Augment

"Just gonna out me like that, huh? You're no fun."
This article or section contains heavy spoilers for Prison of Plastic. Read with caution.

★Augment★, in it's simplest form, is an Epithet that allows its Inscribed to add things to the world. Lorelai Blyndeff, the current user of it when Season 1 and Prison of Plastic take place.^[1] ^[2] She uses it to create candies, dangerous weapons masking themselves as toys, and creatures that she can command and play with. ★Augment★ can make sounds louder and add complexity to things. Lorelai uses her Epithet to larp, roleplay, and as an escapism from her possible part in her mother's death as well as her father's incompetence. She is able to simplify things like making lines straighter, or making things disappear. This only happens when inside her bubbles.^[3] This is likely because her bubbles are more easily affected by ★Augment★ than the real world. It could also be due to her general magic theming and abilities.

Capabilities

The main power ★Augment★ grants it's inscribed is the ability to make Dream Bubbles that look like soapy ivory bubbles, yet they are as hard as iron and impervious to intruders. The connection to ivory could be in reference to the Odyssey where false dreams are said to come from a gate of ivory. Inside these Dream Bubbles, the inscribed seems to have more control and use less stamina (energy) then in the real world. This is shown when Lorelai, who has four stars of stamina, is able to sustain games for days in her bubbles.^[4] She can make things outside the bubbles but often chooses not to. Ever since her mothers death she prefers to stay in her bubbles. ★Augment★ can change peoples clothes, appearances, powers, and other permanent factors. Whilst by the end of the Prison of Plastic all physical changes to characters given by ★Augment★ have disappeared, this could have happened because Lorelai chose to take them away or stop supplying them.^[5] It is unknown if ★Augment★ could give someone an Epithet, if the Epithet could be permanent, and of it could give someone the Epithet that is currently inscribed on someone else. ★Augment★ doesn't just change things, it often physically adds things to cover them up. Like the layer of good looking cookies covering up Lorie's burnt cookies. The added layer could be physically scraped off and had a worse taste and texture to the burnt cookies, likely because it was only meant to make them look good. ★Augment★ also gives someone the ability of Looking Glass. Looking Glass lets the inscribed use mirrors and reflective surfaces like portals. They can appear from them, look through them, speak through them, and hear through them. It is unknown if this is something ★Augment★ can do specifically or if Lorie chose to make this power inside her Dream Bubbles.

Weaknesses

The weakness of ★Augment★ are very limited. The only known two are the Epithet ★Dumb★, as owned by Molly Blyndeff in Season 1 and Prison of Plastic, and the Inscribed's own emotions.^[6] ^[7] The Epithet ★Dumb★ and likely other un-summoning or simplifying Epithets can destroy most anything ★Augment★ creates. The Inscribed that has ★Augment★ can also be persuaded to stop using their Epithet or be made so sad, they must stop. This is less so a weakness of the ability, but more so a weakness of the inscribed. A limitation of ★Augment★ is that it cannot create edible food. The food made with ★Augment★ tastes good, smells good, and apparently has great mouth feel.^[8] Yet it cannot give someone energy or stop them from starving. ★Augment★ can be used against its Inscribed. Magic the Inscribed puts into the world or their Dream Bubbles without their say so as long as that is how the magic was created. Her creations can talk back to her and she can make things that have more info than she has. An example of this is the magic dictionary she uses.^[9]

History

No one is known to have had ★Augment★ before or after Lorelai. Lorelai discovered her Epithet before she was nine. This is shown in the final skit of the five year anniversary stream. At that time she could make small things appear outside of her bubbles. It is unknown if she had the abilities Dream Bubble or Looking Glass at this time. In these years she used her powers to play with her sister outside her bubbles, making them toys instead of worlds. One night, two years before the events of Season 1 and Prison of Plastic, Lorelai's home caught fire and her mother died of asphyxiation. It is unknown if the fire was caused by Lorelai Inscribing in her sleep. After this incident, Lorelai mostly used her powers in her Dream Bubbles. She used them as escapism and a substitute for good interpersonal connections. Lorelai used her powers almost all the time for two years to cope, giving her an unprecedented level of power with an unstoppable Epithet. When Vincent Murder came to the Blyndeff Toy Emporium to ask Molly to join his new villain group, Lorelai had a proficiency in the high sixties. This allowed her to make multiple free-thinking minions that think freely enough to work against her. This is shown when the Spelling Bee argues with Lorelai.^[10] It is also shown at this time that Lorelai needs to put some motion, wording, or other action to cast her magic. This could also relate to her theme as a witch in Prison of Plastic.

Trivia

General

Augment is defined as: aug·ment verb /ôɡˈment/
1. make (something) greater by adding to it; increase. "She augmented her sisters misery by not doing the dishes."
The word "Augment" can be traced to the year 1400. It was a late Latin word "Augmentum" and referred to an increase in quantity, size, quality, and more
The word "Augment" became more popular in the renaissance when Latin words were more heavily embraced
Augmented reality (AR) is a tech term for enhancements made to the physical world through digital means. Ex. Virtual reality. This is likely the inspiration for the powers ★Augment★ grants
In Scrabble, "Augment" is worth 10 points