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Topics - BrainFireBob

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DF Spoilers / Overarching point of first few books
« on: August 12, 2022, 03:52:11 AM »
Bit of a one-off thought I've yet to see anywhere.

The first three major cases- Sells, Kravos, the Hexenwolves- they were about revealing the supernatural world in an undeniable way. Chicago was picked for its proximity to Demonreach, but the point was to do what Battle Ground did- tear down the veil.

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DF Spoilers / The castle and the island, theory
« on: August 01, 2022, 10:01:07 PM »
Theory: The castle was Merlin's, and it is a fortress not because he needed a paranoid bolthole, but to have a shortcut to the island, either direct or opening on the same location in the Nevernever.

The spirit intended to run the castle is Alfred's counterpart

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DF Spoilers / Various Storm Front
« on: October 28, 2020, 03:01:48 AM »
Reading our daughter Storm Front

1) Dresden is clear he claimed self-defense, but doesn't say he fought Justin. It may have been murder- killed Justin when Justin didn't know he was there.
2) Sounds like Sells was a proxy for Papa Raith. He worked for SilverCo
3) Expected Checkov's guns:
A) Chauncy
B) Channeling a storm
C) Someone "really pisses him off" and he does the heart spell.

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DF Spoilers / WAG: Most
« on: October 07, 2020, 02:00:53 AM »
WAG: That there is an island in Lake Michigan with a dark ley line- known.

That Merlin's magic supermax is an island.

But that the one is the other wasn't widely known.

If most beings only knew how to get there via Nevernever, it would explain how they could keep Kemmler from it.

Also, the Forest People are probably the reason the Red Court was confined to South America

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DF Spoilers / Post Battle Ground Starborn discussion (Spoilers)
« on: October 01, 2020, 06:47:24 PM »
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DF Spoilers / BG Spoilerish, Looking for quotes through series
« on: October 01, 2020, 04:53:20 PM »
So,

(click to show/hide)

Option 1: Much like the "state of mind" dig, this is to make Harry question what he thought he knew- ie, he's being told he was being observed
Option 2: This is a tell for Nemfection.

So, who else has said something like this to Harry?

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Harry Dresden and Elaine (Mallory?) are potential starborns seized by Justin DuMorne and put through combat-focused training to become bruisers.

Minor Battle Ground reference: Mab notes that Harry is a born weapon, with implication that it is related to his starborn status.

Thought: Justin "disappeared" them under Council aegis to create starborn weapons for the White Council.

Additional posits:

1) The Senior Council has dithered on Harry because he's what they have
2) Harry's killing of DuMorne is less a matter of "DuMorne was rogue" and more a matter of "He was trained as a weapon and DuMorne went too far."
3) DuMorne maybe did betray the Council, but the Council doesn't know enough details to know that (ie, the Walker summoning)
4) Margaret Le Fay's solicitation of Lea as godmother was the fly in the Council's ointment

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DF Spoilers / Various Battle Grounds reactions (spoilers)
« on: September 30, 2020, 09:50:12 PM »
Various thoughts and reactions to Battle Grounds

1)   Here is Harry’s missing snark. Harry did not sound like Harry in Peace Talks.
2)   Chronicles of Prydain!
3)   This is where Butcher is strong
4)   Is the Za-Lord- and Harry- becoming an independent Erlking or Kringle character? Or is Toot ascending to that role? Harry certainly outed himself on this one. The degree of his influence over the Little Folk was not known except to the Faery Queens, I think. Apparently, he can call to all of them and have them put down their ADHD long enough to listen. Response obviously is dependent on importance of the request.
5)   WAG: The ouster from the White Council will be followed with an offer of reinstatement contingent on handing over the Eye.
6)   Bob is an enemy of Mab and not just paranoid? That’s interesting. Bob serves Harry.
7)   Faeries are “back” to “stealing” children? Sounds like a telephone reporting of Winter’s tribute
8)   Justine had access to Goodman, Lara’s inner circle, Thomas, and who else as Lara’s secretary? Any of them is potentially Nemfected, depending on how it spreads. Will Papa Raith come back into play?
9)   Jim’s recent signing answer about Kemmler having been the Warden, and a significant part of the White Council’s time being spent trying to keep him from Demonreach, raises some interesting questions
a.   Did the Sidhe assist, and that is what kept him from simply opening a Way?
b.   Is that part of the Chekhov’s gun of Harry’s medallion? He can’t be kept from anywhere
c.   I’ve long thought that the combination of the Darkhallow and the summoning circle on Demonreach was a Chekhov’s gun itself- Kemmler being the inventor and a former Warden comes close to confirming it
d.   Who was the in-between Warden?
10)   Ramirez warned Harry that McCoy was under standing orders to execute him if he backslid. Fun question: Is Wizard McCoy under those orders, or is the Blackstaff under those orders? If the latter, Ebenezer can flip Langtey the bird simply by handing off the Blackstaff to Harry. The only control anyone has over someone like the Blackstaff is his consent to being controlled.
11)   Listens to Wind and Ebenezer were in surgery when the council voted to oust Harry. Rashid was probably engaged at the Outer Gates. Those three and Martha Liberty were Harry’s “block.”
12)   Harry will need to reconcile with the svartalves. Potential future plot point.
13)   Harry is competing with Marcone for the title of Lord of Chicago.
14)   WAG question: If reincarnation is a thing in the Dresdenverse, are they actually Merlin and Arthur?
15)   Valkyries pick Einherjar. Which Gard flagged Murphy and Hendricks? By Sigrun’s mourning, I’m guessing Freydis?
16)   Did Harry out himself as Warden? Or is the message that he slew Ethniu?
17)   Interesting that Titania was summoned but not the Mothers
18)   Mab hints at Harry’s future immortality
19)   We finally found out where Molly had made doppelgangers before
20)   Will Harry be able to open a Way from the castle straight to Demonreach based on his own affinity and the magical parallels?
21)   Can Einherjar actually die, or are the “revenants” like wizards in that they will-eventually-heal?
22)   That series of threats Mab issued to Lara regarding feeding on Harry in Peace Talks- need to review how that applies to a wedding.
23)   The stars and stones make me think of the standing stones at places like Stonehenge- linked to Merlin
24)   Harry going to go back to school with River Shoulders?
25)   Namshiel trolled Ethniu. Ethniu is Celtic, which means Scottish/Welsh/Irish/Cornish/Gallic/Gaelic/Breton. When he spoke with her, he deliberately used an upper-crust English accent. That was excellently subtle trolling.
26) The incidentalness of Rudy was spot on- anything else would cheapen Murphy. Murphy went down to her own world

More to come

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DF Spoilers / Peace Talks Eb theory permutation (spoilers, Peace Talks)
« on: September 10, 2020, 01:45:58 PM »
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Thought I'd share.


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Been thinking about Dresden.

One of the things that Butcher does excellently, is make things look different from Dresden’s POV than they do from everyone else’s, really making the reader think about how things appear from an outside perspective.

His reaction to the Kemmlerites is a good example. He lives in the wizarding wild west- a town the White Court and Red Court both have a strong presence in, with no other wizards around. He never goes to Edinborough, or calls the Council, voluntarily. He up and starts the war with the Red Court.

So he up and calls the Wardens one day, right after there’s a serious attack that stretches them thin and they’re busy with triage. He luckily gets the commander. What does he say?

“I need backup. Are you familiar with the Kemmlerites?”

1)   *He* is too young to know what the Kemmlerites are
2)   Not only does he know what they are, he knows what they’re doing
3)   But they neatly would tie into his past with Justin- who participated in taking them out and then retired.
4)   He doesn’t just do the equivalent of reporting a breakin to the Wardens of the house next door. He says “I’m going in regardless of whether you guys show up, but it’d sure be nice if you did.”

So you can take it that he’s way more clued in than he should be and eye him suspiciously, or take at value that he’s a private eye and uncovering information is what he does professionally.

There are four things that are of particular interest to me with Harry.

1)   Most of his direct magic instruction seems to have been from Justin. Ebenezer focused on character building, general academic skills, and the philosophy of magic. Much of his later instruction seems to be from Bob, who cheerfully admits to having no moral sense around his knowledge- so when Harry asks Bob for a “good” way to do X, he might be sent for a goat and a sacrificial knife, because that’s 5 minutes faster than the “moral” way.
a.   Why doesn’t Eb know about Bob? That’s my biggest WTF from this series. Harry thinks Bob is a *standard* kind of thing until Luccio disabuses him.
2)   He thinks having a faery godmother is normalesque for wizards. Yet not only does he have the only godmother we hear of, but she is the Leanansidhe herself.
a.   Sidebar: Who on the Council knows? Connections in the Nevernever are forged by similarities and affinities; Harry’s place connected straight to the Leanansidhe’s. In this case, Lea did it based on their *familial* connection; but Harry does keep coming up with knowledge he shouldn’t have and she is essentially a knowledge/skill broker- a parasitic Muse-spirit.
3)   He thinks summoning demons like Chauncy is normal for wizards, to the point he gives one a nickname
a.   Sidebar: Notice that Chauncy’s name is Lovecraftian? Be hilarious if he’s an Outsider and Harry has been seeking knowledge from outside the Outer Gates
4)   Morgan, who has spent at least a century chasing Warlocks, thinks Harry does things like a warlock would- such as his coercion of Toot; trapped in a circle and “take my deal of bread and honey for information, or be stuck there.”

What if Morgan is right? What if Harry is “innocently” effectively using black magic, or at least questionable magic, because he doesn’t know any better? Changes their relationship dramatically.

Let’s look at what Harry has shown knowledge of or ability in he shouldn’t that may be known to the Council:

1)   Etruscan
2)   Sumerian
3)   Hellfire, after tangling with the Denarians
4)   The mortality of the Fae around the Stone Table (we know it was dumb luck he confronted Aurora there)
5)   The mortality of the Fae on Halloween
6)   He used the bloodline curse (Odin tipped him off)- note that he had previous exposure to the same via Victor Sells
7)   He knew who the Kemmlerites were and what they were after
8)   He bonded with Demonreach
9)   He lived with, and still frequently sees, a White Court vampire
10) He had a Foo Dog
11) He has at least some connection to the Knights of the Cross

What else?

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DF Spoilers / Mantles and death curses
« on: July 31, 2020, 04:42:54 PM »
Random bit.

Say there is a wizard with one of the “immortal” mantles.
Say said wizard is backed into a corner and uses a death curse.
Will the mantle re-form the wizard?

I am curious regarding Cowl in this regard.

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DF Spoilers / How long can Butcher maintain WC suspicion of Harry?
« on: July 17, 2020, 03:49:37 PM »
Butcher's done an outstanding job of keeping the literal angels that will vouchsafe Harry's character from the Council.

Have we seen Ancient Mai since Mouse testified on Harry's behalf, revealing that he's chosen to accept being Harry's pet? She might have converted on the spot politically- explains the Merlin's desperation.

From the Council's perspective, Harry is a loose cannon who deals freely with vampires, the nastier fae, and other monsters. He's worked with Nicodemus, the White Court, the Black Court; he has an unexplained knowledge of necromancy, Etruscan, and Sumerian yet struggles in Latin (this implies he practices the other two frequently, so dealings with White Court and ghouls); he starts the war with the Red Court, largely stays out of it (aside from eliminating the Tigress) until drafted, but then when they strike at his child he up and eliminates them all like they are nothing.

He's been known to throw Hellfire.

Yet he also has Soulfire and is close to the KotC. This should create cognitive distortion or cause the Senior Council to reconsider.

Has anyone seen him use Soulfire on the Council?
Have we seen Mai since Mouse testified on Harry's behalf?
Does anyone on the Council know that Harry is a frequent collaborator of the KotC- recall, they're not members of the Accords?

Do you think Battle Grounds will touch on this point, given the weapons Harry is wielding, and the implied revelation of his role as Warden?

EDIT: Going to add that from a Doylist POV, the point of Kemmler is throw suspicion on Harry, who appears to tick nearly all the same boxes. Which is part of why I am so confident that he was the last Starborn, and he used that ability specifically to seek knowledge beyond the Outer Gates.

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DF Spoilers / BFB's first-pass WAGS, Peace Talks
« on: July 15, 2020, 06:47:25 PM »
Post Peace Talk/Battleground WAGs

1)   Eb lays down his life for Thomas, not Harry, as a sideways apology
2)   Thomas is cured of his phage by the island- it was referring to the phage, and not Thomas, when commenting he barely deserved minimum security
3)   Harry binds the Titan. This puts a target on his back, because it was not known he was Warden. Control the Warden, control the island. He’s only using cheat codes when he’s there.
4)   The Round Table was created for one of two purposes:
a.   As an “endless supply” of well-trained KotC
b.   To provide Merlin with blood samples to use at Demonreach
5)   Harry finds out he’s the 4th KotC, and this is why Mab can’t stop Uriel from using Harry- pre-existing obligation.
6)   Not mine, but I’m onboard- Thomas becomes a KotC; he’s the son of a king.
7)   Harry’s only been saved by the WC because of his starborn status.
8)   The last time a starborn was running around, it was bad for Mab, the Winter Lady died, etc. I’m standing by my guess this was Kemmler, and he became a *Destroyer* instead of a *Starborn*.
9)   Longstanding, but restating: Starborn are walking conjunction points. Harry can kill an immortal whenever he decides to. He can also change the true nature of things. This in turn makes them immune to possession- within their own frame of reference, they are the fixed point. They’d have to *decide* to be possessed.
10)   Vadderung is/was Balor, not the Gatekeeper. Or he was Balor and gave his magic eye to become the Gatekeeper. Ethniu’s deference is filial.
11)   Ferrovax is the dragon that killed Beowulf, hence the antagonism.
12)   Elaine was the master in the Justin-Elaine relationship
13)   The Senior Council members spend a significant portion of their time in the NeverNever to extend their lifetimes; the war et al was partially to “age them out.”
14)   The Za Lord becomes a mantle- the Lord of the Dewdrop Fairies. Harry signs the Accords on *those* terms if kicked out of the Council. Mantle ability is a form of intellectus- Harry can know, if he thinks about it, what any of the faeries know, and speak multiple languages. He also gains a constant craving for sweets.
15)   Butter’s new sword can cut through “Titanic Bronze”; this is a significant reason why the KotC are involved.
16)   Murphy is dying at the end of Battleground, but becomes a Valkyire- and heads off to boot camp. Harry won’t see her for a century or more.
17)   The frying pan that dissolves was created by Maggie’s own conjuritis when she was thinking about pancakes.
18)   The references to Ivy and Hope’s physical maturity was to point out that Maggie was at an age to start the puberty they had nearly finished. In turn, this means her magic would start manifesting.
19)   The issue with Grendelkin is the size of the babies. Irwin exists because his mother is quite large.
20)   Thomas got Evanna pregnant and that’s tied into the “assassination attempt.”
21)   Harry’s treatment of the violin player/the ampule he put on Ramirez leads to Wardens changing their votes
22)   Little Chicago is used to coordinate defensive actions/communication
23)   The key to the story are the misdirections- Malcolm’s comment to Harry. What are the distractions?
a.   Thomas?
b.   The Peace Talks?
c.   The Last Titan herself?
24)   The Lance of Longinus is a perfect fit for the Blackstaff. Harry doesn’t want to think about that too much
25)   The Blackstaff cures Harry of his existing Black Magic taint. It’s “not worth it.”
26)   The real attack will be aimed at Demonreach again- conveniently near Chicago.
27)   When touching a coin, a Denarian can put a “shadow” of itself in you. If the Swords are also Angels, shouldn’t they be able to do the same? The Denarians can also teach you how to “summon” their coin. Is that how the Knights gain their knowledge of where they are supposed to be?
28)   There’s a lot of speculation that Lara’s haunted look at Eb reflected her doing him wrong. Possible, but it shows up after he comments that isolating you is what abusers do- and I’ve a longstanding WAG that it’s her own wedding ring that burned her; killed her own husband on her wedding night and he let her do it *because he loved her*, and that’s what makes Lara different. She has proof. The “haunted look” is memory, not guilt.
29)   Justine wants to go into witness protection to save her baby from the White Court. No-one considers this as the case- she called the FBI.
30)   The vampires are part of the accords because their dual nature protects them from Nemesis- it can infect the vampire, or it can infect the host, but it can’t infect both.

More as they come up. This was just from a first-pass read.

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DF Spoilers / Seidrmadr, language note
« on: July 15, 2020, 03:13:59 PM »
Seidr was the Norse word for magic. Inherently feminine, Odin shapeshifted into a woman to learn it, but he's so manly it's not feminine for him.

Madr is person.

I believe he's going for "magic man."

For anyone unsure

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DF Spoilers / WAG- Trailer, Sample Chapter, SPOILERS WITHIN
« on: April 03, 2020, 11:14:25 PM »
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WAG:

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