Three seconds after I pushed the "post reply" button, my internet died. "Believers will know this is the universe telling me to sleep" and all that.
Anyways
@BirdBodhisattva Can we warn him against the damsel in distress business, WITHOUT telling him about her quest?
The damsel in distress part is more related to "she is a mare on a mission, but don't try to patronize her because of that". So I don't see how you can say one part without the other. At least in this context.
Hmm. So, just to clarify, if we, say, use one of the Gifts to lessen the cost of DoA's summoning—assuming this can be done on top of the Wrong Key lessening the cost as well—and then give her the other gift properly, will he still be angry?
Question, @BirdBodhisattva ; does using the "Gifts" to help summon DoA count as gifting them to her? After all, the Reagent section of Sacrifices says:
Good points.
Using the gifts to summon DoA will not cause anger, only regular discouragement.
And to note, that option really is "bits for bad feels". You get 100 bits for Lore stuff, but at best Pride is discouraged, and at worst he is angry at you. Still, thanks for bringing that up, I already updated the story options to reflect that.
I couldn't give two shits about shipping DoA and Pride
Blasphemy!
I'm wondering how the Gift option would mesh with adjusting Pride's expectations tbh.
If we tell him a better (?) "gift" would be helping her with her Quest, I wonder how things would go?
Or: "I don't think it will go well, but if you want I can try (passing the gifts you mentioned along)"?
@BirdBodhisattva what does Velvet think of saying something like these statements?
I honestly did not understand what you meant. Could you kindly rephrase it?
@BirdBodhisattva I'm guessing the whole "you don't know how he'll react" piece means we can't follow up with "and we have a plan to find that Key"?
I was going to answer "yes". But as I read the end of your phrase, my answer became "You actually don't have a plan to find the Key".
No, really. There has only been talks of "scrying and going on an expedition". Respectfully, that is not a plan. That course of action applies to almost everything on this quest, and like most plans might not survive contact with the enemy. So saying you have a plan is disingenuous, or just a lie.
-"Axe is... A very complicated individual. She's very much a rather new contact and I'm not entirely sure where I stand with her, and how much of what I know is mine to say in regards to her. I will say that despite her good looks and energy, she is in fact a much older mare than either of us, and someone who has had to be very self sufficient for a long time. Furthermore her schedule and taboos can be very harsh, and seemingly arbitrary. I do not know how receptive she will be to any overtures, or how to aid you in such an endeavor. I do know there will be restrictions on her time, her actions, and how much she can tell you, and not just because her accent takes some adjusting to. I will not tell you to drop it, or leave her alone, however she was and will be one of my guests, and she is a very valuable consultant, so be respectful, not Canterlot respectful, sincerely respectful. Also you need to be very clear and avoid Idioms, references, or flowery language until you get to know her better and she's had time to adjust to Equestria a bit more."
So. When I look at write-in proposals, I will see if it adds anything that isn't available in another option.
Also, for the record, if you "don't want to say something" then just don't pick the option. Which means that write-ins where you remain neutral will simply not have any effect. Not saying anything will have Velvet keep a neutral stance, so no need to make a long paragraph out of it.
And regarding
this write-in...
-Saying that you don't know where you stand with her is neutral, so it is unnecessary.
-Saying that she is "older than either of us" veers into the "reveal she is a snakemare" territory. So you could make it a write-in where you give a
watered down version of "she is not a pony".
-Saying that you don't know if she will be receptive is just a variation of "she is difficult to deal with".
-And the last stretch can either be seen as a "don't go for it", or maybe a write-in for "she is my important guest, so whatever you do don't make me look bad".
In short. Most of the write in is politely neutral, which is perfectly reasonable and understandable. However, assume that Velvet will be neutral when she is silent, so just focus on writing-in what you want to say, positive or negative.
For the record, I wouldn't accept this write in, unfortunately. For the reasons above. If you want to change it, I would be happy to look at it again.
I think DoA cares a lot about the quest and wouldn't be happy with us for sharing the info
Counterpoint (from IC Velvet perspective): The very first thing DoA told you when you found her in the Mansus is that she wants that key. So you can assume that she doesn't care about pride (hark, a pun!)- I mean, she doesn't care about
her own pride, and just wants the damn key. Consequently, more ponies learning about it
might be something she is interested in.
Conversely, a pony WITH the key might be able to extort her. But given how she never even caught sight of the key, knowing where it is (even if at the hoofs of someone bad) might be better than her current state.
Still, just a neutral chime-in, from Velvet's mind. Not QM word.
-[] "However, she will be back eventually once she is done dealing with her own commitments, you can try again then."
@BirdBodhisattva is this write-in accpetable too?
I don't see what this would achieve?
