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The Thing From Beyond Time

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02:36 / 18.10.02

Next installment is shaping up nicely... Do we actually have a picture that the description of the woodcut is based on? I can't remember if we do; I can visualize something but it may be something I made up to match the descriptions.

04:39 / 18.10.02

Any comments?

"I'm trying to decide what to do with the little souvenir I brought back from Arthur's place. I'm not sure why I brought it home with me - it's just a photocopy of a woodcut of some sort. Maybe it proves to me that I was really there? Not that I'd forget, just that I don't really believe it anymore....and the Nancy Drew in me wants to go back, prove that it wasn't all that bad. Maybe I should put the woodcut back?

It's kind of creepy looking. There's this guy with a big axe of some sort in one hand facing a dead tree. There's a big black bird up near the top of this leafless tree, watching the guy. Maybe the bird is inspecting what's coming out of the guy's mouth? I can't decide if it's a forked tongue or a human hand. Anyway, the whole scene is framed with these round shapes. They're like clouds or bubbles, except that they're on the ground as well... The edges of the original page have been torn off, but there are some letters and words left that show up on the photocopy - just enough to see that the writing isn't in English.

I'd forgotten all about the woodcut until the cops came back on Wednesday. Yes, they kept their appointment and were precisely on time... (It must be nice to be able to park anywhere and not worry about getting a ticket!) They had questions that seemed mostly like a rehash of their last visit, not particularly useful. So I started talking about Arthur getting involved with Phil's group, then asked about Phil's death. One of them seemed really surprised, and the other one went all official. "That incident is still under investigation and we can't talk about it." Then they both went back to being Society Plumbers, very nice and not at all scary-TV-cops, so I decided to push just a little. I went off about how I introduced the two of them, I was their friend and I felt responsible somehow and dammit I had a right to know what was going on! It didn't do any good at all. I guess Plumbers don't ever talk about what they see in other houses...

The worst thing is that part of it was true. I spent most of Thursday moping because I did feel responsible for both Arthur and Phil. "

12:37 / 18.10.02

I think it's great except for one thing. I don't think Minty would feel sorry for Phil. She always thought Phil was creepy, especially when he was stalking her, and doubly so when Arthur became mixed up with him.

It's possible, but I would need some new feeling about Phil expressed to justify her feeling guilty about Phil.

13:34 / 18.10.02

I think it might make her seem more anxious if she trailed off at the end rather than name names.
Bear in mind, she doesn't know what happened to Arthur and will be making an effort not to go crazy with worry for him, so things that remind her of him will have a special charge in the way she thinks about them.

So if I was to edit this, I'd make the last paragraph this:

The worst thing is that part of it was true. I spent most of Thursday moping because I did feel responsible... for whatever....

and for some reason, I'd make the first paragraph this (my changes in italics):

I'm trying to decide what to do with the little souvenir I brought back from Arthur's place. I'm not sure why I brought it home with me - it's just a photocopy of an old woodcut of some sort. Maybe it proves to me that I was really there? Not that I'd forget, just that part of me doesn't really believe it anymore....and the Nancy Drew in me wants to go back, prove that it wasn't all that bad. Maybe I should put the woodcut back? Maybe it's a clue for something?

It's definitely strange... kind of creepy looking. Seriously. There's this guy... and so on.

I'm not sure why, but I think that makes it more her "style" or in her head, plus adding the idea that the woodcut is a clue, that it's something to focus on. Hypnotic.

Sound OK to you?

13:34 / 18.10.02

Sorry's got nothing to do with it... Just that there's another human being (one that she knows) who's now dead, and she's going through the irrational process of "If I hadn't introduced them, they might both still be alive."

13:37 / 18.10.02

Grant - sounds good! And, this being Friday, she's done moping. She could even poke fun at her sense of "responsibility"...

15:03 / 18.10.02

It's up... Enjoy.

16:30 / 20.10.02

Changes in the woodcut coming up - the bubble things at ground level are going to be bushes/undergrowth. Future changes can be more birds, the bushes changing into piles of bones, some of the other bubbly things turning into thunderheads... Any others?

I left an opening for Minty to realize that what she's got is the woodcut that had Arthur's mysterious text on it (now mostly torn off) - how long before she recognises some of the words as being the same as the stuff on his blog that he was so desperate to get translated?

Is All Hallow's Eve/Day of the Dead too corny? I'd like her to be completely sucked into the madness before she figures out the text thing: knowing there's something deeply freaky going on with the woodcut but too hypnotized by it to do the sensible thing and burn it, being absolutely certain that Arthur is still alive and obsessing over his blog, maybe searching it for hidden messages...

I'd like some help with the pacing on all this. (beginning to think that Hallowe'en is too soon)

15:00 / 21.10.02

Halloween is two weeks? Less, actually.
Maybe that is too soon.

I like to think she'll just get wasted and forget her worries on Halloween, only to have them all come slamming back.

01:07 / 22.10.02

Maybe Halloween is a nice time to make a side reference to Roger Zelazny's A Night in the Lonesome October, and have minty dream of 'a door blowing open to a cold wind. The moon in the sky looks like a blind eye.'

But not actually have anything happen to her, rather just to the world at large.

14:10 / 22.10.02

Why not do it now?

14:19 / 22.10.02

OK - Halloween is the resurrection of Minty, Party Girl. Private party or club crawl? Club crawl culminating in an invite to a private party that weekend? Halloween is a school night and she's being a good girl at work, won't get *too* wasted until the weekend....

I like the idea of weird dreams, can certainly accommodate that... It's been eons since I read any Zelazny so I can't make any explicit or detailed references; if you want something specific let me know.

Ahhh - idea for the weekend party. Somebody unrolls a huge sheet of painted canvas and it's a portable labyrinth, people can walk it if they want... These folks are not Phil's crew, but a motley assortment of pagan folk (anybody know if there's an active technopagan scene in the area?).

23:11 / 26.10.02

The plot thickens....

Meanwhile, is Stephen ever going to crawl out of the pheremone-induced fog he's been in with his "rockin" new girlfriend?

Somebody want to write up a double-date for Halloween with me?

10:49 / 28.10.02

Meanwhile, in a related story...the Nigerian 419 scammers get a taste of Lovecraft:

http://www.geocities.com/steerp1ke/David_Ehi.html

14:34 / 28.10.02

I'll write something up about a double date. Any idea where it should be?

16:21 / 28.10.02

I've never been to Boston... Is the idea of a pub/club crawl workable?

14:54 / 29.10.02

I've never been either, but it seems doable. There's a link on p 2 or 3 of this thread with names of clubs.

I'm going to add something mundane today.

14:10 / 31.10.02

WHAT IS EVERYBODY GOING TO WEAR?????

I think Clark Kent could show up in a highly romanticized version of what a highwayman would wear - he'll be a gorgeous bandit (and get supremely pissed off when everybody mistakes him for a pirate...)

Minty decides that, dammit, she's going to have a good time tonight! We know she owns a corset; how about a Moulin Rouge/Bird of Paradise kind of fantasy? Lots of feathers, glitter, extreme makeup...

Sheila and Steve i don't know about. Steve strikes me as kind of an overgrown frat-boy in some respects and I can't imagine anything that would fit him well. Sheila is a cipher so far - all I know is that she has her own maglite and she "rocks." Maybe she's "the practical one?" Somehow, I want to picture her in a vintage '40's tuxedo, complete with an antique set of studs and cufflinks. (Then again, I may just be wanting to write myself in...) Hat? Or short hair spiked straight up?

19:04 / 31.10.02

Something in me sees Sheila in a business suit and Stephen in a dress, but I'm not sure.

I also have a feeling Minty would want to separate Halloween from her "average weekend" goth/fetish stuff (but not quite, since she knows what she likes), so maybe something corsety and Moulin Rougey would work well. Especially if she had friends doing the same.

And they'd been practicing the can-can.....

Ooo, that tickles me!

23:45 / 31.10.02

Is Stephen cool enough to wear a dress? Or have dresses on guys become passe and uncool? dunno....

I'm taking out-of-towners to the Castro tonight; if I see anything that looks like a possibility I'll let you know.

07:30 / 01.11.02

The Castro was *packed* with people - I got a little claustrophobic, spent more time avoiding getting stepped on than looking at costumes, but....

There was a guy done up as a djinn who looked good, and a decent Colonel Sanders... Way too many hooded death figures and sleazy monks, lots and lots of butterflies and fairies and demons. Couple of nice zoot suits, couple of modern-day mobsters, and one really cute beer monster - various beer labels and cartons and logos all over his body. The only problem is that I doubt that Sheila would be seen with him... No Gandhi, no Abe Lincoln, no Naked Guy (although if we'd gone deeper into the Castro District, I'm sure we would have seen several).

Grant - howzabout you write up the date from Stephen's perspective, and I'll write from Minty's, and if the details don't match up, well - that's what happens when you drinkl too much.

12:55 / 01.11.02

Roger that.

13:13 / 01.11.02

14:11 / 08.11.02

I'm out of town for the weekend... Does somebody want to add a cup of weird to the recipe?

18:52 / 08.11.02

Or just average blog posts, too.

Can't forget real life.

What does Minty think about the elections?

19:47 / 08.11.02

Minty should check out Stephen's blog...

20:01 / 08.11.02

That's so *totally* stephen.

00:05 / 11.11.02

It's time that someone mentioned talking to the police again. I mean, if one of my close friends disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and I found a replica of his skin in his apartment, I'd be on the line with the cops, like, daily, or until they made me go away.

13:58 / 11.11.02

Yeah, it's time for some scary shit.

04:13 / 12.11.02

Oh, it's so good to be back home...

Scary shit? On what level? Truly threatening dreams, an influx of bugs, another attack of crazy homless folk, the nice plumber-style police replaced by some shifty and impenetrable detective types, Nora inviting her out to dinner and offering support in such a friendly and concerned manner that Minty wonders what she's going to need that support for...

I don't think Clark Kent should go weird on a conscious level. Maybe he talks in his sleep? He inspects the photocopy of the etching, notices the words at the torn border, and quotes the entire text in his sleep? (which allows Minty to recognize it as being what Arthur was trying to get translated...)

18:00 / 12.11.02

that last one would definitely get her... investigating the weirdness, yeah.

uncovering the festering hive of reality lurking under this civilized veneer of order and predictability...

14:39 / 14.11.02

Ok, Clark's been talking in his sleep. I put all the connections right out there...

The cops do need to show up. I suspect this might be the time for the new detective to come in... And I think he needs to be having a bad day, maybe a little pissed off because he's dropped by without an appointment a couple of times and Minty hasn't been home. (does somebody want to make up some decor for Clark's apartment?)

Does the detective leave a message on Minty's phone asking her to come down to the station? Or does he request an appointment at her place? (I've had less dealings with the police than Minty has, have no idea how this might work.)

20:31 / 14.11.02

So, looking at the calendar today, I realized that Minty is now six months old. Can you believe it? I feel like we've really created a real person that exists and everything. It's pretty crazy.

In honor of the occasion, I went back and read all the entries posted after I dropped out of Minty's life and I've got to say I'm impressed. Iszabelle and Grant (and whoever else is living in Minty's head right now), you're doing a great job.

16:52 / 15.11.02

I think it's been just me and Grant, alternating...

I'm just hoping that our entries don't come across as too different from each other... I don't want to give the game away through stylistic problems!!

17:18 / 15.11.02

no, I think it works. real-life people have different facets to their personality. they sound different ways when they're discussing different things. I think Minty's blog is as consistent in voice as most blogs I've seen.

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