Erfworld 76, page 70

[SteveMB]

First he needs to get his win scenario in this battle. But it's hard to tell. We were all discussing game rules and such at the beggining of this battle, but things are more focused now in the characters themselves. Erfworld is mostly a story, but I forgot that when Parson started moving the dwagons.

Having a key plot point tied to tactical neepery makes the basic premise of the Erfworld setting meaningful rather than merely cosmetic.

It'll take a lot of convincing from me that they'd be real, and moreover, that Wanda wasn't just sad that she's lost a treasured plaything and the joy toying with it brought her. Basically, I want to see Wanda showing some concern for something that isn't, ultimately, Wanda. And if she truly feels ANYthing for Jillian, she can start convincing me by showing some honest remorse for horribly abusing a fellow human being, much less someone she (hypothetically) purportedly cared about.

Hmmm... earlier, it was practically impossible to tell, since we only see character actions*, and the action of "acting sympathetic toward Jillian because she actually is" looks very much like the action of "acting sympathetic toward Jillian because it's time to show the 'good cop/caretaker' face". Now, anongst her colleagues in the situation room, she has no (as far as I can see) cynical motive to feign sympathy, which would make any attempt to countermand or undermine Parson's order most interesting. (OTOH, it could still mean only that she has plans of her own that require Jillian alive.)

Another complication is that acting a certain way tends to build habituation (e.g. acting sympathetic can lead to actually being sympathetic). It's possible that Wanda was careful to avoid such an entanglement. Perhaps she was every bit as thoroughly on guard against this effect as she was against the risk that her suggestion spell might fail....

*I vaguely recall Rob saying that he dislikes thought balloons, but I'm not sure if it was here, in a PartiallyClips commentary, or in person at a con panel (or just an outright misremembering).