Question 9

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Speaking of, Voidus, still waiting on the psychic Epic who can "feel the knowledge."  

[Edgedancer he/him]

Nah, he's not quite that crazy, he's more the "You will obey me without question because I am right" guy than the true insane person. I was going to have him as a more Magneto-like "Epics are superior" character.

 

I think I'll have him start a vanilla/lesser epic gladitorial arena. Sounds fun and can allow you guys to introduce quick, unique one-shot characters that can be quickly killed off.

 

We do need a character to do such now though. Anybody have an idea for an Epic dance instructor?

Any game plan how he would actually go aproach the authorities with that concept?

[the Gleeman he/him]

Any game plan how he would actually go aproach the authorities with that concept?

What authorities?  I was thinking he could present the idea to the Financier as an idea to come closer to zero or maybe present the idea to Lucentia after the current riot cools down as a way to keep the lessers from rebelling. I have not discussed this with anyone affected in PM yet, so this is still a very rough idea. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

What authorities?  I was thinking he could present the idea to the Financier as an idea to come closer to zero or maybe present the idea to Lucentia after the current riot cools down as a way to keep the lessers from rebelling. I have not discussed this with anyone affected in PM yet, so this is still a very rough idea. 

 

The Financier would be a pretty poor choice, considering he wields very little political power. He's basically Astoria's Conflux, but corrupted and crazy. 

 

New Autumn post up. 

[Comatose he/him]

Three things:

1) Periodical visits with Euphoria are manditory, as such your argument effectivly collapses.

2) They won't grow to resent that she manipulates them, if they are made to like the fact that she makes them think that way.

3) You're only going from surface emotions limited to one event, but with acces to a persons whole life you can just recolor their experiences and values until you play them like a fiddle.

1) True. But in between visits, the resentment could fester. Would it be difficult to break through? Certainly, but once Euphoria vanishes, it would all come crashing back. 

2) Again, true, but in between visits, think about all the resentment that would cause. As it wears off, more resentment would begin to take its place, increasing the overall amount of resentment Euphoria would have to override on their next visit. Yes, it would be difficult to break through that, but once she's gone, all of that pent-up rage has to go somewhere.

3) That's a lot of time spent with each vanilla. Presuming she can do this in minutes also presumes she also has high-powered telepathy, plus the ability to instantly interpret all memories in seconds, plus intuitive knowledge of which memories affected which vanillas which way. A single mind is such a maze of memory and emotion that rewriting them all would be a chore. It makes more sense for Euphoria to simply rewrite recent memories, because otherwise her caseload would be overwhelming. 

Reading over this post: 

 

 

….I realize her powers are more mind-controlling than I thought. However: 

 

If they're aware of Euphoria's powers (which, if they're required to visit her periodically, then they would be) then they would know they were being manipulated. Until we have an idea of how long it takes her to alter a vanilla's history (and I'm presuming it would take more time the farther back into their history she goes) I think it's safe to say she doesn't do this to everyone. Just those who are obviously causing trouble. Put a vanilla who hates their plantation work through Euphoria's history alteration and emotional rewriting, and they'll come out a happy little slave. How disturbing would that be to those who knew them? And how difficult would it be for their fellow slaves to keep their mouths shut and act happy so Euphoria doesn't do the same to them, submitting to her happiness-gifting and going about their days like they love life? She'd still be rewriting their surface emotions, but if they managed to  keep their mouths shut and act pathetically grateful enough, they could feasibly be kept away from the worst of Euphoria's manipulations. Would her surface emotion-rewriting keep them under control? Absolutely. But unless she's able to rewrite the history of every vanilla in Corvallis in a very short period of time, then the chances of some of them secretly courting rebellion while acting outwardly happy would be better than zero. I'm not saying a rebellion during Euphoria's reign is likely; it's actually the least likely thing I can think of. But after, when the vanillas who haven't been mind-wiped are free of her false happiness? I'd say it's pretty likely. 

 

 

Keep in mind I'm still figuring out her powers, so I'll take your guys' thoughts into account.  I can't do a detailed explanation right now.   If my husband comes home and I haven't done more studying he will be frustrated with me because I already told him I couldn't do stuff because I needed to study

 

For clarity, right now Euphoria has two abilities:

1) Making People Enhanced Happy - I think this subtle change is a good way to get around the gifting problem Edge pointed out.  So basically, she can make anyone feel an enhanced form of happiness/pleasure/etc. for as long as she concentrates on them.  She can ALSO gift this power (the power to bestow happiness) to others, who can then choose whether or not to use their gifted power on themselves, or use it (not gift it) on others.  Does that work?  Like with other gifted abilities, how long happiness lasts depends on how much power she has gifted.  When she uses this power directly, she can pretty much overwhelm someone with happiness, but it takes a lot of concentration, and when she leaves a person's presence it fades instantly.  I'm also thinking a good limit on this power would be that she can only effectively use it on one person at a time, and attempting to use it on multiple targets only causes a vague improvements to overall emotional state.  The reason she is able to affect multiple people at once, is because of her ability to gift her power, and then they can use it on themselves or on others at their leisure. 

 

This will limit the application of Euphoria's power as currency, as "payment" would have to be used instantaneously, but I think it could still work with some tweaks.  I'll keep working on it. 

 

2) Emotional Perception of History Rewrite - Basically I'm thinking for this one that the more specific or nuanced she gets, the more time/concentration it takes.  So, her regular emotional bump of existing vanillas only takes a few seconds, because all she does in generally improve their emotional perceptions of the last two weeks.  Think of it like shooting a blanket rioting into their past, making them view it more positively.  However, because it is so general, it would likely make it easier for them to realize the inconsistencies.  To do more complete or nuanced emotional rewrites, she needs more intense concentration and more time.  Also keep in mind, she is not able to see into people's histories, so she is essentially shooting blind.  If she knows about someone's past, she can target specific memories or time periods, but if she knows nothing a blanket emotional alteration is all she can do.  An example would be, say someone came to Corvallis one month ago.  Euphoria could alter the perception of the time before coming to Corvallis to be bleak, and the time after coming to be more positive, but if that's all she knew she couldn't get more specific.  If the person in question was not using her happiness power, as soon as she left they would be free to start questioning their perceptions of their memories, especially if they knew how her powers work. 

 

Given time constraints, I think she generally just gives quick positive brushes to everyone's last few weeks (or whenever it was since their last appointment), and only does more nuanced mind controlly work with rebels and dissidents. 

 

My intention for her was that her ability to alter people's past perceptions COMBINED with her ability to control people with enhanced happiness highs would make her a force in the mind control department, but that either power used separately would merely be suggestive/persuasive. 

 

Also keep in mind that although Corvallis has a system of Euphorification in place, this system is not perfect.  Vanillas could definitely sneak through the cracks if they knew what they were doing, and avoid their regular appointments.  I think of it like in The Giver, where people take daily medication to suppress their emotions, but when the medication is skipped, they quickly realize they were walking around in an altered state.  Perhaps Euphoria is running behind, so someone goes a little extra time without having their perception of the last few weeks altered, and they are on the bottom of the social hierarchy, so they don't get regular boughts of happiness.  They would be likely to look at their recent experience, see it as horrible, and begin to question why they enjoyed it before, leading them to rebel. 

 

Since Euphoria is going to go missing in like the first post, this is all kind of moot anyways, as regardless the system will quickly fall apart without her.  I do want to make Rainmaker's rule with Euphoria reasonable though.  My goal is for it to be terrifying, so I don't want to underpower Euphoria too much, but I don't want to make it absolute.

 

So, to answer the above points:

 

1)  A few weeks is enough time to start to hate your current existence, even if you remember loving it not long ago, especially if you aren't getting your happiness doses.  Also, imperfect altering of historical perceptions could lead to inconsistencies that make you suspicious.  You also have to keep in mind that you can't assume the system will work perfectly, even if it is meant to.  While the system is meant to give Euphoria complete control of the population, the system is NOT perfect, and people will slip through the cracks. 

2)  This is true of the citizens who Euphoria devotes most of her attention too, but she can't be everywhere.  Her alteration of peoples' perception of their memories is permanent, but they can start to question their perceptions, especially if they are aware of her powers.  Her second power (the historical perception one) has no effect on the present, so if it is not accompanied by doses of happiness, it can be noticed.  If I remember something as happy an enjoyable, but present experience has taught me otherwise, I am free to question my perception of the past, and make decisions accordingly.

3)  As I said above, she can't actually read a person's history, she is altering it blindly.  I'm sorry I didn't make this clear earlier.  Like a soother/rioter, she can infer certain things and edit accordingly, but she has no supernatural method of divining historical emotional states. 

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

Who originally resisted pugs but then became the biggest pug lover of them all? 

I still don't love pugs. 

 

Don't hurt me.

[Edgedancer he/him]

What authorities?  I was thinking he could present the idea to the Financier as an idea to come closer to zero or maybe present the idea to Lucentia after the current riot cools down as a way to keep the lessers from rebelling. I have not discussed this with anyone affected in PM yet, so this is still a very rough idea. 

Yes Luentia. I'm sure Deathgale will listen to him.

 

 

"Now," she said, turning to Shiny Sparkle, "is there any way you can get us to the nearest command station? I'm sure Commander Vondra want to hear about Reader insulting you."

Does Autumn plan on a "not waiting for your responses" exit? 'Cause then Shiny Sparkle can teleport them away immediately.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I still don't love pugs. 

 

Don't hurt me.

 

Hurt you? Whatever made you think I would hurt you? Pugalia only hurts people who seem to think lip-smacking is essential to the experience of chewing gum. 

 

I'll just leave you with this: 

 

 

Edit: Yes, she was planning on a "don't wait for a response" exit, unless Shiny Sparkle wants to say something to Reader. 

Edited April 4, 2015 by TwiLyghtSansSparkles

[Edgedancer he/him]

Edit: Yes, she was planning on a "don't wait for a response" exit, unless Shiny Sparkle wants to say something to Reader. 

Nah, once I get to it they are gone.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Nah, once I get to it they are gone.

 

Leaving Backtrack surrounded by Epics, with Baxter as the only one sympathetic to his plight….which might make him even more terrified.  

[Edgedancer he/him]

Leaving Backtrack surrounded by Epics, with Baxter as the only one sympathetic to his plight….which might make him even more terrified.

Sadly there's also MV.

I'm just hoping Autumn's exit isn't fueling the flames even more.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Sadly there's also MV.

I'm just hoping Autumn's exit isn't fueling the flames even more.

 

It could, but now that they know there are two new Epics in Game's clinic, I'd assume the City Guard would send more soldiers and whichever loyal Epics they could spare to ensure things don't get out of hand. Worst case scenario, they could always send Autumn and Shiny Sparkle back to the clinic. 

[TheSilverDragon he/him]

Here is my full EPIC bio

Name: Converter

Primary power: the ability to absorb any type of energy within a 5 foot radius. She can then convert that energy into any type she wants and release it.

Secondary: reincarnation, when she dies, all of her saved energy is released in one big explosion, and her body is then formed out of a different explosion. She has some control over were her body reforms, but not a lot.

Backstory: She was working in a super Secretary military research facility that was exploring the possibilities of using the new epics powers. (This s relatively close to the start of calamity) One day, at work, she tripped and fell off a walkway and died. She then had a talk with Calamity, who then sent her back to earth. She formed in the middle of a fight between an epic and the police. A story bullet came her way,, and she absorbed its kinetic energy. She then wanted to test her powers, so she fought both the epic and the police and won. She's been "traveling" around the glob via explosions when she dies.

Personality: She really doesn't care about anything. She feels immortal, so she just tries to do anything she feels that would be fun. Right now she is in a rut of trying to kill powerful epics just because.

Costume: white pants, white shirt, with a white cape with twin lightning bolts on it.

I was thinking that she could form in an exploration in Corvallis once the fighting starts or before in some exploration of some sort.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Quick poll: Should I post Funtimes' flashback post alongside the Unicyclist post, or should I wait? 

[Kobold King he/him]

Quick poll: Should I post Funtimes' flashback post alongside the Unicyclist post, or should I wait? 

 

I want to see the flashback post!

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

It is done. Funtimes flashback posted. 

[Kobold King he/him]

It is done. Funtimes flashback posted. 

 

 

It's an awesome post.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

 

It's an awesome post.

Oh. Wow. Intense. It's awesome, Twi. Should I go next in Portland? Red hasn't said anything in a while.

 

Thank you guys!  

 

I'm not sure. Depends on what Nighthound told her to do, I think. 

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

I read it again. He only said something to Ray. So I think Red's reaction could wait a bit, if you think that's a good idea.

 

I think so. 

[Kobold King he/him]

Unrelated, but I just noticed that TwiLyght's changed her member title to "Pugalia, Shipper on Deck."

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles she/her]

Unrelated, but I just noticed that TwiLyght's changed her member title to "Pugalia, Shipper on Deck."

 

I did indeed.  

[Kobold King he/him]

New Mistwraith post up. I hope it's okay?

 

It looks good to me.

 

Also, I didn't say this before, but Autumn Glass has finally showed her inner badchull.

[Voidus]

Only if by "you guys" you mean "Voidus."

Of course Voidus being Voidus he already has a dance-master Epic

Ballitzo is a former ballet teacher turned Epic with a form-fitting forcefield which incinerates anything she touches, so yes she murders people by dancing at them. 

[the Gleeman he/him]

Care to place her in a theoretical future gladiatorial arena?

[Edgedancer he/him]

I did indeed.

What does that make me, Opugeration, preacher of puginess, cuddler of all? Am I the Pug Rider, head tilting at the entire world?

Edited April 5, 2015 by Edgedancer