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Messages - g33k

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DF Spoilers / Re: Does Thomas get a free pass?

« on: March 11, 2024, 10:38:15 PM »

Quote from: Mira on March 09, 2024, 12:01:24 PM

Alfred may not understand or always get what Harry says to him, but he understands monsters. So it may turn out that if Harry orders him to free Thomas, he will do just that, free Thomas.. However the Hunger Demon will remain in prison because it is a monster, an unintended consequence.

I think Demonreach is more Mab-ish, here. It might be able to remove the Hunger Demon... but that would almost-certainly destroy Thomas' mind & psyche (WoJ has explicitly addressed Mab doing so).

DF Spoilers / Re: Lara and Harry

« on: March 11, 2024, 10:35:16 PM »

Quote from: Lord Kinbote on March 10, 2024, 08:57:02 PM

... My money is on the White Court demon being unable to affect Harry as the WK ...

Hope you didn't bet very much!

1. We've seen in PT & BG that Harry is still susceptible to Whamp-mojo. He always notices, points out to Lara something to the effect that she's being rude, and Lara tamps it down; but we've seen that WK-Harry is absolutely affected.

2. I'm quite sure I've seen WoJ that the Whampire-sex-thing and the WK-mantle-sex-thing don't "cancel out" at all; it's rather the opposite, it's more like they are additive... an explosive combination.

DF Spoilers / Re: Does Thomas get a free pass?

« on: March 08, 2024, 06:01:43 PM »

Quote from: Mira on March 08, 2024, 02:10:39 PM

The problem with that is Red Court vampires were different than White Court vampires, only thing in common was both are a form of vampire...

I'd phrase that even more strongly: Rampires & Whampires are entirely-different (and unrelated) sorts of beings. Whampire children are born to whampire parents; they are a human with a Whamp hunger-demon inside. Rampires are a parasitic infection, inflicted by other Rampires; the hatching young kills the human.

We call them both "vampires" but that's lumping them together for our own convenience.

DF Spoilers / Re: Does Thomas get a free pass?

« on: March 08, 2024, 05:52:23 PM »

Quote from: Mira on March 07, 2024, 03:10:21 PM

I wouldn't sell Alfred short on that ...

Alfred consistently shows a very stolid presence, and he often doesn't "get" some things Harry says to him. He -- it, really -- has tremendous amount of power, but specifically only grasps things & applies the power to what's in his own domain.

Imprisoning Thomas is clearly within the scope of that.

Finely sorting through the elements of Thomas' soul, disentangling the Hunger Demon (that was inborn, part of him from birth) is a much-more delicate sort of thing, and IIRC we've ever seen Alfred show any such abilities.

Quote from: Mira on March 07, 2024, 03:10:21 PM

... We will have to see..

As we always have to, yes.

Jim hasn't written it yet (I presume -- maybe Thomas is getting out in Twelve Months, but I'm betting not! But fwiw that book is at 50% complete, per Jim's "upcoming works" page; I'm also betting on Thomas still being "on ice" in Mirror Mirror).

DF Spoilers / Re: Lara and Harry

« on: March 07, 2024, 02:52:52 AM »

Quote from: Tinfoil hat on March 05, 2024, 01:07:32 PM

Thats a great image. Genuinely laughed ...

Thanks!

Quote from: Tinfoil hat on March 05, 2024, 01:07:32 PM

... But that seems like a Mab thing to do.

You think Mab didn't envision it in almost exactly those terms?
I'm pretty sure she did!

DF Spoilers / Re: Does Thomas get a free pass?

« on: March 07, 2024, 01:26:57 AM »

Quote from: Mira on March 06, 2024, 07:10:44 PM

... Possible, what I see though is the island separating the Hunger Demon from the very human Thomas ...

I have seen this theory before.
I am extremely dubious about it.

I think Jim has written some of these Big Deal^(tm) artifacts -- like the Island / the well -- as much more "Big Guns," and not really capable, not really relevant, to such a fine discrimination as filtering a Whampire Hunger Demon out of a human being. I doubt Alfred would even comprehend the request.

That being said... the dominant Whampire form seems to be Lust, with relatively few feeding from despair or fear. And these Lust demons are profoundly-subject to Love; someone in Love burns them on-contact, and if a proto-Whamp makes love to someone they genuinely love... that burns away the Hunger Demon forever.

And lo, we have Chekhov's Amoracchius, the Sword of Love.

If Thomas is to be de-Whampired, my bet is on Amoracchius to do the job. Because while an Angel is a "Big Gun," they're also (very much) capable of the sort of "fine discrimination" that I don't see Demonreach achieving.

And then we'd have a modern Elric (Moorcock's tormented, white, sword-wielding / frail-without-sword guy) ... which could be a bit tempting for Jim... ;-)

DF Spoilers / Re: Lara and Harry

« on: March 04, 2024, 10:33:54 PM »

Quote from: Overfinch on March 04, 2024, 08:44:25 PM

I have to agree that Harry being celibate/lovelorn has become a little stale. He deserves some uncomplicated action ...

The thing is, Jim has really consistently written Harry as specifically not wanting "some uncomplicated action." So it'd be a substantial break in character.

DF Spoilers / Re: Lara and Harry

« on: March 04, 2024, 08:27:49 PM »

Quote from: Mira on March 04, 2024, 07:20:15 PM

Poor Harry, he never has been into casual sex, and steady ladies have been few and far between, so few outlets.. After Susan left him I think he went about five years protected until Luccio came along, that was short lived.. Come to think of it the time period that he actually had sex with Murphy was only a few months at most before she died.

Susan Rodriguez - monsters got her, turned into a bloodthirsty Rampire
Anastasia Luccio - Brainwashed "fine thrall" specifically sent to surveil Harry via pillowtalk &c.
Karrin Murphy - Successively worse and worse injuries until she died.

ALL of these specifically because they were trying to operate in Harry's world.
Harry's lifestyle is awfully hard on the women who get romantic with him.

He needs to get with someone an awful lot tougher... ValkMurpherie, SumMolLady, etc.

DF Spoilers / Re: How Murphy could return to the Dresden Files

« on: March 01, 2024, 04:01:07 PM »

Quote from: magnuskn on March 01, 2024, 02:38:19 PM

... I agree that she recovered a bit too much on the eve of Battle Grounds (Hobbs from Fast and Furious 7 comes to mind when she just had to take off her cast to get better), but as a last hurrah as her mortal badass self, it worked for me.

Note that the Dr's typically like to leave a cast on broken bones beyond the point that the bones are healed-enough for light-use.

The point of the break will still be very tender (and much more susceptible to being re-broken!) but you can use the limb for most ordinary things.

I was presuming that was the stage Murphy was at, when she took off her own cast.

DF Spoilers / Re: Lara and Harry

« on: March 01, 2024, 03:55:36 PM »

Quote from: LostInTime on March 01, 2024, 02:51:10 PM

Per Something Borrowed (I think that's the title. I don't have a reference handy) The marriage ceremony removes true love's protection. Once the wedding goes down, Harry has no protection from Lara ...

IIRC, that's specifically a Faerie/contractual thing (a marriage being (from the Fae POV) a very contractual affair (oaths &c: "to have and to hold, forsaking all others, from this day forward, 'til death do us part...")). I'd need to go back and read the story to be sure whether Harry was actually that specific in the exposition.

I doubt the Whampire Hunger is affected by the ceremony either way; I certainly wouldn't expect a loveless political marriage to convey any protections, so I don't see why a political marriage would end them.

DF Spoilers / Re: Does Thomas get a free pass?

« on: February 29, 2024, 08:44:39 PM »

Quote from: OutsideIn on February 15, 2024, 07:09:06 AM

Just because his babies held hostage in a way... Doesn't give you a free pass to murder...

No, it doesn't give you a "free pass."
But we have seen that the Sartalves really, really value their children...

If Thomas could somehow prove that he intentionally "missed" Etri (could have killed him but didn't) in an action of an Outsider-war and in protection of his child... then they might be willing to accept weregild. Not exactly happy about it, but they could see how they might be driven to similar extremity by a similar threat to their own child(ren).

Maybe...
(I admit it's a stretch).
Maybe Harry could hire Maximillian Valerious to plead the case...?

DF Spoilers / Re: Gatekeeper

« on: February 29, 2024, 08:03:55 PM »

Quote from: Mira on February 29, 2024, 01:31:36 PM

I also think it is very hard to guess what Rashid's real age is, remember he spends 90% or more of his time at the Gates in the Nevernever, time works differently there ...

That's my point, yes:

Quote from: g33k on February 22, 2024, 12:05:20 AM

I believe Rashid is the oldest WC wizard, and I suspect that comes from spending so long in extreme time-dilation at the Outer Gates & other deep-Nevernever regions.

I don't know that he spends "90%" (or any other specific number) of his time at the Outer Gates (afaik this isn't something that's ever been specified), but it's certainly a lot of his time... enough to hugely-extend the elapsed mortal-world time since his birth, without actually "aging" him.

But Rashid is at least 1300-ish years old, in terms of mortal-world-years-since-birth, per WoJ. And I think (I'd have to go delving to be sure) we also have WoJ that wizards' lifespan is normally 400ish years. That's a pretty notable discrepancy, whether taken as absolute years or as a multiplier.

Quote from: Mira on February 29, 2024, 01:31:36 PM

... because he has spent most of those years in the Nevernever, his age appears to be or close to Eb's age..

I think wizards go through a huge long plateau of general good health & fitness with very slow "apparent" aging, that begins in their mid/late 20's and lasts for around 300-350 years; then, when they finally begin to look "old" (apparent age 65ish?) they begin to age less-slowly (though still not fast) for another 50ish years.

AFAIK, there is no WoJ as to whether some kinds of magic (e.g. water-magic, which is related to healing), or an individual wizard's particular power (e.g. Harry is very-strong) get more of this benefit (whether "younger looks" or more actual years, etc) than others do.

I strongly suspect that two wizards' relative "apparent ages" are a very-poor way to figure out which is actually the elder of the two.

DF Spoilers / Re: Gatekeeper

« on: February 29, 2024, 12:02:58 AM »

Quote from: seanham on February 27, 2024, 12:35:12 AM

I'd say there is a chance (although a small one) that Rashid has been the Gatekeeper since the faeries took over control of the Gates. I say a small chance because that would make Rashid VERY old and while I agree he is the oldest wizard we know of he may not be that old...

Actually, the chances seem good, to me.

As mentioned, WoJ places Rashid operating -- as a very powerful wizard -- around 700AD.

IIRC, the Norse Gods were replaced by the Winterfae on the Outer Gates around 1000AD.

DF Spoilers / Re: How Murphy could return to the Dresden Files

« on: February 26, 2024, 08:36:42 PM »

Quote from: Mira on February 26, 2024, 01:33:08 PM

Also skating on very thin ice when he and Molly sparred mentally..

I don't think so, but maybe...?
They were working on developing their mental defenses; the only way to do that is by defending against mental attacks. The "win condition" was a specific mental image, nothing with mental controls or outside impulses.

Now... could a very-subtle mind-mage like Molly have slipped some low-key "extras" in, unnoticed in the face of the larger contest? Likely, to be honest. I suspect that she did not, but I don't think we can be sure.

The whole practice (of practicing mental defenses (and thus of practicing mental attacks)) was deprecated in the White Council because it can slide so easily into law-breaking, and it can be so difficult to figure out the intent, when Something Goes Wrong. But then the Captain of the Wardens had her mind kicked out of her own body by a Kemmlerite, and the WC secretary turned out to have been diddling the minds of most/all of the Senior Council & the Wardens... and they suddenly realized their "just say no" policy was so very head-in-the-sand that it bordered on being suicidal.

I think Harry training Molly was pretty safe... or as much so as such things ever can be.

In particular: I don't think it's going to be the major Lawbreaking that Jim was intending when he said he'd have Harry break all 7 Laws.

DF Spoilers / Re: Did Molly teleport

« on: February 23, 2024, 11:09:48 PM »

Quote from: Conspiracy Theorist on February 23, 2024, 06:19:09 PM

... Margaret could have created several short-cuts this way, and it might explain how she was able to escape Raith.

Mere physical escape was never the challenge. She was a powerful WC mage, and one of the most-informed mortal waywalkers ever; she could have left any time she wanted to... if she had just wanted to.
The question is -- since Papa Raith apparently had years to work on her -- why wasn't she utterly enslaved to his will? Murphy admitted that (a much weaker) Papa-Raith almost broke her, and that was in just the space of a few minutes.

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