Question Whateley Cottage Power Census

So, I had a interesting thought the other day: While the majority of the cottages can't really fall into this arrangement, there'd be a distinct set of commonly occurring powers/power sets in Poe and Hawthorne. For one, I'd guess that there'd be a larger proportion of exemplars in Poe compared to other cottages, either on an internal (ratio within the cottage) or a external (compared to the number in other individual cottages) scale. I'd also hesitantly guess that there's a reasonable number of regenerators in there, considering that we know a large number of Poesies that have regen (Jade, Billie, Dana, Sara (when she's a) not stuck in a piece of paper, and b) not in a room that timeshares between two seperate buildings), Martina, etc.). As for Hawthorne, I'd guess there'd be at least a large number of exemplars, simply because (AFAIAA), you need to be an Exemplar to have a BIT to have GSD. Hawthorne is a bit hard to stick down, as anyone with a power can have a malfunctioning/unstable/ultra-dangerous/ultra-messy version of that power, and I'd assume that it's more of a melting pot of different powers. I do stick to my initial statement though, as shifters seem the most at risk of getting stuck in a malformed shape; and Exemplars are- to my memory- the only ones who can have GSD.

Well Poe has a few more exemplars because that is a common mechanism for changelings, the others being PK, and shape-shifting, though Scapegrace did magic herself her new body and Knockoff is either a regen clone or imprinted on her mother's bit with her blood.

<suspicious glare> "And exactly WHY do you want to know if I can change my sex?"

"Variety is the spice of life?" <sweatdrop>

Bek D Corbin wrote: <suspicious glare> "And exactly WHY do you want to know if I can change my sex?"

The bra shopping sites on your browser history?

I don't think the number of Exemplars in Poe is noticeable higher than in other cottages. Slightly higher, yes. But not enough to rate as anything other than statistical noise.
Reasoning? Well, two main parts:
1. Exemplar is a pretty common power, I would guess that at least one third of the students is some level of Exemplar. Maybe as many as half. So, having a few more Exemplars in a cottage is nothing remarkable.
2. Changelings are a minority in Poe. The bulk of the cottage is comprised of students whose LGBT status is, for the most part, unrelated to their being mutants.

Remember, the characters in Poe are basically exemplars to stop them reassigning their gender (which would be much too nice to them!) So Poe probably has a higher percentage, but that's an author fiat thing

This is the sort of information that the WA Admin team would use.

Remember that they were trying to not put too many odds-manglers in one cottage.

null0trooper wrote: "Variety is the spice of life?" <sweatdrop>

Note the Page Quote for the TV Tropes entry Shapeshifters Do it For a Change .

"As the saying goes: there’s homosexuality, heterosexuality, bisexuality, and Shifter sexuality."
— "Sara's Little Purple Book", Whateley Universe

</shameless-self-promotion>

Admittedly, I'm far from the only one adding those. I know that several others in this group are active their, with Malady probably being the most active of us.

Getting back to the topic at hand, one thing to note is that not all, or even most, of the effects loosely called Gross Structural Dystrophy is a result of a BIT. Indeed, it has been repeatedly mentioned that most of what is described as 'GSD' in the broad sense isn't technically GSD, which is defined as body alterations resulting from genetic factors. While things such as BIT-related non-human features, changes in Avatars hosting spirits too large for their Hallow, Manifestation-Augmented Tissue Deformity , and Chimerical Trait Acquisition are often referred to as 'GSD' as a blanket term, the more narrow definition is technically the 'correct' one.

As for their being more Exemplars in Poe, the number of changelings who were transformed via their BIT isn't going to be statistically significant in the total number of Exemplars. While it is often mentioned as being the most common cause of gender changes, it is still only a minority of actual changelings (not counting those whose change was unrelated to or only indirectly resulting from being an Exemplar, such as Fey, Elle Ruud, Phase, Knockoff, Sphere, or Absinthe). Based on what we've seen so far, they account for between a third and a half, with the known (likely) examples being Chaka, Lancer, Circuit Breaker, Crimson Comet, Esoteric, Zenith, Roulette, Ribbon, Envy, Archon (who doesn't have a wiki entry yet? I'll do something there ASAP), Teke, Silver Ghost, Cerulea, Calliope, and Maidenclaw. There are a number of ones which may or may not be from their BIT, as well, such as Diamondback, Caduceus, Glow, Vamp, Seraphim, Striatura Blu (again, no entry on her yet, I'm not even sure if she is a Changeling or not even though she was rooming with Martina), Electrode, Shrike, Twist, Tabby Cat, Mr. Babich, Porcelain, Karen Taliesin, and Shadowdancer (is anything going to happen with those last two?), but either we don't know enough about them yet, or else there could be other factors involved (e.g., Alex was intersex from birth, even if her manifestation undid the 'corrective' surgery she'd had as a infant the same way as happened with Chad, and she uses her shifter powers to emphasize her femininity).

Note that some which were thought to be from a BIT later turned out to be from an undetected Avatar/Reincarnation trait (Razorback). Also, shapeshifters are a gray area, as the theory is that for some types of shapeshifting the mutant does have a BIT, but may have either multiple independent BITs which they can move between (e.g., Mokele, though it is notable that he is a changeling in addition to that, as well as Chimera), or a malleable BIT which they can alter at will (Jimmy T., Reinforce).

More importantly, they are a tiny minority of Exemplars. Given that approximately 25% of mutants have some degree of the Exemplar trait, we are probably looking at about 15-20 non-changeling Exemplars in Poe alone (assuming one hundred residents) in just the 2010 and 2011 classes. Ones we know of during 2006-07 include Vox, Bugs, Verdant, Angel, Punch, Boudacia, Hippolyta, Banned Aids, Arianna, and Befana.

Tabby Cat's Changeling status was due to a BIT malfunction, FYI

Astrodragon wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: <suspicious glare> "And exactly WHY do you want to know if I can change my sex?"

The bra shopping sites on your browser history?

YOU'VE BEEN MONITORING MY BROWSER HISTORY?

E. E. Nalley wrote: Tabby Cat's Changeling status was due to a BIT malfunction, FYI

OK, thank you for the WoG confirmation on that. I thought that was the case, but I couldn't find a reference to it specifically in the stories - I assume it is somewhere, I just must have missed it.

This talk has given me a really bad idea... I will put it in the appropriate thread later

Bek D Corbin wrote:

Astrodragon wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: <suspicious glare> "And exactly WHY do you want to know if I can change my sex?"

The bra shopping sites on your browser history?

YOU'VE BEEN MONITORING MY BROWSER HISTORY?

How else could I sell it on?

Astrodragon wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote:

Astrodragon wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: <suspicious glare> "And exactly WHY do you want to know if I can change my sex?"

The bra shopping sites on your browser history?

YOU'VE BEEN MONITORING MY BROWSER HISTORY?

How else could I sell it on?

Wow. This went off track REALLY fast.

Bek D Corbin wrote:

Astrodragon wrote:

Bek D Corbin wrote: <suspicious glare> "And exactly WHY do you want to know if I can change my sex?"

The bra shopping sites on your browser history?

YOU'VE BEEN MONITORING MY BROWSER HISTORY?

Here goes the "I buy Playboy for the articles" excuse, updated version:

"I only visit lingerie sites to look at the models."

(Not actually that new an excuse, either, considering the role the Victoria's Secret catalog has played in many male teenagers' fantasies...)

Hold up sign : Will sell Bek's browser history for coffee beans!

Sara holds up sign: "Will reenact Bek's browser history for chocolate."

Bek's browser history? Somewhere Blue and Cyberkitty would be laughing hysterically.

Rose Bunny wrote: Bek's browser history? Somewhere Blue and Cyberkitty would be laughing hysterically.

Either that or they're still in therapy...