- Member Since 13th Nov, 2023
- offline last seen Yesterday
Gormless Wheaton
Full of Regret and Thinly Veiled Contempt
Gormless Wheaton
Joined 13th Nov, 2023 ·
Offline
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- The Bricklayer · 47k words · 155 8 · 6.2k views
- Flammenwerfer · 149k words · 426 12 · 6.5k views
- Equestrian Defender · 12k words · 56 6 · 2.3k views
- Shady Steps · 69k words · 145 16 · 3.3k views
- Jade Dawn · 25k words · 78 15 · 2.4k views
- Thule117 · 42k words · 301 12 · 6.6k views
- Infinity Eternity · 1.9k words · 33 1 · 1.3k views
- Limbo Theorem · 96k words · 55 8 · 2.1k views
Join our SubscribeStar to remove these adverts!
Join our SubscribeStar to remove these adverts!
Stats
Page generated in 0.048 seconds
Total duration
973 users online
29,677 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Hell of a start. I think I know who he's going to visit. Not sure how old he was before but younger than 42 at least. Is it spoiler territory to ask how old Bedlam was in first fic?
11863801
He was 35 give or take a few months when he stabbed Twilight in the back. He was somewhere in his late twenties when he first appeared all together.
This is quite the interesting timeline we're getting insight into. Cyborg Tempest is something I didn't know I wanted to see before :P
I am kinda curious what things are like for the common folk in Bedlam's empire. It's clear that Bedlam is not a good guy, but I'm having a hard time determining where he is on the bad guy scale. If it weren't for Sandy the maid in the prologue, I'd assume that only Jury and Tempest are happy, but that interaction was tame. But she's also hired help, so probably not stupid enough to spit in his tea. And I can't take the existence of rebels as a clear sign of his evil because all large scale changes result in rebels of some form or another.
Huh. So a bit of a hint as to how things are going under Bedlam's rule. On the one hand, a somewhat brutal way to achieve "good" ends. In theory, Twilight has/had the longevity to take the better/more peaceful route the slow way. On the other hand, MLP Gen 5. Looking forward to more peeks at the state of the world.
Also. that bit of the end is the closest I've seen him treat Jury as his Snively. But given the present view, it would seem that relations between the two are still good?
11867311
With regards to Bedlam and Jury's relationship.
One of the fun aspects of Bedlam as a character was working out his view on ponies. Initially, he came to view them as just animals, with only one exception. Even Jury-rig he lumped in with the rest, calling them "little idiots." His view on Tempest and Jury for the longest time could be peeled back as an owner and his favorite pets.
But, unless I messed up somewhere, if Bedlam actually sees someone as a person, he never corrects them when they don't call him Bedlam.
In regards to last comment, I think I picked up a bit on his somewhat low view of ponies intelligence before his recruitment attempt of the Main 6, but perhaps not quite the extent. I'm gonna have to re-read the first one sometime soon with an eye for who he doesn't correct. I probably noticed at the time but drawing a blank right now.
Whatever his views were of Jury and Tempest before this point in time, I imagine he's had a wake up call. There's losing a battle, and then there's full route with very personal consequences. I hope those Kirin left the village afterwards, cause I imagine Bedlam will be back after Tempest is stable.
That whole interaction with Flurry is neat. Not knowing where your going with this story, or how you plan to end it, its fun to see the ways Bedlam has left his mark on the world for good, bad, and in-between. Even if Bedlam loses and gets stoned or locked away for life, the cat is out of the bag with his golems and technology. Assuming Flurry isn't a microcosm of equestrians using the tech for their entertainment, benefit, or curiosity, even if the princesses tried to ban it and try to return to pre-war status quo I suspect it would not go well.
Oh Rain Shine, that was not a smart move. Anything besides staying would have been better.
I was betting 50/50 that it wasn't Twilight that was the hacker. I'm still not sold that there isn't some wordplay in action. There's only really 1 or 2 others I would make a guess of. Besides them, there is certainly a wide hemisphere of potential actors, but the shown behavior of the hacker in the prologue leaves me thinking it has to be one of the core cast.
I was wondering if you were going to poke at the fact that for the princesses, this is really just a time game. Baring some move on his part, he won't last as long as them by a quite a bit. And besides (sort of) Flurry, I'm not really seeing a heir of any sort that would carry the flag forward with the sort of iron fist he's used to hold it together.
I have a guess or two about who that was he was messaging, can't wait to see if I'm on the mark or not.
That bit at the end. I read the prologue again just to remind myself of what the hacker was up to. If I'm thinking right, I did not expect them to be it. Given how they behaved and ended up in the first story... not sure its a good thing that they've spun themselves back up.
My goodness, this is quite the setup you have building up here. I didn't think you were going to pull in roboticization but here we are. And it's not even Bedlam that's planning it, although she certainly seems to reflect the most condensed version of his worst bits.
Every time I think I have an inkling of where your going to go, you throw me off. I can tell what Bedlam's short term goal probably is at this moment, but not even remotely certain what he will do when the situation is "under control" again.
11872939
Happy to bewilder and entertain.
The damnation of the mind
After so long trying to shape his forest into the perfect shape from the air, time for Bedlam to see the condition of the trees up close and personal. I can tell Ponyville is going to be a fun time.
Harrowing as his psyche suggests, he's acting with utter oblivious to his own advantage. That to he is the maker and any maker with a solid plan has a failsafe.
What a funny wrap around. Of all the ponies to bump into first, it would be diamond tiara. I made my comment about forest and trees somewhat jokingly, but he is way more disconnected than I thought. Looking forward to next chapter.
Another good peek at what Bedlam's goals are, including his blindspots. Seems like he's having all the normal problems bad
dictatorsmanagers have where there subordinates tell them what they want to hear, not what's going on. Kinda curious whether he'd actually act on his revelation that people are unhappy in his empire even when he's not in the room.Although at this rate they are all going to be converted before he gets a chance since everyone is too busy trying to kick him when he's down. Not surprising nor undeserved, but talk about awkward timing :P
On the one hand, credit to him for realizing he was an idiot for not polling specifically for happiness vs everything else. On the other, I'm not sure he's picked up on the fact that everyone not in his inner circle is very likely lying to keep him from burning down the neighborhood. Or he and Tempest are sharing a giggle at him planning to imprison people who aren't happy, but not really getting that vibe from this and previous few chapters?
Also, nice to see he picked up on who the pony was earlier.
...I'm kinda hopeful he maintains some form of control after the current crisis is over just so I can see what he does with his most recent revelations. Find out just how much he really plans to follow this idea of creating and maintaining a better world while being a jerk.
How this is going to end just simplified a few ways. Only question now is if bedlam gets an attempt at a last choice or final middle finger.
EDIT: Ah heck. I just had a thought on what "Heart of Glass" the title might be referring to. That and I've been stuck all day chewing on where this set of events could lead. You've got me anxious, man. Wherever you take this I'll have enjoyed the ride, but mixed with what I know of inspiration material there are some really unhappy or "happy" routes you could take this and I'm so terribly biased to happy endings.
So not the most unhappy ending I had feared, with bits of sort-of hope in it. Given the epilogue, would be curious to see if they have to pull him out earlier than ? years in the future. Also amusing since we have no idea if the Gen 5 future will be a thing here.
Its unfortunate he didn't have that little revelation about civilian happiness a year or two earlier, but oh well. Looking forward to a sequel if you decide to do one. Despite your worries at the end of the first story, you managed to keep me on the edge of my seat, especially towards the end.
11888208
Glad you enjoyed this one too, and followed along the whole way. Thanks for your support.
The third and final BEDLAM is already through outlining, so it will pop up soon.
11888220
It's easy to want to follow along. You have a core focus in your stories and you tell it well. Helps inject a certain amount of mystery as there are lots of moving parts completely outside of Bedlam's field of vision, and perhaps up till recently I think he was much more blind than he realized. There was a certain sort of tragedy to Jury and Tempest not knowing what Bedlam's own intent was right near the end.
Admittedly, that strong focus also causes my only quiet grumble which is that there are various little tidbits of world building and character development besides Bedlam that is never expanded on. Speaking of Jury Rig, for example: We never get a feel for why she was willing to follow along with Bedlam's descent into villainy beyond she was interested in his tech and personal attachment. Tempest needs little explanation as she went from Storm King to Bedlam. Then there were the various mentions of just how shit the world was outside of Equestria.
BIG EDIT:
And then there is the one big thing I keep waiting to get a little hint on and never do, even as you tap the glass on it a little bit in this story. The ponies kept referring to him as Bedlam in the beginning. Easy to dismiss as coincidence. Then the first time that Bedlam feels a Dance/Singing fit come on, its when he cracks and goes villainous. And then in this story you make specific references to harmony energy levels and whatnot. That mixed with the singing thing being tied to Harmony... not to take any agency away from Bedlam, but I've often pondered if him popping up in Equestria (and to some extent being villainous) was entirely as random as claimed... but I'm probably just being crazy :P.
But as noted, that's a quiet grumble. It's really apparent that that stuff are meant more as subtle flavors. The real character focus is Bedlam, and to a small extent Twilight.
I'm happy to hear a sequel is in progress. I'm really curious to see if Bedlam wakes up in Gen5 land. Beyond the obvious gut punch of everyone he knew and cared about being long gone in most scenarios I can think of, Gen 5 has the implicit appearance of Twilight being ?dead? so an extra gut punch for him to deal with in such a situation.
For time is the greatest gift in youth
The harshest torture in aged
If time is removed for endless, immemorial suffering lasting.
Evoke a primordial fear... To be alone for all time
Those same remind of those cherished and, equally regretful times.
This is an unknown conclusion.
That I fear most... Unknown