I don't have any words for what happened. Damn just damn.

Next arc is a Maggie arc so I don't know whether we'll be exploring what happened there anytime soon.

Looks like Rose seamlessly transitioned into Blake's life.

 

Happy Canada to us I guess. Damn, Wildbow. Harsh.

Anyway, I think we all knew that Blake was going to go down at some point. Blake was doing much too well against the oblivion demon. The halogen lights. The gas. All of it. Very nice reversal on its part though. Creating smoke to generate darkness is smart, very smart.

I think it's also worth mentioning that iirc Plan A was implied to be taking out the Oblivion demon, plan B, the one Blake and Rose both thought was more likely, could very well have been to let his connections get severed. It's not as crazy as it sounds. By slicing Blake out of the world and away from his friends (who have repeatedly been hinted at as being important, but not necessary for Blake to keep going) Rose gets physical form and Blake is free to interact with the world as a practitioner. Provided Ur doesn't actually eat him anyway.

I'm also interested to see if Maggie remembers Blake. She left after their conversation and Ur only cut the connections to people around the factory. I'm kind of hoping that she'll remember him, or remember enough of him, to connect the dots.

On a somewhat related note, what are the mechanics of possession? Maggie (probably) let something in, but is still mostly in control other than some weird Otherness. I'm just wondering if it's possible that Blake could bleed himself out again in order to steal some of Ur's juice. Then use that as either a bargaining chip or a way out. It would certainly be appropriately horrific. Blake, fighter of demons, allowing a demon to partially possess him so he can continue to fight demons.

The saddest thing about this chapter is that we got final confirmation - Evan will never, ever be a fire bird.

 

I still like the blood sparrow idea.

 

Was hoping it'd be some clever trick but.. nope

 

Blake is gone..goddamnit he's gone.

Rose is a bitch and I don't look forward to reading her.

 

Well that was unexpected. I still think there is something non-obvious going on here though. It just doesn't make sense from a story-telling perspective to abandon the main character after a significant part of the story. Who knows though...

 

Yeah, I hate Rose.

 

We'll see what happens, I guess. I would find it very strange if Blake was completely removed from the story, but it could be interesting to see what happens next. Maybe we'll switch perspectives to someone else, like Maggie. Her History was interesting enough.

 

The next arc is from Maggie's perspective, and I wouldn't mind if she became the primary POV, but seeing how Wildbow keeps saying 'the Maggie arc,' I'm assuming we aren't going to stay with her.

I'm still holding out hope that Blake is not gone, however increasingly irrational that may be.

 

What chapter was the weird premonition/dream in again?

 

The first?

 

I'm gonna stop following this until it's clear what happened to Blake. I've got nothing against Rose but she's not Blake.

Hate when the protag dies and the series continues with a different protag.

 

>.> The one with Rose and Ur in it.

 

Knew it.

Spoiler

Can't eliminate the connection to one already drifting. And a firm connection to Mags gives Blake a chance of reincarnation, though he's definitely been tainted my Ur. Glamored Mote baby maybe?

 

After all of this I would be so cool with Mags as the new protagonist. Jesus, what a smart fucking move on her part.

 

I enjoyed the Maggie arc, mostly because what happened was entirely unexpected. We got a lot of information in these last two updates, especially. So much about Johannes and why Maggie can't swear. And she knows about Blake!

I hope, despite its apparent unlikeliness, that Blake remains the protagonist. Though that could mean missing Mags telling Rose she wasn't real.

 

So Wildbow pushed through for a Saturday update.

Some interesting implications were put out there re: Rose and lying. If you want a trip, go through the comments for this chapter. There's enough anti-Rose vitriol to start a small inferno.

On a more constructive note, I don't think that the first part of this chapter was up to Wildbow's usual standards. Lots of repetition and redundancies across most of Blake's introspective bits (see the usage of mud for the first 500 words). It gets a lot better when Green Eyes resolves herself into a speaking character, but before that it's painfully noticeable. Still, the ideas are super strong as usual and the writing improves over the course of the chapter.

 

Again Fuck Rose.

Interesting that the lawyers weren't willing to help Blake out, I'd have thought they wouldn't mind another eternal slave in their ranks but Blake for all the shit he's gone through has always played fair and its good to see him getting something from that.

This is a perfect time as any to have Blake finally confront whatever happened to him(its most likely Sodomy isn't it).

Hoping Blake meets one of those old gods. It seems if anything he should gain some powerful allies from this place by escaping with them.

A wild looking Evan? what have they done to that poor kid.

I wonder what it means that Rose's voice seems to really have power,

 

I don't know if it's just me but I can't really get into Pact. Blake's character really bugs me he seems really inconsistent half the time he is portrayed as a really passive character who just lets himself get pushed and pulled through various situations then suddenly he decides to be assertive for an arc then just as suddenly he is back to being all passive. I feel like I can't get a fix on his character.

I found Maggie Holt to be a much more interesting and better designed character and I kind of wish the story had stuck with her instead of switching back to Blake in this current arc.

 

What, Blake has been passive? maybe our definition of passive is different. Taking on a monster that eats ghosts, a demon that eats your existence, a goblin that befouls just by being close to it and a bloody incarnation of conquest. While at the same time getting a familiar and implements that he's used while using the gained knowledge from the Library.

Seriously where do you get passive?