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Hugoon Chavez posted:This is a pretty cool chapter, good to see more "regular" character development for Blake. He was probably implicitly invited inside the same way as the driver.
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Mar 4, 2014 18:48
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I've kind of been wondering when Blake will make the argument that he is only a threat because people perceive him as such. Laird and the Duchamps are removing every one of his non-evil resources and then complaining that he's going to use the demons. No poo poo, Blake's going to use unsavory powers, but only because (1) he needs to defend himself at all, and (2) you've taken away all of the opportunity to use "good" powers. This argument wouldn't work within Jacob's Bell because the two major factions both want the house, the land, or whatever's inside the house. They don't care that they are causing the situation they're using as an excuse to remove Blake, though you'd think there'd be some bad karma generated by such a plan. Outside of Jacob's Bell, where actors might be more neutral, if Blake claimed that he wants nothing to do with the diabolists' materials/methods it might carry a little more weight. Maybe this will come up eventually. Or maybe Blake can't make that claim truthfully.  (Man, this all seemed really familiar as I typed it. Apologies if this has been proposed upthread somewhere.)
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Mar 4, 2014 19:08
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I think I need to take a break from Pact. I'm seriously bad at waiting to read stuff and I think I need a buffer to be built up so that I can read multiple chapters at once. I'm glad he has moved back to Toronto to level up. It seems like it might be an interesting setting and it'll be nice to have Blake interact with people who he doesn't have to worry about whether they want to kill or screw him over. I'm kind of hoping that the Dionysus guy is cool about everything and just tells him "Hey, the Duchamp's don't want you to go back. Look how much awesome stuff is here. Here are a couple tricks; did I ever tell you about how I didn't really like my wife and we got divorced."
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Mar 4, 2014 23:08
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packsmack posted:I'm glad he has moved back to Toronto to level up. It seems like it might be an interesting setting and it'll be nice to have Blake interact with people who he doesn't have to worry about whether they want to kill or screw him over. I'm kind of hoping that the Dionysus guy is cool about everything and just tells him "Hey, the Duchamp's don't want you to go back. Look how much awesome stuff is here. Here are a couple tricks; did I ever tell you about how I didn't really like my wife and we got divorced." Hahaha. With Blake's Karma? I don't think so.
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Mar 5, 2014 03:31
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http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/prt-department-sixty-four-worm-quest.283888/page-50 Director Seneca is pretty cool.
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Mar 6, 2014 06:29
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So Blake is kind of hosed.
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Mar 6, 2014 08:22
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SerSpook posted:So Blake is kind of hosed. This is Wildbow we are talking about here so everyone is always hosed and everything is always going to poo poo and if it doesn't seem like it then its going to get a lot worse in the next chapter.
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Mar 6, 2014 14:12
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How does he keep coming up with such badass ideas?
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Mar 6, 2014 15:43
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“Not in attendance is the Sister of Torches, the Shepherd, the Knights of the Basement, the Eye of the Storm, and the Queen’s Man,” Local D&D group spotted.
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Mar 6, 2014 16:14
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Poor Blake he's well and truly hosed (again.)
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Mar 6, 2014 18:17
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You know, the further into this story we get, the more impressed I am with Blake's ancestors(especially his grandmother) for not dying or giving into the lawyers.
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Mar 6, 2014 18:24
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loving hell what an update. Blake follows Taylor's steps by getting in deeper poo poo every minute, but at leas Taylor had some support and powers, poor Blake is alone and mostly powerless all of the time. Conquest is pretty badass, Jeremy must be pretty strong if he was competing against him for the throne, because drat!
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Mar 6, 2014 18:59
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Has Jeremy just hosed up? He specified carefully that Conquest was not to harm the Duchamps, but a LOT of that family have been married off and aren't Duchamps any longer, technically...
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Mar 6, 2014 23:57
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thespaceinvader posted:Has Jeremy just hosed up? He specified carefully that Conquest was not to harm the Duchamps, but a LOT of that family have been married off and aren't Duchamps any longer, technically... I think the fact that we know that the Duchamps are all women, marry to further the family magically/politically/whatever and are bound to have only female offspring due to...something, and yet are all called Duchamps means they don't take the name of the sperm donor they have married and are all considered Duchamps. Sandra is certainly a Duchamp despite her marriage to Jeremy.
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Mar 7, 2014 00:25
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veekie posted:“Not in attendance is the Sister of Torches, the Shepherd, the Knights of the Basement, the Eye of the Storm, and the Queen’s Man,” That is a loving great catch.
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Mar 7, 2014 05:28
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thespaceinvader posted:Has Jeremy just hosed up? He specified carefully that Conquest was not to harm the Duchamps, but a LOT of that family have been married off and aren't Duchamps any longer, technically... Considering demons and other things don't really see Blake as a Thorburn because he's a man, I'm guessing Lastname has little to do with it. It's about the blood and its power, plus perceived "right". Are we asuming Sandra got an Abortion? Otherwise Jeremy's kid might be fair game, but I'm guessing he was never born We're going to need a cast page very soon.
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Mar 7, 2014 09:14
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The chapter was pretty good. Wildbow does a great job of creating tension in Pact without any Worm-style fight scenes; it's all about trickery and negotiation.
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Mar 8, 2014 07:51
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quote:I managed to get my thoughts on track, taking in our general circumstances. This seems applicable to pretty much everything Wildbow puts up. 7c Nickel fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Mar 8, 2014 |
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Mar 8, 2014 08:11
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Hrrm. Why do I get the impression this is going to go a bit sideways soon? It seems to me like Conquest might be what you perceive him to be. He's powerful, yes, but if you can persuade yourself to see him, despite his power, as the conquest, rather than the conqueror, I suspect you can basically ignore him, or indeed dominate him. It wouldn't surprise me if some members of his group of underlings are, actually, more in charge than he or they let on. Basically, there's two sides to Conquest - and the other side is... well, when you talk about the Romans' conquests, you're talking about the nations they defeated. If you see Conquest as one of YOUR conquests... Plus, I kind of get the impression that he's massively bloviating about torturing them. Not once did he actually demonstrate it, and you'd think that someone that (apparently) powerful and uncaring would have done. Lopped off a finger, maybe. The only thing he did that was significantly more powerful than anything else we've seen was pull Rose into being, but I'm assuming that's more a function of his control over his locale than of major power. I wouldn't be surprised if Blake develops the ability to do that in his eventual demesne, or indeed if any other practitioner could do it if they both knew about Rose and she came into a mirror near their demesne or whatever I feel like he's heavily inspired by Pterry's anthropomorphic personifications. Which is a good thing.
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Mar 8, 2014 10:20
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I'm actually getting the feeling that Conquest is a hell of a lot more powerful and subtle than Blake is taking him as being. He's an Other and the Lord of a modern (and fairly large) city. It's worth noting that Conquest stood back and did nothing at all until after Blake/Rose attempted to exercise some power in his "place". And then he sticks the one who made the show of power into a cage, knowing full well that she can break said cage with the same power she's already exercised. My guess is he allowed that power to work, put the user into a cage she would/could break with it to reinforce the idea that he's weaker than he appears, as well as otherwise acting in a way that would reinforce the impression that he's a "weak" (but not stupid, which he took some pains to make clear) egomaniac. So yeah, I think he is playing Blake and Rose hard, but I'm not sure exactly why. Maybe he likes to give people a sense of hope before he crushes them utterly?
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Mar 8, 2014 23:59
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Could go either way, really.
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Mar 9, 2014 10:55
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I think Blake is onto something. The incarnation of conquest in freaking canada. He's old and his power is starting to wane. Still dangerous of course but I'd say an incarnation of conquest in Washington would have a lot more clout.
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Mar 9, 2014 12:30
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That makes him more dangerous for Blake, though, since he will try harder to actually Conquer anything he can in order to keep his power fed.
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Mar 9, 2014 14:32
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Rabbit punting for fun and profit.
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Mar 11, 2014 15:20
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Blake has some weird instincts, that turn out to be completely correct.
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Mar 12, 2014 08:59
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Hugoon Chavez posted:Blake has some weird instincts, that turn out to be completely correct. Example? Nothing really stood out to me when I read the latest chapter.
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Mar 12, 2014 17:17
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Grundulum posted:Example? Nothing really stood out to me when I read the latest chapter. Considering how new he is to this, and the few books he has read, killing the bunny to form a circle of protection around him was a pretty lucky guess, I think. Reasonable, but still not the easiest connection to make.
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Mar 12, 2014 17:46
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It was foreshadowed a little bit when Blake and Rose were discussing how to make his house safe. "Like repels like."
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Mar 12, 2014 18:12
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What are the odds on Tiffany being initiated into the world of the supernatural and ending up married to Blake, since he needs a spouse badly.
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Mar 15, 2014 07:20
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I'm pretty sure that Tiffany and her friend Alexis aren't quite what they appear to be. In Collateral 4.1 Tiffany is introduced to him by Alexis. Alexis isn't named until somebody else says it, yet apparently she knows everybody and everybody knows her, just like that. People just automatically make room for her. Even Blake's apparently clean 'security check' on her with the Sight is a bit off; it's too certain, too relieved. Most importantly, she's clearly hiding something about the way her teeth or tongue look. Blake notices it even as he ignores it as something completely normal and unsuspicious  Even if Tiffany turns out to be an ordinary human, there is something going on here. At best she's being used by Alexis to get to Blake.
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Mar 15, 2014 09:06
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Alexis has messed up meth teeth. She helped Blake beat his own drug dependence, partially by introducing Blake to this group of people he calls friends. And Blake has a bit of a thing for her. Tiffany is Alexis's latest project the way Blake once was. You guys appear to be reading to far into this relationship. Though I guess with the Dionysus guy and cult around it's probably worth paying attention to anyone involved in or once involved in drug use.
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Mar 16, 2014 01:03
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Can you link me to the chapter where this is established? I don't recall seeing her show up any earlier.
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Mar 16, 2014 08:27
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Most of it isn't said literally, but Alexis is introduced in 4.1. Her teeth are described as hosed up and it's something Blake knows about from before. He describes her as beautiful despite them and she doesn't bother hiding them when the two of them are on the balcony. While the substance abuse is not unlikely, but not confirmed, it's heavily hinted that Alexis was the one to pull him off the streets and that she's doing the same for Tiffany.
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Mar 16, 2014 11:21
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Alexis might be the artist that tattooed Blake as well, but I feel less sure about that. Anyway, there aren't any details that really seem fishy here or don't ring true, but establishing (or at least hinting at) drug addicts when there is a literal god of intoxication in town is setting up trouble for the future.
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Mar 16, 2014 20:08
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Why is there less discussion for Pact than there was for Worm? Are there just fewer readers or does it have to do with the material leaving less open to discuss?
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Mar 20, 2014 05:47
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I'm eagerly looking forward to each update (bonus Thursday update just went up BTW) but I'm not sure what I'd post besides variations of "gently caress Wildbow and his loving cliffhangers."
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Mar 20, 2014 06:28
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Wildbow really likes his italics huh
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Mar 20, 2014 06:37
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Grundulum posted:Why is there less discussion for Pact than there was for Worm? Are there just fewer readers or does it have to do with the material leaving less open to discuss? Well I think a big part of it is that this thread started when Worm was hitting the climax. The last few arcs were completely loving crazy and had a lot of room for speculation and talking about things. When Pact's in arc 25 or whatever there'll probably be a lot more chatter. (Has Wildbow mentioned how long Pact is supposed to be?) I think the inviolable rules Pauz mentioned are going to be very important in the long run. What is Pauz getting out of his trick at the end of the latest chapter? If he kills Blake, he loses his easiest shot at Conquest. Though, if Blake dies there, Conquest might have to send somebody else to deal with the situation, and they could retrieve the book, which could get Pauz close to Conquest without the Thorburns interfering. Or maybe it's just his nature to gently caress people over. I think a definite answer on that would be pretty enlightening on the mindset of demons in general and Pauz specifically.
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Mar 20, 2014 13:32
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Yeah I was a bit confused by that too, I think it might just be their nature and/or Pauz thinks he can gain leverage over Blake by forcing Blake to beg for help outside of their contract.
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Mar 20, 2014 16:30
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Has the contract been set up so that if Blake fails by dying here, Pauz still gets part of the property?
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Mar 20, 2014 18:06
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