Fading Shades of Grey (PART 1)

(If haven't read my posts about the debutante conspiracy, I suggest reading it for context. https://longlivetheprince.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-web-thickens-another-blogger-mystery.html)


I'm sure I've said it before, but this has been my most ambitious Blogger mystery yet. I have previously mentioned a most infamous debutante by the name of "Miri". Miri has been one of the most mysterious and elusive influencers on Blogger, and now we have found her in a new adventure that blurs the lines between reality and fiction. Except this mystery is not about Miri as we know her; it's about a brooding blonde baroness named Pneumonia White.


If you have actually heard about Pneumonia White, it would probably be no surprise. White managed to acquire a significant following back in 2011. She and her counterpart Pneumonia Black spent their time on Blogger telling of their elusive Hollywood escapades, all the while constructing a meta-narrative under the surface of their stories. Though it was often difficult to decipher what percentage of her stories were fiction, White managed to build her story through allusion to her history, defining her group of odd characters, and including enciphered text in her blogs. It took a long time to piece together her tale, but here it is as best I can interpret:


It was July of 2011 when Pneumonia White got the call from her granny's attorney. White described her grandmother as 'the queen of old Bel Air'. Unfortunately for Pneumonia White, the queen had fallen prey to the passage of time and unshackled herself from her mortal coil. Upon hearing the attorney's news of granny's death White and her family left the beaches of Venice, Italy and flew back to LA, California.


It had been five years since White had been in LA. In those days, she was simply called 'Anya'. Her mother and father settled in their old home in Silverlake while the funeral details were underway. However, Pneumonia White would not lay her head in her childhood home. Instead, her granny had left Anya her old mansion in Bel Air. As Anya gazed up at the white spanish walls hidden behind the lush greenery, she held her [deceased] brother's faithful teddy bear Aloysius tighter. Surely she would be able to survive this ordeal if she just held on tightly. Time went on and she missed her hometown in Karelia. She missed simpler days when her mom wasn't an alcoholic and her father wasn't asleep in his grave. And she missed her young brother Viktor, who never ceased to make her smile but had not seen the sun in a decade. Now all she had to remember him by was the shard of his soul that he left in his stuffed bear Aloysius. If only she could have Pneumonia Black by her side; she was indeed empty and filled with longing as her other half remained elusive.





Night falls, and Anya heard a sound from the porch. Black was back. It had been five years since the pair had seen one another. As young teenagers they were as inseparable as they were irresponsible. Not only was Pneumonia Black finally by Anya's side, but Black went as far as to move in with her. The two were inseparable once more as they (and Aloysius) enjoyed the pleasures of LA living.





However, it would not be long before paradise fell. Aloysius had grown irritable and hostile because he had developed feelings for Pneumonia Black. Granny's lawyer postponed the date of the funeral, leaving the family members to wait with baited breath for the announcement. Anya was very vulnerable during this time, so it was especially difficult when the worst happened: Black disappeared. She left without a word and was off taking care of private business. White was devastated. It was here that the narrative began to fall apart as Anya wrote primarily about her daily struggles while the lines between her metaphors and her reality were gradually whittled away. Events were more vague, she was in a constant haze, and any meaning to be gleaned had to be interpreted more than usual.





The attorney finally returned and granny's funeral arrangements were made. Pneumonia White started her blog as a result of her grandmother's death, so the funeral seemed like the logical climax to the story. But something broke inside our dear little Anya. There were many lawyers who didn't like her blog and were threatened by her revealing glimpses into the Hollywood underground. She was silenced from saying anything about her Granny's funeral and she quit her blog shortly after. Though she had a brief resurgence in 2014 exactly three years after leaving her blog, that portion of posts was deleted and she fell back into silence. But not all was as it seemed; for Pneumonia White left us one final puzzle: An encrypted message that has remained unsolved to this day.





There is so much to understand about this tale, the previous iteration of Anya/Miri, and the final cipher. I have been working tirelessly to piece together the full narrative, but that's a story for another day. Until next time.


Long live the King