In the thirteenth part of\u00c2\u00a0Maskerade<\/i>, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M NOT READY. I AM NOT READY AT ALL. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I THOUGHT I KNEW WHAT WAS HAPPENING. I WAS WRONG.<\/p>\n
Agnes<\/b><\/p>\n
SHE KNEW. I KNEW. I WAS SO READY TO ACCEPT THIS. All the pieces fit\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 except a huge part\u00c2\u00a0didn<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0fit. Agnes knew it, but I wondered if her denial made it harder for her to believe the truth. If Walter was the Ghost, then he had to be the killer, even if it meant that she couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fathom him being a murderer. If something is uncomfortable, that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make it untrue.<\/p>\n
You know what\u00c2\u00a0does<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0make it untrue? Observable reality. Reality that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a trick, reality that stands right in front of Christine and Agnes, that bows to them, that wears a white mask and holds a black cane with a sword in it. When the Ghost showed up, I figured that Walter realized that Agnes had put all the pieces together and wanted to make sure she kept quiet. Had he heard her tell Christine? Probably so.<\/p>\n
And even then, Agnes\u00c2\u00a0still<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0makes a last ditch effort to empathize with him:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You want to be something else and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re stuck with what you are,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Agnes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know all about that.\u00c2\u00a0You<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0lucky. All\u00c2\u00a0you<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0have to do is put on a mask. At least you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the right shape.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Maybe it would work? I thought. Maybe she would reach Walter and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feel less alone and maybe he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d remove the mask and maybe he \u00e2\u20ac\u201c<\/p>\n The Ghost lowered the sword, opened a door in a piece of scenery painted to represent a castle wall, bowed ironically and slipped away.<\/p>\n Walter rounded a corner.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n NO.\u00c2\u00a0NO!<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. HOW CAN THAT \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0oh my god<\/i>.<\/p>\n Walter isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the Ghost. WALTER ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T THE GHOST.<\/p>\n Henry Lawsy<\/b><\/p>\n Pratchett doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just include new characters for the sake of it. Remember when I thought Henry Slugg was just a silly vignette? So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m expecting that Henry and his mother aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just here for the humor, though I\u00c2\u00a0did<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0love all the commentary on the absurdity of theater etiquette and culture.<\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122VE GOT MY EYES ON THEM.<\/p>\n A Night at the Opera<\/b><\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so glad I have more of this book left because I cannot get\u00c2\u00a0enough<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0of Granny and Nanny at the opera. THEY ARE SUCH A DELIGHT. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just them, of course. The surprise appearance of Corporal Nobbs and Detritus is SUCH A TREAT, especially since they are both\u00c2\u00a0clearly<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0the worst people to send to be undercover at the opera. I bet Angua would have been a lot better at it. NO MATTER. One of the things that makes me so excited about what to come is that Pratchett has populated the theater with variables. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the set-up not just for a great resolution of the mystery, but as a way to maximize just how chaotic and hilarious this is going to be.<\/p>\n There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Greebo, who is only as dependable as there is food to keep him distracted. (And if Granny is pulled away from Box Eight, who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to say Greebo won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go off on his own?) Nobby and Detritus are also there, being the worst at disguises, and probably drunk off whatever Nanny gave him. (Which is still a little creepy for my tastes. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of casual drugging in this book.) There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Librarian manning the organ, and Andr\u00c3\u00a9 is off doing\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know. Guiding the orchestra? Mr. Salzella and Mr. Bucket are most certainly going to play a huge part in this, too. What about Se\u00c3\u00b1or Basilica??? Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget him either! AND DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T FORGET THE CHANDELIER, TOO.<\/p>\n But none of these characters provide the\u00c2\u00a0actual<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0start of the night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s endless chaos. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mrs. Plinge who sets everything into action. Now I understand why Nanny inched her way into the staff unofficially: she wanted to get as close to Mrs. Plinge so that she could observer her reactions after it was revealed that someone bought Box Eight for the night. And you know what? I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect this:<\/p>\n The old woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand came up holding a bottle of champagne and then came down hard in an effort to launch the SS\u00c2\u00a0Gytha Ogg<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0onto the seas of unconsciousness. The bottle bounced.<\/p>\n Then Mrs. Plinge leapt past and scuttled away, her polished little black boots twinkling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n JESUS CHRIST, WHAT IS GOING ON. Oh, I knew what this was: Mrs. Plinge was well aware that she needed to warn the Ghost that someone was in his box. She knew the Ghost\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s identity, and she is about to lead Nanny straight to the culprit.<\/p>\n THE OPERA HAS BEGUN AND MY SOUL ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T READY!!!<\/p>\n Diane Duane is still offering a massive discount on the first 9 books in the\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0series just to this community, so please take advantage of this deal while you still can:<\/b><\/p>\n http:\/\/bit.ly\/markreadsYW<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=yiCxm4qKiWo<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a><\/b>!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME<\/a>. In the thirteenth part of\u00c2\u00a0Maskerade, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M NOT READY. I AM NOT READY AT ALL. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,514,248],"class_list":["post-3842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-maskerade","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3842\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and\u00c2\u00a0Neon Genesis Evangelion<\/em>. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards<\/i> series will replace the Emelan books.
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"