So I had been passing notes back and forth a while back with Manic Muse regarding ideas for experiments because... ahh... he asked for them? And there's this one thing he had been asking me to try out and... mmph... I guess I finally caved a bit. I mean, I've been given a number of reasons as of late to doubt his general level of sanity, but I'm still intrigued enough by his thoughts on perception to go along with it. Besides, I needed something to get my mind off of things and I don't want to play with that other thing anymore right now... so... here we are.
Anyways, he basically had these ideas about using Perception to do something akin to drawing energy from the Construct, or perhaps rather from the chaotic elements surrounding him, to basically gain special abilities. Which obviously sounds kind of farfetched and out there but... stranger things have happened, right? I dunno. It's still a suggestion of low-level super-powers, so that's kinda... nnnngh, yeeeeeah... I mean, on the one hand, I really liked The Last Mimzy. I like this idea that you could present high concepts to children at an early age before their perceptions of reality have solidified and give them a chance to excel far beyond the mental and physical capabilities of even the most able of modern man. I mean, a little girl basically taught herself to levitate and speak telepathically, simply by providing her with knowledge and changing her perceptions in an age of innocence. That kind of crazy level of perception alteration is right up my ally. And instances of people with "powers" or whatever within the mythos does seem to suggest that such things might be more plausible than you'd think...
But I'm an adult damnit! I'm already pretty damned convinced that I can not fly. Because if I could fly, I wouldn't need to worry about some tentacled douchbag that can't seem to handle climbing more than 3-4 flights of stairs on most days of the week. In fact, I'm pretty sure the only thing left to worry about if I could fly is like the Convocation or something. So hey, yeah, learning to do something like that would be fucking awesome, but I don't think it's gonna happen regardless of how much I try to "believe" that I can fly.
Still... there's potential validity to the argument... so I figured I could try something a little smaller scale. He mentioned one idea of being able to lift small pebbles or stop oneself from hitting the ground when you fall. So... low level telekinesis, basically. I didn't feel like putting myself through the stupidity of trying to Jedi-mind throw a rock, so I went with more the latter option. Basically an idea that you could catch yourself in the heat of a dangerous situation by slowly down time or something. So... bullet-time, I guess. And it's pretty simple to test, just spend some time jumping around and prat-falling, while believing really hard in yourself. That was... "basically" what I wound up doing.
A few hours of "exercise" later and I was pretty certain that this wasn't working out. But then, obviously I was skeptical from the start, so I feel like that was probably holding me back. So I figured I'd try a more in depth approach and really push the boundaries here. So I found myself a nice spot, sat down, and really, truly meditated on the idea for about half an hour or so. Trying to find my center and all that. Focus my thoughts and energy. I can do this. I believe!
I returned to my feet refreshed and determined. We were really going to do it this time. I am Not Afraid! I can Do This! Just keep telling yourself that. You have the power, you just have to draw it out. The potential for greatness lies inside of you, now is the time to let it out. No turning back. We're ready. Lets do this!
And then I stepped forward and basically flung myself down a flight of stairs.
....yeah, that didn't work.
So now I'm back on the rooftops trying the one where you make yourself heal faster. Because that would be really great right now.