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A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe. |
The Interactives "The Book of Masks" ![]() "The Wandering Stars" ![]() "Student Bodies" ![]() For non-WdC Members "The Book of Masks: Archives" ![]() "The Book of Masks (Abridged)" ![]() Community "BoM/TWS Message Forum" ![]() "BoM/TWS/SB Wiki" ![]() Current Polls None The Latest 6/29: Interactive: "Switching Husbands" ![]() 6/29: Public: "Switching Husbands" ![]() |
I'm sorry, guys. I will start setting a timer or something to remind me that I have to publish. The trouble is that Minecraft has come out with major updates lately, and I'm totally distracting myself with that. |
I've got some people to thank for GPs; some of them dropped some major coin on me: *Achillesredux * Kenny * Easy * Tal Thanks, guys! |
Yeah, I missed posting yesterday. It was Easter, there was stuff going on, I got distracted, and it was late before I remembered I needed to post something. So I held off a day. And I've skipped over to a closely related branch. It's still Will and Caleb dealing with the sophomores, and Will is still trying to find a new identity. In this branch he's settled on becoming Lindsay Cho, who is one of the sophomores. She's the least friendly of the bunch, though, and Will has been worried that she'll catch on to the fact that her friends have started playing around with the masks. So he figures the best way to keep her from finding out is by becoming her. As "Leaving as Lindsay" ![]() ![]() |
Did yesterday's main entry get lost in the flood of ticky-tacky add-ons? Here it is again: "Chez Colson" ![]() ![]() And here is today's chapter: "The Party Boy" ![]() ![]() And there were some more little chapters that I overlooked yesterday. They've been added too. |
Did yesterday's main entry get lost in the flood of ticky-tacky add-ons? Here it is again: "Chez Colson" ![]() ![]() And here is today's chapter: "The Party Boy" ![]() ![]() And there were some more little chapters that I overlooked yesterday. They've been added too. |
Yesterday brought the last poll in the story of Will and Sydney, but it doesn't bring the last chapter. I will be continuing from the spot where left off, but I have to write something first. Meanwhile ... First, the storyline I launched yesterday continues with "Chez Colson" ![]() ![]() Second, I will be posting [EDIT: "have finished posting"] a large number of alternate choices following on "Body Swapping as a Solution" ![]() If you are interested in continuing any of the storylines I've set up, go ahead. (That's the reason I have posted all these branching nodes.) But you should probably contact me before you do. Most of them are wide open and not intended to lead anywhere specific, but there are a few where I mean for certain ... replacements ... to be made. ** I won't be posting those chapters in the Archives, though; only in the interactive. These chapters will be showing up in the Archives only if or when the branches they establish get continued. |
Okay, so as promised yesterday, there are actually two new chapters from me today. One of them is very short and does nothing except set up another round of choices in the last storyline, and it's only there to set up a poll: "Invalid Item" ![]() ![]() ![]() Meanwhile, as promised, here is the start of another storyline: "Anyone for Tennis?" ![]() ![]() Oh, and yes, yesterday's poll only ran for 19 hours because I was late getting it up. But the winning choice was beating the other two-to-one, and that wasn't going to turn around in five hours. |
And to no one's great surprise, the "coven" option won yesterday's poll. Here's today's chapter: "Coveting a Coven" ![]() ![]() Now, here's the thing about the poll: It only includes two of the four options that appear at the end of the chapter. That's for a couple of reasons. First, the two choices you have to vote between will lead to a further winnowing of options; the other two choices would dump directly into new action. Second, I am polling for a storyline to write, and the choices I am offering are leading to characters that I've already decided I want to use. Meanwhile, we are past the point where I've composed any additional story, so there can't be any more "wrong choices." We purely in a winnowing phase now. That's going to be boring—today's chapter already repeats material that you've seen elsewhere—and the upcoming chapters are going to be very short. So starting tomorrow I am going to move into another section of the story to publish new chapters so that you'll get some genuinely new material. But I will continue to publish short chapters and polls in this section until we reach point where the action can resume. |
So, yesterday's chapter—"The End of One Road" ![]() ![]() ![]() Here's the associated poll: [Completed and deleted] Yes, this is the start of a long series of choices. I'll have more to say about it all tomorrow. |
So, yesterday's poll result was a runaway. Let's see how things go when there are four to choose from: [Poll completed and deleted] Oh, yeah, spoilers. You should read today's chapters first: "The End of One Road" ![]() ![]() |
So I hope the last couple of chapters weren't too ... uh ... attenuated. There was a spell that needed performing; some facts about golems that needed putting on the record; and Will finally getting comfortable with the idea of being with Sydney. It could have been longer—I actually cut out a full chapter that (on rereading it) I realized was just me as an author getting used to things. But here we are entering a crisis point: "Will Versus the Competition" ![]() ![]() |
New chapters—"The Basics on Baphomet" ![]() ![]() Yesterday's was pretty close. I wonder what a three-way contest will yield. |
So, Sydney's had another bright idea. You can read about it in today's chapter—"How to Replace a Stepfather" ![]() ![]() |
So, it's been a few weeks since I've thanked people for the GPs they've tipped me. I held off on posting thanks until after I'd finished posting chapters in "Student Bodies," because I was getting tips all during that run. But that run is completed, it's Saturday, and I've got a lot of people to thank: * Tal * Clockworkorange * dreadnaught * Puuuuuth * TheSkyMarshall * Wordsmitty * Easy * Achillesredux * proteus359 * araki * Feros * smitch GPs are tiny things in terms of money, but they are very big morale-boosters. My thanks to all you guys for them. |
Yesterday concluded my side jaunt into "Student Bodies" ![]() ![]() ![]() The same deal will hold as the last time I was in this branch: Each time we come to a choice, I'll let you guys vote on it in a poll, and you'll get the chapter you voted for. If you vote to continue the branch I actually wrote, we'll continue down it. If you vote for the other one, you'll still get the chapter you voted for, but the next day I'll return to the real storyline. But I'll put the branch you voted onto my "to do" list. Here is the next poll: [Poll completed and deleted.] |
Today's chapter—"A Choice Buffet" ![]() |
Today brings a giant switch in focus. For the first time in years I'll be publishing chapters in "Student Bodies" ![]() ![]() ![]() For those readers who don't have WdC memberships, I'm sorry, but I won't be publishing anything new for you in the BoM Archives, but I will be republishing some old branches, so depending on how much BoM you've read while pushing through the "Servers Busy" messages, there may be some "new to you" material. I plan to publish seven such chapters a day over the next eleven days. Here's the first of seven reprinted chapters: "Your Life as a Dog" ![]() I'm still listening to suggestions from people about branches that should be carried over. |
As I said at the start of the month, I'm going to interrupt this storyline (which continues for a dozen more chapters) to go publish something else, and today is the day that I break off. Here's a poll to go with it, which I will keep open until it's time to resume: [Poll completed and deleted.] BTW, you guys have been pretty good about picking the storyline that I composed. Only at the very start, when you wanted Will to let Caleb have his thing with Sydney, did you go off the beam. We'll see how you do on the other side of the break. Meanwhile, I'll give 100 GPs (which is much less valuable than bragging rights) to the first person to explain in the comments why, in today's chapter, Mike and Carlos start cackling about amphetamines, birds, and some guy named Leon. [I'm wondering how many people get the references and can follow their train of thought.] |
Ack! I forgot to put up a post with a link to yesterday's poll. Well, there was a link at the end of interactive chapter, and at the top of this page, and there was a decent turn out, so I guess no harm done. It wasn't close either. I was expecting much closer, and expecting it to go the other way, too. Anyway, here's today's poll: "Invalid Item" ![]() |
That's the headline, and that's the name of the next poll in the series: [Poll completed and deleted.] EDIT: Wow, that poll looked like a runaway for awhile, but then it almost got tied up at the end. |