2gYL55xU

112:45 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: pops em out like candy corn
2[12:49 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: ok so then she wakes up sophia and is like gotta hand out those rings
3[12:49 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
4
5Each Ring was slightly different, each possessed of unique attributes, but none were so singular as the Three, save perhaps for Cenya.
6
7I stood up and stretched, letting out a faint moan as my vertebrae crackled like rice paper. I picked up the tablet and crossed the room, setting it down on the coffee table beside Sophia before touching her shoulder gently with one hand.
8
9“Sophia,” I murmured. “It’s time.”
10
11She mumbled something inaudible and shifted to her side, curling into the armchair’s cushions. Her eyes opened and sought mine.
12
13“Taylor…?” she muttered.
14
15“You fell asleep,” I said. “They’re ready, Sophia.”
16
17She blinked and stretched, almost catlike. Then she stopped and stared down at the seven glimmering Rings before her.
18
19“Wow,” she whispered, her eyes shining with the reflected glow.
20
21I smiled slightly. “Help me wake the others,” I said.
22
23[12:51 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: none of this strikes anyone as odd
24[12:52 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: skip skip skip hands out the rings very dramatic very descriptive to you I bequeath this ring it does x to you I bequeath this ring it does x to you I bequeath this ring it does x
25[12:52 PM] Standard Bearer Vern: Oh gosh
26[12:52 PM] Standard Bearer Vern: It's Whisp
27[12:53 PM] Standard Bearer Vern: What are you doing here in this dukedom of debauchery
28[12:53 PM] Grandmaster Whisp: Oh, and this is completely unrelated but does anything else think that Annatar is a dumb name? Because man I just really don't like it.
29[12:53 PM] Caesar Roma: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
30[12:53 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I'm terrible at names so
31[12:53 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I can't judge
32[12:57 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: idk it just reminds me of taylor varga
33[12:57 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: where it's just 'look at this cool thing I'm doing'
34[12:57 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 'look look look look'
35[12:57 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and everybody is looking
36[12:57 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: :canteven:
37[1:00 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: if I'd known I could get views and likes by creating a character that presumably has weaknesses but really actually doesn't and poops out rings like she's got diarrhea and lithos has diarrhea of the mouth or something with no actual majesty or pomp to any of it
38[1:00 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: it doesn't feel like Lord of the Ring it feels like Walmart of the Ring
39[1:00 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: none of it is special, it's chintzy and trite
40[1:01 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
41
42    She's thinking things through, discussing options with others, and is going to bed instead of soldiering on... [shakes head] it's like she's barely recognisable as Taylor any more.
43[1:03 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
44
45Please consider donating to my Patreon. Many thanks to those who already have. 
46
47[1:07 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: anyway idk I feel like there's a time for everyday magic
48[1:08 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and that stuff is cool, like using casual magic to help you with daily tasks just because you can and it's convenient
49[1:08 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: but lotr shit is weaved in majesty and every single thing has a story behind it
50[1:13 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and like that could be cool in a certain type of story like this person isn't good at complex magic but can macgyver shit
51[1:16 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
52
53The ways of elves are secret and mysterious and that is why they get to roll to check if there's a secret door nearby.
54[1:19 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
55
56"Damn, I rolled a 1," said Sauron, looking down at Isildur. 
57
58"I rolled a 20," said Isildur. "Crit confirmed."
59
60[1:22 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
61
62"What are you waiting for," said Elrond. "Throw it in!"
63
64"Holy shit dude you know how many buffs this gives? +6 dex, +6 str, +20 to-"
65
66"Throw it in, it's evil!"
67
68"Dude I could get an extra +10 to hit with this *and* the spell-like abilities-"
69
70"I hate you so much."
71
72[1:26 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
73
74"You *know* paladins get a shitty will save, right?" said Boromir. 
75
76"Did you not put *any* points in Cha?" asked Aragorn. "Or Wis?"
77
78"Yeah, uh, I may have um," said the noble son of Denethor, who had bequeathed him with incomplete knowledge of dump stats.
79
80[1:29 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
81
82Each responded a little differently. Carlos staggered, as though suddenly struggling under a great load, before seeming to find new strength. Dennis relaxed, his face softening slightly, his eyes growing calm. Missy exhaled—something between a sigh and a hiss—and shuddered slightly, as though in a pleasantly cool wind. Dean’s fists clenched and his face seemed to harden, taking on a solid edge reminiscent of great kings and knights of old. Chris stepped back, staring down at his open palms, wonder in his wide eyes and parted lips. Sam’s jaw set and his gaze seemed to sharpen, steadying and growing more focused.
83
84 this is why I hate piling reactions together like
85[1:29 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: TEENS REACT TO GETTING MAGIC RINGS
86[1:37 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: Imagine if she had to find metal that fit and a stone that was what she wanted from them
87[2:02 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
88
89“Welcome to the fold, Ring-Bearers,” I murmured, bringing my hands together and steepling my fingers, Narya shining in a blaze of fire on my finger.
90
91“Is this a loan?” Missy asked, and her voice was hesitant, as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer. “Are we going to have to give these… give these back once this mess with Bakuda is done?”
92
93Suddenly, the air of wonder which suffused the room thickened with tension—and a hint of jealousy. Already the Wards were bound to their Rings, more tightly than I was to the Three—for I was the Ring-Maker, resilient to their call, while the other heroes were as moths drawn to a radiant flame.
94
95[2:02 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: fuckin steepling fingers lol
96[2:02 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: also like you know what would have been cool
97[2:02 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: if she made rings that weren't binding because she can do that :shrug:
98[2:22 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: soon I will write uh
99[2:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: what's another popular thing that got turned into movies that nerd culture is oh GoT I'll write a Worm x GoT cross :triumph:
100[2:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I know absolutely nothing about GoT
101[2:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: there's magic there though so I'll have uh dragons Taylor will be the mother of dragons or whatever and have fire magic
102[3:22 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: okay I'm reading Carlos' interlude let's get back to the grinding sensation of putting glass in our mouths and chewing until it's sand
103[3:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
104
105The captain of the Wards retreated to the room ordained for him. Carlos made haste to shut the way behind him before setting his back against the oaken door. His eyes sought the glimmering gold which twined about his hand. Laureya, the Ring of Gold, the Ring of the Sun, shone like purest golden fire, lighting up the small space like noon on a summer’s day.
106
107 blah blah
108[3:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
109
110You will be as bright and as powerful as the fire itself—incandescent and forceful, impossible to deny.
111
112“What the fuck,” he whispered helplessly as he tried to hold onto lucidity. “What the fuck.”
113
114He was keenly aware of the rushing blood beneath his skin, of the drumming of his heart, of the air-conditioned breeze which ran cool and crisp across every inch of exposed skin. He shuddered.
115
116Fifteen minutes ago, he’d just been a guy who could take a hit from almost anything and keep going. Now—now he felt different. Changed. Inhuman and superhuman.
117
118He was unsure whether there was any way back to who he had been before. He was unsure whether he would wish to take it, were it open to him.
119
120[3:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: blah blah
121[3:23 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
122
123Beyond all else he wondered how she could bear to be divided in such a way. Already Laureya demanded his loyalty, even as it offered him support. He could feel it—a tether on his heart, a firm but gentle grip and a light tug without direction. Gentle, light, and warm above all, but still a grip; still a pull. To bear more than one Ring of Power would have torn him asunder.
124
125There’s no way to say it that doesn’t sound creepy, he reflected, tearing his eyes from the Ring and looking into the dark of his room. But it wasn’t—not really. It was a symbiosis between him and his Ring of Power. He needed the gift it represented, the power it could bring to bear. It needed him to bear it, to carry it forth and use it to—what?
126
127He shook his head, glancing back at the Ring of Power. Instinctively he knew that Laureya was meant for some purpose greater than the bringing of one criminal, even one so heinous as Bakuda, into custody. This thing upon his hand, so beautiful and awful to behold, meant more—was more than just a tool, a piece of tinkertech to be used or lay idle at the whims of its bearer.
128
129[3:24 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: look it's an addictive power boost
130[3:24 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: LET'S SEE HOW PIGGOT HANDLES IT
131[3:24 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
132
133“Yes,” Annatar said. “Last night, I produced a set of modules for the Wards, and handed them out.”
134
135“You what?” Piggot thundered. “You handed out your untested tinkertech to your teammates without even mentioning it to me?”
136
137“There was no way to test them!” Annatar protested. “My modules can’t just be passed around for testing! I needed to make sure that the people who got them were the people I wanted to bear them! I’m here with Aegis now so that you can test his!”
138
139Piggot put her head in her hands. There was a moment’s silence.
140
141“I can’t blame you for how your powers work,” the director said, her voice muffled. It sounded like a mantra. There was another pause. Then she looked up. “Okay,” she said. “Back up. These modules—they can't have more than one user?”
142
143Annatar lifted her hand, palm down, tilting it side to side in a so-so gesture. “Technically they can,” she said. “But… it wouldn’t be good for the guy doing the testing.”
144
145Piggot blinked once, slowly. “How so?” she asked.
146
147“The modules bind themselves to their user,” Annatar said. “I told the Wards that it’d be very hard for them to give up their modules once they took them. I did some more thinking, and I think I could help them get over it, using Air. But it’d still take time.”
148
149“They’re addictive.” Piggot’s voice was perfectly deadpan.
150
151“…Sort of, yeah.”
152
153“You just handed out addictive power boosts to your teammates.”
154
155“…It’s not that simple—”
156
157Piggot sighed. “Aegis,” she said. “Round up your teammates and report to M/S confinement, if you please. With luck, we’ll have you cleared by the afternoon, and we can get on with our lives.”
158
159[3:25 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: Piggot reacts like someone who needs to be rolled over for the plot to continue reacts
160[3:26 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and then they get to keep the rings while taylor is put into m/s?
161[3:26 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: wait really?
162[3:28 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: And they get to keep them?
163[3:28 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: what?
164[3:28 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: :canteven:
165[3:28 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: Wouldn't it make more sense plotwise if they were stripped away
166[3:29 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: wouldn't it advance the plot better if they were stripped away
167[3:32 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: honest though like besides everything else, this just doesn't make sense to me
168[3:32 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: you have the wards reacting like 'i hope they don't take these away'
169[3:32 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 'let's keep them this is great'
170[3:32 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
171
172“They can’t take them from us,” said Chris tersely. “I—Mirilya’s made me see more clearly than I have in years. It’s like I don’t even have— it’s like all my problems with my powers are just gone. I could finish any project I set my mind to like this. They can’t take them from us.”
173
174“They won’t,” said Sophia, idly fiddling with Cenya, which glittered green on her ring finger. “Taylor won’t let them.”
175
176“Annatar is currently in a holding cell until they decide whether we’re mastered,” said Dennis calmly. “Hate to say it, but she probably can’t help us with this one. Piggot likes her, but not that much.”
177
178“Taylor hasn’t let us down yet,” said Sophia firmly. “Her modules haven’t either. We’ll manage. It’ll be fine.”
179
180Carlos ran his thumb against the gentle warmth of Laureya’s band. After a moment, he sighed.
181
182“You’re right,” he said. “We’ll be fine.”
183
184[3:33 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: you could make this into something cool by taking this away or having them realize that they are addicted or are exhibiting addict behaviors but nope they're just head over heels for :heart: Taylor :heart:
185[3:34 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: freeboota you betaed this >:o I shake my fist at you
186[3:35 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: Also like there was an opportunity for Piggot to not only be right but for Taylor to be wrong
187[3:35 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: like hugely wrong and unwilling to admit it
188[3:36 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: the idea that she's playing with powers that she doesn't quite comprehend and she's making trinkets that have weight/consequence to them
189[3:39 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I read a chunk of change of pace I think and there was a tinkerer who made bone charms from human bone but they didn't work for him but worked for taylor I think?
190[3:39 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and that was cool as a sort of fucked up thing
191[3:40 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: yeah but everyone being bowled over by taylor and nobody questioning or being resilient to say no  there
192[3:40 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: or just to go through regular procedure about giving power freebies out
193[3:40 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: teacher exists
194[3:45 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: but it would be amazing to watch like the self-justification and increasingly blatant manipulation
195[3:45 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: with a chorus of sycophants behind her
196[3:45 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: maybe she slowly brings each one into the fold by giving them a ring, they don't have to tell, it's just there to help them
197[3:46 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: Look, doesn't it make you feel warm, doesn't it remove the stress of the day to day routine? Doesn't it help you to focus?
198[3:47 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: It goes on so nicely under your gauntlets, under your gloves.
199[3:47 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: All I want to do is help you. I understand your pain. etc
200[3:47 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: she's the giver of gifts who empathizes with them, sinks her way into their hearts and brings them over
201[3:48 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: make her lie and be noble at the same time, make her a terrible juxtaposition of a person
202[3:48 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: by the time Piggot knows it's already too late
203[3:49 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: we don't need to tell her, we're in this together, look at how much good we're doing, piggot would never let us do this much for brockton bay
204[3:49 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: do you see what we can create, together?
205[3:50 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and then she's the villain in that story and then you switch to Emma as the hero because why the fuck not let's go full fucking crazy :triumph:
206[4:07 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
207
208“For the record, I believe you,” Dragon reassured me. “It’s procedure.”
209
210“Right. What else can I do for you today?”
211
212Dragon sighed, the sound hissing slightly as it emerged from the speaker. “Do you want anything?” she asked. “A book, music?”
213
214“Sure I won’t master anyone with them?”
215
216“Annatar, please. I—”
217
218“I’m sorry,” I interrupted, not waiting to hear her chastisement. “A book would be nice.”
219
220[4:07 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I don't get intelligent/horrifying out of this I just get a petulant child which is fine if that's what he was going for
221[4:08 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
222
223“Right. Now, I’m required to ask—did you master them, knowingly?”
224
225“No.”
226
227“Honesty may cause the PRT to be lenient,” Dragon coaxed. “We have worked with known masters before.”
228
229I sat up and looked over at the small red LED in the surface of the speaker. “I did not master my fucking teammates,” I bit out. “I gave them objects which will provide them a boost, at the cost that the objects themselves are, in some sense, addictive. They don’t have to use them, but they are bound to them. They can’t easily give them up. I can’t control them through them.”
230
231Not yet.
232
233I shoved that thought down hard. I don’t want to control them! I told myself, and it was true. I really, really didn’t. I’d been without friends for almost two years. Now, at last, I had them—and I couldn’t seem to escape the fact that, with a mere few days’ work, they could become little more than thralls.
234
235“If you’re telling the truth,” Dragon replied, “then you should be out of here within the next couple of hours. The Director will certainly want to talk to you, but we won’t need to have a serious M/S vetting.”
236
237“Good,” I grunted, and lay back down.
238
239[4:13 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: Besides the whole 'i swear im not heartbreaker' thing
240[4:14 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: this is all just plodding through stuff also like
241[4:16 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I am a big believer in testing shit and the potential long-term/short-term effects and it could be interesting for her to maybe set people up with rings and have them conceal the addiction or have taylor coach them on how to not show any signs of it
242[4:16 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: and this is all one big runon and shit
243[4:16 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: but
244[4:17 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: everything is obvious here it's all just as it is and feels more like the author than the characters and everyone else is just a minor stepping stone
245[4:20 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 
246
247“If I had approached you with my modules before I gave them to the Wards,” I said quietly, “you would have insisted on testing them before allowing them to go to the Wards. Maybe you’d have listened to me, when I said they bound themselves to their bearers, and would have allowed the Wards to test them. More likely, you’d have had PRT personnel test them. Had you done that… I could not be held responsible for what might have happened to those men. And yet I would have been, and my three-hour stay in a cell would have wound up being much longer.”
248
249Piggot’s eyes did not waver from mine. “I’ve given you a hell of a lot of slack, Annatar,” she retorted. “You want to rethink that?”
250
251I didn’t answer.
252
253“Here’s what would have happened,” Piggot told me. “When you told me that these modules would have ill effects when tested by someone other than their intended user, I would have believed you, because I know better than to think I’m an expert in your tinkertech. The Wards would have been allowed to test their own modules. And even if they weren’t, when my own people suffered ill effects because I refused to listen to the expert on the tech, I would have blamed the person responsible—myself.”
254
255[4:20 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: also piggot is way too reasonable here like
256[4:21 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: literally being told multiple times 'yeah they're addictive lol'
257[4:21 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: 'sure I guess'
258[4:21 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: it's like a game of who can race to the bottom of competence first
259[4:33 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: have her jump around questions, provide excuses
260[4:43 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I know I'm reiterating myself but lithos does it so I'll do it too:
261This feels like the Hobbit movies. It's rushed and doesn't care for the work, taking and stripping out parts as it likes.  There isn't any sense of the worldbuilding or the low-level magic. It's all nods and winks to 'HEY LOOK I'M REFERENCING isn't this OBSCURE?'
262[4:44 PM] Grand Princess Harbin: I don't have any sense of awe or wonder or cleverness or kindness