May-June Plot Poking Post

[powersthatbe]

If you would like to dig around in the deep end of this jaunt’s plot, or prod metaplot sometime during this jaunt’s duration, please leave us a comment here. Plotting may move from this location if something needs to be kept under wraps until it happens, but we will provide public confirmation that a discussion will follow, if that’s necessary.

If you want to use a Plot-Poking Skill, please still report that over here, and note on this post that you have done so. That way, if results need to be kept under wraps until the IC reveal, we can do so, but still have accountability here.

This includes any non-introductory Conversation Space expeditions (comments about Judgement Plot are appreciated, but not strictly necessary). The mods also need to go through this process if their characters are going to poke a thing.

Comments

[seasoflight]

I feel like Firo (Felih's overlay) is the curious and mischievous sort who would be poking his nose in places it might not belong.

(For one thing, he's trying to find a way to scale those big walls...)

Count Firo in for metaplot digging!

[insidegalra]

Do you have any locations in specific where Firo would like to poke around in? I can definitely tell you what he might find if he goes exploring!

[seasoflight]

Felih is incredibly curious about the towers in particular, and wants to see if there's any way to scale them or get inside, or if there's ways to climb down towards the machinery at the isle's edges. He just can't leave it alone! He's too curious.

"C'mon, the gods could be right there... Wouldn't it be amazing to meet them? If we could just get inside..." Energetic thing.

[shadowsthedawn]

Riku is interested at poking around the machinery as well. Would there be anything else he could find out aside from the comment above? In particular if he decided to poke at the machinery itself (assuming there are any buttons, levers, etc. to poke at).

[insidegalra]

Sorry I couldn't get back to you right away! (dinner)

Okay, above the water-line there are touch-interfaces in various places, but they're not labeled and there's no visual difference between those interfaces and the rest of the machinery. They all require a specific pattern of spots touched in order to activate the interface for inputs. Some of them open the doors inside, and those have easier to remember patterns.

These spots are also put in places that people would rarely touch due to innocent curiosity or inspection. An accidental touch to one of the spots will do nothing. An accidental touch to exactly the right spot will cause it to glow faintly green, and prime the system for the pattern/code. Getting the code wrong more than twice will result in all the blinking lights turning red and a loud alarm going off (it can't be heard from the shore, but it'll be painful up close).

[doesntcomputer]

But what if we just hit all the panels with a Keyblade--

[shadowsthedawn]

About the doors inside, are they hidden doors? And if so, would a Keyblade's ability to open hidden doors work, or is finding out the code the only way?

the deus ex keyblade this is how we do

[dragoonrouge]

Poked the relevant link above with my Analytics request!

[thornsofmalkav]

Did the same for insight

[powersthatare]

Result posted!

[helborn]

What's the distance between Home and the God's Isle before I make Plans, roughly?

[insidegalra]

I'm going to be honest and say I'm terrible at making up realistic distances.

The bay is of good size and the isle is past the mouth. The distance is far enough that the safest way for anybody to get there is by boat but it's not impossible for someone in peak condition to fly/swim over. It'd just take a long time.

[prince_of_pain]

Noct is in full panic mode and he might actually attack the midges with magic, I wanted to know what that would do.

[insidegalra]

They are crush-proof, water-resistant, and programmed to avoid movements.

What kind of magic will he be using specifically?

[razorblade_empress]

Yukki is going to want do some investigating (the particulars of which I can ask about elsewhere) partially about those Mythical Humans but also of the Mythics themselves. She may also want to read a few people's perspectives to see if she can glean any useful info that way.

[carbonatedscientist]

Okay, so with that space reveal, Sento wants to go up there. His suit's canonically shown to be able to survive in deep space, and I think if he used something like TigerUFO, which harnesses the power of both tigers and UFOs because his canon is weird like that, he could actually manage this. (RocketPanda is another option!)

On a scale from one to terrible, how bad would this be? He wouldn't have any idea of where he was going other than "up."

[insidegalra]

Oh dear, it's a very terrible idea, but I'm probably going to encourage it.

See, they're all moving targets, and no guarantee he'll find the correct moving target if he manages to find anything. On the other hand, he could stumble on some amazing things too.

[razorblade_empress]

Yukino's got a number of things she wants to look into this week: how Orwell 'recruits' its actors, what happens to Beastfolk who are 'retired' (she can make an educated guess, but still), what things Orwell has its hooks into besides entertainment, and/or checking out Swift Productions to see how on the up and up they are (her assumption is 'not very, but still possibly not as bad as Orwell'). She also wants to know how they got the idea for the Mythics and their Saga in the first place, but finding out just how far Orwell's control of the station and the people on it extends is probably a higher priority at present. She is still using her Infoglasses for hacking purposes and avoiding the native technology.

[insidegalra]

So most of the info in this answer is a lot more difficult to find, and would take a lot more time to locate, but as long as she is careful and doesn't hurry, she won't set off any alarms. (There might, however, be some questioning of absences, if she's not careful about that)

Most actors are trained in the craft, so to speak, because that's how they score on the extensive testing! Very few of those end up as Mythic actors, however. For those, see How to become an actor for the Mythic Saga; short version (scroll down a bit, and most of this is not nearly public knowledge, but if she knows to dig in the right places, she'll find it) In there also includes a history of how the show came about, roughly!

Retiring from showbiz is an euphemism for dying in 99% of cases. A few non Mythic-saga actors spend their retirement hype-personing for either Orwell or Swift, but... very few actors ever make it to the standard retirement age to begin with (that's 85, btw). In the case of "retiring" as a euphemism, actors (and Mythics no longer on-screen, but not obviously dead, at least for audience that believe they're real) are assumed to retire to a cushy, easy job for their post-acting years, and to be avoiding the limelight. What's actually happening is burnout to the point of "non-curable" mental illness, suicide, and/or death from substance abuse. In some of those cases, death is accidental, in others, it's a "mercy" to preserve dignity. And all the dead are recycled, regardless of cause. Actors for the Mythic-saga may be told that they'll be allowed to retire to keep them in line, but it's never, ever done. If an actor should decide to 'go back to the gods' on the Day of Farewells (expecting a retirement, or just too burnt-out/done to continue), they're killed and recycled just like every non-actor Mythic that isn't dead yet. tl;dr nobody ever leaves Home alive, full stop.

Orwell designs testing and education (through a sub-company of a sub-company of a front company), and has indirectly designed/programmed most of the stations' infranet and the tech to access it (the thought-remotes are their newest product, although not specifically acknowledged as being Orwell's).

Swift, on the other hand, pioneered the recycling system (no waste, ever!), manufactures most of the food, and owns the park. They "own" 95% of the rights to non-human genetic samples (Orwell has had to purchase rights for the Mythic Saga animals and plants but they stole gene samples to create the first Mythics, and got out of being sued for it, because they used them as templates to modify human DNA, rather than wholesale)

Technically, the station managers own rights/are responsible for the tech to all cloning and anything involving human DNA (including reproduction), but all three groups are basically inherited at the very top levels. Marrying into the families gets perks, but usually not a say in the business (but on the other hand, any offspring get the full deal), and the families of Swift, Orwell, and the station management (for all three stations) pretty regularly marry each other.

Nobody's on the up and up, but Swift at least tries to follow some twisted version of ethics most of the time. At least in the past 3 or 4 generations, anyway.

Other things she might find as she pokes around: most of the population is on drugs, unknowingly. They're managed mostly for side-effects of station life (depression, anxiety, insomnia, what is essentially a constant state of SADS etc), and also to keep them feeling content and biddable. These are given in disguise as supplements (among many actual supplements) and nobody even thinks twice about taking them. It's for their health, after all! Many people are also knowingly taking various stimulants and depressants (all of which are legal, even if they shouldn't be, but expensive.) to get through their days, or for an escape from the monotony of life. Addiction isn't acknowledged, but is a common case of early death.

(If she should poke around some of the actors the survey is asking about specifically, she'll find that Acantha was listed as being on some heavy duty drugs for anxiety before he became an actor, and his behavior in Home is being blamed on not being on the drugs anymore, but that when he found out he was unknowingly on drugs, he refused to be shipped the drugs down in Home because he needed to 'live like a Mythic to fit in' he never actually took those drugs, but Orwell doesn't know that)

[razorblade_empress]

I'm not sure whether this goes under Questions or Plot-Poking, but if Yukino or someone else checked, would they find that the Mythics are copyrighted and/or trademarked by Orwell?

[insidegalra]

They are exactly the kind of unscrupulous assholes who would do that, yes. Some designers have challenged them on it, and at least one got a favorable ruling (and then disappeared) but they're still the primary "owners"

[capital_asset]

Raidou is using Path to Profit, and I've commented on the relevant post with him to that effect.

[leftbehindagain]

Answered!

[thornsofmalkav]

New month means a new use of Insight, wheeee!

[leftbehindagain]

Also answered!