(no subject)

[claudiometer]

So, I don't usually get a good opening to advertise this one, but our latest pause for shenanigans just gave me one.

Anyone who popped over to Bando last week might have seen or experienced the joys of magic-conduit tattoos. During the proper jaunt there, I was the resident tattoo expert, and I can still do 'em. There's not much they can't be designed to do, but there's always some kind of trade-off for it - they're powered by your body's existing energy, and there's only so much of that to go around. Dumping power into Thing X has to take it from some other Thing.

If anyone's interested in one, hit me up. One at a time, sort of first come first served, in that if I think your plan needs retooling I'll tell you to come back when you have a better plan. Even non-magical tattoos deserve some careful planning.

Also, I'm not going to try to disrupt the one our hosts gave you. That would probably backfire and I'm not having it blow up in my face. You wanna screw around with that, do it on your own time.

Comments

[tookashirototheknee]

What kinds of things do those tattoos do, because that sounds kinda awesome.

[claudiometer]

Just about any physical, mental, or magical effect you can think of. I'm not sure how well they'd work on magic that's not from the same place, so that'd be a complete experiment, but.

[tookashirototheknee]

So like, in theory, if I wanted something that would make me focus better at the expense of... something, that would be possible?

[claudiometer]

Absolutely. Naoto's boyfriend went for that at the cost of increased metabolism.

Protection II

[tookashirototheknee]

Wait. Shiro's future relative-person had a boyfriend? I thought she was dating the girl with the bright red hair.

double-protected 5ever

[claudiometer]

Well, yeah, her too.

[tookashirototheknee]

Oh, ok.

... were they both from her home world?

[claudiometer]

I think so, yeah. Possibly even the same timeline, but the Inaba kids have always had something of a clusterfuck in that regard.

[tookashirototheknee]

Oh dear. I think people from my world are from a bunch of different times, but I think we're all the same timeline.

I can't imagine having to deal with messed up timelines.

[claudiometer]

All things considered they've done a pretty admirable job of coping.

[tookashirototheknee]

Good on them.

So... back to the tattoo thing. I'm wondering what would be useful.

Really, it would be completely useful to have something to activate when needed, but I have no idea what.

[claudiometer]

Depends on what you need. Combat situations? Intellectual pursuits?

[tookashirototheknee]

Some freaking luck, but I doubt that's possible.

Probably intellectual, to be honest. I'm better with my brain.

[claudiometer]

Yeah, luck would probably be trickier, at least without being at the expense of something that would help you call in that luck.

More processing power of some kind's always an option.

[theflyingone]

I've always wanted to ask, are the tattoos' abilities in effect at all times, or do they have to be activated?

[claudiometer]

Depends on the tattoo. the kind of thing Matt's talking about is more passive, and more likely to be on all the time. Naoto got one that was a conscious swap of two things, so she had to activate it.

[faerielights]

Wait. Back up.

Are you saying the Trumps gave us all tramp stamps?

[claudiometer]

Whether it's precisely a tramp stamp is between you and them, but 'Surprise Usually-Tattoos for everyone' about covers it otherwise, yeah. They were popping up on jaunts to do the honors for a while, and then... coming up on two years ago now, they took a long break to divvy up everyone who'd made it that far without one.

At this point I think it's just happening on arrival-slash-return. I'm guessing you're the latter category there?

[faerielights]

Good guess.

But considering the last time I was here, the Trumps hadn't actually showed up - at least not that anyone was admitting to - I'm not sure that means much.

[claudiometer]

What's the last jaunt you were here for?

[faerielights]

The one with the mermaids. The first go 'round, apparently.

[Which, yes, was the Jaunt on which Fool first showed his bandage-wrapped face. But she'd been Infiltrating at the time, and gone in the aftermath.]

[claudiometer]

I think that was the first time one of 'em showed up in person, from the way people were talking about stuff when I first showed up - the appearances were still a pretty big deal at that point. But I dunno if anyone went 'wait, what the hell' until afterward.

[faerielights]

Wouldn't know. I wasn't there for afterward. Or me during. But the whole thing was chaotic enough that something even stranger slipping in while everyone's backs were turned sounds plausible.

Either way, sounds like I have a lot of catching up to do.

[claudiometer]

A fair bit, yeah. But there's both a library and Liminal Intranet these days, so you have some options other than 'hope you ask the right person.'

[faerielights]

Yeah, someone else mentioned there was a library now. Just didn't quite make it there before stumbling into a haunted ruin, which was exciting.

...Out of curiosity, how much of the intranet is cats by volume?

[claudiometer]

Enough of it to be a proper shared network.

[changeitall]

So if I wanted my stamina to get better, a tattoo like that could help?

[claudiometer]

It could, but the energy for that stamina increase is going to come from somewhere else. Speed, reaction time, temperature regulation, metabolism, how long you need to rest after you're done... somewhere. Your body only has so much power to go around, and I can't bring in anything from outside it.

[changeitall]

And honestly that sounds a lot better than some mystery magic from outside of me... [She'll learn magic here, sure, but that's still different than some magic from outside of themselves back home.] My style is usually short and quick, so I really want to my speed and reaction time, temperatures are a maybe and really not sure about metabolism... But I wouldn't mind how long I need to rest after I'm done, I'd need it to get things done better before resting is even an option.

[claudiometer]

As long as you remember not to overwork yourself in the middle of a fight to where you conk out while you're still in danger, it could work.

You have the beginnings of a good plan here, and we probably have enough time before the next jaunt starts to refine it.

[changeitall]

I'm not the most reckless one of my team back home... [Though Ruby doesn't have stamina problems.] But you're right, I shouldn't overwork myself either though I know my limits pretty well. I just want those limits to be higher, so that I don't conk out in the middle of a situation where I'm really needed alone or as part of a team.

Thank you. I mean, I'll probably end up infiltrating with my record and I'm in no rush with it but this seemed like a perfect place to ask.