Just realized that Gully AND Lily are currently going to G's studio. Welt will see what he paid for and what he missed out on. Lily will see what (she thinks) may happen to G. Gully will have first seats to Broken Hills live (feat. Welt). And G will have the day of her life by making an entire new wardrobe that may or may not include barbarian chic (probably not).
Worse actually. It's basically a Disney Princess style song with lyrics about "clearing cave-ins" or "caving in skulls".
Peppered with Nishio Ishin style puns all over the place.
Gully's never going to escape the commentariat's insinuations about her status especially when knowledge of her having a transformation sequence gets leaked.
If she can get Apeiron to make her transformation point be "forgettable", nobody will ever know she's got a changer form. She'll just be thought of as "leaving", while her other form "arrives".
If she can get Apeiron to make her transformation point be "forgettable", nobody will ever know she's got a changer form. She'll just be thought of as "leaving", while her other form "arrives".
If the transformation sequence has the forgettable bit, plus sparkles, twirling with poses and glowing ribbons transforming into leotards, she's literally never going to escape Sailor Senshi allegations...
Just realized that Gully AND Lily are currently going to G's studio. Welt will see what he paid for and what he missed out on. Lily will see what (she thinks) may happen to G. Gully will have first seats to Broken Hills live (feat. Welt). And G will have the day of her life by making an entire new wardrobe that may or may not include barbarian chic (probably not).
Worse actually. It's basically a Disney Princess style song with lyrics about "clearing cave-ins" or "caving in skulls".
Peppered with Nishio Ishin style puns all over the place.
If the transformation sequence has the forgettable bit, plus sparkles, twirling with poses and glowing ribbons transforming into leotards, she's literally never going to escape Sailor Senshi allegations...
A Disney princess X Sailor Moon hybrid sounds amazing, honestly.
My mental image is of Sailor Saturn for her 4'11" lithe form and a Miss Universe competitor slash Amazon wearing Jupiter's outfit in earth tones (maybe brown instead of white for the Jupiter seifuku, keeping the green highlights?) but now I'm putting her in a princess dress stuffed into a pair of overalls for her civilian form. Maybe big into gardening as a hobby?
Okay, cliff notes first. Shovel has a link to the Workshop, so you can call in if you have any questions or get in any trouble. It is mostly focused on regulation, but there's a level of enhancement to your earth abilities, mostly just from the ability to generate rock from the Dust source. Your current outfit shifts when you change size, but you can store different outfits for both forms. With the focus it's more of an instant transformation than actual growth, at least from an outside perspective."
Unrelated to Magical Girl Gully-chan, does anyone else half expect Garment to insist on going with Joe to meet his dad? She can go out in the biker leathers again to stay "anonymous" too. Not just because the man's reaction to the "friend" Joe was "helping" being a) real and b) a friggen cape would be hilarious either.
I think the living active sections of her shared used the connection initiated and maintained by Apeiron, utilized it's existing data, and rebonded to the host in what was effectively a second trigger.
However, Apeiron facilitated the connection and was talking with the shard directly. He bonked it on the head and gave it a perfect impression of a human body, it then filtered it through Gully's desires.
Gully is now a swan because Apeiron allowed her shard to little-engine-that-could its way to HALPING, and probably ended up with a stylistic bandpass filter between gully and the shard too.
Joe was annoyed by the resulting aesthetics, and given Gully's body image issues, it's probably her original body+ultra edition. But Joe is terrible at judging human level beauty, as based on Survey's creation.
I think the living active sections of her shared used the connection initiated and maintained by Apeiron, utilized it's existing data, and rebonded to the host in what was effectively a second trigger.
However, Apeiron facilitated the connection and was talking with the shard directly. He bonked it on the head and gave it a perfect impression of a human body, it then filtered it through Gully's desires.
Gully is now a swan because Apeiron allowed her shard to little-engine-that-could its way to HALPING, and probably ended up with a stylistic bandpass filter between gully and the shard too.
Joe was annoyed by the resulting aesthetics, and given Gully's body image issues, it's probably her original body+ultra edition. But Joe is terrible at judging human level beauty, as based on Survey's creation.
WoG (there's been a lot this week!) is that Gully's living shard didn't just get a new strong connection, it also got a lot of free energy from the Call Gem used.
So basically her original/living shard was like "FINALLY!"
It restored her body to the original state, either the shard or Joe aged her up by 4-5 years, and then it set about doing the trigger all over again. This was helped by there being quite a bit of Balance in the formula she was given.
Apeiron was like "Woah woah woah no! Don't do that!" when it came to her proportions, and the Shard was like "A) I've been waiting for this for ages B) Me and my host agree that this looks good, I don't care what you have to say."
What all happened to the "dead" shard bits anyway? Did the living one reawaken them? Absorb them? Yeet them into the(ir local) sun? There was that line about activating ancient protocols so I was thinking the most ancient things the shards used to do was fight and eat each other.
On a side note, I think the celestial forge needs a new member for the upcoming S9 arc...Oh and idk maybe a badass lady like Changer/Brute/Mover/Shaker combo like say Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3 lol that Infernal Engine of hers against Burnscar would be glorious.
On a side note, I think the celestial forge needs a new member for the upcoming S9 arc...Oh and idk maybe a badass lady like Changer/Brute/Mover/Shaker combo like say Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3 lol that Infernal Engine of hers against Burnscar would be glorious.
Actually, if there is an arc, it will be about the world-wide reactions and consequences of the Forge actions. And it will probably be combined with the news they can reliably cure case 53.
Especially if they start travelling across all the continent to reverse the S9 damage. This will escalate their position from the "crazily powerful tinker in that crazily dangerous town" to "a potential S class that could be at my doorstep under a second, which makes him my problem now".
Unrelated, now that Joe has a near complete understanding of how shards/snarks/agents work, I'm suddenly interested to know what he would think of Maul!Taylor's multiple shared full connections with no piggybacking, and/or the way the fully combined passenger works after Scion fixed it.
In general terms, anything that shows up in more than a few chapters could be considered an Arc.
Joe's, and everyone else involved, plotting and planning on "handling" the S9 does qualify, even if the final takedown is gonna be relatively easy for them. Cleanup will take a bit of work, but overall, it's not gonna be hard for 'em, just tedious. Collecting on the bounty will be a nice bonus, except he'll have to go to Boston to get it. There's no chance in hell that ENE PRT will pay up, those bridges have been well and truly torched at this point.
The S9 takedown will cause yet another boost to the power ratings of his team. At some point the PRT is going to rate them as "Insanely Dangerous: yes" and forget the individual ratings since they don't make a lick of sense to try and quantify anymore.
Apeiron did an Apeiron. AGAIN. He and his team started giving what was, as far as we are informed, free medical help to every Case 53 in the country. We need to see to it ASAP.
Oh, and he killed every member of the Slaughterhouse 9, I guess.
Apeiron did an Apeiron. AGAIN. He and his team started giving what was, as far as we are informed, free medical help to every Case 53 in the country. We need to see to it ASAP.
Oh, and he killed every member of the Slaughterhouse 9, I guess.
I get where you're coming from. I consider them as plot threads or story threads. They're woven through lots of chapters until they're resolved or de-prioritized. To stretch the metaphor further, this story is pretty dense with active threads, with only a few that are hanging unresolved and not recently addressed. I'm pretty confident in LordR's skills at resolving them eventually though. Some examples off the dome, big and small:
Case 53 to 69 conversion
Elite branch cleansing and conversion of assets
Leets big game grid project
Victor's alchemy
Butcher's newly empowered hero minds
S9 unwinding
March's plotting... something
Piggot getting canned or flames out over something
Someone's going to trigger or second trigger while Joe is around which will give various insights and answers
Coil being a bastard and the Travelers
Lisa freaking out for no reason about the above
Taylor's story and issues
Brian and Aisha are siblings?!?
Alec is all screwed up now
Armsmaster the cyborg's new role
Dragon's nature as an AI and triggered response, also the Dragon Slayers are there too
So many Heretical Adaptations in progress...
National PRT disaster response crew
Joe and Crystal date
Gully and Techton dinner/date
Strife within the Teeth
The Empire getting ganked and Damsel is here also
The Merchants getting taken down
Blasto, poison apple and the kids have wacky adventures in BB
😍Accord😍
G.E.C.K. does WHAT?!?
The Matrix, business collector
Titans are still popping out in the workshop every day
The Kerbals are big mad about Ziz
Apeiron still doesn't know who the big bad is
Joe's family is mostly awful, but there's movement
That's what I could remember now, but I know there's more floating out there.
I think March's big plot is to try and duplicate what Joe is doing casually with Call Gems and the Final Fontier - specifically do a controlled re-trigger. Only I think she wants to get all of her cluster's powers at full strength, not a primary and two secondaries. Except I'm pretty sure Flechette's shiny new nanite array is going to accidentally interfere with that by making it functionally impossible to remove her connection to the cluster thanks to atemporal restoration.
I think March's big plot is to try and duplicate what Joe is doing casually with Call Gems and the Final Fontier - specifically do a controlled re-trigger. Only I think she wants to get all of her cluster's powers at full strength, not a primary and two secondaries. Except I'm pretty sure Flechette's shiny new nanite array is going to accidentally interfere with that by making it functionally impossible to remove her connection to the cluster thanks to atemporal restoration.
Bro created two self aware AI's, with OP powers so it wouldn't be far fetched for him to create a new one while experimenting with the powers and knowledge about powers that he has gotten since the last time he created Fleet and Survey. Wouldn't put it past his duplicates to randomly start experimenting and create their own version of Karlach with powers similar using Newters form as a base. And i said "Like" karlach not karlach herself.
Parautilitarian (0CP)
You are now a 'parautilitarian', a person with sufficient mental power to be able to link to Objects of Power and utilize their abilities. Even without linking, you will gain a vague empathic sense for the emotions of those around you, and strong but unfocused telekinetics, which can mainly be used to execute a force telekinetic shove or push. Your main ability will be the ability to link to Objects of Power, forming a connection that can allow you to borrow their abilities, which can range from levitation to mind control and more. In future Jumps, objects with strong supernatural powers or links to the combined human subconscious can be treated as Objects of Power and bound for abilities as well. Upon binding an object, you can be transported to a temporary mental space, where you can go through a brief 'tutorial' on how to use the object's power.
Altered Item Creation (Control) (600CP)
You have managed to gain one of the greatest secrets that the FBC has been searching after for decades, if not centuries. The method by which Altered Items can be created, and how they can be transformed into Objects of Power. You can construct a ritual, a blending of technology and mysticism that will take an object, and focus belief and thought about the object onto it, bathing it in raw paranatural resonance. Eventually, the item will transform into a true Altered Item, with a strange power somehow linked to its nature and the ideas that people have about it. A postage stamp could gain the capacity to 'send' ideas into the heads of those nearby. A traffic cone would give those who approach it a looming sense of danger. A clothes hanger might gain the capacity to cause items to vanish into a 'storage space'. Once an item has been 'Altered', you will then need to take steps to link it to the Astral Plane, forming a channel between the object and the collective unconscious. This is a delicate process that can destroy the object if you are not careful, but once complete, a parautilitarian or similarly psychically empowered individual can connect to the object and borrow its power, gaining some skill such as Telepathy, Danger Sense, or Storage. To start with, it would likely take several weeks of effort to make a single item, but as you explore the process, you can discover shortcuts and improved methods to speed up the process. Altered Items and Objects of Power you create are immune to corruption by the Hiss or similar powers, and while anyone with psychic power can bond with them, you are able to purge bonds you disapprove of, as well as storing them in a space like your Warehouse and still accessing their power.
Ahti (Control) (0CP)
Ahti, the Janitor of the Oldest House, has chosen to accompany you as part of his vacation. Technically, you could have him accompany you for free, in which case he will simply appear in future Worlds that you visit, but won't aid you in any way.
The Janitor
I smiled as the portal closed behind Gully, taking her back to where she'd been. It felt good to help others. It wasn't like visiting the gym, but helping her had restored my store of spiritual power nonetheless.
I felt the Knowledge constellation approach, a large blazing mote detaching and slamming into me.
There was a depth to the world that most eyes could not see.
I had studied the theory, had learned the rituals, but that was all intellectual. It was only thanks to my other Psionic powers, only thanks to Synchronicity Event, that I could truly feel what suddenly having a connection to the collective unconscious felt like.
Even the Warp felt shallow before the depth of the Astral that I could now reach.
I could see the way it twisted, paranatural power lapping at objects with every observation. I knew exactly how to reinforce that effect, how to create a critical mass that could take on unnatural properties. How to connect that impossibility to the Astral Realm, strengthening those properties and allowing individuals with a connection - Parautilitarians, like I now was - to wield them to greater effect.
But I could barely dwell on any of that, because the Forge had also given me another person, a Companion that wasn't quite a Companion, as a minor mote. But he hadn't appeared in a locker. I could sense his exact location, and everything in my head was screaming that something was about to go horribly wrong.
I opened another portal and stepped into the Prismatic Laboratory.
An old Finnish man in a janitor's uniform stood, inspecting one of the Violant distilleries with a vaguely disgusted look on his face.
My duplicates entered through portals of their own, drawn by the same senses.
He was subtle, I had to give him that, but I could still feel him. He was vast and deep.
He turned briefly to face me, glanced at my duplicates, and then turned back, walking towards the Gantweave powerloom. He flicked the fabric, and then tutted and shook his head.
"Hello, Ahti." I started, but I got no response. He had headphones on, but that wouldn't matter to someone like him.
He turned suddenly towards Aisha, who'd just arrived, and started walking towards her.
I stepped forward, blocking his path, only to be unceremoniously pushed aside.
"Uh, Joe?" Aisha asked, as Ahti just frowned while looking at- he was looking at Ren. He was looking through Beria and Thandamar and looking at the diamonds that had captured those impossible colors.
Finally, he turned to me and spoke "Assistant, this your mess. You clean up, ok? I'm on vacation."
And with that, he left the building, shaking his head.
"...Who was that?" Aisha asked, the tension in her body slowly releasing.
"The Janitor." my first duplicate smiled "His name is Ahti."
"He's just here for a vacation, though." the second added "Also, he's a psionic god."
Aisha blinked "...You know, your power is some real bullshit sometimes."
