Oct 31, 2024
Author's Commentary #123:
Time to talk about Chapter 123: Zinnia Broadstone.
There's a lot to talk about, but first I'll talk a bit more about the dystopian novel Glasstone, as this was originally when it was first mentioned. Glasstone is actually an original novel that I created for this story. While it's possible I might turn it into a short novel, for now it will primarily exist just in this story. One thing I will elaborate more on are the sheepblossom.
The sheepblossom are humanoid sheep with hoofed feet and human hands. They are able to photosynthesize, have longer lifespans than humans, and tend to spend their days peacefully grazing around acting like sheep. However, there is a dark secret. Once someone is turned into a sheepblossom, they lose their personality and free will. the antagonist and his chosen elites, the shepherds, may take control of them at anytime and force them to do whatever they please. Stampede through town, destroy property and wildlife, and even killing are all on the table. The sheepblossom themselves can even be cooked and eaten by the shepherds.
As for why Tombstone Arizona was turned into a skyscraper metropolis, the antagonist in the book, Kon Iving, whose name is a pun on conniving, hated the Wild west theme of the town, and sought to erase it and replace it with a city of glass. Thanks to the DESPER, Pewler has now managed to do just that in the real world. Now, Tombstone is known as Glasstone, and is quickly on pace to become the largest city in Arizona, and possibly the US as a whole.
Now onto Carol's past. This isn't the full story, but it is most of it. Due to Carol hailing from two powerful political families, the Broadstone family on her father's side and the Kuninganna family on her mother's side, her mother would constantly berate and physically reprimand her for not acting the way she wanted as she believed Carol's edgy personality would drag down the reputation of the family. Since she couldn't go all out on disciplining her at home due to fear of being charged with child abuse laws, she instead requested that the head of the politics club at the college, Imelda Berrinche, be responsible for "reforming" her daughter.
Imelda obliged and was given the go-ahead to use as much physical violence necessary to get Carol in line. Even being granted permission to kill her should she prove to be "unsalvageable". It truly was a hellish experience for poor Carol, and it only got worse for her after her boyfriend was murdered. Now she's back in America and fears for her life. There is still one more notable piece of Carol's backstory, but that will be touched on in a future chapter.
Now time to discuss a major change from the original draft. Originally, the three were set to warp to the old house where Carol and her boyfriend, Christian had lived. However, I decided it didn't make sense, as that wasn't Carol's original home. This is why the three have now been warped to the Kuninganna manor. The bare room is actually Carol's old room.
The other major change is the fact that Mick Leopard is now the Broadstone family chauffeur instead of a cabby, and appears earlier. He's still a Desperado though, but his rating has been buffed to 1346, making him just two points higher than Iori's current rating of 1344. I'll talk more about him in a future commentary.
One final thing I'll mention is that the chapter was originally called, Carol's past, but I decided to change it to Zinnia Broadstone. The reasoning for that was simply because I felt having Carol's original name be the title would give the chapter more impact. Otherwise, the meaning behind it is the same as it illustrates that Carol's past will be the topic of the chapter.
That's all for this commentary. I hope you enjoyed it.
