Book 2 – Text Updates 038

[balder]

New One is up.

[gameboy1234]

Hmm, yes, I think Charlie is shaping up to be the big baddie of Erfworld.

But did we have to learn about Maggie putting notches in her G-string?

[regisminae]

Ooooh, let's see...

Zelda, the Pyro, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Aristotle... the rest are beyond me.

I enjoyed this update.

EDIT: Sagan, of course. Still can't get the rest, although I feel like as soon as someone else identifies them, I'll have a Profoundly Obvious Moment.

EDIT2: The face I had supposed to be that of the Pyro is much more likely Psycho Mantis

EDIT3: ...and Spock

[Rolan7]

Ooooh, let's see...

Zelda, the Pyro, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Aristotle... the rest are beyond me.

I enjoyed this update.

That's not the Pyro, it's Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid

Edit: I don't expect him to be a major character, but if he is, he'd understand where Parson's really from. He breaks the 4th wall like crazy during his boss fight, even brags about making the controller shake and reading your memory card out loud.

[fjolnir]

An interesting development, we now know that charlie was NOT a thinkamancer previous to attuning to the dish, and is deliberately kept out of the loop by the grand high thinkamancers. It also explains the level of weirdness in the previous thinkagrams to trem, he's using various thinkamantic filters to determine his intentions and skills and the like.

[Lamech]

Big baddie Charlie... interesting. Not a thinkamancer too I take it.

[ftl]

So the thinkamancers are scared of Charlie.

Parson going through the MK is going to have more allies than just Janis/Marie.

Wouldn't it have been safer not to say anything, not even a coded message? Maybe Maggie expects trouble.

Love the update!

[Jamus]

Yay Zelda.

I find this extremely interesting. There's another conspiracy in the MK. And this one is basically only in opposition to Charlie. But what's odd about that, is Maggie has never really related Charlie as a villain to Parson. A rival, sure, and scary, definitely- but she's never said "He's evil and must be stopped!"

Is that pragmatism, since a non-thinkamancer's mind could be read, or something else? And is it important enough to the thinkamancers that they'll break the laws of the MK? Maggie seems to think so.. but why?

[tennisplaya]

What a juicy update! One of my favorites (at least, for one without Jack), mainly because the magic system is my favorite thing about Erf and this just gave a lot of insight/explanation for Thinkamancers. I feel like it would be really useful for Trem to have picked up a Thinkamancer for the sake of intuition-reading considering he's a Diplomat, but I guess he didn't know any better since it's a secret. Also, I feel almost frustration I guess at how many awesome things there are that Parson can't take advantage of. A Parson-Thinkamancer seems like a pretty awesome thing.

[regisminae]

That's not the Pyro, it's Psycho Mantis from Metal Gear Solid

Edit: I don't expect him to be a major character, but if he is, he'd understand where Parson's really from. He breaks the 4th wall like crazy during his boss fight, even brags about making the controller shake and reading your memory card out loud.

Well, that's a better match. I don't know the MGS series, although the little research I've done here suggests that you are indeed correct. Plus, the Pyro's mask doesn't look quite that... angry.

I think that I was just so ready for it to be the Pyro, because without intelligible speech, Thinkamancy's the only way s/he would be able to communicate!

[Vee]

Ahh, I see somebody remembered Spock Would love to see the rest who are cut off.

[fractal]

Yay Zelda.

I find this extremely interesting. There's another conspiracy in the MK. And this one is basically only in opposition to Charlie. But what's odd about that, is Maggie has never really related Charlie as a villain to Parson. A rival, sure, and scary, definitely- but she's never said "He's evil and must be stopped!"

Is that pragmatism, since a non-thinkamancer's mind could be read, or something else? And is it important enough to the thinkamancers that they'll break the laws of the MK? Maggie seems to think so.. but why?

Non-Thinkamancers have their own concerns; to every non-thinkamancer, Charlie is just another side, and often an extremely useful one. Saying "Oh no, stop him!" would just seem like a desire to eliminate competition. And maybe that's all it is...

[Smoker]

It's possible that the Thinkamancers work against charlie simply because he steals their business.

[ftl]

An interesting development, we now know that charlie was NOT a thinkamancer previous to attuning to the dish,

I'm not sure we know that.

I think we can conclude that that right now, Charlie is NOT one of the thinkamancers on the high council. But it doesn't mean he's not a thinkamancer at all, does it? Am I missing something in the update?

We are told "That reason was not part of the close-knit fraternity of Thinkamancers, but it knew their secrets and more. That reason had the whole world by its G-Strings. That reason called itself, "Charlie." "

It specifically says he's not part of the close-knit fraternity of Thinkamancers, but I took that to mean that he's just outside the favored circle - an outcast. Doesn't mean he's not a former Thinkamancer-turned-overlord, or something.

...oh, wait. I just reread it, and thoughout, Maggie calls him "it" . Presumably, if he were a thinkamancer, Maggie would know and call him "he" (or "she").

So I guess I see where you're coming from. I'm more convinced now, though I don't think the update is quite as clear on that point as you make it out to be. (Makes sense. Nothing's ever clear when it comes to Charlie.)

[fjolnir]

I assume he's being watched and hedged out of Thinkamancy related business in the MK and regarded with some measure of suspicion, though because he likes to toss money around the MK he can't be hedged out in the same way that GK has been. The thinkamancers distrust charlie, but are slightly powerless to gain any traction in stopping him, lest they reveal the cards they've been playing close to the vest.

[Angband]

Wow, great update.

Her message had two things that weren't immediately clear:

PGLH = Parson Gotti, Lord Hamster
SR = SpaceRock

I think the most interesting thing though is that Maggie refers to Charlie as an "it."

[Smoker]

...oh, wait. I just reread it, and thoughout, Maggie calls him "it" . Presumably, if he were a thinkamancer, Maggie would know and call him "he" (or "she").

Fantastic pickup. Charlie is known to have a male voice, so "it" is either an insult, or a clue that Maggie knows something...

Edit: Hang on a second:
Would that make sense as: That reason called himself, "Charlie." ..?
Maybe it's nothing at all, just grammar.

[gameboy1234]

...oh, wait. I just reread it, and thoughout, Maggie calls him "it" . Presumably, if he were a thinkamancer, Maggie would know and call him "he" (or "she").

Yeah, I noticed that too. I didn't favor this theory, but I wonder if the folks who were speculating that Charlie was really the 'Dish are right? An Arkentool would certainly qualify as an "it."

[fjolnir]

So now we know that foolamancers see the world as layers of lies and the thinkamancers see the world as a series of strings and subtle nuances, did we have an update where wanda or sizemore describe their viewpoints through the glass of their disciplines?

[fractal]

So now we know that foolamancers see the world as layers of lies and the thinkamancers see the world as a series of strings and subtle nuances, did we have an update where wanda or sizemore describe their viewpoints through the glass of their disciplines?

Maybe that's why Sizemore studies other types of magic, he got the lazy school that considers itself "deep" automatically and doesn't bother attempting more sophisticated philosophy.