— Success chance: 50%.
— General results: Taylor will steal several thousand dollars worth of cash from the Brotherhood without leaving a trace of her presence behind, allowing a wider variety of options in future updates. The Brotherhood will not know it was her, and will not suspect it. Increases Taylor's stress levels as she obsesses over being found out.
— On a success: Suffers no negative impacts other than increased stress levels. Opens up additional options in which Taylor can purchase items (cellphone, food, bus fares, etc), as well as potentially take her girls out on dates.
— On a failure: Substantially ncreases stress levels even further when Taylor learns that the Brotherhood guards were punished for losing the money, and what form the punishment took. Decreases Rune recruitment chances by 10% while within Winslow's halls.
Spoiler: Stat Gains/Losses
Stat gains:
Madison Clements:
+1 Affection
+1 Submission
Victoria Dallon:
+1 Affection
+2 Lust
+2 Loyalty
+2 Theatricality
Minor Vote— Fetishes
Opinion Poll-
Fetish Preferences
As we all know, there are some things that just make people personally uncomfortable to read about. When writing Heaven & Hell, that's something I try to keep in mind. I'm here to write enjoyable content, after all, not content that will make people uncomfortable.
I willingly admit that anything I write will make somebody uncomfortable, but I think there's a spectrum there.
Anyway, that's a little beside the point. The point is, when it comes to some fetishes, I recognize that there are significant elements of them that can make people uncomfortable. As such, I'd like to take a step back from... everything, and try and gauge where my playerbase stands on where they'd like to see the limits for certain things set.
Please be aware that there are, necessarily, going to be limits I'm not comfortable with raising, similarly to how there are fetishes I'm not comfortable with writing. I understand if that annoys some people, but I can only hope you can forgive me for that. I can't force myself to find something sexy if I don't.
I am probably going to substantially edit the latest update at some point. Not soon, but eventually. I think there are things I can do to make it flow within the story much better. For now, however, I will have to ask that you just bear with me and accept that the latest update was flawed.
So, without further ado; I'm going to be presenting some votes based around the things likely to be most uncomfortable in the quest. Please vote for the preference that skews closest to what you'd like to see included in the quest.
[] Fetish the First: Mind Control.
This one is obviously an intrinsic part of the quest, and it's not going to go away. However, the degree to which it's focused on in the quest is something that I'm willing to work with. There are, however, limits as to what I am willing to write about. One of these limits is that I am not personally willing to write about heroes being non-consensually subjected to heavy levels of mind control. I am fine with writing light levels of it, and even loving relationships based off the premise of mind control enabling the relationship, but that is as far as I will push the packet there.
For this one, I will be presenting three choices. These choices will represent both fetish preferences, as well as how Taylor will view them in the context of the quest's story.
[] Option 1: Continue with the limits as before. Taylor will come to accept that she has a mind control fetish (that is, she will come to accept that she is turned on by the idea of mind control, but will not necessarily accept the idea of mind-controlling just anyone). She will proceed with light mind-control elements, on the level of how heavy she has gone with Victoria so far and perhaps a little further, on civilians, heroes and rogues, and will be willing to go somewhat heavier on villains.
[] Option 2: Set the limits a little higher. Taylor will come to accept that she has a mind control fetish (that is, she will come to accept that she is turned on by the idea of mind control, but will not necessarily accept the idea of mind-controlling just anyone). She will proceed with light mind-control elements, on the level of how heavy she has gone with Victoria so far and perhaps a little further, on heroes and rogues, and will be willing to go somewhat heavier on villains. Civilians will present an ethical dilemma to Taylor, which will be resolved by Taylor determining that civilians are not fair game for her power's use.
[] Option 3: Set the limits a little lower. Taylor will come to accept that she has a mind control fetish (that is, she will come to accept that she is turned on by the idea of mind control, but will not necessarily accept the idea of mind-controlling just anyone). She will proceed with light mind-control elements, on the level of how heavy she has gone with Victoria so far and perhaps a little further, on heroes and rogues, and will be willing to go somewhat heavier on villains. Some particularly bad villains, such as Iron Rain, Bakuda and potentially Purity, will feature heavier mind-control themes as Taylor plays with their minds until they willingly submit themselves to Taylor and her sexual desires over their own villainous desires.
[] Fetish the Second: Cheating.
This one isn't an intrinsic part of the quest, but there are a subset of characters in the quest who were canonically in relationships prior to the start of canon, such as Othala, Victoria, Battery, and both New Wave parents. Cheating, however, is a very complex topic, and a lot of people may be personally offended by the fetish due to personal experiences or hangups with it. That is fine, and I don't want to make people uncomfortable.
For this one, I will be presenting three choices. These choices will represent how far Taylor is willing to go. Please note that if you choose not to indulge in this fetish, it will mean that Glory Girl will break up with Gallant soon within the story's context. Please also note that this one will be a contextual thing— you are setting boundaries here, not necessitating that all characters will fall under the most extreme thing you will allow.
[] Option 1: Continue with the limits as before. Taylor will encourage women in relationships to cheat on their partners with her, engaging in both sexual and romantic relationships with her while ostensibly remaining in stable relationships with their partners at least up until Taylor gets bored of not having them around often enough. This option will result in cheating portrayed in full force— as a sexual and an emotional form of cheating.
[] Option 2: Set the limits a little higher. Taylor will encourage women in relationships to cheat on their partners with her, but will encourage them to leave their partners as soon as she has enough influence over them to get them to do so. The cheating will thus be both sexual and romantic, but will not remain as deliberate cheating for very long.
[] Option 3: Deny the fetish. Taylor will continue to seduce Victoria until she is seduced and willing to break up with Dean, but will not encourage any other heroes to cheat with her. Instead, she will attempt to use her powers to encourage people to break up with their partners prior to engaging in sexual or romantic relationships with her.
[] Fetish the Third: Loli.
This one isn't an intrinsic part of the quest, but there are a subset of characters in the quest who are underage. On occasion, very underage. I've already held a poll regarding the inclusion of Dinah in Taylor's harem, and the answer was a resounding 'yes', but that doesn't mean I can do anything I want to with them. I would also invite Megaolix to tell me where the limits on loli characters lie, rules-wise. Also, I am very uncomfortable with writing characters aged under 12; even 12 is kind of pushing it, but as this is fictional and not real life, I believe I can write such scenes (there is no way I could do so if this had even slight bearing in reality).
For this one, I will be presenting four choices. These choices will represent how far Taylor is willing to go with underaged characters. Please note that even if this is voted in, all such scenes will be spoilered. This is also conditional upon the options chosen being okay with the board rules; if they are not, I will be wiping this option off.
[] Option 1: Age all characters aged under 13 to be 13 or older. From here, all characters aged under 13 will be restricted in terms of sexual content; Taylor will content herself with hand-holding and kissing, and not attempt to push sexual boundaries.
[] Option 2: Age all characters aged under 13 to be 13 or older. From here, all characters will be unrestricted in terms of sexual content; Taylor will indulge herself in these characters as she would any others.
[] Option 3: Leave all characters their canon ages. From here, all characters aged under 13 will be restricted in terms of sexual content; Taylor will content herself with hand-holding and kissing, and not attempt to push sexual boundaries.
[] Option 4: Leave all characters their canon ages. From here, all characters aged 12 and over will have looser sexual restraints; light sexual content, such as breastplay and kissing with tongue, will be allowed. No further sexual content— including contact with sexual organs beyond breasts— will be allowed for characters aged this young.
Note: Voting for this has long since closed. The winning options were;
Mind Control— Option 3.
Cheating— Option 1.
Loli— Option 2.
1.11
> Success chance: 60%.
> Necessary roll: 40. Rolled: 87. Success.
Your head is twinging slightly as you make your way to first period, having stashed your bag in your locker and retrieved the card Madison had left for you atop a lunchbox today (a hot pink card emblazoned with a concise 'Hope you enjoy it today! Love, Madison~' written in the middle of the card and 'HI TALOR IT IS TERRY' written in large block letters beneath that).
You give her a small smile when you head in to class, getting a bright grin and a little wave in return. You're still trying not to look at Emma, so you miss whatever expression she makes, but Sophia in front of her doesn't look disgusted— just a little curious. Spreading your power out some, you confirm you're correct— there's no disgust in there, just some curiosity and a strong undercurrent of boredom.
The lesson begins, but it's just a rehash of material you've covered over the past few days— helpful for students like Madison who are struggling to understand it, and in fact you make a mental note that you probably won't need to go over this again, but less helpful for students like you, who study well ahead in their... admittedly copious free time.
Growing quickly bored, you glance around the classroom, examining everyone. Sophia and Emma have their heads bent down, although Sophia glances up once to look at you; when she catches you looking, she sneers at you and looks away, although you can feel a faint thread of embarrassment in there. Madison, meanwhile, is just looking around, lost. She catches your gaze at one point and pouts miserably. Frustration and longing mix wildly within her for a moment before they settle, the frustration winning out as she turns back to her schoolbooks and scowls down.
Okay, you correct your previous mental note; you probably will need to go over this again.
Then again, you do have an awful lot of spare time in class, since you read ahead so often...
You glance over again. Madison is still looking lost, and the frustration threading its way around her is growing stronger. Beside her, Charlotte glances over occasionally, but offers her no help, preferring to focus on her own schoolwork. You wish, almost, that you could sit beside Madison, coach her through this, have her at your side even more— but Charlotte was assigned there by the teacher, and you can't just ask her to move.
... Or can you?
You bite your lip at the thought. Technically, there's nothing stopping you from using your powers on the girl. You've been hesitant up until now, but— you really want to sit next to Madison right now. Besides, you try to justify to yourself; it's not like you're compelling her to do anything, right? You're just... getting her to trust you a little. Even like you. You could use a friend anyway.
With that thought planted firmly in mind, you extend your power over to Charlotte, gently bringing her emotions to the fore so you can feel them. They are... surprisingly complex; more than you'd really thought the girl would have, although you've never actually spoken to her, so perhaps you shouldn't have judged her.
She feels very... solid. The other girls you've manipulated with your power have all felt fragile somehow. Madison felt the most solid of all of them, but even she felt like pieces of her had been broken off and smashed, then half-stitched back on in a feeble attempt to hold her together. Charlotte, on the other hand, doesn't feel at all that way. There are vulnerable parts to her, but they're still clinging on, frayed at the edges but ultimately whole.
You frown to yourself a little. That probably means something, but you're not sure what.
Either way, you're not done. You spread your power out further, touching her emotions with little feather-light touches, slowly getting a feel for them. There's a lot of... responsibility, you're pretty sure that one is; it evokes an image of dutifulness, performing tasks to the best of their abilities as expected. A strong undercurrent of fear whenever she looks up and glances around the room, although you're not sure what it's directed at. Patience wraps around a core of frustration, holding it at bay. Wrapped all around it are tight bands of self-control, hard but rigid.
Your breath comes a bit faster as you gently tighten your power's hold over her. There's a certain sexiness in knowing you hold this much control over someone, in knowing that with a thought, you could twist their minds, that you could tug all you wanted at their emotions until their minds are consumed by thoughts of you, that you could gently manipulate them until their lives revolved around you, revolved around pleasing you and meeting your every desire.
You wouldn't do it to her, of course. You have your limits, even if you're sure they'd seem arbitrary to anyone but you. Someone would have to be really bad for you to consider turning them into your sex dolls.
It's not hard to maintain your self-control as you begin to tug at Charlotte's mind, really, so much as you're left with... a faint feeling of regret. Even the thought of slowly moulding someone's mind like that is a turn-on; you can only imagine how good it would feel if you actually did it. But, unlike most of your fetishes, this one could cause serious harm to a person. It'd be like... indulging in a snuff fetish, if you had one (which you definitively do not, you think with a shudder).
