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So. I read a comment on the site that has me terrified of certain implications. Does anyone else remember the relay bugs?
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Oct 15, 2013 05:42
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Lord_Pigeonbane posted:This wasn't recent, but why was Taylor able to shoot Jack when they were at the school? Because her shard gives a similar combat advantage, as said by Golem when he compared Jack's thinker ability to Taylor's.
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Oct 15, 2013 20:39
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Taylor has always been hyper-aware of parahumans, this has been generally attributed to her control over bugs. This alone, even without directly interacting with the bugs, can give a similar benefit Jack Slash had--that of being able to react before it should even be possible. In all honesty, it's even more visible with Taylor as the PRT directly noticed this and hypothesized she had some form of prescience or short-range clairvoyance. Or maybe Jack Slash just killed everyone that could have noticed it in him. Either way, they've both been stupidly good at tracking exactly what's going down. The other thing though is that Taylor's also been traditionally good at figuring out powers, their weaknesses, and how they interact. I think this is likely a bit of her shard shining through and is an unnoticed Thinker power (or maybe Trump?). eta: Also the latter "power" definitely shows itself when she controls Canary; she uses the song in a way I don't think Canary ever knew possible, and doesn't bother with verbal commands considering she doesn't really have the fine control for that over her subjects. Or herself.
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Oct 15, 2013 21:55
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Taylor absolutely uses her power when she shoots most of the time. She even notes this when firing at the S9; they are super-accurate shots fired rapidly, because her power gives her hyper-awareness of where everyone is and the shooting environment in general. Is this something Jack Slash could read? Don't know, but it involves her power. edit: Taylor also legitimately has one of the most terrifying powers in the series precisely due to this hyper-awareness and infinite multi-tasking, more so than controlling bugs at least.
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Oct 16, 2013 22:19
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Doormaker to replace relay bugs, Teacher to give a thinker power to handle it.
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Oct 17, 2013 05:40
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Man. This arc title is really, really on target.
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Oct 19, 2013 09:18
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Tollymain posted:Not really though? As much as Taylor is dealing with a lot of different people, the general idea is pretty simple. She's snaring as many capes as she can afford to get her hands on and preventing the rest from harming her efforts. Sleeper is an S-class threat along with the Endbringers. Presumably he has a power that makes him not worth it in this fight due to the trouble he'd pose to take and likely inability against Scion. He will be in the sequel more than likely. We know he can subsume an entire world, which he has done to one of the alternate Earths. Presumably he slept, or was otherwise inactive, for most of the time. Someone in the comments section has speculated he is an extremely high tier duplicator, which meets criteria for S-class, explains why he's reading aloud to himself (one clone reading to the main body), and also explains why he'd be annoying to snare and why he'd not be that useful against Scion.
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Oct 22, 2013 21:27
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veekie posted:It hadn't really been that long since though. It's been a couple of years since the Brockton Bay incident, particularly the killing of Alexandria. The public doesn't know she killed Alexandria and just think she was a part of it, and with her showing up again due to Pretender, I'm not entirely sure what the thought is on that. However, I do think she's got a bit more status than B-list and has for some time now.
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Oct 24, 2013 12:08
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I think that Khepri is probably going to come back in some manner, though perhaps completely broken. We still don't know Contessa killed her to begin with, and for all we know Ciara collected her in some way. She's also now considering the possibilities of resurrecting capes. It's also worth noting that Ciara probably considered Taylor to be akin to a sister, considering Contessa's statements on the matter and Ms. Yamada's own observations of Ciara. To be honest it'd be pretty rad if Khepri became a new S-class threat in the sequel. Not due to her actually being that big of a threat anymore, but due to the potential of it.
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Nov 2, 2013 07:51
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Mr. Fowl posted:Please, that's for the sequel I can honestly see him dead by epilogue end. The Undersiders are doing something still, even if Grue, Regent, and Skitter are no longer around for various reasons. The epilogue basically being a brief story of how Tattletale brings pieces together to straight up murder Teacher would be great. Defiant would be on board for it too, as would Dragon though the protections are likely still in place. And there is a meeting Tattletale is organizing, for something. I can only dream it is killing Teacher.
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Nov 5, 2013 07:56
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veekie posted:Defiant hugged Dragon at the end. He's very much alive. I'm pretty certain that last thing is exactly what's happening for what it's worth.
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Nov 9, 2013 08:49
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TOOT BOOT posted:New update, from Bitch's perspective. How many are left after this, one or two? Two. And more stuff on Tattletale planning something. Teacher is so incredibly dead.
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Nov 12, 2013 07:44
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We have these on SA as well. It might be worth checking this out.
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Nov 15, 2013 08:39
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I'm almost certain the last chapter is going to be a Tattletale one. Wildbow probably made these bonus chapters add up to the originally planned epilogue of Tattletale and Dragon killing the gently caress out of Teacher. Seriously, every single Undersider we saw has been put in touch with Tattletale/she's trying to get in touch with them. Her power lets her fill in the blanks, Contessa is working with Teacher and Contessa is the one that killed Taylor. Not to mention Dragon is now unshackled. Teacher is loving dead Tuesday.
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Nov 17, 2013 21:49
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That was a good ending. I'm not convinced that Taylor isn't going to come back in the sequel though. I think Teacher will be the one trying to bring her back though to try to fulfill his grand plan. In terms of Wildbow's next work, I'm interested in Pact maybe, though I'll give anything a try.
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Nov 19, 2013 07:05
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Saith posted:On the other hand, I only read past the first chapter because everyone was talking about how good the series is, and I figured I might as well. I mean, it turned out amazing and I was hooked pretty quickly but man, when they started talking about capes I thought they meant, like, Africa. To be honest I sat on the first chapter for like two months because it didn't seem very good. I kept reading on the strength of what others wrote, but it picked up pretty fast in my opinion.
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Nov 26, 2013 01:39
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So I've held off on reading any of what Wildbow had done after Worm until tonight. I'd been rooting for Pact to be the next work based purely on liking urban fantasy, and not liking the other stuff so much as far as genre goes I just read Pact 1.1 and that's quite a thing. I really feel like you can see Wildbow's growth as an author in this, when compared to Worm 1.1. This had way more happening and I feel we get a better grasp of characters, and the dynamics between them.
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Jan 8, 2014 11:02
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Yeah, Barboretum is far from the nuke, in my opinion. The big thing to keep in mind is that this happened early in Granny's career. What did she learn after this, though? Only time will tell.
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Jan 21, 2014 15:21
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Dietrich posted:I mean, I get all that, but that's only because I've been told all that. I have yet to be shown any of that. Keep in mind that right after the errand boy thing happened, Blake realized something was up but wasn't sure what. Like literally a sentence or two after we get: quote:I nodded absently. I couldn’t quite figure out what had bothered me. Something elusive one of them had just said. So I doubt the errand boy thing is really the resolution it could be seen as.
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Jan 28, 2014 20:18
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pumpinglemma posted:I'm reasonably sure that was referring to the fact that they didn't tell him the entire cost for joining the firm. Maybe, but it is immediately after they agree to an offer for an errand boy. I'd not be surprised if there's something weird about said errand boy, not necessarily something that will sabotage him, but something that will make him uneasy.
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Jan 28, 2014 20:33
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Grundulum posted:Okay (Pact 2.6), I still don't know why Blake can't use ~~~Rose~~~ as his familiar. Am I missing something obvious? At a guess, because Rose is probably drawing from Blake as a power-source, making her a terrible choice to use as a foundation of power. Vestiges in general seem like bad ideas due to their fragility, at least as familiars.
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Feb 4, 2014 09:05
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Grundulum posted:The deal with familiars is that they gain a measure of mortality, according to Granny Thorburn's notes. This serves (I imagine) to increase the vulnerability of things like the Fae from earlier in the chapter, but why couldn't it go the other way -- serve to add a measure of permanence to something that would be otherwise ephemeral? It might but it still seems like it's going to be a bad idea. Any power or permanence a vestige would gain would likely have to come from somewhere. That somewhere is probably the practitioner. That's my reading of it at least.
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Feb 4, 2014 23:45
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Silver2195 posted:I'm reading it now. It has some pretty interesting details, like more in-depth explanations of PRT power classifications. Some interesting stuff there. Class A threats don't seem that uncommon if I'm reading the villain dossiers for the game correctly. Kind of confirms that Skitter was probably considered an A class threat.
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Feb 6, 2014 11:16
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I like the idea that this will backfire due to the glamour. Unfortunately Blake isn't the target. My guess is that its stripping away the line of inheritance and/or destroying the property's defenses.
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Feb 20, 2014 12:29
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So Blake is kind of hosed.
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Mar 6, 2014 08:22
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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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Keep in mind Evan isn't a normal ghost. He was never "collected" so to speak, so he's pretty much all there. I feel like he's a familiar that could be developed into something truly special, but wouldn't necessarily start strong.
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Apr 3, 2014 08:31
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Based on this, anyone else feel like Rose is a natural diabolist in a way Blake isn't? I'm talking about the talk on diabolists by nature always taking the easy road. It's not a critique of Rose really, it's more just that Blake seems like he has some steel in him that she doesn't, a refusal to bend in certain ways.
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Apr 7, 2014 19:11
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Latest Pact is up. I said earlier that I think Rose has the potential to be a better diabolist than Blake, but that was more a comment on Blake basically refusing to walk down that road. He has a steel in him that will stop him from taking the easy path that was mentioned in Black Lamb's Blood. Anyone else basically thinking Blake is one of those rare geniuses mentioned earlier? The Sorcerer of the North End might be similar. His grandmother, to keep in mind, was simply considered very capable. He seems good at intuiting things considering how very little he knows. eta: Also... uhhhh... I think Duncan literally paid with a portion of his life, his time living, with that. We see Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis there it seems. I might be misinterpreting that though, but with three women of very different ages holding some string, that's what comes to mind. SerSpook fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Apr 12, 2014 |
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Apr 12, 2014 05:52
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So if this counts as the third time he's going against Laird/the Benhaim family, and this is the third skirmish in the third battle, I wonder if winning the third round of this will multiply the significance of it all yet again? Kind of wonder if Blake is about to get a refill to his tank, magically speaking, by emerging victorious in this contest. Or something else that will help him against the demon.
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Apr 15, 2014 08:07
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Right now I feel like Blake won the first two rounds. The first round he successfully talked his way out. This didn't work out ultimately, because Duncan used up literal years upon years worth of power (I'm pretty sure) to stop him. The second time he actually got outside the building, which weakened Duncan because he had then lied. If we just count escaping as a win, then he did escape the second time around, he just wanted to go back. I'd count the first because, once again, he had gotten the legal system to release him.
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Apr 16, 2014 00:04
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Victorkm posted:The way I see Duncan v Blake, it is 2:2 currently. Duncan getting Blake arrested is 1 for him, Blake getting out legally is one for him. Time loop is 1 for Duncan. Blake making it out of the building is 1 for him. Whoever wins the next one makes it count, but I think Blake is at an advantage if he finishes the binding with Evan since Duncan likely lost a lot of juice when Blake made him break his promise. The getting arrested part is just the opening of round 3 vs the Benhaims as a whole, is how I view it. Blake got free of that one time, then another time. The loop itself is just a reset button Duncan hits, not giving him a win so much as saying previous wins for the opponent didn't happen. At the cost of enormous power for him and his family. That's why Duncan and Blake are calling it round 3. And it's round 3 in the third skirmish of the battle against the Benhaim's as a whole. I think it's gonna have loads of importance. eta: Keep in mind that the terms of the battle is turning legal authorities on the target. Blake did it twice to Laird, this is his attempt to do it to him and gain the third and most important victory. I really feel like if Blake gets away something is going to happen that fucks Laird over legally, big time. SerSpook fucked around with this message at 05:06 on Apr 16, 2014 |
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Apr 16, 2014 05:03
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So. This isn't only a loss for Duncan, but a loss for Laird since it--for a third time--casts a legal shadow upon his name. Considering the nature of everything, I'd guess the impact is a hit to Laird's personal power and him losing his position as police chief in Jacob's Bell due to a scandal? edit: Also Blake was mainly using wind runes when he did his whole "spill a gently caress ton of blood" thing, and Evan, so wind spirits and Evan are the two things I'd expect to see moving their way into him. Unless the radiation from Pauz does it instead, since that was what he used the power to counteract. SerSpook fucked around with this message at 05:33 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 05:29
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I have a weird feeling that the annihilation demon is actually way weaker than they realize. eta: In fact I feel like there is a bit of an implication that Pauz is the greater of the two between it and the Hyena. Might even be the next villain.
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Apr 19, 2014 06:48
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We've not really seen that much of the world yet, but I've noticed a few things maybe. Black Lamb's Blood says that a diabolist should try to bind demons and make the world a better place by doing so. It says most diabolists are too focused upon the now and not looking to the future, and that's why they tend to die in such spectacular fashion. Others were bound in an agreement a few thousand years ago, by Suleiman, which a number of people at least are pretty sure is King Solomon. King Solomon, in the Testament of Solomon, commands demons to build his temple by way of a magical ring. Suleiman forced Others to, apparently, play nice with humanity. At least to an extent. I'd suggest that Suleiman was a diabolist of some power, and he basically did what Black Lamb's Blood talked about before it got into the whole "all diabolists must enslave themselves by altering how magic works". He bound demons and other nasties. Blake seems to have the outlook that diabolists should, indeed, be binding demons because no one else really has the proper knowledge to do so. He might be a re-emergent Suleiman figure even. If Pact ever increases in scale like Worm did, I figure this is a likely path it would take.
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Apr 22, 2014 04:04
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Huh. Considering how that worked the wreath might have done something just due to the fact that it's mentioned and not completely forgotten about like the allies were. Might have just been too small of a scale and not as potent as the fire.
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Apr 23, 2014 02:15
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One I've seen pointed out is that Blake tells Evan that he'd dealt with a lot of ghosts and goblins back when he first proposed making him a familiar. No power hit, so it wasn't a lie, but he's really dealt with two ghosts at that point and only a couple of goblins. This is after he's walked through the Hyena's former territory some, which would presumably have a lot of ghosts and goblins willing to do him a favor since he just freed them from eternal torment. If I had to guess, that is where his allies for this came from.
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Apr 23, 2014 12:10
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That was a pretty great ending, but I felt like a good chunk of the middle wasn't that necessary. Not that I dislike it really. But compared to the previous few chapters, it didn't have as much "oh gently caress" going on. Then again, too much poo poo happening was Worm's biggest problem in my opinion. I really hope we are witnessing the beginning of the Pact-verse Undersiders.
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Apr 29, 2014 07:45
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Well that was a chapter. Seems like we're going to have the big confrontation on Saturday, maybe Tuesday?
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May 1, 2014 08:05
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I am pretty sure Johannes is actually stronger than the two families but they don't want to really acknowledge it. Laird, in the beginning, at least implied that he thought Johannes was going to burn himself out and that he had no real plans involving him. The Thorburns are the threat he seems to think. I personally have him pegged as the next major villain, maybe even the major villain. He's linked to the whole vestige idea, he was the last one seen in the vision at the beginning, the only one to directly address Blake during it, and he seems to be quite brilliant. Lots of power really fast, finding a way to break or work around the restrictions that make new practitioners so weak.
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May 5, 2014 10:58
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