Lazurman
This is fine.
- Location
- Classified
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So, @LordRoustabout, what made you decide on the name Tybalt? Ya got a little Palico of your own in your MH game~?
Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)
- Thread starter LordRoustabout
- Start date
- Location
- Right Where I Am
I've only read the very beginning of Percy Jackson, but the latter is perfectly in character for Ares in mythology. His surviving portrayal might not be that flattering in most cases, but he did care about his kids. He was quite possibly the most loving and involved parent on Olympus.
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Earth-Bet’s Wildest Heroes (Zakara)
Zakara
Semi-Found Cat
- Location
- Chaldea, Bleached Airspace
Earth-Bet's Wildest Heroes
=======================
Aperion: So, we've been calling ourselves the Workshop Crew. Not exactly the pithiest of titles, but you should've seen what Lethe was coming up with. Maybe a slogan would work better…
Jack Slash: I don't seem to have met this "crew" of yours Mister Artificer.
Aperion: Yeah, we've kind been flying low. Well, as low as we can be with my whole… thing.
Jack Slash: Mmmh.
Aperion: Anyways, let's do a quick count: the second-most persnickety cyber-lady I've had the pleasure of knowing, the undisputed king of all things remotely vehicular, a manifest goddess of fashion, two potential world-eaters with the highest standards I've ever seen, an Asian supersoldier wearing my own work, the scariest furball on the planet, and my own personal student; and you, little man, have managed to piss off every single one of them.
Jack Slash: I fail to see how this should interest me.
Aperion: Oh-ho-ho, it should really interest you Jack, because they are coming this way, and nothing I might say is going to prevent them from coming down on you and your merry band like an orbital drop, regardless of my own concerns for secrecy.
Jack Slash: We have a Siberian.
Aperion: We have a Tybalt.
Jack Slash: The cat?
Aperion: You're missing the point Jack. Bakuda, Lung, March, they threw everything they had against us, even stuff they didn't have seconds before. This isn't going to be some game like you're used to, no rules you can force us to follow. You think you can take us head-on, when your greatest claim to fame is running from the big names? This was over the moment you had me in your sights.
============
Later
============
Siberian: …
lying curled up in a desolate crater, flares of hellfire burning merrily around the rim
Tybalt: Mrr?(That's it?)
walks away
Tybalt: Mreow.(Puny not-cat.)
=======================
Aperion: So, we've been calling ourselves the Workshop Crew. Not exactly the pithiest of titles, but you should've seen what Lethe was coming up with. Maybe a slogan would work better…
Jack Slash: I don't seem to have met this "crew" of yours Mister Artificer.
Aperion: Yeah, we've kind been flying low. Well, as low as we can be with my whole… thing.
Jack Slash: Mmmh.
Aperion: Anyways, let's do a quick count: the second-most persnickety cyber-lady I've had the pleasure of knowing, the undisputed king of all things remotely vehicular, a manifest goddess of fashion, two potential world-eaters with the highest standards I've ever seen, an Asian supersoldier wearing my own work, the scariest furball on the planet, and my own personal student; and you, little man, have managed to piss off every single one of them.
Jack Slash: I fail to see how this should interest me.
Aperion: Oh-ho-ho, it should really interest you Jack, because they are coming this way, and nothing I might say is going to prevent them from coming down on you and your merry band like an orbital drop, regardless of my own concerns for secrecy.
Jack Slash: We have a Siberian.
Aperion: We have a Tybalt.
Jack Slash: The cat?
Aperion: You're missing the point Jack. Bakuda, Lung, March, they threw everything they had against us, even stuff they didn't have seconds before. This isn't going to be some game like you're used to, no rules you can force us to follow. You think you can take us head-on, when your greatest claim to fame is running from the big names? This was over the moment you had me in your sights.
============
Later
============
Siberian: …
lying curled up in a desolate crater, flares of hellfire burning merrily around the rim
Tybalt: Mrr?(That's it?)
walks away
Tybalt: Mreow.(Puny not-cat.)
MaimakteriAnn
(Verified Sleepy)
- Location
- Enormous And Round Terran Homeworld
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Dr
Having at least made one perfect item in every Disgaea game, and capped out stats in most of them - the grind isnt an interesting narrative.
It could be a fun setting, like the characters are stuck item worlding, or need to be there while some other arc plays out. But not suitable for the way lord writes. This story is already an ambling mess.
Also given the combination of powers that lets Joe just upgrade things by using 1 of the item as materials, the item world would be redundant anyway.
Gregory Crey
Magic is of wonder and terror. Life is so magical.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Maybe, especially now that he has Get Set so experimentation is actually practical, but I imagine that to compensate his "mane" would look ridiculous or he would be bald, which means Garment wouldn't let him.
Now I am imagining him stumbling onto neathbow lights when he jumps/dashes while trying this. Many problems created!
I wonder if Joe could pull a discount Victor if he died his hair irrigo like a lornest fluke in sunless sea.Maybe, especially now that he has Get Set so experimentation is actually practical, but I imagine that to compensate his "mane" would look ridiculous or he would be bald, which means Garment wouldn't let him.
Now I am imagining him stumbling onto neathbow lights when he jumps/dashes while trying this. Many problems created!
I don't think mr. What-his-name is part of the crew, he was just a guy that got lucky because a duplicate thought "why not?".
Foxy Boxes
[Verified Box]
- Location
- England
People who want to hurry to Somer's Rock'll hate me, but I kinda want to see a Chen interlude.
Edit: Wait, wasn't he going to assume control over the ABB or something? We might see him at Somer 's Rock.
Edit: Wait, wasn't he going to assume control over the ABB or something? We might see him at Somer 's Rock.
I mean, a burning trail of Infra-red or Ultra-violet might have its own problems; same for Microwaves or Gamma Radiation.
On the other hand, what would the trail look like if he just decided to go bald under his helmet?
Cosmic
Novel Addict
- Location
- Library Nexus
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
One important thing to keep in mind is the importance of the broadcast Thursday and the Calling Card effect's impact.
That broadcast and the circulated videos of it would have been on most people's attention already due to the visible FTL ramming and the ABB's Ungodly Hour being possibly the most followed and real time documented detailed look the public has had into a cape conflict for a long time.
Calling Card made it so all who saw the scene then understood TRAUMA KYKLOS and LOPINGIAN VENGEANCE perfectly.
On people figuring out the Beast Form inostrancevia link from the LOPINGIAN VENGEANCE hint:
So new info popping into their head won't be a first time experience for many. So their worries for A Thing About Names will just be bundled with their experience, concerns, and two-ish day since own conclusions/rationalization/acceptance of things.
Chen is with his family in Vermont currently. He promised to spend time with his family, won't make sense for him to go back to the Bay when it's only been a couple days since. I also doubt Joe would contact him to get him involved.
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The Shallow
Shallow, Yet Deep
- Location
- Your Universe
- Pronouns
- She/They
He was stopping oppurtunists/remnants from cutting too deep or re-establishing any semblance of control, rather than trying to take over, and even then most groups did quite a bit of looting. He's currently in Vermont though, IIRC, and he has no way of learning of the Rock. If he does show up, it would be interesting, but I sadly doubt it.
Hereby perpetuating the rumor that Apeiron is a group rather than a single person, eh? Of course this would probably result in people trying to find members of this non-existent group.
Oh , yeah. I forgot it's been barely a week since the ABB has fallen. Still there's enough time for a chapter or two of training/preparing for the pre-intro of Somer's Rock.
MagicalAmbitions
the rose in your vase
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The Butcher transfers to either the parahuman who killed the Butcher or the nearest parahuman when the butcher dies. I don't think Tybalt counts as parahuman, so he's probably safe on that front.
isn't the whole "bring the team to Somer's Rock" thing essentially a confirmation on that front? Apeiron Is, effectively, a group-effort. Fleet, Survey, Garment, Matrix, and Aisha have all provided Essential backup that made Apeiron's feats possible. Kinda strange to imply that people would be looking for non-existent other tinkers instead of looking at Apeiron's team and saying "ah, these are the other tinkers".
Tybalt might still be able to "permakill" the butcher simply be being such a powerfull demigod of Ares, due to his connotation with death in battle, but i am not sure in that regard. It might also work like Tybalt casually killing the butcher wont work, but an intended or "empowered" kill might do it but im not sure, it was just with how he was described when he lit his Jägerstock. Im however not sure to any degree.
On another note, with Theo joining the same gym as Joe what might happen if Joe met Kayden as she went there to pick up Theo, would she recognize him as the guy on the super bike with the (now) suspicious fully covered mute girl. It wouldn't reveal Joe but Kayden might be able to figure that it was Garment back then, with her connection to the area and especially "Joe's" gym. It is also a bit of a leap so it might never materialize to anything
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Crake
I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROACHING
- Location
- USA
Tybalt has all of Ares' jazz, according to Lord, including his necromancy/soul manipulation abilities. It's not on the level of a Hades sired demigod but by Jump-fiat their abilities with those powers and with using Stygian Iron objects is further improved, and all of the boosts are focused on using his Demigod powers directly in combat.
So controlling, redirecting and leashing or binding the spirits of the dead might be iffy if they were the long dead, but for those who fell in battle it would be far easier, and presumably even easier than that if Tybalt was the one who directly fought and killed them.
His powers are a Pretty Big Deal, as it were, whenever he uses them to fight something or someone. Compounding boosts basically, due to how Jump Fiat applies further oomph to PJO conceptual abilities if you use them in specific scenarios.
So controlling, redirecting and leashing or binding the spirits of the dead might be iffy if they were the long dead, but for those who fell in battle it would be far easier, and presumably even easier than that if Tybalt was the one who directly fought and killed them.
His powers are a Pretty Big Deal, as it were, whenever he uses them to fight something or someone. Compounding boosts basically, due to how Jump Fiat applies further oomph to PJO conceptual abilities if you use them in specific scenarios.
The Shallow
Shallow, Yet Deep
- Location
- Your Universe
- Pronouns
- She/They
His powers are more like a Massive Fucking Deal. He's a demigod with Berserker Rage, Fate Finds You Interesting and Glory to Me. He'd at least be on his dad's level, if not better with the other shit chucked in.
AntaeusTheGiant
Child of Gaea
- Location
- Lawrence, KS
Well, now that Tybalt is here, I think I'm going to relax and not anticipate so much about the other perks. I mean, I could go on ahead and start obsessing about which ones would bring in the most for Tybalt in addition to the usual things I obsess about. And I could start speculating about how LordR will treat the Kerbals... will he have individual names for all of them? Unique personalities? Have the workshop crew form relationships with each of them rather than treating them as a collective? How much will that slow down the progress of the story, or advance it? Or will he treat them as he does the living creatures in the Prismatic Laboratory, whom he seems to ignore, which seems to contradict his policy concerning living creatures granted by the forge... Actually, ignoring them would probably be dangerous.. I guess he could treat them as a group of employees, which is kind of what they are for... Are there enough of them to form a reproducing population? Kerbals biology on that front is kind of vague..
Rereads first sentence of my post.
Never mind.
Rereads first sentence of my post.
Never mind.
The PRT is basically thinking "Apeiron" is kinda like Toybox, where a group of Tinkerers pool together their resources in order to achieve goals. In reality it's quite different since Apeiron is at the forefront and the rest are just either subordinates or aspects of his power.
Ah, but you see there in lies the trap. Because no Tinker group would reveal the entirely of their strength, or reveal all their members in one location. These gang leaders would absolutely think there are other members in reserve cause that's what they would have done themselves.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Thank you, corrected.
Thank you, corrected.
I get that Aisha can be grating at times, but I'm trying to depict her as an actual 13 year old trying to deal with a crazy situation. She has good instincts, but not the best coping strategies and things are advancing much faster than she can manage them. Sometimes she gets caught up on minor points, sometimes she goes fangirl, sometime she defaults to teasing, and sometimes she tries her absolute best to live up to the responsibility she's been entrusted with. The last few chapters have been a big heavy on the fangirl aspects of her character, but that was due to a particular combination of perks. Joe's servant powers were always going to be a big moment for Aisha, as was the unicorn. Things should settle past this point as there aren't many other perks that will resonate with her on that level.
Thank you, corrected.
Thanks for the work. Also, I'll take this oppertunity to share an image I've been sitting on from the moment I realized the Felyne would have Spiral:so we have started trying to figure out what the meme image for the infusionist perk is over on the discord. someone came up with this.
Meow Meow, Fight the Power!
Thanks for the Omake
Thank you, corrected.
Thanks for the Omake.
Thanks for the Omake.
Thanks for the Omake.
I've gotten into this before, but EX doesn't always mean higher power. It can mean that, but really it's a designation for things that fall outside the E through A ranking system. Sometimes that's because they're so powerful they're essentially off the scale (Ea), but sometimes it just means they work in a weird or specialized way.
The rank-up of Item Construction from Counter craft would let Joe make pseudo-EX items, but that's not to say they'd be the equivalent of EX ranked Noble Phantasms. Basically, the rank-up would take him beyond the usual scope of Item Construction, letting him make things that couldn't normally be produced with the skill as long as they were related to countering the attack that was targeting him. The things produced would be beyond the limits of normal mystic codes, but frankly they would need to be in order to stand up to the range of Noble Phantasms that get thrown around in a Grail War. Also, 'beyond' doesn't necessarily mean more powerful. It just means that he'd be able to work with effects that would normally not be possible from a magus or caster servant. It would also be a very costly process in terms of materials and mana, even counting the boost to Mana parameter when using it. The amount of resources available can make the difference between 'Build weapon that trumps the attack and wins the fight.', 'Build item that can tank a single hit from the attack, then hope you can run for your life.', or 'Literally nothing that can be done with the materials and mana available. Enjoy timeless eternity with knowledge of everything you might otherwise have been able to make as the 100% lethal attack bears down on you and WILL hit the moment the effect ends.".
Weapon Recombination Template was something I looked into when hunting for perks that could be easily added. The effect seemed simple enough, but I couldn't find enough background on the ability to really flesh it out. Additionally, Joe already has ways to build shifting weapons, so there's not much value to this perk. Given the fact that he can already make Mechashift weapons from RWBY there's not much point in chasing after something like this.
The Fleet interludes have been fun to write, but it took some effort to develop the tone of his voice and the perspective that he holds. I wanted to make it recognizably non-human but still understandable. Survey is in a similar situation, where I'd need to work out how to present her perspective and thought patterns. It's something we might see eventually, but I want to convey it properly when it finally comes up.
I'm aware of puppet mystic codes. With Item Construction A+++ Joe can outperform any mortal magus in terms of the items he produces, even a magus as masterful and specialized as Touko. Unfortunately, it's not a resurrection option for Joe as without fiat backing it would still count as death and thus chain failure. Joe could do the trick of putting his soul into a puppet or doll (if your looking at the Ainsworth family's work) as long as he does it before his death. Unlike when that's done with conventioanl magecraft, Joe could pull that off with no downsides (soul damage of ego loss) thanks to That Undefinable Thing letting him work freely with souls.
Principles of puppets/dolls as mystic codes will be included in the construction of Fleet and Survey's bodies, though there will be some differences between them in terms of features and designs based on each of their specific preferences.
The decision for Joe to remember the Unicorn Gauntlet was partially a stylistic choice, but the phrasing of the perk itself was a major influence. It says "Once your initial adventure here concludes successfully you will be taught by an expert wishsmith on everything you might need to know to construct Wishes and design your own upgrades for them.". The events of the Gauntlet were specifically referenced in the perk, along with subsequent activities. This wasn't gained knowledge, it was personal experience, similar to what Joe gained from Gadget Master's "You've been trained by Major Boothroyd at the skills of his job". At the moment Joe is more focused on the weeks of running for his life than the internship under a wishsmith, but he has a similar amount of recollection with this perk as he received from Gadget Master.
Most of the focus from this perk has been on the Wish bodies, the mental impact of the run, and the rainbow trail that Joe leaves when he makes serious jumps, but the tech base granted by the base perk is actually fairly useful. The ability to generate power from rainbows is easy to exploit with feedback loops, making it an reliable power source for any of Joe's technology. Wishes are fairly useful combat robots and apparently are fairly resistant with the exception of direct frontal collisions. Joe will also be able to handle any level of upgrades to them. At minimum that means the flight system, enhanced dash, and improved weaponry that are mentioned in the jump document. It would also include any upgrades from Robot Unicorn Attack 2. None of this is game changing for Joe at this point, but he will be able to get some utility out of the technology, particularly when he applies it to other areas (such as a Gundam with a dash attack).
Nanotech repairs would normally be difficult with items that are as resilient as Joe's, but Exotic Compatibility states "hands and machinery, it assumes the forging and abilities of plain Iron". The Matrix's nanobots can work any material like iron, no matter how exotic or enhanced it is. Of course, the same resilience means that damage is very unlikely, but with nanobot reserves it will be correctable in the even that something manages to punch through its durability.
With Joe's Noble Phantasm 'time' is the cheapest thing to apply in terms of mana cost. If all you need to do is let something sit and age it's dead easy. Joe wouldn't have been able to manage decades of actual work, but just leaving something alone for an extended period is well within his abilities. It lets him produce items that need to age or settle very easily.
From the perspective of it's use by a Crafter servant in a Grail War, this feature has the effect of allowing items the Crafter makes to accumulate Mystery. Since this Mystery is gained through artificial ageing in a timeless space it is more of a defensive measure than true Mystery. The False Mystery can't reach the point of canceling other magic, but it's sufficient to make sure freshly made mystic codes created by the Crafter are not completely overwhelmed by the Noble Phantasms of older heroes.
There wasn't any mention of Somer's Rock having a kitchen, but the description did mention tablecloths, which I thought were an odd detail for the kind of bar it seemed to represent. They had one server and two brothers behind the bar. It's not impossible they had a small menu, even if its just bar snacks, but its clear they don't specialize in dining.
That said, I have personally seen an incident where a someone at a college bar needed to run out and get TV dinners to put on the menu because their small kitchen wasn't working and apparently they had classified themselves as a Bar and Grill for tax reasons. If they couldn't serve food they were in violation of that definition and would need to shut down. The microwave dinners were a formality, not something they expected anyone to order. I can see something like that happening at Somer's Rock, with just enough of a menu to a tax break. Regardless, nobody is really going there for the food, the drinks, or the company.
As other people have mentioned, Princess Gwenevere was a real show that I used as the basis for Earth Bet's version of the Fate franchise. While it had its own story, Nasu taking over for Web of Magic meant he probably tried to retcon as much of Princess Gwenevere as he could. So yeah, there was probably an Alt!Zelretch added as the origin of the Sun Stone, Moon Stone, and Heart Stone (and probably any other Enchanted Jewels from the original series as well). And yeah, retconning Princess Gwenevere into a True Ancestor sounds like exactly the sort of thing he would do.
I've been making scattered mentions of Earth Bet's Web of Magic, mostly for comedic effect, but it would be interesting to actually map out all the assorted details to try to get a clear picture of exactly what the series looks like. Unfortunately, that's not the kind of project I have time for while also writing this story (it would involve basically plotting out an entire alt-Fate series and digging into the actual Web of Magic series to a much greater degree). As such I'm mainly trying to make sure the details I present are consistent.
Zorian and his Simulacra were something of an inspiration for how I handled Joe and his duplicates, particularly the conflicts that he had with alternate versions of himself. Joe and Zorian are very different people, so it makes sense that they'd have a different relationship with copies of themselves. It was quite amusing for Zorian to suddenly realize what everyone else had to put up with when dealing with him and not liking it one bit. The later mindlink aspect is something that can happen for Joe, but will need substantial development in either neural linking, mind magic, or psionic abilities.
In Full Metal Panic, the origin of the Whispered traces to a Soviet experiment/disaster that resulted in all children born within a three minute window in the early 80s developing special abilities. These included incredible technical skills, specialization with a particular type of advanced technology, and the ability to communicate with each other psychically. The reason they are called whispered is because the information they gain seems to be delivered to them through whispers. Whispered developed at different rates with different levels of proficiency of their abilities. One of the theories is that they are actually receiving information from the future as part of an attempt to alter human history, but that is unconfirmed.
Version 2 was something I was considering upgrading to earlier in the story. That was before I realized how extensive the version 1 forge was and how much work it would take to familiarize myself with a new version. As it stands I have no intention of changing the version of the Celestial Forge for this story. I have stated that the only way it could be justified to change Joe's powers would be a second trigger, and that is basically impossible without stripping away his entire support structure. That is very much not the type of story I want to write.
It should be noted that Berserker training is separate from the Blessing of Ares. Tybalt has Glory to Me, meaning he has access to all of Ares's domains. With that he could activate the equivalent of the blessing even without Ares's intervention just as an expression of his expanded power.
There were three versions of Legendary Training. Hero Training is based on Greek heroes, Legion Training was based on Roman, and Berserking clearly had Norse roots. (As an interesting note, I was considering Tybalt's origin being tied to Freyja rather than Bast, as a reference to the Cat Chariot). The strength from Berserking would actually stack with any Ares based buffs and would be independently enhanced by Glory to Me. Also, the durability from that training is persistent, not dependent on a blessing or rage being active, and it is also enhanced by Glory to Me.
It is possible for multiple people to come up with the same term. Aisha arrived at the term Meatspace independently and the A.I.'s picked it up. The fact that it had a history of use helped Survey embrace it to the point where Joe will probably never be able to get her to drop it.
Garment isn't a public member of the team, so they would only have seven official members. Still a solid roster, to say nothing of the individual power levels present. New Wave isn't exactly at full strength right now, or even functional as a team, so there's no telling what they're going to look like when or if they recover.
Apeiron's Palico would never work at Somer's Rock. Now this guy Tybalt, he seems like the upstanding sort, new to town but a hard worker. Heavy facial hair and a little short, but you can't hold that against him. Really, he's just the kind of employee they've been looking for.
Tybalt getting Glory to Me has no impact on Joe's ability to get the perk. It's still in the Capstone Constellation, but for Joe it's at it's undiscounted 800 points, so not an easy roll.
I know this was a joke, but...
In Fate there is mana in every part of a magus's body, but it's particularly concentrated in the hair. Hair has an amount of mana proportional to its length, which is based on months or years of accumulation. Illya can form familiars and weapons out of her hair, Touko Aozaki traded 20 years of her hair for Lugh Beowulf, and Waver Velvet was able to use part of his hair as a mana source to partially counter a Servant's Noble Phantasm (despite having some of the worst mana reserves in the entire series). If Joe artificially grew his hair it wouldn't be anything special, but Get Set! is a Fiat backed effect that changes the length of his hair, meaning it has all the properties of natural growth, including accumulated mana. Hair isn't like having extra magic circuits or bigger reserves, but it's still a major source of energy that Joe can refill freely.
This depends on how their first appearance plays out, but it would be a reasonable guess for Apeiron-Tinker, Survey-Thinker, Lethe-Stranger, Tybalt-Brute, Matrix-Shaker, Tetra-Changer, and Fleet-Mover. Master is unlikely except as a tinker sub-rating for drones, but with that many powerful abilities in a potential cluster they probably won't be ruling anything out.
Tetra is dealing with a period of change, both in her situation and in the nature of her existence. Before the alchemy separation from Joe, she had spent all of her time either connected with him or in stasis. She doesn't have a good context for being isolated. Joe is trying to help her adjust to that, which is why he's not rushing to use the Tailor power to make her a Kamui. Also, while using a Kamui would take precedence over Joe's other gear (The transformation is fairly aggressive), the armor that comes with the Megaman Zero perk can be materialized onto his clothing, meaning he can use it to supplement a Kamui. Any tech or enchantments that can't be placed on a Kamui can be handled by the armor.
The rainbow trail in just the default option for Joe's jump effect. It can be easily modified through any change to Joe's hair and he is going to pick something in line with the style of his costume and cape persona. If you consider it as an energy trail for major leaps rather than "rainbow hops" it becomes a lot more tolerable, particularly with the mobility options it provides.
Given the visual differences between how he presents himself in his civilian identity and his current appearance Joe will probably go with a less concealing version of his costume for Somer's Rock. The visor will definitely stay, but there are big advantages to having his mouth uncovered in terms of being able to speak clearly and emote. Also, since he can change his hair freely, he might have that uncovered as well. Joe is already a long way from being connected to Apeiron, but making it clear that Apeiron is different in build, hair length, other general features will help drive that division home. It also means Aphrodite's blessing will be more apparent, since he won't be concealing as much.
There are some interesting ways that the story of Tybalt could be handled. His origin from Monster Hunter is fairly mundane, but in each of the other settings he has companion powers from there's a definite story. The question is, would that be a story of him on his own, or the story of his time as a companion with the version of Joe from that jump?
Regardless, this story is taking up most of my time. I'm not sure when I will be finished with this project, and don't have a lot of time for side works at the moment. Interesting to thing about, but not likely to happen any time soon.
The RWBY jump lets you bring companions, but they don't get anything unless points are paid, not even Aura. Well, they get an ID, but Joe didn't even get an ID from that jump. There are a few jumps like that. Basically, if the import isn't going to have some mechanical effect then I don't make note of it. Documenting Tybalt's abilities was complicated enough without introducing aspects that had no impact on the end result.
I have said that I wouldn't be commenting on pacing, but this comment actually made me feel pretty good about what I covered in this chapter.
First, as I said in the opening note, this is a 13k chapter, not 17k. The rest is notes on abilities. Going by what you listed, that gives 2.6k words per topic, which I think is reasonable given what was covered under them.
"Aisha starts learning Alchemy" was actually about how Aisha was adjusting to the realization that she could actually succeed in an academic area, challenging images of herself and her limitations on a personal level and Joe trying to help her through that.
"Joe gets a cat demigod as a companion (Tybalt). We learn Aisha thinks cats are adorable." This was the introduction of a new character, presenting significant abilities that will change both the balance of power and how Joe approaches conflict as well as setting up the new dynamic that was created by his arrival. It is something I'm glad I gave enough time and focus.
"Confirmation that bodies are being built for Fleet and Survey." Once again, a major event. I wanted to convey what was being done and how Fleet and Survey felt about the project. It is going to permanently change the way they interact with the world and allow them to operate independently beyond the Workshop. That's something I wanted to set up properly.
"Everyone is going to the Rock meeting who wants to go." Confirming the composition of Apeiron's team as well as how they will be arriving and working around their limits was once again something I needed to set up. I know there's a feeling that I could have just cut to the Rock and explained everything else in flashbacks or info dumps, but that would strip down the detail of what was happening. It's not how I wanted to present things.
"Tetra is starting to question her place in the world, especially with Tybalt being Joe's new companion." Character moment for Tetra, exploring her insecurities once the excitement over her new form starts to settle and mapping out future actions for her.
I know my pacing has going from a joke to a point of frustration, along the lines of 'Joe changes a lightbulb and makes a sandwich, 20k words', but honestly, there isn't any part of this that I would want to cut down on. I'm glad I got through all the story beats listed above and I enjoyed writing them.
Part of being able to teach Aisha so well was his Fool Proof ability, part of it was the boost from One Thing at a Time, part of it was the perfectly constructed learning environment and lesson plan, and part of it was using his knowledge of the nature of memories to present everything in a way that was incredibly easy to retain. There was a lot of power that went into that teaching session and it was also a solid 8 hours of work. The big thing is that Aisha didn't just memorize a list of numbers and letters. Joe was able to convey what they meant, meaning she actually has a good grasp on atomic structure and behavior.
150 liters of nanites will let the Matrix construct their preferred form, a scaled down version of the Gun-EZ standing over two meters tall and with full armor, composed of nothing but a solid mass of tier 1 nanites. It is going to be an imposing presence at the Rock to say the least.
I have always referred to it as the Crafting constellation. I think the name was changed in later versions of the Forge for the sake of clarity, but in story it has always been Crafting, not Crafting Skills.
I'm still open to adding more perks to the Capstone constellation, but for the moment the list includes Cyborg Hindu Godbody, Synchronicity Event, Titan's Blood, Blessed By The Gods, Spectre, Box-tech, Monstrous Strength, Glory to..., Bigger on the Inside, Implanted Relic, All Spark Chosen, Matrix of Leadership, and Touched by the Protoculture. The most likely additions are the magic perks from King Arthur, but I haven't committed to them just yet.
This chapter started with 500 points banked, so the first roll was a 600 point roll that secured Infusionist. It should have happened slightly earlier, but I re-wrote parts of the scene with Aisha, which shifted the location of the roll point a bit.
You can see hints of Tybalt's demigod side at certain moments, like when he handles weapons. One of the overlooked advantages of Glory to Me is that it makes divine power "instinctual and nearly as easy as breathing". Tybalt has all the fury and rage that a demigod of Ares is capable of, but also complete control of when it comes out. It doesn't define him, but when he needs it he can go all out in an instant.
I have excluded alt-forms from this fic. Joe himself doesn't get them even in cases where they would have been granted automatically. It's why you see work arounds like the separate wish bodies and the potential ability to merge with his Transformers robot form (it's paired with the Cybertronian Forge). Tybalt hasn't gotten any alt forms, even from companion imports that specifically grant a human form.
The thing is Tybalt can probably still shapeshift. He has access to enough of Ares's domains to handle some level of transformation. Normally this is just bulking up during combat, but it can be pushed further, particularly if Joe makes an Arcane Focus to help him.
Joe would want more degrees of separation between him and Garment to prevent anyone from making a connection to her. He's more likely to find some minor work that's tangentially related to someone who's coordinating things for Garment. Messenger work for her lawyer, deliveries, or something like that. They have plenty of ways of getting a paycheck to Joe that won't raise suspicion. Given Joe only needs enough income to maintain tax records and rent on an apartment he only uses for mail, it won't exactly be the kind of thing that's raising red flags.
Felynes canonically love cat puns, so it is indeed 'pawesome'. Once Tybalt gets access to decent translation he's probably going to be insufferable with the sheer number he works into every conversation.
The Capstone constellation is kind of diverse in its impact. It ranges from minor buffs (Box Tech, Bigger on the Inside), to significant powerups (Synchronicity Event, Implanted Relic), to complete mind-altering life overhauls (Spectre, Blessed By The Gods). There are powerful perks there, but there are also extremely impactful perks. It's going to be a tricky constellation to deal with, and it will be interesting seeing Joe's reaction to what plays out.
I'd say Tybalt would be stronger if he and Joe were equally equipped. The thing is, Joe's equipment will never stay static, so he'll be able to out build the gear of anyone else, even if he was the one who supplied their gear in the first place. Really, it's not about who's stronger in combat. Tybalt supplements Joe's skills by focusing exclusively on an area that Joe cannot devote his full attention to. Additionally, Joe very much did not want to build a combat AI or any kind of battle focused intelligence. Tybalt completely sidesteps that problem by filling that role while also being able to moderate himself, so no concerns about anything going Skynet.
Acheron was actually one on the names I considered for Tybalt. Others were Stymphalian (the birds of Ares), since it works as a Strike Witches Call Sign, as well as various terms from ancient Sparta (Agoge, Paidonomos, Crypteia). I leaned away from Acheron because I didn't want to overshadow Aisha's choice of a name or lock into some 'rivers of the underworld' theme. Additionally, while it's tempting to have Greek terms for everyone, it's not likely to play out like that.
I'm still working on Tybalt's cape name. Thanks to his power letting him interact with normal society you'll see him using his own name in his 'civilian identity' with another dedicated cape name for his work with Apeiron. Something might arise naturally in the story, otherwise I have some fallbacks to work with.
Trust me, I would love to have gotten to Somer's Rock already. I haven't had the time to write that I wanted, and there are things I really feel I should cover properly before the summit. As it stands we should get there after the next chapter.
Remember, the title propagated in the early afternoon of the current day in story. The main thing Joe remarked on was the fact that there weren't riots or mass panic. People are still scared, angry, and confused. Some of them are accepting it, some of them have moved on. Weirdly, Brockton Bay is handling it better than a lot of other places thanks to that whole 'Brockton Bay' effect, (i.e., civilians so jaded by cape nonsense that if it isn't an active threat they go on with their lives because what's the other option?). You have people talking about it on the news, some politicians shit-stirring over it, and a variety of opinions on what it means and what the response should be. Joe was merely satisfied that the result of getting that power wasn't mass civil unrest or instant kill order. The issue isn't forgotten, but a lot of people have more important things to worry about. It will take some time for any official decision to be made, and frankly there will probably be a dozen new Apeiron-related issues by that point.
Remember, part of that perk's text is "superficial traits to be ignored for an objective merit based evaluation of yourself, or instead for a trait to be exaggerated in their perception". The "exaggerated in their perception" part is the important bit. Tybalt is perfectly capable of amplifying the 'adorable kitty cat' trait to the point where nobody can take him seriously. He could even leave it set that way while going full god-of-war-murder-kitty mode on everyone. If Tybalt was inclined to get tactical with that power it could quickly become one of the most feared stranger abilities on the planet.
Sadly no, but it would be the top of my list if I had time to start playing. Most of my gaming has been put on hold since I started working on this fic, with the exception of series I'm working through to add properties to the story. In terms of the name, it was something I was inclined towards for a while. I did some research into other possible names, but it ended up winning out as the final choice.
Shifting his trail into the nonvisible spectrum would be tricky with just the Robot Unicorn skills, but Joe has enough technical knowledge to handle it easily. He could probably manage anything from an IR trail to a microwave burst to radio waves or even strange forms of radiation. It would require some fairly significant treatments to his hair, but with Garment's help and his style perks he could make it work.
There are pros and cons to bringing the Avid Glove. It's a direct energy link for Tetra, meaning she won't run low and need to recharge part way through the summit, but it does tend to run off whenever Joe isn't paying attention to what its doing. There's also the nature of the glove and the level of concern that would raise, through frankly Joe is kind of burying the needle on that by deciding to show up to the meeting with a half dozen S-class threats.
- Pronouns
- Masculine
Aaaah, I love these super long replies.
Also gives me the chance to enjoy hilarious omakes I missed!
Also gives me the chance to enjoy hilarious omakes I missed!
AntaeusTheGiant
Child of Gaea
- Location
- Lawrence, KS
Sigh. I was really wanting Eyes of the World. But, we have Palico, so I won't complain too much whatever else happens.
Well, this is a good take I guess. I would comment that the boost to mobility though seems about as significant as modifying the trail is difficult. A .5 double-jump doesn't mean too much when there are dozens of different machines or enchantments to fly, probably a few Ninjutsu to rebound off the air, and definitely Life-fiber physics breaking to do the same (possibly even without Tetra with Joe's new body being a hybrid). I know this is the forge, but the benefit isn't really that great for the silliness attached.
But that's just me, and this isn't a big problem in the story anyway.
On the one hand, I'm happy. Because this means we'll see some of those reactions soon (Lisa will instantly know that he's releasing the disguise rather then putting on a master effect for one). And with the pace this story proceeds at, Joe walking around normally will take weeks at minimum and...a while for us.
On the flip side, I'm sad. Because it seems like under the excuse of seperating his identity, Joe is going to spend the rest of an indeterminate amount of time concealing almost everything about himself when being 'Joe'.
He hasn't exactly had much of a social life or friends to interact with either, but his current near constant seclusion to the Forge is a result of dealing with emergencies. Not healthy behavior. As it is, using his 'real' form as Apeiron and the fake as himself would no doubt be effective...but one of those two already puts on a mask and concealing clothes as well as a persona. 'Normal' Joe should therefore be the real him, and in personality at least he has been. But trying to hide everything feels uncomfortably like denying his body's changes (a body that by the simple passage of time he would get used too), and a behavior all too easy to keep rationalizing under the need to keep 'Apeiron' and 'Joe' seperate. It's something I can definitely see happening and an interesting twist to his ongoing struggle for mental health (rarely is recovery straightforward)...but still something I'd feel bad for.
Well, that and also nearly pointless. Because people already know that 'Apeiron' can, and has, changed his physique drastically. It may not have been too obvious in his earliest appearances, but in the Lung fight he was supremely ripped and masculine (confirmed with the Travelers interlude). And once he got the new body he slimmed down considerably, with the Blessing of Aphrodite practically making him bishonen (and of course his costume is set to be more revealing, so there's no chance of hiding that change).
Obviously the easy conclusion is that it's just a result of continuous biotinkering and self-modifications...but with how ridiculous he already is, some (and especially the most dangerous and paranoid) will at least suspect the ability to change shape with relative ease (and they'd be right).
Of course keeping that seperation will still help with stalling any sort of unconscious connection...but it's not really as rock-solid as it seems.
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