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Runa
Feb 13, 2011

Deadmeat5150 posted:

If they can do a musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, we can do A Very Shadowrun Christmas: aka The Trash Santa Burns Green & Red.

Also Edward's mom is Christina's older sister. Yup.

That was the seed of my original idea but I tossed that out because it sounded too crackpot and I didn't think it lined up with the facts.

Granted we don't know a lot about the LeBlanc family

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sheep-dodger
Feb 21, 2013

Deadmeat5150 posted:

Also Edward's mom is Christina's older sister. Yup.

I've considered the same, but I think it's unlikely, the age difference between Christina's sister and Christina would be massive. It's not impossible mind, but I feel it's more likely that Edward got into contact with Christina's mom in some other way.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



I have an hour and a half before church so I'm going to see if I can pop out something short before I leave. It looks like Kenji has decided to open up/spill his guts to Marco. Whether he comes back and explains more later in front of a group depends on Kenji and Edward.

Writing now.

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

:f5:

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Edward and Marco - Friday October 20th - Nukit Burger, near the Seattle metroplex docks

"We need to get you to a hospital," said Marco, quietly.

The big man tried to reach forward to touch the smaller one but Edward leaned away from his touch.

"No hospitals. Too many questions," said Edward. "Dangerous answers."

"K...Edward, you're bleeding from your nose and eye and you expelled...Something from your...From your face," finished Marco.

Edward only noticed then that he was bleeding. He looked down at his shirt. His clothing wasn't ruined, thankfully, but there was blood and concrete dust all over his Concrete Dreams t-shirt. It was then that an inappropriate laugh bubbled out of him.

"I need to head to the bathroom to clean up. Any chance you can magic the worst of it away?" asked Edward.

"No. I can help you with your wounds after the fact though," said Marco.

Edward decided to dunk his napkin in his Fizzychug soda and cleaned his face. Marco blocked almost all view and the troll section was rarely fully occupied so no one saw as he wiped away the worst of the blood stains from his face.

"How's that?" asked Edward.

"There's some in your hair," said Marco.

Edward tried and failed to wet his face as intended. Marco kept directing him and Edward kept failing.

"Here, let me," said Marco.

Hesitantly, Edward decided to let Marco touch his face with a new Fizzychug wetted napkin.

"That should do it for now," said Marco, uncertainly. "Are you going to be okay on the way to the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want me to stay?" asked Marco.

Edward hesitated before nodding.

"I have to go to therapy. You could ride with me there," said Edward.

"That would be just fine," said Marco, immediately.

Kenji - Friday October 20th - Nukit Burger Bathroom

Kenji,

I talked with Marco but I had a problem. Please remove the rest of the dust from my system so I don't injure myself. I know we were going to do this before therapy but I want you to do this early so we don't lose any more of it.

- Edward


Kenji swore as he read the message. So that's why his face hurt. He immediately called Octo and after a few rings he picked up. His octopus avatar with the cartoon cyberdeck appeared again.

"Hey, Kenji. I got that Gamepal. It's..." started Octo.

"No time. There's a Nukit Burger on Marion street and Western avenue. Kill its cameras and erase the backups. Fry it if you have to."

"Holy poo poo, okay, did you kill someone or something?" asked Octo.

"No. No time though. Destroy the footage for the last two hours," said Kenji. "Also scrub my name and a person by the name of Marco from any purchase data. He ordered a troll sized meal so he shouldn't be hard to find."

"Well I can do the first, but no can do on the second. All of that financial data goes directly to data monitoring. Nukit Burger wouldn't be hard to do a run on, but it would be a run. I like you, Kenji, you're my Gamepal pal after all, but a run on Nukit Burger headquarters matrix node would be a medium sized deal. Store security though? Yeah, they don't really care about that. It costs too much."

"All right. Scrub the data in ten. Check my commlink. Has anyone been monitoring it?" asked Kenji.

Octo took a few seconds to check before he responded.

"Nope. Not that I can see," said Octo.

"Right. Okay.

Kenji removed his left shoe and poured the dust into the hidden compartment inside of it with care.

"Thank Octo. What do I owe you?" asked Kenji.

"The Gamepal has already been received. We'll call it square. We cephalopods all love vintage tech. True fact."

"Right. Thanks Octo," said Kenji.

Octo's matrix avatar "switched off" the commlink as Octo ended the call. Without the dust Kenji felt exposed, but strangely the dread he felt from last night wasn't as strong. Maybe it was a passing mood? In any case he changed out of his bloody shirt and back into his school shirt. He wrote a quick note to Edward. He couldn't outright refuse Edward. That compromised his safety after all, but he did feel somewhat naked without the dust in his system. He used his magic and reverted his face back to normal.

Edward,

I removed the dust and have reverted our face back to normal. Please warn Marco not to assense us. Looking at still active dust will give him a migraine.

- Kenji

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



I didn't have enough time to finish the scene so no infodump yet. Also no editing. It is how it is until I get back. Sorry folks. I'll get to that with the next post. Off to church.

CYOA Time

Marco is going to eventually ask Edward if he can invite his friends along once he mentions LeBlanc though (minor spoilers). Does Edward accept or decline? And why or why not?

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

Yes because Edward is not great about opsec and if Marco trusts them then he'll give them a shot. Also more allies for kenji and operation slide whistle

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

I didn't have enough time to finish the scene so no infodump yet. Also no editing. It is how it is until I get back. Sorry folks. I'll get to that with the next post. Off to church.

:wave:

Ice Phisherman posted:

CYOA Time
Marco is going to eventually ask Edward if he can invite his friends along once he mentions LeBlanc though (minor spoilers). Does Edward accept or decline? And why or why not?

I would say decline. Edward may need a friend, and he got that through Marco. I don't see Edward's motivations in meeting Marco's friends in the near future, or at least until Edward's comes out of his current 'funk'.

RudeCat
Aug 7, 2012

The rudest cat for the rudest jobs


Edward declines for now, I don't think he's quite ready for that. He'll probably be ready before he realizes he is though, so he might benefit from some gentle pushing.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

Why would Marco know about Leblanc method?

Are Marco's friends Fuzzy, Sasha and Julie? Then yes
are they underground people or Corp people? Then no.

Toughy fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Oct 15, 2017

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Toughy posted:

Why would Marco know about Leblanc method?

Are Marco's friends Fuzzy, Sasha and Julie? Then yes
are they underground people or Corp people? Then no.

At the end of the first arc the LeBlancs were mentioned quite heavily. It was an unrelated way of getting back at Christina. Christina's file and her family file was given to Sasha by her father. It had a lot of dead links, one of which was the LeBlanc method invented by Christina's mother. Kenji dodged telling Sasha's question by asking her a perverted question because he absolutely did know something about it, though not a lot. Edward knows more.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


I'd say that Edward lets some friends tag along, because Marco has been nothing but good to us and we're honestly just super desperate for any sort of friend right now.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



All right. It looks like Edward is going to spill to everyone after therapy. Marco will take care of the details in finding a place and gathering everyone.

Writing now.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

Ice Phisherman posted:

At the end of the first arc the LeBlancs were mentioned quite heavily. It was an unrelated way of getting back at Christina. Christina's file and her family file was given to Sasha by her father. It had a lot of dead links, one of which was the LeBlanc method invented by Christina's mother. Kenji dodged telling Sasha's question by asking her a perverted question because he absolutely did know something about it, though not a lot. Edward knows more.

I get that WE the readers and Sasha know, but did Sasha tell Marco?

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

I guess we can leave that for clarifications on the second draft. We know Marco was a party to the war room calls between the rest of the gang about christina after her first leak.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

Xarbala posted:

I guess we can leave that for clarifications on the second draft. We know Marco was a party to the war room calls between the rest of the gang about christina after her first leak.

Ya it's totally plausible, but I wasn't sure if it was implied or not.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Toughy posted:

Ya it's totally plausible, but I wasn't sure if it was implied or not.

I thought I did, but I'm going back to make sure. If not I can change Marco's reasoning. Checking the chapter now.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Toughy posted:

Ya it's totally plausible, but I wasn't sure if it was implied or not.

Toughy is absolutely right. There was a sort of war conference to get back at Christina after she dropped everyone's secrets and Sasha got the file on Christina and her family, but I never explicitly stated she shared with everyone else. I feel like I could imply this later, but that would be lazy writing. I never tied these two plot threads together so I can tie them off now. That's my fault. I intended to do this but I wanted to start off Kenji's story with a bang early on so I guess I skipped it. Sasha read everything, and everyone wanted to get back at Christina, but Sasha hasn't shared this information with everyone yet because I have not explicitly stated that it happened. I wanted to get out that update but didn't think about it before I left. Apologies. I'm trying to weave a number of plot threads together and I've never worked on this kind of scale before. Also I was in a rush to get out the door so I wouldn't be late.

Luckily I can just change Marco's reasoning for everyone wanting to talk to Edward/Kenji and shall do so in a way that makes better sense for his character.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Oct 16, 2017

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Edward is exactly the type that would spill the beans if pressed even a little. He cannot in any way deal with stress or frustration. He created an entire complete personality in order to escape it!

Ive dealt with people eerily similar. Easiest negotiation I ever had.

Deadmeat5150 fucked around with this message at 14:29 on Oct 16, 2017

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Edward and Marco - Friday October 20th - Just after noon - In transit to Edward's therapy session

Edward and Marco talked for the better part of half an hour on their way by foot. They'd decided to walk and talk. Edward was near the tail end of explaining what he both knew and suspected to Marco. Marco teetered between disbelief, nausea and anger, but held fast. He'd pound a wall later if he needed to, but right now his friend needed him. If Edward or Kenji needed to go to a psychiatric hospital he'd take him, but he needed more opinions. This was too much and it was too large for him to handle alone and any choices he'd make would be weighed and measured.

"So that's it. The broad strokes," said Edward, wearily.

"So you were..." started Marco.

"Yeah. It really happened," said Edward, his voice small. "Like I said before, everyone I've met who I tell about this either doesn't believe me or leaves. This is me trying...Again..." said Edward, haltingly, sadly.

Marco didn't respond, but he did lay a large, comforting hand on Edward's shoulder. Edward was secretly proud of himself for not shying away from that touch.

"And the rest? About the corporations?" asked Marco.

"Most of it is speculation, but I can't think of anything better. Most everyone who lives in the ACHE comes to the same conclusion anyway. You hear stories and sometimes people people can even prove them."

Marco thought furiously while he helped cut a gentle path through the pedestrians with his sheer size. Edward followed closely.

"I believe you," said Marco, finally.

"Really?" asked Edward.

"My father works for EVO and when you live in one of the big corporations for long enough you either turn away from what they do, join in, numb yourself or leave. I serve God, my family, myself and my corporation in that order and for good reason. They sometimes do good work, but they've also done evil in the past and far more evil than good. All the corporations do. They're not motivated by doing good or evil though. They're only motivated by profit and power. Almost all corporations will do despicable things if its profitable with very few exceptions. What you say doesn't surprise me at all. Sometimes I just need to have my nose rubbed in the evil that the corporations do remind myself of why my work is so important."

"Thank you," said Edward, shyly.

"Do you want me to keep your secret, Edward?" said Marco. "When Kenji...That feels so strange keeping you and him straight...When your other self directed you to talk about me it was because you're lonely, right?"

"Yeah. My secret, please do. And yeah, for the longest time it was just mom and I. Now mom is being cared for. I'm alone again."

"You don't talk to...Yourself?" asked Marco.

"I can't talk to Kenji normally. I have to use text," said Edward.

Marco pulled Edward to the side to avoid foot traffic. He looked into Kenji's eyes one last time to make sure that he wasn't being played for a fool. That this wasn't some elaborate hoax. Kenji was brash, self-absorbed, calculating, dismissive and callous. However Edward seemed genuinely in pain, even damaged, anxious, shy and lonely. However he also seemed earnest, open and friendly. There was also absolutely no explaining what was up with his aura or what was in his shoe. His aura he could look at, like one might look at a car crash, but it hurt to look at that dust for any amount of time. It felt like staring into the sun and Marco just couldn't explain it away as a prank. Marco considered carefully as he looked down at the elf. Kenji...No, Edward's eyes darted away from Marco's face over and over again as if terrified to meet his gaze, but desperate to try to meet it at the same time, and so he repeatedly tried and failed. His breathing quickened and he began to shake.

"This is the part where you leave, isn't it?" whispered Edward, and his voice broke at the end.

Marco decided to trust in Edward in that moment and so he embraced him in a hug.

"I'm not going anywhere and you don't have to be alone anymore."

Edward, Marco, Fuzzy, Julie and Sasha - Friday October 20th - Early afternoon - Orc Underground - Touristville

"Is it really safe to bring Kenji down here?" asked Fuzzy.

Fuzzy, Julie and Sasha waited at the entrance to Touristville. Sasha's guards, Duncan and Beef were here was well as they always seemed to be whenever she was off Blake Island or Ares Macrotechnology grounds. The murals at the entrance were different again. The soul of street art is impermanence. What drew Fuzzy's eyes this time there was a picture of a tiny, blonde orc smacking Humanis skinheads with a comically giant black staff. It was done in the comic book style with the word, "POW!" surrounded by jagged red lines near the action scene complete with speed lines. That was new and Fuzzy was flattered, though she wondered when she'd become an orc.

"Deondra is escorting us and he'll be wearing a hoodie. Elves aren't in danger down here as long as they're in a group," said Julie.

"You mean your police officer friend?" asked Fuzzy.

"She's not police, Fuzzy," grumped Sasha.

"Yeah she is. She has a uniform and everything," said Fuzzy, confusedly.

"No, they're not police!" exclaimed Sasha, who began to gesticulate wildly with her arms. "No training, no certifications, no authority. Knight Errant even offered to employ an all orc and troll police force. They refuse and get violent whenever we try to establish authority. This is Seattle. Knight Errant is the police above and below ground. Unless you're a corporation in your own territory there are no exceptions."

Unbeknownst to Sasha she was getting dirty looks from the locals. Julie did though. So did Sasha's bodyguards who drew ever so slightly closer to her.

"Hey Sasha, maybe you should cool it with that talk," said Julie. "Touristville is a good place, but they're still touchy about stuff like that."

"But they're not!" continued Sasha, who didn't take the hint.

"Hey Sasha," said Fuzzy, soothingly, and she touched her girlfriend's shoulder. "Remember when you used to say to me that I shouldn't get political? Well maybe this is the wrong time to talk about it."

This didn't satisfy Sasha, but it did get her to drop the subject. Orcs continued to shoot the young woman dirty looks but eventually went back to their business.

"Okay. Okay. I'll cool it. Thanks you two," said Sasha.

"No problem," said Julie.

"Anytime," said Fuzzy.

"I have to ask why we're down here though. Marco was vague about the details. He said it had to do with Kenji. If this is just another one of Kenji's pranks I'm going to be mad," growled Sasha.

Fuzzy's hand found Sasha's and their fingers laced together.

"Hey, we'll still have tomorrow, right?" asked Fuzzy.

This actually seemed to calm Sasha down. She smiled down at her shorter girlfriend.

"Right. Sorry. You're right," sighed Sasha. "Politics gets me riled up. It's why I don't like to talk about it."

The two briefly kissed. Julie looked away.

It was then that Marco, Deondra, Marco's fellow parishioner and Touristville police officer and someone in a hoodie with the drawstring pulled tight walked down the stairs from the main entrance into Touristville. It was Fuzzy's grip on her hand that kept Sasha from falling down. On reflex Sasha looked away as her power of assensing, always on despite her best efforts caught a glimpse of something wrong in the astral. It was a smaller figure than Marco or Deondra who brought up the rear. The person's aura looked as if it'd been hacked to pieces and then sewn inexpertly back together. That was bad enough. However down at his foot of all places was something truly vile. She nearly threw up, but swallowed her bile as she spun away to look anywhere else. Fuzzy held onto her hand, her own reflexes keeping Sasha from collapsing. Her bodyguards rushed forward.

"Is everything all right?" asked Deondra.

The broad woman in the blue uniform and cap, her hair shaved at the sides rushed forward as well. One of Sasha's bodyguards moved in front of her to block her out. Having worked with bodyguards before, Deondra decided not to push it. Touristville orks knew how to deal with tourists and their quirks and that included the rich corporate types with bodyguards when they decided to slum it.

"It's fine," choked Sasha. "Duncan, glasses please."

"Yes ma'am," said Duncan.

Within seconds the elf produced a pair of glasses for her. The lenses were as thick as the bottom of a jam jar and just as opaque. They would make her eyes look huge, though right now her brown eyes were closed. Unlike normal glasses it didn't just consist of lenses and a frame alone, but there were black blinders on the sides that blocked totally her peripheral vision. They looked rather silly on her.

"Sorry," whispered Edward.

"It's not your fault," said Marco. "Sasha, we're going to the abbey for privacy. Do you want us to wait?"

"I'm going to need a minute," whispered Sasha, hoarsely. "Duncan, painkiller please."

"I can take her," said Fuzzy. "I know the way."

Fuzzy came down here to church with Marco sometimes when he needed extra help with healing. Julie was always here with him on Sundays, but when Fuzzy came they could usually heal everyone and not have to turn anyone away.

Sasha was handed some pills. Seconds later she was handed a bottle of water and she swallowed the pills down.

"Miss, perhaps we should get you and miss Fuzzy back to the arcology," said Beef, diplomatically.

The big ork sported cyberware under his tailored armored suit and suit jacket. It whirred softly as he continued to block out Deondra though she wasn't trying to get past him anymore.

"No. I think...I think I should be fine in a few minutes. All of you go on ahead," said Sasha, who was now beginning to recover. "I just got surprised is all."

"All right. Meet us when you can. Send a runner to Our Abbey Underground if you can't make it," said Marco, his tone concerned. "Matrix access down here is spotty at best."

Marco, Julie, Deondra and Edward who only Marco knew was Edward proceeded down towards the abbey while Fuzzy, Sasha and Sasha's bodyguards, Duncan and Beef stayed behind. A few minutes went by in silence until Sasha was able to stand up straight.

"That was awful. I still have spots in my eyes," groaned Sasha. "Was that Kenji? He looked messed up. What the hell?"

Fuzzy was confused but focused on Sasha's welfare.

"I couldn't tell. He had a hoodie on and was quiet," said Fuzzy. "What's with your glasses? I can barely see your eyes and what I can see looks huge."

"Glass blocks the astral. Well, most solid objects do, but I can see through glass. If I'd known I'd have put them on," said Sasha.

"Why not have them on all the time then?" asked Fuzzy.

"They look dumb," grumped Sasha.

They did look dumb, but Fuzzy could see that Sasha was having a bad day.

"Hey. Look at me," said Fuzzy, softly.

Sasha looked at her. She looked absolutely miserable.

"Who's my favorite person in the world?" asked Fuzzy.

Sasha smiled shyly and her magnified eyes softened a fraction in intensity.

"I am," said Sasha, quietly.

"Who's going to get loads of kisses later from me later?" said Fuzzy in a sing-song voice.

Sasha truly began to relax now. The stress and tension that her body held began to melt. It started with her face, made its way to her shoulders and continued to work itself down. It was a wave that took all of a second, but it didn't come all at once. She blinked owlishly at Fuzzy through those jam jar frames of hers.

"Me," she said, sweetly, and blushed.

"You're absolutely right. You are my favorite person in the world and you're going to get loads of kisses from me later. I'd kiss you even with those silly looking glasses on," said Fuzzy.

Now Sasha looked like the person Fuzzy adored. Fuzzy knew that she had an acid tongue when she got mad and would get grumpy, but it was wonderful to make her smile like that.

"Okay, yeah. Sorry. I was looking forward to our date and we got interrupted. I'm not mad at Marco. I'm just frustrated and everything was making me mad."

"Marco is our friend and he even helped teach me how to read without asking for much in return," whispered Fuzzy. "If he asks for something the odds are good I'm going to say yes because I know it's important."

"You're right. Sorry. I'll apologize in a bit. I've really been a crabby bitch, huh?" asked Sasha, glumly.

Fuzzy squeezed her hand. Neither of the girls had let go of one another.

"No one is perfect," said Fuzzy. "You forgive me when I lose my temper. I forgive you when you get angry about stuff. Also I've been locked away in my cabin trying to catch up on my education and I haven't been around as much as either of us want. I'm working on that though. I'm trying hard. That's how this is supposed to work, right?"

Sasha smiled self-consciously and squeezed Fuzzy's hand back. She knew that Fuzzy was desperately trying to play catch up and the odds were that she wouldn't be able to immediately. Probably not even until the end of the year. Maybe even next year. Maybe longer, but still, she was catching up. It made Sasha quietly proud of Fuzzy despite the hours apart and made those hours together all the more precious. It also made her keenly covetous of those hours. She had a slippery grasp of why she'd been so angry, but despite that tenuous grip it was still a measure of control and so that helped her feel at ease. That and the promise of kisses. Fuzzy wanted to help Marco and deep down, Sasha did too. Fuzzy just helped remind her of why. Sure, Marco had interrupted their date, but it was for a good reason, even if she wasn't particularly fond of Kenji. Tomorrow they'd have their date. She was still a little sore that their day had been moved back, but not so much that it was enough to damage her mood anymore.

"I don't know. This is my first relationship. It sounds right though," said Sasha.

"Mine too. And yeah, it feels right. We've had this talk before, except you were the one calming me down, remember?" asked Fuzzy, pointedly.

"I'm just glad I don't understand Spanish well enough to know what you're saying," said Sasha.

"Yeah, you're probably better off," joked Fuzzy.

The two girls laughed.

"Nogwaaaaay!"

Someone waved at Fuzzy and Fuzzy waved back with her free hand. Beef looked confused but amused and turned to look at Fuzzy, his eyes unreadable as they were solid chrome from being replaced by cyberware.

"They call you Nogway?" asked Beef.

"Yeah, it's my ork name," said Fuzzy. "It means black staff."

Fuzzy would've mentioned the circumstances as to how she got it but she didn't want to ruin Sasha's improved mood.

"Oh, black staff. Right," drawled Beef.

He looked at Duncan significantly but there was no recognition. The elven bodyguard just shrugged. Beef was the only one who spoke Or'Zet, the ork language and so he got the name.

"What?" asked Sasha.

Beef snickered.

"What am I not getting?" continued Sasha. "Fuzzy, tell me."

"It means black staff," said Fuzzy. "I told you."

"Black staff," echoed Beef, who was failing to suppress a laugh.

The two girls and the bodyguards walked down the cramped corridors of Touristville towards Our Abbey Underground to meet with their friends. Beef declined to let Sasha in on the joke.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Oct 16, 2017

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



This has turned into a longer update than I intended and so I'm taking a break as I've been at it for about three hours. I may finish tonight or I'll continue tomorrow. I'm going to get a snack and relax before I think about continuing, so no choice just yet. Toughy's good point kept me from falling into a plot hole which I'm thankful for. Thanks, Toughy.

If Marco and Edward's conversation seems strange and as if they'd already talked about everything, they have. This is a narrative trick that I'm using. It is a bit of a tease, but it means that Edward, who is going to have a hard time explaining himself to strangers and will be uncomfortable in a group will have Marco to help give his opinion. I can juggle the infodump between the two characters so I'm not just going to dump blocks of text on you. It breaks up the narrative and allows it to flow more smoothly than the big block of text. It also allows me to give two points of view and color the scene with subtler shades of emotional content.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Oct 16, 2017

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

Beef declined to let Sasha in on the joke.

Good thing too, Sasha would never be able to look Beef in the eyes again if she knew what it meant.

Aaaaand I'm behaving myself. :ocelot: :)

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

I'm still amused and glad we went with the Ork and Troll Rep bonus.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
That was great. Fuzzy Nogway is the name of my next ska band.

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

I don't care if it's ethical; I want a Mammoth Steak.
I think Fuzzy will get a kick out of the double entendre the first time she punches Nogway into Horizon Translate.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

....Is that still a valid thing to jingoistically blow out of proportion?


I thought Fuzzy already gets it. IIRC she caught on in about 30 seconds when she first got it. It's all her non-orc friends who're missing the joke, right?

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Crazycryodude posted:

I thought Fuzzy already gets it. IIRC she caught on in about 30 seconds when she first got it. It's all her non-orc friends who're missing the joke, right?

You're right, Fuzzy had it explained to her that first time in the underground when she was 'christened'.

Julie got it too, clearly Marco as well, that first trip.

Its just the 'normies' that didn't.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



All right. Time to complete it. I'm going to do something a little more ambitious at the end of the completion of the story today and hope you folks find it interesting.

Writing now.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


So glad we picked ork/troll rep, it's paying off in the best ways.


Oof, that previous Marco/Edward update though. That's some soul-crushing loneliness right there.

Nothingtoseehere
Nov 11, 2010


Just binge-read this entire thread: took 7 hours, but was worth it. Wish I'd found it earlier, but glad to be able to shape the story from here onwards. Your writing is incredible, Ice.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Hexenritter posted:

So glad we picked ork/troll rep, it's paying off in the best ways.


Oof, that previous Marco/Edward update though. That's some soul-crushing loneliness right there.

Yeah, I wanted to front load the feelings too before I delved into what actually happened.

Also missed your presence. Didn't see you for almost a week (I think it was a week. Time is slippery for me lately since I write so much). Glad you're back. :toot:

nothing to seehere posted:

Just binge-read this entire thread: took 7 hours, but was worth it. Wish I'd found it earlier, but glad to be able to shape the story from here onwards. Your writing is incredible, Ice.

Welcome to the thread! I'm flattered that you like my writing and that you spent your time enjoying my work. It doesn't just belong to me though. The people commenting on this thread help shape the narrative too.

The neat thing is that it can be your story too as long as you participate. You can look back at it and say, "I helped make that decision". Not all the time, but here and there.

Tell a friend. :)

--

Still writing, sadly. I went to the grocery store because I got hungry and splurged on a lobster cake since I was feeling in that Pacific Northwest mood even out here in the South even if it isn't perfect. I took a walk to find inspiration. I always find it, but it's never exactly what I want. All sorts of ideas save for what I'm writing about. Even how to start a second year if I'm inclined.

I'll be heading to the doctor tomorrow to get my head checked so updates may come slowly tomorrow. Tonight though I think I can squeeze out this update and maybe another. Back to the salt mines.

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

I went to the grocery store because I got hungry and splurged on a lobster cake since I was feeling in that Pacific Northwest mood even out here in the South even if it isn't perfect.

For a second I did a double take because I thought you mean dessert cake.

Then I realized you meant like crab cake, with lobster instead.

Ice Phisherman posted:

I'll be heading to the doctor tomorrow to get my head checked so updates may come slowly tomorrow.

Be Well! :wave:

Runa
Feb 13, 2011



stay safe OP ghost

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Ice Phisherman posted:

Yeah, I wanted to front load the feelings too before I delved into what actually happened.

Also missed your presence. Didn't see you for almost a week (I think it was a week. Time is slippery for me lately since I write so much). Glad you're back. :toot:

Had a few very busy days taking care of real world poo poo and trying to balance a bit of gaming (burning off some backlog while it takes five days to download Middle Earth: Shadow of War) and spending mutual interest time with the missus in there too. She's an insomniac and keeping up can be exhausting but fun. I may or may not have kinda sorta overused my ADHD prescription meds to fuel a 15 hour Dishonoured 2/16 hour Stellaris marathon with a few hours of Tekken 7, Borderlands TPS, Hotline Miami 2, Ruiner and Brigador over the past two and a half days (finally got some sleep last night around 1am, slept till 1pm :v: ).


quote:

Still writing, sadly. I went to the grocery store because I got hungry and splurged on a lobster cake since I was feeling in that Pacific Northwest mood even out here in the South even if it isn't perfect. I took a walk to find inspiration. I always find it, but it's never exactly what I want. All sorts of ideas save for what I'm writing about. Even how to start a second year if I'm inclined.

I'll be heading to the doctor tomorrow to get my head checked so updates may come slowly tomorrow. Tonight though I think I can squeeze out this update and maybe another. Back to the salt mines.

I'll be with you all the way buddy, I'm eager to see how it all unfolds, and as I've said before, I really want to see Blake Island: The Graduates.

Fingers crossed that there's nothing wrong with your noggin, hope it all goes well.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

You're awesome Ice Phisherman and you take all the time you want!!!

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Toughy posted:

You're awesome Ice Phisherman and you take all the time you want!!!

+1

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

I don't care if it's ethical; I want a Mammoth Steak.

Ice Phisherman posted:

You can look back at it and say, "I helped make that decision". Not all the time, but here and there.

I'm the guy who decided for us to play Kenji, and I'm proud of that. :v:

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Hexenritter posted:

. . . and spending mutual interest time with the missus in there too.

:pervert:

Hexenritter posted:

. . . I really want to see Blake Island: The Graduates.

Hear Hear.

jagadaishio posted:

I'm the guy who decided for us to play Kenji, and I'm proud of that. :v:

:ocelot: :)

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001




Revolver Ocelot
(Revolver Ocelot)


One of these days I'm going to look up at your avatar and see that you've become the rival living a lie.

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CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Hexenritter posted:

One of these days I'm going to look up at your avatar and see that you've become the rival living a lie.

I never played, Metal Gear: Whatever?

So, not sure what you mean?

I just like the hand motion is all. :)

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