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 |  A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe. |
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The Interactives "The Book of Masks"  : A high school student discovers a grimoire that can make magical disguises."The Wandering Stars" : Sequel to "The Book of Masks.""Student Bodies" : A high school student is turned into a blue goo that can possess people.For non-WdC Members "The Book of Masks: Archives" : Dodges the "Servers Busy" barrier!"The Book of Masks (Abridged)" : Introductory storylines for new readers.Community "BoM/TWS Message Forum" : Community for readers of the interactives."BoM/TWS/SB Wiki" : Notes and documentation for authors. Spoilers!Current Polls None The Latest 4/24: Interactive: "Four in the Dark" 4/24: Public: "Four in the Dark"
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| I've been kind ... lazy ... about updating polls, so they've been running for 48 hours instead of 24. They've been picking up more votes in the second day than I would have anticipated. So I think I'll be doing 48-hour polls from here on out. Not that there's going to be that many. Today's poll is in the nature of an extra. So, you guys voted for Will to become a teacher who secretly runs a crime ring inside Westside High! There's a lot of possibilities, too many for me to include them all in a 5-person, end-of-the-chapter choice set, so to help narrow it down I'll run another poll. It's going to be a blind poll, though, because the chapter isn't written. Will has three aliases under his control: Dane Matthias, Erik Carstairs, and Gary Chen. He can assume the identity of one of the teachers in a class one of these golems is taking, so there is a plausible connection between him and them. Or he can assume the identity of some other teacher, one who has key advantages other than having a connection to his golems. Which strategy should he use? Vote here: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| I didn't intend to leave yesterday's poll up for 48 hours, but that's what happened. Yesterday, the choice "That's not your style" was winning, but as of this morning the other choice had taken a one-vote lead. So that's the one I'm going with: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| Second Plot Plinko poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] This is a potentially interesting hinge. Does Will use masks to become a kind of local arch-criminal kingppin? |
| The polling remained tight even through a second twenty-four hour period, but "The Sophomore Class" retained the top spot. Here's the first of the subsequent Plot Plinkos: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| We've reached the tail end of the branch. Instead of teasing you with one-ending-one-day and the-other-ending-the-next, I'm publishing both endings today: Interactive: "Ambushed and Bushwhacked" + "The Song of Yourself" Public: "Ambushed and Bushwhacked" + "The Song of Yourself" After that, I'm going to take the weekend off from publishing. I do have a backlog of chapters, but I need to look over them again before deciding if they're worth posting. They were written to set up a commission that I've decided to abandon, so I'm not sure the lead-up chapters are worth saving. I'm going to look at some other backlogged items I've been noodling with. As for the polls: I will continue to post them -- I will update the poll in an hour or so -- but do keep in mind that I said I'm not bound by the results. For instance, I've already decided not to write a sequel to replace "Keith's Choice, Your Indecision" (now non-canonical), even though that's what you voted for. But that was a chapter originally written by rugal, and although he was the one who asked that it and its follow-ups be deleted, I am far from enthusiastic about stepping onto a path he originally made. If I do write something in that area, it will not be that choice. |
| Interactive: "The Book, Mobile" Public: "The Book, Mobile" So in this alternate timeline, Will has told Caleb that Chen probably has the Libra. They fail to get it back from him, and now he wants to meet with Will. This will be their third meeting. Will the third time be the charm? Or might it be the third disaster in a row for Will? And will it be the fourth time in a row you guys have hared off down a blind alley? * * * You guys still want to explore some well-developed areas. So here's the new poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| "Take care of the issue without telling Caleb." That's what you guys voted for without even knowing what "the issue" was. Now that you know, and now that you know the consequences of your choice, do you think that was the right thing to do? Do you think things turn out better if Will does warn Caleb about what happened? We'll explore that alternative tomorrow. Interactive: "Gone, Book, Gone" Public: "Gone, Book, Gone" * * * Meanwhile, no one pointed out that in yesterday's poll I linked to the wrong chapter. At least I listed the relevant choices correctly! It was a seesaw battle all day, but "Keith can play Cindy; you'll play another girl" won in the end. We could continue the plinko polling, but that whole section of the interactive is getting an overhaul—rugal wants it all moved to the Non-Canonical version of BoM, and we've already copied it there. So the choice "Keith can play Cindy; etc." is the chapter I will start a new branch with, to replace the old one. My long-term plan requires that I write one additional branch before I take a sabbatical to work on something else, but I still don't have any strong intuitions about where to work. So we'll do another poll, similar to the one we just concluded. In fact, it starts with the same choices, except that the YouTube crew will NOT be an eventual option in this poll. So don't vote for "Well-established areas" hoping to get a second YouTube crew branch. New poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| I was seriously distracted yesterday, so although rugal posted the day's chapter in the interactive, I didn't get it posted on the public pages. My apologies. That chapter—"A Notch in the Belt" —is now up, even though it is a (entertaining!) dead end. Today's chapter continues the story: Interactive: "Hand Off, Face Off" Entry: "Hand Off, Face Off" So Will has another meeting with Chen. But if their last meeting didn't go well, this one goes even worse. Last time it was just a stash of weed that disappeared. This time it's— Well, I won't say what's vanished, in case you haven't read the chapter yet. Go read it now! * * * Among the "recent additions" you might also notice some chapters that are NOT in fact recent additions. I've been prepping the Non-Canonical BoM for some chapter moves, and while I was in there I reorganized a few of the chapters. "Putting the Magic Back in the Tricks" and "A Story About Stephanie's Brother" are actually old chapters, just reposted in a new place.There's also a new poll up: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| Rugal has posted two new chapters: "A Notch in the Belt" , which continues the story, and a bonus chapter, "The Toughest Girl Around" . The new poll is also up: [Poll completed and deleted] It will be awhile before I'm able to get the public version up, though. |
| Interactive: "The Girl Who Could Be More" Public: "The Girl Who Could Be More" Fun fact: rugal actually wrote up two alternates and left it to me to pick one. I chose the one with Stephanie because I thought she was a better choice for the next chapter, the one where Will, in disguise, confronts— Steve Patterson? Jason Lynch? Gary Chen? You guys voted for Patterson, so that's the chapter you'll see tomorrow. Will that one lead to more chapters? Or will it be another wrong turn? As for the alternate, it's up to rugal whether or when to publish it. * * * The next Plot Plinko poll is up: [Poll completed and deleted]. Will is going to do a long-term play. But will he be a cheerleader? Someone else? Maybe he should coordinate with Keith, who faces a similar choice. |
| I should have known you guys would have voted for Mrs. Garner. Here's your reward: Interactive: "Mugging a MILF" Public: "Mugging a MILF" But tomorrow we'll take a sideways step into another branch, the one where Will chose— Well, that would be a spoiler. * * * For the poll, you've narrowed the choices down enough that I could start writing a new branch. But I'm going to let you narrow it down even more. Starting today we'll do some Plot Plinko polls until we hit a choice that needs a sequel: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| Interactive: "The Master Planner" Entry: "The Master Planner" Whew! Still on track. So Will is planning to make himself a disguise as part of his investigation, but he's got a lot of possible disguises to choose from. You guys had a lot to choose from too, when you blindly voted. Tomorrow you'll find out if you voted the same way that rugal and I did. * * * In yesterday's poll you voted to do something more with the YouTube crew. But that's a big area, and there's lots of different kinds of situations that could be continued. Here's a third poll, to help narrow it down: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| Interactive: "Chelsea Cooper, Marijuana Marketeer" Public: "Chelsea Cooper, Marijuana Marketeer" You guys are still on track—Will has struck a deal with Chen. Too bad the stuff he was planning to sell back has been stolen from the gym loft! You wanted Will to use some of his magical devices to track down the thief. Is that what he'll do? * * * Here's the follow up to yesterday's poll, wherein you guys voted overwhelmingly to return to a "well-established area": [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| Interactive: "Into the Weeds" Entry: "Into the Weeds" Will is trying to make a deal with Chen, but Chen is trying to take advantage of the situation. When you voted, you chose for Will to offer to help Chen sell his stuff into new markets. How did that turn out? Tune in tomorrow! * * * Meanwhile, I am working on a commission at the moment, but I am also looking past that to what will come after. I have a very long branch that I need to publish, but I want to break it up with shorter, 7-10 chapter runs on unrelated branches. The thing is, I have no strong inclinations about where to write those unrelated stories. So let's take a poll! [Poll completed and deleted.] |
| Today's chapter: [Hold on to the briefcase] Interactive: "The Backpedal" Entry: "The Backpedal" So today's chapter is a one-off. Tomorrow comes the chapter that is supposed to continue the branch. There's another week or so of chapters to publish, but today brings the final poll in the present series: [Poll completed and deleted] |
| Today's chapter, from rugal: Interactive: "Improperly Paranoid" Entry: "Improperly Paranoid" Poll: [Poll completed and deleted] Only two wrong turns for you guys so far. Can you keep it up? |
| Today's stuff: Interactive: "The Aristocrats" Entry: "The Aristocrats" Poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] Back on track again. But did you guys anticipate where rugal and I were going to go next? Or did you make a third wrong turn? Find out tomorrow! |
| Today's chapter: Interactive: "Dane in Distress" Entry: "Dane in Distress" Poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] Oh, look at that. Another set of unfamiliar choices. I guess tomorrow I'll be publishing the chapter wherein Will unchivalrously ignores Chelsea's pleas, because that's the one that I originally wrote. |
| Today's chapter, from rugal: Interactive: "The New Queen" Entry: "The New Queen" Poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] Now that you know what was meant by "Help Chelsea," do you regret voting to help her? You'll find out what the means tomorrow. |
| Today's chapter, which is the one rugal originally wrote to follow "Looking for a Promotion" : Interactive: "A Royal Coup" Public: "A Royal Coup" Today's chapter ends with a "Continue," so at least there's no chance of taking a wrong turn there! Here's the next poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
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