Re: [GRIMDARK] Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons Discussion

[FeatherDust]

He turned towards Boo and me.

‘me’ to ‘I’

No, it's correct.  The pronoun doesn't change when you add another person.  You wouldn't say "He turned towards I."  You'd say "He turned towards me."  So you still use 'me' when you add Boo to it.

As immortal as me.

‘me’ to ‘I’

Honestly, this can go either way.

If you assume there's only one implied verb, "[She is] as immortal as me," then he's using himself as the direct object, so 'me' is correct.

But it's equally correct to assume a second implied verb at the end, "[She is] as immortal as I [am]."

In fact, even if you made the first verb explicit, you could still correctly say "She is as immortal as I," because it can be read as an implied 'am'.

Since it's some kind of correct any direction you go, there's no point changing the author's words.

...and anyway it's always iffy to talk about the grammar in a direct quote, since the character might be speaking ungrammatically while the author is perfectly aware of that and doing it intentionally.

[Dekshuduph]

Since it's some kind of correct any direction you go, there's no point changing the author's words.

...Oh.

...and anyway it's always iffy to talk about the grammar in a direct quote, since the character might be speaking ungrammatically while the author is perfectly aware of that and doing it intentionally.

I already know about that, but I was thinking at the time that Discord should know how it would be correctly used (due to omnipresence and immortality); then again, he is also Discord, so this point is valid just the same for that.

I keep being disappointed by how many of what I feel are valid corrections being turned away by Hinds, but then again it's helping me learn and I still point out valid mistakes. Back to lurking.

[O. Hinds]

Sorry.

Speaking of Discord's speech, though, we nearly had him saying "an connoisseur of wrongness", but we eventually decided to use the correct article.

[Somber]

Is a sneaky, sneaky pony....

[O. Hinds]

:)

[SilentCarto]

I just realized I'm having Alicorn Twilight angst over BJ. "Does this change the core of the character? After this, is she still going to be the same pony we know and love?"

I'd like to think that the concern is more valid in this case...

“You know, I was never supposed to stay a villain.  My role was very clear.  Open antagonist to challenge Twilight Sparkle’s presuppositions of friendship and make her face having her friends turn on her at the outset, and then I was supposed to grow into a grudging ally of sorts.  I had the scripts, and I was quite looking forward to my time with Fluttershy.  Rehabilitation.  Yay,” Discord said sarcastically, pressing her hooves together and fluttering her eyes, then slumping.  “Only it never happened.  I stayed a statue, and things went… wrong.”  I arched a brow at her, and she rolled her eyes.  “Oh, don’t give me that.  I’m a spirit of chaos.  I’m a connoisseur of wrongness.

I . . . really don't care for this, but let's see how it goes.

I headcanon that Discord's knowledge of "what should have happened" is evidence that this is one of many possible worlds, each just a mirror's breadth away from the Equestria of Princess Twilight. I sort of think of this one as Equestria-235.

Crazy Fan Prediction 1:  Okay I'm going to call it now, when Pinkie's message mentioned that "just because ponies do bad things doesn't mean they aren't still your friend", she wasn't talking about Rampage, she was talking about Echo, whom I suspect will play a key role in helping BJ out of this mess.

Why not both?

Crazy Fan Prediction 4:  This is the big one,  Cogs, Steel Rain and even Amadi/Vitiosis are all going to find out the hard way that yes, the Tokomare is indeed more than just a machine to be exploited, probably in the most painful way possible when some or all of them become the first victims of a newly re-awakened star.

Fairly sure Amadi is firmly on board with the Eater. His denial of Goldie's ranting sounded suspiciously like telling him exactly what he wanted to hear.

Which isn't to say he won't be eaten by it.

And that leads me into Blackjack.  This is really the only thing that bothers me about this chapter, yet ironically I view it as a great part of her character.  This is the first time I've read something this big by typing it out, so although it took me two days straight to read through, I caught a lot more details and was able to enjoy the read a lot more.  It is, in turn, also the first time I could really appreciate a writing method I've theorised about but could never really appreciate in use.  And that, fellow readers, is character stupidity.  The author comes from a set level of intelligence, and they control the world that they are going to write about.  Usually, good writers are going to have pretty high intelligence or are pretty clever in how they write, so the characters they create to fill the roles of the story can never be as intelligent as the writer themselves.  This makes the reader able to be on the same level of basic knowledge as the lead character and sympathise with them; this, however, is broken when the reader is overanalysing the story and can see through what the author's doing.  It makes the main character seem stupid, when in reality they just don't have enough time to think as you do.  Even if you're not as intelligent as that character actually is, you as the reader can still lose your suspension of disbelief; after all, knowledge ≃ intelligence × time.  Or I could be completely wrong and everything this paragraph says is bullshit.

Well, this is part of the balancing act of writing, I think. I don't think it's true that a character can never be smarter than the writer. Since the author has total control over the world, he can simulate high intelligence by letting them catch on quickly to secrets and deceptions, and the reader will accept it as long as there's a logical path to the knowledge. Picture Sherlock Holmes, for example. Conversely, writing a character as slow, foolish, or innocent can make the reader feel smart for working things out before the character does. The author can then use that to set up dramatic irony.

Snip’s skull whispered.

I feel like ‘Snip’s’ should be ‘Snips'’.

Possessives are always 's, even if the word ends in an s. So the correct form would be "Snips's". The s' construction is only used for the plural possessive. (i.e. The zebras' guns.)

When the lights turned off due to Cogs being denied full control of EC-1101 for the second time I lobbied for Sweetie Bott reactivating just long-enough to yell "OH, COME ON!"
Sadly, I was denied.

Actually, it turns out that Somber did add that, though I only found out when Icy Shake reported an error in it.

What? That's... not in there now...

[O. Hinds]

What? That's... not in there now...

...
I'll go look...
edit: No, it's still there. Just search for "OH, COME ON".

[SilentCarto]

What? That's... not in there now...

...
I'll go look...
edit: No, it's still there.  Just search for "OH, COME ON".

You mean this?

Then everything went dark all at once.  The hologram.  The terminals.  Even the maneframe.  Cognitum turned her head wildly in bafflement, the only illumination coming from the stream of lights circling the spire and Cognitum’s red glowing eyes.  “OH, COME ON!” she screamed, then whirled and demanded of me, “What is going on?”

That's CogJack saying it, not Sweetie Bot...

[Evilgidgit]

What I love is that "Knowledge" displayed the desperation individuals may gain in the wasteland and we had Rampage, Echo (yay for getting his body back!), and Snips (!) all cross the line to get what they want. Now I just hope that they, along with Dawn...and Charm I suppose...can get redemption.

Also, I hope we get to see a full reunion of the surviving Marauders.  

[O. Hinds]

What? That's... not in there now...

...
I'll go look...
edit: No, it's still there.  Just search for "OH, COME ON".

You mean this?

Then everything went dark all at once.  The hologram.  The terminals.  Even the maneframe.  Cognitum turned her head wildly in bafflement, the only illumination coming from the stream of lights circling the spire and Cognitum’s red glowing eyes.  “OH, COME ON!” she screamed, then whirled and demanded of me, “What is going on?”

That's CogJack saying it, not Sweetie Bot...

Ah, sorry; I didn't realize that you wanted Sweetie Bot specifically.

[Evilgidgit]

Oh, a question I forgot to ask. Will we find out who the soul was that talked to Blackjack as her mother? Or was that just a random soul trapped among millions?

[JadedPony]

Oh, a question I forgot to ask. Will we find out who the soul was that talked to Blackjack as her mother? Or was that just a random soul trapped among millions?

Spoilers!:

[SilentCarto]

Ah, sorry; I didn't realize that you wanted Sweetie Bot specifically.

Oh, sorry. Swicked had mentioned her, so when you said that was in there, I thought that was what you meant.

Oh, a question I forgot to ask. Will we find out who the soul was that talked to Blackjack as her mother? Or was that just a random soul trapped among millions?

FeatherDust dropped some compelling evidence that it was Luna dreamwalking.

It was Princess Luna. Her soul later appeared in the story when the bad guys captured it and discord broke it free. Luna controlled dreams as part of her soul's talents. She also controlled the ooze ponies because they are souls with no real minds, trapped in a primal dream like state.

Ummm... you're not wrong, but you're not entirely correct either. When BJ got sucked into the Tokomare after Hightower Prison, she saw something at the center, being attacked by green lightning, that made her freak out.

The closer to the center I moved, the more frequent and terrible that lightning became, but I started to suspect it wasn’t as if this place was singling me out.  I was just getting caught by stray fire.  Whatever the lightning was targeting lay right in the middle of this sea.  Slowly, the motes thinned out more and more until…
No…
It couldn’t be!
A dozen bolts of lightning struck the center, and for the first time I realized that the scream Lacunae had been hearing hadn’t been a what.  It was a who.

And then in this chapter,

In the center of the platform was a strange, vaguely familiar design etched in the metal floor plates: a circle with a six-pointed star in the middle.  Six unicorns, one standing at each point, were trying to keep a ball of brilliant white contained in the middle.  Green lighting from their horns raked across it, forcing it back whenever it drifted.

So, having seen the outside, real-world version of the same place, it sounds like the "who" in the center was Luna. Which means she's been held here a lot longer than BJ's been in the Core. In fact, it sounds a whole lot like she's been held this way for 200 years.

I'm not saying she didn't visit BJ's dream, but I don't think she's in command of the fleshmobiles. They're just good ponies who did what they could to help BJ when she needed it. We saw in the previous chapter, even bare souls are fully capable of understanding speech, and Glass carried on a conversation, such as it was.

I looked around at the motes swirling around me.  They were like the glowy interiors of memory orbs.  As they drew near my horn, I pulled back.  “Please!  Please don’t.  I think I know what you are, and I don’t want to see how you died.  I’m... I’m really... really sick of horrible things.”
Some of them pulled back a little.  Others seemed more interested in my belly.  Could they sense it?  “Can you tell me if my baby’s okay?  I was in that Enervation, and...”  One of the motes swept into my belly, and I felt a warm glow and fluttering.  “Okay... that’s odd...” I gasped.  The mote reappeared out my back and bounced up and down in front of me.  “That means yes?”  More bobbing.  I felt more relief than I had in ages from a simple floating light.

[Guest]

I was thinking what if discord put BJ's soul back in her augmented body?

Not the way it was of course. No. That based on what we've seen couldn't be the case.

But what if he did something similar to what Rarity did and disguised BJ's soul to "look" like Luna's. I think earlier in this chapter BJ sees instead of RD, Pinkie, Twilight, AJ, FS, and Rarity like she usually does she saw five pallette swapped Rarities and the original. Seems like it could be foreshadowing.

Snips was there so I think it may be possible he picked up a trick or two from him.

Again Sorry if someone else brought this up. I don't keep up with this thread too much.

[FeatherDust]

I was just thinking about our Immortal Warrior and his relationship with the Eater. Blackjack said in this chapter that Vitiosus has "a phoenix talisman", naturally a bit slow on the uptake that this guy is way older than Project Phoenix.

That got me thinking, though. I'd been thinking of his immortality as just a blessing/curse from the stars; but maybe it isn't. Maybe it really is a physical talisman that lives inside him the same way Rampage's does. And if so, then it's almost certainly some kind of gift from the Eater of Souls created for the purpose of making him an ally and pawn. And if that's the case, it's almost certainly made out of starmetal.

That got me thinking; if I recall correctly, the Phonenix Talisman's physical form is a massive jewel wrapped in bands of starmetal, right?

So I think I know how to kill Rampage, and by extension, the Immortal. (I'm just gonna call him that, because names are slippery things for a guy who's lived thousands of years.) You just need to shoot a moonstone bullet into the Phoenix core. Soul jars are supposed to be unbreakable, but that's because they use the power inherent in a soul to keep the physical form stable. We know the starmetal sword could cut soul jars, so clearly soul magic must defeat soul magic, to paraphrase Uncle. The moonstone reaction is all about soul energy, so a soul-energy-powered invincibility effect just wouldn't work against that. It would not only make a nuke-sized blast, but vaporize the starmetal part of the jar and, presumably, disrupt the regeneration effect even if it didn't completely incinerate the core.

[SilentCarto]

I was thinking what if discord put BJ's soul back in her augmented body?

Not the way it was of course. No. That based on what we've seen couldn't be the case.

But what if he did something similar to what Rarity did and disguised BJ's soul to "look" like Luna's. I think earlier in this chapter BJ sees instead of RD, Pinkie, Twilight, AJ, FS, and Rarity like she usually does she saw five pallette swapped Rarities and the original. Seems like it could be foreshadowing.

Snips was there so I think it may be possible he picked up a trick or two from him.

Again Sorry if someone else brought this up. I don't keep up with this thread too much.

I don't see how that's possible. Cog's been holding that soul here for a long time, and if she got BJ put in her again, she would have felt the same conflict that made her go into convulsions the first time.

Anyway, without her soul, BJ was... nobody home.

That got me thinking; if I recall correctly, the Phonenix Talisman's physical form is a massive jewel wrapped in bands of starmetal, right?

Not a bad idea, but it's gold, unfortunately.

Something hard and heavy landed on my chest.  I coughed and hacked as I looked at an egg of pink quartz wrapped in golden wire and glowing with an eerie pink-tinged light.  A strange glyph in the egg’s center, a twisting whirlpool that throbbed like a heart, glowed more brightly than the rest, and there were more lights within.

Though now I kinda want to see Rampage riding Tom down, waving her helmet like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove.

[SilentCarto]

I'm just a soul
Yes, I'm only a soul
And I'm sitting here inside of a hole
Well, it's a long, long way below the wide, open spaces
It's a long, long wait while I'm hovering in stasis
But I know I'll have a mind someday
At least I hope and pray I'll be whole
But today I control
Just a soul...

[Guest]

and if she got BJ put in her again, she would have felt the same conflict that made her go into convulsions the first time.

I disagree on this part. It's inconsistent with how the figurines have been presented in both FO:E and PH. If disguising the soul had them behave in the same manner as the soul's original owner we'd expect BJ to have six Rarities in her head instead of the main six.

[Meleagridis]

Chapter Reactions:

Also, is this a typo?
"Okay.  Now my blasé attitude began to melt away as I saw, in the image, the bottom of the shaft below the projectile exploded."
She saw the projectile exploded, or explode?

replies:

I wish I could say I'm not sorry but I can't:

You can't do anything to disprove this theory until the new chapter comes out, and you probably won't be able to convince me otherwise until some time afterwards.

[O. Hinds]

Chapter Reactions:

Also, is this a typo?
"Okay.  Now my blasé attitude began to melt away as I saw, in the image, the bottom of the shaft below the projectile exploded."
She saw the projectile exploded, or explode?

replies:

I wish I could say I'm not sorry but I can't:

You can't do anything to disprove this theory until the new chapter comes out, and you probably won't be able to convince me otherwise until some time afterwards.

Ah, thank you.  Something always seems to get through…

Shadowbolt Tower.

Hm, point, but that's a tall tower.  This is a large open space.  Blackjack's wording may be (or may not be; this place is big) inaccurate, but I think that she can be forgiven.

I do think it’s strange how he seems to be on the exact same wavelength as Steel Rain. I wonder if they’ve been talking.

…
Brain, why do you do this?  For those of you not in my head, my inner shipper has just started looking at the two of them and humming thoughtfully.

I WISH I COULD SAY I'M NOT SORRY BUT I CAN'T:

Hee!  :D

[Stormhopper]

Blackjack needs to survive! She cant of died just now! She still has a nutty cyborg goddess and her crazy on again off again boyfriend to put down!

Melea's theory is plausible, all robots having direct connection to the Core (even stated earlier in the story) so Cerberus could of downloaded a copy of BJ's brain through transfer of the original or even before Steel Rain blew up the main console!

Just that page worth of story has given me hope for this story!

Oh and im a new guy around here, howdy and all that

[SilentCarto]

I do think it’s strange how he seems to be on the exact same wavelength as Steel Rain. I wonder if they’ve been talking.

…
Brain, why do you do this?  For those of you not in my head, my inner shipper has just started looking at the two of them and humming thoughtfully.

Female shall desire female, male shall desire male, and unholy coupling between the species will commence where she travels!

“Five minutes?” Vitiosus asked.
“Fine,” Steel Rain replied...

Bow chicka bow wow!   

[SilentCarto]

Hrm? I'm remembering something completely different. I thought you had to sever some part of them, head or limb, or otherwise disintegrate or rip to shreds. Like the Ghosts in Dead Money.

Canterlot Ghouls, you mean? I don't think losing a limb does more than slow them down. FOE mentioned "dismemberment", but then went on to say that decapitation was the standard solution. I took that to mean that, unlike Ghost People, killing them would require removing more than just one limb. Now, you're right that they won't pull themselves together like the T-1000 after being disintegrated or blown into chunky salsa, but I don't consider gross physical destruction to be a "weak point".

*Edit: I may be totally off-base on this, but I seem to recall that removing a significant portion of a C. Ghoul's body renders them unable to rise until the missing part is reunited with the body. Does that sound familiar to anyone else?

The point of my post, though, was that regular ghouls are pretty much vulnerable to any injury that would kill a living creature. They're just immortal, radiation resistant, and lack the physical need for food, water, or sleep. And probably air, though I don't think that one's been tested on-screen.

[OneMoreDaySK]

@SilentCarto
Thought that Littlepip encountered some active ghouls underwater in Canterlot. Need to double check that, though.

[Meleagridis]

Shujaa immediately recognized Coyotl as meaning Discord. Does this mean that all modern zebras know what that means? And if that's the case, it's a little surprising that they never freaked out before now. I think it was Xanthe who named him, 'Trickster of the Stars.' Going by how thorough Viti's been in spreading starphobia among his subjects, one would think they'd have a stronger reaction to the Brood than, "Oh my, I'm somewhat unnerved."
Then again, the day is young.

Hrm? I'm remembering something completely different. I thought you had to sever some part of them, head or limb, or otherwise disintegrate or rip to shreds. Like the Ghosts in Dead Money.

Canterlot Ghouls, you mean? I don't think losing a limb does more than slow them down. FOE mentioned "dismemberment", but then went on to say that decapitation was the standard solution.

Well, that's sufficiently vague to be either. I can't remember any specific instance of Pip or company tearing off anybody's legs, so I'll just accept this as my headcanon rather than canon canon for now.

Oh and im a new guy around here, howdy and all that

Howdy, new guy around here. I'd offer the standard starting package, but we're all out of whiskey.

I do think it’s strange how he seems to be on the exact same wavelength as Steel Rain. I wonder if they’ve been talking.

…
Brain, why do you do this?  For those of you not in my head, my inner shipper has just started looking at the two of them and humming thoughtfully.

Dammit, Hinds. One has literal dragon killing cannons on his side and the other is eternal. The innuendo here is practically limitless. What have you done?

[O. Hinds]

Welcome, Stormhopper.

Dammit, Hinds. One has literal dragon killing cannons on his side and the other is eternal. The innuendo here is practically limitless. What have you done?

Hey, you're the one who sparked the idea to begin with! :D

[OneMoreDaySK]

Huh, this escaped my notice until recently.
Blackjack still hasn't actually found a virtue she attributes to, right?

Random thought: who's expecting this to end with a ship (sea, air, space) dropping on the EoS / Tokomare / Cogitum?

[Borsuq]

Well, I'm back from my five-day trip. So...

I've mentioned that I would post a list of ways I would like Steel Rain to die but... oddly, I found out that I am so enraged with this character, that I cannot think of anything too creative... I've already mentioned a few times that I would like to see him impaled on Deus' cannon (I'm kind off a fan of Dracula [the historical one, I read a very good book about him once] and his anime incarnation, Alucard). Other than that, I thought about him having his helmet melted while he was wearing it, so he could go out like Viserys from "Game of Thrones":
Well, anyway... look, I'm just to emotional about everything in the story, so I think I will skip this idea of list. Just... Somber, please, promise me Steel Rain's inevitable demise will be something spectacular. I like (/respect/feel compasion towards) every other villain in this story but him. Even Legate. He at least worships Tokomare or is her servant or whatever. Steel Rain? He is just a power-hungry jerk, a bully. A stinkin' bully!

Okay, now a few matters I forgot to mention in my post immediately after reading (cut me some slack, it was 4 am on my side, and I had to get up in like 2 hours).

Rampage, what the f***?! How could you leave Blackjack there like that?! You're no longer one of my favorite characters, missy! Pity I cannot wish you death, since that's what you want... I mean, I could understand to some extent that she really wants to die and for that she had even allied with Cogs, but what was all that crap she would make sure Cogs won't misuse her power if she just leaves in the next two pages!?
I cannot belief she was actually a mother once if she let Cogs do this to Blackjack. Doesn't she know how Blackjack must have felt after she no longer had her baby(ies) in her? And she just... walks away!?!!?!??!?!?!

Now, on to the next traitor.. Echo. Echo... YOU PIECE OF S***T! You were a soldier once?! And you had basically abandoned a pregnant mare, who was just, what, you're only friend you had in the last 200 years!?
Blackjack was nothing but a friend to him since she had realized that he wasn't an apparition of her mind, and even before that (I think), while he had acted since the beginning like a jerk! What an a*****e!
I guess this proves Luna was right not to trust him... he cannot be trusted. And yeah, I figure that both him and Rampage will have some redemption thing, but... I would like Blackjack to just give both of them a cold shoulder once everybody bad is killed.
Also, why the hell Echo even bothers wanting to live? Did he forgot already about that zebra's curse on Marauders? That except for the one that wanted to quit they would all die horribly? He is gonna die horribly either way! He could have at least continue to be a good guy!
I know that he had his reasons, but I would have expect a 200 + something guy to be a little bit wiser. In the end, everybody is gonna die someday. What matters is how you chose to die (especially in a story like this, were dying is a common occurrence).

On that note, I found it interresting that Rampage and Echo, both ponies Blackjack trusted, had betrayed her for literally opposite reasons.

Now, on to Cogs... what a lying b***h! Didn't it (yep, I called Cogs it. That's what she is. Even if it has Luna's soul in her now, it doesn't deserve to be called a pony) promise Blackjack she would let her go? I mean, it's funny how it, a machine, has some semblance of equinity (you know, humanity) unlike her two minions, Steel Rain and Legate. She did told Steel Rain to shut up when he was about to suggest using Blackjack's baby. Which is one of the things that makes me like Cogs more than him...

So, is Cogs now going to pretend she's Blackjack? Ugh... you know, this sounds as if this is going to be a lot like a "liar revealed" plot-line in the end, which, like Nostalgia Critic, I don't really like. Please, tell me Blackjack's friends are going to figure out somethings wrong, or that Rampage will get her s**t together and will notice that Cogs pretending to be Blackjack means something went off with the deal... or that Blackjack will make rather quick return, before Cogs will ruing her good name too much.

Soo... Blackjack doesn't have a cutie mark... or mind... or her babies... and she was betrayed by almost every one of her friends present in this chaper. Wow. I think this might be even more hurtfull for her that what happened in the chapter that shall not be named. At least she got to be a badass in the first half here...

Also, back to lacking cutie mark thing... you know, I believe there was an episode some time ago that centered around characters having problems with their cutie marks, and it ended with a certain main character gaining something best described as a power-up? Hm....
I mean, Snips (spineless idiot, he could have pretended he had failed with at least that) said that taking a cutie mark, the special talent/destiny, was just theoretical. I guess this means Blackjack could regain her talent once she had remembered what it stood for... can be kinda hard without her mind, though...

Now, Discord... I don't think he is done for. A magician greatest tool is misdirection, and his first rule is "The magician is the smartest person in the room". So I think this whole thing he did was staged, and that Cogs having Luna's soul is part of his great scheme... I mean, Discord probably knows the script for this story, so I doubt he would get himself killed and out-played by Cogs. Of course, I could be wrong and he could be dead... if that is possible... but I am pretty certain that my guess in regards to his plan is correct, at least.

Well, I think that's all from me. Have been pilling up those thougts for five days. It's good to finally have that off my chest.

Now, I hate to ask this... well, not really, but I do realize this is rather rude. When can we expect the next chapter? Because I think I speak for everybody when I say that we are all really anticipating it.

I was really sad for two days for after I read the new chapter, and I had to force myself to not think about Blackjack's status too deeply. I... I just want to give her a hug... Poor Blackjack. Why everything has to be so hard for her? I know that otherwise this story wouldn't be so exciting to ready, but I think she deserves a complete, easy win. I mean, I think she hadn't had a complete win since arc IV... Even Littlepip didn't have as much problems as she had.

Okay, now it's really everything from me. For now. Like I said, great chapter, as always, but I really wish things would start looking good for Blackjack... which hadn't been the case for what, four chapters now?

[SilentCarto]

"Otherwise, even if we are lucky enough to intercept the projectile, it would simply become whatever form was last programmed into the Tokomare.”
Shit son. Can I just point out that we have no idea what this very brief and casual mention could possibly lead to? Other than something terrible and ultimately climactic?

Oh. Oh wow. That one slipped right past me. All I can think of are the words "Godzilla Threshold" and the fact that Whisper is also related to a Ministry Mare.

"Then Discord turned his attention to Snips.  “This one isn’t even finished yet!  Let me see.”  And he snapped his claws.  From the storm, a cloud of tiny motes swept through the side of the jar and into the skull.

That's another bit I didn't register the significance of in the midst of all my worry for BJ. So he reunited Snips' soul...

At this point, Snips seems to be doomed to step into villain territory with no hope of return- FO:E is still a fantasy setting, and fantasy has a thing about bone-heads with powers over life and death. But… isn’t that just so boring? The standard solution would be to kill him, or at best to somehow give his spirit rest. But wouldn’t fixing him just be so much more original? Really looking forward to having a skeletal necromancer on Team Good Guy.

But that's exactly what Discord did! They made the point that having half his soul severed removed his morality, but Discord snagged the other half of his soul out of the Tokomare and put it back in him -- and then flashed him away before Cogs could catch on to what he just did or Snips could blow his cover.

[Evilgidgit]

Huh, this escaped my notice until recently.
Blackjack still hasn't actually found a virtue she attributes to, right?

Random thought: who's expecting this to end with a ship (sea, air, space) dropping on the EoS / Tokomare / Cogitum?

Someone made a pretty cool Deviantart wallpaper where Blackjack's virtue was perseverance: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Virtues-of-the-Wasteland-Wallpaper-367778873

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