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Divided (Updated 26/11/23)
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Reynold got a lot of tricky visitors this time instead, the tough life of church people I guess. The conversation with Eli was particularly funny to read XD Good to see Eli and Dani "enjoying each other company" as well, even if that is another storyline I don't really know what to expect (and which makes me worry quite a bit...)
It's obviously going to take me a minute to get caught up, but I've enjoyed the first story immensely and definitely have Divided on my radar. Looking forward to reading more!
Forum Thread - Blog Chapter Selection
@HermioneSims Thank you for your comments as always < 3
OH the drama. THE DRAMA. Oskar meeting Gideon, Daniel trying to hide what he's gotten himself into from Eli, Dan trying to get himself out of it...So much DRAMA! And more to come because I'm mean to my pixel babies. : P I just had to have Eli ask about the Beltane situation. I feel like despite all people now know about Reynold, the 'So you did THAT in the grass?' is still what comes to mind immediately every time. XD
I'm afraid my comments are likely to be rather short for the next couple months. Work is wiping me out utterly. But this chapter is excellent as usual.
I'm mostly concerned for Oskar. Like @HermioneSims I am wondering what the state of his health will be if he turns fully human again. It kind of feels like he's expecting to die. Is the final candle he lights before leaving for himself?
I like how you depict the transformation, not happening all at once, but in stages. That's a really interesting way to do it. Oskar initially not recognizing himself in the mirror was a great detail. He wouldn't, would he? The last time he saw himself, he looked a lot younger.
I’m glad you like the gradual change. He does look odd without his white hair and light eyes. Oh yeah it would probs be such a weird experience to see your own face after a hundred plus years…but there was also definitely a Johnny Bravo-esque ‘man I’m pretty!’ in that thought process somewhere. XD
As a heads-up to readers, due to IRL happenings and also the post-patch face bug I wrote about in the Storytelling thread Divided will be on a short hiatus (or long depending on when the bug is fixed.)
Interesting how the feebleness from turning back immediately causes Oskar to change his mind on his stance on work/time. He was mighty annoyed at Eli not pouring all his time into woodworking just last chapter. Then again, I suppose imminent death is known to cause drastic changes. 😶
Reynold and Katlego both having bad visions for the future continues to fill me with dread. So does this: [You're the only sensible person left in Henford. You don't solve all of your problems by murdering people]. Something big is going to happen soon, and Katlego is going to be on one side of it. I wonder where Reynold will end up.
Oh, Eli. Thinking about what could have been with his mother because he’s scared of now losing his father, too. I agree with Reynold’s words, but they were a bit harsh, too. It’s normal to miss someone and wonder what could have been.
Naww. They kissed
That’s quite a leap for Reynold, to immediately think of a cure and then of Annoying. I mean, he’s right, but dang that’s some good intuition there 😮 Ooooh and we're about to see his father, are we? I wonder who that last candle Oskar lit was for. Himself? Reynold's dad, in case he did pass on? Hmm...
Oskar's plotline really advanced a lot instead. I was wondering whether Violeta could turn him again or not, but it makes sense it may be too risky. I see Oskar seems very upset by all those changes, but at least he doesn't seem affected by his old illness again (yet).
Daniel is really in a very bad situation instead, threatening his family is a very coward way to blackmail him into helping Volpe and the whitchfinders... I really hope nothing too bad happens to him.
The biggest surprise, anyway, was from the ending. So the guy in the Season 3 banner was Alistair, not a fancy Reynold! I also missed he believed his children to be dead (and I wasn't completely sure Alistair himself was still alive), I guess that this could lead to a reunion quite soon... That's definitively another scene I really look forwards to, Reynold and Clem could have so many different reactions!
Alistair did legitimately think that Reynold and Clem had both been killed. He'd searched for them for years and found nothing, and in his mind they would have came back to him if they'd genuinely gone missing, but deep down he knew he could've been a better father. And of course Oskar being Oskar made sure to chew him out about it.The Act 3 drama is going to be so real. Especially if Alistair meets Clem again...
Julian and Clem getting kicked out of the Jocobian church. Weirdly, I did not see that coming. But it feels like there is a bigger fracture in that whole religion as well, over fundamental values. So, I'm curious to see what happens. I love your detailed world building.
Those last images of Violeta...
The conversation between Daniel and Volpe is really well written. I love the tension and the way Daniel is trying to passive-aggressively insult Volpe while still cooperating so his family doesn't get harmed. "Oh. I get it. So your family gets killed by the witches, and so you'll kill my family if I don't kill the witches?" is an awesome line.
Okay, I don't care if Micah is a witchfinder, I am digging his look.
Oo... Reynold and Clem's father is still alive. And he looks so much like Reynold. I'll admit, I also fell for your banner trick. Well done. I'm expecting this will lead to some major family drama. He seems to take the news that his kids are alive rather more in stride than I think they probably will (about him being alive). They're carrying around a lot more emotional baggage than he is.
Oskar experiencing the sun is a beautiful scene.
Poor Dani with his "witchfinder job", for sure seeing Micah "doing the job" can't have been easy to witness... But then we got to see a bit more about his family dynamics, and Josiah was particularly interesting to hear. He definitively seems shyer than his brother, but also quite good overall.
With Eli instead the situation proceeded very quickly! Good for them, they had a lot of worries already but this really seems to have "cheered them up a bit". Seeing everyone's different reactions to their relationship was quite interesting, as well.
But seeing Oskar back with brown hair and eyes was quite shocking instead! But he was quite cute in the role of protective father as well.
As for the final two parts, Owen and Eli look so much alike in this part of the story! But that's only in their looks, their attitudes toward Annorin Sr in particular seem quite different. And then the surprise silent true ending, who are the two werewolves this time? Ah, the suspense!
The part with the werewolves is just my attempt at wordless storytelling so I'm going to spoil it and explain what's going on:
Good to know anyway, thanks for the clarification!
Chapter 3.5
Okay, I'm going to start with the end, because I immediately thought "That's Reynold and his dad!" and it derailed everything else I was thinking. I couldn't tell if they recognized each other or not. I absolutely love the seventh screenshot in that sequence (the close-up view of the white-eyed werewolf attacking the blue-eyed werewolf. That shot feels like it belongs on a movie poster.
Earlier in the chapter... I like how this chapter focuses on Daniel and Eli. I've definitely become very invested in those two.
Chapter 3.6
Oooo! Family drama time! It's interesting and very telling that Reynold's longest rant at his father is mainly saying "You didn't stop me from doing something terrible." And Clem... Oooo, I love the first shots of Clem entering the scene. The way she is gripping that sword. The stance. The look on her face. The cropping of the images. The lighting. Totally awesome.
She reacts exactly as I expected too. Lol. This reunion is not going quite as Alistair hoped. Reynold trying to calm things down, as he would. Clem not having any of it. Alistair alternating between guilt and anger. This scene is superbly written.
Alistair's explanation of his choice seems pretty naive. Or dishonest, at least, about his own cowardice. Did he honestly think that if he didn't tell Reynold about being a werewolf that Reynold would somehow not become one? "I didn't tell you anything about this thing you obviously were becoming because I didn't want you to be burdened by knowing what was happening". Good one, Alistair.
Oh! Annorin knows about Oskar's illness and turned him human with the expectation that it would kill him?
No-one outside of the family would think Alistair is far from an ideal father...except Oskar, who sees through almost everything. XD And to him it was just perfectly acceptable to treat Clem as inferior, and even if that was mainly because it was Reynold who had mooncaster blood, he'd also only planned for a son, so it's like the tossed-away free gift to him. Good luck convincing her you 'really do love her' Alistair! I'm glad you like the drama and the werewolf fight scene was so fun to do!
Yeah, it's slightly different here from the early Act Two since here he's fully acknowledging his own accountability at least here unlike back then, but he's always going to be irritated about the fact it could have been prevented if his father just taught him how to control it. Alistair's line of thinking is absolutely backwards and makes no sense to anyone except for Alistair. But it's okay because it's his 'inferior' daughter having to pick up the pieces and not him.
YES Daniel and Eli's dynamic is so fun, but it's also at the risk of possibly falling to pieces for a few reasons, the main reason being Daniel's being forced into witchfinding. I really love writing about them. This family reunion will be a lot of fun, I'm sure... or will it? : P I love Clem so much. She's precious.
You're spot on there, I forgot if it came up in the story but back when Annorin more or less beat information about Oskar out of Eli, that's when he found out about Oskar's previous illness. That was why he made the cure, in the hopes that Oskar would die horribly the way Annorin almost did. So far though, Oskar seems to be pretty healthy and dealing with his humanity well (ish) thanks to friends and family. So Annorin may actually have not succeeded at all, and wasted four years of his life. XD
After the last few chapters instead I sort of expected a very heated meeting with Alister quite soon, but again I was surprised by Clem showing up pointing her sword and with most of her scars in sight. The siblings were sort of getting in better terms recently, I hope this won't move them apart again... I don't have much empathy for Alistair at the moment instead.
The ending instead it's quite worrisome... The possibility that Oskar could have to reface his old illness soon was brought up as a hypothesis a few times already here in the comments, but having the confirmation that this is exactly Annorin's plan it's quite scary... I really hope that this won't go according to his plans, that would really be a sad ending for Oskar ;(