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Grundulum posted:Question about Pact: are there rules about exposing non-practitioners to magic? 'Cause Duncan's little stunt seems to have potentially exposed a shitton of people to a very obvious ritual, unless I misread the chapter. Aside from the whole "day resets so they don't remember" thing. Such a cop-out. Yes. If they are exposed to the reality of the world and something happens to them you are explicitly on the hook. Presumably if they freak out and start burning witches your karma suffers then too.
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Apr 13, 2014 12:00
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Y'all need to read the latest chapter.  The darkness demon is goddamn fantastic.
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Apr 22, 2014 08:08
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Hugoon Chavez posted:Rose is a Tattletale lite, much more bearable but a lot less badass. Your first two statements are objectively wrong, but Fell's great. One of my favorite chapters, though, has to be the awakening of Blake's cabal. Wonder if they'll all make it out alive from this whole debacle - we pretty much have a sample size of one Wildbow work on his/her/its tendency to kill off members of Team Protagonist. (Although Peer murdered my favorite character at the end of the sample  )Edit: Like, look at poo poo from Rose's perspective. With the exception of her awakening attempt (and that was a fantastic couple of scenes for character development), all of her complaints are about Blake being an impulsive rear end and cutting her out of the decision loop. He had good reasons to want to move fast, but her concerns are extremely fair. Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 07:05 on May 8, 2014 |
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May 8, 2014 07:03
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Rose is now offering constructive advice and useful suggestions again. Well, a useful suggestion. A potentially contest-winning suggestion, in fact.  I don't really argue that she's a strong character, because she's flawed in a lot of the same ways Blake is and reacts very badly to her enforced vulnerability, but she's one I totally understand.
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May 10, 2014 05:19
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For one, a second demon gives them resources outside of the five champions (and resources Conquest might not be expecting, depending how seriously he's taking Blake's resistance to diabolism). For another, both Pauz and the Hyena - who isn't really a demon, unless we're going with fuzzy boundaries - are pretty dinky without their own established turf. Even an Erasur-class demon could really do a number on most any of Conquest's champions.
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May 10, 2014 07:40
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NecroMonster posted:So I hope the real Maggie is ok, because that's a loving impostor lol. The real question is who is that. The Duchamp girl with the faery familiar maybe? I have no clue. You sure about that? Remember, she needs two more rounds of blood and fire before her oath is done. She has every reason to call them down on Toronto instead, if she thinks she can duck the karma hit.
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May 15, 2014 06:21
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TheRagamuffin posted:Less of an oath and more of a prophecy. Maggie, for her part, said something along the lines of "I'll do anything as long as both my dads get to live". She wasn't awakened at the time, though, so who knows what that's actually worth. Fell's brother (right?) was right pissed off about it, though. Said that her oath would at least have the power to keep the red gobliness from falling back into a stupor. quote:Fool. She was to rest. She had to agree, or she had to finish here, and once she rested for three days, three nights, she would have to sleep centuries before acting again. Now she can keep going, come back with your oath. Edit: For reference, Bloody Goblin posted:Let me think. You’ll experience what you experienced here, twice more. The rule of three, to make this stronger. Perhaps it will be me again. Perhaps no. But you will experience blood and darkness and fire, like you experienced it here. If you agree, it will be so. Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 04:21 on May 16, 2014 |
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May 16, 2014 04:19
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Just reread 6.7 out of curiosity (and to go back over the Midge thing) and yeah, Maggie all but says it straight out, as Algid references.Maggie Holt posted:“Because this? The contest? Predefined rules, boundaries, minimized damage, a lot to gain? I’ve been hoping for something like this for a long time now.”
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May 16, 2014 17:22
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SerSpook posted:Wait. Probably a typo, although his attitude towards the truth does raise a few questions.
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May 24, 2014 10:33
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thespaceinvader posted:I'm kind of attached to a pet theory that says she's not Alternate Universe Blake, she's actually Grandma Rose's ghost or vestige or whatever, and she's angling to take back her old life. There's a line in today's Histories that might make you pretty happy, although it's kind of ambiguous.
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May 27, 2014 06:53
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Fellwenner posted:Re-reading Maggie's history, the bit at the very end. I wonder if all of this has been anticipated and she is in Laird's pocket even now. Hmm. Part of me says no, her eagerness at this opportunity when Blake called her seemed too genuine, but I wouldn't be surprised at all. She's siding with a diabolist in a major clash with the Lord of Toronto. As long as she walks away from this, she gets everything she wants without needing to buddy up with the guy who mildly stabbed her in the back by telling Blake about her activities. Heck, if Conquest crushes Blake like a bug, maybe she doesn't get her round two at all. I think she's reliable. Likely to cause a shitload of civilian casualties, but a reliable ally to Blake himself.
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May 29, 2014 06:25
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Pavlov posted:Something's been bothering me though. The last Histories reminded me about an issue with the Thornburn lineage, namely why they feel compelled to continue it. It seems kind of pointlessly cruel to willingly pass down that much bad karma, and yet Rose Sr. made it clear that it was definitely a bad thing that she made an oath hindering that. The Duchamp's have some kind of self-perpetuating oath that does it to them, but Blake didn't have to promise anything like that. Have there been any hints as to what the Thornburn's incentive might be? I get the worrying impression from how Laird talks that the Barber's not the only problematic thing related to the house. If it were just the Barber and the books, it would be a nasty but not cataclysmic thing to try to transfer or disarm; there weren't any obvious direct consequences for trashing the Duchamp library, and the Barber could in theory be picked up and moved with the right, well, Pact; also, he's a very new addition to the house. There almost has to be something else about the location. So if I'm on the right track, the house needs stewards for one reason or another, at which point you need either a trustworthy outside player who in the long run will be as vulnerable to temptation as anyone else, or a family that needs some practitioner capabilities to not just be completely outmatched on the spot, and enough numbers to not get snuffed out in a run of horrors. Comedy option: Mirror Rose is immortal (the Barber can sure as heck break certain rules, so why wouldn't the reflection he cuts out be resistant to the usual vestige problems?) and meant to absorb the Thorburn curse forever while temporal management of the house is transferred to family members who are less under its shadow.
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May 29, 2014 09:18
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 Also, I expect Fell kicked the bucket, going by what Conquest said.
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Jun 4, 2014 22:09
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Pavlov posted:So, does the first part of the chapter imply that Ur is really a First Choir demon and Rose really hosed up on the analysis? Yeah, pretty much.
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Jul 7, 2014 05:05
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Happy Yeti posted:I'm pretty sure Rose identified Ur as part of the First Choir from almost the beginning. If she was wrong about anything it was about its power and size, which is something she and Blake were told about by Conquest. In that he called it a minor demon. Whoops, you're right. “Demons and devils fall into choirs. Choir of dark, choir of chaos, choir of ruin, choir of madness, choir of the feral, choir of sin, and choir of unrest, in order. What we’re dealing with… I think it’s a demon of darkness, by all descriptions.”
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Jul 7, 2014 17:35
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Namarrgon posted:Before the Seal, humanity was basically a primite prey species to Others. Solomon was the biggest, baddest wizard that challenged the most powerful Others, and eventually settled on a compromise; 'innocent' humans are kept safe, while Awakened humans can be targeted by Others. While the Seal works for humanity in perpetuity, it only works for Others that were either present when the Seal was made or as this chapter teaches us those that agree to be bound to it afterwards. Also apparently it is a power source, which makes some sense, as no Other would agree to it otherwise. My pet theory is that part of what the eponymous Pact refers to is the Seal of Solomon somehow being a bad thing. Maybe not when it was devised, but in how it's ultimately ended up warping the world or limiting humanity. Edit: possibly relatedly, check out the etymology of the lawyers. Lewis, Levin, and Mann. Tribe of Levi, Americanized Tribe of Levi, and... well.  I'm not at all sure that it's irrelevant that the tribe of Levi were / included the priests of ancient Israel, more or less. Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Oct 5, 2014 |
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Oct 5, 2014 03:35
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hollylolly posted:If Corvidae messes with Rose by giving Blake back his connections it would be perfection. Well, now I know what I'm rooting for.
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Oct 8, 2014 02:11
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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
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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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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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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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NecroMonster posted:All of Blake's focus has been on helping and saving others and improving the world when he isn't simply fighting for his own survival and Rose does basically nothing but focus on Rose. An interesting possibility is that she meant the Dr Jekyll component to be the female one, but she made the Usual Diabolist Mistake and overlooked a loophole. I mean, you'd think she'd have the experience not to, but it's a pretty clear opportunity in hindsight for the Barber to give the Bad Half the Thorburn Voice and therefore ready access to, you know, all the demons. (Alternatively, the Thorburn Voice is not, in fact, a thing, and Barbatorem generously provided one of the halves a bonus superpower. Because he's a nice entity like that.)
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Oct 18, 2014 06:40
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Green Eyes is a really good buddy despite being a cannibal mermaid.
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Oct 21, 2014 05:37
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Wolpertinger posted:Someone in the comments just pointed out something that seems pretty likely - that all the lights going out at once, and the great horrible thing they saw walk by was Ornias, especially with all the lightbulbs being a little bit dimmer and more unreliable after his passing, and all the references to "a starless night" "an empty void". I am somewhat dubious if not for the fact that we saw Ur there earlier. Maybe there is more of a connection between demons and the Abyss than we and Blake know so far. Also, if correct maybe Blake wants to avoid diabolism in the future, if he keeps picking up hitchhikers from drawing their attention. I don't think that is likely a standard feature, when they are supposed to be "banished or bound" for the most part.
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Oct 21, 2014 08:50
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Grandma Rose posted:My understanding of things is simple, Alister. Every Other is, if you trace things back far enough, the fault of demons. Every practitioner is the fault of Others, or, for a rare few, the fault of demons. All of these things, in their way, guide all of existence slowly toward its end. The unlucky few who get in too deep fall into their clutches. I was so loving right about Solomon causing bad poo poo in the long run. According to a potentially unreliable narrator.
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Nov 1, 2014 06:24
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Pavlov posted:I think Pact has had pretty good pacing since the Conquest arc ended. The thing is, Pact, like Worm, is in large part a tragedy. Real tragedies aren't really that common these days, but there's a lot of historical precedent for how they get plotted. Breaking Bad was the only popular tragedy in recent memory I can think of. That and Pact share the same kind of structure, in that they're both stories about people who win all the battles while slowly loosing the war, and gradually become monsters in the process. The Sopranos has tragic overtones too. I wish The Wire and, to a much lesser degree, Boardwalk Empire were popular enough to , well, count as popular. 
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Nov 4, 2014 21:48
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Bad dog. 
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Dec 30, 2014 14:22
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It's time for the ultimate showdown.  Edit: Also, there's totally an implied "nine tenths of the law" joke in the arc title.
Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jan 17, 2015 |
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Jan 17, 2015 06:26
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Namarrgon posted:Faysal never specifically says on whose side he is; his statements can be interpreted either way. I'm basically 100% sure that "these pests" means the motes regardless. They're a way higher-priority target than the ragged band of heroes.
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Jan 21, 2015 05:05
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Chekhov's Bazooka!  Also, I wish we'd gotten more time before now in Rose's head.
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Jan 27, 2015 06:53
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I was hoping for more conversation in the new chapter, but at least Evan gets something very important to him.
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Feb 3, 2015 06:21
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Namarrgon posted:I found out Wildbow has insight in low screentime characters and his writing process scattered around the internet. Mostly for Worm. Apparently there was a realistic chance Taylor would have died during Leviathan, as he rolled dice to determine survival for his mass extinction scenarios. His original choice was to have continued on as Aegis, but we see how that worked out. Wonder if he/she/it did that for Parian's girlfriend whose name I can't remember during the S9 finale. 
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Feb 6, 2015 06:32
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I'm really, really liking Twig. Maybe even more than I liked Worm, and Worm was amazing - come for the why-kids-join-gangs allegory, stay for the escalation, horror, and character growth / downward spiral.
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Apr 4, 2015 05:56
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thespaceinvader posted:But girls are icky also he is nine. Gorger is the friendliest and most adorable bioengineered murder monster.  I really do like how he's basically buddies / friendly coworkers with the Lambs.
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Jun 14, 2015 08:34
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Merry loving Christmas, everybody! Edit: 
Goatse James Bond fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Dec 23, 2015 |
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Dec 23, 2015 06:52
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The Shortest Path posted:Did wildbow do something crazy or is this about the most recent chapter The Tuesday chapter.
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Dec 25, 2015 00:28
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thespaceinvader posted:Oh nooooooo. Haha, I didn't even think of that.
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Apr 26, 2016 06:09
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I swear to Primordial God, there was a banner or something with people blending into woodwork, but I can't seem to find it.
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Jun 14, 2016 08:34
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Nettle Soup posted:This one seems to be new: While awesome, it's not the one I am thinking of. (Looks like a Mary scene incidentslly, and we still haven't had a Helen one.)
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Jun 16, 2016 05:38
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Nettle Soup posted:It might be this one? Apparently it's the banner on topwebfiction. Bingo! That's the one. And all three titles of Wildbow works have been multi layered wordplays. Mary's creator, in his enemy chapter, talked about twigs as a metaphor for an ecology concept - I have to go back amd reread that in the context of everything that has been happening. And of course all the Lambs are offshoots of different bits of work on transhumanism and novel mental patterns.
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Jun 19, 2016 10:42
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