@mollymooncat Thank you so much for all your feedback! I love hearing what someone who's binged the whole thing thinks about all the hints I've dropped, because I often wonder about how my pacing and foreshadowing hold up. I'm glad you like how I do vampires--I know they're pretty unconventional, but I hope even traditional vampire fans get a kick out of their shenanigans.
I really enjoy writing about noticeably flawed characters in general, though I do try to make them likable in their own way--or at least fun to read about. Perfection is boring to me, but so is "evil for the sake of evil." I read a lot of fantasy, so that drives me crazy after a while. (BECAUSE DARKNESSSSS, etc.) There's that quote about an enemy being someone whose story you haven't heard, if that offers any hints for the future!
And wow, I'm honored that your post here seems to be your very first!
*le gasp* Byron! Eee! Okay, I'll stop I'm so proud of our 100% Independent Mature Vampire
That little hint of Daya not wanting him to leave tho!
That's right Byron, you are a gentleman...stalker
Ahh! So much going on here...the new everything, the obsessing over Penny...that apartment "At least now I had my own computer. It only smelled a little bit like smoke when I turned it on—it was practically new!" hah, the headline for the whole place!
I miss Byron's stuffy old suit, but it's also delightful seeing him in a tank top with plaid pants and zippers on his thighs!
Reed and Mina! Eee...geeze, there I go again...I'm so tickled about Reed and Mina! And Byron's distress over their handsy-ness...one day, Byron, one day that could be you and Penny!
@WagonFruit I thought you might like this chapter. I think you might like a certain development later down the line, too.
Poor Byron. He's not a stalker, really he's not! It's just a small world, okay? I had a lot of fun decorating his apartment. I think I like decorating things that are supposed to look terrible more than things that are supposed to look pretty. His outfit, though...
Your new avatar inspired me to make a new one with one of my characters making a funny face too! Bianca looked too tranquil before...and she's too neurotic to be tranquil!
Hmm...worried about the detective, but he seemed friendly later. Don't know what to make of Reed and Mina. Poor Byron. Can't catch a break! Love his new look, though. What a cutie pie!
Hmm...worried about the detective, but he seemed friendly later. Don't know what to make of Reed and Mina. Poor Byron. Can't catch a break! Love his new look, though. What a cutie pie!
If anyone can pull off zippered pants, pasty noodle arms, a whole lot of guyliner, and green flip-flops, it's Byron!
With Reed and Mina, I wanted to recreate the full City Living experience of neighbors who show up all the time and just come into your kitchen and leave glasses of water everywhere and start watching your TV and... *hisses*
Oh right! It's just a small world! Now I remember...
I think you might like a certain development later down the line, too.
Yes I will! Eee...
Love the new Bianca avatar! It's so much more...Bianca, because Bianca's life is hard, you know?
If anyone can pull off zippered pants, pasty noodle arms, a whole lot of guyliner, and green flip-flops, it's Byron!
I feel like that sentence should be on a stone tablet somewhere, or one of those inspirational facebook posters. Irritating Fun Fact: 7/10 when I'm typing the world "quote" I type it qyote...including when I was typing this sentence.
I love Byron's new look! I'm glad he kept his signature flip-flops Reed and Mina sure have some distinct personalities as well. I wonder if Graham is going to be lonely without them. Maybe he'll just get slightly bored.
Love the new Bianca avatar! It's so much more...Bianca, because Bianca's life is hard, you know?
If anyone can pull off zippered pants, pasty noodle arms, a whole lot of guyliner, and green flip-flops, it's Byron!
I feel like that sentence should be on a stone tablet somewhere, or one of those inspirational facebook posters.
Bianca's life is hard. Though sometimes she might make it harder on herself... And thanks, now I know what to get engraved on Byron's coffin! Maybe Bianca can have it done as stress relief for her hard life.
I love Byron's new look! I'm glad he kept his signature flip-flops Reed and Mina sure have some distinct personalities as well. I wonder if Graham is going to be lonely without them. Maybe he'll just get slightly bored.
I'm glad people seem to be responding well to Byron's new outfit. I was like, Is this too much? It's too much, right? But it's SO BYRON. "How do I city human?????? Like THIS." My story and the characters' looks are both pretty cartoony, and I'm lazy so I try to justify their cartoon character approach of "everyone only seems to wear one outfit all of the time because it's more iconic, okay?" Also I just found out a few days ago that you can assign multiple outfits to each category... Life-changing! Or at least clothes-changing. We'll see.
Graham will have to find something (or someone) new to make up for the loss of his shadows.
I'm pretty sure I could just copy/paste /quote this entire chapter and spend a half hour writing you a novel on every little detail I liked, but I will try to reasonable about this.
I've thought about it quite a bit, and I've decided that Bianca is, actually, my favourite character...I do love my green flip flopped Byron (and incidentally, every time I see the name Bryon, I now read it Byron), but her slightly morbid and tragically romantic way of looking at the world has me completely smitten (simitten?)
I love her dreary little cottage, which apparently used to be a church? (How delightfully blasphemous!)
And those twins! (Oh my)...I hope you're going to be using them for something fun; shame to waste their "slightly different yet oh, so similar versions of masculine beauty."...Bianca's face framed between their bodies cracked me right up!
And Daya! Poor Daya...also, if she lived with Bianca, she'd have an increased chance of seeing Byron again *ahem* not that that factored into her application at all, nooo, surely not.
That just leaves us with Thaddeus, that handsome devil, what is he up to? I refuse to believe he doesn't have some sort of ulterior motive
Excellent chapter as always darling; so glad you posted today instead of tomorrow!
Eeee, I'm so glad you liked it so much, @WagonFruit! I was cackling like a madwoman (or Bianca reading a love scene involving two butlers at the same time) the entire time I wrote this chapter, I think. I'm glad to see my walking bundle of neuroses and ridiculous romantic fantasies get as much or even more love than her admittedly adorable little brother.
I'll link to my friend's little chapel again because I love it so much and it was perfect for what I needed. It's so simple and small, but the little details are great. I really need to make a credits page on WP for all the houses I've used--hopefully the page won't show up in the order of my blog posts.
I'm thinking of using the twins later down the line--we'll see! My face would probably be verrrry similar to Bianca's in that situation. And what is Thaddeus up to? You're completely right about Daya, too.
Oh man I love Bianca! Haha I can understand her admiration for the " slightly different yet oh, so similar versions of masculine beauty".
I felt bad for Byron in the last chapter, in a huge city but feeling all alone... I hope he can see Penny soon!
I don't care if Daya had motive to apply it would have been entertaining to watch
Curse our financial strife those twins would have been the perfect way to compensate Lysander's absence. Then when Lysander comes back we have a all out butler brawl preferably shirtless to see who gets to stay! Oh the possibilities
I guess it's because they were romantic interactions, but Thaddeus came off as a little pervy that's just me though it was a great chapter!
Haha I can understand her admiration for the " slightly different yet oh, so similar versions of masculine beauty".
As can I. I want Byron and Penny to see each other soon too! But it might be a while yet. I hope I'm not keeping my characters apart for too long, but hey, half of them are vampires. They've got time! The humans, on the other hand...
Wow...Lysander's father...yummy! And now I'm torn. I sort of ship them, too.
Here's a question--where do the humans reside who know about Forgotten Hollow and become butlers?
Haha, I was like, plum, Lysander's dad is hot even after adding wrinkles and stuff. And I've never had complaints about older men. Bianca isn't immune to his charms either.
And that's a great question! I'd put the Lyons house on the island in Windenburg for the old world-y feel. I like to think that there's a butler island where butlers live, train and exchange vampire tips, though the network of vampire servants probably extends farther than that, in addition to humans who are aware of occult goings-on. Also, I would totally watch a show called Butler Island.
Curse our financial strife those twins would have been the perfect way to compensate Lysander's absence. Then when Lysander comes back we have a all out butler brawl preferably shirtless to see who gets to stay! Oh the possibilities
Maybe the above could happen on Butler Island. It will clearly be a ratings juggernaut!
I guess it's because they were romantic interactions, but Thaddeus came off as a little pervy that's just me though it was a great chapter!
If it felt unsettling, that may not be unintentional. But Bianca and Thaddeus did know each other for a good number of years, roughly around the same amount of time Lysander has been working for her, or a little less. But I know I was freaking out a little--"Oh my god, Bianca has a tiny bit of a pink bar with LYSANDER'S DAD now!" However, that's really not out of character for Bianca, and Lysander may not be the first Lyons butler she's crushed on...or the second...or the third... And she's in a pretty vulnerable position right now now that she's been ~abandoned forever~ by everyone she cared about.
I don't care if Daya had motive to apply it would have been entertaining to watch
Curse our financial strife those twins would have been the perfect way to compensate Lysander's absence. Then when Lysander comes back we have a all out butler brawl preferably shirtless to see who gets to stay! Oh the possibilities
I guess it's because they were romantic interactions, but Thaddeus came off as a little pervy that's just me though it was a great chapter!
Well...how can it be pervy when Bianca is WAAAAY older than Thaddeus? That's why the romance seems natural. She's known him from when he was young.
A love scene involving two butlers at the same time...I think Bianca and I should form a book club she may just be my far more polite, slightly more vampiric, alter ego.
I've snagged that little chapel for my own devious purposes; perhaps I'll get around to making a simself and sequester it there surrounded by romance novels and shirtless Amazon slaves? Who knows; sky's the limit!
To the best of my knowledge, as long as you make it a "page" and not a "post", published pages don't show up on the blog feed! If I'm wrong you can have Graham curse me with a swarm of biting insects.
Speaking of Graham, looking forward to hearing from him tomorrow! Does he know about Daya's wandering eye? How does he feel about the being left by Rina? So many things to know!
A love scene involving two butlers at the same time...I think Bianca and I should form a book club she may just be my far more polite, slightly more vampiric, alter ego.
Bianca would love to be the fanged tomato in a double-butler, lettuce and tomato sandwich. If that's a thing. Which it should be.
That sounds like a perfect use of the chapel, by the way! And that's great to know about the pages vs. posts--I actually ended up renovating my contact page. I don't know of anyone who'd want to contact me, unless they want to contact me about butlers. But it's good to know I can add more pages later! I'm a WP newbie, so I'm still figuring things out. Maybe someday I'll try to make things all pretty and fancy like other people's stuff. (Unlikely!)
You'll get to hear a bit more from Graham tomorrow, so I'll keep my mouth shut for now.
@LadyLobster Yes, I created an account to comment. Thanks for the new chapter! Byron is adorable.
This makes me so happy, thank you! It can't be said enough how much I appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment. As I mentioned in my WP comment section for today's chapter, everyone's questions, enthusiasm, and feedback help me so much. Everyone in this thread has helped motivate and inspire me, so thank you all! If I could, I'd give everyone a butler of their choice as a token of my appreciation. (And if you don't like butlers, I can give you Graham.)
IT'S GRAHAM. (Does he need any introduction? Bianca would say no, but she would also say his coffin should be launched into the ocean via giant cannon.)
The next chapter will be from...someone new?! Who could it be? Also it's going to be a plum to set up, so we'll see when it gets done! Aaaa I'm dreading it...
Comments
I really enjoy writing about noticeably flawed characters in general, though I do try to make them likable in their own way--or at least fun to read about. Perfection is boring to me, but so is "evil for the sake of evil." I read a lot of fantasy, so that drives me crazy after a while. (BECAUSE DARKNESSSSS, etc.) There's that quote about an enemy being someone whose story you haven't heard, if that offers any hints for the future!
And wow, I'm honored that your post here seems to be your very first!
Chapter 20: Byron
Byron gets ready to be a 100% independent mature vampire! Can he hack it in the city?
That's right Byron, you are a gentleman...stalker
Ahh! So much going on here...the new everything, the obsessing over Penny...that apartment "At least now I had my own computer. It only smelled a little bit like smoke when I turned it on—it was practically new!" hah, the headline for the whole place!
I miss Byron's stuffy old suit, but it's also delightful seeing him in a tank top with plaid pants and zippers on his thighs!
Reed and Mina! Eee...geeze, there I go again...I'm so tickled about Reed and Mina! And Byron's distress over their handsy-ness...one day, Byron, one day that could be you and Penny!
Poor Byron. He's not a stalker, really he's not! It's just a small world, okay? I had a lot of fun decorating his apartment. I think I like decorating things that are supposed to look terrible more than things that are supposed to look pretty. His outfit, though...
Your new avatar inspired me to make a new one with one of my characters making a funny face too! Bianca looked too tranquil before...and she's too neurotic to be tranquil!
If anyone can pull off zippered pants, pasty noodle arms, a whole lot of guyliner, and green flip-flops, it's Byron!
With Reed and Mina, I wanted to recreate the full City Living experience of neighbors who show up all the time and just come into your kitchen and leave glasses of water everywhere and start watching your TV and... *hisses*
Love the new Bianca avatar! It's so much more...Bianca, because Bianca's life is hard, you know? I feel like that sentence should be on a stone tablet somewhere, or one of those inspirational facebook posters.
Irritating Fun Fact: 7/10 when I'm typing the world "quote" I type it qyote...including when I was typing this sentence.
The Illusion of Light Forum
Moon Logic Forum
Fame Masquerade Forum
Bianca's life is hard. Though sometimes she might make it harder on herself... And thanks, now I know what to get engraved on Byron's coffin! Maybe Bianca can have it done as stress relief for her hard life.
I'm glad people seem to be responding well to Byron's new outfit. I was like, Is this too much? It's too much, right? But it's SO BYRON. "How do I city human?????? Like THIS." My story and the characters' looks are both pretty cartoony, and I'm lazy so I try to justify their cartoon character approach of "everyone only seems to wear one outfit all of the time because it's more iconic, okay?" Also I just found out a few days ago that you can assign multiple outfits to each category... Life-changing! Or at least clothes-changing. We'll see.
Graham will have to find something (or someone) new to make up for the loss of his shadows.
I was going to post this on Monday instead, but I have a complete GRAHAM CHAPTER ready and waiting that I'll post tomorrow instead.
I've thought about it quite a bit, and I've decided that Bianca is, actually, my favourite character...I do love my green flip flopped Byron (and incidentally, every time I see the name Bryon, I now read it Byron), but her slightly morbid and tragically romantic way of looking at the world has me completely smitten (simitten?)
And those twins! (Oh my)...I hope you're going to be using them for something fun; shame to waste their "slightly different yet oh, so similar versions of masculine beauty."...Bianca's face framed between their bodies cracked me right up!
And Daya! Poor Daya...also, if she lived with Bianca, she'd have an increased chance of seeing Byron again *ahem* not that that factored into her application at all, nooo, surely not.
That just leaves us with Thaddeus, that handsome devil, what is he up to? I refuse to believe he doesn't have some sort of ulterior motive
I'll link to my friend's little chapel again because I love it so much and it was perfect for what I needed. It's so simple and small, but the little details are great. I really need to make a credits page on WP for all the houses I've used--hopefully the page won't show up in the order of my blog posts.
I felt bad for Byron in the last chapter, in a huge city but feeling all alone... I hope he can see Penny soon!
Here's a question--where do the humans reside who know about Forgotten Hollow and become butlers?
Curse our financial strife those twins would have been the perfect way to compensate Lysander's absence. Then when Lysander comes back we have a all out butler brawl preferably shirtless to see who gets to stay! Oh the possibilities
I guess it's because they were romantic interactions, but Thaddeus came off as a little pervy that's just me though it was a great chapter!
Haha, I was like, plum, Lysander's dad is hot even after adding wrinkles and stuff. And I've never had complaints about older men.
And that's a great question! I'd put the Lyons house on the island in Windenburg for the old world-y feel. I like to think that there's a butler island where butlers live, train and exchange vampire tips, though the network of vampire servants probably extends farther than that, in addition to humans who are aware of occult goings-on. Also, I would totally watch a show called Butler Island.
Maybe the above could happen on Butler Island.
If it felt unsettling, that may not be unintentional.
Well...how can it be pervy when Bianca is WAAAAY older than Thaddeus? That's why the romance seems natural. She's known him from when he was young.
It's true, Thaddeus is decades closer to almosttt being age-appropriate for Bianca!
I've snagged that little chapel for my own devious purposes; perhaps I'll get around to making a simself and sequester it there surrounded by romance novels and shirtless Amazon slaves? Who knows; sky's the limit!
To the best of my knowledge, as long as you make it a "page" and not a "post", published pages don't show up on the blog feed! If I'm wrong you can have Graham curse me with a swarm of biting insects.
Speaking of Graham, looking forward to hearing from him tomorrow!
Bianca would love to be the fanged tomato in a double-butler, lettuce and tomato sandwich. If that's a thing. Which it should be.
That sounds like a perfect use of the chapel, by the way! And that's great to know about the pages vs. posts--I actually ended up renovating my contact page. I don't know of anyone who'd want to contact me, unless they want to contact me about butlers. But it's good to know I can add more pages later! I'm a WP newbie, so I'm still figuring things out. Maybe someday I'll try to make things all pretty and fancy like other people's stuff. (Unlikely!)
You'll get to hear a bit more from Graham tomorrow, so I'll keep my mouth shut for now.
This makes me so happy, thank you! It can't be said enough how much I appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment. As I mentioned in my WP comment section for today's chapter, everyone's questions, enthusiasm, and feedback help me so much. Everyone in this thread has helped motivate and inspire me, so thank you all! If I could, I'd give everyone a butler of their choice as a token of my appreciation.
Since I like you and Bianca is apparently your spirit animal, I'll throw in two for the price of one.
The next chapter will be from...someone new?! Who could it be? Also it's going to be a plum to set up, so we'll see when it gets done! Aaaa I'm dreading it...