Story: Wednesday October 5, 2016

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

From what we've seen of Edward's reactions, he may honestly be afraid that being a girl so much is bad for Tedd.  We're a definite minority in even knowing of the concept of gender fluidity, and a great many otherwise well-educated adults have no idea gender dysphoria is a thing.  Maybe, if Grace can find a way to introduce the concepts in a way that doesn't seem like an excuse or justification to him (worried parents tend to jump to the conclusions they fear the most and then be very difficult to redirect), then he'll realize just how lucky Tedd was to have access to the TFG.  Realizing how hurtful his attitudes have been to Tedd will likely take longer, and be harder to accept.

[Cpt. Obvious 73]

18 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I hope you are right. I doubt it will be easy, however. And I suspect that Mr. Verres will require someone who isn't Tedd to talk sense into him.

I'd like to nominate Lavender!

She's close enough to Edward that having her intervene would have him take notice, and being uryuom she shouldn't see any problem with Tedd switching gender now and then. But most importantly I'd like to see her get some kind of closure, and if helping to solve the issues that prevent Edward and Tedd from understanding each other is a part of the path to that then so much the better. She's been left hanging for too long by now.

This got me wondering, as the uryuom isn't able to use human or immortal magic does that mean that Pandora has a harder time trying to predict how they are going to act? If her "powers of precognition" is at least partly dependent on magic then having a few uryuom around might make for a welcome distraction. 
 

[Vorlonagent 442]

17 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

From what we've seen of Edward's reactions, he may honestly be afraid that being a girl so much is bad for Tedd.  We're a definite minority in even knowing of the concept of gender fluidity, and a great many otherwise well-educated adults have no idea gender dysphoria is a thing.  Maybe, if Grace can find a way to introduce the concepts in a way that doesn't seem like an excuse or justification to him (worried parents tend to jump to the conclusions they fear the most and then be very difficult to redirect), then he'll realize just how lucky Tedd was to have access to the TFG.  Realizing how hurtful his attitudes have been to Tedd will likely take longer, and be harder to accept.

Ed Verres doesn't he need gender concepts spoon-fed to him.  All he needs is for someone whose opinion he respects say something like, "Have you ever considered the possibility that Tedd is genderfluid?"  If Verres is not familiar with the subject and thinks the idea is credible, he will do the research himself without further prompting.  He will have charts and graphs (accurate ones!) on the subject by day's end. 

[hkmaly 490]

18 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

From what we've seen of Edward's reactions, he may honestly be afraid that being a girl so much is bad for Tedd.  We're a definite minority in even knowing of the concept of gender fluidity, and a great many otherwise well-educated adults have no idea gender dysphoria is a thing.

Also, he might honestly be afraid the TF gun has sideefects. Which, frankly, we can't be sure it doesn't. We know that Tedd was always genderfluid, but Edward might suspect the gun did it to him.

59 minutes ago, Cpt. Obvious said:

I'd like to nominate Lavender!

She's close enough to Edward

She's even closer here.

1 hour ago, Cpt. Obvious said:

This got me wondering, as the uryuom isn't able to use human or immortal magic does that mean that Pandora has a harder time trying to predict how they are going to act? If her "powers of precognition" is at least partly dependent on magic then having a few uryuom around might make for a welcome distraction. 

Uryuom can't use the Earth magic themselves, but they are not immune to it. As proved by Ellen being able to transform Grace - her beam mimics Uryuom magic, but it's NOT Uryuom magic actually. Them having some interference/distortion effect on other magic is unlikely. On the other hand, if her powers are at least partially based on experience, having uryuoms around might STILL be effective, as they don't think in same way as humans.

However, I don't think Grace is harder to predict due to this. She was raised mostly human and generally seem to think like human, although sheltered on start.

[Scotty 1,061]

3 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Uryuom can't use the Earth magic themselves, but they are not immune to it. As proved by Ellen being able to transform Grace - her beam mimics Uryuom magic, but it's NOT Uryuom magic actually. Them having some interference/distortion effect on other magic is unlikely. On the other hand, if her powers are at least partially based on experience, having uryuoms around might STILL be effective, as they don't think in same way as humans.

I think just like Grace though, Uryuoms potentially could gain the ability to use magic, if they were able to suppress their Uryuom Power.

[hkmaly 490]

25 minutes ago, Scotty said:

I think just like Grace though, Uryuoms potentially could gain the ability to use magic, if they were able to suppress their Uryuom Power.

Hard to say. You need to be genetically part Uryuom OR be born from Uryuom egg to have potential to access Uryuom magic. We are not aware what are conditions for Earth magic, just that Grace and Noah, who are part Earth human, fulfil them.

[Scotty 1,061]

16 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Hard to say. You need to be genetically part Uryuom OR be born from Uryuom egg to have potential to access Uryuom magic. We are not aware what are conditions for Earth magic, just that Grace and Noah, who are part Earth human, fulfil them.

The key is the fact that Uryuoms naturally generate their own power, it's core to them. Earth magic energy is everywhere, albeit to varying degrees depending on location. Grace currently does not have any Earth magic energy as evidenced by her inability to use the watches. If she could suppress her Uryuom power, then it's possible the combination of the watch and ambient energy could kickstart Grace on the path to being a magic user, and that could likely also work for Uryuoms as well.

[hkmaly 490]

15 minutes ago, Scotty said:

39 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

Hard to say. You need to be genetically part Uryuom OR be born from Uryuom egg to have potential to access Uryuom magic. We are not aware what are conditions for Earth magic, just that Grace and Noah, who are part Earth human, fulfil them.

The key is the fact that Uryuoms naturally generate their own power, it's core to them. Earth magic energy is everywhere, albeit to varying degrees depending on location. Grace currently does not have any Earth magic energy as evidenced by her inability to use the watches. If she could suppress her Uryuom power, then it's possible the combination of the watch and ambient energy could kickstart Grace on the path to being a magic user, and that could likely also work for Uryuoms as well.

Good point. Maybe being on Earth IS sufficient condition.

[chridd 31]

6 hours ago, hkmaly said:

Also, he might honestly be afraid the TF gun has sideefects. Which, frankly, we can't be sure it doesn't. We know that Tedd was always genderfluid, but Edward might suspect the gun did it to him.

Or it might stunt his growth or something.  Tedd is short, and isn't growing facial hair, so it could be that height-changing transformations interfere with growing and that gender transformations interfere with the development of secondary sexual characteristics (although, of course, that could just be how he naturally looks).  (I've also wondered if this is why Grace looks young.)

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

18 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

If Verres is not familiar with the subject and thinks the idea is credible, he will do the research himself without further prompting.  He will have charts and graphs (accurate ones!) on the subject by day's end. 

I bet chart generation is one of Edward's spells.

[Don Edwards 548]

12 hours ago, chridd said:

Or it might stunt his growth or something.  Tedd is short, and isn't growing facial hair, so it could be that height-changing transformations interfere with growing and that gender transformations interfere with the development of secondary sexual characteristics (although, of course, that could just be how he naturally looks).  (I've also wondered if this is why Grace looks young.)

In Tedd's case, it may be that his male body doesn't age when he's transformed-by-enchantment to female. (Leaving room for base-form transformations to work differently.) Or it could be natural.

Grace, it's natural... or whatever is the closest equivalent for multi-species hybrids grown in Uryuom eggs.

[Scotty 1,061]

Yeah Dr Scuiridae had said that Grace aged slower than normal and looked 16 despite being almost 18, that probably has more to do with her Uryuom and Lespuko DNA, Noah also looks like he could be younger than he is so probably just having Uryuom DNA is enough.

[The Old Hack 2,450]

2 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

I bet chart generation is one of Edward's spells.

My own guess is that they are actually like the hammers used to be. Some Immortal got involved in that management book craze that flared up a while back and loved it so much that he made a charts and tables artifact that works similarly to the hammer artifact. And anyone that knows the trick can conjure charts for whatever they want to talk about simply by waving a pointer, asking for attention and looking stern.

[Scotty 1,061]

6 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

My own guess is that they are actually like the hammers used to be. Some Immortal got involved in that management book craze that flared up a while back and loved it so much that he made a charts and tables artifact that works similarly to the hammer artifact. And anyone that knows the trick can conjure charts for whatever they want to talk about simply by waving a pointer, asking for attention and looking stern.

That should mean that said Immortal should be close to resetting and therefore needing to de-power the artifact.

Hmm, I wonder if this is why Jerry didn't get into trouble by making the hammer artifact and empowering a large portion of the population. It never got used with enough frequency to draw attention to magic, and the fact that removing the enchant upon resetting guaranteed that such a spell would be forgotten after a while.

[The Old Hack 2,450]

Just now, Scotty said:

That should mean that said Immortal should be close to resetting and therefore needing to de-power the artifact.

Not at all. I said like the hammers, not the same as the hammers. My hypothetical artifact-making Immortal could have been of any Immortal age between, say, 30 and 150. My postulated charts artifact might still be good for a century. Or it might expire in a week. Who knows, I was just hypothesizing.

[hkmaly 490]

5 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

17 hours ago, chridd said:

Or it might stunt his growth or something.  Tedd is short, and isn't growing facial hair, so it could be that height-changing transformations interfere with growing and that gender transformations interfere with the development of secondary sexual characteristics (although, of course, that could just be how he naturally looks).  (I've also wondered if this is why Grace looks young.)

In Tedd's case, it may be that his male body doesn't age when he's transformed-by-enchantment to female. (Leaving room for base-form transformations to work differently.)

Unlikely - would be too OP. Also, he was always androgynous. And he isn't using height-changing transformations so often. I think it's natural. But ... well, we don't have enough statistical data to rule it out completely ...

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

My own guess is that they are actually like the hammers used to be. Some Immortal got involved in that management book craze that flared up a while back and loved it so much that he made a charts and tables artifact that works similarly to the hammer artifact. And anyone that knows the trick can conjure charts for whatever they want to talk about simply by waving a pointer, asking for attention and looking stern.

Would nicely explain how Dunkels are doing it.

2 hours ago, Scotty said:

I wonder if this is why Jerry didn't get into trouble by making the hammer artifact and empowering a large portion of the population. It never got used with enough frequency to draw attention to magic, and the fact that removing the enchant upon resetting guaranteed that such a spell would be forgotten after a while.

Yes: The "trouble" would only happen if lot of people would actually using that, not just because large portion of the population theoretically could use it.

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

My hypothetical artifact-making Immortal could have been of any Immortal age between, say, 30 and 150.

I think that management book crazes are not so old, so it would be more likely this happened relatively recently. Like, 50 years ago?

 

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

1 hour ago, The Old Hack said:

Not at all. I said like the hammers, not the same as the hammers. My hypothetical artifact-making Immortal could have been of any Immortal age between, say, 30 and 150. My postulated charts artifact might still be good for a century. Or it might expire in a week. Who knows, I was just hypothesizing.

Yeah, my impression from Jerry was that he'd set up the hammers when he was much younger, so they'd been in effect for at least a century.  Which probably matches their appearance in animated works.... ;-)

[hkmaly 490]

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

3 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Not at all. I said like the hammers, not the same as the hammers. My hypothetical artifact-making Immortal could have been of any Immortal age between, say, 30 and 150. My postulated charts artifact might still be good for a century. Or it might expire in a week. Who knows, I was just hypothesizing.

Yeah, my impression from Jerry was that he'd set up the hammers when he was much younger, so they'd been in effect for at least a century.  Which probably matches their appearance in animated works.... ;-)

He SAID he set them up when he was much younger. He was rambunctious seventy-five year old when he did it.

[The Old Hack 2,450]

1 hour ago, hkmaly said:

He SAID he set them up when he was much younger. He was rambunctious seventy-five year old when he did it.

Bollocking Immortal kids running around making trouble *muttermuttergrumble* Get them off me lawn *grumblegrumble*

[Vorlonagent 442]

34 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

Bollocking Immortal kids running around making trouble *muttermuttergrumble* Get them off me lawn *grumblegrumble*

SOMEONE needs a reset....

[The Old Hack 2,450]

9 hours ago, Vorlonagent said:

SOMEONE needs a reset....

I think it is way too late for me. My boot disk got corrupted ages ago and the hand crank for restarts rusted shut before the turn of the millennium.

[Scotty 1,061]

2 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

I think it is way too late for me. My boot disk got corrupted ages ago and the hand crank for restarts rusted shut before the turn of the millennium.

At least the hamster is still running.

[Cpt. Obvious 73]

18 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

My own guess is that they are actually like the hammers used to be. Some Immortal got involved in that management book craze that flared up a while back and loved it so much that he made a charts and tables artifact that works similarly to the hammer artifact. And anyone that knows the trick can conjure charts for whatever they want to talk about simply by waving a pointer, asking for attention and looking stern.

Ohh... Graph in the Box, Magic Edition...

(Original article)


 

[The Old Hack 2,450]

1 hour ago, Scotty said:

At least the hamster is still running.

It hasn't stopped running ever since it escaped.

[mlooney 3,424]

6 hours ago, Scotty said:

At least the hamster is still running.

I don't have a hamster.  I've got a squirrel¹ that alternates between hibernating and running like crazy.  Some times he jumps to another tree and makes weird noises.

¹Not related to Grace, I'm fairly sure.