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He's got a good thing going...
Dec. 14th, 2015 02:49 amAs a secret octopus in a world of humans, Octodad is surprisingly good at avoiding notice.
His ability to disguise himself as the owner of whatever outfit he’s wearing doesn’t appear to be based on magic or any kind of psychic ability (although for RP purposes it may be handy to assume there’s a bit of psychic suggestion going on). Mainly it just seems to depend on an uncanny talent for exploiting human suggestibility and expectations. He’s an octopus: he’s just that good at camouflage. As long as he is dressed like a human and does the expected human things in roughly the right way, nobody takes notice of his boneless flopping, his wildly extendable limbs, or his tendency to fling objects across the room while performing basic tasks. Not even his wife has noticed yet, and they have two kids… somehow.
Unfortunately for Octodad, this doesn’t make his life easy. The illusion can be instantly broken if he loses his clothes or draws too much focused attention with his boneless mishaps. Certain types of people have an advantage in recognizing him, like marine biologists and Cloudcuckoolander-type characters (although these last may not feel it’s worth commenting on). Life is a constant struggle to prevent anyone – especially his family – from seeing through his disguise.
Also worth noting is that his burbling is always understood by other people, though whether they understand exactly or are just projecting their own interpretation is up to individual muns.
If your character has some ability/feature that would allow them to see through his masquerade, go ahead. Just be warned that he won't take it well, and it's usually more fun to play along with the comedic potential of his disguise. Otherwise, feel free to PM/tag here with any questions or if you’d like to discuss having your characters stumble onto the hideous betentacled truth.
His ability to disguise himself as the owner of whatever outfit he’s wearing doesn’t appear to be based on magic or any kind of psychic ability (although for RP purposes it may be handy to assume there’s a bit of psychic suggestion going on). Mainly it just seems to depend on an uncanny talent for exploiting human suggestibility and expectations. He’s an octopus: he’s just that good at camouflage. As long as he is dressed like a human and does the expected human things in roughly the right way, nobody takes notice of his boneless flopping, his wildly extendable limbs, or his tendency to fling objects across the room while performing basic tasks. Not even his wife has noticed yet, and they have two kids… somehow.
Unfortunately for Octodad, this doesn’t make his life easy. The illusion can be instantly broken if he loses his clothes or draws too much focused attention with his boneless mishaps. Certain types of people have an advantage in recognizing him, like marine biologists and Cloudcuckoolander-type characters (although these last may not feel it’s worth commenting on). Life is a constant struggle to prevent anyone – especially his family – from seeing through his disguise.
Also worth noting is that his burbling is always understood by other people, though whether they understand exactly or are just projecting their own interpretation is up to individual muns.
If your character has some ability/feature that would allow them to see through his masquerade, go ahead. Just be warned that he won't take it well, and it's usually more fun to play along with the comedic potential of his disguise. Otherwise, feel free to PM/tag here with any questions or if you’d like to discuss having your characters stumble onto the hideous betentacled truth.
