Mortimer Linquist had done pretty well for himself over the past couple years, and he'd moved out of the little california-import stucco ranch house he'd been in the last time I'd gone to visit him. Now he was working out of a converted duplex in Bucktown.
It was an odd home, for Chicago—a white stucco number with a red tile roof that looked like it had been transplanted from Southern California.
Or maybe Mort's house in Chicagotory (at least as far as Dresden is able to accept at this point in time) is the old, familiar house that he has associated with Mort for years - just prettied up like Harry's ressurected duster, healed hand, and the classic cars everyone seems to be driving...
Mortimer Lindquist seemed to have finally given in to the inevitable. I’d seen him with a bad toupee, and with an even worse comb-over, but this was the first time I’d seen him sporting a full-on Charles Xavier. The unbroken shine of his pate looked a lot better than the partial coverage. He’d lost weight, too, since the last I’d seen him. I mean, he wasn’t going to be modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch or anything, but he’d definitely dropped from self-destructively obese down to merely stout.
He was short, twenty of thirty pounds overweight, and had given up trying to conceal his receding hairline in favor of shaving his scalp completely bald.
Or maybe Mort's house in Chicagotory (at least as far as Dresden is able to accept at this point in time) is the old, familiar house that he has associated with Mort for years - just prettied up like Harry's ressurected duster, healed hand, and the classic cars everyone seems to be driving...I was just going to say that.!!
Or maybe Mort's house in Chicagotory (at least as far as Dresden is able to accept at this point in time) is the old, familiar house that he has associated with Mort for years - just prettied up like Harry's ressurected duster, healed hand, and the classic cars everyone seems to be driving...
Mortimer Lindquist seemed to have finally given in to the inevitable. I’d seen him with a bad toupee, and with an even worse comb-over, but this was the first time I’d seen him sporting a full-on Charles Xavier. The unbroken shine of his pate looked a lot better than the partial coverage. He’d lost weight, too, since the last I’d seen him. I mean, he wasn’t going to be modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch or anything, but he’d definitely dropped from self-destructively obese down to merely stout.
He was short, twenty of thirty pounds overweight, and had given up trying to conceal his receding hairline in favor of shaving his scalp completely bald.
Somethings up.
Now the thing is, Harry is at the address that he gave Capt. Jack. If he isn't remembering the events of DB (or at least those particular ones) He might not remember the correct address...
Or what if Harry is not in May in a year after his death, but in May BEFORE Dead Beat? :)
Sir Stuart pursed his lips. “It seems to me that if your demise was to leave someone vulnerable, something would have happened to them already. It’s been six months, after all.”
It's set immediately after "Changes" AND about seven months later. Simultaneously. Wrap your heads around that. :D
So, Mort moved back to the stucco house. That's all.
Could it maybe have something to do with how harry was "supposed to" die in Dead Beat, until Gard/Marcone saved him from Corpsetaker?
I take it to mean that as a Spirit Harry is seeing things as he knows them, instead of how they are. In other words his vision is tainted by his own thoughts and ideas. So he sees Mort as natural Mort. I would not be surprised if he saw Murphy as a flaming angel should he come across her.
Ok, I read that, sat up straight, and said Holy $***
However, that happened in Chapter 18 of DB while Harry saw that Mort had already shaved his head bald in Chapter 10. Still, this is possible.
That's also a great interpretation. Now I've gota go reread Chapter 4 to see if there are any other things that might be clues to this interpretation.
Wow great thoughts on this stuff guys.
However, that happened in Chapter 18 of DB while Harry saw that Mort had already shaved his head bald in Chapter 10. Still, this is possible.
"Technically," my ghost said. "Harry actually died for a minute. Don't you remember how ghosts are made? Normally, there wouldn't be enough latent energy to create an impression like me, but with him being a wizard - a real wizard, not a petty fake like you - and with the border to the Nevernever in such a state of flux, it was pretty much inevitable."
My first thought isn't much fun. but it is to the point. I just thought that Mort moved the business out of his house and into it's own location. It makes sense, that way it explains the two houses and why it's the old one again, and if Mort was going to get more involved again he needed a stronger threshold for his home. Move the work out and it should go back to normal after a while I would think.
It just seems the most logical what with Harry saying working out of, not moved into a duplex.
I got into the SUV and headed out to speak to the only person in Chicago who knew as much aboutmagic and death as I did.
Mortimer Lindquist had done pretty well for himself over the past couple of years, and he'd moved out of the little California-import stucco ranch house he'd been in the last time I'd gone to visit him. Now he was working out of a converted duplex in Bucktown. Mort leased both halves of the duplex, and ran his business on one side, with his home on the other. There were no cars in the business driveway, though he mostly operated at night. He must have already wrapped up for the evening. He had abandoned the faux-Gothic decor that had previously graced his place of business, which was a hopeful sign. I needed the help of someone with real skill, not a charlatan with a batch of gimmicks.
...
[After knocking on the "residential" enterance] "It's three o'clock in the morning," Mort complained. "What the hell do you=" He saw my face and his eyes widened in panic. He hurried to shut the door.
I take it to mean that as a Spirit Harry is seeing things as he knows them, instead of how they are. In other words his vision is tainted by his own thoughts and ideas. So he sees Mort as natural Mort. I would not be surprised if he saw Murphy as a flaming angel should he come across her.
If you find any more clues be sure to post, I am so hungry for Dresden and my time machine to propel me 3 weeks into the future is an utter failure. ;D
We entered a kitchen, where I found Sir Stuart already present, his arms folded, leaning back against a wall with a quiet smile as he watched. Mort went to a large cookie jar, opened it, and took out a single Oreo before replacing the lid.
...
“Dammit, Morty,” I snarled, and braced myself for the plunge through his door after him.
“Dresden, st—!” Sir Stuart said.
Too late. I slammed my nose and face into the door and fell backward onto my ass like a perfect idiot. My face began to throb immediately, swelling with pain that felt precisely normal, identical to that of any dummy who walked into a solid oak door.
“—op,” Sir Stuart finished. He sighed, and offered me a hand up.
"You’ll have to forgive him, Dresden. He can be very slow to understand things at times.”
“I don’t have time to wait for him to catch on,” I said. “I need his help.”
Sir Stuart grinned some more. “You aren’t going to get it by standing there repeating yourself like a broken record. Repeating yourself like a broken record. Repeating yourself like a broken—”
“Hiya, Morty,” I said.
...
“I need to talk to—”
...
“Morty, come on, it’s never been like that,” I said. “I’ve come to ask your help a couple of times because you’re a capable professional and—”
...
“Morty, please.”
...
“It’s not like I’ve got a lot of choice in the matter, man. It’s you or no one. Please. Just hear me out.”
...
“Dammit, Morty,” I snarled, and braced myself for the plunge through his door after him.
“Dresden, st—!” Sir Stuart said.
Mab was messing with his brain again ;D
It still doesn't explain why Harry went to the California-import rather than the Duplex, and it doesn't explain why Harry forgot that he saw Mort with a shaved head back in DB
He was short, twenty or thirty
pounds overweight
I mean, he wasn’t going to be modeling for Abercrombie & Fitch or anything, but he’d definitely dropped from self-destructively obese down to merely stout.
and
20-30 pounds overweight is not self-destructively obese in my book, even if he's short (a little bit below 5'6" - that would be 166-167 cm).
Let's do the math 'cause I'm a nerd.
The normal/overweight threshold (according to body mass index wikipedia page) is around 70 kg/155 lb for someone who's Morty's height. If we assume that he's 30 lb overweight (83 kg/185 lb), he's still in the "overweight" range, and not "obese".
Yeah, that bit really bugged me too! In Death Masks as well, Mort was described as "...A dumpy, balding man in his late forties..." which also does not translate to "self-destructively obese." Could it be that Harry was just trying to be nice in his descriptions of him before, and that now that he's dead he doesn't care as much about the potential for offending someone with an honest description? Or maybe now that he's dead he's seeing and remembering things with less self delusion. (Of course that doesn't in any way cover the house changes, but whaddaya do?)
Here's another thing: Every person that Harry has encountered since he died seems to have become a sort of idealized version of themselves. Take a look at the descriptions of Carmichael and Captain Jack, as well as Mort. (Obviously, since we've never met Sir Stuart before we have nothing to compare him with.) It made sense to me when we were just dealing with the dead guys; you've got that whole frozen at 30 thing going on and all. But it seems like he's seeing Mort (and Mort's yard, and Mort's house and its furnishings) in idealized forms as well.
If it isn't just one huge continuity flub (and it seems as if it's much too big to be one) then I'm guessing it's a 'dead' thing.
LML
Or it could be a result of Harry's evolving self-image as it overlays his views of others; he's thin to begin with, plus he's spent a LOT of time exercising and getting into better shape, so it's entirely possible that his view of others has been narrowed down by his expectations for himself.
Just theorizing here.
That's possible. But Harry's been running for exercise since before Death Masks. It seems like kind of a big jump in attitude from Dead Beat to the present. Plus, the phrase he used, "Self-destructively obese," is way more judgmental and unkind than the sort of descriptions Harry usually gives us.
It's been mentioned many times before how consistently--and even self-contradictorily--positive Harry is in his descriptions of women. Georgia makes a prime example of someone he flat out describes as being essentially unattractive, but then flip-flops in the same description to call her 'appealing' almost as though he simply can't stand to make an even vaguely negative statement about a girl's looks.
It just makes me wonder if that sort of self-editing was actually far more universal in his previous tales than we ever guessed.
Of course, that still doesn't touch on the hair thing. Or the house thing. Etc. Just have to wait and see.
LML
Harry's kind of harsh on Mort, all because he thinks Mort has wasted a talent in something Harry holds to be supremely important - magic. That's most assuredly coloring his perception... and Harry has never been one for understatement. ;)
Are ya sure?
When was the last time he described a character (human character, that is, not mind-rending monster) as actually ugly? He's pretty uncomplimentary about Rudolph, for understandable, personal reasons. And he never waxed poetic about Mort, but I can't think of an occasion when he's really gone to town on a negative description of someone before this. (Not that the phrase we're dissecting really qualifies either, but it does stand out.) I'm not saying that that's a bad thing in any way. In fact, I kind of like it.
Fact is, Harry tends to be much more unkind in the stuff he says out loud than in what he narrates.
LML
am I the only one that thought "oh, he redid the front of the house.", he didn't say it was a completely different house, or that it was a different address... he noted it just looks so completely different from before, which means he fixed it to look less like the spooky house on haunted hill into a zen like masterpiece.
My question about mort is more around the lines of:
1. Mort is more bald
2. Mort has lost a LOT of weight
3. Mort seems to have changed himself in a major way
The first reaction I get is "does mort have cancer"? I know he's embracing his abilities and everything but his life seems to completely have done a U-Turn, a life changing event...
Raven 8)
Maybe Morty tore down his duplex and moved the old house to its lot.
am I the only one that thought "oh, he redid the front of the house.", he didn't say it was a completely different house, or that it was a different address... he noted it just looks so completely different from before, which means he fixed it to look less like the spooky house on haunted hill into a zen like masterpiece.
My question about mort is more around the lines of:
1. Mort is more bald
2. Mort has lost a LOT of weight
3. Mort seems to have changed himself in a major way
The first reaction I get is "does mort have cancer"? I know he's embracing his abilities and everything but his life seems to completely have done a U-Turn, a life changing event...
Raven 8)
am I the only one that thought "oh, he redid the front of the house.", he didn't say it was a completely different house, or that it was a different address...
My question about mort is more around the lines of:
1. Mort is more bald
2. Mort has lost a LOT of weight
3. Mort seems to have changed himself in a major way
The first reaction I get is "does mort have cancer"? I know he's embracing his abilities and everything but his life seems to completely have done a U-Turn, a life changing event...
Raven 8)
personally Harry would expect snow in his personal time frame.When Harry died, the weather was sunny. Why would he expect 1.5 ft of snow an hour later?
When Harry died, the weather was sunny. Why would he expect 1.5 ft of snow an hour later?
When he died, it was sometime in the winter cycle, or at least the Winter cycle. Otherwise, the table wouldn't be in Mab's control. I'll have to go back & check, but for some reason I recall reading that this happens in May & 6 months prior Harry died? Isn't that December, or am I missing a month?Harry died in late October. Winter controls the Table when days are getting shorter (from June to December). He thinks that an hour passed since his death. It didn't snow that day, because Murphy's clothes (as described in Aftermath, slacks and a silk blouse) suggest that the weather was quite nice then.
I know I've had a winter, where it didn't snow until at least the 2nd//3rd week of December. Changes might have been like that. Or the snow wasn't mentioned, for whatever reason.
Something on the single oreo....Heh, I thought that Morty took the oreo, because some people eat sweet things to deal with stress ;)
These are typical actions for someone trying to lose weight:
One oreo is textbook portion control.
Heh, I thought that Morty took the oreo, because some people eat sweet things to deal with stress ;)
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigarMy point was maybe we're reading too much into it.
“Morty, come on, it’s never been like that,” I said. “I’ve come to ask your help a couple of times because you’re a capable professional and—”In the same instant he's treating Dresden with contempt (for Dresden's prior treatment of Morty), Morty acknowledges (by speaking of living-Harry as Dresden) that the real person is different from the ghost/echo.
“Bullshit,” Mort snapped, spinning to face me, his eyes flashing. “Dresden came to me when he was so desperate he might as well try any old loser.” [emphasis mine]
My point was maybe we're reading too much into it.
If that were the case (nervous eating), I would have thought he'd have taken more than or taken several over multiple withdrawals.
upon re-reading the chapter I noticed this:In the same instant he's treating Dresden with contempt (for Dresden's prior treatment of Morty), Morty acknowledges (by speaking of living-Harry as Dresden) that the real person is different from the ghost/echo.
Either that or somebody got their tenses mixed up and it is yet another item to make it past Butcher, his main editor, his continuity editor, and the Betas (provided the Betas are not considered de facto continuity editors).
and uh... just so people aren't thinking I'm nit picking.... I can hardly for the book.
:)
I don't like you.
No, I'm just enjoying some of the false assumptions. Very creative.
Collection of disparate facts from the sample chapters...
- Everyone in Chicagatory is in the prime of their life with no scars (well at least the 3 we know)
- The cars are vintage
- What Harry is percieving is being censored
- There's an angel garding the door to the "precinct"
- Somebody cheated when Harry was killed
- 3 people Harry loves will be harmed if he doesn't solve who killed him
- Harry is asked to write down a specific address to go to rather than to say something like "Mort's House"
- Harry is limited in what he can influence on the living plane, and has no magic
- Mindless specters want to eat Harry's ghost
- Memories can be used as a weapon on these Specters
- Harry was taken to Mort's old address, not the Duplex in DB
- Harry had forgoten that he had already seen Mort with a bicked head
- Mort stopped to take the time to grab a single Oreo before locking Harry out of his bedroom
- There is 1.5 feet of snow outside
- From Harry's perspective about an hour has gone by since he died, yet 6 months have passed
Stu says that ghosts can become unattached to time... maybe Dresden's ghost is in the past. That would explain why Mort says weird things like, "It’s not enough that you have to keep dragging me into things in life. So now your stupid ghost shows up to do it, too?" The tense of this is all wrong. If ghosts can time travel, Mort would know it, so he wouldn't clue Harry in on it. When did the blizzard hit Chicago during one of the past books? Was it May? If so, maybe that is "when" Harry's ghost is at right now.As far as Stu inviting Harry in... as I understood it a resident could invite. Stu may not be a relation to Mortimer but still resides in the house.
There is some really weird discontinuities, though, regarding Mort's house. Harry remembers being killed and saving Maggie and killing Susan BUT he doesn't remember Mort having been bald before or moving to the duplex. So, if Harry is in the past, he remembers "powerful events" like Maggie and Chichen Itza, but doesn't remember things like Mort? That doesn't make much sense.
Unless the stuff about Mort's house and lack of hair is an error, which is unlikely, Harry's ghost is in the past and while he remembers some things about right before he died (Maggie and the offing of the Red Court and his apartment getting burned down), he doesn't remember Mort moving. Nothing else makes sense, but, what I'm saying doesn't make much sense, either!
But if they are in the past, how does Stu know Harry has been dead for 6 months.
This all doesn't make much sense at all. That's about all I can conclude, LOL.
One you might be missing... are we certain that ghosts are capable of issuing invitations over threshholds?
Could Harry's mind/subconscious/imagination be compensating for his expectations of needing an invitation?
Thats why 'Jack' calls Karrin, Karrie; it comes off as endearing until you think Karrie aint short for Karrin. Even you make the stretch that some thick accent makes it come across as Karr-een.Murphy's family seems to be long-rooted into the Chicago area. I'm from roughly the same Upper Midwest region of the US. It doesn't strike me as at all unlikely that her dad's nickname for her when she was a little girl (and thus the nickname which his coworkers would have heard him use back then when he mentioned her) was Karrie. Dropping final consonant sounds and tagging on a syllable with a '-y' or '-ie' sound would be quite usual. For example, for a dad speaking of his two year old girl, Evelyn would likely be shortened to Evie. For a boy, Daniel goes to Danny or for a girl, Danielle to Dani (pronounced like Danny and sounding the same as the boy's nickname).
For example, for a dad speaking of his two year old girl, Evelyn would likely be shortened to Evie.
That's my first choice if we have a girl (We are at 7 weeks). I still have some lobbying to do with the Mrs though. And yah, I already told the Mrs that if we did name her Evelyn I'd call her Evie.
Wow, congratulations Serack! Happy baby and many more!
Or is that just for birthdays? Hrm...
That's my first choice if we have a girl (We are at 7 weeks). I still have some lobbying to do with the Mrs though. And yah, I already told the Mrs that if we did name her Evelyn I'd call her Evie.
That's my first choice if we have a girl (We are at 7 weeks). I still have some lobbying to do with the Mrs though. And yah, I already told the Mrs that if we did name her Evelyn I'd call her Evie.Congrats, congrats!!! Wishing all three of you all the best. Healthy and happy and everything.
Collection of disparate facts from the sample chapters...
- Everyone in Chicagatory is in the prime of their life with no scars (well at least the 3 we know)
- The cars are vintage
- What Harry is percieving is being censored
- There's an angel garding the door to the "precinct"
- Somebody cheated when Harry was killed
- 3 people Harry loves will be harmed if he doesn't solve who killed him
- Harry is asked to write down a specific address to go to rather than to say something like "Mort's House"
- Harry is limited in what he can influence on the living plane, and has no magic
- Mindless specters want to eat Harry's ghost
- Memories can be used as a weapon on these Specters
- Harry was taken to Mort's old address, not the Duplex in DB
- Harry had forgoten that he had already seen Mort with a bicked head
- Mort stopped to take the time to grab a single Oreo before locking Harry out of his bedroom
- There is 1.5 feet of snow outside
- From Harry's perspective about an hour has gone by since he died, yet 6 months have passed
...he looked like a professional boxer. There was scar tissue here and there around his eyes, and his nose had been frequently broken.Both of the humans, however, are described as being really buff, which I think probably means something...
Collection of disparate facts from the sample chapters...
- Everyone in Chicagatory is in the prime of their life with no scars (well at least the 3 we know)
- The cars are vintage
- What Harry is percieving is being censored
- There's an angel garding the door to the "precinct"
- Somebody cheated when Harry was killed
- 3 people Harry loves will be harmed if he doesn't solve who killed him
- Harry is asked to write down a specific address to go to rather than to say something like "Mort's House"
- Harry is limited in what he can influence on the living plane, and has no magic
- Mindless specters want to eat Harry's ghost
- Memories can be used as a weapon on these Specters
- Harry was taken to Mort's old address, not the Duplex in DB
- Harry had forgoten that he had already seen Mort with a bicked head
- Mort stopped to take the time to grab a single Oreo before locking Harry out of his bedroom
- There is 1.5 feet of snow outside
- From Harry's perspective about an hour has gone by since he died, yet 6 months have passed
I know you're just collecting these for future reference, Serack, but I feel the need to point out a couple of minor inaccuracies in the list.
1. Not all the residents of Chicagotory are without scars. Carmichael and Amitiel are, but Captain Jack is described as being pretty battered. From chapterQuote...he looked like a professional boxer. There was scar tissue here and there around his eyes, and his nose had been frequently broken.
Okay, everyone, please continue with the nearly unfounded but vastly entertaining speculation! *grabs a bowl of popcorn*
LML
Oh, and even though I said it in the baby thread already; Congratulations, Serack! Happy soon-to-be-fatherhood to you!
- Although Harry has no magic, he is still able to use his Sight, at least in Chicagatory
- He bleeds ectoplasm
- He can feel pain
- Despite the snow, there are potted plants with leaves in Morty's garden and hedges
- Sir Stu is familiar, apparently, with Harry Dresden's name and reputation. I think he saw Harry in DM and DB.
- If a wraith devoured Harry, it would become so powerful that it could threaten the living
A little bit off-topic: when I read about Stu spending 5 years listening to Pink Floyd, I immediately thought of this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0498.html).
As to the snow, didn't someone suggest that Mab would be a little... annoyed at losing her Knight?I still stand by my theory that Titania didn't regain the control over the Stone Table in December. Mab is too rational to cause snowfall just because. Either the snow is an effect of Winter being dominant, or it's a tool that Mab uses to slow down Summer agents (like she did in SmF).
Well, if Harry is indeed DED dead and the Knight mantle has gone back to Winter, Mab is now more powerful than Titania by one athame.
However, I think that if the balance of the Faerie Courts had gone so far out of whack as to prevent Summer to regain control of the Table, we'd be looking at something a tad more cataclysmic than a foot and a half of snow in May.
That's only the case if Mab has bestowed the mantle on a new Knight, though. Otherwise, Winter is stuck without a mortal agent-- and from what we've seen in the books so far, the Courts tend to find their Knights very useful.
I think this is one of the more important questions about what's been happening since Harry's death: did Mab choose a new Winter Knight or not? If not, Winter is at a disadvantage similar to the one it had while Slate was being tortured. If so, then how would Mab manage to wrangle Harry back into the Winter Knight job?
I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not. The mantle is a chunk of power the Queen loses and the Knight gains (in order to keep the balance. That is, the power level of the Court always equals n). So, if Summer has a Knight and Winter doesn't, Summer has more possibilities to use its power in the mortal realm, but isn't more powerful than Winter.
The source of the imbalances, so far, has been that the mantle of (first) Summer and (later) Winter have been trapped within their respective Knights when they were incapacitated (Lily was stoned and Slate was treed... and I noticed the symbolism there as I was typing this), so the chunk of power the Queens had given their Knights couldn't be used by them nor could it revert back to the respective Court (that is, one of the Courts had a power level of n-1, while the other's was still n).
Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).
I don't see it that way; I think that each Court has a limited amount of power (let's call it n), whether it has a Knight or not.Nice thinking, however, when Harry killed Slate on the Stone Table, Mab gained not only her own power, but Slate's blood (and life energy/soul/whatever) too. Lea explained it quite clearly in SK.
Nice thinking, however, when Harry killed Slate on the Stone Table, Mab gained not only her own power, but Slate's blood (and life energy/soul/whatever) too. Lea explained it quite clearly in SK.
Now Summer has still a power level of n, but Winter's is n+1 (or whatever power value the athame has).
Now, Harry's blood, on the other hand...Lea told Harry "never let her bring you here", didn't she? I have a feeling that Mab is/was going to kill Harry on the Table.
(click to show/hide)
Lea told Harry "never let her bring you here", didn't she? I have a feeling that Mab is/was going to kill Harry on the Table.Maybe, but it could also be that since Lea was/is charged with Harry's spirtual well being that becoming the Winter Knight would run against that. She might just have wanted to keep that from happening as best she could with Mab still being her boss.(click to show/hide)
Besides being the Winter Knight, Slate was vanilla. Blood has power, but it isn't that significant, IMO. Now, Harry's blood, on the other hand...
"People are almost always more trouble than anything you run into on the Other Side."
I think you are discounting vanilla mortal's too much. I've spent about 20 min looking for it but can't find it where Lea says to Harry that regular mortals are generally more trouble than just about anything you might find in the NN.
Edit: Posted 30 seconds too soon, it was actually Bob that said it:
Another discrepancy: the bonsai. I'm not an expert on them or anything, but I do know enough to know that it takes considerably longer than just a few years to grow them to look like miniature trees if you start with a seed or even a little sapling. Like decades, at least.I thought about it, too, but Morty could just keep the bonsai trees in his backyard until they're fully developed or something.
Maybe the japanese garden is a ghost, too. :)
I'm not discounting it. I just think the blood of one vanilla mortal isn't enough to significantly alter the balance of the Faerie Courts, even when sacrificed at the stone table.Well, it the balance is an unstable equilibrium, any amount of power could disrupt it.
I thought about it, too, but Morty could just keep the bonsai trees in his backyard until they're fully developed or something.
That could mean that someone or something has caused Harry to completely forget his meeting with Mort in Dead Beat.
Thing is, it's more than just forgotten memories. If you look at Serack's OP, you'll find that Mort had moved away from his California-style house by the beginning of DB. So either Mort moved back so the place he had previously sold - just in time for Harry to go there (remember he writes down a specific address, not just "take me to Morty"), or *something else* is going on.
My current take on things is that's it's an "Enterprise C" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday%27s_Enterprise) sort of scenario, i.e. Harry has been transported to a sort of alternate universe where "history" is different:
effects so far:
1) Mort never moved.
2) He's known about his grandfather/daughter for a while.
3) His hand never got burned.
I looked at my left hand and saw that it was no longer covered in scar tissue from the burns I’d received years ago. It was whole, as if it had never been harmed.
Following this logic down a rabbit hole, all this suggests that the point of change took place between chapter 10 of Dead Beat (when he visits Mort) and the story of Death Masks (when Maggie is conceived).
So why?
- One possibility is that the "timeline shift" is actually an attempt by Uriel et al. to help Harry (i.e. make it easier for him to solve his murder and thereby get back).
- The other possibility I am currently playing with is that the murder weapon itself was a sort of Entropy Curse (possibly pointing toward Lord Raith as the culprit - which matches the timeline):
Consider that a turkey falling out of an airplane flying at 30,000 feet can take around a minute to hit the ground. This means that in order for a falling turkey hit a moving target (especially when the target gets changed at the last moment), you need to somehow know in advance where your target will be standing. Assuming we accept this, it means that an entropy curse can somehow reach back in time to achieve the currently desired effects. Yadda Yadda.
I noticed idly that I was wearing jeans, a plain black T-shirt, and my black leather duster—which had been torn to shreds and consigned to the waters of the lake an hour or three before I got shot. I mean, my duster had died.
Yeah, that bit really bugged me too! In Death Masks as well, Mort was described as "...A dumpy, balding man in his late forties..." which also does not translate to "self-destructively obese." Could it be that Harry was just trying to be nice in his descriptions of him before, and that now that he's dead he doesn't care as much about the potential for offending someone with an honest description? Or maybe now that he's dead he's seeing and remembering things with less self delusion. (Of course that doesn't in any way cover the house changes, but whaddaya do?)
Here's another thing: Every person that Harry has encountered since he died seems to have become a sort of idealized version of themselves. Take a look at the descriptions of Carmichael and Captain Jack, as well as Mort. (Obviously, since we've never met Sir Stuart before we have nothing to compare him with.) It made sense to me when we were just dealing with the dead guys; you've got that whole frozen at 30 thing going on and all. But it seems like he's seeing Mort (and Mort's yard, and Mort's house and its furnishings) in idealized forms as well.
If it isn't just one huge continuity flub (and it seems as if it's much too big to be one) then I'm guessing it's a 'dead' thing.
LML
Hmmm, what if Jim is pulling a "sixth sense" kinda thing? What if Mortie is dead already and Harry's ghost is talking with his ghost? We never saw Harry interact with the cookie jar, but maybe the reason Mortie could physically interact with the door he came in and out of was because it was painted with the ghost stuff to make it solid to him. Thus a ghost can turn the handle and open it and walk through and close it, appearing normal, compared to the other walls that Harry can't actually touch.
For this to be true though, I got nothing on what is going on with the cookie jar. Why would he paint a jar with the ghost paint, and even if he did, how would he eat a cookie if he's a ghost...?
another theory, Harry after his death has rewound his own life line. He is visiting Mort prior to Dead beat, and will flit around time. However Ghosts not being subject to this time stream see things differently. Perhaps one of the spots with high necromantic energy is in fact Harry being revived and he lives a life as winter knight parrell to his current one until the events of changes and then steps in.
Thing is, it's more than just forgotten memories. If you look at Serack's OP, you'll find that Mort had moved away from his California-style house by the beginning of DB. So either Mort moved back so the place he had previously sold - just in time for Harry to go there (remember he writes down a specific address, not just "take me to Morty"), or *something else* is going on.
My current take on things is that's it's an "Enterprise C" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yesterday%27s_Enterprise) sort of scenario, i.e. Harry has been transported to a sort of alternate universe where "history" is different:
effects so far:
1) Mort never moved.
2) He's known about his grandfather/daughter for a while.
3) His hand never got burned.
Following this logic down a rabbit hole, all this suggests that the point of change took place between chapter 10 of Dead Beat (when he visits Mort) and the story of Death Masks (when Maggie is conceived).
So why?
- One possibility is that the "timeline shift" is actually an attempt by Uriel et al. to help Harry (i.e. make it easier for him to solve his murder and thereby get back).
- The other possibility I am currently playing with is that the murder weapon itself was a sort of Entropy Curse (possibly pointing toward Lord Raith as the culprit - which matches the timeline):
Consider that a turkey falling out of an airplane flying at 30,000 feet can take around a minute to hit the ground. This means that in order for a falling turkey hit a moving target (especially when the target gets changed at the last moment), you need to somehow know in advance where your target will be standing. Assuming we accept this, it means that an entropy curse can somehow reach back in time to achieve the currently desired effects. Yadda Yadda.
Wait (if this has been brought up, I apologize - I haven't gotten to the end of the thread before posting):
What if the discrepancies are because Harry died before he was able to time travel in a later book. As in, somewhere in the future, he would be going back and meddling in various ways (or he would send someone else back). Therefore, he remembers certain things, but not others - and changes he would have gone back and done have been undone...
Ok - that all hurts. The paradox, it burns...
[attempt to edit for clarity - capitalizing Changes in the second to last sentence was a cute play on book names, but really confusing.]
I get that Harry will break all the laws... yadda yadda.
There's a thematic difference in going back in time to say... the dawn of time and say somewheres in your own lifespan +\- 100 years.
This whole time-y whime-y wibbly-wobbly is disturbing.
Yah, I'm always very skeptical of any theory based off of time travel (including this one). Because I usually think they are cheap, and are likely to introduce more problems in the story than they fix.Like I said, theres time travel and theres time travel.... I'm ok with the Molly and Harry go to the dawn of time and she ascends to Mab-hood... that kinda time travel brings an entirely new setting... author is not modifying his/her current one.
However, as the title implies, there is a serious, almost blatant discontinuity here.
On top of that we have the author strongly implying that Harry will break the law on time travel at some point in the series. There is also a seperate comment comparing the opening timeline of this book to the first scene of BTTF2... which might be a big flashing arrow to time travel being the culprit for the discontinuity as well.
Speaking of magical solutions creating more problems than they fix. I haven't plugged Brandon Sanderson's First Law (http://www.brandonsanderson.com/article/40/Sandersons-First-Law) of magic in a while. It basically states that if a writer is writing a book with magic, that magic's ability to solve problems in the book has to be proportional to how well the readers understand how it works.
I believe ghost dust is too heavy for a ghost to manipulate. Remember how Agatha had to rip her arm off to move?Maybe Harry's ghost dust with depleted uranium in it is too heavy to move when actually attached to a ghost, but I was thinking other types might just essentially make object solid to those of the ghostly world. Unlikely, but I was throwing it out there.
SHAZAM!!!! I think you got it, especially cause of bob's eye color!!!!!
Edit: Hold up... on second thought, I was thinking you ment he was in Dead Beat's time line, but that doesn't quite work... I'm a little wierded out here, but I think you might be on to something.
So now that the book is released (at least for some people) do we have a definitive answer about the discontinuities. I'd really like to know if it is a true plot point and not just Jim having forgotten something he had written in a previous book.
Somethings up.
Now the thing is, Harry is at the address that he gave Capt. Jack. If he isn't remembering the events of DB (or at least those particular ones) He might not remember the correct address...
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