[The Tape Begins]
I have a lot to answer for. I know. I don't know how much has happened since I... left. But I'm sure that my disappearance turned out to be a lot more public than I originally intended it to be. Slipping off into the backwoods of New York was the only option I had, realistically speaking. Not to mention that all the times we had talked about it... Well, it wasn't hard for me to find the property. Out of the way. Quiet. You would've liked it.
You would've liked her, too. Twilight. She and I... we've been through a lot. I imagine you would've gotten along well with her. She's a natural with magic too, just like you, unlike me. The way she's grasped some of the stunts that I've pulled around her, it impressed me.
But I'm not calling to talk about new or old relationships. Actually, not the first one, but some of the second one, sorry.
I know that things between us didn't end... well. But I wanted to call you and give you the closure that we both deserve. I'm sick of blaming myself for everything The Company became in the end, and I'm sick of blaming you for what happened in Chicago and what you did. I understand, finally, what point you were driven to that caused you to do what you did.
I... I, uh... I reached a breaking point myself, not too long ago. It, uh, it wasn't pretty. Honestly, I'm amazed Twilight still--
Just hold on one minute!
Sorry, heh, she's really excited to finally look at my lab. I don't blame her, I'm amazed some of those experiments kept after all this time as well.
But, I'm getting off topic. I know how you felt, and maybe how you still feel. And... I miss you? I want to see you again, and I know that I might sound unsure about that, but that's because I totally am unsure about that. I said it earlier that I want closure, and I'm sure after all this time that you want it too. It's just... I don't know. Maybe it isn't worth it.
I just knew I had to call you, though. I know what comes next... and it's not pretty.
[Muffled sounds of speech are heard in the background.]
Yeah! I'll be there in a minute!
There isn't any time left, I'm afraid. I've, uh, run out of time, haha. God, I have so much more to say, but it's already too late. I need to go. And-- and I've known this the whole time, unfortunately, I knew I'd never see you again. It's just...
[A Sigh Distorts the Audio Momentarily]
--had to let you know that, when I came back. From as far away as the West Coast, too. I felt something, right away.
I felt you, Charlotte.
I'm sorry.
[The Tape Ends]
9227103
Nope. He's specifically referencing his own dreams, but includes a qualifier that this is not an uncommon occurrence for mages.
9227390
Exactly, we have 0 investment in this so when she just imediatly turns evil its just like... really? Thats the best you got?
"You cant do the thing."
"The fact that you wont let me do the thing makes me evil!"
Booooring.
9227390
9227473
There's more to it than that, especially if you pay attention to her interactions with a specific character. Though she tends to dismiss it almost without realizing it it's heavily hinted later that she has become aware of the influence and rats out the character's involvement. On a side note she believed she was near completion when they pulled the funding.
9229408
"Gear looked down at her hooves. "I-" she broke off. "I won't." She looked back up with fire in her eyes. "I'm not going to give up on it! I don't care what you have to say! I've spent too much time working on this to throw it away! You're not going to be able to stop me now, nopony will be able to!" She began to back up after picking up the bronze gauntlet. "Nopony will stand in my way! Not even the Princesses of Equestria!""
Read that and tell me that doesnt sound like the most cliche thing youve ever seen. She even says the old, you cant stop me, noone can! Thing. This happens within a single line of being told its canceled. Evil shouldnt just be a switch that gets turned on when something doesnt go your way. It should be naunced and the fact that the author seems to believe that a single bad thing is enough reasoning to make someone go from normal to evil, is incredibly disheartening.
Also your comment was so vague im not even entirely sure what it was you were trying to say, if it has spoilers just use spoiler text as it stands right now I'm not wholly sure what you even mean.
9229430
With all the tropes that now exist almost every villain sounds cliche until you get all the details. Honestly I didn't think I'd have to actually tell you Sandcroft is the influence. So much so that even when she decides to tell them she contradictally tries to cover it up until confronted about it despite her decision to ensure they know. Then there's the times she would say things in his presence against her will. Plus with the later reveal of how much he's manipulated things it seems almost blatant. Throw in the hindisght of looking at how fast she was able to complete things after she lost her funding. She was a lynchpin for all his machinations, and while he has/had a few others she was a key one for getting things rolling. My point being it looked obvious enough to me I didn't think I had to spell it out. I hate using spoilers because I usually prefer seeing people figure things out especially if they're not that far into a story as most will just click it anyway which ruins any 'Ahah!' moment they might've had otherwise from coming to the same or a similar conclusion even if if turns out to be wrong later.
9229479
Ya see you made one bad assumption, i stopped right there. The moment she said. "I wont let you stop me, noone can!" I dropped the entire story and never read further.
And no, not all villain dialogue is cliche. You cant just say. "There have been a million books written so now there are no cliches because everything is cliche." Thats not how this works. Also that line, is so cliche that it has become synonymous with villiany itself. Its so weak, forced, and utterly third grade that it becomes laughable in any work not intended for children.
This would be forgiveable but instead of going hay that person is now a villian lets keep an eye on her Celestia just lets her go, like the completely one dimmensional character she is. She cannot be intellegent, because the villian is not intellegent. And once a ton of characters have to act stupid for the plot to progress, well, then your going to end up with a stupid plot. Even if you acomplish what you want.
9234007
It's been a while since I looked at this and I frankly don't care enough to re-read ATM, but that excuse doesn't really fly for me. Goku was kind of a moron. It was just a character trait-- he was not actually very clever. Wizards are int-casters, intelligence is literally their thing in almost every setting (except Harry Potter, I guess). Moreover (and here my recollection is unclear), wasn't there substantial downtime? He had time to build a motorboat, iirc. Why would you legitimately put that much effort into a disposable vehicle when you can just fast-travel? It doesn't make sense to me, no matter how I look at it.