Ghostdevil
The Devil of Ghosts
- Location
- United States
Didn't help enough, i vaguely recall the events after reading it tho.
Infernal Conundrum: [Exalted/Worm] - Part 2: Hell is Other Exalts
- Location
- U.S.
Judgement before something greater than a mere god, and perhaps madness, as is the want of both Luna and all Titans.
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Not exactly the word for Luna if you were applying it to her.
Vaalintine
Wild Wondorous Wolfalope
I would like to reiterate my opinion that Emma as a Lunar Mate is a terrible idea, and would only end in Taylor having an upper hand in killing her, nevermind the inevitable spiteful lack of cooperation. Plus there's hiw it would color Taylor's view of Luna. If Emma is someone who Luna chooses, it doesn't speak very well for her priorities.
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
And I will reiterate that you're thinking quite narrowly about this in addition to jumping the gun by making a hell of a lot of assumptions before you even know anything.
- Location
- U.S.
No, TItans was meant to indicate the influence of Gaia, which is why Luna was referred to separately, though Luna is more...Primordial-y than any other Incarnae when it comes down to it.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Luna: FOR YOU HAVE ARRIVED BEFORE ME, YOU MOST WORTHY O....
Luna: hold on a minute here, this doesn't seem...right. You are Emma Baynes, right?
Emma: Uh, Emma Barnes.
Luna: Stupid-ass unreliable Devas. Well, sorry about this, mistaken identity. You can go home.
Because, lets be honest here, the only exaltation Emma could remotely be suitable for is an Abyssal one, and even that's a stretch. Even the deathlords tend to choose people with some actually worthwhile qualities. Of which Emma lacks literally any.
The first holder of Desus' Exaltation during the Primordial War turned out to be a traitorous asshole, so not exactly a new thing.
deadcrystal
Slaaneshi Cultist
- Location
- The Warp
Oh I'm very aware that Exaltation doesn't select for being a good person, and I'm not saying she's unsuitable for an exaltation because she's a bad person.
She's unsuitable because she lacks any virtue. Virtue in the classical sense, rather than modern ethical one.
She does not possess conviction, or valor, or temperance or compassion. She isn't thoughtful or cunning or perceptive. She lacks any positive quality.
Fucking Skidmark is a better candidate for a Lunar Exaltation than she is. No-one respects or values the Merchants in any capacity, but despite how loathed they are they just keep on hanging on. Skidmark is a survivor.
Skidmark has tenacity. Lung has resolve. Kaiser has charisma.
Canon!Emma, perhaps so. But let us see if the divergences in this setting can change her for the better (ie, let's see what Thief has planned before pre-emptively saying NOT POSSIBLE).
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Been saying this for a while now. Judge my writing after I've written it. Not before.
Net +.05 xp.
+.25 for mini-omake.
-.2 for beating a dead theoretical horse. Which may or may not even exist.
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Okibruez
(Verified Mid-Boss)
- Location
- Dreams
A good assessment of the Worm-verse in general. Very little can't be passed further up the ladder of blame if you squint a little.
Personally, having just binged this entire story, I'm entirely into seeing how Emma ends up facing the whole nonsense of Exaltation.
Also hope this continues at a more reasonable pace than 'yearly' now.
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Hey, now, annually would be an improvement over my recent output. It was biennial, after all.
Okibruez
(Verified Mid-Boss)
- Location
- Dreams
Strive for something more frequent than annually though! Twice a year would be great, even.
I don't agree but even if you are right I think that Luna only required the person to change who they were for better or worse. They have to be willing to throw away who they were for something new.
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You're halfway there. Regarding the self, she requires they embrace change, adaptability, or the ability to fake it until you make it. Growth, in other words.
She required two other things of her would-be Exalts, however. One requirement is reflected in the timing of her Exaltations. The other in the explicit demand she makes of them.
As a hint, those two are why my first impulse for an Exalted Worm cross-fic was to start with post-Leviathan Skitter Exalting as a Lunar.
Honestly, still may write that fic if I ever get to where I'm comfortable with my ability to keep consistent output on this one.
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An Announcement, an Explanation, and a Warning
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
A notice:
To clarify this notice: wasn't trying to call out @SaltyWaffles as transphobic. As far as I can tell, he isn't. He just said some things in a dumb kind of way then reacted badly when an apology for that way of saying things was requested/demanded. Both he and I reacted poorly to the overall situation. Still, sorry, @SaltyWaffles.
Notice part 2:
I don't advertise this much, but I am a trans woman.
Hadn't intended to actually explain amy of the non-work or homelessness things that kept me away for a couple years, but, well...there you go.
If you're a trans-or-homophobe or such-adjacent? Save yourself the trouble and unfollow this thread and don't come back.
To clarify this notice: wasn't trying to call out @SaltyWaffles as transphobic. As far as I can tell, he isn't. He just said some things in a dumb kind of way then reacted badly when an apology for that way of saying things was requested/demanded. Both he and I reacted poorly to the overall situation. Still, sorry, @SaltyWaffles.
Notice part 2:
I don't advertise this much, but I am a trans woman.
Hadn't intended to actually explain amy of the non-work or homelessness things that kept me away for a couple years, but, well...there you go.
If you're a trans-or-homophobe or such-adjacent? Save yourself the trouble and unfollow this thread and don't come back.
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- Location
- California
I think it is quite an exaggeration to say that Emma has no virtue, classical, modern, or otherwise. I think it would be more accurate to say that she has demonstrated no virtue, because she has not been *tested*.
Emma has faced her own trials, true, but every crisis she has faced so far she has been rescued or spared from. Sophia rescued her, first from the thugs, and then from her own despair, and Taylor spared her a target who would react violently under pressure. Every test she has entered, she has bypassed. No wonder she seems pathetic.
And going further, she has the potential for greatness. Sophia made her dangerous, but it was own skill that let her become powerful, the most popular girl in the school and this is not a small thing. Her cruelty towards Taylor speaks well towards her ruthlessness, her willingness to do anything to win, to survive.
Offhand, I do not think Emma would be a good Exalted, whatever her type, but I do think she would be a fitting one. At their core, every Exalt is a person with a furious purpose or need who has been fitted with the tools to succeed, no matter the challenge or the cost.
And if there is one quality Emma possesses in spades, it is a hunger to succeed.
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It isn't as clear in the version I posted so as not to leave the thread without updates longer, but Of Moonscapes and Monsters? The doe isn't the monster referenced in the title. Emma is.
I agree with the valor as she did fight back in the alley but I'm not so certain about conviction. Conviction is about holding to your goals despite setbacks whether they be moral ones or suffering. She broke when the alley happened, and then broke again when she learned Taylor was Skitter and never left her room even to save her own life. That doesn't say conviction to me.
She also obviously lacks compassion not just because of Taylor but because in Ward we learn Victoria remembers meeting her and she was tormenting a disabled girl at the time. So the cruelty isn't a Taylor specific thing just her preferred target.
She has at least 2 dots in temperance though. She isn't a drug user nor did she get pregnant in highschool which considering the city and school she was involved in would one of those be a near certainty for someone notably lacking in temperance.
Aoinfinity
Unlimited Blue Works
- Location
- a blue Infinity
Among other things, Conviction in Exalted covers sticking to your beliefs even when it hurts someone. The examples in the rulebooks stress holding out in the face of pain, your own and that of others. Based on her actions in canon, and her unwillingness to change her course even once Taylor was demonstrably not willing to be provoked, Emma's Conviction is definitely 3 or higher.
Thief of Words
Trans lesbian librarian
- Location
- Best book girl
- Pronouns
- She/Her
In point of fact, her virtues would be Compassion 1 (atrophied due to Sophia's influence. She was average Compassion before. Self-centered, but no more so than your average privileged white girl.) Conviction 3, Temperance 2, Valor 3-4.
Valor covers both the pride to not accept being slighted (i.e; the drive to put others in their place) but also the willingness to pursue aggressive courses of action, which she had until she hit a full willpower drain because her delusions became painfully evident in the ways they were not congruent with reality.
Valor covers both the pride to not accept being slighted (i.e; the drive to put others in their place) but also the willingness to pursue aggressive courses of action, which she had until she hit a full willpower drain because her delusions became painfully evident in the ways they were not congruent with reality.
And? So were Havesh the Vanisher's. He was still virtuous enough to catalyze a Solar Exaltation.
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SaltyWaffles
I am dissapoint, son
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh, hey, look: a violation of Rule 3.
I wouldn't normally post just to point this out, but letting this crap stand without even publicly challenging it is problematic in its own right.
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