Tales of the Parodyverse - May you get your just desserts, then.

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Anime Jason

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Subj: May you get your just desserts, then.
Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 at 01:58:22 am EST (Viewed 5 times)

Reply Subj: A rather crusty one, at that.
Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 at 05:14:46 pm EST (Viewed 522 times)

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In this case, Vinnie's goals do match - the chance to avert something that would otherwise inevitably eventually kill the Parodyverse. The taunt about "a real sorcerer supreme" not hesitating to make the hard, edgy call goes right to his weak spot.

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I'm surprised that still bothers him, since Liu Xi has been so encouraging with him.

Vinnie has made a number of calls that have erred on the side of compassion. Remember that he was brpught up in an environment where that was regarded as weakness.

In a medical setting, not undertaking a procedure because it might hurt the parient is the wrong thing. In a military one, being afraid to lose troops can lead to losing a war. Vinnie sometimes doesn't have the ruthlessness required of a sorcerer supreme - and he knows it.

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All of which may tell Chiaki that the mystery opponent is well-informed about the obstacles that must be removed and how to do that without always relying on force.

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Of course she would quietly wonder why the opponent hasn't tried removing her, as she may not be the biggest obstacle but she is the closest.

She knows she was one Vinnie-decision and two seconds away for being killed by the enemy in a manner that foresight cannot avoid, a mass destruction event that wpould kill hundreds if not thousands to ensure she was dead.

Of course, events have moved on from then.

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Good distinctions.

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Out of those, the biggest difference between Lara and Chiaki, though they use a similar strategy, is that Chiaki is more aware of her vulnerability, since she doesn't have formidable powers that Lara does. That usually means Chiaki is prone to attacking more viciously, because she knows she won't have a second chance. It's also how she gets a scarier reputation than Lara.

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There are some more consequences too. Chiaki is now in Faerie, somewhat insulated from the effects that were crippling her.

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At least she'll have some relief, but it might be scary for her to have broken off contact with Earth so suddenly.

Time runs differently in the Many Coloured Lands. When we catch up with her in Chapter 16, six weeks has passed for her and she has been busy.

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And one of them can teleport the entire unruly mob to Mab's doorstep. But, like I said, she has very little motivation to interfere, and will generally leave well enough alone unless Mab gives her a compelling reason.

Teleportation is one of the least predictable means of travel in the Mythlands, easy to divert or to alter the travellers, so it is a last resort (after all, the place is all about quests and journies).

The Faerie Queene still has the upper hand. In many ways she is the Realm and therefore has godlike powers, but withing some narrative boundaries. Magweed's little group is the first assembly of powers able to offer her serious challenge for a long time (since the early days of Untold Tales and a villain called the King of Stories), but for all their power they are still the plucky outsider underdogs.

But the current wider circumstances of the changes to the Parodyverse are sufficiently worrying to avoid a real war. It would be like two people struggling to rule a burning house inside that house; so what we'll see are skirmishes, traps, and a cold war, not Lord of the Rings.

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Speaking of which, most of the evil types that Lara has ever seriously harmed or killed, it happened to them solely because they
weren't smart enough to leave her alone.

Noted.

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I'll cover some of that in the next issue, because it should be fun to see what that very unusual collection can accomplish! I'll be adding in another old ally of the Psychic Samurai's too, so there'll be a bit of a personal stake for her also.

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That doesn't narrow down the list very much.

Splendid.

By the way, because the reply thread is heading off the side of my non-widescreen monitor now, I'm having to scroll across to read every line of the body text of all replies. Is there any way to mitigate this?