#int +2

[dragonfabledrops]

Name: wiches nekclaec Type: Necklace Level: 20 Damage: NA Element: Light Rarity: 5 Bonuses: Crit +3, Magic Def +1, Pierce Def +1, Melee Def +1, WIS +2, END +2, LUK +2, INT +2, DEX +2, STR +2 Sell Value: 10 Gold DA Required: No Description: The power of typos dwells in all of us, this necklace helps you draw the power out!

Quest: Tpyo Quest Questgiver: Thursday, in Amityvale

Other: This necklace occasionally causes tyops to appear in some in-game text when worn. Removing the necklace will correct the text.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

Oh hey, you’re right! Before:

Mrs. Knott was a tallish, broad shouldered and strong jawed woman. She kind of looked like a caricature of a transvestite with her long blond hair and trying-too-hard-to-be-girly dress and blouse. You just had to imagine her with stubble on her chin or hairy legs and she was the image of a man doing a very bad job at passing as a woman.

She was an alright teacher though; she was usually content to give us advanced students an in-class assignment and then focus on the more rambunctious majority for the rest of the class.

After:

Mrs. Knott was an alright teacher, if not the most hands on; she was usually content to give us advanced students an in-class assignment and then focus on the more rambunctious majority for the rest of the class.

Good work, Wildbow.

Granted, now there’s no description of what she looks like, but that’s better than what was there before.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

End of Interlude 2

That was a fun chapter! Victoria and Amy have just the right balance of heroism and being kinda bad people, and a lot of personality. It made them quite a treat to follow.

We’ve also learned a lot about New Wave, Empire Eighty-Eight and the general villainous... I wouldn’t really say community, per se... population? of Brockton Bay. And perhaps most importantly, we’ve been given some perspective on just how much impact Taylor’s actions in Gestation are about to have. We have a war on our hands, guys. Only question is whether it’ll be villain versus villain, or villains versus heroes.

Either way, it sounds like exciting things are coming up in the story, and I’m very much looking forward to them.

See you in whatever the next Arc is called!

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Try it.  I’d just love to see a skinhead with a few broken bones go up against a superheroine whose mom just happens to be one of the best lawyers in Brockton Bay.  You know her, right?”

“Brandish,” he said.

Yeah, it’s gonna be hard to sway the jury on this one. Or judge. I don’t know if this kind of case would have a jury or not.

“That’s her name in costume.  Normally she’s Carol Dallon.  She’d kick your ass in court, believe me,” Victoria said.  She believed it.

I’m still not sure how literal the treatment of the New Wave as a family is, besides the adoption of Amy. It seems there’s at least one (probably) biological mom-daughter relationship within the group, though.

Does Brandish have an actual power? Because that raises some questions about the inheritability of parahuman abilities.

What the thug didn’t understand was that even if he lost the case, the media circus that would be stirred up would do more damage than anything else.  But she didn’t need to inform him of that.

True. The media doesn’t care what the jury and/or judge think so much as the fact that the case is up at all.

She asked him, “So do I get my sister to leave you as you are, or are you willing to trade some information for relief from months of incredible pain and a lifetime of arthritis and stiffness in your bones?”

It’s like a backwards threat of violence. Maim first, blackmail later.

I can’t imagine Amy is particularly pleased with this tactic.

“And erectile dysfunction,” Amy said, just loud enough for the thug to hear her,

Pfft, or she’ll contribute!

“Superheroes causing villains dick troubles” count: 2

“You fractured your ninth vertebra.  That’s going to affect all nerve function in extremities below your waist. If I leave you like you are, your toes will always feel a little numb, and you’ll have a hell of a time getting it up, if you know what I mean.”

My dad actually has a similar issue with his toes, as a result of a car accident in the eighties... he’s, uh, never mentioned anything about his, shall we say... higher extremities.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“I’ll be good.  I’ll be better,” Victoria promised as she dialed with one hand.

She’s kind of demonstrated throughout the chapter that she isn’t entirely a “good” person (but who really is). Being “better” is a solid start.

She put the phone to her ear, “Hello?  Emergency services?  Requesting special line.  New Wave, Glory Girl.  Incapacitated criminal for you to pick up, no powers.  No, no rush, I can hold.”

I like how professionalized this has become.

Looking over her shoulder, Victoria noted the thug, still floundering and half-crawling, “He’s not going to get up?”

“He’ll be numb from the waist down for another three hours.  His left arm will be iffy for about that long, too, so he’s not going to move unless he can drag himself somewhere with just one limb.  He’ll also have numb toes for a good month or so, too,” Amy smiled.

You might have stopped a little bit early, but oh well.

“You didn’t actually…”

“No.  Nothing was broken, and I didn’t screw up anything, beyond a temporary numbness.  But he doesn’t know that.

Pfft.

Fear and doubt will complete the effect, and the suggestion becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.”

Ahahaha, yeah. “Oh god what if I can’t get it up” *dick flops down as flaccidly as possible*

“Amy!” Victoria laughed, hugging her sister with one arm, “Weren’t you just saying you weren’t going to mess with people’s heads?”

Hehe. Sometimes you don’t need powers to do that.

It kind of reminds me of Terezi and Vriska from Homestuck. Vriska has literal mind control, but Terezi, with no powers, is a way better manipulator.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Come on, Panacea,” Victoria said as she stood up, touched ground with her boots and brushed her skirt straight, “We’ve gotten enough.”

A wild Amy codename appears!

I’m not sure what Panacea means, but I’m sure it’s related to healing and medicine in some way. Might be the genus of some form of painkiller?

“You sure?  I’m not done yet,” Amy told her.

Victoria presumably wants to punish the guy for finding the pain of the civilians funny.

“You fixed the bruises and scrapes, broken bones?”  Everything that could get her in trouble, in other words.

“Yeah, but I didn’t fix everything,” Amy replied.

“Good enough,” Victoria decided.

Yeah, pretty much. Victoria still doesn’t care for this guy’s well-being as long as she doesn’t get in trouble.

“Hey!” the skinhead shouted, “The deal was you’d fix me if I talked!

She also doesn’t seem to care much for honoring deals made with villains.

Did you fix my cock?”

Ahahahaha this guy’s got priorities

He tried to struggle to get to his feet, but his legs buckled under him,  “Hey!  I can’t fuckin’ walk!  I’ll fucking sue you!”

I’m guessing they just need a moment to adjust.

Victoria’s expression changed in an instant, and her power flooded out, blindsiding the thug.  For an instant, his eyes were like those of a panicked horse, all whites, rolling around, unfocused.

Woah, Victoria, what are you up to now?

Remember, this guy only gets more stubborn from fear!

She grabbed him by the shirt collar, lifted him up and growled into his ear, her voice just above a whisper, “Try it.  My sister just healed you… most of you, with a touch.  Did you ever wonder what else she could do?  Ever think, maybe, she could break you just as easily?  Or change the color of your skin, you racist fuck?  I’ll tell you this, I’m not half as scary as my little sister is.”

...she says while paranaturally boosting her scariness.

I’m not sure if Panacea can actually reverse her power like Victoria is implying here, but it would make her extremely deadly if she went villainous.

She let him go.  He collapsed in a heap on the ground.

As the two sisters walked away, Victoria pulled her cell phone out of a pouch on her belt with her free hand.  Turning to Amy, she said, “Thank you.”

“Play safe, Victoria.  I can’t bring people back from the dead, and once you’ve gone that far…”

A restriction that is more commonly than not on the healer powerset. From a narrative standpoint or any viewpoint that comes with belief in a soul, that makes a whole lot of sense.

From a materialist point of view, however, it actually seems a little bit strange. The way I see it, a human body is a biological robot, and a mechanical robot that isn’t working at all can often still be fixed and work once again. If there’s nothing (i.e. no soul) that leaves the body once it stops working, then if the body is repaired sufficiently, the person ought to be just as alive as before.

Most of us think of death as a fixed point of no return, but is it really?

[krixwell-liveblogs]

True. Sometimes a robot breaks so hard it can’t realistically be repaired.

In particular, you raise a good point with “self-sustaining” - the various parts of the human body keep each other running, so you’d pretty much have to start them all up simultaneously to have a chance of getting the system working again.

That being said, I think if you do somehow get the system working again, it will be the same person who died, and they’ll be fully alive. People who believe in souls might have a different perspective on that.

[krixwell-liveblogs]

“Fuck you, you can’t touch me.  There’s laws against that shit,” he blustered, staring fixedly over one shoulder.

I suppose when parahumans have been around for thirty or so years, it’s to be expected that there’d be laws for how they interact with civilians by now.

She turned up her power another notch.  Her body thrummed with current – waves of energy that anyone in her presence would experience as an emotional charge of awe and admiration.

I was close! So her power, besides flight, is basically looking supernaturally cool.

For those with a reason to be afraid of her, it would be a feeling of raw intimidation instead.

I was close enough to be half-right, it seems.

Awe/admiration and intimidation are closely connected. I haven’t played enough to even get close to the required levels, but I think D&D 5e does something similar with certain high level transformation abilities, where you can choose to make others either admire you or fear you. Don’t cite me on that, though.