Comments | banana_galaxy: LJ Idol Season 11 Week 13 Fan Death

banana_galaxy

LJ Idol Season 11 Week 13 Fan Death

Feb 08, 2020 13:29

San Francisco, California; Monday, January 12, 2026Gerald Coulson had been working at the Fairmont Hotel at the top of Nob Hill for 15 years. He started out as a bellboy whilst in culinary school, before moving up to working as a chef in the restaurants when he graduated. He often enjoyed the moments when the upscale tourists would ask to talk to ( Read more... )

ljidol

Comments 20

static_abyss February 10 2020, 18:50:32 UTC

I like the tone of this story because it just felt so normal and everyday until we hit spells and raising dead bodies. All to keep the cable car lines open. I love that. Because obviously that's what should have been Gerald's first thought, raising the dead. Well done, really. I loved it all to bits.

banana_galaxy February 10 2020, 23:54:50 UTC

Awesome, mission accomplished then! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

roina_arwen February 10 2020, 22:46:59 UTC

Ooh, awesome! I think his spell went awry because he stated to “bring life back into this crypt,” which meant the whole thing, not just his intended. Poor Gerald!

banana_galaxy February 10 2020, 23:55:58 UTC

Haha, I'm glad you caught that. The phrasing was quite deliberate on my part (but not Gerald's, obviously).

kittenboo February 11 2020, 00:59:39 UTC

What fun twists and turns, so glad you made it through the tie breaker!

banana_galaxy February 11 2020, 01:29:34 UTC

I'm glad I did too. I'd been wanting to write a short story set in Colma about raising the dead for a while, and I considered writing it for the tie-breaker, but when I saw this week's prompt, I realised I could make it work for that instead, so I hoped I'd survive so I could write it.

I'm hoping this means I'm now in a place I can branch out and write about more than what I've been focusing on most in my entries this season. It's been hard when my divorce has kinda been all-consuming but I'm glad I was able to write something completely different this time.

sunouttomorrow February 11 2020, 16:23:38 UTC

I really enjoyed this, especially the normal start and the twist into magic and spells. The ending was chilling.

banana_galaxy February 14 2020, 16:50:29 UTC

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed that.

rayaso February 11 2020, 18:45:39 UTC

I loved the way this changed from ordinary life to the fantastic. Bringing back Hallidie to save the cable cars would be wonderful. I love San Francisco and have ridden the cable cars many times.

banana_galaxy February 14 2020, 16:53:22 UTC

I've lived in the Bay Area close to 6 years now and still have never been on a cable car. They increased the cost from $7 to $8 at the beginning of the year and my reaction was "Now I have to pay even MORE when I eventually decide to ride one?"

As a tour guide, I enjoy sharing the history of the cable cars, though. And discovering Hallidie was buried in a crypt with 35,000 other people while researching this, that's been added to my tours now. What a tragedy for someone so significant in SF's history.