Vox Mentis Discussion

Hi! This is the discussion thread for Vox Mentis, if you folks want to talk about any of the goings-on in the story, overall plot, lore, etc.

I should disclose that the overarching plot for Vox Mentis is pretty well set in stone; in fact, I basically have the final paragraphs/scene written, background info for all characters and groups are finalized, etc. Not to say that suggestions in the story thread aren't important! The destination may be known, but the road there has many forks, and it is you, dear readers, who are doing the navigating. Basically don't worry about your discussion influencing the overall plot much. I already know the answers to all the mysteries going on, and changing them now would be a bad idea for continuity because it's already tough enough keeping everything that's going on straight in my head!

Also, I will neither confirm or deny any speculation on unknowns in the story. I don't want to spoil anything! I guess think of this like a TV show discussion thread? I fuckin loved speculating about all the mysteries of the island on Lost discussion threads with other fans of the show while that was going on.

Anyway, yeah. Feel free to use this thread for Vox Mentis story discussion, if you so desire! As always, thanks so much for reading.

What's up with the whole star-in-the-eye thing with (presumably) Virginia? I didn't really get it reading it through. Also the adventure itself is definitely novel worthy, you're extremely talented.

Hey thanks Zephyr! The star-in-the-eye thing hasn't been touched on since I mentioned it, but it will definitely be talked about further in the future.

somebody said a couple days ago that they liked elise parts more because nothing happens in nick parts.

ha

hahaha

@ me next time fucker

Speculation time!

It pretty much looks like that Elise is Woolf, but do you think Nick is Douglas? Douglas living in a house without furniture or decorations reminds me of the same bareness Nick has in his life, and it would tie up the plotlines neatly.

if Nick is a self-insert I'm gonna be equal parts ticked off, impressed, and weirded out as to how you, tronn, managed to find out about Douglas' living situation

Whoops haha meant Danny the paramedic.

I certainly think so.
What I'm finding odd is that the word was spoken inside the Emergency room. It's fairly likely that this means that she said it in the presence of Danny. But this makes no sense to me just yet--she holds pride over not saying any gutturals to him. What would have caused her to decide to throw that away so violently?

Perhaps he answered "no" when asked whether he loved her? Maybe he dated someone else? Maybe she came back to cut off any ties with him, and was shocked to find that she was no longer a part of his life?

I think we're still missing puzzle pieces. Elise is cautious, even calculating person and while her temper sometimes flares up she's not murderous. There's some yet unseen experience separating Elise then and Woolf now.

I'm starting to think is that this is where Elise gets the word used in Broken Hill.

Akumu - Today at 1:39 PM
What's up with towers
It's just the sky up there my dudes

There's still a piece missing. In current time Woolf is buddy-buddy with the Poets, but we've seen that they're ruthless about killing their live test subjects. Something is different, this time.

I was expecting some sort of instant radiation burst, not this.

You know, I'm still having trouble accepting that Nick is Danny, almost entirely because I always imagined Nick as very skinny and Danny as pretty muscular.

If Nick is Danny who is immune to suggestion, how the heck was <unknown> able to make them forget?

I was looking back and I remember Eliot specifically said he didn't think the forgetting was word-related, for pretty much that reason. He didn't advance a particular theory, though.

I wonder if there's any significance to the fact that the word is written on wood? Until Danny saw it, we were only told it was on something sharp.

What would happen if the person you're trying to compromise didn't understand English language? Wouldn't that render them effectively immune to your powers if they can't understand the orders you're trying to give to them? In fact, maybe that's why Danny is immune, his native tongue isn't English so none of the attention or command words work on him.

The Bareword should be universal though. And I think the others are probably too (or at least not limited to only English, if not completely universal) because they were based on how they sounded; Elise figured out that certain sets were susceptible to alliteration, certain consonants, etc.

Even if they couldn't understand the commands you gave them after using a word, they would still be in the same state of susceptibility/attention/whatever.

One mystery, at least

Eliot's going to be so mad if he lasts long enough for the syndesis to wear off.

I'm not sure if it's even really affecting him, at least the way it's supposed to. Looks like he's sort of resisting it.

Vox Mentis is finally done! Over several years (with a two year break in the middle) it's over. I hope you all enjoyed the journey. Thank you all so much for reading - I would find it hard to keep up the motivation to keep writing if it wasn't for you.

Any questions you still have hanging, I can now answer, if you want!

Thank you for the read, it was a rollercoaster thriller from beginning to end!

What evil masterplan Thoreau meant to use the bareword for?

What evil masterplan Thoreau meant to use the bareword for?

When Thoreau acquired the bareword, he was struck by the impermanence of everything his life was built around. The Organization's knowledge meant nothing in the face of this thing that could circumvent all their rules. So he found meaning in permanently altering the world in such a way that nothing could erase it: "building a tower". In order to do this, he would need to get people to serve him. The bareword was a convenient means to that end.