DragonCon 2021 Starborn or Star Born?

[Mira]

The time travel one.

Let's face it. Chandler showing up back in his original reality saying he accidentally ended up in a parallel universe and was stuck there for a year until he hitched a ride back with Harry... That's not going to go over well.

Yeah, rather like being "dead" for almost a year and coming back..

[morriswalters]

[1]Time travel in the Dresden Files might not work that way. Choice makes new universes. Time travel that changes something might destroy that universe or rewrite it. It could create a new branch. It might create temporary deviations that eventually fold back in due to the conservation of history.
[2]Why do you have to go back to your branch? What if you kill the other you or are willing/capable to live in the same universe?

Here the problem. Harry is aged at whatever he was when he went back.  The older he is when he travels the worse the discrepancy. So present Harry couldn't go back and substitute himself say before Blood Rites before his  his hand is burned. Or in Proven Guilty where Lash is still on board. Or where Molly exists. And he has the mantle. He isn't that younger Harry and can't be.

Killing other versions of himself appears to be the plot device of Mirror Mirror.

Is there a workable plot where Harry exists concurrently in a universe with a younger version of himself? I suggest that there is and that it is the timeline we are in.  But everybody thinks I'm crazy and I probably am.

It depends on whether the echos are of an attack (i.e., what we saw the Lady's doing) or of a successful attack (i.e., Demonreach exploding). The text isn't entirely clear which one it's referring to.
I don't know (if that's why he gets paid the big bucks). A lot of the people who get paid big bucks write some painfully predictable stuff.

It doesn't matter in the multiverse. All you have to say is that somewhere the attack succeeded and the echos came from there.

He gets the big bucks which I define against what I make from writing which is zero. So any bucks he makes are bigger bucks as compared to me.

[Mira]

Here the problem. Harry is aged at whatever he was when he went back.  The older he is when he travels the worse the discrepancy. So present Harry couldn't go back and substitute himself say before Blood Rites before his  his hand is burned. Or in Proven Guilty where Lash is still on board. Or where Molly exists. And he has the mantle. He isn't that younger Harry and can't be.

Or those things didn't happen, what if it is important that they did happen?  If he makes them happen they may not have the same results that they did in the current timeline.. And may I point out not all the results of the negative things that happened to Harry in the current timeline were negative.  Example, yes, he burned his hand severely in this timeline, but he also learned from it, that his shields had an important weakness that he was able to fix.  He may be able to set it up so he gets burned again in the past, but can it be guaranteed that the outcome would be the same? The answer is, no.

Killing other versions of himself appears to be the plot device of Mirror Mirror.

Which brings us back to the original Trek episode, or rather a couple of them... Yes, in the original Mirror Mirror, Kirk tells the Spock of the other dimension/universe to assassinate the evil Kirk of that universe/dimension in typical Kirk fashion breaking the rules trusting that his judgement is right, but what if it isn't?  Huge plot hole.  In the other version again because of a transporter accident Kirk is split into his to personalities one overtly mild and moral, the other rather ruthless and aggressive, okay let's get rid of the "evil" or aggressive and ruthless Kirk.. Problem, to be a strong leader Kirk needs both sides of himself to be the leader he is, what is more without one side or the other he begins to die.

That is where I think the time travel episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever," is the best.. The lesson there was trying to do a good thing may be the worst thing for the future.  McCoy saved Edith, good thing, she did a lot of good things for the world.. Problem, those good things prevented the world from stopping an evil in time, hence no human race, at least with the future of the Trek timeline..  So Kirk and Spock go back to restore the tragedy of the past, Edith, ahead of her time in many ways, had to die for mankind to progress.

Yesterday's Enterprise was another excellent time travel episode, only to be mucked up in later episodes by writers who don't know enough to leave perfect alone...  Working that one out can make your head burst..

 

[Second Aristh]

My opinion on Vampires.

Their power is directly connected to how they feed, and how close they are to humans/mortality.  I believe that they feed on Spirit, which isn't the same as a persons soul.  I believe when it comes to humans they are made up of three parts.  Flesh, spirit, and soul.  The Flesh is the anchor to reality, and the spirit is the tether to the soul which is completely outside reality.  When the spirit is damaged, or weakened enough, the tether is lost, and the Soul travels on.  If the Flesh/Body is rendered dead, the Soul has no anchor to Earth, and the spirit/tether is left behind as a shade/ghost.

I believe the Vampires use the body as a vector to the spirit to feed on.

Black Court:  Most powerful.  Feed on flesh/death.  They kill a mortal whenever they feed, consuming all of the spirit.  Completely inhuman
Red Court: Second to the Black Court.  Feed on blood.  Usually not lethal but very damaging to the spirit.  Connected to humans, slightly
White Court:  Weaker than Black & Red Courts.  Feed on emotions through pleasure/fear/pain ect.  Not too invasive when feeding most of the time.  Much closer to humanity.  I will note that I believe Lord Raith, at peak power may have been approaching a level that would push him closer to the Red Court.  His kiss of death allowed him to devour an entire spirit, which I think is why he was so feared amongst his kind.
Jade Court:  Feeds on breath.  Not much is known about them.  My opinion is they are similar to the White Court in power and connection to humanity.  Slightly less human, or slightly more human.

I think the other Courts are all weaker.  The Black Court, and Red Courts really are the strongest in that their way of feeding is most damaging to both the body, and spirit, and also the most efficient.  Any other court that exists, I think, would be no stronger than the White Court, and their power level is determined by organization, reproduction, and collective cooperation.

I think that between the Black Court's personal power, and the Red & White Courts global footprint, there isn't much room for the weaker Courts.  The White's and Red's sucked up all the power, and influence, and it's unlikely they would share it.  So I think any other Court really doesn't have enough personal power, or ability to gain influence to matter much outside of maybe a small territory (like the Jade Court).

The Red Court is gone, but I think that power vacuum is being filled too quickly for the weaker courts to take advantage of it.


Other Courts feeding ideas:

Blue Court:  Feeds on sleep.  If they feed too heavily, the person dies in their sleep, and is seen as a natural death.  Some people become aware they are being fed on, and experience sleep paralysis, and the feeling someone is on top of them.  Science has explained this, but maybe not correctly .  Not terribly effective in combat because they require you to be asleep to be effective.  If you are asleep, and they find you, you're in deep trouble.  A side effect of their feeding is you wake up feeling exhausted, and making you more vulnerable to their feeding the next time you sleep.

Gray Court:  Feeds on illness.  They like to hover around hospitals, and nursing homes.  They need the person to be weakened by illness, and then use that illness as a vector to the spirit.  They prey on the weak, and suffering, making them hated by all mortals who know of them.  They need to stay low because Wizards take great joy in eliminating them, and they aren't terribly powerful, weaker than the White Court, and not very effective against healthy people.

Yeah, I agree with the ideas here.  Black Court is the most powerful because every time they feed, they consume a death curse equivalent amount of magical energy.  Red is next most powerful since they consume blood which is the next best thing.  White is the weakest major vampire since they're focused on the "lighter" diet of emotional energy.

I hadn't heard the Breath WoJ for the Jade Court, but my initial impression is that it's probably somewhere between whampires and rampires, likely closest to whampires.

Leanansidhe was originally fairly vampiric muse. Makes artist go crazy and feeds on their blood.

Redcap as well in the OG stories.

Ghouls could be considered somewhat vampiric.

Recent WOJ they feed on Breath.

Just that their extreme isolationist in the Yangtze Valley River. They're not sure whether this "Chin" thing is gonna work out letter alone 'China'.

My working theory to distinguish vampires from other anthro-phages (e.g. fear-eating fey fetches) is that all vampires started as humans that contracted some kind of spiritual parasite (of varying styles and power). 
The Black Court kills its host, and it allows a "vampire" spawn to come in and control the human corpse.  The Red Court infects other humans with a bite, and upon killing another creature the "vampire" emerges and transforms the living host.  White Court vampirism is born, but they most clearly have the Hunger demon parasite warring against the living human host.  Their kind of vampirism is transferred from conception.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

We have to presume Jim is watching “What We Do In The Shadows” if so then one of the Courts Minor is likely an off-shoot of the White, energy Vampires which feed off boredom and frustration.

The ‘Beige’ Court.

Like the White Court but without their ethereal beauty, style and elan, and because of their very nature (which is very off-putting) their numbers are very small as getting any human to breed with them is nigh impossible when their idea of sexy lingerie is a beige cardigan with wooden buttons and crumpled up tissues and butterscotch candy in the pockets.

One would imagine their very presence would inhibit normal White Court function making them outcast.

I note that Jim isn’t settled on the title “Twelve Months” there no pun in it, and no real tie in with the other Titles. A quick look at synonyms for “year” in Merriam-Webster includes “spell”. The year includes his courtship of Lara under obligation to Mab through the Winter Knight Mantle and is pushing Harry towards the events of Mirror Mirror in this unexpected but very welcome additional volume. “bound” represents both that year obligation AND the journey that Harry is taking to Mirror Mirror and his abduction by alt Harry.

I therefore suggest as an alternate title to “Twelve Months” “SPELL BOUND”

Much more in keeping with the themes of the series, Harry’s current predicament, the naming convention and love of wordplay. Besides you know Lara has some very special handcuffs ready for her Wedding Knight.

Oh yes, and Harry’s summoning by Alt Harry should be in the wedding ceremony itself, when Harry says “ I Harry..... “ and he hears his true name spoken by someone else in his voice instead of the fake version he was going to use for ceremony. The perfect call back to Storm Front.

“My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk.” This is before the Grave Peril split, so Alt Harry has had fair warning.

[Griffyn612]

We have to presume Jim is watching “What We Do In The Shadows” if so then one of the Courts Minor is likely an off-shoot of the White, energy Vampires which feed off boredom and frustration.

The ‘Beige’ Court.

Like the White Court but without their ethereal beauty, style and elan, and because of their very nature (which is very off-putting) their numbers are very small as getting any human to breed with them is nigh impossible when their idea of sexy lingerie is a beige cardigan with wooden buttons and crumpled up tissues and butterscotch candy in the pockets.

One would imagine their very presence would inhibit normal White Court function making them outcast.

Sounds like a Boyle family reunion.

I note that Jim isn’t settled on the title “Twelve Months” there no pun in it, and no real tie in with the other Titles. A quick look at synonyms for “year” in Merriam-Webster includes “spell”. The year includes his courtship of Lara under obligation to Mab through the Winter Knight Mantle and is pushing Harry towards the events of Mirror Mirror in this unexpected but very welcome additional volume. “bound” represents both that year obligation AND the journey that Harry is taking to Mirror Mirror and his abduction by alt Harry.

I therefore suggest as an alternate title to “Twelve Months” “SPELL BOUND”

Much more in keeping with the themes of the series, Harry’s current predicament, the naming convention and love of wordplay. Besides you know Lara has some very special handcuffs ready for her Wedding Knight.

Oh yes, and Harry’s summoning by Alt Harry should be in the wedding ceremony itself, when Harry says “ I Harry..... “ and he hears his true name spoken by someone else in his voice instead of the fake version he was going to use for ceremony. The perfect call back to Storm Front.

“My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden. Conjure by it at your own risk.” This is before the Grave Peril split, so Alt Harry has had fair warning.

I think it depends on the plot. If it's all about Harry's mental state and getting Beside out of Justine, I'd opt for HEAD CASE.

If it's him getting therapy while helping Justine and helping Thomas and working things out with Eb and getting aquatinted with his pending life with the White Court, I could see FAMILY MATTER being apt.

If it's mostly about engagement, wedding, and faction issues, I think COURTING DISASTER would be perfect. 

[Mira]

If it's mostly about engagement, wedding, and faction issues, I think COURTING DISASTER would be perfect. 

You and me both!    I really do not see any good that will come out of a union between Harry and Lara, and that may be what Mab is counting on.