This is Part 2 of the discussion of Alicorn's Twilight fanfic Luminosity.
LATE BREAKING EDIT: Part 3 exists now, so new comment threads should be started there rather than here.
In the vein of the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion threads this is the place to discuss anything relating to Alicorn's Twilight fanfic Luminosity. The fanfic is also archived on Alicorn's own website.
Here is Part 1 of the discussion. Previous discussion is hidden so deeply within the first Methods of Rationality thread that it's difficult to find even if you already know it exists.
Similar to how Eliezer's fanfic popularizes material from his sequences Alicorn is using the insights from her Luminosity sequence.
The fic is really really good but there is a twist part way through that makes the fic even more worth reading than it already was, but that makes it hard to talk about because to even ask if someone is twist-aware with any specific hints is difficult. The twist is in the latter half of the story. If you are certainly not post-twist and want to save the surprise, then you should stop reading here and fall back to Part 1 discussion or to the fic itself.
If you think you're pretty sure you are post-twist and are safe to read the rest of this, try reading this rot13'ed hint and see if what you've read matches this high level description of the twist...
Rqjneq unf qvfpbirerq gur frperg gung Vfnoryyn jnf xrrcvat sebz uvz "sbe uvf bja tbbq" bhg bs srne bs Neb ernqvat Rqjneq'f zvaq. Va gur nsgrezngu, fbzrguvat unf punatrq nobhg gurve eryngvbafuvc gung znl unir pnhfrq lbh gb pel sbe n juvyr, naq juvpu znlor urycf gb rzbgvbanyyl qevir ubzr gur pbzovarq zrffntr bs YJ'f negvpyrf nobhg "fbzrguvat gb cebgrpg" naq "ernfba nf n zrzrgvp vzzhar qvfbeqre" naq gur jnl gurl pna fvzhygnarbhfyl nccyl gb crbcyr jub unir abguvat zber va gur jbeyq guna fbzr fvatyr crefba jub gurl ybir.
If the answer to the hint is obvious, then just to be sure that there is not a double illusion of transparency at work, here is the cutoff point spelled out explicitly:
Gur phgbss cbvag sbe cbfgvat urer vf gung lbh unir ernq hc gb puncgre svsgl svir (va gur snasvpgvba irefvba) be puncgre gjragl rvtug ba Nyvpbea'f jrofvgr jurer Rqjneq jnf cebonoyl vapvarengrq, Vfnoryyn fheivirf na nggrzcgrq vapvarengvba, naq fur unf gb ortha gb jbex bhg jung gb qb jvgu gur jerpxntr bs gur erfg bs ure "rgreany" yvsr.
Chapter 7.
I'm going to assume almost the whole chapter isn't meant to be in cursive font and that you made a typo somewhere there. I'm only going to write a few thoughts I had on the chapter. First off, Bella is hella quick to come up with very possible hypotheses on what the Volturi will do, how and why. I really hope she got away this time too, or at least survived. Now, if I understood this correctly (it was really confusing to be honest), then it seems to me that Elspeth is most likely in a cell with a witch who can make those around her ignore hers and maybe others' presence. Elspeth notices this person but seemingly decides she's of no importance at all, even though she certainly should be. Her mind probably went all over the place trying to ignore the stranger killing Carlo while also trying to figure out what was happening to him. He didn't know what was happening either even though he could most probably plainly see her feasting on his neck.
If the stranger has this witchcraft, then I wonder how the Volturi are keeping her captive, and captured her in the first place. It seems unlikely that they would have someone like Bella who can shield against such mental illusions or attacks. Perhaps the guard can counteract it if he knows she's there and focuses on her all the time from when he opens the door until he closes it. If that's the case, then Elspeth may be able to help her by taking his attention off of her.
I also noticed that it took quite some time for this stranger to attack Carlo; maybe she was 'vegetarian' or a newborn who tries her best to resist. If she's newborn it's quite possible she was captured by the Volturi to be changed, or was in the process of being transformed when captured and then forgotten or assumed to have somehow escaped when her witchcraft got a power boost with her change. This may explain why they put Elspeth in a cell with a vampire, but they may also just not have cared about the safety of their prisoners. If she's newborn maybe she is too confused to escape, and isn't aware of what she can do.
Elspeth also seems unhid, or else the guard, the stranger and Carlo are all hidden (and I don't believe that for a second), so if her hypothesis that Del can't unhide her because she'd copy Elspeth's gift before she can use Pera's, then we must assume the Volturi made Pera unhide her and most likely everyone else who didn't manage to avoid capture. Unless Pera died and her witchcraft was nullified of course.
It will be very interesting to see how Elspeth manages to escape together with this stranger who may be even better at hiding than even Pera. After all, what better way to hide than being able to stare those hunting you in the face only to find them walking past you, continuing the search. I wonder how that would work with Demetri. He'd probably breach whatever the range of her witchcraft is, proceed to ignore her presence and look under every stone in the area, knowing she's there somewhere, then inevitably stumble outside her range and try to figure out what in the hell just happened. Maybe he'd tip-toe in and out and eventually find the answer to if vampire's really can go crazy (not counting Jasper).
The most similar witch I can think of at the moment (it's 04:33 here so I'm rambling) is Renata, only the stranger is more powerful if she can project over an area or other people. From what I've gathered about Renata her witchcraft simply rejects anyone with an intention to harm those under her protection; they still know the target is there, they just can't attack it. The stranger seems to make you think you don't want anything to do with her when under her spell. You don't want to sense her or think about her, and you certainly don't have any intention to interact in any way with her. It's an extremely powerful self-preservation ability that also has the potential to make her very lonely. If Edward really isn't alive, then I demand that this girl become Bella's second mate!
Hmm. That ended up being more than a few thoughts...
EDIT: After reading this, I've decided that 'the stranger' has a nice ring to it. Please please please make her be a newborn with little to no memory of her human life. :)
I really liked the paragraphs describing "the stranger" -- I thought it was a nifty bit of writing.