Okay, that I did not know. Wow.
Panopticon: A Game of Posthumans, Perniciousness, Paranoia, Politics, and Plasmaguns
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
What does that actually mean though?
- Location
- in the trash
[X] "You're not so different. It'll be a coinflip, you versus her.": Entropy 4->5
[X] "Every moment is a fight for survival, no matter what happens.": Time 3->4 (Revelations)
"You leave her alone for ten minutes, and when you come back she's left a dead body on the floor and expects you to clean it up."
More proof that Jamelia is secretly a cat.
[X] "Every moment is a fight for survival, no matter what happens.": Time 3->4 (Revelations)
"You leave her alone for ten minutes, and when you come back she's left a dead body on the floor and expects you to clean it up."
More proof that Jamelia is secretly a cat.
trufax Jamelia has a tendency for cat ears to appear when suffering Paradox backlashes, Komi-san-style.
That's why she's so neurotic about avoiding Paradox. She finds the cat ears to be mortifying.
- Location
- in the trash
Isn't that what her hijab is for? To cover up the cat ears?
Paradox is malicious. You think some cloth is going to stop cat ears making themselves visible?
- Location
- in the trash
So what you're saying is that Paradox will conspire to make it such that her clothing will fail her at inopportune moments, possibly due to suspiciously timed gusts of wind.
Except instead of targeting her skirt (largely because Jamelia wears pants), they go after her headwear instead.
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Spear
Sun-In-Rags
- Location
- North Macedonia
[x] "You're not so different. It'll be a coinflip, you versus her.": Entropy 4->5
[x] "Every moment is a fight for survival, no matter what happens.": Time 3->4 (Revelations)
Jams jammed a gun and made jam out of a man's insides. I don't think I've mentioned winter preserves enough times.
[x] "Every moment is a fight for survival, no matter what happens.": Time 3->4 (Revelations)
Jams jammed a gun and made jam out of a man's insides. I don't think I've mentioned winter preserves enough times.
Well damn. 
I've been interested in and looking forward to seeing Winston Kingsley finally, finally appear in the story (was wondering about the "The Ballad of the Green Berets" interlude that was going to happen -- is this that interlude, or was that going to be something else, or did it get superseded by this one instead?) and...
When it does happen, it doesn't go at all how I wanted.
It seems like elements of Helmetshrike show up in the story only for the purpose of concluding and putting an end to that period of history. Like they're already-finished stories, and are just finally ending and wrapping up. Rather than ones we can really explore much. (Part of that might be because the story itself is old by now.)
I suppose, in a sense, this sort of thing builds up heat for Ms. Clock and shows her as a threat... and yet, and yet, I still wanted to see more of Kingsley, rather than the shadow of Ms. Clock.
I wonder what's going to happen with Alice Aristide then. (And, heck, for that matter... what exactly was the mission/message Augustine Aleph sent her on to find Jamelia with? Is it a recruitment offer by proxy? Was it an intent to reunite her with Jamelia? Was it just to pass on a message to Jamelia?)
Also:
Overwatch reference, eh? Heh heh.
I've been interested in and looking forward to seeing Winston Kingsley finally, finally appear in the story (was wondering about the "The Ballad of the Green Berets" interlude that was going to happen -- is this that interlude, or was that going to be something else, or did it get superseded by this one instead?) and...
When it does happen, it doesn't go at all how I wanted.
It seems like elements of Helmetshrike show up in the story only for the purpose of concluding and putting an end to that period of history. Like they're already-finished stories, and are just finally ending and wrapping up. Rather than ones we can really explore much. (Part of that might be because the story itself is old by now.)
I suppose, in a sense, this sort of thing builds up heat for Ms. Clock and shows her as a threat... and yet, and yet, I still wanted to see more of Kingsley, rather than the shadow of Ms. Clock.
I wonder what's going to happen with Alice Aristide then. (And, heck, for that matter... what exactly was the mission/message Augustine Aleph sent her on to find Jamelia with? Is it a recruitment offer by proxy? Was it an intent to reunite her with Jamelia? Was it just to pass on a message to Jamelia?)
Also:
Pffffft!
Overwatch reference, eh? Heh heh.
Pffffft!
Ah but you see the cleverness here is that Overwatch is also an eye-themed name. In other words, Winston is referencing his existence in Overwatch-which is a perfectly valid name for the assassins of the Eye.
This is foreshadowing masquerading as an injoke.
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Yep yep, I remembered exactly that.
Wait does this mean that the Abjad would be Overwatch?
I think they will be banned from taking any more sight-based names. Invoking the Eye just seems to end badly.
The original joke popped up 2 years ago (and then later on just this November!) and I still remembered that from long ago.
So seeing a more humorous reference to it was... well, humorous.
Aleph
Princess of Stabbity
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Honestly, there's something very Dark Souls-y about PQ in general - not even just the stuff on-screen, but also the focus it gives to how 1999 reset the board. The ancient masters of the Traditions like Senex, the surviving ones like Christos, the terrible lingering force that is Control, the old sins of the Technocracy like Vigilance and HELMETSHRIKE. The remnant-legend of Cemal, the mythic Dragon of the far Umbra, Augustine Aleph and Avalon, Reina Lior and her complicated, tragic history. Even Nichols, after a fashion.Well damn.
I've been interested in and looking forward to seeing Winston Kingsley finally, finally appear in the story (was wondering about the "The Ballad of the Green Berets" interlude that was going to happen -- is this that interlude, or was that going to be something else, or did it get superseded by this one instead?) and...
When it does happen, it doesn't go at all how I wanted.
It seems like elements of Helmetshrike show up in the story only for the purpose of concluding and putting an end to that period of history. Like they're already-finished stories, and are just finally ending and wrapping up. Rather than ones we can really explore much. (Part of that might be because the story itself is old by now.)
Almost all of the ancient, experienced things or beings we've encountered; we've met and interacted with them in ways whose themes focus on culling and killing off and ending the ancient threads of the past. Clearing the playing field for a new future untainted by any past influence still clinging to the pieces. It feels very much like Dark Souls, where you go through all of these ancient gods who were there at the beginning of the now-decaying world and kill them each in turn; putting an end to their legends and taking their lord-souls to make a new era.
If there's one theme PQ leans really, really hard on, it's "learn from the past, but don't cling to it". And in that light, Winston was never going to survive it. Any more than Harlan will. Or Kessler, who's become a new man for a new age and cast off almost all that he was. I suspect, to be honest, that Jamelia isn't likely to walk away from this story in the end. Either of her.
This isn't a world for old relics of the Ascension War. It's the new generation - Donald and Henriette and Rose - who'll write the next act of history. She just has to make sure they get the chance to do so.
meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Well, the thing about winning a coinflip is...
That you have to just cheat more and better than the other side does.
[X] "You're not so different. It'll be a coinflip, you versus her.": Entropy 4->5
[X] "Every moment is a fight for survival, no matter what happens.": Time 3->4 (Revelations)
And yeah, the update itself was awesome. Especially the way that it left at least me guessing after Harlan got bad psychic vibes, unsure if Winston had sided with Ms. Clock or if she was going to crash the party with MAXIMUM ASSETS, THROW EVERYTHING IN to wipe out three major threats and traitors who had gone against Control. It has also left me anxiously waiting for the last updates, eager but also afraid to see how things will ultimately turn out.
I mean people say this but Jamelia has gotten into sticky situations multiple times because she confused straightforwardness with stupidity. And the last bits with Rose and Piero are in part about how brute force and immediate, violent action should not be confused with a lack of intellect or cunning.
Also one of her favorite ways to deal with people has been car bombs. Which Forces 4 would allow her to turn anyone's car into.
So it's not out of theme. Whether you think you'd get enough use out of it compared to say, Time 4 and its ability to just buy you literally infinite time to think with Time 4/Mind 1 or Entropy 5 and its ability to reinforce or destroy platonic concepts is up to you.
Also I think people are underselling Mind 4 a bit. Ms. Clock has, as I said, Mind 5-but Jamelia has Enlightenment 6 and therefore they'd have similar dice pools. Being able to do complex mind control or rip it out of someone is also very potent.
And of course there's conjunctional sphere use.
On the other hand Jamelia, just like Kessler, grew the most over the time of the quest, compared to any of the old guard.
They rejected remaining in the past and have embraced change.
So I am still hopeful that they have earned a place in the future they are helping to shape.
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Sirrocco
Pedantic
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I can see that... but the new generation need their own old guard, and Jamelia in particular has cast off a great many things and been reforged repeatedly. Clock... it'll depend. I agree that she cannot survive as she is in the world to come. Threat Null's ability to influence the Earth is shattering, and once it's gone, the her that she is is just a traitor to humanity. Whether she'll change or die is... an interesting one. If there's one theme PQ leans really, really hard on, it's "What will you sacrifice?" It'll be interesting to see what her answer winds up being.
Side note: I admit that I am also kind of curious about what happens to the rescued Serafina-clone, long-term.
I suspect Serafina will set her up with the husbando the Ajhab had made for her.
Both as freedom from having to be constantly around Mages when the clone remembers being a Mage herself, and because its a sweet gig improving the world.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
@EarthScorpion
I wanted to ask, do you have some intention of writing up a post-results analysis for Janicequest, as you did for Serafinaquest?
I wanted to ask, do you have some intention of writing up a post-results analysis for Janicequest, as you did for Serafinaquest?
meianmaru
The Devourer of Fiction
Hmmm. I want to take a look at least one of the alternative combinations, as there isn't much discussion going on about them. Even if the current winning combination that I voted for is one that I like quite much.
And having a prefered tool or a weapon is for fools. Because while Jams can iddly speculate that having a straightforward option always available as a solution can breed linear approach to problems, so can not having one lead to one developing a habit of seeing brute force as the last and least optimal solution (as our QM pointed out). Even if it is true most of the time, it isn't always the truth.
On the more mechanical side: From what I've managed to understand from a wiki page, Corr 4 doesn't only allow for Co-location. It also makes possible to make permanent Gates (not sure how valuable for Jamelia currently...), and allows for Warding. Which can be used for example, if I've understood it correctly, isolating a person from the surrounding area. Which Winston might have done before the fight, in the hindsight.
And the combined lesson are narratively compelling for me too. It talks about Jamelia taking up part of the ideology that was maybe the most central for Winston, about how the whole existence is one giant battlefield, and the use of a method that came closer to killing than her anything in this quest so far- (looks back about how often Jamelia has been hanging by the thread). Okay, rises probably into the top three moments Jamelia has been in mortal danger. But my point still stands.
Jamelia's Spheres would be as follows if these are chosen.
Find a point of weakness in your target. Select a fitting chisel for the job. Place your tool into the correct position. Lastly, apply a strike with an appropriately sized hammer. The largest one available, if you have to. Really, Jamelia will still prefer to take the subtle subversive subterfuge -option whenever she can, even if we take these Sphere's for her to advance in. But sometimes the optimal solution to getting through a labyrinth is blowing up a straight line through its walls with C4. And having more tools in her toolbox will make Jamelia even harder to pin down or stop, because if one of her tools isn't working, she can just switch to an another that the enemy is less prepared to counter.
And having a prefered tool or a weapon is for fools. Because while Jams can iddly speculate that having a straightforward option always available as a solution can breed linear approach to problems, so can not having one lead to one developing a habit of seeing brute force as the last and least optimal solution (as our QM pointed out). Even if it is true most of the time, it isn't always the truth.
On the more mechanical side: From what I've managed to understand from a wiki page, Corr 4 doesn't only allow for Co-location. It also makes possible to make permanent Gates (not sure how valuable for Jamelia currently...), and allows for Warding. Which can be used for example, if I've understood it correctly, isolating a person from the surrounding area. Which Winston might have done before the fight, in the hindsight.
And the combined lesson are narratively compelling for me too. It talks about Jamelia taking up part of the ideology that was maybe the most central for Winston, about how the whole existence is one giant battlefield, and the use of a method that came closer to killing than her anything in this quest so far- (looks back about how often Jamelia has been hanging by the thread). Okay, rises probably into the top three moments Jamelia has been in mortal danger. But my point still stands.
Jamelia's Spheres would be as follows if these are chosen.