Kintsugi Plays Fallen Hero: Retribution (ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ …(^_^)…)

> Luckily, Nothing Else Goes Wrong

You reach your goal without incident and drop over the edge of the bridge with the help of your grappling hook.

There's no sign of the LDPD, and you don't feel any trace of spying eyes or minds. Too bad there was no loot, though at least you got to see your crew in action.

Now all you have to do is wait and hope nothing else unforeseen happens.

> You Hate That

"Hey boss." Rosie's voice crackles in your ear as the innocent-looking fishing boat pulls up underneath where you dangle. "Ready for pickup?"

"I'm not dangling here because it's fun." You don't put too much force into your displeasure; since Rosie started working for you, you've realized how much it helps to have a reliable henchman. It puts less pressure on cultivating one-off pawns, and while you still haven't revealed who you truly are, there is a measure of trust.

You pay her enough for that.

"Sorry, boss." The boat slows down, and you drop down onto the deck without incident. "Are we ready to get out of here now?"

"Yes." You gesture to the captain, who guns the engines with enough force to make both you and Rosie brace yourselves—time to get off the deck so you won't be spotted.

"Finally. How did it go?" Rosie follows close behind, letting her curiosity get the better of her.

　‣ "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."
　‣ "Everything went according to plan."
　‣ "Ran into a bit of trouble, nothing I couldn't handle."

 

>"I don't care about rumors, I am one"
>bamfs the fuck out
looks like josie agrees with us on the SUPERvillain Presentation lmao, love it

>Nothing we couldn't handle

 

It would be silly to go from

Directly to

Like, yes, degrees of trust and Need To Know, but,

So yeah, let's admit not as planned but easily handled . More confidence in a boss who can calmly weather surprises and disruptions and roll with them, amyway

 

Yeah, no need to make ourself look standoffish or insecure.​

> "Ran into a bit of trouble, nothing I couldn't handle."

"Ran into a bit of unexpected trouble," you admit with a shrug, "but nothing I couldn't handle. Just people trying to be cleverer than I am."

"Bet you showed them, boss." She looks happy, will probably be checking the news tonight.

Looks like she has confidence in you, and so far, you haven't let her down. You're glad you took the step to hire her.

You will make sure to keep your relationship…

　‣ Professional, I'm the boss and nothing else.
　‣ Friendly, I don't mind a bit of banter.
　‣ Strict, I want to be feared.

I guess this is our first on-screen conversation with Rosie as Anathema. What approach do we take?​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 51% (+5)
██████████▒█████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 30% / Anonymity: 70%
████████████████████
Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
██████▒█████████████
Daring: 50% / Caution: 50%
████████████████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
████████████████▒███

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

Tentative leaning banter - given we've been bantering and humoring the quirks of our other hirelings, the first we hired should def get some of that.

Preferences in order are friendly, professional, strict.

 

> Friendly, I don't mind a bit of banter.

You never minded a bit of banter, and it's easier to pretend you're not alone if you don't make yourself unapproachable. You're the boss, sure, and just like with Barbara, you can allow yourself to have a little fun. Everybody knows who's in command; as Anathema you have nothing to prove. Part of you wonders if you would dare remove the helmet and let people know who you really are. Your telepathy should be able to spot any leaks, but it's a risk.

A huge one.

> Finally, The Adrenaline Fades

The boat surrounds you with vibrations, the engine's steady beat and the waves forming a soothing symphony.

You can't wait to get out of the suit, but it will have to wait until you're back at the base.

Right now, all you can do is wait.

Closing your eyes, you allow yourself a moment of introspection. Introspection that inevitably turns to Ortega. You shouldn't be thinking about her, but even now she's at the back of your mind like an intrusive thought. You know she's back in action, finally. She should be desperate to get her hands dirty. And yet Lady Argent chose to work with the Handyman?

Where was Julia?

　‣ I'm relieved she didn't show up.
　‣ Why wasn't she here?
　‣ What is she up to?

"But enough about Argent. Let's talk about how this is Ortega's fault."​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55% (+4)
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 30% / Anonymity: 70%
████████████████████
Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
██████▒█████████████
Daring: 50% / Caution: 50%
████████████████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
████████████████▒███

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

>whatcha doin?

 

> What is she up to?

What is she up to? You know her too well, she wouldn't let Lady Argent pull something like this without getting involved. So the question is, did she know, or did Lady Argent keep it a secret? And if so, why? What are you missing?

Fuck. Are you overthinking this? So Lady Argent got involved when you weren't expecting it, but you're still here. Nothing ever goes entirely to plan. The trick is to roll with the punches and find a new angle of attack. That's what you've always done. So why can't you get it out of your mind?

　‣ I'm not supposed to be the one ambushed.
　‣ Barbara. She's been too preoccupied with Ortega, and it's bleeding over.
　‣ I got too close to Ortega, can't get her out of my mind.
　‣ I need to forget that Ortega is my friend.
　‣ Lady Argent's an added complication.

What is it that has us so uneasy? Being caught unawares? Lady Argent? Ortega?​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 30% / Anonymity: 70%
████████████████████
Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
██████▒█████████████
Daring: 50% / Caution: 50%
████████████████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
████████████████▒███

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

As much as most of the options are all about the interpersonal, I'm leaning option 1. This was supposed to be freedom and taking a degree of safety into own hands, we're not supposed to be the ones getting ambushed still

 

We're a villain now—so why did the heroes have us on the back foot?​

> I'm not supposed to be the one ambushed.

You're not supposed to be the one who's ambushed. That the Handyman and Lady Argent managed to pull this off shows that you have become too complacent. Being able to outfight someone doesn't matter if they can outthink you. You know that; it used to be how you won.

Have you lost your touch? Have you become too used to relying on your armor to get you out of trouble?

Looking down at your hand, you flex it. Open. Close. The Rat King a comfortable presence pressed against your hindbrain. The nanovores safely hibernating in their void-cage. Your armor. Your new identity. Strong. Not weak. Did you lose something when you stepped into the shiny, new shoes of Anathema?

　‣ No, I can take risks now. I don't need to hide like I used to.
　‣ Maybe. It is easy to feel invulnerable in here.
　‣ Yes, I've been careless. I need to be smarter in the future.

Have we let ourself get sloppy as Anathema? Should we take this as a serious wake-up call and play it safer going forward? Or is that just our old reflexes talking, from the days when we had no choice but to hide?​

Spoiler: Show Stats (no change)

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 30% / Anonymity: 70%
████████████████████
Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
██████▒█████████████
Daring: 50% / Caution: 50%
████████████████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
████████████████▒███

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

Maybe maybe? I like the uncertainty of it.

 

> Maybe. It is easy to feel invulnerable in here.

Maybe. It's easy to feel invulnerable in your armor. There's a barrier between you and the world that was never there before. A different face in the mirror. A stranger's voice from your lips.

It's exhilarating.

But you can't allow yourself to get carried away.

You shake your head and try to clear your mind. There will be enough soul-searching later.

> Back At Your Base

The tunnels are a familiar comfort, you keep reminding yourself to find a new place, but you've gotten used to this one. A month or two more won't hurt; you don't want to give up what little comfort you have.

It wears you down, always being on the move. You know it's not wise to put down roots, and yet it's a temptation. Nobody will look for you here. You're safely forgotten in the dark.

A proximity alarm beeps quietly, tearing you from your thoughts. You've made sure to rig your base so you would know when people approach. Walking over to the monitor, you check which one was triggered.

Oh. Nothing to be concerned about.

It's just another squatter. You know there are many around here, and one has taken up residence close to your base. If you wanted to, you could have chased him off, but there are perks to having people around. Now there's an explanation for any weird sights or sounds, and people tend to avoid squatters if they can.

Good. Everything is under control.

Peeling off the last bits of your armor, you are grateful for the fact that you're in a lot better shape than you used to be. Six months ago, a battle like this would have left you a wreck, but you're not even winded.

Now all you need to do is to get clean and wind down a bit, and then you can decide what you're going to do next. You don't want to be caught out like this again.

But that is a problem for tomorrow.

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 30% / Anonymity: 70%
████████████████████
Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
██████▒█████████████
Daring: 45% / Caution: 55% (+5)
████████████████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
████████████████▒███

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

And as they say, tomorrow is a new chapter.

Next time: keeping our enemies closer.​

 

thank you for your patience, here is chapter 14​

A few days later.

If there is one lesson from your past you're grateful for, it is when to be patient. You're curious, sure, but you also know that running off to the Rangers the very next day would be another suspicious coincidence. You try to limit those as best you can.

Time. Setting your own schedule. What you do. When you do it. Will the novelty ever wear off?

You don't think so.

So, you make the most of your freedom. You're in no hurry right now, so you're walking when you could have driven. What is it that drives you into the streets?

　‣ It lets me see more of the city. My city.
　‣ It lets me keep my finger on the pulse of the city.
　‣ It's harder to track someone on foot.

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
████████████████████
Subtle Manipulations: 74%
██████████████▒█████

Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
█████████▒██████████

Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
████████████████████

Leadership: 55%
████████████████████

Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 30% / Anonymity: 70%
████████████████████
Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
██████▒█████████████
Daring: 45% / Caution: 55%
████████████████████

Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
████████████████▒███

Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
███████████▒████████

(This isn't a change to relationship status, just acknowledgement that "yep, still noncommittally flirting.")​

Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
████████████▒███████

Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
▒███████████████████

Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
████████▒███████████

Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
████▒███████████████

Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
████████████████████

Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

>Harder to track. It's why we're being a sewer cryptid too, after all.

 

> It's harder to track someone on foot.

It's harder to track someone on foot, especially if that someone is a telepath. You might be paranoid, but there are just too many ways a car could be bugged or easily followed from the skies. A pedestrian in a crowd is harder to keep track of. Then you need the personal touch, and even if you weren't a telepath, you've always been good at picking out people that follow you. That you haven't spotted any makes you nervous. Are you that good, or are you overlooking something?

Just a year ago, you made a good effort to be as nondescript as you possibly could. To blend in, be bland, just a face among many. It didn't stop Ortega from recognizing you, and now that you have everything you need for your new life as Anathema you are less constrained by necessity. These days your sense of style could be described as…

With our successful class change comes the ability to equip clothes other than our old Hoodies of Maximum Anonymity. Which raises the question... what kind of clothes?
this is the last customization bit i promise​

　‣ Feminine.
　‣ Androgynous.
　‣ Masculine.
　POLL

(Unrelated to the "gender presentation" choice we had earlier; this doesn't affect how people read Josie, just how traditionally gendered their choice of clothing is.)​

Choose a style:
　‣ Nondescript.
　‣ Worn.
　‣ Fashionable.
　‣ Grungy.
　‣ Expensive.
　‣ Quirky.
　‣ Edgy.
　POLL

Choose a fashion:
　‣ Suits.
　‣ Sportswear.
　‣ Elegance.
　‣ Military surplus.
　‣ Streetwear.
　‣ Preppy.
　‣ Casual.
　POLL

While you were at it, you also decided to…

　‣ Change up my hair.
　‣ Keep my hair the way I'm used to.
　POLL

Just give me a yes or no for now; I'll save the actual hair color/style menus for if we decide to change things up. In addition to the classics, Josie is now open to less nondescript options like hair dye and extensions. (The range of styles has also been expanded since Rebirth.)​

Hiding in plain sight doesn't always mean being nondescript, and some forms of jewelry are more permanent than others. What hides under your clothes is nobody's business, but for visible jewelry you have…

　‣ No piercings.
　‣ A single piercing.
　　‣ Pierced ear.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrow.
　　‣ Pierced nose.
　　‣ Pierced tongue.
　‣ Several piercings.
　　‣ Both ears pierced.
　　‣ Many piercings in both ears.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrows and ears.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrows and nose.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrows and tongue.
　　‣ Pierced ears and nose.
　　‣ Pierced nose and tongue.
　　‣ Pierced ears and tongue.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrows, ears, and nose.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrows, ears, and tongue.
　　‣ Pierced ears, nose, and tongue.
　　‣ Pierced eyebrows, ears, nose, and tongue.

…this is the point at which your LPer started to cry.

Just— just tell me in the thread which individual piercings or combinations you like/dislike/think Josie should randomly choose from, okay? Or… something. I don't know. Trying to make a poll for this choice will be my villain origin story.


To summarize, we're voting on:
• Clothing style, in the format [gender coding] + [style adjective] + [fashion genre].
• Whether to change our hair (style and/or color)
• Piercings (one/multiple/none of: ear, eyebrow, nose, tongue)

As always, vote for your favorite individual option(s) or suggest specific combinations; I'll count votes in the polls and the thread (so warn me if you do both); and if you just don't feel like voting on any of these, you can do me a favor by letting me know.​

Spoiler: Show Stats

CLASSIFIED

Subject: Anathema

Secret Identity: Josie Jacobs
Gender: Non-binary.
Description: A tall mixed person in their thirties with brown eyes and short and styled curly dark brown hair.

They have a short, scruffy beard and mustache.

Standard of Living: Josie is well-off.
Josie is living in a comfortable apartment.

Josie Jacobs is a seasoned, tech-savvy tactician.

Physical Status
Stamina: You are rested.
Willpower: You feel calm.
Injuries: You are fine.

Telepathy
Strength of Mind: 50%
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Subtle Manipulations: 74%
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Anathema
Anathema runs a criminal syndicate.

Infamy: 46% / Obscurity: 54%
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Armored Suit
Anathema's suit is a shadow with a mirror for a face, revealing nothing. The cape conceals and obfuscates what's underneath.
In its left hand, the suit has a neutered colony of nanovores, functionally similar to having disintegration touch. The suit is also equipped with telepathic boosters and enhanced speed as well as jump-jets.

Armor Status
Need Repair: 0% / Fine: 100%
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Leadership: 55%
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Psychological Profile
Arrogance: 27% / Anonymity: 73% (+3)
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Ruthlessness: 33% / Empathy: 67%
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Daring: 41% / Caution: 59% (+4)
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Back in the day, Sidestep was known as a vigilante working with the Rangers.

Main Puppet
Name: Barbara
Puppet Status: She is fine, and has no serious wounds.
Description: A tall white woman in her twenties with blue eyes and long straight blond hair.

Allies and Enemies

Charge
Josie's Relationship with Ortega: Friend and ally.
Ortega's Connection with Josie: 83%
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Ortega thinks Anathema has made some good points.

Barbara's Relationship with Ortega: Eternally flirting.
Ortega's Connection with Barbara: 59%
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Dr. Mortum
Barbara's Relationship with Dr. Mortum: friend.
Mortum's Connection with Barbara: 63%
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Lady Argent
Josie's Relationship with Lady Argent: Distant.
Lady Argent's Impression of Josie: 1%
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Lady Argent respects Anathema's abilities.
Lady Argent's Interest in Anathema: 43%
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Marshal Steel
Josie's Relationship with Steel: Former ally.
Steel's Connection with Josie: 24%
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Marshal Steel thinks Anathema needs to be brought in.

Herald
Josie's Relationship with Herald: Distant.
Herald's Connection with Josie: 20%
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Herald thinks Anathema is a villain.

Other Characters

 

I hear, in the distance...
future books to this story
and they smell like
customization

Anyway. I don't anticipate us having electricity-based foes, so I'm not opposed to piercings. RNG them? (I have already voted on polls)

 

look
look.
that sounds like a problem for future keltena.

Oh, certainly not. Perish the thought!

(And the RNG vote for piercings is noted.)

 

I also polled and have no piercing opinions.

 

I'm thinking I'll close the polls this evening. Current plan is to flip a coin for any choices that are tied for first; if anyone prefers we handle that differently, let me know. (Current ties are masculine vs. random-gender and nondescript vs. secondhand.)

 

These days your sense of style could be described as…

Coin flip between masculine clothing and, uh, a second coin flip: tails. Our second, 3-sided coin says option #2:​

> Androgynous.

Your style is androgynous and…

Coin flip between "nondescript" and "worn": tails.​

> Worn.
> Streetwear.

You've chosen to stick with your usual streetwear, no need to stand out. You like to shuffle around in a pair of jeans and a hoodie, or whatever you feel like on that particular day. The clothes might be worn and secondhand, but you could be anybody.

No need to stick out.

While you were at it, you also decided to…

…not open this can of worms, because our hair is perfect the way it is.​

> Keep my hair the way I'm used to.

Hiding in plain sight doesn't always mean being nondescript, and some forms of jewelry are more permanent than others. What hides under your clothes is nobody's business, but for visible jewelry you have…

I'm going to need more dice... Okay, D3 says 3, and D12 says... 11, wow.​

> Several piercings.
> Pierced ears, nose, and tongue.

And with that, we'll return to your regularly-scheduled programming!​