TwiLyghtSansSparkles

This is cute and adorable and ridiculous and it needs to happen right flapping now. :D

He doesn't speak, but I just added a Unicyclist viewpoint to the end of my last post.

A wingman who not only chooses girls for his "friends" to hit on, but grins menacingly off to the sidelines as said "friend" flirts with the girl and looks better in comparison? That could either work extremely well, or backfire horribly when said girl learns the company her crush keeps.

VOTE BACKTRACK: He's Not Nighthound. True. But every Doctor has had his dark moments. Even Ten had "Waters of Mars." *shudders* Capaldi just has a lot more than average. It's going to be a Wham Episode, I'm sure.

Funtimes isn't a good person. Comparatively speaking, she's the best of the bunch, and she does try to be. But Calamity has worked it's way into many of her actions, corrupting them and allowing her own selfish wants to shine through. She wants to be good, tries to be, maybe even sees herself that way, but doesn't quite get there. Could she be pulled onto the right path? Certainly. But she'd need to see that she needed guidance. I have plans for once CM is dead. She can escape.

Funtimes laughed and twirled the flower produced, so far as Nathan could tell, from behind her ear, but spared Saccharine only a friendly glance. Her attention was on the magician looking him up and down. It was the sort of look that took in every detail, though which details he saw were beyond Nathan's imagination. Epics seized on all sorts of strange things, and whether their deductions were correct or not was immaterial. All he knew was that the more details this Epic took in, the wider his smile grew, and the wider his smile grew, the more Nathan wanted to take off into the jungle. His smile became a slow clap. A mocking one? Had to be. "Oh, bravo. Bravo. I've seen my share of memorable characters, but never have I seen a showman of your courage..." Another Epic who knew. One who liked to play with his food, rather than leap straight to punching. He bowed, introducing himself as Aldo the Enigmatic. Funtimes smiled at the flower, pausing to throw a glance his way. And then, quick as could be, Aldo had his arm around his shoulder and was smiling, steering him down a path. "You really must tell me every word of your adventures," he was saying, still chattering happily. He was armed. He had to be. There were knives somewhere, beneath his hat or in his shoes, and he would slit his throat while Funtimes was still distracted by a flower-- Suddenly, Aldo halted midstride. A weight, evidently formed from part of his cape and the soil, held him to the path. Funtimes caught Nathan's eye, smiled encouragement, and pounded her fist against her hand. She wouldn't win this fight for him. She wanted him to do it himself. Nathan took a few steps back, looked at Aldo, and spoke in a low voice. "All right, you've got me. I'm not an Epic." He glanced at Funtimes again, who grinned at Aldo's hat. "What do you want? And you'd better make sure it's good, because my girlfriend once made a precog get mauled by his own fedora, and I think she wants to try it again. So...what do you want from me?" ------------------------------- The child asked a thousand questions at once. "Hiya! I'm Sandman, what's your name? Do you know other songs? Know any Lord of the Rings? I love Lord of the Rings, but I love star wars too, Yoda's my favorite, but Darth Vader's cool too. Do you have a dinosaur? I just got one, but it's not a very good one, but it is a dinosaur, which means it's still awesome, just not as awesome as I'd hoped. Is riding that thing hard? how do you keep from falling over? Is it like doing a perpetual wheelie? How do you get you bagpipes to shoot fire? Is it your super power? It's soooooooo awesome! I wish I could do all those things." The child paused, and asked another one. "Can you even hear me in there?" ​That one demanded an answer. The Unicyclist gave a nod. He had taken an oath. A solemn promise—a sacred duty, some called it—to Keep Portland Weird. The Epics had tried and failed. All but one, and her name was Doctor Funtimes. She made Portland weird without even trying. Now, it was the Unicyclist's time to try. To keep Portland weird. He raised his bagpipes to his lips and launched into a flaming cover of "Don't Stop Believin'." As he neared the middle of the first verse, the Unicyclist took off, waiting for the child to give chase.

He'll get one. Of a sort. Funtimes knows that snazzy staches can hide great evil.

Only if he tries any funny business.

He is also wearing a top hat, correct? Not really a weapon....for him.

Kobold, aside from the pistol, does Aldo have any other weapons on him?

She popped into my head that way, honestly, and then I had to go back and figure out how an Epic in that world could remain the way she is. And now that I've figured it out, I think making her more like Prof than, say, Altermind would fit her character better. And I don't like the idea of her being killed by another Epic—especially one like Nighthound or CorpseMaker—any more than you do. So I'm not going to let that happen. (I have a few endings for her character that I've been toying with, and they're all more or less happy ones. Death isn't in the cards.) (I know all of those big-shot writers tell you not to get attached to your characters, but am I the only one who noticed that it's mostly Stephen King and George R.R. Martin who give that advice? If it's coming from the master of the macabre and fiction's most notorious serial killer, then I think it's for certain writers only. ) Every other Epic I've created for this game has had that effect on me. I didn't really like Scorch, and liked the way Joe decided to kill him off. (He PM'd me the scene before he posted it, but I loved it.) Quota and Koschei are a little easier for me to write—but that's just because I already know how they're going to die, so I know I won't be stuck with them forever. Panacea is easier for me to write than Quota, because she's not a horrible human being. Sure, her driving motive for healing people is her rampant perfectionism, but that's far, far better than Lightwards' or even Koschei's motives. Funny, isn't it? In most settings with superpowers, we're made to root for the superhumans while the regular Joes are made out to be incompetent, petty, violent, or downright bigoted, but in this setting, it's hard to muster up any sympathy for almost anyone with superpowers. It's the regular Joes who are decent. I love that inversion, and it was a brilliant move on Sanderson's part….but it sure makes writing new superpowered characters difficult.

I didn't know she was so loved. (Honestly, unless I had her go dark!Funtimes, I don't think I'd have the heart to kill her off. It'd be like shooting a puppy. An immensely powerful puppy that can turn your chair into maple syrup, but still a puppy.)

I was sort of planning on letting Funtimes live to the end. Not Quota, though. Quota's a goner.

I don't think there's a smiley big enough to convey my glee.

Patience, my friend. Quota's obliteration will happen in due time. And in the meantime, remember that this is how we all feel about Nighthound.

I'm fine with this. He didn't quite turn it off, but he turned it down to such a subtle level that most people would either not notice or dismiss it as being uneasy around Quota. Which is a perfectly valid sentiment.

He is quite the heavy. Or shall I say…. Heavy Metal. That is excellent advice.

Funtimes has two different people clamoring for her attention, so while adding another to the mix might be funny, poor Sandman might not get the attention he wants. There is, however, a kilted man in a Darth Vader mask riding a unicycle and playing a set of flaming bagpipes somewhere nearby….

I just had an idea for a precog who thinks she's all big and bad….and then she walks into Portland.

Agreed. I think it's better, story-wise, if we have Epics joining CorpseMaker's faction before Project Amber is enacted. It drives home the fact that there's a war coming, that they're going to ally with whoever they think is the most powerful, and that, without a precog among them, not one of our characters can know the future. (Am I the only one who finds it odd that there aren't any precogs currently in this game? Or did Funtimes' sound beating of Fortuity in the opening post make people decide it just ain't worth it? )

I think we've established that the words "provided by Nighthound" are code for "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES AND SANITY BEFORE—DEAR CALAMITY HE'S SEEN ME! SAVE YOURSELVES!!!!" That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. (There are a lot of arrogant little twits in Portland, aren't there? ) Off to use the search function! Edit: Yep, he's an arrogant little twit who is clearly too dumb to join Funtimes' party before it's too late. Just as I thought.

And given what Lightwards and Nighthound would hypothetically do to him, I still say he's better off with Doctor Funtimes. Sure, she thinks Calamity is the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but she won't chop off his hand and wear it as a necklace. Has he had any dialogue yet? I'm wondering what his personality is like. Is he going to be our game's Conflux, or is he more of an evil!Conflux?

Wait a second. Everything makes sense now.

That would be kind of cool, actually....

Utopia, Part Three