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Julie is definitely letting her crash. She'll even help her find a place in the Underground if she wants. It'll be work, but that's what they do, right? As an aside, isn't it orks that tend to die in their 40s? Trolls make it into their 50s, and dwarves/elves haven't been around long enough to have had their genetic testing confirmed in practice. Mind you, a hard life will skew your life shorter either way, and Rita's definitely well past her family-starting prime.
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Nov 2, 2017 04:59
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jagadaishio posted:Julie is definitely letting her crash. She'll even help her find a place in the Underground if she wants. It'll be work, but that's what they do, right? Oh poo poo, you're right. Trolls live until 50. It's orks that die at 35-40. I feel sad for Julie now. 
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Nov 2, 2017 05:02
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Nov 2, 2017 05:03
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Ice Phisherman posted:Oh poo poo, you're right. Trolls live until 50. It's orks that die at 35-40. Recent fluff suggested that Goblinized, rather than natural-born orks, have human-length lifespans, and time spent as a human before goblinizing is aged at a human rate regardless. Also, some orks randomly don't suffer from Methuselah Syndrome, which is the actual name of 'orks age shockingly quickly.' A good rule of thumb is that any given ork is physically 50% older than their chronological age. At 12 they're physically 18, at 18 they're physically 27, and at 40 they're physically 60. A significant number of random ork gangers that shadowrunners are liable to gun down in a hood run are within a year or two of 12 in either direction. There's a side fluff note somewhere that has a Goblinized ork in his 50s and a natural-born daughter in her 30s and she's officially starting to look older than he is and it absolutely terrifies him.
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Nov 2, 2017 05:12
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Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time This is a bad idea, and, Julie would help Big Rita. Julie owes Big Rita as she took care of her in prison, and, Julie would pay it forward for the kindness and support she received from the Underground. Besides, Big Rita would make a great business partner at the crossroads clinic; ain't nobody gonna cause trouble at Julie's clinic with Big Rita as the bouncer.
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Nov 2, 2017 05:18
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Crazycryodude posted:Aw gently caress, that's a hell of a choice. Well, in point of fact, no she really doesn't - she can't be, in the position she's in. But she sounds like she wants to be, if she can get out of the circumstances that she's in that make her have to be a bad person. I suspect that having Big Rita around will make a few things we'd like for Julie much more difficult: dealing with her criminal SIN, her racism, her self-worth etc. Big Rita is a Spike shot-caller - Ice Phisherman is kinda underselling what kind of godawful poo poo a person like that has done. I'm not saying it's not worth doing, but let's be aware of what exactly Julie's shouldering here.
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Nov 2, 2017 06:02
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Julie owes her, help out Rita. Enjoy the subsequent train wreck or heart warming success.
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Nov 2, 2017 06:07
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MinutePirateBug posted:Julie owes her, help out Rita. Enjoy the subsequent train wreck or heart warming success. Poque no los dos?
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Nov 2, 2017 06:08
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The Myst thing was me jumping to conclusions erroneously. Ignore. Out of character, taking in Big Rita is a goddamned awful idea and I really want to say no. In-character this is not a choice at all; Big Rita is Mom for Julie, in the same way that Rat Man is Fuzzy's Mom. Also, I really, really want to see Marco and Rita go toe to toe over... God, anything really. There's a lot for the two of them to fight over as a veneer for "I have to protect Julie from this threat" We haven't even finished year one and I already can't wait for two.
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Nov 2, 2017 06:25
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RickVoid posted:The Myst thing was me jumping to conclusions erroneously. Ignore. I can imagine Julie coming back to her house one day to find it covered in blood, Marco and Edward lying in the contents of their own voided bowels, Rita standing triumphantly over them "Julie be a dear and help me clean up the bodies of the knife-ear and the race traitor."
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Nov 2, 2017 06:36
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I can see Julie letting Big Rita couch surf, but it is a really bad idea.
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Nov 2, 2017 15:32
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Oh it's an awful idea, but she's gonna do it. She's gotta do it.
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Nov 2, 2017 16:07
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It really is a baaaad idea but there is no way Julie doesn't let her couch surf, she's Mom. But yeah, I'm under absolutely no illusions as to the poo poo a gang shotcaller has done. Also, CV, when I mentioned Juicy Lucy from Wentworth I'm referencing an Australian prison drama on Netflix. She is the leader of "the boys", a sexually predatory gang who determine who is and who isn't a rape target, and happily, knowingly spreads hepatitis out of sheer spite. She's a loving disgusting person. Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Nov 2, 2017 |
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Nov 2, 2017 19:11
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Hexenritter posted:She is the leader of "the boys", a sexually predatory gang who determine who is and who isn't a rape target, and happily, knowingly spreads hepatitis out of sheer spite. She's a loving disgusting person. Well, Good Morning to you too, Starshine. 
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Nov 2, 2017 19:22
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MinutePirateBug posted:I can imagine Julie coming back to her house one day to find it covered in blood, Marco and Edward lying in the contents of their own voided bowels, Rita standing triumphantly over them "Julie be a dear and help me clean up the bodies of the knife-ear and the race traitor." Triumphant? No no no. Not tragic enough. Julie comes home to find her covered in blood, some of which is clearly her own, kneeling over Kenji and Marco's bodies, her bloodshot eyes darting wildly around the room, face battered and tear-soaked. She looks up at Julie and says the only words she can, her face tinged with despiration and horror. "Help them." (The threat isn't necessarily Rita; it's the people Rita is trying to get away from coming to remind her of who she really is.)
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Nov 2, 2017 19:59
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RickVoid posted:Triumphant? No no no. Not tragic enough. This is far darker and far more likely.
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Nov 2, 2017 20:02
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RickVoid posted:(The threat isn't necessarily Rita; it's the people Rita is trying to get away from coming to remind her of who she really is.) Wouldn't the Underground be the only safe place for her then? Gangers are kept out because the Underground enforces their own Law and Order down there?
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Nov 2, 2017 20:08
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CourValant posted:Wouldn't the Underground be the only safe place for her then? All it takes is one sympathetic ork or troll looking the other way, and you know there's gotta be at least one in a position of power. Rita is going to attract this sort of trouble no matter where she is.
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Nov 2, 2017 20:28
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I'm enjoying the banter. I'm scrapping part of the scene I wrote. Julie figuring out that orks only live half as long as humans and therefor reach maturity faster. It world it makes sense, but the implications of her accepting this grinds hard against my sensibilities. It's the implications of accepting this as normal, and me, writing as a normal human being and thinking about the kind of message that sends. I'm going to blithely skip over the age thing like most Shadowrun novels do. They talk about orks and trolls getting old, but rarely do their talk about the implications of their youths and I guess I'm understanding why now. I did a little research and it actually looks like Julie should live a human length lifespan because she goblinized, which is pretty darn rare. Anyway, I think that having a spirit quest which is ostensibly a religious ceremony where you do drugs with your teacher is funny and shocking and transgressive right up until it happens and then you realize it's actually serious business. That's a far cry from digging into the moral implications of a race of people who I'm using as a magnifying glass for class and race problems becoming adults around 12-13. So I'm just going to ignore that part of the lore because that screws all of what I'm trying to do up and personally repulses me. Continuing to write.
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Nov 2, 2017 21:02
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Ice Phisherman posted:So I'm just going to ignore that part of the lore because that screws all of what I'm trying to do up and personally repulses me. Just out of curiosity, which aspect of this is repulsive to you? Is this something that we can discuss? Just the nature of being an 'adult' at 12-13 and everything that it entails? Because Bar/Bat Mitzvahs' happen at 13/12, Quinceañeras' at 15, etc. Rites of passage for children into 'adulthood' happen around that age for a lot of cultures around the world. That's why I'm curious as to your apprehension.
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Nov 2, 2017 21:25
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CourValant posted:Just out of curiosity, which aspect of this is repulsive to you? Is this something that we can discuss? The implication that people would be getting married and starting families around age 12/13. I'm an American and I have American sensibilities writing what is essentially fiction about young adults, if not targeted squarely at young adults. It challenges my personal code of ethics in a way that I'm not comfortable with. In my great grandparent's days I'm pretty sure this would've been far more acceptable, but I'm not them. The Bar/Bat Mitzvah's and Quinceañeras are rituals, and are somewhat vestigial of another time. They don't expect young adults to start getting married or join the army or really be an adult around that time anymore. Instead they slowly get more adult responsibilities. Maybe I'm reading into it too much. I'm just careful with my sense of ethics.
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Nov 2, 2017 21:42
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For me it's that orks, trolls, and the like tend to be used as a stand-in for real minorities (particularly African-Americans), and there are some icky implications with the idea that they're full adults at age 12. Just off the top of my head, all these 12 year old orks running around with guns shooting people means it's totally ok to kill that 12 year old back, which gets real weird when you think about, say, Tamir Rice.
Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Nov 2, 2017 |
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Nov 2, 2017 21:42
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Orks are literally physically 18 at 12 - but they're still emotionally/mentally only as mature as their actual age. Pre-teen pregnancy is a common issue for orks, and the hottie at the club/the gangers you gun down in the street are regularly only 13 years old. The jokes that Minuet and crew were making - that orks are families by 17 - are poignant because a 17-year-old ork is physically more than 25 years old. There are a wide range of disturbing implications to ork aging patterns. And that's before getting into the fact that canon sources have talked at length about the fact that ork pregnancies last only 6 months, usually result in 4-8 children, and that orks have heart-breakingly-high infant/child mortality rates because of poor living conditions, no access to medical care, and Shadowrun's deeply poisonous levels of pollution. The more you learn about orks, the more heart-breaking it is. I can understand not wanting to dwell on that too much, especially for a character already so tragic.
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Nov 2, 2017 21:54
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Yeah I get the author's intent of orks being forced to grow up fast because of circumstances beyond their control, and done well it can be incredibly powerful. It's just also extremely easy for someone who doesn't have the background knowledge to misinterpret a minority character that's 18 years old with 3 kids. I think you can handle it well, Ice, the idea of being forced to grow up and live fast/die young by circumstances beyond their control could make for great stories in the Underground, and Julie's even exempt by virtue of having goblinized so she doesn't have to worry about it. But if you want to steer clear I understand that, too.
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Nov 2, 2017 22:00
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Crazycryodude posted:I think you can handle it well, Ice, the idea of being forced to grow up and live fast/die young by circumstances beyond their control could make for great stories in the Underground, and Julie's even exempt by virtue of having goblinized so she doesn't have to worry about it. But if you want to steer clear I understand that, too. I'll think about it. It's difficult for me. When I talked about what happened to Kenji for example that's powerful, but it's also just far enough away from what happens everyday that you feel like you can not only tackle it, but that you should. Tackling systemic poverty, growing up fast, that's harder for me. It's way closer to the life people understand. Shadowrun is a lens and the closer that lens is to the truth that harder it is to keep enough of a respectful distance. That tightrope act gets much more narrow. I feel like I can handle it at least in the moment, but the implications further down the road I might not be able to. I'll give it a think.
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Nov 2, 2017 22:22
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Julie and Big Rita - Saturday - January 5th 2075 – Noon - Everett, Darrington Correctional Facilities The two women, one young and one older kept smiling for a time. Neither wanted to leave, but they knew their time was nearly up. Julie had Touristville to go back to. Big Rita had a prison to run. Julie made a decision. "I have a place now," said Julie, slowly. "poo poo kid, that's great," said Big Rita. "It's a nice place in a good community. It's peaceful. Restful," said Julie, desperately trying to get the message across. Big Rita opened her mouth to respond, but paused, thought and understood. "Yeah?" asked Big Rita. "I'm opening a clinic," said Julie, slowly. "I'm getting a big house dug out of the ork underground with a clinic in front. I'm going to it for the first time today. They really wanted a healer and I thought I could fit in. It turns out that I do, but I can't be there all of the time because I go to school. There's plenty of room for peaceful people in case you know any. You know, like someone who gets blessed out of the life? Properly, you know? So there's no trouble?" "I might know a person or two," said Big Rita, casually, but her piggy eyes looked at Julie desperately. "Where is it?" "The ork underground. Touristville. At the crossroads. I'll be there all summer. If you forget, you just make a lowercase t with your hands. Where it crosses is where I am. Come fall anyone who fits into the community will pretty much have the place to themselves. After all I go to school five days out of the week." The two were definitely not being covert, but Big Rita was scary enough and well funded enough to threaten and bribe a single underpaid guard . "I'll send anyone who gets blessed out of the life your way then. Thanks kiddo. I might be busy for a while. How about sometime next month?" asked Big Rita. "I'd like that," said Julie. "I'd like that too." Julie, Edward and Marco - Saturday - January 5th 2075 – Early Afternoon - Ork Underground, Touristville, Julie's home Julie's hands didn't stop shaking until she was half way back to Touristville in her taxi. She clenched and unclenched her hands but nothing was working and so she hugged herself. "What am I doing?" asked Julie, desperately. "I love her and I owe her, but Big Rita has killed people. That's how you get into the Spikes, right?" That was indeed how you got into the spikes after all. Each and every member had to kill an elf. It wasn't as hard as before to get away with murder. Many people had no ID's, called SIN's for almost a third of people in the metroplex, especially out in the barrens. They weren't registered as people and so if they died the law wouldn't notice except in the most extreme of circumstances. That was just life in the barrens or at least that's what she'd heard. Deeply conflicted and deeply confused she wondered over and over again if she'd done the right thing all the way back to Touristville. The taxi dropped her off at Seneca street and First Avenue. She absentmindedly paid her fare. She wondered as she stepped past The Big Rhino, the best ork restaurant in town, down the steps into Touristville, past the murals and she did not at all notice her own likeness on the wall healing the wounded. She didn't even notice the smell of the food in the north end even though she was ravenous. She came to the crossroads, but until she was in front of her door she hadn't noticed. Here she was. It was her new home. Her job. Her place in the world. Her hands were shaking again for an entirely different reason now. She pulled out her keys and dropped them. Feeling silly she bent down to pick them up when the door to her home opened up in front of her. It was Marco. "Welcome home," he said, cheerily. "I've been helping smooth the place out." Her heart soared. She hadn't had alone time with Marco since Christmas. Her heart stalled out as she saw Kenji's face from behind him. "Oh...Um...Hey Kenji," said Julie. "It's actually Edward today," said Edward, sheepishly. "He said you had a housewarming party? He said it might be good for me to go. I hope I'm not a bother..." Though he wore Kenji's face, or maybe it was better to say that Kenji wore Edward's face, the two young men were two separate identities in the same body. This was still a concept that was difficult for Julie to get used to. "Yeah uh...You're welcome," said Julie unconvincingly. Edward's face fell as he noticed her lack of any enthusiasm to see him. "Don't worry Edward," said Marco, "I think Julie just wants some time with me later. When you're ready to go I'll help you out and come back so I can help Julie clean up." Both Edward and Julie perked up as Marco expertly smoothed the situation over. Julie rose to her feet, stowed her keys in her pocket and stepped inside of her home. "I'll show you around," said Marco. "It's all smoothed out. Literally, it took time to make the walls and floors and ceilings smooth. This part is your home. Across the lane is your clinic. That way you don't have sick people in your house and you can actually leave your work. As a healer I can't tell you how important that is. Anyway you'll be practicing officially under me for a while. I'm going to have to get you licensed. We were sort of skirting the law at church," he admitted, sheepishly. "It's going to take a while, but we can definitely get it done before summer. We'll have plenty of time with my connections," assured Marco. "Uh...Right," said Julie. "Okay, so...This is it?" Julie made an expansive gesture to the room. The ceilings were high, but there was little inside of it save for bare stone walls and ceilings. There were a number of pillars however here and there though. Edward stepped out from behind Marco and hopped nervously from foot to foot. "Yep. Don't feel too bad. It's a space for you to complicate. A few weeks of work and you'll be able to decorate it however you please. This is the living room. Off to the left is an area for a kitchen. It's got hookups too. Electric, not gas. No gas hookups allowed in the underground," said Marco. "Yeah, right?" remarked Edward. "Heh heh...Kaboom!" Julie and Marco looked at him and he looked down sheepishly. "Sorry." "It's okay," said Julie. "So what's past those doors?" She pointed towards a few open doorways, currently sans doors. "Well out in that direction is the bathroom," said Marco. "Two actually, one big enough for a troll or an ork in case you're entertaining larger sized people such as myself. There's a study. A small one only. Space is still at a premium down here after all." Marco walked through the open doorway and there were a number of other doorways, again all without doors, everything was unfinished. "There's the laundry room. That's the closest. You actually have water, electric and sewer hookups. That caused a lot of trouble in the end since you're on the southern side of the crossroads, but not too far in. If you were in the northern it wouldn't have been a problem, but south is trickier. It's harder to run all of their connections this far. Anyway, you have another bathroom with a shower, again not in yet. There's the master bedroom at the end of the hall and that has a bed. Just a temporary one until you find better," said Marco. "I got that for you," said Edward cheerily. "A housewarming gift. I'd feel bad if you had to sleep on the floor. You can move it into one of the other rooms later if you want your own bed." "Well thank you, Edward. That's very sweet of you," said Julie, warmly. Despite herself and her feelings towards elves, she felt the kindness and goodness rolling off Edward. She gave him a hug and he brightened considerably. She didn't know exactly what was up with Edward, but for some reason he liked to be touched, or so Marco had told her. "Okay Marco, so I'm counting five other doors," said Julie, simply. "Bedrooms. Well, four bedrooms," said Marco. "One is just a hall closet." Julie blinked. "Four bedrooms?" she repeated. "Yeah," said Marco. "Um...I wasn't expecting roommates," said Julie. Not until the summer at least. That made her worry again. Marco looked confused for a moment and then smiled sheepishly. Julie felt like like she was missing something. "Well Julie, if you live in an ork and troll enclave you get ork and troll values. They're not for roommates. They're for children," explained Marco, delicately. "I'm surprised they didn't give you more bedrooms since this is supposed to be a nice place. Maybe they think you'll be busy at the clinic." Julie suddenly reminded Marco and Edward of a fish on dry land. Her mouth opened and closed over and over, and she blushed deeply. "I'm not even...I haven't even...I'm not sure if..." said Julie, flustered, as all of her explanations warred for a place on her tongue before dying of embarrassment. "Easy there," said Marco. "No worries. I remember that you goblinized. You know, changed into an ork? Most orks don't do that anymore. That was the early days. They're mostly born that way now. They don't delay having families. It's expected to have big families. It's cultural, but also biological. They often have more than one child at a time too." Julie decided that she needed to understand the culture she'd been racially forced into. She wouldn't be able to accept it until she understood it, and therefor it ground against her human sensibilities as she'd been human for most of her life. The community wanted her to be sure, or at least they wanted her services, but she was still an outsider. The views she'd been raised with in her past were definitely going to clash with what was accepted as normal now. Julie was experiencing culture shock. "Hey Marco," asked Julie. "How long have you been working down here in Touristville?" "About two years," he answered, "Why?" "Touristville doesn't really keep any awakened, does it? They want out, don't they?" asked Julie, anxiously. Marco's face fell a bit. "Yeah they do," he said, slowly. "Talent is hard to keep. This is a community making due, but they've mostly been left behind by the economy. Anyone talented leaves and if they're lucky they get their family out too. Touristville found their niche, but it's a fragile one. Things were bad until they organized. Lots of crime. Drug use. Gangs. Killings," he ended, quietly. "When I came people kept their heads down. The people who kept their heads up were the ones you had to watch out for. I poured a lot of love into this place. A lot of love, a lot of time and a lot of money to get this place on track. Touristville is my passion project. My calling from God. I was scared I'd be forced to leave and it would just go back to the way it was." "I have big shoes to fill, huh?" asked Julie, glumly. "Size 24's," joked Marco, and then more gently he said. "I think you'll grow into them. Give it time. I'll be here to help." Julie, Edward, Marco, Fuzzy and Sasha - Saturday - January 5th 2075 – Early Afternoon - Ork Underground, Touristville, Julie's home There was a knock on Julie's door. On her door, she realized, and her heart soared with excitement. Before anyone could answer it for her, Julie leaped to answer her very own front door. She opened it and found Fuzzy, Sasha, Deondra, Marco's police officer friend and Sasha's bodyguards, Duncan and Beef. Beef, an ork, looked rather comfortable down here though he was still professional. Duncan, an elf, looked a on edge. Touristville was supposedly welcoming to his kind, but only in certain locations and only with an escort or an ork or troll vouching for him. "Hello!" said Julie. Fuzzy and Deondra were pushing a cart laden with trays. "Nogwaaaaaay!" someone called out from the crossroads. Fuzzy turned and waved. Sasha looked less than pleased. It seemed like she'd finally understood what Fuzzy's nickname meant now. "Marco ordered food," said Sasha. Sasha eyed Deondra. Deondra was a Touristville police officer, but she wasn't affiliated with Knight Errant, the Ares Macrotechnology corporate police force that ran almost all of the policing in Seattle. This time Sasha was keeping quiet about it, but there was definite tension between Deondra and Sasha. Though for the moment Sasha seemed to be carrying most of that as Deondra was acting professionally while in uniform. The food cart rolled in and the smell of meat, spices and gravy filled the unfinished house in heavy, delicious waves. Fuzzy especially looked intently at the trays, but Julie's belly growled heavily in response. She wanted to go on a diet, but the problem with diets are as always tasty food. "Ordered out for The Big Rhino," said Marco. "Thought I'd welcome you home right." He leaned down and suddenly Julie realized what he was doing. Her anxiety spiked. She hadn't told anyone yet, but she didn't want to reject him. Couldn't. She stood on her tiptoes and they shared a brief kiss. They both came away blushing. "Wait, what?" asked Deondra. "No way!" "Nice!" said Sasha. "You're dating now?" Edward smiled knowingly and said nothing. Fuzzy was already into the food, but paused as she had no place to put the tray tops. "We need tables," said Fuzzy urgently. "And plates. Forks and spoons and knives. Drinks. Cups. We need these things, right?" She looked around the unfinished house. Fuzzy's priorities were food related. "Yeah, I think I do," said Julie. She'd never asked or thought about actually filling up her house with the items that made it into a home. Having a home and a place to belong had always been about the emotional side of belonging. She'd almost completely ignored the physical and an unfinished house was the result of that. Again the fact that she lived on an island with no matrix access and now lived in a home with no matrix access hamstrung her because someone could have asked her if she'd needed it furnished, but that was nearly impossible seeing as where she lived. She hadn't been able to be more involved. "I know where we can get some," said Deondra. "I'll be right back. She left while everyone else milled about. Soon enough some orks knocked on her door and came with tables and chairs. Not kitchen tables, but more like a picnic table. Ork families tended to be big after all and space was at a premium underground. It was easier to squeeze in benches, picnic tables and trestle tables than round kitchen tables which took up a lot of room. Julie thanked them and they all sat down. "That was really nice. I wonder where Deondra is though," said Julie. Marco said nothing and instead pulled out the food. Unbeknownst to Julie, Deondra wasn't here because she was spreading the word. Julie was too distracted to ask anything more by the delicious smells. The starts were uncovered first. Okra sauteed in bacon fat, peppered collards, twice baked potatoes, hot pepper biscuits with gravy and sour cream, pulled pork sliders. There tons of sausages: Chitlins, Bratwurst, knockwurst, bierwurst and blood sausages to name a few, though most of them only knew them under the title of sausage despite the differences in taste and texture. There was also chicken: Bourbon chicken, jerked chicken and The Big Rhino's specialty, paprikash fried chicken. There were even some ox-tails. To Fuzzy's delight there were dipping sauces, all spicy. She especially liked the habanero ranch but was also partial to the garlic and cayenne honey mustard. She wondered how they'd taste on hot dogs. They all sat down to eat when there was another knock at her door. Julie was just about to eat too and she made a small whine. She was so hungry. "I'll get it," she said, glumly. "No, I'll get it," said Marco. "You look hungry. You eat." Julie beamed in delight at him and tucked into her food. She was famished after all. To her surprise even more orks and the odd troll came by. They brought more chairs, more tables, more plates, more utensils, more drinks and of course, more food. She recognized Manny from Touristville's north end and he recognized her. She'd met him on Christmas. He was the reason she decided to make a home here. He put a steaming mug of what smelled like horchata in front of her and she beamed at him. She'd always enjoyed the drink. It tasted like a thick, spiced milk and it reminded her of happier times when she was a little girl. "Nice to see you, Manny," said Julie. "Good to see you too. I can't stay long. I have work to do, but I'm having some of my boys bring around some food for you and your guests," said Manny. "Oh, you don't have to go to the trouble. We have plenty, really," said Julie. Manny looked at Marco as he showed more orks where to put down other tables and where to put down the bigger ones for trolls to sit. Julie noticed this as Manny did. "Are you sure?" asked Manny. "Umm...Not anymore. Pay you back?" asked Julie, anxiously. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. You come by anytime. Manuel's Tex-Mex always has a seat for you," he said. Julie smiled, stood up and gave the big ork a hug. He hugged her back and kissed her on each cheek. He took a few pieces of paprikash chicken and some orka for the road and left. After all he had a business to attend to. However more orks and trolls were flowing in than out, though it was still a mix. People talked, someone brought music. Julie didn't understand the words very well. It was all in Or'Zet, the language of orks and trolls and she was still learning. People brought food, they brought gifts, they brought their families, they brought themselves and they brought their appetites. There was a war on between what people could bring to eat and what people ate. It was the old ongoing struggle between deprivation and plenty, and for tonight at least, plenty reigned supreme. People crowded in close which Julie didn't mind too much because that brought her closer to Marco as he sat back down. "This is a lot of people," said Julie. She wanted to whisper, but the din was too loud. "You wanted community. No half measures. It's not usually like this, but when people throw a party sometimes they get big. Orks and trolls work hard, play hard and tend to die young. When you live life fast you live it twice as hard, you know?" asked Marco. "I really don't," admitted Julie. "You'll get it eventually," said Marco. "Thankfully they don't live as hard as they used to. At least down here." Mrs. Liu came next. The middle aged, matronly but tastefully dressed ork of the east end brought gifts. Others held the gifts. Her labor was done with her mind and mouth and so it was proper for others to hold her gifts. She bowed the proper amount and Julie stood up, not quite sure how to be respectful, and so she bowed in return. "Bread so you may never go hungry, wine so life may always be sweet, salt so you may always have spice in your life and candles so you may always have light in your life," recited Mrs. Liu. The bread was oddly shaped, some white and some brown each the size about an egg though not quite the shape. They looked steamed and fresh and there was a bowl of condensed, sweet milk in the middle of the arrangement. The wine was from California. China isn't known for it's wine after all. One must be pragmatic. The salt was red volcanic salt from the Kingdom of Hawaii. Good for roasting pork. The candles smelled of peach and were lightly scented, though for now they barely smelled of anything. Mrs. Liu also brought four more gifts to bring the total up to eight. It would be unseemly to bring merely four gifts. That would unlucky and offensive. Eight is best. "Thank you Mrs. Liu," said Julie. "You are quite welcome, child," responded Mrs. Liu. "As an awakened you just let me know if you need help with your house and business. We can balance its Feng Shui. Make it good for casting. Chi is best when it flows but pools in ugly ways when it doesn't. I can make sure that this does not happen." "Umm...Sure," responded Julie. Mrs. Liu smiled the proper amount. "I will send someone over soon," she said. "Now I must get back to my business. Saturdays are a busy day for me. Prosperity is like a garden. It needs tending. I'll see you soon. Come by my shop any time." Julie was beginning to feel more and more overwhelmed. She was greeted by people she didn't know, met whole families, cousins, children, aunts, uncles, fathers, mothers and grandparents. She met workers and realized that the influx of orks were taking lunch breaks and not stopping for the day. The work must continue, but it didn't continue on an empty stomach. Most were here for just a few minutes though some stayed. She tried the bread that Mrs. Liu gave her. It was barely flavored at all. In fact the taste was simple, but the condensed sweet milk was delicious and refreshing without being too cloying. The bread and the milk were a perfect match. She had a few, but she realized early on if she wanted to try everything she'd need to make room and pace herself, diet be damned. She passed the food to her left and soon enough the mantou, for that was what it was called, was demolished by Fuzzy, Sasha and then hungry orks, though Fuzzy did her fair share of damage. Devin, her pastor and Justinia, the owner of one of the west end's stores came together. Justinia gave her a hug first. The petite redhead looked over her clothing. "I was wondering if I might try a few more styles with you," said Justinia. "See what works for you." "Uh, yeah, I was wondering that just this morning. It's hard to contact you unless I come down, you know?" asked Julie. "I have a personal comm," said Justinia. "But it goes straight to the shop. I understand what you mean. The matrix is pretty spotty down here." "It's terrible on the island too," said Julie. "I'm not sure why." "Blake Island? You mean that school? Maybe you should ask Marco," suggested Justinia. "I've been meaning to," said Julie. "It's just hard to get some time alone with him." "So I heard," teased Justinia. Julie blushed. It seemed that the word had already spread unless she was misreading the situation. She wasn't. Justinia laughed, hugged her and went to mill about in the crowd, for it really was a crowd now to Julie's surprise. Young boys with sizzling plates of food wended their way into the crowd and orks and trolls devoured their contents almost as fast as they hit the tables. Those were Manny's kids, Julie reasoned, and there sure seemed to be a lot of them. To her surprise as she watched the orks they didn't take food to their own plates. There weren't even enough of plates to do that in the first place. They ate family style off large single plates, though not all of them were families. Some were just friends or even strangers, and so they met with new people while sharing the same plates and bowls. Devin clapped his hand on her shoulder. The troll smiled big and broad at her. "Sorry, I forgot to say grace before eating," said Julie, sheepishly. "It's never too late to thank God," said Devin. So they did and it was good. The party went on for hours and hours. It felt as if the entirety of Touristville was here. The business owners made their introductions and helped keep plenty of food, but it was the workers that set everything up, brought the tables, the chairs, utensils and left their meager thank you presents. Some with a word and some quietly. At the end of the night Julie was exhausted. Most people took home their trash, but it was still something of a disaster. Hundreds of people in a confined space would do that after all. As promised Marco took Edward back out of Touristville, though not before making a few friends despite the enclave's aversion to elves. Being Julie's friend helped. Fuzzy's tummy hurt and Sasha introduced her to the miracle that are modern antacids. They went back to the arcology together flanked by Duncan and Beef. People made their goodbyes and in the chaos of all of this Julie was left with hundreds of presents, mismatched furniture, rugs, appliances which often came in duplicate and all sorts of odds and ends. Marco came back as promised and now she was alone with him, and her heart went pitter-pat. "I'll go get a broom," he said. CYOA Time I'm going to fast forward to Monday and like I said before we're not going to see Julie and Marco's relationship except for snippets. Instead they're both going to be unreliable narrators and we'll play the friends trying to help them out. Who does Julie confide in about Marco? Julie isn't the best at talking, but Big Rita has a lot of loyalty dice and can get the message. I spent edge and Julie gets 5 hits total. Big Rita understands with 2 hits on judge intentions. Julie flubs an etiquette test by scoring only 1 hit to Edward's 8(!). Marco steps in and smooths over the situation with 5 hits so Edward doesn't feel alienated. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 02:38 on Nov 3, 2017 |
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Nov 3, 2017 00:46
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In retrospect I'm pretty sure I was channeling a Redwall feast there. Not intentionally, but the series was a favorite of mine growing up. Brian Jacques knows how to do two things well: Feasting and fighting. I always enjoyed the feasts even if the books were totally lousy with them.  No cordials or pasties in this story though. Instead it's Southern and Caribbean soul food, German style sausages, authentic Chinese food and Tex-Mex. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Nov 3, 2017 |
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Nov 3, 2017 00:48
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Ice Phisherman posted:In retrospect I'm pretty sure I was channeling a Redwall feast there. Not intentionally, but the series was a favorite of mine growing up. Brian Jacques knows how to do two things well: Feasting and fighting. I always enjoyed the feasts even if the books were totally lousy with them. I loved Redwall growing up too, I'm most definitely happy with the lack of over board descriptions of food and drink. If i hear anything about mother badger chastising the dibbuns for getting into the summer Mead pudding one more time it'll be too soon.
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Nov 3, 2017 02:16
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So it seems like I asked the wrong question last post and that people really aren't into that. That's fine. My bad. I was pretty exhausted after writing that and wanted to get it all out. I am curious about how everyone is enjoying the story. Any thoughts or criticisms people have of it. Where I'm strong, where I'm weak. That sort of thing. Mostly I'm just looking for feedback at this point either on Julie's story on on the story in general.
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Nov 3, 2017 03:42
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I think Julie talks to Edward, and maybe Mrs. Maureen if that's appropriate (or some other adult mentor figure if they're not close enough yet). She doesn't really feel comfortable talking with Fuzzy and Sasha about relationship issues, ditto on Kenji, so the only real people left in her lives are Edward and adults. E: poo poo, how could I forget Devin? He's perfect.
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Nov 3, 2017 03:44
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I felt the Redwall being channeled. Its a series I loved so much I just bought the complete series fir my girls to read when they got older. Also now Im craving horchata. Hard to get on the road.
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Nov 3, 2017 04:30
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A potluck feast without any massive piles of cheap spaghetti in home-made sauce to fill in around the edges of whatever else everyone brings? It's like a dagger to my New York heart. Anyway, I think the best bet for people to confide in are Justinia and Manny. Justinia for the 'how do I be a woman?' questions and Manny for the 'how the gently caress do men work anyway?' questions. Also, I just started thinking about how bad of daddy issues Julie's going to have. A daddy's girl who had to kill her father in self defense? That's a real deck stacked against you when it comes to dating.
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Nov 3, 2017 04:32
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Julie will phone Rita about Marco. Antics will ensue.
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Nov 3, 2017 04:48
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jagadaishio posted:Also, I just started thinking about how bad of daddy issues Julie's going to have. A daddy's girl who had to kill her father in self defense? That's a real deck stacked against you when it comes to dating. Oh good god Julie is gonna have all the issues. Marco is in for one hell of a ride (no, not like that, I can already see you guys typing that drat emoji Cour and Hex). Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Nov 3, 2017 |
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Nov 3, 2017 05:03
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So, speaking of ork longevity, there is a solution. One other than throwing money at the problem, like with Leonization. A magical one. Street Grimoire, page 137 posted:Formula Pact: The spirit infuses the character with a copy of its spirit formula. The character gains Immunity to Age (p. 397, SR5), and the spirit cannot be affected by any other copy of the formula for as long as that character lives. The character’s aura is visibly tainted by the spirit’s signature, and the character may be used (by others or by himself) as the spirit’s formula for any purpose. You know, if you're into getting your life permanently tied to a Free Spirit. Not going to lie, I've always wanted to play an ork with more will to survive than common sense.
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Nov 3, 2017 05:17
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Ice Phisherman posted:"Ordered out for The Big Rhino," said Marco. "Thought I'd welcome you home right." You know what? Marco is a big, manipulative jerk, and I just realized I don't like him. Ice Phisherman posted:"Nogwaaaaaay!" someone called out from the crossroads. Nooogwaaaaaay!!   Ice Phisherman posted:There tons of sausages: Chitlins, Bratwurst, knockwurst, bierwurst and blood sausages to name a few, though most of them only knew them under the title of sausage despite the differences in taste and texture.  drat you Ice, reminding me how much I miss Blood Sausage!!Ice Phisherman posted:"Bread so you may never go hungry, wine so life may always be sweet, salt so you may always have spice in your life and candles so you may always have light in your life," recited Mrs. Liu. Wow, good job on the research Ice, this is pretty much pitch perfect. The actual Chinese recitation for what to bring to a new house is 'Kindling, Rice, Oil, Salt, Sauce (cooking), Vinegar, Tea'. You list is pretty close and appropriate to the setting. You make Mrs. Liu feel like one of my 'Aunties'. Ice Phisherman posted:"I'll go get a broom," he said. Jerk. Also,  Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time Justinia for 'girl-talk', Mrs. Liu for the 'Auntie' perspective. Ice Phisherman posted:I am curious about how everyone is enjoying the story. Any thoughts or criticisms people have of it. Where I'm strong, where I'm weak. That sort of thing. Mostly I'm just looking for feedback at this point either on Julie's story on on the story in general. I'm enjoying the story so far, and, that's nothing new; you've kinda spoiled us with your high standards Ice, we've come to expect awesome updates from you as the norm! Strong: Emotions and character building. The story feels generally organic, real, and believable. Everything's character driven, which is great. You definitely research the scenes and add in details to make it feel 'right', which again is awesome. Weak: When I don't get my way? Seriously, I haven't noticed much weakness in your writing thus far, maybe the minor editing and name flubs if I'm nitpicky? Also, maybe the tendency to be too eager to incorporate things like lesbian relationships? I don't have an issue with the Fuzzy / Sasha relationship (clearly), and, I don't know that it had to go there either, if that makes sense? They could have become best friends and it still would have had the same emotional impact. I don't know what the percentage might be for LGBT relationships in the general population, I just don't want to see the story 'crammed' with such examples just to prove we're progressive and inclusive.Liking where Julie's story is going so far (although I still don't agree with her settling down in the Underground), nice touch with adding Big Rita to keep the tension up; keep going! Crazycryodude posted:Marco is in for one hell of a ride (no, not like that, I can already see you guys typing that drat emoji Cour and Hex). My work here is done.  jagadaishio posted:Not going to lie, I've always wanted to play an ork with more will to survive than common sense. So, you want Julie to become a lich?
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Nov 3, 2017 07:42
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There was some goon who had a pretty good take on it. "There's nothing progressive about lesbians in independently produced media." I want to say the person who said it was Morbi who writes Poppy O'Possum, so I'm pretty sure it's a case of self-awareness. Anywho don't let the relatively prominent presence of lgbt stuff break your verisimilitude or anything. This is a story set in an IP about sticking it to the man or selling out like some chromed out mirrorshades bougie merc if that's your thing, and using fantasy and science fiction as a filter to talk about social issues and topics. There's some glitches in the system; the implications of orc growth rates and lifespan hit Ice pretty hard in the past page alone. If you're already down with magic and poo poo and being able to control computers with your mind--not your brain, but your mind--it's not a big deal to let this slide. Especially since it's pretty clear why these relationships are there, narratively. Also the idea that Fuzzy and Sasha's relationship would have the same emotional impact if they were just bffs and not in a romantic relationship has some unfortunate assumptions, and not just because it's the sort of argument that comes up when people want to exclude same-sex relationships in a work where this sort of inclusion isn't stated outright. Not to mention the fact that them getting together was a thread decision, not Ice's alone.
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Nov 3, 2017 08:37
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CourValant posted:Wow, good job on the research Ice, this is pretty much pitch perfect. The actual Chinese recitation for what to bring to a new house is 'Kindling, Rice, Oil, Salt, Sauce (cooking), Vinegar, Tea'. You list is pretty close and appropriate to the setting. I was doing my research for a while and that's what I came up with. Normally this just means me googling stuff, but I'm a huge xenophile and actually a trained sociologist as well. I'm good at breaking down and understanding culture. Or at least faking it for a short enough time to be believable. quote:I'm enjoying the story so far, and, that's nothing new; you've kinda spoiled us with your high standards Ice, we've come to expect awesome updates from you as the norm! Shucks. quote:Also, maybe the tendency to be too eager to incorporate things like lesbian relationships? I don't have an issue with the Fuzzy / Sasha relationship (clearly), and, I don't know that it had to go there either, if that makes sense? They could have become best friends and it still would have had the same emotional impact. I don't know what the percentage might be for LGBT relationships in the general population, I just don't want to see the story 'crammed' with such examples just to prove we're progressive and inclusive. I actually don't like trying to go full inclusive and appease the SJW crowd because there's always a louder voice and there's no appeasing some of them. At the same time I don't like going full conservative either for much the same reasons. I'd prefer to write about people with interesting and well reasoned motivations. I've been using Fuzzy and Sasha's dates or just them hanging out to do a lot of world building and exploring their characters. At the same time I'm about 95% sure that we're going with Fuzzy for the final arc protagonist. Not everyone is going to marathon this and it's important to keep her in mind so I don't have to spend a ton of time reintroducing her. Plus I think since we're shuffling protagonists there's a sort of settled quality to everyone not currently in the spotlight. They're just living their lives and not constantly going on adventures or just happening to have strange poo poo happen to them for no reason. So Sasha and Fuzzy? Yep. Gay. Exploring their relationship? Yep. Totally. Do I like writing about them because they're adorable? Guilty pleasure. Yes. But I'm also trying to introduce, keep fresh and explore themes, concepts and ideas that are not only central to their characters and personal stories, but the metaplot. I'm going to be introduce off the last part of the metaplot from all of the arcs in Julie's arc as part of Julie's story, and not just as an extension of Fuzzy or Kenji's story before I try to wrangle it for arc 4. Fuzzy is pretty unisex, and if she was a he I don't think it would change Fuzzy's relationship overmuch. It might be weird that Sasha was the wealthy one and therefor the provider and there would be some friction from that, but that would probably be the only difference I could really see. Maybe the dad would be more threatened than mom. Cop dad. Only child. Daughter. Male Fuzzy, let me introduce you to my collection of firearms and perhaps talk at length about how easy it is to send someone to prison. But when we talk about Mrs. Maureen? Her sexuality is waaaaay down on the list of how she would define herself. Her wife bakes cookies so she and her students can have them. Pretty wholesome. And that's it. We probably won't ever meet Mrs. Maureen's wife, or if we do she'll get a few lines max. As students it's strange to see the significant others of your teachers. Kenji is looking for love, but he's bad at it. He wants the wrong sorts of people. Classic porcupine's dilemma. I stated it explicitly stated it in the Christmas arc. Min Yun isn't a porcupine like Kenji or even like most people. She's loyal and so loyal that she's not too terribly bright when it comes to relationships. A dog definitely will get close to a porcupine and suffer for it, and they'd probably do it more than once too. I have this feeling like Kenji doesn't want romantic love, but belonging. Friendship. Being able to be close to people without being forced by his directives to exploit them. We're also going to be looking at what's a normal hetero relationship as well. From the outside, but yeah. You caught onto Marco though. He's into the grand gesture which is a huge romance trope. Touristville's prosperity, or at least his part of it is his own grand gesture. Remember though that while he may seem like the adult among the crew that's just because he's A: Big, B: Older, C: Responsible and D: Competent. He's actually still just an 18 year old teenager who finds himself among other teenagers. So it's not just Julie that is going to make mistakes. Some of them particularly stupid. Finally, if we'd started with Julie or Kenji we might have been using their relationships if they got them as the vehicle for advancing the plot and story line. Especially if I felt like they were going to be slated as protagonist for act 4. In short and without trying to be defensive I have no agendas LGBTQ-wise. I'm just rather attached to Fuzzy and Sasha as characters. If the thread wanted to keep going with Fuzzy she and Sasha may not have dated and it would be up to the thread as I promised to be hands off. That said absolutely no one has plot armor, but I'm not going to waste them for some cheap emotional thrill either. If someone is in danger it'll primarily be the thread's decisions that put them there save for Kenji's story. quote:Liking where Julie's story is going so far (although I still don't agree with her settling down in the Underground), nice touch with adding Big Rita to keep the tension up; keep going! Yeah, what I like doing is alternating between what is essentially incredibly low stakes like high school, relationships, that sort of thing and high stakes, shadowruns, human experimentation and trying to rehabilitate a gang leader and multiple time murderer. Thanks for the encouragement. Xarbala posted:There's some glitches in the system; the implications of orc growth rates and lifespan hit Ice pretty hard in the past page alone. Still wrestling with that too. It's way too close to home for me. By itself in a vacuum I think I could tackle it, but the implications roll out in front of me and they're all dark. I might be able to, but Shadowrun gives me distance to explore these concepts. The shorter that distance is the more confined I feel. I'm writing this on the fly and I'm always aware that I could write myself into a corner. I do think ahead and do storyboard, but if I'm not careful and weave in the wrong plot thread I'll gently caress myself over. Someone talked about it in Discord, but if the ork bangers are all 12-17, that's horrible because they tend to be mooks in the Shadowrun universe. What's also horrible is that they're not only a stand-in for minorities, but they play into the idea that those minorities are super strong and the authorities actually have real reasons for fearing them and using excessive or lethal force. I feel like I'm overdoing it in some ways in terms of moralizing. This is after all a silly universe where a dragon was president for five minutes, everything is burning chrome, mascara and sociopath superheroes. Where the cover art in the 90's on some of the books was not just racist, but tone deaf in the extreme. Even for then. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Nov 3, 2017 |
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Nov 3, 2017 09:48
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Ice Phisherman posted:Or at least faking it for a short enough time to be believable. Its believable. No setting in the story thus far seemed out of place or 'wrong', be it Prison, School, the Underground, Corps, etc. Ice Phisherman posted:I actually don't like trying to go full inclusive and appease the SJW crowd because there's always a louder voice and there's no appeasing some of them. At the same time I don't like going full conservative either for much the same reasons. I think this was what I had been trying to say. Again, nothing about the story so far seemed 'forced', I just didn't want to see it go 'full appeasement', one way or the other. Ice Phisherman posted:So Sasha and Fuzzy? Yep. Gay. Exploring their relationship? Yep. Totally. Do I like writing about them because they're adorable? Guilty pleasure. Yes. Yes, they are all of that. Its literary popcorn and soda, in a good way. Ice Phisherman posted:Maybe the dad would be more threatened than mom. Cop dad. Only child. Daughter. Male Fuzzy, let me introduce you to my collection of firearms and perhaps talk at length about how easy it is to send someone to prison. Maybe. Yeah, it might be more difficult for Dad to accept Fuzzy if Fuzzy was a feral boy from the Barrens, as opposed to feral girl. Ice Phisherman posted:You caught onto Marco though. He's into the grand gesture which is a huge romance trope. Yeah, him buying the expensive take-out finally clued me on to the fact that he's the 'Rich Boyfriend' archetype; plenty of money to spread around, and ultimately, you really don't fit into his world or his future plans. Julie is a pleasant distraction at best on his way to wherever he is headed. Poor Julie. Ice Phisherman posted:Thanks for the encouragement. Ice Phisherman posted:I feel like I'm overdoing it in some ways in terms of moralizing. Maybe a little. Yes, while you have to be cognizant of what you write, least you go full on 'tone-deaf', at times you just have to let the art flow and get caught up yourself in the story. Either way, we'll let you know.
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Nov 3, 2017 20:57
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Julie and Justinia - Sunday - January 6th 2075 – Early Afternoon - Manuel's Tex - Mex "And then what happened?" asked Justinia. The petite, redheaded owner of the clothing shop named after herself in Touristville's west end sat at a table with Julie. They waited for their food at a booth away from other customers in order to have a modicum of privacy. Julie had a few short hours before she needed to be back on the boat, but she could spend it now however she pleased. "We cleaned up. It was nice of him, but..." started Julie. Justinia raised a single, perfect eyebrow. "I don't know. I didn't know what to say to him. I thanked him for helping...And for the food. I kept trying to think of what to say, but everything sounded dumb. He said some stuff. Nothing major. We cleaned up for about an hour. We kissed and I went to bed," said Julie, awkwardly. Justinia smiled wolfishly. "Didn't invite him to come with?" she teased. Julia nearly choked on her horchata. The thick, milk-like, sweet drink had become her go to comfort food. Justinia giggled and patted Julie on the hand. "We've only been dating for two weeks," hissed Julie. "And I've never...Had a boyfriend." "I'm just giving you a hard time. I'm remembering when I was your age and worrying about my first boyfriend," said Justinia. The older, wiser woman looked wistful. Her eyes went out of focus as she briefly relived a moment long ago. Julie took another sip before the older woman slipped back out of her reverie. "It sounds to me," started Justinia, "That he went for some big, grand gesture. The meal, hell, even the party might have been planned. It doesn't take much to start a house or block party down here. Then the plan was to help you clean up. Then he ran out of plan. How did he act at church the next day?" "I didn't have time. I was taking point on everything that I could so I can train. I was so wasted afterwards that I barely remember church. That was my fault though," she said, guiltily. "I kept telling everyone that I was okay. I thought I was okay and he was coaching me. Then I slip up for one spell and I had to call it quits. He was really sweet though. He helped me into the abbey, gave me a blanket and a snack...Umm...Kissed me again and I got to relax until everyone got in." Justinia's smile diminished in intensity and she nodded. "We talked for a bit after church," continued Julie, "But I didn't know what to talk about unless it was work, and he didn't talk a lot either. I didn't want to force anything so I decided to talk to you and get something to eat. Maybe see if I'm doing something wrong," said Julie. The older, wiser woman looked away and scowled for a moment before smoothing out her face. "One last thing. That rich school you go to. Are there any trolls or orks on it?" she asked. "No. Just Marco and me," said Julie, nervously. Justinia internalized this and slowly nodded to herself. "Right. Okay Julie, hard truths or sugar coat it?" she asked. Julie squirmed nervously and a wriggling worm of fear began to work its way around in her gut. "Hard truth. That's been my life. Why stop now?" sighed Julie. Justinia reached forwards and squeezed Julie's shoulder. Julie took strength from that and smiled weakly. "In customer service there's this saying. Set correct expectations. Don't promise the customer the moon and the stars. Let them know what they're getting. So I'm going to let you know what you're getting. I'm going to bring you back down to earth. Are you ready?" asked Justinia, gently. Julie took a sip of her drink of her favorite comfort food to fortify herself and she nodded. "Marco is leaving. He wanted a replacement. His life revolves around his studies and his service. I don't know him all that well, but I know his reputation. He doesn't get close to people. He stays professional. That's not entirely bad. With his power he could've slummed it down here back when things were worse. He wouldn't be the first person with power to debauch himself down here and leave a bunch of broken hearts and swollen bellies. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty. He didn't do that though. He's on the opposite end. He keeps his distance from the people he helps. So that means he's alone. That rich school he goes to? He's alone there too. Corp kids are weird. Everything is about being at the top of the heap. He can't be top of the heap. He's different. He's isolated. He's lonely. He can't get close to people here that he helps because it wouldn't be professional and he can't get close to people there because he's different. Then you come along. How did he meet you, Julie?" she asked, suddenly. That wriggling worm in her gut wriggled all the harder. It took a while for her to admit it, but admit it she did. "I got into a fight with this girl Christina at school. Verbal, not physical," said Julie, quickly. "At school there's this thing called the shame pole. If you're bad enough you get put on the pole and you have to tell people what you did. I was a mess. It's about half elves on the island. Christina called me a trog and I called her...Well...I don't want to say it. It was the first week of school and half of the people there hated me. Some other people come by. Fuzzy, Sasha, even Kenji, sort of. They're my other friends. That's where I first met Marco though. He cleaned my face. I was a wreck. So that's how I met him. After that he invited me to sit with him because almost no one else would." "Do you think he wanted to save you?" asked Justinia. "Yeah," responded Julie She responded before she even thought about it. That hurt to admit. "Do you think he's still trying to?" asked Justinia. "I don't know," whispered Julie. Justinia squeezed Julie's hands as she squeezed her drink. She pressed what little warmth was left in that drink into Julie's hands. "Correct expectations. Sorry Julie. I hate to break the bad news to you. Who knows though? I could be wrong. I will say that Marco most likely isn't using you. After all he's had plenty of opportunity to use everyone here. He doesn't do that. He pours in time, money and love into this place. That makes him a pretty awesome person. I benefit directly from what he does down here every week, but everyone has their flaws. He may not realize what he's doing to you. He's got that savior thing going on and that's just how he lives his life. You got wrapped up in it too. No one does anything for purely unselfish reasons, even if that reason is so they can think of themselves as a better person. That's not bad though. Whatever gets you up and helping people is all right by me," said Justinia. "I just wanted a home," admitted Julie. "Oh honey...Well you got one," cooed Justinia. "Maybe a friend too if you want one. I can be a bit of a bitch sometimes, but pffft. No one is perfect. Certainly not me." Their food finally came and the two women ate for a while in silence. Half way through their food Julie felt her hunger abate and she pushed around he food with her fork. "How do I get him to like me?" asked Julie. Justinia raised a perfectly manicured finger as she chewed, swallowed and wiped off her mouth with a napkin. "He already likes you. Wrong question though. Men come and go, Julie. I like them, but I don't have a lot of time for them. It's hard to be a professional if I'm taking care of a half dozen screaming toddlers. No Julie, the question I'd ask if I was you is how do I work on myself? How do I make myself awesome? Don't let someone save you, because someday you're going to need help again and prince charming isn't going to come over that hill riding like hell. Save yourself. Be awesome by yourself. Take help if you can, sure, but your first and sometimes last line of defense is you and you alone. The world is cruel. You need to be tough." Julie couldn't agree more about just how cruel the world could be, but she kept that to herself. Most people didn't know her story after all. Not outside the island at least. Devin did too, but only because she trusted him. She wondered if Justinia would be so quick to offer her friendship if she was a criminal who killed her own father. She steeled herself and launched back into the conversation. "But how do I do that?" asked Julie. "How does anyone do anything, Julie? Play to your strengths," said Justinia. Julie and Mrs. Maureen - Friday - January 21st 2075 – Early Evening - Blake Island Julie was in a rut. Her relationship with Marco felt like it had stalled out. They talked, they worked, they kissed sometimes, but she didn't know what to say and neither did he. They worked fantastically when he was teaching her how to work, but as soon as anything intimate came up he either came off as quiet or nervous. Julie wondered at what Justinia said. She was working on herself, but she didn't feel awesome. She knew she was powerful, but she didn't feel powerful. She knew what her strengths were, but she was only beginning to understand how to capitalize on them. She didn't know how to talk to Marco about her problems and apparently he either didn't recognize her problems as problems or didn't know what to do either. Confiding in people at all was hard and she hadn't since that day with Justinia despite invitations. After all, if she opened up too much she wasn't always sure what she'd admit to, so she stayed closed. To Julie's dismay Fuzzy decided not to continue classes after the safety course in summoning meaning Julie would be alone in that class again. She'd decided to take courses with the physical adepts. Fuzzy didn't take normal school classes either and instead worked with tutors and on her own. On the other hand Julie was in most of Kenji's mundane classes: Math, science, history and social studies, but Kenji was odd. He ran either extremely hot or extremely cold, and rarely in-between. Some days he wanted to keep his distance. Other days he tried to be nice, but acted bizarre when he tried. She knew it had something to do with his programming. It created and maintained a rift between them, and the fact that she had her prejudices, which she was fully aware that she had didn't help matters at all. It hurt to see him suffer but she didn't know what to do. So she did nothing. She'd summoned her first spirit under Mrs. Maureen's tutelage at the end of her safety course and with the greatest of respect she banished it to where it came from. That was a personal victory and it thrilled her because she'd been able to summon it on her first try unlike everyone else in the class as well as banish it on her first attempt too. Minuet failed completely and would have to take extra courses. She knew it was wrong to take pleasure in someone else's failure, but she couldn't help herself. She felt a little bad about banishing her little water spirit though. It'd been cute. Unlike spells summoning was always taxing. If she was lucky she could cast a dozen spells without getting tired. This was especially true if she didn't use her full power. However even the smallest spirit would make her sleepy, affect her balance or give her a headache at the very least. This was normal, big or small. After all, she was briefly summoning ancient beings into the world. That took a toll on the caster. So it was on one early evening that Mrs. Maureen had good news for Julie. "I've cleared my weekend to help you initiate. I've procured all of my supplies. We're going to need Saturday and Sunday. Initiation sometimes takes more than a single vision quest. We'll be fishing for deep knowledge and those fishies don't always bite. At least not immediately," joked Mrs. Maureen. "That way I won't get in the way of teaching spells or you learning spells next week." "Oh, that's great!" said Julie, automatically. Then she reigned in her feelings as she realized her scheduling conflicts. "I um...I go to church on Sundays though," said Julie. "Oh, I see. It wouldn't hurt to miss a single week though, would it?" asked Mrs. Maureen. "I'm sure you won't be missed too much so long as it's for your education." "Uh..." started Julie, nervously, "It's sort of important that I go." Mrs. Maureen arched an eyebrow. "And why, Julie, is it important that you go?" she asked, pointedly. Julie squirmed. Despite her teacher being a full head shorter than her and nearly half her weight Julie found herself intimidated. Julie buckled under her gaze. "I heal the sick on Sundays with Marco." She said it quickly in hopes that it would pass unnoticed. It felt foolish in retrospect but it was all she had. "I see," said Mrs. Maureen. "Julie, do you have a license to practice?" "I have a student license," said Julie. "Which is enough, but only under adult supervision. Who supervises you?" asked Mrs. Maureen. "Devin Faris, my pastor," she said. "He's a doctor in Touristville." Mrs. Maureen was momentarily relieved, but then again grew suspicious. She looked at Julie and Julie looked away. "Is he a practitioner? Christian Theurgist? Shaman? Mage?" she asked, quickly. "No. Just a doctor," said Julie. Her teacher frowned. "Right. So which qualified, licensed awakened medical professional is watching you?" she asked. "Umm...Marco?" said Julie. "Marco..." said Mrs. Maureen, who sighed. Her eyes slid out of focus and she frowned. "Yes, technically Marco is licensed. It looks like he didn't just leave you hanging out there in the wind. He's young though. This troubles me. Very well, we'll start tonight and finish on Saturday. I'll need to make some calls," said Mrs. Maureen, who suppressed a groan. "On Sunday I'm going to come with you to church to make sure you're not being taken advantage of." Julie began to panic. "I um...I don't think that's really necessary. I just make sick people better. What's so wrong with that?" asked Julie, quickly. "Julie, you are a young girl with power and not much experience. That makes you a target for exploitation or worse. I am going to see to your safety. I already cleared the weekend. Magical safety doesn't begin and end with not blowing yourself up. It also means protecting yourself out in the world. This should be Julian's domain as your guardian, but it seems that he trusts Marco. I trust him too, but there is an old saying. Trust but verify. Don't worry, Julie. You'll be going to church on Sunday after all. I'll be coming with you. Julian too." CYOA Time Three choices today. When it rains it pours. Julie has capital P Problems. 1. What is our takeaway from Justinia's conversation and what do we do? 2. I rolled some dice and nope, Julie still sucks at social rolls that don't have to do with intimidation. She has just outed herself as practicing magic without a license. What she's doing isn't illegal since she's under the auspices of a licensed organization and has been practicing on what are mostly SINless people. Meaning they're not registered with the government. However it's quasi-legal at best. Her planning to set up a currently unlicensed medical practice definitely is illegal and her status as a criminal and a minor definitely complicates matters. That's going to come down the pipeline soon and Mrs. Marueen, her teacher and Julian, her guardian, are going to take an active role in helping her sort her problems out. They're going to find out that Julie has a house, is planning to provide medical services for an entire community despite still having a criminal record and that Julian has been negligent in his duties as guardian because he trusted Marco to keep Julie out of trouble. If you haven't noticed by now Julian is a bit of a fuckup. He means well, but meaning well and doing well are two different things. How do we deal with this? 3. It's going to take karma to initiate and that's what we're going to do. For this chapter all of the karma we spend will effect the narrative. That violence and shame karma is not going away just because we don't spend it. We need to spend 13 karma to initiate to continue on. We'll also gain a small amount of karma from initiating as well, but how we act in the face of it will determine what we get out of it and what we put into it will determine what our vision quest looks like. Intitating is 100% going to happen and while it is necessary to gain a spirit it doesn't really matter what kind of metamagic we get. Remember anything that we don't spend may be spent on the spirit. All of those negative experiences are going to get dealt with one way or another. We can have a super easy, super awesome trip if we spend 13 healing karma. Or we can have something awful and nightmarish happen if we go with violence and shame, but it would be over. We are always going to deal with those feelings. That karma. Remember that anything we feed to our spirit is going to be permanent. Currently we have: 31 healing karma. 2 mischief karma. 8 violence karma. 4 shame karma.
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Nov 4, 2017 01:15
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