Daisy’s Comments (group member since Jan 12, 2014)

Daisy’s comments from the My Sibling The Mythical Being! group.

A completely irrelevant thing I noticed while reading this book was the recurring mention of the number thirty-four. I know this is such a stupid thing to notice, but 34 happens to be my lucky number, so I picked up on it. Susannah died at the age of 34, Olivia counted 34 black flying sheep/bats before she fell asleep during the Test of Darkness, and my favourite is on page 1:

"What's taking so long?" Olivia prodded.
"It's a daisy," her mom muttered, squinting with concentration, "with 34 petals."

...just because it contains my name and my lucky number in the same sentence. Coincidence?? (probably)

The reason I chose thirty-four as my lucky number was because I felt like the number followed me everywhere - when I checked the time it was often 34 minutes past, and whenever I was assigned a number for something it would always contain a three or a four. So maybe this book contributed to this? Could be!

I'm not sure if we sorted this already but in case we needed confirmation of the twins' age, it says on pg 194 of Revamped: She [Olivia] was only thirteen, and already she was suddenly facing senility.

I know, I think this and the previous book are the two most emotional for me (mainly just at the end) - I love it!! I can never get over how tragic Charles's past is.

I agree the friend group is awesome! I'm not sure about what you said about Sophia and Camilla though. I think Sophia did look down on bunnies in general, but she got along with Camilla because they did the school paper together. I remember her complimenting Camilla on a book review when she came to sit with them in the first book (with my freakish photographic MSTV memory, yes).

That's a great point about the social studies exam. That definitely is a common theme in Middle Grade - real life fading into the background as soon as adventure comes. You're right, it's awesome Sienna Mercer didn't fall into that trap.

Wow, I don't think I ever would have noticed the tuna thing! I've always thought Olivia was a vegetarian just because she found meat gross, yes. The tuna could just be a mistake, or Olivia is a vegetarian who eats fish (aka a pescatarian) like you said. We should watch what she eats in later books. (does that sound weird to anyone else?!)

I'm pretty sure in MBTW he's called Kyle Hunter. Really original, right? :D Maybe he's going by a double identity or something...?

Just a random thing... you know how in this book they drink kumquat juice to suppress phasing into a werewolf? Well, kumquat is actually a real thing - it's a fruit that looks like a tiny orange. Have any of you guys ever tried one? If so, what do they taste like? It's interesting because I've done a little research and there doesn't seem to be anything that links them to... ya know, helping werewolves. So I wonder where Sienna Mercer got the idea.

Yessss I've always thought that was a reference to The Parent Trap. My favourite film!!

A. Artichoke (the vegetable Brendan's aunt got banned from Franklin Grove for eating at night... some kind of ridiculous rule like that anyway. From Secrets and Spies {MSTV#15})

Mr Boros is the ASHH worker who is present at Olivia's initiation. In the file Ivy and Olivia found in ASHH it said Karl and Susannah disappeared fourteen years ago. Charles changed his name around the time Olivia was put up for adoption, so I was suggesting we put those in the same bullet-point. Hopefully that clears it up a little. :)

Fourth book timeline is looking great, I'll get back to you once I've re-read it. One thing I did notice is in the 'Sunday' bit, maybe we should mention the fact that Susannah specifically died of childbirth. So for instance: "Olivia asks Mr Daniels whether a human could die from giving birth to a baby, he tells them that it was simply natural, human complications that often arise during labour that killed Susannah - not Ivy or her fathers fault."

Wow, I didn't think about that - the parents being involved so much - but you're absolutely right. It's great to see (more of the parents being in it I mean, not you being right...). Can you IMAGINE what must have been going through Charles's head at the second Ivy said that to him. Hearing the name of his daughter who he was forced to give up and whose memory he has kept all to himself for twelve years, is suddenly just thrown out by his other daughter! I'm surprised he acted so calmly to be honest!

That's so interesting about the water. You've made me think though, why is it garlic that has this whole myth around it about vampires? There's plenty of strong smelling/tasting foods out there. Just wondering!

I knooow, Brendan is the best. There's also the moment where he pretends he's fainted so Olivia and Ivy can sneak away. Classic!

On my re-read of this book it really struck me how tragic the backstory of this series is. I mean, Charles has been through some seriously awful stuff, and he keeps it all hidden. I felt like crying when I read the ending! Sienna Mercer is so great at balancing that with the fun though, and to me this is still a fun kid's book even with the deep backdrop.

It's looking amazing!! About the Switched/Fangtastic break, I think yeah we should just assume it's the following Sunday. Surely there's got to be some kind of reference like "Last week they'd met" or "They'd known eachother for three weeks now" but until we find one this seems like a logical assumption.

Brendan's dad is called Marc, and I don't think we ever learn his mum's name.

Now that I've re-read Revamped (MSTV#3), the only things I can think of to add to its timeline is Sophia helping out with the cameras during the VAMP photoshoot (since there's more stuff involving her and VAMP later on, I think it would be cool to record the beginning of that) and the first appearance of Mr Boros and Frankie the security guard, who both work for ASHH. I believe they both reappear way ahead in Fangs for the Memories (MSTV#19), so that's why I think they're relevant.

Some 'Events before the series' stuff I spotted in this book are:

-The 1926 Vampiric Accord outlaws killing humans that know the Blood Secret if they fail to pass the Blood Tests - switching to wiping their memory instead. (is this important enough...?)
- Also in 1926, the Bylaw of the Night that 'a vampire will never try, or conspire to try, to bite a human' is created. (this was actually mentioned in Fangtastic I think but I just remembered it)
-Fourteen years before the series begins, Karl Lazar breaks the First and Second Laws of the Night by revealing his true form and falling in love with human Susannah Kendal. They get married and go into hiding together.
-Thirteen years before Susannah dies in childbirth at the age of thirty-four. (this could be merged with the twins' birth?)

We could also add that Karl changed his name and moved to Franklin Grove to go with Olivia being adopted at the age of one, which is already up there (we should probably change the fact that it says Ivy was adopted too). But there's more information about this in the fourth book, when Olivia discovers Karl/Charles's diary, so maybe we should wait till we've look more closely at that one. There's so much to talk about on this thread isn't there?!

Hi, Think Different! Happy to have you! ;)

Some more ideas for the character profile, let me know what y'all think:

-most likely to be found doing: smiling?
-worst enemy: Mackenzie (I mean, who else is there!?)
-favourite celebrity: Jackson Caulfield or Olivia Abbott or Count Vira

Also, it occurs to me while doing this how similar Olivia and Debi are on paper. Yet I don't ever really get that impression while reading the books. Why do you think this is? :)

Since our recent re-read of the MBTW series as it is right now (four books), I've been thinking a little more about what might happen in a potential fifth book. Here are some of my ideas:

-Some conflict between the twins. Justin and Daniel have been really solid throughout the four books so far in their friendship, and while I definitely wouldn't change that and it's so nice to read about, I think I'm ready for Sienna Mercer to shake it up a little. Even if it's just a playful rivalry, I think it could be interesting and if done right, it wouldn't be completely out of character. I mean, all brothers fight sometimes, right?

-A holiday. Not to brag, but I think this is a awesome idea. In MSTV they go to a variety of different places around the world, and I'd love that exciting change of scenery to take place in MBTW too. So some kind of family holiday, werewolf gathering or school trip away from home could open up some great possibilities I think.

-Some Debi detail! We've talked a lot already in the Debi thread about wanting to see more dimensions to her character, and I think the next book would be a great time to do that. Now that her and Daniel are dating and hopefully (pleaseplease!) their jealously issues are out of the way, we'll see more of them happily together and thus more of her character. It'd be great for her to have her own storyline which Daniel could help out with.

-Debi to find out about werewolves!! This follows on from the previous suggestion - what better way to see more of Debi than to see her finding out Daniel's true identity?! We've been saying for ages it has to happen, and perhaps it could be really interesting if Debi actually had a negative reaction. That's never really been done before in either series - most people are really understanding. I know it's not exactly in tune with Debi's character for her to be anything but accepting, but maybe she'd be freaked out and lash out because of that, or maybe she has something going on (I don't know what but there's storyline potential) that's making her upset. Ooh, or her dad could find out and he could have a negative reaction??

-More parents. This is one we've talked about before as well, in this thread as a matter of fact. Justin and Daniel's mum especially would be amazing to see more from. Actually with the family holiday idea the parents would definitely get more stage. I'm starting to see all these ideas coming together!!

Apparently I had more ideas than I thought for this thread, but there's definitely plenty more out there, so if any of my fellow members have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Fingers crossed MBTW book 5 isn't far off!

I don't know, this whole thing about Charles's age is pretty confusing. I feel like it's implied in Revamped (MSTV#3) that he stayed with his parents, living under their strict guidelines, until he ran off with Susannah to have Olivia and Ivy. So does that mean he was living with his parents for like 180 years?! This does also mean that we've got a case of the creepy 'really old person who looks young dating young person' troupe on our hands. ...I don't really like thinking about this element of the story...

This does clear something up though - what you said about vamps waiting so long to have kids. I can see the older vamp generations keeping themselves to themselves a lot, rarely mixing with humans, and probably with other vampires too (from hints in the books I don't imagine there's that many of them anyway, especially not back then). So Charles stayed at his parents' manor for most of his life, and there wasn't much opportunity to meet potential partners. Hopefully we'll get a bit more info on this when we read Love Bites (MSTV#6) closely.

In Switched (MSTV#1) it says if a human is bitten, they'd probably die, but if not, they'd become a vampire (pg 209). That's not much to go on but I'm guessing before the law was passed it was still a rarity, and they mainly did what they do now - eat blood infused products like from the BloodMart. These might come from animal blood or already dead people, I don't know but ew this is a weird conversation I'm gonna stop now.

On a nicer note YES that Kyle story is such a good idea! Only thing is he's not the most likeable person in either of the series in my opinion. Maybe he could have some kind of arc of finding himself, after years of being confused by his double identity, and becoming a protagonist you grow to root for. However Sienna Mercer chooses to do it, I need this in my life!

Hmm, I'm not sure what I like to describe the characters - maybe awesome is fine, after all.

Well, we could go with something like fun mystery in a spooky paranormal setting, though now it kinda feels like we're overloading on the adjectives. This is tricky!! (you can see why I didn't reply on this thread for ages, lol)

You know what, if Principal Whitehead is a named and speaking character, we could just put him up there. No harm, eh? Also I think if we know people's first names they should be listed with those, to avoid confusion. For example Mr Vega should be Charles Vega, etc.

Awesome job on fixing the days of Switched. I thought we were going to be left uncertain forever! Hmm, I have no idea where I got the idea about it being a few weeks either. I've looked through Fangtastic as well and I can't see anything. So I guess I just made it up?! Sorry about that!

Your timeline for Revamped is epic! I feel like I don't even have to read the book now. :D One thing though is that there's a couple of things on there that should probably go up on the 'events before the series' bit. Like Karl and Susannah's affair and when she died and everything - book 3 gives a lot of backstory. I'll look out for specific facts about the past when I re-read it.

Oh, and, would you mind putting the days in bold? I know it might take a while but I think it would help break up the text a little and make it easier to read. :)

Oh my gosh, I love that poem! I remember discovering it through Sister the Vamp, and now Robert Frost is one of my favourite poets. All those references are super interesting - I'm always surprised at how many there are!

LOL at last your secret is out!

Here are some I've found in Fangtastic (MSTV#2):

When Mr Colton is briefing the media studies students for their movie project: '"You can pick any topic you choose, as long as it's appropriate. That means," he said, looking fierce, "no footage of me dancing and singing Do the Dudley from my 1989 appearance on Star Search."' Do the Dudley doesn't seem to be a real thing, but Star Search was a real TV show.

Mr Abbott is practising 'the Li Ching' on page 67, apparently an obscure martial art. This may refer to Li Ching-Yuen, famous for supposedly living over 200 years, who was a martial artist.

While making his media studies film Garrick says: "And Charlotte might just win an Academy Award for Best Victim." Obviously there is no Best Victim award, but the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the Oscars, are real.

And finally, Ivy shares this fact about Franklin Grove Middle School with Serena Star: "in 1924, US President Calvin Coolidge accidentally dropped his favourite pocket watch in -" (Serena interrupts her here) Calvin Coolidge was the 30th US president, serving from 1923 - 1929.

WOW I didn't think about how recently that Law of the Night was passed, but you're right that's freaky that ones from before it are probably still around. Actually, come to think of it, didn't Charles live in the 1800s? Or maybe Ivy's just said that jokingly at some point.

I assume it was frowned upon before otherwise the law never would've been created in the first place. I like to think that all the vampires that lived before 1926 weren't murderers... but who knows.

Oh, that's so cool that Willowton is mentioned so early and then so late. It's totally connected! That's awesome that Sienna Mercer remembered it.

Ohhhhh yeah I completely forgot Kyle was two different creatures in the two series. Man, I really wanted that to be a cool Easter Egg. Although, we don't really know how the vamp and werewolf rules work in relation to one another, so maybe it's possible to change from one to the other. You never know!

Oooh, or maybe he was a werewolf the whole time in MSTV but hid it, and that's why he's the leader in MBTW because he's so much more confident. I just want this to be possible somehow!!