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friendly-books · 2 months

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Ghost Story live blog

Ghost story

I already know how and why Harry died. It would have been interesting to see if I could have figured it out.

Mort has to show up in this book right? His whole thing is a ghost and now Harry’s a ghost.

“Life is hard.

Dying’s easy” pg. 1 Yep

Carmichael!

Is Harry in limbo?

“Being here? With you? I’ve met my subconscious, and he’s not that slick.” pg. 6 Ha

Harry you should know better than to use your Sight all Willy dilly

Isn’t Amitiel an archangel? He has the -el suffix and that would explain why he stopped Harry’s Sight

“The opposition” Jake said. You died because they cheated.” So a fallen angel had a hand in Harry’s death? I thought it was because Harry used Kincaid as a proxy to kill himself so he wouldn’t be the winter knight? Is there more at play here? Do I have a mystery to sink my teeth in? Yay!

Wait where’s that quote from White Night ah found it “Once you start thinking, Gee maybe that isn’t me thinking about suicide, it kind of falls apart” Could this be apart of it? Could a fallen angel drive Harry to suicide. But if that’s the case then it wouldn’t be suicide it’d be murder right? I wonder which one? Why would the fallen kill Harry now? They’re not even in this book.

“The faded, years-old scar I’d given myself on my right forearm, when my knife slipped while cleaning the fish my grandfather and I had caught, was missing also.” pg. 16 Oh more info about Harry’s time with Eb

“You want me to solve my own murder?” pg. 17 Only Harry could get in this much trouble being dead. And only Harry could solve his own murder. They said murder not suicide so there’s definitely more going on here.

“Won’t have much magic” pg. 18 Oh no that’s going to make things difficult

“If it makes any difference” Jake said, “three of the people you love will come to great harm unless you find your murder.” pg. 19 Oh no

Did Harry just call Murphy Karrin as in her first name?!

Is Harry’s grave going to come up? Surely it will it’s his grave and he’s dead.

Wait so Jake is Murphy’s dad aw

Mort!

Why does this ghost know who Harry is?

“And nothing-nothing at all-happened.

There was no stirring of forces deep inside me. There was no current of equal parts giddy excitement, vibrating tension, and raw lighting flashing through my thoughts. There was no flash of white-hot flame that would have incinerated the apparition coming towards me.

There was no magic

There was no magic.” pg. 33 Oh no and I love this paragraph and how it describes what Harry feels when he does magic.

Wraiths are scary

“Oh perfect”

“Hiya, Morty” pg. 40 Ha

It’s been six months!

“There is snow a foot and a half deep on the ground,” I said, pointing in a random direction “in May” pg. 44 Mab is up to something. Is she part of this? Is she trying to get her knight back? Is she mad that Harry reneged on their deal? So many questions

“I had a thing or two to learn about how formable will translated to power on the spooky side of the street” pg. 50 Is Harry going to get ghost powers?!

“This was terror of an alien vintage: I was helpless.” pg. 51 Oh no

I like Sir Stuart

“Magic. The Gray Ghost was using magic.” pg. 57 Oh no

“Oh. Plus I could run through freaking walls.” pg. 63 So cool ghost powers

“It’s crazy for a ghost to interact with the physical world. Sane ghosts don’t go around acting crazy.” pg. 65 So Harry is definitely going to be able to physically interact with the world. Because Harry is crazy

“This is your fault Dresden.” pg. 66 How is this Harry’s fault Mort?

“…sunk into him” pg. 66 Possession! Ghost powers!

“Defendarius!” I barked, faux Latin, the old defense spell I’d learned from Justin DuMorne. pg. 83 Interesting I wonder why Harry used that spell? Is it because he now uses his shield bracelet instead? But now he doesn't have the bracelet and he falls back on this? Is this part of Harry’s training from Justin to be his personal enforcers? On a slight tangent do you think Justin didn’t teach Elaine and Harry certain magic? Or make sure they couldn’t go against him.

“Heroes know better than to hand the universe lines like that.” pg. 94 Ha

“Susan’s blood…everywhere” pg. 98 Therapy please

“Why do I feel like I should be lying on a couch somewhere?” pg. 99 Is this it? Is Harry finally getting therapy while he’s dead? Or at least something close to therapy? Please tell me it’s therapy. Harry/Therapy my otp. I’ve been saying since the third book that Harry needs therapy. One of these books he better get some. Or at least go to Lilly the Summer Lady and get all his feelings out.

“That car shouldn’t be there.”

“An expensive one” pg. 106 Marcone? Am I getting Marcone? Please by Marcone

“Murphy house had been warded, its natural defense threshold used as a foundation for further, more aggressive defensive.” pg. 108 Oh who warded it?

“I told you not to show up early anymore, Child’s” pg. 113 CHILDS! You’re one of Marcone’s men. Why is Murphy meeting with one of Marcone’s men?

“Marcone’s top murderer-“ pg. 114 Marcone mention! I believe the polite term is troubleshooter

“Ragged lady” pg. 114 Who’s the Ragged lady?

“When she was working with Dresden, I’d have said yes, in a heartbeat, without reservation.”

“Now…Dresden gone. And she came back from Chichen Itza changed.” Murphy said “Maybe post-traumatic stress. Maybe something more than that. She’s different.” Oh no poor Molly I mean it has to be Molly. Who else could the Ragged Lady be

“Tears blurred my eyes as I saw Mister” pg. 118 Mister! He’s ok :) Now I assume Mouse is with Maggie wherever she is.

Murphy has a buzz cut

Where’s Molly?

This is the Justice League that Murph and Will were talking about it in Side Jobs

“That will be up to Marcone” pg. 130 Marcone mention

“Daniel snorted at exactly the same time I did.” pg. 131 Ha and I also snorted: what's the White Council going to do?

“Then she whipped the pistol in a bone-breaking stroke, smashing it into the vampire’s jaw.

“Yes!” I hissed, clenching my hands into fists.” pg. 140 Ha and I also audibly said yes and pumped my fist. I think Harry is rubbing off on me.

“Oh, my,” Sir Stuart said, his voice muted with respect. “I can see why you’d come to her for assistance.”

“Damn skippy” pg. 141 Ha

“Spirits are almost never this…”

“Stubbornly willful?” Murphy suggested.

“Insistent,” Mort finished, his expression neutral. pg. 148 Ha

“Mister is a lot of cat, checking in at right around thirty pounds. The impact staggered me, and I rocked back, and then quickly leaned down to run my hand over the cat’s fur. He felt like he always did, and his rumbling purr was loud and happy.” pg. 149 Aw Harry can pet Mister :)

“It took me a second to realize that I could touch Mister. I could feel the softness of his fur and the warmth of his body.” pg. 149 Yay

“Oh sure, Professional ectomancer with a national reputation as a medium tells you what’s going on, and nobody believes him. But let a stump-tailed, furry critter come in and everyone goes all Lifetime.” pg. 150 Ha and Aw

Oh no Power vacuum

“We built wards around Karren’s house. Three hundred people from the Paranet, all working together.” pg. 157 Yay

“They were all scared of Molly.” pg. 158 Oh no :(

“You don’t have any idea what you’re asking me to go through.” pg. 165 Oh now I remember Molly erased Harry’s memory of getting Kincaid to kill him. And Mab, Deamonreach, and Bonnie kept him alive.

“You will go to the Dagobah system. There you will learn from Yoda, the Jedi Master who instructed me.” pg. 167 Ha

“Chewbacca is with her” pg. 169 Yay

“It was the first time I used magic” pg. 175 I love that Harry uses his memory of first using magic to help him.

Harry’s talking to himself again

Oh interesting Fitz can hear Harry

“Old books and old movies. I had to help this kid.” pg. 203 Does Fliz remind Harry of himself?

“I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so…

Peaceful. Content.

And free. Free to do nothing. Free to rest. Free to turn away from horrible, black things in my memory, to let go of burdens for a while.

I left my eyes closed for a time, and let the contentment and quiet fill me.” pg. 209 While I’m glad Harry’s content and peaceful it’s a little concerning that it’s only because he’s dead.

“Did you die doing the right thing?”

“I…No. I didn’t” pg. 214 No you saved your daughter that counts for something

“I had become what I always fought” pg. 216 Just because you made a possible mistake at the end of your life doesn’t negate all the good you did in your life. One bad deed doesn’t outweigh the good.

“The gates of the cemetery were being left open.” pg. 223 A clue!

“Hot diggity dog” I said grinning “The games a-freaking foot!” pg. 224 Ha

“It was on fire” pg. 225 Oh no Mort’s house

“Harry Dresden-I take responsibility for more impossible situations in the first twenty-four hours of being dead than most people do all day.” pg. 235 Yep that’s Harry alright

Butters!

Bob!

“Don’t have to, former boss” pg. 246 This got me tearing up.

“It doesn’t upset me” I said even though it sort of did” pg. 248 It upsets me

“The one he organized to help defend the city from the formor.”

“I figured you knew…Marcone Baron John Marcone.” pg. 249 Marcone mentions I love that he’s a part of The Chicago Alliance. Again with the references to the Formor. Are they the people Harry and co fight in Battle Ground? Wait, is the headquarters the castle?

“It’s license plate read: MeepMeep” pg. 250 Ha

“The same Justin who had adopted me and trained me to grow into a monster, and who had eventually decided I wasn’t tractable enough and attempted to kill me.” pg. 261 Justin is the worst and I think we’re gonna learn more about him and Harry’s time training with him given how he keeps getting brought up.

“Someone had turned the ruins of my old home into a freaking fortress.” pg. 264 Marcone did and it’s great

“It read, simply, Brighter Future Society” pg. 264 Yep I love this. The castle is a monument to all Harry’s done. I love that Marcone built it over Harry’s house. Is the lab still there? I love the name. Because is it not what Harry fought for. For a brighter future

“To build on the ruins of the boardinghouse, construction would have to start practically the same day that I died. Actual stone is expensive to build with because it’s difficult and time-consuming. This place was as big as a small castle. It should have taken months and months and months to build. It gone up in six. Probably significantly less, given the weather.

“This place must have cost a damned fortune” pg. 265 Yep I think the castle is a monument to the good Harry’s done and all that he stood for. Marcone must have planned this for a while. It definitely cost a fortune given that I looked up similar relocations, one from the 1925 cost $250,000 inflation would make it $3,213,414.29 in 2011 when the Ghost Story was published. That’s a lot of money. Did Marcone approached Murphy about the Brighter Future Society. Murphy approaches Marcone? What was everyone’s reaction to the castle? Were they mad that Marcone bought the land that was Harry’s home and then built a castle over it? Were they glad they had a headquarters? What was Marcone’s reaction to Harry’s death and ghost? Was there a funeral?

Did anybody in the White Council mourn? Was there a Worry Room meeting? Oh no what was Ebenezar’s and Thomas’s reaction?

“Too simple,” I said “Too easy. He’s running some kind of game on you.” pg. 268 Or he could ya know want to help. Honestly Harry Marcone isn’t evil incarnate

“About five minutes after I get a functional lightsaber” pg. 271 Ha

“I know it wasn’t Marcone” Murphy said. “All trouble shooters have alibis that check out. So did he and Gard and Hendricks.” pg. 275 Why would it be Marcone? Honestly people

“No going to Marcone for help.” He paused and looked around the room as if he’d never seen it before “Because that would be…unpredictable.” pg. 277 Ha and that’s rich coming from Murphy and Harry as they stand in the castle that Marcone provided and staffed with his men.

“The real Dresden wouldn’t hesitate.”

“The real Dresden would never have gotten a chance to see them. To talk to them. He’d just skip straight to a fight.” 284 First can we not talk about “real Dresden” second yes things have changed since Harry’s death nobody’s the same anymore not even Harry.

Yep Kincaid shot Harry. I want to know more about cheating. If we take the fact that the other side pushed Harry then which fallen angel and why? It’s not Lash obviously, maybe Lanciel or Lucifer? What push caused Harry to go through with the shooting?

“News of my death would shatter Ivy.” pg. 288 Oh no poor Ivy :( Oh no she probably knows it was Kincaid who shot Harry. Oh no, why?

Surely Harry will get his magic back? Right?

“The first conscious spell I’d knowingly worked, fully planned, fully visualized, fully realized, had been calling forth a burst of fire.” pg. 296 Of course Harry’s first spell was fire

Boo Justin get away from Harry

“He had very long, slender fingers but his hands could make fists that were hard as rocks.”

“If I angered Justin, he went from saying please to using fist. pg. 297 Glad Harry burned Justin to death. Can I go meet his ghost in a denny's parking lot? I just want to talk ignore the baseball bat

I love how teen Harry talks about his interest in comic book superheroes

“Sedjet” pg. 297 Oh that’s not a word Harry usually uses to use magic

“I flicked the starter on the Bic lighter I had palmed in my right hand.” pg. 299 Ha

“Justin held his fist right next my face, until the heat was beginning to make me uncomfortable, but he never flinched and his flesh remained unharmed.” pg. 300 This reminds me of the similar situation with Harry and Molly

“Unremarkable. Complement. His mouth twisted and his voice turned bitter “Mediocre. Mediocrity is a terrible fate, Harry” pg. 301 Justin needs to chill like what’s wrong with average? Not everyone wants to be known or the best

“I will have no shrikers here, boy” pg. 301 I don’t like that Justin calls Harry boy here

“No one had ever told me I was special before. But Justin had. No one had ever taken so much time to do anything with me. Ever. Justin had.” pg. 301 Poor Harry :(

“You know.’ Cause…the mediocrity” pg. 301 I love that Harry used the ‘mediocrity’ and turned it on its head.

“Good. When all is done, I think you’ll find baseball a rewarding experience.” pg. 303 Flashbacks to how Harry learned to shield. This is giving me vibes of the cycle of abuse but I might just be reading too much into it. Harry mentions Justin using his fist and now he’s giving Harry a “gift” especially since I know how that gift is going to be used in the future. Justin reminds me of abusive parents

“Flickum bicus” I whispered.

“The fire was every bit as beautiful as I remembered.” pg. 304 Yay Harry got his magic back!

Oh Harry’s talking to himself

“I had learned how to do magic the hard way first-all of it in my head. Only after I’d proved I could it without props did Justin tell me that it was even use them.” pg. 307 Interesting that Justin taught him the hard way. I wonder why

“When Justin began teaching me how to create protective shields, he threw baseballs at me at top speed. When I failed, I was hit with a fastball moving at more than eighty miles per hour. Justin said pain was an excellent motivator, and that the activity was good training.” pg. 311 Boo I still don’t like this training method. Pain is a stupid motivator. Justin’s training sucks

Lea is here. Why is she “training” Molly? For her taking the Winter Lady mantle?

“Harry didn’t believe that” Molly said, her voice brittle. “He never hurt me.” pg. 312 As he should.

Molly’s gotten better at magic ah! I’m so proud

Oh Lea taught Harry? Interesting

“I am, however, reasonably good with fire” pg.329 Ha and biggest understatement ever

Why is Molly homeless? Why isn’t she staying with her parents?

“Is that what it’s like for you? Throwing fire that way.” pg. 339 Is Molly jealous of all the raw power that Harry has?

I do wonder if Harry’s problem with control is in part because he has a lot of raw power and it’s like holding back a ocean and that’s hard to control, just naturally bad control, or something Justin had some part to play in it or a combination of the three.

“Of you, Harry. You could find anything in this town, but you never even noticed the shadow you cast” Her eyes overflowed and she slashed them angrily with one hand. “Every time you defied someone, every time you came out on top against things you couldn’t possibly have beaten your name grew. And they feared that name. There were other cities to prey on-cities that didn’t have the mad wizard Dresden defending them. They feared you.” pg. 342 Yeah Harry can be scary

“I grew up an orphan with nothing but a few vague memories of my father before he died. My childhood hadn’t been the kind of thing I’d wish on anyone. I had run into some bad people. Justin was the worst-a true monster.” pg. 344 Poor Harry

“When I was sixteen or seventeen, still agonized by his betrayal, and certain that I would never know anything like a home, friends, or family, I made myself a promise: I would never allow a child of mine to grow up as I had-driven from home to home, an easy victim with no protector, never stable, never certain.

Never” pg. 34 Poor Harry poor Maggie

“It was home.

My home.

Sweet home Chicago” pg. 349 Aw I love that Harry loves his city

Oh Fitz knows about Harry. Yes Harry helps people

Am I going to see Nick again?

The Astor case! Faith!

“In thirty years? You live like this and…Seven? That’s it? That’s all?”

“Nick leaned back in his chair and gave Fitz a small smile. “That’s enough” pg. 364 I love Nick

“Yeah” Fitz signed “He…kinda doesn’t shut up.” pg. 371 Ha

Ah Harry’s having Fitz knock on the secret compartment from The Warrior

Is Fitz going to pull a Le Mis? Steal the candle sticks from a priest

“(It burned down.)

(I was not responsible)” pg. 386 Ha and yes you were responsible Harry

Oh no Morty

Oh no Evil Bob

Oh no the Gray Ghost is Corpsetaker

“I’d survived my original encounter with her thanks only to the intervention of “Gentleman” John Marcone, little bit of luck and better guesswork, and some truly epic paranoia.” pg. 416 Marcone mention and glad that Harry remembers that Marcone helped him.

“Justin had manipulated us both masterfully. He wanted us to bond. He wanted us to feel isolated from everyone else and loyal to him. Though he put a facade about it that fooled me at the time, he wanted us to work through our nascent sexuality with each other and save him the bother of explaining anything-or the risk of either Elaine or me forming attachments with someone outside our little circle.” pg. 419 Yeah isolating is part of the abuse

“Tears blurred my vision as I asked him, in a very quiet, very confused voice, “why?” pg. 420 Sobbing

“He’d never told me about the White Council or the rest of the supernatural world. Abusers like to isolate their victims. People who feel that they are completely alone tend not to fight back.” pg. 422 Yep Justin is the worst

Lea!

“I missed that episode” pg. 425 Ha

“I do not know what happened between the time you left Justin and the time you came to me.” pg. 425 Oh Harry ran to Lea

“You do not settle things by half measures, do you, my godson?” pg. 427 Yep that’s Harry

“And the Thing standing just inside the door.” pg. 436 Oh no it’s He Who Walks Behind! I know that capital letter when I see it.

“Neither fear nor pain sway you from your objective. Excellent” pg. 442 Why is HWWB so happy by this?

“Child of the stars.” Oh what’s this? Is there more to Harry? Proficiency? or stars align on his birth?

“There was a flickering heartbeat of uncertainty in that inevitable presence, and the creature said, “What” pg. 447 Ha and Harry really threw this Eldritch abomination for a loop with that

“But I can choose which way I turn.” pg. 447 Yes smart use that knowledge Harry

“I expected better of a pupil of DuMorne.” pg. 448 Does HWWB know Justin personally?

Oh no poor Stan

“It.

Wasn’t.

Right.

No, it wasn’t. But the world wasn’t a fair place, was it? And I had more reason to know it than most people twice my age. The world wasn’t nice, and it wasn’t fair. People who didn’t deserve it suffered and died every single day.

So what? So somebody ought to do something about it.” 451 So cool I love that this quote shows us Harry’s character

“Fuego!” pg. 452 Yay

Interesting I always thought Harry fought HWWB after he killed Justin and Justin used his death curse to release HWWB. So Harry defeated an Eldritch Abomination then fought Justin. Why didn’t Justin use his death curse on Harry? What does HWWB want?

“Your killer was but the proxy of another being, and one mightier and more dangerous than he” pg. 466 Interesting this means that Harry is mightier and more dangerous than Kincaid. This could also be about the proxy with the fallen angels.

Bob’s skull is cool

“And besides…he was my oldest friend.” pg. 480 Aw :)

“Because of that thing,” Daniel said, nodding toward me.” pg. 494 Rude

“Hell, she’s even taken help from Marcone.” pg. 495 What’s so wrong with that? Marcone’s more of an ally at this point than an enemy.

“Daniel Carpenter leaned back, lifted a size-fourteen work boot, and kicked the door leading to the factory floor completely off its hinges.” pg. 498 Yay

“Allow me to clarify,” I said “Touch him and you and I are going to throw down.” pg. 507 So cool

“I will see him safely to the next world. The Prince of Darkness himself will not wrest him from me.” pg. 508 So cool

“He’d recognized something in his old teacher’s words or manner. I’d seen the faces of abused wives while they watched their husbands drink, sickly certain that the cycle of abuse would renew itself in the coming hours. Fitz knew Aristedes looked like when he was about to dispense violence.” pg. 511 I’m glad this book is going into cycle of abuse

Oh no Daniel

“I stifled a furious scream of my own and looked away as the sorcerer bent and twisted the energy of Creation itself into a means of torment.” pg. 520 I love that Harry hates how magic gets twisted

“When I faced my old master, I did it with newly made staff and blasting rod in hand, with the ancient forces of the universe at my call and with words of power upon my tongue.

Fitz had more courage than I had as a child.

He went to face his demons with no weapon at all.” pg. 529 So cool

“Present company excluded,” I said

“You don’t count,” the skull said stoutly. “You were drafted” pg. 539 This does make me wonder why Harry’s still a warden post coming back to life. I feel like dying would relinquishing his warden duties

I love Bob and Harry’s friendship

“Come home” pg. 546 I love this and how Harry uses his memories for this spell

Harry got his staff!

“Our friend Mortimer is in trouble. And we don’t have much time…” pg. 550 I’m glad Harry considers Mortimer a friend

“Marcone is in Italy or something. Childs in charge.” pg. 559 I do wish we got to see Marcone’s reaction to Harry’s ghost. Is Marcone in Italy for an Accord meeting? Is he getting updates on what’s happening with the rest of the alliance? As far as I know this is the second time Marcone has left Chicago. Once back in Death Mask in the train with Nicky and the shroud and now in Italy.

“(I usually took Bob along. He sat on the dashboard. I always thought I’d been doing him a favor, although when I thought back, it made me think he’d been doing it for the sake of shared experience. For company.)” pg. 565 Aw :)

“A relationship,” he replied “With me” pg. 58 Uh you wanna clarify that Evil Bob

“Maybe you could clarify what you mean by a relationship. Because I’ve got to tell you, Bob, I’ve, uh…I’ve been hurt.” pg. 588 Ha

“I spent my lifetime fighting the darkness without becoming the darkness. Maybe I had faltered at the very end. Maybe I had finally come up against something that made me cross the line-but even then, I hadn’t turned into a degenerate freakzoid of the Kemmler variety. One mistake at the end of my life couldn’t erase all the times I had stood unmoved at the edge of the abyss and made snide remarks at its expense.

They could kill me, but they couldn’t have me.

I was my own.” pg. 590 Yes such a great quote and so cool.

“But I am dead certain-ba-dump-bump-ching-that I’m the first guy to lead an army of spirits in an assault from the spirit-world side…and had them start off by screaming, “BOO!” pg. 599 Ha

“No one likes a wiseass, Harry” pg. 612 Ha and a call back to White Night

“In fact, it was what one could only have expected from a member of the White Council.” pg. 624 I’m proud of how much Molly has grown but also worried about her

“Be.” pg. 638 Yes! So cool!

“As it turned out, I had a natural fortress of personality” pg. 654 Ha

“Your brain is a very strange place,” I said I meant it as a compliment, and it showed in my voice.” pg. 669 Aw

“They’ve been like that ever since they killed you.” pg. 677 What a line and no Molly you didn’t kill Harry. I don’t think Harry killed himself either.

“Sanya said, his dark, handsome face lighting up with a white grin.” pg. 679 Bi Harry moment 34! We’re back people

“And it was all your fault, Harry” pg. 680 No it’s not your fault Harry. Also why is this in italics? Is this what the fallen did to cheat?

“He did deserve the truth.” pg. 686 Yes he does. I’m worried about Thomas. We haven’t seen him all book.

“The voice warmed very slightly “Harry. What’s up?” pg. 686 Hey it warmed slightly that’s something epically for Kincaid

“He let out a soft chuckle. “Thanking me,” he said “That’s new.” pg. 687 Aw

“Appropriate. I must confess to being more of a Star Wars fan than a Star Trek fan, personally.” pg. 690 Huh Uriel is a Star Wars fan

“Uriel. I should have known from the outset.” pg. 692 I should have known it

“Yeah, well. Blaming myself for bad stuff isn’t exactly, um…completely uncharacteristic for me, man.” pg. 697 Yep

“And then he hung up. On speakerphone. On a freaking archangel.” pg. 699 Ha

“Mr. Sunshine…is perfectly acceptable. I suppose.” pg. 700 Ha

“What Comes Next.”

“So I can stay Between” pg. 701 I see those capital letters

“But it seems to me, you half-wit, that you probably shouldn’t have left a freaking ectomancer a pit full of wraiths to play with.” pg. 706 So cool go Mort!

“Empty liquor bottles littered the side table next to it.” pg. 713 Oh no

“Not only was it messy, it was simply messy, instead of attractively messy, and for Thomas that was hideous. He had a couple of weeks’ growth of bread; not long enough to be an actual beard yet, but too long to be a sexy shadow.” pg. 713 Oh no poor Thomas :(

Mouse!

“I wept openly as my dog all but bounced at me. He was obviously joyous and just as obviously trying to mute his delight-but his tail thumped loudly against everything in the room, and puppyish sounds of pleasure came from his throat as he slobbered on my face, giving me kisses.” pg. 721 Aw my heart :)

“What has begun must finish, little brother.” pg. 721 What?! Little brother?

“You are a soul. You have a body.” pg. 727 Interesting and cool.

“A whole lot of pain.” pg. 728 Harry’s alive!

“Parasite? What?” pg. 733 Bonnie? Why would you call Bonnie a parasite? That’s rude Man and Demonreach better apologize

“Lies. Mab cannot change who you are.” pg. 734 Yay!

“And mediocrity, my queen, is a terrible fate.” pg. 736 A callback

“I will be the Winter Knight,” I told her. “I will be the most terrifying Knight the Sidhe Courts have ever known. I will send your enemies down in defeat and make your power grow.” I smiled again “But I do it my way. In my terms. When you give me the task, I’ll decide how it gets done-and you’ll stay out of the way and let me work. And that’s how it’s going to be.” pg. 737 So cool and such a good quote

Final thoughts

Such a good book. I liked the fights. We got a Bi Harry moment we’re up to 34! Hopefully we can keep the streak up. I loved all the introspection in this book. I loved how much this book shows Harry’s friendship with Bob. I love the cool ghost powers. I like how we got into Harry’s past. I’m glad Maggie is with the Carpenters. I love how this book shows the consequences of the last book with the power vacuum and monsters closing in. I do wonder if the Formor are moving in because of the vacuum or because Harry died or a bit of both. I’m glad I got to see Mort. I do hope Thomas gets better. I wish Marcone was in this book but I think that’s about every book. I do wish we could see his reaction to Harry’s ghost. I wonder if Harry’s friends will tell Marcone about Harry’s ghost? Still waiting for dad Harry moments.

Harry’s death

So Harry didn’t commit suicide. He was murdered. I really think “ Once you start thinking, Gee maybe that isn’t me thinking about suicide, it kind of falls apart” applies here. Now why would Kincaid agree to kill Harry? I know Harry owes him one but still. This is going to hurt Ivy; her sort of father figure (Kincaid) shot and killed her only friend (Harry). I don’t like that Harry roped Moly in his death and didn’t tell Thomas. Was this all a part of the fallen’s plans? As for who whispered those words. I think it’s either Lanciel or maybe Lucifer. I want to know why? Why now? I do wish we got to see what Harry’s death curse could be. I do wonder if Harry dying canceled the death curse of die alone?

Harry’s resurrection

I’ve asked this question before but I think it bears repeating: how long does someone need to be dead for it to be considered necromancy or resurrection? Is Harry a zombie now? Or is he like Kemmler? I assume due to Harry being a special case he’s not a zombie. Either way I hope that Harry’s death and resurrection have some impact on him. It has to leave some mark.

Onto cold days!

#the dresden files #harry dresden #harry dresden is bi #ghost story

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museeeuuuum · 8 months

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I was supposed to do a bunch of paid work today and also record the video for Friday, so what did I do instead? Finished two paperbacks and started a third

#the dresden files #if youre curious #finished changes and ghost story today #yes im a wreck

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whyisthislife · 2 years

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photo source: @kirillshevch

#kirillshevch #jim butcher #the dresden files #ghost story #photography #dresden files #harry dresden

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narastories · 2 years

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Ghost Story thoughts

“Butters cleared his throat. “We could ask—” “No,” Murphy and I said at the same time, and continued speaking over each other. “The day I ask for that bastard’s help will be the day I—” “—told you before, over and over, that just because he’s reasonable doesn’t mean he’s—” “—a murderer and a drug dealer and a pimp, and just because Chicago’s corrupt government can’t put him away doesn’t mean—” “—you were smarter than that,” Murphy ﬁnished. Butters lifted his hands mildly. “Okay, okay. I was on board at no. No going to Marcone for help.” He paused and looked around the room as if he’d never seen it before. “Because that would be . . . unprecedented.”

Okay first of all this is the funniest scene in the book so far and I’ve laughed out loud listening to this. Pure comedy. *chef’s kiss*

But second: can someone please explain to me why we (by that I mean Harry) are still hung up on the “Marcone is The Worst TM” stance? I mean sure he is guilty of all listed accusations, but... he’s what I would call a “season 1 villain”. He’s a Peter Hale. He’s a Lea. At book 13 Harry should really get over himself lol After what kind of people he did go for help and worked together with. Surely Marcone isn’t even in the same ballpark of unpleasantness as Lara or Mab or idk a dozen other players. And I’m with Butters on this one it’s not like it would be unprecedented even.

Anyway, I think it’s funny how allergic Harry is to the guy.

#I'll always be team Nic first and foremost #when it comes to dresden villain daddies #but I do like a good mob boss too #and actually the other day I got a Marcone plot bunny shooed into my lap #by a person who shall remain nameless #for now #because I am NOT feeding this little furball #at least resisting it for now loool #nara rants and rambles #dresden files #nara's dresden phase #gentleman john marcone #ghost story

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checkoutmybookshelf · 1 year

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It's Complicated...

The latest two Dresden Files books were part of one of the early posts on this blog, and it's no secret that I'm extraordinarily not a fan of the stupid abelist turn those books took. Normally, that would have been more than enough to disqualify the series from getting discussed here. What makes this series complicated is that when I was tutoring ESL students, I had a really sweet, bright teenager who wasn't feeling reading. Out of sheer desperation, I handed him the first book of this series. A week later, I was expecting to talk about the first couple of chapters. He walked in halfway through the second book. So let's talk Dresden.

There are, quite simply, too many books in this series for me to go through one by one, so I'm going to speak mostly about this series in general, overarching strokes, with the odd spotlight on a few particular books.

The Dresden Files start out as urban fantasy crossed with pulp, noir, and hard-boiled detective fiction a la Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. For you classic film buffs, think Humphrey Bogard as Sam Spade and add magic. That original premise is strong enough to carry over the first few arguably mediocre novels, but once Butcher hits his stride as an author, the writing quality improves to be worthy of the plot and character work that was never not strong. However, the pulp, noir, and hard-boiled roots of the books mean that there is more than a little cynicism, sexism, misogyny, violence (particularly sexual violence and violence against women), and mega male gaze.

When I started the series, all of this was very present in the early books, but I was willing to overlook it, if not forgive it, because of the literary tradition that the fantasy was being couched in. I took a detective fiction class in grad school, and aside from the monsters and magic, early Dresden Files is basically bog standard hard-boiled noir pulp. You can hate a genre's conventions, absolutely, and I have issues with it, but it's the genre the author chose to draw on, so on some level, it's not the genre without the things.

It kind of feels like the lady doth protest too much, so bottom line: Genres have conventions for a reason, and these are the conventions we deal with for the genre of the early Dresden Files books.

After Summer Knight, though, there is a very subtle shift from the lone detective against a cruel, uncaring world, to exploring institutions. The CPD, White Council, Knights of the Cross, Ordo Lebes, and various other magical insitutions thrust more and more into prominence. And actually, I think Butcher does institutional politics WAY better than he did pulpy noir. The factions are clear and they have inherently conflicting needs and wants, and Harry himself has fingers in multiple institutional pies, and watching him get pulled in ten different directions by ten different imperatives with increasingly high stakes is never not fun.

This shift from lone ranger Harry to member of too many communities Harry really comes to a head in Changes, when he leverages his current connections and changes the entire structure of the series. And I remember when Changes came out, and waiting for Ghost Story to release was paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaainful. But at this point, despite the remnants of all the negative things from the pulpy roots of the series, I was extremely a Dresden stan. And I stayed a hard core Dresden stan through Skin Game, which supplanted Small Favor as my favorite of the series.

Skin Game was something magical, because it's the book that really took all the growth from the series and married it to a heist movie while also returning to the hard-boiled noir pulp roots of the series. This book knocked me flat, because Harry getting recruited to a heist crew by freaking Nicodemus to break into Hades's vault is literally the premise of the book and it just gets better from there. I can't say enough good things about this book.

Then we come to Peace Talks and Battle Ground, which are collectively the reason I am so hesitant to recommend the series to new readers. Maybe some of it was my feeling that I really didn't want to read about a massive, potentially world-ending disaster in summer and fall of 2020 (I actually think we were still in some level of lockdown when both of these books came out; I certainly couldn't go TO the bookstore to get them, they had to be delivered). But that at least made sense given the interorganizational and interpersonal politics that had been set up in the series up to this point. I could manage disaster fiction in the middle of a disaster, although I wasn't like...the most psyched about it.

What I was LEAST psyched about though, was the ableism. I've already talked about it in some detail in another post, so I won't go into detail or spoilers here, but I will say that ableism mixed heavily with sexism in the middle of a mass disease and mass disabling event pissed me right the hell off. I was not ok when I read this, you guys, and I am still furious two and a half years later. I am going to die mad about this. And frankly, I don't want to support authors who are so massively comfortable with that level of ableism, so I'm not inclined to recommend the Dresden Files to people.

And yet, these books got one of my students--and an ESL student at that, so the barriers were even higher for him--to read. And I cannot easily dismiss the power of that hard fact. This is a bit of a personal character arc for me, because dumbass 18-year-old undergrad me fully did not value the Twilight books for the fact that they got how many teens who might otherwise not have read reading, and I really should have. We can have conversations about aspects of books that are problematic or that perpetuate inequity, patriarchy, and violence, but with this series in particular, I struggle with the balance between "these books get teenagers reading" and "these books perpetuate ideologies that actively harm marginalized populations."

I don't have an answer to this one, guys.

Harry Potter was easy enough to let go from my life because trans people being safe and happy and existing are objectively more important than those books/movies/games/literally everything else in that franchise that supports the active harm that JK Rowling does.

Butcher is, as far as my research has turned up, not actively harming populations. That would have made my decision easier, but the thing is, reiterating ableist tropes subversively can reinforce that ableism is ok for uncritical readers. And yet if you look at popular media and the western literary canon, the ableist tropes are all throughout them. We give this a pass for plenty of so-called great authors and filmmakers and creators.

Hell, I was willing to give the Dresden Files a pass for a ton of stuff that perpetuates ideologies that can be harmful to women, and that's without the erasure of nonbinary and LGBTQ+ identities by sticking to heteronormativity. So, frankly, this is complicated. I don't have answers here, but I wanted to at least begin to think and talk about this. Because for better or worse, Dresden Files is in the SFF zeitgeist, and we have to reckon with it, as we do with lots of books that we think deeply about.

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tooattached2fictionalcharacters · 2 years

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Waldo Butters has my wholeass heart. That’s it. That’s the post.

#tagg rambles #I’m on ghost story and all I can say is I fucking love this man #the dresden files #waldo butters

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aidenwaites · 2 years

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Thinking about the number of media that depict hell as a corporate office,, in The Good Place hell is an office where demons meet to craft their new personal tortures, in Severance a corporate office you can never leave is constantly and at times overtly equated to hell, in Good Omens, where hell and heaven are roughly equal in being antagonists, Hell is the dirty, overcrowded, mismanaged floor of an office building that Heaven, clean and minimal to an empty and haunting extent, sits at the top of..

#im sure theres more #oh! in the dresden files Ghost Story i think dresden was in an office before he was sent back to his life

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raccoonodysseus · 1 year

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Spoilers for Harry Dresden ghost story

Couldn’t stop thinking about Harry watching Molly while she’s going completely feral over some food in a Denny’s. And she can only see him through the prongs of a tuning fork. I just imagined him looking at her with so much love, I always think of Harry like and uncle or even an older brother to the carpenter children, especially when they had a snowball fight with them, he’s just a big kid sometimes I swear.

i also did a version without the tuning fork in view, and a more.. ghostly(?) version. Which honestly looks kinda sad but that was kinda what I was going for.

#harry dresden #harry blackstone copperfield dresden #dresden Harry #the dresden files #dresden files #harry Dresden ghost story #Spoilers for ghost story #Kinda #spoilers for the dresden files #I love this man #michael carpenter #michael carpenter practically just adopted Harry I swear #Wish Michael was my dad :(#My art

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drawsdenfiles · 7 months

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13. Ghost

#Ghost Story #Collin Murphy #Jack Murphy #Harry Dresden #The Dresden Files #art #fanart #dresdendrawtober #skylark #buick

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kyliafanfiction · 1 year

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What is it about any long-running sci-fi or fantasy series that makes it just go completely batshit off the rails eventually, I swear to god?

#Anti-Dresden Files #technically #because hoo boy what I'm reading about the books I didn't read after Ghost Story #Christ on a bike #What the hell has Butcher been smoking?#Seriously #if I ever get a long running book series approved kill me before I end up even a quarter as insane

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theresattrpgforthat · 3 months

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Got anything that lets you play as monsters (vampires/monsters/etc) in the modern world in the vein of VTM? Ideally something in the PBTA/FITD area of system, but open to others for sure (: Thanks as always for your recs!!

THEME: Urban Monsters

Friend, the difficulty with this post isn’t that I don’t have recommendations for it - it’s that I’m trying to find recommendations that I haven’t talked about ad nauseam to this point. So I hope you don’t mind a fairly extensive “Past Recommendations” at the bottom of this post, because most of the PbtA games I know of are going to be there. I have limited experience with Vampire: the Masquerade, but I’m a big fan of Changeling: the Lost and other World of Darkness games, so I’m going off of general knowledge rather than specifics.

Bubblegum Vampires / Bubblegum Wizards 2, by Gormengeist.

You're a vampire in an infinite urban cauldron of muck and rot, of psionics and wizards, of danger and shadows. Though you are surely terrible, great, horrifying, (etc.), half the day is an enemy to your people; so set forth through the night to make your coin, secure your dwellings, and vanquish your infinite enemies.

You're a wizard who chews bubblegum and collects trading cards. That is to say, cards with the trapped souls of items and enemies within, obviously. An insignificant wizard in an infinite city has lots to prove and you've got to get help somehow. Break heads, steal money, drive stupid, chew gum, trap souls. Simple as.

Neon-Bright art and d6-based rolls, that’s what’s common across both of these games. This is the same world, but you’re living in two different spheres of it, depending on which game you play. As wizards, you collect spell cards that hold the souls of creatures you’ve vanquished, and use them to get yourself out of sticky situations. As vampires, you accrue vampiric powers through blood sacrifice, and your opponents are usually folks with especially tantalizing veins. Both games have various factions that have different goals than you, so if what you like about Vampire: the Masquerade is the amount of different ideologies that have the ability to fuck you up, you might like this game. Thematically, it looks a little more upbeat and pulpy than your typical V:tM game, but if you like one, you have another game in the same system ready to go.

The Hidden, by Dragons Are Real.

As children our parents read us fairy tales, ghost stories and recounted local myths. We’ve always assumed these stories are told to entertain or scare….what if these aren't just stories….everything you have been told is true.

The creatures from fairy tales, mythology and folklore all exist. Have you ever thought you saw something strange out of the corner of your eye but when you look again all looks normal. These creatures live in plain sight, unseen by the majority of people, only those who know they exist see them in their true form. Every culture has a name for these creatures but we know them simply as The Hidden.

The Hidden is a modern urban fantasy game powered by the Breathless RPG. It is inspired by such media as Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Constantine and The Dresden Files.

Another pulpy sort of game, the Breathless system that powers The Hidden is great for replicating diminishing resources, putting your characters in more and more difficult situations every time they pause to take a breath. This makes this game great for horror-style stories, and World of Darkness games firmly find a home in the horror genre. If you want something that’s fast-paced and can cover a lot of ground in a short session, The Hidden might be for you.

Tween Wolf, by Ibi Deficit Orbis.

Tween Wolf is a micro-RPG about middle schoolers experiencing both the fantasy of being exceptional, and the fear of being humiliated. As these kids come to terms with their awkwardly developing human bodies, they will also be faced with lycanthropy. And in the process they will experience supernatural heroism and intense shame—and learn to manage both.

It is designed to be played with a bent towards exploring the unforgiving social cruelty of middle school, self-image, and dysphoria. It requires one Game Master, 1 to 4 additional players, a few hours, one six sided die for each player, and two additional six sided dice for the table to share.

This is a very short game, with very few rules and a big focus on trying to keep your wild side under wraps. If what you like about WoD games is the struggle between the monstrous and the human, this might be the game for you. There’s not nearly as many big moral quandaries as there are in typical WoD games - you’re middle schoolers, not eons-old bloodsuckers - but to a middle-schooler, your problems are massive. I feel like the movie Seeing Red might be a good touchstone for this game.

Glamour of Our Youth, by Yuri Runnel.

Glamour of Our Youth is a roleplaying game based on the Forged in the Dark system. Drawing inspiration from media like Riverdale, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina among others, it works to tell stories of supernatural teenage adventures.

Building on the FitD framework, Glamour serves to tell exciting stories with high stakes, putting the youths through their paces as they try to make their way through a strange and hostile world, struggling with conflicts both internal and external, arcane and mundane.

This game doesn’t cast your characters as specific supernatural beings, but the character options certainly make it possible. You cobble your character together from two different halves: Archetypes and Arcana. Your Archetype hails from classic high school cliques, such as Rebel, Outcast, Socialite and Athlete, while your Arcana details your supernatural ability, including Shapeshifter (which might translate to werewolf), Oceancaller (which you could turn into a selkie) or Shadow (which feels rather ghost-like to me). There’s also plenty of ways to play a teenage mage.

This game is in playtest, but it’s considerably far a long, with recent updates that indicate that the crew is hard at work refining the final product.

Protect the Child, by MintRabbit (that’s me!)

Humans have always been protective of their young, sometimes overly so. Humans have also always feared that which might make their young strange or different, and so insist that only humans can raise their own young. Monsters cannot raise human young. This is known. You have a human baby. You cannot find its parents. What is even worse, is that this child has powers, powers that others covet, and so everyone wants it. If you want to prove that you’re not the heartless monster that everyone says you are, that means you’ll have to raise it, at least until you find someone who is better suited to it than you. You are creatures of fur, scales and fangs. You have claws that can rend flesh, faces that can crack mirrors, howls that can cause ears to bleed. And your charge wants a blankie.

Protect the Child is a Forged in the Dark game about monsters caring for a young human, a human who contains strange and mystical powers that make them a valuable asset in any monster crew. The setting and factions present in this game are flexible: you might be aliens in a far-flung future galaxy, fantasy monsters from rival kingdoms, or even everyday wild animals that fear human society.

So I’ve only just started play testing this game, which means that it’s very much in barely-playable mode. This game is also setting-agnostic, meaning that you can decide exactly when and where your game takes place - including as modern-day monsters trying to take care of a human baby with magical powers. The game is very specific in the themes of the story you’ll be telling - that is, themes about monstrosity, parenthood and responsibility, but if you all want to play different kinds of vampires, you can absolutely do that!

BloodLite, by ruan8000.

BloodLite is a role-playing game (RPG) designed to be played solo, but can be played in a group. In this game, you will create a Vampire following the rules and you will also create the world that this vampire interacts with, as well as the conflicts and obstacles that he will face. The world in BloodLite is like ours, but a little darker and more dangerous, full of supernatural creatures.

This game has no ties to PbtA or FitD, but it cites Vampire: the Masquerade as a direct inspiration, and you can see it in the Bloodline options available at character creation. You have a supernatural gift that give you advantages and also trigger your Hunger, which is your character’s thirst for blood. The goals of the game are represented through an Oath track, which fills when you fight enemies, overcome obstacles, and solve problems. This a fairly stripped-down game, but if you’re familiar with V:tM, then you probably won’t have a problem filling the world with factions, back-alley deals, and political wars.

Hearts of Yokai, by Lowell Francis.

So, this game isn’t out yet. But I can’t stop myself from talking about it a little bit. It’s the product of a Changeling:The Lost PbtA hack that Lowell has been working on for a very long time. I’ve been a bit fan of Changeling: the Lost and I also love PbtA games so I’m really excited to see more of this.

The link in the title leads to the current google spreadsheets that detail the current content of the game and the associated playbooks. The link for Lowell is to a blog post he wrote about the game, talking about the history, the changes he’s made, and the ideas behind what the current iteration is. What really intrigues me is how it incorporates "the actions of the Gentry through the lens of colonialism.” I’m really eager to follow the progress of this game.

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Urban Shadows 1e, by Magpie Games.

Bite Marks, by Black Armada Games.

Monsterhearts 2e, by Buried Without Ceremony.

Strays, by kumada1.

Eldritch Investigative Drama Rec Post

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #urban fantasy #monsters #vampires #indie ttrpg

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