The Basics
23rd Feb 2016, 11:01 PM
in Season One - Part 3: The Magical Mystery Tour
Author Notes:
User comments:
24th Feb 2016, 1:46 AM
Well okay, here's a brief list:
-Never accept the first offer that comes your way if you haven't even checked out what's normal for the activity/industry/area. You could be selling yourself into slavery or missing out on something big by settling for the first offer.
-How does Ghoul know for sure that this whole 'magic is real' thing isn't just someone MK Ultra-ing him into a cult? This looks a lot like cult recruitment.
-How does Ghoul know whether or not Mercy is a high-functioning sociopath? She could be selling him into slavery or a criminal gang here.
-They haven't really talked about five year plans and future aspirations besides mentioning that this group could give a paycheque. Most people who want to take control of your future without actually discussing what that might be are... suspect.
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-Never accept the first offer that comes your way if you haven't even checked out what's normal for the activity/industry/area. You could be selling yourself into slavery or missing out on something big by settling for the first offer.
-How does Ghoul know for sure that this whole 'magic is real' thing isn't just someone MK Ultra-ing him into a cult? This looks a lot like cult recruitment.
-How does Ghoul know whether or not Mercy is a high-functioning sociopath? She could be selling him into slavery or a criminal gang here.
-They haven't really talked about five year plans and future aspirations besides mentioning that this group could give a paycheque. Most people who want to take control of your future without actually discussing what that might be are... suspect.
24th Feb 2016, 1:36 PM
I can rebut the majority of these to lesser and greater degrees, but there is one main reason Ghoul is going along with this: he trusts Pogo, and Pogo trusts Mercy. Therefor he trusts Mercy.
Plus, there's that whole "saved me from being stuck in the Akashic Record" thing, but I suppose you could write that off as "MK-Ultra" stuff. :P
(If you are actually LOOKING for MK-Ultra-type stuff, stay tuned. That stuff DOES happen in Autumn Bay, just not quite yet...)
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Plus, there's that whole "saved me from being stuck in the Akashic Record" thing, but I suppose you could write that off as "MK-Ultra" stuff. :P
(If you are actually LOOKING for MK-Ultra-type stuff, stay tuned. That stuff DOES happen in Autumn Bay, just not quite yet...)
24th Feb 2016, 4:10 PM
I don't say his motivations are nuts, but he's trusting without verifying in a situation where he's being removed from all the people he's previously known and where he used to live. If he doesn't even have a forwarding address that's a leap of faith into a cult by conventional interpretations. :)
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25th Feb 2016, 5:03 PM
Okay, that is different than what it looked like to my uninformed eyes: When the Harry Potter terminology starts flying we're referencing a very creepy, fictional boarding school and all. It is still the first offer, made by people Ghoul doesn't know and has no obvious way of verifying the reputation and credentials of though. The whole, "Magic and muggles don't mix, don't out a wizard," stuff is also partially estranging him from his family and/or peers.
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25th Feb 2016, 5:23 PM
I can definitely see how it could come across that way...
When done "properly" (i.e. in the vein I'm working with), urban fantasy contains horror overtones, and if not full-blown horror, at least some of the "other".
Sadly, I really don't know any way way this scene could play out that DOESN"T seem a little cultish and creepy...
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When done "properly" (i.e. in the vein I'm working with), urban fantasy contains horror overtones, and if not full-blown horror, at least some of the "other".
Sadly, I really don't know any way way this scene could play out that DOESN"T seem a little cultish and creepy...
25th Feb 2016, 10:56 PM
Yeah, I know I'm kicking a necessary genre trope cliché in the gonads here. In order to have 'a secret world of X' that leaves an outside consensus reality that resembles our own... either the secrets have to be pretty small and meaningless or some deeply creepy shit is going on. Maintained secrets require disciplined silence and deliberate misinformation--a continuous 'us and them' campaign of manipulation.
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24th Feb 2016, 2:59 AM
Man, nobody around here minces words, do they? Must be a fun party with this lot.
"Hey man, this is gonna be awesome! I hope Jeff didn't forget the tap for the keg again. Somebody should run out and get a buncha twelve-packs just to be safe. Heck, we'll probably end up finishing it all off by the end of the night anyway, eh? It's goin' DOWN, man! So anyway, check it! I brought my awesome homemade seven-layer bean dip! It's killer, but I just finished making it, so the flavors gotta mingle while we mingle, dig? There's no chips here anyway, so the dip can wait. Don't worry though, Betts said she's gonna drop by later and she'll be bringing a jumbo bag of-"
"Whatever you do, don't get caught up with the Starry Wisdom Cult." *slinks into the shadows*
"-tortilla chipsnevermind."
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"Hey man, this is gonna be awesome! I hope Jeff didn't forget the tap for the keg again. Somebody should run out and get a buncha twelve-packs just to be safe. Heck, we'll probably end up finishing it all off by the end of the night anyway, eh? It's goin' DOWN, man! So anyway, check it! I brought my awesome homemade seven-layer bean dip! It's killer, but I just finished making it, so the flavors gotta mingle while we mingle, dig? There's no chips here anyway, so the dip can wait. Don't worry though, Betts said she's gonna drop by later and she'll be bringing a jumbo bag of-"
"Whatever you do, don't get caught up with the Starry Wisdom Cult." *slinks into the shadows*
"-tortilla chipsnevermind."
I know we have leaned pretty heavily on terms and ideas from Harry Potter. To be honest, I see those terms being a sort of shorthand that would be adopted by actual sorcerers and such. I mean, the books and movies are kind of a Big Deal... :)
Clearly, there was a little off-screen training in the "Several days later".
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