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Madame Blanche aches my heart she seems so sweet.. +1
Glad to hear that! Keep an eye out for future stuff :3
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin
this article tries harder than most others on this site as far as aesthetic and polish, but still falls into a lot of the same pitfalls. there's a lot of granularity here - the lists of books, the mention of the tea room, etc. there's an undeniable sense of personality here, which again is enough to distinguish this article from the pack.
what i struggle with is identifying what all this is for, exactly. blanche's personality is definitely evident, but she doesn't feel as though she gets much of an opportunity to really speak for herself, through word or action, despite literally getting two opportunities in the form of those (bewilderingly vague) notes. what's on display here is clearly evident, but dry, in my opinion. blanche's characteristics are easily recognized, but there aren't very many of them and i dont feel any particular desire to read more about her.
once again you've tried where others haven't and you've attempted a hook, with this "Witnessing the Beyond" thing? this kind of comes off like a cheap trick considering it leads to nothing of substance. it's all allusion to something we get no sense of. the sandwich is all bread. both monologues here are clearly trying hard to come off as regal and lamenting, but they're frankly cliche. the first one is riddled with ellipses, the speech is unnatural, and the sentence regarding the knife is particularly melodramatic. "BEWARE MY HIDEOUS TRUE FORM" isn't a very fresh trope to begin with and you haven't put a substantive spin on it here. you've waved your hand in the direction of a door labeled "ooOOoo spooooooky!" but you don't let us open it. and it's not enough, i dont think.
i have respect for the amount of polish on this article, but when you pare it all back, there doesn't seem to be much actual machinery. by the end, i feel almost pranked by this article, and not in a fun way.
Really appreciate it, gonna try and figure what I can do to improve, but here's a few notes:
1- The list of books:
That's just the result of me asking around for people to tell me their favourite books, I thought it'd make a neat idea to have them be guests' recommendations
2- The Tea Room
Mentioned here due to how often it shows up in related tales
3- Blanche's personality
I tried to keep the Level page focused on the level and the entity page more focused on Blanche herself but I don't think I pulled it off that well…
4- Witnessing The Beyond
I'm gonna be real honest. This whole deal is here solely because 906 "needed" some danger to it. Otherwise, why would wanderers even want to leave? Why go anywhere else? It felt too safe, at the time of writing. Now, I probably would've scrapped the whole "beyond" deal, but it's relevant in other works… so I can't really do that
In short, the Beyond is Blanche's true form, one she's attempting to mask by force-feeding your brain an illusion, the Cygnus Archive. Think of it kinda like the matrix, but there's no tech involved. Thing is, Blanche's not perfect, neither is her knowledge of the human mind, so slip-ups do happen, often with deadly results. With every guest, she gets a little more experience with human minds, the illusion gets a little closer to reality, until eventually, the Beyond will no longer be an issue.
EDIT: i forgot about this:
"what i struggle with is identifying what all this is for, exactly. blanche's personality is definitely evident"
to which I reply with:
The whole point of me writing this was that I was tired of seeing generic death trap levels with scary monsters and stuff that was dangerous for no real reason. So I made a safe, wholesome level with a friendly tea lady because let's be real the world has enough shit already
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin
CadaverCommander has said a lot of the things I feel about this article already, so I won’t repeat them to avoid redundancy. With that said, I do have a suggestion as to how to add more and build off of what you’ve got here.
So, the Victorian style. Oozes of propriety, grace, beauty, etc, the height of British elegance and power. I can see why you chose it. Did you know, however, that the Victorian home was a hotbed of just the most life-threatening things you could ever imagine? The wallpapers and paints were often full of toxic substances that would leech into the air or end up accidentally consumed (esp paint on children’s toys). The food was frequently doctored with nigh-inedible substances. Clothing wringers and bathtubs were two common household appliances that caused horrible injuries on a regular basis. Sometimes toilets would straight up explode from buildup of flammable gas in the plumbing. People fell down badly-designed stairs and were injured or killed. The Victorian home was a symbol of safety against the horrible, dangerous outside world, and you see that a lot in Victorian literature. And yet the actual home was a legitimately dangerous place to be, a place that could easily kill you.
I think this article would benefit from leaning into its Victorian influence more in that sense. Using the aesthetic to draw people in with how wonderful the library and Blanche appear, unaware of how sick they feel from eating the food or unaware of how close they are to falling to their deaths or being crushed to death. You don’t need to make it that literal of course, and I think it would be best not to do that actually, but rather to meld the danger in a figurative way with Blanche’s true nature and how she tries to prevent it from harming people.
I like what you’ve got started here! I think it needs to go further before I can say I like Blanche and the article itself. They both need some more substance, but I think it’s totally workable with what you have started.
EDIT: typo lol
While the idea of a literal poisonous library is interesting, I have a few issues with making it work with the Cygnus Archive.
1- Level 906 is meant to be safe.
The whole point of me writing this was that I was tired of seeing generic death trap levels with scary monsters and stuff that was dangerous for no real reason. So I made a safe, wholesome level with a friendly tea lady because let's be real the world has enough shit already
2- The Cygnus Archive is an illusion.
It's not a literal, physical place. It's an illusion that directly affects all five of your senses, think of it kind of like the Matrix. However, objects can be taken out of the illusion and into the "real" world, but they materialize once you leave- they're not actually present in-level
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin
I think what I said might have been misunderstood. I meant not that the archive itself should be toxic, but rather that the history of toxic and dangerous Victorian homes could be applied to the "true form" that hurts people which Blanche is trying to keep everyone from seeing. The Archive is good from a narrative standpoint as a truly safe location, given how Blanche is insistent on keeping the illusion up as a *barrier* from danger, rather than trickery to lure someone into danger. However, I think having some sort of connection between the aesthetic and the Beyond (or even just implying more about the Beyond as to what it is and what makes it so dangerous to humans) will help boost the article up further.
hmmmm maybe… maybe.
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin
I love how much work and detail you put into this article, blanche sounds like a sweet person who just wants the best for you, not to mention the concept of a library (and a librarian) that defies space and time, yet is still a safe place is just so interesting!
not much else to say besides keep up the good work man!
Don't ask about my name I made it when I was 10
the scp wikis wanderers library is a big inspiration i presume
btw love it keep up the good work
BiohazardMon
No, actually. At the time of writing this, I wasn't even aware that the Wanderer's Library was a thing. I didn't know anything about SCP (and that didn't really change much) but I have gotten a lot of comparisons between the two… I think Lady Blanche would like to visit this "Wanderer's Library" someday.
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin
She'd find it a very nice place.
Finding the Forgotten, Mending the Found.
+1 Blanche has more personality than the level itself but that's fine. I honestly look at this as more of an addition to Blanche than a standalone piece.
Despite this, I would still love to stay here, read books, and discuss them with Blanche! The atmosphere sounds cozy and mysterious!
I like the idea of: ¨infinite library¨ since of having Blanche, a librarian of some sort, control everything? good crap. and now, we return to Stanley when he exited level 20.
now the next level: idk
-ℝ𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕪𝕊𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕜𝕤
𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕚𝕣𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕖𝕩𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕤, 𝕀 𝕘𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕤.
☆゚°˖* ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ 𝔸
oh my god i love this
hope stanley's doing good and that he liked his tea
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin
Don't worry, Stanley is alive, look
I'm glad to hear you enjoy my work!
- Snom, Backrooms Wiki Site Admin