TFTC. I want chaos and Drama. The best way is to engineer it yourself.
[X][Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[X][Trade] The Behemoth attack date for her theory on Endbringers
[X][Trade] Ask if this goatee looks silly.
[X][Take] Offer to take Amy's power away.
[X][AskAmy] Ask about Marquis.
[X][Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[X][Trade] Coil's actions in the last timeline for Coil's power and plans.
[X][Trade] Coil's spy, Chariot, for another of Coil's assets.
I don't want to get involved with Amy, that way lies getting turned into bio-soup. And I don't think it's wise to give Tats any more details on our power than necessary.
Guys why don't we tell her everything we know about coil to try and go and hunt him. We have the biggest hate boner for that guy and we would then know how to ruin him faster?.
[X][Trade] Coil's actions in the last timeline for Coil's power and plans.
[X][Trade] Coil's spy, Chariot, for another of Coil's assets.
[X][Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[X][Trade] The Behemoth attack date for her theory on Endbringers
[X][Trade] Ask if this goatee looks silly.
[X][Take] Offer to take Amy's power away.
[X][AskAmy] Ask about Marquis.
Having Panacea as an ally is great and not to mention we really don't want her to snap and became the red queen when the 9 inevitable come knocking. Also she might say yes and we could get a free sand point.
Also I like how you took the changes Warrior Within made to us. That might be the biggest change that we had after a power before we too break the glass.
Also with The sand Wraith and it's screw destiny powers we could just stroll into coils base and his precondition bull wount hamper us that much.
[X][Trade] Coil's actions in the last timeline for Coil's power and plans.
[X][Trade] Coil's spy, Chariot, for another of Coil's assets.
[X][Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[X][Trade] The Behemoth attack date for her theory on Endbringers
[X][Trade] Ask if this goatee looks silly.
[X][Take] Offer to take Amy's power away.
[X][AskAmy] Ask about Marquis.
[X][Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[X][Trade] The Behemoth attack date for her theory on Endbringers
[X][Trade] Ask if this goatee looks silly.
[X][Take] Offer to take Amy's power away.
[X][AskAmy] Ask about Marquis.
[X][Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[X][Trade] Coil's actions in the last timeline for Coil's power and plans.
[X][Trade] Coil's spy, Chariot, for another of Coil's assets.
Because Coil is an ass. All the other stuff feels like something we don't want TT to know, like power details, or just too much, like Behemoth.
[X][Trade] Details on Mum for other ways to save her.
Just in case. This is especially important if the vote to stab Panacea wins. Speaking of, maybe test the power removal on some less important parahumans first..?
[Trade] Coil's real name for Coil's base.
[Trade] Coil's actions in the last timeline for Coil's power and plans.
[Trade] Coil's spy, Chariot, for another of Coil's assets.
[Trade] The Behemoth attack date for her theory on Endbringers
[Trade] Ask if this goatee looks silly.
Amy 1d6t4 (success means agree to power loss) = (4) => success.
"I can tell you something of Coil's plans."
"Juicy. Spill it."
"He's placing spies in the PRT. At least three office staff, some officers, and one Ward."
"A mole in the Wards? Bullshit, I'd know."
"His name is Chariot. He hasn't been recruited yet, but he will be Coil's spy."
"More bullshit. How'd you know?"
"I know many things wouldn't believe. I gave you a name, it's your turn to 'spill.'"
"Okay. Battery."
"Don't lie."
"It's the truth. She isn't Coil's, but they're connected somehow. They swap favors. Arrests avoid Coil's ops, fights stop when she shows up. Subtle stuff only I'd catch."
"Battery was nice enough, but she won't bother anyone soon."
"Why not?"
"She dies when Hadhayosh attacks Mexico."
"Behemoth? Now who's lying, no one predicts Endbringers."
"Mexico City, November 14th, in less than two weeks. Assault, Battery, Dovetail, Shadow Stalker, Challenger, and Purity in attendance. I don't know all the other names, just their faces."
"Un-fucking-believable. And Purity, the neo-nazi lightbulb? Complete bullshit."
"Think I'm lying? Use your power. Or wait and see what comes to pass."
Over cells of blue curtain-partitions in palliative care, a fading lightbulb outlasts most patients. Here, Panacea's healing touch slowly cures your mother's incurable cancer.
You lean on the frame of Mum's near-deathbed - witness to this miracle you've fought for.
So many died to save one life. Armsmaster, Regent, Narwhal, Dragon, you - each resurrected by the passage of strange aeons, each at great cost. Even in this timeline, healing your mum cost Amy her biological father.
Undoing that would undo everything. Time can't heal all wounds. This can't be made right.
The bed frame creaks in your grip. You let go, too quick, too sudden. Now what? Hands up? Down? In your pockets? No, don't touch the dagger - not here, not by her bed. Useless, sweaty, clumsy lumps; why are you here? Your touch could stain the curtain red with all the blood spilled to get here.
Amy gives you a wary side-eye. You need to say something - anything - to make it right.
"So... you're adopted?" you try to sound casual and fail immediately.
"Yeah," Amy drawls. "And?"
"I read it in a magazine and thought... Have you ever wondered about your birth parents? For health reasons or... moral reasons?"
Amy frowns. "What are you getting at? Is being adopted immoral to you?"
"No, sorry, I mean..." You hesitate, then change tack. "I met your birth father. He wanted to meet you."
She chews it over, then shrugs it off. "Why should I care? My family is over there." Amy nods towards Victoria, who's using PRT agents as props for her next story.
Your gaze drifts over the blue partitions, so thin and frail that careless words could tear them down - and they would fall on Mum. "He was like you. A biokinetic."
"Another healer?"
"No. He didn't use it to heal."
Amy's fingers curl tight - a claw-grip on your mum. "Then I don't like what you're insinuating, Good people get good powers that solve bad problems. Like Vicky did. Like me."
You trace the dagger's handle in your pocket. "That's a simplified version of what the PRT tells the public. But can't someone do good with an evil power? Or do wrong with good?"
Amy glances at Victoria. Kids laugh as she punches imaginary neo-Nazis with a cartoonish "Boof!"
You continue, "If not, there's no redemption for any of us. Our powers... come with costs and demands. Have you never been tempted?"
Amy hunches under her robe, clawing at Mum, jaw clenching, squaring to fight.
"Never. I heal. No brains, no experiments. Just healing." Amy's voice gets tighter, more intense. "That's it. And if you ever suggest otherwise..." She hisses the finish, "I'll make your mom's cancer return a thousand times worse."
"I see," you say, more at ease in hostile waters. "So you, too, hold a violence."
She says nothing, eyes darting between you and Victoria. You see the scream build in Amy's throat.
"It's alright," you assure her. "I get it. It's hard to be a hero."
Her eyes snap to yours.
"You don't have to be one," you continue, softer. "If you want, I can help. Remove your power."
"And what, make me normal?"
"A chance to be normal. And happy."
"What's in it for you?"
You nod toward Mum. "One last miracle."
Amy's grip relaxes, but doesn't let go. "What problem did your power solve?"
You gesture broadly - a shrug encompassing the palliative ward, Panacea, the hospital bed, and your frail, sickly mum. "All this."
"Taking away my power won't help anything now."
"But it may still help you. What problem was your power meant to solve?"
Amy chews her lip, looks down. "Vicky had been shot. I needed... still need her, so I... my power lets me keep her."
"You're very lucky for a power that keeps loved ones with you."
Amy's eyes scrunch shut, face red, and Mum's skull starts to deform in her grip - you idiot. Amy holds Mum's life and you jab her trauma button. Did the PRT teach you nothing? Never ask a cape about their trigger, even if they ask first.
Got to fix this. In another life, maybe you'd know the right words. You call the druj nasu to speak - from beyond the sands of time - of something you might have heard, if Marquis had lived.
"Amelia," your voice drops an octave, "remember there are no heroes. Just different rules for games the likes of us can never play."
Amy staggers back, struck be words from beyond the grave - and releases Mum. You breathe a little easier.
"I'm probably be the best healer in the world," Amy says, twisting her robe in knots. "They won't understand if I stop."
You discard the ghost that hurt her, to speak your own truth. "I know how draining healthcare is. But you look exhausted. Do you sleep alright?"
Amy whispers, "School, then hospitals, every night, until past midnight."
You nod softly. "It's too much. Many heroes burn out because they do too much. I was lucky; someone told me when to stop. But I've seen capes like Narwhal, who never stop, and become more parahuman than human. Almost sociopathic."
Amy blinks. "So, are you why Narwhal was hospitalized? She didn't catch a cold walking around naked. It was because you took her power away?"
"Oh, so that's the meme. Yeah, she wore these force fields instead of clothes and I saw her..." You clear your throat. "Um, yes. She agreed to it, at the time. I think the hospital visit was just a precaution."
"I haven't caught a cold since I got my powers."
"You haven't been human since you were parahuman."
"I can't stop. People need me."
"Do you say that because you care too much, or because people expect you to?"
Amy doesn't reply, trapped in thought. You continue without her.
"For what it's worth, you're the greatest hero I know. But heroes burn out, stop caring, and become like villains. If I take your power, you can rest. It's all I can think to offer. I don't know if it's good or evil, or if you can do good with evil powers, or anything really. But if it's wrong, let the blame be mine."
"What if I regret it? What if my power is all I'm good for?" Amy's whisper is just above the hospital's background murmur.
You take a deep breath. "Regrets are part of life. So is hope and happiness. You can choose a path not defined by power or family, but by you. Just for you."
Amy looks past you to Victoria, her breaths shallow. So different these siblings - one seems the perfect fit for a hero, while the other crumbles in the same mold. Perhaps we only fit in molds we choose.
When Amy finally speaks, her voice is rough as Marquis' gravel. "They'll never understand."
"They'll have to. You'll be normal."
"Can I think about it?"
"Of course. But I might not be here if you decide later." You nod toward Mum in her hospital bed. "One last miracle. And please, no threats."
"I wasn't going to do it," Amy mutters. "I was bluffing."
"Sure you were," you say, letting go of the dagger hidden in your pocket.
"They're not human you know."
"Nazi's?"
"Endbringers. They're not capes. They're not of this Earth."
"Are you trying to convince me of an alien invasion?"
"You think powers are natural? They don't work off-planet. Check it. There's no secret moon base, 'cause you fly up there and bam! Powers gone."
"Why is that?"
"No clue. Call it a hard Manton limit. Did you know the stars have moved? Astronomers are freaking out and no one saw it coming."
"This is nonsense."
"This is logic. You can't precog Endbringers, Triumvirate, Trumps, or triggers. All of them have one thing in common: the stuff we see is the tip of the iceburg. The real stuff? The real work? That's somewhere else."
"The Triumvirate are aliens now?"
"No... maybe. They spend time off Earth. Eidolon's a Trump who can't be precoged, but Alexandria and Legend? Only sometimes. Other times? Can't find them 'cause they're not here."
"Or they use the PRT's Thinker counter-measures. How does this relate to Endbringers?"
"Don't you listen? Wherever Endbringers came from, it's not here. They're from where powers come from."
"I'm listening. I may have moved the stars."
The miracle happens in slow motion. Mum's hair fills in, cheeks round out, and bruises fade. She looks healthy, whole, in a way hard to reconcile with the skeleton you used to nurse.
"Annnd done," Amy says.
You can't believe it. "Why won't she wake?"
"She needs sleep for her neurons to reconnect. Trust me, I'm an honorary doctor."
A chorus of moans signals Victoria's story circle breaking up. Special Agent Call-Me-Garry approaches, packing a briefcase of binders in full metal jackets with magnum-loaded pens. He draws a pen, cocks it with a thumb, and fires an "Ahem."
"I won't sign without proof," you deflect.
"Fine, I'll jolt her." Amy pokes Mum's cheek.
Mum's eyes snap open, blinking and squinting at the light. She groans, hungover but alive. Her lips move. Lean closer, but don't touch, don't breathe... "What is... that silly thing... on your face?"
You rip the domino mask off with sweaty hands. "Mum! I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
"She'll fall asleep a lot," Amy says. "I won't wake her again, so..."
"Ahem, ahem." Two shots, dead center. Call-Me-Garry got you this time.
Victoria zooms over to Amy. "So, Ames, are we going home, or staying to clear the whole ward?"
"Yeah, about that." Amy licks her lips, and looks at you. "That thing we talked about... I decided. Do it."
"What thing?" Victoria asks.
"You're sure?" you ask.
"Yeah. Do the thing."
"What thing?" Victoria repeats.
"This thing." You draw and lunge with time's blade at full extension. It pierces through, sinking into Amy's sternum, lifting her up on your fist. There's no weight to Amy under Panacea's robe, nothing to her but skin and bones. Her eyes and mouth become wide, gaping circles that spill radiant Sand and shimmering dust.
The Dagger of Time drinks deeply, leaving nothing of Panacea but her empty robe.
Everything goes black - Victoria kicks with enough force to punt an eight ton truck.
Time rewinds. Victoria's boot moves to point at the ground, her confusion morphs into casual confidence, and she turns to chat with her sister.
But Amy... the Dagger of Time heaves - space warping and flexing - until even death must yield. Sand pours out, but without the luster of a sunrise over Thar, nor the weight of eternity in each grain. Simple sand and dust fills Panacea's robe - knitting bone to tissue to skin - still impaled on the vomiting blade.
Reversed time forces your arm back, the blade into the hilt, and all is as it wasn't - the same but not the same.
"Yeah, about that." Amy licks her lips, and looks at you. "That thing we talked about... Oh."
You turn away as Vicky asks, "What thing?"
Garry scrambles to keep up. You sign papers he holds up, walking without looking, your ghosts having signed countless times before.
Paradox always was, will be, and is a Protectorate cape. This river will split the universe.
"Wait, there are pamphlets," Garry says. He stops to pick up discarded papers while you step in the elevator. "Where are you going?"
"To find Uman," you say as the elevator doors close. "My dad."
Your last sight of the palliative ward is Amy - no longer Panacea - opening her mouth to answer Victoria.
Amy sneezes. The doors click shut.
"Yeah, and I adopt waifs and strays. Can we not talk about the giant monster aliens eating the planet? It's depressing."
"Fine. After Hadhayosh attacks-"
"Ugh, downer."
"After the attack, Coil kidnaps Purity from the hospital and frames the PRT."
"Figures."
"How?"
"Pits the cops against the Empire, gets his rivals fighting, and he can do whatever."
"There's more. He sends his people out to accuse a hero of murder, to kidnap Watchdog agents, and to assassinate heroes and their families."
"Some major escalation there. What poor shmuck burned for all that?"
"You, Tattletale. Coil will burn you."
Sitrep:
Prince ventured into the Amy Dallon minefield and returned alive.
Panacea is dead, and Amy lives to suffer the common cold.
Prince's mother is alive, healthy, and recovering. Still needs physiotherapy.
Prince is going to confront his father.
Your Build:
Total dice and PRT rating is 6.
Quirks:
+1 auto success in lethal combat with dagger.
Reroll all rolls once.
Sand wraith has 5 perks = gives 4 auto-successes. Has a cool down time.
6's explode. Count it as a success and reroll it.
The PRT may retaliate for killing Panacea's power, it seems like the sort of thing that angers governments.
Tattletale's info dump parts 1 to 4 of 8:
Battery is an asset to Coil
Both the Triumvirate and the Endbringers are aliens somehow?
The stars have moved, despite the hard Manton limit restricting powers to Earth.
Coil is setting factions of the city against each other.
Choices:
The Sands of Time have changed you. Choose a perk, or Keep the Sand.
[][Perk] Keep the Sand
[][Perk] See spoilers
[][Perk] Shrug the Mortal Coil
- Gain a true body of sand, replenished by the Dagger of TIme.
- Deny any damage to your person by shrugging it off as sand. Gives immunity to: bullets, decapitation, poison, age, anything short of continuous or very exotic attacks.
- Gain Brute dice. You're very tough.
- Gain a Quirk: win any tied roll in combat. You can be overwhelmed, but not matched.
- No wound penalty: You regrow limbs quickly. You can regrow a head.
- No change to appearance. Sand acts as flesh until brushed off. Can't give blood or leave DNA.
- Fear no razor: the goatee stays forever. Does not protect your shirt.
- Manton effect weirdness: You exist as both object and person. This might never come up.
- The Dagger of Time supplies the sand. Use of this power in combat without the dagger will always give a Wound Penalty (reflecting you take fatal hits that won't heal).
- Heart of Glass synergy: You can change into glass and back for free. Glass still attached to you is "alive" and can be reshaped after forming or reabsorbed. Free glass armor costume with minimal cons. Making a lot of glass quickly counts as a Shaker sub-rating. At it's most basic level this means glass walls and lots of caltrops.
[][Perk] The Tie That Binds
- Give another a copy of your powers.
- You do not control the target, but the Sands of Time may change them, body and mind.
- Gain a Trump sub-rating, but no dice.
- You don't gain the chain or daggertail, you already have the dagger.
[][Perk] From Dust to Dust
- Gain a touch range Striker power that ages matter until it disintegrates.
- Gain immunity to containment foam and a way to escape most restraints, including barred cells and PRT paddy wagons.
- The dagger focuses this power, allowing it to cut through most physical objects.
- Can be used without the dagger, through touch, in a slower, wider, less focussed form.
- Gain Striker dice.
[][Perk] Fever Dreams
- Dream of your future and your past.
- Can only be used in short bursts, may be used offscreen, but now you sleep on command.
- Tends to show you dying or disasters. Expect more disturbed sleep.
- Precognition is subject to interference, including from your own powers.
- Your past extends further back than this iteration of you.
- Gain Thinker dice.
- Shows your combat roll for the next chapter, but not your reroll from Reverse the Glass.
[][Perk] Diamonds in the Rough.
- Gain the power to enhance or suppress your senses.
- Gain Thinker/Brute dice.
- In addition, you can sense parahumans, parahuman candidates, and some highly advanced Tinker devices or persistent parahuman effects.
- You can track by scent, or echolocate.
- You are immune to attacks on the senses, such as flashbangs, pain, pepperspray, tear gas, Grue, etc.
- No Wound penalty. You are still injured, but it won't stop you.
[][Perk] A Breath of Restoration
- A modifiable blast that moves objects or people back in time.
- The exact effect is random from a second to a minute, and the first effect has to complete before reuse.
- Can be expressed as a cone, line, or spherical explosion. Max range is roughly 100 feet or 30 meters.
- Can be used on yourself to remove recent injuries without rewinding all time.
- Gain a Shaker/Blaster rating.
- Not Manton limited. Can be used to create very short lived protective barriers, to heal, to fix buildings, or to reverse the trajectory of projectiles.
- People targeted will not remember lost time, unlike you. This can be disorientating.
- Objects set in reversed motion are inviolate until they reach their destination.
[][Perk] Release the Sands
- Do you have regrets? Empty the hour glass and Release the Sands.
- Time rewinds back to your trigger event. There are no other advantages, except foreknowledge.
- Where does the old sand go? There may be unforeseen consequences.
- Lose the Resourceful trait until you get some equipment back.
- You can keep this in reserve if you Keep the Sand.
[Perk] - Control the Flow
- You grasp the timeline of others. You cannot stop the river, but becomes a torrent or a trickle at your whim.
- This perk has burned in fate's pyre.
[][Perk] A Touch of Wisdom
- Gain the power of Psychometry. Feel the history, use and manufacture of items you hold.
- The Dagger of Time has its own history.
- Gain Tinker dice which grow as knowledge accumulates.
- Mechanically, Tinker dice can remove dice from opponents in combat. Outside combat, it's normal bonus dice that applies to investigation and engineering. Dice can be given to an ally to provide a short term boost.
- Struggles with non-physical objects, such as software or persistent effects. Manton limited to objects only.
- As a bonus, you can pick locks, hot wire cars, crack safes, guess passwords and repair most objects if you have the tools.
- Replaces and upgrades Resourceful Trait: Tinkerings will be based on PRT equipment standards for ease of use, and your training provides intuitive designs. Tinker dice roll at target 4. Tinker dice replace Resourceful dice.
- Synergy with Heart of Glass: You're a walking workshop, though you still need assembly time. Different glass types can substitute materials needs with vacuum tubes, lenses, smart glass, insulators and/or fiber optic cables. You don't require resources, can build a custom workshop anywhere, and generally tinker faster. You just need time to heal.
[][Perk] The Water Sword
- Your personal time field gained by Sort the Grains - AKA your (false) body of sand - becomes larger and more controlled. By manipulating your personal time, you can charge up or degrade attacks.
- Gain bullet time. Time slows down when you focus, allowing truly superhuman feats of strength and agility.
- Gain Brute dice.
- Immune to bullets as long as there is room to dodge.
- Focus to charge up attacks that can break a brick wall.
- Do maths. Manipulate the Time part of Speed and Force equations.
[][Perk] Heart of Glass
- Melt your cells into glass objects.
- Gain Changer dice.
- The glass is external and "dead." It can't be reshaped once formed, but can be intricate.
- Generally, blood and skin cells are used, as they heal quickly with synergy from Sort the Grains.
- In an emergency, you can Wound yourself to make more glass, but you'll avoid that if possible.
- In combat, you'll make exceptionally strong and sharp swords, caltrops, light armor (like that old gauntlet), and shurican.
- Outside combat, it can make simple tools and a few restraints. Has synergy with Tinker powers to make complex tools and replace resource needs.
Trait: Resourceful
- Prince's PRT training makes him familiar with cars, guns, and many police or PRT issue gadgets, including containment foam.
- Prince rolls an extra 1d6t4 equipment bonus where applicable.
- You have money now, so this is back after an offscreen shopping trip.
Perk: Sort the Grains
- You manipulate your personal timeframe on a cellular level. Poison, hunger, thirst, bleeding and fatigue are slower to affect you.
- You recover from injury faster, need less sleep, think and react quicker, and you are physically stronger overall.
- Mechanically this makes you a Brute 2. Physically equal to an Olympic champion or an armed person with body armor.
- Synergy with Reverse the Glass: you make death defying leaps and get a Mover rating.
Perk: Reverse the Glass
- You can reverse time for up to 10 seconds. It then takes 10 seconds to recharge. This will happen automatically to save your life, but won't get you out of an impossible situation. With great effort, and more Sand, time may roll back further.
- Mechanically, every roll is rolled twice and you take the better result.
- You can make short time loops to extend thinking time and your reaction speed is superhuman. Counts as 2 Thinker dice.
Perk: Mask of the Sand Wraith
- Clothe yourself in the Sands of Time and ride the storm towards infinity.
- Sand will form an ancient, monstrous facsimile of Paradox's costume, mask, and weapons.
- Gain a Breaker state that increases speed and strength over time, while you can keep up.
- The Sand Wraith exists outside time. Provides resistance to some powers, such as precogs.
- State exits when you stop moving, can't keep up, or take heavy damage.
- Breaker state recharges slowly and restarts the time limit of Reverse The Glass.
- Damage will not transfer outside the Breaker state, barring exotic damage (black holes, Sting, etc).
- Mechanically, gives a fixed number of successes equal to half your total dice. This replaces the lowest roll.
Perk A Living Blade
- Replace the blade of the Dagger of Time with living ivory, or something resembling it.
- The blade can grow or shrink from nothing to a ~20cm (~6 inch) dagger to a meter long (~3 foot) shamshir. It tends to curve, for no real reason.
- The blade disintegrates living tissue and is ridiculously lethal.
- The dagger can be easily carried, no longer contains metal, and works as a weapon (easier to fight with this than a tiny stubby blade).
- Mechanically, give +1 success automatically in lethal combat.
- Does not affect the Sand Wraith, as it is formless, and effectively has this power.
- Outside combat, Prince may extend the blade while saying "Vwoom", "Shhhzzz" or "Luke, I am your father."
Perk Warrior Within
- There are many paths before you, take them all.
- Combines the skills, but not memories, of your other lives.
- Mechanically, all rolls have a Skilled target number of 4, assuming there are no complications that make rolls harder.
- No extra powers, but you are better at using them.
- Overlaps with the Resourceful trait. You keep the equipment bonus dice, does not change target number.
As always, sincerely, thanks for reading.
This is half of what I wanted to submit, but it's pretty long and good enough. It's half of the Tattletale expositions dumps. Which was a fun experiment in distinct voice.
I'm a ramble about parahuman psychology now. Specifically Amy, one of the Wildbow's best, earliest and most complex characters.
Start with Marquis. He's a primary Changer, which is a problem of "identity/body image issues, or conflict of role vs. social expectations.".
His rules about "no women, no kids" is schoolyard stuff, something he might be holding onto from a very young age. Theses rules are how he defines himself, keeps himself together, and basically how he knows who he is.
But Marquis is old, he's dealt with his issues, to the point that his self control extends to the area around him. A Shaker rating about ambient danger. He's said, "I grew up in hard circumstances," and very likely considers his territory and leadership as essential parts of himself.
Philosophically, Marquis is a relativist. His rules are for him, not you. He knows the value of flexibility and will gather people who will do what he won't. Like Lung, or I guess Cinderhands.
This philosophy contrasts with New Wave, or at least the Dallon family. They are very deontological. Rules are for everybody, all must be accountable to the law, if masks get in the way then get rid of masks. A very cop brain kind of thinking: You're us, or you're them.
(Which is why Vicky insisted Prince wore a mask last chapter. It's a rule. Also not wearing a mask killed her auntie. Also also Vicky loves all things cape, but I digress.)
Now take Amy / Panacea.
Amy is a Striker, a class that triggers in immediate threats. In other words, a Striker power is like a defensive wound. It's from an instinct for self preservation. But Amy's threat was losing Vicky, in more ways than one, so the power manifests as the ability to change people. We see in Ward that Amy can inflict Changer issues and states on people. That's an interesting link back to Marquis.
To link this back to philosophy, we can say a Changer-like power has to be relativistic, and that kind of mind won't fit a deontological framework. No one else can choose your mold, if you have Changer-like issues. Anyone else's choice becomes part of the problem.
But Amy is complex, and a Striker. The theme with Strikers is defense, I think, and Changer issues include "constraining social expectations". So Amy's major issue is defensive, with a dash of expectation issues.
What do you get when you put a defensive reflex to issues of expectations with bonus flexibility? Denial.
Amy denies what she wants, needs, and anything that might hurt her. After she goes off the deep end, Ward era, she makes some amazing mental gymnastics to deny her responsibility. It's her automatic trauma defence to go into denial. She can even deny other people into being what she wants.
And she will deny that denial is a problem. And every other problem is something to shrug off. Just a thought.
And that why the new perk is about denial. Because it's a river in Egypt and makes a thematic sand/desert pun.
Got to fix this. In another life, maybe you'd know the right words. You call the druj nasu to speak - from beyond the sands of time - of something you might have heard, if Marquis had lived.
"You are beaten," your voice drops an octave, "it is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Narwhal did. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the city."
"I'll never join you!"
"If you only knew the power you hold. Carol never told you what happened to your father."
"She told me enough! It was you who killed him."
"No. I am your father."
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!"
"Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
"No! No! No!"
"It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the city as father and daughter. Come with me. It is the only way."
You hold your hand out to Amy.
Zen washes over her freckled face as she makes a decision. She leaps to a closed window and bounces off the glass.
"Ow," she says, rubbing her nose. "Vicky! Gimme a dramatic exit, stat!"
Victoria pokes a finger through the glass and drags it along the edge, clearing the window frame. Then she laces her fingers together to give Amy a boost. Amy wiggles through the ground floor window and jogs away dramatically.
Then Victoria karate kicks your head off.
Your last sight of the palliative ward is Amy—no longer Panacea—opening her mouth to answer Victoria.
Amy sneezes on her. The doors click shut.
Then the doors open again.
"Wait a minute," you say. "Why am I back? I pushed the button for the ground floor."
Garry says, "This is the ground floor."
"No, this is floor one."
"Yes, that's the ground floor. That's always the ground floor."
"Nu-huh."
"Uh-huh."
"Guys," the heroic Victoria flies to the rescue. "This is a simple cultural misunderstanding. In the UK, floor zero is usually the ground floor. In the US, the ground floor is usually floor one. Okay?"
"Ah, got it."
"Thank-you, Miss Dallon."
"Now that's cleared up," Victoria turns to you. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER, YOU FREAK!?"
"..."
"..."
"... So I don't need the elevator then?"
"No. Exit is on the left."
Edits:
Between the blue curtain-partitions of the palliative care ward, a fading light outlasts most patients. ->
Over cells of blue curtain-partitions in palliative care, a fading lightbulb outlasts most patients. (clarity edit)
Typos.
strange aeons, at great cost. -> strange aeons, each at great cost. (for parallelism)
Amy sneezes on her. -> Amy sneezes. (brevity edit)
Filled in the Sitrep.
Time is a river that splits the universe. -> This river will split the universe. (awkward metaphor is awkward.)
Good shit. Wonder whether the PRT will retaliate for killing Panacea's power, that seems like the sort of thing that angers governments.
[X][Perk] Shrug the Mortal Coil
I'm halfway convinced we should go for A Touch of Wisdom, since that seems plot relevant, but I'd rather get a little chunkier before making the plunge.
This is a very good Perk as it makes us very chonky and we are pretty much immune to anything that is not high level tinkertech we win ties which is very important because if we had this Perk the Niko and Behemoth section we would have won those.
[X][Perk] A Touch of Wisdom
This Perk is also very as it synergies with our already existing perks and tinker dice take away our enemies dice and it gets stronger. This Also let's us become an even better skill monkey with this in addition to Warrior Within making us omnicompetent.
I'm the vote of just going after coil with out full backs on it. We leak his identity we attack his warehouse we kill his mercs and the capes that he has employed. We just full send it against him. Because with him gone we could finally be start to be happy.
If we destroy his base we could severely damage his assets and reputation and releasing his secret identity will damage the prt long enough to get them off our backs and to get him when his pants are down.
Hm. With Panacea's power gone, the easiest way to get healing is too. In the future we better be sure whether rewinding time is a good idea or not, as this may make things more difficult.
[X][Perk] Shrug the Mortal Coil
This feels too good to pass up. The later synergies with Heart of Glass seem cool too.
So he's going full villain then, removing the most powerful healer on record, removing the power of the leader of an international task force meant to handle A and S Class threats , and working with Tattletale.
But it's a Worm fic, of course bad decisions and working with the Undersiders are what people vote for
So he's going full villain then, removing the most powerful healer on record, removing the power of the leader of an international task force meant to handle A and S Class threats , and working with Tattletale.
But it's a Worm fic, of course bad decisions and working with the Undersiders are what people vote for
To be fair, removing Narwhal's (and Dragon's, possibly?) powers wasn't really intentional. Sure, he went a bit murderhobo there, but I think people were really banking on that full reset.
He's not working with TT. It was one job, so he could get Coil off his back.
On Panacea I completely agree. It was a nice thing to do, but not exactly wise.
To be fair, removing Narwhal's (and Dragon's, possibly?) powers wasn't really intentional. Sure, he went a bit murderhobo there, but I think people were really banking on that full reset.
He's not working with TT. It was one job, so he could get Coil off his back.
On Panacea I completely agree. It was a nice thing to do, but not exactly wise.
Going full murderhobo because you can erase the timeline is Coil-level behavior.
So, not exactly a shining example of his moral fiber. And now he's just covering his ass because he removed the powers of not just the Guild Leader, but also the leader of the Toronto Protectorate and general A-lister and trying to convince people that's a good thing.
Which he doubled down on by removing Panacea's powers, the same powers that save countless lives regularly, both cape and mundane human.
Yeah…at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the S9 come recruiting him and he goes along with it. To paraphrase him "There are no heroes", his mom's healed and there's no reason to keep being a hero.
So why not keep doubling down and show the world that heroes don't exist by removing the powers of every hero he meets, he'll probably rationalize it as Jack being honest he's just out to satisfy himself rather than pretending to be a hero, when those don't exist.
Going full murderhobo because you can erase the timeline is Coil-level behavior.
So, not exactly a shining example of his moral fiber. And now he's just covering his ass because he removed the powers of not just the Guild Leader, but also the leader of the Toronto Protectorate and general A-lister and trying to convince people that's a good thing.
Which he doubled down on by removing Panacea's powers, the same powers that save countless lives regularly, both cape and mundane human.
Yeah…at this point I wouldn't be surprised if the S9 come recruiting him and he goes along with it. To paraphrase him "There are no heroes", his mom's healed and there's no reason to keep being a hero.
So why not keep doubling down and show the world that heroes don't exist by removing the powers of every hero he meets, he'll probably rationalize it as Jack being honest he's just out to satisfy himself rather than pretending to be a hero, when those don't exist.
I went and read the Heartbreaker chapters again. He went murderhobo on Heartbreaker's thralls. I seriously don't think that's a bad thing.
But the Narwhal thing is pretty bad. Straight up murder for a power-up. In a pretty dicy situation, sure, but still.
At the same time, I don't like condemning Paradox or the voters for stuff that we're just learning about now. Especially in a situation like with Heartbreaker. The consequences of his actions are already being made clear, even though he's getting through them so far.
Also, in what way is he covering his ass? If anything he's doing the opposite by removing Panacea's power. And convincing who? Besides himself, I guess.
I went and read the Heartbreaker chapters again. He went murderhobo on Heartbreaker's thralls. I seriously don't think that's a bad thing.
But the Narwhal thing is pretty bad. Straight up murder for a power-up. In a pretty dicy situation, sure, but still.
At the same time, I don't like condemning Paradox or the voters for stuff that we're just learning about now. Especially in a situation like with Heartbreaker. The consequences of his actions are already being made clear, even though he's getting through them so far.
Also, in what way is he covering his ass? If anything he's doing the opposite by removing Panacea's power. And convincing who? Besides himself, I guess.
He's covering his ass by doubling down and rather than accept and admit it was an accident, he's outright going out of his way to convince Amy to accept removing her powers permanently. Even convincing her that heroes don't exist. Just people doing what they want.
So using her powers to heal people is morally wrong based on his arguement, rather than trying to convince her to not be so unhealthy in her system of healing people, he decided to convince her to get them removed outright, after being desperate for who knows how long for Amy to use the exact same power to heal his mom. The hypocrisy is disgusting, and the lack of common sense is infuriating. What the hell does he expect to happen when it comes out he removed Panacea's power? Everyone to give him a clap on the back and congratulate him?
He's covering his ass by doubling down and rather than accept it was an accident, he's outright going out of his way to convince Amy to accept removing her powers permanently.
Might be because I'm sleep deprived, but I don't understand what you're getting at here. How is he covering his ass by doubling down? Like, by going all in on removing powers he starts believing he was justified before as well, rather than accepting he fucked up, is that what you mean? Cause yeah, it's definitely a slippery slope.
So using her powers to heal people is morally wrong based on his arguement
I don't think that's what he was saying. He talked about how using your powers, and how you use them is a choice, but to not use them is also a choice, one Amy doesn't feel like she has. So Paradox gave her that choice, out of short-sighted gratitude, or possibly greed.
Like, by going all in on removing powers he starts believing he was justified before as well, rather than accepting he fucked up, is that what you mean? Cause yeah, it's definitely a slippery slope.
I don't think that's what he was saying. He talked about how using your powers, and how you use them is a choice, but to not use them is also a choice, one Amy doesn't feel like she has. So Paradox gave her that choice, out of short-sighted gratitude, or possibly greed.
