(Sips tea while reading through comments)
"Oh, but is this not exactly what you wanted?"
But my point was more that, well, Bird made it pretty clear a while ago that Shining Armor belongs to Cadence.
Chrysalys did show us, though, that complete override of will is possible and effective.
"It was mind control!" some might correctly state.
True, but that goes to show he was not
immune to it.
This is, word for word, one of the things that I wrote down in one of my drafts.
Honestly? We've been assured that Velvet wouldn't lose control of herself under even a max Influence. We're too strong.
Remember, Velvet can control a max influence.
Kindly believe me when I say this is
not me "rule lawyering".
But could you find me a quote on that?
I'll write down the usual spiel again. I don't do trap options, calling an Influence was not a trap, so on so forth. But I had something akin to "conflicting interests" while writing this.
After all, in CS itself the highest Influence is rated at "15", whilst the strongest possible Lore only reaches "14" when it comes to Lore intensity. Plus, Comet himself, a rather no-incompetent Edge-adept, was completely subsumed by the highest Edge intensity. But that can just as well mean that "Lore knowledge does not equate to Influence control". After all, a Name is knowledgeable in his own Lore, but is he not a slave to it in certain aspects?
Well, I digress.
The point that I am trying to make is, and I mean this in the greatest honesty, that I need to retain player agency (which I
will, and I am not in the mood to retort to anyone screaming otherwise) whilst also transmitting how respectable the highest intensity of Influences are. Because this
is the first time you are being exposed to an unfiltered one.
So, kindly read along the lines, take a good long look at the implications, and reach whatever conclusions you wish. Velvet Covers is currently willing to Leash Soft Sweeps, Velvet Covers is absolutely sure that she is in control of herself, and I believe I reached my desired compromise between narrative and game mechanics as QM.
After all, I feel very strongly about respecting the setting, I feel very strongly about having a
consistent world, and
I truly love Velvet's humanity. But I also believe in player agency, and believe that Velvet's humanity may only be maintained if I offer you certain options, every now and then, where you can choose to do something inhuman. I am not the one who keeps Velvet honest, you all are the ones who do that. And I will keep offering options to kill Selene rather than adopt her, turn Soft Sweeps into an Apostle, and lie through your teeth to Stormchaser until the end of the quest, because you can't say that you avoided tumbling down abyss
if the abyss isn't right there.
(But I digress. This is
not me telling that this or that action is morally better or worse, or that this is even one such vote where one of them is better or worse. Look at the update yourself and make your judgment. This is the realm of readers. I just type a story about ponies.)
Still, it
did take me several weeks to write this, after all. And it wasn't because of writer's block.
the Gods-from-Nowhere are one and all tainted by the Worms
I object to that.
Sand may be abundant in deserts, but is it the only thing that exist in them? I would say no.
To be fair, it didn't amount to spit anyway, which seems to have been the point. The logic of the setting is for Velvet Covers to excise her morals and human foibles as quickly as possible, then ascend to hollow Glory on the backs of a billion flayed victims. If there ever was any hope through Harmony, we've already burnt it to ashes, and the ashes have flown into the sky and settled in the gulleys and been shit on by dogs.
This isn't a quest about being Edward Elric. It's a quest about becoming the Dwarf in the Flask.
Already been stated this isn't the case.
(Sips more tea)
Also, I truly believe that we, all of us, have a very nice relationship. I honestly appreciate all of you, and I hope that you trust me just as much. So! I will also open my heart a little bit, and make one thing abundantly clear.
I will really
not appreciate the notion that this whole circumstance is a trap, or me trying to pull an "Ahah!" over you. Said lack of appreciation will most likely materialize as a request for a temporary ban, because to this day I still remember with a heavy heart what happened when we were first introduced to the Wolf.
But I say this in honesty and kindness. I hope you are all well, and see you all soon! Do ask me anything that you feel the mind for, I'll try to hop in throughout the day.
