About this fic: Can you provide a synopsis?
Four people from across a vast multiverse are connected through a ‘Node’ -- a telepathic hub allowing them to exchange messages in real-time -- and must work together to face the coming challenges.
There’s time-travel, jokes, alternate universes, and a lot of characters.
I read this a while ago, but it’s longer now and I’m lost
I knew this would happen eventually, so I’ve built a safeguard for you. The recap page is the primary summary of this work, so you can catch back up quickly. It also helps to summarize the other… complexities… of this story. Be wary of spoilers if you need to go to the recap.
Do I have to be familiar with (x)?
As a general rule, Conference Call is written with the assumption that any given audience member is unfamiliar with at least three of the settings. I am actively working to ensure all sections of this work can be understood by a reader unfamiliar with any of the source materials. Any information that an unfamiliar reader doesn’t understand is either not strictly plot-critical or will be explained later.
Spoilers are also being avoided to the best of my ability. Most major story beats and twists will remain untouched, as to best maintain the experience of reading the source works for the first time. Part of my mission here is to introduce people to stories I love without ruining those stories for them.
Story (x) has me curious! Can you explain it?
Sure thing!
Worm is a web-serial about a bullied teenage girl with the power to control bugs, and her conflicts with superpowered foes. The story is very dark and doesn’t hold its punches often, with a unique power system and deep setting. The Parahumans ‘verse is being represented by Kid Win, a teen with the power to invent technology centuries more advanced than conventional technology.
It can be found here.
Naruto is an anime/manga franchise about an orphaned boy who dreams of leading his ninja village. It’s pretty typical for its demographic, but the aesthetic is lovely and the characters are likeable. The Naruto setting is being represented by Ino Yamanaka, the heiress to a clan of mental technique specialists.
The anime is available on Crunchyroll and the manga can be purchased from VIZ.
Homestuck is a webcomic about a few friends and a videogame that destroys the world. It’s comedic, weird, and complex, with a heavy focus on character interaction and dialog. Homestuck is being represented by Roxy Lalonde, a character from a canonical alternate-universe to the main setting that’s featured in the sixth Act.
It can be read here, though recent changes to the website and hosting mean some elements and images have been broken. I would not recommend a first read-through until these issues have been resolved.
Mother of Learning is a web-serial about a young wizard cursed to repeat the same month over and over. Its fantasy setting is deep, with interesting magic, cool monsters, and a load of mystery. Mother of Learning is represented by Zorian Kazinski, a wizard-in-training who was dragged into a timeloop by a strange spell.
It can be read here, though be aware that the story has not yet concluded.
Explain what this is?
Conference Call is an experimental crossover fanwork utilizing multiple settings and viewpoint characters. It's hosted on both Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity, and utilizes their native 'threadmark' tools for easy reading. Click the 'threadmarks' button in the bottom right for the table of contents.
What’s up with the word count?
The story is nearly twice as long as the automatically generated word count would indicate, because text in spoiler boxes is not counted towards the length of the story. I don’t keep track of the actual count. At the time of writing it’s between sixty and seventy thousand words.
Where’s the story start?
Right here:
❖
Prelude Open the Node to see cross-universal dialog!
Anonymous user detected
Auto-Pseudonym enabled
********* has been renamed kWin
iYamanaka, rLalonde, zKazinski, kWin invited to node (+5.6%, +35.6%, +3.2%, +8.3%)
Translation Service activated (+8.5%)
ModThunder: 35%?! ModThunder: /node status 1
Systems Overclocked (Critical)
Core at 101.6% ^
Node Population: 5
User Count: 4
Realm Count: 4
Page 1/6
ModThunder: FUCK. ModThunder: /admin coreLock .7
Error: Threshold too low!
ModThunder: /admin coreLock .9
5 services locked (-13.8%)
Systems capped at 90% Core usage
For a full list of enabled/disabled features, do '/node services'
ModThunder: Okay, that should work. ModThunder: /node status 1
Systems stable
Core at 87.8% ~
Node Population: 5
User Count: 4
Realm Count: 4
Page 1/6
ModThunder: You guys don’t know it, but I just averted disaster. ModThunder: You can thank me later.
[You have been invited to join Node0903. Do you accept?]
Chris felt the thought slide into his mind. Random intrusive thoughts weren’t something he was totally unfamiliar with, especially with his power, but this was clearly different. Whatever it was, it made no effort in disguising that it was a foreign agent reaching into his head. His power at least bothered to try to pass itself off as normal thinking.
His eyes drifted around the classroom, trying to see if any of the other students were being targeted by this effect. He briefly looked over at Carlos near the front of the room, the only other person he knew to be a parahuman in the class. Nothing, no acknowledgement.
The thought was weird, less like something he thought himself and more like an entirely new sense opened up, allowing him to perceive it like he perceived the voice in his head. It was a lot like what he imagined a telepathic message would be like, but it lingered, staying within the purview of his awareness. And it wanted him to 'accept' it.
Yeah, no, he thought.
He raised his hand, and asked to be excused to the restroom. When the privilege was granted, he moved determinedly through the halls, into the first open bathroom stall. He pulled out his PRT phone and immediately dialed for help.
“PRT Console, status?” said a man’s voice.
“Kid Win here, out of costume. I’m at Arcadia and I need a Master/Strange screening immediately. I don’t know the exact nature of the effect, or who is involved, but it’s a brain thing, and it wants me to agree to an ‘invitation.'”
“Kid Win, we’re sending a PRT transport your way. You’ll need to change into your costume before pickup, is this acceptable? What are the chances of a hostile parahuman on the premise?”
He sighed. Really? Changing into costume? At a time like this?
“High. The effect started while I was in class. It’s like a telepathic message, and it’s inviting me to join a ‘Node’. Uh, my identity is also possibly compromised, because the effect targeted me while I was out of costume.”
“Understood. We’re calling in an investigation of potential parahuman activity. A report has been sent to your school. Make your way to your designated changing area, and prepare for pickup at the front gates. Best of luck.”
There was a click on the line. Chris stared down at his phone for what could only have been about twenty seconds (feeling like an eternity, of course) when the intercom system crackled on. “Attention students, we are now under lock-down. This is not a drill.”
The hallways would clear out in a minute or so, then he could get moving.
❖
[You have been invited to join Node0903. Do you accept?]
Ino was sitting at the dinner table with her family when the strange thought hit her.
She examined the strange mental entity for a moment. It was from an outside source, a type of direct contact, and seemingly passive (i.e. not rooting through her memories or anything). That was a good sign that this is either a telepathic connection, or a very dangerous mental boobytrap. The user could clearly already send messages, so what was the point in asking for permission to make contact?
She shrugged off her worries. She was right across the table from her father, the greatest mind-control expert in the world, so she was sure she would be safe.
“Hey Daddy, somebody’s trying to drop a telepathic payload off. I’m going to open it, if that’s okay?”
He looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
“Darling, I know we’ve talked about the dangers of unknown mental effects. Can you pass the thing to me, and let me check it out first?”
“But it’s been delivered to me, shouldn’t I open it? It could be private!” she smiled, knowing very well that her dad would let her get away with just about anything so long as he was watching over her. Realistically, it was probably just another member of her clan, trying to contact her for some reason or another. Not many other people could send telepathic messages, after all.
After a moment’s trepidation, he relented. “Okay, but be careful.”
At first she tried to poke at the package with her chakra, but couldn’t even find its physical location in her brain. That was interesting, because that should only be possible if the mental effect was either super small, or incredibly well-hidden. It has no reason to be hidden if it was just going to announce itself, right?
She directed a thought at the package.
I agree.
[Connection established.]
❖
Roxy looked at the distant clouds of volcanic ash rolling towards her. By any reasonable estimate, her and her friends only had a few minutes until the pyroclastic flow reached them.
Just minutes ago, she was almost four-hundred years in the future, and the universe was being destroyed. Because of said destruction of reality, she was forced to escape into the past to avoid the tragic end of fucking everything.
Of course, they used a one-way time portal, and, due to a number of complex temporal factors and paradox prevention protocols, could only escape to a single deserted island at a point in time where the local volcano decided to violently erupt. Out of the skillet, into the lava.
She looked over at her friend Dirk, who was busy lathing some weird alchemical crystal dowel into a mystic totem. She wasn’t one to judge the esoteric item-crafting systems in most games, but this? This really took the cake.
“Hey, not meaning to rush you or anything, but there’s hot-ass volcano clouds coming this way.”
“Do said hot-ass volcano clouds look like they’re something you can deal with in a timely manner? Because if not, we shouldn’t worry about them and just do what we can to survive. This is our last chance, after all.”
She briefly glanced over at Dirk’s severed head. The other Dirk’s severed head, that is. If she understood it right, they each had started with an ‘extra life’. But before they could even start the game, they lost these lives.
They were about to go all Jumanji into a magical video-game world with only one life apiece. Her friend Jake suggested that they were actually closer to going all Zathura: A Space Adventure, but this really wasn’t the time to humor him or his horrifyingly impressive ability to remember the full name of that movie.
[You have been invited to join Node0903. Do you accept?]
Roxy was startled by this, but only briefly. Was this part of the game? She shrugged it off and agreed. Can’t hurt more than lava.
Zorian groaned as his sister nearly knocked the breath out of him, waking him up from his sleep.
That wasn’t the first time this has happened to him. It wasn’t the second, either. No, that was the third time his sister has thrown her full weight into him as a wake-up call. It was also the third time he had woken up for the first day of school after the summer, and the third time he’d started that day.
The first time it seemed simple enough. He was attending Cyoria’s Royal Academy of Magical Arts, where he died to an unexpected lich attack on the day of the Summer Festival, and woke up a month in the past. He managed to go through the month over again, happy to just have a second chance at living. He got to the end of the month, avoided his own death, and…
Woke up a month in the past. Despite not dying the second time.
He was at a loss for what to do.
[You have been invited to join Node0903. Do you accept?]
And whatever that was, it wasn't good either.
Zorian sat up, and looked around his room. While he was distracted thinking about the previous day, Kirielle had snuck out of his room to take the bathroom to herself. For the third time, thanks to time-travel.
Now not only was he a time traveler that hallucinated strange sentences, but he was a time traveler that hallucinated strange sentences without any access to bathing facilities.
He climbed out of bed, and focused on the situation. The invitation was persistent, not something he could easily ignore. Did this weird message have something to do with the time travel? Unfortunately, there was only way to find out, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to commit to whatever it was.
He needed to talk to somebody, and get to the bottom of this.
❖
Chris sat in a simple cell, awaiting further testing.
He had no way of knowing what was going on the outside: if his identity was compromised, if the culprit has been identified, or even if he was the only target. The weird mental influence still clung in his mind, unchanging. A few hours ago, he had to undergo several brain-scans in an attempt to detect something. He also didn’t know the results of those.
So, left alone in his cell, he was forced to put up with nothing but his own thoughts for company. His attention was constantly tugged between thoughts of the outside world, his power feeding him loads of garbled super-science that he could barely comprehend, and that message. Any time he found himself trying to distract himself from one thing, his mind inevitably wandered to the next.
He was afraid of what could be happening outside his cell, and seemingly in response to the stress, his power was feeding him information to things he could make. But he couldn’t focus on it, because everything else was more important. He’d be halfway through a mental diagram of a laser pistol or something, and suddenly find himself wondering what was going on the outside, or inspecting the message in the back of his head.
It felt taunting. His power was finally working with him, but it was giving him something he couldn’t remember or write down notes on. It was hanging in front of him like a prize, and yet he kept getting dragged back by his learning disorder and that 'invitation'.
His thoughts were slipping between his fingers, out of control. Protocol dictated holding him for twelve hours. He would just have to deal with it until they finally pulled him out.
So he waited.
❖
iYamanaka has joined the Node! ModThunder: Welcome!
iYamanaka: Uh
iYamanaka: What is this? ModThunder: This is Node0903, and I’m your host here.
rLalonde has joined the Node! ModThunder: It’s an inter-cosmological construct, designed to build connections between disparate and conflicting multiversal models. ModThunder: Together, we can build a more coherent multiverse!
iYamanaka: Whatever you just said makes no sense to me.
rLalonde: thats p sweet but i have to ask
rLalonde: does this or does this not have any bearing on the game
iYamanaka: Game?
iYamanaka: What game?
rLalonde: just by askin that you answered my question
rLalonde: this isnt sburb cosmic bullshit this is just some unrelated cosmic bullshit to go alongside it
rLalonde: like a cosmic bullshit 2 for 1 deal
Ino was taken aback by this. Was this some sort of weird prank?
“Is something wrong, Ino?”
“No, it’s nothing. The mental package wasn’t dangerous, but it was weird.”
His brow furrowed at this. “And does this message make you uncomfortable?” She knew this look on his face. If anybody had sent his little princess something pervy or gross, they would be feeling his full wrath. Considering how closely he worked with the Torture & Interrogation department, that was a fate literally worse than death.
“No, nothing like that!” she defended, “I’m more confused by it than anything.”
ModThunder: So, let me give you two some background. Originally my organization was working on a multiversal unification project, to combine disparate realities with conflicting cosmological structures into a more coherent whole. ModThunder: We had a system we referred to as the Prime Hub, which would be the framework for this project. We lined up thousands of candidates to connect to as the emissaries from their realities.
rLalonde: and howd this work out for you ModThunder: I’m getting there. So, we booted up the Prime Hub, but several parts of it began to de-sync from the whole. ModThunder: We ended up breaking the whole thing down into a series of Nodes, which have more limited processing power, but can be manually calibrated and re-combined to construct the Prime Hub.
rLalonde: okay so
rLalonde: that much i can understand
rLalonde: but why did u make it a chatroom
rLalonde: is psychic aol a thing we really need?
“Do you want me to take a look at it?”
“I… don’t think you could if you wanted. Whatever technique is making it, it’s not done through standard means.”
“In what way?” he seemed genuinely curious at this point, not upset like she was worried he would be.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s probably nothing.” He wouldn’t believe her, she knew, but he wouldn’t press on. He’d just say-
“Alright, but tell me if you need anything.” Yup. They both understood the way this relationship worked, and so long as she wanted privacy, she’d have it.
iYamanaka: Let’s back up a moment.
iYamanaka: My name is Ino Yamanaka.
iYamanaka: We’re from different universes or something, right?
iYamanaka: Will me saying that I’m from Konohagakure mean anything to you? ModThunder: I can’t say that helps me any. I didn’t get anything other than the translation files.
rLalonde: translation files? ModThunder: Ino is speaking something closely analogous to what you would call the ‘Japanese’ language. I’m translating as accurately as possible in real-time.
rLalonde: so whatre you gonna do if i start speaking japanese
rLalonde: like if i just drop a kawaii in here
rLalonde: how did you translate that last line
iYamanaka: What the fuck? ModThunder: I translated it to ‘English’, of course. ModThunder: That’s not a language that naturally exists on Ino’s world, so it looks completely ridiculous to her.
rLalonde: they had japan but never england?
iYamanaka: We never had a ‘Japan’. ModThunder: It’s convergent cultural evolution. It’s a factor we looked for when picking our first batch of cosmologies. ModThunder: The existence of humans was also a favorable factor. Every person to join this Node will be human.
iYamanaka: Wait!
iYamanaka: There will be others?
❖
Roxy was ready for just about anything when she decided to finally buckle down and play the game. She didn’t expect to have a psychic version of Pesterchum installed directly into her brain, but she could at least argue that she was as ready for it as much as she could be.
Well, she could be more ready, but there wasn’t any liquor on hand.
“Roxy, we’re about to enter,” said Dirk, catching her attention away from the distinct lack of booze, “Me, Jane, and you won’t be at our houses when we enter, so we’re going to have to make our way back as a team.”
Right, yeah. SBURB brought the player's whole house into the game and turned it into their own personal hub-world. Since she wasn't in her house at the moment, she’d have to make her way back to it from Jake’s house.
Actually, the house thing might be where Jake’s Zathura line came from. All Roxy could remember from that one was the house being put in space and fourteen shots of vodka.
rLalonde: how many others
rLalonde: thats the real q ModThunder: There will be two others joining us, should they accept the invitation like you did.
rLalonde: what happens if they deny? ModThunder: Um. ModThunder: I beg your pardon?
iYamanaka: What happens if they reject the request?
iYamanaka: Also how do you not understand the question if you’re translating? ModThunder: You seem to misunderstand. ModThunder: There is no way to reject the option. If they do not accept immediately, it will simply wait until they're ready.
iYamanaka: Oh no.
rLalonde: whats wrong?
iYamanaka: Roxy, you remember how the invitation felt in your mind, right? How you couldn’t ever really ignore it?
rLalonde: oh
rLalonde: shit ModThunder: I don’t understand the problem.
Roxy saw the game-supplied alchemy station glow briefly, and a large tree of green crystal shot up from it, and from the tree a grim, skeletal pinata hung from a noose. Now all they had to do was solve the puzzle the game presented to them, and they could enter the game-world.
The puzzle was straightforward. Jake didn’t waste a moment before drawing a pistol and shooting it. There was a blinding wall of energy that flared up around the house, and when it faded, there was nary volcano nor fire in sight - only green fields and red stones dotting the landscape for as far as the eye could see.
❖
Zorian was having an awful train ride.
It was mainly the fault of that weird message in his head, beckoning him to accept an invitation into a ‘Node’. He had no way to get rid of it, and trying to will it away was also failing him.
The thought that whatever it might be couldn't be undone bugged him enough for him to just try to ignore it. He would need to practice ignoring it if it were to remain a long-term fixture. Partway through the ride he started a mental dialog with himself over the thing.
Do I accept it? Is it worth the risk if it means getting a few more answers? He thought, and for much of the ride he continued like this, growing frustrated with the way the 'Node' tantalized him with both potential answers and threatened him with an unknown, until he got fed up with it and vented his frustrations to himself. I wish I could just accept it and get this over with.
[Connection established.]
zKazinski has joined the Node!
iYamanaka: Did you join on purpose, or by accident?
iYamanaka: We’re trying to prove a point to somebody. rLalonde: weve been trying for hours
zKazinski: What?
zKazinski: What is this?
iYamanaka: Answer the question!
iYamanaka: This is very important!
zKazinski: It was an accident.
iYamanaka: Hell yeah, I knew it! rLalonde: i know ur probs super pumped to be right about smthn rLalonde: but some1 accidentally joining an inescapable brain chatroom isnt worth celebrating rLalonde: im roxy btw rLalonde: and iyamanaka is ino
zKazinski: Uh.
zKazinski: Zorian. ModThunder: Okay, so I’ll admit our group might have made a small error in our implementation of the Node system. It's too late to change it now, though.
iYamanaka: I earned the right to be super pumped. I knew exactly what would happen. rLalonde: no post-release patch? ModThunder: I don’t understand what you mean. You mean change the system after it’s been implemented? ModThunder: That would be incredibly difficult! rLalonde: u must somehow be even worse than the betty-crocker coding team rLalonde: ever see the the back-end of their codebase? rLalonde: it would look better if it was typed by a rhesus monkey rLalonde: u have outdone them
He got off the train in a near-stupor. He had no idea how much of this he had missed, or what they were talking about. The drizzle of the rain around the station didn’t help his mood any, either.
He started making his way to the Royal Academy. Somebody would have answers, whether it be in the Node or in the Academy.
ModThunder: Listen, while I understand your criticism of our methods, comparing our methodology to that of a monkey is just unfair.
zKazinski: Actually, Roxy claimed that your work is two steps down from that of a monkey.
zKazinski: Not that I understand anything else about this conversation.
zKazinski: Or method of conversation.
iYamanaka: Right, let me explain it so you don’t have to spend hours arguing with Thunder like we did.
iYamanaka: So, basically, we’re all from different worlds.
iYamanaka: If you already have different worlds, just think more different from that.
iYamanaka: Like if there’s an afterlife or a uh
iYamanaka: What was that thing, Roxy? rLalonde: parallel universe
iYamanaka: Right. If there’s any of that stuff, which can normally be reached by your world, we’re not from that. Our universes are closed off from each other, and can only be accessed from the outside. rLalonde: *multiverses
zKazinski: Why multiverses?
zKazinski: Shouldn’t there be only one multiverse? rLalonde: cuz we already have universes where im from, and our idea of '''multiverse'''' doesnt follow the same rules as the others ModThunder: And this is why we use the word ‘cosmological context.' ModThunder: It’s all the same multiverse, but different regions often have conflicting models. Roxy’s ‘Paradox Space’ model conflicts with the models of all other participants of this node, for instance.
Zorian was far more annoyed than confused at this point. It wasn’t hard to piece together what was happening based on the information available to him, but the trick was figuring out how the Node connected to everything else: the invasion, that strange spell the lich cast on him, and the time travel.
Any explanation would be better than nothing, and most importantly, he would definitely be checking to make sure this was safe.
zKazinski: Okay, so we’re in other 'cosmological contexts.'
zKazinski: Is communicating in this way safe, and does this have anything to do with the time-travel?
iYamanaka: The time travel? ModThunder: It’s safe. ModThunder: If you’re a time-traveler, and if that’s rare in your reality, then it’s likely that this trait was factored into picking you for the Node program. We prefer people who are exceptional in some way.
iYamanaka: I’m exceptional?
iYamanaka: More exceptional than the other girls, right?
iYamanaka: Also, Roxy, you need to show me how you changed the color of your name! ModThunder: I am not in a position to answer that question, we had millions of candidates, I don’t know all of them.
zKazinski: Why is this contingent on time-travel being rare?
zKazinski: Are there places where it’s common? rLalonde: u have no idea
❖
“Okay, Kid Win, we need you to explain to us exactly what happened.”
“I was sitting in class, when something contacted me. Mentally. I managed to stay calm and report the event to the PRT, before changing into costume and having a PRT van pick me up. The school went into lockdown.”
The PRT officer didn’t move. He turned to face Deputy Director Renick. Renick gave a silent nod of agreement, and looked at Chris.
“Chris, I must inform you that this event coincided with a brief world-wide blackout of precognitive powers. Powers based on predictive models were unaffected, but all powers that can actually predict the future briefly... sputtered out. They’re back online, so we have reason to believe that you should attempt to establish contact."
Renick ignored the look on Chris’s face. In this moment, he was all business, and leaving a Ward alarmed was tiny compared to what everyone else had been going through for the past few hours.
“The intel group Watchdog says it’s not a Master or Stranger effect, and that this might be our only lead on what caused the issue. We understand the risk involved, but we have very few windows where our precognitives can go dark without interfering with any important business, which may happen if you interact with this thing. Precog blackouts happen sometimes, on a smaller scale, so we have systems in place for this. We should be clear for the next 72 hours, if you choose to accept this ‘invitation’.”
“Are you sure it’s not dangerous?” Chris felt the world spinning, and everything was happening too fast. He needed a moment to catch himself.
“No. We’re not. This is an unknown phenomenon with world-shaking implications. The higher ups nearly had a fit when it was found to be related to a Ward, and we're trying to resolve it ASAP. We’re calling it Case 195, and you are either one of many victims of the event, or at the epicenter of it.”
Chris took a deep breath, letting the air fill his lungs and the light-headedness fade with his inhalation. The bad feelings were back within seconds, but in his moment of clarity he had already decided on what to do.
“Alright.”
Chris accepted the strange invitation.
[Connection established.]
kWin has joined the Node! ModThunder: Oh good, we’re all here now! ModThunder: Congratulations on being picked to build a more coherent multiverse!
kWin: …
kWin: Okay, I’m going to need an explanation.
Looks interesting! Wish this was a Zorian who looped a bit more though, arc 1 Zorian is a bit of a prick. Then again post aranea Zorian would never answer an unknown telepathic communication
Looks interesting! Wish this was a Zorian who looped a bit more though, arc 1 Zorian is a bit of a prick. Then again post aranea Zorian would never answer an unknown telepathic communication
Picking early Zorian was an intentional move on my part. I felt like the chat needed a prick, and I didn't want anybody to be too far away from the others in age.
Roxy: 16
Zorian: 15
Chris: 15 (This is just headcanon stuff.)
Ino: 13 (I wish I could age her up to 14, but that would destroy any semblance of the canon timeline if I'm pre-Chunin exams)
Ino is currently 13, and 15 year-old Zorian wastes almost a full year (6 months of just going to school normally, plus at least another 6 months) before his personality really improves by any meaningful margin. If I aged him up further, I would have two sixteen-year-olds. That makes it harder to present Ino as a peer to the group.
It also gives him time to evolve differently as a wizard, and lets me ruin that time he spent 4 months in a time loop doing the same thing over and over.
EDIT: My math was off. Roxy was actually 15 on 11/11/11, which is the current (effective) date in Homestuck.
“No. We’re not. This is an unknown phenomena with world-shaking implications. Pardon my French, but Piggot nearly shat herself. We’re calling it Case 195, and you are either one of many victims of the event, or at the epicenter of it.”
Picking early Zorian was an intentional move on my part. I felt like the chat needed a prick, and I didn't want anybody to be too far away from the others in age.
Roxy: 16
Zorian: 15
Chris: 15 (This is just headcanon stuff.)
Ino: 13 (I wish I could age her up to 14, but that would destroy any semblance of the canon timeline if I'm pre-Chunin exams)
Ino is currently 13, and 15 year-old Zorian wastes almost a full year (6 months of just going to school normally, plus at least another 6 months) before his personality really improves by any meaningful margin. If I aged him up further, I would have two sixteen-year-olds. That makes it harder to present Ino as a peer to the group.
It also gives him time to evolve differently as a wizard, and lets me ruin that time he spent 4 months in a time loop doing the same thing over and over.
Would Zorian really be a 'prick' though? Early Zorian is caustic because of his untrained telepathic abilities causing him a mix of physical pain and being frustrated by the double think of knowing what people feel and mean instead of what they're presenting (and not consciously realizing that not everyone experiences people as he does) when he's forced to be social. This Zorian is more likely going to have to adjust and deal with a real time conversation medium that isn't overwhelming him with empathic subtext, and he's already revealed to these three that he's a time traveler -- and one of the members can help him with that, even if only to vent. He's already intimate with them, and Ino is basically a ready made tutor for his psychic talents.
...Oh. Oh.
Wow, the more I look at the chat composition, the more it seems like it's set up specifically for Zorian's benefit more than anyone else.
You're right, it messes with the flow and I should've caught it during editing. Renick wouldn't be talking about this with a Ward.
That said, don't let the wording of it throw you off. Piggot is stoically pissed, and it shows, but she's not overwhelmed by any means. I'm working to make sure she's competent in this fic.
You're right, it messes with the flow and I should've caught it during editing. Renick wouldn't be talking about this with a Ward.
That said, don't let the wording of it throw you off. Piggot is stoically pissed, and it shows, but she's not overwhelmed by any means. I'm working to make sure she's competent in this fic.
First off, loving the fact that its not a Taylor or Naruto fic. Only one main character and one thats not often used, no idea about Homestuck. Also love the Union BBS style format fics.
First off, loving the fact that its not a Taylor or Naruto fic. Only one main character and one thats not often used, no idea about Homestuck. Also love the Union BBS style format fics.
Great premise, can't wait to see where you'll bring this. I don't know much about Homestuck, but the rest is right up my alley.
As has been pointed out, both Ino and Roxy have something that relates to Zorian's situation, I have to wonder how Kid Win fits into this. After all, he wouldn't benefit from information about time travel or telepathy, or chakra and magic, so I wonder how he'll fit in with the rest of them.
Can they send each other images, videos or music? That would be interesting, especially exposing Zorian and Ino to modern entertainment or even just technology.
Huh, Interesting. Mainly clicked on this because of MoL, not something I see a lot of stories about. Having four protagonists that influence each other through a mental chat only, sounds like an interesting challenge to write.
I'm going to address this quickly, while the fic is still young. They are currently limited to mental communication. As the story advances, so will their repertoire of tricks used to work together.
It will never go so far as 'summon each other', but there will be some cross-universal power shenanigans.
Questions like 'what would a Tinker do with the power to enchant stuff' and 'how do two mind magic systems interact' are totally within the domain of this fic.
I'm going to address this quickly, while the fic is still young. They are currently limited to mental communication. As the story advances, so will their repertoire of tricks used to work together.
It will never go so far as 'summon each other', but there will be some cross-universal power shenanigans.
Questions like 'what would a Tinker do with the power to enchant stuff' and 'how do two mind magic systems interact' are totally within the domain of this fic.
