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Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

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ForestGardener said:
The blue light escaping confuses me. If anything, I would expect the structure itself to be glowing with heat, probably orange at that size, and for the light escaping directly to be unchanged in color.
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The blue light is a filter PS used to make the sun more easily visible, just like we use in real life. You can see that in the text—
Silently Watches said:
Your mask darkens, darkens some more, and finally tints everything blue. What you can see now is a bright ball of blue, one with innumerable cracks that crisscross all over the surface.
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The actual light escaping is yellow-white, just like in reality.
ForestGardener said:
Far more plausible under known physics, and what Freeman Dyson actually proposed, is a Dyson swarm. Which consists of about a trillion objects orbiting a star at various angles, and which is useful at any stage of construction. From a certain point of view, we've already started building one, and are seeing the benefits.
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Strictly speaking, and I can say this because I went digging, what I was actually imagining fits more under the realm of a Dyson bubble: lots of pieces of shell that sit fairly statically over the sun. Hence why I mentioned the shell being covered by cracks. Also, considering "Dyson sphere" is a good generic term for any such construct and Taylor was looking at it from Earth without a telescope, it would be impossible for her to see the difference between any specific variation.
 
I remember I had thought out what I wanted them to get. I do not remember what those things were. An infuriating state of affairs. Ah, well, whatever. Teleportation is almost always the correct choice.

[X] (Missy) Save XP
[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP
[X] (Laura) Spatial Translocation
 
globalwarmth said:
solid shells yes because those are some crazy fantasy material required

Dyson swarms, which were the version Dyson the person imagined when coining the term, are just a bunch or smaller installations that on average eat all the sunlight going out.
technically we have all the tech to do one ( and finish it in some ten thousand years later) if we wanted.

fun thing that creepy planet!
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The arguably biggest obstacle in creating a Dyson sphere is the sheer amount of material it would require, though that is followed by using up enough of that energy that the sphere isn't destroyed by having more energy contained than it can handle, and in the long term, the fact that stars continue to grow.

LancerisDead said:
Just a minor nitpick, but going on what the Jewel Seeds alone could and that they managed to destroy their entire civilization in the blink of an eye, I'd say Dyson spheres and similar mega structures are at least within the reach of Al Hazardan tech.

Also, might be misremembering, but wasn't the Saint's Cradle another of their relics?
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One jewel seed being fought over by two admittedly overpowered preteens created a dimensional quake. Dimensional quakes are explicitly capable of destroying worlds* or moving them far enough in the dimensional sea that it can take centuries to millennia to find them again. It isn't the tech needed not being high enough that keeps them from being capable of building a Dyson sphere, but that their technology developed in a different direction than what they would need.

*Worlds being plural in the sense that the TSAB were worried that Precia's attempts to power an ancient battleship through imaginary space would destroy EVERY world within a certain distance, and further damage many worlds further out. Magic is just too good at manipulating the fabric of spacetime.
 
Orkus Majorkus said:
What's the reasoning behind Spatial Translocation?
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Essentially in-character arguments that Laura has seen and experienced Translocation whereas she has not with Lion's Pelt (she has seen Shell Barrier if you went with that). Translocation also would allow her to be at her mother's side the instant her emergency beacon went off. Actually, since becoming a mage, Laura's life has been mostly positive experiences, with the one negative (Kayleigh traumatized over killing the Fallen) being something that was helped by Translocation (Japan vacation). My original post about my reasoning is here
kamkong said:
That's the main reason I voted for Translocation.
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Turning the question back on you with backup from Silently, what's your reasoning behind Lion's Pelt and can you back it up with any in-story context or reasoning?
Silently Watches said:
A question for the people voting for Lion's Pelt. What in-character reason would Laura have for picking this spell? I ask because of practically any choice you could make for her at the moment, this probably makes the LEAST sense.
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Wyrd said:
The arguably biggest obstacle in creating a Dyson sphere is the sheer amount of material it would require, though that is followed by using up enough of that energy that the sphere isn't destroyed by having more energy contained than it can handle, and in the long term, the fact that stars continue to grow.
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one problem solves the other somewhat.
If you need material once you exhausted the planets you starlift material from the sun with all the power you are getting.
Less metalcity and material in the star keeps it from ballooning up and burning longer at cooler temps.
 
Silently Watches said:
Missy: 3 XP
[ ] (Missy) Learn a spell (Modification tier or below)
[ ] (Missy) Save XP

Laura: 7 XP
[ ] (Laura) Pick a spell (Advanced tier or below)

Kayleigh: 2 XP
[ ] (Kayleigh) Learn a spell (Modification tier or below)
[ ] (Kayleigh) Save XP
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[X] (Missy) Save XP
[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP
[X] (Laura) Guardian Beast

I know it won't win. I just like the idea of her having a GB, even though I agree that translocation is also a very valid choice for her right now.

My biggest concern on this world is that the replacement of organics with metallic life suggests widespread nanotech use. The lack of human life in their initial look at this world may be due to a 'grey goo' scenario. Legend, Standstill, and Alexandria aren't wearing forcefields like the rest of us, so I hope we didn't just start a terrifying new story arc.

kamkong said:
The main issue with this argument is it's already been resolved (for the moment). Her Knight Armor is the strongest Barrier Jacket form, able to tank hits from bullets and weapons, lower-end Brutes, and of course, Ice. The members of Winter Hill who could beat her now are likely Solaire (whose Fire could be easily intercepted by Taylor) and Angel Dust as his Tinker Drugs are unpredictable. As I've stated, she hasn't yet broken her new mindset of "Barrier Jacket equals invincible" like how Taylor was until she took a grenade to the face. So again, no in-character motivation at the moment or in-character knowledge that would sway her, unlike with Teleportation.
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Note that that was before we upgraded to Knight Armor ouselves, and that Laura most likely knows this already. If she were thinking in terms of Endbringer fights, lion's pelt would be a reasonable purchase, but she's only had these powers a couple of weeks and can already out-tank mid-level brutes, so I really don't see her thinking that would be worthwhile in the present and near future.

Racoras said:
Yessss, this fuels my shipping fleet. :V

I suppose someone will have an alternate theory for her fangirling over him and ignoring Alexandria? :anger: Does he plausibly fit her stated bodytype of androgyny?
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There's two groups that come to mind for that "very specific group": Yaoi fangrils, and closeted gay people. He's likely the best known gay hero in the world, and is openly gay, with a husband and adopted child, and that would make him very appealing to some.
 
kamkong said:
Essentially in-character arguments that Laura has seen and experienced Translocation whereas she has not with Lion's Pelt (she has seen Shell Barrier if you went with that). Translocation also would allow her to be at her mother's side the instant her emergency beacon went off. Actually, since becoming a mage, Laura's life has been mostly positive experiences, with the one negative (Kayleigh traumatized over killing the Fallen) being something that was helped by Translocation (Japan vacation). My original post about my reasoning is here



Turning the question back on you with backup from Silently, what's your reasoning behind Lion's Pelt and can you back it up with any in-story context or reasoning?
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My in character reason is Laura has spent her entire cape career being told she's a frail blasty type and if anybody looks at her funny she will turn to ash like a vampire caught in the sunlight as part of a psyop her dad is running on her to create dependency for him. It worked! But, Laura now is free of that and I think as part of the process of moving past it she would look at powers that would make her feel strong. Being the one on her team who can shrug off hits, the her team is least concerned about their physical safety, the one who can get into the enemies face and make THEM worry about SCATHACH being too close is something that Laura would want from powers as she is coming into her own as a mage. Second, I think Laura would look at her team and see aside from Samantha and sometimes Taylor when she gets mad they don't have any brute equivalent and see how that dove tails nicely into her melee/mid range spells she already has.

Edit: I'm half way talking myself into listing Shell Barrier instead as being able to throw shields onto her squishy best friend as well as herself would be something more appealing than just herself.
 
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[X] (Missy) Save XP
[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP
[X] (Laura) Spatial Translocation

@Silently Watches is forced teleport only allowed by boosted device or is it allowed by any device?

IIRC one potential plan to kill the Endbringers was using a bunch of mages to force teleport it to a place away from people and nuking it with breakers (I believe the number of breakers needed was something like 20 or 30)
 
[X] (Missy) Save XP
[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP
[X] (Laura) Lion's Pelt

Orkus has pretty well sold me on wanting Lion's Pelt for Laura. I won't be satisfied until I can see our glorious Ice-Knight wade through a hail of spellfire like she's flexing on someone for bullying her girlfriend :V

Wyrd said:
There's two groups that come to mind for that "very specific group": Yaoi fangrils, and closeted gay people. He's likely the best known gay hero in the world, and is openly gay, with a husband and adopted child, and that would make him very appealing to some.
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The "closeted gay people" was the implicit initial reasoning, as Taylor took in the bits I quoted, I was asking for alternate theories not unaware of it. I suppose "yaoi fangirls" is possible but feels much more plausible for Kayleigh if anyone.
 
Racoras said:
[X] (Missy) Save XP
[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP
[X] (Laura) Lion's Pelt

Orkus has pretty well sold me on wanting Lion's Pelt for Laura. I won't be satisfied until I can see our glorious Ice-Knight wade through a hail of spellfire like she's flexing on someone for bullying her girlfriend :V


The "closeted gay people" was the implicit initial reasoning, as Taylor took in the bits I quoted, I was asking for alternate theories not unaware of it. I suppose "yaoi fangirls" is possible but feels much more plausible for Kayleigh if anyone.
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I used to work for Borders*, and put a lot of effort into building the graphic novels section to ten times what it was at when I started there. You'd be surprised how... enthusiastic the yaoi fangirls can be. Nothing else comes to mind as a possibility so far, but maybe I'll think of another possibility. Obvious conclusions are not always correct, after all.

*At the time, the largest international bookstore in the world. They're gone now, though.
 
Orkus Majorkus said:
My in character reason is Laura has spent her entire cape career being told she's a frail blasty type and if anybody looks at her funny she will turn to ash like a vampire caught in the sunlight as part of a psyop her dad is running on her to create dependency for him. It worked! But, Laura now is free of that and I think as part of the process of moving past it she would look at powers that would make her feel strong. Being the one on her team who can shrug off hits, the her team is least concerned about their physical safety, the one who can get into the enemies face and make THEM worry about SCATHACH being too close is something that Laura would want from powers as she is coming into her own as a mage. Second, I think Laura would look at her team and see aside from Samantha and sometimes Taylor when she gets mad they don't have any brute equivalent and see how that dove tails nicely into her melee/mid range spells she already has.
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I'm sorry, but I don't see it. Based on what she has now in terms of the Knight Armor, she has the defenses she felt like she lacked. She expects that what she has now is enough to tank blows from any of the capes she knows about in Philly, which are the ones she was worried about. The more obvious next step, particularly based on what she knows is possible, would be one of the shield spells or Shell Barrier. Essentially duplicating her barrier is a non-intuitive choice.

I don't want to go so far as to veto a choice, which is the reason I asked for explanations first, but so far I haven't seen a good enough reason to allow her to learn Lion's Pelt at this time.
Wyrd said:
There's two groups that come to mind for that "very specific group": Yaoi fangrils, and closeted gay people. He's likely the best known gay hero in the world, and is openly gay, with a husband and adopted child, and that would make him very appealing to some.
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Racoras said:
The "closeted gay people" was the implicit initial reasoning, as Taylor took in the bits I quoted, I was asking for alternate theories not unaware of it. I suppose "yaoi fangirls" is possible but feels much more plausible for Kayleigh if anyone.
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Speaking objectively, Legend isn't adored by ONLY the LGBT community and yaoi fangirls. He's the most popular member of the Triumvirate full stop. A lot of that is because while Eidolon and Alexandria are impressive and imposing, Legend is equally as powerful but also far more personable.

For Laura in particular, keep in mind that she grew up with a parahuman father, so it also isn't impossible for her personal view of him to be based on him ALSO being the epitome of the "cape dad". I'm not saying that is the case, just as I'm not saying her being in the closet isn't the case. Just other explanations to think about.
 
[X] (Missy) Save XP

[X] (Laura) Shell Barrier

[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP

Alright, Shell Barrier is also a good defensive spell, plus she can use to protect people as a hero.
 
Silently Watches said:
I'm sorry, but I don't see it. Based on what she has now in terms of the Knight Armor, she has the defenses she felt like she lacked. She expects that what she has now is enough to tank blows from any of the capes she knows about in Philly, which are the ones she was worried about. The more obvious next step, particularly based on what she knows is possible, would be one of the shield spells or Shell Barrier. Essentially duplicating her barrier is a non-intuitive choice.
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Yeah fair enough

[X] (Missy) Save XP
[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP
[X] (Laura) Shell Barrier
 
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OOPS!

Okay, anybody voting for Lion's Pelt or Shell Barrier. Laura CANNOT learn either of these right now. If you take a look at the Non-Template Mages post, there is a rule that I knew was there but didn't think about until just now.
Silently Watches said:
Once you have your starting spells and have started earning XP, you can add skills to a character's tree two ways. The most common is going to be adding a spell that is either derived or at least related to another spell they already know. That extends that spell branch, and it's the only way to add on the advanced and WTF tiers. The other way is to pick a basic spell (or Aerial Combat because who doesn't want to fly?) that is not related to another spell in that character's tree and set it down as a new base spell for more spells to come off of. Don't be surprised when no characters' trees look exactly alike.
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Laura does not have a Basic tier defensive spell that either of these could branch off of. If you want to start upping her defense game, you'd have to start with a Basic spell like a shield spell or Mirage. Alternatively, you could go with Thorns since it synergizes with throwing yourself directly into the fray.

Sorry about the confusion. I'm going to blame it on writing that Informational post nine months ago and having it take so long for us to get to the point of using it.
 
[X] (Missy) Save XP

[X] (Laura) Thorns

[X] (Kayleigh) Save XP

Thorns sounds good, it'd likely manifest as a freezing aura, maybe with icicle thorns.
Otherwise basic magical shields is the obvious defensive answer.
 
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