We are now a little over 1/4 of the way through the book. At this point in the story, I'm starting to lose track of what's going on, in spite of very little happening plot-wise and reading each chapter at least 2-3 times. To help me keep track of what's going on - and to get anyone who's feeling lost up to speed - here's the CliffNotes version of what's happened so far.
Below are: a plot summary, definitions of terms, characters that seem to be important, and a sneak peek at the next chapter.
Plot Summary So Far
Modelland is an amazing place where girls are trained to become models and gain superpowers. Tookie's life sucks. Her mother is emotionally abusive, her father isn't her real father, she only has one friend, and her Not!father wants to sell her into slavery. In spite of not being pretty, she lucked out and found a SMIZE, which allowed her to become one of Modelland's newest students. Tookie left behind her mentally ill, homeless best friend to go to Modelland, and she has spent at least a few paragraphs feeling guilty about it.
Tookie is joined by three other girls who weren't supposed to go to Modelland, but were chosen by disgraced supermodel Ci~L for unknown reasons. The girlfriend of the guy Tookie has a crush on was also chosen to come to Modelland because she is pretty and the story needed an antagonist.
Terms and Definitions
Modelland: School on a mountain that trains models to use their innate magical powers. No boys allowed.
T-DOD (The Day of Discovery): The BESTEST HOLIDAY EVAR where new students for Modelland are chosen. Girls as young as 13 have been chosen, with younger girls than that often competing. Internationally broadcast. In at least one large city, most girls change into their T-DOD outfits in full view of the crowd and the cameras. This is not at all creepy.
Intoxistakes Competition: A competition held in Striptown where girls who will be taking place in T-DOD are presented to be bet on. This is not at all creepy.
SMIZE: A magical trinket that gives girls a 91% chance of being chosen for Modelland on T-DOD. Seven are distributed randomly throughout the world's waterways before T-DOD.
Scouts: Model school drop outs who are sent to pick up new students on T-DOD.
Bella: A student at Modelland. Bellas are chosen on T-DOD.
Intoxibella: A graduate of Modelland. Also known as 7Sevens.
7Seven: Another term for Intoxibella. Stands for "Stunning, Statuesque, Strobotronic Stars with Stupefying Stratospheric Struts." Unless she is also a Triple7, each 7Seven will have one of the following superpowers:
- Chameeleoné: Shape-shifting
- Multiplicity: Splitting into multiple copies.
- ThirtyNever: Cycling through ages 17-29 repeatedly.
- Excite-To-Buy: Ability to make people want to buy things.
- Seduksheeon: Ability to make all men want her.
- SixxSensa: Ability to see the future of fashion. Comes packaged with enhanced senses.
- Teleportaling: Teleporting by emerging from solid objects.
Triple7: An Intoxibella with all of the 7Seven powers.
Sentura: A gold sash/belt that is supposedly the source of the magical powers of Intoxibellas. We've seen one Intoxibella (Ci~L) use her powers in the nude, so this may just be a rumor.
People
Tookie: Our protagonist. Has mismatched eyes, snowshoe-sized feet, a stick body, a huge forehead, "multiple personality" hair, and crippling shyness. Her mother is emotionally and mentally abusive, while her father is probably not her real father. Has a younger sister named Myrracle. Was chosen for Modelland due to being the first to touch a SMIZE when it appeared, in spite of her appearance and Myrracle wearing it on T-DOD.
Was planning on running away with her best (and only) friend Lizzie before deciding becoming a magical model would be more fun. Somehow managed to become an Omniglot by age 15.
Lizzie: Tookie's best and only friend before T-DOD. Severely mentally ill, homeless, has been abused and tortured at the hospitals she has been to, and cuts herself. Tookie was planning on running away with her before she decided to go to Modelland instead.
Dylan: One of the three girls chosen by Ci~L to come to Modelland even though she wasn't on the list. Grew up in a mall so large her family's house is between aisles. Dylan has several younger siblings. Faints whenever she's excited or scared.
Shiraz Shiraz: One of the three girls chosen by Ci~L to come to Modelland even though she wasn't on the list. Comes from a death trap town which replaced all chimneys with giant candles due to candles being their main (only?) export. Was working delivering mail when she was chosen. Has incredibly poor English skills which magically improve when she needs deliver exposition or sing.
Piper: One of the three girls chosen by Ci~L to come to Modelland even though she wasn't on the list. Daughter of the prime minister of SansColor, a domed city where everyone is a super genius and has albinism. Her mother opposed Piper being taken (with guns), but Piper ignored her and went with Ci~L anyway. No word on whether the kidnapping of a prime minister's underage daughter will result in war.
Ci~L: A 7Seven who disappeared from the public eye, and has since been seen working as a T-DOD Scout. Used tentacle mind-rape to sneak three girls into Modelland that she wasn't supposed to. Enjoys poetry, talking about "physicality," and flashing underage girls. She is not at all creepy.
In addition to the standard modeling superpowers, she has also displayed the following abilities: dodging bullets, passing through solid matter, flight, tentacle mind-rape, and making fabric emerge from her fingers to summon clothing or to form a pouch big enough to fit several people.
Zarpessa: A girl who attended Tookie's high school. She has been happily dating Theophilus for 3 years. Was an heiress to a fortune, but a few years prior her family lost all their money and was reduced to living on the streets and Dumpster diving for food. Has been living a lie by pretending that her family still has their fortune. She was chosen on T-DOD to become one of this year's Bellas.
Theophilus Lovelaces: A boy who Tookie has a crush on. Has been happily dating Zarpessa for 3 years. Student council president. Little else is known about him except that he is nice and has talked to Tookie before. Tookie dug through trash to get one of his dropped campaign buttons. She sees the button as a sign that they were meant to be together. This is not at all creepy.
The Narrator: An illusive figure who sometimes wanders drunkenly into the story to deliver exposition. Has been MIA for several chapters. And there was much rejoicing.
Chaste Runnings: A Bella who was given a paragraph description, so will likely be important in future chapters. Showed up in Modelland wearing too much make-up, pasties and a mini-skirt that doesn't completely cover her butt. ~91% chance of her character being defined solely as an antagonist and being the school slut.
Preview of Next Chapter:
Zarpessa is transformed into an Alpha Bitch and loses her previous positive characteristics. The new Bellas are given a tour of Modelland, Tookie and her three new friends are made fun of, and we meet Ci~L's creepy obsessed fangirl.
The plot spends most of its time hiding in the middle of a jungle of scenery porn and vague hints that things might be happening soon.
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