Season 3,  Night 6

 Jesus and Lala in car

Russell interviews Sookie

Lorena cuts Bill

Tara bites Franklin

Eric and Talbot play cards

Sookis is  taken to her room

Russell and Eric in limo

Jesus warns Lala about Elegua and Chango

Jesus and Lala vs. Felton and da cats

Russell proposes to Sophie Anne

Season 3, Day 7

Coot and Debbie interrupt Lorena’s long goodbye to Bill

Sunday Morning with  McCafferty:  Nan Flanagan and Senator Finch

Melinda’ s corn fritters make the menu

Tara bashes in Franklin’s brains

Jason takes flowers to Crystal

Tara and Sookie vs. Gus

Arlene tells Sam about pit bull

Tara and Sookie escape

Sam gets info from Andy (breakfast)

Kitch and Tammy in car

Sookie finds slave quarters

Tara meets Alcide

Lorena bites Sookie

Bill jumps Lorena

Debbie holds gun on Alcide, Tara, and Sookie

Sam turned away from dog fights

Alcide kills Coot

Wolves follow truck

Jason is depressed

Sam shifts

Summer brings biscuits

Eric bites Hadley and gives her blood

Sam collared

Sookie feeds Bill

Jason questions T-dub

Tara kicks Bill out of van

Sam shifts back and saves the caged dogs

Sookie in ER

Sam interrupts Tommy’s dog fight

Jason tries to buy meth from Lala, gets a call from Tara

Sam leaves dog fight with Tommy

Sookie meets Claudine

Lala prays

Sookie dances

Season 3, Night 7

The dark approaches

The Magister tortures Pam with Tiffany earrings, Eric, Sophie-Anne and

Russell arrive at Fangtasia

Russell and Sophie-Anne wed, Russell confronts the Magister

Sookie screams when she sees Bill

Russell kills magister

Sookie breaks up with Bill

Sophie-Anne moves into Russell’s palace

Russell meets with Debbie

Eric swear fealty to Russell, sort of

Arlene dreams of Rene

Bill releases Jessica

 Monday, August 2, 2010Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Special Guest Appearance!

Monday, August 9, 2010Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Guess Who’s Home?

Monday, August 16, 2010Babyvamp-Jessica.com

My Name Is Not April

I’ve been havin’ the weirdest dreams lately. And you know who’s in all of ‘em? Jonathan Taylor Thomas. It’s always the same. He’s my boyfriend, he comes over one mornin’ to make breakfast but the fridge is empty. So we go to the grocery store to buy waffles – he loves waffles – and Hoyt is the checkout boy. He looks so cute in that little orange smock. But he won’t look at me, it’s like I’m not even there. He tells Jonathan how lucky he is to have a girl like me, how he once had a girlfriend with red hair too. And then a voice comes over the loudspeaker to announce a sale in aisle twelve. Jonathan starts screamin’ about how boysenberry syrup goes better with Eggos than the maple kind, and then all of a sudden, he shifts into a werewolf, just like the ones I saw the other night. He goes runnin’ out the slidin’ doors and Hoyt looks up at me like I only just appeared at that very moment, out of thin air. He says, hello April. And I say, my name’s not April, it’s Jessica. And that’s when I wake up. Every time.

Now I don’t know what Jonathan Taylor Thomas has to do with any of this, besides the fact that I thought he looked cute in an old issue of Emily Frost’s Tiger Beat Magazine that we stole from her big sister. But for some reason, it got me thinkin’ about crushes. I had all sorts of ‘em when I was human. But they were fun and flowery and full of notebook doodles and notes passed across the pews. Now that I’m a vampire, bein’ attracted to a boy feels different. It’s like a burnin’ in my stomach, an insatiable itch. And even though it feels bad, like I’m breakin’ some sort of law of nature, I can’t help it. It’s in me, down to my bone marrow.

It’s kind of like that song from the musical we used to picket on the weekends, the one about all the people with AIDS. The women are tellin’ each other they just wanna be themselves and for that to be okay, for that to be enough. That’s how I feel. Bein’ a vampire can be effin’ awesome. I get to kick the shit outta werewolves, I can run fast (I mean REAL fast) and if I wanted, I could turn that little turd Summer into breakfast. And it sounds weird, but I never felt so alive in my life. But…havin’ a crush on a human? Tryin’ to have a relationship with a human? Sucks. Bigtime.

Maybe bein’ a vampire isn’t all that.

Monday, August 23, 2010Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Bloodsucking: The Pros and Cons

PROS:
I was saved from hell on earth (AKA the Hamby’s).
Some guys think it’s hot, like Tommy.
I can protect the man that I love.
Blood tastes so damn good.
I won’t have to worry about wrinkles!
No more curfews!
I can say “fuck” all I want. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I have a new family now. Bill, Sookie, Pam, Bon Temps…
Beats the hell outta bein’ surrounded by holy rollers!

CONS:
People who don’t even know me hate me just because of what I am.
My virginity is immortal. Tragic.
I’m a freak of nature!
Blood tears. Gross. Major gross.
The term “sunburn” takes on a whole new meaning.
I get fang boners, totally embarrassing!

Monday, August 30, 2010Babyvamp-Jessica.com

When Mama’s Right, She’s Right

So me and Hoyt. How ’bout that. You know what I keep askin’ myself?

What would it look like?

We can’t get married. Not legally, at least. I mean, we could go to Vermont, but it doesn’t really mean anything anywhere else and I don’t want to live in Vermont. Can’t have kids. Maxine so kindly reminded me of that the first time we met. So I guess it’d just be us. Me and Hoyt. Hoyt and me. Maybe we could combine our last names. The Hambenberrys. Or the Fortenbys. I don’t know if I could introduce myself to anyone as Jessica Hambenberry without crackin’ up. And Fortenby doesn’t sound too good neither. And our bed! Bed is important, right? Everybody has their “side.” Maybe Hoyt’d be on the left, the right side could be mine. He could have his comics on the nightstand. And some gummy bears, he likes to munch on those when he can’t sleep sometimes… This all, of course, could only work if our bed was in a cubby and Hoyt somehow became nocturnal. I wonder how I could convince him of that?

The truth is, I don’t know what it would look like. And that’s half of what I love about bein’ with Hoyt. And the other half? Well, that’s private

My mama once said that people will always surprise you. I didn’t know what she meant, or maybe I didn’t believe it. People in my life, back when I was human, were oh so predictable. But Hoyt? When I told him the truth about me? When I unzipped my outsides and let him take a peek inside, so he could see there’s almost nothin’ else there besides V and some old-fashioned female insecurity, he surprised the hell outta me. Hoyt Fortenberry, I dare say you proved my mama right.

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Exit’s post reminded me of the Eyebrow affair during season 3.  I have no explanation for it, it is more than just different brow pencil colors, there is chemical alteration of the eyebrow colors of Sookie and Bill.  Why?

Season 1

Sookie has brows in a normal range of color for a chemically enhanced blonde.

 Vampire Bill’s brows are strangely grey toned.

 But his brows are the same shade when he first met Lorena.

Season 2

Sookie’s brows are a shade or two darker.

And Bill’s are too.

Season 3

Sookie’s brows are the same as season 2, still dark when she talks with Eric on her porch.

Bill’s brows have lightened up by the time he torches Lorena at Russell’s.

But wait, they are darker when Lorena tortures Bill.

 When Sookie finds Bill in the slave quarter his brows have faded.

Bill has drained Sookie in the van and she has drunk the faerie water.

Bill gives Sookie a big ole dose of his blood.

After hate sex with Bill, even lighter.

At the aquarium.

Bill visits faerieland.

After Bill has given Sookie his blood again at Fangtasia.

After Sookie arrived home from Fangtasia.

When Bill kills Sophie-Anne.

Season 4

Sookie’s brows are back to normal.

Bill are back to the greyish color.

Does anyone see a pattern that I am missing?

Join the forum discussion on this post]]> http://www.ancientpythoness.com/2012/02/05/the-eyebrow-affair/feed/ 0 http://www.ancientpythoness.com/2012/02/04/last-watch/ http://www.ancientpythoness.com/2012/02/04/last-watch/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:47:45 +0000 osterby http://www.ancientpythoness.com/?p=2953

Here we are at the last book in the Night Watch series.  Here is a quick re-cap, again from the Professor:

The entire tetralogy is devoted to the Others – humans able to draw on the magical force flowing through the world. They can enter into the Twilight, a shadowy dimension next to our own, from where they also draw power to perform their magic. The Twilight itself is divided into levels, with each level harder to access than the one above it. While every Other may enter the first level, only the most powerful ones can get as far as the fifth, and the select few can get through to the sixth. While the first levels are unpleasant and devoid of life (apart from blue moss in the first level), fifth and sixth levels are quite hospitable, with life and vegetation. The main mystery of the final novel is what is on the seventh level- only the greatest of magicians can penetrate to the seventh level.

The Others are divided into the Light Others and Dark Others. They are opposed to each other and once they were at constant war. After realising that no side is likely to win, and that the world and ordinary people would suffer too much from magical wars, both sides signed a Great Treaty. The Treaty forces both sides to keep the balance on both sides and grants either side the right to an equal act of light or dark if either side uses their power on a human or other, and limits their actions. Light Others created the Night Watch, to make sure that the Dark Ones keep the Treaty while the Dark Others created the Day Watch, to watch the Light Ones. The Inquisition oversees both sides and prevents either side from gaining dominance, because, as noted in the twilight watch, dominance for either side means defeat for Others, serving to punish either side if they violate the treaty. Both sides watch out for potential new Others, whom they can initiate into the use of magic. Each Other must either choose Light or Dark – usually they make their choice the first time they enter the Twilight and neither Watch may influence their decision. The decision, once made, is final except in cases where an Other does an act of enormous light or dark, such as Merlin, or Arina.

The Others live for centuries and can easily influence human minds, making people do their bidding. There are many different ways they can hone their abilities and specialize, both on the sides of Light and Dark. Vampires and werewolves, lowest form of Others, are always Dark and they are the only kind of Others who are able to pass their abilities to ordinary humans – otherwise an Other cannot be made, only born. This is of course, excluding the use of the Fuaran, a powerful magical book, which when used, may turn any number of ordinary humans into potential Others. It is also able to raise the power level of any Other. Others can recharge their strength using human emotions – Light ones from positive emotions, like joy or happiness, and Dark ones from negative ones, like hatred and pain. When a Light Other uses someone’s positive emotions, the emotions become weaker. When a Dark Other uses someone’s pain or hatred to recharge, those feelings become stronger. Dark Others occasionally choose to remove the cause of the pain or fear from the humans mind (see twilight watch).

The Others’ magical powers do not come from extra magic they have. In reality, magical force is produced by ordinary living people, and plants, and life – the Others produce less magic, therefore instead of emitting it, their bodies absorb it, allowing them to use it. The less magic one’s body emits, the stronger their magical abilities will be. This knowledge is acquired by entering the fifth level of the Twilight.

Characters

Light Others

Anton Gorodetsky (Grand Light Mage) – a member of Night Watch. During the series he went from a low-level mage to a Grand Light Mage. He is fully aware of the nature of the Others, of the way they operate and he’s quite cynical about Light Others and their cause (he’s not overly keen on Dark Others either). His favorite pastime is listening to randomly arranged custom mini-discs. He is married to Svetlana and has a daughter who is the most powerful Other in the world.

Boris Ignatyevich/Gesar (Grand Light Mage) – an ancient mage of Tibetan descent who taught a number of heroes and philosophers during his lifetime. He moved to Europe during the early 15th century. Although he has had many opportunities to advance to high-level posts within Night Watch, he chose to remain a regional director of the Moscow division. Gesar is a battle-hardened tactician who’s been known to turn devastating defeats into small victories. He cares a great deal about his subordinates, though he doesn’t hesitate to put them in harm’s way for the sake of greater good. However, Gesar’s idea of “greater good” might sometimes be hard to understand.

Svetlana (Grand Light Sorceress) a young doctor who became a Grand Light Sorceress. Her powers were severely drained by the Mirror and later restored by the Inquisition. She is currently married to Anton and has a daughter who is the most powerful Other in the world. Svetlana left the Night Watch to save her relationship with Anton – her powers were much greater than his and it was putting big strain on their love. Since then his powers increased to Beyond Categories (i.e. outside the usual 1-7 scale used for Others) and now match her own, but she did not go back.

Nadya Gorodetskaya (Absolute Sorceress) a five-year-old daughter of Anton and Svetlana. Even at her young age, she’s capable of feats few Light Others can match. In spite of the knowledge that comes with such power, she retains child-like innocence, which occasionally results in her using her powers without thinking of the consequences. She is a zero-level Other – she does not emit magic, only absorb. In all the novels, only three more Others had such a level: Jesus and Merlin (Jesus never mentioned as other), and the vampire Kostya Saushkin (after having used the “Fuaran” to increase his magic level). Nadya was intended to be the Light Messiah, with help of Gesar’s manipulations with fate. However, due to Zabulon’s intrigue, the only Light Other apparently able to be a teacher and mentor to a Messiah, voluntarily defleshed himself. Nadya is still going to become an incredibly powerful Light Sorceress, but it is not certain whether she will actually become Light Messiah.

Olga (Grand Light Sorceress) love of Gesar. They have been together for centuries. A human son was born to them who was later turned into a low level Light Other by the magic of the Fuaran. She served as a mentor to Svetlana.

Semyon (Light Mage) a crusty, experienced mage with a wryly cynical outlook on the world. Unlike many of his fellow mages, he is a capable fighter even without his magic.

Foma (Thomas) Lermont (Grand Light Mage) once known as Thomas the Rhymer, and the ancestor of Lermontov. Head of Scottish Night Watch and friend of Gesar.

Dark Others

Zabulon (Grand Dark Mage) an ancient schemer about the same age as Gesar. His true form has taken on demonic characteristics because he had spent a great deal of time in the Twilight.

Gennady Saushkin (High Vampire) father of Kostya Saushkin, once a neighbour of Anton. Gennady was a model vampire, who never hunted and lived on donors’ blood. After losing his son and wife (she defleshed herself voluntarily after Kostya’s death) Gennady was possessed with idea of revenge against Anton, whom he blamed for everything. He boosted himself to High Vampire (by drinking all the blood of fifty humans) and later joined the Final Watch.

Galina Dobronravova (Werewolf) 15-year-old young girl, who helped Anton and saved his life, killed by the bewitched bullets.

Unaffiliated

Edgar (High Dark Mage, Inquisitor) a strong dark mage (1-2 level, later reaching higher status thanks to Arina) that had been recruited to the Day Watch from Estonia. After getting tired of Zabulon’s schemes, he joins the Inquisition. Interestingly, while Maxim divorced his wife when he joined the Inquisition, Edgar got married (to a witch). After losing his wife in a car crash, Edgar, obsessed with the idea of getting her back, became a renegade. He found information about the Crown of All and with two other Others created the Final Watch to get to it. Edgar will stop at nothing if he believes it will get him to his goal.

Arina (Grand Light Healer) once an extremely powerful Dark Witch. She was involved in an experiment intended to create a perfect society, organised by both Watches together with the Inquisition, but she sabotaged it, together with an unknown Light Mage,who is most likely Gesar (it was hinted that it is Gesar in his convocations with Anton in the Twilight Watch). Then she put herself to sleep for several decades, to wait out the hunt. Arina does most of her magic using plants and herbs. Though she chose Darkness, she is not evil and does not like to hurt people. After events in the Twilight Watch Arina became the second Other in history to change affiliation when she switched to Light. For idealistic reasons she became the leader of the Final Watch.

Rustam (Grand Light Mage)  Rustam is an ancient mage, a contemporary of Merlin, with whom he was friends. He was also a close friend of Gesar once, but they fell out later. Rustam finally became a recluse, after he lost interest in the world. He moved permanently to the Twilight (but he did not disperse in it), visiting the reality only occasionally – for those purposes he borrows the body of Afandi, a relatively low-level old Other he once initiated. Rustam lives close to the Plain of Demons, a place were once he and Gesser fought a war against Dark Others and used a spell so terrible that no one ever dared to use it since. That spell caused disruption in all levels of the Twilight, causing the opposing mages not to vanish into the Twilight, but to turn to stone in the real world, remaining alive but immobile and without any senses. They are still there.

Merlin one of the few zero-level mages who ever lived. He left many artifacts and spells, including the one Gesar and Rustam used on the Plain of Demons. He was the only Other who changed his affiliation (going from Light to Dark), until Arina. Apart from other artifacts and spells, he left behind the Crown of All Things, hidden in the deepest level of the Twilight and protected by carefully set obstacles and guardians.

Plot Summary

Common Cause

Anton Gorodetsky is learning to use his new power when Gesar sends him to assist the Scottish Night Watch in Edinburgh in a murder investigation. A young Russian man has been murdered in a “Vampire Castle”, a tourist attraction; the evidence shows that he was apparently killed by a vampire. The mystery is greater than it seemed. Someone tries to attack Anton using remote controlled guns. Finally the head of Scottish Night Watch, Thomas Lermont, reveals that someone stole an artifact from Merlin’s grave and is apparently trying to use this artifact to open Merlin’s secret storage. In that mysterious place Merlin apparently hid the “Crown of All Things” (nobody knows what it is). After the Night Watch is attacked by ordinary humans equipped with magical amulets and bullets, Thomas and Anton follow someone to the Twilight. They get as far as the sixth level (first time for Anton), but all they find out is that there are three people behind this – a Light Other, a Dark Other and an Inquisitor. Thomas also tells Anton that the seventh level of the Twilight is the Others’ paradise, where they can exist in peace together (upon death, Others just vanish into the Twilight). Merlin has hidden the Crown of All Things in the seventh level of the Twilight.

A Common Enemy

All Others are very worried about these happenings. Gesar sends Anton to Uzbekistan, to look up Rustam, a contemporary and friend of Merlin, and a former friend – later an enemy – of Gesar. He might know something about where the Crown is hidden and what it is. When Anton is visiting the Night Watch in Uzbekistan, they are once again attacked by humans with amulets and magical weapons. Various clues begin to point to Anton’s friend, Kostya Saushkin, as one of the perpetrators, even though he is certainly dead. Anton manages to find Rustam. He tells him that the Crown of All Things is a spell which will destroy the barriers dividing individual levels of the Twilight, as well as the barrier between the Twilight and reality. It might cause the end of the world, strip all Others of their powers or maybe kill them – Rustam doesn’t know, nor does he care. They are attacked again and Anton learns that his one-time friend, the Inquisitor Edgar, is one of the mysterious trio of Others.

A Common Destiny

Back in Moscow, Anton figures out who is the Dark Other in the mysterious trio – it is Gennady Saushkin, Kostya’s father. They can’t identify the Light Other. Both Watches assign operatives to protect Anton’s and Svetlana’s five-year-old daughter, Nadya, the only zero-level Other in the world (she does not produce any magical energy, she can only absorb, therefore her power is practically unlimited; Merlin was also a zero-level Other). Only zero-level Others may get to the seventh level of the Twilight. Edgar and Gennady kidnap Anton (they can’t get to Nadya) and take him to Edinburgh, so that he can help them figure out a way to get to the Crown. They tell Anton that Nadya is dead due to them planting a nuclear explosive near his apartment building. A nuclear bomb is the only weapon capable of destroying matter on all Twilight levels. Edgar found some information in the archives of the Inquisition saying that the Crown of All Things will give all the Others who departed into the Twilight the thing they want most. In Edgar’s interpretation it will bring them back to life, and he wants to reunite with his wife who was killed. Gennady wants to get his son and wife back. They meet the third part of the trio, or as they call themselves, the Final Watch – the witch Arina, who managed to change her affiliation to Light. She also reveals that she sabotaged the nuclear bomb not to go off, as her new Light affiliation forbids the destruction of so many innocents. Anton does figure out Merlin’s secret, but he knows the Final Watch will not like it and he manages to lie to them. They take him to the fifth level of the Twilight, where they encounter Merlin’s guardian. While the Final Watch is busy fighting it, Anton gets to the sixth level. There he meets Merlin as well as Tiger Cub, Igor, Alice and all his Other friends who departed into the Twilight, including Kostya (who tells Anton that he does not blame Anton for killing him). They are all hoping he will activate the Crown. However, he cannot go back, because the Final Watch is there and he cannot go forward to the seventh level, because he doesn’t have enough power. At this point Nadya appears – Svetlana just initiated her and sent her to get her father. Traveling through all levels of the Twilight is not a problem for Nadya. She takes Anton forward – back to the real world. The Twilight goes in a circle. The seventh level is the one we all live in.

Anton goes to activate the Crown of All Things, which is indeed hidden in the seventh level. Merlin put the spell in the ancient stones of the Edinburgh Castle. The Final Watch appears, but Anton will not be bothered with them. Edgar got things wrong; the thing the Others in the Twilight want most is not resurrection, but death. There is no paradise there, they are stuck forever in a world where everything is just a pale copy, trapped in an imitation of life. They want it to end, because once they fully die, they can be reborn. Merlin has foreseen this and created his spell (its Twilight-destroying effect is temporary). However, the lost Others asked Anton to forgive, so he allows Gennady and Edgar to die, so that they can join their loved ones before it is too late. Arina chooses to live. Then Anton activates the Crown,and all Others in the Twilight die, including the incapitated Dark Others in the Plain of Demons.

The final words of the book spoken by Anton could be interpreted as a possible hint at new episodes in the series, where Anton says to his daughter “You didn’t think this was the last watch, did you?”

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The last issue of The French Quarter comic book is back-ordered until February 22.  But we now have a synopsis of the plot.

*Update:  New ship date is March 7, 2012

LeDeax, the insane vampire killer has Sookie Stackhouse trapped – will Bill Compton and Eric Northman be able to rescue her in time? And will Bill find the clue that links LeDeax’s killing spree to the local Hep-D epidemic? And when Sookie returns to Bon Temps, who is sitting at her kitchen table? For the answer to these questions – and for some good old-fashioned blood and guts – you HAVE to read this issue! The new original comic book story based on HBO’s super successful vampire series, TRUE BLOOD, reaches its hemo-fueled conclusion!

 

What do I hate about this?

And will Bill find the clue that links LeDeax’s killing spree to the local Hep-D epidemic?

Bill!  Bill?  Bill’s going to save the day and Sookie?

What do I like about this?

And when Sookie returns to Bon Temps, who is sitting at her kitchen table?

Anyone care to speculate?

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Characters

Light Others

Anton Gorodetsky (Grand Light Mage) – The main character of Night Watch and the two movies, a main or major character in the rest of the stories (except Unauthorised Personnel Permitted) and the narrator of the tetralogy (sans Day Watch). A reluctant member of the Night Watch. In the beginning of the first book he prefers mundane, technical jobs to actual field work, initially supervising the Night Watch’s IT department. The events of the series force him to step up and become a full-fledged operative. He eventually becomes an extremely powerful magician. Over time, he becomes considerably more cynical about the cause of Light Others. His favorite pastime is listening to custom mini-discs. In the novels, he uses the randomized playback feature of his player in much the same way a Taoist might throw stones to gain a rough idea of the future, for example an ominous song implying upcoming danger. Having discovered his powers 7 years (12 in the movies) prior to the series’ beginning, he starts off as a relatively weak mage, only to discover unsuspected potential as time passes by, becoming a second level mage and then, affected by the Fuaran ritual, a mage Beyond Classification.  Possesses a pistol with silver bullets for protection from vampires and werewolves.  Day Watch (Movie): as he uses the Chalk of Fate to rewind time and corrects his biggest mistake, he becomes human without any powers or recollections of the Others.

Boris Ignatyevich/Geser  (Also spelled Gesar and Gesser, also referred to as Boris Ignatyevich or Boris Ivanovich (depending on the print, in both movies) (Grand Light Mage) – an ancient mage of Tibetan descent who taught a number of heroes and philosophers during his lifetime. He moved to Europe during the early 15th century. Although he has had many opportunities to advance to high-level posts within Night Watch, he chooses to remain a Regional Director of the Moscow division (it should be noted that the Moscow division is the de facto head of all divisions of former USSR). Gesar is a battle-hardened tactician who’s been known to turn devastating defeats into small victories. He cares a great deal about his subordinates, though he doesn’t hesitate to put them in harm’s way for the sake of the greater good. His mage level is Beyond Classification (i.e. doesn’t fit into the 1-7 scale). During the course of the Dusk Watch, it was revealed that he and Olga had a son, who turned out to be mortal.

Svetlana Gorodetskaya (nee Nazarova) (Also called Sveta) (Grand Light Sorceress) – a young doctor who is not aware of her powers at the beginning of the novels. (Night Watch Book and Movie): She is a victim of a plot by Zabulon to either kill her or depress her until she turns to the Dark before she joins the Night Watch. Her power is discovered when Zabulon goes too far and she inadvertently curses herself; Svetlana’s powers are so strong that the curse develops into an enormous vortex that threatens to unleash an Inferno and destroy Moscow. She enters into a relationship with Anton which becomes strained as Svetlana’s powers continue to increase exponentially. Day Watch (Movie): She clashes with Yegor during his birthday, which starts a war between Light and Dark. Yegor attacks her with his weapon, blinding her. When Anton rewinds time and both forget what was, he meets her in a park, and shows interest in her. Twilight Watch (Novel): Svetlana and Anton eventually have a child together that is more powerful than either of them, a very rare occurrence among the others (who usually have normal, ungifted children).

Olga (Grand Light Sorceress) – an old friend and an occasional lover of Gesar. Gesar has a number of pet names for her (Olyushka, etc.) When he refers to someone whose name begins with “Ol”, he is likely referring to Olga. Night Watch (Book and Movie): Olga was turned into an owl for breaking obligations she had to the Light. In the book, she was allowed to change back to her human form during wartime, for half an hour every day. In the movie, she changed back to her human form permanently after being assigned to Anton as a partner. (Day Watch Book ): Thanks to Gesar’s manipulations, she was restored to her human form and regained her powers by the end of Night Watch. Day Watch (Movie): Gesar reveals that Olga was imprisoned in an owl body by the Inquisition when she sacrificed herself to help Gesar out in a difficult situation, and later Gesar understood that it was the Dark Others’ plan all along.

Semyon (Also spelled Simeon) (First-level Light Mage) – a crusty, experienced mage with a wryly cynical outlook on the world. Unlike many of his fellow mages, he is a capable fighter even without his magic. Unlike most mages, he is capable of “reading” people the same way a normal person would – by body language, as opposed to magic. In the films, he is associated with a large yellow supercharged truck to which he has an undefined connection. In the books, this connection is less distinct. However, he’s still the designated driver of Night Watch parties, as he’s a genius with anything that has wheels, even without his powers. In the film Day Watch, he is killed after ramming his truck through a much larger semi-truck attempting to stop him and Olga from reaching the hotel where Anton and Svetlana are stuck at a Dark Other party. They reach the hotel in the truck and he says “We made it”, before slouching forward on to the car horn, supposedly dead. However, he is seen again at the end of the film, once Anton rewrites his own fate, back when he, Bear, and Tiger Cub were attemtping to catch the witch at the beginning of the movie Night Watch. He speaks briefly to Anton, and tells his co-workers that Anton has become human again.

Bear (Shifter-Mage) – a reclusive, quiet mage known for his calculated, brutal tactics. His preferred animal form is a large polar bear, although he can take any bear form. Due to his shady personality, he is often referred to as an ex-Dark Other (though his supposed former affiliation to the Dark Others proved to be wrong). He is frequently partnered with Tiger Cub. Night Watch (movie): his first name is Ilya and he is romantically involved with Tiger Cub. Day Watch (book): when Tiger Cub dies, he is largely saddened by her demise, which leads other operatives to think he had a crush on her.

Ignat (Light Incubus) a self-absorbed mage with “[the] face of a Hollywood actor and the body of a Greek god”. He prides himself on being able to bed any woman (or man). As a result, he takes failure very hard. Night Watch (book and Russian version of the movie): He is called by Gesar to attempt to seduce Svetlana, so she would relax the vortex or at least say who cursed her. However, he tries too hard and she figures him out. Day Watch (movie): his failure drove him to be downgraded to a simple archive guard. However, as seen in front of the hotel “Kosmos”, he still has influence on other operatives, as he motivates them to attack before Olga stops him.

Garik (Light Mage) a shy mage infamous for his bad luck with women.

Igor Teplov (Light Mage) an idealistic mid-level mage. Despite his youthful appearance, he was born in the late 1920s. He is dedicated to the cause of Light Others, though his knee jerk reaction to Dark Others and refusal to compromise his principles has occasionally caused problems. Voluntarily dematerialized into the Twilight at the end of the events in the 2nd book, Day Watch.

Nadya Gorodetskaya (Absolute Light Sorceress) – Twilight Watch (Novel): daughter of Anton and Svetlana. Two years old in Twilight Watch.  Even at her young age, she’s capable of feats few Light Others can match. In spite of the knowledge that comes with such power, she retains child-like innocence, which occasionally results in her using her powers without thinking of the consequences. She is a Zero-level Other – she does not emit magic, only absorbs. In all the novels, there are only two Other’s that had such a level: Merlin and Jesus (although he is only mentioned). Nadya was intended to be the Light Messiah, with help of Gesar’s manipulations with fate. However, due to Zavulon’s intrigue, the only Light Other apparently able to be a teacher and mentor to a Messiah, voluntarily defleshed himself. Nadya is still going to become an incredibly powerful Light Sorceress, but it is not certain whether she will actually become Light Messiah.

Alexander “Las” Ulyanov Twilight Watch (novel): Normal human heavy metal bass player that Anton encounters while undercover in Dusk Watch. Anton’s apartment has no toilet, Las’s has no shower. As he has always been attracted to the strange and fantastic (and probably familiar with hallucinogens), he is unfazed by seeing magic used around him. He is eventually given powers by Kostya as a demonstration and joins the Night Watch. This character is based on a real Russian musician, Alexander “Las” Ulyanov.

Dark Others

Zabulon (Also spelled Zavulon) (Grand Dark Mage) – An ancient schemer about the same age as Gesar. He runs the Day Watch in Moscow and his plans frequently involve misdirection and hidden agendas. His power seems to rival that of Geser but he is often, if not overpowered by Geser, outwitted by him. His true form has taken on demonic characteristics because he has spent a great deal of time in the Twilight. His chosen human appearance is often misleading, as he appears as a thin intellectual who does not seem to be a threat to those who do not know him. Day Watch Novel: Geser’s consistent ability to outwit him eventually forces the outside forces of the gloom to step in and restore the balance between Light and Dark. Face of the Dark Palmira: His human name is revealed to be Arthur. The name “Zabulon” is from the Old Testament.

Kostya (Konstantin) Saushkin (High Vampire) – A young, idealistic vampire whom Anton befriended before becoming an Other. Anton’s actions during the first part of Night Watch drove a wedge between them. Kostya was bitten by his father after he was born, in order to prevent him from succumbing to a fatal disease (pneumonia in both lungs), and has resented being a vampire ever since. His goal is to study biology and find a cure for vampirism or at the very least find a way to make himself no different from everyone else. Twilight Watch (Novel): Normally, a vampire must drink blood, and kill (completely) about 6-7 humans to become a High Vampire. Kostya has managed to become one by only drinking the “Saushkin Cocktail” – a special mix from blood of 12 donors, willingly given. Later, thanks to the Fuaran book, he becomes the most powerful Other in the world. In the same novel, is revealed that the final objective of Kostya was to use the Fuaran on the whole world by undergoing the ritual onboard the International Space Station. Anton hijacks the shuttle take off, stranding him in space without chance to open a portal to teleport away.  Day Watch (Movie): he has an affair with Alisa. When the Inquisitors take Kostya’s father away, Kostya tries to attack Zabulon and is killed in a fatal tango dance. As the result of Anton’s use of the Chalk of Fate, however, he is most likely alive again at the end of the film.

Arina (Grand Dark Witch) – an extremely powerful witch. Twilight Watch (Novel): She was involved in an experiment intended to create a perfect society, organised by both Watches together with the Inquisition, but she sabotaged it, together with an unknown Light Mage who is most likely Gesar. Then she put herself to sleep for several decades, to wait out the hunt. Arina does most of her magic using plants and herbs. She chose darkness out of selfishness rather than any particular malice. She does not like to hurt people, although she will pretend she is willing to if it suits her goals. She actively dislikes and disrepects Zabulon.

Inquisition

Witezislav Hrubín (High Vampire, Inquisitor) – an old vampire who got tired of Zabulon and Day Watch and joined the Inquisition. He and Gesar share a long-standing animosity for each other. According to Gesar, when Witezislav became a vampire, he killed his own mother, though it was not intended. In Twilight Watch, he discovers the Fuaran hidden by Arina and tests it on Kostya, who becomes a Higher Vampire and kills Witezislav to get ahold of the book for himself.

Edgar (Dark Mage) – a strong Dark mage (1-2 level) who was transferred to Moscow from an Estonian Day Watch on Zabulon’s behest. Although he was, for a while, a steadfast supporter of the Dark Other’s cause, he found many aspects of the Dark Others’ lifestyle distasteful. Between Day Watch (Novel) and Twilight Watch (Novel): After becoming tired of being a pawn in Zabulon’s schemes, he joins the Inquisition. 

Plot Summary

Nobody’s Time

Anton Gorodetsky is assigned by Gesar to investigate mysterious warning letters sent to both the Watches and the Inquisition. In the letters, a powerful Great Light Other promises a human that they will turn him into an ‘Other’, which the human deeply desires. However, as far as the Others are concerned this is impossible and as such, the Light Other is in danger because refusal to fulfill this human’s request means that he or she will dematerialise in the Twilight. Anton is assigned the case and goes to the Assol, a rich district in Moscow where the letters came from. Vampire Kostya Saushkin from the Day Watch has also been assigned to the case, along with Edgar and Witezislav from the Inquisition. Anton discovers that the human is a 60-year old businessman, the son of Gesar. The four confront Gesar about making the promise to turn his son into an Other but Gesar denies even knowing his son was alive. It is then revealed that his son is a potential Other for whom Gesar claims the right to initiate. It is revealed later in the book that the witch, Arina, used the book of Fuaran to transform Gesar’s son into an Other.

Nobody’s Space

Anton joins his wife Svetlana (who left the Night Watch), her mother, and their daughter (Nadya) on a vacation in a remote area. Whilst there, he learns an incident where werewolves tried attacked two human children but who were saved by a mysterious woman living in the forest. Anton magically reads the older girl’s memory, and notices that she saw a book titled “Fuaran” on the shelf. Anton can hardly believe it, as Fuaran is a legendary and extremely powerful artifact, believed to be lost ages ago or maybe never to have existed at all. According to stories, the book, written by an ancient witch (named Fuaran) contains a spell able to turn an ordinary human into an Other.

Anton finds the witch’s cottage and the witch, Arina, who turns out to be level 1 or higher, but not Fuarar. Instead, all Anton finds is a book about the legend of Fuaran which is co-authored by Arina. The book explains how Fauran discovered how to raise the power of an Other, and grant a human the powers of an Other. According to the book, the average magical temperature of the world was 97 degrees, while humans had a magical temperature of 97 or higher. Their warmth is fed into their surroundings, while the Others have a magical temperature under 97, and thus soak up the ‘warmth’ that surrounded them. The lower an Others magical temperature, the more they soaked up. Seventh level Others had a magical temperature of about 90, while Others without Classification where in the 40s. The rarest type of other is one who had no magical temperature at all, a Zero Other, who’s power was near limitless due to the fact they only absorbed magic. After a talk with Sveta, Anton discovers Nadya is an absolute Zero Other.

Later, as Anton is relaxing in a hammock, he opens his eyes to find Edgar (an Inquisitor) standing over him. Edgar explains to Anton that Arina was wanted for questioning. In turns out the witch played a major role in a joint Watch experiment to create the perfect socialist state in the 20s. Arina was meant to put a potion in the bread that, over time, would cause whoever ate it to fully believe in newly arising government. Instead, all the subjects were turned quickly to the cause, which lead to the downfall of the government and the death of nearly all the subjects, supposedly due to the Arina’s intentional sabotage.

Confronted by Anton and Edgar, Arina dives into the fourth level of the twilight, where it takes time before the pair manage to follow her, only to find that she had escaped. Edgar and Anton return to the real world and decide that it would not be smart to search a Higher Others house, as Arina had proven herself to be. Having lost their target, the duo split ways, Edgar to get backup in order to find the witch and Anton to return to his family.

Once back home Sveta and Anton learn that while Sveta’s mother was out in the forest with their daughter, her ‘old friend’ took their daughter for a walk. Sveta and Anton knew instantly it was Arina, and through magical means contacted her. The Inquisition had erected a dome to stop the witch from escaping, and she was holding Nadya hostage with demands that they find her a means to escape.

After Sveta sends out magical means to search for Nadya, which nearly blew Anton away, and discovers nothing, the werewolves, who had felt Sveta’s power and were afraid she would come after them, showed up. It turned out to be a man in his twenties with three children. They admitted having seen where Arina took Nadya and agreed that as long as they were pardoned for hunting those children, they would help track down and fight Arina.

In the end, after a battle between Arina and a very angry Sveta, Nadya is saved, and with no deaths. Sveta, who traveled to Arina via the fifth level of the twilight, seemed changed, as though she had a new understanding on life. After forcing Arina to agree not to hurt any human or other unless in self-defense, Sveta agreed to help her find a means to leave.

Nobody’s Power

Anton later traveled to Moscow in order to talk to Gesar, at which point Gesar received a phone call, asking him to go to the witches hut, where Anton had only just been. After traveling there with Anton through magical means, they meet Kostya, Edgar, Zabulon and Svetlana. Witezoslav’s ashes have been found in a hidden room with no indication of who could have killed him, except that it would have to be someone powerful, as Witezoslav was a Higher Vampire. At first, they suspect Arina. However, it soon turns out that the Other who killed Witezoslav and took the book is Kostya, who himself became a Higher Vampire after drinking a blood cocktail made from donors in order to raise a vampire to this max potential (a mix of blood from 12 donors). Originally, Witezoslav found the book and phoned Edgar, who didn’t believe the vampire had found the actual book of Fuaran. But Kostya wasn’t convinced the book was a fake and joined Witezoslav at the hut. The Inquisitor wanted to see if the book actually worked and tried it on Kostya, using his cocktail of a blood mixture made from 12 donors, increasing his powers exponentially, after which Kostya challenged Witezoslav to a vampire duel. The loser of such a duel is ashed. His ultimate goal is to travel to the International Space Station and read the book while looking at the Earth from orbit (the spell of Fuaran works on everyone in the caster’s range of sight), turning all humans into Others, so at last he will not be different from the rest. All but Kostya realize that this will be a disaster – “you step on someone’s foot in a tram, he curses at you; now he can incinerate you.” Also, what most Others do not realize is that it is, in fact, humans who emit magical energy. The Others absorb it more than they emit, allowing them to use it. The magic level of an Other depends on the absorb/emit ratio. There were several “zero” Others in history: Jesus (Yehoshua), Merlin, and Anton and Svetlana’s daughter. Their power is nearly unlimited as all they do is absorb magic. If Kostya manages to turn all humans into Others, the amount of magic energy available will drastically decrease.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of “Fuaran” to Anton, he uses it on a human, turning him into a low-level Other. What neither Kostya nor Anton realized at the moment was that Anton was affected too – as he was standing right in front of Kostya – turning him into a mage without classification (Gesar/Zabulon/Sveta’s level).  Kostya makes it to the Baikonur Cosmodrome and mind-controls the humans there to suit him up for the rocket launch.  Anton catches up and confronts him, with Gesar, Zabulon, and Edgar all linked to his mind, and feeding him energy from everyone they have the right to leach it from.  Each is telling him to use a different destructive spell on the vampire.  They realize that Kostya is not planning to steal a rocket, as not even the Higher Vampire is capable of launching a rocket into orbit by himself. He is instead planning to open a portal to the space station. As a precaution, he is still putting on a spacesuit. However, when Kostya was about to open the portal, Anton took all the energy channeled into him by Gesar, Zabulon, and Edgar and spent it to create a shield around himself in order to shield his thoughts from Kostya.

What Anton did not want the vampire to realize was that because Kostya was an Other, an Other without classification to boot, he would not be able to perform any magic in the vast emptiness of space. There would be no energy there from which he could draw on, in space he was separated from the source of all Others energy. Kostya, assuming the shield was put up because Anton was afraid and wanted to protect himself from harm, expressed his surprise at such an act of cowardice and opened the portal. Only when the vampire stepped through it did Anton relax – the threat was over. It takes thousands of calculations to put a rocket into orbit. He knew that Kostya could not possibly calculate the exact position of the station. The portal deposited Kostya into orbit, leaving him to float in his spacesuit, unable to perform any magic. He could not make a corrective teleport into the space station, he could not open a portal back to the planet. He could only remain in orbit as that orbit decayed and he ended up burning up in the atmosphere upon re-entry, along with the book.

With the death of Kostya and others in the recent past, The Day Watch in Moscow is down to one Higher Level Magician (Zabulon) while The Night watch in Moscow has four (Gesar/Olga/Sveta/Anton).

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Characters

Light Others

Anton Gorodetsky (Light Mage) – a reluctant member of Night Watch, in the beginning of the first book, preferred mundane, technical jobs to actual field work. The events of the series forced him to step up and become a full-fledged operative. They also made him considerably more cynical about the cause of Light Others. His favorite pastime is listening to randomly arranged custom mini-discs. During the course of the novel, he and Svetlana relationship becomes rocky but the novel ends with the knowledge that Anton will be the father of Svetlana’s child.

Boris Ignatievich/Gesar (Grand Light Mage) – an ancient mage of Tibetan descent who taught a number of heroes and philosophers during his lifetime. He moved to Europe during the early 15th century. Although he has had many opportunities to advance to high-level posts within Night Watch, he chose to remain a regional director of the Moscow division. Geser is a battle-hardened tactician who’s been known to turn devastating defeats into small victories. He cares a great deal about his subordinates, though he doesn’t hesitate to put them in harm’s way for the sake of greater good.

Svetlana (Grand Light Sorceress) – a young doctor who became a Great Light Enchatress. She is destined to be a mother of the Light Messiah. Her powers were severely drained by the Mirror.

Olga (Grand Light Sorceress) – an old friend and an occasional lover of Geser who was turned into an owl for breaking obligations she had to the light side. Prior to the events of Day Watch, that punishment was lifted and she was restored to full power. She also wrote in the book of destiny in order to affect the date of the Light Messiah’s birth indirectly (since changing the destiny of an Other directly is very difficult).

Semyon (Light Mage) – a crusty, experienced mage with a wryly cynical outlook on the world. Unlike many of his fellow mages, he is a capable fighter even without his magic.

Tiger Cub/Katya (Shifter-Mage) – a young, playful mage with a penchant for jewels and amulets. She is highly regarded both by Dark and Light Others. It has been said that she could charm anyone. As the name implies, tiger is her animal form. She has a large house riddled with secret passages. While fighting with the mirror, Vitaly, she was crushed and killed by one of his spells.

Bear (Shifter-Mage) – a reclusive, quiet mage known for his calculated, brutal tactics. It has been continuously speculated that he was originally a Dark Other, despite the well-known fact that once the choice is made, the Others can’t change sides. His animal form is a large polar bear. He is frequently partnered with Tiger Cub and is largely saddened with her demise.

Ignat (Light Incubus/Succubus) – a self-absorbed mage with “[the] face of a Hollywood actor and [the] body of a Greek god”. He prides himself on being able to bed any woman (or man, he doesn’t care). As a result, he takes failure very hard.

Garik (Light Mage) – a shy mage infamous for his bad luck with women.

Alisher (Light Mage) – a weak magician born from a devona father and a human mother. Alisher’s father was killed by Alisa Donnikova in the first book. Afterward he became Geser’s new apprentice. It was suggested that he might play an unknown role in Geser’s plan.

Igor Teplov (Light Mage) – an idealistic mid-level mage. Despite his youthful appearance, he was born in the late 1920s. He is dedicated to the cause of Light Others, though his refusal to compromise his principles has occasionally caused problems. He was drained of his powers during a battle again the Dark Others and sent to a camp at the Black Sea to recuperate. He fell in love with Alisa while she too was recovering from a power drain, while both were unable to recognize each other as Others. Upon discovering Alisa was a Dark Other, he took it badly and challenged her, which led to her death as she didn’t fight back. A year later, during the Fafnir incident, he willingly banished (“dematerialized”) himself into the Twilight in order to be with Alisa, much to Geser’s chagrin.

Dark Others

Zabulon (Grand Dark Mage) – an ancient schemer about the same age as Gesar. His true form has taken on demonic characteristics because he had spent a great deal of time in the Twilight. He expressed interest in taking Alisa back, so long as she did what she was told (only to reveal that he was just using Alisa as part of his plan). He knew Lewis Carroll.

Alisa Donnikova (Dark Witch) – a young witch with the potent for mischief and discreet mind manipulation. She was killed as a result of Zabulon’s scheme to deprive the Light Messiah of the proper teacher. She was temporarily resurrected to testify during the Farnir affair.

Anna Lemesheva (Dark Witch) – a senior witch who used to be Zabulon’s lover. She became jealous after Zabulon took a favour in Alisa. She was used as the vessel to rematerialize/resurrect Alisa temporarily.

Edgar (Dark Mage) – a strong dark mage (1-2 level) who was transferred to Moscow from an Estonian Day Watch on Zabulon’s behest. Although he was, for a while, a steadfast supporter of the Dark Other’s cause, he found many aspects of the Dark Others’ lifestyle distasteful. After getting tired of Zabulon’s schemes, he joins the Inquisition.

  Unaffiliated

Maxim (Inquisitor) – a middle-class Light Other whose powers emerged before Night Watch could find him. Feeling compelled to seek out evil, he hunted and killed low-level Dark Others with an enchanted wooden dagger. Upon discovering the truth about the Others, he joined the Inquisition.

Vitaly Ragoza (The Mirror) – a minor Other who was not associated with either side, but was turned into the Mirror by the Twilight itself in order to correct the imbalance between the Night Watch and Day Watch in Moscow. As the Mirror, he had an ability to match the power level of any Other he was combating at the time. In the span of two weeks, he killed Tiger Cub and drained Svetlana’s power. Upon completing his mission, he vanished into the Twilight.

Witezslav (Inquisitor): a Higher Vampire Dark Other. Anton was shocked to learn that there was a Vampire among the Prague Inquisition. In Czech – Vítězslav.

Egor (Other) – a young and rare Other who was affiliated to neither Light nor Dark. It was suggested that he could become a Mirror like Vitaly.

 Plot summary

Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Others. Possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to The Dark – the Day Watch – or The Light – the Night Watch.

Unauthorised Personnel Permitted

(this story is told from the point of view of Alisa Donnikova)

In the prologue, a woman named Natasha goes to a witch to have her cast a spell to make her husband fall back in love with her. After she strikes a deal with the witch, members of the Night Watch suddenly arrive and arrest the witch while Natasha looks on, confused.

The story shifts to Alisa Donnikova, a young but powerful Dark Other, who leaves her house to attend a meeting with her comrades in the Day Watch. The team is on a mission to apprehend and recruit an uninitiated Other, the practicing Dark witch from the prologue who has so far eluded the bureaus responsible for finding and initiating unlicensed practitioners of magic. It seems a routine operation. But when they arrive, the Night Watch team has already made the arrest. A fierce battle ensues, during which Alisa almost dies. Drained of her powers, she is sent to recuperate at a youth camp near the Black Sea. There she meets Igor. The chemistry between them is instant and irresistible, and Alisa finds herself falling in love. But then comes a shattering revelation: Igor is a Light Magician. Alisa remembers him as one of those involved in the battle that left her crippled. Had they known what they were, they would have not entered their relationship. But now that they know, Igor (who reacts with rage, feeling he was tricked) challenges Alisa (who reacts with a more depressed note of sadness) to a duel. Alisa allows Igor to choose the site of the battle: off-shore, in the sea. Alisa chooses not to fight back, allowing Igor to magically push her under the water and drown her. She calls Zabulon for help but is shocked to find out Zabulon has planned her death all along. While this is going on, Makar, a boy that had become infatuated with Alisa, swims out to rescue her and also drowns.

Note: The first scene of this story forms the basis for the opening of the film Night Watch. In the movie, it is Anton (not Natasha) who goes to the same witch to have her kill what he thinks is his wife’s child with her adulterous lover (it turns out to actually be his own child). Both scenes play out in much the same way from there, but the arrival of the Day Watch and subsequent battle does not occur in the movie.

A Stranger Among Others

(this story is told from the point of view of Vitaly Rogoza)

A man named Vitaly Rogoza awakens while walking through a park late at night with no memory of his past or who he is. Following an internal instinct, he is able to protect himself from a werewolf and board a train to Moscow. Once in Moscow, still following instinct, he registers his presence as a Dark Other with the Day Watch and proceeds to stumble into a series of seemingly accidental encounters with the Night Watch, often resulting in a Night Watch member dying. He kills Tiger Cub in self-defense as she seeks revenge for him setting a trap that (legally) kills a Night Watch investigator trespassing in his hotel room.

While this is taking place, a Day Watch splinter group named the “Regin Brothers” stages an attack on the Inquisition to steal a powerful artifact named “Fafnir’s Talon”. Only four Regin Brothers survive and they head to Moscow. Members of the Night Watch and the Day Watch both learn that the Regin Brothers will be landing in a plane at Moscow International Airport. At the airport, both groups set up camps; the Night Watch tries to delay the plane’s landing while the Day Watch seeks to assist it. Vitaly wanders away from the main group of Day Watch agents and inadvertently stumbles upon the Regin Brothers and two powerful Night Watch members, Gesar and Svetlana. Gesar kills one of the Regin Brothers who attempts to flee, but Vitaly accidentally winds up in possession of the talon. He steals power from Svetlana and creates a portal that allows him to escape to a forest outside Moscow. After meeting up with some youths camping in the forest, Vitaly returns to Moscow. Instead of returning to the Day Watch offices with the talon, however, his instincts lead him to Maxim from the first novel, who is now a member of the Inquisition. At Maxim’s behest, Vitaly relinquishes the talon. Soon thereafter, the Inquisition calls a meeting to determine what is going on and who, if anyone, should be held responsible. Anton is called to attend but Zabulon encourages him to commit a small act of “betrayal” by not going, with the promise that he will be able to live freely with Svetlana and avoid bloodshed.

After Vitaly and Anton have a car accident (deliberately staged by Anton) on the way to the meeting, Svetlana concludes that Anton and Vitaly are engaged in a duel that will result in Anton’s death. When Vitaly arrives before Anton at the meeting alone, she assumes the worst and strikes him with all of her considerable power, leaving her dangerously drained (like Alisa above). Vitaly absorbs Svetlana’s power, although his clothes and MiniDisc player are destroyed. Anton then appears and gives Vitaly his own MiniDisc player as a replacement. The Inquisition concludes that Vitaly is a mirror and not an Other in the ordinary sense; thus he does not come under the terms of the Treaty and is free to pursue his own destiny. Vitaly was able to neutralize Svetlana by his presence and restore the balance between the Night Watch and Day Watch. Svetlana is sufficiently reduced in power that she and Anton are now theoretically able to live as equals, as Zabulon promised. Vitaly leaves the courthouse, listening to music, and dissipates into the Twilight, his purpose fulfilled.

Another Power

(this story is told in third-person, though the action continually switches its focus between the first novel’s narrator, Anton, and a second-level Dark Other, Edgar)

The third story revolves around a trial by the Inquisition to investigate the events of the first two stories. The first part of the story deals with various involved parties traveling to Prague (where the trial will be held), the second part involves the characters meeting in a number of different configurations and talking, the third part involves the trial itself.

All of the surviving major characters of the first two stories are on their way to Prague, which is the new location of the Inquisition after the Regin Brothers destroyed the old one. Edgar, a medium high level operative, is going to plead the Day Watch’s case. Edgar assures the 3 remaining Regin Brothers that the Day Watch will protect them. Anton is going as a prosecutor for the Night Watch. Igor is already there being put up (but not held in custody) by the Inquisition. In Prague, Anton meets an American Air Force pilot who is also a Light Mage. The pilot is proud of his work (bombing Kosovo). Anton is appalled that anyone can perform such evil acts and still align themselves with good. Anton and Edgar meet over beer and discuss dark vs. light philosophy. Edgar is clearly not a terribly enthusiastic Dark Other, but he’s doing his job nevertheless. Anton then goes to visit Igor while Edgar, left to his own devices, uncovers a lot of evidence to indicate that Zabulon is setting him up to be killed in order to facilitate the resurrection of Fafnir. He’s understandably frightened and angered. Meanwhile, Anton, eager to distract the suicidal Igor, gets him roaring drunk on Vodka and attempts to draw him into a strategy session to try to figure out what the Day Watch is up to, with some success. They wonder whose destiny it was that Olga changed at the end of Night Watch and here it is revealed that, though Svetlana’s child—foretold by Gesar to be a girl—would always have been a powerful light Other, the changes mean that her birth has been timed to make her daughter a Light Messiah. Gesar arrives and pleads with Igor to stick around for at least another 20 years. Igor is non-committal.

The next day, the trial begins. The Regin Brothers are tried first and are found guilty only of lesser crimes: though they transported Fafnir’s Talon, they didn’t participate in the theft. They are stripped of all but the very smallest of their magical powers and sent on their way. The focus of the trial then shifts the events of the novel’s first story. A number of minor charges against Gesar and Zabulon are dismissed under technicalities. Anton accuses Zabulon of indirectly arranging the duel between Igor and Alisa and blames Zabulon for the death of Makar, the young boy who drowned trying to save Alisa. Edgar and Zabulon challenge the Night Watch operatives to present proof, but neither Anton nor Igor can do so. In order to get to the bottom of the case, the Inquisition temporarily resurrects Alisa, who implicates Zabulon in her demise, stating that Igor was not responsible for her death. Igor is cleared of all charges. However, when Alisa is sent back to the Twilight, Igor follows her, dying himself. Zabulon is ecstatic, admitting that he had indeed planned to sacrifice Alisa in order to remove Igor, saying that Igor was the only one that could have trained the upcoming Light Messiah. Since Zabulon’s plan involved an even trade—Alisa for Igor—he has not violated the treaty, and the Inquisition clears him of charges. As Svetlana leaves, she tells Zabulon, “May no one ever love you.” Gesar sends Anton to find her, while the rest of the individuals at the trial depart the scene. Edgar approaches a member of the Inquisition, Witezslav, who invites Edgar to “try on” an Inquisitor’s robe. Edgar reluctantly takes the robe from Witezslav while mentioning that Svetlana’s “curse” is pointless because Zabulon doesn’t need anyone to love him anyway.

Imagine my surprise when I read that the trial of Igor was being held in Prague which the book claims is the necromancy capital of the world.  And I was even more surprised to read that when Edgar visited the ancient Inquisition library in Prague where he found an original copy of the Necronomicon. 

Raise you hand if you think Alan Ball is pulling plot from these books for the series and the comic books.

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The 4th issue of The French Quarter left of with New Orleans police detective Killian West returning home.   He was greeted by Le Deux, the vampire in dire need of an update to his 18th century wardrobe.  Le Deux needs his help.

NEW ORLEANS

The vampire serial killer they’re chasing turned out to be a copy cat of the original madman Eric knew in 18th-century Paris-but just as crazy.  The answer to his identity could be in this book, if they can find it.  Eric who’s been infected with Hep-D, isn’t making the search any easier.

Eric leans towards Sookie and asks her not to shut him out because he is sick.  Sookie says:  “Oh…Eric.  You’re helping.  Bill and I are gonna keep looking through this book, but as soon as we get an answer, we’re gonna need all your help.  Okay?”  Eric replies:  “Whatever you say, Sookie.”

Hep-D doesn’t kill vampires, but it sure makes them whiny.

Sookie is single again, with complicated feelings for Bill and Eric-But she remembers the sweetness of the love-making she and Eric shared when he was cursed, and she allows herself to enjoy the familiar feel of him against her body.

“Sookie…do not play into his hand.  Eric is exaggerating his illness in the hope of regaining your affections.”  “Bill Compton, my compassion for Eric’s situation does not mean I’m jumping into bed with him…anyway, you should be more sensitive to his illness.  God forbid, this could happen to you.”  Bill says:  “You are right, Sookie.  I am sorry.”  Sookie tells Eric:  “It’s going to be okay.”  Eric admits:  “It was nice, having you hold me again, Sookie.  I miss that.”  Sookie says:  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Eric;  Don’t push your luck.”

“People are dying, and the two of you are still trying to get into my pants!  I suppose there are a lot of girls who’d find that flattering.  But not me.  And you both know it.  It just makes me heartsick and wish I’d never met either of you.”

Sookie’s given this speech a dozen times, and she’s determined to keep giving it…until she finds a man who listens.

Bill ties to take the book from Sookie.  Sookie clutches the book to her chest and tells Bill:  “Give me that…I’ll see you at the hotel.”  Bill meekly says “We should go.”  Eric remarks:   “The sun will be up soon.”  Sookie takes the book and walks away from Eric and Bill.  Eric calls to Sookie:  “Can we talk about this?  I am sick.”  Sookie throws up her hand and says:  “Say good night, Eric.”  Eric parrots back:  “Good night, Eric.”

She hears the door locks click.  And then nothing.  Silence.  Sookie thinks:  “Stupid Man-pires.”

With Bill and Eric out of the way, Sookie can get some well deserved (and long overdue) alone time.  Maybe sit at a cafe and have a cup of coffee.  Or read a magazine.  Or look for shoes.  Sometimes she has to remind herself that she doesn’t need to live in the dark.  That’s the great thing about daybreak – all that sunlight really clears the streets of vampires.

MILHOUS ESTATES

A lot of people made money on this deal, even after the developer was indicted. 

“Cchhhkkkk…in progress, four-five-nine willow…cchhhkkkk…copy?”  A cop car sits beside a building with the door ajar, radio blaring.  “In pursuit of a tan cchhhkkkkk…east of downtown, requesting…cchhhhkkkkk”

A cop enters the dark building with his flashlight and crawls down a sewer.

The New Orleans police department lists Le Deux as “freelance consultant #19574…” ?!?  A snitch.   But his information on New Orleans’ vampire community has led Det Killian West to  a 95% conviction rate, and two promotions.  So when Le Deux says “Jump, ” West crawls into a sewer at the edge of town in the middle of the day, no questions asked – even if it means breaking the law. 

West opens the box just to make sure, what ever it is, it’s all there.  And to take a little off the top for his trouble.

“What the f—?  Ham?”  Splooooosh, plooooosh, thhhwwwwippp.

Alligators don’t normally eat human flesh, but they love the smell of pork.

Panic seizes control of West’s brain.  He’s alone, underground, and with no cell reception, and the desk sergeant thinks he’s at the dentist.

BON TEMPS

Lafayette is about to go on break, just after he takes out the trash…until life reminds him who’s boss.

“I can think of three things I’d rather be doing in this position.”

If he wanted to clean up garbage, he could go back to Merlotte’s. 

“Oh, hell no…

Amazing what you find in other people’s trash.

Lafayette re-enters Fangtasia.  Ginger is behind the bar and yells to Lafayette “Where’s the –?”  Lafayette answers:  “Top drawer Ginger, in the back.”  He breaks up a bar fight.

Lafayette thinks about how fast things have changed.  Just a few days ago, he was scared shitless of this place, almost killed by the first vampire he served…now, it’s just another  day at the office.

 Lafayette enters Pam’s office with the bag of trash he just picked up.  A swanky dressed Pam says:  “I asked you to take the trash out, didn’t I?”  Lafayette says:  “I found these blood bags.”  Pam:  “Not on the fucking desk.  Your powers of observation are astonishing, really.  More importantly, is my car here?”  Lafayette continues:  “The bar only sells Tru Blood.  And you like it fresh from the source.  Only way you’re drinking this is if you’re afraid of the local supply.  Maybe because that supply’s infected with something…”  Pam says:  “When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me-and I don’t do ass.”  Lafayette tells Pam:  “I’ve heard bits and pieces about it around the bar.  Nobody’s buying V…because everybody’s afraid of getting Hep-D.”  Pam is “Still not listening.”  Lafayette wants to know:  “Why don’t you just tell me?” Pam:  “Maybe because it’s none of your fucking business?  Or, was it because it’s really none of your fucking business?  No…you know what it was?  We don’t need you to know, because it’s none of your fucking business.”  Lafayette says:  “Mutherfuckin’ vampires didn’t think I need to know.  Here!  Take it.”  Pam take the piece of paper from Lafayette and realizes that it is Lafayette’s Will.

“…A 1972 doll beach house is an asset?”  Lafayette adds:  “Convertible’s included.  In mint condition.  Last one sold at auction for $15,000.”  “Good for you,”  Pam says.  “The point is, Ginger ain’t gonna be helpin’ me run this place while you’re gone.  You and I both know that bitch is only good for two things, and one of them is screamin’.  So if I get killed, well, I’ve made arrangements.  And either way, when you and Eric get back, my debt is paid in full.  To both of you.”  Pam tells Lafayette:  “That’s not the way it works.”  “It does now.  If  I live, we’re done.  Over.  Finished.  I go back to my life, and you leave me the fuck alone for the rest of eternity.”  Pam asks Lafayette:  “And what if I kill you right now?”  Lafayette:  “Then you’re left with Ginger.  And last time I checked, she was near brain dead.  You kill me and we’re both fucked.”

Miss Agatha said she was special.  Sookie’s part-faerie, which means she can read minds.  Despite this talent, she’s never really felt special.  Not in that way.  If she was special, she’d be able to figure out who the killer is.  It’s here in this book.  Miss Agatha said so.

Sookie studies Miss Agatha’s book in a cafe.  She overhears another cafe patron say “Look at that graffiti over there…it’s been six years, and they still haven’t gotten the city back on it’s feet!”

“Fuck me…”

“There was a list of names.  Some  kind of vampire painters.  Where was  it?”

 ”Check please!”

Maybe she is special, after all.

“Information?  In New Orleans, please?  Can I get an address for Victor Le Deux?”

“Gran always used to say ‘If you want to make an omelette–you gotta break a few eggs.’”

Its like a museum in here.  With all the vampire drama, and the werewolves and witches, and the shifters and the were-panthers, Sookie hasn’t had a lot of time for fine art…but she knows what she likes.

That Fangtasia matchbook.  The thing that got her down to New Orleans in the first place.  And all those killings.  This whole time she thought it was Eric.  That Guerra was back.  But this is about Bill–about his past coming back to haunt them.  Again.

Lorena.

“You dumb, stupid vampire c-word.”  Sookie walks into a low chest of drawers and falls to her knees.  “Oh, Shit.”  Sookie realizes that there is someone behind her.  Sookie is blind-sided.

 ”You shouldn’t say those nasty things about Lorena–it makes me angry.  I have waited well over one hundred years for this moment, Sookie Stackhouse, and I will not be denied one more second…I want to taste me revenge.”

Join the forum discussion on this post]]> http://www.ancientpythoness.com/2012/01/10/the-french-quarter-issue-5/feed/ 0 http://www.ancientpythoness.com/2012/01/07/osterbys-opus-part-xii/ http://www.ancientpythoness.com/2012/01/07/osterbys-opus-part-xii/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:43:40 +0000 osterby http://www.ancientpythoness.com/?p=2956 Jessica continues to be our only external timeline in July of 2010.  Here again, we lose where we are in the story because Jessica only references her POV.  We have to leap forward to when she directly mentions an event that we can match up with the internal timeline.  Jessica mentions her first night working at Merlotte’s on July 12, 2010, so that is where we re-join the timeline, but there were events that occurred between when Jessica was paid a visit by Franklin Mott and her first night at working at Merlotte’s and there is no way I am able  place the events on actual dates.  Again for continuity, I will include season 3 screen shots to orient y’all…

Season 3, Day 5

Jason burns application

Season 3, Night 5

Sam’s alarm goes off, Sam wearing Merlotte’s T-Shirt

Sookie and Alcide go to Lou Pine’s

Franklin Mott finds Tara

Bill and Lorena have twisty sex

Bill breaks up with Sookie on the phone

Sookie doesn’t have a nut sack

Sam chats with the folks about Tommy

Franklin Mott makes a puppet out of Tara

 Bill prefers to sleep alone

Eric dreams of Sookie

 Season 3, Day 6

 Steak, it’s what’s for breakfast

Lala leaves Tara a message

Sookie meets Janice

Bud’s retirement party

Arlene’s the only waitress at Merlotte’s

Sookie’s makeover

Season 3, Night 6

 Russell asks Bill about his work history

Franklin returns for Tara

 Sunday, July 4, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

The Solid Kind Of Happy

I’ve been wonderin’ about my human family a lot lately. Not the pinin’, missin’ kind of wonderin’, but the curious kind. I think it’s ’cause my human birthday is coming up. I haven’t told Bill or Sookie or anyone about it. Doesn’t really matter anymore, I guess, it’s not like I’m going to turn eighteen. But like, what’s my mama wearin’ today? That yellow cardigan she wears when there’s a draft, or the blue turtleneck for when she’s doin’ housework, with a hole in the sleeve? And my daddy, is he watchin’ the game? How many beers has he already had tonight? I guess I do start to feel, I don’t know, something, when I think about Eden. She’s stuck back there with those lame excuses for parents. Sure, she was a pain in the ass sometimes, what little sister ain’t, but she didn’t do nothin’ wrong. She doesn’t deserve the belt. It used to be daddy wouldn’t beat her as much. He’d mostly just look at her like he wanted to, but then send her to her room without dinner instead. But now that I’m not there to take all the heat, I just hope she isn’t getting it extra hard.

Parta me wants to go back there and kidnap her. I mean, I wouldn’t turn her into a vampire, but maybe I could just show her there’s a big world out there. Bigger than that house and that church and that idiotic little life. She could meet a boy, like I met Hoyt, and be happy. The real kinda happy. Not the passin’ kind, but the solid kind. She deserves that, hell, all nine year olds do. She’ll be ten next week, actually. Our birthdays were real close together. It’s strange when you think about it, she’ll be ten, then eleven, then twelve, pretty soon she’ll be older than me. And I’ll just be one of those memories to her, like dust particles floatin’ through the room, gettin’ caught in your throat or whatever. They’re always there, but you can’t see ‘em all the time, only when they hit a shaft of light.

Anyway, sorry for gettin’ so heavy on y’all. I guess I just wanna dedicate this post to Eden, back home. Happy birthday, sis.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Fruit Leathers and Chicken Babies

The last thing I ate? A fruit leather. Lame, I know. And here I am now, workin’ at a restaurant that serves burgers and rings and, like, seven types of beer, and I’m never gonna be able to have any of it. Kinda funny, isn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, I’m THRILLED to have a job (my first job, actually!) but the ironies of bein’ a vampire seem never-endin’.

You know what’s also never-endin’? First night here at Merlotte’s. I like the job ‘n all, but there isn’t much goin’ on. So far hostessing has been pretty easy. All I gotta do is walk people to an open table and wish ‘em a good meal. But every time I walk by booth #4, I get this pit in my stomach. Like that fruit leather’s still sittin’ in there, but it’s grown arms and legs and like, twelve times its original size, and it’s gonna come crawlin’ up my throat and pukin’ outta my mouth at any moment. Not that vampires can puke, but still. Wait…can they? Anyway, booth #4 is where I met Hoyt. He said somethin’ stupid about chicken babies and I was hooked. I guess maybe you have to know him. But my human life caught up with me tonight, and it put the whole Hoyt thing in perspective, I think. People move in and outta each others’ lives all the time. Vampire or human, it’s just a parta growin’ up.

 Season 3, Night 6

Jessica starts work at Merlotte’s

Eric rescues RuPaul/Lala from Hotshot

Tara and Franklin road trip

Sam bonds with Tommy

The Magister raids Fangtasia, Pam calls Eric

Jason corners Andy

Sam gives the Mickens a house

Tara and Franklin meet Talbot at the palace (about 2 hrs after sundown)

Sookie and Alcide return to Lou Pine’s

Russell sends Bill to procure

Eric returns to Fangtasia, Pam implicates Bill

Sookie sees Coot’s thoughts

Black Mass

Bill glamours Destiny

Alcide tells Sookie to “Run”

Bill, Russell, and Lorena kill Destiny, “Join us”

Bill refuses to help Tara

Franklin gives Russell Bill’s “Sookie file”

Talbot meets Eric

Eric charms Russell and  Talbot, Bill interrupts

Debbie says she will cut Sookie

Franklin tucks Tara in, Hookah speed text

Monday, July 19, 2010

Season 3, Day 7

Jason first day at work

The Mickens’ move into Sam’s rental

Terry is moving in and Arlene has a list as long as her leg

Sookie makes Alcide take her to meet Col Flood

Tara makes a run for it

Jesus wants to hang with Lala

Jason pulls over Crystal

 Season 3, Night 7

Hoyt and Summer’s date

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Hoyt’s Hot New Date

I found this photo on the Renard Parish Church Retreats and Spiritual Workshop Group photo page. Doodles by yours truly, Jessica Hamby

Season 3, Night 7

Why Tara, why?

Russell questions Bill about the Sookie file

Coot corners Bat Boy Bill

Jason flirts with a Supe by a lake

Talbot gives Eric a tour

Tara can’t eat day lilies

Vampire erotica, Eric finds his father’s crown

Eric’s flashback

Bill leads Russell to Sookie

Bill kills Super Size, Russell orders Lorena to kill Bill

 Monday, July 26, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Gettin’ The Hang of Things

 Season 3, Night 7

 Jessica snacks on Curlers

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The events depicted in season 2, episode 12 merge into the minisodes, which merge into the season 3 premiere.  With all these events merging into each other, I can only conclude that we leapt from 2009 into 2010 before the last episode of season 2.

Prior to the Season 3 premiere, Alan Ball and HBO invited fans to attend an “Ultimate Fan Experience.”  I was an attendee to this event which was broadcast to movie theaters all over the country.  We were shown the Trubies/Newbies videos, and the premiere of the minisodes which were later shown on HBO.  Then we were shown episode 12 of season 2.  The event concluded with the cast Q and A, which was,  again shown on HBO.

September 14, 2009 is where I placed Sam’s Minisode (#4) in my Opus post X. It was the night of the maenadicide, episode 12.  It is also the date of the second to the last posting by Andrew on the BloodCopy blog where he told his readers that the Maenad appeared to have left Bon Temps.  The day before that was the last tweet from BonTempsGossip.

September 15, 2009

BloodCopy.com

The Fall

Those days at the beach are drawing to a close. The long afternoons and brief nights are ebbing. The air is turning colder, and good breather children everywhere are being forced out of summer break to once again attend class. The Fall is coming. Someone once told me a vampire’s existence is better measured in seasons than years. Years are temporary. Seasons are eternal. They are markers, each representing a perspective, a unique point of view on the passing years, far beyond the space of time that houses them. The same can be said of vampires. A number on a calendar means nothing to us. A single year little different than a single day. But over a long enough span, patterns do emerge. We change and evolve, shifting from one period of our lives to another, with changes as stark as the frozen winter to the warm summer nights. Enough stalling. I’m leaving Bloodcopy indefinitely, starting tonight. Another site has been gracious enough to house it in the meantime, so you can still access any part of Bloodcopy on the HBO web site. www.hbo.com/trueblood)There are a number of reasons for my departure, though I suppose the most direct involves some unfinished business with an old friend. It’s nothing dangerous or criminal (sorry, devout FOTS members), but it does require my full attention and could easily lead to greater changes in my future.You could say I’m entering the next season of my life.This wouldn’t be the first time I’ve suspended this site, so I won’t be rash and swear I’ll never return. Of course, the first time I left I was human. I must admit my farewell message that time still amuses me, where I claimed I was off to seek out new creatures in the world. Little did I know I’d become one of them.This time I’m going to try a different approach. I’ll resist the temptation to expound on the state of human/vampire co-existence, the strides and back steps we’ve taken, the uncertain future facing us. I won’t recount my incredible experience as a member of Gawker, the new oddities I’ve faced since my maker called me back home. I won’t even thank each and every single person who’s joined me along the way. Comment on their insightful comments and thoughtful contributions. Tell them I’ve learned far more from them than they could ever from me.I’ve said all these things before.Instead, I’ll simply wish you pleasant evenings on your own travels. And do take good care.Vampires may not be the only other creatures sharing your world.

As with the leap from 2008 to 2009, we need to move forward in the timeline to a place where the external timeline meets with the internal timeline.  We have to move all the way to Jessica’s blog post on June 14, 2010, where she tells her readers that she felt chills.  Jessica’s first Babyvamp Jessica blog post was on September 6, 2010 and Jess’ blog is the only external timeline for season 3.    So, we then know that the remaining events in the season 2 finale after the maenadicide and the rest of the minisodes occurred somewhere in between….follow me?  It is not possible to date the next few events prior to Jessica’s directly mentioning an event on June 14, 2010, but we can place the order of the events.  H/T Courtly_LoveMachine for placing the Eric and Pam Minisode. I know…we only have Bill’s vampire child, Jessica to anchor the timeline, however, Jessica has proven to be very honest in her blog and for all intents (season 3 anyway) has proven honest in her pictorial.  Jessica posts to her blog once a week, for the most part, and we are only privy to her POV.  For the sake of orienting ya’ll…I will include the highlights of the events outside of Jessica’s POV. 

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

How the hell does this thing work…

 Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Fangin…

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Glamour shots…

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Tru Blah

Monday, June 14, 2010

Season 2

Sam’s leaving town

Sookie gets a delivery, opens package, lavender dress and note from Bill, dinner tonight

Eggs asks Sookie to help him remember gaps, Sookie takes Eggs hands, Eggs remembers murdering Ms J,

Daphne and stabbing Sam, Eggs runs away

MINISODE #3

Sookie, Lafayette and Tara

MINISODE #5

Bill

Bill and Jessica dressed for dates, Jessica says she and Hoyt had a fight, Jess asks Bill where he is taking Sookie

Sam at Marlotte’s house, father gives last known info on the Mickens

Hoyt at Bill’s with flowers,  Hoyt leaves flowers

MINISODE # 2

Jessica

Jess at truck stop with trucker

Sookie and Bill at restaurant, dance

Jason shoots Eggs while Eggs confesses his crimes to Andy.   Andy covers up, tells Jason to run

MINISODE # 6

Jason

Season 3, Night 1

Bill gives Sookie plane tickets to Vermont and a ring, proposes.  Sookie doesn’t know why she can’t say yes,
goes to ladies room, tries on the ring, runs to Bill to tell him, yes.   Bills gone.

Kenya takes an indignant  Sookie home from the restaurant

Jason gets home

Bill meets the Fuck You Crew

Sookie searches for Bill

Andy warns Jason

MINISODE #1

Eric and Pam

The still searching Sookie meets Yvetta, informs Eric that Bill is missing

 Eric phones Ruben, orders the hit

Sam dreams of Bill

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Is Anyone Out There?

Season 3, Night 1

 Bill calls Jessica

 Season 3, Day 2

Lettie Mae takes over Tara watch for Lala

Sookie chews out Bud

Sam meets Tommy

 Rev. Daniels “saves” Tara

Season 3, Night 2

Bad-ass Hoyt calls Jessica

Sophie Anne and the Magister visit Eric at Fangtasia

Arlene realizes she’s preggers

Pam delivers Sookie’s check for Dallas

 Pam tells Lala to sell all the V

Monday, June 21,  2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Real Men and Real Women

Firstly, I want to thank all of you who offered me your blood. Users sohn and v”’v-Michael-v”’v, THOMAS H and Mert, maybe there were others too. Y’all are just the nicest! But I think maybe, for a little while, I need to hold off on feedin’ from humans. Last time, well, it didn’t go so well…I keep askin’ myself why couldn’t I have gone after Hoyt’s mama again instead of that man? He was a real man, too, not like Hoyt’s a man, but like my daddy was a man. Mean and strong. Just don’t tell Hoyt I said any of that, okay? Oh Hoyt, he’s so good, you know? He’s cute and thoughtful and sweeter’n most boys in these parts. He must have a screw loose though, because he thinks we can face this world together. I got news for you, Hoyt, we are living in two different universes. Yours is full of sunshine and your mama and food and bodily functions and mine is just darkness. Nothin’ else. We’re like Jack and Rose. I’m sinkin’ to the bottom of the ocean and you gotta get on one of those life boats with all the people with funny accents that are starting to turn purple.

On the upswing, I took some of the advice y’all posted and went to some older vampires for words of wisdom. And now I think I have a new crush! Not a crush-crush, like on a boy, but a friend-crush. Or a big-sister-crush, if you wanna call it that. Pam, over at Fangtasia, is so rad! Now she’s a woman, like a real woman. Not like my mama was a woman, but like Madonna’s a woman. Or Susan Lucci. And she knows EVERYTHING there is to know about bein’ a vampire! So if any of you babies out there have a question you need answered, just post them in the comments section. If I can’t answer and no one else here can neither, I can just ask Pam!

Okay, well, I have to go deal with a little “problem” I got here. So wish me luck. And thanks for all the support, it means a lot to me.

Season 3, Night 2

Bill finds a house in the woods

Sookie drags Jessica to look for Bill

Bill cons Olivia

Lettie Mae cons Rev Daniels

Sam follows Tommy home

Sookie and Jessica find Bill’s car

Bill meets Russell Edgington

Sookie and Jessica go to Fangtasia

Jessica spurns Hoyt

Season 3, Day 3

Jason at Sookie’s, eating her chicken

Sam meets the Mickens

 Sookie and Terry chase a Were

Tara and Lala meet Ruby Jean and Jesus at Meadowglade

Bud and Andy hold a press conference

Terry gives Sookie a hand gun

 Season 3, Night 3

Bill dines with Russell and Talbot

Franklin Mott  finds Bill’s “Sookie  file” in Bill’s house

Eric visits Sookie, offers protection…

Jason rides along on Hotshot raid

Tara meets Franklin Mott

Bill greets Lorena

Eric get Sookie’s rug all wet

Russell prefers to let cooler heads prevail, and suggests Bill sleep on his relationship with Sookie

Dead Were disposal with Sookie and Eric

Tara enters the void

Hanks MIA. Jessica calls Pam

Season 3, Day 4

Sookie asks  for time off, Sam wearing Merlotte’s T-Shirt

Hoyt helps Jason study for the police exam

Arlene’s first look at the Critter

Eggs funeral

Bill dreams of his return to Bon Temps with Lorena after the Civil War

Jason takes police exam in hieroglyphs

Headless Hank found

 Sookie meets Alcide

The Mickens come to Merlotte’s, Sam wearing Merlotte’s T-Shirt

Bud quits

Sookie says she’s  ready to go and she even packs light

Season 3, Night 4

Bill wakes in his own private pup-tent

Bill renounces Queen Sophie Anne and Louisana and swears fealty to King Russell and Mississippi

Lala gets a new ride for $1.00

Monday, June 28, 2010

Babyvamp-Jessica.com

Where In The World Is F**king Bill Compton?

Season 3, Night 4

Franklin Mott visits Jessica

Join the forum discussion on this post

Thanks to Bobsgran, I was reminded of the films Alan Ball mentioned True Blood fans watch.  The films are worth the watch if you haven’t seen them already.

And thanks to anna for bringing the 4  Night Watch books to my attention.  If you haven’t read them, I highly recommend them. This post and the next three will focus on the books.  The mythology is different from Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries, but I see some definite parallels with some of the darker aspects to True Blood.  We have noted here in the past that some of the True Blood characters have been rooted in history, biblical and mythology.  The Night Watch Series eludes to biblical, history and mythology as well. The True Blood references of Light and Dark most likely came from these films/books.

The Professor does a good job explaining the premise of the story and also gives a really good introduction to the characters and their species.  I couldn’t write it up any better.

From Wikipedia:

Night Watch

The story revolves around a confrontation between two opposing supernatural groups (known as “Others”): the Night Watch, an organization dedicated to policing the actions of the Dark Others—and the Day Watch, which polices the actions of the Light Others.

The novel is first in a tetralogy that continues with Day Watch, Twilight Watch and Final Watch. The first story of the novel, Destiny, was made into a successful Russian film, Night Watch, which, although keeping the characters and many of the events of the original novel, alters some significant elements of the story.  The Day Watch film was based on the second and third parts of this novel, not on the second book Day Watch.

Background

In the story’s worldline there exists a magical realm beneath the surface of all things—referred to as the Twilight (or Gloom in other translations). The action in the novel centers on a group of people referred to as the Others—human beings who tapped into the Twilight and gained supernormal abilities. The Others were the humans (shamans, soothsayers, and wisemen) from long ago who figured out how to step into the Twilight. However, the Others are different from humans, they are born as Others. Humans are not able (at least in the first part of the tetralogy) to become Others. The Twilight does not offer its gifts freely; it feeds off the strength of those Others who enter it. If sufficiently weakened, they are consumed, never to return to the ordinary world. The aura of any Other, or emotional state at the time of their first entry into the Twilight, determines whether or not the Other will become a ‘Light’ or ‘Dark’ Other. Furthermore, once determined either Light or Dark, an Other must choose what specific powers they will borrow from the Twilight. Variations such as vampires, magicians, and healers are all possible, each with their own benefits and restrictions. Often, the choice is made by the state of mind but if choosing Light or Dark during Initiation, a Watch can attempt to steer the powers of someone into what they need at the time. “Initiation” refers to the process of an Other choosing not Light or Dark but choosing to officially be a part of the Night Watch (Light Others) or Day Watch (Dark Others). An Other can exist without being initiated as part of a Watch, still independently capable of entering the Twilight and becoming Light or Dark. The choice of becoming light or dark, even what specific powers you gain is usually final.

The division of Light and Dark had always existed between the Others. Those of the Light believed it was their duty to help the weak and the helpless. Those of the Dark shunned all obligations. They did what they wanted, regardless of morals and consequences. For many millennia, the two sides fought a vicious battle. Both were willing to use any means necessary to achieve victory. Eventually they realized that if they continued their battle, neither side would survive. The leaders of both sides forged the Grand Treaty—a set of laws to govern the way the Others used their powers. The Light Others created the Night Watch, the Dark Others the Day Watch, to ensure that neither side would violate the Treaty. The Inquisition, a group composed of both Dark and Light Others, was created to arbitrate.

If they spend them too quickly, the Others can use the feelings and emotions of the humans surrounding them to recharge their powers. The Dark Others use negative emotions such as pain or anger, the Light Others use positive emotions such as joy. Feeding on pain causes pain to increase, feeding on joy causes joy to wane. Because negative emotions are much easier to achieve in humans, this arrangement creates a situation where the powers of the Dark Others are easier to recharge and are much more readily available than those of the Light Others.

Since the signing of the Treaty, the Night Watch and the Day Watch have kept their eyes on each other, diligently policing every violation. The old leaders continue to plot, using humanity and the Others as their pawns. Only time will tell which side will prevail.

The novel is divided into three stories- Destiny, Among His Own Kind, and All for My Own Kind. Each story is subdivided into a prologue followed by eight chapters in the first story, and seven chapters in each of the following stories. Except for the prologues, the majority of the events in each story are written in a first person narrative using the voice of the Light Magician character Anton Gorodetsky, a member of the Night Watch. Events in each of the prologues, as well as intermittent other events in the stories, are written in a third person narrative and take place entirely outside of Gorodetsky’s presence. The entire novel is written in the past tense.

Characters

Light Others

Anton Gorodetsky (Light Mage): the main character of the novel (most of the novel is written in the first-person from his point of view), a reluctant member of Night Watch. In the beginning of the first book he prefers mundane, technical jobs to actual field work. The events of the series force him to step up and become a full-fledged operative. They also make him considerably more cynical about the cause of Light Others. His favorite pastime is listening to randomly arranged custom mini-discs. He is a fifth level mage at the beginning of the first novel, but becomes later a second level magician. Possesses a pistol with silver bullets for protection from vampires and werewolves.

Boris Ignatievich/Gesar (Grand Light Mage): an ancient mage of Tibetan descent who taught a number of heroes and philosophers during his lifetime. He moved to Europe during the early 15th century. Although he has had many opportunities to advance to high-level posts within Night Watch, he chooses to remain a Regional Director of the Moscow division (it should be noted that the Moscow division is the de facto head of all other former USSR divisions). Gesar is a battle-hardened tactician who has been known to turn devastating defeats into small victories. He cares a great deal about his subordinates, though he does not hesitate to put them in harm’s way for the sake of the greater good. His mage level is Beyond Classification (i.e. does not fit into the 1–7 scale).

Svetlana (Grand Light Sorceress): a young doctor who is not aware of her powers at the beginning of the novel, a victim of a plot by Zabulon to kill her before she joins the Night Watch. Her power is discovered when she inadvertently curses herself; Svetlana’s powers are so strong that the curse develops into an enormous vortex that threatens to unleash the Inferno and destroy Moscow. She enters into a relationship with Anton which becomes strained as Svetlana’s powers continue to increase exponentially.

Olga (Grand Light Sorceress): an old friend and an occasional lover of Geser who was turned into an owl for breaking obligations she had to the Light. She was allowed to change back to her human form during wartime, for half an hour every day. Thanks to Geser’s manipulations, she was restored to her human form and regained her powers by the end of Night Watch.

Semyon (Light Mage): a crusty, experienced mage with a wryly cynical outlook on the world. Unlike many of his fellow mages, he is a capable fighter even without his magic. Unlike most mages, he is capable of “reading” people the same way a normal person would—by body language, as opposed to magic.

Tiger Cub/Katya (Shifter-Mage): a young, playful mage with a penchant for jewels and amulets. She is highly regarded both by Dark and Light Others. It is said that she can charm anyone. As the name implies, she shapeshifts to tiger as her preferred animal form. She has a large house riddled with secretpassages and guarded by dogs trained to attack Others (normally animals are afraid of Others). She can be rather impulsive, which gets her in trouble on several occasions.

Bear (Shifter-Mage): a reclusive, quiet mage known for his calculated, brutal tactics. It has been continuously speculated that he was originally a Dark Other, despite the well-known fact that once the choice is made, the Others can not change sides. His preferred animal form is a large polar bear. He is frequently partnered with Tiger Cub.

Ignat (Light Incubus/Succubus): a self-absorbed mage with “[the] face of a Hollywood actor and [the] body of a Greek god”. He prides himself on being able to bed any woman (or man). As a result, he takes failure very hard.

Garik (Light Mage): a shy mage infamous for his bad luck with women. His father is a Dark Other.

Igor (Light Mage): an idealistic mid-level mage. Despite his youthful appearance, he was born in the late 1920s. He is dedicated to the cause of Light Others, though his refusal to compromise his principles has occasionally caused problems.

Yulia (Light Mage): a smart young girl who works at the Night Watch as an analytical sorceress. Yulia admires Tiger Cub.

Ilya (Light Mage): a first-level mage who swapped bodies with Geser in Story One: Destiny to trick Zabulon. He is said to be a powerful mage. He wears glasses.

Dark Others

Zabulon (spelled Zavulon in the English subtitles in the film version; the spelling “Zabulon” reflects the Old Testament source of the name) (Grand Dark Mage): an ancient schemer about the same age as Gesar. He runs the Day Watch in Moscow and his plans frequently involve misdirection and hidden agendas. His power seems to rival that of Gesar but he is often, if not overpowered by Gesar, outwitted by him. His true form has taken on demonic characteristics because he has spent a great deal of time in the Twilight. His chosen human appearance is often misleading, as he appears as a thin intellectual who does not seem to be a threat to those who do not know him.

Elisa Donnikova (Dark Witch): a young witch with a penchant for mischief and discreet mind manipulation. She was Zabulon’s lover until the end of the novel.

Kostya (Kostantin Saushkin) (young Vampire): a young, idealistic vampire living above Anton, whose family Anton befriended even before he had become an Other. Anton’s actions during the first part of Night Watch drove a wedge between them.

Unaffiliated

Maxim (Inquisitor): a middle-class Light Other whose powers emerged before Night Watch could find him. Feeling compelled to seek out evil, he hunted and killed low-level Dark Others. Upon discovering the truth about the Others, he was recruited into the Inquisition.

Egor (spelled Yegor in the English subtitles of the film version): a shy, seemingly ordinary young boy. He was ambushed by a pair of renegade vampires in the beginning of Night Watch. Egor is a very rare case, having a ‘clean slate’. His aura shows his fate to be undetermined. In the second part of Night Watch, it is revealed that Yegor is destined to join the side of the Dark. However, at the very end of the novel his destiny is partially re-written and he remains unaffiliated. His potential mage level is very low (6 or 7).

Races

Within the Night Watch universe there are several different races with different characteristics and levels of power.

Magicians Magicians of low levels are very common among both the Light side and Dark Others. Magicians may specialize in the power of Foresight, Healing, Cursing and Hexing, Battle Magic, or any number of other abilities. Powerful magicians are known to live abnormally long lives. Gesar, Anton, Semyon, Alisher, Ilya, Garik, Tolik and Zabulon are magicians of various levels.

Enchantress/Sorceress Terms for a female magician, such as Olga, Svetlana and Yulia. Svetlana comments that the difference between enchantresses and witches lies in the way their powers manifest – witches use charms, rhymes and various external aids to work their magic, whereas enchantresses use gestures and incantation to direct Twilight power. A witch is harmless if she is stripped naked and her body is shaved, whereas to render an enchantress harmless requires gagging her and tying her hands.

Shapeshifters Shapeshifters can change into animal form, often used for magical battle. Shapeshifters seem to choose one animal type for their transformations, such as a cat, lizard, bear, etc. Shapeshifters are found in both Light and Dark Others, although the term shapeshifter is usually used for Dark Others, whereas many Light Others prefer the term ‘transformer magician’. They can only shapeshift into one specific species of their chosen animal unlike Bear and Tiger Cub who are magicians that turn into any species of bear and tiger respectively. There is essentially little difference between shapeshifters and transformer magicians, other than the side they are on – Semyon remarks that if Tiger Cub had been in a different mood the day she first entered the Twilight, she would have become a Dark Shapeshifter rather than a Light Battle Magician.

Vampires Vampires are considered Low Others, and especially disrespected among their fellow Dark Others. Vampires can be born or turned, but all are undead and soul-less. All vampires are born with a hunger for blood; some choose to drink only donated blood but hunting licenses for humans can be obtained. They are able to eat normal human food, but it is tasteless to them. They can go out in daylight, but they do not like strong sunlight. Male vampires can only father one child. Kostya and his parents are vampires.

Werewolves The Dark subspecies of Shapeshifters. Large, hairy canine forms of human legend, they possess a brutal strength and formidable teeth and claws. Their abilities are not impacted by the full moon, but they receive high increases in power in intervals of roughly one month (the onset of which they are said to be able to ‘sense’ around twelve or so hours before it happens). During this time, they are much more susceptible to the Twilight and may refuse to revert back to human form, a condition known as Lunacy.

Incubus/Succubus A type of Other who possess extreme charisma and sexual appeal, which is their main ability. Ignat is an incubus, although as a Light Other, he uses his ability on Gesar’s orders.

Witch Witches differ from magicians in that they do not draw power directly from the Twilight, instead they create artifacts which slowly accumluate large amounts of power over time. This is an advantage and a disadvantage. If a witch wishes to move to the higher levels of power, she must sacrifice the youthful appearance enchantresses maintain (though they may use illusion to appear however they wish).

Devona A human of extremely low intelligence whom a powerful magician invests with large amounts of power in order to make them a servant. Alisher’s father was a devona created by Gesar. It is not a socially acceptable status for the individual concerned, who often finds himself shunned and rejected.

Golem Creature created from various materials (e.g. clay, wood, metal) by a magician for a particular purpose, such as guarding.

Warlock A male Witch (Dark Other).

Sorceress Synonnymous with Enchantress

The Twilight (The Gloom)

The Twilight, although a realm of existence beneath the human or ordinary world and therefore not sentient, indiscriminately absorbs energy from whomever enters it. An Other enters the Twilight by stepping into his own shadow, it then starts to drain his or her strength. The only way to survive in the Twilight is to slowly feed it energy. The skill required to stay (or even enter) into the Twilight for an extended period of time is acquired through formal training. Others who lack this skill yet still manage to enter the Twilight are at an increased risk of being completely drained of their life and energy.

The nature of Twilight is not fully elucidated in the first novel. It is composed of seven layers, each layer requires geometrically more power to enter and remain in. Each layer is quite different from the layer above it. Most powerful Others can’t make it past the 3rd layer, a higher magician can penetrate down to the 5th layer. A Magician beyond classification such as Gesar or Zabulon can get to the 6th layer. Only a zero point magician can get to the 7th. Zero point magicians have come into being only once every thousand years or so.

There are stories of magicians who have been lost to the Twilight either because they exhausted their energy in battle (within the Twilight), or because they were careless. Novices have also been lost to the Twilight because they have allowed it to take too much energy; they lack the skill to “feed” the Twilight. Some greatly powerful Others decide to fade into Twilight when they have grown tired of the world.

“Regular” laws of physics, that is, the laws of physics present in the ordinary (human) world do not apply in the Twilight. Physical objects can affect beings only on the first level, unless enchanted. A Nuclear blast extends all the way down, perhaps even to the 7th level. This is why the watches have done everything in their power to prevent nuclear wars.

Others’ auras have colour in the Twilight as do their emotions and the magic that they manifest. The colors present in or around an Other in the Twilight can be read in order to gauge their feelings.

The Twilight is what imbues the Others with most of their magical powers. It is also responsible for giving them their unnaturally (in human terms) long life. Due to the Twilight, Others can live to be hundreds, possibly even thousands, of years old. This is because, unlike regular humans, they absorb rather than produce magic. The process of absorbing magic also extends their life. The more powerful the Other the less magic they produce, and the more they must absorb from regular humans.

The Others have a twilight form that they can take on in or out of the Twilight. Most Dark Others take on the form of a demon like figure. Zabulon takes on the form of a red rock like skinned demon with horns and a tail, also with slits for eyes and a forked tongue. Many Light Others take the form of white glowing Angels.

Levels

The Twilight itself is divided into several levels. Each level is harder to get to and accessible only to powerful Others; this is due in large part to the fact that the Twilight drains energy much more quickly and greedily in deeper levels. In order to access the lower levels of the Twilight, an Other must step through their shadow at each successive level.

At the first level the Twilight is a gray or sepia-toned version of the human world where time runs much more slowly than in the human world; this means that you can do more in the Twilight in less time than it would take in the human world. In this level remnants of the human world still exist and can be seen. For instance, humans can be seen but they are sepia-toned and are moving at a much slower rate due to the time difference between the two realms. This level is inhabited by a parasite, a blue moss feeding on energy, which doesn’t seem to do any harm to those who enter the Twilight, and is easy to eradicate. Contrary to what we see in the movie, there are no mosquitoes in this level of Gloom.

The second level is even less like the human world—all human buildings and people disappear, but all magically built buildings change into a different version of itself. It is described as being darker, and having a consistency that is comparable to clouds. There are also three moons.

The third and lower levels are not explored in the first book.

Inhabitants

The Twilight is accessible only to Others (both living and dead), particular magical objects, and certain animals. Others access the Twilight by raising their shadow, increasing its volume and density, then stepping through it.

As mentioned before, particular magical objects can enter the Twilight. However, it is not so much that they can enter the Twilight as that they exist on multiple levels of reality. For example, a copper amulet in the human world may be seen existing in the Twilight as a small ball of fire.

Night Watch hinted that animals do not always follow the same rules as humans or Others when it comes to the Twilight. In the first book of Night Watch entitled Story One: Destiny, Anton explains that “For cats there is no [human] world or Twilight—they live in all the worlds at once.”

There is only one natural inhabitant in the Twilight, a dark blue moss that grows along many surfaces of the sepia-toned human world in the first level of the Twilight. It feeds off of the emotional energy of Others who enter into the Twilight and of humans in the ordinary world. There is a theory mentioned in the books that states that large colonies of dark blue moss can unbalance the human psyche and cause psychosis but it has not been proven. Nonetheless, the protagonist of the Night Watch—Anton—occasionally feels compelled to utilize magic to burn off the blue moss at points in the story.

Mysteries

The Twilight is still largely an unknown. This may be because there are very few truly powerful magicians who can successfully navigate its levels. Night Watch mentions that the deepest levels have been navigated by Zabulon (see character descriptions below) but at the cost of great energy expenditure even to him.

When an Other dies of natural causes, is killed, or dematerialised (executed) their “soul” or “essence” is passed into the Twilight where it remains for all eternity. Since Others are ‘born’ in the Twilight it would make sense for them to return there upon their death but the reason for this is never stated in Night Watch. They become spectral-like figures, cloudy silhouettes of their former physical selves. It remains a mystery whether or not they retain any memory or feeling as they hardly communicate with living Others who enter the Twilight.

In the second part of the Night Watch, what is assumed to be a dematerialised Other in the Twilight seemingly communicates with Anton as it points him towards the TV tower where the Day Watch has set up its field headquarters as it searches for Anton (who is being framed for killing Dark Others). Anton is unsure if it is a dematerialised Other, or if it is simply a part of a trap put into place by Zabulon.

Plot Summary

The book comprises three stories, each one seemingly independent at the first glance, but they are in fact connected.

Destiny

A reluctant mage recently reassigned to field work, Anton Gorodetsky tracks vampires by drinking blood and channeling them. As he follows a young boy (Egor), who has been called by two vampires through the Metro, he notices a young woman, Svetlana, who has a huge vortex of damnation above her. Anton finds the vampires who have been calling Egor with their power and, as they don’t have a special license, kills one of them, while the other (a female) gets away.

He returns to the Night Watch headquarters, where his boss, Boris Ignatievich, informs him that he could be in danger as Zabulon (head of the Day Watch) might want revenge for his actions in killing Dark Others and gives him a stuffed owl called Olga (who later transforms into a woman), for his protection. Anton initially rejects the offer, then finds Olga in his apartment and reluctantly agrees. The next day he illegally uses his powers for good (by changing a person’s morality, a spell called “remoralization”) and clashes with a Dark Other from the Day Watch, Alisa Donnikova. They agree that Alisa can use her power to do a minor evil act as an exchange for her silence about this matter. He then discovers that Olga can speak and is a sorceress trapped in an owl’s body as a punishment.

Anton goes to Egor’s apartment to protect him from the vampire, then nearly loses him as Egor inadvertently slips in the Twilight for the first time. Surprisingly, he remains unaffiliated both to Light or to Dark. Meanwhile, Boris Ignatievich sends an incubus, Ignat, to the cursed woman, Svetlana Nazarova, to help her relax and say who could have cursed her, but to no avail. Finally, Anton is reassigned to visit Svetlana, and in the meantime, the vampiress calls to Egor and he joins her on the roof.

Anton manages to find out that Svetlana is a powerful Other who inadvertently cursed herself with her guilt (for what she did to her mother). Anton then gets back to Egor’s roof to find the vampiress and Egor, as well as many other Light and Dark operatives, including Anton’s neighbour, Kostya Saushkin, who is a vampire. Zabulon joins them and attacks Anton. But when he does, one of the Light Mages, Ilya, reveals himself to be Boris Ignatievich, who’d swapped their bodies. While Zabulon’s plans seem compromised, and Egor considering his choice for Light, in a last shot, Alisa uses her agreement with Anton to make him tell Egor everything. Anton reveals to Egor that he was a pawn used by Boris Ignatievich and Zabulon in their intrigues. Angered, Anton leaves the roof, feeling misused.

Among His Own Kind

A Dark Other, Galina Rogova, is killed by Maxim, a mysterious murderer using an enchanted wooden dagger, referring to himself as “The Judge”. The next day, Boris Ignatievich announces that the Day Watch suspects one of the Night Watch operatives. Everyone seems to have an alibi, except Anton. Boris Ignatievich thinks that Anton has been set up by the Day Watch, and uses his powers to swap Anton and Olga’s bodies (Olga being now temporarily weaker). In Olga’s body, Anton then goes with Svetlana to her apartment to hide, and, after he gets there, reveals that he is in fact Anton, making Svetlana furious as she just told “Olga” she loved Anton. They go to a restaurant later in the evening where they spot an inoffensive Dark Other with his family. The Dark Other goes to the toilet, where Maxim was waiting and kills him. Anton, curious why the Dark Other had not returned from the toilet, briefly leaves Svetlana and discovers the body. Boris Ignatievich then reveals himelf and asks Svetlana to give him anything that could help to recognize the killer, and Svetlana telepathically sends him the image of Maxim’s wife’s aura. Zabulon then comes over and recognises Anton in Olga’s body, charging him with the murder. Anton flees while Zabulon tries to hit him with an effective destructive power, and manages to hitch a car. What he doesn’t know is that the couple in the car are Maxim and his wife. Walking home, Anton calls Olga and asks to switch bodies back.

Waiting in the subway for Olga, Anton stumbles upon Egor and has a brief conversation with him. Olga arrives and Anton and Olga switch their bodies back using an incantation that reveals Boris Ignatievich’s real name as Gesar. While talking to Olga, Anton realises that the Day Watch is only chasing him in order to make Svetlana mad and use her powers illegally, which would allow them to dispose of her, or at least incapacitate her. Anton then takes a ride in the metro and when he goes off at a station, chased by a dark Other, a twilight figure, a departed mage, indicates that Anton should go to the Ostankino Tower. He kills the Dark mage chasing him and uses his appearance to mask himself. He arrives at the tower to find that the Day Watch has established their temporary headquarters in the Tower. Secretly penetrating inside, he sees Tiger Cub as an inspector from the Light and a bunch of incompetent Dark mages directing his search. Leaving the Tower, Anton goes by Egor’s house and thinks Zabulon is taking revenge on him by setting him up.

Meanwhile, Maxim feels the presence of a Dark being and goes on a hunt. He finally finds the Dark being and is astonished when he discovers it is young Egor. Anton spots them and talks with Maxim, explaining the Treaty between Light and Dark, but Maxim doesn’t comply, pointing out that Egor will grow up to be a dark mage, and it’s better to kill him now. Anton intervenes when Maxim tries to kill Egor, and they fight in the twilight. Anton realizes that killing Maxim would mean that all witnesses showing his innocence would be dead, and is stabbed by Maxim. Gesar then comes over, suggests that Maxim should become a member of the Inquisition, and when Anton brags about how he outwitted Zabulon again, Gesar reveals that Zabulon has nothing to do with it and that all that was planned by the Night Watch to raise Svetlana’s magical level.

All For My Own Kind

An old man arrives from Uzbekistan and is intercepted by a team of Dark Others led by Alisa, who attacks him thinking he possesses a coveted artifact. As they fight, his son slips away unnoticed with the artifact.

All of the Night Watch operatives go to Tiger Cub’s house to relax, but Anton doesn’t manage to have fun, as he is concerned with Svetlana’s growing powers influencing their relationship and the reason Gesar sent them off. He finally leaves and when he comes back to his apartment, he discovers Zabulon calmly reading a newspaper and waiting for him. Zabulon reveals that Alisher, the young man from Uzbekistan, brought with him an artifact, a piece of chalk. Anton’s research suggests that the Chalk of Fate and that it could be used by the Light to rewrite destiny, allowing someone to change the world to establish a new world order. Discussions with Olga and later Gesar reveal that Svetlana in fact is to use the Chalk to rewrite a destiny.

Walking outside, Anton drains the Light power from all of the passers-by he sees, taking their joy away. Anton joins Gesar, Svetlana, Zabulon, Egor, and Maxim on a rooftop where Svetlana prepares to rewrite a destiny, while a storm is gathering around them. Svetlana then opens the book of destiny. Gesar supposes Anton could use all the energy he has drained to stop the storm, but Anton uses it instead on himself via a simple remoralization spell. Astonished, Svetlana stops rewriting Egor’s destiny and asks Anton for advice, but Anton says that she must decide what to write herself. The Book disappears, and Gesar notices she didn’t write anything, she only erased things. Egor reverts from a potential Dark Other back to an unaffiliated state. Zabulon notices that their planned operation failed because of Svetlana’s indecisiveness and, triumphant, leaves. Anton then notices the Chalk Svetlana used is not whole. Gesar reveals that Svetlana rewriting Egor’s destiny was just a distraction, and in the mean time, Olga rewrote the destiny of someone later revealed. Gesar reveals the true nature of this plan was to save his love of Olga. Without her full powers, their love was doomed.

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