5.2 KiB
[RT][WIP] The Library Unpublished, Chapter 7 and 8
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Author: u/None *
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URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11539230/chapters/26597679
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Score: 16
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Created: 2017-08-27T20:28:40
Post:
Comments:
u/None [+2] (8 minutes later)
We're getting closer and closer to the end. Next week, there's only going to be a single chapter, but don't worry. It's going to be a big one :)
I'd really like to know your guesses at what is going to happen next. What's the resolution regarding the mystery of the library you expect to see, and what might be _sein_'s fate?
Also, to settle an argument with a friend: I know I mix up British and American English (somewhat intentionally, even). Is this disorienting to a native speaker?
u/scruiser [+3] CYOA (17 hours later)
So current theories for the origin of the books:
AI, either as a complicated scheme (if the AI is superhuman), or simply learning to write with different styles (is the AI is dumber, but still superhumanely fast at writing). Possibly an attempt by an AI to break through the meta layers of reality to our world by generating lots of meta-text?
Books commissioned by a cult/society/club of rich eccentrics (is Sein a member) or a single rich eccentric (possibly Sein).
SCP-foundation style reality fuckery going on (the suspense in the writing reminds me of SCP recovery logs). Or just straight Harry Potter style magic turned to a particular application. I guess just straight up magic would be slightly boring compared to some of the more convoluted explanations. Sein is a wizard (or reality warper if SCP-foundation style fantasy) or was leaked the books by a wizard/reality warper/occultist.
Cio or Sein are speedwriters and are screwing with the author as part of an elaborate prank.
The author (not the real author but the in-story author) is making up the events for the own ends. Attention? An attempt to sell off Tom Riddle's blank diary? IDK....
The least satisfying option (in my opinion) would be to leave it unexplained in a mix of [maybe magic maybe mundane](TV Tropes not linked to save your time) and Magical Realism. The Northern Caves ended this way and as interesting as that story was, it was less satisfying than if the suicide inducing nature of the revelations imparted by binge reading TNC had been explored more.
u/None [+4] (21 hours later)
Let me first state that the ending is already written and won't be changed based on your opinions and suggestions :)
the suspense in the writing reminds me of SCP recovery logs
Interesting. I've never really gotten into SCP, which means that this isn't intentional.
Cio or sein are screwing with the author as part of an elaborate prank.
You mean they're screwing with the narrator (Mike). As chapter 0 suggests, the author might actually be Cio :)
The narrator is making up the events for his own ends
Hmm! Very interesting. An unreliable narrator is, of course, always a possibility, though I don't think the foreshadowing to pull it of in a satisfying way is quite there.
Thank you for sharing your theories. This is why I post my stories in chapter installments :)
u/scruiser [+3] CYOA (21 hours later)
Interesting. I've never really gotten into SCP, which means that this isn't intentional.
A common pattern in a lot of well written SCP logs/protocols is to start with something just slightly out of the ordinary that builds up to something impossible and bizarre. As it reaches the climax, additional information lets the reader make some sense of what is going, while also revealing an additional level of horror, bizarreness, and/or impossibility. It seems like you've executed 2/3s of this structure really well, which makes me excited for the conclusion.
You mean they're screwing with the narrator (Mike). As chapter 0 suggests, the author might actually be Cio :)
Ah.., yeah I forgot about the ambiguity of the in-story author's identity.
u/None [+3] (22 hours later)
It seems like you've executed 2/3s of this structure really well, which makes me excited for the conclusion.
Hmm. I've tried to figure out whether you'd be satisfied with the ending I have written, and haven't come to a definitive conclusion. You'll have to let me know what you think in the final discussion thread :)
u/scruiser [+2] CYOA (23 hours later)
You know, I didn't like TNC ending on my first read, but after letting it sit awhile, in hindsight, it was actually pretty good... the anticlimactic ending gave it a sort of realism or verisimilitude that made the surreal parts better. Anyway, I'm sure I'll enjoy it even if it breaks off from the formula I'm expecting it to follow.
u/Revlar [+3] (a day later)
Mike is receiving "unpublished" recordings from Sein. That's the nature of the library. One of the audio logs is recursive in this manner because it has Sein reading a book he came up with himself: The index.
The library is a place where the line between reality and fiction is blurred. That's what I've gotten out of the clues in the prose.