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Thu, May 15, 2025

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The Book of Masks Homepage

by Seuzz

Rated: 18+ · Book · Other · #2156493

A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe.

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/Contests
None

The Latest
5/15: Interactive: "Red Harvest"

5/15: Public: "Red Harvest"

Special Update
4/26: Interactive: "Fröhliche Momente mit unbekannten Menschen"

and following
4/26: Public: "Fröhliche Momente mit unbekannten Menschen"

and following

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Seuzz

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.

Wordsmitty ✍️

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

Ok folks. you need to up your bidding.

Wordsmitty ✍️

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.

Seuzz

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

Wordsmitty ✍️

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.

Seuzz

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.

Wordsmitty ✍️

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.

Seuzz

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.

Seuzz

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.

January 8, 2022 at 11:56am

#1024362

RUFKM?!

Really? That's the place you guys want the storyline to diverge? After "How to Replace an Absent Friend"

, by taking the "Keep Chelsea all to yourself" choice?

Well, okay.

But that's the only chapter where I didn't have an alternative development in mind. When I wrote that chapter I was desperate to come up with a choice to end it with, and settled on "To text Keith or not to text Keith; that is the question" because I had some vague idea that Keith being a witness to such a meeting might be important later. It didn't become important as I improvised forward, so you're asking me to diverge at a place where ... Well, where my first assumption is that the exact same thing will happen regardless of Will's differing choice.

Well, maybe I can come up with something. But (LOL) this is literally the hardest possible place you could have voted to make a divergence!

* * *

Meanwhile, and topically related, I've taken the last few days off from the "Spider-Man" project. I got the first act of Episode 2 written, and got halfway through the second act, and then I decided the act break wasn't dramatic enough. After one day of noodling around with it, I decided to put it aside and return to it later. That's my project for today, and we'll see how it goes.

The situation here (how to end an act) recalls that of writing BoM chapters -- striving to end a chapter on the kind of cliffhanger that impels the reader/viewer to find out what happens next.

Relatedly, there's a "commentary" post below on the last "Spider-Man" item that I published. While rereading things and getting back up to speed, I realized I hadn't provided a commentary for it.

Comment • View 1 comment

January 8, 2022 at 11:17am

#1024354

Spider-Man Commentary: The Master Planner

"S02E12 "The Master Planner""

is an almost-exact transcript of the IRL-episode "Brain Drain" from Marvel's Spider-Man on DisneyXD. The only changes come with some technical terms, some adjustments to the way Peter reacts to The Living Brain (which in the IRL-series wasn't introduced until this episode), and a dialogue-tweak here and there.

So why is this one a script and not a treatment, like the previous entries in this project?

Well, first, because all the entries from this point on will be scripts. I started this project because I wanted to do my own adaptation of the "Superior Spider-Man" arc, to see how it might compare with the IRL adaptation, and the closest comparison (short of recording and animating it myself, which is impossible) would come by writing a script. Previously I wrote treatments because I only needed to record the changes to the animated continuity that I wanted and needed to set up my own adaptation.

But why transcribe a script, in this case, that is so close to the original? That was so that I could get an idea of how many pages a script for an animated show should be. I know that the usual rule of thumb is "one page equals one minute of screen time," but I've also read that the rule of thumb is different in animation—and I've read inconsistent things about what that rule of thumb is. So I figured I should make a close transcript of a couple of IRL-episodes, to give myself a rule of thumb to follow.

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