9 Aug 2018

dba LTV Paranormalists - Hauntings Anonymous - Commentary 3

Expanding the world, in dba LTV Paranormalists Chapter 3.

LTV Paranormalists have a case to solve.  They also have to get all the partners up to speed.  Kieu makes her first appearance in the store after only having a mention back in Chapter 1.  There are also a few details to fill in, since this is the second arc.

Ayel's cat did make an appearance in the first arc, more to establish her home than for anything else.  Benedict Fluffybutt is named after a certain actor; Ayel, her sister, and her mother all had a hand in choosing the name.  Ginger got along with him as shown in Chapter 1 of this arc.

Kristi lived in residence during the school year but found a place once school ended.  She moved out with two of her roomies, Zaina and Janelle.  Zaina is from Lebanon and doesn't have a summer job, allowing her to sleep late and let her housemates use the bathroom before they dash off for work.  Janelle's main feature so far is not being a morning person; she will make an appearance at some point.

The masquerade, the hiding of the supernatural and paranormal from muggles, is an annoying cliché in urban fantasy.  I've seen it handled well; Supernatural has the Winchester boys using fake IDs, mostly because most of their income is from less-than-legal means; the masquerade is for their mundane side, not their hunting side.  The problem with using the masquerade here is that the Fair Folk are folk tales, created by the same people that the masquerade is trying to hide from.  Why would Kristi not mention sprites?  It's her business to find them.  So, Ginger gets hidden only because explaining her is awkward, moreso when she's around.  Kristi was also worried about Zaina's reaction; in the unpublished first arc, Kristi describes her as "super-religious".  Apparently, Wee Folk never came up in a sermon.

Kieu's "return" comes after last seeing her in the first arc sleep deprived, exams looming, and her surviving on caffeine and chocolate.  She doesn't get along with Ayel, though that's all on Kieu.  The conflict wasn't sustainable, so the second arc shows them starting to work with each other.  The issue Kieu had was Ayel's hair colour, which she goes into detail about in the current chapter.  Now that Kieu has managed to get some sleep, she's returning to normal.  It may take her time to recognize any inventions she built; her mad genius fades with sleep.

The case takes on a new twist despite the Paranormalists not having visited the site yet.  Ayel's research - all legal since it's the exception to the regulations covering private investigators - shows nothing outstanding and nothing that would cause an angry ghost.  Yet something caused a wall to fall at people at the warehouse.  Dun dun DUN!

This chapter was just getting everyone up to speed, re-introducing characters and their relationships from the unpublished first arc, and getting ducks in a row so that once things got going, there wouldn't have to be an explanation that stopped the narrative flow dead in its tracks.  The only person left to bring back in is Aidan, the Paranormalists' licensed investigator.

Friday, breaking, entering, and more breaking, in Hauntings Anonymous Chapter 4, "Midnight Visitors".
Also Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, the language barrier.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, on alternate sources for adaptations.

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