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Or on not-so-original OCs. Since they are (re-colored) copies of an animated character, they should be made of ink. So, take the Suvian to a Reality Room and apply the Dip there.

HG, being silly.

Aside from the nonexistence of Bielefeld, there's also the Berg in Berlin, which certain people claim isn't there simply because they can't see it. Clearly we need to send a team in. Does anyone in DOGA speak German?

{Agent Huinesoron: I speak Grelvish.}

What? That's not even slightly... why would you volunteer that information?

hS

considering the place doesn't exist, unless you truly are as fooled by THEM and their agents as I hope you aren't.

As for minis: obviously that's up to the first person to use them in a mission. I'm pretty sure Kaitlyn didn't... and it looks like Nesh didn't either.

So... I'm always uncomfortable with sapient minis, and Mobiles are wizards in their own right. They're also already mini-sized - and not really monsters! So I'd argue against them.

Hmm... the thing that's popping into my head is the carnivorous cars in SoYouWiz. They're a minor enemy (like the Balrog, or Aragog), sentient without being sapient, and the idea of two-foot-long sports cars racing around biting things is hilarious. ^_^ I think mini-Lotus Esprits is a unique mini, too (whereas things like the kraken or the not-a-dragon thing are a bit generic), and using the specific make of that one car lets me avoid a generic name like 'mini-evil cars'.

So that's my pick. (Second option is the metal scorpions from Mars, but again I think they're a bit small.)

hS

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_Conspiracy

Ixi is a dumb. ;-;

(What I was trying to get at was she was given the push and would've been able to shatter the Maze, but I guess it doesn't really work, does it? Urk. I'm a little ways into Deep Wizardry at the moment, I'll let you know when I get to High.)

I'm EAIUBEROverlord on Smogon

It's two r's, one l.

(Also, what even is the mini for this continuum? Mobiles?)

The Dip works by using a mixture of chemicals that dissolve ink, specifically Acetone, Turpentine, and Benzene, all of which can be used to strip paint. That's all well and good within its home verse because Toons are still make of ink. However, other animated characters are made of flesh and blood within their home verse, which PPC agents enter. Hence the Sue would be made of flesh and blood, and The Dip will have no effect. Of course, this is just my own interpretation.

You've done a great job of explaining why Baby Wix needed the help the Powers gave her. What I'm really interested to know, though, is why the Powers need /her/ help. 'High Wizardry' (don't know if you've got that far?) goes on a bit about how brand new wizards - particularly the very young ones - are a major investment of energy, so the Powers choose them based on their ability to immediately use that power in a major move against the Lone One. (The canon confuses this slightly with Daryll's Ordeal, but Daryll is... different.) While I'm sure They would love to help out every receptive lost soul, entropy is running, and Their energy is limited. (As a potent example of this: the Planetary for Earth mentions in the last book that her infant son had a variety of leukemia. It was able to be cured by wizardry, but that doesn't mean Earth's wizards are now out curing every case. Rather, they've arranged for the non-wizardly aspects of the treatment to be leaked into the medical establishment.)

I know I'm rambling, but I just want to know whyyyyy--! ^_~

(As for your explanation of the Maze, yes, that's very clear. And I think you should name her Renesmee. >:D)

hS

The internet is full of self-inserts of people interaction on "forums". These self inserts often have improbable descriptions and claim to be far more skilled than they should be. Further investigation is requested.

I was more thinking about the Maze telling Baby Wizard that it was her Ordeal was just more preying on her fears/insecurities: "Yep, I'm your Ordeal, and you're an idiot for not realizing it earlier." It's not so much the Maze talking to her as it is a bit of herself that it's appropriated to wear. If that makes sense?

As for why her... something I'll have to flesh out in the hypothetical Part One. My thought process was something like this:

Baby Wiz is me, set around fifth grade. I was bullied a lot, blah blah, sad story, blah, started to internalize a lot of that, but at the same time I was desperately hoping for something, anything, to help me prove I was better than I (and they) believed. Becoming a wizard obviously wouldn't solve that overnight—it certainly didn't for Nita—but it'd be a push in the right direction, and sooner or later (later for me in the real world, sadly), Baby Wiz would've snapped and fought back, and being goaded by an enemy she knew she wasn't helpless against would have done the trick.

(As for why Baby Wiz doesn't have a name, I was still going by my deadname at the time and didn't really feel like doing a rehash of Juliette's own story, so no name it was.)

I'm pretty much free to do it whenever now. Want to try for tonight?

... I found one!



Found on a piece of playground equipment near home. Clearly a tree-loving wizard has been out reinforcing the equipment to prevent accidents. Thanks, cousin!

hS

I jest, I jest (mostly).

I really like the spell in the new section (I've already commented on the first part, right?). The physical mirroring of the name to match the mirroring of... huh, she never gets a name, does she? Ixiwiz - is excellent, and feels very Duane-ish. I also like the idea hinted at that the House of Mirrors isn't just Ixiwiz's fears writ large - it's a malevolent entity (possibly even an entire parallel dimension?) that feeds off people's fears. That fact turns this from a story about Ixiwiz gaining self-confidence (which, under most circumstances, wouldn't in itself justify the Powers' offering wizardry to her) into one about her taking down a major problem that could practically have been designed to trap her.

There's a principle in the books that 'all is done for each' - that while you're out solving problems with your Art, the problem solving ends up helping you, too. This is very much at play here, at least in the subtext.

One thing I will highlight is the fact that in the /first/ half, you pulled all the subtext out and named it. It started off unclear, but eventually the Mirror was flat out saying 'I'm your Ordeal'. The transition to all the themes being unstated, only seen by implication, is mildly jarring; I'm actually wondering if it migh be deliberate? The shift happens at the moment Ixiwiz starts completely ignoring the Mirror, so it could be thematic.

Another thing I like is that you've done something none of the rest of us did, but all the main-series canon Ordeals do: you've made Ixiwiz an active participant in getting to the Hall of Mirrors. Where Jacob, Lise, Julia and Marisa just found themselves in the relevant locations, and Siobhan was dragged there by a parrot, Ixiwiz actively teleported there. Sure, it was accidental - but Nita and Kit didn't intend to go where they did, either.

The one question I really want to see answered - the one that makes me actually ask for Part One - is: why Ixiwiz? It's clear why the Hall of Mirrors needed to be shattered, but what made Ixiwiz uniquely suited to the task? In the other completed stories, we have geekery, rocketry, and cyber...y, all making the kids in question The Right Person to take on their various threats, but here it almost seems the opposite: like Ixiwiz was a /bad/ choice, because she was likely to fall prey to it.

What's running through my head as an explanation (I can't help it, I headcanon everything) is that maybe that's the point. The Hall of Mirrors is obviously old and powerful - if I'm right, it's an entire universe of the Lone Power's domaim - and it must have learnt caution. A confident wizard who would blow it up with fire would never be able to find it. But someone who could be her own bait - who was exactly the sort of person it wanted to feed on, and a wizard to boot, so the Lone One would be delighted to take her out - but who was at heart strong enough to overcome it... that's someone who the Powers could extend the Oath to, and let her solve Their problem and find her own solution along the way.

hS

I think that this Sue assassination method should be restricted to God-Mode Sues and the absolute grossest Sues (i.e. Big Mac from Sweet Apple Massacre). Due to it's instant Toon-dissolving effect, Dip is only useful against animated and anime Sues.

One: when humanity's own inventions gravitate to the garbage, we have problems.

Two: Cloudberries are a Tundran fruit. Quick, we must check all games set in Tundra settings to find out where it came from!

What've you got?

Department of Geographical Aberrations

-The Queen's House, Greenwich (just below the Royal Observatory in London) seems to have a gravity-distortion field around it that has affected the filming of multiple blockbuster movies. In 2013, the climax of Thor: The Dark World took place there, and that whole movie was stuffed with gravity problems. The massless, inertialess tanker early on was only the start of things!

More recently, the 2016 film Now You See Me 2 tried to use a strobe light to generate the illusion of levitating water drops at the same location - only the distortion field instead actually levitated the drops! It was very clear that the same droplet was being seen in each flash of the strobe. (The uncontrolled environment rules out an ultra high-tech illusion, sadly.)

It is clear that a DOGA investigation is needed, probably with support from the Department of Analytical Science: this geographical anomaly has to be dealt with before it can affect the running of the Observatory, or somehow distort the Prime Meridian.

Oh, wait.

The Department of Misplaced Flora and Fauna

-Cloudberries have been identified as an obvious transplant from a fictional world, likely a fantasy setting, and probably a game of some description. If the name didn't give them away, the fact that they are a vivid golden colour probably should. The fact that they are nearly impossible to cultivate, and thus can only be found growing wild on the misty mountaintops, is pretty much the icing on the cliche cake.

Over to you!

hS

It’s just misleading phrasing, although the time manipulation is an interesting theory.

I haven’t really undertaken a detailed study of the geography of HQ, but I’ll make a note of that for future.

Once again, thanks!

I recently watched (spoilers), and I must say, it held up mightily well for an adaptation of a book. I was surprised that they managed to make the dead father's character arc fit into the limited length of a film, and the fake bird was dead on.

Cinnabar looked behind her briefly as the villagers scrambled away from their now-burning house. The Grimm inside of it weren't getting out to hurt anyone soon and in times like this, that was all that mattered. "Evac 1, what's your status?" Cinnabar called into her scroll, resting in a special indent in her left gauntlet, slightly battered from the physical and fire damage that the fight had caused, but working all the same.

"This is Evac 1. We're full and moving out." The answer came as she saw the plane lifting up and flying back towards Shade and the safer parts of Vacuo. Moments later two more planes followed suit, their pilots identifying themselves as Evacs 3 and 6 respectively.

Cinnabar nodded as she strode along the street, Volcanic Storm in her hands as she moved to take a stand against the Grimm that were pouring in from the now thankfully deserted end of the village she was meant to be defending. Volcanic Storm roared as scorching flames leapt out of it, creating an immense wall that disintegrated the first few Beowolf's that tried to charge through it, leaving the rest of them at bay until they found a way through, or round.

In the background Cinnabar heard two more planes take off, although she didn't pay attention to what was being said through her scroll and her comm link as half a dozen Griffons flew over her flame barrier. Switching targets, she altered Volcanic Storm's mode, now firing balls of fire into the air at the flying Grimm. With no fuel to sustain it, the flame barrier dissipated, letting the land-based Grimm she had been holding off start to thunder towards her.

Retreating as fast as she could, she didn't need to look to know that the Grimm we getting closer. Swerving to her right, she leapt into one of the few houses that wasn't either destroyed or on fire. Racing up the stairs as she heard the Grimm smash through the walls and windows into the lower floor, Cinnabar managed to burn a hole through the ceiling of the second floor until she was able to haul herself up onto the roof. Lifting Volcanic Storm so that it was aimed straight up in the air, she fired three shots of fire straight up, watching as they exploded above her. At the signal the final Evac ship took off, as a smaller aircraft moved towards her position.

Battling on the roof top was not Cinnabar's preferred position, but she fought there all the same, Volcanic Storm lighting up Grimm after Grimm as they tried to fling themselves at the Huntress. Soon her own fire was supported by her team mates on their ship as it flew towards her, before a figure stepped out of the shadow created by a Ursa that was in mid leap up onto the roof itself. While the Ursa was surprised at the human appearing beneath it, the human calmly pulled out his weapons, stabbing the two daggers into the Ursa and watching it disintegrate as he moved towards Cinnabar.

"Thanks Russ, you here to bring me home" Cinnabar called out, as her partner moved to watch her back as the two of them made a stand on the rooftop.

"Yep, couldn't have you dying on us Cinn" Russ replied, as he stabbed at any Grimm that got too close. Without any warning he looked up, before taking a hold of Cinnabar's arm before using his semblance to shadow step off the rooftop as a Griffon tried to land on them, depositing them both safely in the hold of their own ship.

Cinn shook off the weird feeling of having been effectively teleported through space as the ship blasted off back towards Shade Academy, roasting a few Griffons in its wake. Sliding down the wall, she smiled as she looked at the rest of team COPR, they were bruised and tired, but they'd raced against time and Grimm and had saved the villagers, even if the village itself was slowly going up in flames. As far as they were concerned, their mission was complete.

I like the setup here. It's a simple difference of preferences, but it tells us just enough about them that they seem like distinct people with distinct personalities. It's also just enough of an excuse for two siblings to have a lighthearted little contest like this, and the way they handle it shows that while the relationship between them may be competitive, it's also friendly. For such a short piece, that's a lot of character development, and it's good stuff.

Structurally, it could use some work. First, when publishing online and not using indented first lines for new paragraphs, please double-space between paragraphs. This makes for much easier reading.

Second, I'm a little confused about exactly what happens after "He also recognised where they were: nearly at the RC." At first, I didn't realize the door he goes through there is not the RC door, though admittedly that's because I don't expect doors between hallways, so I read it wrong. I don't think there are usually doors between hallways in HQ, though...?

Later, Edward gets to the RC door apparently ahead of Kat, but Kat is "still a bird and waiting for him to open the door" as though she got there first. You say she can manipulate time, so what happened there? Did she cheat and get there first (in which case that needs to be acknowledged)? Or is it just misleading phrasing? {= )

~Neshomeh

This is the second of the Marvel films I watched with my brother this weekend. Once again working off of notes I took during the movie. Spoiler warning for Thor: Ragnarok.

This kind of feels like they decided to throw Thor into the Guardians of the Galaxy setting/tone, and I don't much like it. The past Thor movies felt more like a high fantasy sort of tone, especially during the scenes set in Asgard. Raganarok barely spends any time there, and instead throws Thor more into comic relief sorts of settings and situations, with a lot of aliens with rather silly accents that don't really fit. They did do a good job of conveying that change, especially with the opening pop song, but it feels like a pretty lifeless way to send Asgard out of these movies for good.

I did like that opening scene, as the Ragnarok demon guy (Serta?) with his hordes of generic monsters almost felt like Marvel self-parodying a lot of their previous bad guys. It's funny that such a boring and ultimately unthreatening villain is treated so flippantly by the soundtrack, and pushed into a mostly meaningless intro scene. Of course, the fact that this character actually turns out to be a MacGuffin of sorts to defeat another villain later makes this even funnier. I liked him using Mjolnir to hold the dragon still as well. Even though we technically saw him do the same to Loki in the first Thor, it's somehow even better with a dragon. And of course, it's one of Mjolnir's final acts of combat . . .

The Actor Who Plays Odin and Whose Name I Should Probably Have Learned By Now Because He's Really Famous and Really Good looked like he had a really fun time playing Loki! It does seem kind of weird that when Thor starts overtly threatening "Odin," no one tries to stop him or even protests. Then again, Loki was hardly trying to keep up the Odin act at that point, so maybe a lot of Asgardians had figured him out by then, but knew they couldn't risk going up against Loki?

I have mixed feelings about Hela. I find her criticisms of Odin and Asgardian culture to be interesting (I love the stained glass falling away from the ceiling to reveal Odin's older history—gosh, Phase Three really liked tearing down father figures, didn't it?), and I really love that her motif is blades, even including her crown. Her constant barrage of limitless blades is a really cool and threatening fighting style. But at the same time, she's set up to be so unstoppably powerful that it's her combat threat that makes her boring, rather than her personality. She destroys Mjolnir seconds after appearing on screen, takes out two of the Warriors Three with basically no fanfare, and kills the third after just a tiny amount of fighting him. I'm glad Lady Sif's actor was busy filming something else, or we probably would have lost her, too. I did enjoy seeing Thor and Loki standing together to fight her without any real discussion, after everything Thor had to go through to get Loki to cooperate in Thor: The Dark World.

I love that Loki finally got his for-real redemption moment at the end, even though he had been ready to betray Thor one last time in the ship dock. He still made the right decision in the end, and wound up saving his entire people as a result.

Minor stuff:
-When Doctor Strange showed up so early in the beginning, I thought he was going to have a larger role in the movie, but it turned out to be a fairly short sequence. Oh well.
-The Valkyrie's theme music was really cool.
-Despite not liking the more whimsical tone of the film, I was very amused by the Grandmaster having what amounts to a theme park ride to introduce new combatants to his planet, complete with the hilariously out-of-place instrumental cover of "World of Pure Imagination."

—doctorlit didn't take any notes about the Hulk, it seems

"Why are you handing me the spoiler stick?" "Why are you handing me the spoiler stick?" "Why are you handing me the spoiler stick?" "Why are you handing me the spoiler stick?" "Why are you handing me the spoiler stick?"