Sunshine Challenge Day Three

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

For moonstone, I decided to focus on the Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone [1868]. This novel is one of the pioneering works in detective fiction in the English-speaking world. It's an epistolary work, told from diaries and accounts of different persons involved, so the reader gets to play detective, figuring out from all the perspective what is going on. Very nice plot work. Very intricate, which I love. Ironically, the moonstone is a diamond, not a moonstone. It's a gem looted from India by colonizers and brings misfortune to an English countryhouse. I listened to audiobook version [narrated by James Langton, who does an excellent job with so many voices]. I also watched two TV versions one from the 1970s and one more recent (which makes Betteridge and his daughter POC, which was nice). The solution (or part of it) is about as credible as Edgar Allan Poe's solution to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," but, hey, it's Victorian sensationalism and They Did It First. There is a character named Drucilla Clack, who is a Christian zealot, spinster, who has the unendearing habit of hiding, scattering, and thrusting her evangelizing pamphlets all about. Like many zealots, she's a funny caricature until she isn't and I was painfully reminded that people like Clack are many and in very high places.

So, I did a moodboard and a double drabble (for the Drabble Zone prompt of Angels and Demons) of Clack crossing over with Crowley and Aziraphale of Good Omens [rating: Gen].

1.

2.


“There you are,” cried Aziraphale, setting a carpet bag on the desk.

“Here I am,” agreed Crowley, smirking. “It’s been a while.”

“Yes, but for future reference, if you want my attention, visit the bookshop.”

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“Miss Drucilla Clack visited my bookstore, and when I told her I was not interested in her literature, she proceeded to hide these,” Aziraphale flung open the carpet bag, sunk his hands in its cavity, and lifted a host of paper pamphlets, “tracts!”

Crowley hummed.

Aziraphale plucked them one-by-one and read, ignoring Crowley as the latter mouthed along and feigned conducting a choir:

“‘Satan in the Hair Brush,’ ‘Satan behind the Looking Glass,’ Satan Under the Tea Table,’ ‘Satan out of the Window.”

“Don’t forget ‘Satan Among the Sofa Cushions.’ I worked very hard on that one!”

“And last but not least ‘A Word with You on Your Cap-Ribbons.’”

“That’s a classic, that is!”

Aziraphale sighed. “After a collecting all of these and locating their progenitor, I am sorely in need of a glass of something.”

“Captial! Let’s go!” Crowley sprang to his feet, scattering the tracts to the floor like snow. “Poor Clack, she thinks she’s one of yours.”

Comments

[smallhobbit]

Lovely mood board. Yes, the book occurred to me as well. I like the way you've used it. People like Clack, so tied up with what matters to them they fail to see the real truth.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! Yes, I went on a The Moonstone spree which was fun. Clack is funny until she actually interacts with Rachel and her mother, and then you see the ugly side of her dogma.

[kingstoken]

That's a cute drabble

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!

[debriswoman]

Entertaining, and a great use of the character

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you!

[dr_zook]

Excellent take on the prompt, I like the whole package! :D The novel sounds very interesting, I'm going to look out for it. The moodboard is as gorgeous as always (although I don't know the story), and the drabble is fantastic!! “Poor Clack, she thinks she’s one of yours.” Haha, excellent.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Thank you! It's sort of weird that the moonstone in the story isn't actually moonstone, but whatever. Yes, Clack is funny until she isn't, and those are the actual names of the pamphlets in the book. Glad you liked it. On y va to the next rock!

[friendofthejabberwock]

I've never heard of the book but it sounds like something I would really enjoy! It's neat to see how a genre evolved and I'm very fond of epistolary fiction. Thanks for rec, and lovely moodboard! I'm mostly fandom-blind on the double drabble but it's also great. <3

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Yes, Sargent Cuff of The Moonstone is a prototype of the police investigator which would (later) become so ubiquitous. And the epistolary style and the multiple view points make it a real interesting read. Thank you. Aziraphale is a fussy angel and Crowley is a badass demon and they are in a love-hate relationship for thousands of years. Very fun duo, and Miss Clack is just a cat's paw for them to squabble.

[enemytosleep]

This moodboard has such a different feel to the ones for the previous stones, but I love how it seems to fit the vibes of the book you describe!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Yeah, this one was mostly about the book, covers and illustrations. Different and a bit wrong because, you know, The Moonstone is about a diamond, but that's okay. It's an important book from the perspective of the development of the detective story.

[bemused_writer]

The Moonstone absolutely sounds like a book I need to read. :D Love the moodboard and the fic is great. Love seeing those two discuss books!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Cool! I am glad you liked it!