Flip Flappers

From Radiant Heart MUSH

Flip Flappers Theme.png

Flip Flappers Origin

See Flip Flapping.

Pure Illusion

A bizarre dimension of thoughts and emotions, with every living thing having their own world within it, Pure Illusion is infinite and comes in endless permutations. A Pure Illusion world construction guide for GMs is being worked on.

Allies: Flip Flap

Flip Flap is an underground, secret organization running on a shoestring budget and a combination of salvaged computers and advanced technology derived from the brilliant mind of the rogue scientist, Hidaka, and the mysterious leader, Dr. Salt. With communications and operations kept flowing smoothly by the insightful and responsible Sayuri, and the bizarre TT-392 (aka Bu-chan), though they lack the resources of their main rival, they have the versatility to continue sending expeditions into the dimension of thoughts and emotions known as Pure Illusion. They are one of only two orgs in the world with the technology to do this, making them the only ones capable of competing for the Amorphous Fragments, which are said to grant a wish when all of them are gathered.

Enemy: Asclepius

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Asclepius is a shadowy theotech organization that partnered with Obsidian to fund their exorbitant operating costs in exchange for sharing their technology with the mega-conglomerate. They have some of the most advanced robotics and dimensional travel capabilities in the world (if not the most advanced), along with extremely sophisticated medical technology, and are one of only two organizations to have access to Pure Illusion, and thus the Amorphous Tech that originates from it.

If not for their cultish behavior, and obsession with resurrecting their great messiah, they could change the world with their discoveries. However, they also made this progress at the cost of human life, using children as test subjects in lethal experiments to achieve their ends -- and that was before they became a cult.

Asclepius shares their technology, but they are always pushing it in a very specialized direction that means it has limited usefulness to allies for anything else. Robot soldiers might be requisitioned by an Obsidian operative on occasion, or severe injuries might result in cybernetic Amorphous Tech replacements, and they can even engineer so-called Amorphous Children, enhanced humans who can explore and fight within Pure Illusion with minimal safety concerns relative to a normal human.

But their priority, first and foremost, is collecting all the Amorphous Fragments so that their long-held wish of the past 14 years can be realized, and anything else is barely worth paying attention to.

  • Amorphous Tech Robots: They are walking distortions in the Veil, and may cause intense headaches and fainting for normal civilians without any Veil Sight. Not all of their construction is strictly technological in nature, since they use discoveries from exploring another dimension to operate, but they are still robots and must be given orders by someone with authority over them. They do not react quickly, even in self-defense, and are not considered to be true A.I.
  • Amorphous Tech Cybernetics: Amorphous Tech can be use to replace damaged or infirm tissue with cybernetics. These cybernetics are much like the robot soldiers, inhuman-looking, disfiguring, and difficult to disguise. They restore usability but at their current level of advancement do not instill additional physical capabilities.*

(* The exception is in the Amorphous Children, who are resilient enough to withstand the strain of cybernetic enhancements, and utilize them effectively. Yuyu is an in-series example.)

  • Amorphous Children: It's unclear what process is used to create these enhanced humans, from genetic engineering, gene therapies, invasive surgery, or some sort of exposure to Amorphous Fragments. The secret is known only to the scientists of Asclepius. Amorphous Children physically seem like normal humans, aside from all of them having light-blue hair and red eyes. Even their physical parameters like strength, speed, agility, and resilience appear to be within the range of baseline human or slightly outside of it. That may be incredible for a human, but against the dangers of Pure Illusion it is nothing great. However, within Pure Illusion they are insulated from the changes it can place upon explorers, while at the same being able to use Pure Illusion to amplify their physical abilities many times over, use Amorphous Tech weapons and devices freely at their full power, enforce their will over their environment to a degree. There are only three Amorphous Children CCs, but there may be room for OCs. Please talk with Staff and Flip Flappers cast if you are interested.

Focus

Pure Illusion is another dimension (or possibly even many dimensions) that intersects with our reality and affects it in many ways. It is a realm of thought, emotion, and memory. There are as many layers to Pure Illusion as there are to human beings, and each individual may have their own Pure Illusion as well.

For most people, their only interaction is the one between their mind and the realm of possibility.

However, fragments of Pure Illusion, known as Amorphous, can -- with the right technology -- allow one who bears one to travel to Pure Illusion physically. There, everything becomes much more complicated, as one can travel around the personal Pure Illusions of many different people. A reflection of the psyche of an individual, with their own trials and tribulations, their own characters and creatures, and their own physical laws -- that the explorer must adapt to.

Even among the explorers of Pure Illusion, an already small number, there are even more rare individuals. These individuals are, through the realization of their true emotions and the channeling of their inner self, able to transform into a super-powered magical girl form.

This is what is known as Flip Flapping.

Style

Anyone can be affected by the properties of the Pure Illusion they are in at the time. There is an overarching story and theme to each world, and they may have accompanying properties that those within the world are forced to adapt to -- physically, emotionally, or both. As well, there are roles to fill, like characters in a performance, and working within that framework can help advance the story towards its conclusion. (And the Amorphous of that world.)

Traveling to Pure Illusion requires a partner. Synchronizing with them is critical to even being able to arrive there intact. By synchronizing wavelengths with one's partner, having a physical focus for one's energies (a "henshin rod"), and using the phrase "Flip Flapping", a transformation into an actual traditional magical girl form is possible.

The naming scheme for these Mahou Shoujo start with "Pure" and then the weapon that they wield in their transformed state. Hair color becomes altered (its opposite on the color scale, typically), and hair length becomes much longer. The outfit has a dress of some kind, primarily black and white though in various styles, with a butterfly aesthetic. There may be other colors as accents, for ribbons, and similar accessories, and every "Pure" form has some form of "butterfly wings" as part of its design, whether functional or not.

A weapon can be summoned and dismissed, and the weapon may have multiple forms, or the Flip Flapper may have an elemental affinity and attacks/abilities connected to it (Water, Wind, Fire). One or more special named attacks also become available, and the henshin form provides super strength, super speed, and flight.