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Messages - g33k

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2146
DF Spoilers / Re: Denarian Short Story
« on: July 30, 2019, 08:15:52 PM »
Quote from: kbrizzle on July 27, 2019, 07:20:09 PM
... Agreed on the Mab being deceptive thing, however not flat out lying to someone shows integrity. Whatever you want to say about the Fae’s deceptive abilities, they are ALWAYS good to letter of their word (not always the spirit)...

I don't think it shows "integrity" as such.  It shows ability.  Mab -- like other fae -- cannot break their word.

Does a brick have "integrity" because you can rely upon it to fall when dropped?  Does a piece of deliquescing fruit have integrity (it's equally reliable)?

Mab -- like other sidhe -- will twist every nuance and expectation until they have utterly misled and deceived, with identical consequence (to a mortal foolish enough to rely upon them) to an actual lie.  Again, that's not a lack of "integrity"... it's a simple matter of what they ARE.

They ARE bound by promises, they ARE incapable of lying, they ARE deceptive.

2147
DF Spoilers / Re: Who dies in Peace Talks
« on: July 28, 2019, 01:42:41 AM »
Quote from: 123Chikadee on July 27, 2019, 11:38:54 PM
Yeah, I think that could happen, I just don't want it to b/c there's so many more interesting things to do when Thomas is alive instead. I'm getting more onboard with the idea of Luccio dying than I used to be.
Hmmm.  I too would like to see lots more Thomas, and I think there's a fair bit of dramatic potential there; I don't think he's going YET.  Also, in the Christmas Story, Harry seemed to be more generically sad about all the deaths, without (I thought) the specific agony of losing his brother.  Still... maybe; I expect at least ONE person who is on the "Team Harry" shortlist to die, and the same "why isn't he specifically grieving for them" argument applies.  So, ummm ... I dunno? I guess...

Luccio is a strong bet for the deadpool, I suppose.  I see 2 reasons not to bet on her:
1. Jim is a lazy author (iirc, we have WOJ on this):  he has a LOT of writing & characterization invested in Luccio as chief Warden; who else gets the job?  Eb stepping back down?  Harry stepping up?  Or will Jim promote "Steed" or one of the other very-minor characters?
2. Luccio is no longer a magical heavyweight, courtesy of her new bod; and there's just tons of extra dramatic tension in having the WC's "warleader" be less combat-capable.  But it's also possible that Jim has wrung all the narrative tension out of Luccio that he wants to, and it's time for her to move on... Maybe the new head Warden is Cristos' 1st choice... that would notch up the dramatic tension!

Lesser characters...

Tilly for the deadpool?  Now that he's clued-in, he gets recruited by the Fed version of SI/BlackCats (because of course there IS one), and comes because the Fed is interested in having Peace Talks successful...

Stallings, or other SI cops?  Likely.

Forthill seems fairly likely, too.

Gard is a distinct possibility.

Helen Beckitt?  Whither goeth Marcone...  She'll certainly be at risk.


2148
DF Spoilers / Re: Denarian Short Story
« on: July 27, 2019, 10:16:21 PM »
Quote from: kbrizzle on July 27, 2019, 07:20:09 PM
... he forces Harry to try & manipulate Anna Valmont into helping them in SG (that’s not how it plays out, but this was Nic’s intention)...
FWIW ... 
I think it played out EXACTLY the way Nic planned it to.

Harry tried to protect poor Anna by discouraging her.  Predictable; so predictable, Nic could likely hang his whole plan on Harry's gallant-and-protective impulse.

Harry admitted to her he was in it to screw-over Nic.  Predictable again.  Harry usually doesn't lie, and would have no reason to.  Nic knows Mab has a hate-on for him; even if Harry didn't, her orders to the WK would be, "fulfill the letter of the law, but in doing so... screw him so hard that his wife can feel it!"

Anna has a hate-on for Nic, and wants a piece of screwing him over.  She has ALREADY seen Harry beat the Denarians once, during she Shroud caper; saved her life, too.  So if Harry is gonna bulldog Nic, this is her golden opportunity to take a bite, too.  Predictable.

The Fomor show up to get their data back (and to Disapprove With Extreme Prejudice).  Predictable.

Harry escapes with Anna (noting that Hannah and Lasciel are there to make sure everything goes according the plan!), renewing that whole "bonding under fire" vibe, reinforcing that Anna can rely on Harry to keep her safe from the Bad Things.

All in all, I think that was a set-piece produced by Nic, and directed by Hannah/Lasciel, enacted by Harry&Anna & by the Fomor.

2149
DF Spoilers / Re: Proven Guilty speculation, because, why not?
« on: July 17, 2019, 10:05:28 PM »
Quote from: kbrizzle on July 17, 2019, 06:54:50 PM
... although the fact that the central spire in the courtyard which contained the Wellspring was untouched - there were no markings of hellfire or acid on the walls or base - is remarkable. Either this was the only piece of rebuilding Mab did, or some event forced the attackers to stop/ divert/ retreat.

Honestly, I still think Mab suckered the BC/Namshiel/whoever.  The queen of Winter sitting at the Wellspring...   She could have shut them down any time she wanted.

She gave a carefully staged resistance, based upon the attackers' belief that Mab was off at the battle-front shaping up vs. Summer.

She spent the defenders on exposing the actual identities of the attackers, so she could know who she needed to burn in payback.

Once she knew her targets, she asserted herself; and they retreated post-haste.  Then she set the stage for Harry & Charity.

2150
DF Spoilers / Re: Who dies in Peace Talks
« on: July 17, 2019, 04:54:51 PM »
Quote from: Kindler on July 16, 2019, 04:01:48 PM
Lara versus Harry would get super complicated when you account for the Mantle's sex drive. Her whole thing is lust, and that's a primary motivator for the WK's Mantle. It wouldn't really be a physical fight so much as Harry desperately clinging to... well, at this point, chastity... while Lara does her best to tempt him. ...
On the one hand... You are absolutely correct, that's a rather huge issue.

On the other hand, I can't believe the WK/mantle has no good way to handle Whamps.  Whamps are the most-human-seeming vamp, and the Knights are specifically there for doing human-related things for their Court.  Having this major weakness just seems so very improbable...

Just hypothetically, maybe the Winter powers can somehow chill/shutdown the Whamp's demon/phage?


2151
DF Spoilers / Re: Who dies in Peace Talks
« on: July 17, 2019, 04:39:23 PM »
Quote from: RobReece on July 17, 2019, 05:27:35 AM
Part of me thinks that Harry would refuse to be the Blacksraff, he was so mad when he found out what Eb had done as part of his duties, I don't think he'd want any part of it.
You mean when the WC wants to do something even MORE ethically disgusting than beheading a youth whose own magic corrupted them, because the WC never trained them to use said powers safely?

You're right, of course... Harry wants no part of being the WC's covert wetworks "Blackstaff."

OTOH... If Ebenezer falls in battle -- say, against a Walker, or other Outsider foe -- and the ONLY way to defeat the Outsider is for a Starborn wizard to pick up the extra winter magic of the Blackstaff... Well, then I think Harry does what needs to be done, and to hell with the consequences.

2152
DF Spoilers / Re: News about Peace Talks (no spoilers) and other things from Westercon/Spikecon
« on: July 14, 2019, 10:25:25 PM »
Quote from: Hankthemoose on July 14, 2019, 12:39:19 PM
Any epic GoT style uber series had better cast James Marsters for something in it...
He's too short for Harry, but... maybe that isn't  critical thing?  I mean, it makes the big-Harry/little-Murphy interactions even funnier, and his size gets mentioned often enough, but usually in the context of "no mortal is big/strong enough to go mano-a-monster with X..."  Also too old for first-few-books Harry; I presume a TV series won't have the de-aging VFX budget we saw with 70's-era Fury & Coulson.

Eb?  He's a bit young, but aging is easier.

He could do Morgan really well!  Or Marcone.

Not sure about Michael... Maybe?

2153
DF Spoilers / Re: Who dies in Peace Talks
« on: July 14, 2019, 03:48:37 AM »
Quote from: 123Chikadee on July 13, 2019, 10:36:14 PM
... Though I do agree that if Harry does become Blackstaff, he'll have to lose his mantle first. But yeah, I can totally see JB doing something like that...

If (as I have seen speculated) the Blackstaff itself is "Mother Winter's walking-stick" then putting it into the hands of the Winter Knight looks like all kinds of complications for Harry.

How could Jim possibly resist?

Quote from: 123Chikadee on July 13, 2019, 10:36:14 PM
I'm still thinking that Eb would fight L.Raith in PT and I can't really see both of them walking away from that.
Eb already did.  Took him about half a second to immobilize and humiliate her.  It was a display of the kind of overwhelming superiority that cannot reasonably be opposed; and he wasn't even wielding the Blackstaff to do it -- just his own WC badassery...

Harry vs Lara would be something like a close match; advantage Lara if Harry has insufficient prep, advantage Harry if he has time.

Eb is at least a couple of steps up the power scale.

2154
DF Spoilers / Re: Proven Guilty speculation, because, why not?
« on: July 14, 2019, 03:11:03 AM »
Quote from: kbrizzle on July 13, 2019, 04:33:52 AM
... especially since a lot of the bones were melted by hellfire.
IIRC, Harry noted several different kinds of damage to the bones, presumably showing several different spellcasters with different kinds of magic.

But "melted' wouldn't be the hellfire kind of damage:  blackened, charred/cracking, and even burning up, is fire damage to bone.   Unless Mab had defenders with bones made of metal...

Also I gotta presume that (1) plenty of the attackers bones are mixed in (it wasn't likely to be a 1-sided battle!)  And (2) nothing showing heat/fire damage was likely to be the action of any WinterFae.
 

2155
DF Spoilers / Re: Parallel Worlds anthology
« on: July 12, 2019, 06:01:21 PM »
Quote from: ClintACK on July 12, 2019, 12:12:22 PM
So... apparently there's a new Dresden Files short story coming out?

Upcoming Works at jimbutcher.com:
Amazon for pre-order: https://www.amazon.com/Parallel-Worlds-L-J-Hachmeister-ebook/dp/B07V6PM444/
Amazon Blurb:
Do we know anything about this story?

The blurb makes me think it could be a story from the PoV of Mirror Harry.

I don't expect we'll get any Mirror'verse stuff.

I'll point to the "Zoo Day" short, which eminently fulfills all the elements above.

It's a new story, though, so NOT Zoo Day.

Maybe Eb and the Blackstaff "coming to terms" with one another?

Maybe Bob vs. EvilBob?

Maybe Lea "tormenting" Harry in her faerie-godmother way "for his own good?"

etc...
 

2156
DF Spoilers / Re: Denarian Short Story
« on: July 12, 2019, 05:55:09 PM »
Quote from: peregrine on July 12, 2019, 03:52:33 PM
If Immortals are the only ones capable of being able to be Nfected, then the Denarians wouldn't be part of that.  They're immortal in that they don't die, but they also have Free Will, as shown by the fact that they can give up the coin and seek redemption.  They don't have an inviolable nature the way Maeve and others do.
The (human) hosts may still have free will (though I'm unclear if broken madmen like chained-to-the-cliff Rasmussen even CAN have it); but the Fallen, bound within their Denarii...?  And of course, the Fallen is where the world-shaking power resides...


2157
DF Spoilers / Re: What is the scope of a Soulgaze?
« on: July 11, 2019, 02:26:19 PM »
Quote from: peregrine on July 10, 2019, 05:07:26 PM
... And no, Molly's soulgaze was indicative of her being at a crossroads where she could go down any number of paths.  Not an actual prophecy or foretelling.

Dunno.

Is there WoJ on this?

The thing is, there's a bunch of rather specific possibilities shown.  Some are pretty clear, and Molly might have known about them.

But others show specific variations on "going down a wrong path," subject to specific external influences (I'd have to cross-ref with Ghost Story, which isn't to hand; but IIRC one of the visions was very much Molly's "Ragged Lady" personna, who was created from Molly's guilt in contributing to Harry's death, her own urges to "do good," and Lea's influences (among others)).  I don't think all of those outside influences are there within Molly's soul to be gazed upon; future choices may bring her to them (or them to her) but they aren't all there in that moment, to be seen.
 

2158
DF Spoilers / Re: Quick question about pre-Storm Front
« on: July 11, 2019, 05:31:38 AM »
Quote from: Mira on July 10, 2019, 08:53:11 PM
... No, Harry's first reaction upon finding her in his place was shock, "You're alive."  Then he repeats it and then asks her in a kind of angry tone, why she never contacted him?  You don't react that way unless you actually thought someone was dead...

Summer Knight, Ch.Eight (about halfway through (pg.123 in my paperback copy)) --
Quote
"I... I looked for you," I said quietly.  "In fire and water.
 I had spirits combing the Earth for any trace of you.  Hoping that you'd survived."
Quote
"But where have you been?" I asked.  "Elaine, I looked for you for years.  Years."

Elaine had left before the fight concluded.

Harry hadn't seen anything to indicate either way; but when he couldn't find her, he assumed she was dead.  It's a reasonable assumption:  he's the stronger wizard and (while she's better on the finesse-and-style front) Harry is particularly adept with "finding" things/people/etc (but not vs. one of the Summer Queens, of course!!!  But he had no indication she might have such patronage/protection...) .

But he certainly didn't do all that while awaiting trial!
 

2159
DF Books / Re: Does the WhiteCouncil know Justin had a 2nd apprentice?
« on: July 10, 2019, 08:37:39 PM »
Quote from: Arjan on July 10, 2019, 04:00:10 PM
They probably don't know. From what we have seen of wizard trials they are not exactly interested in what the warlock has to say:

Also Harry had no reason to tell and every reason to keep quiet if only to avoid more accusations.

But think about it from the WC/Warden perspective.  DuMorne is dead.  This guy was a badass Warden:  he was in on the Kemmler finale!  And that was 40 years ago... presumably he's only honed his art further.

Do they believe that a punk teenager beat DuMorne in a duel?

A punk teenager who was under supervision by DuMorne, without much opportunity to learn/practice black magic?  And presumably without resources (books/etc) as DuMorne would have controlled such things.

From the WC/Warden POV, this premise seems absurd, a non-starter.  In their shoes, I would presume another party, a 2nd wizard; even if Harry was the proximate killer, who was pulling Harry's strings?

If DuMorne could be killed -- a top-tier combat wizard -- then nobody is safe.  That (presumed) 2nd wizard must be discovered, or be proven (beyond reasonable doubt) to not exist.

And it's that investigation -- of the grounds where DuMorne lived, of the mundane records such as school enrollment, etc etc etc. -- where I think Elaine's existence would have come to light, whether Harry tried to conceal it, or not... or was never even questioned on the matter.
 

2160
DF Spoilers / Re: Quick question about pre-Storm Front
« on: July 10, 2019, 08:04:31 PM »
Quote from: kbrizzle on July 10, 2019, 06:45:29 PM
...
Given that Nemesis has likely been around for a while, I would be very surprised if most, if not all of the SC were at least aware of it (& secretive about it). We know they are aware of Outsiders...

I would note that the WC seems to be VERY averse to admitting (even to themselves) the possibility of active conspiracies and covert actions, other than from known agencies (i.e. pre-Changes, they'd readily admit the Ramps had covert actions against them).

I suspect that individual wizards have noticed Nemfection, but that "the Council" does not admit there is any pattern, or overarching agency.  The Senior Council does not discuss it as a body, the Merlin denies it to all & permits no discussion, etc.

I expect the same policy as with talk of a "Black Council," basically.

Quote from: kbrizzle on July 10, 2019, 06:45:29 PM
...
IIRC, Harry mentions looking for Elaine everywhere when he first runs into her in SK. I believe it is only after that endeavor fails that he reaches the conclusion she’s dead...

You're right; I hadn't recalled that scene.  That DOES speak to Harry not actually seeing anything happen to Elaine.  It's a terrible fire, he fears the worst, but didn't (for example) see a flaming building collapse that he "knew" she was inside.  Only after extensive magical searching does he admit to himself that she's dead.

I mean... yes, Harry's psyche often visits Egypt to go swimming, so it's possible that (based on what he saw) any reasonable person would have concluded she was dead (but Harry, shockingly, wasn't being reasonable).

But Occam's razor says Harry didn't really know, not from seeing it; he feared the worst, and confirmed his fears from extensive magical search.

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