Shards of a Broken Sun [Megaten/Shugo Chara/Exalted]
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Crossover
Isn't that called meeting a DC 3 threshold with a varying number of dice (I can't think of a decent stunt for the "empathy brute force Shadow" option, and though our chances are ~90% I do not like the failure outcome of the other options and will not be voting for them without a corresponding stunt)?
Yeah, you've already been very, very generous with information (although it's not actionable information that you've given, which is good); don't worry about it
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- Location
- Laniakea
I assume this ties into the same thing with your response about Nero's plan:
What you're basically saying is that Utau (or Amu) trying to shut down the domain psionically would allow her to gain information in the process. Possibly different bits of information, depending on the way they go about trying to shut it down.
I'd assume the "without losing" part only applies if they actually pass the dice roll - otherwise they either won't get that reward or actually will lose something, whether that's just time from needing to sleep for a few days to recover or agency and access to the Scavengers from JP's cordoning off the house.
While the odds on the dice roll aren't exactly terrible.... something just doesn't sit right with me about the idea of Amu and Utau getting force-fed information from Yui's cognitive domain. Even if it's unintentional and nobody suffers ill effects from it.
Uh, you seem to be making assumptions again: The (information) reward could equally be "wait, you can do that, with this skill??" being learnt IC to give an example
- Location
- Laniakea
It could be, but "skill upgrade" is not really the impression I get from the phrase "potentially highly useful information".
There's nothing that says it couldn't be, but I feel like it would have been phrased otherwise differently if that had been the intent.
Remember how Utau doesn't actually know what Strings & Songs is for? We could fix that now (partially), if that write in passes and succeds, to give an example
- Location
- Laniakea
....That's *if* the "information" reward is a skill upgrade. Given Utau's (and Amu's) default approach was to use Empathy + Wits, I'm not fully convinced that was intended to be the case.
If the information reward was planned from the start to be given for passing those dice roll options that used Empathy, I feel it would be more likely one of 2 things: either A) something gleaned from the domain received through Empathy or B) some epiphany about the state of the world inferred from how the domain interacts with them and the outside world.
If the information reward was planned from the start to be given for passing those dice roll options that used Empathy, I feel it would be more likely one of 2 things: either A) something gleaned from the domain received through Empathy or B) some epiphany about the state of the world inferred from how the domain interacts with them and the outside world.
Nero200
High Priest of Eito, Part Time Nyar.
We had limited resources to work with.
If we'd had approximately five more minutes and Ami's birthday present, I'd have been able to put together a less expensive plan, but we did not.
Something something, rush a miracle worker, get slipshod miracles.
We have a lot more resources here, that 'a lot more' being having seen the full setup before hand and having multiple characters, mostly Utau who has useful experience.
Re vote split, hm~
To clarify on my intent here, my goal/hope is that Utau provides a path from where Yui is, to where Utau managed to get, and the Strings & Songs OR CU influence takes it from her kickstart to the full Persona dungeon setup, since it seems to already be trying to do that, and hopefully just needs a kick in the right direction.
This is part of the reason I included possibly tapping Su via the Key, because Su's abilities/knowledge seem to be drawn from the CU.
Meaning that the CU 'prescribed' method for fixing/healing this sort of damage would hopefully be the Persona method.
Healing Yu's long term psionic damage involved restoring his heart egg, not just fixing him to 'normal adult' mentality, so there's precedent for Su's healing portfolio to include Occult methodology for healing. Whether this includes Persona methodology, or just Shugo Chara, is something I can't put a solid guess to. Considering Su/Dia allowed Amu to link to a non-Shugo Chara entity, I would hazard a guess that it will include Persona methods, but that is just a guess.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
She would only be able to do so by accident. You can try, but it would be difficulty… five, I think; it is something the rest of the world sorta wants to do.
Utau has her own notion of "proper shape", which doesn't involve gladiatorial combat with yourself.
Midori is far more likely to achieve that outcome.
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If you ignored the second half of this sentence, and the OOC knowledge of the setting themes, this is not a statement that inspires confidence
It kind of depends how one interprets 'best'. But one could certainly imagine several more 'best' things.My interpretation, descending order of priority:
1) We do not die, or be permanently harmed
2) Yui (or whoever else is here) is safely retrieved without further harm, and does not have to deal with this again (keeping a Persona/Shadow is optional, as far as I care)
3) We manage to keep the Dumpty Key
Like for instance:
- Getting the once per event potential super stunt bonus XP. Meta goal, yes... but it's one you could have.
- Learn things one didn't know before. Which can be all kinds of things like in character knowledge of what this is, how it works, how to work it in to better forms, or how to Yui's mind back together better then ever before... that kind of thing
- Get a quick boost skill. ie Mind control to 3 dots.
- Get a start on a new specialization at 0 dot. ie Mind healing.
Well there are many options, these are just a particular set that for some reason all seem to kind of line up I guess. Just a coincidence I'm sure.
At this point considering @Baughn input it seems some what likely your current vote won't achieve that, and I'm not even sure it's quite the best goal to go for either based on those comments.
One could alternately ponder that we already have some of Yui's mind/soul material on hand right now in the key that one could potentially try to put back in to Yui while fixing her up a bit, assuming she is there. Which could help restart things in general as well, including potentially giving the world around more chance to go somewhere. Trying to boost Yui up is certainly something one could try in this situation as well, an increase in will/integrity along with taking out the murderer might help her get going.
In any case at current your vote seems to go somewhere less knowable, based on whatever Utau and the other things around here might push it to end up... which is probably not dungeon. Should we even be aiming for that anyway? Can't we collapse the entire system along Yui to try and gather up all her parts? Maybe?
JPs, two days prior
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
JPs, two days earlier
"Aubertin-san? Can you help me with this?"
Rosaire Aubertin peered up from his pile of psychological evaluations, raising an eyebrow at the soldier who'd spoken. They were in a corner of JP's cafeteria, both having taken their lunch breaks at the same time; though the former was reading and the latter had apparently found something interesting in the lab.
"Hmm?" he asked, neutrally. He liked Mariko—the soldier was smart and competent, not to mention easy on the eyes—but the woman didn't tend to talk to him unless she had a reason. Most of the soldiers didn't, really; too intimidated by his reputation, even after all this time. Rosaire didn't mind that. It made things easier on everyone.
"The bean bag," Mariko elaborated, drawing Rosaire's attention to the bulky object she'd rolled out of its container, evidently because it was too large to lift. "I need someone to help me bring it down to level four."
Rosaire glanced at it. "Why do you need a bean bag?" he asked, still not moving.
Mariko rolled her eyes at him. "Why would anybody need a bean bag? Because they're comfy."
Rosaire gave Mariko a flat look, and waited.
"Fine," said Mariko, sighing. "So there was this girl on level four. Himamori Amu; she was brought in with grade one mental abrasion. Thirteen years old if you can believe it. And normally that would be it—if we were anywhere else, I mean—but she woke up after a couple of days. Even walked out without needing therapy."
Rosaire glanced down at his pile of folders again, frowning. "You know I'm not responsible for those kinds of cases, right?"
Mariko laughed. "You think I'm telling you she's physically damaged? Aubertin-san, you should see her medical report. There's not a single sign of brain damage." He had, but unlike the woman in front of him, he didn't gossip about those details. Mariko leaned closer, her tone lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "That's not normal. Not for unmitigated abrasion. I'm telling you this because I'm fairly sure you've been talking to her classmates."
"It seems likely," Rosaire admitted. "Though obviously-"
Mariko waved her hand through the air dismissively. "Makoto?"
"Does patient-client confidentiality mean nothing to you?" He asked archly.
"It does," said Mariko, folding her arms behind her back and cocking her head at Rosaire with a hint of amusement. "But the Chief makes a point of telling us when we have visitors who might be dangerous. Which is part of why I'm telling you about Himamori-chan."
Rosaire sighed, but couldn't fault Mariko's logic. "Why does it matter?"
"You don't read the newspapers," Mariko told him with a smile. "The Himamori girl was one of the kids who held the line until the boss could get there. Without her help there'd have been more casualties. More fatalities as well. Chief Hotsuin isn't likely to forget that anytime soon, you know."
Rosaire nodded, turning this over in his mind and wondering where Mariko was going with this. It was true that Hotsuin would not have forgotten something like that; but-
"A lot of children died that day," Mariko said. "Or ended up in hospital. It's not the kind of thing you want to have to see, but- anyway, the Himamori girl was friends with one of those who did end up here. Yamabuki Saaya. The one with grade five abrasion." Mariko's voice darkened on that last point; Rosaire winced internally at the thought. Grade five was about as bad as it got without resulting in death; and that was a question of terminology. No one had ever recovered from grade five abrasion.
"And?"
Mariko's grin widened. "And this is where it gets good. I didn't get to meet the Himamori girl when she was here, but... her parents were here every day, and half the time they brought her little sister. One of your colleagues is due to meet her soon, I think?"
Rosaire crossed his arms. "Seriously. Does confidentiality mean absolutely nothing to you people?"
Mariko waved her hand in the air again, chuckling slightly. "Himamori Ami—seven years old—visited her sister once every other day, accompanied by her father or mother, sometimes both. The girl was surprisingly upbeat despite her sister's condition." She leaned down to examine one of Rosaire's evaluation reports. "Isn't that what it says on-"
Rosaire pulled the file away before Mariko could read it; Mariko shrugged at him unrepentantly.
This was the downside of accepting JP's offer. Mavericks and monsters and all the reasons he was here were one thing, but it seemed like one of the reasons they had so many specialists on call was because it gave Hotsuin a convenient excuse to spy on everyone they interacted with. He never went so far as to overstep Rosaire's professional boundaries, but given all his coworkers-
He cleared his throat and pressed onward. "Is this gossip going anywhere?" he asked Mariko pointedly.
"Yes." Mariko's voice lowered again; it was almost a whisper now, but Rosaire could see the eagerness on her face without even trying. "So one day after they'd visited their daughter, the Himamori parents got into an argument with the nurse." Mariko's eyes narrowed at the memory, her emotions taking a dive towards 'bitter' for a moment before bouncing back up. "On the subject of Yamabuki, whose parents haven't been here even once.
"Her father works in the Diet, you know. You'd think he could spare ten minutes from his day to take the elevator down and pay his daughter a visit." Mariko shrugged again, her expression darkening. "Anyway, little Ami-chan was left alone with us for fifteen minutes while her parents went to yell at somebody in charge. And that's where the bean bag comes in."
"The bean bag," Rosaire repeated, deadpan.
"Yep!" said Mariko cheerfully. "She wasn't happy with the chairs, you see. Too tall, all of them. So she stared at the air for a while, and then there was this flash of light-" Mariko's voice trailed off. "Honestly it's weird, Aubertin-san. None of our detectors picked up anything, but there it was. Right in front of her." She coughed, suddenly embarrassed. "And nobody wanted to poke the bear, so when her parents came back she was napping on top of it. It disappeared when she left, but two days later she did the same thing again, and that one stuck around. Though that was right before the doctors decided her sister was fine, so she never had a chance to use it."
Rosaire gave the innocent-looking bean bag another look; his brow furrowed. "That sounds..." he began, trying to think of a word that wouldn't be too worrying.
"It's not an O-O-P," Mariko assured him, misunderstanding Rosaire's concern entirely. "Perfectly normal bean bag, except it doesn't have an inside. Kanno had a look at it." Mariko tapped the bean bag with her foot. "She wanted it for testing, but..."
Rosaire returned his attention to Mariko, frowning.
"You stole it from her lab."
"Nope!" Mariko told him brightly. "I had permission! There was even a form and everything, I got one of my guys to fill it out." She nudged Rosaire with her elbow and grinned at him. "Cleanup duty. Trash disposal. Call it what you want, Kanno wouldn't get back to it again. If she wants it, it'll be in the break room."
Rosaire fought back a smile and failed miserably. He knew better than to take Mariko seriously when she said something had gone through proper channels. Kanno wasn't a bad woman—at least Rosaire didn't think so—but Mariko was right about her current state of distraction; she probably wouldn't miss it for weeks.
"In any case," Rosaire said, rubbing his temples and trying not to let Mariko distract him. "I'll have another look at their documents. That's what you wanted, yes?"
Mariko beamed at him. "Yep!" she said, happily. "You're the best, Aubertin-san." She rolled the bean bag around. "Plus some help moving this thing wouldn't go amiss."
"Do I look like a pack mule to you?" Rosaire asked her. Mariko's response was a very convincing attempt, albeit futile, at puppy dog eyes.
Rosaire considered the woman for a few breaths, then sighed and gathered up his reports. He tucked them into the embroidered shoulder bag at his feet, tapped it gently, and pushed his chair back from the table.
"Alright," he said. Mariko gave a little cheer, one that cut off abruptly as she recognised he wasn't done. "But I get something out of helping."
She opened her mouth, a sly smile tugging at her lips, and Rosaire didn't need to be himself to tell what was about to come out. "So we'll be taking this beanbag to level three, instead. I was looking for one for my public office."
"But what if some poor girl needs a beanbag on level four?" Mariko asked, her eyes wide, expression aghast.
"Then you can have one of your guys fill out a form to get another one." Rosaire smiled beatifically, picking up the edge of the beanbag opposite the now glaring Mariko. Mock glaring, though, he could see the way her lips were twitching.
"I'll ask Ami-chan," Mariko decided. "The next time she visits."
"Don't make me report you to Sako for abusing a young girl's goodwill and/or magic," Rosaire told her. But he was almost smiling too. "Now come on and lift. This beanbag won't move itself."
"Aubertin-san? Can you help me with this?"
Rosaire Aubertin peered up from his pile of psychological evaluations, raising an eyebrow at the soldier who'd spoken. They were in a corner of JP's cafeteria, both having taken their lunch breaks at the same time; though the former was reading and the latter had apparently found something interesting in the lab.
"Hmm?" he asked, neutrally. He liked Mariko—the soldier was smart and competent, not to mention easy on the eyes—but the woman didn't tend to talk to him unless she had a reason. Most of the soldiers didn't, really; too intimidated by his reputation, even after all this time. Rosaire didn't mind that. It made things easier on everyone.
"The bean bag," Mariko elaborated, drawing Rosaire's attention to the bulky object she'd rolled out of its container, evidently because it was too large to lift. "I need someone to help me bring it down to level four."
Rosaire glanced at it. "Why do you need a bean bag?" he asked, still not moving.
Mariko rolled her eyes at him. "Why would anybody need a bean bag? Because they're comfy."
Rosaire gave Mariko a flat look, and waited.
"Fine," said Mariko, sighing. "So there was this girl on level four. Himamori Amu; she was brought in with grade one mental abrasion. Thirteen years old if you can believe it. And normally that would be it—if we were anywhere else, I mean—but she woke up after a couple of days. Even walked out without needing therapy."
Rosaire glanced down at his pile of folders again, frowning. "You know I'm not responsible for those kinds of cases, right?"
Mariko laughed. "You think I'm telling you she's physically damaged? Aubertin-san, you should see her medical report. There's not a single sign of brain damage." He had, but unlike the woman in front of him, he didn't gossip about those details. Mariko leaned closer, her tone lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "That's not normal. Not for unmitigated abrasion. I'm telling you this because I'm fairly sure you've been talking to her classmates."
"It seems likely," Rosaire admitted. "Though obviously-"
Mariko waved her hand through the air dismissively. "Makoto?"
"Does patient-client confidentiality mean nothing to you?" He asked archly.
"It does," said Mariko, folding her arms behind her back and cocking her head at Rosaire with a hint of amusement. "But the Chief makes a point of telling us when we have visitors who might be dangerous. Which is part of why I'm telling you about Himamori-chan."
Rosaire sighed, but couldn't fault Mariko's logic. "Why does it matter?"
"You don't read the newspapers," Mariko told him with a smile. "The Himamori girl was one of the kids who held the line until the boss could get there. Without her help there'd have been more casualties. More fatalities as well. Chief Hotsuin isn't likely to forget that anytime soon, you know."
Rosaire nodded, turning this over in his mind and wondering where Mariko was going with this. It was true that Hotsuin would not have forgotten something like that; but-
"A lot of children died that day," Mariko said. "Or ended up in hospital. It's not the kind of thing you want to have to see, but- anyway, the Himamori girl was friends with one of those who did end up here. Yamabuki Saaya. The one with grade five abrasion." Mariko's voice darkened on that last point; Rosaire winced internally at the thought. Grade five was about as bad as it got without resulting in death; and that was a question of terminology. No one had ever recovered from grade five abrasion.
"And?"
Mariko's grin widened. "And this is where it gets good. I didn't get to meet the Himamori girl when she was here, but... her parents were here every day, and half the time they brought her little sister. One of your colleagues is due to meet her soon, I think?"
Rosaire crossed his arms. "Seriously. Does confidentiality mean absolutely nothing to you people?"
Mariko waved her hand in the air again, chuckling slightly. "Himamori Ami—seven years old—visited her sister once every other day, accompanied by her father or mother, sometimes both. The girl was surprisingly upbeat despite her sister's condition." She leaned down to examine one of Rosaire's evaluation reports. "Isn't that what it says on-"
Rosaire pulled the file away before Mariko could read it; Mariko shrugged at him unrepentantly.
This was the downside of accepting JP's offer. Mavericks and monsters and all the reasons he was here were one thing, but it seemed like one of the reasons they had so many specialists on call was because it gave Hotsuin a convenient excuse to spy on everyone they interacted with. He never went so far as to overstep Rosaire's professional boundaries, but given all his coworkers-
He cleared his throat and pressed onward. "Is this gossip going anywhere?" he asked Mariko pointedly.
"Yes." Mariko's voice lowered again; it was almost a whisper now, but Rosaire could see the eagerness on her face without even trying. "So one day after they'd visited their daughter, the Himamori parents got into an argument with the nurse." Mariko's eyes narrowed at the memory, her emotions taking a dive towards 'bitter' for a moment before bouncing back up. "On the subject of Yamabuki, whose parents haven't been here even once.
"Her father works in the Diet, you know. You'd think he could spare ten minutes from his day to take the elevator down and pay his daughter a visit." Mariko shrugged again, her expression darkening. "Anyway, little Ami-chan was left alone with us for fifteen minutes while her parents went to yell at somebody in charge. And that's where the bean bag comes in."
"The bean bag," Rosaire repeated, deadpan.
"Yep!" said Mariko cheerfully. "She wasn't happy with the chairs, you see. Too tall, all of them. So she stared at the air for a while, and then there was this flash of light-" Mariko's voice trailed off. "Honestly it's weird, Aubertin-san. None of our detectors picked up anything, but there it was. Right in front of her." She coughed, suddenly embarrassed. "And nobody wanted to poke the bear, so when her parents came back she was napping on top of it. It disappeared when she left, but two days later she did the same thing again, and that one stuck around. Though that was right before the doctors decided her sister was fine, so she never had a chance to use it."
Rosaire gave the innocent-looking bean bag another look; his brow furrowed. "That sounds..." he began, trying to think of a word that wouldn't be too worrying.
"It's not an O-O-P," Mariko assured him, misunderstanding Rosaire's concern entirely. "Perfectly normal bean bag, except it doesn't have an inside. Kanno had a look at it." Mariko tapped the bean bag with her foot. "She wanted it for testing, but..."
Rosaire returned his attention to Mariko, frowning.
"You stole it from her lab."
"Nope!" Mariko told him brightly. "I had permission! There was even a form and everything, I got one of my guys to fill it out." She nudged Rosaire with her elbow and grinned at him. "Cleanup duty. Trash disposal. Call it what you want, Kanno wouldn't get back to it again. If she wants it, it'll be in the break room."
Rosaire fought back a smile and failed miserably. He knew better than to take Mariko seriously when she said something had gone through proper channels. Kanno wasn't a bad woman—at least Rosaire didn't think so—but Mariko was right about her current state of distraction; she probably wouldn't miss it for weeks.
"In any case," Rosaire said, rubbing his temples and trying not to let Mariko distract him. "I'll have another look at their documents. That's what you wanted, yes?"
Mariko beamed at him. "Yep!" she said, happily. "You're the best, Aubertin-san." She rolled the bean bag around. "Plus some help moving this thing wouldn't go amiss."
"Do I look like a pack mule to you?" Rosaire asked her. Mariko's response was a very convincing attempt, albeit futile, at puppy dog eyes.
Rosaire considered the woman for a few breaths, then sighed and gathered up his reports. He tucked them into the embroidered shoulder bag at his feet, tapped it gently, and pushed his chair back from the table.
"Alright," he said. Mariko gave a little cheer, one that cut off abruptly as she recognised he wasn't done. "But I get something out of helping."
She opened her mouth, a sly smile tugging at her lips, and Rosaire didn't need to be himself to tell what was about to come out. "So we'll be taking this beanbag to level three, instead. I was looking for one for my public office."
"But what if some poor girl needs a beanbag on level four?" Mariko asked, her eyes wide, expression aghast.
"Then you can have one of your guys fill out a form to get another one." Rosaire smiled beatifically, picking up the edge of the beanbag opposite the now glaring Mariko. Mock glaring, though, he could see the way her lips were twitching.
"I'll ask Ami-chan," Mariko decided. "The next time she visits."
"Don't make me report you to Sako for abusing a young girl's goodwill and/or magic," Rosaire told her. But he was almost smiling too. "Now come on and lift. This beanbag won't move itself."
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I'm also responsible for the beanbag not going into the hospital break room. Mariko, and by extension you, were determined to place it somewhere much less safe than a psychologist's office.I wrote it, for the most part; @Snowfire is responsible for the presence of Rosaire, who is one of JPs' staff psychologists, as I wouldn't be able to handle that sort of character very well myself.
But yes, the beanbag thing is now canon.
Also you may look forward to me actually doing my job at your cast. You asked for this.
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No worries, I'm sure some political bullshit will get you fired as soon as you get too obstructionist. *patpat*
...we'd need Illusion for invisbility or something, but we could actually start this plan surprisingly soon?
*Sobs in not having to find a Integrity 3 teacher that is also reasonably trustworthy anymore*
1 internet point that these directly correspond to mental abrasion levels in-universe?
I'm guessing Integrity 0 meant that Hikaru had 0 resistance to the side effects of losing his Heart's Egg, and the influences to the 'exposed parts' of his mind that means?
...we really need more information on Shadows yesterday...
Oh hey, slightly more information: That's how you model why Shadows don't attack until they are rejected ...in the Collective Unconsciousness of all places.
(I feel like a decent Stunt could be written about this tbh)
I wonder what would deliberately pinging Kagutsuchi (with Psionics) look like?
🤔 How does that even work?
Also, I think I have the answer to your question about why precog doesn't work so much now (not that it counts since you gave the answer away):
Because Kagutsuchi has broken enough that things from outside it can come in much more easily, and those are not factored in by precog mechanics.
Mind explaining the first statement a bit further? I take 'environment' for now is referring to the CU, at least until the Apocalypse happens.
...you can force such things? Psionics being related to the CU is a rather interesting tidbit, and it implies that you could try to eat more of it if you wanted to train Overgrowth huh
Wait, so that's what the Exaltation Shard got stuck on from the last quest? Really good it wasn't attempted to be removed lmao
The first option seems far more useful combined with Lore/Occult if we do go down that route.
I wonder if Biokinesis 5/Medicine 4/Lore 3 would suffice to make an Exterior brain to process these information for you?
(Rather than Number Man, would Budget Path To Victory be a better form of cognitive engineering & reaction hook here?)
"environment" here is just... anything around you. It's bad to have your brain exposed to that! But within Kagutsuchi, things are set up to mostly protect random human souls from being eaten by demons etc.
I think the relation is mostly just that the CU is the closest source of soul-stuff to eat. But sure, you could probably eat more stuff faster to grow stronger at the risk of outgrowing your own control, that sounds like something this setting supports.
Was staring at possible stunts for a while, and just to potentially make our lives easier with the OOC/IC divide:
@Baughn Is this a reasonable path for Amu and co to have shadow and suppressor-related knowledge filtered into IC knowledge, so we can assume such while making stunts?
Sadly, I don't have Wits 3 or Deduction 3 - can't come up with enough counterfactual hypothesis and disproval thereof so it might not work properly
1)
2)
So, since there are friendly shadows, hostile shadows, and hostile shadows cannot convert to friendly shadows; if you assume that these two are fundamentally the same something must have happened to friendly shadows to turn them hostile*
(* There are a few holes in the logic here I can't quite patch up, but still)
3)
But why do shadows contain fragments of people again? Maybe because it originated from them? (Otherwise that would imply there are fragments of people just lying around all over the place, and that doesn't seem likely)
If it originated from them, what would cause such problems?
Rejection once the host is made aware, and the fear surrounding said rejection, as well as the lack of cognitive machinery access that would imply?
Since we don't have another Humpty Lock, our only option here is to aid in Yui accepting the shadow back so it stops causing problems somehow.
4)
It seems like the Scavengers may also be aware of this problem given their fear of letting Yui sleep, and the medicines collected are related to it (since they were willing to do risky activities like raid drug labs while presumably being on the run/trying to stay lowkey; and if these drugs could be easily bought they might've tried to buy it the normal way).
Also considering how the Scavengers were gearing up for a possibly lethal fight and were not entirely confident they'd live through it, something really important (the last column of medicine?) must be on stake here.
But what possible help could medicine provide here in Yui's case?
It's obviously not a one-time cure.
Since this phenomenon is clearly not common and perhaps is not natural (if it were naturally occuring, someone would have ran into issue by accident and caused problems already), and since Hotsuin did not have a reaction earlier that corresponds to him observing a phenomenon that inherently requires (medicinal) influence to avoid blowing up; this doesn't seem like a supplement either.
Then could it be a suppressor, like medicine usually does (treating symptoms while hunting for the root cause)?
Hotsuin accepted the explanation at face value (not the easiest thing to do), but the first thing he questioned was Miki's sanity. Why?
2)
There are friendly shadows? (Also, why are the 'puzzle pieces' hidden deep inside for Mom and Utau but not for her?)
But even if a shadow got all the pieces it wanted, it wouldn't have been able to fix things and perhaps turn into a friendly shadow afterwards.
So, since there are friendly shadows, hostile shadows, and hostile shadows cannot convert to friendly shadows; if you assume that these two are fundamentally the same something must have happened to friendly shadows to turn them hostile*
(* There are a few holes in the logic here I can't quite patch up, but still)
3)
So maybe something happened to formerly-friendly shadows that broke them apart and caused them to become hostile.
But why do shadows contain fragments of people again? Maybe because it originated from them? (Otherwise that would imply there are fragments of people just lying around all over the place, and that doesn't seem likely)
If it originated from them, what would cause such problems?
Rejection once the host is made aware, and the fear surrounding said rejection, as well as the lack of cognitive machinery access that would imply?
...that sounds way too familiar, right?
Since we don't have another Humpty Lock, our only option here is to aid in Yui accepting the shadow back so it stops causing problems somehow.
4)
It seems like the Scavengers may also be aware of this problem given their fear of letting Yui sleep, and the medicines collected are related to it (since they were willing to do risky activities like raid drug labs while presumably being on the run/trying to stay lowkey; and if these drugs could be easily bought they might've tried to buy it the normal way).
Also considering how the Scavengers were gearing up for a possibly lethal fight and were not entirely confident they'd live through it, something really important (the last column of medicine?) must be on stake here.
But what possible help could medicine provide here in Yui's case?
It's obviously not a one-time cure.
Since this phenomenon is clearly not common and perhaps is not natural (if it were naturally occuring, someone would have ran into issue by accident and caused problems already), and since Hotsuin did not have a reaction earlier that corresponds to him observing a phenomenon that inherently requires (medicinal) influence to avoid blowing up; this doesn't seem like a supplement either.
Then could it be a suppressor, like medicine usually does (treating symptoms while hunting for the root cause)?
@Baughn Is this a reasonable path for Amu and co to have shadow and suppressor-related knowledge filtered into IC knowledge, so we can assume such while making stunts?
Sadly, I don't have Wits 3 or Deduction 3 - can't come up with enough counterfactual hypothesis and disproval thereof so it might not work properly
Hypothesis: The Humpty Lock & Dumpty Key as a set allow you to lock and unlock mental features/abilities/Overgrowth of a person (and can incidentally be used to put people together: Key picks pieces of people apart, Lock builds scaffolding to hold the pieces together until its done)?
I wonder what the skill for healing mental abrasion is. Probably Mind Control?
I think Biokinesis 5/Medicine 4 could do it based off the Feats list (surely JPs has dime-a-dozen Medicine 3 people), but lol at getting that anytime soon?
Otherwise yeah, Mind Control's probably the best bet here, unless we could intentionally induce Overgrowth in someone (for the blueprint repair effects its said to have).
Otherwise yeah, Mind Control's probably the best bet here, unless we could intentionally induce Overgrowth in someone (for the blueprint repair effects its said to have).
- Location
- Laniakea
Hotsuin wasn't questioning Miki's sanity, he was questioning Amu's. Amu was the one with the bright yellow shadow eyes.
Teddie from Persona 4 is the premier example. Futaba's Shadow Self in Persona 5 is another.
I feel like Ami might have met Teddie already at some point while Dreamwalking. It's mentioned that she had mentors.
The "puzzle pieces" probably refer to their Shadow Selves, which for normal humans are suppressed deep inside. In contrast to normal humans, Amu wears hers on the outside. Probably Ami too.
These lesser Shadows come from Yui, but were not necessarily ever "friendly". The fox we saw was only friendly to Amu (and maybe Ami) because it's attracted to her Shadow Self, which Amu wears on the outside. Anybody else would apparently have been attacked.
As for where Shadows come from in this quest and whether they really originate from people.... that's still an open question. In Persona 3 canon, they were bits of alien soul that landed on Earth thousands of years ago and developed a parasitic-symbiotic relationship with all living things on the planet as they evolved.
I have my doubts that part of the backstory is still in use for this quest.
In Persona 3's backstory, the Kirijo Group under the leadership of Mitsuru's grandfather conducted human experiments on children to try and artificially create Persona users.
The exemplars fought by the party during the game are Strega, a group of three who survived and became darkweb contract killers and were permanently reliant on "Persona suppressors" (Persona seigyozai) to stay alive, as the experimental procedures that gave them their abilities also left them with unstable Personas that would turn on them and kill them without the drugs keeping them under control.
Given what we are seeing with Yui now and the note that this domain feels like it's hostile to itself, this is likely what is happening with the Scavengers. Seems the experiments gave them unstable Shadows/Personas and without the drugs, stuff like THIS ends up happening.
These drugs were originally manufactured by the Kirijo Group and still might be in this quest. Which is one of the reasons why they are perfectly placed to start looking into where Manticore is getting their supply.
Amu currently knows nothing about Personas and Shadows. The only one who might have a clue about them is Ami.
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