In the thirteenth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0The Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dilemma<\/i>, Kit goes exploring with Ponch. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of cancer, death, phobia of darkness.<\/b><\/p>\n
Note: The video for this chapter was misattributed solely because I was looking at the wrong section of my commission document. The lovely the_ladylark is the person who deserves credit for commissioning this reading from me!<\/strong><\/p>\n THIS WAS UNEXPECTED.<\/p>\n Socks<\/b><\/p>\n Look, I just want to put this in a review because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 reasons. But I am\u00c2\u00a0totally<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0into having way too many socks. I pack more socks than any human should ever need for every trip I go on. I LIKE CLEAN SOCKS A LOT, so I just want you all to know that Mrs. Rodriguez is probably my best friend or something.<\/p>\n Nita<\/b><\/p>\n In general, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m super into narratives from multiple points of view, and this book is providing me with reasons to explain that. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been so deeply in Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head in terms of her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cancer and possible death from it that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s downright fascinating to see how this is affecting Kit, too. Part of that is because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been on a completely different path for the bulk of this book, only having just converged with Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story in recent chapters. Now that he knows what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been dealing with, Duane shows us how he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also haunted by what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening. Even if he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0want<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0to think about it, he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help the disturbing thoughts that trickle into his mind. What if Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wizardry doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work? What if her mother actually dies? These are questions he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to have to think of anyway, but Duane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s use of them in this chapter gives us a sense for Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mental logic.<\/p>\n That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I wonder if his thoughts about Nita and her mother is what made his journey into the practice universes so\u00c2\u00a0creepy<\/i>. Did he subconsciously conjure up the nightmares of his childhood because of this? Admittedly, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a guess, since there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no real confirmation of that. But what I do know is that Kit didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t consciously choose to think of the shadow monsters that terrified him when he was younger. They just appeared\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 but why???<\/p>\n I used to have a fear of the dark when I was a kid, yet I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve wondered if that was a manifestation of something else. Still, I remember doing the exact same thing Kit described in this chapter: hating how the shadows twisted and moved in the light of a car passing by. Or convincing myself that a shadow was far more than I thought it was. Or believing that creatures lived in my room! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a common thing for kids to believe that, sure. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve heard it from other people. But why does Duane invoke it here? There has to be a reason for it!<\/p>\n Discovery<\/b><\/p>\n The reason I say that is because this chapter felt like such a huge twist to me. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know that I expected anything specific from Kit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s journey, so I was just plain surprised by how creepy it was. I mean that in reference to the shadow monsters, the millipedes,\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0that weird spark that seems to be alive. This whole thing was surreal as hell, AND I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T GET WHY. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m totally into it, FYI.)<\/p>\n Why didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the millipedes speak in the Speech? Did Ponch unknowingly conjure them up, much like Kit did with the shadow nightmares? It would explain this part:<\/p>\n Ponch padded along beside him, his tongue hanging out.\u00c2\u00a0Those were like the things I see sometimes when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m asleep and it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t go right.<\/i><\/p>\n So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 nightmares, right? Why would\u00c2\u00a0both<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Ponch and Kit think of this when they entered the practice universes??? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the answers, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just\u00c2\u00a0confused<\/i>. I wondered if that weird smell that Ponch came across when they started had to do with the spark, too, but I have zero textual evidence to support that. I just know that I feel very unnerved by that spark. Why was it by itself? What world was that? Did Kit or Ponch create it, or was it somehow there before? Did\u00c2\u00a0another<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0wizard make it? That seems possible given that everything in the practice universe\u00c2\u00a0had\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>to have been created by someone else, right?<\/p>\n Oh, I just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel good about Kit taking that thing home. WE DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m scared.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=EGmYheBl-_k<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b> In the thirteenth chapter of\u00c2\u00a0The Wizard\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dilemma, Kit goes exploring with Ponch. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[520,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-4003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-wizards-dilemma","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003","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=4003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check 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 have been announced here.<\/a>
\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":"