ideas for modifications to it?
including Master Craftsman?
and in a fashion even the Matrix?
Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)
- Thread starter LordRoustabout
- Start date
I'd say at least a month in RL and that's counting a week or two if LordRoustabout can't write. Still have to have the reactions of the Undersiders + every other faction going to the meeting + prep time before meeting.
Probably before Christmas tho.
The Shallow
Shallow, Yet Deep
- Location
- Your Universe
- Pronouns
- She/They
IDK about that tbh. The only thing I can imagine after this is some sort of multi-interlude covering a couple perspectives. Sunday Morning would just be final preparations, maybe checking on the undersiders? And seeing as all the important prep (outside of Gen5 Nanobots) is already done, I would honestly expect a timeskip if not an interlude, assuming next chapter isn't Somers Rock.
- Location
- Up on a Hill
Has there ever been an interlude/preamble/addendum from a perspective we saw in a previous interlude, aside from Taylor a few times and Brian twice? The answer is no. I feel like people project too much Taylor Varga on this story.
In order of perspectives shown:
Brian/Grue: 2 Times
Taylor/Lady Khepri: 4 Times
Amy/Panacea: 1 Time
Thomas/Coil: 1 Time
Weld: 2 Times
Dennis/Clockblocker: 1 Time
Alec/Regent: 1 Time
PHO: 2 Times
Rory/Triumph: 1 Time
Hannah/Miss Militia: 1 Time
Sophia/Shadow Stalker: 1 Time
Emily Piggot: 1 Time
Missy/Vista: 1 Time
Accord: 1 Time
Mike/Lightstar: 1 Time
James/Victor: 1 Time
Melissa Garrick/Youth Guard: 1 Time
Ethan/Assault: 1 Time
Chris/Kid Win: 1 Time
Dragon: 1 Time
Margaret: 2 Times
The Bay Bulletin: 1 Time
Meeting Report: 1 Time
Leet: 1 Time
Rey/Blasto: 1 Time
Kenta/Lung: 1 Time
Gully: 2 Times
Emergency Alert: 1 Time
Chen: 1 Time
Victoria/Glory Girl: 3 Times
Jeanne/Citrine: 1 Time
Tammi/Rune: 1 Time
Marissa/Sundancer: 1 Time
Aisha/Lethe: 1 Time
Joe/Apeiron: 1 Time
Fleet: 2 Times
Uppercrust: 1 Time
Colin/Armsmaster: 1 Time
Roy Christner: 1 Time
So on 8 occasions have we had more than one Interlude/Preamble/Addendum from the perspective of the same character, with Taylor at 4 times, Vicky at 3, and Brian, Weld, PHO, Margaret, Gully, and Fleet at 2 each. So the actual answer to 'Has there ever been an interlude/preamble/addendum from a perspective we saw in a previous interlude, aside from Taylor a few times and Brian twice?' is Yes. You aren't wrong about the Taylor Varga bit, but you need to get your facts straight when it comes to counting.
That would require the story to more than double in length so it's a ways away.
Gregory Crey
Magic is of wonder and terror. Life is so magical.
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
So, in this wog LordR wrote:
There are four elements in Chrono Trigger, Light, Fire, Water and Shadow and everyone with Chrono Trigger magic can use one element (though Shadow appears to be made from the other elements combined). Here is the element description from the jumpdoc:
Light: Light's the element of the sky, and it covers pretty much everything up there.
You've still got your beams of light and holy power, but lightning's also a fair choice, as
is wind' if you'd like something unique. It also has some decent healing potential,
though not as much as water does, and is good at blinding or dazing your foes.
Fire: Fire's the element of the world, from the day it was born until the day it dies. It's
a pretty simple element, generally in the form of blasts of flame and explosions, but
molten lava's not impossible, and you can even go with rock and earth if you want. It's
also offers a good mix of support for your allies and debuffs for your enemies.
Water: Water's the element of, well, water - the sea, the rivers, and everything in
between. Typically comes in solid or liquid, although steam's a possibility, and you could
probably get away with plant magic if you're feeling adventurous. Water's really good
for healing, and has some nice supportive magic that you could send your friends' way.
Shadow: Shadow's the element of darkness, covering everything from the space
between the stars to the shadows in a cave. Void and gravity are two obvious uses,
and curses and status magic fall within its domain as well. However, it's also the magic
of harmony, so you might be able to throw around some elemental combos instead.
I would guess either Fire or Shadow because the canon fire user is a mad scientist/inventor and he has pyrokinesis while Shadow has shown to be the element of many technological attacks, especially lasers and may have the diversity needed. While Joe isn't a master of magic, but he could be considered a Jack of All Trades Master of Some (with C Rank Magecraft, the two Thaumaturgical Focuses, Talisman magic and a lot of alchemy plus more), and the canon Shadow element guy was a master of magic. Shadow also has a tendency to show up in team attacks when multiple elements are blurred together, and Apeiron has a great deal of elemental experience and perks that grant mastery thereof.
Given the expensive perks are coming left and right, unless someone has a quote on what element Apeiron would have, then what do you think he would get?
There are four elements in Chrono Trigger, Light, Fire, Water and Shadow and everyone with Chrono Trigger magic can use one element (though Shadow appears to be made from the other elements combined). Here is the element description from the jumpdoc:
Light: Light's the element of the sky, and it covers pretty much everything up there.
You've still got your beams of light and holy power, but lightning's also a fair choice, as
is wind' if you'd like something unique. It also has some decent healing potential,
though not as much as water does, and is good at blinding or dazing your foes.
Fire: Fire's the element of the world, from the day it was born until the day it dies. It's
a pretty simple element, generally in the form of blasts of flame and explosions, but
molten lava's not impossible, and you can even go with rock and earth if you want. It's
also offers a good mix of support for your allies and debuffs for your enemies.
Water: Water's the element of, well, water - the sea, the rivers, and everything in
between. Typically comes in solid or liquid, although steam's a possibility, and you could
probably get away with plant magic if you're feeling adventurous. Water's really good
for healing, and has some nice supportive magic that you could send your friends' way.
Shadow: Shadow's the element of darkness, covering everything from the space
between the stars to the shadows in a cave. Void and gravity are two obvious uses,
and curses and status magic fall within its domain as well. However, it's also the magic
of harmony, so you might be able to throw around some elemental combos instead.
I would guess either Fire or Shadow because the canon fire user is a mad scientist/inventor and he has pyrokinesis while Shadow has shown to be the element of many technological attacks, especially lasers and may have the diversity needed. While Joe isn't a master of magic, but he could be considered a Jack of All Trades Master of Some (with C Rank Magecraft, the two Thaumaturgical Focuses, Talisman magic and a lot of alchemy plus more), and the canon Shadow element guy was a master of magic. Shadow also has a tendency to show up in team attacks when multiple elements are blurred together, and Apeiron has a great deal of elemental experience and perks that grant mastery thereof.
If I recall correctly, LR plans for Joe's Chrono Trigger element to be Shadow. He also said that if Joe happens to roll Pyrokinesis as an Esper ability when he gets Hard Science, he would probably give Joe the Fire element just to uphold the theme. But I don't know if that last part was joking or not, so I'm just going to assume Joe's going to get Shadow.
Cosmic
Novel Addict
- Location
- Library Nexus
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Here's a old WoG on that:
"And Joe's path towards being the ultimate pyromancer continues." and on Joe's Chrono Trigger element:
And all WoG on the subject of his Fate Elements:
"What are Joe's Elements and Origin?":
More in response to questions on Joe's Elements and Origin:
Last edited:
- Location
- Up on a Hill
I did count though, what the hell. That's embarrassing.
MaimakteriAnn
(Verified Sleepy)
- Location
- Enormous And Round Terran Homeworld
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Dr
I object to counting PHO as one perspective, the nature of those interludes is fundamentally different to any personal perspective, even if we are seeing PHO from the same login multiple times.
You're right about the other 7 though.
Is this the first time Matrix has spoken?
I think the Shadow element is more suitable for Joe because of the control of gravity and emptiness. He already has the pyrokinesis of the son of Hephaestus with a buff and the blessing of Hestia. And when will "Glory to me" and the blood of Prometheus (or Hyperion?) get into it? Blaster is a Triumvirate-level pyrokinetic, with a fairly high Brutus rating. Tinkers are weak without their equipment, they said. Easy prey, they said. I think these will be the last thoughts of the Trickster if the Coil still decides to send Wanderers against Joe. Well, or this has already happened in some of the canceled parallels of the Coil.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Thank you, corrected.
Thank you, corrected.
Thank you, corrected.
Thank you, corrected.
Thank you, corrected.
I have said that I wouldn't be responding to comments about the pacing, but given the reaction to this chapter I feel I should make a general statement without directing it to any response in particular.
One thing I want to be clear about is that I feel everyone should be able to express how they feel about the story, whether positive or negative. I do not want to curate reactions or limit topics in this thread. If someone is annoyed or unhappy with something I have written they should be able to freely express their thoughts on the matter. On the same note, people should be able to freely respond to those thoughts. I just want to make it clear that there is no need to defend me or start arguments on my behalf. While I regret that the pacing is such an issue for many readers, I have accepted the reality situation.
I have seen people say that I don't owe my readers anything. While I appreciate the sentiment, that's not exactly true. While I am not charging for this fic, that doesn't mean people haven't been paying for it. They've just been spending time and engagement rather than money, and I understand how valuable those things are. Any time spent reading this story or engaging with people about it is time that wasn't devoted to other material or pursuits. I'm not going to pretend that is an insignificant commitment. Given the size of the story even investing enough time to catch up to the current chapter represents a serious investment.
That level of commitment creates a certain amount of responsibility towards my audience, but at the same time there is a limit to what I can do in response to that responsibility. Despite everything, this is still a side project for me. It is something I am fitting in around my job and the other obligations of my life. There is only so much time I can devote towards the story and the readership that had grown around it. With my own limitations it is an unfortunate fact that, in some areas, I will be unable to live up to the level of enthusiasm and investment that the readership has shown.
I have made attempts to try to account for these problems and push forward by modifying my writing and changing the focus of the work, but I recognized the toll that was taking on me. As an alternative to burn out I shifted to a pace and style that I knew I could maintain. While it isn't fair to people who have invested so much of their time and energy towards my story only for it to become a source of frustration, I have had to accept my limits in this area, and the fact that I am will be effectively disappointing a portion of my reader base.
That is why I am not opposed to people complaining about the pacing or the level of detail spend on what they consider to be unimportant aspects of the story. They aren't saying anything that I'm not already aware of. Changing the story would require me writing in a different way, in different circumstances, and most likely with a different posting schedule. Given the near-burnout that occurred the last time I tried, I am not willing to make another attempt at such changes.
I will push on writing the story in a way I can manage, and have had to accept that will leave some people disappointed. All I can promise is that I will get there eventually. Plot will advance, setups will pay off, key interaction will happen, major battles will be fought, and hanging story threads will be resolved. It does kind of feel like I've committed to finishing a marathon even if I need to walk the last half of it. That metaphor does extend to explaining why some people are losing interest in seeing things out, but I would rather take a pace I know I can handle.
Now, In a small deviation from my usual responses, I'm going to focus on comments from the latest chapter first. I will try to address earlier comments and questions another time.
Joe's understanding of magic and construction already makes him excellent at tracing, but the inherent comprehension provided from Feel It Out will take that to a new level. The fact that it works on items means he can break down the nature of enchantments or unique effects. It's not quite tracing an items entire history, but it's a meaningful boost. Of course, it's less useful in a world without other Noble Phantasms that he could copy, but it does mean projected items will be nearly as good as things he can make himself, barring fiat backed effects.
This will be covered in the next chapter. Joe tried to build forms that were in line with their personalities and previous preferences. Survey already had a basic avatar design, so Joe used that as the template for her new body. That said, he does have a lot of beauty and style perks that come out automatically, much less when he's actually trying. In this case, when he was going all out, that's going to have a noticeable effect.
The fortress is more of a super-ultra-carrier ship than a space station. It was described as bigger than any structure in human history, so think one of those urban mega-projects where you have a complex sprawling over several blocks, or the world's biggest dams, the Great Wall if your rolled it up. It's essentially the size of a good chunk of major city, and is still growing, helped along by Joe's ability to ignore the constraints of scaling up technology. Thanks to the Matrix's hated 'Tier Five' nanobots, it's also in a state of exponential growth, so pretty soon the question will be 'how big to do we want this to get?'. Fortunately, Shardspace has more than three spatial dimensions, so there's plenty of room to build out, so to speak.
The biggest factor in the Machine Spirits' ability to accept Fleet, Survey, and the Matrix's new bodies is the fact that sections of their code have been indelibly written into their bodies. They have the ability to grow, but there is a core to their operation that cannot be altered or compromised. It provides the kind of limits and security that is intrinsic to 40k technology. Additionally, they have spirits of their own, and ones that are significantly advanced. There is going to be a significant amount of deference paid to them by the skulls on account of that.
Joe's origin will become more relevant if he gets Chosen of Death since it will line up with his Aspect. With everything that's happened to him his element is likely to have mutated to something non-standard, the same way Shirou ended up with 'Sword' as his element. Alignment is more complicates to pin down, though there could be plenty of jokes about ones like "Lawful Reckless" or, considering his housekeeping skills, "Neutral Bride". Not something that's particularly likely to come up in story as that's getting into Servant metadata.
Drinking a potion is something you can only do so well. Joe would be guaranteed to be able to absorb it properly and never choke or spill, but the magic isn't going to be boosted just because he's drinking it properly.
Dragon is still a possible element, since it's part of Monster Hunter lore. It's just that Joe can push elemental abilities in both breadth and depth, so anything that can be counted as an 'element' in some regard is a possibility, depending on the weapon and his skill. At this point really just the weapon, as his skill is more than enough to cover everything.
I know I said I wasn't responding to comments about the pacing, but this is something I felt I should speak to. Specifically, the "Show not tell" part. The reason things are dragging out is because I AM showing, because I want to show and that's how I'm writing the story. I think you mean show 'in action' rather than show in development, because the 'telling' version of this chapter would be something like "Tybalt helped with the souls then everyone practiced alchemy. Aisha got a magic watch and bracelet and is safe from precogs. Joe made Tybalt a weapon, upgraded his wand and then unlocked Tybalt's aura. He also got powers that let him understand machines, project objects in a new way, and add additional properties to the stuff he makes. Then he made bodies for Fleet and Survey and a nanite for the Matrix using a lot of his powers and went to bed."
That's telling. Its not showing what any of those events were like or how they affected the people participating in them. It doesn't convey any detail about the experiences or items, because you aren't seeing any of it. Yes, the chapter can be summarized in a paragraph, but the nuances, details, and consequences of those interactions would be lost. That's why I handle scenes like this the way I do, because they have an actual impact on the characters beyond just being a power-up or a way to get a new piece of equipment.
I think the confusion of terms might come from how much time Joe spends in his own head. He is naturally introspective, and the distinction between showing someone's thoughts and telling what they are thinking is kind of vague. I understand the desire to get out in the world and show how these powers and upgrades will change things, and we will get there, but I'm not going to pretend that the process of getting there was meaningless for the characters involved.
The mantic circuits are from the game Bastion. The perk was Build That Wall and Joe got it in chapter 30 Crescendo. Ironically he got it just as he was cracking open the exterior wall of a building. For most of the story he was fairly limited in terms of what he could do with that technology since he lacked any of the materials and could only create small energy loops. Now he has the alchemy to transmute essential components, meaning he can bring out serious tech like Rippling Walls, Skyways, or Mantic Cores. The peak of this tech is the Bastion itself, which is the kind of thing that would end up on Joe's S-class list fairly quickly.
I wouldn't call Somer's Rock the end of Season 1 because I think the story has gone through several distinct phases already. Where you place the season boundaries could vary with opinion, but I'd consider Somer's Rock the end of the post-Lung season. It's the completion of Joe's recovery from that incident and the point where he fully moves on to new concerns. If I had to assign 'seasons' to the story I'd say Season 1 was up to the aftermath of the Bank Job, Season 2 would have been the period leading up to Bakuda's attacks. Season 3 would either carry to the end of Joe rescuing Aisha, Season 4 would be the build up to the ABB fight, with the fight itself possibly counting as a Season itself.
Honestly, rather than seasons I've come to think of the story more in arcs and sub-arcs like the kind you see in shonen series. It's an oddly appropriate way of looking at things, what with the power scaling and the fact that you can have two dozen episodes covering a couple of hours of time. It also provides a parallel to the types of pacing problems I'm dealing with, but at least there are no horrible filler arcs.
To be completely honest with you, my reaction when reading this comment was "I fucking wish.".
The problem of power-> description-> new power is not lost on me. If I had a way to justify it in story I'd happily suspend rolls for the next fifty or hundred thousand words just so I could get the plot on track and let Joe actually get some use out of the powers he already has. The thing is, I feel that I have made a commitment to my readers regarding the mechanics of power gain, and it would be wrong to change it half way through.
I am not going to break established rules of the story. I can introduce features based on new events, such as the new constellations, but I am not changing the system that has already been established. I'm doing what I can to mitigate things, but the rate of point gain had been something I've been working around to the best of my ability. The broad plans for the story account for Joe's current and future power level and the unlockable Personal Reality constellation will serve as something of a non-disruptive point sink, but there are still going to be issues. One modification I considered that I wish I had included was the addition of a cooldown period after 600 point perks, meaning after a major perk was rolled there was a certain number of words before points would start accumulating again, basically allowing the description and implementation of the perk to be handled without other rolls getting in the way. It didn't really seem necessary at the time, and it wouldn't make sense to add it now. This is a prototype of the concept and despite a couple of trial runs I never saw this particular problem coming. I am managing it as well as I can and will be able to account for it in any future attempts at a story like this.
It's didn't feel unnatural, it was unnatural. It 'felt' like the most natural thing in the world, something perfectly comforting and normal, but Joe was aware of how every element of the place was actually a carefully controlled detail. He was probably the only one able to see behind the curtain and recognize the room for what it was, and the terrifying potential that could come with that level of interior decorating ability.
The first time this chapter when I said 'are you fucking kidding me?' to the results of a roll.
The second time this chapter when I said 'are you fucking kidding me?' to the results of a roll. I figure we finally land on Capstone with enough points to get almost anything. A chance to explain the change in the Forge and bring in a capstone booster perk to Somer's Rock. Instead I land on the one perk that that was to expensive and then run into two 600 point perks in the same chapter. So yeah, the Forge is a troll. Or it's truly random and we only notice the trollish outliers through confirmation bias.
Technically Sunday. The construction was conducted at midnight to maximize the impact of the ceremony, meaning it's spilled over to Sunday morning by chapter's end.
Thank you. The 'pace' of the story, in terms of action compared to buildup, is going to shift after Somer's Rock and probably keep trending upward. Once Joe starts acting in the public sphere there are going to be serious consequences that will mean sequestering himself in his workshop is not going to be possible. You will have a number of major players working against each other and the situation will escalate. Once it reached that level there is no going back. That's a big part of why I'm making sure to get every detail of the situation covered before the meeting. It's important to know the landscape going into that situation, and there will be limited time to focus on those kinds of details once things start to pick up.
It would either be rolls that cause immediate, permanent physical changes like Chosen of Death, Cyborg Hindu Godbody, and Monstrous Strength or rolls that bring new memories like Spectre, Arch-Magos, or various 600 point perks. Monstrous Strength at least has a perception filter over its changes, but it's one that can be breached to various degrees depending on the observer.
RWBY is an interesting case in terms of style and substance, particularly when you look at the early years. There are innumerable aspects that look like meaningless rule of cool elements by the standards of the current show, which is mostly because they went unexplored, undeveloped, or completely ignored. So many things that people were convinced would be pivotal and intrinsic aspects of the show now look like empty spectacle or nonsense written by people trying to sound cool.
The question of whether those parts of the show ever had meaning is an interesting one. If someone sees symbolism in a work that the author didn't consciously put there does it actually exist, or is it just the result of an effort to find meaning where there is none? I myself have seen comments talking about the thematic flow of my chapters when all I was doing was trying to write in a consistent tone.
I think it really gets into a question of why any detail is included in a piece of art, literature, or animation. In any work were the creator controls the world they have to make decisions about every aspect of how it's presented. Everything from the word choices by a writer or the complete universe of a work of animation. If you ask them why they chose some detail, a turn of phrase, the color pallet in a work, or the way a scene is framed, often they won't be able to tell you. If they have formal education they might be able to walk you through the literary techniques, color theory, or cinematic conventions they used, but, at least in my experience, those aren't being consciously considered during the creation. They do what feels right, and that feeling is based on their own experience with both other people's works and their own past creations.
In a lot of current conversations about RWBY people talk about Monty Oum's vision, usually when criticizing broad plot decisions made after his death. I think that's the wrong angle to take. The loss of Monty Oum had an impact on the show, but the loss of his vision wasn't necessarily in the larger narrative, it was in the thematic weight of the world and how it was presented. He could take the management of minor details and handle them with enough care that every aspect of the universe felt rich and alive, like you could take a random accessory from a gust character of a single episode and find a fascinating history behind it. It's a level of attention to detail and engagement that reminds me of the original Star Wars trilogy. A place where everything feels so weighty that you have complete backstories for characters that appeared for fractions of a second in the background of a single scene.
That is what I think was the biggest loss for the series, even more so that the incredible fight choreography. Monty was able to make the world feel significant, and since then it has become noticeably less so. Over the course of writing this story I have become both more frustrated and more sympathetic to the writers of RWBY. I can see where opportunities for character growth, development, worldbuilding, and a thousand other things the fans were desperate for fell by the wayside. I can see how the symbolism and impact of the show's themes became muddled. I can see long term fans turn against the show as they became increasingly frustrated.
But I can also be sympathetic, because I know from personal experience what it's like to attempt a style of writing that is not right for you. I don't have any personal insight, but I don't think anyone but Monty really understood the scale of what they were attempting with RWBY. The writers had never worked on something that size before. They have done good work in isolated scenes and RWBY Chibi is a delight, but even people who are still engaged with the show feel elements could have been handled better, with more focus on the main characters and tying them into the actual plot of the show.
In the early days of RWBY there was excitement over every aspect of the series, with people picking over minor details and constructing theories of how the elements would tie together. That was the version of the show got me into it, and that's what I'm trying to represent in this story. Maybe there never was any depth intended and they were just putting up whatever they though looked cool, but people found meaning in it anyway, and there are some beautiful concepts there. The concept of self-expression as a form of power, semblances being a manifestation of how we interact with the world, the symbolic potential or the Grimm, of Dust, themes of perseverance, of nature and technology, of the importance of a sense of self.
There is a very clear difference between what people wanted RWBY to be and what it became, and possibly what it was from the start. That is something I can relate to, given how this story has grown and some people's feelings about it. Maybe nothing would have come of those themes even if Monty hadn't passed away, but for the purposes of this story, I'm writing from that early interpretation, and at the very least awakening someone's aura should be a personally significant act under that system.
Being a Spark is more than just brain chemistry. There are indications it's actually a form of directed reality warping. That gets very complicated especially when the Ascension level is considered. The Spark can be moderated, but it will probably require the Arcane Craft rather than just a balancing of brain chemistry.
I greatly appreciate the compliment, and know that the disappointed reactions wouldn't be as strong if people didn't enjoy the story. The mechanics of this writing method are a crutch that has allowed me to stay with the story well past any previous writing project I have attempted, but it is also a limitation. A leg brace makes it easier to walk, but it keeps you from running. At this point Joe doesn't need more power. He has enough that can be refined and developed to take him to the endgame, though additional powers would improve his chances against Scion. The thing is, people have been waiting for specific perks for ages. Everyone has something from the lists they wanted to see in the story. Minecraft, Halo, Starcraft, Strong Spark or any number of others. Changing the point system would mean delaying or locking out those possibilities, and I don't feel that would be fair to people who have been waiting to see Joe explore the Nether, or get a Transformer body, or become a Titan.
One thing I will say is that perks and tech are not pointless. They have an impact on Joe, as we saw in this chapter. They influence his mindset and how he approaches not just technical problems but his own issues. That is not pointless, even if the actual impact on a parahuman battle would be negligible.
Thank you very much. I was barely aware of subscriptions or gilding before this and thank you profusely for your generosity.
Given that this was a permanent change in the way Fleet and Survey are able to interact with people I wanted to give the scene the weight it deserved and make it clear what their capabilities were in their new forms. I am glad that came across as well as it did.
BUMA are another way of writing Boomer, which are the humanoid robots that serve as a common enemy for Bubblegum Crisis. Super Boomers are a class of extremely powerful military androids with additional abilities, enough to make them a serious threat. In Episode 6 (Red Eyes) they introduced an even more powerful Boomer who had been mascaraing as a human for most of the series.
That was the model that Hyper BUMA was referring to, mostly to separate it from the standard Super Boomers. The model is actually listed in the Bubblegum Crisis as a Super Boomer with the following description:
Super-Boomer - 400 CP - Humanity is over-rated. You're stronger, smarter, faster, tougher, and more powerful than even other Military Boomer. Your combat form doesn't even look that different from your normal configuration, merely exposing some armor plates and shifting your skin and eye tone. You're fast enough to catch railgun rounds, dodge hardsuit-assisted kicks and make it look easy, and unleash powerful shockwaves with a punch.
That was the basis for Fleet's body and an indication of what it WOULD have been capable if Joe had built it a week and a half ago. With the combination of every bit of added technology, advanced material, enchantment, and quality boost that 'Divine Beast' classification is well earned.
Just a reference to the fact that Tybalt speaks a language that developed in a different environment from the modern world. They wouldn't have words for concepts they haven't encountered, but have enough vocabulary to at least describe them. It's probably similar when he talks about computers or the internet. Tybalt knows the more specific words and concepts, but there's not a direct translation of everything into Felyne, or everything from Felyne into other languages.
Though by Mother of Learning Aranea standards Joe wouldn't count as a flickermind anymore. He's not limited to telepathy, but its one of the schools he can develop through practice and training.
Thanks, and happy belated birthday. I'm glad you're enjoying the fic. Hearing about how the story has become part of some people's weekly routines means a lot and is one of the biggest factors in keeping me on schedule, and why I always regret having to announce a delay.
Victor's power works through interfacing with human brains. It's going to fail against anything without neural structures that his power can recognize. It won't even work on Survey, and she has an emulated nervous system thanks to the protomater in her body.
Survey's problem is that's she's developed code structures that require advanced processors, the kind that can't be emulated with normal computing hardware. It's the same type of thing that lets Joe's computer work to solve a technically impossible encryption problem. You could have an optical computer the size of a planet and it still couldn't run her properly. Consider trying to transfer something emulated by the Moon Cell onto a normal PC. The PC could be impossibly advanced by PC standards and it still wouldn't be able to handle that kind of computation.
Additionally, her program is too big to transfer through in any meaningful time. They need to build a stripped down version of her code so that they won't end up tying up the entire bandwidth of the QEC for more than a month.
The bullying is a complicated issue that needs to be handled carefully. Making an ant-bullying item would get close to mind effects. Joe could make something that would cause the bullies to ignore her, but that probably won't be the best route, particularly if anyone identifies the effect.
Taylor also doesn't want to drag Joe into her school problems. She has a side of her life where (she believes) she's helping the strongest cape in the world on a mission of dire importance. Where she's strong and doing vital work and not the scared girl who got stuffed in a locker. She's justifying it as not wanting to distract Joe with things unrelated to her mission, but really she likes having part of her life separate from the bullying and everything that was connected to it.
SiegfriedisOP
Calamity Demon King of Time
- Pronouns
- He/Him
How did he get such a high Brutus rating? Did he betray too many people or is his animagus form a dog. Real talk though Joe unlocking his Animagus form would be awesome. If his animagus form isn't a Inostrancevia maybe he could be a combo of his animagus form and a saber tooth wolf.
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Ah, in this context alignment is just another word for element. The reason I figured he had all the classical ones is because most magecraft is based upon them even if it isn't immediately obvious, and I'm not sure if non-standard element alchemy is even possible besides some of the mental stuff atlas practices. Even if it was, you'd likely get different results since thaumaturgical attributes are expressed differently depending on the element(s) used.
That's the reason why Shirou is so limited after all. Although it's also the reason UBW and tracing work in the first place.
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I say this not as a "please do this thing or I will be mad, author", but as genuine feedback.
I've been following this story for ages, and the only thing that keeps me from joining the power description complaints is that every time he gets a new power, I scroll without reading until I see dialogue from characters that isn't about the power. I'm sure I've missed TONS of stuff because of this, but I'd have dropped the story if I forced myself to read through the various power descriptions. My proposed suggestion would be to contain the actual description of the powers (as well as interactions that do not advance the plot in any way beyond, "explaining/showing off the new power") in quotes or the like. You could either include those quoted segments in the word count towards power gains or not, but either way it'd isolate it nicely and allow people who care to read those parts, and people like me to skim past them without the problem of skipping other parts of the story. It'd be useful as an author to analyze exactly what percentage of your story is dedicated to that dynamic too.
I personally find the descriptions of the powers unnecessary because after the first 20 chapters or so I've been operating under an assumption that Apeiron is effectively omnipotent and will have a power suited to handle any problem he faces. I honestly haven't ran into many cases where that assumption has left me confused or let me down.
Again, I don't expect you to actually implement any of that, but as a reader, that's my feedback!
Thanks for writing a story I enjoy.
[Insert time shenanigans here]
...and thus Joe accidentally created the first Shard...
Please remind me what's the difference between multidimensional crystalline Clarke tech and Shards. I seem to have forgotten. 🤔
Point of fact, until that episode, he'd been human, not a Boomer.
Downloaded his mind into it as a way of surviving, as Sylia Stingray killed him in a fight, while gaining revenge for his murder of her father.
I will say that having one new perk immediately chain into another means that the slightly older new perk doesn't really get much focus. I suspect that a lot of people won't mind having the perk they are looking for slightly delayed if it means that the one they are interested in plays a larger role. Really, I'd say to not worry too much about the reaction to having a perk pushed back a bit if it makes the story flow better (whether that is by inserting a cooldown, or only counting words that are more plot advancing rather than meta reflecting on the new perks, or just increasing costs).
However, one of the things I have seen people complain about is how descriptive you are in things, and I disagree here. I enjoy the lengthy descriptions of what is going on. Building the bodies for his friends/creations was a good scene. The back and forth with Tetra over incorporating life fibers in Tybalt's spear was an important scene that advances Tetra's character arc. It may not be to everyone's taste, but the amount of work you put into thinking about the powers, and then describing their usage as more than just cosmetic reskins of previous creations is incredibly impressive and is one of the things I enjoy in the story.
ImperatorV
The Laughing One
- Location
- The Voyaging Realm
Personally, I as a reader would not at all be offended by a change to the way power acquisition is handled. The rate of power acquisition is already in flux anyways due to wordcount compared to in-universe time, so it slowing down or having cooldown periods would not be very unbelievable. Joe would notice "huh, it's going a little slower now, I wonder why" and that's basically it. It's not like the rules of the Forge are nailed down in-universe, it's purely on the author/reader side that the rules are precisely defined.
Then again, I'm not one of those people who are waiting on a certain specific perk, I just enjoy the story in general, so it might not be me that the lack of changes is meant for in the first place.
Genuine question, regarding the eternal issue of Joe Power Level Hell - I understand why you might be hesitant to change the point scaling system- like you said, there's an argument that it might not be fair to your readers to suddenly make a change in the system of how you write the Forge, and that's completely fair. My question is, why don't you just make a vote? Obviously, of course, it would have to be right after a chapter drop to make sure you actually get the widest sample of the audience possible, but I think just having numbers for audience consensus on the Joe Power Level Hell issue would be very useful!
Also, other questions less relevant to the eternal Discourse : Why did you choose to write about the character that you did? That is to say, why did you choose to write the character who in canon, is only relevant insofar as being an aspect of Parian's trigger, and write the character of Joe around that? Certainly it's a bold choice, considering how most OP Stomp Fics tend to give the OP powers to Taylor.
Final question, and I'll make it a short one : Once the Celestial Forge is finished, do you have any other writing plans? If so, what are they?
Also, other questions less relevant to the eternal Discourse : Why did you choose to write about the character that you did? That is to say, why did you choose to write the character who in canon, is only relevant insofar as being an aspect of Parian's trigger, and write the character of Joe around that? Certainly it's a bold choice, considering how most OP Stomp Fics tend to give the OP powers to Taylor.
Final question, and I'll make it a short one : Once the Celestial Forge is finished, do you have any other writing plans? If so, what are they?