Blood Wars Comment Thread

[Stygg Whitefeather]

Please post here with your comments, questions, speculations, etc... as they pertain to the the Blood Wars plot thread. All feedback is much appreciated!

[Shadestride Scythe]

I always enjoy battles where it feels like so much fighting is happening on any level but theres a sense of moments alone that aren't facing any action.

Blackmane is intimidating. While I admire opponents that can take on Elite single-handedly and win I... never truly appreciate opponents that can single-handedly destroy an entire fleet. Forgive my use of common word-fodder but that IS~... Mmn, I really hate criticizing this forum but I must bring about my personal opinion for this one.

Blackmane is a great enemy. I don't protest her efficiency and how she can just kill a good number of armed elite. She's flying and fighting. That's a hard combo to master and I Agree. She has every right to kick Flank.

She's cruel, she's cold and she's willing to kill just about anyone to accomplish a goal. For being an antagonist alone I give her a nice, juicy high score. 9/10 since I never grade a 10/10

What do I not like?

Well... I know I'm a bit of an underdog on this forum. I AM AT YOUR COMMAND~... but I just hate it when one individual is capable of crushing an entire fleet by her own hooves. Not to mention she's just a pegasi. Maybe if she took on a fleet by herself she would kill many.. and destroy a few ships, maybe even damage the Flagship, even cripple one of it's key systems!... But destroy an entire fleet, or shatter an entire City Shield on her own accord?

Ehh I repeat, I hate using this term but... OP~ MAN I'm really ballsy with all this chatter. but you ask my opinion, I shall follow in accordance with my opinion. I love the BloodWars thread; It's Hay on wheels. But it's really in Blackmane at the MOMENT I find my largest problems with.

Just.. far too powerful for a singular Pony.

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what I REALLY like?

Princess Luna and her closer subjects. Her having to deal with this entire siege on her OWN Hooves without the help of her everloving sister~ Who's apparently gone. Not dead but definitely gone... perhaps evil!~

I've always been a sucker for the Princess of the Night, she's my favorite character to see interact with a whole herem of problems. I love tat she's in charge, and she's by all respects the "Good" force in Equestria.

Down with the Sun!(lol not that far please! I'm just kidding.)

I enjoy Red Charge's dramatic interjection with himself. He's lost so much and now Selenia(Whom I LOVE~) is Dying. So many characters are getting thrown around and Canterlot is literally burning while all this drama swarms her walls and floods her streets with death.

Nightmares are scary. And the Entropy is... Dang frustrating(Perhaps a Con, but not as much as other things)

I still love Zeppelins as the primary force of destruction. the fact that FLEET battles are what's defining the fighting right now really warms my heart. Zeppelins FTW~ And the fact I drew some of them <3 probably none in the battle except for the frigates and light gunboats... I should really design some cruisers and whatnot.

I. Love. CANNONS...

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In all, the thread is good. The flaws to the story itself lay in some characters rather than the other underlying factors. but there seem to be a number of incredibly frustrating forces at work, not just a single hand of hooves.
I love the current canon characters. I enjoy the drama.

In all... I'm impressed. I have my issues!... But impressed that it's dragging out this deliciously long. I wish I had a more hands on say in this but Shade is still doing his own thing.

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Let me know what anyone else thinks!~... Come and join me in our revelry and good-time critique fun!

I just fear what this all means for Equestria if the battle is lost...

[Red Charge]

Since people have already started commenting about Blackmane being OP, I'll throw in a thought question - How much of Blackmane's power comes from Blackmane herself and how much power comes from the Blackmane armor? Think you know the answer? Comment!

[Selenia]

I'm still sitting on the edge of my seat with the plot thread. Shade already wrote everything I would have said, but I feel I need to flail about tons of giant air battleships engaging tons of other giant air battleships in a massive naval fracas. I really like surface naval combat, like, i REALLY like it, it is one of my favorite things. Take giant, slow moving ships with massive guns and put them in the air, you got me sold. I blame Miyazaki for my extended love of airships, too.

As for Blackmane and the armor, unless the armor is ridiculously magic and has a conscience and can move on its own, then it's not as ridiculous as you might think. Sure, the armor may have an immense amount of power within it, but it's just a tool that needs a skilled wielder. The best sword is all but useless without a swordspony capable of utilizing it properly. I have no doubt that Blackmane has very exhaustive combat training, so much so that her body has been honed and perfected to serve as the most efficient conduit for the armor's raw power, kinda like the unicorn horn being able to shape raw etheric energy into complex spells, so it makes sense to assume that most of the power comes from the armor, but it would be nowhere near as effective were Blackmane not wearing it.

[Glide Heart]

Maybe her armor is actually bewitched of some sort. Maybe it does posses a magical....soul? Much like greed can change anypony, so the armor can change the personality of the pony wearing said armor? I agree Blackmane is very powerful maybe a little to much? One pegasus taking on so much and leaving without a scratch?

Related to the thread. I love the suspense and drama it makes me want to get involved and do my part. Thus my thread on the hospital. Absolute chaos is where the best and the worst in anypony comes out and a great story backs up everything and sort of helps to guide the direction of the chaos. Many different outcomes are possible and its all ours to build! That is what makes a great page turner from someone just on looking. Suspense and the mystery of what will happen next. I'm always excited for new plot updates. Keep it up!

[Selenia]

Leave it to deus ex machina space magic to save the day (and a life). Either that was a very very VERY lucky roll, or the universe has something in store for Selenia, either way I'm living on a post-by-post basis, so seeing her alive a the end of another post is a serious fist-pumping success for me. As for the combat, its about bucking time that Luna got into the fray. Even if she can't defeat Blackmane outright, she'll still prove a worthy adversary, and every second Blackmane spends devoted to fighting a single opponent is valuable time for Canterlot's defensive forces to do whatever they can. That, and this super secret mystery fleet that just came in out of nowhere and started wrecking face. I have no guesses who they are, but I'm just as excited to find out who's lending a helping hoof or claw or whatever.

[Klepto Moonlit]

Honestly I'm calling it too early to say whether or not things have gotten better or worse. This situation seems to be ping-ponging a lot lately between dire and barely hanging in there. Also seems a bit weird that this fleet would come out of nowhere right at the moment when Equestria needs them to. Need to see who exactly they are.

Maybe it's a bunch of dragons or whatever who are saving Canterlot only to take over it themselves. That would be cool. Right?

[Gleam Lucre]

I'll just say this has been a very enjoyable event and I'm really glad I get to be part of it~

Otherwise, I'll go back to what I've been doing: waiting quietly for the awesome dramatic reveal at the climax. Because I know one is coming. Narratives are kinda my thing.

...No, seriously. If I had a cutie mark IRL, that's what it'd be for. *srsface*

[Glide Heart]

On the part of Selenia's recovery "through the roof" vitals are defiantly just as bad as low vitals. Though I am glad we aren't losing a very good pony so far
    I'm glad princess Luna is getting involved and maybe the fleet is some back up that had been called for or that someone brought with them when they joined in? Also while the battle rages on outside whats going on inside? more panic and running? ponies trying to get other ponies out of the rubble? Or are they getting a defense mounted for when the shields go down to try and blow the ships sky high?
    Every new plot post gets me entertained and very involved each time a read a new one. good job Red Charge!

[Selenia]

Now I am one hundred percent sure that Red is reveling in making my feelings do 180's. 'Oh man Selenia's nearly dead but we've got great doctors so maybe not. No, wait, she's dead for real, No, wait, she's healing again because magic. No, wait, she's not actually healing and has gone full zombie.' One can only wonder what will happen next. If things go how I assume, Red will be forced to kill her. And that would suck. A lot.

Oh and about the battle... Let's just say Luna is terrifyingly powerful and I have no clue which side of the fleet battle is coming out on top because there's so much going on everywhere, just like a real naval fracas.

[Shadestride Scythe]

I'm enjoying it to say the least. I'm waiting on quite a few things to happen... such as Luna recovering and joining this Sky Titan or whatever in defeating Blackmane... if that's possible >>

I'm gonna go as far out on a limb as I can and say theres very little chance I see Selenia coming out of this alive. Which would suck because I have said before she's sort of like ... if this whole separate fiasco in Canterlot and plot Arc SHE is involved in she's like the character I enjoy the most. Mostly because she's the magic nut.

If she perishes... well then... Red really knows how to drag it out for disappointment.

I'd like to see more elaboration on the fleet battle... It's hard to go off the word "chaotic" every post... and that "Winning or Losing" is grand and all... but knowing how much of the fleets are destroyed, or maybe the condition of their formation, hull damages on the flagships... you know what I'ma sayin?

But I should focus on keeping my own character alive for the time being.

[Spring Tide]

The fleet magically blindsiding the Dreadtalons was interesting. And the Sky Titan joining battle with Blackmane was definitely exciting. I do enjoy it when characters get a chance to be big Dang heroes.
I think that the description of what is occurring in the battle could use a little elaboration. Airships are engaging in battle, explosions, boarding parties. The characters offering their perspective are engaged in combat, but a quick glance would offer a lot of information. I really enjoy big battles, and it's understandable if it is too chaotic to get a full grasp of what is occurring, but considering that Dreadtalon is a seasoned battle commander, it seems like he would have insight into the situation. It may be coming along with the reveal of the identity of the new fleet though...
As for Selenia's situation, I believe something good will come of her affliction. Perhaps she will be more powerful, but no doubt there will be a cost. Perhaps she will be tainted by the dark powers of chaos. Only time will tell what will become of such a promising young unicorn...

[Glide Heart]

I admit the reason I'm most interested in Selenia is her medical condition. It fascinates me to no end. I'm excited to see what happens to her and I don't want her to die. She is so involved and important if she dies we lose a major part of the plot. I'm also glad that the sky titan finally joined in for us!

[Selenia]

So I was right! Selenia did go full zombie, but in like a malevolent magic-posessed zombie thing..I guess? What the heck did she see in the ether? Better yet, is that what the ether at death actually looks like, where the poetic notion of 'peace and becoming one with harmony and the celestial energies' is actually a load of bologna? That could make sense, seeing as most of the ponies who get that far, that close to death, can't exactly tell others in the corporeal world about what they saw. I just hope this super powerful evil magic won't be the only thing keeping her together in the end, because then it'll be like cutting the strings of a puppet, straight dead and gone. When she woke up in the OR she could see with her own eyes, and I'm guessing her other senses work as well, so from what I'm getting, her consciousness is trapped in her body which she is in no control of right now. Gosh. That must be awfully terrifying, especially if a fight breaks out and all that the remaining Selenia can do is watch. I wonder what this looks like from her perspective, if she has one. AND lastly (phew), I'm wondering why she didn't viciously attack Red the instant he cracked the door, so maybe she still has some control of her actions... eeeh? I don't know, but yet again the plot thickens like cooling molasses. Im gonna chew my fingernails off before this thread ends, I know it.

Other than that, if Blackmane wasn't nutter-butter insane before, she definitely is now. Or should I direct that at her armor? Either way, I expect some lovely fireworks in the ensuing fight with Percheron. Best of luck to him. No matter how driven Luna is, I don't think she should partake in the duel. She needs to assist Tesla and command what forces she has left to mount an effective retaliation. And speaking of Tesla, I hope he's prepared for Dreadtalon's roc on the way. Screen his flagship with some frigates, maybe, at least while they're still ascending. Tesla's one of my favorite characters in all this, so Imma be super bummed if he gets popped before he can have any fun.

[Selenia]

Glad to see Tesla's not down for the count yet. Dreadtalon's got bigger things to worry about at the moment, but I have a sneaking feeling that not following up on smacking Tesla's fleet before it could reach the battle plane will bite him in the butt. Also Blackmane is really REALLY starting to scare me. I know I said she was crazy, but wow, she is like crazy crazy. Thumbs up to Percheron for being resourceful and finding a tactic where the previous Titan could not. Also, is it just a feature of both the sky titan and Blackmane armor that they can take repeated blows that concentrate the 'full force of a freight train' into a single hoof-sized area without bending or breaking or at least mulching the pony inside from the physical stress? At least Blackmane showed some reaction when she got clocked and the sheer force of direction change from the armor probably rent her inside-out.

As for Selenia, screw draining that malevolent entity's energy, Red seems perfectly content in boring it to death with story time while a war is raging right outside. Also, I may have read it wrong, but would that warlord Red's talking about be Sombra by any chance?

Edit: What with the edits to the plot post, Red's story is starting to sound suspiciously like the premise for a new quest, once all the current madness has settled down.