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Glam isn't allowed to actually patrol the following day (it's a Sunday), so they mostly browse the 'net and read books. Echo's busy with her family (and she is allowed to go out patrolling), and Lorica's... doing something.
They're slightly worried about the fact that Yates hasn't replied to their email, but it's the weekend, so maybe that's why.
Has she replied to the email by Monday?
Sadde and Bell in Worm
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mxglam
"Glam's costume can stay as-is. For the second persona I'm leaning blue - more saturated than Lorica's - and gold."
mxglam
They—she nods. And does subtle alterations to her costume, following her suggestions. It feels ugly and wrong, Glam is not a girl, but—
Hm. "I'm gonna make other-me appear and maybe we can use them—him to do work on his costume as well?"
Hm. "I'm gonna make other-me appear and maybe we can use them—him to do work on his costume as well?"
thinkering
"I was going to just send you a sketch, but I suppose a live model will do too. It would be ideal to design with a name in mind, though..."
"Phylum," says Lorica.
"Not bad. I'll see if it's taken," says Ms. Yates, tapping at her computer.
"Phylum," says Lorica.
"Not bad. I'll see if it's taken," says Ms. Yates, tapping at her computer.
mxglam
Copy looks at original, and while th—she knows he doesn't really feel a whole lot, there's still a sort of, of kindred emotion there. As if he's thinking, 'yeah, sucks, I know.'
...Boots is gonna have a field day isn't he. Sigh.
"Genus, in the same line, if Phylum's taken," copy suggests, as his body's proportions change a bit as well.
...Boots is gonna have a field day isn't he. Sigh.
"Genus, in the same line, if Phylum's taken," copy suggests, as his body's proportions change a bit as well.
"Phylum was taken by a minor villain in Italy," reports Yates. "Some heroes consider it bad luck to take a dead cape's name but it isn't a branding problem; some don't like to take villains' names but the cape in question was never significant outside his hometown."
mxglam
"What about Genus? Or any other ideas? I never did think of my power as relating to animals."
thinkering
"Genus is taken," says Yates.
"Leash. Menagerie. Claw. Flock," says Lorica.
"Taken... taken... taken... taken..."
"Leash. Menagerie. Claw. Flock," says Lorica.
"Taken... taken... taken... taken..."
thinkering
"Phylum it is, at least as a working title - to obscure the connection I want Glam to be the only one going out for the next few weeks so there's time to think of more posibilities. And a sufficiently obfuscated way to produce the animals will need to be devised. Ideally it won't look very much like the objects Glam produces."
"I can help them work on something to handle that," says Lorica.
"We can talk costume now or another time. No rush on getting Phylum street-ready under the circumstances," says Yates.
"I can help them work on something to handle that," says Lorica.
"We can talk costume now or another time. No rush on getting Phylum street-ready under the circumstances," says Yates.
mxglam
Both of them nod. "I think I'd prefer doing it now," says Glam.
"Mostly to get used to it," explains Phylum.
"Mostly to get used to it," explains Phylum.
"Of course. Blue-and-gold is only one color option; do you like it or do you want more choices?"
mxglam
Stop sounding reasonable! Why are you sounding so reasonable? Why couldn't you keep being a harpy of horror?
"It's as good as any," shrugs Phylum.
"The white has more-or-less sentimental significance, in addition to being pretty gender-neutral..."
"...but I'm not particularly fond of any color scheme."
"What should the mask look like?"
"It could change each time I go out, maybe a different animal every time while keeping the same general style?"
"Though that might be too similar to the mask that shifts all the time..."
"It's as good as any," shrugs Phylum.
"The white has more-or-less sentimental significance, in addition to being pretty gender-neutral..."
"...but I'm not particularly fond of any color scheme."
"What should the mask look like?"
"It could change each time I go out, maybe a different animal every time while keeping the same general style?"
"Though that might be too similar to the mask that shifts all the time..."
"Too similar," agrees Yates. "You could go with some kind of animal headdress option as a mask, perhaps a wolf, or the costume could be less obviously related to the powers. Glam's projected attitude seems kind of whimsical or I'd recommend adding a tail... If the whole thing winds up organic a more earth tones color scheme might work better. Do you prefer to go armored?"
mxglam
Phylum nods. "Might be better for me."
"I can just generate whatever armor's necessary at the moment," explains Glam, "but he's more limited in what his supposed powerset can do."
"Though with enough practice with my actual power my regular bodysuit could be just as bulletproof."
"Why does my attitude preclude adding a tail to his costume, though?"
"I can just generate whatever armor's necessary at the moment," explains Glam, "but he's more limited in what his supposed powerset can do."
"Though with enough practice with my actual power my regular bodysuit could be just as bulletproof."
"Why does my attitude preclude adding a tail to his costume, though?"
"We don't want you to seem very similar or be associated with one another. A tail is a silly sort of thing to have on a costume, and while Glam's costume is not particularly silly what little coverage she's gotten suggests that she comes off that way when interacting with people."
mxglam
Wincing a bit at the 'she' but okay. Better get used to it. They both nod again.
"That makes sense," says Glam.
Phylum tilts his head. "What sort of attitude should I project?"
"That makes sense," says Glam.
Phylum tilts his head. "What sort of attitude should I project?"
"You need to be able to do it convincingly and consistently; what else can you do besides 'silly'?" inquires Yates.
mxglam
"Serious, focused, mysterious, introspective, grumpy, arrogant, sympathetic, curious, innocent, idealistic..."
"I think I can pull off almost anything with enough practice."
"Might need to script some things and play with the character in my head, maybe write about it a little."
"Probably practice with the people here in HQ before actually going out."
"I think I can pull off almost anything with enough practice."
"Might need to script some things and play with the character in my head, maybe write about it a little."
"Probably practice with the people here in HQ before actually going out."
"Well, it's no good deliberately adding grump to a persona, there's more than enough to go around. Serious and focused aren't bad traits to play up. So, armor, animal head mask, I'm less and less attached to blue and gold as I think about it - bronze, maybe, bronze armor over grey underarmor and a coyote head mask and possibly an accessory through which to 'channel' your power to generate the animals."
mxglam
With the information, Phylum's costume starts changing, starting with the bodysuit becoming gray and more like underarmor. "What color should the mask be?" he asks, adding bronze plates everywhere and a bronze coyote mask. "Should I be able to fly?"
"His power's gonna be generating animals, then? Should it have a limit? Like, maybe one animal at a time, maybe a type limitation or something?"
"His power's gonna be generating animals, then? Should it have a limit? Like, maybe one animal at a time, maybe a type limitation or something?"
Yates turns her monitor around. "Coyotes look like this. There can be a difference between what your publicly displayed Phylum power is and what hidden depths you can reveal in a more serious emergency; most capes don't reveal all their contingency options. Sticking to mammals, a small number at a time, or animals with realistic capabilities for their species are all reasonable 'show limits' that you can discard under pressure before resorting to collapsing your personae. I don't think Phylum should display the ability to fly under his own power, but animals to carry you around are likely enough."
mxglam
"No fictional animals by default I presume."
"What do you think of a more shamanistic vibe, since I'm going to be summoning animals?"
"What do you think of a more shamanistic vibe, since I'm going to be summoning animals?"
"Are you Native American?" asks Yates pointedly.
mxglam
"No, but I don't mean necessarily something that's actually used by Native Americans."
"More the feel? Specifically for whatever artifact I'm going to be using to summon the animals, like Myrddin has his magical feel I could have something magical looking as well to make them appear."
"More the feel? Specifically for whatever artifact I'm going to be using to summon the animals, like Myrddin has his magical feel I could have something magical looking as well to make them appear."
"A 'no' would have sufficed. If you evoke Native American aesthetics and aren't planning to claim, in costume, believably and ideally truthfully, to belong to the culture people will think of when they see you acting that way, then we will have protests to deal with and it is my job to prevent that. You could probably get away with a druid look but you'd need to replace the bronze with leather and deal with the reduction in defensive power."