Large sized update this week… because I end on a pretty awful cliffhanger, and next week’s short update will answer a lot of questions about the nature of the City.
Feels good to have two weeks written out ahead of time, compared to my usual “oh god oh god now what I have to have something up this weekend I have nothing aaah” approach!
So, finale for //012 goes up August 17th. I may be taking August 24th off to work on the book and/or plan out the next chapter, bewarned.
Any predictions as to what’s about to happen? Post below. I’d also love your feedback and reactions in general!
Ciara says
:/
I kind of suspected what was coming ever since the first couple of scenes (and, okay, the title hints at it), but still, :/ at the confirmation. It’s been good to see a life well and interestingly lived, though.
One question: is Seeker Neville, or another person who was there? It’s kind of ambiguous.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Two different people; Seeker runs the little hippie group, Neville’s just another person in the group. I’ll clarify in edits. Thanks!
Jen says
At least it’s not entirely over! (right?) I’d argue it’s a somewhat happy, though premature, semi-ending. And who knows, she might show up again later in the story. (Judging by her new goal, I’m betting definitely will.)
Lirazel says
Very, very good. And sad. But good!
And I like the rhyme. Where did you find it?
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Lazy Writer Research! AKA Google. I typed “1918 influenza children’s rhyme” into Google and that appeared on a couple pages, seemed like it’d work.
Jen says
Ah, the joy of being “Google Smart.” :D
Where’s Masamune Shirow?! I demand to know why he isn’t writing a huge new cyberpunk epic about how the internet is externalizing our memory!
Lirazel says
Well, I don’t know anyone who was alive in 1918, and my grandparents apparently buried the epidemic among other things “best forgotten”, so I have no memory of the Enza-bird. In fact, Stefan’s is one of the few fictions I know in which it plays a role.
Jen says
We had a slew of relatives die in that flu. Our grandfather made it somehow, though. Tiny kid, sharing a bed with his sick family, but he was fine. Helped nurses clean bedpans in the hospital, too. o_o
As for the rhyme, just looked it up. Apparently a really popular jump rope rhyme at the time. Nice.
Jen says
I love all your writing, of course — but I just wanted to say I’m ecstatic to learn more about Scarlett! And the city, for that matter! Thanks so much.
No spoilers, but as I hit the end of this section and see what’s been going on, I imagine that the “thickness” in the air is not only realism, but also might initially reflect what’s going on in her waking world.
Stefan "Twoflower" Gagne says
Interesting! I hadn’t thought of that. –I mean yes, of course, entirely planned.