Tiny Chat People

grind is one of my all time favorite, and oldest, god characters, and very personal to me- i hope you enjoy his modern design!
warning, grind is big. this image is equally big

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Thicc gear weasel.

Wouldn't googling spit just turn up stuff about, well, spit? Like how googling macaron would turn up stuff about the meringue.

Nah like, having Tubes google Spit.
I don't remember if it was confirmed if the internet Tubes connects to is Earth or Morbit internet tho, but if it's morbit internet, seeing as these are gods, it'd probably turn up the person.

Thicc

Oh man, Gear looks really cool! I wish we had this information before trying to flirt with him and ask to see his butt. We kinda instantly got on his bad side...

Thicc

Beauty is a curse.

Thicc

Beauty is a curse.

you should stop graham, it's not endearing nor funny

The knife wasn't very endearing or funny either, but that didn't stop anybody.

The knife is hilarious tbh, Wax clearly needs a better sense of humour.
Giving one to everyone else too, while unintentional and very unhelpful for our cause, is also pretty funny.
So is summoning the game admin because we did a completely pointless prank on ourselves.

It's clear that we have different ideas of what is funny. I don't consider putting our units in additional danger for no perceivable benefit funny.

That's Wax's fault, we made an object that couldn't possibly harm a TCP even if we wanted it to, and the fact that this pissed Wax off so much is also pretty funny even if it's also not great for us.

It's clear that we have different ideas of what is funny.

yeah dude i can guarantee you nobody else on this forum thinks it's "funny" to pursue someone after it's been made clear that they're not available, i guess we just don't have a sense of humor or something

you should probably get caught up with the forum etiquette, here's a good thread for that

That's Wax's fault, we made an object that couldn't possibly harm a TCP even if we wanted it to, and the fact that this pissed Wax off so much is also pretty funny even if it's also not great for us.

The knife is of no danger to the TCPs, but its entirely predictable side-effects have indirectly raised tensions and made us seem more incompetent and unpredictable than ever.

The inability to form alliances or develop trust very much endangers the cats, who exist as the only viable targets through which to harm us.

yeah dude i can guarantee you nobody else on this forum thinks it's "funny" to pursue someone after it's been made clear that they're not available, i guess we just don't have a sense of humor or something

I have made comments that I find a character aesthetically pleasing while posting an image of a delusional fat man obsessed with protecting beauty (of which he considers himself a part, which ingame was played for humor due to his extremely unattractive appearance). This is not an attempt to pursue said character in any way. Indeed, it is a vast and complicated self-deprecating in-joke to Fire Emblem players.

Aside from liking his design, I identify strongly with Grind as a character. He is responsible, pragmatic and patient, virtues which I attempt to hold myself to (with mixed success). As such I have developed a loyalty to the character that I am aware has (in conjunction with my distrust of figures such as Rein) been influencing my decisions to include him in the subjects that the plans are intended to benefit.

Like the objects of Oliver's obsessed loyalties, Grind's attitude towards the collective of which I am a part has grown increasingly negative as a result of its deranged actions. This is clearly a failing on my part to adequately serve my role in protecting our charges (the TCPs) by representing their interests in a convincing format.

Therefore, posting the image of Oliver accompanied by a line similar in nature to many of his own compares me to a deluded, fat, obsessed loser with an over-inflated ego.

That's Wax's fault, we made an object that couldn't possibly harm a TCP even if we wanted it to, and the fact that this pissed Wax off so much is also pretty funny even if it's also not great for us.

The knife is of no danger to the TCPs, but its entirely predictable side-effects have indirectly raised tensions and made us seem more incompetent and unpredictable than ever.

The inability to form alliances or develop trust very much endangers the cats, who exist as the only viable targets through which to harm us.

yeah dude i can guarantee you nobody else on this forum thinks it's "funny" to pursue someone after it's been made clear that they're not available, i guess we just don't have a sense of humor or something

I have made comments that I find a character aesthetically pleasing while posting an image of a delusional fat man obsessed with protecting beauty (of which he considers himself a part, which ingame was played for humor due to his extremely unattractive appearance). This is not an attempt to pursue said character in any way. Indeed, it is a vast and complicated self-deprecating in-joke to Fire Emblem players.

Aside from liking his design, I identify strongly with Grind as a character. He is responsible, pragmatic and patient, virtues which I attempt to hold myself to (with mixed success). As such I have developed a loyalty to the character that I am aware has (in conjunction with my distrust of figures such as Rein) been influencing my decisions to include him in the subjects that the plans are intended to benefit.

Like the objects of Oliver's obsessed loyalties, Grind's attitude towards the collective of which I am a part has grown increasingly negative as a result of its deranged actions. This is clearly a failing on my part to adequately serve my role in protecting our charges (the TCPs) by representing their interests in a convincing format.

Therefore, posting the image of Oliver accompanied by a line similar in nature to many of his own compares me to a deluded, fat, obsessed loser with an over-inflated ego.

im not sure how you expected anyone other than yourself to get this joke but okay man

it's not just you that's making the weird flirty comments towards grind at this point and i highly doubt they're all in it for the fire emblem joke. perhaps it's on me for making a character with a lot of personal weight but it does legit bother me that both kitet and i have made efforts to discourage it in and out of adventure and that nobody seems to think to stop. please just back off dude

If it makes you feel better, I am asexual and have zero attraction to Grind in that sense. I used to be quite put off of the concept of it as well.

After two years of working almost constantly with an old lady who lives and breathes dirty jokes, making them myself has become second nature to me.

If my comments have made you legitimately uncomfortable, I apologize.

Alright, I haven't been allowing myself to write the next update until I compiled and posted some notes on things that have been created and info we've gathered in the main thread, so without further hesitation, here is

The Current List Of Relevant Stuff In Tiny Cat People

Planetoids and Buildings

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Little Blue Planet (our base)
Cat Tower of Babel (aka the TOWER MAZE)
Candy-Star (macaron’s base)
Shelter (our tcp’s house)
Moon
Hornet-star

Small Structures on our Base

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Catnip
Oasis (it’s just a pond)
Fruit Plants
Window
Plants (varied)
Mailbox #1 (now burnt)
Bookshelf
Security Cameras (x2)
TCP Barrier Device (currently set to allow our TCPs through, and keep other TCPs out)
Telescope
Fireplace + Chimney
Frog Post Office
Basement
Frog Ship
Fun dungeon

Small Items Owned By Our TCPs

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Dictionary
Encyclopedia
Small novels (x3?)
Joke book
Fire Extinguisher
Map Table
Frog Drone
Drone RC
Drone Monitor
Drone Manual
TCP Communicators x3
Sticker machine
Plushie Pile

Guns (x2)
Laser Pointer
Bullets
Candy Treasure
Hammer
Building Materials
Construction Tools
Christmas Lights
Toque
Diploma of Teaching
Clipboard
Paper Pad
Pencils
Yarn
Extending arm
Archivist’s Book
Abacus
Beret
Cig Holder
Tactical Vest
Extreme Teen Bible
Laptop
Magic Magnet
Fiber Optic Cables
Various previous outfits
And a whole lot of letters.

Other Items

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Prophet Statue (in frog-crimes space)
Ribbiter (it’s an app that only exists in this TCP plane)
Frog-Crimes Killin’ Knife (in frog-crimes space)

Creatures

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Mice (x3)
Cat
Giant fluffy rat
Frogs (x2, plus a pet frog)
Frog Postman
Bees (x4, gone)
Ice Gnome (dead)

And now,
Things We've Learned or Been Told

Note that the following is not new information, nor is it everything you need to know. It's simply everything relevant I could find that I've said, or tried very hard to imply, during the adventure.

On ADVENTURING

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While on an ADVENTURE, you can only use the CHECK and KILL commands. You cannot Create or Teach anything, and the TCP limit does not raise for anyone if even a single player is on an ADVENTURE.
However, the players have to ADVENTURE because adventuring and building big structures is what makes the TCP LIMIT raise.
However, players whos TCPs are not on an ADVENTURE can still Create and Teach at their own bases, so for that reason, it’s dangerous to invade another player’s base.

TCPs can go ROGUE
Rogue tcps can still show up on the Tracker
Rogue TCPs do not count toward the ADVENTURE restrictions.

On COMMUNICATORS

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TCPs are prevented from understanding anything transmitted over the standard COMMUNICATOR, so they can’t listen in on your conversations with other players.
When a TCP from another team talks to one of yours, you can understand them but the “reception” isn’t perfect. Otherwise, you can’t listen in on other TCPs.

The "TCP COMMUNICATORS" you created can not be "focused on" by you, so you cannot listen in on your TCPs conversations with other TCPs who have them.

On TCP types

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The nine TCP categories are thus: Abstract, Body, Creature, Food, Form, Machine, Nature, Storage, and Weapon.
So far, we have made 3 Abstract types and 1 Nature type, and have met 1 Food type on another team.
Food types are healers, and have to feed parts of themselves to other TCPs (TCPs do not eat anything otherwise, and do not necessarily need to eat.)
Abstract types are very powerful, it’s recommended not to make more than two per team.
You never made a Defiance-type, Macaron just took the slot you were about to use.

On the Win Condition

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If all the players in a session can get along, then the session can be ended peacefully, the requirements being that everyone joins the same alliance and everyone uses all 5 of their TCP slots.
If the game isn’t peaceful, then it’s a team deathmatch. The allied team with the last surviving TCPs is the winner.
Even if the session isn’t peaceful, the game still cannot end if any of the players haven’t used all 5 of their TCP slots.
Rogue TCPs on the winning team go to Paradise by default.
Dead TCPs don’t go anywhere. They’re dead.
Also, TCPs do not DIE unless the KILL command is used on them, even if they are at critically low health.

On Admin Intervention

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Admin Intervention involves:
- Autobalance going into effect, which means:
- Wax joining the game and allying the team with the least members
- The TCP LIMIT jumping up to its maximum (30 slots, 5 TCPs per team and a total of 6 teams)
- other things?

Admin Intervention is initiated by:
- Making something that’s too big or powerful
- Making something specific to a player or their base, which automatically replicates to the other players in matching ways
- Attempting to circumvent the game rules, or installing your own win conditions

On the Purpose of TCP, as a Game

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The game of TCP as a whole was created as a training sim for deities, specifically the Greater Deities who are in charge of running countries and cities.
There’s a prize for winning the session:
- Your TCPs get the choice to either live on a peaceful perma-session called “Paradise”, or join you in your physical location on Morbit.
- You also get a little bit of power as a deity, which, as a collective with no physical body yet, would push you into having a physical body on Morbit.

On Spit

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Nobody likes Spit.
Nobody likes Spit.
Spit ate at least two other deities, which none of the other deities do.
The two deities named thus far that she killed were named Wane and Velvet. Both of these deities were beloved by the rest of the pantheon ("Wane was like a mother to us all, and Velvet was still so young...")
It's also apparently a mystery as to how she ate Wane, according to Macaron, Wane was "way bigger than her".

On the Other Players in this Adventure

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Macaron is a Lesser Deity
pronouns he/she/they
Domains unknown
Motifs of Clouds and Candy
Has a Sugar-type TCP named Tasty
Currently allied with Rein, but was open to switching teams for better odds.
Was created by another deity named Alloy, for the purpose of creating sweets.

Grind is a Greater Deity
pronouns he/him
Domains and Motifs were not mentioned in the main thread, but Mortis posted them on the last page in this thread.
Current TCPs are unknown, aside from harboring our rogue Fern-type.
Once briefly mentioned he has a work partner named Wretch.
Absolutely will NOT ally with Rein and will not let you convince him to.
Seems to have a reason why, but he won't share it.

Marzu is a Lesser Deity
pronouns she/her
Domains of Thievery and Rebellion
Motif of Lockpicking
Has a Key-type and a Door-type
Currently allied with Grind, doesn't seem to like Rein.
Doesn't have a problem with Macaron, used to be friends with Velvet when she was alive.

Rein is a Greater Deity
pronouns it/its
Domains of Patience and Control
Motifs of Chains and Cloth
doesn't have any domain or motif of Justice, despite appearances.
Current known TCP is a Choker-type
Is open to alliances and has offered to coach us on how to be a better collective.
Knows Grind won't ally with it, though, despite its efforts.
The Greater Deities of Taverne were made in pairs; Rein was made opposite to Spit, so it feels it has a duty to restrain Spit from further violence, even though it also hates Spit.

Wax is a High Deity, and the creator of TCP.
pronouns he/it
Domains and Motifs were not said in the main thread, but Mortis posted them in here earlier.
Just joined the game, has no TCPs yet.

honestly i think it might be best to stick with wax and try to devise a team composition with an emphasis on being threatening, so that we might be able to intimidate enemy cats into going rogue instead of having to kill, because no matter what we'll come face to face with cats our cats are friendly with

EDIT: thought of a plan

we stick with wax as mentioned above, but we make a secret (well, secret from rein and grind) pact with marzu and macaron where, if either rein or grind is eliminated, the remaining deities team up

then, we focus our attacks on grind, and grind alone, outside of defensive combat

That is pretty duplicitous for a being supposedly of the Law domain. While not necessarily unlawful, assuming we actual follow both the letter and the sentiment of the agreement, it is still kind of dickish. At that point, we're not much better than Grind, who is willing to sacrifice, at minimum, dozens of innocent and unrelated lives in a self-righteous grudge. I'm not saying what Grind is doing is against Justice, but justice can be just as destructive as injustice if not properly mitigated by Law. For a being who also claims to hold dominion over Law, Grind is awfully flippant with the lives of other beings and seems fairly quick to see things in black-and-white terms when a majority of what law is is about the grey areas between. I know Law is often portrayed as "White vs Black", "Good vs Evil", "Right vs Wrong", "Justice vs Injustice", "Truth vs Lie", "Victim vs Criminal", and so on... but real law, ACTUAL LAW, is about navigating the spaces between and determining, to the best of the ability of those involved, the values and costs associated with actions. Killing a person is both a crime and not a crime. Stealing can be both a crime and not a crime. There is grey area. Very few things in law are absolutely, 100% demonstratively and verifiably an immoral criminal act that extenuating circumstances cannot in some way lesson or excuse.

how is taking out the one player whose removal would result in the lowest amount of victims "not much better than grind"? besides, i still advocate for a nonlethal approach

also, i dont see how the pact is duplicitous? we dont betray the pact by attacking the allies of the participants, and if anything its to ensure that those taking part in the pact dont take unnecessary losses

Essentially, timebuster's plan is to take out both Grind and Rein. It is quite risky and a long war, though.

According to Marzu, Wax doesn't do peaceful victories, so I'm not sure if he would help in forcing TCPs to go Rogue. And even if we manage to take down Grind and join M&M, it sounds like Wax would then switch to the smallest team - Rein. With the player against peaceful victories against us and a team of noobs against a pair of old hands, the risk to our cats would then increase.

I'm gonna have so much fun with meta roleplaying.

That is pretty duplicitous for a being supposedly of the Law domain.

Technically, we're Justice. Justice and Law are aligned, but not identical concepts. Law is about obedience and common rules set to preserve Order. Justice is about pursuing what's 'right'. Law may be often seen as being the best and safest way to obtain Justice, but many will argue that Justice must be willing to operate beyond it.

Ultimately, we get to decide what sort of justice that we want and how to obtain it. At the moment, that seems to be TCP liberation which is pretty damn ambitious, hence why I'll be using my persona in this adventure to advocate 'honest duplicity' and generally have fun (and maybe exploit how indecisive the collective is right now).

(E: To be more precise, I get the vibe we're moving towards a domain of 'pursuing justice for the weak at all costs'. We've shown an inclination towards breaking the rules when we feel like it and felt the need to create a reminder of our failure AND break the rules to provide ourselves with a means of suicide. That's kinda edgy when you think about it. I guess we're the Batman God.)

Some Discord thoughts amongst multiple people that I tried to sum up, correct me where I'm wrong:

"Secret diplomacy" plan of getting everyone allied is popular.
Basically, we convince Rein and Macaron, who seem to both want peace anyway? Ally Marzu to gain alliance with Grind, then ally with Macaron or Rein. Boom-- all 5 people are in an alliance and Wax has no team to go to but the biggest one.

Benefits:
- If it works, we just win. And no cats die.
- If it fails, but we go along with the 'subvert cats to go rogue' plan, this makes for some good street cred. We'd be the god who risked everything to try to save them, and the other gods would be the ones who refused to ally because of their own personal problems.

Flaws:
- This probably isn't the kind of adventure where this works.
- Allying Marzu is probably much easier said than done.
- If it fails, there's no going back. Getting cold feet midway through because we discover we're horribly misguided is not really feasible.
- If it fails, we might just get caught in an alliance we're really not fond of. Possibly against Wax.
- Even if there's some way to twist it so that cats like us more, Grind at the very least is going to hate us with absolutely no reservations. Grind probably already does but there won't be any doubt after this.

Wax ending up on an opposing team in an actual war in any scenario seems super super bad. Wax is going to be fucking good at this game. Wax probably already spawned the max number of TCPs and is gearing up for war. If we're going head-to-head with anyone, Wax on our side is a massive boon.

Trying the secret diplomacy plan might just make things very bad. I know the knife was really created in jest, like 'haha how about this dumb idea', and this plan isn't held in as much humor-- but it's still something that can go TERRIBLY wrong.

That doesn't stop me from liking it, but because I'm superbly indecisive, it makes me afraid to actually throw a vote towards doing it. Besides, we can't even think about doing it until we're sure everyone is at max TCPs, if I remember right. (Wax probably isn't wasting any time with this.)