Erfworld Thread X: A Series of Unfortunate Cliffhangers

[Welf]

Imperfect warlord?
http://www.erfworld.com/blog/view/46...lord-chapter-1

Exactly, thanks

But we already had other characters doing useful stuff since book 1, while Hamster's had plenty of moments of vulnerability and lack of omniscience, except his plans actually managed to wear down the coalition bit by bit and draw them into an exploding volcano.

They did help, but they did not have agency. They didn't have their own plans agendas or did something independent form Parson. With the exception of..

Stanley himself was the one who decided to personally pull out from GK, which turned out to be a very good decision because otherwise Hamster couldn't afford to go all out and just blow up the hex to smithereens along the coalition.

That is the first time we see someone show agency; Stanley made a decision against what Parson said. This greatly influences the story and outcome of book 1. The next character we see have their own agenda is Wanda, but that is after the story concluded in a flashback. And that leads to Wanda becoming the central threat for the new RCC in the next book. We readers even speculate her starting her own side or overthrowing Stanley.

Keybounce got it right. Nothing special, just a self insert of me during book 1. Very technical based, because I'm most interested in the wargame aspect of Erfworld. I also posted a link to the rules I created for Erfworld, the strategy game, a few pages back.

I will give it a read

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Don't think so. I can't remember a time where I was super loved or anything. Honestly, I was pretty damn critical when the comic was first posted on this website. I had a big meltdown when Parson lost all the dwagons, and I stopped posting. I feel I was wrong to be so angry about that at the time, I really hate setups getting shot down though (on a side note, I finally watched Last Jedi, and, holy hell, that movie went overboard with the anti-climaxes. I thought I knew what I was getting into, but, even with all the reading I did, I was still surprised at points. I didn't realize that "subverting" expectations, means constant narrative let downs of massive scope), unless it's for the sake of comedy. Then I had a resurgence of interest. I am the original poster of the first erfworld thread, and I guess I got along okay at times, it was nice when I was talking in his chat room, and I don't like trying to be negative about someone when I'm actually talking to them. That said, I'm a highly critical person, and not a lot of authors like that (the ones that do are a real treat though)...

Maybe my subconscious remembers that first thread. It has been over 10 years 11 years now. Time goes by...

No, it's because of thinkamancer hax. I'm sick to death of anything related to thinkamancy. It's the solution for almost everything, and Rob has been using it as a writing crux for awhile. From Wanda freeing prisoners, to dolls destroying their masters, to mass defections of troops, to go home scrolls being forcefully cast, to guns, to sentient towers, etc. Constant links ruin the strategy element of the world. Anything that involves linking is automatically less interesting to me at this point.

I'm not going to protest that. I see what Robb tries to do, or least pretends to, and in theory I agree with the concept, but I am no impressed with the result. Sometimes I feel book 1 was the exception and the following books are a return to average.
Somewhat related rant: After a few years in the webcomic scene I have an aversion for "character driven stories". It's supposed to be exploring the inner conflicts of characters and apparently writers are proud when they attempt that, but it's mainly an excuse for lack of editing, glacial pacing, out of control world building and plot holes.

[deuterio12]

They did help, but they did not have agency. They didn't have their own plans agendas or did something independent form Parson. With the exception of..



That is the first time we see someone show agency; Stanley made a decision against what Parson said. This greatly influences the story and outcome of book 1. The next character we see have their own agenda is Wanda, but that is after the story concluded in a flashback. And that leads to Wanda becoming the central threat for the new RCC in the next book. We readers even speculate her starting her own side or overthrowing Stanley.

We already had Wanda's "interrogation" of Jillie early on, being all cozy and the chief croakmancer even brainwashing the nearby guard. It was pretty clear she had her own agenda by then.

Although that one played out negatively since Wanda going soft on Jillie meant Jillie managed to break out of her charm, Wanda getting her brain fried and GK losing a lot of dwagons.

Maggie had some supple hints of having her own agenda too. Nowadays she may be love and friendship saturday morning magical Maggie, but back in book 1 Maggie was a cold b**** that threw her peasant non-thinkmancer caster allies under the bus to save her own skin at the first opportunity.

And Sizemore was already being "trained" by Jannis since one of the first updates to be the hippiemancer's man inside GK, made pretty explicit by the end of book 1. Dreaming of peace in a world of eternal war.

[tomaO2]

The next character we see have their own agenda is Wanda, but that is after the story concluded in a flashback. And that leads to Wanda becoming the central threat for the new RCC in the next book. We readers even speculate her starting her own side or overthrowing Stanley.

Heh. The most memorable thing that ever happened when I was in the Erfworld chatroom was when I was discussing Wanda one time. I forget exactly what I said, but another guy said "I think it's more a matter of if then when" and I said "yes, when" and then Rob did a "bwahahaha" , which startled me but I just put it down to him trying to throw us off.

That was just before Jillian made the offer to Wanda to switch sides. Boy was I surprised when Wanda refused the offer, and I thought back to Rob laughing and realised he was anticipating this moment.

On another note, there are other fun fanfic stories in Erfworld. My personal favourite is Fraying Fate, which has a self insert type character pop in GK about 20-30 turns before canon started. I really loved the changes he made to the story and the focus on tactics. Also Twofer is an incredible Erfworld writer, even if his stories don't try to follow canon rules too closely. Other stories too. Hungry, Hungry Jungle (two infantry units survive on their own), The Last Turn (magic shenanigans extend the day of a hex to a ludicrous length), Blast From The Past (army frozen in time for ten thousand turns revives and conquers), ect.

[-D-]

Think you're missing the point. Naming something clever Parson has done would rather prove against other characters getting more agency and power.

First off. No. Parson could have done *something* that could be seen as generally a positive thing, that can't be described as either a fluke or tripping accidentally into success, without it being as overbearing.

Second, even in Book one his triumph came from helping Wanda and Sizemore, i.e enabling them to achieve something thought impossible.

Third, Book 2 ended four years ago. That's just way too long.

At this point, I don't remember if Parson is a type of vegetable or a JavaScript library. I would not be surprised new commers think this comic is called Maggie and the Magic strings.

[HandofShadows]

Actually Parson HAS done something that has been very important to this book. It was his idea that created Jed. At that decision is what is fueling a large part of the action right now either directly or indirectly.

[-D-]

Actually Parson HAS done something that has been very important to this book. It was his idea that created Jed. At that decision is what is fueling a large part of the action right now either directly or indirectly.

See fluke I listed above. Parson goal was to create a Transformer Mecha, and he wasn't aware Jed has any other uses. He suspected Jed will doom their side.

[guttering flame]

See fluke I listed above. Parson goal was to create a Transformer Mecha, and he wasn't aware Jed has any other uses. He suspected Jed will doom their side.

Not really a fluke, just not what he expected. His other faulty idea led the Isaac deiform to link with Ivan and Claude to create bedrock armor but instead they created more sentient Tower temples.

[-D-]

Not really a fluke, just not what he expected. His other faulty idea led the Isaac deiform to link with Ivan and Claude to create bedrock armor but instead they created more sentient Tower temples.

Fluke - an unlikely chance occurrence, especially a surprising piece of luck.

It was pure luck. Trilink managed to salvage the situation, but they weren't able to fulfill Parson's wish, so they settled for their best effort. Which was Jed, which is as much liability as he is an asset (e.g. see Shirley Temple).

[JavaScribe]

The latest.

[Jasdoif]

Spoiler

Show

Oh look, plot progression.

So... time to cut away to someone we haven't seen in a while. Bets on Jillian, anyone?

Took two months, but here we are

[Anteros]

Good lord. More updates of completely worthless magic technobabble where nothing happens at all. Should I put that in spoiler tags? Isn't it basically assumed at this point?

[guttering flame]

Fluke - an unlikely chance occurrence, especially a surprising piece of luck.

It was pure luck. Trilink managed to salvage the situation, but they weren't able to fulfill Parson's wish, so they settled for their best effort. Which was Jed, which is as much liability as he is an asset (e.g. see Shirley Temple).

Fluke implies it was unlikely to occur. That it went against what we know about Parson. But Parson is the guy that constantly plays around with a bevy of half baked ideas. From the very beginning as he tells his new allies they don't all work and surprises are expected. He's creative and good at improvisations. The Tower temples are apparently a primordial aspect of Erfworld and its magic. The Thikalikes tried to suppress dangerous innovation and somehow they mostly managed to but with Parson around something like this was bound to occur. It's not that surprising that one two of his experiments led to the Temples' creation. He was playing around with magical fire and the flying sparks caught.

Spoiler: new page

Show

Why can't Rob finish one plot before starting a new one? Is Bill dead, possessed by Maggie-doll or what? Give us closure before jumping to FAQ. Page itself was passable, I guess as an opening scene. Nothing at all happened in it so far.

[tomaO2]

Creating the Temple is using thinkamancy links randomly, and seeing what happens. Bor-ing.

When will we get back to looking at rules and how to properly exploit them for gains? When will we get a fun battle to roleplay, like Scarlett vs Lady Archer Warlord, or Stanley vs Jillian (before thinkamancy link hack)? How about explaining the difference between a gun and a zap gun, at least? Is it just that you can shoot more per round that makes guns so good? Just give me some mechanics that I can actually work with, for crying out loud. I'm interested in wargaming, not overpowered magical shenanigans that constantly upend the entire thing. OOTS has better tactics than Erfworld, with more emphasis on the mechanics (the time when the Giant explained Miko vs the OOTS comes to mind). We've seen several great battles that had good tactics, and planning. Nale alone has come up with more interesting battles than we've gotten from Erfworld.

Most interesting thing in this update is that predictamancers don't actually have cloudy visions, at least master level ones don't. Holy hell. They know how fated unit dies, including themselves. So they knew exactly what was going to happen during the Battle of Spacerock after all? Should we assume that every time the predictamancer seemed unsure of what would happen, she actually knew?

Don't really get why it was so easy for her to turn to Faq though. Seems like it was way too easy. Also surprised that she is willing to use carny thinking to get her way.

[guttering flame]

Creating the Temple is using thinkamancy links randomly, and seeing what happens. Bor-ing.

When will we get back to looking at rules and how to properly exploit them for gains? When will we get a fun battle to roleplay, like Scarlett vs Lady Archer Warlord, or Stanley vs Jillian (before thinkamancy link hack)? How about explaining the difference between a gun and a zap gun, at least? Is it just that you can shoot more per round that makes guns so good? Just give me some mechanics that I can actually work with, for crying out loud. I'm interested in wargaming, not overpowered magical shenanigans that constantly upend the entire thing. OOTS has better tactics than Erfworld, with more emphasis on the mechanics (the time when the Giant explained Miko vs the OOTS comes to mind). We've seen several great battles that had good tactics, and planning. Nale alone has come up with more interesting battles than we've gotten from Erfworld.

Most interesting thing in this update is that predictamancers don't actually have cloudy visions, at least master level ones don't. Holy hell. They know how fated unit dies, including themselves. So they knew exactly what was going to happen during the Battle of Spacerock after all? Should we assume that every time the predictamancer seemed unsure of what would happen, she actually knew?

Don't really get why it was so easy for her to turn to Faq though. Seems like it was way too easy. Also surprised that she is willing to use carny thinking to get her way.

Even in book 1 Parson won using a thinkamancy link (wake up the volcano) and noted in his notebook that magic and especially tri-link magic is the way to win the game.

[-D-]

Fluke implies it was unlikely to occur. That it went against what we know about Parson. But Parson is the guy that constantly plays around with a bevy of half baked ideas. From the very beginning as he tells his new allies they don't all work and surprises are expected. He's creative and good at improvisations.

Spoiler: new page

Show

Why can't Rob finish one plot before starting a new one? Is Bill dead, possessed by Maggie-doll or what? Give us closure before jumping to FAQ. Page itself was passable, I guess as an opening scene. Nothing at all happened in it so far.

Fluke implies happy accident. Jed is that. Botched experiment that turned into a potential asset/liability*.

Parson plays with half baked ideas then discovers a way to use them. See off-turn actions turning into a military victory like in Book 2. What Jed did, basically has nothing to do with Parson. He did start process that made Jed, but is basically not in any way, shape or form involved in later decisions.

*See today's comic.

EDIT:

Even in book 1 Parson won using a thinkamancy link (wake up the volcano) and noted in his notebook that magic and especially tri-link magic is the way to win the game.

First, that spell went exactly as he intended. So that's 100% his idea that was more or less flawlessly executed.

Second,
BOY. ISN'T ALL THAT MAGIC FUN!?!?!
SO MUCH FUN () WE ARE HAVING! !! !

Is your character owing several thousand billion Schmuckers to Murder Mafia? - USING POWER OF MAGICAL STRINGS, HE GATHERS OVER MILLION BILLION SCHMUCKERS AND KILLS THE MAFIA.
Is your character in hopeless situation with no way out? - LET FAITH IN FATE TAKE THE WHEEL. HE WILL BE MIRACULOUSLY RESCUED BY THIRD PARTY THAT WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM.
Do you need antagonist to be somewhat of a threat, without truly being one? - CARNYMANCY. BUT DON'T WORRY, IT WILL BE REVERTED VIA STRINGS -OR- FAAATE. OR BOTH.
Did you forgot how mechanics your invented worked? - **** IT. RETCONJURE EVERYTHING.

---

In closing - I'd like to paraphrase Clark's law - Any Insufficently Justified Magic is indistinguishable from Bull****!

[Calemyr]

In closing - I'd like to paraphrase Clark's law - Any Insufficently Justified Magic is indistinguishable from Bull****!

Hmm... I'm in the market for a new signature quote...

[guttering flame]

Parson plays with half baked ideas then discovers a way to use them. See off-turn actions turning into a military victory like in Book 2. What Jed did, basically has nothing to do with Parson. He did start process that made Jed, but is basically not in any way, shape or form involved in later decisions.

What I'm saying is it's not a fluke but a likely outcome of Parson's tendency to tinker. The Temples aren't the product of an obscure branch of magic. They're a very basic and probably suppressed feature of Erfworld. The Thinkalites decided they're dangerous and must be suppressed very early on (among first 3 rulings they made from what I recall). It didn't take them long at all to find it.

Was Jed so different from what Parson wanted? It can't move and as far as we know can't attack enemies outside its body, though that haven't been tested so far. But it is an intelligent building. It can definitely protect the capitol: as long as the Temple=Garrison stands the City isn't conquered. Transylvito's Temple demonstrated some of their fighting abilities for us.

Second,
BOY. ISN'T ALL THAT MAGIC FUN!?!?!
SO MUCH FUN () WE ARE HAVING! !! !

Is your character owing several thousand billion Schmuckers to Murder Mafia? - USING POWER OF MAGICAL STRINGS, HE GATHERS OVER MILLION BILLION SCHMUCKERS AND KILLS THE MAFIA.
Is your character in hopeless situation with no way out? - LET FAITH IN FATE TAKE THE WHEEL. HE WILL BE MIRACULOUSLY RESCUED BY THIRD PARTY THAT WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM.
Do you need antagonist to be somewhat of a threat, without truly being one? - CARNYMANCY. BUT DON'T WORRY, IT WILL BE REVERTED VIA STRINGS -OR- FAAATE. OR BOTH.
Did you forgot how mechanics your invented worked? - **** IT. RETCONJURE EVERYTHING.

Point is, the comic outright stated early on that Link Magics are what's important. Even before that, at the very beginning when Parson and his buddies are playing RPG, we learn Parson isn't about winning through strategy. He's about cheats. The more outrageous the better. He may be a good strategist but what define him is his inclination to 'break the game'. The casters' magic and their tri-links are the method in Erfworld.

[tomaO2]

Yea, yea, and soul spicing is the way to get maximum power in OOTS. Plus, there are builds that are most effective, and all that crap. We know that tri-mancer links are the game breakers, but Erfworld didn't have to go in the direction of using them for EVERYTHING. They were shown as being really dangerous. Like, insanely dangerous. Something that most sane sides don't use. We had the first link end up killing a caster and driving the second insane. Even in book 2, it seemed like Charlie needed to stay linked for an extended period of time, as was shown by King Slately trying to talk to Vanna, and the mention that Charlie had been "blacked out" for an entire turn.

Charlie himself was not receiving, so the intelligence was handled at the tower by Fox Force Five. Since yesterday, communications through the Arkendish were blacked out, which always put everyone in a bad mood. Hilary missed Charlie more than she ever could have said. It meant so much to know she could call him any time (though of course, she only did so on business). Being cut off, even for a turn, left her with an ache in her chest.
http://archives.erfworld.com/Book+2/70

Lets not forget that there used to be this radical concept that links were DIFFICULT, and involved sacrifice. That they were trump cards that were held in reserve. There was a total of 3 tri-mancer links in the entirety of books 1 and 2, and they all showed off the dangers of the act to some degree.

Then book 3 comes along, and we just toss all that risk in the garbage can.

Parson gets a slew of master level thinkamancers, so he can experiment with no cost. Is Parson being a genius when he experiments with linking, or is this stuff anyone could to, if they have access to unlimited linking resources. Especially when he doesn't know what is going to happen when he does so. Linking to see what happens does not a genius make. Then there is Charlie, who can now instantly link up, cast, and then disengage. Took less than a minute with Bill, making us wonder why Charlie was linked up already with Vanna during book 2.

Rob took a risky trump card, and turned it into the main method of victory. They instantly kill people anywhere on the hex, they create tools that do impossible things. They let you gather a stockpile of weapons that can supply hundreds of units. I feel that there is a direct link to Parson seeming less, and less, important to the story, and the growth of linking as the main combat method. There are no limits.

I'd be glad that the thinkamancers are all dead if I honestly thought it would end this complete hack, but I'm sure Maggie will just upgrade to master level so it can continue, if she hasn't already.

[Welf]

When will we get back to looking at rules and how to properly exploit them for gains? When will we get a fun battle to roleplay, like Scarlett vs Lady Archer Warlord, or Stanley vs Jillian (before thinkamancy link hack)? How about explaining the difference between a gun and a zap gun, at least? Is it just that you can shoot more per round that makes guns so good? Just give me some mechanics that I can actually work with, for crying out loud. I'm interested in wargaming, not overpowered magical shenanigans that constantly upend the entire thing. OOTS has better tactics than Erfworld, with more emphasis on the mechanics (the time when the Giant explained Miko vs the OOTS comes to mind). We've seen several great battles that had good tactics, and planning. Nale alone has come up with more interesting battles than we've gotten from Erfworld.

I don't think that will come back. It was much easier in book 1 when everything was new and story and rules could be built around each other. Parson and Charley are much better powergamers and rules lawyers than Rob as author, and we readers as collective will find flaws much easier now that we know a lot of the rules too.

In closing - I'd like to paraphrase Clark's law - Any Insufficently Justified Magic is indistinguishable from Bull****!

Trademark that as soon as possible. It will be quoted. Also has my vote for next thread title.

[-D-]

What I'm saying is it's not a fluke but a likely outcome of Parson's tendency to tinker. The Temples aren't the product of an obscure branch of magic. They're a very basic and probably suppressed feature of Erfworld. The Thinkalites decided they're dangerous and must be suppressed very early on (among first 3 rulings they made from what I recall). It didn't take them long at all to find it.

Well, here we disagree. It's a happy accident, but its not intentional in the same volcano or food fight were.

Was Jed so different from what Parson wanted? It can't move and as far as we know can't attack enemies outside its body, though that haven't been tested so far. But it is an intelligent building. It can definitely protect the capitol: as long as the Temple=Garrison stands the City isn't conquered. Transylvito's Temple demonstrated some of their fighting abilities for us.

Kinda. His idea was for an offensive non-senient weapon. Jed, is pretty good, BUT - he can be manipulated in ways golems generally can't. You can't reason with Rock Golem to release you. But we can see Marie using (Semi-)Troll Logic to persuade the Tower to release her. Sure, in Marie's case she is probably working for Jillian. However, what prevents Charlie from persuading Jed, he will be a better master? With more funds and better defenses.

Point is, the comic outright stated early on that Link Magics are what's important. Even before that, at the very beginning when Parson and his buddies are playing RPG, we learn Parson isn't about winning through strategy. He's about cheats. The more outrageous the better. He may be a good strategist but what define him is his inclination to 'break the game'. The casters' magic and their tri-links are the method in Erfworld.

You are correct. But as tomaO2 noted, just because you can do your SUPER move doesn't mean you should remove all narrative penalties to doing so. Imagine Fiends from OOTS offer everyone free soul splicing - and suddenly a Belkar SoulSpliced with Druid and Wizard is fighting UnDurkon, spliced with Blood Cultist of Gnaar and Soul Devourer of Ix, who is fighting Roy spliced with over a thousand souls of greatest warriors to have ever lived. During that fight Roy kills Belkar and Durkon precisely 3051 times, while dying only 920 times. OOTS could have gone there.

Not to mention introduce an EXTRA SUPER MOVE and make it super easy to do. And then - add several more disciplines that further break the game. Basically, the whole comic, slowly descends into a stake-less game of Calvin Ball, where my way to win is to imagine a solution you haven't yet seen or can reasonably expect.

E.g. Oh you summoned a Voltron. I'll summon a Mecha Scarab that uses Ancient Egyptian Laser Beams to disintegrate your Voltron. Oh, you used Flood to destroy Mecha Scarab, then I'll make it so your allies turn on you because STRINGS. Oh you countered my mind control, because you prepared for it? I was waiting for you to do that to use String Resonance to destroy all your forces?

Trademark that as soon as possible. It will be quoted. Also has my vote for next thread title.

Eh. No. Just quote it as - Narrative Law of Magidynamics. I am honestly surprised it doesn't exist yet.

[DigoDragon]

Yea, yea, and soul spicing is the way to get maximum power in OOTS. Plus, there are builds that are most effective, and all that crap. We know that links are the game breakers, but Erfworld didn't have to go in the direction of using them for EVERYTHING. They were shown as being really dangerous. Like, insanely dangerous. Something that most sane sides don't use. We had the first link end up killing a caster and driving the second insane. Even in book 2, it seemed like Charlie needed to stay linked for an extended period of time, as was shown by King Slately trying to talk to Vanna, and the mention that Charlie had been "blacked out" for an entire turn.

I agree. I do miss the part of caster links where they had an inherent danger about them, taking experienced casters outside the link to carefully unlink the chain so no one gets croaked. And even then we saw that the casters still suffered dizziness, weakness, and other ill effects for it. That risk made linking an interesting gamble.

You can see it in the recent Vanna-Roger-Parson link. Roger gets croaked and Parson gets teleported off. Vanna doesn't seem to be much fazed by that sudden link breakage.

[Leewei]

<snip>
...

In closing - I'd like to paraphrase Clark's law - Any Insufficently Justified Magic is indistinguishable from Bull****!

*sniff*

This rant was a poem, an exquisite thing of pure beauty.

[Calemyr]

Eh. No. Just quote it as - Narrative Law of Magidynamics. I am honestly surprised it doesn't exist yet.

Unfortunately I'm getting some "forbidden" page error when updating my signature, or I'd already have "-D-'s First Law of Narrative Magidynamics" added.

[JavaScribe]

I can tolerate the magic babble, my main issue with this book is that it's been so scattered. It can't seem to focus and switches scenes every couple pages.

[keybounce]

...
Not to mention introduce an EXTRA SUPER MOVE and make it super easy to do. And then - add several more disciplines that further break the game. Basically, the whole comic, slowly descends into a stake-less game of Calvin Ball, where my way to win is to imagine a solution you haven't yet seen or can reasonably expect.

E.g. Oh you summoned a Voltron. I'll summon a Mecha Scarab that uses Ancient Egyptian Laser Beams to disintegrate your Voltron. Oh, you used Flood to destroy Mecha Scarab, then I'll make it so your allies turn on you because STRINGS. Oh you countered my mind control, because you prepared for it? I was waiting for you to do that to use String Resonance to destroy all your forces?

Please, no Dragon Ball spoilers. I'm a season behind.

[Aquillion]

I can tolerate the magic babble, my main issue with this book is that it's been so scattered. It can't seem to focus and switches scenes every couple pages.

Yeah, this is a problem, too. Book 1 and Book 2 had magic babble at times (Book 1's resolution depended on it!), but they told a clear, straightforward story that steadily advanced in a clear direction, even if there was some back-and-forth along the way.

Book 3 has just been absolute chaos. Like, if you summarize what's happened so far this book it pretty much reads like a list of random events.

[Jasdoif]

Book 3 has just been absolute chaos. Like, if you summarize what's happened so far this book it pretty much reads like a list of random events.

It's a pretty good example of "if anything's possible, nothing matters," that's for sure.

[Ornithologist]

It reads better/ slightly more comprehensibly when read through the archives, but not nearly as much as books 1 & 2

[The Glyphstone]

Please, no Dragon Ball spoilers. I'm a season behind.

Sounds more like Yugioh.

"Fool! You activated my STRINGS card!"

[Whispri]

It's good to have a page away from that dreadful transylvito scenario, I'm just so tired of the place and don't care what happens to any of the characters involved. I lost interest in that part of the story back in 2016.

And this is important, because it relates to the 'Wanda's escape' plotline, she should be slipping into ICFYS's portal before too long after all. I'd have much preferred a switch to events beneath the bedrock mind.

It's good to have it confirmed beyond all doubt that Marie is trying to steal Wanda's destiny. And with carnymancy no less? It is a plain and simple fact that Marie touched Wanda during the battle of portal park, so it's not hard to see what happened there. And is that why Banhammer died when he did? Was that whole deal even Wanda's plan?

This would also confirm that Marie has little or no idea regarding what is happening beneath the bedrock in the MK. She didn't see the new bargain, she didn't see the fall of the mind cultists' temple, she didn't see the forming of the state eight and she didn't see the coming of the towers. I'm damned if I know how she was expecting Wanda to avoid execution. I can't help but notice a complete lack of any help for Wanda in her insane plans, yet she has caused a fair amount of hindrance. It's like she's thrown Wanda naked into a field of broken glass having tied a rope to her ankle that's attached to panicked wild horse and is expecting her to somehow escape unlacerated.

It's also noteworthy that the rodent and his minion, P.Roffercy, did not appear on Marie's list of allies. Which strongly suggests he really is working against her.

When Maggie helped Wanda liberate Lilith, Maggie found a backdoor to Wanda just as Wanda found a backdoor to Lilith/Charlie. They didn't protect themselves against inquisitive thinkamancers.

Doesn't mean they couldn't have. I mean, the whole point of the battle of Lilith castle was Charlie was trying to fight his way through to reach Wanda. While Wanda herself was so distracted she didn't notice people walking up to her and may simply have been ignoring a caster who posed no threat, being part of her own side. However a little later on, we see Wanda and Maggie come into conflict in mindspace, resulting in Maggie's defeat and incapacitation. Rather telling I'd say.

Even in book 1 Parson won using a thinkamancy link (wake up the volcano) and noted in his notebook that magic and especially tri-link magic is the way to win the game.

That is true. But in all honesty? I wasn't impressed by that, book one ended the way I feared it would, with Hamster pressing the button marked 'death' and walking away.