Comatose

Euphoria and Insight's Theme: I Know You by Skylar Grey Rainmaker's Fight from the first Corvallis scene - I'm so mad I lost which song this was and I cannot figure out what I was listening to. I know it was orchestral, and I was listening to it on repeat when I wrote the first Corvallis post. It starts out very stately and slow (like a wedding procession or something) and then these dark discordant trumpets come in, and the tempo goes crazy. I actually choreographed the scene to match the song (including Euphoria's car chase) so it's really frustrating that I can't find it. I think it might have been from a movie soundtrack? If those ramblings sound familiar, let me know if you all have any guesses, haha. Taylor Swift: Blank Space, duh. EDIT: How could I forget Princess GOOD! Basically anything Disney would do, but these are the two main songs that come to mind: That's How You Know Pinkie Pie's Smile Song

Rainmaker mentally congratulated herself as Chasmfiend stood to attention. Perhaps this would be easier than she thought. After the irreverence of Thunderspear, it felt good to be treated with some measure of deference and respect. "What I wish is for these servants to return to their masters, or, if their employers are dead, to return to the Human Resources department to be processed and reassigned," Rainmaker resisted the urge to say 'slaves' out of habit. As long as Euphoria was missing, it would pay to at least give lip service to treating the Vanillas well. Figuring a more subtle approach might be more suitable to someone of Chasmfiend's temperament, Rainmaker dimmed her light and hovered close to the ground so she wasn't looking down on him . . . as much. "I thank you for bringing these men and women back to order in the chaos, but we have rules in Corvallis, as well as an established hierarchy. Though you seem loyal enough, you are a newcomer, and I can't have you just taking new servants as you please. Don't worry though," Rainmaker flashed a smile and let herself shimmer a little more brightly for effect. "Serve me well and you can have all the luxuries you've ever dreamed of."

Nevermind; I just realized @Chasmfiend posted on Wednesday. Shows how well I was paying attention. No word on our comments though I guess.

The general consensus seems to be that we need to start correcting our Vanilla-to-epic ratio, which means restricting the addition of epics, especially if they aren't intended to do much. Personally, I'd like to see you RP a little more with the characters you do have or create a Vanilla before adding in more epics. As for Insight, he found Euphoria because she stayed in the town they grew up in, and he knew what she looked like. I'm very hesitant to expand his group because he is usually more of a loner, and wouldn't be adding epics left and right. As I mentioned above, I would agree with the dead-weight comment. No word from Chasmfiend yet.

Sorry to see you go Winter! Enjoy other parts of the site We will miss you here Insight could definitely be put to use. I can NPC Chase for the meeting perhaps, and then maybe we can go from there? Killing off a Queen would definitely raise the stakes, and Chase would be a fun target.

Generation 9 - Turn 1 Daerra Elariel (Just RP this time. Actions coming soon.) EDIT: I guess I'll just edit this, to avoid the double post. Here is my official RP sample and action for the turn. Daerra Elariel: Public Action:

As often as you would like to! Most of the plotlines are opt in, and everyone writes at their own pace. People who want to write more make more characters and/or join more plotlines, whereas people who want to write less write fewer characters and join less plotlines. Hope to see you there :).

So, @Chasmfiend, what's your status with Chasmfiend? Do you have any response to the feedback you got after the last post, or ideas for where we go from here? I'd like to move Rainmaker along, since some other plotlines are depending on her. Also @Blaze1616, I know you have been busy lately, so no pressure, but do you have an idea of when you will be more free to write? That way I can make sure Rainmaker is ready and in position to meet up with your characters when there is time. Another idea I had: If there are a couple of plotlines holding us up, we could plot out what happens in them, and then leave a placeholder post with a summary. Then, when people have more time, we could fill in the blanks with a collab post and edit it in. I wouldn't want to do it too frequently of course, because the story would be disrupted, but it would help to keep things moving.

See, I was just like, "But Funtimes's hooves are multi-coloured. That's weird." I don't think I got it until "mail me". Very clever Twi!, and happy two year everyone!

I think the reason Noelle is shying away from a parcel power is because she want her epic to be able to gift Vanillas the ability to fly without any of the resistances. If they were one power, wouldn't they have to be gifted as one?

Hey Noelle! Sorry I didn't warn you about the High Epic thing. I didn't realize how strong your healing factor would need to be. If you want to do healing, how would people feel if the healing factor was strong enough to protect her while flying, but not quick enough to protect her from other forms of death? So splats and crashes would be fine, but a bullet to the brain might not be? Or, maybe she's only immune to/heals from blunt impacts, but is vulnerable to piercing or other forms of damage. You'd have to nuance it a bit, but she could also be vulnerable to drowning or suffocation, poison, or burning? Those are some ways to keep the healing/pain thing, but still be kill able by others. For example, I had an NPC epic who was resistant to projectile damage, but not to close combat.

I'd also echo what others are saying. From everything I've seen, you're a great addition to the community, and your feedback, both praise and constructive criticism, always seems sincere to me .

Thanks guys! You're making me blush . Glad to hear Upgrade is going over well.

Ugrade post up! If I did something wrong let me know. Personally, I do think Chasmfiend's powerset is a little broad and overpowered, which I believe I've mentioned before (if I was busy at the time or forgot to, I apologize). That being said, it's not my character, and my personal preferences (which seem to mirror some of yours) aren't the be all and end all. I don't think the problem is how stringent we are, I think the issue (if there is one) is that there isn't a clear and consistent policy or procedure for accepting new characters. Thus far, my understanding is that characters are submitted for general critique, and then individual GM's make the final call on whether or not to allow a character into the individual cities. Twi, I've been assuming, has overriding veto power, but I'm not really sure about that. I know that, personally, for allowing people into Corvallis, I've felt a tension in determining what I can reject, because I don't always know if I'm doing what's best for the RP, or giving in to what my personal preference is. Personally, I'd like everyone who wants to RP in Corvallis to have a chance, even if I'm not a huge fan of some aspects of the concept. I also worry about overstepping my authority as a mere city GM in denying someone. The ultimate decision is up to Twi for what to do, but a little more structure when it comes to policy could be good. I know we've kind of started putting something together with our ideas surrounding character quotas, but maybe it would be nice if we got some form of criteria for the GMs to give us some criteria for accepting or denying characters, or some kind of system that allows multiple people to express approval or denial. Thanks to both of you for speaking up and expressing concerns. Personally, I think courtesy and respect is important, but it shouldn't silence opinions. While I think everyone should be able to play a character they want to play, I also think one of the benefits of RPs like this is to provide space for people to receive critique and and help to grow as writers. Silencing critique in the name of politeness kind of removes that opportunity. Thanks for the clarification Chasmfiend. The parameters are helpful. Here's a few follow-up questions: 1. What does "more difficult" look like? I get that it takes more effort, but what is the cost? Does he tire out? What is his recovery time out? 2. While I appreciate the specificity, I'm still concerned about his ability to change the boiling and melting point. I get that it is a property, but it's not one that I at least (and others) were contemplating when the character was originally accepted. Even adding in that it takes a lot of effort, the ability to disintegrate people basically with a touch is a really powerful ability on it's own, and combined with his other abilities, it's kind of staggering. I would suggest finding ways to limit the power. Chasmfiend can still be powerful, what I'm concerned about is making sure he is interesting. One potential way to limit the power further (that would require a retcon) is to make it so he can only enhance the properties of non-living things. He couldn't do the trick of evaporating people (but with his beast and sword he shouldn't have a problem killing them), but he could still manipulate his environment in interesting ways, and create interesting fight scenes. Another option could be to greatly increase the amount of time and energy it takes to alter something like boiling and melting point. To evaporate someone like he did in his one post, maybe he has to concentrate for a really long time and maintain continuous contact? Or maybe feats like that really tire him out, and after he has to rest and avoid using his powers to compensate? These are just a few suggestions, not absolute things. I'd really like feedback from more players and GMs before making a decision. If there are any parts of the power you think I'm getting wrong, feel free to correct me, or bring up more limits of your own. I hope you don't feel ganged up on, or like I'm just jumping on the bandwagon. I feel like I have been expressing these concerns all along, but we haven't actually gotten around to having a full discussion of things, but the other comments made me realize I may have not been clear enough. If you feel like you have been misled, I'm sorry, and feel free to let me know.

"I have a special job for you." Upgrade tried his best not to shiver as Corpsemaker smiled. While he had grown accustomed to working with most of the High Epic's cronies, he was still having difficulty feeling comfortable around his new employer. Corpsemaker's ability to kill people with a look probably had something to do with it. "You two will work together, and we will see just how powerful Quota can become when his powers are Upgraded . . ." Upgrade started tuning out the rest. What people did with the power he provided them with was none of his concern. It was easier that way. You couldn't blame a hammer for missing the nail and punching a hole in the wall, and that's all he was; a tool being used for whatever purpose his masters supplied him with. The small meeting broke up, with each member of the team heading off to their assigned tasks. Upgrade gaze lingered on Corpsemaker until the epic left his sight. He couldn't decide whether his new assignment was a good or bad thing. On one hand, sitting around Toymaker's "factory" all day watching her gleefully crank out robots was getting painfully dull. On the other hand, while he hadn't had the 'pleasure' of sharing Quota's company yet, something told him that a man who had the power to make people feel emotionally gross probably wasn't a ray of sunshine to send time with. Hopefully his part in performing the Upgrade would not take too long. He'd managed to scrounge up a few books he hadn't read at the George R. White Library on one of his walks, and was looking forward to spending some time reading them. I wonder if Toymaker could make me a iPad with Netflix. Netflix was the best. Too bad the internet and streaming were a thing of the past. Maybe he could find an epic whose powers Ugraded could allow him to stream from the past? Timeport could travel through time. Could he somehow bring Netflix back with him? "So, Quota, shall we get on with this? Let's get you Upgraded, and see what you can do, eh?"

So, what are the limits of that power? It's the etc. that is giving me pause. Can he change literally any property? Does it only operate on a sliding scale (harder/softer, stronger/weaker, higher boiling point/lower boiling point) or can he change properties at a whim (colour, texture, taste, smell). What's to stop him from turning a stone into bread, or is that something he would be capable of? Can he change the temperature of things too, or just the point at which they change states? My basic concern, and the concern other have, is that this power seems very broad, and I'm not sure what it can and cannot do. You've given us a few examples, but you haven't defined any hard limits. I know people were surprised by the melting and boiling point thing, and I just want to make sure we are on the same page going forward. I'd start by defining what you consider to be a "property". Is he limited to only physical properties, or can he alter chemical or thermodynamic properties as well? Give us some clear cut limits, just to help us understand to precise scope of the power. For example, with Rainmaker's weather distortion power, I say that she can create any naturally occurring weather form within her range, and limit the effects of said weather pattern to the range of the distortion she has created. For temperature, she can only make things as hot or as cold as what occurs naturally. Similarly, her ability to produce winds and lightning are limited by what nature could produce, though she is able to distort the weather around her so the natural wind or lightning occurs in unnatural ways. Her range is defined, and while she can do general things throughout her range (set temperature, precipitation, wind speed, humidity) more specific uses of the power require focus and an understanding of the space she is affecting (most easily achieved through sight). You'll notice some of these limits are nebulous, while others are hard. They also let me tell if a feat is within or beyond Rainmaker's capacity. Could she reduce the temperature of the area around her to absolute zero? No, because those temperatures do not exist on earth. Can she produce the giant hailstones she makes instantly or in doors? No, because she needs to work the winds and manipulate the temperature and moisture in the air in order to make them, and the process of freezing the water in the air, and then blowing it upwards and downwards, takes a lot of space. Even though she is incredibly powerful (kind of the point of her character in some ways) she still has limits. What are Chasmfiends?

Hey Chasmfiend, before we get going with Rainmaker and Chasmfiend's conversation, did you ever figure out the extent of his property enhancing powers? What they can and can't do still seems pretty nebulous. I think I'll try my hands at an Upgrade post next. Wish me luck.

Rainmaker frowned as Thunderspear began to walk off without waiting for instructions. She considered letting him bumble around town on his own, but the thought of the chaos he might cause if left unprocessed for too long made her call out. "Other direction!" Trusting Thunderspear to find his way now that he was heading in the correct direction, Rainmaker took to the air, sending a few quick texts to her subordinates instructing them to make accommodation for Thunderspear. The last thing she sent was her list of approved epics to steal from. Hopefully her petty revenge scheme would keep Thunderspear sufficiently occupied until she needed him for actual work. The epics might be inconvenienced by his thievery, but the goods he stole would be easily replaceable. It certainly was ironic that an epic who loved taking things from others had ended up in a place where every imaginable luxury literally grew on trees. Once her preparations were complete, Rainmaker allowed her team to guide her to the other new high epic causing issues in her city. Apparently his name was Chasmfiend, and he wished to speak and work directly with her. . Her assistants informed her that most of violence thus far had been directed against the modified feral humans, but that he had harmed some regular slaves and epics as well. Though he seemed cooperative initially, since coming to the city he had taken control of a crowd of other epic's servants killed at least one epic of middling importance. She hoped for her sanity's sake that he would fall in line quickly, and that he wouldn't be as big of an idiot as Thunderspear was. His power portfolio, which included conjuring some sort of monster, ground manipulation, healing, and the ability to enhance the 'properties' of a material, whatever that meant, was impressive and very versatile, and she would have to be careful if she wanted to keep destruction to a minimum. Once she located Chasmfiend, Rainmaker descended from the sky, lit from above by her own personal sun bean, and from within by her gently shimmering skin. For effect, she added some water droplets to the air around her, creating rainbows that danced around her person. One way or another, she was going to put the fear of god into this epic, and the only god in Corvallis was Rainmaker herself. "Hello, Chasmfiend. I thought it best we have a word."

See, I was just being overly sensitive. Glad to hear you are doing well Kobold, and sorry if I made anyone feel bad unnecessarily (sorry Cog!). Politeness and apologizing. Two things Canadians do best.

Quick clarification: Taylor is with Deathwish right now, not with Glamour. The last time she saw Glamour was in the previous game day. Also, I'd like to remind everyone that this RP is something fun we all do in our free time, and that it's perfectly normal for all of us to get busy with other things, and that we shouldn't need an excuse for spending less time on the internet. I spend less time on the internet sometimes because the weather has been nice for example, and I think that's perfectly okay. I also feel like I shouldn't be obligated to explain absences if I don't want to, since this is supposed to just be something we all do for fun. I get that unplanned absences can inconvenience other writers when doing collaborative fiction, but I also think it's okay to have some patience. It's fine to check in with people and see what's up, but I know I personally am a little uncomfortable with the level of interrogation Kobold is being subjected to, and I know it wouldn't make me feel great if I was being treated the same way. I know everyone here is just really excited to be writing together, and no one is trying to be rude, but I know that I personally would appreciate a little more understanding and patience. That's my two cents, but I'm Canadian, and we're notoriously overly polite, so this might be a slight overreaction.

Sure! Let's do this. Going off our avatars, I'll take heads and you can have tails. ... I got Heads, so I'll get a post up some time in the next couple of days .

Hey Twi, for the Quota/Upgrade scene, who would you like to go first? I'm fine with either. Also, I've skimmed Portland, and have read all of Upgrade's scenes, but I haven't read the entire thing. Are there any key points I should be sure to familiarize myself with before RPing? I'd like to read the whole thing eventually, but it is daunting.

Loved the Argon post! I really enjoy how he uses his random pie power as a smoke screen. I'm curious to see how Rick reacts to Buttercup's arrival. I compiled a bit of a list of to-do things in Corvallis back in Question 18, but here's an updated version. I don't think there's as many "loose ends" as you think. Iconoclast - Pretty much done for the day, he's RP'd up until night. He might get a visit from Insight yet, but I think that's about it (Blackhoof, feel free to add anything in). Argon/Buttercup/Kenshin- Waiting for Buttercup to show up. The rest of the RP has pretty much caught up to him in terms of timeline. Kenshin will come along to meet up with Argon, so their plotlines will sync up. Later Kenshin gets an Insight visit. Queens - Aside from Buttercup and Rainmaker, I think the business of the other Queen's is pretty wrapped up. They will have some action later near the end of the day at a meeting, and will also probably all react to Rainmaker's big evening speech. Princess GOOD - I might do a check-in, but nothing pressing. Rainmaker - Now that she's "dealt" with Thunderspear, she needs to meet with Chasmfiend. After that, we just have the Queen's meeting and Rainmaker's speech. Insight/Euphoria - End of day shenanigans. Vanillas - Not sure what the plans are at this point, but thus far Summer and the rebellions plotlines have seemed fairly independent. Hopefully we can get them more integrated in the next game day. Everyone will be reacting to Rainmaker's speech, so they'll all have that to look forward to. I think that covers pretty much everything. I'm gonna leave Peregrine and Legacy for now (I might side-line them permanently, or leave them in Insight's backstory). If anyone has something to add, let me know.

I think the tutorial thread should be out of continuity, otherwise we will run into the same problems we have with our main story threads. One way to direct people towards it is to just make a requirement before joining one of the main cities. I'm not sure if that's the best idea, but I'm not opposed. I really like that idea! It could also give players a chance to use characters who maybe haven't gotten much action lately for plot reasons.

1. I like that idea a lot actually. It adds incentive to adopt a character, but it still provides people who perhaps only want to create one character a chance to be creative. Both pathways also support the goal of people demonstrating commitment to the story (either through their time or writing in the OOC, or through adoption of an abandoned character), so I like it. 2. And that makes total sense, even if my personal preference militates against doing even that.