lot more than I actually did; would have made a terrific movie but ultimately was not a great novel. Preferred Magic for Liars.)

Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (extremely fun, though more trippy than Gods and the plot didn't work as well for me - though it was very original)

The New Voices of Fantasy, Peter S. Beagle (collected anthology, with some favorites I've read before Ursula Vernon's "Jackalope Wives", "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" "The Husband Stitch"; others that were great new finds "Selkie Stories are for Losers" from Sofia Satamar and "A Kiss With Teeth" from Max Gladstone and "The Philosophers" from Adam Ehrlich Sachs)

[skyereadsthings]

Book Review: Dark Disciple by Christie Golden

3.5 out of 5 stars, also on Goodreads

There will be some mild/vague spoilers in this review.

As a sucker for both forbidden love and redemption stories, I went into this book wholeheartedly ready to enjoy it. And I did. It was an enjoyable read. But it fell short of what I was expecting. Part of this was probably my own fault, because I had heard so many good word-of-mouth reviews and possibly overhyped it a little. But I can't take all of the blame, because this story also overhyped itself. The first third of the book made me think that the rest of it was going to be a bit of a different story to what we ended up getting.

Dark Disciple tells the story of Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, who is tasked by the Jedi Council to track down and assassinate Count Dooku, in a last-ditch effort by the Council to finally stop the atrocities of the Clone War. Vos enlists the help of Dooku's former apprentice, Asajj Ventress, who has turned her back on the Sith teachings and is roaming the galaxy as a bounty hunter. Ventress knows Dooku better than anyone, and ostensibly that knowledge is going to help Vos complete his mission. But as Vos and Ventress begin working together they develop a romantic connection (forbidden for a Jedi, of course) which complicates things. Ventress convinces Vos that he will never be strong enough to face Dooku unless he learns to harness the Dark side of the Force.

The title is clever, because 'Dark Disciple' in this instance refers to Vos, Ventress, AND Dooku.

I really enjoyed the first act. Vos was instantly likeable, and his early interactions with Ventress were fun and relatable. Their mission to Mustafar really endeared both characters to me, and was a genuinely exciting sequence which I could easily see playing out in an episode of The Clone Wars.

And then we get into the meat. After the introduction I was expecting a thick, juicy steak full of explorations of the Force and ruminations about whether or not allowing the Dark side in is worth the added power. But what we get is one of those shrivelled little Big Mac patties. Vos' descent into the Dark side is incredibly sterile. In fact the bulk of his 'Dark side' training involves him killing an animal. That's, uh, it, really. Apparently that made him ready to face Dooku (a sabermaster who has been studying the Force all his life and the Dark side for many years now), in Ventress' eyes. And the team-up with Ventress was ultimately pointless. Her knowledge of Dooku didn't actually help in their fight, apart from her using one of her contacts to locate him. I expected her to, you know, actually teach Vos about, for example, weaknesses in Dooku's fighting styles and how to exploit them. Or to come up with some way to guide Dooku into a place/time that gave Vos the upper hand in any battle that would break out. Or, hell, to even avoid battling him altogether and come up with some other way to kill him (our introduction to Vos in this novel showed that he wasn't above subterfuge). Instead, Vos's assassination 'plan' was basically to show up and try to kill Dooku in a lightsaber battle. Very inspired. Despite his lack of guided preparation, Vos actually had the upper hand in the battle with Dooku, until Dooku realised that Vos was falling and used that to his advantage. Of course we knew that Vos wouldn't defeat Dooku, but the fact that his 'preparation' backfired was... flat.

The most infuriatingly disappointing thing for me about this book is that after Vos falls to the Dark side we stop receiving his point of view! The reason for this is clear (and equally infuriating): Vos' true allegiance is supposed to remain a mystery for much of the third act of the book. But this mystery is far, far less interesting than an actual look into Vos' thoughts would have been. Here we have a Jedi Master, who was literally raised in the Temple by other Jedi Masters, who gives in to the Dark side, and then finds out that he did so under false pretences, thereby failing both his mission and himself. Knowing what was going on in his head throughout all this would have been infinitely more interesting to read than having Ventress and Kenobi constantly trying to figure out what's going on in his head. I still don't know if Vos was genuinely using Dooku to try to get to Sidious, or if he actually wanted to become Sidious' apprentice. I doubt Vos himself even knows, after all, he's known to 'fool himself' quite well (infuriating!).

Ventress also fell flat in the third act. I was surprised and impressed by her absolute rejection of Vos when she felt that he was still steeped in the Dark side. I think if she had maintained her position on that it would have made the finale (which I won't spoil) more meaningful. But he manages to win her over (apparently because he 'had fooled even himself' - again, infuriating!) and she spends the last act of the story following him about like a lost puppy.

I could forgive the problems with Vos' arc if Ventress had a satisfying one that stayed true to her character. And I could forgive Ventress flip-flopping on her resolution if Vos' motives were more clear to us. But these are dual-protagonists, and it's inexcusable that both of their stories fall as flat as they did.

Other reviews have argued that this story was ultimately pointless because the effects of it aren't long-lasting and the lessons don't stick. But unfortunately that's the destiny of most Clone War-era stories. My gripe is more with the inconsistent characterisation of some of the Jedi Council members, especially Obi Wan. Throughout the second half of the novel, Obi Wan is Vos' staunch defender and gives him chance after chance to prove that he hasn't fallen. When it becomes undeniably clear that Vos is compromised Obi Wan then changes tack and becomes borderline-obsessed with bringing him back from the Dark side. And Vos DOES in fact make his way back and lives once again as a Jedi. Obi Wan sees Vos fall and then return. This happens, what, a few months before Episode III? And yet in ROTS Obi Wan does not give Anakin (his brother/son and best friend) the same benefit of the doubt. It doesn't even appear to occur to him that Anakin might be able to come back. I just find it a strange creative choice to have placed Obi Wan in this position in Dark Disciple when it so clearly conflicts with what we see in ROTS.

I had initially given this book 4 stars, but writing this out has convinced me to drop it to 3.5. It was engaging and well-written, but it didn't do the main or secondary characters justice. If the story existed in a vacuum it might have been more enjoyable, but all I could think about during the backend of the book was all of its squandered potential.