Overriding a patch

[PetFriendAmy]

This is one of those weird things I've been wondering lately, partially because of something one of my friends was talking to me about once.

So let's say you're wearing a patch and then you pick up a morphing amulet. Let's also assume that said patch and said amulet somehow conflict with each other. What would happen? Would you get trapped in some sort of weird in-between until you took off the patch or put down the amulet? Would one take priority over the other?

For something a little closer to what I was wondering... let's say a Creature is wearing a patch to hide their Creature traits. Then that Creature does something that requires said Creature traits while still wearing the patch. (Like, say, a Cubi tries to use its wing tentacles while wearing a patch that hides its wings. Though that might not be the best example, since Cubi shapeshift anyway. But then again, can a Cubi shapeshift past a patch?) Would the patch interfere? Would the patch have to be taken off before the Creature could do anything? What if it were something that happens subconsciously that the Creature has no control over? (Like werewolves under the full moon, just to give you an idea.)

...I dunno, I think about weird things a lot. XD

[Naldru]

That reminds me of the old saying ...

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

[Drayco84]

Yaaaay! A new playmate in the Tearoom at long last!

[Anker Steadfast]

I think ... that if you mess around with too much morphing magic, you'll end up looking like David Hesselhoff's mullet !

[Drayco84]

I think ... that if you mess around with too much morphing magic, you'll end up looking like David Hesselhoff's mullet !

Can't... Breathe... Gonna... Die... Laughing...

Seriously though, in Knight Rider, Kitt was the good-looking one.

[PetFriendAmy]

...You know, maybe I should just stop posting these threads. Every time I do, I get accused of thinking too much. xP

[VAE]

Not true... but unless amber decides to answer it, your claim is as good as any's  - she is the ruling deity.

I would say that since patches are semi-magical, whichever was imbued with more energy has dominant effect

[Mao]

Yaaaay! A new playmate in the Tearoom at long last!

According to who?  This is a reasonable question.  It doesn't reek of fanboyism (yet) and it's certainly not off the deep end in that it's not something utterly inconceivable and is almost passingly relevant to the comic. As long as people don't start droning on and on about *their* opinions on how it works it probably won't wind up down there.  If an answer is given and it isn't nitpicked to death it won't get sent down.

[Drayco84]

According to who?  This is a reasonable question.  It doesn't reek of fanboyism (yet) and it's certainly not off the deep end in that it's not something utterly inconceivable and is almost passingly relevant to the comic. As long as people don't start droning on and on about *their* opinions on how it works it probably won't wind up down there.  If an answer is given and it isn't nitpicked to death it won't get sent down.

Boooooooooo!

Seriously and on-topic though, I have no idea... Hey, maybe Dan will try it out just for the heck of it? (Although, my money would be on the universe divides itself by zero and Fluffy asplodes.)

EDIT: Huh... Last time I looked, my Neg. Karma was at 40, up from 38... Now as of the time of this edit, it's 50... Somebody's trying to tell me something, but I dunno what it is...

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

So let's say you're wearing a patch and then you pick up a morphing amulet. Let's also assume that said patch and said amulet somehow conflict with each other. What would happen? Would you get trapped in some sort of weird in-between until you took off the patch or put down the amulet? Would one take priority over the other?

I think it would depend on the Rule of Funny; whatever the funniest result is, that's what would happen. The "canonical" answer is "it depends", in my opinion.

... which isn't really a helpful response, I know. ;-]

EDIT: Huh... Last time I looked, my Neg. Karma was at 40, up from 38... Now as of the time of this edit, it's 50... Somebody's trying to tell me something, but I dunno what it is...

Maybe you said something silly?

[Ketchup-Crumbles]

I'd think it would most likely go the "easiest way". Lets say we have a morphing amulet and a patch that do the exact opposite thing: one makes wings appear and one hides them. So for beings the "hide wing"-spell would work better, as they probably wouldn't have wings anyways. For creatures that naturally have wings, it would be just the opposite. Also I'd believe any "sideeffects" and "in-between-stages" possible (like with medicine in the human world ). So maybe there is a whole branch of healing magic that treats people that got stuck with morphing spells? And maybe someone could be killed by an overdose of morphing magic?
Of course any other option is just as likely until Amber answers.

[Tapewolf]

Since the patch seems to use magic for the actual transformation, I would imagine that in a contest between a morphing amulet and a patch, the one with the stronger spell would take precedence.

[VAE]

Since the patch seems to use magic for the actual transformation, I would imagine that in a contest between a morphing amulet and a patch, the one with the stronger spell would take precedence.

ninja'd  

Not true... but unless amber decides to answer it, your claim is as good as any's  - she is the ruling deity.

I would say that since patches are semi-magical, whichever was imbued with more energy has dominant effect

EDIT:
Another interesting thought... what about incomplete dominance? That could breed some hillarity,... perhaps ghostly, semitransparent wings?

[Inumo]

EDIT:
Another interesting thought... what about incomplete dominance? That could breed some hillarity,... perhaps ghostly, semitransparent wings?

Seconded. Do patches and morphing amulets effect functionality of body parts though (aka could you use a pair of wings while wearing a patch/morphing amulet if they were removed/given to you)? Would make for some interesting results to have someone try to fly while attached to not-fully-there wings...

[Anker Steadfast]

There's also cases where the two morphing effects are not mutually exclusive, but creates a third combined effect.

Like, a patch for long fur, and a spell for blue fur, would combine into long blue fur.

[terrycloth]

It could just be whichever one you put on last worked, where they conflicted. So you could switch back and forth by taking them off and putting them back on. Maybe you could make a puzzle game that way, where you have to take off and put on patches until you get yourself into the right shape?

[Naldru]

Maybe the patches are like layers in Photoshop, with an adjustable transparency property.  High degrees of transparency would mean that most of the prior patches' results would show.  Low transparency would cover up the prior patches.

[PetFriendAmy]

It could just be whichever one you put on last worked, where they conflicted. So you could switch back and forth by taking them off and putting them back on. Maybe you could make a puzzle game that way, where you have to take off and put on patches until you get yourself into the right shape?

I kinda thought it might be something like this, too.

As for the game, I get the strange mental image of that being some kind of riddle put on by Phoenixes to prove your skills... or possibly not Phoenixes. They might go for something kookier.

[127.0.0.2]

Another possibillity could be that Creatures that can shapeshift naturally can override the patches, but only with some effort.
I (personal opinion!) always imagined patches to work kind of similar to those rubber band exercise tools - those tools pull your arms into a specific position if you apply no force but can be "overridden" with enough force. Likewise, patches could "pull" your appearance into a specific way. Creatures might choose to fight against that "pull" and e.g. temporarily restore their wings while wearing a no-wing patch. But once they stopped concentrating on their wings, those would vanish again. I have no real idea how conflicting charms would work then, though. But I guess at the very least it would feel very awkward for the creature that wears them

Apologies if this is already close to tinfiol-hat territory. Obviously that's just one way how it could be

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

A final possibility is that you're necroposting, and will annoy the moderators.

I'd be inclined to avoid that, were I you.