Question I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore

elrodw wrote: I can say without giving away anything that we have a 4-year plot outlined that is going to knock your socks off.

I assume that's their years rather than our years... hence, as I said, you'll release little teasers, hints, and kippers over the coming few decades (although you have stated that you have firm plans to keep the 2G timeline moving, unlike 1G to date... so it might be slightly shorter than several decades our time...)

mittfh wrote: I assume that's their years rather than our years... hence, as I said, you'll release little teasers, hints, and kippers over the coming few decades (although you have stated that you have firm plans to keep the 2G timeline moving, unlike 1G to date... so it might be slightly shorter than several decades our time...)

That's our intent, but if too many authors write too many 'intermediate' and 'off-main-arc' stories, it'll be hard to keep things moving. But I don't think that the readers will complain much as long as we keep Whateley stories coming....

Hmmm. Good question. My kneejerk reaction was to say "probably not", but then I remembered that Tia's family actually came from Spain...
But I would styll vote "no," on the basis of the surname being written differently (Del Bosque and De La Bosque). By the way, "De La Bosque" sounds really odd to my ears, because in Portuguese "bosque" is a masculine noun, and "de la" implies a feminine noun. It's not impossible that "bosque" might be feminine in Catalan (I think Automa is from Barcelona), however -- "leite" (milk) is masculine in Portuguese, but "leche" is feminine in Spanish. Or maybe Automa's "bosque" is actually an archaic form of another word. Or simply is short for "de la ciudad del bosque" or something.

All of that comes back to... the variant name suggests to me that they are not related.

Sir Lee wrote: Hmmm. Good question. My kneejerk reaction was to say "probably not", but then I remembered that Tia's family actually came from Spain...
But I would styll vote "no," on the basis of the surname being written differently (Del Bosque and De La Bosque). By the way, "De La Bosque" sounds really odd to my ears, because in Portuguese "bosque" is a masculine noun, and "de la" implies a feminine noun. It's not impossible that "bosque" might be feminine in Catalan (I think Automa is from Barcelona), however -- "leite" (milk) is masculine in Portuguese, but "leche" is feminine in Spanish. Or maybe Automa's "bosque" is actually an archaic form of another word. Or simply is short for "de la ciudad del bosque" or something.

All of that comes back to... the variant name suggests to me that they are not related.

ł Assuming it shows up correctly, that is a Polish letter. It occurs in my last name, and generally gets replaced by an "L" in English, despite it being pronounced differently. The "w" as in English water. The fine people working at Ellis Island would write names as thought they were spelled, so while my name has an "L" in it, one of my brothers ran into a guy whose name had a "T" in that spot. The Ellis Island worker thought it was "T" not an "L" or the "W" that the sound should have been. Of course the Polish "w" is pronounced as a "v," so that spelling would have caused more confusion.

So it would not be out of the question that someone changed De La into Del.

Except that (a) Automa is NOT an immigrant; she is a Spanish national, and (b) Tia's family are RECENT immigrants, not from the Ellis Island days.

Back then stuff was often handwritten, immigration officials were unfamiliar with diacriticals and characters non-existing in English, and immigrants often had no documents of note. It's not unique to the U.S. either; I had a schoolmate descended from Germans, and Brazilian bureaucrats turned his surname from "Müller" to "Miiler" -- because in cursive they look exactly the same. And let's not even get started on immigrants who came from places with different writing systems... I have seen the *same* Japanese surname transliterated at least *six* different ways.

But none of that applies here. Automa has a modern, TYPED Spanish passport; Tia's folks are educated people who came with work visas; they had theirs too. Yes, the transcription mistake COULD have happened in Spain; but since the people doing the records were native speakers themselves, they would be less likely to make these sorts of mistakes -- meaning that, if their surnames were ever the same, they probably diverged a long time ago, enough for any relationship be meaningless.

Some people choose to change to a name that they think looks more American. I am not saying that this is what is going on here. A lot of strange things have happened to names of people changing countries. My great granddad's last name went from having a u with a umlaut to a strate u. There was an eu used in places between. This is all in his own longhand so no officials making a mistake just his own chose.

This makes me think of a joke:

A Jewish woman was touring San Francisco, and to her amazement, in the middle of Chinatown, there was a store called "Herschel Rabinowitz Cleaners". Curious, she had to stop in, and when she asked to speak to the proprietor, an elderly Chinese man came out. Puzzled, she asked, "I thought this shop was owned by Herschel Rabinowitz."

The Chinese gentleman smiled and nodded. "That's me."

The woman was even more puzzled. "How on earth did you get the that name?"

The man smiled sadly. "When I came to America, I came through immigration. Ahead of me was a man, and when they asked his name, he replied Herschel Rabinowitz. After filling out a form, he went along, and it was my turn. The man asked me my name, and I replied, "Sem Ting". Next thing I knew, I'm Herschel Rabinowitz!"

The thread on making Fanfics Canon, made me wonder about Sphere. Her little sister in the fanfic is six, which would make her the right age to be running around Whateley in Gen 2. Probably not as a freshman, but a sophomore or maybe a junior. Now I need to go look for a Becky/Bert Michaels/Martin.

Sir Lee wrote: A hardware upgrade, obviously. I mean, an AI can make so much use of a few extra terabytes of storage, or a few gigs of RAM...

You mean extra terrabytes of RAM, right? Thinking, talking, acting AIs won't fit into mere Gigs of RAM.

Okay out on a limb here, don't need or want confirmation or denial, but, I'm thinking the big what happened event involves the same interdimensional Class X style danger that Tennyo taps into when she gets really mad. Not saying Tennyo was involved in the event. But something like her, that knows how to cleanup after itself, was involved. So, not Mythos threat, but Class X nonetheless.

jmhyp wrote: Okay out on a limb here, don't need or want confirmation or denial, but, I'm thinking the big what happened event involves the same interdimensional Class X style danger that Tennyo taps into when she gets really mad. Not saying Tennyo was involved in the event. But something like her, that knows how to cleanup after itself, was involved. So, not Mythos threat, but Class X nonetheless.

The Destroyer has one (original) purpose for existing and thats to destroy the GOOs, with EXTREME prejudice, if there was an incident, there wouldn't be a planet left, Tennyo is quite literally a planet killing weapon

You do realise that 'Class X' means "... and then there is other stuff. We have NFI about it, and it's off the charts dangerous in oh so many different ways."

It's sort of the "Oh Shit!" category for "things that go bump in the night" professionals. It's not really a classic "category" in the real sense where things in it are comparable, except in that very specific danger rating of "and then you die, as does everyone with you, and, if we're very, very lucky, only part of the earth dies with you."

So, there's a strange, evil little man who is up to no good. Glad to see Ito's well!

Mazarin sounds cool. The character, I mean, though the name's not too shabby either.

Definitely rooting for Taka to join Venus Inc. I was kind of hoping he'd show some interest in Wondercute as well, but you can't win 'em all.

This gen's Adam sounds a lot more reasonable than that other Adam from last gen. Provisional stamp of approval granted.

jmhyp wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: A hardware upgrade, obviously. I mean, an AI can make so much use of a few extra terabytes of storage, or a few gigs of RAM...

You mean extra terrabytes of RAM, right? Thinking, talking, acting AIs won't fit into mere Gigs of RAM.

Realistically, AI's like Kurenai are as about as maxed out hardware wise at the current time as they can be. Even Tavi is fairly maxed out for his case. Now, BIGGER/roomier cases, OTOH...

Valentine wrote: So, is Tia related to Automa-Tech

If she is, it's a distant relation... as in, so distant neither know the other, or even the other's family.

Hmm... Is TaVI named that 'cause he's a VI?

What about Kurenai ??

Hmm... Did Hikaru choose Kurenai, or the other way around, or something else? ... Does Hikaru know about Kurenai's 'sisters'? ... Does Kurenai know about her sisters??

[Likely, those are spoilers...]

And we don't even know if Kurenai's sisters are plot-relevant... ... Gonna re-read Islands in the Sun... [And that's got nothing relevant to this question set. Other than Kurenai apparently being a new addition to Hikaru's entourage-thing, as she didn't appear in Islands.]

Malady wrote: What about Kurenai ??

Hmm... Did Hikaru choose Kurenai, or the other way around, or something else? ... Does Hikaru know about Kurenai's 'sisters'? ... Does Kurenai know about her sisters??

Not really a spoiler (or if it is, very minor): Hikaru _was given_ Kurenai. Remember, AI's are 'raised' in crèches to just below 'breakthough' on the sentience level, and then given to their humans/installation. You can safety assume that the JSDF's crèche lab made sure that Kurenai had a full file/profile (including IOPS/IHA's OWN files) on Hikaru. So, no, no 'choosing' involved. AI's when released aren't _quite_ what we'd define as sentient, but close, very close, and learn FAST.

While Kurenai was given a personality seed, it WAS chosen FOR Hikaru based on her profile by another AI, as the most 'compatible' with Hikaru (both for tolerance on both sides, and rapid growth).

Note: "SEED". NOT a full blown personality. Kurenai is well beyond sentience threshold and into her own development.

As for Kurenai's sisters, yes, Kurenai is aware she's part of a batch. She even talks frequently to one of them. Rissei. (Kaho's AI)

[Likely, those are spoilers...]

And we don't even know if Kurenai's sisters are plot-relevant... ... Gonna re-read Islands in the Sun... [And that's got nothing relevant to this question set. Other than Kurenai apparently being a new addition to Hikaru's entourage-thing, as she didn't appear in Islands.]

She didn't appear in Islands, mostly because she wasn't needed. Note that Kurenai doesn't appear active in EVERY scene that Hikaru's in, she's not hyperactive as Tavi, for one.

As for other of her sisters (or half, depending on how you view Creche batches)...
Rissei (Kaho's) has been mentioned, I believe.

Oh: Additional note: AI's are not always females, nor is the personality seed 'gendered' the AI in Kurenai/Rissei's cases nudged the AI that way.
One caveat: American (and British and Japanese) ship AI's are ALWAYS females.

Will others?
Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Well, that would probably be because naval tradition says that ships are female. It would be really odd to call something with a voice similar to James Earl Jones' a "her"...

Also, because people grew up with Star Trek.

It all depends on which naval tradition you follow.

The Russian navy refers to ships in the masculine, (as does I think the German). You have no idea the dissonance as a naval officer that I felt about the Russian subs being called "He". And note that John Paul Jones is looked on as the Father of both the US and Russian navies.

Yeah, but I was commenting on the WoG that the UK, US and Japanese navies always use female AIs... those are the relevant traditions.

(I might add that here in Brazil ships and boats are mostly considered masculine, although that is not a hard rule -- it depends on a lot of factors, such as the category of the ship. For instance, caravels and corvettes are feminine, but tugboats, cruisers, cargo ships and aircraft carriers are masculine.)

Actually, thank you Arthur C. Clarke and HAL.

Point. Popular fiction seldom portrayed male AIs as benign. Hal, Proteus, WOPR...

Sir Lee wrote: Point. Popular fiction seldom portrayed male AIs as benign. Hal, Proteus, WOPR...

WOPR just wanted to play a game, and it preferred Chess.

Part 6



***

Music! Cool! ... I should look those songs up, to know what they're supposed to sound like... Are there more Europeans in Gen2 than in Gen1?

Stahlfaust... I really should get that translated, so I'll know if it's related to Stalfast... Which isn't a word, I think I mistook for 'steadfast' ... Wow. I spelt Stahlfaust right...

Eurydice, the... Flirt/Manipulator-girl... Interesting... Is she gonna Karma Houdini, or get some comeuppance? ... Whose the most promiscuous Whateley Academy character by partner count? Kodiak? ... General Whateley Universe would be Captain Condom? Or Strega? ... Nah... Troll Bride. I'm betting Troll Bride. She's had the most 'marriages'

Hmm... How's Catalyst gonna relate to things... Or is that just a small plot thread for some world-building data??

***

Things are going well, I think. Nice how Toni and Laura got together.

Tanya's possible crush on Tractor... Is that gonna be important? Wonder what's gonna become of that... Tractor's not the one with the Glamour... that's Farm Boy.

... Okay, I've got almost no emotion response other than curiosity about what's gonna happen next... Well, Hikaru losing even more memory is sad...

Vic shot her a sneering look. "We can't have Taka getting all the girls."

"Taka not want ... all girls," the Japanese boy protested. "Four, five enough ... how you say? High number?"

"Dimes," Jimmy smiled. "Tens - which given the exemplar babes around here, are much more common than outside these hallowed grounds."

...

"I heard there's a 'frequent buyer' club in the chemist shop in Fox Hall." Seeing the puzzled eyes looking her way, Morgana continued. "Once you've bought ten condoms, you get two free." She grinned at Taka. "With the Lit Chix and Venus Inc., you're going to need a lot of condoms."

Okay, that's pretty funny. ... I guess it's a more... frank sexuality nature of the convo is 'cause most of them were boys before?

Malady wrote: Part 6

Music! Cool! ... I should look those songs up, to know what they're supposed to sound like... Are there more Europeans in Gen2 than in Gen1?

Stahlfaust... I really should get that translated, so I'll know if it's related to Stalfast... Which isn't a word, I think I mistook for 'steadfast' ... Wow. I spelt Stahlfaust right...

Eurydice, the... Flirt/Manipulator-girl... Interesting... Is she gonna Karma Houdini, or get some comeuppance? ... Whose the most promiscuous Whateley Academy character by partner count? Kodiak? ... General Whateley Universe would be Captain Condom? Or Strega? ... Nah... Troll Bride. I'm betting Troll Bride. She's had the most 'marriages'

....

Things are going well, I think. Nice how Toni and Laura got together.

As to how this ends, we had to hit a point of cutting off the first weeks or we'd have a Diane style 22-chapter story, and we have other stories in the queue by other authors. Besides, I have other tales to work on. Like a story about Laura in the labs and some of her developing issues.

Stahl Faust is literally "steel fist"

We have plans for Eurydice.

Toni and Laura - and Eurydice. that might be some future trouble.

Stauffer - we'll have to see what the Nazi bitch doctor is up to. It'll be good If y'all remember other stories, there are big plans (BWAH HAH HAH HAH!!!)

As to pacing, there are some plot elements which need to be developed, characters to be unveiled, and other expositional material that needs to get out of the way. We could have made this tighter, but we're setting up ALL of our characters, so it's been a tricky balance. I'm trying to push in my bits of big-picture plot elements but not overwhelming other characters. Not sure I accomplished that. With a 4-year plot, we have a lot of plot stuff to develop, but it's like cooking - all the ingredients have to come together at the right time, and that means a bunch of setup. So - I realize it was perhaps a bit ponderous, but ... yeah. Whatever.

So anyway, after all of this my muse is insistent on something about "Laura and the Labs" or some such title about the further adventures of our blue-haired girl.

Cerulea's Crafting Chronicles?

... Codenames aren't used much in titles?

... MID is required by... when? Who doesn't have one yet? Cerulea, obviously? But who else?

Malady wrote: Cerulea's Crafting Chronicles?

... Codenames aren't used much in titles?

... MID is required by... when? Who doesn't have one yet? Cerulea, obviously? But who else?

MID's are required by Thanksgiving, when many students take advantage of the holiday to travel back home for a couple days' break.

Thanks.

Hmm... The disadvantaged learners assessment thing, I bet the Peach Boy story, and whatever others got, was geared to the student.

Malady wrote: Thanks.

Hmm... The disadvantaged learners assessment thing, I bet the Peach Boy story, and whatever others got, was geared to the student.

My thought also, since unlike the purpose of most classes, this one seems to be to actually make sure that the students learn. Other classes just encourage students to learn.

And both Colossus and Guardian in The Forbin Project, as well. Spider Robinson noticed it, too, which is why Solace was female - not only did she view herself as female, she also realized that a 'male' voice would put people off, even as open-minded a group as Mary's Place's regulars (though IIRC, she did initially pretend to be the ghost of Zoey's father, haunting the computer used by Billy Walker to talk to the others).

The Peeper Rule - heh, that's one way to discourage that sort of 'accident', definitely. Though I can't see Peeper playing air-ball, even if he was still able to cajole Greasy into building him a flying rig, so presumably the rule applied to, ah, balls off-court as well.

Overhall, i think we can all agree that IDTWKA has achieved its goals (or at least what i think they were). We know enough about each character to care about them, about the evolution of the staff and about the overarching plot to speculate and get hooked (Well, more or less for the last part).

It seems they have dropped the staff G1 staff's politic (the "let's not care too much about bullying and that sort of thing because we have a master plan requiring our students to be bullied at the very least"). I am wondering whether or not it bore fruit in G1 but we will have to wait.

If i am not mistaken (i haven't read everything at our disposal ... yet.) It was the first canon representation of the survival classe ? I would like to point out that i am really glad that the team is not overpowered and that some could even be considered "weak" (at least for now).

The Knockoff spoiler was nice. It continues to build up my anticipation of the G1Y2. (We only have Esoteric's story currently written in that time frame isn't it ?).

Thanks.

Esar wrote: If i am not mistaken (i haven't read everything at our disposal ... yet.) It was the first canon representation of the survival class?

There was a very brief glimpse of it in "Parkour Jam Hooligans" , where Wilson and Mahren were doing a demonstration of evasion techniques with Wilson on pursuit and Mahren evading. The class was quizzed on what Erik's powers were; only Lifeline guessed correctly that (as far as anyone knew at the time) he was a baseline. I think there was another scene somewhere else (I thought it was in "A Single Fold" , but that was just Folder mentioning the class in passing), possibly something in one of the Chou stories relating to either Molly or Winnie.

A good start to G2.
Thanks to all of the authors. I look forward to the new stories.

Schol-R-LEA wrote: The Peeper Rule - heh, that's one way to discourage that sort of 'accident', definitely. Though I can't see Peeper playing air-ball, even if he was still able to cajole Greasy into building him a flying rig, so presumably the rule applied to, ah, balls off-court as well.

Note that Laura only speculated that the rule was from a game. It could easily have been initiated as a general on-campus 'anti-nut-shot' punishment after some girl takes a cheap shot at Peeper based on no evidence but only his reputation and obnoxious ways. It didn't necessarily come from Peeper participating in air-ball....

Schol-R-LEA wrote: The Peeper Rule - heh, that's one way to discourage that sort of 'accident', definitely. Though I can't see Peeper playing air-ball, even if he was still able to cajole Greasy into building him a flying rig, so presumably the rule applied to, ah, balls off-court as well.

Note that it was only Laura's speculation that it came from an air-ball incident. It could have easily been a campus punishment for some girl who took a cheap shot at Peeper based on his reputation and obnoxious lines alone - and Hartford or Carson came up with a fitting punishment for her - which became known as the Peeper Rule on campus, and was thus carried into the air-ball arena.....

That makes sense, yeah.

Schol-R-LEA wrote: That makes sense, yeah.

So, the questions now are "When did Peeper getting a date out of a Groin Attack happen?", "Who did it?" And "How did it go?"

Malady wrote:

Schol-R-LEA wrote: That makes sense, yeah.

So, the questions now are "When did Peeper getting a date out of a Groin Attack happen?", "Who did it?" And "How did it go?"

That may be the stuff of a school 'urban legend' (significant exaggeration), or we in Gen 1 might treat it as a 'noodle incident', or we might explicitly show it.

I take it people are ambivalent about our good Frau Doktor?

elrodw wrote: I take it people are ambivalent about our good Frau Doktor?

I read the Fan Fiction and I'm trying not to read to much into it but ...

Phoenix Spiritus wrote:

elrodw wrote: I take it people are ambivalent about our good Frau Doktor?

I read the Fan Fiction and I'm trying not to read to much into it but ...

Which fanfiction is this?

Frau Doktor Stauffer is not intentionally based on any fan fiction. Our basis for her is solely on ideas the gen 2 cabal had for 'unpleasant' people for the gen 2 adventures. Any similarity between her and a fan fic character or villain is purely coincidental.

elrodw wrote:

Malady wrote:

Schol-R-LEA wrote: That makes sense, yeah.

So, the questions now are "When did Peeper getting a date out of a Groin Attack happen?", "Who did it?" And "How did it go?"

That may be the stuff of a school 'urban legend' (significant exaggeration), or we in Gen 1 might treat it as a 'noodle incident', or we might explicitly show it.

Well, in that case, we're free to speculate on it until the CC (TINCC) adds something about it to canon, aren't we?

Quick, Robin, to the Foodie Bookies thread!

elrodw wrote: Frau Doktor Stauffer is not intentionally based on any fan fiction. Our basis for her is solely on ideas the gen 2 cabal had for 'unpleasant' people for the gen 2 adventures. Any similarity between her and a fan fic character or villain is purely coincidental.

Aww

We are left with a pretty good impression of where their initial conflicts will come from, minor hints at the bigger picture, and a good overview of the POV character's personal problems.

I guess my only questions leaving this is really about Bianca and Erica. Bianca is really the only "villain" of the group. Does eligibility in the Bad Seeds count if you actually are the head of a major criminal organization, and not a child of a supervillain?

Regarding Erica, and looking back at the Gen 2 announcement...is Tia the only one in the "wrong" dorm??
Maybe someone asked this before and I missed it.

I think we need to know a little bit more about the villainous doktor before we can make any guesses. She's more moustache-twirling evil than unpleasantly menacing. You've left us readers too many "maybes" regarding the spying, the stalking, the creepiness, and the simmering evil~ that lurks beneath. We know the players involved, but not which bits go with which!

I have a 'cutscene' planned for a future story (we're making bunches of them to advance plots in the main arc stories) about Frau Doktor Stauffer's background and obsession. You'll have a chance to get to know and hate her well

elrodw wrote: I have a 'cutscene' planned for a future story (we're making bunches of them to advance plots in the main arc stories) about Frau Doktor Stauffer's background and obsession. You'll have a chance to get to know and hate her well

Totally unnecessary as far as I am concerned. I already want to intentionally overdose her with her own "medicine"...

Katssun wrote: We are left with a pretty good impression of where their initial conflicts will come from, minor hints at the bigger picture, and a good overview of the POV character's personal problems.

I guess my only questions leaving this is really about Bianca and Erica. Bianca is really the only "villain" of the group. Does eligibility in the Bad Seeds count if you actually are the head of a major criminal organization, and not a child of a supervillain?

Regarding Erica, and looking back at the Gen 2 announcement...is Tia the only one in the "wrong" dorm??
Maybe someone asked this before and I missed it.

I think we need to know a little bit more about the villainous doktor before we can make any guesses. She's more moustache-twirling evil than unpleasantly menacing. You've left us readers too many "maybes" regarding the spying, the stalking, the creepiness, and the simmering evil~ that lurks beneath. We know the players involved, but not which bits go with which!

Technically, in addition to being a mob boss, Bianca IS the kid of a villain or supervillain; after all, her family is just that; a family, so she qualifies.

As for Tia being the only one in the 'wrong' form, a case could be made for several others being in the wrong dorm. It happens.

Katssun wrote: Regarding Erica, and looking back at the Gen 2 announcement...is Tia the only one in the "wrong" dorm??
Maybe someone asked this before and I missed it.

There is the Melvillain that becomes the sex of whomever s/he touches first.

There are probably closeted LGBTQIA...students scattered around.

Valentine wrote:

Katssun wrote: Regarding Erica, and looking back at the Gen 2 announcement...is Tia the only one in the "wrong" dorm??
Maybe someone asked this before and I missed it.

There is the Melvillain that becomes the sex of whomever s/he touches first.

There are probably closeted LGBTQIA...students scattered around.

Technically, Kelly Mishkin swaps to his other stable form, not quite becoming the same sex as who he/she touches. If she's a girl, and there's some 'feelings' from a male, Kelly changes to the male form. If he's a guy and there are some 'feelings' from a girl, Kelly changes to the girl form. Bistable shifter who can shift at most once a day, but he/she doesn't have good control of it; it's almost like it's got some esper tied into the control and he/she shifts depending on the mood (horniness) of those around him/her.

Is it perhaps more that Erica is totally comfortable with it at this point, versus the rest of our main cast changelings that are very much still finding out who they are and what they're becoming? "Crazies" versus "You'd never know unless it was explicitly stated" sort of thing.

So we have evil Nazi Doktor currently residing in Kansas City (experimenting on young girls with mystery serums, causing them to burnout)...Laura from Kansas City...and anti-Nazi legacy Super-soldier Erica from the Ozarks in Arkansas...

Hhmmmmmmmmm....

What could possibly be the connection?!

Well, not sure why it took me until chapter 5 to actually start reading this story, but I have to say once i did, I did a marathon session. Compared to G1's First Week stories, I like that this is nice and cohesive, the reader isn't left shuffling from one story to the next to work out what happened when, yet there is still room to do individual character stories covering those days.

I like that we're seeing life in the other dorms, and we've spread from Poe centric, as well as how things have changed for the better or worse since the Kimba era. The new headmaster... I think if he needs to take Falcon's advice and relax some..

Had to laugh seeing Rapunzel show up. which reminds me I really need to finish editing the combat prompt ficlet...

-blows out a sigh- This story is mostly the reason why I'm thinking of futzing with my fan fic time lines, cause the stuff i was planning fits so much better. And there are more fun toys...

Cryptic wrote: Had to laugh seeing Rapunzel show up. which reminds me I really need to finish editing the combat prompt ficlet...

So, that's your Rapunzel? (With some edits?) Or is it a different one?

Malady wrote:

Cryptic wrote: Had to laugh seeing Rapunzel show up. which reminds me I really need to finish editing the combat prompt ficlet...

So, that's your Rapunzel? (With some edits?) Or is it a different one?

Some other girl using that code name. Like it's pointed out in the story; Rapunzel is fine for school, but in the real world so mine would have switched to something else and left it as a legacy school name.

although... She might actually count as a Public Domain character/name...

Most definitely counts as PD. According to Wicked-Pedo , the Grimm Brother's version was published in 1812, and was a reprint of a version from 1790, while the story it was based on, Petrosinella, is about 200 years old still. Since that was itself from a collections of oral tradition, there's no telling how old it really is.

So in other words, don't tred to close to the Mouse's look and you're good.

Cryptic wrote: So in other words, don't tred to close to the Mouse's look and you're good.

Sure, Disney's going to at least send off a Cease and Desist letter, hoping that she'd drop the name. Same as they would with any of the other characters they used.

I Don't Think We're In Kansas Anymore Part 6 comments
Laura helping Cally find a band to join, hope they aren't as bad as that one Sidhe girl thinks and it is just her taste in music. And we luck out, it is Nick and AJ, as Nick shows off his skills on the guitar and singing. Bwahahahaha! Mrs. Chulkris, her bra, rocking out like a flower child, guess Nick was that good with his Hendrix she thought she was back at Woodstock. How she just held her high and walked off with confidence, priceless. And oh boy, I was wrong, looks like Nick is joining the band Unladen Swallows. Dalton Li and Emile Rousseaux.

With encouragement from Laura, Cally goes forward and sings "Just Give Me a Reason" by Pink in a duo with Nick. And Cally gets Laura roped into thinking about being the band's techie and working with the electronics. She is going to be stretched thin with her two clubs so far if she joins the band as the techie.

Laura and Val flirting, poor Laura doesn't know how bad Val actually is, it is going to hurt others. . Oh boy, one girl jealous of Val flirting with Laura, probably Brita, another poor girl who is upset either at Laura or Val seeming to already have a girlfriend, might be Toni upset to see Laura flirting with another girl. So much drama already and the school year just started.

Ah, warnings from Bailey and rumors from the older girls that Val is bad news. And despite their flirting, Laura says Val is just a friend and upset at Bailey, not listening to her warning as she leaves. Ouch, it was Toni who saw Laura with Val at the picnic, this is really bad. Toni runs off upset and Laura loses her, hope she will start to think how her actions affect others, to someone you are supposed to be dating it is never just harmless flirting when it is with someone else.

Tia goes to morning mass, meeting Father Verraco, nice older gentleman. Aerys with 5 other kids, wonder what is up with that last kid's get-up. Carrie, the petite freckle faced brunette as the only girl, Mark, Jean, and Arnold, not sure which ones from the earlier descriptions they are based on names, as there was a 5th person mentioned. Though Jean is probably the French speaking guy dressed like a monk.

Teens, actually chatting quietly while at mass, different from what I've experienced, a lot of them barely keep it below normal conversation level and can be heard several pews rows away in the church I went to. At least Tia learns she isn't alone in having low-level powers aka 'weak'. Carrie can shrink and only to a certain size, no Ant-Man stunts. Mark can manifest bird wings and claws, codename Owl. Arnold emits a glowing gas, so he is the kid with the scent around him. Aerys has pent-up emotions, at least from what Tia thinks she sensed, about being a healer. And Jean is the kid in the monk outfit, thinking his powers come from God and are to be used to smite the truly wicked and evil. Oh boy, see trouble with that kid in the future.

Stahlfaust ambushed Morgana and put her into Doyle, this psycho needs to be stopped and soon. Malfunctioning cameras and deadspots and yet they expect the students to rely on security at all times, not building trust here with their showing so far. Morgana's word against Stahlfaust, great. Mrs. Dennon on Morgana's case and she got detention along with Stahlfaust because of no evidence who started the fight. Ah, so Mrs. Dennon gave Morgana light detention and hit Stahlfaust with Hawthorne detention. Smart woman. Yikes! If they hadn't shown up, Stahlfaust might have killed Morgana.

Tia having to defend the Melville kids to Laura and the others due to their reputation, plus you can tell she wishes she was back in Poe, poor kid. Confirmed from Taka that Hikaru doesn't like to show weakness, difficult for her to not hide her feelings and emotions. Hikaru misjudges distances for a flash step and miso soup and hot water fall on Taka, Tia having to douse him in cold water to prevent him from ripping his clothes off.

Hikaru's fish lands on Tanya's plate, saying it is winking at her, large pickle gets stuck in Tia's ear while Bianca has a small bowl of rice land on her head. Over easy eggs, sausage and toast, half landing in front of Jimmy, the other hitting Bailey. Everyone who wasn't hit with food gawking, Taka strips his clothes off and produces a yukata seemingly from nothing [manifestor possibly?] to cover himself. Hikaru having to cover her mouth, trying to apologize but repressing giggles. Apologizes, but looks at Tanya and while giggling and even snorting says the fish is dead. Idiot taunts Taka and goes down, silenced before anyone could seem to react, while the Venus Inc. and other girls oh and aw over Taka's outfit. Jimmy actually gets Hikaru to nod sheepishly.

Taka manifest clothing, Japanese traditional. While Hikaru doesn't know how to explain about her powers, as the power testers didn't say how she does her flash step. Warnings Jimmy and Vic to cool it with the flash step until she gets better control and improves her accuracy with it. Still, was a funny scene to see, since Hikaru caused it.

Stahlfaust used sonics on Morgana, that is even worse! Laura ask if a good meal includes 9k calories for breakfast, Morgana saying she isn't that bad. Talk of not going anywhere allow, Tia thinking it was because of the fight and Morgana not being able to tell her right now because of non-Poesies present. Talk of the Commonwealth meeting and Laura mentions the gadgeteer meeting, not telling the true name. Teasing about things between U.S.A. and Britain, but good-natured. Dang, sounds like Cally has a crush on Nick based on his voice the way she is talking and purred; range like Freddy Mercury and bass smoother than Barry White.

Laura points out Cally enjoyed singing duet with Nick, which she says yes to and blushes, confirmed crush on Nick! Talk of the Lit Chix's and Jimmy joking about Taka getting all the girls.

"Taka not want...all girls," the Japanese boy protested. "Four, five enough...how you say? High number?"

With how the girls have been checking him out, to agree to share with several other girls but still get time with him he might just find 4-5 girls willing to date him all at once.

*eyes bug out* Vic actually references Monster Musume, what has his parents been letting him watch/read at that age? *eyes bug out even more* Okay, I know she used to be a guy, but I didn't expect Morgana to talk like that about condoms and Taka needing them with all the girls. At least Taka is a gentleman in that manner, not bragging and not in public. Tia telling him about PDA and Taka doesn't believe about girls kissing him. And oh course Tanya is in interested in the Capes, oh boy, hope they don't disappoint her.

Boxed seat in Arena 99 for being part of a registered team, dang, wonder what other perks there are. Nice mix of pictures, wonder how they set up the gadgeteer in the smoking ruins of their lab pic. Flight games, now this is an interesting new development. Rose Little Deer aka Thanagila, Native American for 'hummingbird', takes the stage; greenish-blue iridescent feathers instead of hair, four large wings-two on the side like a butterfly-translucent with gold-colored veins, standing 5'3" and full of energy.

Knockoff was challenged to a race in 2007 and did a flying obstacle-course race, it lead to weekly challenge matches. And thus the Fliers Club was born. Talk of the bookies and Falcon jokes that if you can't find them yourself you probably aren't going to make intelligent gambling wagers, earning a roar of laughter. Powers Theory and Powers Lab are now a prerequisite for Flight Instruction, weird, must have changed since Gen 1 as I recall Tennyo taking it her fist semester. Marvin Bates, VP of the Fliers Club, who has a good sense of humor and even jokes about not asking if his family owns a hotel. Don't see the course until the race starts and paths to reward speed or agility, very interesting competition.

Tanya is joining the club, tries to get Laura interested, Morgana looks interested and Bianca says it isn't going to happen. Smack talk among the challengers, RLD saying Mark is going down today, Shauna [tall, red-haired girl] tells them just to kiss already which gets Thani to laugh [guess Thani is short for Thanagila or nickname]. Great, a bet between Thani and Mark, whoever loses is the butler and maid for the other team for 2 days. And Mark has lost a lot of bets in the past.

Agile, yet fairly fast, Thani is going to set the bar high for the rest of them. Nice to see the hard-light holograms have seemed to improve over the years. Dang, she is good and a race through trees like that, even a human-sized being could wipe out bad if they misgauge distance and/or speed. Dang, watching Thani flying is giving Laura ideas on how to design something to allow her to fly in a similar fashion.

Dang, with that time she is going to be very hard to beat. More snipes between Thani and Mark, oh brother. Dang, Mark is faster on straight parts and ahead on the first part, wonder how he will do with the twisty parts. All that, pushing himself, and Thani's time was still better by seven hundredths of a second, ouch.

Devisor riding a devise that looks like a Star Wars speeder bike and it fizzles out so he crashes while in the forest section. Tanya teasing Laura about her devise failing if she joins and having that happen to herself, Laura of course sticks out her tongue and says her gadgets don't fail. Mark trying to weasel out of the bet, but Shauna calls him on it, thus he has to live to the terms of the bet; Thani even jokes about making him wear the French maid outfit while cleaning her room.

Relay race and kids rush off to place bets, Laura says she isn't the betting type and Bianca says 2 dollars that she will be betting by mid-term, being told to hush by Laura who pouts. Interesting race and Mark proves he is skilled at using the obstacles against his opponents to keep them getting ahead of him. Dang, wonder what Mark's sense is that allows him to sense his opponent without looking. Laura goes to take a break and bumps into Krystal. Who's upset about what is happening with Antonia and Laura. Hearing about Val aka Eurydice and telling Laura she is nothing but trouble, she just tells her to talk this out and fix it to end the melodrama.

Ack! The rules for air ball are written like legalese and even Laura can't make sense of some of it. 'Peeper Rule', oh, if they only knew of what Peeper was like and how he abused his power, they would understand. Game starts and dang,, Thani bodychecks from the sound of it a player on the blue team away from the body, raising a question from Laura on how a girl that small can hit that hard. Passing the ball back and forth like that, impressive. But to lure out the guard on the goal like that, cunning.

Energy-absorbing force field to protect them in case of crashes or falls, wonder how far someone could fall and still remain unhurt thanks to them. Okay, I can see why Laura was confused by the rules, some of these rulings make no sense. Yikes, broken arm by a foul that bad, student who did that should be in trouble for such a stunt during a game. Red deserved to win the game, Blue players fouling like that is unsportmanly. Laura left with those feelings on a one-period demonstration, yet wants to make something so she can play the game. Oh boy.

Ouch, pain all around because of Val and her manipulative ways, even 'Ping', Toni's roommate, almost doesn't let Laura in to talk to her. Despite her own experiences, how Toni is a changeling and had to deal with the same or similar things, she still can't seem to forgive Laura for what she believes happened. Just as Laura continues to apologizes and is about to leave, Toni ask if they can talk some more. Leslie even takes the hint and leaves them alone.

Talk of how Eurydice treats girls toys to seduce and throw away, how Toni's last relationship was hard and she thought it was happening all over again. At least that mess is all worked out and Laura and Toni are together, hopefully Laura will learn to notice when she is flirting in the future and avoid Eurydice more.

Trisha Loyola manipulating Brita and teasing her about losing her 'girlfriend' to Laura, just to get her expelled so she can take over as the leader of the Amazons. From the attitudes of Brita, Eurydice and Trisha Loyola its starting to sound like the Amazons poison anyone who joins into being manipulative, petty, and violent. Or simply seek out others who are already on their way to being like that and push them further into such behavior.

Eric Weber-Catalyst-poor chemical devisor manipulated by Melina Stavros into schemes to supposedly make money. Great, she is the daughter of the head of the Chtapodi-or Octopus-Greek criminal organization, and she drew him into their criminal word. Melina-codename Peisinoe-made it where he owes them a lot of money and has to make catalyst devises to turn harmless chemicals into heroin and cocaine. Threatening his mother! And thug friends on campus to harm if he doesn't meet her demands on time.

Oh crud, a note from Val to meet her in a secluded place, probably one of the dead zones for cameras, Brita is going to attack and try to kill her! Wonder who this ninja-like guy is shadowing Laura, good thing he is though, hopefully he can actually do something about Brita. Okay, if this is one of the Gen 2 Secret Squirrels, he at least doesn't deserve the nickname. Good at stealth, covert ops, and use of non-lethal ordinance to subdue a threat. There is a secret sub-group called the 'Guardians' in the Spy Kidz, dang.

Uh oh, the dark man in New York again. Oh crud, that ritual with all those expensive ingredients and parts written in blood. This is bad, without Mrs. Carson and Hartford around will they be able to plan for and counter his plot.

Better Laura think it was a prank and nothing happen while she enjoys time with Toni than what Brita had planned. That thing activating in the abandoned room in the tunnels, it almost seemed like something forced it back into a dormant state. Can't wait until we find out something more to add to the puzzle of what it is.

History class and there are still upperclassmen who bully the freshmen into sitting where they don't wish to. Oh boy, hopefully Tanya just has hero worship and not a crush, that would be bad. Mr. Barton is a harsh but fair teacher. Definitely different from the kind of quizzes I had in school. Attendance sheet to check if you are there at the door to the classroom, no checking off a friend or roommate's name as he has exemplar memory and will know who was in class that day. No superpower cheating and especially no psi tricks as it can get them expelled.

Telling his history, but not which superhero team he was one as it would endanger himself and those he cares about, stating the need to carefully guard your code-name and not associate it with your real name. At least he made it clear once he closes a debate it is over and not to push it or else. Nice metaphor for India and how they felt being treated as a colony of Britain. Talk of the class by Laura, Cally, and Tanya, plus mention of him being in the Sioux Falls League. Both are curious to know what Laura does on what happened to his wife in the past.

Dr. Stauffer back at her lab in Kansas City again. Crud, from talks of this Laura is definitely one of the 'subjects' they are monitoring and the 'Guardian' agent who saved her is working for Dr. Stauffer and her people. Ah, he doesn't know he is being used by Dr. Stauffer, hired by the twins through the Spy Kidz secret sub-group. Oh boy, Stahlfaust being made an example of and hurt badly for even attempting to harm Laura, this is going to backfire on Laura and friends, I just know it.

Poor Laura, being stared at like that, wonder if they are just curious or if in some of the girls cases it was more. Yay! Ito is back out of retirement and at Whateley again, a new generation can experience the little gnome's style of teaching. Helen Cartwright, a senior, and a missing guy who remained to help his cousin with her powers, Frank Watkins, are the assistants this term. Calling Laura a suck-up simply for using the proper term of respect for the sensei, that girl is going to be trouble.

Bianca, Tanya, Vic, and Morgana all sitting near Laura. Her gi blends in with Laura's skin color, Bianca would blend in with the walls, Laura gets upset because she thinks Morgana was going to say she looks like a karate smurf. Only to get reprimanded by Tolman. Tolman says the class is about teaching them to fight to survive. Bacon, a PK brick from Nashville, seems to think his powers are enough. Josh Marble is his real name. Josh is told to demonstrate his theory, but he think he can hurt her, he is in for a big lesson. Twice she gets him, first twisting him arm behind him, then into a painful arm bar.

Laura spars with Miss Cartwright [nice Bonanza reference] and ends up with her ass kicked twice. Training makes a world of difference. Ouch, her and the other 'experienced' students have to spar with the teaching assistant. Laura goes with the group with Sensei Ito and the mean girl from earlier calls her a freak and teacher's pet, saying she will enjoy kicking her ass. What a psycho. Mouse [who can shrink to mouse-size] and Rapunzel [animated hair] spar while Laura watches, then Nick fighting another boy Crysis under Ito's scrutiny.

Morgana needs help, having power but no coordination and movements are off, Laura wishes to help her after class. When Bianca and Laura have to fight, the mean girl yells out two freaks fighting. Both times they spar Laura easily takes down Bianca. The bitchy girl-Suzanne Lipford [isn't that one of the Amazons?]-a brick got stomped by her opponent, a speedster who avoided all her blows while hitting her. Suzanne targeting her like that, so I remembered correctly and she is one of the Amazons or she just hates GSD cases.

Aerys in the same survival class as Tia, Billy-Bloodhound-picks up the scent of someone else there. And the teacher shows up, Mr. Anderson, tall, short black hair, well-built. Nice explanation of what survival class is. Golden Daleks that shoot paintballs at the kids, priceless.

Laura late for workshop class as she got lost, mentions the symbolic map missing a few side tunnels and easy to make a wrong turn and get lost. But the rumors about the tunnels come up, someone did make a detailed map of the tunnels and it was a magical rune that opened a gateway and let something very unpleasant through. The students think she is joking, until she warns about going below level three and if they find anything unusual to call in security and leave it alone themselves. Twin TAs who talk like their thoughts are connected and can fill in each other's thoughts.

Only those with eidetic memory shouldn't take notes on such things for classes. Ms. Merenis frowning at that boy, got him to answer what he knew she wanted to hear, but he is going to cause trouble eventually. The way he is looking at Laura don't tell me it is another idiot with GSD prejudice. Or could it be he just don't think girls should work with technology, I wonder. Warning about the lab crew and how they stick together, having a group passion for getting even. She can be very scary, pity the poor student who angers her.

Gordon telling how the labcoat students got together thanks to Gizmatic, how they won't be bully, not even by one of their own. Mess with one of them and the offense will repaid at least 3 fold. Rules about sabotage, theft, or any other offense against someone else's work. Question about weapons and a 3rd of the hands go up, including Laura's to the surprise of many of the boys, including the obnoxious rich kid.

Laura takes the workbench in a corner, away from the shared equipment. Touchpad with name and thumbprints mostly to keep out the non-lab types from stealing stuff. Michelle and Michael Brown, the British twins and both computer nerds. Steve Gevorgian ask Laura and she explains about her neural neutralizer being confiscated by security until she takes a firearms safety course. He thinks that is cool and loves weapons, most of them taken by security.

He has a crude-looking energy pistol on him in pieces, a pen from his pocket, his belt buckle, the battery pack from his smart phone and a few other bits and pieces. Plus another holdout or two, crafty kid to hide it like that. Boltrunner, energizer who discharges electricity if he gets too excited, fries electronics. Steve detects something recording him coming from Laura, she has no idea what he is talking about, but a bug of some sort pinned to the collar of her shirt is found.

She has no idea what it is and it heats up, self-destructing into slag. Gordon figures out it is something in the GizBug 4000 series, with a range of 100 meters for transmission and remote-triggered self-destruct. Michelle gives Laura an alibi, as her hands weren't near her pockets where her cell phone was, someone planted this on her. Laura is nervous as someone is watching her or using her to spy on others, told to think about her enemies and some defenses. But Steven still is suspicious of Laura.

Are these two watching Laura now or their other subject they are monitoring, needing a DNA sample to confirm it is the subject they are after due to an incident in the past which almost saw them disbanded. Talking to a boy, Holo, who she manipulated last year and now he is wary of her. He brushes her off and yet she says she has a plan with a sinister smile.

Yikes! Hikaru pushed too hard in testing and had another burnout, this is bad. Tanya calls Tia over and they learn the testers pushed Hikaru a little too far and she had a mild burnout. Tia is worried because the last burnout affected Hikaru's mind, going to visit her after dinner. Morgana is happy about magic class, while Bianca made an enemy by the name of Chained Melody, a girl with bardic magic. Laura actually wants to ask Steve for help to build a scanner like his to detect bugs. Bianca is worried they used it to spy on her from how she reacted. Bug jammer and Laura is lost to coming with another idea.

Oh crap, Hikaru is mostly okay, but she completely forgot Laura. This is bad. What club is this girl a part of and who is this man? Discrediting, humiliating, and breaking apart organizations and individuals, if she is caught she will be more than expelled for this. Okay, what the heck is going on that they can just meet in the quad in the evening like this? Something serious is going on at Whateley and I don't like the sound of what this guy is saying.

Poe girls all gathered in the small 'common room' on the second floor of Poe Cottage, Tia is brought in and Ms. Dennon shows up and Mrs. Braithwaithe who teaches home ec is there as well. Told some of them were in the Squidley incident, she is curious and told Laura, Bianca, Morgana, and Tia were.

"Because...you think one of us is the murderer, and you're going to do the big reveal scene?" Misty asked with a wicked smile.

Bwahahaha, she is one of those in Poe who help the crazy cover story.

Ah, classes specifically and secretly to changelings, to help with skills a normal girl would have so they can blend in better. Help them to hide they are changelings, to be safer at Whateley and in the outside world from bigots. But it is voluntary. And everyone is taking it, even Bianca who wishes to blend in better.

Ouch, lost heirloom from her grandmother, no wonder Misty is freaking out. Bailey's power is going to prove very useful time and time, the ability to find things with just a piece of them is very useful. Now that is an interesting look at how her power functions, you could do a lot with that. Glad to see Misty so happy and relieved.

Mr. Turner and Mr. Mazarin talk of the good old days, adventure and excitement, instead of paperwork, reading reports, and approving things. Mazarin is the one who knew Mr. Turner was the right man for the job when the Trustees brought his name up. Mr. Turner is trying to get Mr. Mazarin to see strict adherence to the rules, especially with freshman who don't know the rules yet, isn't the right way to go.

Mazarin thinks ignorance of the law isn't an excuse. Mazarin is counting Turner to give the teens a substitute family, as he never had one, never had kids, always dealt with professionals. Turner has a point, the Capes and lot of the kids who don't wish to be heroes or villains are suspicious of Mazarin. As long as Turner keeps him informed, he will let him deal with first time offenders among the freshmen. Turner takes care of the students while Mazarin worries about the money. Interesting seeing their talks on difference of opinion on how to run the school.

Poor Taka, bullied and doesn't even know what those words mean. Him nervous and trying to deny it to himself, plus trying to talk to Pete and only making it worse. Pete's roommate, Daniel, helps to defuse the situation and even make friends with Taka. Interesting pair, Pete is like a giant, muscular clown from his description, while Daniel is smaller with bright pink eyes. Now I'm wondering if Daniel is limited to just doughnuts, could make any kind of baked goods, or can manifest/conjure/however he brought them forth any food.

Pete's codename seems to be Humorless. Another student sounds like he has rhino-based GSD with rhino-like skin and a thick band of rough skin covering his nose and cheeks, like a rhino's horn. Interesting mix of GSD and unusual BIT students, the girl two sizes too small for her chair, wonder how she gets around without risking of trampling. Daniel Diggens code-name Doughnut, guess she can manifest doughnuts.

I like Ms. Barnes, letting them finish up as long as she doesn't see it and class hasn't officially started. Her Japanese better than his English and able to quick assess things, professional but also knows when to relax the rules. Anais Carrasco, the green haired girl; Arsi Khan, the other Asian boy in the class; Avsel Goran, Middle-Eastern girl with golden eyes and scarf on her head; Francesco Persico, oddly familiar [his name is part of an easter egg, I just know it, but can't figure it out.]; Franklin Post, the human rhino; John Irvine, kid with armored plates instead of hair; Jordain Statham, the dark-scaled girl in the back; Kareela Greer, the very small girl; Peter Foley, the young giant; and Sam Verner.

English Learners course, good idea and sound reasons for each type of individual to be in the class. No test for now, just an assessment of their reading level. Momotaro, the Tale of the Peach Boy, heard of it, never read it myself. Assignments sent to their smartpads and no grading, just improving, now that is how such courses should be. Joking about brides and says she is partial to strawberry crème filling and winks at Daniel, who plays along and sets half the class giggling. Individualized reading assignments to the students, dang, now there is commitment to helping your students improve.

Hidden Lab near Kansas City again, Fred Drake helps to drag a 13-14 year old girl who is drugged in. Thinking about the girl, her parents worrying and hope she makes it, how can any parent be a part of such experiments. No way to leave as they would end him and his family to silence any potential leaks. Mention of the organization having broad tentacles, it can't be a hint that the Chtapodi-or Octopus-Greek criminal organization is involved in this, can it. Dr. Stauffer is there, experimenting on teens like this, gel restraint so they can't struggle, sickens me.

Awake to gauge their reactions, she cares more for results than other human beings. To die in such a way, all for Dr. Stauffer's mad experiments, she needs to suffer for this. She is trying to force the MGC to activate and causing lethal burnouts in the process, from what it seems. Fred throwing up shows he still has some conscience, if only he had a way out which wouldn't endanger his family.

I wonder if Ms. Dennon got her idea for Girl Classes from going out and teaching Knockoff.

Dreamer wrote: Francesco Persico, oddly familiar [his name is part of an easter egg, I just know it, but can't figure it out.]

Hint: You've seen his name before.

NeoMagus wrote:

Dreamer wrote: Francesco Persico, oddly familiar [his name is part of an easter egg, I just know it, but can't figure it out.]

Hint: You've seen his name before.

Double hint, the site has a search feature

Phoenix Spiritus wrote:

NeoMagus wrote:

Dreamer wrote: Francesco Persico, oddly familiar [his name is part of an easter egg, I just know it, but can't figure it out.]

Hint: You've seen his name before.

Double hint, the site has a search feature

D'oh! I forgot Cally's last name, just got used to calling her Cally. It is her twin brother.

Flower gets major RA points for pushing Laura to make up with Toni. And Laura gets major common sense points for talking to Toni about the mysterious note before acting on it.

Laura looses her common sense points for acting like my brother and trying to join all of the available clubs.

I have to wonder if there was a probability warper nearby when Hikaru tripped. I can't imagine it's easy to get a pickle stuck in someone's ear, even if those ears are as big as Tia's.

Interesting seeing our new Headmaster trying to avoid the Good Cop/Bad Cop routine. I think it's a good idea. Personal style aside, I think that the routine wouldn't work as well because the "Bad Cop" is the one holding the reins.

I like Ms. Barnes, and I wish my English classes had had a Daniel Diggins.

I know they aren't spelled the same, but every time I see Dr. Stauffer's name... well...

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Flower gets major RA points for pushing Laura to make up with Toni. And Laura gets major common sense points for talking to Toni about the mysterious note before acting on it.

Laura looses her common sense points for acting like my brother and trying to join all of the available clubs.

Really? That's what you deduct points for? Not for going out alone late at night to meet with somebody under suspicious circumstances within a day of her friend being hospitalized after doing the exact same thing? It's a good thing Steve found that bug and got her thinking, because she's going to need to become a lot more paranoid if she's going to make it out of Whateley in one piece.

I am glad to see that she finally realized there are consequences to flirting with everything that moves. It does sound like she wasn't fully aware of what she was doing though, so hopefully the Secret Girl Class will help with that.

Valentine wrote:

Katssun wrote: Regarding Erica, and looking back at the Gen 2 announcement...is Tia the only one in the "wrong" dorm??
Maybe someone asked this before and I missed it.

There is the Melvillain that becomes the sex of whomever s/he touches first.

There are probably closeted LGBTQIA...students scattered around.

Yeah but Tia is the first non-shapeshifting changeling that we know of that was "pre-outed" and didn't start in Poe, cases that happen after enrollment and those that hide their status are one thing, in the first case; they can already be established in a "F- with at your own peril" list, in the second case, they can still establish themselves if they do get outed and might not get outed in the first place.

Is it just me, or did Whateley security drop in quality? There have been WAY too many security breeches already. Multiple instances of footage loss or temporary camera failure, altered administration records, and an outsider (though with the use of insiders) actively spying on a student. Ok sure a lot of that happened in Gen 1, and it could be argued that they don't want Whateley to become a petri dish for security/counter security but the Heyoka incident is a powerful counter argument.

Kettlekorn wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Flower gets major RA points for pushing Laura to make up with Toni. And Laura gets major common sense points for talking to Toni about the mysterious note before acting on it.

Laura looses her common sense points for acting like my brother and trying to join all of the available clubs.

Really? That's what you deduct points for? Not for going out alone late at night to meet with somebody under suspicious circumstances within a day of her friend being hospitalized after doing the exact same thing? It's a good thing Steve found that bug and got her thinking, because she's going to need to become a lot more paranoid if she's going to make it out of Whateley in one piece.

Frankly, I was so relived that she was dodging the melodrama that a little bit of physical danger didn't bother me much. But that's just me.



Regarding security, I suspect that the "dead spots" are known by security and left intentionally, the same way a known spy is left in place so that you don't have to figure out who their replacement is. That means that once the students know where the dead spots are the campus is relatively safe. Of course, that means freshmen have a steep learning curve, but I doubt freshmen usually find trouble quite as fast as 3M did.

The Nazi spys are a bit troubling, though.

mhalpern wrote: Is it just me, or did Whateley security drop in quality? There have been WAY too many security breeches already. Multiple instances of footage loss or temporary camera failure, altered administration records, and an outsider (though with the use of insiders) actively spying on a student. Ok sure a lot of that happened in Gen 1, and it could be argued that they don't want Whateley to become a petri dish for security/counter security but the Heyoka incident is a powerful counter argument.

Well keep in mind just how much chaos the school has been thrown into so recently. Literally a week before classes were supposed to start, the school lost not only the Headmistress, a number of trustees, and several high level faculty, but also a not insignificant number of security personnel. It's going to take time to recover from that.

NeoMagus wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Is it just me, or did Whateley security drop in quality? There have been WAY too many security breeches already. Multiple instances of footage loss or temporary camera failure, altered administration records, and an outsider (though with the use of insiders) actively spying on a student. Ok sure a lot of that happened in Gen 1, and it could be argued that they don't want Whateley to become a petri dish for security/counter security but the Heyoka incident is a powerful counter argument.

Well keep in mind just how much chaos the school has been thrown into so recently. Literally a week before classes were supposed to start, the school lost not only the Headmistress, a number of trustees, and several high level faculty, but also a not insignificant number of security personnel. It's going to take time to recover from that.

True, but that still leaves the automated security systems intact, or it should, plus there's Everheart and very likely security AI. Of course theres start of school chaos, that ties up the admin level security, and understaffed for patrols... Whoever is responsible for the disappearances bought a few weeks of weakened security, didn't they? Still I hope Everheart has flagged the obvious breeches in downed camera feeds, and I hope she becomes informed of the admin record discrepancy, they may have to resort to unshakable dreaded methods of data security--- hardcopy backups.

The Nazi spys are a bit troubling, though.

Just as a reminder, Stauffer is the granddaughter of a Nazi; it's not clear that she's a Nazi herself. She uses the Third Reich in comparisons simply because that's what her Opa taught her.

As to how troubling, remember there are 3 groups ( http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/2nd-gen-canon/655-i-don-t-think-we-re-in-kansas-anymore-pt-3IDTWIKA part 3 ) in the complex org to which she belongs - the economist (who she has total disdain for), the militaristic wing (who she has total disdain for), and her own R&D arm, which has 3 projects going (Phoenix, Rhein Madchen, and Gotterdammerung). We've seen only a sneak peek at ONE of them (and I'm not telling which one of the code-names it is!) which involves highly risk, highly unethical experimentation on people - and there are 2 more projects run by a woman whose methodology is best compared to that of Josef Mengele.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

elrodw wrote:

The Nazi spys are a bit troubling, though.

Just as a reminder, Stauffer is the granddaughter of a Nazi; it's not clear that she's a Nazi herself. She uses the Third Reich in comparisons simply because that's what her Opa taught her.

As to how troubling, remember there are 3 groups ( http://whateleyacademy.net/index.php/2nd-gen-canon/655-i-don-t-think-we-re-in-kansas-anymore-pt-3IDTWIKA part 3 ) in the complex org to which she belongs - the economist (who she has total disdain for), the militaristic wing (who she has total disdain for), and her own R&D arm, which has 3 projects going (Phoenix, Rhein Madchen, and Gotterdammerung). We've seen only a sneak peek at ONE of them (and I'm not telling which one of the code-names it is!) which involves highly risk, highly unethical experimentation on people - and there are 2 more projects run by a woman whose methodology is best compared to that of Josef Mengele.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Basically the Gen 2 version of Emil Hammond and/or Nimbus?

I don't know german so I am not going to guess which project we've seen a sneak peak of. I can fairly easily identify the GOAL of one of the projects. but that's because naming something Phoenix means it either deals with fire or rebirth or both.

Ok Pheonix is making mutants, and I am guessing we are seeing that, the other two require nanotech, so I'm going to say one of them is pulling a page from the Hive storyline to an extent, while the other is weapons/defense tech or something.

Phoenix, as mhalpern stated, generally refers to fire or rebirth.

Rhein Madchen (Rhein Girl), I'm hoping Rhein refers to one of the places and not the molecule.

Gotterdammerung (“twilight of the gods”) generally referring to end of things.

I can easily see any of these being a code name for making mutants.

I wonder if those Security "dead spots" are REALLY dead or are just bait for Security to figure out who has Evil Intents...

True, at some point they might be faced with the choice of either revealing that they had surveillance after all or letting Something Bad(tm) to happen and go unpunished. But it's possible.

Sir Lee wrote: I wonder if those Security "dead spots" are REALLY dead or are just bait for Security to figure out who has Evil Intents...

True, at some point they might be faced with the choice of either revealing that they had surveillance after all or letting Something Bad(tm) to happen and go unpunished. But it's possible.

That accounts for the spying and camera feed loss, not the altered records. Not unless they were forewarned and want to figure out what the intents are. The admin records should show space in Poe for Tia, sure she could have been put in Melville by Hugh or Ibby, but that doesn't account for the empty rooms that are supposedly filled. honestly, Tia needs to get into a situation where Sam will look at her records, Yes that usually means that she would have to get into trouble, or trouble has to find her, HOWEVER, there are more transphobes in Melville than the ONE in Poe, that may or may not be more jealous than anything

Hmm... I guess the Chtapodi are a new group, or a small group that got larger during the timegap...

Eric was in very deep shit. He was late getting his latest devises delivered and he owed Chtapodi a lot of money. To make matters worse, Melina had more than hinted that Chtapodi knew where his mother lived and wouldn't hesitate to harm her, and that she had a few 'friends' on campus who wouldn't hesitate to apply 'reminders' of his financial and devise obligations.

Why is it on him to deliver the product, instead of someone from the Chtapodi side handling the pickup? If he hasn't seen Melina's reminders, do they even exist?

I get the feeling that the Chtapodi are a new group...

Melina's true colors came through - an evil, manipulative aide to her father, head of the Chtapodi - or Octopus - Greek criminal organization, and like an octopus, it had tentacles everywhere, involved in all kinds of crime.

Is Melina actually that evil? Or just pragmatic or something? ... Is Chtapodi as widespread as Eric thinks? Or as Dreamer speculates?

Dreamer wrote: Hidden Lab near Kansas City again, ... Mention of the organization having broad tentacles, it can't be a hint that the Chtapodi-or Octopus-Greek criminal organization is involved in this, can it.

Malady wrote: Hmm... I guess the Chtapodi are a new group, or a small group that got larger during the timegap...

Eric was in very deep shit. He was late getting his latest devises delivered and he owed Chtapodi a lot of money. To make matters worse, Melina had more than hinted that Chtapodi knew where his mother lived and wouldn't hesitate to harm her, and that she had a few 'friends' on campus who wouldn't hesitate to apply 'reminders' of his financial and devise obligations.

Why is it on him to deliver the product, instead of someone from the Chtapodi side handling the pickup? If he hasn't seen Melina's reminders, do they even exist?

I get the feeling that the Chtapodi are a new group...

They are an old criminal organization; they've just never appeared in Whateley before.

Melina's true colors came through - an evil, manipulative aide to her father, head of the Chtapodi - or Octopus - Greek criminal organization, and like an octopus, it had tentacles everywhere, involved in all kinds of crime.

Is Melina actually that evil? Or just pragmatic or something? ... Is Chtapodi as widespread as Eric thinks? Or as Dreamer speculates?

Dreamer wrote: Hidden Lab near Kansas City again, ... Mention of the organization having broad tentacles, it can't be a hint that the Chtapodi-or Octopus-Greek criminal organization is involved in this, can it.

There may or may not be ties between Chtapodi and Stauffer - but I wouldn't count on it; the number of independent criminal organizations in the world is quite large, and they seldom have ties to one another.

I had a quick glance at the Wikipedia page for "Greek mafia" and didn't find any reference to their using the name "Chtapodi", so I wonder... is that a reference to Will Eisner's The Spirit?

It's a purely fictional organization - and I used the name Chtapoti (Octopus) for 2 reasons: 1) it has tentacles reaching into many illegal activities in many parts of the world, and 2) a minor homage to Octopussy (which was NOT one of my favorite Bond films, BTW).

Any resemblance to any character or organization, real or fictional, is purely accidental.

Malady wrote:

Eric was in very deep shit. He was late getting his latest devises delivered and he owed Chtapodi a lot of money. To make matters worse, Melina had more than hinted that Chtapodi knew where his mother lived and wouldn't hesitate to harm her, and that she had a few 'friends' on campus who wouldn't hesitate to apply 'reminders' of his financial and devise obligations.

Why is it on him to deliver the product, instead of someone from the Chtapodi side handling the pickup? If he hasn't seen Melina's reminders, do they even exist?

The word deliver is being used in the "complete his end of the bargain" sense (i.e., finishing development of his devises), not the transport sense.

Valentine wrote: Phoenix, as mhalpern stated, generally refers to fire or rebirth.

Rhein Madchen (Rhein Girl), I'm hoping Rhein refers to one of the places and not the molecule.

Gotterdammerung (“twilight of the gods”) generally referring to end of things.

I can easily see any of these being a code name for making mutants.

But, are they making random mutants, or trying to get a specific power result? If their (partial) success is Cerulea, who's a Gadgeteer/Devisor... And that power is what they want? Or is the feminization part of the intent, or something, making for boys and girls, but also turning boys into girls... Or is her coloration part of the wanted result? A all-[color] girl...

Stauffer's had more than one success? Yes, no?

Malady wrote:

Valentine wrote: Phoenix, as mhalpern stated, generally refers to fire or rebirth.

Rhein Madchen (Rhein Girl), I'm hoping Rhein refers to one of the places and not the molecule.

Gotterdammerung (“twilight of the gods”) generally referring to end of things.

I can easily see any of these being a code name for making mutants.

But, are they making random mutants, or trying to get a specific power result? If their (partial) success is Cerulea, who's a Gadgeteer/Devisor... And that power is what they want? Or is the feminization part of the intent, or something, making for boys and girls, but also turning boys into girls... Or is her coloration part of the wanted result? A all-[color] girl...

Stauffer's had more than one success? Yes, no?

To answer the first question (s), it will all be revealed; it's part of a twisted, convoluted little (or big) plot. Beyond that, guess to your heart's content

In answer to the second question, I have to say ...
Read the story. It's in there. In more than one place.

elrodw wrote:

Malady wrote:

Valentine wrote: Phoenix, as mhalpern stated, generally refers to fire or rebirth.

Rhein Madchen (Rhein Girl), I'm hoping Rhein refers to one of the places and not the molecule.

Gotterdammerung (“twilight of the gods”) generally referring to end of things.

I can easily see any of these being a code name for making mutants.

But, are they making random mutants, or trying to get a specific power result? If their (partial) success is Cerulea, who's a Gadgeteer/Devisor... And that power is what they want? Or is the feminization part of the intent, or something, making for boys and girls, but also turning boys into girls... Or is her coloration part of the wanted result? A all-[color] girl...

Stauffer's had more than one success? Yes, no?

In answer to the second question, I have to say ...
Read the story. It's in there. In more than one place.

... Ah.

Part 1 wrote: "Two," the doctor interrupted sharply.

"Two successes ... out of fifteen trial subjects?"

"Sixteen, Herr Rolf," the Major corrected, still stroking his monk-cat. "The fourteen failures were unfortunate, but that is the price of success. And that is a significant improvement over the first two tests."

I assume the knowledge of 15 subjects is that Larry (old Laura) got dosed in an accidental way that didn't involve being strapped down and stuff.

Part 3 wrote: "Unless we want to accept a success rate of less than eight percent for Phoenix! That is not good enough! And I need a nano-technology expert to assist with Rhein Mädchen and Götterdammerung! The biological issues are ... well, not trivial, but much easier than the nano-tech."

Which means that the mutation program is Phoenix... As the others are need nano-tech and not pure bio-tech which doesn't seem to fit with the serum.

***

I'm guessing Par has the Keeping Cool origin, as she says her transformation was wish-based, which is what caused the transformation in Keeping Cool... If right, then my ideas on the Poseidon's Tear might be wrong...

Part 2 wrote: "Yeah, because my new body hatched on July 4th, and Pat got transformed on that day, too!"

The not-a-girl sighed. "Seriously, people. If you find a magic item and get asked what you wish for, be certain to word the damn wish as carefully as possible. That's all I'm saying."

***

... Does Ping have a built-in mutant radio of some kind??

Part 2 wrote: "Oh! Sorry, there was a radio transmission passing through, er... hello!" A bright smile flashed and emerald eyes twinkled. "My name's Lesley Wainwright, but you can call me Ping!

elrodw wrote: It's a purely fictional organization - and I used the name Chtapoti (Octopus) for 2 reasons: 1) it has tentacles reaching into many illegal activities in many parts of the world, and 2) a minor homage to Octopussy (which was NOT one of my favorite Bond films, BTW).

Any resemblance to any character or organization, real or fictional, is purely accidental.

Hail Chtapoti!

One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

elrodw wrote: One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

They were nice background pieces promptly filed under the "potential sideplot" folder

elrodw wrote: One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

mhalpern wrote: They were nice background pieces promptly filed under the "potential sideplot" folder

Yes.

I enjoyed the Quidditch flier stuff.

Valentine wrote:

elrodw wrote: It's a purely fictional organization - and I used the name Chtapoti (Octopus) for 2 reasons: 1) it has tentacles reaching into many illegal activities in many parts of the world, and 2) a minor homage to Octopussy (which was NOT one of my favorite Bond films, BTW).

Any resemblance to any character or organization, real or fictional, is purely accidental.

Hail Chtapoti!

Hail Chipotle!

elrodw wrote: One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

I thought the First Rule of Flight Club was "Don't talk about Flight Club."

Valentine wrote:

elrodw wrote: One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

I thought the First Rule of Flight Club was "Don't talk about Flight Club."

Nooo... don't squawk-about in flight club...

DanZilla wrote:

Valentine wrote:

elrodw wrote: One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

I thought the First Rule of Flight Club was "Don't talk about Flight Club."

Nooo... don't squawk-about in flight club...

*slaps Dan with a wet noodle for that one*

Everyone is flocking to the in flight club (and it's thread) in order to do those jokes.

elrodw wrote: One thing I noticed in the commentary - not many are commenting about the aerial sports club and/or air sock-hock-rug-cross-ball, but mostly on the Peeper rule. Didn't anyone enjoy the various games? Does anyone want more action around the games? Or should I have stuck with teams of 43 on a five-sided field?

I think Malady covered it very neatly in saying that at this point, us readers aren't really emotionally invested with any of the upper classmen in the club.

Perhaps if/when the POV characters get roped into it due to a particularly short-sighted plan of Laura's to obtain a table, it might have more of an impact on comments. When they're forced to learn it, or when Tanya is willingly doing so with enthusiasm, I suspect it will get a lot more attention.

Maybe that helps you?

I was away on holiday (vacation) last week, so have only just read this.

The flight club scenes read a bit like Diane's fight scenes - fast paced, lots of action, and you'd have to re-read numerous times to pick up everything that took place.

Admittedly we only got a small glimpse into Survival, but I imagine if Morgana (and several others in the Sci-Fi club - especially those who are also members of The Commonwealth) hear about the paintballing Daleks, they'll be eager to book some arena time with them

As for the holes in the sensor network, as has been said above, Security have other things to worry about - especially in the tunnels. I wonder if the lower levels being closed off has anything to do with that - or other, more minor, incidents of a Class X nature. Meanwhile, we also have an unofficial, stealthy anti-bully group on the prowl - who may or may not be connected with our friendly doctor with a questionable set of morals...

Also, hopefully Administration will send a sternly worded communique to the testers to go easy on Hikaru - given she had multiple burnouts causing mild cognitive impairment, having another in supposedly controlled conditions won't look good - especially when word gets back to Japan.

At the end, it amused me slightly that the former villain is a stickler for the rules, while the former hero is willing to allow discretion - roles they likely wouldn't have taken in their former careers

mittfh wrote: I was away on holiday (vacation) last week, so have only just read this.

The flight club scenes read a bit like Diane's fight scenes - fast paced, lots of action, and you'd have to re-read numerous times to pick up everything that took place.

Admittedly we only got a small glimpse into Survival, but I imagine if Morgana (and several others in the Sci-Fi club - especially those who are also members of The Commonwealth) hear about the paintballing Daleks, they'll be eager to book some arena time with them

As for the holes in the sensor network, as has been said above, Security have other things to worry about - especially in the tunnels. I wonder if the lower levels being closed off has anything to do with that - or other, more minor, incidents of a Class X nature. Meanwhile, we also have an unofficial, stealthy anti-bully group on the prowl - who may or may not be connected with our friendly doctor with a questionable set of morals...

Also, hopefully Administration will send a sternly worded communique to the testers to go easy on Hikaru - given she had multiple burnouts causing mild cognitive impairment, having another in supposedly controlled conditions won't look good - especially when word gets back to Japan.

At the end, it amused me slightly that the former villain is a stickler for the rules, while the former hero is willing to allow discretion - roles they likely wouldn't have taken in their former careers

Actually the head of a criminal organization is much more likely to be a stickler for rules, at least those the criminal organization follows, than someone involved in "law enforcement." If the rules of the criminal organization aren't enforced, chaos is likely to break out (consider the new setting Bek described), whereas law enforcement is almost always exercising discretion in enforcing the law. Consider the number of stories you see where a cop buys a family a carseat, or groceries for a shoplifter, or otherwise doesn't enforce the law.

Inflexible adherence to rules is actually a very common villainous trait, both in fiction and reality. Overbearing managers, matrons of orphanages, fascists, fundamentalist extremists, etc. And a lot of popular heroic figures tend to be flexible about the rules. Robin Hood, Spiderman, Jesus, rebels in general. It's not surprising considering that humanity has a long tradition of oppressing people.

The most effective heroes and villains strike a balance. Extremely chaotic villains tend to have few followers and poor planning, and extremely chaotic heroes make things worse instead of helping. Meanwhile, extremely strict heroes become villains, and extremely strict villains fall either fall prey to mutiny or wind up hamstrung by their own rules.

I finally decided to start reading Kansas today, not sure why I put it off for so long, and have to ask.
After part 2, and the reveal about the tunnels, did anyone make a three headed dog joke?

annachie wrote: I finally decided to start reading Kansas today, not sure why I put it off for so long, and have to ask.
After part 2, and the reveal about the tunnels, did anyone make a three headed dog joke?

No. That would be insulting to the three-headed dog boy, Cerberus.

That might be a joke. Or it might not.

Nagrij wrote:

annachie wrote: I finally decided to start reading Kansas today, not sure why I put it off for so long, and have to ask.
After part 2, and the reveal about the tunnels, did anyone make a three headed dog joke?

No. That would be insulting to the three-headed dog boy, Cerberus.

That might be a joke. Or it might not.

Cerberus was in Absinthe 2, so he isn't Canon.

Valentine wrote:

Nagrij wrote:

annachie wrote: I finally decided to start reading Kansas today, not sure why I put it off for so long, and have to ask.
After part 2, and the reveal about the tunnels, did anyone make a three headed dog joke?

No. That would be insulting to the three-headed dog boy, Cerberus.

That might be a joke. Or it might not.

Cerberus was in Absinthe 2, so he isn't Canon.

Yet ... Mwahaha!

I feel sorry for a three-headed dog boy. I feel like you will be railroaded into having either Cerberus or Fluffy as a codename.

TriDawg!
Cubic Canine!
The Three Poodles!
Hexeyes!
Triple Threat!
Megadrool!

One man pack.
Mittens
Cynocephaly
Fetch

Three Dog Night.
Tridogertops
Paws

Dogface
Mutt
Muttley
Goodboy
Guarddog
Hellhound
Hounddog
Baskerville

Good ideas. But you can't use "Bloodhound."

DogFaces
Slobber
6eyes
Floppyears
Cuddles
Dogbreath
Southpaw
Northpaw
Chomper
Cuddles
Dogbreath

You seem to like "Dogbreath"

And cuddles

Ib12us wrote: And cuddles

Let me be clear... "Cuddles" is a great name, but only in certain context. You have to use that name on the biggest, meanest, most murderous pack-oriented animal (not human) you can find.

For example, Cuddles has been the go-to name for a grizzly bear and family pets.

No, cuddles is a good name for a zombie too. Or ideally a Zombie Axe Murderer,,,

Nagrij wrote:

Ib12us wrote: And cuddles

Let me be clear... "Cuddles" is a great name, but only in certain context. You have to use that name on the biggest, meanest, most murderous pack-oriented animal (not human) you can find.

For example, Cuddles has been the go-to name for a grizzly bear and family pets.

I do. I use it on my sister all the time.

Ib12us wrote:

Nagrij wrote:

Ib12us wrote: And cuddles

Let me be clear... "Cuddles" is a great name, but only in certain context. You have to use that name on the biggest, meanest, most murderous pack-oriented animal (not human) you can find.

For example, Cuddles has been the go-to name for a grizzly bear and family pets.

I do. I use it on my sister all the time.

Perfect. Nothing more evil or bloodthirsty, or pet-like, then a sister

I know where Carson and team are. It's so obvious!

They are stuck in the Upside Down!!

The Demogorgon, however, doesn't stand a chance against Lady Astarte.

marie7342231 wrote: I know where Carson and team are. It's so obvious!

They are stuck in the Upside Down!!

The Demogorgon, however, doesn't stand a chance against Lady Astarte.

?????? Umm...what?

Heres a name for yah: "iiiiii" might be a play on another suggested name....

NeoMagus wrote:

marie7342231 wrote: I know where Carson and team are. It's so obvious!

They are stuck in the Upside Down!!

The Demogorgon, however, doesn't stand a chance against Lady Astarte.

?????? Umm...what?

Haven't watched the series myself yet but I think that was a reference to Netflix Original Series Stranger Things.

Ah, that would explain why I don't recognize it...

Wow no love for Stanger Things or no one is really watching this thread...

Heard of it, but never watched it.

www.gocomics.com/ziggy/2016/10/15

Valentine wrote: www.gocomics.com/ziggy/2016/10/15

Well played, good sir. Well played.

This story definatly set up a lot of long ranging arcs, posibly as many as six, though some of them may be linked in ways that are not clear yet. The problem with it is that it does not seem to have an arc of its own, as nothing gets concluded by the end of part six.

Spending time with Tia and Laura was fun, but even their stories seem not all that connected.

konzill wrote: This story definatly set up a lot of long ranging arcs, posibly as many as six, though some of them may be linked in ways that are not clear yet. The problem with it is that it does not seem to have an arc of its own, as nothing gets concluded by the end of part six.

Spending time with Tia and Laura was fun, but even their stories seem not all that connected.

Six?

Six!!???

bwahahahahahahahaha

konzill wrote: This story definatly set up a lot of long ranging arcs, posibly as many as six, though some of them may be linked in ways that are not clear yet. The problem with it is that it does not seem to have an arc of its own, as nothing gets concluded by the end of part six.

Spending time with Tia and Laura was fun, but even their stories seem not all that connected.

As Astro might have hinted... you're a bit light on your arc estimation; there are far more than six.

It's true that nothing gets concluded... since it's the start of the tale. It's also true that the stories aren't all that connected. But you're thinking that "Kansas" is an arc all its own... it isn't. It's the start of one. There may be other arcs in the timeline, but this one is the main one; the beginning is here, the middle is maybe year three, and the end? Well, we know when it is, at least.

If we hadn't written IDTWIKA, everyone would look at the next stories and say "WTF? Where the hell did THAT come from?" We KNOW it was a stage piece that was necessary to set up more stories. So - yeah.

Your point is ...?

elrodw wrote: If we hadn't written IDTWIKA, everyone would look at the next stories and say "WTF? Where the hell did THAT come from?" We KNOW it was a stage piece that was necessary to set up more stories. So - yeah.

Your point is ...?

So yes its like the first episode of a tv serial, but it still should have had some kind of small scale arc that got concluded. We spent most of the time following Tia and Laura, so something should have happened that involved both of them. Instead they hardly interacted with each other,

If I wanted to be snarky (which after the pain meds from blowing out my knee AND having my dog trip me so I landed on my sore shoulder, I am), I'd suggest that the next time we need a 'set' piece, you can write it yourself.

elrodw wrote: If I wanted to be snarky (which after the pain meds from blowing out my knee AND having my dog trip me so I landed on my sore shoulder, I am), I'd suggest that the next time we need a 'set' piece, you can write it yourself.

Meh.
I get Konzill's point, but then this isn't TV.
The stories don't need to be self contained little snippets with a distinct end wrapped up in 45 minutes plus commercials and some hand waving to a meta plot.

konzill wrote:

elrodw wrote: If we hadn't written IDTWIKA, everyone would look at the next stories and say "WTF? Where the hell did THAT come from?" We KNOW it was a stage piece that was necessary to set up more stories. So - yeah.

Your point is ...?

So yes its like the first episode of a tv serial, but it still should have had some kind of small scale arc that got concluded. We spent most of the time following Tia and Laura, so something should have happened that involved both of them. Instead they hardly interacted with each other,

Technically an arc involving both Tia and Laura was started in IDTWIKA... there were two. One was started and concluded in the tale, involving Tia's possibly merited fear of a blue devisor; small, but there. Another was started, that hasn't quite concluded yet. It should be more obvious in the next few chapters.

I don't normally point things like this out, but if you're going to post something like this, I will correct you. Arc's don't have to be two people getting into co-op shenanigans.

Kristin Darken wrote: There's actually one reeeeeally important arc that was established purely within the context of IDTWIKA. And while you'll be embarassed that you didn't work it out for yourself or that you didn't think it was important... it won't spoiler anything for me to point it out. So, I will.

Team Kimba formed around the conceit that all its members were up front with the gender or sexuality situations requiring the "complicated" or "other" options on the school application. The sole original element binding the team that brought you ten years of stories... was that they were all TG kids/changelings assigned to Poe. Period. That meant they were all in place to respond together as ninjas attacked the school the first night, turning them into a 'team' in the eyes of everyone around them.

In Gen 2, the team is neither as open with their origins as changelings or aren't changelings at all. They are not all in Poe. They aren't necessarily going to function as a team the way TK did. But we still need some unifying element that makes Gen 2 more than just a loosely connected collection of stories in a different timeline. The shared experience created by these unique events on their journey to Whateley provides that.

And THAT, is an arc that began and ended in this story.

Wasn't that talked about in the build up to Gen 2 stories? Not the actual events, but that they wouldn't all be Posies or TG or otherwise expected to be a group.

I believe so

ok, so I JUST got to this story's part 3... which means i finally heard the list of people who went missing and... and... and holy unholy everything batman. Carson, Caistaires, LORD PARAMOUNT, Paulson, Quintain, just to name a few... like... unholy monstrocities of horror...

However, as I am severely late to the party, I know ya'll have already thoroughly discussed and speculated... so what are the top speculations and theories I should be aware of?

I don't think that there are any concrete theories other than "Something woke up in the tunnels and ate them"

I think that the Sigil of the Gate in the sewers was mentioned, and Sara getting released was bandied about (although not really seriously), but we don't have enough information to do any real deducting yet.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I don't think that there are any concrete theories other than "Something woke up in the tunnels and ate them"

I think that the Sigil of the Gate in the sewers was mentioned, and Sara getting released was bandied about (although not really seriously), but we don't have enough information to do any real deducting yet.

Other than either one of the Artificer's Forges, or another important Court edifice, being activated briefly?

Adding on - Oh my, Dr. Wyatt Cody, and Tractor has a picture of Himself, Vanity Girl, Pejuta, Cornflower, Loophole, and Kodiak? I really hope some devisor student or mage (looks intently at the newest crop of students) finds Vanity Girl a cure, even a partial cure. I can tell from the convo she really regrets not being able to have any children...

Iwasforger03 wrote: Adding on - Oh my, Dr. Wyatt Cody, and Tractor has a picture of Himself, Vanity Girl, Pejuta, Cornflower, Loophole, and Kodiak? I really hope some devisor student or mage (looks intently at the newest crop of students) finds Vanity Girl a cure, even a partial cure. I can tell from the convo she really regrets not being able to have any children...

I have plans for our teachers and former heroes Vanity Girl and Tractor. Very interesting plans. Will she be healed? Maybe. Maybe not. Will any devisors or mages be able to heal her? Unlikely - her spinal fluid and most nerves in her spinal cord are contaminated by the Mythos magic of Unhcegila from her injury. She's tried a lot to cure it, and nothing has worked; some things have made it worse. (Read "Would The Last One Out Please Turn Out the Lights" - the intro section has a little more reference information).

There are two pictures that you'll see reference to in my various works - one is the Sioux Falls League with Kayda, and the other is the Whateley teachers plus their friends Pejuta (Kayda) and Cornflower (Deb).

I Dont Think Were In Kansas Anymore Part 5 wrote: Friday, September 9, 2016 - Nearly midnight
Tunnel Section Bravo 16, Whateley Academy

As a wave of dark energy rippled through the granite bedrock of Whateley Academy, a device embedded in the wall of one tunnel began to glow, a soft, greenish-blue color emanating from the alien metal and bathing the tunnel walls in an unearthly light. For a brief moment, the wall section holding the alien metal, resembling nothing so much as a large door frame, wavered, seeming to lose substance for a few seconds. Then the wave passed, and the glow vanished, and the wall resolidified.

And because of the lateness of the hour, no-one was in the tunnel to see the spectacle.

So... was that what ate Carson?

That's post-Disappearance, I think.

That said, I think that there's a reasonable chance that it's related.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: That said, I think that there's a reasonable chance that it's related.

That's what I got. That "flicker" showed us there was something down there that wasn't normally active/awake. If you happened to go through while it was active, then it shut off... what happens to you? It could easily be where Carson or the research staff vanished to.

Kristin Darken wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: That said, I think that there's a reasonable chance that it's related.

*nods* and if it isn't, it's a damn good red herring, right?

I don't know, has it been smoked? Can you fry it for breakfast?

Phoenix Spiritus wrote:

Kristin Darken wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: That said, I think that there's a reasonable chance that it's related.

*nods* and if it isn't, it's a damn good red herring, right?

I don't know, has it been smoked? Can you fry it for breakfast?

Can you paint it green and hang it on the wall?

Kristin Darken wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: That said, I think that there's a reasonable chance that it's related.

*nods* and if it isn't, it's a damn good red herring, right?

Stop stealing Imp's candy!

Iwasforger03 wrote: ok, so I JUST got to this story's part 3... which means i finally heard the list of people who went missing and... and... and holy unholy everything batman. Carson, Caistaires, LORD PARAMOUNT, Paulson, Quintain, just to name a few... like... unholy monstrocities of horror...

However, as I am severely late to the party, I know ya'll have already thoroughly discussed and speculated... so what are the top speculations and theories I should be aware of?

My two cents:
whateleyacademy.net/index.php/forum/the-...read?start=250#17711
whateleyacademy.net/index.php/forum/the-...read?start=250#17716

IIRC, no one's mentioned that Peisinoe's threats to Catalyst fall afoul of the "Don't threaten family" rules...

So that's a way it could stop...

In other things...

Part 2

whateleyacademy.net/index.php/content_pa...-kansas-anymore-pt-2

Says that Marcus and Chessa share a birthday, legally.

How old are they now, legally? 14, or 15, or something else??

Should be Pat and Chessa, no?

They're both officially 14.

Whoops, right! ... Wait, do they also need parents of record?

Myra is listed as their big sister, so who'd their "parents" be?

They're running under that peculiar Whateley admissions form variant (type C?) that Jade used, the one that basically said "Enroll under a new name and by the time you graduate that will legally be you, no matter what you were before."

So whoever their official parents are listed as, they're officially deceased.