Alagadda? MC&D? Arcane powers being used to create something that's equal parts decadent and horrifying? Squee!
+1
Not only am I upvoting, but I'm adding this to my list of personal faves and it will probably show up in Dread & Circuses at some point (Ruprecht Carter would love this stuff).
My only criticism is that the trademark at the end of the title on the series IV list is more of a Wondertainment thing than Marshall, Carter and Dark.
In regards to the idea of whether or not these are actually from Alagadda, I would like to point out that it is in established in A Wandsman in the Court of the Hanged King (By Metaphysician creator of Alagadda himself) that The Deathless Merchant of London (Darke, in my Canon anyway) had been to Alagadda, so it's at least plausible that MC&D could sell genuine Alagadda merchandise.
This is cool. All the heavy worldbuilding implications of Series III; all of the cut-and-dry, to-the-point body horror of Series I. We need more of these.
I thought this was decent when I read it, but I like it more after coming to the belated realisation it's basically 'just' a thing that kills you. Like how SCP-3199 is a successful example of 'just' a scary monster, it's a good example of how Series I-style magic objects are still perfectly fine with a bit of nuance and worldbuilding.
Foundation sommeliers
I can't decide if this is the best foundation job, or a death sentence.
Foundation sommeliers have praised the wine's quality, and identified notes of blood, dried roses, mold and old books.
#1: The Foundation has sommeliers.
#2: You wrote an article where this line is a perfectly reasonable thing to include in the description. I love it.
~🌸~Flower Power~🌸~
Seeing that Foundation staff praise a wine for is subtle undertones of blood and books, it brings to mind two possibilities:
1. There's some sort of effect that the wine has on the drinker; possibly an increased likelihood of enjoying it, maybe a memetic effect that puts the idea of those tastes into their mind.
2. The people who tasted the wine are horrible, horrible people.
The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Gotta say, personal favourite of Season 4 so far.
Nice base concept, being a wine bottle that turns blood into wine.
Needless to say, it's like a slightly more sadistic version of that "water-to-wine" stuff.
And, that concept was displayed well.
Bravo.
I always love it when an MCD piece makes them feel like a real business while simultaneously portraying their inate horror and absurdity. It’s a difficult balance to strike, but you did a great job of it here. +1
oh this is just nice from start to finish, and the details really make it. makes me thorsty tho.
pastarasta1 is quick-talking and often scheming
This is horrific, disturbing, cruel, darkly humorous, and contains that wonderful pang of dramatic irony at the end that ties it all together beautifully. Brilliant worldbuilding in an unassuming package, and one of the best MC&D articles I've seen to date. Very well done.
I love how the concepts of anomalous wine bottles and alchemy are combined here. I admittedly wasn't expecting it to be a light read, but it ended up way darker than I thought, and I enjoyed the straightforward, punchy delivery here.
Excellent work! +1 from me.
