Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

SW has a plan for this and it's a multi-part quest, so part 2 might just be "Go get Cranial to help out" but probably not, it'll probably be something else.


I really was tempted, but starting Bone of the Father and then jumping to another quest part way seemed like a bad idea. Best to finish the quest we started before taking a new one or we end up with 4 quests all at Step 2.
I would bring up the fact that the QM has specifically stated that ignoring mainline quests are a very bad idea. Better partially complete than outright ignoring. The only main quest that Silently said we could potentially ignore without bad consequence is the exploration one.

Also. We can see what comes of Bones part 2 then see if we want to immediately follow up on it. Plus, while it's a good bonus to not have Nazis in the local area I want the freaking Protectorate and PRT to actually do their jobs against the villains. We don't have to personally put out all the fires. If we take down one or two of the Nazi capes I call that a win and the questline can lay there for a week.

As for Sinners. The most important part is killing off the Simurgh cultists. Especially the leader of the Mathers branch. After that the Protectorate should be able to actually do their fucking job for once since the blanket protection from Thinker and Precogs will be lifted from the Fallen.

And if Alexandria is actually competent at all she'd damn well have Protectorate ready to take advantage of the Fallen being in disarray once we destroy the Mathers branch.

Remember that it's not just Taylor and co. that have agency. Others do too.
 
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Also. We can see what comes of Bones part 2 then see if we want to immediately follow up on it. Plus, while it's a good bonus to not have Nazis in the local area I want the freaking Protectorate and PRT to actually do their jobs against the villains. We don't have to personally put out all the fires. If we take down one or two of the Nazi capes I call that a win and the questline can lay there for a week.
You know, that honestly wasn't something I'd considered, we can just go to the PRT mages with what we know and get them to deal with the Nazis.

Not as satisfying as punching them in the face, but it might be a possibility after we see what Part 2 turns up.
 
But is he a good father? To me, that remains to be seen.
I'm gonna say... no. You could have made the argument that Jotunn was a decent guy back in the earlier arcs, when our main interaction with him was in the middle of truce scenarios like MS13 going nuts and Typhon's whole amalgamation-of-all-the-Travellers'-powers-but-none-of-the-control thing and Jotunn was this sort of overly-theatrical gentleman villain boss who went out of his way to be extra reasonable with the Protectorate. What we know now from Laura and Willow's perspective shows us that he's being theatrical because it's an act. Now, we haven't seen him not acting up close and personal, but judging from the way the two people who ought to be closest to him act when nobody else is around I think he's a swine who puts on airs because it gets him slightly further with the public and the Protectorate. Maybe he thinks that he's being the stern provider/protector of the family who Knows Best, but the reaction of his ostensible loved ones tells me that that perception is nowhere near reality.

tl;dr: he's Thanos, and I don't care how grave and dadly Josh Brolin is, fuck Thanos.
 
Okay, how? Given the shard has the copy of those memories, severing the connection via giving him LCM+Device means that copy is inaccessible. Your plan is fundamentally flawed.
I could be wrong, but as I remember it last month, QA doesn't have the only copy of his memories, she's holding back his memories, including new ones. So removing her would fix that issue and leave danny with only brain damage to deal with. Buying Physical heal gives us access to a basic regenerator mutagen package. That may or may not have anything to do with nerve damage, but SW appears to be pretty flexable, so my suggestion was spend an extra slot or so for tim to convert basic regeneration to neural regeneration should normal regen not be enough.
 
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Feels like it might be interesting to see a Jotunn interlude at some point, likely after Laura claims to lose her powers? (Could even see Silently making a whole thing of it by doing that interlude interspersed with a Militia one over Missy, if they really liked the theme. Though I don't expect they'll have better luck than Lily there). He definitely did give off that "magnificent bastard" vibe that can be so interesting to read in a story full of more usual villains and crazies, which also leads me to think he's got open (he even suggested it somewhat) the traditional off-ramp one sees in Shadowrun Yakuza and elsewhere when he decides his money-laundering fronts are more profitable legitimately than the risk-penalized criminal activities. Particularly if he gets any hint of Pentagram on the move, or just has lingering fears about ending up down the sights of Calamity the way E-88 did (even if we didn't quite do anything so extreme or all-credit-taking with MS-13).

But as others said, the way Laura and Willow interacted here and refer to him definitely seem to downplay that possibility and make you wonder about the earlier...

Hopefully the Kayleigh haters can toss her a bone :V After realizing how she must be at keeping secrets if she didn't leak the least whisper of "Hey, gang leader right over here" until there was a strong chance of Laura (or both, if her Dads so close tied) getting out with a giant new power :V

I would bring up the fact that the QM has specifically stated that ignoring mainline quests are a very bad idea. Better partially complete than outright ignoring.
As for Sinners. The most important part is killing off the Simurgh cultists. Especially the leader of the Mathers branch. After that the Protectorate should be able to actually do their fucking job for once since the blanket protection from Thinker and Precogs will be lifted from the Fallen.

And I would bring up the counterpoint of the troubles we've had with halfway finishing quests, whether its entirely losing Purity and only managing a last second consolation prize with a plan that surprised the QM, or the way we never quite kept a lid on the Beasts until they came to a head (I seem to remember mention of it when Jotuun and the PRT made an attempt on the sewers after our first scouting with Militia, the time they learned about the turret-turtles. )

Messes from entirely ignoring a chain, like the Brockton Breakout, often signal themselves a little harder in changing vote descriptions. But either way we've been told this is largely a Time-Management theme of gameplay so we'll have disasters to deal with either way. I'd rather we get the prizes for finishing the stuff we most liked rather than mitigate the penalties by dabbling everything, given that.

And thats even more reason to not give the Protectorate an opportunity to steal our thunder and hard work by mopping up the Fallen for us , rather than get the full spoils and use it to stake our spot as full equals in the manner of the Guild so we can stop tip-toeing quite so hard around upsetting them. (Even actions like going after Coil get a nice publicity shield when you've got a mess like the Fallen to your public credit).
 
I hope Kayleigh gets a magic rocket launcher at some point, or at least a grenade launcher.
 
And I would bring up the counterpoint of the troubles we've had with halfway finishing quests, whether its entirely losing Purity and only managing a last second consolation prize with a plan that surprised the QM, or the way we never quite kept a lid on the Beasts until they came to a head (I seem to remember mention of it when Jotuun and the PRT made an attempt on the sewers after our first scouting with Militia, the time they learned about the turret-turtles. )

Messes from entirely ignoring a chain, like the Brockton Breakout, often signal themselves a little harder in changing vote descriptions. But either way we've been told this is largely a Time-Management theme of gameplay so we'll have disasters to deal with either way. I'd rather we get the prizes for finishing the stuff we most liked rather than mitigate the penalties by dabbling everything, given that.

And thats even more reason to not give the Protectorate an opportunity to steal our thunder and hard work by mopping up the Fallen for us , rather than get the full spoils and use it to stake our spot as full equals in the manner of the Guild so we can stop tip-toeing quite so hard around upsetting them. (Even actions like going after Coil get a nice publicity shield when you've got a mess like the Fallen to your public credit).

@Racoras I'm fine with going for Sinners all the way for the benefits. But I don't see why we should keep going with the Bones after the next part unless something really pressing comes up. Make the damned Protectorate and PRT do their jobs in fighting the gangs. If we take out one or two Nazi capes we should dump the rest of the work on the PRT/Protectorate. They've got Project Pentagram going. They should damn well be able to deal with Nazi bastards. With the access to magic and the various mages they now have the damned Nazis shouldn't be too much of a problem if we take out one or more of the Nazi capes first. Hell. The combat specced Guardian Beasts should be able to dunk on the Nazis if they don't have anyone on the level of Purity.

Plus, crushing the Fallen should damn well drive in the message to the gangs 'Shape up or be fragged like the Fallen'.

Edit: Because we are going to be approaching Triumvirate level reputation pretty soon if people put two and two together and realize that the Fallen are dead due to a small team of capes.
 
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But I don't see why we should keep going with the Bones after the next part unless something really pressing comes up. Make the damned Protectorate and PRT do their jobs in fighting the gangs. If we take out one or two Nazi capes we should dump the rest of the work on the PRT/Protectorate. They've got Project Pentagram going. They should damn well be able to deal with Nazi bastards.

Theres a few assumptions made here:

The first part of bones introduced Jujak's crime fighting with basically no interaction with the actual Nazi gang, so we probably need to see the second update to be sure any progress will be strictly made on weakening them rather than setting things up generally (maybe spot some mooks that recognize us or leak cape names, thats clear progress that doesn't do what you hope for).

The second seems to assume Pentagram is enough for the PRT and (now further reduced, not that Missy was in the field much and Militia's unlike to follow her out) Protectorate, when the updates seem to be saying there are even more capes and gangs now the few-capes MS-13 and other established parties are out. Even without the troublemakers Coil sent in to make himself look good, I don't want to bet that the protagonist is so unneeded to get best results rather than a small increment or holding pattern. Expecting combat guardians of lower-ranked mages to "Dunk on" the Nazi capes misses the difficulty we had with Cajedo AND Oni Lee and even the somewhat tricky fight with Squealer when we were new and weak.

The third is that you're hoping for positive results on Danny after having only done two or so steps of his quest chain, when especially if we only get one for some reason might be exactly what gives only the vote-suppressing angst some expect and none of the resolution thats likely to come on taking multiple passes at it. Maybe two votes will see Taylor decide to act on whatever she sees and tries a plan, but lacking a third vote means we don't correct and go shonen-diehard on finding a solution after it fails to get full results. Or only two means he gets "fixed" in some fashion but QA is still there and he flips out hearing about the bodycount we'll have acquired by then in various Fallen engagements, or after meeting the Dinosaurs and hearing we invited the actually-arrived TSAB (last he knew they were merely on the way) to come get an up close view of our best capes and how they strategize for Endbringers, or after seeing the 'medical experiments and minor-corrupting' we have done with Missys various augments and how that led her to quit the Protectorate and run away to us (that last is unlikely given his views of the PRT and Hannah being a temp guardian), or after seeing how the Privateers broke up with him gone he goes depressive or decides to run away on a mid-life crisis or some other angstsplosion.....

I'll openly acknowledge for transparency of arguments that the third part wouldn't have been so relevant if we had voted for it from the start.... but thats why arguments made at those votes were different. We had good reasons for the activities we picked, aside from those people who simply never wanted to see her reunify with Danny and lose the relative independance that Lacey-guardian-of-16yrOld and the troubled situation with Kurt (weak marriage and guilt towards us) gives compared to our lifelong father coming back. Or those who decide if we have to fail somewhere, at least a personal/social failing with Danny will be the most interesting to read. (Hey, maybe missed opportunities and avoiding relationship drama with Danny going bad makes her quicker to leap on other relationships :V )
 
It took a few minutes to convince Kayleigh to go back to figuring out her new name, and Laura sighed and shook her head. She was not foolish enough to try predicting what Kayleigh would come up next, but surely it could not be any worse than 'Lady Sureshot'.
oh, you are so underestimating her :D :D :D
It is possible, so your father shouldn't ask too many questions, and he'll be too worried about a new cape who can take away his own powers for him to pay attention to any changes in your routine for the next few weeks."
I like how this pretty much makes sure it won't blow up during this quest-arc/month but pretty much guarantees it as one for the next month.
 
@Silently Watches
Not when she was part of a grand conspiracy to protect the multiverse from Scion.
I don't think it Taylor knows anything about Cauldron besides that it exists. And while I am already asking a question whats going on with the Fairy Queen? Because while I could be wrong I thought she was hanging around the birdcage because she wanted to be present at Gold Morning, which is not going to happen with Scion dead. So whats she doing now that her life purpose is gone and she has no real reason to hang around in prison.
 
Theres a few assumptions made here:

The first part of bones introduced Jujak's crime fighting with basically no interaction with the actual Nazi gang, so we probably need to see the second update to be sure any progress will be strictly made on weakening them rather than setting things up generally (maybe spot some mooks that recognize us or leak cape names, thats clear progress that doesn't do what you hope for).

The second seems to assume Pentagram is enough for the PRT and (now further reduced, not that Missy was in the field much and Militia's unlike to follow her out) Protectorate, when the updates seem to be saying there are even more capes and gangs now the few-capes MS-13 and other established parties are out. Even without the troublemakers Coil sent in to make himself look good, I don't want to bet that the protagonist is so unneeded to get best results rather than a small increment or holding pattern. Expecting combat guardians of lower-ranked mages to "Dunk on" the Nazi capes misses the difficulty we had with Cajedo AND Oni Lee and even the somewhat tricky fight with Squealer when we were new and weak.

The third is that you're hoping for positive results on Danny after having only done two or so steps of his quest chain, when especially if we only get one for some reason might be exactly what gives only the vote-suppressing angst some expect and none of the resolution thats likely to come on taking multiple passes at it. Maybe two votes will see Taylor decide to act on whatever she sees and tries a plan, but lacking a third vote means we don't correct and go shonen-diehard on finding a solution after it fails to get full results. Or only two means he gets "fixed" in some fashion but QA is still there and he flips out hearing about the bodycount we'll have acquired by then in various Fallen engagements, or after meeting the Dinosaurs and hearing we invited the actually-arrived TSAB (last he knew they were merely on the way) to come get an up close view of our best capes and how they strategize for Endbringers, or after seeing the 'medical experiments and minor-corrupting' we have done with Missys various augments and how that led her to quit the Protectorate and run away to us (that last is unlikely given his views of the PRT and Hannah being a temp guardian), or after seeing how the Privateers broke up with him gone he goes depressive or decides to run away on a mid-life crisis or some other angstsplosion.....

I'll openly acknowledge for transparency of arguments that the third part wouldn't have been so relevant if we had voted for it from the start.... but thats why arguments made at those votes were different. We had good reasons for the activities we picked, aside from those people who simply never wanted to see her reunify with Danny and lose the relative independance that Lacey-guardian-of-16yrOld and the troubled situation with Kurt (weak marriage and guilt towards us) gives compared to our lifelong father coming back. Or those who decide if we have to fail somewhere, at least a personal/social failing with Danny will be the most interesting to read. (Hey, maybe missed opportunities and avoiding relationship drama with Danny going bad makes her quicker to leap on other relationships :V )

We don't need 'best results' for the gang quest line, a average outcome would be fine enough for our purposes. We just need there to not be things going to shit. Also Cadejo isn't your run of the mill villain cape. He was the Lung of Philadelphia. He was one of the top level villains in the city.

If you think Cricket is on the level of Cadejo I've got a bridge to sell you. If you'll remember, Cricket is the only Empire 88 cape that escaped the quarantine. Whatever other people that triggered I highly doubt they are on the level of Cadejo or else they'd be making bigger moves.

You've got a highly skewed view of parahumans if you think the average villain is going to be on the level of Cadejo or Mr teleporting suicide bomber. Yes, I fully expect the Guardian beasts, especially ones from mages of linker core rank B and above, to dunk on the average villain capes. There's 6 Guardian Beasts from mages rank B and above, unless a gang manages to produce someone on the level of Cadejo any gang *will* get wrecked. Unless you think the average parahuman gang can face down 6 Samanthas or 6 Cat Siths. Also, need I remind you that Cat Sith is the Guardian Beast of Standstill? Who's currently only got a Rank C linker core? So that's at least 11 Guardian Beasts that's at Cat Sith's capability alone on top of 6 higher ones.

That is if the linker core strength of their creators determine the strength of the Guardian beasts.

Also, the Fallen, one of the biggest and most feared villain group on North America has 50~ capes, half of which are now in the morgue or in jail. So, taking all of these facts together, yes. I expect the PRT's Project Pentagram to crush the smaller gangs that's filtering into the city from outside pretty damn well once they are turned loose by the PRT's higher ups. Especially if we can point out to the PRT/Protectorate information on the Nazis which we've pushed the PRT/Protectorate to focus on.

Thus I believe we can let it lie for one week after this vote and go onto do the Daddy's Little Girl questline to see what the hell it is so that people can stop mis-characterizing it as nothing more than a angst fest for the sake of angst and little more than a trap vote by @Silently Watches
 
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Another thing to note about Operation Pentagram is that they have units that Team Arcana is lacking. They have agents dedicated to Infiltration (the two Beasts of the Mask). A part of dealing with the gang will definitely involve gathering intelligence on their operations, personnel, schedules, and active capes, and the infiltrators will be able to gather this effectively.
One source of intelligence that Taylor could take advantage of, once we know which capes are present, would be to take a day trip down to New Orleans and ask Purity and Crusader what they know about said capes and their modus operandi.
 
"Blasted onions," her mother tacked on as she rubbed her eyes. "They always make me cry."

Laura's gaze drifted over to the two onions sitting untouched on the counter. "Mom…"

"None of that, honey. Go upstairs and tell your friend you want to accept her deal. You can't know sometimes if there's a time limit or not on offers to change your life. All too often there is. You can't let fear and doubt hold you back when you see something better down the road." A crippled hand came into view and fiddled with a gold ring on her mother's left hand. "If you do, you'll look back on it later and realize what you settled for instead is so much worse."
Am I the only one who took note of this??

I'm guessing that Willow (Laura's Mom) didn't gather enough courage and missed the chance to marry the man she truly loved and married Jotunn instead. Possibly in a situation where she was already dating Jotunn and met someone else she liked.
 
Warning: Some people like to go really off topic in here.
some people like to go really off topic in here.
I'm not gonna say who because they already know who they are, but knock it off. If you start a conversation like this in a thread that's not related to the topic, you're going to get hit hard.

Practice common sense and stop getting into nonsensical arguments.
 
You've got a highly skewed view of parahumans if you think the average villain is going to be on the level of Cadejo or Mr teleporting suicide bomber. Yes, I fully expect the Guardian beasts, especially ones from mages of linker core rank B and above, to dunk on the average villain capes. There's 6 Guardian Beasts from mages rank B and above, unless a gang manages to produce someone on the level of Cadejo any gang *will* get wrecked. Unless you think the average parahuman gang can face down 6 Samanthas or 6 Cat Siths. Also, need I remind you that Cat Sith is the Guardian Beast of Standstill? Who's currently only got a Rank C linker core? So that's at least 11 Guardian Beasts that's at Cat Sith's capability alone on top of 6 higher ones.
Strong emphasis on this: Most villains have ways to deal with a low level brute.

Most villains do not actually have a way to deal with a whole team of low level Brutes.
Thats what Barrier Jackets grant, at the minimum.

Doing it without losses would be hard, but they absolutely could do it!
 
Fiiiiinally finished some fanart ive been working on for this story. Ive been wanting to do something for it for ages and eventually got around to doing it. I have drawn Taylor/Calamity Witch! I admit i have taken some creative liberties but i think they work. Taylor is also abit curvier but then this could also be a slightly older adult Tay Tay :p
@Silently Watches Im not sure what the rules are for fanart in this thread so ive spoilered it just incase.
 
Fiiiiinally finished some fanart ive been working on for this story. Ive been wanting to do something for it for ages and eventually got around to doing it. I have drawn Taylor/Calamity Witch! I admit i have taken some creative liberties but i think they work. Taylor is also abit curvier but then this could also be a slightly older adult Tay Tay :p
@Silently Watches Im not sure what the rules are for fanart in this thread so ive spoilered it just incase.
:o:eek2:🤯😍 Holy Crap that's absolutely amazing!
 
Question time:
At what point in canon Worm, WoG, or something I can't recall from SW did it say that Queen Administrator keeps a backup of the memories of her host? When did SW say that QA was keeping Danny from remembering now?

I recall seeing a lot of people speculating on this after his condition was revealed, but I do not recall anything at all of this nature from SW.

If you think Cricket is on the level of Cadejo I've got a bridge to sell you. If you'll remember, Cricket is the only Empire 88 cape that escaped the quarantine. Whatever other people that triggered I highly doubt they are on the level of Cadejo or else they'd be making bigger moves.

Cricket is the only cape we know of that was with Kaiser when we melted him. The other capes he had with him were pulled into RF while Cricket was not. The Trigger that allowed her to escape was most likely Theo, who is likely Shard. Some went with Purity and wound up turning themselves in, and there's no telling how many managed to escape BB before the quarantine.

One of the downsides of Solar Wrath en masse is that we didn't get a chance to verify the identities of the E88 we killed.

That is if the linker core strength of their creators determine the strength of the Guardian beasts.

I believe that SW said that Linker Core strength had no impact on Guardian Beast's strength. It does affect how quickly their cores recover after extreme exertion, though.

Fiiiiinally finished some fanart ive been working on for this story. Ive been wanting to do something for it for ages and eventually got around to doing it. I have drawn Taylor/Calamity Witch! I admit i have taken some creative liberties but i think they work. Taylor is also abit curvier but then this could also be a slightly older adult Tay Tay :p
@Silently Watches Im not sure what the rules are for fanart in this thread so ive spoilered it just incase.

Very nice. The closest thing I have to a criticism is that I think the color scheme is off. That could be me having the wrong colors in my head, though.
 
And I would bring up the counterpoint of the troubles we've had with halfway finishing quests, whether its entirely losing Purity and only managing a last second consolation prize with a plan that surprised the QM, or the way we never quite kept a lid on the Beasts until they came to a head (I seem to remember mention of it when Jotuun and the PRT made an attempt on the sewers after our first scouting with Militia, the time they learned about the turret-turtles. )

Messes from entirely ignoring a chain, like the Brockton Breakout, often signal themselves a little harder in changing vote descriptions. But either way we've been told this is largely a Time-Management theme of gameplay so we'll have disasters to deal with either way. I'd rather we get the prizes for finishing the stuff we most liked rather than mitigate the penalties by dabbling everything, given that.

And thats even more reason to not give the Protectorate an opportunity to steal our thunder and hard work by mopping up the Fallen for us , rather than get the full spoils and use it to stake our spot as full equals in the manner of the Guild so we can stop tip-toeing quite so hard around upsetting them. (Even actions like going after Coil get a nice publicity shield when you've got a mess like the Fallen to your public credit).

That's a good point, we will get punished anyway because we can't take all the quests. So better to focus on the quests we want.

If Danny wins a vote then we will have to finish it. I want Taylor to interact more with her team instead. Half assing the Danny thing it would just make Taylor suffer more instead.

And even if Danny does get fully healed it just means him fighting with Taylor again because Taylor is making her own choices and not telling him things again.

Taylor has been keeping secrets after all.

Not to mention that to finish Danny quest we would end ignoring something and that would come to bite us in the ass.
 
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