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Also, i can't be the only one that noticed that Blake seems to become increasingly adept at spending time in and influencing the real world. Even as his personal power does not seem to be increasing in proportion. Even more telling might be that he doesn't seem to even notice, much like his irrational devotion to the Thorburns.
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# ? Oct 11, 2014 12:29 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 15:25 |
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The less human Blake becomes the stronger he gets. This isn't very surprising.
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# ? Oct 11, 2014 17:08 |
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Pact: the origin story of Groot
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# ? Oct 11, 2014 17:33 |
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hollylolly posted:Duress 12.2 The witch hunters were the least of our problems, with the Thorburns gathered in the diabolist library, and monsters at the gates. I suspect that anybody can make a deal with Barbatorem on their own initiative (if they can work out a communication protocol / Rose's works for other people), they just don't necessarily have the benefit of non-Seal preexisting conditions. Which, you know, could be important.
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# ? Oct 11, 2014 19:51 |
GreyjoyBastard posted:I suspect that anybody can make a deal with Barbatorem on their own initiative (if they can work out a communication protocol / Rose's works for other people), they just don't necessarily have the benefit of non-Seal preexisting conditions. Blake dealing with Barbatorem seems like the only sensible Wildbow thing to do - a solution to a problem that quickly becomes a worse problem.
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# ? Oct 11, 2014 20:04 |
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This crazy loving bastard is going to burn the drat house down.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 06:15 |
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NecroMonster posted:This crazy loving bastard is going to burn the drat house down. I would say this isn't the worst idea except the Barber's binding is on the wood floor so it probably is. Also RIP Callan. Edit: Also why does Blake keep saying he thinks he can't lie? He's not bound by the seal, and doesn't count as a practitioner anymore. Pavlov fucked around with this message at 06:34 on Oct 14, 2014 |
# ? Oct 14, 2014 06:31 |
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I really want this arc-long action sequence to loving be over already, so we can see the aftermath.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 06:47 |
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Pavlov posted:Edit: Also why does Blake keep saying he thinks he can't lie? He's not bound by the seal, and doesn't count as a practitioner anymore. Doesn't he? We don't really know what Blake is yet, there's still bits of the picture missing.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 09:57 |
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Remora posted:I really want this arc-long action sequence to loving be over already, so we can see the aftermath. You and me both. I feel like Wildbow is in love with nonstop action and tension, but the story badly needs downtime and character building. Especially when we have a huge new cast of characters, including the various thorburns, the younger practitioners, and so on. The pace just seems implausibly forced to actively avoid time to talk or think by Blake. I think he did the same thing in Worm, with the total time line from start to finish being like two months prior to the time skip.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 12:24 |
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Makes my decision to sit out this arc a good one.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 12:29 |
I'm quite enjoying it. Makes the aftermath more satisfying too.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 13:52 |
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Velius posted:I feel like Wildbow is in love with nonstop action and tension, but the story badly needs downtime and character building. I would normally agree, but this last chapter did have character building. All of the Thornburns had good development, it just happened to be weaved into the action. Truthfully, with the way the Thornburns have been portrayed so far, they kind of needed a lengthy life-or-death scramble to tear down their horrible caustic fronts long enough to show that they can still be OK people. Fans posted:Doesn't he? We don't really know what Blake is yet, there's still bits of the picture missing. I thought he made it clear a while ago that he couldn't practice anymore. So either the universe doesn't consider him a practitioner, or it counts him as a forsworn one, which means lying wouldn't matter. Pavlov fucked around with this message at 16:23 on Oct 14, 2014 |
# ? Oct 14, 2014 16:20 |
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Wasn't his reasoning at that point that, even if he can lie, it's still negative karma that he may as well not keep accruing?
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 23:29 |
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I think it's because spirits don't like lying, and his body is held up by spirits at this point. If he started lying they might jet.
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# ? Oct 14, 2014 23:36 |
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The new chapter has all sorts of things just waiting to go horribly wrong! I especially like Christoff perking up at the suggestion that practitioners can sort-of bring people back from the dead.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 05:35 |
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Well holycrap that's an even worse plan than just burning the house down around themselves.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 06:23 |
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I think somebody summed up the vicious cycle of Pact pretty well in the comments. BLAKE: I have to do something. *first opportunity to do something, anything presents itself* BLAKE: I have to do this.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 09:58 |
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Evan remains the best and most awesome character as usual.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 10:08 |
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Calling it now: Alexis is Rose in disguise - the two switched places before Rose went off with the Thorburns.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 11:01 |
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Tollymain posted:I think somebody summed up the vicious cycle of Pact pretty well in the comments. You kind of left out the context: Blake, as a rule, has at no point in this story been given the time/breathing room to wait for option number two.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 12:19 |
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Saros posted:Evan remains the best and most awesome character as usual.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 12:34 |
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Please please please let them do what Evan wants.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 13:19 |
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He better get set on fire by the time the story's over. Edit: Man out of context that sounds completely different.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 13:22 |
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pumpinglemma posted:Calling it now: Alexis is Rose in disguise - the two switched places before Rose went off with the Thorburns. That'd be pretty brilliant if true.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 14:29 |
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It would make perfect sense of the way Alexis reacted when Blake told her he'd inadvertently given himself an "in", and when he said he didn't think Rose would be able to back down. Since "Rose" left, has "Alexis" ever claimed to have done something that Alexis had done, but Rose hadn't?
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 14:52 |
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pumpinglemma posted:Calling it now: Alexis is Rose in disguise - the two switched places before Rose went off with the Thorburns. Oh drat, I think you might be right! I thought she was acting weird because she was beaten up + possessed by Blake-birds, but she has been acting like Rose hasn't she? It did seem kind of weird that Rose would just give herself up like that too.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 14:54 |
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Pavlov posted:Oh drat, I think you might be right! I thought she was acting weird because she was beaten up + possessed by Blake-birds, but she has been acting like Rose hasn't she? It did seem kind of weird that Rose would just give herself up like that too. Unless Alexis and Blake are related (or Wildbow made several mistakes) this theory doesn't hold water. During the scene with the entire Thorburn family Rose made many references to it being her family.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 16:26 |
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Grundulum posted:Unless Alexis and Blake are related (or Wildbow made several mistakes) this theory doesn't hold water. During the scene with the entire Thorburn family Rose made many references to it being her family. Could Rose not have adopted Alexis into the family?
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 16:56 |
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Grundulum posted:Unless Alexis and Blake are related (or Wildbow made several mistakes) this theory doesn't hold water. During the scene with the entire Thorburn family Rose made many references to it being her family. I agree that was probably Rose, but couldn't they have switched at some point after that? It wouldn't take too long; All they'd have to do is glamor up using the faerie hair.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 17:37 |
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http://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/category/story/arc-11-malfeasance/11-06/ I've re-read that section, and I didn't see a time when any shenanigans could have been pulled.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 18:09 |
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After Rose deals with the family, she leaves the room. We don't see exactly when she leaves to the psych ward. During that time we get this:Pact posted:“Then we’ll postpone sweeping up,” Alexis said. “I’ll handle it in a minute.” Its a bit of a stretch, but it could have happened then.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 18:55 |
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pumpinglemma posted:Could Rose not have adopted Alexis into the family? Hahahaha you guys. Corvidae can swap and switch peoples connections basically to his hearts content.
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# ? Oct 16, 2014 20:17 |
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Switching that fundamental a set of connections around and then sending Corvidae out to be at risk strikes me as a worse idea than half of what Blake devises, and that's impressive. Edit: oh, I see. That could work and "whoops, Corvidae can't reverse it" is less of a risk if it's just stapling in a new family member.
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# ? Oct 17, 2014 10:42 |
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Well an accidental extra family member is something the family has already experienced one way or another, but I'd hazard a guess that basically any tinkering with connections, especially if ol' Corv is doing it isn't risk free no matter how seemingly innocuous.
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# ? Oct 17, 2014 19:05 |
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what in the gently caress holy exposition
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# ? Oct 18, 2014 05:27 |
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Goddamn this chapter. So, if I'm reading things correctly, Blake was real the whole time, just carved into two pieces by a failsafe set up with the Barber before Rose Sr.'s death. This is the major working alluded to in the first chapter by the various observers. So, Blake has been completely screwed over by things outside of his control, to the point where his humanity is slipping away, all because of Rose's desire to not be reduced back to the vestige and because of the humanity residing in the female - which, if it weren't for the "Practitioners can't lie" bit, I'd think of as someone desperately trying to justify keeping their existence. This whole situations is crazy, and completely awesome to read. It's really nice seeing how all the pieces line up, as well as if the Drains managed to change or alter that vision to make things seem even more horrible for Blake. I've been loving the story so far, and this bit cemented things for me. Awesome stuff.
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# ? Oct 18, 2014 05:40 |
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Grandma Rose is the most gigantic of assholes. Rose/Corvidae 2016: why vote for the lesser evil.
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# ? Oct 18, 2014 06:07 |
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Hedningen posted:Goddamn this chapter. Rose isn't a practitioner, she's just been lying her rear end off the entire time.
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# ? Oct 18, 2014 06:20 |
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# ? May 25, 2024 15:25 |
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Hahahahaha holy god damned hell.
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# ? Oct 18, 2014 06:23 |