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Messages - g33k

Pages: [1] 2 3 ... 168
1
DF Spoilers / Re: Twelve Months - What our you expecting from it?
« on: April 28, 2025, 02:47:42 PM »
No hint of that so far, however we haven't heard a word from the other branches of the White Court since "White Night," so it is possible that the Raith family will find itself on the outside looking in ...
That seems unlikely, to me.
Skavis & Malvora both got decapitated in the Raith Deeps -- not only the individuals who were their leaders, but the very-strongest of their Whamp's.  The Raith leadership (and strongest members) are intact.  I don't doubt that the Raiths took steps at  that point to "raid" the resources of their rivals, stripping them also of mundane resources/power.

This may be why Lara is making her power-play right now:  Thomas remarks (in Cold Days) that Lara is "getting scary" in how far she's extending control (where previously the Whamp's had limited themselves to the local Chicago scene, maybe some State elections, but now Lara's moving outside that scope (n.b. she had a USN Destroyer group in position in the Gulf, with military choppers standing by to violate Mexican airspace)).  But for the first time, the White Court resources are largely united, instead of the semi-détente as Skavis & Malvora maneuvered to take the White Throne; such that most of the effort of most of the Whamp's was focused internally).
 
But I'm sure Lara is too canny to just be ignoring Skavis & Malvora.  She knows the strongest of them will be emerging as new leadership, a new generation of challengers.  She knows that if she just ignores this, they will move against her... & she'd be ignorant of it.  So she'll be keeping more than a "weather eye open" to the internal politics, still.

2
...  It is mentioned in Changes that a ton of politicians and business leaders all died/disappeared at the same time the red court died.
I don't remember that...

Nevertheless, it's so.

It's in the chapter immediately following the one where Susan dies; Harry talks about the fallout from the destruction of the entire Red Court; so, not in-the-moment stuff or stuff Harry personally saw/experienced; but Harry telling us about things that he heard of, broadly.

3
... Dead, is D-E-A-D,  nothing remains of the host.
You are wrong:  language remains.  Rampires can speak normally, and don't need years to re-learn "from birth."  Also:  ghosts remain; and ghosts retain the memories that would be so critical for a Rampire to "fake it 'til they make it."

Or maybe part of the Ramp birth-process is to take a magical "brain-scan" of the dying host -- the human's life flashes before the rampire's eyes...

4
DF Spoilers / Re: The Erl King a Vassal of Winter?
« on: April 28, 2025, 01:47:03 PM »
More like an associate of Winter or with Winter, I doubt that Kringle would take a direct order from Mab for example, or that she would give one.. I think they actually agree on a lot of stuff, I also think because of his multiple mantles that he is way too complex to be a subject.

Yes, Odin & Mab agree on lots of stuff (as we saw in Skin Game)... though not on all things.

But the Kringlemantle is one of Winters/Mab's.  Within the scope of Kringle's duties, it is entirely subject to Winterlaw.  Now... Mab does not wish to be seriously at odds with Odin, so she isn't likely to give
any orders that Odin -- or Vadderung -- finds deeply offensive.  By the same token, Odin doesn't want to be seriously at odds with Mab, so Kringle is always looking for ways to be inoffensive.

When push comes to shove (if Mab orders something he's unwilling to do) Odin can simply take off the Kringlemantle and say, "nope."

The thing is:  neither of them want this to happen simply as a result of Aesir/Faerie political squabbling, or points of pride between the two monarchs or their courts.  The Kringlemantle and what it represents and does is important to both of them.  Without ever actually speaking about it, they are lowkey collaborating to avoid needless conflicts; and both of them are pretty damned good at that sort of tactico-strategic thinking, so it works well (and has for hundreds of years).

5
DF Spoilers / Re: Choices
« on: April 28, 2025, 01:18:42 PM »
You are assuming that nothing around Harry changes, that all the people around him remain the same..  That's the mistake I think, because Harry's choice and his change in this other universe doesn't happen in a vacuum.
No, I agree:  things around Harry will begin changing, from the moment of "the Choice."  Harry changes, so what Harry does changes -- how he acts, how he reacts -- and everyone in  his orbit will in turn be changed.

But Michael's northstar isn't Harry; it never was.  He'll be among the less-changed (at least for the first few books); I don't expect any of Harry's changes will affect Michael's faith, or status as a Knight, or his Divine Guidance to help others in need.

And because there is a confluence in Chicago -- all of the same "dark powers" that Harry noted are still coming to bear, there -- I think Michael will more-often be Guided to Murphy's aid, than he originally was in the first few books.

6
DF Spoilers / Re: Harry's force rings
« on: April 27, 2025, 07:58:35 PM »
Attach them to the wheels of the Blue Beetle.
...
which is now sitting motionless in some junkyard.

 :'(

7
...
I do, because it is an important point!  Also I think you are confusing White Court Vamps with Red Court Vamps, while both are vampires, they are nothing alike..  WCVs appear human and in most ways are very human, RCVs are not.. RCVs can put on a human mask, and act human, but there is nothing human about them as we saw when Harry pushed Bianca with his sunshine hanky.. 
I think the WC are human, yes; humans with a separate entity inside them, the "hunger demon."
Some Whampires are more in control, others less-so.  Mab says(implies?) that Thomas is human-enough to become a Knight, and Uriel seems to have a comparable level of interest in Whamps as he is in other Mortals.

RCV's are inhuman.  They're like insects that have a parasite eat its way out of them, killing them.  The half-turned Red is still human, but the full Rampire kills the host during birth.

None of which is to the point of the OP/topic:  how much of the mind (memories, predilections, etc) of the human host remain with the full Rampire?  Does the Ramp have the same "favorite color" as the human had?  Do they remember what that favorite color was?  Do they remember that "having a favorite color" is even a thing?

I will allege that some level of memory remains; while I think they're born ravenously-hungry, Rampires are too capable of "pretending" to be human, too quickly thereafter.  It appears VERY much that there must be some level of memory retained, or they wouldn't be able to "fake it" as well as they do.


8
DF Spoilers / Re: The Erl King a Vassal of Winter?
« on: April 27, 2025, 06:59:32 PM »
I doubt that he is because he is a "god" in his own right.

So long as he wears the Kringle mantle, he's subject to Winter.
But he appears able to put it on and take it off at will.

9
DF Spoilers / Re: Choices
« on: April 27, 2025, 06:53:45 PM »
Will she?  Or will she take the attitude that whatever it is, it is a law enforcement issue so some civilian carpenter can butt out?
 

Remember:  at the point of divergence, it's the exact same Murphy, with the exact same attitudes.  So yes, there may be some suspicion/distrust, just as she wasn't yet to the point of trusting Harry.  Also remember:  Murphy doesn't need to "call Michael for help" in order for Michael to show up via his own guidance.

But she'll be just as in-need of assistance from Michael as she was from Harry.  How many times will Michael need to selflessly risk himself to pull her (and other SI) out of danger, before she trusts him ... at least a little bit?

Michael's fundamental goodness is something that will speak to Murphy; and his free and ready faith (which Harry *never* displays) will do so too.

= = =

In the end, of course, it will depend 100% on how Jim writes it; the whole point may be moot; maybe one or both of them die in the stories between GP & MM...

10
DF Spoilers / Re: Choices
« on: April 26, 2025, 11:37:33 PM »
... there is no guarantee that she'd be receptive to a so called "Holy Knight."
Michael doesn't often introduce himself as a "Holy Knight," though:  he just steps up to help.
And Murphy actually has amazingly-good "people-sense."
It'd make good sense in both Doylist & Watsonian terms.

If Michael is guided to aid her in time of need -- and I allege that (in an Evil!Harry universe) this is likely to happen -- Murphy will take the help, and (cautiously) begin trusting Michael, as he becomes a good source of supernatural intel & an ally in protecting Chicago.


11
DF Spoilers / One of the most White Court things I've seen ...
« on: April 26, 2025, 12:45:43 AM »
Probably NSFW, in case you're at work; tho neither X- nor R-rated.
Music video, so not quiet, either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsxzBCr2zNM
 

12
DF Spoilers / Re: Choices
« on: April 24, 2025, 08:05:46 PM »
... and why would she team up with Michael?  I doubt without Harry she would have even known Micheal ...
You forget:  Michael has some extra guidance!  ;D
Without Harry's assistance, SI & Murphy will have needed some extra help... help that Michael is well-situated to provide!  Obviously, that's no guarantee Jim will have written it that way; but it'd be  a nice exemplar of God's Providence, with Michael's multiversal presence situated to support Murphy (or in a different Alt!Universe, Morty?) when that alt!Harry does not.

... For the record?  If you really want to torture Harry, have Murphy act like he never existed, and treat him that way as well with a totally closed mind towards the supernatural...
Murphy 1st met Harry in the Restoration of Faith short, earlier even than Storm Front.
He was a regular consultant for SI, for the first few novels (the earliest such (that we see onscreen) he had already been consulting with them for a while).
All of that is the same, between the "prime" and "Mirror" universes.

The entirety of the setting & character-development isn't subject to revision -- only from GP's "choice" onwards.

I don't see any way for Mirror!Murphy to have buried her head in the sand and deny the supernatural; and Harry will *very* much be on Mirror!Murphy's radar -- as a Bad Guy(tm)!

13
You are assuming they would still have contact with their friends and close family, there is no evidence of that...

I'm pretty sure the Rampires selectively turned individuals in critical positions, so they could have their people in those critical positions; so fooling colleagues seems to have been Rampire SOP.

At least some effort to keep friends & close family fooled seems obvious, even if it's just long enough to enact breakups/etc (or turn them, in turn (but that'd be an every-widening pool of complications)).

I don't think Jim has ever explained it in detail, but I presume he's considered his setting in  far more depth than he has put out in public.

...Even if they did,that doesn't biologically change what they have become, which is not human!

I'm not sure what about this point is so important to you.

It doesn't seem relevant to the OP's issue, and I haven't seen anyone disagreeing with you, but you keep returning to re-emphasize it.

14
DF Comic Books / are all of the CB's still in-print/available?
« on: April 20, 2025, 06:38:12 PM »
Hi,

I've read all the novels & all but a few of the most-recent shorts.
Have only dabbled in the CB/GN's, very hit-or-miss.

I'd like to get a full set (if they can still all be had without going the crazy-collector-price route), preferably in collected/omnibus editions rather than the slim per-isssue original run (also helpful in avoiding the aforementioned crazy-collector-prices; but I actually like the chonkier volumes better).

Any tips or advice on how to get it all?
 

15
DF Spoilers / Re: Choices
« on: April 20, 2025, 05:43:53 PM »
But maybe enough that Murphy ends up dead earlier than in the canon timeline.  In canon, Murphy was better equipped to deal with the supernatural threats in Chicago because Harry brought her fully in, shared with her knowledge about the supernatural world and what was happening, protected her as best as he could and as she would allow, etc. while she did her job.  Without Harry's help or the same level of protection, is she able to do her job and stay alive as long as she did in canon?

I am relatively-confident Mirror!Murphy will be alive; simply because of the vast opportunities it gives Jim to further torture Harry.

Early-books Harry was still giving Murphy lots of stay-alive info (albeit limited/incomplete), and I expect that didn't stop completely when he made the Choice.  Remember that Murphy got so deeply into the supernatural because of Harry.  Without Harry there, opening the doors he opened, Murphy's likely to have had shallower, less-dangerous encounters. 

Alternatively, maybe Mirror!Murphy teamed up with Michael, who -- while (mostly) not as clued-in as Harry -- had much more info than Murphy!

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