The Book of Masks Homepage

May 7, 2025 at 10:46am
In response to "Photofinish"

I should clarify a bit on the "one more GP vote."

The way the math works in the GP voting, you can get some counter-intuitive results. For instance, one voter sent in some last-minute GPs to support "Great idea," but because he sent so few, it actually had the effect of decreasing lead that "Great idea" had. That's because "Great idea" had a strong Free Vote lead, and this lead was bolstered by the value accorded each Free Vote by the GPs voted for it. That small GP vote had the effect of knocking down the value of the Free Votes, which had the effect of diminishing the value of the lead that "Great idea" in the Free Vote, and this diminution was greater than the value of the GPs voted for it. Hence, dropping a small GP donation onto "Great idea" diminished rather than enhanced its overall lead.

There was something similar with the "one more vote" anomaly. I thought (at first) that adding one more GP to "Weird" would push it over the top because it was so close. In fact, adding one more GP would work because it would have knocked the value of "Great idea's" Free Vote below the 50% threshold. Moreover, to affect the value of the Free Vote, that one extra GP would have had to come from a new voter. If one of the other GP voters for "Weird" had voted one more GP vote, that wouldn't have affected the outcome significantly.

I know that this makes the GP vote sound weird, and it is. But (1) the weirdness is under the hood and invisible to the voters. The only thing they should be worried about is trying to support their favored choices. And (2) the only outcome that matters is the final outcome, not the changes that occur as votes come in. The weirdness that I note above is visible and makes a difference only if you watch the dynamic vote process unfold, and the actual process of percentages adjusting as votes are added is irrelevant to the final outcome. Had the votes been sent in a different chronological order, the observed weirdnesses might not have happened.

May 6, 2025 at 12:21pm
In response to "Photofinish"

Ok folks. you need to up your bidding.

Mar 13, 2025 at 8:22pm
In response to "Another Upset"

Understand. Would really like to see Blackwell torment/play with Will some more. Let me see if there's somewhere else it could happen or an option added.

Mar 13, 2025 at 5:57pm
In response to "Another Upset"

No, the quick ending stays. Every interactive needs an instant ending somewhere near the start, as a prank on the reader.

1 Like

Mar 13, 2025 at 3:54pm
In response to "Another Upset"

I would like to suggest that Slippery Sale Option Three be treated as a blank and get replaced with a new chapter that eventually finds Will being affected by the book. It was too early for a dead end in my opinion. Also it allows for anyone who is looking to start a new line early in the story.

And, no, it wasn't me this time that dropped the GPs.

Mar 11, 2025 at 12:54pm
In response to "Let's Have Some More Polls"

I keep forgetting to reply to the suggestion above.

I add new choices to old chapters on an ad hoc basis: usually when I am working in that branch, and I see a nearby chapter, or an earlier chapter, where I would have wanted more choices originally. I don't go looking for places to increase the number of choices.

But if someone knows of a chapter that could use more choices, and would like to see them added, just drop me a line.

Mar 9, 2025 at 9:55pm
In response to "Let's Have Some More Polls"

Wait! And in this poll I will be posting the entire chapter ... Doesn't everyone always go back and read the previous chapters to refresh their memories?

Question RE: "Invalid Item"

- What's your (Seuzz or anyone) opinion of adding more options to some chapters especially the very old ones that were limited before it was raised to five options? Not every chapter would work to get more, but there are some that another option may have been (still could be) possible.

I haven't gone to look for examples, but I may if I have some time.

Feb 12, 2025 at 3:43pm
In response to ""Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue!""

This is starting to feel like something to put in the forum. So: "Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: The Official Off-Topic Thread"

Nostrum

Feb 12, 2025 at 1:19pm
In response to ""Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue!""

From what I've heard from a CC at YouTube, not very good. It's basically forcing you to restart again, except you get a few advantages from your earlier progression. A change for the sake of it, not because it was necessary.

You tell me if that's the case, though. I recall "1MT'ing" with Civ1 on a SNES emulator during college almost through 4 AM, so I know the allure.

Student Bodies: Transfer Students

Feb 12, 2025 at 12:49pm
In response to ""Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue!""

I 1MT-ed yesterday for, like, 7 hours into the dead of night. I was so mad at myself.

In my defense, I was trying to get through the "Age of Antiquity" to the "Age of Exploration" because I wanted to see what this new "Age of" mechanic is like.

May 15, 2025 at 12:35pm

#1089376

Last chapter in the branch is now posted:

* Interactive: "Red Harvest"

* Public: "Red Harvest"

* * *

Everyone once in a while I get a request to add to "Student Bodies"

, which was the first interactive that I ever launched. I usually decline because I lost interest in it a long time ago. The mechanics -- particularly the "multiple bodies, operated simultaneously" trick -- are hard to write, and the protagonist's power pack is so overcharged that there's not much challenge to him, so it's not very interesting to write.

A couple of months ago, rugal started pitching ideas to a couple of us about doing a relaunch of that story, with more limited powers and a different set up. I was interested in his ideas, but less interested in writing for it, until one day a couple of chapter just sprang out of me, like a chest-burster. I showed them to rugal, along with some revisions to his basic ideas for the story and its mechanics. He posted a new version of that interactive, with the chapters I'd given him. Then, in between writing chapters for this latest BoM branch, I wrote some more for the revised "Student Bodies."

You can find it here: "Student Bodies: Transfer Students"

. Rugal can give more backstory on it (and correct some of my misrememberings and misapprehensions) if he wants. It has the same basic setting as "The Book of Masks" and "Student Bodies": Saratoga Falls, with the same high schools and characters. It is an alternate universe of those, I suppose, with some important changes. The first is that there's a new protagonist for the story, replacing David Johnson (though David is still a character). The second is that the entire "magic" background of "The Book of Masks" (including the Stellae, Blackwell, Fane, the Brotherhood of Baphomet, etc.) are missing. In fact, there is no magic at all in this universe. But these were also presumed missing from "Student Bodies." The third change is that the backstory on the "blue goo" is different, and so is the infection point.

More important, in this version, the powers are more limited and take time to develop, so things are not going to get jumping right away. (It's a bit like BoM in this regard.) But given time, it should reach a point where most everything that was in the original "Student Bodies" (including the "multiple bodies, operated simultaneously" trick) will be again in play. It's just not there yet.

Starting tomorrow and for the next week or so, I will be daily posting chapters there rather than in BoM. Readers of the Archives edition of BoM will not be getting chapters in "Student Bodies: Transfer Students," though. Instead, I will take advantage of the BoM hiatus to post some BoM chapters that are not currently in the Archives. I'll describe those chapters tomorrow, when the first one goes up.

May 14, 2025 at 12:17pm

#1089314

Final Poll Closes

No GPs were voted in the last poll, so the final result is just the Free Vote result:

* Luke Richardson: 50%
* Luke Martins: 21.4%
* Cameron McCarthy: 14.3%
* Chuck Johnson: 7.1%
* Nathan Elliot: 7.1%

There was not a lot of participation -- no surprise, since these are almost all new names, and it's for a MtM swap anyway -- but because of thin participation, I held off writing a chapter because GPs could have swung in at the last moment to send it in any direction. So, no chapter until tomorrow, which will be the stopping point for this branch.

May 13, 2025 at 12:02pm

#1089235

Kim Wins

The last poll in the "Fröhliche Momente mit unbekannten Menschen"

series is now closed. GP votes cancelled each other out almost exactly, so that the final tally is almost identical to the Free Vote tally:

* Talk to Kim: 48.4%
* Talk to the Hispanic girl: 35.5%
* Talk to the girls in plaid: 9.7%
* Wait for one to approach you: 6.5%

This wasn't much of a surprise.

I don't know when I'll pick this up.

May 12, 2025 at 12:09pm

#1089179

Last Poll

No GPs got voted in the last poll, so the final result is just the Free Vote result:

* Skip the concert: 66.7%
* Go to the concert: 33.3%

Result:

* Interactive: "The Boys to Come"

* Public: "The Boys to Come"

* Poll: "BoM Poll: The Boys to Come"

[Closes Wednesday at noon]

The other poll series is on its last entry, and I think the poll above will be the last for this series as well. Which choice gets picked will be the last one in this branch, before I switch to something else. We'll talk about that later.

May 11, 2025 at 12:07pm

#1089111

Penultimate Poll Result

Like yesterday's poll, the GPs basically cancelled each other out, resulting in a final tally very close to the Free Vote result:

* Talk to her about your romantic life: 57.9%
* Change the subject: 42.1%

The last poll in the series: "BoM Poll: Meet Cuties"

May 10, 2025 at 4:47pm

#1089068

Close Enough

The GP results basically canceled each other out, so the winning choice got about the same percentage in the adjusted vote as in the Free Vote:

* "Why does Ella need an official boyfriend?": 46.1%
* "Leave Ella, and let Sydney make a decision for": 36.2%
* "Any of those guys would do. Just pick one.": 17.6%

* Interactive: Interactive: "Ella on the Loose"

* Public: "Ella on the Loose"

* Next poll: "BoM Poll: Ella on the Loose"

May 9, 2025 at 11:17am

#1088992

A Penultimate Poll

Another landslide. There were no GPs so the Free Vote determined the winner:

* Talk to Caleb: 91.7%
* Meet with Carson: 8.3%

I closed the poll an hour early, in part because it was so lopsided, but mostly because I've got things to do at the usual hour I close and post these things.

The next poll in this series is up: "BoM Poll: A Yumi Afternoon Cordial"

. And whichever way it goes, there will be only one more poll in this series, because each choice leads to the climax of a branch.

Related: there is also a new (sort of) chapter in this branch. I published "The Value of Old Things"

in the Archives edition last month, but forgot to publish it in the interactive. It is one of the choices offered at the end of the current poll, so if you haven't seen it and want to cast an informed vote, you should take a look.

May 7, 2025 at 2:43pm

#1088881

Another Landslide

In contrast to the last poll, this one was another run-away winner thanks to lopsided GP voting accenting a heavy Free Vote:

* Hang out with Carson: 80.8%
* Return to Patrick and his gang: 19.2%

Next poll: "BoM Poll: A Short Way with the Warehouse"

That Script, One Year Later

May 7, 2025 at 11:55am

#1088874

Almost exactly a year ago (and it feels longer than that!) I announced ("Fetching Up Point"

) that I was taking time off from BoM to write an unrelated script.

Unlike the previous time I tried writing scripts (that benighted "Spider-Man" project), this one not only went fast and easy, it was a joy to compose, probably because I improvised it from the start instead of trying to outline it first. I don't remember how quickly I got it done, but it has been completed and filed away for many, many months. (Closer to eleven months than to eight, I am sure.) I recently returned to it to make revisions and edits, and for anyone who is curious to see what I was working on and how it turned out, it is now posted in three parts.

It is a fan-fiction reimagining of the pilot of the 1991 animated series The Pirates of Dark Water. That is a fairly obscure series—I won't ask anyone to confess to watching it when it debuted 34 years ago—and I only watched it early last year (via Warner Archive's DTV release) because I was intrigued by some clips I tripped over on YouTube. It sat in my head for awhile, until the urge to do a fanfiction overwhelmed me.

Relevance to BoM? None, really. But I will note that when I went to invent an antagonist much nastier and dangerous than in the original series, I found it in TF fiction.

Also, it appears that Frank and Joe were haunting me as I wrote it. The relationship between Rathka and Ren (as I see it now, with some distance) somewhat recapitulates theirs, though in this case Ren is far, far more callow and immature than Joe is, and Rathka older and much sketchier than Frank. But even their coloration is similar. (Though in that case, it's because Ren was originally blonde anyway, and Rathka would need visual distinction from him.)

It is divided into three parts and it begins here: ""The Pirates of Dark Water" (Act 1)"

There is also a commentary page (with spoilers!) that discusses some of the changes I made to the original story and lore, and why: "About this Fanfiction [Spoilers]"

. I suggest saving that (if you do read any of this) for after reading the script, unless you just don't care.

May 6, 2025 at 12:04pm

#1088814

Photofinish

Alright, I'm sorry, but you guys are going to have to wait until Thursday to get a sequel to "Getting Through the Afternoon"

. "Sure, that's a great idea" was the 2-to-1 favorite in the Free Vote, but "No, that's a little weird" got more GP votes, which made it a lot closer.

How much closer?

So close that if "No, that's a little weird" had gotten just one more GP—just one!—it would have eked out a win.

Instead, "Sure, that's a great idea" takes it by a whisker.

Given that the vote was so close for most of the polling period ("Weird" was ahead for most of yesterday in the adjusted tally), I didn't write anything for today. And because I am alternating polls at the moment, I am going to skip today and tomorrow both, and publish the sequel on Thursday.

Final, adjusted tally:

* Sure, that's a great idea: 51.6%
* No, that's a little weird: 48.4%

And after a run of landslides, that is about as close as we have ever seen.

Comment • View 2 comments

May 5, 2025 at 12:03pm

#1088767

Going with Virgil

The winner of the Free Vote got swamped by GPs, so that we are now onto a new track in this storyline. Final, adjusted tally:

* Hang out with Carson: 65.2%
* Stick with those that brought you: 34.8%

Next poll: "BoM: "The Virgil of Your Own Inferno""

May 4, 2025 at 12:14pm

#1088692

An Entirely Free Vote

For the first time in a long time, a poll question got no GPs. Maybe voters just assumed that the big lead opened up by one of the choices was going to end up being insurmountable, so no one bothered.

Anyway, the final results were those of the Free Vote:

* No way you want any of those identities: 78.3%
* Turn some of your persecutors into Brothers: 21.7%

New chapters and poll:
* Interactive: "Getting Through the Afternoon"

* Public: "Getting Through the Afternoon"

* Poll: "BoM Poll: Getting Through the Afternoon"

[Closes Tuesday]

The Path Remains Familiar

May 3, 2025 at 12:01pm

#1088621

The Free Vote in "BoM Poll: "Making a Makeover""

was almost a tie, but the GP vote wasn't. "Accept his offer" got a fair number of GP votes, resulting in a solid win:

* Accept his offer: 64.5%
* Pick your own: 35.5%

Next poll in the series is now up: "BoM Poll: "A Drive to Distraction""

The poll in the current storyline continues another until Sunday at noon: "BoM Poll: "Morning, Ella""

May 2, 2025 at 12:06pm

#1088517

Record Landslide

So, the latest poll has closed, with the biggest landslide I've ever seen:

* Tell her about the life you just escaped: 94.1%
* Pass it off as the usual bullying: 5.9%

I could have closed the poll 24 hours early, and I would have, except that I want this poll-series and the other series to run on alternate days, so this one had to stay up for the the full 48 hours.

Well, that was one reason. The other is that I had to do an enormous amount of planning and research into the histories and relationships and class schedules of characters mentioned or introduced in this branch, and there was no way I was going to get all that done and the next chapter written at short notice.

But the sequel and its poll are written and are now up:

* Interactive: "Morning, Ella"

* Public: "Morning, Ella"

* Poll: "BoM Poll: "Morning, Ella""

Future Storyline Advances (Sort of)

May 1, 2025 at 12:03pm

#1088463

Final, adjusted tally in the poll for the next storyline:

* Go out to the Warehouse: 65.4%
* Stick with these guys: 34.6%

And so the next poll advances down the path that was voted on the first time we did this. New poll:

"BoM Poll: "Making a Makeover""

This time I got the links for the GP voting right.