Theo Anders and the Black Exaltation[Worm/Exalted][Hiatus]

It's almost like people don't want to see Theo get hit by a bunch of Dragon-Blooded social charms. Where's the fun in that?

 

Yeah I'd rather take a chance on the possibility of Taylor not being bullied (and Emma not becoming a backstabbing bitch)

 

[X] Plan Bii
[X] Yesh
partly because if this causes things to change for the better in regards to Taylor we may not have to deal with her massive trust issues,(this doubles in importance if she exalts) and partly because if it doesn't then at the least we will have an excuse to punch Emma in the nose(because she will be a horrible person with power, so we will have both reason and impetus to do such, IC and OOC)

 

[X] Plan Bii
[X] Yesh

 

Shadow Stalker with a high-parahuman-tier, extremely loyal minion, with the ability to develop new abilities which may or may not be obvious and may or may not be combat-related.

Yep, sounds like a great idea. [/sarcasm]

 

Would you guys be willing to switch your votes to yes if it meant the possibility that Taylor doesn't get bullied? We'd get the adorable motor-mouth version of her from before the bullying

We can take her

Besides it could mean that this Emma might not bully Taylor and the two of them together could rein in Sophia's penchant for violence

 

Possible Dragon-Blooded allies are very useful. I just thought their interactions would be amusing, because while Theo may be very convincing his social defenses aren't exactly top notch except against things that are actively malicious and detrimental.

This. People seem to want Taylor to suffer to spite Emma. We're not talking about post-bullying Emma here. Some oppose it for other reasons, so I wonder how the vote would be going if she weren't involved.

Make no mistake, Shadow Stalker would quickly be the minion here, and quite possibly not the only one.

 

As the author has given permission, I remove that part of my objection. However, I still feel that giving the Entities knowledge of and access to Exalted Shards (even Terrestrial) violates the canon principle that they only have materialistic powers, i.e., no conceptual or spiritual abilities - which Exaltations explicitly are. That changes the setting too greatly for little enough gain that I am against the alteration.

[X] No

 

[X] No

 

Sigh...
I honestly have no clear reason why my instincts are so against the idea of Exalting Emma. Maybe it's because we will lose the novelty of being the first Bet Exalt. Maybe because I was looking forward to interacting with an un-powered Emma and seducing her away from Sophia's twisted philosophy. Maybe because I am uneasy with the idea of letting someone who is not the author so have much authority over the work, even with his permission.
But if it allows Taylor to have a chance at living a happier life, then it would be selfish of me to keep on stubbornly saying no. Plus it will diversify the Harem, and a diverse harem is a stabler and happier harem.
Hmmmm.... I might just withdraw my vote on the matter entirely, my mind keeps changing opinions every hour or so. Its frustrating. Skitzyfrenic, when is the ETA for votes closing?

 

I was planning on closing it all tomorrow night and following up with a snip.

There is a chance, the dice will be rolled, that Emma doesn't betray Taylor. That also means there is a chance that Emma will carry on like she would have, if for maybe different reasons.

 

I just thought Emma was in the middle of triggering before the shard was told to fuck off (the glitchy Destination? Agreement! part didn't help)

 

In addition to Biofan's arguments, I just don't think that the 1d5 selected the right caste. Fire is perfect for Emma, though it doesn't bring any new caste abilities to the table. (Of its five, one is an Eclipsoid ability and the other four are things TDP favors.) Water and Wood also seem to fit. I don't see how Air and Earth are at all appropriate.

However, the possibility of motormouth!Taylor is an excellent point. I'll switch my vote to abstain on this.

 

Yeah, and? I specified being the first one. As far as I know the other exalts come after. This way we get to call dibs on the planet (Kind of a petty reason, I know.)

 

I won't be handing out exaltations like candy.

Spoiler: Total seriousness, big spoiler for leaving it an omake

I have currently planned three solar level exaltations (TDP has one) total, one lunar. I haven't quite decided who all of those are going to, but one would be a big bad, the Malefactor.

Spoiler: If Omake becomes canon

dice rolls, dice rolls everywhere. It definitely could change who I hand out the other two solar level exaltations to, as well as the lunar. It could mean that Emma and Taylor are still besties and Taylor gets a heroic mortal makeover, or it could end up worse/same for Taylor as in Worm canon.

The Entities use motonic sciences largely to access Elsewhere places and to fuel bastardized Auto-kun style charms.

The emergence of terrestrial exaltations can come down to super lost eggs from a deep-wyld expedition. Emma would be the first and possibly only for quite some time.

I don't want to flood Worm with Exalts, but Brockton Bay is probably going to have a few.

 

I see him as a textbook Malefactor, actually. He fits the caste blurb, the conviction-based Cecelynian Urge blurb, and the Cece Act of Villainy all fit him too well.

The problem is that nearly every parahuman had a perfect set up for an Infernal exaltation, by definition. What else is a trigger event, if not the result of a great failure?

Spoiler

I'd rather not see Malefactor!Coil as a Big Bad though. He's gotten boring as a fic antagonist, IMO, so I'd rather it be Bakuda.

 

It's not always a failure. A lot of the time, it's completely unavoidable. Example: Regent. Actually, no, he failed by being born as Heartbreaker's kid.

 

If Emma Exalts that early, then the point of departure from canon is way earlier than Theo's Exaltation, and that means a LOT of effort for someone to work out all the changes. (Not me.)

Also, it makes Theo less special: he's not the first Exalt, he's not the one who broke the Bet-to-Creation barrier.

I don't like either of those effects.

[X] That omake is bad for this story.

 

Failure due to circumstances outside one's control is the essential requirement for Defilers as I see it. Being born to Heartbreaker isn't a perfect example, especially not compared to Accord's, Bakuda's, or Skitter's canon backstories, but it still counts IMO.

 

Going to close the vote now, just so we can move on. In the future I'll keep some things in mind. I was rather pleased with the amount of discussion, tbh, and the eventual number of voters. I hope there can be similar levels of participation and discussion in future votes. But perhaps over something less ultimately critical like Exalting a character long before TDP. To be clear, Emma is not Exalting as per the omake. TDP is going to deflect Rory's question and put in on MedHall and money, then direct the conversation to Sabah and her fashion dreams, followed by moving off to refreshments with Sabah (noting her appreciation of the female form and you, and suggest that the two of you be each others wingman). There will also be a xp purchase of two dots of Princely Mien as a Presence specialty. (TDP will also be reactivating Exquisite Etiquette Style since its so goddamn useful)

Prepare yourselves, socializing is coming. After the refreshments.

Vote Tally : Theo Anders and the Black Exaltation[Worm/Exalted] | Page 37 | Questionable Questing
##### NetTally 1.1.9
[X] Plan Bii
No. of Votes: 14
burningclaw2
1986ctcel
Anasurimbor
AZATHOTHoth
Balatro Philologus
Biofan09
Bloodshifter
Drak4806
kinglugia
Marthis
mishie
Nyrath
Prince Charon
SerbobIV

[X] No
No. of Votes: 13
Bloodshifter
burningclaw2
derkan
Drak4806
evildice
John At DAwn
Kataphraktos
Marthis
mishie
prandom
Sarek
Snake/Eater
Tsotate

[X] Yes
No. of Votes: 7
1986ctcel
Anasurimbor
AZATHOTHoth
Balatro Philologus
kinglugia
Nyrath
SerbobIV

[X] You'd be surprised what money can buy.
No. of Votes: 2
SwiftRosenthal
Tsotate

[X] otherwise Plan Bii
No. of Votes: 2
SwiftRosenthal
Tsotate

[X] Abstain
No. of Votes: 1
SwiftRosenthal

Total No. of Voters: 24

 

I'm not too worried that adding a Dragon-Blooded or two will substantially dilute the story. Even A Green Sun Illuminates the Void had a few preexisting Dragon-Blooded among the sea of mages.

A DB is well within the general power range of parahumans. Hell, the Blue Empress from canon basically was a DB. Though there are other possible explanations too. Like meddling Deathlords.

Only the first order effects should be enough for most things. Not too problematic, considering how far from canon we are treading.

I don't regard that distinction as particularly meaningful, if it is even true.

He wasn't the one who did that regardless. He just benefited from it.

Edit: It appears I was a bit late.

 

Anasurimbor Sorry about cutting you off, it was a quick decision while I was tallying. I know I said earlier that I would close it tomorrow night. :/

 

Ugh great no adorable chatterbox Taylor now

 

/shrug. Depending on how things butterfly, the attack on Emma may not ever occur. Particularly if the ABB is distracted by TDP messing up their operations, the foot soldiers may be tied up guarding places and not free to roam around attacking people.

 

What? this is just before the locker incident iirc, the attack on Emma happened around 2 years ago.

 

Huh. Guess I was confused. Omake was set years ago?