rush99999, post: 80483340, member: 380992 Wrote:

What else is considered a hat worthy feat among the Flufflepuffs?

(Quick Note: Flufflepuffs can own more than one hat or accessory that will randomly swap out based on what they're currently doing.)

Flufflepuff feats include but are not limited to:

-Being contracted to a summoner.

-Eating a thousand pieces of bacon. (Gets them a bib with hidden utensils.)

-Not running away from a threat (real or imagined).

-Attempting to learn magic.

-Trying to learn to read. (Though this one gives them glasses.)

-Performing a dozen 'sneak attacks'. (Even if caught every single time.)

-Drawing a finger painting.

-Scaring someone. (Earns a sheet with eye holes.)

-Learning how to cook bacon. (Comes with bonus spatula free.)

-Headbutting an evil wizard in the dick.

-Because they'd look cute with devil horns and/or a halo.

-Making one hundred children smile or cheering up just one depressed child.

rush99999, post: 80485350, member: 380992 Wrote:

Could they also wear them all at once if they wanted to walk around wearing a big stack o' hats/accessories.

This happens occasionally when they get scatterbrained.

rush99999, post: 80485350, member: 380992 Wrote:

- The hat/accessory earned for being contracted depends on the type of person who summoned them?

They usually get a tie or a hair bow for their first day of work.

rush99999, post: 80485350, member: 380992 Wrote:

- Standing up to a perceived threat earns them a medieval knight helmet?

- They get a wizard hat for trying to learn magic?

- They earn a french beret for finger painting?

- They get a pickelhaube immediately after headbutting an evil wizard in the dick?

Yes to all of these.

rush99999, post: 80485350, member: 380992 Wrote:

- Performing a dozen sneak attacks nets them an Assassin's Creed style hood?

That or a ninja hood.

rush99999, post: 80485350, member: 380992 Wrote:

- Making 100 children or one depressed kid happy earns them a medal?

To get a gold medal they have to participate in a sporting event of any kind.

For the hundred children, they get a jester's cap.

For the depressed child they get a friendship bracelet that teleports them to the child whenever they're needed.

rush99999, post: 80487867, member: 380992 Wrote:

So if Flufflepuffs are indestructible in the presence of magic, how do looming dangers manage to cause a Flufflepuff shortage in areas with high concentrations of it?

Wiggy, post: 80494647, member: 405442 Wrote:

Borderline is an important word there. So if something *has* managed to start killing them things are getting bad.

Excluding extreme cases all Flufflepuffs are cowards (who don't realize they're borderline indestructible) and while largely unadvertised Malicious Magic can sort of pierce the effect, meaning that most Flufflepuffs will flee from anything they think is scary and/or that gives off evil/demonic magic.

rush99999, post: 80551743, member: 380992 Wrote:

So the book Jon read saying that Flufflepuffs have "courageous personalities" was wrong?

Uh, I might've messed up my grammar there but since I didn't put a comma until after the courageous personalities I'm pretty sure the less than impressive applies to both of those things.

rush99999, post: 80561409, member: 380992 Wrote:

Is it possible for a Flufflepuff to become aware of their own durability or does something keep them completely clueless no matter how much overwhelming evidence is presented to one?

There's nothing supernatural stopping them from realizing it beyond the fact that Flufflepuffs are not exactly known for being... Smart. Kind and adorable yes. Smart no. (By sapient standards anyway)

Also while they can eventually learn that something won't harm them (after enough exposure to it) you should remember that indestructible does not necessarily mean painless or comfortable for them.

rush99999, post: 80563260, member: 380992 Wrote:

Can Malicious Magic hurt a Flufflepuff simply by being present or does it have to be actively used against them?

It can passively hurt them but it takes significantly longer with a Flufflepuff needing to be near it for a prolonged period of time. With the early stages being a sort of malnutrition and later stages being a full on poison.

rush99999, post: 80564958, member: 380992 Wrote:

How long would this prolonged period of time need to be exactly?

Depends on how much malicious magic there is a small amount would take months or be outright negligible if there is enough healthy Anima flowing around them. By contrast higher levels of more twisted magics could wear a Flufflepuff down over a couple of hours.

Note: Due to the connection of a summoner's contract, contracted Flufflepuffs have a higher resistance/tolerance as long as their partner doesn't use more malicious magic.

rush99999, post: 80573400, member: 380992 Wrote:

Would the levels of bad juju given off by the average Hex Slasher be quick to bring down a Flufflepuff?

That depends a bit, because while Hex and Slashers do use Malice there is also an intent component to 'Evil Magic' that makes it particularly toxic to Flufflepuffs. (It's just I was trying to avoid saying Evil or Dark magic, because those are slight misnomers due to the intent component and qualities of non-Anima based magic as well as the whole 'dark does not equal evil' thing. Something underlined by Corruptive Anima and such.) Anyway, a relatively 'good' Malice user won't be toxic to a Flufflepuff so much as trigger an allergic reaction, that the severity of will vary from Flufflepuff to Flufflepuff based on a number of pseudo-genetic-magic factors.

Long looping story made short, there are at least a few Hex that hang around one or two Flufflepuffs that don't run away from them, despite the fact that no Flufflepuff colonies will be forming anywhere near those Hex.

rush99999, post: 80650773, member: 380992 Wrote:

So with these folks being a thing, how far along has space travel come in this setting?

This is a multi-point thing, because there are aliens, inter dimensional portals, and etc. that have let humans travel between worlds. (Both the space and dimension kind.) Still I'll try to cover everything both real and fictional on the situation below.

To start with, actual earth space travel is unfortunately limited for the same depressing reason as it is in our world. (Warning this is going to get a little political.) To put it simply it's too expensive and will take too long for the government to willingly pay for it. We've actually had NASA try to get funding for several moon trips and even pitch setting up a moon base, but the government doesn't want to pay for something so expensive if it doesn't give them an immediate political win, aiding their reelections, rather than a national win a decade down the line. (This can be seen with the current Artemis program who as of mid 2020 the house was making cut budget corners on their landing systems.)

Honestly, the only reason we went the first time is because the US didn't want to lose to the Russians, because the first one there would essentially prove the dominant country in the cold war which was at its core a competition of different geo-political beliefs and which was superior. (There's a lot more to all of it than just that but it's a simplification that won't overly derail this thread.)

(Please Note I'm only passingly familiar with the US space program, and so don't know the situation in other countries all that well. (Though I think China and Russia have a thing going which rumor of might've kicked off the US's Artemis program in the first place.))

Anyway, moving back to the Deviant's Masquerade setting where most of the above information still holds true, we gain an alternative version of world exploration in the Rifts, portals to new and completely unexplored worlds we've never seen before (At least as of 20 years ago in setting.) and can reach in a matter of minutes in contrast to the planets we've known for millennia that would take us years to reach.

With this far easier method of world travel -that was happening whether they liked it or not- several research programs were begun with a number of research stations being built anywhere with a stable portal. As time progressed (in the US) Asylum and then later Sanctuary took management of these programs when it was realized several of these portals led to locations with less than friendly natives and wildlife. (Their defense against these things is a big part of why they get such a massive arms development budget.)

Moving on to present day, various diplomatic missions have been sent to attempt to establish trade with the less hostile inhabitants behind these Rifts, with M.A.D. efforts on the subject largely based around opening and maintaining these portals on command rather than waiting for one to open naturally and or forcing it to stay open. (Which is really expensive power wise.) From there, currently only a handful of groups and extremely powerful individuals have the ability to open portals, (which are usually location dependent) though virtually every major branch of Sanctuary is equipped with the tech to close a Rift should it become too... problematic to leave open.

Now going back to Space travel, while earth doesn't explore the possibility too much a handful of odd rifts have led to there being a number of humans stranded on alien worlds over the years, some of which gathered to form small human communities, this then combined with our tendency to fire radio waves all over the place, has led to us having an odd sort of presence in space where most non-earthlings know about humans despite the fact that we're a rare sight in the space community. (Though we have something of a... reputation in said community.)

rush99999, post: 80914942, member: 380992 Wrote:

How do Slashers make new Rules? Do they just think of a Rule and say "That's how I'm gonna do things from now on." or is there some process they have to go through to make it official? And once a Rule is passed, can it be abolished if the Slasher has a good reason to be rid of it?

This one is kind of hard to answer since it's more of a psychology thing, similar to extreme OCD where people develop patterns or habits and think things will go horrible if they break away from the rules. That isn't to say that they can't break the rules, just that every time they do they'll blame every little problem on the fact that they broke the rule, which will cause them to take a mental health blow that'll make them reinforce the rule in their mind or leave them open to creating new rules. And again because its a mental health thing, even if they do break the rule consequence free they'll come up with some reasoning for why it was okay and possibly develop new rules based around that or think it was some weird lucky exception.

In the end a lot of the problem is in the person's head, and it doesn't have to really make sense to other people as long as it makes sense to them.

rush99999, post: 80918521, member: 380992 Wrote:

Would I be correct in thinking that these guys are banned from politics?

A fair number of people who are conservative on the topic of Deviants want them -and all Deviants- banned, but it was decided that outright banning them was a bad call given how the last time someone took away too many Deviant rights they got the Tall Man. Additionally at the level necessary to put more than a small town or city district under a Slaver effect, the effects would begin to become fairly obvious to those watching for them, causing them to lose their subtlety. All of that said, most rallies and such with a Deviant candidate do still have a Sanctuary presence watching for the use of any Slaver effects, regardless of Deviancy and power level just in case something goes wrong or someone tries something shady.

Now side stepping all of that, most social slashers aren't actually all that interested in long-term politics due to the fact that they have to charm crowds of people in vague non-personal ways rather than their usual manipulations which are a lot more personal. The only time they might become involved is if they're trying to manipulate someone who is already in a position of power, at which point it'll be more akin to sparking a fuse and watching the fireworks as the politician self-destructs rather than any politically motivated manipulations.