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A few comments 1) As always, I enjoyed reading this. I especially liked the cat like departure of Olisha, who knocks the knick knacks over, starts walking off, then licks herself before going the other way. 2) You lost my immersion when you tell me on one breath that these teens are fall down drunk, and in the next breath have them full on intellectually monologuing at each other. You need to break it up, let them stumble, etc. 3) quote:(many of the angriest homophones are closeted people for instance) 
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Mar 13, 2019 02:06
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Volmarias posted:A few comments Thank you. I'm glad that you enjoyed it. quote:2) You lost my immersion when you tell me on one breath that these teens are fall down drunk, and in the next breath have them full on intellectually monologuing at each other. You need to break it up, let them stumble, etc. That makes sense. I'll see about breaking it up a bit more. I think I'll keep Joyce as is though as he's sober. Kenji has been drinking, but not enough for it to really affect him. quote:Homophones Finish up at five in the morning and that's what I get.
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Mar 13, 2019 02:40
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Volmarias posted:2) You lost my immersion when you tell me on one breath that these teens are fall down drunk, and in the next breath have them full on intellectually monologuing at each other. You need to break it up, let them stumble, etc. You say that, but when I'm drunk that's when I intellectually monologue the most. E: Well not fall down drunk. It is true they don't seem fall down drunk. Dr Subterfuge fucked around with this message at 14:53 on Mar 13, 2019 |
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Mar 13, 2019 03:09
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I hope you don't mind the rest of this post Ice, and if you do I'll edit it out. Long story short, lowtax is broke as poo poo and has been repeatedly hosed by the US healthcare system. Post by the taxman himself here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3884184&pagenumber=1&perpage=40#post493257410 So why am I posting this here? Well, because this awesome CYOA does pretty much rely on the forums staying alive. Again, I don't want to step on any toes here or try to draw money away from Ice's patreon. But if any of you lovely people reading this thread has some spare change knocking about, consider giving a few bucks to help pay off lowtax's lovely metal spine. Groetgaffel fucked around with this message at 04:13 on Mar 13, 2019 |
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Mar 13, 2019 03:15
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Groetgaffel posted:I hope you don't mind the rest of this post Ice, and if you do I'll edit it out. I don't mind so much that I signed up for his patreon. Here's the link by the way if people are interested - https://www.patreon.com/GamingGarbage/overview I get a ton of enjoyment out of these forums and I'd like them to stick around. This place beats the hell out of reddit or 4chan. So I can throw Lowtax some cash each month to keep it going. I got my :tenbux: worth a long time ago. I figure I can cough up five each month.
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Mar 13, 2019 04:06
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Ice Phisherman posted:I don't mind so much that I signed up for his patreon.  Thanks for helping to keep the lights on for one of the very few decent places on the internet!
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Mar 13, 2019 04:24
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I now support exactly two people on Patreon. Ice and Lowtax. Ive met Lowtax twice and he's a really good guy despite all the poo poo he's pulled off over the years (like a boxing match with Uwe Boll). Ive tossed a lot of my money his way over the years. Ice... btw I loving love you. That scene was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish and I loved every minute of it. I expected some more drunken shenanigans though. I wouldn't be surprised to find out Olisha kicked some freshman out of her bed and chose to sleep there like my cat does to the dog ten times his size and weight.
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Mar 13, 2019 07:35
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His patreon is almost at $10k now  The worst part is, it probably isn't actually as good as it looks, considering how terrible the US health care system is.
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Mar 13, 2019 15:11
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US healthcare is more cyberpunk than Shadowrun. 
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Mar 13, 2019 15:25
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Caught up to this thread right on time to hear the news about lowtax  Just wanted to say this story is awesome and also Kenji should not be learning martial arts
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Mar 14, 2019 03:28
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IIRC, unless he's bound up in some really evil shady practices such that his medical debt is considered secured, he should be able to discharge that debt through bankruptcy. It would probably put him in a situation where follow-up care would be hard to find though. Dammit 'Murica.
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Mar 14, 2019 05:53
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Blasphemaster posted:IIRC, unless he's bound up in some really evil shady practices such that his medical debt is considered secured, he should be able to discharge that debt through bankruptcy. It would probably put him in a situation where follow-up care would be hard to find though. Dammit 'Murica. His literal actual best option right now would be to start a drat gofundme that he keeps getting advised to do rather than doubling down on the Patreon. Game Theory 101, humans like watching numbers get bigger, it would draw in a larger crowd and get his big problem solved asap. What he's doing is trying to set up a long term source of income, which while good isn't immediately solving the problem he's presented us with as the problem to be solved. He also needs to get some loving flesh eating bacteria level lawyers because his doctors took him for a loving ride and need to be slapped down. Another suggestion he's ignoring/refusing to do. Back to Shadowrun, I like how you've laid out that all the options for dealing with how lovely Tir is are each awful in their own special way, Joyce (and Krupa) now has to determine which path they can live with (or not).
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Mar 14, 2019 15:38
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Kenji and Joyce - Saturday, August 3rd, 2075 – Late morning – Blake Island Kenji listened to Joyce’s sudden panic and had a sudden feeling to hug him and punch him. He could tell that Joyce’s world was collapsing around him, but he’d still tried to exploit Kenji while he was learning how to control his relationship with Dog- To bind Kenji to him in some way through his newfound understanding of pack. Joyce paced as he muttered to himself, near ready to tear out his hair in grief. It occurred to Kenji that Krupa had heard all of Olisha’s accusations and like Sasha could, she saw the emotions of those in the room while she hid just out of sight in the astral. Kenji had sent her away because he didn’t want her to see what happened next. “Joyce,” said Kenji. “I don’t...I don’t…” he muttered, as he paced. Kenji stopped Joyce’s pacing as he placed a firm hand on his shoulder as if to comfort him. This Joyce accepted as he was used to being comforted. In the instant that Joyce looked up, Kenji made a fist, cocked his armed back and punched Joyce in the mouth. The impact of Joyce’s high cheekbones on Kenji’s knuckles ran through his hand and up his arm was as painful as it was satisfying, though he pulled his punch to keep from knocking out Joyce’s teeth. He wasn’t Fuzzy after all. Joyce reeled from the blow, but was kept from falling as Kenji gripped his shoulder. After he’d done so, as time slowed down, he wondered if this was the smart thing to do. Violence of any kind on Blake Island was strictly prohibited as roughly half of the student population was just skilled enough to be moderately dangerous. Joyce might not be one of those people, but Kenji had no idea how he’d take it or if there would be consequences. After Joyce’s head snapped back, Joyce groaned and flung up his arms as he shielded his face to prevent more punches from coming, but no more came. Kenji restrained himself from beating Joyce down as he weakly tried to push Kenji away. Someone Kenji’s size might have been able to do it, but Joyce was a pacifist, unused to physical activity, was a head and a half shorter than Kenji and was sixty pounds lighter. Joyce had no chance. “Help!” he screamed. Kenji shook him once as Joyce ineffectually pushed at Kenji’s face in order to ward him off. So Kenji seized Joyce by his long, red hair and shook him once, which stilled him. To his credit, Joyce stared back at Kenji without fear in his eyes despite the beginnings of a purple bruise on his cheek and eyes that were puffy from tears. In a distant way, Kenji felt Saanvi’s mixed emotions. First her care for Krupa at seeing Joyce hurt and approval from seeing him get popped in the face. It was a confusing mix of emotions and he did his best to sort them out with his own as he thought of what to say next. “Stop pushing at my face,” commanded Kenji, “Stop it right now.” “Or what, you’ll beat me some more?” asked Joyce, tone defiant. “You think you don’t deserve it?” asked Kenji, angrily, “Not for what was done to Saanvi, that’s not on you. I don’t care what your laws say. You stand here before me and complain to me about your problems after what you tried to pull on me. gently caress you, Joyce.” “I..” he began, and winced, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kenji shook him again, but only once. “You tried to take advantage of me,” snarled Kenji, “You only became interested in me when you heard Dog took an interest in me. You said yourself that Olisha puts everything in the worst light possible, but you didn’t deny her when she said that you tried to enslave me. Now I’ve done a lot of hosed up things in my life Joyce, but I’ve never just decided to own someone. On top of that, you continually attempt to drag me into your problems and manipulate me. I don’t appreciate it.” Kenji saw Joyce’s resolve waver for an instant, but he steeled himself again as he lifted his chin. “The worst light possible,” he repeated, “I was going to talk to you about it eventually. It was going to be mutually beneficial.” “After you owned me or before?” asked Kenji, coldly. “Before,” said Joyce. Kenji peered at Joyce and one of his eyes turned blue eye blazing as he channeled the power that was granted to him by Dog. After a long moment he decided that Joyce was telling the truth. It was the only thing that kept Kenji from beating Joyce unconscious. Kenji couldn’t touch Edward for what he’d done to him, but if Joyce had been the same as Edward or Kenji hadn’t believed him, years of rage would have been vented on the pacifist. Kenji blinked and his eyes were both the same color again as he mastered his emotions. Joyce relaxed ever so slightly despite Kenji’s grip, his hands on Kenji’s chest instead of his face now. Then he dropped his arms and adopted an imperious tone. “We’ll talk about this later” said Joyce, “I have problems I must address. If you leave now I will forget this. Go.” Kenji laughed once and shook his head. Not in negation, but in disbelief. Even now Joyce believed that he was in control. So Kenji decided to disabuse him of the lie. “You are not in control, Joyce,” said Kenji, “You are out of control. Your life is out of control. The worst thing I could imagine doing to you isn’t hitting you or letting people know what you tried to do to me or even revealing what I know about Gilbrand. The worst thing I could do to you is to leave you alone and walk out of here. You are one short hair away from blowing up what’s left of your life, because if I walk out of here then I’m pretty sure that you stay a lovely person.” “Do not presume to know me and do not insult me,” snapped Joyce. “You insult yourself,” retorted Kenji, “Not to mention the people around you. I have no idea how a pacifist and someone who is bent on resolving problems through peace and understanding can be such a shithead, but somehow you manage to do it. You use people, you lie to people and you manipulate people.” “I benefit those around me,” he said, “You test my patience.” “See, that’s what I told myself. I told myself that I benefitted the people around me because that’s why they tolerated me,” said Kenji, “I lied, manipulated and cheated the people around me, but I was just useful enough that people allowed me to stick around. I was a lovely person too. Game recognizes game, Joyce. The only problem for you is that I’m better at it than you are. You play this like a game because it’s low stakes.” “The stakes are everything!” he denied, loudly, “My people need my help!” “The stakes aren’t personal!” shouted Kenji, and then he became suddenly quiet, “If you screw up, you get to walk away from your problems. Worse for it, but you get to walk away. If I screwed up where I came from, I bled and I starved, and that was if I was lucky. Where I come from, the stakes are everything because the slow learners die. I know you Joyce, because you’re who I used to be.” Joyce rocked back as he was compared to Kenji, as if punched again. The effect was limited as Kenji still gripped Joyce by the head and hair. “You’re comparing yourself to me?” he asked, his tone shocked. “No, I you to who I used to be,” reminded Kenji, “Sure you’ve got more money and more refinement, but I played the same kind of game you do. You want wealth and influence, but not just for yourself which is how I suppose you can convince yourself that you’re somehow admirable. You might think that the stakes I played for were small, but when you have nothing, even the littlest bit is everything. So yeah, I know you. You’re who I used to be. So I’m going to tell you what I wish I’d told myself before I changed. Stop being such a lovely person. Stop using people you care about and even if you don’t care about them, at least limit yourself because the people you care about are watching. If you keep acting like this, you’ll get what you want, but you won’t keep who you want around. You’ll be alone.” “That, that’s not true,” said Joyce, uncertainly, “Krupa is…Our marriage is arranged.” “Maybe she’ll go through the motions, but she’ll never love someone who bullies other people,” said Kenji, “That’s her thing, remember? Even if you get married to her, you’ll be unloved and unlovable with someone to remind you of that fact every time you see her. That’s just a different kind of alone. You’ll be her mistake. Is that what you want?” And that was what broke Joyce. That single, crystalized nugget of defiance behind his eyes shattered. The aristocrat was gone. The sullen, stubborn teenager was gone. Olisha had laid the groundwork to shake his confidence and Kenji had ripped what was left away from him. What was left of Joyce was someone who was terrified, confused, guilty and hurting. Kenji released Joyce, but he didn’t move away. “Sit down, Joyce,” he said. Joyce walked to the couch and sat down without complaint. Kenji sat down on the other side of the couch after navigating around the coffee table. They sat for a while in silence, though Joyce did nurse his jaw. Seeing this, Kenji got back up, went to Joyce’s bathroom, retrieved a bottle of painkillers and tossed them to him. They bounced into his lap and he shook a little, as if startled. “Oh, no thank you. I have magic,” he mumbled, “I could heal myself.” “Yeah?” asked Kenji, “Think you can manage casting a spell right now?” Joyce looked at his hands as he turned them up and then put them back on his lap. “No,” he said, his tone flat, “I don’t think that I could.” “Take two and wash it down with some of those spheres,” said Kenji, “We’re going to talk, because I finally think that I’m through to you.” Joyce reluctantly struggled with the cap. Kenji thought about offering to pop it off for him as he was taking his time, but Joyce eventually opened it himself. He took them one at a time and washed them down with the juice from the smaller spheres. Now that he was done, Kenji began to speak. “So I can appreciate that you’re in a lovely position,” said Kenji, “I’ve been in a few of those in my life. Being stubborn gets you through those moments, but there’s a time to dig in your heels and a time to listen. I wasn’t kidding when I said the worst thing that I could do to you wasn’t telling people about you trying to…I dunno…” “Bind you to my service,” whispered Joyce. Kenji’s anger rose up again, but he suppressed it. He wouldn’t be used by his anger, he would use it. At least that was his hope. “That…Or beating you down or telling people about Gilbrand,” said Kenji, “I’m not really into blackmail. It’s only going to make you resent me and I don’t need that. No, Joyce. The problem is that if I walk out of here without changing your mind you’ll convince yourself that you can live with this. You’ll use your fancy words and tell yourself fancy lies, but what’s been done to you, what you do to others and what Tir does to everyone are all wrong. I don’t know politics or history really, but I know what’s wrong when I see it.” “It doesn’t matter,” Joyce said, tonelessly, “I am still responsible for Gilbrand through liege law. Saanvi was abused under my care because of my negligence. Krupa will hate me and will be right to do so. My relationship is doomed no matter what happens. I didn’t want to admit that I’d been running away from that fact, but it is inescapable. As you say, she may marry me, but she’ll never love me. She could break off the marriage and it would be her right. That’s my life now.” “gently caress liege law,” said Kenji, dismissively. Joyce turned his head and seemed offended in a way that wasn’t the normal spine stiffening he did which now struck Kenji as performance. “You heard me,” said Kenji, “Your law sucks. It’s got you all twisted up. You didn’t know that Gilbrand was a monster, right?” “It doesn’t matter. He was still my responsibility, as is Saanvi. Though I do not believe she should be in charge of her any longer,” he said. “See, this is one of those weird moments where I disagree and agree with you,” said Kenji, “Gilbrand was dropped into your lap and you didn’t know that he’s a psychopath. Saanvi was dropped into your lap and you assigned her to him, right?” “Yes, she needed training if she is to be a paladin,” said Joyce. “No, she didn’t,” said Kenji. Joyce cocked his head, as if he hadn’t heard Kenji correctly. Kenji wondered if he should back off, but Joyce was in a position to help Saanvi and he was finally listening. So he decided to take a chance. “I assure you, paladins need their training. It is a strenuous calling,” he said. “No, you don’t understand. She was happy where she was, blowing up stuff for the Tir military,” said Kenji, “She doesn’t want to be a paladin or a noble.” Joyce’s head cocked further and he narrowed his eyes in disbelief, but then he winced and touched his face where Kenji had punched him. “Clearly I do not understand,” he said, as his voice gained the barest hint of tone once more, “Being ennobled is prestigious and being a paladin is as well. She does her family great honor as the first of her family to receive a title.” “Her title is a sham,” said Kenji, flatly. “Excuse me?” asked Joyce. Kenji noticed that he’d straightened slightly as he took offense. He took that as a sign that Joyce was emotionally rallying and he couldn’t have that. So he decided to be blunt. “Saanvi ran away from home and joined the military because her parents are horrible,” said Kenji, “From what I understand, you can just buy your way out of the military. She decided not to. Her parents eventually got her transferred to here with a noble title and a fancy new job that would put her in the care of someone who was going to abuse her.” “Me,” he whispered. “No, stupid!” snapped Kenji. Joyce winced and leaned back, but Kenji didn’t care. “Not you, Gilbrand. You didn’t do anything,” he said, hotly, “Your dad probably dropped her on you because you’re at school for most of the week and Gilbrand could abuse her because you weren't around. Her parents probably said to do so until she quit and came home. The noble title was there so…” “So she could leave the country…” whispered Joyce, as comprehension finally hit him, “As only the nobility can without special dispensation.” “Which isolated her in a foreign land with no friends, one family member who didn’t know what was happening and a protector only in name because he’s gone most of the time,” explained Kenji, “Then Gilbrand has free reign to abuse her. Not that I think that he has much yet but…” “Really?” asked Joyce. There was true hope and desperation on Joyce’s face in that moment. He leaned forward so far that he was on hands and knees on the couch. “Really?” he repeated, “Truly?” Kenji wasn’t sure. Saanvi was a victim of abuse. She didn’t seem okay, but she did seem like she was coping well considering the life she’d lived so far. “I can’t be sure, but from what she told me I don’t think it got too bad,” said Kenji, “Anyway, look. Your liege law thing is bullshit. It’s got your priorities all twisted up. Isn’t it on your dad to tell you about Gilbrand since he was a threat to Saanvi?” Joyce blinked and sat back against the edge of the couch. He frowned heavily and winced as he touched his cheek again. “I suppose,” said Joyce, thoughtfully, but then looked sick, “No, you’re right.” “Even then it’s bullshit,” said Kenji, “Look, I came from a place where there were no laws. Some people said there were laws, but laws only exist if you have someone to enforce them. The ACHE has customs. You learned them or you didn’t live long and that’s why people obeyed them. The number rule is that you’re responsible for yourself. You might have people who look out for you and you might look out for them, and the government doles out just enough food to keep us from rioting, but in the end you’re responsible for yourself and no one else.” “Liege law dictates…” began Joyce. “You’re not in Tir, Joyce,” said Kenji, “You’re in the UCAS. That’s the United Canadian and American States. There is no liege law here. You crossed over some arbitrary line in the dirt that took you from Tir to here and if you crossed over into the ACHE, and I hope you don’t, but if you did, you’d find that there’s zero laws there even though it’s in the UCAS. Your law doesn’t matter here and if it did, your dad would be supposedly responsible for what he did to Saanvi by handing Gilbrand off to you without telling you that he’s a bastard whose job was to abuse Saanvi until she quit and went home. That's on your dad for sending Gilbrand and Gilbrand for being a monster, not on you because you were never involved in that decision. Even then making you responsible for someone else who’s able to get by without you is bullshit. Gilbrand is not an extension of you because he is not you. Only you are responsible for you. People can tell you that you have power over them or that they have power over you, but that only goes so far as they try to enforce it and you let it happen. The only thing your liege law gets you to do is to blame yourself for the actions of other people.” “How else is Saanvi to learn what it means to be noble?” asked Joyce. “She doesn’t want it!” exclaimed Kenji, “Her main goals in life are to get away from her parents, protect Krupa and blow things up! That’s it!” “But being a noble is a great honor,” said Joyce. “Says who?” asked Kenji, “I don’t want to be one. I don’t need a title to be awesome. If there’s a place for me I want to get it on my own and it really grates on me sometimes that I got picked basically at random to be here at this school. Maybe since I didn’t earn it is why I don’t appreciate it very much, I don’t know. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that Saanvi doesn’t want you to protect her or to be in charge of her or somehow be an extension of you. In fact I’m feeling that double, because I have a piece of her emotions and that’s what you tried to do to me.” Kenji prodded Joyce in his thin chest once with a stiff finger. “I can’t tell you what pack is,” he went on, “But I know what it’s not and I’m thankful that you’re showing that to me, Joyce. You are not in charge of anyone but yourself. No one is in charge of you. If it’s pack, I protect people because I love and trust them. If they trust and love me or back, they’d listen to me and maybe that passes for being in charge when I need to be. On the other hand, I’m thinking that if Saanvi disobeys you or whomever else is supposedly in charge of her, there’s an "or else" attached. There’s no love or trust there. That’s not pack.” “Or else?” whispered Joyce. He looked stricken, as if this had not occurred to him before. What it meant to disobey someone in authority, because he’d almost always been that authority. “I don’t think that is peace,” he continued, “I’ve just…I’ve never had someone disobey me before. Not directly. I thought myself fair.” “I can tell,” said Kenji, dryly. “Is this all just violence?” asked Joyce, hopelessly, as he stared at his hands, “Is living in this world a constant question of "or else"?” “The world sucks, but let’s bring it in a bit,” said Kenji, “What can you do about it? Don’t worry about the…The…What’s a word for the not-physical stuff?” “Philosophical?” asked Joyce. “Yeah, that. Don’t worry about that. You’ll drown in that. Save the big questions for when you’re drinking,” joked Kenji, “You’re responsible for you and only you, but you can have an impact on people around you that doesn’t end in "or else", but is actually...Wait for it…Positive and just as importantly, achievable. What would you do right now that is positive and achievable?” Joyce contemplated this with an open mouth and wide eyes, before he suddenly froze, gulped and slowly turned to face Kenji. He bowed his head and spoke. “I’m sorry, Kenji,” whispered. Kenji paused and tilted his head in confusion. He’d expected Joyce to run outside and try to find Krupa at best, but he hadn’t expected an apology. “For…For…” he continued, and his voice hitched, “I didn’t imagine it as so, but I am so sorry for abusing you and trying to…To…Enslave you. I see that is what I tried to do to you, though I think I was bound to fail from the start as there was no love or trust between us. I could not be part of your pack as I am now.” As Joyce hung his head in shame, Kenji suddenly felt warm inside. Joyce wasn’t from Edward, and he probably wouldn’t have accepted this from Edward, but he felt good anyway. It was as if he had a stiff knot of tension inside of his stomach that he’d lived with for so long that he didn’t notice it and it had suddenly come undone. There was relief on his face and in his heart, and he couldn’t help but smile. He contemplated real forgiveness for Joyce, not because Joyce deserved it, though he may be on that path if he straightened out. No, it was because hating Joyce would give Joyce a kind of power over Kenji and occupy his time. Refusing to hate him and maybe forgive him didn’t mean that Kenji trusted or liked him. If this had happened to one of his pack, Kenji would have found a way to make Joyce suffer. Kenji had faced and beaten worse, and in a way he’d beat Joyce. Not with violence or anger or the "or else", but by convincing him that he’d been wrong. “Actually, maybe a little violence,” whispered Kenji. Kenji wasn’t above violence. Not really. But it worked out in the end, and to him that was what he cared about. “What?” asked Joyce. He belatedly realized that Joyce had been staring at him and awaiting a response with his head bowed while Kenji had been mulling it over. There was no offense taken in his posture, only a kind of quiet terror and vulnerability. So Kenji made a snap decision. “Yeah, okay. Apology accepted,” said Kenji, carelessly. “Really?” asked Joyce. “Yeah, I’ve done a lot of bad stuff in my life. I’ve only not been a total bastard for maybe oh…Three months. Maybe six,” he mused, “It’s a process. This isn’t the end. This is where it starts. For you anyway. I’m not that far ahead of you, actually. I’ll cut you a little slack if you try to be a better person.” Kenji raised a finger. “If,” he repeated, "Don't try this again." Joyce nodded once in response. And that’s when Kenji got to his knees, because the coffee table was in the way, and folded Joyce into a hug. It was awkward due to the positioning and Joyce suddenly bawled into Kenji’s shoulder which Kenji was not emotionally equipped to deal with. All he could do was pat Joyce’s back at intervals that sort of made sense. When Joyce was done they pulled apart, and Joyce’s face was a ruin of tears, snot and an enormous bruise. Kenji’s shirt didn’t hold up very well after soaking most of that in. While Kenji inspected his shirt, Joyce spoke. “I choose peace,” said Joyce, his tone reverent. Kenji felt himself shiver, though he didn’t fully grasp why. Joyce shuddered out a breath and smiled. “And I can only make that peace by admitting my failure to those whom I’ve treated badly,” he said, “I’ll try to do better by them…If they’ll have me.” Joyce cast a spell and Kenji recognized the glow of a healing spell. Before Joyce could touch his face, Kenji caught his hand. “Maybe don’t do that,” said Kenji. “What?” asked Joyce, “But I hurt and must look a mess.” “That's great!” exclaimed Kenji, “And if you’re going to go and see Krupa, remember that you weren’t bullying me if I fought back. Tell her we had a fight, because we did. You tried to enslave me, I punched you and you saw the error of your ways which is why you look pathetic. There are probably less than ten people on the island total since it’s Sunday and half of them are my friends who won’t tease you, there's island security, Julian, Krupa, who you want to see and Olisha is drunk and probably napping by now. So going outside like that is low risk, but cleaning yourself up means that you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. I’ll tell you right now that putting on your best face when you’re going to grovel is actually your worst face. Trust me, look pathetic. Get the snot off though. Pathetic is okay, gross not so much.” “I…See…” he said, haltingly, “Isn’t that manipulative?” “Do you feel pathetic in your heart?” asked Kenji. Joyce winced, looked away and eventually nodded. “Then looking good is the lie,” said Kenji, “Anyway, do you have any bags?” “B-Bags?” stammered Joyce. Kenji got to his feet, wanged his shin on the coffee table as it was far too close to the couches and grumbled. Then he stretched-hobbled as he rubbed his shin, happy for all of this to be over despite the pain. “Yeah, I’m going to take half of my payment now,” said Kenji. He stopped rubbing his shin and checked the wine cabinet. There were seventeen expensive looking bottles left. “Payment?” repeated Joyce. “Oh yeah, see, I wasn’t just going to let you walk out of here and gently caress up your relationship with Krupa,” said Kenji, “My chances with Olisha as a business partner or whatever are probably shot. That leaves you. Now if you were so stubborn that you walked out of here, that was probably going to get ruined but I can only help that so much. Krupa was here and she heard everything and you were emotionally vulnerable, so I thought I might have a chance to...” “Everything?!” cried Joyce, in horror, “Did…Did you…” He clutched at his chest and looked like he might burst into tears again. “Me? No, I didn’t invite her. I think that Olisha did. She opened the window and that let Krupa in and she hid just out of sight in the astral. I figured it out. Olisha was acting weird,” said Kenji, “I’m betting that she lured her here and she was lonely and scared enough to listen. Olisha didn't actually have to do much which was why she was getting really drunk and gave you that sweetheart deal with not bullying Krupa for the rest of the year and letting me off the hook. The plan was probably to mess you up by hitting you where you'd hurt the most, your relationship with Krupa. Your girl didn’t catch the part after I closed the window though. I let her out. She’s gone.” Joyce made a strangled noise in his throat. Meanwhile, Kenji pulled out a burner commlink from his pocket and tossed it to Joyce. Like the bottle of pills, it bounced off him and onto the couch. “Your personal revelation all recorded for Krupa to watch!” exclaimed Kenji, “All recorded on my handy, dandy AR contacts and through the less impressive audio of that commlink. It was in my pocket, so I might not have picked up some of the whispered audio, sorry. For that I’m taking the contents of your wine cabinet and you’re going to help me move some paintings. I’ve got bills to pay.” Joyce wrung his hands nervously as he got to his feet. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “That sounds like an "or else" problem,” said Kenji, “Stop being a jerk "or else" Krupa will hate you. Do you see the logic there? No chance, if I’d told you, then you wouldn’t have changed at all. She was in the astral seeing your emotions and she would have seen you pretending. You wouldn't have had a chance to change and then you have same problem of being a terrible person which means you screw up your relationship with Krupa anyway, but later. That just kicks the can down the corridor. No, if I let you walk out of here a lovely person and didn't tell you, then you would have absolutely ruined Krupa’s opinion of you, possibly permanently, and that means I don’t get my art contact. Without an art contact, Oli can’t come back to school next year and Julie and I don’t recoup our investment on her. I figure that the sooner I get that foot in the door, the better. I only have a year to make this work, or at least work enough to convince me to reinvest.” Joyce shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “I thought you liked me,” he muttered. “What? No,” said Kenji, curtly, “Hell no. You tried to enslave me. You remember that part, right? That’s hosed up. On the other hand, I used to do hosed up things to people when people did hosed up things to me. I’d get drunk with some of them after the fact and we’d hug it out. It’s a good policy not to hold long term grudges if you can hug it out because then you’re just looking over your back all of the time. I don’t have time for that. I don’t like you, I don’t trust you, but you’re maybe on a path to being a better person. I have less than ten people in the world that I really like. The rest…Well, I’ll do business with them if they’re useful. My capacity to like people is limited by pack really hard. Pack is uh…Small. Or at least my idea of it is. Now you, you’re about peace, and maybe even the lovely kind going forward. If you don’t mess this up you’ll probably be a way better person than I’ll ever be and I’m okay with that. Now…Bags?” Joyce hesitated before pointing towards a cabinet. Inside of it was a black, designer book bag. Kenji knew all about looting from his time as a delver and checked the tensile strength by turning on his commlink, getting really close to read the AR tag and nodded. “Sixty pounds, that sounds about right,” he said, “I don't want the bag to rip on me. Keep the door open please. I’ll make two trips so I don’t accidentally break some bottles. You go find Krupa and grovel. I’ll lock up. Oh, and remember to clean the snot off.” Joyce fidgeted, but eventually nodded. “Okay,” he said, awkwardly. Joyce briefly hit the bathroom and cleaned up just the snot from his face. He moved to leave, but Kenji stepped in front of him with the backpack and a bottle of wine in hand, all smiles. “Great, and the art?” asked Kenji. “I’ll do my best,” said Joyce, his tone unsure. “Great! Thanks for the wine by the way. That’s very generous of you. It looks expensive,” said Kenji. He casually stepped out of the way, as if he hadn’t just intentionally barred Joyce’s exit to get his assurance about moving paintings. Bottles began to clink as he stored them in the backpack. Again Joyce tried to leave, but Kenji called out. “Commlink, don’t forget it,” reminded Kenji, "That whole evidence of you being on the road to change and everything." He was also oh so casual in how he reminded Joyce about the commlink he’d forgotten. It hadn’t been planned, but if Joyce stiffed Kenji with his payment, he might have "forgotten" to remind Joyce of what he was missing. So Joyce went back to the couch, grabbed it and smiled sheepishly at Kenji. “Thanks, I almost forgot,” said Joyce. “No problem,” said Kenji, “Now go get her. And remember, be honest with her. If you hold back, she’s going to know. I don’t think that she knows that you know she was here, but she knows that I know.” Joyce nodded and headed out the door to look for his fiancée. Kenji swung the backpack over his shoulder and walked the opposite direction to his cabin without closing Joyce’s door. He unlocked his door, strode in, meandered around the hamper of dirty clothes and emptied the expensive wine onto his unmade bed unceremoniously. Then he went back for the last seven bottles. He closed Joyce’s door without taking anything else, dropped off the bag in his house, he’d just have to give the bag back to Joyce later, and then followed the path towards the school. On his way, he spied Olisha having a drunk nap in the grass in the middle of a sunbeam in the otherwise heavily shaded forest. She’d throw up nearby, but at least it wasn’t on herself. He hesitated as he thought about what to do, but eventually he decided to push her awake. She groaned and opened one eye. “Whad want?” she slurred. “C’mon drunky, let’s go home,” he said, “You get super chatty when you drink, you know that?” “Shudup,” she half groaned. Beside her, he saw another one of Joyce’s bottles. It looked like she’d drunk most of it. He frowned at her. "Couldn't resist taking another bottle, could you?" he asked. Olisha smiled knowingly, her eyes glazed. “Like I said, I Lib-rated it. Nah tha I think…Dumb dog would unnerstan,” she snarked "Uh huh," said Kenji, "Hey, before I forget, where'd you get that documentary?" She'd said that it had been her art friends that had suggested it, but he somehow doubted it. "Which?" she asked. "The long one," said Kenji. "Oh uh..." she said, and thought about it, "Asked Cat. Cat said tha one. Wanted th' good stuff. Cat said pay tenshun, but pffft...Hard to watch. Y'know?" "Yeah, I know," he agreed. That revelation came and went. Her smile changed from knowing to sad and then she threw up again. He helped her home, but not before she threw up two more times. When he helped her into her room he rolled her into the recovery position on her bed as every good drinker should know and then left to go find Julie and Fuzzy. Hopefully they were still combing the beach. Today had definitely turned out okay. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 14:10 on Mar 21, 2019 |
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Mar 15, 2019 04:32
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The book is almost done save for a final few vignettes. I realize in retrospect that one of them is about Stork who is rarely mentioned (she's Sasha's hacker mentor from the beginning of the book) but that's on me. This is the rough draft and I'll need to go back to make more mentions of him so people actually remember who Stork is. Apologies. Luckily I've got most of the vignettes already written and most shouldn't be more than a thousand words each save for Stork. I just want to do a wrap-up on how everyone is doing. Deadmeat5150 posted:Ice... btw I loving love you. That scene was a rollercoaster ride from start to finish and I loved every minute of it. I expected some more drunken shenanigans though. I wouldn't be surprised to find out Olisha kicked some freshman out of her bed and chose to sleep there like my cat does to the dog ten times his size and weight. D'aww.  I included some final Cat shenanigans just for you. As a Cat shaman adept, Olisha is actually very good at the stealth and palming skill. which was why she could steal a second bottle of wine without being noticed while drunk. Though her main skill is performance. Xun posted:Caught up to this thread right on time to hear the news about lowtax Thanks for reading my thread. And as for Lowtax, there is the silver lining that he and the forums are probably going to do okay. He's getting money and help, even if he's weird about accepting help. I can understand why he's reluctant though. When you have nothing, you can still have your pride. In fact the less you have, the more you value that pride. quote:Just wanted to say this story is awesome and also Kenji should not be learning martial arts This is mostly up to the thread. I looked it up and Kenji could learn Krav Maga from Saanvi as Muay Thai is actually incorporated into the style. It keeps the "he is Asian so he should know Asian martial arts" and I'd really only be interested in pushing him up to Fuzzy's level in terms of competency for the moment. Kenji can beat on Joyce the pacifist, but Kenji has no self-defense skills except for talking, sub-machine guns, his voice or running away. And he's been punched out...I want to say twice now, both by Fuzzy. Tasers are street legal though and not even restricted. This would be the pistols skill, so if people really didn't want Kenji to learn martial arts, the taser skill is open instead. -- And finally for the people who like reading numbers and notes, here we go: So the conversation starts. Everyone gets asked about what they think. Joyce begins. I roll his etiquette of 10 – 2 for low morale. He gets 3 hits. This roll is just about how well or poorly he expresses himself, not about what he thinks as he’s still processing what he understands. What he thinks came from the previous rolls. So he relates his disgust openly. If this is true, this is horrible…If it’s true. I roll opposed intimidation for Olisha and Joyce. Olisha rolls 8 – 3 for being drunk and Joyce rolls 5 – 1 for defaulting – 2 for low morale as he is not intimidating at all. Lol they both roll the lowest roll in the game without glitching at 0 and 0 hits, Joyce winning because he’s defending but that defense isn’t going to be graceful nor is the attack intimidating. Joyce’s true nature after his aristocratic bearing falls away. He becomes contrary and sullen. So I’m just going to say it devolves into petty bickering for a bit because Olisha brings out the worst in him. And so Joyce eventually asks how she’d fix all of this if it were true. Her answer is “burn it all down”. Tir is awful, it never ceased to be awful and no one will be free so long as the current government is in charge. All it takes is for someone at the top to decide that violence really is the answer and everyone who is left that the majority hates ends up in shallow graves. The guy in charge in Tir now won’t be in charge forever, all it takes is for the next guy to think that bullets are the right answer. Joyce on the other hand is pragmatic. If you burn down the status quo with no replacement you’re probably just getting what you hate with extra steps because the pressures that changed things haven't changed. What Olisha is talking about is creating a power vacuum and usually who step into those vacuums are usually some sort of combination of numerous, organized, or violent. Often it’s all three. By burning the status quo down, people outside of it step in to make a new status quo. You’re likely to get what you hate, but it’s with extra steps, and one of those steps is likely to be a violent struggle for power as people fight for dominance. If that’s the case, the ones who are the best at violence tend to rise to the top. You can’t just burn the status quo and expect that to solve everything. You have to build what you want with what you have. Joyce rolls 10 – 2 dice for low morale. So 5 v 8. Since Olisha is his bully, if he loses this roll, he will spend his only edge to make his point because they’re still in petty bickering mode. He will emotionally exhaust himself to one up his drunk bully instead of conserving his emotional strength for later. Olisha gets 3 hits and Joyce gets 1. Welp, Shadowrun dice everyone. That’s just how this stuff works out. He spends the edge because he truly believes that she’s wrong and more importantly, he wants to win that very petty argument. He gets 5 hits total on a reroll with a spectacular roll. Olisha quiets down and turns thoughtful for the first time as Joyce scores a valid point on her...Before she deflects and bickers more. I give Joyce a composure roll with 8 dice to remove the -2 low morale malus…And he fails with 2 hits when he needs 3. Whoops. Shadowrun dice. Anyway, Joyce won his roll with Olisha! He wins the petty argument! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YCN-a0NsNk Joyce has gained no exp! Joyce has gained no AP! Gained gil: 0! Items: None! Anyway. Joyce has been deflecting with “If this is real” as his shield and Kenji knows this to be real. Marie told him that Gilbrand was in this documentary and Joyce reacted poorly to this information. That’s enough for Kenji to believe it’s real. So instead of immediately trying to bust rhetorical heads with Joyce, he asks why Joyce doesn’t think it’s real. And he reveals that he doesn’t trust the source. Horizon Group is the largest multimedia corporation in the world and Olisha could very well have had something slapped together on short notice. Maybe not the entire documentary was created out of whole cloth, but perhaps some choice editing to make it look worse than it is or pull from a different atrocity altogether. An overlay of Emmyth Faerona’s likeness and voice would be possible since Horizon Group definitely has those on file. Olisha rolls intimidate v Joyce’s intimidate. This will give Kenji a malus if Joyce fails, but he can negate that from the crit or take the +2. 2 v 1, Kenji takes a -1 penalty. Olisha is offended and berates Joyce, but she’s drunk so it’s not too effective. She’s outraged that she brought him gold and he think’s its poo poo. Joyce says that he doesn’t know what to think, but he doesn’t trust her. He needs to verify this before making any decisions. Final roll, 24 v 12. A crit is extremely possible, and it’s still possible for Kenji to fail because it’s Shadowrun dice, baby. And Joyce exhausted his only point of edge for the scene because he had to win a petty argument against Olisha. 8 to 3, Kenji keeps up his streak as he crits on an etiquette roll. He tells Joyce that he’s not sure about the presentation, but the old time movie? That’s real. He can tell. And Joyce asks Kenji how he knows its real. And Kenji shares a significant look with Joyce. He realizes that Joyce doesn’t want to believe that his former bodyguard is a mass murderer, arsonist and rapist. He doesn’t want to believe that his personal bodyguard was in charge of Saanvi, who is the sister of the person he loves most in this world. He’s terrified that something happened to Saanvi and that Krupa will blame and hate him. That’s why he’s not talking to her. And the roll convinces Joyce to accept these facts. Joyce no longer denies what is in front of him which is the first victory. I roll leadership for Kenji to do a hard break. Conversation postponed. Joyce needs "proof" that the documentary hasn’t been altered in some way. We come back again to compare later. Kenji’s leadership vs Olisha’s leadership. Same rules apply. He’ll ask one of the teachers to order the documentary or they can do it together or something and they’ll all come back tonight to do a side by side watch. 8 v 1. Crit. This actually appeals to Olisha’s cruelty because it means watching everything again and making Joyce go through it again and if she’s “lucky” Krupa will dump him or make him feel like crap and she’ll be able to gloat. So she agrees immediately and forgets to ask for concessions (the effect of the crit). Kenji asks for the bottle before she leaves and she gives it up because it’s empty. Then she asks if she needs him to walk her home. She rolls his eyes at him, drunkenly walks the wrong way first down the trail, stops and then drunkenly walks in the correct direction a few seconds later because I enjoy my characters having awkward, uncool moments now and again. Kenji turns around to Joyce, who looks drained. Kenji feels drained too. Olisha, despite being drunk, manages to palm an entire bottle of wine like a boss despite the +2 bonus dice to Kenji and Joyce's rolls and her -3 dice for being drunk. She gets a 5 on her stealth roll to Kenji's 1 and Joyce's 3, crit on Kenji. And her palming roll only gets 3 dice, but with Joyce's 1 hit and Kenji's 2, she walks outside with it and gets trashed on school grounds out in the open like a proper delinquent. I rolled this after the previous post (Deadmeat's cat shenanigans inspired me), so I'll make some hints in the previous post because stealing Joyce's wine amuses me. Kenji now needs to let Krupa out because he wants to talk to Joyce alone for what he has planned for him. I roll Kenji’s con + kinesics + charisma vs Joyce’s charisma + con -3. So 10 v 6. 5 v 2 hits. Joyce doesn’t realize what’s going on and is too emotionally exhausted to argue. Kenji is struck with shivers up his spine as Krupa travels through him before exiting because he was blocking the window. Krupa astral form briefly appears outside of the window before vanishing again, looking guilty and confused in the extreme before he closes the window. Joyce is still holding the white noise generator and Kenji takes it back and expands it slightly even though this is unnecessary now. So he and Joyce are pretty close at the moment. His eyes are wet, he’s trembling again now Olisha is gone, he’s this long haired, short, feminine looking dude and he’s looking up into Kenji’s eyes in a moment of extreme vulnerability. I roll etiquette for Kenji to break the moment. Kenji gets a 6 and Joyce gets a 2. Again, Kenji crits. So he cracks a joke. “Are we going to kiss now?” Joyce’s eyes grow wide and Kenji snorts out a laugh. And Joyce pushes him away as he starts to laugh too. After half a minute of belly laughing, the two young men fall into silence. I’ll give Kenji a +2 bonus at a moment of his choosing. And that's when Kenji acuses Joyce of trying to make him a slave, Joyce doesn't deny it, but his idea of "slavery" is heavily paternalistic. Kenji punches Joyce in the mouth. Joyce is just going to get caught totally flat footed, because in no world does Joyce imagine one where he gets punched. Kenji gets 2 hits on unarmed and does 6 stun damage. Joyce has 2(!) dice for body, so this actually could knock him out if he glitches. He doesn't, and gets 1 hit. He's at -1 for wound penalties and is now at -4 dice to everything. And Kenji just starts to yell at him with intimidation. That is a hosed up thing to do to someone. 4 v 1 hit on intimidation. This roll I decide is what breaks Joyce and the way his will is finally broken so he'll begin to listen is that eventually, Krupa is going to see him for the person he is, and even if she's forced to marry him, he'll be unloved and unlovable. He'll become the very thing that she hates, a bully. After this it's all downhill. No more rolls needed. Joyce is there to be molded now that his emotional defenses are down. Kenji does his best to give him some ACHE and Dog style morality, which is that his idea about responsibility is bullshit, because in the end you're only responsible for your own actions. And that if he wants to deal with a peaceful way, it should be from a place of love and respect, not the negative peace that comes with the "or else" undertone of violent authority. Kenji rolls negotiation unopposed and gets 6 hits, that's a crit. He gets all of Joyce's expensive wine. Kenji was not here because he likes Joyce. The wine is worth 6d6 x 100 nuyen from the negotiation roll, so he walks out of there with 2500 nuyen worth of elven wine. Also he makes Joyce promise to help him with the art world introductions. This isn't Joyce's specialty, so I roll his contact level at 2 instead of 3. He gets 1 hit and that's enough for Kenji to get his foot in the door. Kenji will be able to find a friendly art gallery that will talk up Oli's pieces. Kenji will have to negotiate for how much of the take he gets though. Standard rates for an unknown like Oli would be 50% and she's consigned to a corner. Kenji will get a bonus of of Joyce's negotiation skill of 12, I get 6 hits, but Kenji's skill is 4 so he only gets 4 extra dice. With charisma 8 + negotiation 4 + Joyce's + 4 and first impression 2 (reputation bonus) vs the gallery owner's 10 dice I get 12 hits (after rerolling failures, Kenji will have edge at this point) versus 3. So Kenji gets 95% of the list price. Apparently this guy owes Joyce a big favor or is trying to curry favor with Tir. It's not about the paintings or the money, the guy is looking for influence with Joyce which Kenji and Oli benefit from. This will not sell all of the paintings, but it's a start to bigger and better things. Anyway, Kenji forgives Joyce because he doesn't want Joyce to occupy his emotional energy with anger, and being angry at someone who actually surprises him by actually apologizing to Kenji and acknowledging him as a person is oddly touching for the haughty noble. He does of course let Joyce know that he doesn't like him, but that if he works at being a good person they might do more than just business in the future. For now though it's business, and Kenji has his pleasant fixer facade on. Kenji gains Joyce as a 3 connection 1 loyalty contact. This has less to do with Joyce's feelings towards Kenji (for loyalty) rather than Kenji's distrust of Joyce. Kenji gains Krupa as a connection 2 loyalty...I roll... connection 2 loyalty 3 (4 hits on 6 dice). They're friendly with one another. Kenji gains Saanvi as a connection 2 loyalty 4 contact. Not pack, not yet, but quickly on the way to becoming pack and also his first girlfriend. Finally, Kenji rolls etiquette on Olisha, who is trashed with that bottle of wine. 6 hits v 2 in etiquette. It turns out that she actually didn't get the "Massacre at Redding" suggestion from her art pals, but from Cat, who is fond of secrets and told Olisha that she'd find one in there if she looked hard enough. However, she is somewhat sensitive under the rough exterior and watching a movie about genocide disturbs her. She's just not the kind of person who can stare evil in the face like that without numbing herself. Kenji gains 4 karma End scene. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Mar 15, 2019 |
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Mar 15, 2019 05:34
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Lowtax needs to lawyer up and also set up a gofundme but his drat Catholic guilt prevents him from doing so.
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Mar 15, 2019 05:57
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Are vicarious gofundmes a legal possibility considering we're a legitimate community what wants to stay whole and are tied to the well-being of Stubborn BrokeMan?
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Mar 15, 2019 06:10
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So I made a small alteration to the post before last.quote:“All right, just offering,” he said, “Maybe give me the bottle so you’re not walking back with it.” Stealing the wine is sort of a Cat thing to do, but taking the wine and challenging Joyce to do something about it is definitely a Cat thing to do. This isn't me editing the chapter much though. Too tired to do a full edit to break stuff up tonight.
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Mar 15, 2019 09:59
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Also I had time to go back and actually read the post. I think this is about as good as the situation probably could've ended up. Amused that it ended with both bash the fash and hugging it out with said fash. That's a nicer way to end a lovely day.
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Mar 15, 2019 12:10
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Is there any chance Olisha sees Joyce later today before he heals off the bruises? I think she’d feel a little bit better about Kenji if she saw the fash got bashed Also kinda sad to have caught up after these past two weeks of constant reading. The content is incredible, I told all my friends!
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Mar 15, 2019 13:22
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Dawww, more Cat shenanigans just for me? It's not even my birthday. Her napping in the only sunbeam is awesome. So is Joyce being decked.
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Mar 15, 2019 16:32
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+1 for Olisha catching a glimpse of a bruised Joyce.
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Mar 15, 2019 18:33
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Fellis posted:Is there any chance Olisha sees Joyce later today before he heals off the bruises? I think she’d feel a little bit better about Kenji if she saw the fash got bashed numerrik posted:+1 for Olisha catching a glimpse of a bruised Joyce.
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Mar 15, 2019 18:56
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Well that went just about as well as it could have.  Highlights: -Joyce realizing that negative peace actually kind of sucks -Kenji walking Joyce through the idea that, no, actually, Saavni is basically a political prisoner -Kenji stealing all Joyce's wine as "payment" and even still having some kind of an art contact after all this playing with fire Ice Phisherman posted:He wondered if he felt bad for Joyce at all and searched his feelings. You have a tendency to use this framing/phrase a lot. Here in particular it kind of took me out of things. Part of it because here and the next passage it sounds to me like Kenji is going through his thought process out of order. He realizes he wants to punch Joyce after he gets Krupa to leave, realizes she can see emotions in the astral, and then connects that with why he wanted her to leave. I'm not sure if you even need all that much of his thought process here. Ice Phisherman posted:“See, that’s what I told myself. I told myself that I benefitted the people around me because that’s why they tolerated me,” said Kenji, “I lied, manipulated and cheated the people around me, but I was just useful enough that people allowed me to stick around. I was a lovely person too. Game recognizes game, Joyce. The only problem for you is that I’m better at it than you are. You play this like a game because it’s low stakes.” Also Kenji calling himself a liar here is interesting since in reality he literally couldn't. Just withhold the truth, I suppose. Ice Phisherman posted:That single, crystalized nugget of defiance behind his eyes shattered. I definitely wouldn't have seen this one without my browser underlining it. Ice Phisherman posted:The book is almost done save for a final few vignettes. I realize in retrospect that one of them is about Stork who is rarely mentioned (she's Sasha's hacker mentor from the beginning of the book) but that's on me. This is the rough draft and I'll need to go back to make more mentions of him so people actually remember who Stork is. Apologies. I'm not sure if you need much, or any, more references to Stork to get a closing vignette about him to work. He had a relatively memorable introduction. Ice Phisherman posted:Joyce won his roll with Olisha! He wins the petty argument!  Ice Phisherman posted:Kenji gains 4 karma 
Dr Subterfuge fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Mar 16, 2019 |
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Mar 15, 2019 19:31
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Also the discord link in the OP is down, is there a new one?
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Mar 17, 2019 00:16
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Xun posted:Also the discord link in the OP is down, is there a new one? Here you go https://discord.gg/uwUYXeE you can even chat with people trapped in the '90s because we've got an irc bridge bot connecting us to #madgod. Hexenritter fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Mar 17, 2019 |
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Mar 17, 2019 18:38
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Kenji, Fuzzy and Julie - Saturday, August 3rd, 2075 – Early afternoon – Blake Island Kenji walked the beach alone on the island’s east side as he looked for his friends. This wasn’t fast enough for his tastes, so for the first time in a while, he decided to run. It was a nice day, the wind was gentle, the smell of the Sound was actually pleasant here and the sun was shining. His long legs ate up ground and in this moment, he felt like this was what he was meant to do. Not just find his friends, but move and move quickly. He found joy in the act and so he moved quickly from the east side to the south along the beach, puffing along and finally to the southwestern edge where he found Fuzzy and Julie sitting on a sun-bleached log. Puppy barked and ran alongside him as he approached. His friends turned and they waved as he waved back. “Hey you two,” he said, “I thought you’d be home by now.” He slowed down and pet Puppy, who licked his hand and then Kenji approached them with Puppy following. There was room on the log for him and so he took it. Julie and Fuzzy stared at him. “Hey yourself, and no. We don't have anything else to do today so we were just talking..." said Julie, who suddenly trailed off, "Uh...What were you just doing?” “What do you mean?” asked Kenji. Fuzzy lifted her fingers and pointed towards one of her eyes. Kenji frowned and concentrated. To his surprise he felt Dog’s power, but it was it was barely there and fading. “I couldn’t find either of you, so I took a run,” said Kenji. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you run anywhere,” said Fuzzy. She was right of course. Kenji didn’t run much and exercised only enough to maintain the physique that he had, though his metabolism took care of most of what he ate. “And now the blue eye is gone,” said Julie, with a relieved sigh, “Let me look this up. I downloaded information on spirit mentor powers.” "Was I..." he asked Fuzzy. He pointed to his eye and she nodded. Kenji felt his stress rise. For her part, Julie pulled out her commlink and tapped it a few times as she didn’t use AR glasses or contacts while on the island. Puppy snuffled against Fuzzy’s hand and did a clever little flip up with his muzzle to get her to start petting him which she did absentmindedly. A minute later after some silence, Julie came up with an answer. “Okay, the normal powers granted by Dog for an adept are sensory powers for magic. Sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste and kinesics, which reads body language,” she said, “If you can cast spells you get better at tracking spells, hmm…” “Yeah, I do the body language thing and my sense of smell shoots through the roof,” said Kenji, “I don’t really like the smell one though. I mean, have you ever really smelled people? I’d hoped the ACHE had burnt out my sense of smell, but I guess that didn’t happen.” Julie wrinkled her nose as she continued to read and Fuzzy nodded along knowingly as she’d been there before. “Okay, it says here that the normal physical power that everyone gets is tracking,” she continued, “Are you any better at that?” Kenji shook his head. “I tried it on a nature walk for class. Julian set something up, but I don’t know what he set up because I never found anything,” said Kenji, “Olisha got on my case for being a defective Dog shaman. Julian said he’d try some other stuff later.” “Okay, but it says here that you could get some variants,” said Julie, “Let’s see, sharpened non-magical senses, animal handling specifically for Dogs…” “Oh, I’d like that one,” said Fuzzy, “Puppy sleeps on my bed even when he’s not supposed to. And I'd like him to listen.” Puppy’s muzzle split into a big, doggy grin and he wagged his tail. “Which is never,” grumped Fuzzy, "No bed. No." Puppy wagged his tail even harder. “Some interpersonal skills…” continued Julie. “Wait, interpersonal skills?” asked Kenji, “How do I not get those?” “You’ve already got those, just not from Dog,” said Julie, “Oh, here, last on the list. It’s running.” “Running?” asked Kenji, dubiously, “I have running powers?” “Running is great,” said Fuzzy, “I run five days a week and walk the other days.” Kenji was somewhat disappointed by his newfound affinity for running, but it had felt good at least. “You could come running with me,” she continued. That made Kenji smile. It felt good to be included by his packmate without having to ask. “When do you run?” he asked, “I never see you do it.” “I get up at six-thirty and I’m out the door with Puppy in fifteen,” she said, “I run until he gets tired or for an hour and then I take a shower and go to school. I might have to get up early from now on though since I’m going to be helping Jayvon with his um…” “Rehabilitation?” supplied Julie. “Yeah, that sounds like the right word,” said Fuzzy. “Uh, I think I’ll try the evenings, thanks,” said Kenji, his tone dubious, “Six-thirty might as well not exist unless I’ve been up all night already. I’ll maybe experiment with the evenings.” Julie put her commlink away and looked up. “Talk to Julian about it,” said Julie, “He’ll probably know more.” “Yeah, okay,” said Kenji, simply. “And I could teach you how to run,” said Fuzzy, helpfully. “You mean it’s not just moving your legs and arms?” joked Kenji. Fuzzy shook her head an adopted a serious expression. “It’s so much more complicated than moving your arms and legs,” she said, “If you don’t do it right then you just make more work for yourself and you get tired faster or you can get hurt. There are no tracks on Blake Island. I went on a track once and it was so easy. We have sand and trails. You have to run in a certain way on sand, and it’s different if it’s dry or wet, sloped or straight, what surfaces to avoid and how to pick up your feet. If you’re on the trail you need to look out for the ground since it’s not even and it gets wet and there are leaves and roots and rocks and…” Fuzzy went on for a while and Kenji realized that running definitely wasn’t just moving your arms and legs. “…And of course you need a good pair of running shoes, maybe two,” she said, a minute later, “But once you understand what you’re doing, you barely think about it.” “I’ll stick to hiking,” said Julie, “Which is my way of saying walking. It's how I lost weight.” "And it shows," said Kenji, politely. Julie beamed at him for a moment. She really did look better than last year. Then she looked away, cleared her throat and kicked at large bag that made a hollow rumble as it shifted. “We got a big haul of trash and the beach is clean now,” said Julie, “We’re taking a break until the tide comes back in. Oh, and we got a smaller haul too.” She untied a smaller, cleaner bag from one of her belt loops and hefted it. It clinked a little and as Kenji leaned forwards, she loosened the tie and displayed the contents. Inside were smooth rocks and seashells. Kenji frowned. He'd expected something a little more spectacular. “Those are just rocks and seashells,” he said. “They’re reagents,” she corrected, “They’re magic rocks and seashells. You use them to bind spirits, take the drain from spells or build mana lodges. Blake Island is just full of reagents since the area is kept clean.” “They look like regular old rocks and seashells to me,” said Kenji. He poked at the bag and it swung about. Julie tied the bag again and fastened it to her belt loop. “I helped find them,” said Fuzzy, “Well, a little.” “You’re really good at spotting where they should be once I taught you where to look,” she said, as she briefly turned to look at Fuzzy, "I almost always found one after you got the hang of it." “Yeah, but I can’t see them,” complained Fuzzy, “I need the astral sight thing to do that. I don’t have that, and I'd like to do that while hunting.” Julie turned back to look at Kenji and shrugged. "Anyway, when I pick up trash I pick up reagents too,” she said. “You know almost everyone makes fun of people for picking up reagents,” said Kenji, his tone careful. Julie rolled her eyes at him and shook her head in disgust. “But not the trash. They make fun of people for picking up reagents, but not the trash. It’s arbitrary,” she said, annoyance in her voice, “Kenji, it’s free money just laying around on the ground. I’m not going to pass it up.” “Rich people don’t make sense,” said Fuzzy, “I thought they’d make fun of you for picking up trash, but no, it’s money. I don’t get it.” “Also Mr. Peters gives out focuses if you pick up enough bags of trash,” said Julie, “Or if you do environmental cleanup projects with him. Not funding them, you actually need to come along. He’s got a big list on his door. I’m saving up for a power focus, but since those are expensive you need a hundred and eighty bags for the simplest one or you need to talk to him after class. A lot of the others are way more manageable.” “Wait, would he upgrade my spearknife again?” asked Fuzzy, excitedly. “I have a picture of the sheet on my commlink, just a second,” said Julie. She swiped through her pictures in front of both Kenji and Fuzzy, and Kenji realized that she was either extremely innocent or asking for trouble. No way would he do that in front of people with his pictures. He cleared his throat to remind her as Fuzzy looked over her should and as she looked to him, he gave her a significant glance. She just smiled shyly at him before looking down and continuing to flip through her pictures in full view of Fuzzy. Kenji waited for something embarrassing to come up, but nothing did even after several dozen swipes. Then she swiped past the picture before coming back to it, and Kenji sighed in relief. “Here we go, focuses,” she said, “Let’s see, enchanting, ki, spell, spirit and power along with what Mr. Peters wants for them.” Fuzzy leaned over in interest as Julie read over it again, but her interest fell as she realized that there was no weapon focus cost. The spearknife would stay unupgraded. “Sorry Fuzzy, I don’t see it,” said Julie, apologetically. “Maaaaan,” she groaned, “I wanted to make it cooler.” “It’s already cool,” said Kenji, “And you can get different ones on the list. I’m sort of interested in the enchanting focus. How many bags is that?” “Fifty,” said Julie, “For the first one.” “How long does it take you to get that many bags?” asked Kenji, “I’m not seeing price on here.” “Mr. Peters doesn’t take nuyen. He says there’s way too much trash in the Sound take nuyen,” said Julie, “I did that during the day with Chip. Also Chip did that at night last year and Mr. Peters would make him snacks" "Very Chip," said Fuzzy. "Yep, but I've been away and Mr. Peters has been busy lately. This is our second bag and we haven't even touched the west or north sides of the island. There's trash everywhere right now." “I've seen it. It's gross,” said Fuzzy, “There's a lot of trash on my runs." “You could pick it up,” said Julie. “I can’t pick it up and run at the same time,” said Fuzzy, “Maybe on my walking days.” “I might do it,” said Kenji, “You know, if no one is going to give me crap about it and I get cool stuff. Brownie points too, I could use those.” Julie shot him a cool look. “I really wish that you cared more about doing good for the sake of doing good,” said Julie, “I barely think about what I’ll get beyond a clean beach anymore. Is a clean beach not enough?” “Some people need more incentive,” he said, “Like me. I need incentive. And I do very much care what people think about me. I thought people caught crap for cleaning up the trash.” “No, just the reagents,” said Julie, "And I don't care either way." They stared at one another over Fuzzy, who sat between them. She looked to both of them and folded her arms around their middles. “I care about what my friends think. You know, the people who matter,” said Fuzzy. That wrung a smile out of all of them, except for Puppy, who was suddenly no longer being petted. He barked and Julie took up the task. “He gets so jealous,” said Julie. “He’s just spoiled. When I take him out to go see Fluffy, he always begs for owl treats and gets sad when I won’t share. There’s a reason for that though. Apparently Gloaming Owls hate um…Nearly everything and everyone,” she said, nervously, “So I’ve been working on socializing him so at least he doesn’t hate Puppy. It mostly works, but if I give Puppy Fluffy’s owl treats I think that would mess things up between them.” “No offense, but Fluffy gives me the creeps,” said Kenji. “Yeah,” said Julie. “Yeah, well, he’s a magic fear owl with pitch black feathers and blood red eyes. Of course he’s going to creep people out. He doesn’t even like Sasha,” complained Fuzzy, "I really tried, but he hits her with fear if she gets too close and that's not good for her." Fuzzy reached into her pocket and pull out a strip of jerky which was one of Puppy's treats. He perked up, immediately sat and waited to be fed. She tossed the strip into the air, he tried to catch it and it bounced off his nose and landed in some scrubby grass. He snatched it up and ate it three big bites and then waited to receive more petting, which Julie continued to supply. “Okay, so if Mr. Peters doesn’t take money for focuses, what do you think we should spend ours on?” asked Fuzzy. Kenji couldn’t get out his white noise generator fast enough as Julie shot her a look. Fuzzy’s eyes widened and her cheeks colored as she realized that she’d just talked the about the money from capturing a toxic shaman in the open. Kenji turned on the white noise generator and most of the sound went away, but curiously, not the sound of the wind as it physically passed through the bubble and out. “Sorry, I forgot,” said Fuzzy, apologetically. "Julie, check please," said Kenji. Kenji couldn't see Julie open her eyes to the astral, but as she looked about she shook her head. Kenji let out a sigh of relief. “Please don’t forget again,” said Kenji, “That’s pretty big stuff. No one can know.” “I know, I know,” she said, glumly. “You don’t have to be so hard on her,” soothed Julie. “Nope, I have to be,” said Kenji, “That’s a secret that has to stay a secret. No one can know. That’s a lot of livelihoods at risk. We need to be careful with those kinds of secrets. Julie reluctantly nodded and Fuzzy pulled in on herself, but Kenji wrapped an arm around her like she had him moments previous. “Just be careful, okay?” he asked. She nodded and smiled sheepishly. “Okay, so money stuff,” said Kenji. Fuzzy beamed and seemed to vibrate with happiness. She blurted out her answer. “I want to buy my dad a truck,” she said, excitedly. “A truck?” asked Kenji, with a laugh. “Yeah!” she exclaimed, and then she looked worried, “His old truck breaks down sometimes and that’s not safe in the barrens. I was looking at the Toyota Gopher and it’s not too expensive with the uh...Re...Bates. Is that what they're called?" "I have never even driven before," said Kenji, "I take cabs. I'd never even been in an air taxi until last week. So you probably know more than me about car stuff." "I ride my bike and take public transportation too," said Julie. "Okay, reeebates it is," she said, "I’d want him to trade the old one in of course and I might be able to get um…Something for it I guess. But I talked to Tek about it…” “Wasn’t he the guy that beat you up and carried you into my doctor's office?” interrupted Julie. Fuzzy made a face at her, but shrugged. “Yeah, but I punched him in the liver and the face a bunch. Also we're friends now,” she said, “Anyway, he said he knows all about vehicles and stuff and did work for the Deadeyes…” “The motorcycle gang?” interrupted Julie yet again. “Yeah, them!” she exclaimed, completely unperturbed, “So he knows his stuff and I mentioned that I wanted to get a new truck ready for the barrens and he said he’d do the work to save on labor since a lot of car places will try to scam women.” “The guy who beat you up is going to give you a good deal on labor. Really?” asked Julie. “Yeah, really,” said Fuzzy, now annoyed, “We go to punk concerts together sometimes. Not in Tacoma, because the Deadeyes are there…” “He left in good standing, right?” asked Julie, pointedly. “Yeah, that was the word…Uh, phrase,” amended Fuzzy, “That was really important to him so he wouldn’t get um…You know, murdered. That was really nice of them. He told me that they didn’t need to murder him which was pretty cool. He just needs to stay out of Tacoma now.” “It sure was cool of them,” said Kenji. Julie stared at him for a few seconds as if she suspected something, but Kenji didn’t offer anything else but a smile. The Deadeyes Motorcycle Club now supplied high end firearms to Clever for use by new Delvers as well as Clever’s shadowrunners and Clever gave the Deadeyes a hookup for drugs and extra muscle from the ACHE, though it was Clever that negotiated the part for drugs and muscle, not Kenji. That was gang business, not Delver business, and Kenji didn’t belong to Clever’s gang. Commerce had a way of smoothing over wrinkles like Tek deciding to leave. He just smiled at Julie as he consider that and her gaze lingered on him before she turned back to Fuzzy as she asked Julie a question. "How do you know about that?” asked Fuzzy. Julie licked her lips and grimaced before she shrugged. “My cellmate in prison, Big Rita, belonged to a motorcycle gang,” said Julie, “She’s spending a little extra time in prison so she doesn’t have to be on probation. She’ll be out in a few more weeks. Anyway, truck?” “Yeah, truck,” said Fuzzy, happily, “I might take the old truck because it’s barrens ready, but the transmission is bad and it needs a new radiator. It’s got cool armor on it though and I could get permits for that. Also since dad is off grid I’d probably have to get him a new suncell or a…Tek called it a multifuel engine. The suncell isn’t as reliable though since it’s Puyallup and there’s all that ash, but with the multifuel thingy you just stick in uh...Tek said food waste would work. You know, from all of the stuff that can’t be butchered, you know. Drop in what you can't eat and zoom, no solar or even gasoline needed. I just want to show up to his place with this badass truck and the bed is full of deer and be all like, “Hey dad! Guess what I got!” you know?” “I think that’s really nice,” said Julie. “Hey, if you’re buying a new truck, do you want to do what we did last time with your motorcycle?” asked Kenji. “You mean go for those deals that really aren’t deals, where you supposedly pay less but have really high interest rates and then pay it all in nuyen and then they cry?” asked Fuzzy. “Yeah, that,” said Kenji, “I can pretend to be your dad again and this time I can actually…You know, lie, instead of leading them on with half-truths. I’ll see if I can lower the price by jacking up the interest rate sky high. Then we transfer the funds before the first payment is due. Changing my face is the just the best for getting deals at car dealerships.” “Oh my Gosh,” groaned Julie, “You two, really?” “Okay, like we did, before, remember?” asked Kenji. Fuzzy smiled deviously and nodded. “Okay, three, two, one…Hustler team go!” Kenji and Fuzzy shouted together. They both raised their hands and gave each other an enthusiastic high five. Julie tried to show her disapproving face, but a giggle escaped. “You two are the worst!” she exclaimed. “Oh, and Julie,” said Fuzzy, suddenly sheepish, “Can I still use your parking spot? I mean, I wouldn’t have anywhere else to put it and my motorcycle it is so hard to find a parking spot in downtown Seattle." Julie tried to look stern, but couldn’t manage it. She nodded and Fuzzy squealed with delight and hugged her, and Julie hugged her back. “After watching that, I shouldn’t, but I only have my bicycle and you’re already there,” she said, “Seriously though, that parking spot is worth more than my apartment.” “Do you want me to pay?” asked Fuzzy. Julie thought about it, but shook her head. “Maybe find a little extra meat for the church soup kitchen?” asked Julie, “We usually use soy, but I think people would be happy with real meat once a month. Can you manage that? Something uh...Porkish maybe?” “Oh yeah, I can do that,” said Fuzzy, “I’ve got to hunt like…Forty deer since the island has no natural predators. Otherwise they’ll just breed and eat everything until there’s no food left. Mother Bear said so.” “Is that a lot?” asked Kenji. Fuzzy’s eyes widened and she nodded seriously. “Uh yeah, that's really a lot. It's why I'm thinking I should get the truck now,” she said, “My motorcycle can’t haul anything. I can’t even take Puppy anywhere on my motorcycle or Fluffy, so we can’t go hunting. Paying to haul anything, especially kills, is super expensive. I’d rather do it myself.” Puppy barked again since he heard his name and Fuzzy scratched Puppy on his back since Julie was scratching his head. He licked her wrist a few times before going back to being petted. “Did you ask Julian about it?” asked Julie. Fuzzy’s smile fell as she remembered that money wasn’t technically hers to spend as she wished. So Kenji stepped in with some advice. “Tell Julian that you want to buy a truck for your dad so he can be safe,” said Kenji, “Since his old truck is old and breaking down, right?” “Right,” said Fuzzy. “And then just ask your dad to give you the old one, then we’ll see about prices on parts and get Tek to fix it,” explained Kenji. Julie’s frowned at Kenji. “What? He manipulates me all of the time,” said Kenji, “He invites this sort of stuff.” “He’s stressed out,” chided Julie. “And this will barely involve him,” said Kenji, “He releases the funds, I pretend to be Fuzzy’s dad and Fuzzy comes with, people try to scam us, we scam them back harder, Fuzzy’s dad gets a new truck and Fuzzy gets the old truck. Everyone wins." “Everyone but the dealership,” said Julie. “Scammers always leave themselves open to be scammed by better scammers. If they don't try to scam us, we'll just go to a place that will. I don't want to scam nice people,” said Kenji, “Big fish eats little fish. That’s life.” “Yeah!” exclaimed Fuzzy. “Besides,” said Kenji, “Isn’t there some bible quote about acting in good faith and not scamming people? We’re doing good work here. By preying on the predatory, we're the anti-scammers. We're basically heroes.” Without another word, Julie reached over and punched Kenji in the arm. She wasn’t very strong though, so it only stung. “You’re a bad influence on Fuzzy,” she said. “Maybe a little, because she’s just a little cinnamon bun with raisins on top because she’s just so sweet,” teased Kenji, ending in baby talk at the end, as he snuggled against her, “I just make those raisins into rum raisins.” Fuzzy looked as if she considering punching Kenji in the arm like Julie had and he leaned away knowing that her punch would hurt way more. So she reached out her arm and pulled him back in into a hug and leaned her cheek against his. “Do you like your teeth, Kenji?” she quietly joked. “Every single one of them,” he joked back, “If I liked them any more, they'd have names. Okay Julie, what do you want to spend your nuyen on?” He pulled away from Fuzzy's face. “What about Oli?” asked Julie. “Yep, nope,” said Kenji, “None of that." Julie suddenly looked confused and hurt by the sudden rejection, which made Kenji feel guilty. He squirmed on his log as guilt wriggled through his belly. “Why not?” she asked, “We could pay her tuition right now and maybe even for two years if we both did it.” “Because she’s got to earn it,” said Kenji, “Remember the first painting she did here? You know, the one with dirty hands holding all of those nice things?” Julie closed her mouth as the retort died on her lips. Then she looked away and Kenji continued. “Yeah, she’s got a serious self-esteem problem and we’ll hurt her if we just give her everything,” explained Kenji, “I don’t think she’s going to pay off for a while. maybe never. I’m fine throwing some money her way because I’m getting connections and that’s worth way more than money to me. She makes the art, I sell it and you supplied the majority of the nuyen by working your contacts to get this started. Your part is mostly done since you’re busy.” “I still have to do an environmental cleanup project with Mr. Peters,” sighed Julie. “See? Busy,” said Kenji, “What I’m saying is that if she stops feeling like she’s a part of this by being given everything, that’s just going to crush what little self-esteem she has. Then she makes nothing. Also maybe don’t pay everything in advance. We have a year. Maybe don’t spend everything right away.” “Sasha doesn’t want me to help her with tuition,” said Fuzzy, glumly. Kenji patted her on the back in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. “And that’s her right,” said Kenji, “Respect her choice. She’s got a cyberdeck and she’s building it up with um…Other computer things. I don’t really know about computers. I do know those things are rare and expensive and she can probably make tuition on her own if she’s smart. If she can’t make tuition, we’re not just going to let her leave, right?” Fuzzy and Julie shook their heads. “Right, me neither, so don’t worry about it,” said Kenji, “She’s got money in her pocket, the means to earn more and we’ll keep some around just in case. If she wants to I’ll see if I can find her some work like I found some work for you, Fuzzy. There’s opportunity out there if you have the means. Then you just seize it. There are always people with money out there who want things that you can provide. The more they want it and the rarer and more desired your skills are, the more money you can get from them. That’s how the world works. Working hard isn’t enough. Your work has to be rare and desired, or you’re just breaking your back to feed yourself and keep a roof over your head.” Fuzzy frowned heavily. Not at Kenji though, but at the ground as she thought. Puppy padded forward on the scrubby grass to bump the side of his body against hers. “I don’t get paid that much,” said Julie, quietly. “You could,” said Kenji, “Work on your magic and you’ll get paid more. You could specialize in healing magic, get a focus just for healing and have Chip help you. You’ve got the talent and now you just need to put in the effort to develop your skills. The kind of hard work that you put in is worth a lot of money now because your skills are extremely rare and desired. I think that there’s a shortage for magic healers, actually. I'd heard about that somewhere." "There is, actually," said Julie, "Otherwise I wouldn't be allowed to work at all until I'm eighteen. I work under an apprentice program under pastor Devin, which is sort of thin because he can't do magic, but it's legal." "See, extremely rare, extremely desired," said Kenji, "Especially now that the metroplex is so messed up with violence. Look, I’m not trying to attack you. Money isn’t everything. You care about a place and you’re helping out. That’s your thing and it’s a good thing. You have options though. I’m just saying that what I’m good at doing is making money and I’m not good for much else. I can't heal people, making money and talking to people is really all I'm good for.” Julie's small frown turned into one of concern as she stared at him. “You're worth so much more than making money and talking to people,” whispered Julie, “You can do so much more. Fuzzy wants to make her dad safe and happy. I want Oli to go to school for another year, which would make me happy, but I think you’re right and I'll wait. She should make her own way and I’ll be sure to catch her if she falls short even though I haven’t been here much lately. Thank you for cooking with her by the way. I can tell that she's happier.” "Sure, no problem," said Kenji, softly. Julie stood up from her side of the log and sat down next to Kenji. His heart quickened as he began to panic. Sitting this close to Julie meant trouble because he knew that she was attracted to him. Then she folded her arms around him in a hug and he felt her body press against him. He was brought back to the days just after he’d arranged for all of Fuzzy’s pork to go into Touristville and the big party they had afterwards. How he’d been sitting in a chair in her apartment because he didn’t feel like he had a place among the Touristville orks and trolls as he was an elf. He remembered how Fuzzy had visited and then how Julie visited and he’d admitted to her about the bad things he’d done in his life. Then she'd accepted him. It'd been wonderful and he'd been defenseless before her. For his entire life, his defenses had been tuned against being hurt either through violence or manipulation. When someone came at him with good intentions he found that his defenses just weren’t developed. From someone like Krupa, who came at him with kind condescension and naiveté, yes, he could resist. There was the small problem of the echo of Saanvi’s feelings towards her sister that Kenji still felt though. However, Julie was a good person who life had been horrible towards, but kept on helping anyway despite being flawed. He could handle her occasional frustration and the small suspicions she directed towards him, but it took everything he had to say no to her when she was like this and sometimes even everything he had wasn't enough. In this way she terrified him. “What would make you happy, Kenji?” she whispered, “All of that money doesn’t just have to sit there. It can do things for you or for people you care about or maybe even a cause. I wouldn’t feel too bad if you spent it on yourself because maybe you should have some nice things. If you’re not sure what you want, maybe think about what would make you happy.” Kenji had no idea what would make him happy. Money had just been piling up for him. Edward had been the one to spend the fruits of his labor and Kenji realized that he was still following one of Edward’s rules. Well, two of them really. He was to make money and gain favors, which he saw as influence. His investment in Oli had really only been to gain influence and make money, if not from her, then from the influence he gained. The only time he’d spent money for a reason that wasn’t selfish was when Human Nation had planned to attack Fuzzy and Sasha. Their destruction had been satisfying, but it hadn’t made him happy. It had been an act of revenge. “I don’t know what would make me happy,” he admitted, “I don’t think of myself as a very happy person.” Now Fuzzy joined in the hug and he suddenly felt very small and exposed. “Well I donated some nuyen to the church soup kitchen, but maybe that’s not for you. You know there was that terrorist attack. You saw that, right?” asked Julie. Kenji snorted out a little laugh. The Grand Terrace was a five star vegetarian restaurant that catered primarily to elves. Their clientele was primarily the wealthy. “From the shore, yeah. You want me to donate to rich people?” asked Kenji, ruefully. “You know, my friend Dave taught me about restaurants,” said Fuzzy, “There are people that work there too. There are hosts and hostesses, waiters and waitresses, cooks and cleaning staff if they don’t have drones to do it for them. A lot of fancy places use people instead of drones.” “Yeah, like that,” said Julie, “Maybe it’s not someone that got hurt. Maybe someone just doesn’t have anyone anymore.” Kenji felt like he’d been stabbed and been stabbed before, so he knew the feeling. In the technical sense, he had parents, his moms and pops, but those were Edward’s parents, not his. All of moms’ hugs had been for Edward, not Kenji. In a dark thought, even all of pops' beatings had been for Edward, though Kenji was the one who had been pulled out to experience them instead of Edward. He suddenly felt like the only orphan to ever have parents. He sniffed hard and couldn’t wipe at his eyes, because his packmates were hugging him and that restricted the movement of his arms. So he just sat there on his log, able to actually feel hurt instead of numb because he was comforted and felt safe. “Maybe someone who doesn’t have anyone anymore,” whispered Julie, “We don’t have to make a big deal about it. We could do it together in secret or in the open or you could...” “Julie,” began Kenji, and his voice broke, cutting her off, “If you’re cutting onions, maybe don’t cut me too.” Julie pulled away from him as if burned and she began to stammer. “I’m…I’m really sorry,” she said, nervously, “That’s too much to ask and I didn’t mean to…” “It’s…It’s fine,” he said, “I’ll ask Sasha to check if anyone was left behind. You know, kids…If their parents got got, you know. If um…If they don’t got anyone else and no one else is helping…I mean I won’t say I will but…” “I know,” whispered Julie. “I’ll think about it. Maybe that will make me happy,” said Kenji, “I uh…I don’t…Wouldn’t want to make a big deal about it.” “We don’t have to,” said Julie, quickly, “I just thought that…” “It’s fine,” soothed Kenji, “It’s fine. Let's talk about something else. Please.” He felt a hot tear streak down his face and he rubbed his cheek into his shoulder. Fuzzy still hugged him hard. That was when he realized that it was his friends that made him happy. Maybe he could try to be a better person…For them of course. He raised his free arm towards Julie. “Got any more of those hugs?” he asked. And so he was hugged by two of his friends on a log on the beach as they looked over the Sound. There was no trash to be seen. He’d turned off his white noise generator. Puppy wanted in on the action too and put his muzzle on Fuzzy’s leg. So she pulled one arm away from Kenji to pet Puppy, and in that moment, Kenji felt irrationally jealous that Puppy was being paid attention to by Fuzzy instead of getting her full attention. In a moment of clarity, he realized that the Dog shaman was jealous of the dog because he wasn’t getting all of his packmate's attention, but Puppy was part of Fuzzy's pack. Of course he deserved some. So he knew exactly how Puppy felt. He laughed and couldn’t explain why without sounding foolish, so he didn’t explain himself as his friends looked at him. Instead he stood up, feeling much better, his need for hugs now over. “So I was thinking about the ritual to make our group,” he said, his voice animated, “And I’ve been reading up on what we could do to make it…You know, fun.” He paced like a salesman before his two friends, as if all meetings of this type took place on the beach on a bleached log. “I was thinking that we do a party every three months,” he said, “You know, just people in the magical society thing we’re making or those that want to join. But I’m definitely thinking a party.” “A magic party? You can do that?” asked Fuzzy, excitedly. “I think that the party would help sustain the magic, not that…” began Julie. “Oh come on, Julie. Don’t talk about the technical stuff. It’s a magic party!” exclaimed Fuzzy, “Kenji, what’s in a magic party?” “I was thinking presents. We bring a present for one person, each a different person each time. Then we just rotate,” he said, as he continued to move and smile, “Not something that’s going to break the bank. Just something that says, “I’m thinking of you,” you know? Like no gift cards, but something they might actually enjoy. Something from the heart.” “I like that,” said Julie, happily. “And smoking jackets,” said Kenji, “Fancy-rear end jackets so we can pretend to be all fancy when we’re really not. I’m thinking silk or velvet, but whatever color you want, really. I’ll bring the jackets. You let me know about the colors.” “Smoking jackets, really?” asked Julie, as she giggled. “Can we pay my dad to make them?” asked Fuzzy. “Sure can,” said Kenji, “And to start everything off right, I got some fancy wine. Just a bottle for the five of us…” “Five?” asked Julie. “Yeah, five: You, me, Fuzzy, Sasha and Chip,” said Kenji. “Oh no,” said Julie, seriously, “You are not giving Chip alcohol.” Kenji snorted out a laugh and shook his head. “He’s going to learn about it eventually,” said Kenji, “Better from us than from someone in Touristville with a case of beer. We introduce him right, we say it’s just for special occasions and we keep him from consuming as much alcohol as he does food. Plus if we give him the nice stuff first, we’ll absolutely ruin him for anything that doesn’t taste as good. I say that if he looks our age, which was your decision to make him look in his late teens by the way, we should treat him like it. Trust me.” “I have a really hard time trusting you all of a sudden,” said Julie, who frowned at him. “I’ve only had wine once,” said Fuzzy, “Can I have beer instead?” “We share, and if you want to do the after party thing we can sip on big blue when Chip is gone,” said Kenji, conspiratorially. “Great, sipping on your mouthwash vodka,” groaned Julie, “It’s like prison all over again.” “Don’t be like that,” said Kenji, “And hey, the tide is coming in.” He pointed out towards the Puget Sound, and sure enough the tide was bringing in new trash. “Maybe we pick some stuff up,” he said, “You know, if Mr. Peters is giving out focuses for trash I say we clean up.” Puppy barked happily as Fuzzy and Julie got to their feet. Fuzzy stretched, picked up a stick and threw it for Puppy to fetch. Julie bickered with Kenji over why it was good to pick up trash for its own sake versus getting rewarded for it. They walked back to school to drop off the trash so they could grab the newest batch coming in from the metroplex to keep their beach clean. In other words, it was a nice day. CYOA Time 1. Fuzzy wants to buy a truck for her dad. This is a sneaky narrative way of getting Rat Dad's old truck for Fuzzy and also providing him with a new truck. So this is actually buying a truck for Fuzzy because her motorcycle she can't actually haul anything for her hunts off Blake Island because she just got a hunting license from the Salish on Council Island, which is pretty prestigious. The more spent on her dad, the more is actually spent on the truck that Fuzzy gets. So the truck we buy here is actually the truck that her dad gives Fuzzy and he gets some sort of nebulous new truck. So in short, we are actually buying a truck for Fuzzy, but narratively we're buying a truck for Rat Dad and Fuzzy gets his old one with the obvious armor, bullet holes and ghoul scratches. Then Tek fixes it up for her. So it looks a bit Mad Max, or a lot Mad Max based on thread choices. Truck choices: A. Her dad gets wind of it and refuses. No truck. B. Fuzzy gets a GMC Armadillo. This is not a commuter truck. This is meant for work. It has two seats and a truck bed, but the bed is modular and can hold either two more seats (built into the bed), a workshop, or she could even sleep in the back if she could deal with the smell of what she's been hauling. It would cost 11k nuyen before upgrades and after swindling. Also ironically, the most amount of normal armor. C. Fuzzy gets a Ford Percheron. It is a huge work truck that will haul basically anything in its enormous bed, but it's slow. It's the sort of truck that would could make a redneck swimming pool in the back (a tarp and water in the bed) without cracking the axle from the enormous amount of weight. It's got two extended crew cabs and can comfortably fit six people. Like her Harley, it is probably too big for her, but whatever. Big bike, big truck, Fuzzy don't care. 15k after swindling. D. The Dodge Quixote, which is the civilian version of the Minotaur security truck which was farmed out to Dodge by Ares (my own idea). It's fast as hell, can haul a moderate amount and has four seats. You can even still pop out of the roof. The mount for the light machine gun turret isn't in the civilian model though. Boo. 20k after swindling. Min Maxing or Mad Maxing: Finally, add ons. This had to be gotten from elsewhere else, because the swindle wouldn't be realistic if they didn't look like they were poor and about to come into money. Please be aware that the more we spend on upgrades the more Mad Max her truck gets. This is pretty easy for choices. So Min Max would be armor 3 at 1k nuyen extra, moderate Max is a suncell, armor 6 and run flat tires at 6k extra or Mad Max is smart tires, mutlifuel engine, armor 10 and motherfucking ram bars at 15k extra because "Witness meeee" or "Holy poo poo that's Diego the Piper's truck, run!" if she's in Puyallup. She earns another point of notoriety to balance out the point of street cred to give her bonuses on intimidation checks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KlSuGNt8e4 I really need it to roll through suburbia at some point because that's Shadowrun as gently caress. Kids will be dropping their ice cream while looking up as the shadow of this truck rolls on by just like in the movies. Dozens of suburban kids just dropping their ice cream everywhere. So for example, if you want something big that can haul anything, but not too Mad Max then get the Percheron with moderate Mad Max for 21k of her 166k from defeating Pinchface. If she wants to go fast as gently caress and hauling a decent amount, but  Maximum Mad Max she can get the Dodge Quixote for 35k. If you just wanted a regular truck that's more minimum max, not really mad at all, get the Armadillo I guess it has extra armor.Mix and Max to your heart's content! Armadillo with full Mad Max! Quixote with min Max. Whatever. Go nuts. 2. Kenji is considering donating money to the survivors of the wait staff that were killed in the bombing of The Grand Terrace. What happened was tragic, but the wait staff and the survivors of the wait staff aren't getting the same help that the rich are getting. This would net him karma, but have no other narrative effect other than to make him happy as he'd want to do it quietly. Since he did not do donations last year, I'll allow him to get 20 karma at a price of 30k because this year's bought karma is at 1500 a pop instead of the 1000 from last year. So a small opportunity cost. So this is an opportunity for him to buy karma which we will be spending soon and holy crap he has a ton of it. Does Kenji donate anything? -- So the one roll for this encounter because Kenji failed was composure. Julie genuinely cares about him and wants him to be happy, which Kenji has to roll composure against and that roll is high. Mechanically, Fuzzy and Kenji dealing with violence and jumping in only needs a composure roll of 2 while Julie needs a 3. Kenji on the other hand has basically defense against people genuinely caring about him and his happiness. Even though he technically has parents, he very much feels like he is an orphan because those are Edward's parents, not his. Kenji only gets a 2 so Julie doesn't even need to roll etiquette. She cares about him, asks him what makes him happy and so he can consider to help another person with his money because he has no idea what to do with it other than make more money or buy guns. It's sort of the D&D problem with adventurers. What do you do when you don't want to buy that new +2 sword when your +1 sword is already pretty good? And you're in a small city where you could basically cure the poverty of many people by not upgrading from +1 to +2. Kenji has basically never thought about what to do with his money that doesn't have to do with Edward's rules, buying guns and ammo or getting revenge. This is the first time someone has really asked him what he wants to do with the money and he has no idea. But as it turns out, Julie does, and Kenji considers. -- Metanarratively, Kenji and Fuzzy Fuzzy wants to buy her dad a truck because the old one has problems. This is a sneaky way of getting Fuzzy an ancient, barrens ready truck with bullet holes and ghoul scratches, because what kind of teenager shouldn't have a lovely vehicle? Their plan is to scam a predatory car dealership by getting a low price with super high interest rates. Kenji poses as the dad and Fuzzy poses as the daughter. The truck the "Toyata Gopher" with the armor plating upgrade up to 4, run flat tires and either suncell upgrade or multifuel engine would cost either. So the dice roll will versus a 12 as they're professional scumbags and the price for the Toyota Gopher alone with be 25k. Fuzzy will be aiding with charisma - 1 for defaulting on con, but will use edge (thus starting with one less edge in campaign) to give bonus dice. That's 2 dice extra. Kenji will use disguise and Rat Dad's fake SIN of 4, but Fuzzy has a real SIN that leads to Blake Island. She'll be the primary buyer and he'll cosign. This gives an extra +2 to the roll because they'll be suspicious as Fuzzy's dad lives in Puyallup. They run the real SIN (it's real) and run the fake SIN (not real, but close, though old) and roll eight dice versus the fake sin as they check it. Kenji, having learned about SINS and running them from a certain bodyguard who totally caught him not once, but twice, makes small talk with the person running it to distract and rolls con. Charisma 8 + con 1 + first impression 2. That's 3 hits, so this subtracts 3 dice from the roll of which the dealership only gets 2 hits. So Kenji, posing as Rat Dad, is a go. So they've passed the con check and have 14 dice to resist. Kenji talks up about how this is "little Fuzzy's first car" and how "he wants to make sure that she has the best for her new schoolyear" and basically infantalizing her by preying on the dealer's misconeptions. And he just so happens to mention that she's just now learning magic at her new school. So just bullshit upon more bullshit, and magic means money, but she doesn't have much. Con v con. 6 v 4, they buy it. Now comes the difficult part, the intimidation. This is "Fuzzy's" vehicle, not her dad's. And the dealer isn't paying attention to her because her "dad" is doing the negotiation and the dealer thinks that Fuzzy is basically a prop at this point. So she rolls intimidation to cut the deal short, saying that if neither of them respect her, she's just going to leave. She has charisma 4 + intimidation 4. The dealer has the same. Fuzzy barely pulls it off with 3 v 2 dice after rerolling, she's down to 2 edge. The dealer doesn't want her to leave because people with magic, but no money will definitely be able to get money. The dealer desperately wants to milk this for all they're worth. Now comes the negotiation. Fuzzy gains the excess dice of + 2 from the con and + 1 from the intimidation along with her 4 charisma and 3 in negotiation. I roll her edge of 4 to make sixes explode for the test. She gets 6 hits, which gives 6 dice to Kenji. Kenji has charisma 8 + negotiation 4 + first impression 2 + aiding dice from Fuzzy 6 for 20 vs 14 dice. He has 1 edge left. Kenji gets 14 hits after rerolling and the dealer gets 4. This is a 50% discount. A DEEP DISCOUNT. But the dealer is convinced that they're going to make it up on predatory loans. Spoiler alert, they don't. Kenji transfers the funds as they roll away. And if they want to talk to someone about getting legally scammed, they can either talk to Fuzzy Nogway at her magic school or Diego the Piper deep in the Puyallup barrens. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 03:03
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Kenji failing composure rolls with people he likes is so  I like the idea of Kenji donating from a narrative sense. Not really sure about the character sheet implications. We should probably nail down what all he's buying with all his karma. Absolutely no idea how to approach this truck decision, but uh Ice Phisherman posted:Min Maxing or Mad Maxing is an A+ play on words.
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Mar 18, 2019 03:50
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Quixote with Mad Maximum! We need ballistic armor, runflat armored sidewall tires, a bumper straight out of Deathrace, armorchrys glass, and covered in small finger-length spikes to prevent boarding or animal attacks. Also an upgraded survival package with rad and ash filters, A/C, an engine snorkal, and water seals. Multicell fuel engine with a diesel alternative for max torque. Comes with a roll cage, external searchlights, and a bright-as-gently caress surround light bar that can project in all directions. Also an internal fuel feed so we can refuel on the go.
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Mar 18, 2019 06:51
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B - Armadillo 100%. It's both the tankiest truck in the list with its awesome armor value, and an absolute workhorse as a modular pickup truck. Some people mount HMGs to the roof for people to fire while standing in the bed - these trucks are fantastic. Between being versatile, effective, and tough as gently caress, it's just a great choice. Aside from that, I'm good with whatever upgrades the thread wants. Shadowrun is a lot rougher than our world, so even going full Mad Max would only make it look like your come from Shadowrun's version of the hood (because Seattle has literal post-apocalyptic anarchy zones as city neighborhoods). People pick up bullet holes just commuting on the highway and high fashion suits come with kevlar linings standard; she'll only get poo poo if she tries to drive through a checkpoint into a secured area with a monstrosity. Kenji spends all the way up to his karma limits helping out people who can't afford the assistance he negotiated on their behalf, and the deceased's next of kin. He's got a ton of karma saved up, but the things we have planned for him coming up are going to completely wipe him out and then some, so he'll need it. jagadaishio fucked around with this message at 07:58 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 07:55
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B, Maximum Mad Diego the broke murder-hermit doesn't have a fancy schmancy top of the line rich people truck laying around, his truck probably has bullet holes that are older than Fuzzy. So cheap, practical work truck that's been heavily Frankensteined with all sorts of post-apocalyptic survival poo poo. Kenji gives a full 30k, it's impulsive but he's never actually done this whole "altruism" thing before and maybe goes a bit overboard Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 07:59
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Maximum Mad Max Armadillo And I'd say that Kenji Donates the full 30k.
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Mar 18, 2019 09:42
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Max Mad Max Armadillo Donate the full 30k
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Mar 18, 2019 10:14
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That whole beach scene was adorable, and even though it was only rolls, the image of Kenji and Fuzzy being scam artists made me chuckle. I don't have an opinion about Fuzzy's vehicle, but I think Kenji should donate his money; he's still finding himself, so I imagine that Julie's suggestion might make more of an impression since it's something he's never done before. Crazycryodude posted:Kenji gives a full 30k, it's impulsive but he's never actually done this whole "altruism" thing before and maybe goes a bit overboard 
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Mar 18, 2019 10:19
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Ford Percheron Maximum Mad Max Something that can fit the entire gang plus puppy, and an entire herd of deer in the bed. All armored up with big rear end lights you can hold a music festival with and tires that are simultaneously run flat and morph-y cause Shadowrun. Plus she puts antlers on it. Like those fake ones people put on around Christmas but totally real. They get replaced each time Fuzzy makes a kill with a bigger rack. Big rear end doom truck filled with corpses and then out pops this tiny blonde whistling and twirling a boar spear. Always buy maximum Blasphemaster fucked around with this message at 12:17 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 18, 2019 12:14
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Doesn't Kenji still need money to find moms a place to stay outside of ACHE? Or was that handled somewhere
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Mar 18, 2019 13:56
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Xun posted:Doesn't Kenji still need money to find moms a place to stay outside of ACHE? Or was that handled somewhere Yeah, iirc, she only had lodging for the school year
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Mar 18, 2019 14:19
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Why doesn't she have a sidecar for puppy again?
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Mar 18, 2019 16:42
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It seemed like the part with the truck plan in the narrative was written backwards, or shuffled around, or something? It was a little confusing.
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Mar 18, 2019 16:58
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Ice Phisherman posted:Truck choices: Vote: Ford Percheron with Moderate Max Let's try to get something which won't immediately identify us or the crew when we go out for shenanigans? Ice Phisherman posted:Does Kenji donate anything? Vote: Yes, Kenny donates. Might as well max out that Karma spend.
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Mar 18, 2019 21:48
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Ford Percheron Maximum Mad Max Kenji donates for full karma
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Mar 18, 2019 22:31
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