Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
Looks fine to me, don't worry about rewrites.
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Folklore (Worm SI)
- Thread starter Turncoat
- Start date
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- Tags
- worm self insert
This was such a pleasant read. It just hits different when people put their thoughts and feelings into comments, which is nice. Feels like I'm legit talking to someone without actually talking to them lol. I, too, slept like a baby after reading this chapter on QQ. And, yes, it defo don't need any rewrites. It's perfect just the way it is.
In the long-term? Probably. In the short-term? No, he's not such a saint he'll risk causing a small apocalypse.
Tattletale can't not snipe at someone. I think that in the most literal sense, since The Negotiator's weapons are words as a shard. Like how Rachel's mind was rewired for dogs, it is my personal suspicion that Lisa's personality was tilted enough to give her more of a blabbermouth than before.
I haven't rewritten it. Though I did edit it a bit to give more thought as to why he handed off the keys to the kingdom to Lisa.
He should have warned her not to push Pan pan.
I wonder if Kaiser will still kick the bucket with Levi, and if so will it be in BBay? Without Kaiser E88 splits.
Levi went to BBay at that time because of the chain of bullshit that was strung together with Boom Boom, Coil, Empire and Travelers. If Levi doesn't hit BBay then SH9 may not be in a hurry to visit, derailing the entire thing with Theo, meaning that Jack wouldn't meet Zion while fighting Theo and thus triggering gold morning.
He should recruit Purity, he can put one of those Stranger Fields at her house to protect Aster from E88.
I wonder if Kaiser will still kick the bucket with Levi, and if so will it be in BBay? Without Kaiser E88 splits.
Levi went to BBay at that time because of the chain of bullshit that was strung together with Boom Boom, Coil, Empire and Travelers. If Levi doesn't hit BBay then SH9 may not be in a hurry to visit, derailing the entire thing with Theo, meaning that Jack wouldn't meet Zion while fighting Theo and thus triggering gold morning.
He should recruit Purity, he can put one of those Stranger Fields at her house to protect Aster from E88.
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- Location
- Oslo
- Pronouns
- She/Her
That wording on Lisa's part implies a familiarity with Coil's power, that only a reader may possess. I read WORM a long time ago, so might be wrong, but if I what I remember is correct Coil always played his power up and was very stingy with information, while 80% of fanon Tattletale power is the type of bullshit, that canon Lisa would only dream of. She's good, but by that point in the story her grasp of his power was weak, at best.
If I ever you, I'd check the relevant part of Worm via wiki and rewrote the sentence slightly.
Folklord.
I love your story a lot. 👍
Canon Lisa does know his power because post levi when she goes to convince Taylor to re-join them Lisa outright tells her what Coil's power is and how he's been using it to back them up. This includes that on her first night out the other timeline's Lung fight went badly because they went for him first instead of Lee so Taylor stumbled on them and fought them both at first leading to some of the undersiders dying and an injured Lisa slipping away and calling Coil to get him to drop the timeline. Coil has even asked her if he is actually creating new timelines.
Apprentice 2.2
March 22nd, 2011, 1:43 am
Lisa
Lisa
In the aftermath of Folklord leaving, she managed to hold herself together long enough to promptly wait until she was sure he was gone. Then Lisa promptly went to the nearest bin and vomited.
Trying to present a face of cool assurance and cold-bloodedness didn't hold up when she was trying not to blow chunks the entire time. Not with her power open wide for the entire conversation, and then the subsequent execution. Not tamping down on it when she blew Coil's brains out was a mistake on her part.
-ood splatter from a short-range handgun, execution style. Indicates a high amount of personal antagonism towards the target-
Yeah, no shit. Thanks for stating the obvious.
Brian approached, idly patting her back, though with his trademark awkwardness in a situation like this. Put him in a Cape fight and he'd be a great leader, but throw him for a loop with this and he was stuck on the backfoot. The attempt at trying to soothe her was appreciated all the same.
"You gonna be alright…?" He inquired, which was a fair question.
Concerned about your mental state. Perturbed by how readily you executed Coil. Accepting of perceived necessity of the action.
Well, that was a small relief. Now she needed to tamp down on her power, because it was agonizing to hold open at this point. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she gave him a small shake of her head. "Not particularly," Lisa admitted, "But we've got to wrangle the rest of this operation into order before I can knock myself out with sleeping pills."
"So we're doing it? Just…sliding into Coil's shoes, just like that?" Brian seemed reticent, and she knew why. It was a pretty sizable escalation from what they'd been doing before.
Thankfully, she could thoroughly disabuse him of that notion. "Not even close. The sheer scale of what Coil was doing was primed towards his ambitions and a paranoid surveillance state on everyone, and everything that might have been a threat."
How much of his profits were turned towards those ends was probably somewhere in his ledgers. She refused to believe he didn't keep track of it somewhere in those myriad files she now had access to. "Realistically, we're going to follow through with Folklord's demands, and downscale as much as possible for what's better for the Undersiders."
"And you're cool with just…taking directions from Folklord?" He seemed a little surprised by that, which only made her chuckle all the more.
"Not in the slightest. He's a Trump that gains powers randomly, with a sharp escalation curve. Morally, he's not straight-laced, but he's a big rules guy, and Mastering Coil was a bit beyond the pale for him." She thought back to everything she'd taken from their interaction, as her power collated those observations.
Deeply uncomfortable with actions, but sees them as a requirement for the continued stability of the city. Sees Undersiders as least threat in Brockton Bay, will not engage unless publicly visible actions are taken.
It painted the picture of someone who didn't want to do what he did but recognized that Coil was a threat to himself. Maybe someone personal or special to him, if she read him right. "Provided we stay from the level of escalation the Empire or the ABB presents, we'll be fine."
They didn't even need to be on that level anymore either. Coil's money, after downsizing his operation, was going to ensure that the core members of the Undersiders would be staying in place. After that…they could think about a proper expansion into new avenues of making money.
Prostitution, arms running, human trafficking, and drug dealing, were crimes for groups that didn't have a powerful Thinker on their side. Or Coil's connections to Accord, which were now supplanted by her.
Brian watched her for a long moment, before something untensed in his posture and he gave her a nod. "Alright. I'll have to take your word for it. All in all, he didn't seem…very heroic, but I guess this is a bit out of left field for anyone to deal with."
Heroism does not come naturally to Folklord. Heroics is motivated purely by resource acquisition for long-term projects.
"He's got a plan of his own that requires him to be a Hero, is my best guess," Lisa admitted, as she glanced over at Coil's body. "Though he's definitely got some hard edges on him too."
For now, the two of them were going to have to likely spend the rest of the night going through the snake's files. That, and assuring the mercenaries that while there'd been a change in leadership, everything else was going to be the same. At least until she could find the true scum amongst their number, and purge the organization thoroughly.
Folklord had some sort of Thinker component to his powerset, so she did not doubt that if he said he could find her? He meant it. Best to keep on his good side…for now. There was a way to leverage him, but outright blackmail was a poor choice to use on someone who'd displayed very little unwillingness to outright Master existential threats.
Master ability displayed was one Folklord proved uncomfortable with, not only from moral stance, but lack of practice.
Hmm. Interesting. She'd add it to the pile of mysteries surrounding how his powers worked, from what little glimpses she saw of them. That darkness he generated, for example, wasn't anything like Brian's, even if it superficially shared a theme. It only absorbed light, nothing else.
Time passed even further as she and Brian dug into the guts of the operation through the takeover, and rifling through files, assuring mercenaries that yes, nothing was wrong. It was going to all but ensure that she was wiped out for the next day or so, but the reasoning was a good one.
It also introduced her to a rather unfortunate realization.
Coil had to have been the bane of her existence, the reason she woke up at times with cold shivers at night, and generally quite possibly one of the worst people she'd ever met. Yet with all that being said, she had a newfound appreciation for how much she'd been insulated from the inner workings of his operation. To call it Byzantine was an understatement.
Meticulously planned squad formations, operations, patrol routes, and spreadsheets listing detailed dossiers on everyone under his employ. Given what she now knew about his power, it was almost a guarantee that most of it was acquired through the sorts of violation that she'd rather not know about.
Concerning the sheer amount of personal data present, numerous sessions of torture likely required. Cross-examination of answers between various Undersiders during these sessions, before termination of simulations most probable use of precognition.
When Brian saw these, along with the various reports on just about every single member of his family, including Aisha…
Well, she got called a dumbass a few times, though her power knew he was just feeling particularly impotent. After all, they'd had a Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads without any of them besides Lisa knowing about it. If it wasn't for their friendly neighborhood vigilante, who'd then extorted a bit of money from them, they wouldn't have gotten out of the situation untouched.
That, more than anything else, pressed home the need to learn more about how his powers worked. Whether to know if they even had a chance against fighting him if it came down to it…or finding other solutions to this prickly relationship.
One way or another, neither of them was going to be getting much in the way of rest as the new order was established across what was formerly Coil's operations.
March 23nd, 2011
Odell
Odell
I dislike hemming and hawing over my actions. Which made going to school after taking out Coil feel pretty odd. Walking around, going to classes like I hadn't just enabled a murder the night before, and becoming a millionaire by doing so.
Was I right to kill Coil? Did I do the right thing by handing over Coil's operation to Lisa to disentangle and manage, given I didn't have the know-how or the grit to handle that dismantling? This was a Gordian knot of a situation where I don't think there was a right answer.
Well, besides killing Coil. I felt pretty confident that was the right choice there.
I didn't have Path to Victory or even the slightly weaker equivalents from the Grimoire. Expecting me to have threaded the needle in the perfect choice was unreasonable, I knew, but it didn't mean I was happy with it. In the end, everyone had to make their peace with their choices.
That included me.
On the flipside, it meant that I also had some other things to come to grips with, like the enormous windfall I had coming my way. Those millions I demanded from Lisa seemed like a lot, but in reality for the plans I had? They'd disappear relatively quickly when it came to paying all those different expenses in my way.
To set up a corporate team we were going to need to create a base, and that wouldn't be that bad. Given that there were only so many interests in the Bay that even could infiltrate my future organization, none were remotely as insidious as Coil. But even the low-cost properties of Brockton Bay had price tags attached to them, and that number only went up the better the site.
From there, you had to pay for all sorts of different expenses. I'm talking equipment for the Tinkers I wanted to recruit, and myself. Materials for said Tinkers. More conventional and supernatural security apparatuses that I would set up in time. These weren't going to be cheap, either.
So no, it was a lot of money, but I was naturally a frugal person and couldn't exactly explain where I got a stupid amount of cash like that easily. Not without having some very pointed questions thrown my way, as a kid in a group home. Very little was going to change about my day-to-day life, and I considered the money pilfered from Coil's accounts essentially pretty to look at, but not very useful in practice.
I was pretty desultory for the majority of that day, at least until I properly got a message from Lisa over PHO concerning the dead drop. Ducking out of Winslow as soon as possible, I made my way over to the abandoned home near the Trainyard where she'd dumped my Number Man card. Picking that up was useful, but even better was getting Trevor's contact info.
With Coil dead, that left him decidedly without a patron. Lisa could and almost certainly would fill that role if it was left open, which meant I had to fill the hole left by the Thinker's absence. Or at least try to, when I came to recruit him.
How hard could it be?
March 24th, 2011
So instead I loitered around on a rooftop, in the dead of night. I'd chosen a Friday evening if only because teens might be allowed to run around a bit more than they would otherwise be able to. However, the time it offered me to finally update my costume was useful.
Along with another special item I'd managed to hammer out with some rudimentary etching tools.
I went to a bunch of different places in my old costume to shop, and once they were assured that I wasn't robbing the stores? They were usually pretty willing to play ball, considering the expense of some of those purchases. As the saying goes, money talks.
Knee-high brown leather boots and black trousers that were fashioned after breeches, bought out of whatever material seemed the hardiest. It was a place that sold clothes for theater productions, so I wasn't sure how hard it'd hold up, but there wasn't anything a bit of Dust couldn't shore up eventually. Beyond that, I wore a black vest over a red button-up shirt, with a similarly colored scarf that could be pulled up over the lower half of my face.
Lastly was the tricorn leather hat, and long black overcoat. I was cribbing pretty heavily off what I remembered of the Bloodborne Hunter Set of armor for this general look since I felt like it had a sort of aristocratic vibe. Given my name was Folklord, that sort of thing worked for me.
It'd hopefully tide me over until I managed to get or craft some proper armor, since the pieces were all meant to be bought in bulk for theater productions across the state. However as I looked over my outfit, the Grimoire tossed something new at me. Something I'd desperately wanted for quite some time.
Power Granting Deal(Sailor Moon - 400CP) - You may grant a portion of your power and some of your powers to up to eight willing people at the same time, if you wish. This power is connected to you, and you may take it back any time you wish. However, your power will decrease the more power you give someone. You may also share your powers or other forms with people, but until you take them back you will lack the power you gave. You may, for example, give someone your fire powers or part of your vast wells of magical power or give your excess energy to someone to empower them.
I took it, even if it ate up the majority of my charge. I'd been looking for a perk like this for some time, hoping for it, because it gave me an ability I desperately needed. No longer was I at the whims of needing to recruit parahumans exclusively. Now?
Now I could recruit anyone, and hand them powers willy-nilly. It changed the calculus of my purchasing decisions for the Grimoire too, given the way it all but ensured that I'd look differently at perks I would have ignored before. Things that were minor on their own as boons, when given as part of a greater package of powers?
Well, it changed things. It changed things considerably more than I would have been expecting, but I was quite pleased with it.
Maybe I was deep enough in that reverie of presumptions on the future to be distracted by Trevor's approach. By the time I turned around at the sound of something metal hitting the edge of the roof, I could spot someone clambering over the lip. It gave me the first glimpse I had of Trevor Medina.
Physically, not someone I'd have considered all that daunting at the moment. His power armor was at that awkward, ungainly phase of the Tinker cycle, kludged together pieces that didn't have the clean uniformity you'd see on a more experienced Tinker.
"You must be Trevor," I greeted, giving the teen a nod, "I'm happy you got my message."
"It's hard to ignore that sort of thing when it's coming from my boss," was his response, as he stowed away what appeared to be a grappling hook onto his belt, "So what's he want? This is a bit out of nowhere for him."
How to delicately handle this…
"Unfortunately, I'm here to make you aware that Coil is no longer around to run his operation," I very diplomatically stated, hands clasped in front of me where he could see them. No need to make him get antsy.
Because he was very much twitching when he heard that. "...No longer around?"
"Deceased. Dead. Gone from this plane of existence," I stated, clearly, in no uncertain terms, "I didn't kill him, but I certainly saw it happen. His operation is being downsized and gutted as we speak, by the new management in charge of it."
Already he looked prepared to bolt, and I couldn't even blame him. In a position like his, tenuous and desirable by the main factions by the dint of being a Tinker, caution was warranted. He didn't need to be afraid of me, however, and I intended to assure him of that.
Raising a hand to forestall his instinct to leave, I carefully reached into my coat. I saw him stiffen, but I was also moving slow enough that a mobility-focused Tinker, even one this early in his cycle, ought to get away. "I got your contact information through the new management, who believed we could work well together. And to a degree, I can assure a considerably stabler working relationship."
"That's a big claim."
"I'm willing to back it up with more factual evidence," I shrugged, as I pulled out a small necklace, tossing it in the space on the roof between us.
He eyed it with some trepidation, helmeted face looking back at me briefly, and then back at it. "What is that? Your evidence?"
"I'm a Tinker as well, with a specialty you'll find is singularly complimentary to your own," I explained, gesturing at the necklace. "It allows me to imbue objects with minor powers of their own, not entirely unlike Dauntless. That necklace can increase the amount of ground you cover twice over, functionally doubling your speed."
It didn't increase your agility, or reflexes, yet even that singular boost was a massive boon for someone like Trevor. I'd bought a premade iron talisman and an etching set, carving away at it and enchanting it with my supply of Dust, meager as it was.
"That's…" He paused, obviously trying to find his words, "That's not a small boost."
"Not at all, especially for someone with a mobility, movement specialty like your own. It's one of the benefits you'd have to working with a fellow Tinker," I gestured at it again, "Feel free to try it on."
Carefully, he watched me as he headed to the necklace. Body language hinting that he was trying not to rush and just shove it onto his neck. First he inspected it, but whenever he found that it was acceptable? He immediately threw it on.
The shift was pretty noticeable, as the raw distance that he covered just from walking alone was visibly faster. It was odd to see, yet given how antsy he was getting, it was obvious that he was excited.
"Holy fuck. Shit. Do you know what I could do with something like this? How fast could I go, for half the effort?" There was an excited tone in his voice, as he ran circles around me testing the iron talisman, breathing hard. Not from exertion, but if I had to guess, whatever silly Tinker ideas he was having.
I was halfway tempted to stop him since I was fairly sure that he was working himself up into a fugue.
"Nope," was my admission, "My specialty is limited in some ways that pretty much would sideline me if I didn't have other things I could do. I'm Folklord, and I've got an offer for you."
"Does it include this sick-ass necklace that was made for me?"
"Yep," I popped the p at the end, "Among other things. I took a nice chunk of Coil's change when I arranged his downfall. Currently, I'm in the beginning stages of creating a corporate hero team for Brockton Bay."
As in, it was theorized I'd do it. I still needed to find someone to serve as a spokesperson or who had a fair amount of business knowledge. Easier said than done.
"That's…not unwelcome, I guess," Trevor shrugged, obviously not as enthused, "Is this an offer I can refuse?"
"Wholeheartedly. The last thing I want is a Tinker at my back who doesn't want to be there. There are easier ways to die ironically."
That was the truth. Tinkers could be enslaved right up until they outscaled you in terms of technological development. Some might not, others could do it in relatively short amounts of time. It always seemed like a big gamble to me to try and enslave a Tinker, especially with such risky rewards.
I'm also the type of person to hold a mean grudge when fucked over, so maybe that came into play concerning how I felt about it. If someone did something like that to me, you could expect swift retribution before long.
That seemed to be the right thing to say to him if the nod he gave me was any sign.
"That's good to hear. I'm not sure if I'm all gung-ho about the whole hero thing, but-"
"Did I mention it came with a fairly generous workshop and supply budget?" I asked, cocking my head to the side, slightly, "What other prospects are there in the city? Circus is going to get rolled up into the Undersiders probably. The Wards and Protectorate put more rules than not on their Tinkers. I don't think you're Asian enough for the ABB, or caucasoid enough for the Empire."
I didn't even bother mentioning the Merchants, for obvious reasons.
"That's fair," he admitted with a slow sigh.
"Besides, if you don't like it, you don't have to stick with the operation. Just give the heroics a chance, and if it turns out that it ain't for you? We'll walk away, no hard feelings."
In my eyes, that was a fair deal. It seemed like he agreed as well, "Alright. I'm willing to give this a shake at least, and see where it goes."
Ironic, given the fact that he was meant to be an undercover agent inside of the Wards. Now he was about to become a Hero for real. Funny how the vagaries of cosmic timelines shook out.
"Excellent. We've got a third member that's currently a bit shy, and is practicing on their powers before they debut," I lied, like a fucking liar. Rio didn't have a single goddamn power to his name, but that'd change before long. It might not be anytime soon but in the next couple of weeks?
I'd come across something I could hand off to him. Truthfully, I was thinking of giving him Possessive Predator, because the biggest use for it had come in dealing with Coil. Beyond that, it was just a very useful Thinker power. If I hadn't displayed the umbral aura power, I would have handed that off as well.
"Anyone else lined up?"
"I'm thinking of asking Trainwreck since he'd go pretty well with both of our specialties," I added, "He's a Case-53, and his living conditions right now are less than desirable. If I could, I'd like to try and fix at least some of that."
Trainwreck didn't seem like an awful person in canon, just a guy in a truly awful set of straits. If he could get something of his life together, or I could gain a power that would help with his condition at all? Well, it'd go a long way to gaining his loyalty.
"Aren't they a villain…?"
"Barely. Not enough that the Protectorate is going to press the issue, with him being a Case-53 and all. I'm pretty sure I can solve some of his material woes enough to forestall any future needs for criminal behavior."
With that, Trevor shrugged. "Sure. I'll take your word for it. Do you want to swap numbers or something, or…?"
He seemed like the type of guy to go with the flow, without any real strong opinions on…anything? Which wasn't bad. Provided that type of person was channeled to more eminently positive ends, they could be great allies. The problem was when they were turned villainous first.
That's where the troubles and crime usually started.
We swapped numbers between the two of us swiftly, promising to meet up at my base over the weekend so we could properly unmask each other. This was more of a preliminary recruitment operation, and I think it went relatively well.
If it was that easy to get Trevor on board, Trainwreck ought to be a cinch.
"Fuck off."
I pretty much went straight to the Trainyard after meeting up with Trevor, turning on my tracking to try and find Trainwreck. That wasn't the hard part, given he was living out of a box car like an old-timey hobo. I found him in around thirty minutes of concentrated searching.
No, the problem was that I had not expected someone so…contentious.
It didn't help that I was still out of sorts when the Grimoire spun around again, offering me a freebie. On its own, not very powerful. When combined with my other perks, though…
Origin and Element(Kara no Kyokai - Free) - Origin and Element are attributes of the soul and one's deepest being in this world. Everyone has one of each, some people have more, but this just helps you decide on the importance of your own ones.
An Origin is like a concept, a word, that is at the core of your character. It might describe a secret side of you that you rarely show, it might show influence through every action you take or it might just be something you really love about yourself. Taboo for someone who feels a forbidden love, Worthlessness for someone who seems to be a complete failure, Nostalgia for a man who considers his memories dearly important. An Origin by itself doesn't have much of an effect, merely lying unawakened. Some kinds of magecraft can eventually build on your Origin, such as a Taboo Origin Holder eventually learning to invest that effect into an item that inhibits the taboos of others. But these usually require quite high level skill and have subtle effects outside of extensive experimentation. You have an Origin of your choice, a normal one that is Unawakened and gives no real boons but has no real hindrance either.
An Element is more important, at least for a Magus. It describes something like your affinity for certain kinds of magic, significantly increasing talent in that area. Or rather, most Magi find it quite difficult to learn all but the most general magecraft outside of their Element. Far from impossible but much more inefficient. Most people have an Affinity for one of the five primary elements- Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Ether. These ascribe to much more than just basic elementalism. Fire might cover consumption, energy transfer or fuel. Earth may relate to cultivation and embedding of energy. Water covers the flow and cycle and combination of things. And so on. You have a moderately strong affinity for an Element of your choice. One of the primary five is recommended but if you know of an alternate choice, you can pick one, as long as it's not superior to the primary five. No Average Ones with talent for all five Elements and no uniquely powerful Element.
An Origin is like a concept, a word, that is at the core of your character. It might describe a secret side of you that you rarely show, it might show influence through every action you take or it might just be something you really love about yourself. Taboo for someone who feels a forbidden love, Worthlessness for someone who seems to be a complete failure, Nostalgia for a man who considers his memories dearly important. An Origin by itself doesn't have much of an effect, merely lying unawakened. Some kinds of magecraft can eventually build on your Origin, such as a Taboo Origin Holder eventually learning to invest that effect into an item that inhibits the taboos of others. But these usually require quite high level skill and have subtle effects outside of extensive experimentation. You have an Origin of your choice, a normal one that is Unawakened and gives no real boons but has no real hindrance either.
An Element is more important, at least for a Magus. It describes something like your affinity for certain kinds of magic, significantly increasing talent in that area. Or rather, most Magi find it quite difficult to learn all but the most general magecraft outside of their Element. Far from impossible but much more inefficient. Most people have an Affinity for one of the five primary elements- Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Ether. These ascribe to much more than just basic elementalism. Fire might cover consumption, energy transfer or fuel. Earth may relate to cultivation and embedding of energy. Water covers the flow and cycle and combination of things. And so on. You have a moderately strong affinity for an Element of your choice. One of the primary five is recommended but if you know of an alternate choice, you can pick one, as long as it's not superior to the primary five. No Average Ones with talent for all five Elements and no uniquely powerful Element.
Element was a no-brainer, with Evolution providing me some boosts to hydrokinesis and ice-related magic. I went with a water affinity the moment I selected it, feeling something different slide into place deep within me. A click, resounding from the core of my being. But Origin was trickier.
It was something that might not have a lot of sway over my personality given No Strings On Me, yet even beyond that, it could have staggering consequences for my future magecraft. Let alone the metaphysics of what it'd do for the rest of my magic. I had to pick something that not only resonated with me as a concept but wouldn't screw me over in the future.
In the end, I settled on the Origin of Progression. That sort of thing felt just right in ways that were difficult to explain, as things locked down into my soul. Somehow it felt different to an elemental affinity, where this felt more concrete, part of the ethos I'd tried to establish since ending up on Earth-Bet.
I couldn't backslide into the past behaviors I'd once indulged in. Not with responsibilities and goals on the horizon that wouldn't stand for it. Progression felt like a recognition of that fact etched into my spirit.
Always forward, never backward.
Needless to say, it was a small comfort as I looked up at the somewhat intimidating figure of Trainwreck, glaring down at me. Not that I thought he'd be able to hurt me all that much, but there was still something daunting about the massive suit of haphazard metal he stood in. That, and his distinctly unwelcoming behavior.
"Listen, I think we've got a lot to offer each other, and-"
I didn't get to finish my speech, not before he stomped forward. "Listen kid, did you not get the fuckin' memo? Whatever you're sellin', I'm not buying."
Oh, this was frustrating. But I didn't have the type of leverage I needed to ensure good behavior, and I wasn't keen to push it either. Much to my chagrin, I was just going to have to let things go here.
Promising a cure for his solution would make me look silly if I didn't come up with said cure. He wasn't even trying to hear me out, which was annoying. It was a little odd that he was coming out of the gate with that level of aggression, though.
Which is when something clicked in my head. "...Have you already received an offer from someone else?"
"...I don't see how that's any of your business, runt."
Mm, that was frustrating. I knew Lisa would be moving quickly, but goddamn, was she already trying to poach him? It wasn't that unlikely given the fact that in one of the drafts of Worm, Trainwreck held Rachel's position in the Undersiders. That was an unusual combo, but a feasible one.
"Okay, so someone's gotten to you," I grunted out, sucking in a deep breath. "I don't suppose I can appeal to your sense of community to become a hero?"
He stared at me.
I stared back.
"Get the hell out of here."
"Yeah," I sighed, "I'm going, I'm going…"
Well, I got one out of two. That's good enough for now.
I'm not dead. This isn't dead. I'm just working on a Projection Quest concept and working it over before I bring it forward, but this is indeed still alive. Also tired, but that's par for the course.
Origin and Element(Kara no Kyokai - Free) - Origin and Element are attributes of the soul and one's deepest being in this world. Everyone has one of each, some people have more, but this just helps you decide on the importance of your own ones.
An Origin is like a concept, a word, that is at the core of your character. It might describe a secret side of you that you rarely show, it might show influence through every action you take or it might just be something you really love about yourself. Taboo for someone who feels a forbidden love, Worthlessness for someone who seems to be a complete failure, Nostalgia for a man who considers his memories dearly important. An Origin by itself doesn't have much of an effect, merely lying unawakened. Some kinds of magecraft can eventually build on your Origin, such as a Taboo Origin Holder eventually learning to invest that effect into an item that inhibits the taboos of others. But these usually require quite high level skill and have subtle effects outside of extensive experimentation. You have an Origin of your choice, a normal one that is Unawakened and gives no real boons but has no real hindrance either.
An Element is more important, at least for a Magus. It describes something like your affinity for certain kinds of magic, significantly increasing talent in that area. Or rather, most Magi find it quite difficult to learn all but the most general magecraft outside of their Element. Far from impossible but much more inefficient. Most people have an Affinity for one of the five primary elements- Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Ether. These ascribe to much more than just basic elementalism. Fire might cover consumption, energy transfer or fuel. Earth may relate to cultivation and embedding of energy. Water covers the flow and cycle and combination of things. And so on. You have a moderately strong affinity for an Element of your choice. One of the primary five is recommended but if you know of an alternate choice, you can pick one, as long as it's not superior to the primary five. No Average Ones with talent for all five Elements and no uniquely powerful Element.
Power Granting Deal(Sailor Moon - 400CP) - You may grant a portion of your power and some of your powers to up to eight willing people at the same time, if you wish. This power is connected to you, and you may take it back any time you wish. However, your power will decrease the more power you give someone. You may also share your powers or other forms with people, but until you take them back you will lack the power you gave. You may, for example, give someone your fire powers or part of your vast wells of magical power or give your excess energy to someone to empower them.
An Origin is like a concept, a word, that is at the core of your character. It might describe a secret side of you that you rarely show, it might show influence through every action you take or it might just be something you really love about yourself. Taboo for someone who feels a forbidden love, Worthlessness for someone who seems to be a complete failure, Nostalgia for a man who considers his memories dearly important. An Origin by itself doesn't have much of an effect, merely lying unawakened. Some kinds of magecraft can eventually build on your Origin, such as a Taboo Origin Holder eventually learning to invest that effect into an item that inhibits the taboos of others. But these usually require quite high level skill and have subtle effects outside of extensive experimentation. You have an Origin of your choice, a normal one that is Unawakened and gives no real boons but has no real hindrance either.
An Element is more important, at least for a Magus. It describes something like your affinity for certain kinds of magic, significantly increasing talent in that area. Or rather, most Magi find it quite difficult to learn all but the most general magecraft outside of their Element. Far from impossible but much more inefficient. Most people have an Affinity for one of the five primary elements- Fire, Water, Earth, Air and Ether. These ascribe to much more than just basic elementalism. Fire might cover consumption, energy transfer or fuel. Earth may relate to cultivation and embedding of energy. Water covers the flow and cycle and combination of things. And so on. You have a moderately strong affinity for an Element of your choice. One of the primary five is recommended but if you know of an alternate choice, you can pick one, as long as it's not superior to the primary five. No Average Ones with talent for all five Elements and no uniquely powerful Element.
Power Granting Deal(Sailor Moon - 400CP) - You may grant a portion of your power and some of your powers to up to eight willing people at the same time, if you wish. This power is connected to you, and you may take it back any time you wish. However, your power will decrease the more power you give someone. You may also share your powers or other forms with people, but until you take them back you will lack the power you gave. You may, for example, give someone your fire powers or part of your vast wells of magical power or give your excess energy to someone to empower them.
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Arimai
Curmudgeon
This is why I'd have killed her or kicked her out of the continent. Lisa can't be trusted. Eventually she'll try to kill the SI
I wouldn't go that far, she far more likely just try to manipulate via getting dirt on Odell and blackmail him. By the way accurate portrayal of tattletale in this chapter the moment she gain freedom from coil and gain control of his organization, of course she wouldn't like being under the thumb of another and will try ways to subvert them or see if the undersiders can take him on(which is a really stupid move no matter how much she plans for it against a trump that gains power who can hold a grudge).
Trainwreck makes sense why he wouldn't want to go hero or even Join Odell.
Arimai
Curmudgeon
The bitch didn't even keep her word to give him first crack at Trainwreck. She's already planning to fuck him over. Lisa is a disgusting person and a liability.
Wait, so is his name Folklord or Folklore? It keeps flip flopping and I can't tell which one it's supposed to actually be. Personally I much prefer Folklord as it sounds much cooler and makes a lot more sense as an actual name for a cape persona, but the title of the story is Folklore so I'm basically at a loss here...
- Pronouns
- N/A
And suspicious. Teacher comes to mind. A lot of decent powers have side effects, and the ones that don't are either directly contribute to combat, find themselves in the hands of people that tend to be in combat, or are dead.
Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
That was for Chariot. Don't start fanon bs, Lisa isn't terrible and she'll have to either join or leave once MC ramps up.
Actually it was for both
It was just Chariot tho he did also get Trainwreck's info from them what was said was
so a tinker, singular meaning Trainwreck wasn't part of the deal tho his interest was expressed. Being fully fair it's also unconfirmed if his theory is correct and Trainwreck has received an offer nor do we know who made it if it exists because in addition to Lisa it could have been Coil or Skidmark.
Fellow Human
Verified Roado Rolla
This is everything. Trainwreck was an afterthought and the deal was only for the singular Tinker Chariot - Trevor.
Perhaps author forgot, or the MC forgot, since at this time Trainwreck wasn't yet hired by Coil.
Or precisely because of it, Trainwreck is free game so no deal was made for him.
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two of same responses next time just one of you tell me, or just the one I reply to, don't need to get ping for same answer. Anyway yeah I remember it wrong since it been a while since I read the last chapter since I recall tinker being mentioned I thought it supposed to be both Chariot and trainwreck
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Arimai
Curmudgeon
Her first response to an escalating Trump who responded to blackmail and forced recruitment with killing Coil. . . Is blackmail and an implied indirect assassination if blackmail failed. Lisa is a self-destructive moron. Especially as Folklord warned her he'd kill her if she fucked with him.
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Again I wouldn't go that far it was more figure out a strategy in case the undersiders need to fight him shown here
No mentioned of assassination indirect or otherwise. Tho yeah tattletale still thought going for blackmail route. But there's also mentioned of finding a solution to said relationship however that turns out
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Folklord inadvertently implied she was a dumbass teen and she goes straight to plotting his death.
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