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Chatterbox: Pudding's Place

You're in your

You're in your room, reading your favorite book. It's raining softly; you can hear it tapping gently against your window. You've built a nest of pillows and blankets around you, and you're wearing your thickest, fluffiest pair of socks; you don't believe a rainy day could get much better than this.

Then you're suddenly gripped with a feeling of urgency. You have no idea what it could be about, or where it came from. You read the last line on the page over and over, but it doesn't register in your mind; something else, something important, is demanding your attention.

It's night. You're sitting in your bed, staring out the window, searching for something lost. But you can't remember what it is, or was. All you know is that it's out there...it's important...and it was once yours.

You know these words, but you've forgotten where they're from. But their origin isn't what's concerning you... it's the nagging feeling that whatever this thing is, you still haven't found it.

Dazed and distracted, you turn the page. A note, unmarked and neatly folded, falls from the pages and into your lap.

You pick it up and stare at it with confusion. It this, whatever it is, the thing you've been searching for? You figure there's only one way to find out. Curiously, you open it.

Dear Chatterboxer,

You are being invited to a ski lodge. Yes, an actual ski lodge, not a mansion, or a hotel, or a castle, or a treehouse, or even a train infested with strange men named Larry. No, I am inviting you to a real, honest-to-goodness ski lodge, where you can ski. Fear not, though, this isn't some ordinary ski lodge. No, it's a rather famous one. It's owned by someone named Sakura C. Maybe you've heard of them?

Anyways, you're being invited for a very special reason- there's a mission I'm going to send you on. I can't give you the details yet, but it's important that you come. If you've ever dreamed of being part of some kind of epic adventure, this is your opportunity.

Please do not come if you don't appreciate weirdness. I can guarantee that weird things will happen often.

Enough talking from me! Come to have fun and save the world! Bring the family! Fill out the sheet! (You know how this part works.)

Name:

CBer, AE, CAPTCHA or CAPTCHAE (you can bring 0-3 companions):

Gender/pronouns:

Basic appearance:

Describe yourself in 10 words or less (if you go over the limit, you will be publicly shamed by Gandalf, who will shout "Fool of a Took!" and whack you over the head with a mop that is actually his staff):

Please give your detailed opinion on the color red:

Packing list:

Other:

We look forward to seeing you there! (And yes, the popcorn is free.)

-Mx. Sam Crickett

~~~~~

The Magicae Palace sequel has arrived! CBers, you are on a mission- there is a dark, mysterious force you must work together to destroy. The future of ski lodges depends on it! You can read more about that here: http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/389370

Readers/attendees of Magicae Palace get first dibs on spots. I will tell you when spots are full. I don't care if you guess me since I'm sure everybody knows who I am already XD. Journal entries, comments, and suspicions are welcome and encouraged! Have fun friends! I'm so excited! :D

submitted by Mx. Sam C
(November 27, 2020 - 10:26 am)

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back to the Pudding's Place

The End

The staff was waiting for them at the bottom of the hill, each with their own kernel of wisdom to give with their congratulations.

Remi: Well done, everybody. I'm so glad we decided to send a bunch of teenagers into an imaginary space to save our very life force from the power that has allowed ignorance and injustice to thrive in the world since forever.

Abie: I can tell that the author is really tired right now, so I'll keep this short and sweet: I learned many things from my prison days, but you all have taught me that-

Zach: THE LEMMINGS AND I ARE GOING TO CONQUER CANADA, WHO'S COMING WITH???

JLM: *dies*

Sam: With the end of the Mystery arc of the ski lodges, the book I showed you yesterday is coming to an end; and another one starts with The Ski Lodge Story. I'm so proud of all of you.

Sterling: I am the murderer and I killed twenty of my friends and companions.

Feli: And we'll see them all again soon enough.

Leafy: I can't believe it's over...

Sam: Neither can I. But before you go, I have one last thing to tell you.

Today you battled the Force, the thing that causes destruction to Story and tries to make the world forget about certain things. It takes books off the school library shelves, people and events out of history books, creations out of people's hands. You've told it that it can never touch the Mystery, but you all know; this is a ski lodge. These words are coming from the author, and not me. When this is all said and done, you are the heroes of this story, but the readers have the job of being heroes of the ski lodges. The only real way to keep the Force at bay is to keep ski lodges alive and never let them be forgotten.

Sam stepped back and watched the guests begin to fade, trusting that what they had accomplished would not fade with them.

~~~~~

And so ends The Ski Lodge Story, my fourth and final ski lodge, and the end of the Mystery arc. While Magicae Palace and this ski lodge had their events based off of The Farm Story and Lake Lelillo's, this is not the "end" to the story Micearenice started; she had her own ending planned, and my ski lodges don't exist to write over what she intended.

I'd also like to make a small PSA that the Mystery is not the official, ubiquitous canon for all ski lodges. The very first ski lodges broke the fourth wall all of the time! The Mystery is Mice's creation and everybody's device that can be used however you would prefer. Want to delve into it and explore what it is and what it means for it to be broken, and make your own arc for it spanning six ski lodges? Got for it! Want to throw it in the trash and put large amounts of graffiti on the fourth wall? Sounds great! Nobody can stop you from doing your own creative things with the Mystery- or doing nothing at all with it. Every ski lodge is special and awesome.

I'll put up some comments later with some fun facts, explanations (like why I named this after Orson's cancelled documentary, or why I named the staff members what I did), and a library with links to every single ski lodge I referenced in the entire story.

(DISCLAIMER: I did not invent the Mystery. I also did not create the character of Jem Louise Margaret- she was TON's character, hence why she did not speak the entire time. The cabin, JLM, and indeed the ski lodge itself were all created by TON.)

Thank you all so, so much for reading and commenting and all the love you've given my ski lodges. I appreciate it more than you know. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started writing Magicae Palace, but I'm so glad I did it. I've decided that this is my last ski lodge, and I'm sad to let them go, but I'm excited to write other things as well. Much love. <3

submitted by The End
(July 22, 2021 - 1:51 pm)

Oh my gosh, Luna, I can't believe it's over. What a fantastic ride! I know that I went silent for a while in the middle there, but I really did enjoy reading along with this wonderful plot and incredible writing that you gifted us with. This is the third ski lodge of yours that I've finished (the Treehouse Mystery, Magicae Palace, and this one) and I really enjoyed seeing your writing stlye grow and evolve. Your message of keeping the tradition of ski lodges alive was so meaningful.

On another note, I wasn't too surprised that Sterling was the murderer, though I feel like in this plot the murderer didn't play too much of an important role besides killing people- which is a good thing, because the plot needed to be focused on the fight against the Force.

Again, thank you so much for making history in the CB with these legendary Ski Lodges, and I hope you know how much you have contributed to the lives of your readers <33333

submitted by Silver Crystal, age She/her, Milky Way
(July 22, 2021 - 9:21 pm)

Wow. It's over.

This ski lodge was . . . amazing. It was funny, weird, and quickly paced, and you have a very unique writing style. I am awed by your ability to completely write one ski lodge, let alone four. The words at the end were so powerful. Oh, and talk about an abrupt murderer reveal! Looks like I stayed alive until the end. Also WoW my Ski Lodge was referenced.

The Force made me think of Ban That Book, a book I once read.

Anyways, this was so wonderful to read! :) I'm excited that we finished, but I'll also miss it.

submitted by Feline Fantasy, age She/her, A Toast Fairy Village
(July 24, 2021 - 11:44 am)

It's really over! I can't wrap my head around that. It's been such a wild ride, and I've enjoyed every single second of it. Sorry for not commenting sooner, I've been busy and I wanted to read the end when I could really enjoy it- hence why I spent the last several hours reading The Ski Lodge Story in its entirety, start to finish. It is truly a masterpiece, and I'm beyond grateful that I was able to be a part of it. You are brilliant, Luna, thank you for bringing this story into the world.

Like other people have said, I wasn't too surprised that Sterling was the murderer (mainly thanks to Morning's detective work). Also, I survived! I think that's the longest I've ever made it in a ski lodge. For some reason I usually die early, but I got to the end!

I'm really going to miss this ski lodge- waiting for new parts, theorizing, reading whatever wacky fourth-wall-demolishing antics you've thought up- but I'm so glad it was finished, and it was a joy to read all the way through. <3<3

submitted by Quill, she/they
(July 28, 2021 - 1:35 am)

Name explanations!

~Remi Mazí

The first name comes from Mrs. Pierce's alias in the Disorienting Express; Mazí comes from a lie google translate told me. Oops. (It was supposed to be a nod to Simul.)

~Abie Bailey

Abie- from the CBer and side character both named Abi, who were both in the Farm Story; Bailey for the characters in my first two ski lodges from the Bailey family.

~Zach Lamborghini

In the first ski lodge, the CBer Zach L asks what made-up last name his L should stand for. The CBer Red replies with some suggestions, and an Admin tells Zach to use Lamborghini- "the swankiest, classiest car ever!" And I don't know why, but I thought it was absolutely hilarious.

~Sam Crickett

Crickett should be self-explanatory. Sam is for the CBer who originally suggested the idea of ski lodges and participated in several of TON's. And because I really like the name Sam.

~The Ski Lodge Story

Why did I name this ski lodge after Orson's documantary that never came to be? It was partly in recognition of The Farm Story, the first of the Mystery ski lodges; partly to honor the ski lodges and all of the stories that never got an ending (like Orson's film); and partly because this is the story of all the ski lodges, in that it references and explores many of them, in its actual narrative to save ski lodges as a whole, and in just how meta it is.

Thank you Silver and Feli :)) Ban This Book is actually where I learned a lot about banned books and part of what inspired the force!

submitted by Luna-Starr, age all/any, Existential Ponderment
(July 27, 2021 - 3:06 pm)

It's over!

The Ski Lodge Story is over.

I'm way late (three cheers for tech-free summer camp), so I'll try to make up for it with a mountain of praises. I'm too lazy to create a PowerPoint of everything I love about it, but I most certainly could, because it's that great. I love the crazy humor that I have never seen exist in any medium except for ski lodges; the way other ski lodges are referenced and built upon, while this still being completely original; the fact that you (Luna) read approximately a million ski lodges for this. The research you put into this is extraordinary, and it shows.

I love how the murders are the point of a ski lodge, and yet even though ski lodges themselves are the point of this ski lodge, the murderer's confession is one line of the ending, because the murders are only a tiny part of the vast, magical thing that is the Ski Lodge Story.

I love the title, The Ski Lodge Story.

I love how you made enough clues to make it possible to guess who the murderer is, if you try hard enough. The characters are so crazily accurate (especially Abcde, my goodness, she's so perfect.) You made Abcde and Dallas hating each other important! You killed me and it was Dallas's fault! You killed Qwinn and it was Abcde's fault! You killed Dallas and Abcde admitted that he was closer to perfection than she would care to admit if he was alive!

You referenced Camp Juniper and made me cry tears of joy because now the Target notebook monologue is immortal.

This story is beautiful, and I am so honored to have been a part of it. Thank you so much for creating this masterpiece, Luna, and your talent in the creation of ski lodges will be missed.

submitted by Morning, age she/her, yonder
(August 4, 2021 - 4:26 pm)