Alright! Thank you, Default :) And yep! You've got it, Bioshock.
Blueshift is a new idea, but Redshift has been a part of Deputy Atoms' background since day one. 'Redshift' is a supervillainous organization that attacked Halcyon City sometime before The Team first came together, and during this attack Shaun Atoms was transformed into Atoms. Below is a little more information about Redshift (which can also be found on this alias' profile), but to relate it to a supervillain organization from one of the big two–Marvel and DC–then I'd say it's pretty close to Marvel's Brotherhood of Mutants, especially its appearance in "X-Men: Evolution" and "Wolverine and the X-Men".
Redshift is an organization of superpowered individuals who believe themselves to be superior to normal humans. They collectively refer to themselves, and most others who have powers, as 'Children of the Stars', while insultingly naming those without powers–and those with powers who decide to emphasize with them–as 'Children of the Earth'. The organization is generally viewed by the rest of the world as a group of terrorists, but they see themselves as fighting the oppression that those with superpowers "routinely suffer". Most of their recruits are superhumans whose powers make it difficult to live a normal life, however there are also a number of superhuman families who call themselves members. Currently, they are trying to start the world's first superhuman-only state.
Humanity is undergoing a REDSHIFT. For too long those of us with extraordinary abilities have been ostracized, segregated, and prevented from living normal lives. From birth we are expected to use our gifts to serve the ones who hate and fear us, without reward or pay, and those who refuse are put in prisons designed for our kind–like Tartarus and The Spike–by "Paragons", our arrogantly named, so-called 'brethren'. Time and time again we have been forced to submit, but no longer will we continue to live under the oppressive authority of Earth's regimes. Today we rise to the stars, we stand and fight, we live as we choose and as we deserve! Today we unite under one banner. Under REDSHIFT! As a sovereign nation of one race and one people! Together, the Children of the Earth will tremble as we shout our cry: "A better life for powered-kind!"
___________________
At some point after the end of Vol. 1 (i.e. before/during the timeskip), The Defenders once again ask for The Team; Atoms, Hashtag, Tectonic, and Wingblade; to help them with The Givers. Their joint-mission is to enter The Giver's dimension in order to open diplomatic negotiations with them, just like The Defender's discussed during the briefing way back when. Of course, as might have been expected, everything goes completely south not long after the two teams enter The Giver's dimension, and they're forced to opt for 'Plan B', which is "rescue as many kidnapped people as possible". Thankfully, this works out, and at the end of the day, before retreating back to Earth, they're able to save a good handful of people.
The rescued are given a temporary living space in Defender HQ, its staff having converted one of the 'Mediation Rooms' into a sort of quarantine chamber. After a few tests are run, The Defenders find nothing wrong with these people–except for their new powers granted to them by The Givers–and those who are adults are released while minors have their families called to pick them up. One of the rescued though, a girl named Alexis, doesn't want to go back to her family, and whats more, she doesn't want anything to do with her new powers; she wants to be normal. So in steps Atoms, becoming Alexis' friend while telling her the importance of embracing what she has become. He also totally accepts her wanting to get away from her parents, and is willing to help her, because as a former foster kid he understands wanting to get away from a family.
Atoms: "It'll save you a lot of pain in the long run, believe me."
Meanwhile, The Defenders are conferring amongst themselves about the result of the mission, and the performance of the different members of The Team. They decide to invite The Team to join The Defenders, but only Tectonic and Atoms, as Whippoorwill doesn't think Hashtag and Wingblade are ready yet. Tectonic readily agrees to join, while Atoms does so hesitantly, and on the condition that he's more of a part-timer than a full, permanent member. After all, he's trying to move on from his past, and joining up with The Defenders is a little bit too similar to joining the Sheriff's Department or AEGIS; not to mention that he spent years looking into those agencies, so he wants to be cautious with The Defenders and learn how they operate before he fully submits himself to their authority, especially with all this odd "procedure" that Nick mentioned to The Team before.
As a new member of The Defenders, the first thing Atoms brings up is the situation with Alexis; mainly that she doesn't want to go back to her family. The Defenders, predictably, tell Atoms that there's nothing they can do about it because she's a minor, and that they couldn't intervene anyway unless they witnessed her being physically harmed. Atoms tells them that he'll go tell Alexis the "bad news", but of course what he actually does is help her escape the building undetected. Afterwards, he returns to The Defenders and tells them that Alexis ran away before he could get to her. This doesn't fool The Defenders, but they don't confront him about it. It's not the best start to Atoms' Defender career.
Nick: "It's hasn't even been a half hour, and he's already subverting orders? I think that's a new record."
Later that evening, Atoms gets back in contact with Alexis and tries to find her a place to stay for the night. She doesn't trust her family, friends (or the family of friends) to not tell her parents where she is, so she decides to rough it for a little while until she figures out what to do. Atoms sets her up in an abandoned logging camp outside of the city (the same one where Eldritch and Tectonic used to go let off some steam at), and watches over her until morning. It's a cold and miserable night for Alexis. Over the course of the night, Atoms tries many times to produce a flame or other heat source with his abilities, but the only thing he manages to do is vibrate his own molecules.
Come the next morning, while Alexis is looking for work and a better place to stay, Atoms gives Tectonic a call and asks her if it'd be okay if Alexis stays at her place. Tectonic reluctantly agrees, understanding the situation, and slightly emphasizing with it herself (her own parents are pretty bad, after all). Once there, Alexis continues to look for a way to support herself, but after a day or two of job searching, she starts to realize that there's no one who will hire here unless she has a highschool diploma or GED (and not to mention her not knowing her SSN). Atoms suggests that she could start homeschooling until she's ready to do the tests to get a GED, but Alexis counters by saying that she doesn't "learn very well outside of a classroom", before admitting that she already has a plan for what to do next.
Alexis: "Halcyon High has a program for those with powers. They let people attend without revealing their secret identity. They even let aliens in!"
Alexis enrolls in Halcyon High's superhero program, and she convinces Atoms to do the same, which Atoms goes along with more out of an interest of protecting her than actually getting an education for himself. The enrollment process goes okay, and to keep her identity under wraps, Alexis starts going by her middle name, 'Evelyn'. They're able to make friends with some of the others attending the program, and while discussing their powers with a group of these supers, a speedster mentions that, "if you [Atoms] can vibrate your molecules, you might be able to vibrate them so fast that you'd be able to phase through a wall, kinda like what my dad does", which Atoms later begins to practice and experiment with. All in all, things are going pretty well.
Of course, school isn't all that Atoms is up to. As a part time member of The Defenders, he is frequently called away to help them on missions or to attend some kind of briefing. Any bad blood that might have resulted from his early subversion of orders smooths out over time. This doesn't last forever though. One day, The Defenders decide to test their abilities and training–as well as blow off steam–by having a fun sparring day in one of the mediation rooms, with Atoms v Haden as the first match. This doesn't go well. Haden can't beat Atoms, so he cheekily calls in Nick to help him out, and still unable to beat Atoms, they both call in more of their team, until most of The Defenders are involved in what was supposed to be a friendly one on one spar. Eventually, the group calls the whole day off, too tired after such a protracted battle. Not all of The Defenders fight though, among them Matrix and Whippoorwill, who instead watch carefully from the sidelines.
Airacomet III (Speedster, Student): "Heh~ Wait, wait, so that makes you guys 'Atom' and 'Eve'? Pffft."
Later, The Defenders have an impromptu meeting–without Atoms–when they happen to be gathered together in the HQ's break/living room. Like the spar earlier, it starts out as casual discussion, but soon turns into something a little more serious. The Defenders always knew that Atoms was strong, but they never suspected that he might be powerful enough to actually take on the whole team, which is a teensy bit disconcerting, to say the least. Curious, Haden asks Foresight to look into Atoms' future, to which Foresight sheepishly admits, "I can't. I've never been able to see a future with him in it." According to Foresight, Atoms' powers would be better described as being "quantic in nature, rather than atomic", and that something about the wave-particles Atoms gives off has the effect of distorting his future vision. In-fact, it's gotten worse over time. Foresight has always had some trouble with the present and seeing "what's in front of" him, causing him to be a little clumsy at times, but ever since both incidents with The Givers, the clumsiness has increased to the point where he's practically tripping every time he walks into a room with Atoms in it.
As the rest of The Defenders consider this new piece of information, Matrix announces that while the group has been discussing Atoms, she has been using her cyberbrain to simultaneously investigate his past, "I've found something that is most puzzling."
Matrix: "This video shows the moment where Atoms gained his powers."
[The video plays in its entirety, The assembled Defenders watching with hardened faces. Filmed by an amateur, the shaky camera is pointed at Wingblade, fighting a known supervillain in mid-air and landing a strike that sends him spiraling to the ground (unconscious). Suddenly, there's a shout, and the camera quickly pans down to the street, where a Redshift Terrorist stands, aiming a strange-looking rifle in Wingblade's direction. Shaun Adams, wearing the uniform of a H.C.S.D. police explorer, runs in from off-screen and begins wrestling with the terrorist, who is completely surprised. During the struggle, Shaun knocks the terrorist out with a quick punch, causing the rifle to drop onto the asphalt and discharge a round into Shaun. Shaun's body begins to disintegrate, Wingblade lands next to him, and Shaun salutes her and says something (inaudible, not captured by the camera's microphone) before disappearing completely. The video ends.]
Matrix: "As you are all aware, every member of Redshift has powers. I could not identify the terrorist that Shaun fights with, but I was able to find him in a video of the attack that was taken minutes before this one."
[Another video plays, this time taken by one of Halcyon's local news networks. The video showcases the same terrorist as in the earlier video, undoubtedly the same man, lifting up a car and chucking it through a nearby building. The scene then cuts away to some news anchor in a studio, and it's here that Matrix stops the video.]
Matrix: "As you can see, the terrorist's power is enhanced or 'super' strength."
Earl Grey: "But that would mean–"
[Matrix goes back to the video with Shaun wrestling this terrorist, the teenager easily a match for him.]
Matrix: Correct. Atoms had powers before he was transformed.
Nicely written. I look forward to part 2!
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===Day 14===
Dear Diary,
I've done it! I've successfully created a game that goes on for days with the characters wholly satisfied and having fun RPing against each other without having to wait for my input.
I should make more of these.
===Day 21===
Dear Diary,
What have I done.....
I find myself over 20 posts behind in reading with them pumping out more by the day. With each passing day, the number grows and grows. I pray I make it out on the other side....
If I don't make it back, I bequeath the DM position to Storyteller Shadow.
Well, after that scene I'm definitely giving Wingblade influence over Bran/Bronwyn.
Bronwyn, do you want there to be a complication that will require Bran to show up? Or is it all right if Whip and I handle this ourselves?
If I'd really wanted one I would've written one in :p.
Bronwyn getting to see "real" superheroes in action is a good scene for me too.
Wow. I should see if they'll train me too kind thing.
Wingblade, you mind if I stir a little dark magic into our foes once they show up? I'd like to showcase some of Bran's non-brick qualities.
Be my guest! Let's see what you've got!
So...been packing for college and I'm halfway through catching up on your, for lack of better word, story.
Everyone still active? No one just waiting for the "year break" to end?
Speaking for myself, I'm excited to see our stories converge once you're ready to go
Yeah, I've dropped hints about nearly running into Hashtag. Plus we know forms fact that Bioshock is also at school, so whenever he wants to pop in is welcome.
*Also goes to the school. Isn't mentioned* T^T
With your permission, I'd happily crash the Wingblade and Bran/Bronwyn party.
Speeaaaking of the timeskip, I really should be getting around to finishing Part 2 of Origins of Blueshift >.> Hopefully I'll be able to do that soon. Been kind of sick n' stuff recently though, so muse hasn't been very forthcoming.
Sorry, been scarce. Some of you may know, I nearly went into a diabetic coma last week. (I was not, before that point, a diabetic)
... Things (adjusting, changing diet, medical visits) have been hectic and I've been distracted to say the least. I'm trying to stay on top but my energy levels have been, heh, well, really low lately.
Yeah, I know you're in the school, Atoms, but you're in the underground "gifted" program. I know that leaves you out of some of the mundane stuff, but a containment-suited energy being is a sure way to blow the cover of an ostensibly "normal" school.
I'm sure that we can work it out at some point -- maybe work in a visit by the rest of us to the really special classes.
Wow, Hashtag, hope you're improving on your health! Take care of yourself!
Absolutely Atoms. I think we'll definitely spend time with the "gifted" program later, but since we're tracking bad guys back to their lair right now this would be a great time for Wingblade to tag you in, or for you to show up coincidentally.
Geez Hashtag, what an unpleasant surprise! Hope you're able to find the best steps forward.
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Why do I get the feeling that Wingblade and Bran's little trip is about to be derailed? Huh? Huh?
I'll just show myself out.
leaving this spoilered in discussion so I can give a sense of where I'll be going once I have time to rewrite it to account for Atom's entrance/any other actions. (should be later today)
Shayera? Wingblade? Are you all right?
There's a squeal in his earbud as he tries to contact her. Whatever's doing that must be interfering with our comms.
He begins rushing through the crowd feeling like a salmon trying to fight its way upstream, trying not to hurt anyone, but jostling several people quite roughly before he reaches the car.
The doors are already too warped to open properly so he shoulder charges into them, knocking them free, but looks on in horror as they and his bag of armor fly across the car to slam into the wall, one jagged edge of a door landing only inches from Wingblade.
One of the flushes is still standing in the train-car laughing at Wingblade's struggles.
No time for her, I just hope this works!
Bran reaches just inside his sleeve for Gae-Dearg, keeping a tight hold of the tiny charm before it suddenly expands to its true size.
The metal objects right near the spear stop crumpling and flying away, But the rest of the magnetic field doesn't seem to be weakening! If I get Shayera free, she'll know what to do
Bran thrusts his spear into the wall near Wingblade, hopefully freeing her from her magnetic imprisonment before bracing himself as best he can against the shifting wall and straining to keep the whole car from collapsing in on itself!
Wingblade, get moving! I'll do what I can to keep the train intact!
Once more a terrible stench fills his nostrils, but this time he can pinpoint it. It's coming from Ten of Hearts, as does a deep rasping voice clearly not her own.
Her mouth makes only the barest pretense of shaping the words that echo forth from it, and a spot of ugly red light begins to shine from her forehead.
The shining point of light on Ten of Hearts's forehead opens up into a terrible third eye that blasts Bran into the next train car with a scarlet bolt. However, its true effect is more insidious.
As the ugly red light fills the area. Everything slowly begins to wither. Softer materials like the cheap upholstery of the train's seats, or the cotton of Bran's hoodie begin to fray and tear almost instantly while the exposed metal at the many fractures within the train car are much slower to discolor and oxidize. Bran's flesh too begins to redden, taking on the ugly swollen look of an infected wound, purpling with decay directly where the Eye struck him.
Despite this, Ten of Hearts sighs, looking almost petulant.
(O.o)'
... well that escalated quickly.
I figured that an aura of decay stacks up interestingly against Wingblade's healing factor, and otherwise the scene needed a heavy hitter to not just scoop to Atoms
@Hashtag
Dude, I'm so sorry! Glad you're alright, though. Something similar happened to one of my friends in high school. Scary stuff.
@Wingblade
Sorry, I was too busy with the popcorn-munching. Definitely still here! I think Default was planning to have the whole team come together after the interlude, so I'll stay out of this particular fight, but we'll see where it goes once it's resolved.
Going to post~ Give me an hour or so
Moved into a new apartment, the internet down. Hopefully up tomorrow.
How would you guys feel if Atoms ends up being chosen to be Balor's next host?
The group doesn't really know me well yet. I'd hate to have to fight you...
Just going off what's been posted, we've seen that Balor doesn't entirely know what makes for a good host, but at least attempted to find one based on a mix of personality, values, and character flaws along with temporal power. Atoms's great power would certainly appeal, but they might not have much resonance otherwise if that really does help make a host suitable.
That said, I think it could certainly be a terrifying incarnation of the Fomorian King - one I would expect to see at a fairly climactic part of the story :p
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@Hashtag
How you feeling? I'm sure life's been requiring some adjustments that probably aren't much fun. If you're up to it, I could launch us into another scene to flesh things out. Either that, or we could handwave the development of Hashtag's and Bioshock's friendship off-screen.
@Wingblade/Hashtag
It seems that Wingblade's ghosting Hashtag for now. It also seems like there's an unspoken agreement that, at least during the "downtime", there isn't much of a team. Hashtag, if you and I do end up continuing the scene a little, it might be better if Eli doesn't meet Shayera yet (yet being still months before she transfers to Halcyon High), in keeping with what's been established. What do the two of you think?
@Atoms
At the rate your powers are developing, and given the distance between your character and (former?) teammates, you're headed for rival-turned-antagonist XD Like an anti-Magneto.
@Bran
That was a great curveball! It sounds like it's a good thing Eli and Vick weren't around. We're squishy, and that entropic decay-beam sounds nasty! It's too bad there's no entropy control power; aside from actual god-mode (lookin' at you, Damien Xavier), entropy control is probably the single most OP power there is.
@Thor Girl
Are you getting lonely up here in the popcorn gallery, too?
@DM Default
How'd the move back to university go? The worst part about summer for me was always transitioning back, but the early to mid fall was also my favorite, once you can start to settle back in.
Ive been adjusting. Still have limited time and energy, so can we just background our development?
I think its funny how much the game has been getting played without thendm even present.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Yeah, no kidding...Kinda took a life on its own. Since you guys took off with it, I didn't want to hamper your fun.
However, it might be best to get back to the game.
I'm almost caught up with the reading (as I take breaks from Hamlet) and would request you all finish up your scenes and post other events that happened as a short summary in the gameplay thread.
I think I have a fun "module" of sorts that should test you heroes and get us back in the swing of things.
But if you guys are having more fun with what is actually becoming a rp fiction, I wouldn't mind letting you guys have your fun.
I'm good to switch over from the between seasons stuff to start your module.
So for my summary of remaining events:
Bran recovers from the blast, but to do so has to spend a few days as Bronwyn (who herself has a nasty bruise in the meantime without transforming. Essentially showing that there is some bleed over between them in injuries, and those injuries heal faster while the injured one is Elsewhere.
Mary-Beth does get to spend time taking tracings and rubbings of the carvings along Gae-Dearg - though that does require Bran to dive out a window and hide in the bushes to avoid Mary-Beth's parents, since if he transforms back to Bronwyn the spear shrinks back down.
Bronwyn will more explicitly explain to Shayera (and Whippoorwill) that she and Mary-Beth are Bran's support. Essentially that they're the Willow and Xander to his Buffy.
(Assuming Shayera's permission) Bronwyn will get to go flying around Halcyon again - though this time after some Dramamine :p
Sounds good.
Summary:
Eli calls up Vick sometime in the next week and they have a good time busting some heads. The team offer never really materializes, which is fine for Eli. He makes some dumb mistakes, and he's grateful that Hashtag's the only one around to witness them. After-school vigilantism is fun, but Eli figures out he's not quite ready for the big time, at least not yet. Their biggest success is thwarting a wannabe supervillain's bank heist; their more subtle powers turn out to be a huge advantage in taking care of things quietly without a lot of fuss, but in the showdown with the villain in the vault, Bioshock has a discharge that cripples him temporarily. Thankfully, Hashtag manages to finish things himself and the day is saved.
After the fight, Bioshock has Hashtag take him to his hideout and Eli performs a diagnostic on himself. Shortly after, Eli's mom video-calls the computer to congratulate them on foiling the heist. In answering the inevitable questions about the discharge, the hideout, and the lab-coated woman on the screen, Eli spills his guts and tells Hashtag about his own evil mother and the Doom that's slowly but surely coming for him. Afterward, they blow off some steam by going out for egg-creams (root beer for Vick, classic chocolate for Eli). Hey, they're making a comeback!
Eli gets himself a hot date to the dance in a spectacularly unethical fashion - slight alteration of the girl's memories combined with a little bit of reinforcement via neuro-linguistic programming and hormonal control. He considers feeling bad about it, but decides not to. Because really, who's that gonna help anyway? Seeing Bronwyn and Marco at the dance almost ruins his good time, but he convinces himself that he's making her jealous. Somehow.
The next semester, he finally gets enrolled in the gifted classes.
Yep, I've been having fun, but I'm ready to see the game get started up soon. I'll see if Atoms wants to finally have our long-delayed heart-to-heart, or if it's getting pushed off again. I have an idea now for a painful event for Wingblade, so I'll get that put together once I'm done with Atoms.
Bronwyn will try to be friendly at the dance, but with the head-space Eli's in, I'd imagine that ending in some awkward nods and no-teeth smiles if his bitterness seeps through.
If he keeps it together, she'll be really glad that he found someone, and probably spend a fair amount of time trying to turn the dance into a double date.
@Bioshock
Heheheh ;)
@Wingblade
I've just posted, and I will leave that up to you. Just note that I'm considering all the events that are happening here as taking place before part 2 of 'Origins of Blueshift', which miiiight open a irreparable rift between Atoms and The Defenders.
@Wingblade
I am curious how Shayera feels about another time flying - if she's into it, then that will likely dial up Bronwyn's feelings about the Whole New World aspect of superheroing, but if she/you'd prefer not to, then Bronwyn'll likely try to focus on the mundane aspects of being pals (mall-crawling, parties etc.)
@Bronwyn
The double date is too good to pass up. It feeds perfectly into Eli's twisted concept that somehow Bronwyn's jealous. Maybe instead of provoking Bronwyn, Marco gets competitive instead, and it turns into a teenage arms-race of trying to outdo each other? It's a little shallow, but hey, it's high school.
@Atoms
That's actually your goal, isn't it?
@DM Default
So is there a plan in place for when Atoms inevitably becomes the primary antagonist?
Ha! Works for me. If I didn't think teenage arms-races and high school drama were entertaining I wouldn't be playing Masks :P
@Bronwyn: I'm trying to decide how dark to go with the negative/painful event. If I go dark enough, Wingblade may not be in the mood for anything, flying or general friend stuff. I'll probably scale it back, though.
I'm also wondering if/when I meet Elijah at school! What do you think, Eli? You wouldn't want to pick me for the person with whom you're trying to make Bronwyn jealous, would you?
Well~~ It's certainly my plan to make him a Magneto-ish character, which is why he's very powerful and the leader of a gang of supers that is angry at the world/humanity. He's also very much an anti-Magneto in the sense that he's against the sort of violence against humans that Redshift often takes part in. For example, if Atoms ever found it necessary for his cause to strike against Halcyon City, he'd do it in a lawful or legal way rather than attempt an assassination or attack like what you might expect from Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants.
As for Atoms becoming an antagonist... Thaaaat probably won't happen. He is very antagonistic, with a strong will and strong opinions, but I don't intend on making him a clear-cut badguy or an enemy of The Team. And I also don't intend on him doing anything that is outright evil, whether planned or as a mistake.
This all being said though, as much as I like planning out Atoms' far future (to the point of picking out future playbooks for him to change to), Masks is a game where you play to see what happens next. So I never try to stick to a plot/plan too rigidly ;) In-fact, back when I first made him, it was my intention to really stress the 'Deputy' part of Deputy Atoms, and have him wear a cowboy hat and a Django scarf, and ride a horse to crime scenes; and another abandoned plot was for him to become officially deputized by the HCSD and be a full-time officer.
No worries, happy to play that by ear.
But re: Eli: Wow. That please. The resulting quadrangle of awkwardness that that double date would consist of is too amazing to resist.
Also, well said about Masks being a game you play to find out what happens next. Can't wait to see how this all plays out!
That would be fantastic, except that I'm not quite sure that works out with the timeline. Granted, I may be the only one trying to keep that straight, but from what I've been able to cobble together, the dance is something like the semester before Wingblade starts attending. At that point, Bronwyn doesn't even have Gae-Daerg yet.
That said, I love the idea! It totally maximizes the awkwardness, especially if Vick gets involved somehow. And it's high school. There's always another dance around the corner. I'm looking forward to Special Issue: Double Dater, because it's too twisted not to do it.
@Wingblade
I was thinking about entering the scene at the next lunch, but it got wrapped up. If we go with the dance plan, it's key that he doesn't recognize Shayera as being Wingblade. Otherwise, recognizing her from the billboard is more than enough reason to introduce himself, especially seeing as how she's hanging around with Bronwyn.
Oh, I thought the dance was well after Wingblade started attending. Though I also think that continuity should be kept as loose as possible.
It's up to you.
On the one hand, I'm pretty sure you're right, on the other hand, shhhhhhh it'll be great
Wow, that was fast. I tried to sneak in an edit, but y'all ninja'd it.
Instead of a retcon, it's not like it's impossible that there's another dance.
True enough about there being another dance. Okay, I'm getting pretty excited about this.
As for not recognizing Shayera, obviously she doesn't have wings at school. Not having them really does a number on her self-confidence and body language, so Hashtag's larger-than-life murals of her would be strikingly different than the quiet, socially awkward new girl.
Alright, then. Bronwyn's adorably awkward new friend should make an irresistible target for Operation Jealousy Redux. Just so we're up front, you (the player) are cool with Eli doing some low-level mind-control on Shayera?
I just drove home and while driving was thinking, "Oh man! We should just do this as another Dance! All we need is to have super-villains crash the dance and we've got a full on session for everyone else too!"
Glad we're on the same page!
(Also, Bronwyn would have to take Shayera dress shopping)
That could be interesting, and have very long-lasting repercussions. Though I wonder if her heightened senses and healing would make her less or more susceptible? I could see it going either way -- pheromones being powerful since she detects them more easily and from a further distance, or biophysical control being weaker or shorter duration because her body resets itself so quickly.
Thoughts?
EDIT: got ninja'd by Bronwyn. Yes, dress shopping would be a must!
@Wingblade
The hormonal control is just part of it. I imagine that it would be used in conjunction with the memory alteration to help her mind and body to accept the memories more readily without noticing they'd been planted. The healing could make for an interesting interaction - are the false memories responded to as if they were the product of brain damage and be healed? If so, would it happen immediately, or take some time? Or would the body just accept them in the way it accepts all new memories?
@Bronwyn
Super-villains crashing the dance is possible, especially seeing as how a lot of high schools in larger cities have dances and events off-grounds at hotels or the like. Of course, we're not the only teenage heroes at Halcyon High, either. But what do the villains want? They could be fellow students instead of a full-blown Lex Luthor stealing 40 cakes scenario. Maybe Blueshift is somehow involved?
Ultimately, is this something we're serving up to our DM for a later date, or saving it in our back pockets to keep ourselves entertained when the DM needs a break?
@Bioshock
Hmm. I think I might play with her having two sets of memories. This has got me thinking that perhaps Shayera actually has close to perfect memory thanks to her healing. That might be fun to explore.
She could struggle with the strange sensation of having two memories of events, though one would be probably felt stronger due to the increased levels of dopamine and serotonin.
Anyway, yeah, this could get all kinds of interesting. I'm excited.
@Default
Eli makes a good point. If you're ready to roll and take back the reins of this game, we can put it on the back burner. Though I think the double date/jealousy thing would work better if Eli didn't know Shayera is Wingblade and that Wingblade didn't know Eli is Bioshock. Eli might not figure her identity out (she's not all that interested in keeping her identity a secret, but she might start taking to a costume and disguise anyway). However, Shayera will know Bioshock's identity right away unless there's a massive effort by Hashtag to disguise him or some other hand-wavium going on.
I'm happy to either save this for a later interlude or see it as a part of a story that's inclusive of other characters as well (Spring Social Surprise!) Whichever better gels with your plans Default.