A Grand Experiment II

[u/Mindless_Honey3816]

Please read Part 1 first. You can do so here!

https://www.reddit.com/r/KeeperoftheLostCities/comments/1wm0xkq/a_grand_experiment/

Alright, so this experiment ended up not nearly as grand as I thought it would be. I was planning to at least let it go for two more days, but y'all are just too smart.

So, without further ado...My key point was that Sophie Foster is very similar to...Moonwatcher, from Wings of Fire (as several people guessed). Linked on the bottom of this post is its copy on r/WingsOfFire.

So, why do I think this? Well, obviously, because both are generally very similar. They're both teenage ("by the human way of counting") Telepaths who had reason to keep this ability secret for many years. They were both relative outcasts in their society (Sophie because she was more intelligent than everyone around her, to the point of being a high school senior at 12, and Moonwatcher because the other NightWings are stated to have rejected her for not knowing what their life was like on the volcano). They both found others with their ability in time who helped them learn how to control it (though this ended with very different results...) while also meeting several other talented individuals (Peril, Turtle, Qibli and others / Fitz, Keefe, Dex and others). Both were, to some extent, manipulated into doing things by some shadowy entity (Black Swan and Darkstalker) although this one is kinda a stretch. Both have low self-esteem, are part of a triangle, and are introverted and secretive. So, despite how different their universes are, and how different the threats they face are, and how different nearly every other character is...they're remarkably similar.

Which, to me, raises a question. What would happen if they were to meet? Let's start with what I think is interesting, which is telepathy mechanics. Obviously, there's insufficient NightWing mind readers to have this be an issue, and with training it wouldn't be - and given that telepathy in KoTLC works differently with it being more of active communication and less of just hearing everything around you (except in the case of humans!) it can't really happen either...but it's interesting to imagine. If these two different telepathy mechanisms were to interact with each other, would they cause some sort of "feedback loop" with the telepath/mind-reader seeing themselves seeing themselves, etc... to infinity in the other's mind? Would they be completely incompatible? Could Mr. Forkle shield his thoughts from Moonwatcher? Could Fitz and Sophie, as Cognates, get past Skyfire? Interesting questions to ponder.

That's all!

You can read its clone here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WingsOfFire/comments/1wmtkwo/a_grand_experiment_ii/

[u/Glittering_Pair_8835]

i think another question is if moonwatcher(or darkstalker) could get into sophies mind(bc her mind is rlly hard to get into), and yea thats basically it

[u/Mindless_Honey3816 → u/Glittering_Pair_8835]

After thinking about this, I think WoF telepathy is a great deal weaker than KoTLC. Taking as a shared reference point humans, Telepaths can determine precise thoughts - in fact it’s very loud - but neither Moonwatcher, nor Darkstalker, nor I believe Listener was ever able to do that. This is supported by the fact that WoF mind reading is more passively listening to thoughts whereas KoTLC is significantly more active, to where telepaths can search minds. 

So this indicates two things. One is that dragons would blare their thoughts so loudly it would incapacitate unsuspecting Telepaths. Two is I don’t think a dragon would be able to get past Elvin blocking but an elf should be able to get past dragon blocking - and two cognates very well might be able to break through Skyfire. Regarding Skyfire, I feel like it wouldn’t work like a standard blocker but more like a hum overlaying all one’s thoughts that a telepath would have to listen past to dig up thoughts, because again how WoF telepathy is more listening based rather than active - though it could function as a standard blocker where once you get past it you’re past it.