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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 24, 2016 19:03:33 GMT -5
Another article:
Man In Bright Turquoise- A Character Analysis
Though each Colorman in powerful in his own respect, in the debate of "who is the most powerful" a clear contender does emerge. It's the Man In Bright Turquoise. Originally a brilliant physicist, an incident caused him to be thrown outside the normal flow of time. He found himself in a plane outside of reality itself, where he met the most incredible beings. Seeking to learn, he spent the equivalent of 25,000 years outside of the Space Time Continuum, learning about the inner workings of reality. By the end, he had total mastery of physics and the space time continuum, and was capable of manipulating them in ways not thought possible. Upon returning to his proper place, he knew that his powers, if unchecked, could cause way more harm than good. So he spends most of his time in a special plane between dimensions he constructed himself. From here, he can keep an eye on everything, and acts as a watcher, to ensure the flow of time is not disrupted.
With such unimaginable power, and no equal having ever been found (though Vados may have come close, in the end his millennia of experience trumps her centuries), you'd almost accuse him of being a God character. It is true his powers are god-like, and there are many things only he can do (no other being can cancel molecular bonds, create tesseracts and manipulate gravity to the extent he can, for example), and yet no one ever emerged to challenge him.
But why? Why does such a powerful character have no equal? The answer is simple- because he is not intended to have one.
"Good versus evil" comes up a lot in this story, but Bright Turquoise is a story about a man versus himself. He has unimaginable power, and yet rarely uses it to its full extent, because he knows that the consequences can be far greater than he intended.
He can change whatever he wants to whatever extent he wants, but because he recognizes the importance of free will, he has sworn only to interfere "When said interference will do more good than doing nothing."
In theory, he could completely change the world in a microsecond- eliminate evil, poverty, corruption and all else wrong with the world if he so chooses. Heck, if he were in a bad enough mood, he could simply decide to erase SOM, VEC and GOD from existence, canceling their molecular bonds and having them cease to be.
And yet he doesn't. Why not? Because he knows that is not his choice to make. He knows that the timeline is meant to play out in a certain way, and must only interfere to ensure it stays on track. Others could argue that evil "is a necessary burden that must exist, because good cannot exist without evil, and evil cannot exist without good."
So will Bright Turquoise ever reveal the full extent of his powers? Probably not, but the little voice in his head is always telling him to... quite literally.
COMING SOON: 3WSR Character Analysis: Id
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Oct 24, 2016 19:09:23 GMT -5
That has 'anime' written all over it. I wasn't really a fan of him tell I read that. Nice, Frank.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Oct 24, 2016 19:46:47 GMT -5
Glad you liked it D-11
Come to think of it, I wrote a post, Toz wrote a post and Tug wrote a post... so if you just write a post for today, I think that gives us a full set
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Oct 24, 2016 21:14:00 GMT -5
Why not? I've been having an idea for one anyway, no time like the present!
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 26, 2017 21:09:27 GMT -5
Potential new Blog post:
3WSR: More than a game now?
For nearly a year and a half, the 3WSR forum has existed on the internet. Granted, its community is extremely small, but it is also extremely loyal. What started as a game merely based on Thomas the Tank engine soon evolved into something more. Eventually, a whole story universe was created, rooted in Thomas and Sodor, but with a lot of original concepts far too elaborate to talk about here. Original characters, new places, even spin offs. Plus separate fanfiction stories from the main game, that both help worldbuild the 3WSR Universe, or are stories all their own.
And then there are things that just don't fit into "The Game" at all. The Sitcom, the sci-fi Journey, and even the Literary Mosaic series, all their own things now. So what happened? Did we lose our way? Did we change directions?"
Arguably, no. Perhaps, we have evolved. Now instead of just the game, we have all sorts of other "games" that are very different, but involve a similar premise- that of a bunch of guys coming together, taking turns to write a story.
So what happened? Perhaps writing for the one game became monotonous and we wanted to try something different, or perhaps we had other things we wanted to try that did not work quite as well in the game.
So in essence, 3WSR evolved... not just a game anymore, but a series of games. One could say that 3WSR has become something of a forum for creative Writing with what goes on around here.
And that's sort of what we are seeing. As time goes on, we are posting more and more in the other projects, and not as much in the main game. But why? It's not that we are tired of it- its just that considering how long it has lasted, it does reach a point where the story stalls every now and then, and we're all forced to stop for a while to think about what to do next. Whereas in the other games, it gives us a chance to try out other ideas that don't really work in the game, and explore other opportunities for creative writing.
In short, a lot has changed. To say that we are just a bunch of guys writing arguably the most insane Thomas fanfiction ever is something of an understatement... now we're a bunch of guys writing a LOT of stories that can get pretty insane.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 26, 2017 21:37:58 GMT -5
Potential New Blog Post:
On Emily
"They're two they're four they're six they're eight, shunting trucks and hauling freight"
Thomas and friends experienced quite the shake up in season 8, when the show was restructured to feature a main cast of eight engines, collectively known as the "steam team". Now, long time Thomas fans would probably expect this to mean that the centralized cast would come to include Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and Duck, numbers 1-8 of the North Western Railway. But no, this was not to be. Rather, the eighth slot would be taken up by Emily- a female steam engine who just made her debut in season 7. Now that does seem rather ridiculous- sidelining a longstanding character in favor of a new one, but it was not without good intentions. Thomas' fanbase at the time was almost certainly predominantly male, and perhaps this was their way of trying to get more females to like this fandom.
Whether or not it worked though, is not the purpose of this blog post. This post focuses on Emily as a character and her place in the series. And personally... I am not a fan of her.
To me, when I went back and watched the seasons I missed during the time I was away from Thomas, I was shocked by how much Emily's appearance impacted the series. In one fell swoop, she replaced many classic characters, such as Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver, Bill, Ben, BoCo, etc. Sure, some still appeared every now and then, but rarely in starring roles. Heck, she even replaced fairly new characters that actually had potential to be fleshed out, such as Murdoch and Arthur. This was initially a reason why I did not like her, but since in recent seasons, almost all the classic standard gauge engines, except BoCo, have returned, I can look past that now.
But that still doesn't change another fact- as a character, Emily is not that great. The show wanted to introduce a female character, but they gave us one that was stubborn, rude and arrogant. Remember when I said she more or less replaced Duck? Well, Duck, to me, is a better character by far. Let's compare them for a second so you'll see where I am coming from:
Duck once prevented a worse accident from happening when he stopped the runaway trucks on Gordon's Hill (A Close Shave), while Emily caused accidents by pretending to be a queen (Emily Knows Best), and ignoring the advice of others (Excellent Emily)
Duck stood up for Percy and himself when the big engines were pushing them around (Duck Takes Charge) while Emily tried to run off and hide when she was seen with Whiff when he first came to Sodor (Emily's Rubbish)
And finally, Duck does any job he is given, without question, whether it is shunting (Duck takes Charge), being a banker (Fish) or even just a regular train. Emily on the other hand, will do what she can to get out of a job she doesn't like (Pingy Pongy Pick Up, Emily's Rubbish)
I guess what I'm trying to say is I tried to warm up to Emily, but when you have episodes like Excellent Emily, Emily Knows Best, Emily's Rubbish, Emily's Adventure, Pingy Pongy Pick Up, and Emily and Dash, its impossible.
All of that being said, I do not deny that Emily as a character is improving in recent seasons. However, after all of the damage she has done during the dark era, I feel it will be a while before I see that one good episode that redeems Emily for me.
And now I open it up to the rest of you- what are your thoughts on Emily?
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Post by Toz76 on Jan 26, 2017 21:51:45 GMT -5
Emily
Personally, I ignore seasons 13-16 and most of 8-12 when trying to make judgements on a character (if we judged Edward on episodes like Edward Strikes out, where would we be?). And what we see of Emily outside of there is actually a fairly interesting character. She's not my favorite, but I have no problems with her. She's sort of like a milder female version of James, a bit vain and prone to jealousy but well-intentioned. Best Engines Ever is probably the best Emily episode out there, and IMO one of S19s highlights.
Also, comparing Emily to Duck is a bit unfair for a number of reasons. First off, Duck can screw up just as royally as Emily (The Thomas Way, arguably Fish and his debut). Second, Duck was almost completely absent from the dark area, whereas all fans ever saw of Emily until the Brennesiance was Season 7 and the dark era. And in the dark era, even the best characters were genuinely painful to watch. (Exhibit A: Skarloey). So in my opinion, if you judge her by her S7 and S17-on roles, she's actually a solid, likeable character. Not the strongest female engine (Is that Daisy and Marion I hear?) but a good one nonetheless.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 27, 2017 14:52:16 GMT -5
How's your part of the Emily post going D11?
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jan 27, 2017 15:01:12 GMT -5
Haven't started yet, but I'll work on it later today.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Jan 27, 2017 16:22:16 GMT -5
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 29, 2017 1:49:04 GMT -5
Characters I would like to see return:
Thomas and friends has produced a menagerie of characters over the years. Some good, some bad, some just outright unmentionable. For this list, I will be discussing some characters I would like to see return.
(NOTE: This is not a list based on objective ascension; it is more like a "greatest hits" type listing)
1) BoCo- While I do not deny that he is somewhat lacking in the unique personality department, at the same time this offers the writers great potential to build him up and pick up where the good Reverend left off. Even if not a central character, he offers a lot in terms of world-building. Remember- on Edward's branch line, Bill, Ben and Timothy work for SCC, Salty and Porter work at the docks, but we seem to only see Edward on the branch line itself. Bringing BoCo back will show another engine working there, and really give that branch line some new potential for story arcs.
2) Duke- Sure, he only appeared in a handful of season 4 episodes, but that is not the point. "Grandpuff" still has a memorable personality, and a story about him and Luke, to me feels like could offer a lot of potential. Even if he's an old engine, there's just so much he can offer, that I feel it is impossible to list it here right now.
3) Murdoch- The gentle giant; Yes, it may be true that his potential has been used up; but even if it is only as a background character, a large freight engine like him makes much more sense on Sodor than an engine like Sam or Hank (who are too big for Sodor in the first place)
4) Arthur- Even if his "spotless record" wasn't much of a story, he still offered a lot to the series that I feel went undeveloped. Seeing him interact with other engines in various stories, whether they have similar or different personalities, could bring a lot to the table.
5) Terrence- With the return of Trevor, Terrence is the last of the classic road vehicles yet to return. Even if he is just in the background, Terrence still played an important role in some very memorable early series episodes. His return, I feel, would be welcomed by the community.
Now there is a character I am torn upon- and that is George the Steamroller. Sure, his return would be nice, but is it possible? In many ways, I kind of feel George's story is "complete." He had some very memorable moments with Steam Roller and Bye George!, but what next? If we go back and look at his appearances after Bye George!, it was pretty much once per season and always in a cameo role. It's almost as if the writers just didn't know what to do with him anymore. And to be honest... other than a Possible The Pack episode where he has to work with Buster, I can't think of any.
As much as I would love to see George again; I don't there is a way for him to appear that makes sense.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jan 30, 2017 23:22:36 GMT -5
potential Blog post:
Character Spotlight: Sailor John
When Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure came out back in 2015, the bar had been set quite high for it. After all, it was being released in the wake of The Adventure Begins, which has become one of the best Thomas specials to date. Not only that, but it was the 70th anniversary of the release of The Three Railway Engines, which was the start of the Railway Series. So this special was also celebrating the anniversary of the book that started it all.
In short, the special did not disappoint. The story was strong, the animation was spectacular (even if some moments did break the suspense of disbelief), and classic Thomas fans all over the internet rejoiced upon the return of Donald and Douglas, the Scottish Twins, and Daisy the Diesel Rail car. Arguably the biggest thing to come out of the special though, was the introduction of the small railway engines, Rex, Mike and Bert, to the TV series.
But by far, one of the great highlights of the special was it's antagonist: Sailor John. For the first time in the history of the Television series, the antagonist in a special was a human (PT Boomer doesn't count since he was cut), rather than an engine... and despite the break in tradition, it worked out brilliantly. One could argue that the villains in the Thomas specials to date have been rather... "toned down" if you will; sure, they were depicted as evil and certainly gave that vibe to them, but none of them quite reached the level of Sailor John. Diesel 10 may have pinchy, but even he was not as destructive as Sailor John, who went as far as blowing up Sir Topham Hatt's office to get the treasure, and even throwing dynamite at Thomas in an attempt to destroy him. Some have described him as "PT Boomer done correctly," though in all honesty, Sailor John is in a league all his own. He even has the distinction of being the only Thomas villain to date to have not reformed by the end of the special.
And then there is his voice actor. John Hurt did a phenomenal job bringing him to life; and while chances are that Sailor John was a one-off character, unlike the unmentionable engines of the dark era, Sailor John will go down in Thomas history as one of its most memorable characters, and best villains.
In Memory of John Hurt
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Feb 5, 2017 22:35:46 GMT -5
New Character Analysis on Diesel 15 by me on the 3WSR Site - link is on the Main Page.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Feb 26, 2017 14:32:25 GMT -5
Toz76 and Tug - do you guys think you could type something up for the characters we want to see return blog? You suggested it and I'm hoping to have it up, but I can't do it without your submissions. And if you think you have something on the subject of George the Steamroller, I'd love to hear it. Frank's thing on him would make for a good starting point of something on him, either tacked on at the bottom of the blog or within a separate blog altogether. Either way, thanks.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Feb 27, 2017 2:18:29 GMT -5
I increased the font size on the title of my post for "characters I would like to see return" to make it easier to find.
Feel free to use that as reference, Toz and Tug
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Mar 10, 2017 21:21:27 GMT -5
I figure we're eventually going to get around to an article like this, so might as well set it up:
LITERARY MOSAIC VII REVIEW
Well, we had some pretty great stories up until this point, and within them some had some great action. Problem was, we were kinda getting off track and starting to sort of blur the line between mystery and... well, action, I guess. So this story was meant to bring us back to our roots with a simple murder mystery. And what better source of inspiration for a mystery story than one of my favorite board games of all time- Clue.
Dr. James Walker is murdered and found dead in the cellar of his mansion. Gunnarson spent the night there thanks to a chance encounter after his car broke down. His two house workers and 8 house guests were also in the house that night, and there was a good deal of weapons at their disposal.
10 suspects, 10 weapons, 12 rooms. Who did it, where and with what weapon? More accurately, as Gunnarson puts it, each suspect had a motive to kill him, the weapons presented means, and there was ample opportunity for any one of them to kill Walker. In other words-
Means = what weapon was used Motive = why the suspect in question committed the crime Opportunity = the room where the suspect encountered Dr. Walker during the night.
As Gunnarson investigates, it becomes clear that all 10 suspects have a motive for wanting to kill Dr. Walker- whether it was love, money or revenge. Each suspect had a weapon and encountered Dr. Walker at some point during the night- means and opportunity.
The whole thing is a giant mess until Gunnarson straightens out the mess and finds out who really did it.
That's... where this story went downhill.
This story was inspired by Clue, that means the final "solution" was supposed to be the revelation of who did it, where and with what weapon; with a twist possibly being two suspects working together. But Diesel 11/1,000 Eyes (Whichever he goes by on the blog) had a different idea. Pulling it out of who knows where, he set up an ending where it was revealed that it was Dr. Walker's twin brother that was killed and Dr. Walker worked with the murderers, the Ellis siblings, to kill him.
This ending did not go over well with some... including myself. Here are the problems with this ending:
1) It makes no logical sense. It was explicitly stated from the beginning that there were only 12 people in the mansion- Gunnarson, Dr. Walker and the 10 suspects. A 13th person can't just magically appear at the climax.
2) It doesn't matter how much money Dr. Walker would have offered them- the Ellis siblings had so much resentment for Dr. Walker after 12 years of poverty wages that they would never work with him. To be honest, the moment he offered them a check, they would have almost certainly said "To hell with you! We want your head on a platter!"
3) Gunnarson had no reason to have Ms. Parker look at Dr. Walker's body with Physician Warren; he knew that she was lying about being in a relationship with Dr. Walker, and thus he knew that having her look at his stripped down body would yield nothing.
4) If all three were in league with each other, why would Dr. Walker point out who did it after he was caught?
5) Gunnarson had zero reasons to reconsider all ten suspects after narrowing it down to four suspects. He knew that Dr. Walker was killed with a blunt object, and thus he would have known it was impossible for the other six to kill him since they had guns, blades, rope or poison.
6) It throws out all of the hard work and set up that went into the story. 10 suspects with motives were developed, 10 weapons changed rooms at the hands of individual suspects, and the 12 rooms could all have been potential murder sites. But to just say that none of this matters and that it was Dr. Walker who killed his brother, that is an anti-climax.
For another story, I have no doubt that this ending would have been brilliant. But for this kind of story and what we were going for, it simply does not work.
That brings us to the alternate ending, written as a compromise for those who were unsatisfied with the original ending. In my view, it is a stronger ending because in the context of the whole story, it makes sense. Dr. Walker is the victim, and we find out who did, where and with what weapon... and the twist is we find out two suspects were in league with each other.
Personally, I rather see the alternate ending be the canon ending, but due to things I cannot really discuss in this particular blog post, just note that in the future, as a compromise what was decided is that if this case is ever referred to again, Gunnarson will simply say that he "cannot quite recall how that one turned out," leaving the canon ending of the story ambiguous.
Overall though, it was a fun story to write, and because we have endings that satisfy both mine and Eyes' tastes, I'm fine with how the final thing turned out.
That brings us to the rating. With the original ending, I give it a 7/10. With the alternate ending, I give it a 9/10.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Mar 10, 2017 23:18:00 GMT -5
My Thoughts On LM7
Me, I liked LM7 the whole way through. Up until that point it was probably my favorite Literary Mosaic so far. Ten people, ten suspects, one detective, trapped in a snow storm, what could be better?
Now with regards to Frank's six points, these are my thoughts on that.
1. There are such things as hidden passageways. However improbable it might be doesn't mean it can't make sense or doesn't work.
2. For starters, money can change peoples minds, if the price is right. Secondly, it was only their word that they were being paid poverty wages - no real way to prove if it was right or wrong.
3. As strange as that move might be, in the long run it worked out. Gunnarson wanted to see both of their reactions - Warren was surprised because he didn't have it, Parker was surprised because he did have it.
4. Yeah um... I don't even remember this, so I'll stay off of commenting on it until I reread it again.
5. Again, it was only their word on it. They all SAID they used such and such, but they could have gone back again and used something else.
6. The real thing that was crazy wasn't the ending. No, that was the fact that EVERYONE was out to kill the guy. What are the odds? Not very high. As such, I felt to actually have a surprise (and Toz thought the same, though he was meh to the thing as a whole) we needed to do something different, to have an explanation no one else saw coming.
But the cool thing is, with two endings, this is just like the Clue movie, in which they made three different endings for it. Kind of an interesting thing there.
But over all, I'm not fussed over which ending you choose, whatever you like is fine. As a whole, with either ending, I give it a 9/10.
But that's just me.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Mar 29, 2017 17:35:26 GMT -5
Your counter points interest me, so here is my response to them
1) It may be "improbable," but again, the more you think about the original ending, the less logical sense it makes.
2) money may be an influential force, but so is anger and resentment; you don't think clearly about someone when you are angry at them, so yes, they could have easily rejected any money he offered them
3) It doesn't matter with that; because he knew and Parker was lying and never had a relationship with Dr Walker, he had no motive to make her look at him.
5) It may have been "their word" however, there was enough circumstantial evidence proving none of the suspects were lying about the weapons (I.e each weapon only changed rooms once, and their end points were exactly where the suspects said they were)
6) Actually, it's not as crazy as you think. Murder on the Orient Express by Christie was exactly the same thing, and that was 13 suspects wanting to kill the guy. Again to say "none of that stuff matters" is an anti-climax and makes a good 70 percent of the story absolutely meaningless.
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Post by Biblically Accurate Angel on Mar 29, 2017 20:18:17 GMT -5
Murder on the Orient Express is completely different because all of them actually commit the murder.
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Post by frankthetriviaman on Jun 8, 2017 1:51:42 GMT -5
LM 8 REVIEW:
Ah yes, the follow up to LM 6. Although 6 wasn't much of a memorable story, LM 8, in a way, picked up where LM 5 and 6 left off. Bringing back all the usual suspects for another round against the Swede, LM 8 had the potential to be a fantastic story.
Unfortunately, it was weak it many areas? For starters, it violates one of the cardinal rules of mystery stories- deaths should only happen if they cause plot development. Here are all the deaths in the first part of LM 8; the Empire Strikes back; with the plot-driving deaths indicated in Bold.
Ronald Wright; a civilian who failed to pay back his debt.
One-Eyed Jack; one of the Dirty Four
Elvira Revinev; Or rather, a look-alike
Two Policemen guarding Cricket
Maurice Reed; associate of One-Eyed Jack
Henry the Iceberg; one of the Dirty Four
Four doctors killed by Blade when looking at the body of the Elvira look alike
Cody, one of the surviving members of the Black Scorpion
Volcano Al, one of the Dirty Four
Butcher Hall Subordinate; mistaken for Butcher Hall himself
Lewis; a man who crashed his car into the Black Scorpion hideout while drunk
So why did One-Eyed Jack's death drive the plot forward, but not the other members of the Dirty Four? Well, One-Eyed Jack was directly connected to the primary case Gunnarson was following- Ronald Wright, and later Dr. Drugg. Volcano Al, Henry the Iceberg and Butcher Hall, or rather his subordinate, did not have to die in the story. The post early on that listed the Dirty Four was not a "list of people who will die" post, but rather a world building post- of the illegal money lenders operating in London.
The two policemen did not have to die either; they could have been knocked out, and the plot would have kept moving in the same direction.
Cody's death, while one could argue that it made the Black Scorpion's situation more tense, it was already looking bleak for them.
Lewis' death was a random occurrence; there was no set up and no background to this character. Sure, it did lead Gunnarson to finding Drugg and the Black Scorpion members, but Lewis did not have to die; he could have been knocked out and the story would have been fine.
As for the four doctors; that is a bit of a gray area. Yes, you could argue that they drove the plot forward in the sense that they fell victim to Blade's trap of the fake Elvira, setting up for later that Elvira was alive. Though you could also argue that they did not have to die; Blade could have knocked them out and the story would have gone on without being impacted any more than it was.
Which brings us to the next point- the second half. Though shorter, it can be argued that the second half of the story is stronger than the first; the action is more direct and the plot doesn't just drag on. We also get closure to several plot points and others are set up.
One thing you may be wondering- why did Elvira have not one, but two death scenes in this story? Well, make no mistake- the original intention was for Elvira to die in this story. A while back, Eyes pointed out how we really should not use recurring villains in Literary Mosaic; each story should have its own villain, like other famous detective series. So Elvira was intended to die here, given that she has served her purpose, back in LM 2 and LM 5, she was to be given a proper send off, rather than just rot away in Broadmoor hospital. Case and point? Sherlock Holmes' greatest enemy is often regarded as James Moriarty, and yet he only appears in two stories of the Conan Doyle library.
But for some reason, one of the other writers (who shall be kept anonymous out of respect) thought it a good idea to keep her alive. Not sure what the plan is, but make no mistake... in the next novel she appears in, she probably will not make it to the end alive.
Strengths and weaknesses were plenty in this story; but it was a good entry to continue the overarching Literary Mosaic plot of the adventures of Adolf Gunnarson.
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