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Cannon_Fodder posted:As military for Tir, it's a poor idea to put her in that position. If she fucks up or if something goes wrong, it could be terrible for her sister and for Joyce. That's uh... that's the idea. Joyce has put her/us in a position where either we end up as his thralls or as his enemies. I assume Kenji doesn't want to end up as a magic elven SS officer, so we need to prepare for conflict.
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Aug 27, 2018 22:14
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And IIRC, isn't Tairngire actually the nicer of the two Tirs? Kinda makes you wonder if maybe letting the immortal elves design your societies for you was a bad idea. Even Alamais was better, because at least he was honest about what he intended to do to you.
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Aug 27, 2018 23:08
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Cannon_Fodder posted:As military for Tir, it's a poor idea to put her in that position. If she fucks up or if something goes wrong, it could be terrible for her sister and for Joyce. That's kind of the point. It can be used as blackmail material against her parents, but it's an 'understandable' or 'excusable' target, relatively speaking, if she gets discovered. Hitting some human supremacists after that killed a bunch of elves and traumatized her sister can be swept under the rug if she found out before it can be utilized.
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Aug 27, 2018 23:20
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The Sandman posted:And IIRC, isn't Tairngire actually the nicer of the two Tirs? Yes, especially during this time when the Dwarf is in charge and most of the Immortal Elves have been politely asked to see themselves out.
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Aug 28, 2018 03:01
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Yes, especially during this time when the Dwarf is in charge and most of the Immortal Elves have been politely asked to see themselves out. And because Tir na nOg is loving batshit. Immortal elves coopted the IRA to stage a coup then, once in, outlawed the Catholic Church and started actively stamping out Irish culture in favor of prehistoric elven cultural features.
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Aug 28, 2018 04:33
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CourValant posted:Oh. Boy. You're welcome? I'm pulling a some from my friend Mai back in high school/college as well as a number of web posts I've pulled from a specific website which I won't name so I don't give it all away. What I'll say is that these cultures that apply extreme amounts of pressure can produce talented children and that this knowledge about how to apply that pressure is more common in certain ethnic groups, at least here in the US, but the children that don't measure up to these rigid family or societal measures often end up riddled with emotional and even physical problems. Even the ones who succeed end up with problems. Add on top of that the non-educational stuff like marrying outside of your race/religion/skin color/ethnic group and how often men can do this but women are not allowed to for whatever reason. I wanted to start Saanvi off at the lowest point in her life. Kenji's vision from Dog is there to spark empathy for her not just for him, but the reader. We'll get nuance later, but the broad strokes of why Saanvi feels so worthless and what she values is all right there with only one major component explicitly left out. The broad strokes are already almost all brushed and I'll be spending time painting in the nuance as Kenji and probably the rest of the group gets to know her. So I asked myself what she thought she had that she thought was of value and what little she knew of Kenji from talking to Joyce and Krupa that he valued, and she took it to the saddest, darkest place due to her feelings of worthlessness. Her money is entirely external to herself, so when I ask myself what she values about herself as a person, it's just her body. And then Kenji rejects even that. What I think is heartbreaking is that when she misunderstands Kenji asking about her address, she's relieved. And then when he tells her what he actually intends, which is to try and be a friend and do corny stuff like cook her a meal and writer her letters, which is strange for him, it not only makes her uncomfortable, but she views herself as "friendzoned" and that she views that offer of friendship as somehow inferior to a physical relationship. Someone else mentioned how much they hate that concept in the thread and I do too. Still, it exists. And Kenji tells her that he rejects every negative feeling that she feels about herself. Saanvi is the sort of person who needs a lot of love, both from others and from herself to herself. Therapy too and lots of it, but love and loyalty and a feeling of belonging goes a long way. I'll say that Kenji is in a unique position where if he really embraces what Dog is about then he can give unconditional love or at least the closest analogue that a person can give. Not that some romantic relationship will blossom out of that, but knowing there's one person on the planet who will tell you, "I love you, I respect you and I believe in you," and mean it is precious. That kind of love can be a rock that people can cling to or push themselves up with. Perfect empathy does not exist today. We understand one another imperfectly. It can exist in Shadowrun, but normally only through simsense, which are recorded experiences. Kenji experienced perfect empathy for the first time. I can't properly communicate what that feels like or what it would do to a person. I can only tell you that if you felt someone else's feelings perfectly, I imagine you would experience them all as your own. For the briefest of instants, Kenji is perfectly connected to someone else at a revealing moment. It's not a perfect replica of what actually happened because Saanvi is not a dog, but I imagine it to be a perfect replica of those emotions. For the space of a minute, her pain was his pain. Her feelings were his feelings. Her loyalty was his loyalty. Her love was his love. So while it's violent and heartbreaking, it created a moment of perfect understanding. All of this said, I don't want to write stuff that is genuinely depressing. At least not long term, but at the same time, I don't want everything to be sunshine and roses. There is enough fiction out there that's dark or edgy. Where we passively observe as characters sink deeply into depravity, dysfunction and/or chaos and revel in it. It reflects the dark mood of the world. I want to appeal to better and brighter emotions. I think that a lot of people are genuinely hungry for brightness in their lives and I'm one of those people. Where many writers look at all of this awfulness and see a protagonist's descent from bad to worse, I like pushing positivity, but in a believable way, from bad to good. So while my story is depressing at times and in some cases truly horrifying, the obstacles can be overcome, diligence and hard work are worth it, learning to love and respect yourself and others is pushed to the forefront. I'm pretty unsubtle about that last part sometimes, but I think that's okay. Media is so wrapped up in being subversive and edgy and darkly humorous that I think people need reminding of why it's important to be a positive force not only in the lives of others, but in your own life. We see heroes or even just protagonists, and it's okay for them to be flawed and it's okay for them to be good. We're past the syrupy sweet sitcoms of yesteryear like the Brady Bunch where everything can be resolved in an episode or two. That wasn't realistic. We're into media where friends and family are dysfunctional. That's where we are right now. I want to aspire to positivity, but a realistic form of positivity. And maybe that's corny, but I'm okay with that. In short, the world sucks. But the world is also awesome. This isn't a contradiction. You can push back against how much it sucks. Try your best to connect with people. It's rewarding. quote:Which to me means we don’t even give off the suspicion of wanting anything more from her than her humanity (elf-manity?). Not her money, not her sex, and certainly not her skillset. Yeah, this was the direction I wanted to take it. Kenji leaves the option open, but it's not going to effect whether he sends her letters and cooks for her. He's going to do that either way. After all, he just reflected on how he's been using people and doesn't like it. I don't imagine that he made any progress over the summer in understanding himself. He tried to do it on his own and he kept failing. It's only with interactions with others that he has a chance at understanding himself. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Aug 28, 2018 |
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Aug 28, 2018 04:40
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Ice Phisherman posted:You're welcome? I'd ruffle your hair if it was possible, you little rascal.  
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Aug 28, 2018 04:52
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CourValant posted:I'd ruffle your hair if it was possible, you little rascal. 
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Aug 28, 2018 04:57
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Fuzzy and Steve - Saturday, July 27th, 2075 - Morning - Vashon Island - Crunchtime "Your stance is too narrow," said Steve, "Keep your feet set shoulder-width apart. And your feet keep facing forwards. I want you to turn them to the side like I do." The older man turned his feet to a forty-five degree angle. Fuzzy looked down and adjusted her feet. Below her was some white tape that looked like a plus sign that stretched several feet in each cardinal direction. She looked back up at the shorter than average human man, about Sasha's height and five and a half feet tall. His head was shaved bald, but he had a well kept brown beard. His eyes were blue and his ears and nose stuck out a bit. He looked like he was in his mid-forties, but he was almost all lean muscle. He wore tight fitting grey and black shirt and gym shorts, both with the Crunchtime logo on them. Fuzzy just wore her school's grey workout clothes. "That's good," he said, "Now you don't want your feet to be planted on the ground. If you're on your heels you can be pushed back. If you're too high on your toes you'll have problems too. Try balancing on the balls of your heels and lift your heels up just a little. It's not going to look like much, but it's important." It was a little hard to hear Steve over the mechanical whizzing sounds of designer workout shoes on treadmills, the whirring noises of exercise bikes, the near silence of stair climbing machines and ellipticals. This was along with the pop hits from twenty years ago, each one familiar and blandly inoffensive. There were free weights, but no one really touched them. There were also weight machines and they saw just a little more use. Crunchtime's business model was for fifteen to thirty minute bouts of exercise for people on the go and they appealed mostly to women, though there were some men. Fuzzy had never been to a gym before and she didn't particularly care for it. She preferred the Coach Bolt's classes as they mostly took place outdoors. "All right, we're going to try moving," he said. "We're not throwing any punches?" asked Fuzzy. Steven smiled and nodded his head. "Footwork is important because it's the first part of a punch," he explained, "Your feet are where a punch comes from. So I'm going to throw a right cross. It's called a cross because my right arm is going to cross in front of my left arm. It's a pretty powerful punch. Watch what I do." Fuzzy looked down at her feet and frowned. Her trainer fell into the stance he'd showed Fuzzy, called an orthodox stance with his left foot forward and his right hook back. His back foot pivoted, he turned his torso, kept his chin down and extended his right arm. "Now when I throw a punch, all of them either need movement from my foot or require my foot to be in the right place," he explained, "Later I'll show you how to move and punch, but right now we're stationary. It's like building a house. If your foundation is no good then your house is no good. That kind of house falls down." He threw a few punches with his forward left hand and his lower body barely moved at all. "Footwork is important because your foot needs to be in the right position to throw a punch," he continued, "If you're moving wrong you'll have no power, you'll waste energy and leave yourself open. So I'm going to run you through some of the stances and we're going to get those right. I can tell you've been practicing, but you've been using tutorsofts, right?" "Right," agreed Fuzzy. "They're good, but they make you predictable," said Steve, "There are only two tutorsoft designers out there for boxing that are any good. Maybe three depending on who you talk to. Pros and even a lot of amateurs can spot someone trained by tutorsofts because they fall into the same kind of patterns: They learn the same combinations, the same kinds of movements, get the same kind of advice and these people get beaten in the ring. They're good for practice and if they weren't so widely used they'd be great, but that's the problem. Someone familiar with the program becomes easy to exploit. A keen eye can pick out that kind of training." Tutorsofts were just like they sounded. They were tutoring software that could be stored on a commlink and could teach nearly any skill save for magical ones, though the software to do that may come someday. Most skills could be practiced in a VR simulation, though some could be practiced in AR. Fuzzy had worked through her tutorsoft lessons in AR. The reason she had problems with her footwork was because her martial arts classes both had different kinds of stances and she kept slipping into them by force of habit. "And predictable people get hit," said Fuzzy. "You got it," he agreed, happily, "It's why boxing trainers aren't gone from this world. Now if you're learning how to fix a machine or learning how to drive with a tutorsoft, then that's fine. Predictable movements mean predictable results. They just don't work as well with people. Now let's try moving. The trick to moving in boxing is to never cross one leg in front of or behind the other. So if you want to move forward, you start with your front leg. If you want to move backwards, you start with your back leg." He and Fuzzy moved slowly together. She knew this part, so it went easily now that she was in the right stance. "Good. The same thing goes for moving left and right," he said, "If you want to move left we'll move the left foot first. If you want to move right, use your right foot first." Fuzzy spent the better part of an hour learning how to move, how to pivot and each in one of several different stances, orthodox style just being one of them. They faced one another at each end of the tape. It was slow going, like a dance as they moved together, backwards, forwards, left, right and then a ninety degree pivot each way. Eventually Steven decided that time for footwork was done. Over the next two hours he ran her through different kinds of ways to guard her body and head, how to keep her chin down, how to move to expose her body the least and through all sorts of different kinds of punches: Short, quick jabs, strong crosses, devastating hooks and both light and heavy uppercuts. "All right, that's pretty good," he said, "Break for water and the restroom if you need it. Come back when you're ready." Fuzzy nodded politely and got a drink. The water fountain never failed to fascinate her. Clear, clean water came on demand at a touch. At school she would keep a bottle of water on her at all times as well as a cup near where Puppy couldn't reach. It was water for just in case. It always struck her as strange that people not only took water for granted, but that in some places it was free. Well, free with admission. People would pay a lot for water that was far less clean in the barrens. She still had the Ares water bottle that she'd gotten from Sasha's gift box near the end of last year that would heat or cool water to her desired temperature. She'd scratched out the logo though. So she filled it up and didn't bother to wirelessly set the temperature of the metallic water bottle since the water from the fountain was already cool. She walked back up to Steve and nodded to him. "When's lunch?" she asked. He laughed and grinned. "I like your priorities," he said, "Whenever you want. Your friend who hired me told me to hit the place next door. It's pretty generous. They serve real food which is a treat. I haven't had real food in over a month." "No?" asked Fuzzy. Steve's grin became a little sheepish. He thought about not responding, but shrugged. "No," Steve responded, "I've got a wife and two kids. Plus it's near the end of the month. I'm not starving, but everything is soy, rice, krill and mycoprotein products. It's not too bad with spices. I boxed for a few years and did some training in a different style. I used to eat better at my old job, but I'm between jobs right now." "Where did you work?" asked Fuzzy. Steve's eyes flicked down to Fuzzy's Ares water bottle with the obviously scratched out logo. Fuzzy didn't notice though, only that his smile tightened. "A place that wasn't what I thought it was. Anyway, let's have some fun," he said, as he changed the subject, "You've been pretty patient so we can drill with the focus mitts." He picked up some gloves that were unlike boxing gloves. They weren't meant for striking, but were for being struck and they had heavy pads on the end. Fuzzy didn't push the subject. "Now boxing has a numbering system for punches," Steven explained, "Past number four it tends to break down into whatever people feel like, but I like a six number system. One is a jab, two is a right cross, three is a left hook, four is a right hook, five is a left uppercut, six is a right uppercut. If I add a B to that, I want you to hit the body. Now if I say one two combination, what do you do?" "Jab and a cross?" she asked. "Right," he agreed, "Your hands are already taped, so put on your gloves and we'll get started." Fuzzy put on her gloves and Steve checked to make sure they were on properly and that they fit. "Looks good," he said, "Now focus mitts aren't meant for punching, but I may swipe at you to make sure you're paying attention. Defense is important. I like moving my mitts forwards as you punch so you know you're hitting something. If I tell you to hold, I want you to stay put so I can check your form. I also keep the mitts close to my face, so don't break my nose or anything, okay?" Steve winked at Fuzzy to let her know he was teasing and she giggled a little. "Let's start slow," he said, "If you keep your form together we'll go faster and I'll add more punches. If you need some correcting, we'll tune it down. If you do really well, I'll teach you how to move and punch. Got it?" Fuzzy nodded seriously. Steve raised his focus mitts near his face. She fell into her stance and raised her hands. "One," he said. Kenji and Saanvi - Saturday, July 27th, 2075 - Noon - Seattle Metroplex, The Steam Room Kenji had been listening to Saanvi talk for the better part of three hours. She seemed hungry for the opportunity. Most of what she talked about was the Tir military, her friends and how different Seattle was from Portland. She mentioned her parents a few times as well, but Kenji decided not to comment so he didn't lose his temper. Apparently, Portland was incredibly clean. Even the poorest of districts were cleaner than the Seattle downtown area and any vehicles that used gasoline at all, hybrid engine or not, were strictly banned. All ground vehicles were electric. So in a city of over a million people the air quality was fantastic as their ground transport and heavy industry was heavily regulated. "It's not as regulated as it was though," she explained, "The cleanest city in the world has smokestacks now. Former cleanest city now I guess." "Why's that?" asked Kenji. "It costs a lot of nuyen," she explained, "And Tir is in a pretty bad depression right now. The media doesn't like using the D word, but it's been five years. It used to be that Tir wanted tight control on corporations, but now it's desperate to get any foreign money. A lot of soldiers are grumbling because we didn't get cost of living increases this year. I didn't mind though. I don't really spend my money on anything and my grandma has a trust fund set up for me and it's in rupees, which is Indian money. It's so my parents can't mess with me as much now that I'm out of the house. My grandma is really nice. Anyway, yeah, it's pretty bad for the soldiers since I heard that cost of living has only gone up once in five years. On top of that, Hestaby got kicked out of Mount Shasta so Cal Free is probably looking at taking back the Redding area. What a great time to be a soldier, huh?" "Hestaby?" asked Kenji. "Yep, the great dragon Hestaby got kicked out," said Saanvi, "She was a big reason why Tir was able to hold onto the Redding area even though our economy has been in the crapper. That made me sad. I heard that she's really nice. Not that I've met her or anything. Anyway, Cal Free is doing well, Tir isn't and Hestaby is gone. If we're unlucky, it'll mean war. Tir might lost more than just the Redding area too. They may take part of Tir." "Do you think you'll get shipped out?" asked Kenji. "Nah," said Saanvi, dismissively, "Nuyen is king right now and my parents are loaded. No way am I going anywhere near a front line. They won't allow it. My parents aren't nobles, but everything has flipped around in the last couple of years. A lot of the nobles aren't actually rich and a lot of the rich aren't nobles. It's causing a lot of friction because you're not supposed to be able to buy noble titles, but a lot of exceptions got handed out. A lot of the nobles that went through the old system are mad and are pushing the rich downwards and you've got rich people trying to get upwards. I think most just want the tax breaks for being a noble. You should hear Gilbrand complain. You know, about me to me. Anyway, a big fuss got kicked up and the government stopped doing it as much. I didn't do anything to earn a title, but you can't be a paladin or a political hostage without a title I guess." "So Tir is hosed up right now," said Kenji. "Yeah," admitted Saanvi, "You wouldn't know how bad it was though. The media is on lockdown in Tir and if you believe what they're selling, everything is just fine. I'm only really learning now how much bullshit there was in the news until I caught the news here and heard the rumors around the embassy. I mean I don't really watch the news, but it's always on in the embassy break room and they won't let me change the channel. They don't let me turn it to Combat Biking." Kenji raised an eyebrow. "You like blood sports?" he asked. The corners of her mouth tugged up ever so slightly and she shrugged one shoulder. "They use less than lethal rounds," she said, her tone slightly defensive, "The really nasty stuff is usually the melee weapons. Not everyone even has a gun. It's basically just capture the flag. Usually people don't die. Most of the time people just come back with more cyberware and a grudge which is pretty cool. Just don't gently caress with the goalie, keep your eyes open and learn how to tuck and roll. I saw this super neat move by one of the Red Devils' linebiker last month where the guy hung off the side of his motorcycle and used it as cover at eighty miles an hour. His bike took out all three rounds from the shotgun and that was it for the other guy because you only get three shots per play. So he got back up and whacked the guy with his mace from on top of his smoking motorcycle. He rashed out and almost got run over. It was pretty bad rear end." "I just didn't think of you as the kind of person who would be into that," explained Kenji. "I didn't used to be," she said, thoughtfully, "I'd watch it with the guys from AIT on the weekends to blow off steam. They were really into it and so I got into it too. EOD attracts...Well...A certain kind of person. I like how fast everything is and how the arena is different every time. The people who create the arenas get really creative and I like puzzles." "Puzzles with weapons," said Kenji, slowly. Saanvi shrugged and looked away. "I told you, I'm kind of weird," she admitted, "I like baking shows too even though I can't bake." "I like you anyway," Kenji teased. She looked back at him and smiled big and broad. For nearly the entire conversation save for that first smile which he was sure was forced, her emotions had been muted more often than not. A tug at the corner of the mouth here, a half-hearted giggle there, but here was a genuine smile and he could tell because he read her body language. He could see her become happy in real time and it was like the sun had just peaked out from behind the clouds. "I like you too," Saanvi said, happily, "And um...Those eyes you have?" Due to the use of Dog's powers, one of his eyes had changed colors. Normally Kenji's eyes were both brown, but right now one eye was a light blue and one was his normal brown. "Uh, yeah?" asked Kenji, quietly. "I really like them," she whispered, "Your eyes." She bit her lower lip for just an instant as she made eye contact with Kenji. His stomach did a flip and his normally nimble mind found itself emptied of any witty banter. "Uh..." he whispered, stupidly. She made big eyes at him and her lip sprang back into place now that it was no longer being bitten. His ability to engage in the conversation completely crumbled and he found himself unable to look away. "Um..." he continued, just as stupidly. This hadn't been the first time someone had made eyes at him. He'd was one of the most attractive guys at his school and since many of the corporate nobility had trophy wives or trophy husbands, their children often reaped the benefits of having at least one beautiful parent. So he was used to the attention and far more obvious flirting, but for some reason, Saanvi made Kenji's insides go all rubbery. He felt pinned under her gaze, unable to breathe. Then her smile faded to that gentle tug upwards at the corners. "I just thought I'd tell you," she said, simply. Kenji many realized seconds later that not only had he not responded, not only was his mouth open, but his pale skin had turned red and was only becoming brighter. "O...Okay," he stammered. It was all he could manage and it didn't take the powers of Dog reading her body language to know that she was pleased with his reaction. Though it did help. "Umm...You too," he said, without thinking, "I mean. I...I like your..." He struggled for the word for a full three seconds, gulped and his stupid brain autocompleted. "...Yeah," he finished, dreamily. Saanvi giggled softly and Kenji squirmed in his seat. "I like your yeah too," she teased. It took some minutes for Kenji to collect his wits and it was difficult. Like a parched flower given water, Saanvi became beautiful to him with even the smallest amount of happiness to nourish her. Small lights flickered in front of her eyes. She wore smart contacts. A few seconds passed and her smart contacts faded. "Joyce says he'll be back in thirty minutes," she said. "We should meet again," Kenji blurted out. "Okay," she said, "You can make me breakfast." "Yeah, that sounds like a good..." began Kenji, who halted, "You're teasing me." "Reminding," she countered, gently. Kenji thought about it and nodded to himself. "Consider me reminded," he said, "Next Saturday?" "Sure," she agreed. Kenji finally came to the conclusion that he'd been mulling over for the last few hours. "I want to ask you something," he said, seriously. "What is it?" she asked. Kenji puffed out his lips and sighed. "So you caught me earlier," he explained, "About that job." "The raid?" she asked. "Yeah," confirmed Kenji. "What about it?" she said. "Do you want to go?" he asked. She sat back in her booth and looked at the empty plastic shells of the drinks they'd bought. "Is this what you want me for?" she asked, contemplatively. "No!" exclaimed Kenji, emphatically. This seemed to startle her and he was glad that the white noise generator was still up. "No," he repeated, "Sorry. That's not why. No matter what I'm going to send you letters and come up on Saturday to cook for you. You can go if you want to. I know the team who'll be going. They're decent people for what they do. I trust them." "You won't be going?" she asked, and frowned slightly. "That's not what I do anymore," he said. "Anymore?" she asked. Kenji hesitated for a few beats. He was really off his game. "Yeah," he admitted, "Not anymore. I know talent and I figure you're it. I want it to be bloodless, but only because other gangs will probably wipe them out afterwards. The plan is to hit them while they're at their weakest and make them into easy targets. I want them out of Tacoma. They targeted a friend of mine." Saanvi was quiet for a long time as she thought about it. The consideration took into account what could happen, what could go wrong, what could go right, how to protect herself, what she'd need and finally her answer. "Yes," she said, "When?" "Not sure," he said, "I'll contact my friend. She'll get you kitted out since you probably can't take your paladin armor." "Probably not. You know, it's not every guy who asks if I want to kick down the door of a racist gang," said Saanvi, thoughtfully, "I just want to say that you're really sweet for asking." "You're uh...You're welcome," said Kenji, with a small chuckle, "Remember, you don't have to say yes. Stay or go, no strings attached. Breakfast in the morning no matter what." Saanvi eyed him and then she smiled slyly. Then she leaned over the table and beckoned Kenji closer. She didn't say anything. Instead she kissed warmly on the cheek and the corner of her mouth touched the corner of his mouth, which sent it tingling along with the rest of his skin where her lips touched him. Then she slowly sat back down in her seat. Kenji fumbled back into his sitting position and sent empty plastic cups tumbling. As he touched the corner of his mouth where she kissed him, she watched him as her mouth tugged up at the corners. "Well?" she said. "Yeah?" responded Kenji, distractedly. "Don't you have someone to call about crime?" she asked, "I'll erase the log." "Oh, yeah," he said, and swallowed hard, "Right." Kenji called Min Yun. It would be audio only. He didn't want her to see him blush. CYOA Time Something for the next update. Does Julie deal with her toxic racism or does she focus solely on preparation for the riot? She's in a place where she can talk openly about her feelings. I'll say that she can untangle them now. Pro: Julie is no longer a racist and deals with the last of her racist thoughts. It will cost 6 karma and she has a little over 20. Con: Less karma to prepare for the riot. Julie isn’t going to magically stop having those racist thoughts. It’s going to be a process. What she’ll be aware of is why she’s having those thoughts, why they’re bad and do a better job of not letting those biases guide her behavior. They’re not going to disappear. She’s going to become aware of them. -- Straight roll to see what Kenji does with Saanvi. First, intuition 5 + leadership 6 gets him 4 hits. She has potential beyond her job as an EOD. In fact she has a lot. Now the etiquette roll. Kenji rolls 8 charisma + 4 etiquette + 2 first impression and gets 5 hits. Saanvi rolls charisma 6 + etiquette 2 and gets 3 hits. She’s on board. Kenji doesn’t want to make this contingent on her participation. He’s going to write her letters and make her breakfast no matter what. He made it clear that if she feels like going would help her, she can go. He’ll arrange everything and she erases the comm call record. Saanvi is a special kind of crazy. This is when Saanvi gives him a warm and genuine smile. Then she begins to flirt with him and it turns out that she's pretty good at it. I roll Kenji’s composure. With only 1 hit, he fails. It’s not a roll for the normal composure where he might go crazy or cry. Kenji develops a crush.
Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Aug 17, 2019 |
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Aug 29, 2018 08:46
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Big thanks to Gun Jam for the help with editing. Just got that done. I had to let it sit because I had headaches for a bit. Feeling better now. :] As always when I do romance, please let me know if I pushed it too far. Whenever I do the romance thing I feel like I'm walking a tightrope. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 09:05 on Aug 29, 2018 |
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Aug 29, 2018 08:53
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Ice Phisherman posted:"Now boxing has a numbering system for punches," Steven explained, "Past number four it tends to break down into whatever people feel like, but I like a six number system. One is a jab, two is a right cross, three is a left hook, four is a right hook, five is a left uppercut, six is a left uppercut. Shouldn't five and six be different? Ice Phisherman posted:"I told you, I'm kind of weird," she admitted. My kind of weird. Kenji's too, evidently.  Ice Phisherman posted:
Ice Phisherman posted:"Probably not. You know, it's not every guy who asks if I want to kick down the door of a racist gang," said Saanvi, thoughtfully, "I just want to say that you're really sweet for asking." She's perfect. Ice Phisherman posted:"Well?" she said. Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time Julie is in a place of healing. One she realised she needed to go to herself. I say she gets some healing happening and work through her racism. Ice Phisherman posted:Saanvi is a special kind of crazy. I don't know if anyone here has played it, but I picture Saanvi as Glitch from the recent Battletech game. The only pilot I'd savescum to keep alive. Ice Phisherman posted:As always when I do romance, please let me know if I pushed it too far. Whenever I do the romance thing I feel like I'm walking a tightrope. I like these moments in the Blake Island story a lot. The genuine, sweet, and happy moments does a lot to weigh up for just how dark the general Shadowrun setting is and can be. And with the big nasty riot drawing closer I feel we need these moments. And just in general, the whole "people finding happiness wherever they can in a dark and awful world" thing is something I greatly enjoy, in any setting.
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Aug 29, 2018 12:11
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It's time to get Julie started on the path of dealing with her racism Also Saanvi is adorable and has, by proximity, managed to make our good good boy Kenji adorable too.
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Aug 29, 2018 12:42
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Deal with the racism Minmaxing is cool but dealing with your racial anxieties before participating in an antifascist coalition 100% counts as prep work for the riot.
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Aug 29, 2018 12:50
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Deal with that racism. She decided a long time ago which side of the ideological divide she falls on. I'm willing to be she'd rather walk the walk than feel like a hypocrite. It might even buoy her emotionally, to feel like she's improved in some way. Also, I've got to love when the dice make Kenji into the dork.
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Aug 29, 2018 13:20
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Julie deals with her racism. So adorable, A++
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Aug 29, 2018 13:26
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Deal with racism. There's no way Saanvi isn't being tracked. I hope we don't expose Min Yun.
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Aug 29, 2018 16:06
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Groetgaffel posted:Shouldn't five and six be different? Got it, thanks. quote:I like these moments in the Blake Island story a lot. The genuine, sweet, and happy moments does a lot to weigh up for just how dark the general Shadowrun setting is and can be. And with the big nasty riot drawing closer I feel we need these moments. Even in horrible, corporate dystopias people still live their lives. And I think that as book six approaches and even the third act of the fifth book, moments like these are going to be necessary to deal with what I want to write about. A pretty common catchphrase is that "nothing matters" and I disagree. Everything matters. Sometimes when life seems hopeless, you need to retreat to a good place to get your hope back. And sometimes life just unexpectedly hits you with goodness and Kenji finds a pretty girl that he develops a crush on. They're pretty cool moments and help charge up those emotional batteries before diving back into the nightmare corporate dystopia. quote:I'm glad that the scene was so well received. I really like Saanvi and I think Kenji truly shines when someone is interacting with him. As I get a feel for her character, I feel like she straddles the line between a normal person and strange, but her threshold for weird is all burnt out. Meanwhile, Kenji catches feelings and it's just the best. For five books now and one novelette we've seen a normally calm, cool and collected Kenji. He's grown a lot, but he almost always knows what to say with few exceptions. Saanvi makes his brain and tongue all stupid and I think it's just the best. And I get to pull back a bit to my romance roots. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Aug 29, 2018 |
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Aug 29, 2018 17:41
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Julie deals with her racism. When will there be a better time? And certainly it should help in dealing with the riot; might even give her an angle to use on those people who are racist more due to environment than personal choice and who don't consider their racism as core to their identity. Also it gives her a chance against the new competitor in the Kenjibowl. Not sure how much of one, but definitely more than if she's still kind of racist against elves. Not sure if a Golden Ending is actually possible with the Patel sisters situation, but I think Saanvi is firmly ahead of Krupa on whose happiness to prioritize. Joyce, meanwhile, is somewhere way down below Olisha, probably well into the "acceptable collateral damage" category.
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Aug 29, 2018 18:20
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I think I said before that it's nice to see Kenji being showed up or made to socially stumble, I didn't think the Julian scene could be topped but this is the cutest thing. I have exceeded my sugar intake for the day and need a good dose of bash the fash to stabilize.
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Aug 29, 2018 18:31
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Thanks for that one, dice. Perfect 
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Aug 29, 2018 18:35
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Ice Phisherman posted:"One," he said. Did we ever discuss how boxing relates to Jayvon’s honor culture? I get why he wants to train and how important it is for him to get ‘control’ of his body, it’s just that actual physical and physio therapy would be more efficient and effective for his objectives. Yes, I also understand that ‘warriors’ only want to train in martial disciplines. Ice Phisherman posted:"Hestaby?" asked Kenji. Even in the ACHE, Kenny would have heard about the Great Dragons, no? Ice Phisherman posted:She bit her lower lip for just an instant as she made eye contact with Kenji . . . She made big eyes at him and her lip sprang back into place now that it was no longer being bitten.  Where did this come from?! She went from EOD PBI to Priyanka Chopra? Dice?Ice Phisherman posted:"...Yeah," he finished, dreamily. Oh bother; do try to snap out of it Okamura. I want to blame this on Dog. Everytime Kenny’s ‘under the influence’, i.e., blue eyed, he reverts to being a fluffy puppy. Ice Phisherman posted:"Okay," she said, "You can make me breakfast." She means the morning after the night before, idiot. Seriously though, I wonder if either of them gets the inference here. Ice Phisherman posted:Saanvi eyed him and then she smiled slyly. Then she leaned over the table and beckoned Kenji closer. She didn't say anything. Instead she kissed warmly on the cheek and the corner of her mouth touched the corner of his mouth, which sent it tingling along with the rest of his skin where her lips touched him. Then she slowly sat back down in her seat. Right out in the open huh? Where Joyce and Gilbrand have no choice except to acknowledge this happened? I know ya’ll like this girl, and I can come around to it as well, it’s just that her actions are a little suspicious here. Kenny is easy on the eyes and its fun to steal a kiss, sure, fine, I get that. Right now though, given the current situation and circumstances? Especially since ‘Nobles don’t date, they court’? Either Saanvi is machinating here, or, she’s being an intentional, professional screw-up per her MO; either of which is dangerous for us. Ice Phisherman posted:Kenji called Min Yun. It would be audio only. He didn't want her to see him blush. Kenny, you’re a three-timing elf-floozy; an elfloozy.  Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time Vote: Julie begins untangling her racism. I mean, she better right? If she’s planning to make eyes at Kenny-boy? Ice Phisherman posted:Saanvi is a special kind of crazy. I’m on to you Mr. Romance Writer; you can’t hide her secret agenda behind some batting eyelashes, not from CV. Ice Phisherman posted:Kenji develops a crush. E-L-F-L-O-O-Z-Y. Ice Phisherman posted:As always when I do romance, please let me know if I pushed it too far. Whenever I do the romance thing I feel like I'm walking a tightrope. Scene read fine, you worry too much. Groetgaffel posted:I don't know if anyone here has played it, but I picture Saanvi as Glitch from the recent Battletech game. I found Glitch to be a little annoying, actually. I leap, I soar!!!
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Aug 29, 2018 20:45
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CourValant posted:I found Glitch to be a little annoying, actually. 
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Aug 29, 2018 21:07
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Groetgaffel posted:I'm not surprised, you are after all the resident contrarian. Oh come on, you can't tell me "I leap, I soar" doesn't get annoying after awhile. 
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Aug 29, 2018 21:15
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CourValant posted:Oh come on, you can't tell me "I leap, I soar" doesn't get annoying after awhile.
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Aug 29, 2018 21:19
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Groetgaffel posted:Truth be told, I put her in a LRM boat, and as such rarely had her use jump jets for most of the game. 
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Aug 29, 2018 21:20
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Groetgaffel posted:Truth be told, I put her in a LRM boat, and as such rarely had her use jump jets for most of the game. You're a monster, she can't truly appreciate the explosions unless they're happening directly in her face 
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Aug 29, 2018 21:40
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RabidWeasel posted:You're a monster, she can't truly appreciate the explosions unless they're happening directly in her face She was too precious for to risk losing to my bad strategic decisions. And as she was the only one of the original crew (and the first wave of new hires. And also the second wave of new hires) to make it to the end alive, I feel completely justified in this. But don't worry, she's back where she belongs now. I grinded up a quad King Crab lance.
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Aug 29, 2018 21:49
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CourValant posted:Did we ever discuss how boxing relates to Jayvon’s honor culture? I get why he wants to train and how important it is for him to get ‘control’ of his body, it’s just that actual physical and physio therapy would be more efficient and effective for his objectives. He has a martial mindset and we'll get into that more with the story I have planned for him in the novelette "Wolf Tickets" which will happen after Julie's story which is already story-boarded due to how excited I am about it. He is doing physical and physiotherapy three days a week. This is him striving to keep his martial edge as well. Those skills do deteriorate with time. I did a few hours of research into dueling culture a few months back. With dueling culture, I believe that a full on MMA fight would be looked down upon because two Southern "nobles" would be seen as unseemly while scrambling and scrabbling on the ground. MMA doesn't have centuries long tradition but boxing does. So if you have to be ready to defend your honor, you have to be familiar with blades, pistols and "pugilism". No kicks, no scrabbling on the ground, nothing like that. I dug pretty deep into dueling culture when I made Jayvon and what I can tell you about why he wants to box is that the answer is that it's almost completely arbitrary. It's whatever the culture demands. So in some cultures, they want smooth bore pistols during a duel because it "leaves it more up to chance" and the same may go for using old pan style firing mechanisms, which can easily misfire which would often be "contributed to God" or chance or fate or whatever. In other cultures, rifled barrels and reliable firing mechanisms are desired and smoothbore pistols are looked down upon. They allow the duelists to showcase their skill and less is left up to chance. The actual answer for why boxing and why not Muay Thai or Okinawan karate or Silat or wrestling is that the culture demands a style of martial arts that's barehanded for duels. So they dig through their past and don't find a lot save for boxing and wrestling, and boxing gets chosen. It's part of their history. People will talk about why this or that martial arts style is objectively better and that goes along with styles of guns too. While sometimes there are objectively better martial arts styles and sometimes definitely better guns, when it comes to the culture, these martial styles are part of their history and identity, and therefore their pride. Boxing would be seen as "less gentlemanly" than blades or swords, but far more acceptable than wrestling. However, it could have been wrestling too. It's just what people agreed upon as "appropriate". That's what I came back to over and over when I looked at different dueling cultures. People picked the familiar and then made up justifications about why it was better than the alternatives. So the answer to your question about how boxing relates to his honor culture is primarily history and a shared agreement by those who practice dueling culture. Which is to say that it's extremely arbitrary just like every other dueling culture out there. These are the accepted weapons and martial styles of his people: Pistols, sabers and boxing. Someone challenging another to a duel and then the defender chooses Muay Thai in what is essentially a revived Southern aristocracy would be an extreme social gaffe and it would either need to be retracted immediately or bring shame on the one who chose Muay Thai. Honor and identity are tightly interwoven. -- So why boxing? Boxing has an incredibly interesting history. At one point, if you were the world's heavyweight boxing champion you were legitimately considered to be the strongest person in the world by large swaths of the world population. Not just in Western cultures either, though mostly Western cultures. When Jack Johnson became the first black heavyweight boxer after challenging two different heavyweight boxers for over a decade, he got his shot and beat not only the then current white heavyweight title holder, but also the previous one who retired. So most people look back at this without context and think, "So what?" Well, the heavyweight boxing champions were considered the strongest man in the world. And denying that title to a black person helped perpetuate the maintenance of white supremacy in a big way. When Jack Johnson won the heavyweight title of the world first against the reigning champion, racist whites were stunned, but they were able to cling to the former heavyweight champion of the world as the "savior of the white race". Then when Jack Johnson beat him in a way that was humiliating, there were riots all across the United States in over two dozen major cities and a lot of people died. It wasn't some policy of incrementalism handed down by politicians. It was an immediate shock to the fragility of people who thought they were racially superiority and their ideas about that superiority were immediately put to death. People struggled, people raged, but eventually they came to understand that race had nothing to do with being the heavyweight champion of the world. Johnson was also amazingly complicated. He loved to read and play the piano. He enjoyed high living, fast cars and prostitutes. He dated multiple women at a time and all of them white in a world where whistling at a white woman or even the lie that it happened would get a black man lynched, but he flaunted it anyway. And the so called "Christian family values" voting block/screeching assholes had a lot to say about Johnson, but nothing to say about the rash of lynchings that were going on at the time. Whenever I hear a group that describes themselves as "family values" I immediately assume that they're regressive, racist, reactionary shitheads that have dug their feet deeply into the soil and had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future. Johnson was also a bit of a bastard and was used to physically abusive relationships, both giving and receiving. He also cared nothing for other black luminaries of the time who wanted incremental rights and wanted Jack Johnson to tone it down, but he gave no fucks and lived the sort of life he wanted to live. In the US, there's a reason why when I was taught about black people breaking the color barrier, it was about Jackie Robinson, who was the first black man in baseball to break into a previously all white league. He was squeaky clean and easy to point back to as someone who "did things the right way" and was "an exemplar for his time". Johnson was not. Johnson smashed through the color barrier in a way that was not approved nor easy to sanitize, so his name is far more obscure. You don't learn about him in a high school history class even though he broke the color barrier half a century earlier than Robinson. The original template for Jayvon is a Jack Johnson style of character: Talented, complicated and impossible to sanitize. If you want to learn about Jack Johnson, Daniele Bolelli did a three part history podcast on him in the style of Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History", though with an Italian accent. I'm a big fan of his. Link for those who are interested quote:Even in the ACHE, Kenny would have heard about the Great Dragons, no? Probably, but he most likely doesn't recognize the name. There are about two-dozen of them. quote:
People are more than their jobs. Despite being turned down, she still likes Kenji and she's not passive. A passive person wouldn't sneak out of their parents' home on their eighteenth birthday, get their GED and sign up for the military in order to get out. She's sort of muted, but still aggressive. Also it's funny to me when women aggressively pursue a guy and he just short circuits. A lot of dating culture is just that, culture. Earlier on, Sasha was a little miffed at Fuzzy for not arranging dates, but then realized that dating is not only strange to her, but she's still thinking like she's dating a guy even though she's gay. She assumed that Fuzzy would be "the guy" of the relationship and therefore be the aggressive party while Sasha would be the more passive one. Older women are neat because a lot of them are comfortable in their skins. They will sometimes aggressively pursue their chosen gender and a lot of men aren't prepared for that. Now give Saanvi a year and a half of near constant training and studying to be where she is through the military and it's in a fascist ethno-state. On top of that she's in the flower of her youth and in the best condition of her life. If she gets it together, she's only going to get more aggressive. quote:Battletech chat I'm super jealous. I love Battletech and Mechwarrior. I remember playing Mech Commander Gold over and over again back in the early 2000's. My graphics card can't handle it. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Aug 31, 2018 |
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Aug 29, 2018 21:55
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Ice Phisherman posted:I'm super jealous. I love Battletech and Mechwarrior. I remember playing Mech Commander Gold over and over again back in the early 2000's. My graphics card can't handle it. I guess it's way less optimised than I thought. 
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Aug 29, 2018 22:16
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Groetgaffel posted:Huh, I thought it would run on pretty much anything, it being turnbased strategy and all. That sucks dude. Yeah. This was a pretty good computer two years ago, but not great. I even have problems with X-Com 2. I mostly play older games which is cool though. There's also Mechlab which is a bare bones turn based strategy game for Mechwarrior. It's super unintuitive, but it also doubles as a campaign tracker. It's super neat.
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Aug 29, 2018 22:23
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Ice Phisherman posted:Which is to say that it's extremely arbitrary just like every other dueling culture out there. These are the accepted weapons and martial styles of his people: Pistols, sabers and boxing. I get that, thanks for the details; just wanted to get more flavor on this honor culture of his. For whatever reason I thought it was just pistols on the hill for Jayvon et al, a la Hamilton and Burr. The idea of ‘Fops’ settling their differences honorably with flintlocks at 20 paces, when otherwise they’d be ‘slap-fighting’ each other, tickles me. Ice Phisherman posted:If you want to learn about Jack Johnson, Daniele Bolelli did a three part history podcast on him in the style of Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History", though with an Italian accent. I'm a big fan of his. I think I saw a segment on him on ‘Drunk History’ as well. Ice Phisherman posted:People are more than their jobs. I get that; it’s just before, Saanvi had stated she’s more comfortable in BDU’s than heels, so I took it to mean she’s not good at expressing her desires and wants in the romantic sense. Maybe it’s just my preconceptions; I expected her to be more stumble-y and nerd-girl than sending lip biting signals and stalking Kenny like a puma. Ice Phisherman posted:Older women are neat because a lot of them are comfortable in their skins.  Ice Phisherman posted:I'm super jealous. I love Battletech and Mechwarrior. I remember playing Mech Commander Gold over and over again back in the early 2000's. My graphics card can't handle it. I have a Mac Laptop and was barely able to run it; had to turn all the graphics down. Gameplay was decent, although I likely didn’t get the full experience as I was looking at rather large pixels.
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Aug 29, 2018 22:43
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CourValant posted:I get that; it’s just before, Saanvi had stated she’s more comfortable in BDU’s than heels, so I took it to mean she’s not good at expressing her desires and wants in the romantic sense. Porque no los dos?
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Aug 29, 2018 22:49
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Ice Phisherman posted:Porque no los dos? There's no 'why not both' about it. The mental image I have of Saanvi is now more Priyanka Chopra and less Jenette Vasquez (Aliens).
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Aug 29, 2018 22:56
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Welcome to the shadows, Saanvi. Getting on the trendwagon - deal with racism, that scene is adorable, an Ice Phisherman posted:Big thanks to Gun Jam for the help with editing. ...What? Either you're talking about someone else, or we're not on the same page regarding the definition of "editing". ...Lemme see if I get you - you know she's been in a dildo duel, that she's willing to talk about it with a man she met just now, and that she proposed him for sex in one of the most blunt ways possible ("wanna my number, as a booty call?"). And you think she would be an awkward nerd girl? If she would stumble, it'll be in the opposite direction. Oh, side note - If Julie's still in denial about how she thinks about Kenji, I think this will when the other shoe drops (there's a good chance it will come up in the meeting). And I'm guessing it'll feel like a punch to the gut.
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Aug 29, 2018 23:56
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Gun Jam posted:And you think she would be an awkward nerd girl? If she would stumble, it'll be in the opposite direction. Fair point. Guess what I'm saying is I expected Saanvi to be more inline with Zula (Grace Jones - Conan the Destroyer). More 'reach out and take him' than 'making eyes and biting lips'. The nerd girl part was interpolation from her interest in puzzles and studying hard all her life; I'm not taking her bluntness about sex as her actual comfort level with intimacy, relationships, or her experience with being with members of the opposite sex in a 'date' setting.
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Aug 30, 2018 00:07
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Gun Jam posted:...What? Sorry, that was Doctor Subterfuge. I get mixed up with these Trump avatars. :/ quote:Oh, side note - If Julie's still in denial about how she thinks about Kenji, I think this will when the other shoe drops (there's a good chance it will come up in the meeting). And I'm guessing it'll feel like a punch to the gut. We're going to meet her next update too! 
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Aug 30, 2018 00:42
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Ice Phisherman posted:Sorry, that was Doctor Subterfuge. I get mixed up with these Trump avatars. :/ Glad I could help. I miss being a Stupid Newbie
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Aug 30, 2018 01:00
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Ice Phisherman posted:Sorry, that was Doctor Subterfuge. I get mixed up with these Trump avatars. :/ Oh. Y'know, I think that putting that image as default avatar is a nice move. It's like that two button decision meme, with "have trump lover for an avatar" on one and on the other "pay 5$". Wonder how many choose number two, just because of that.
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Aug 30, 2018 09:45
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Every avatar bought goes to Lowtax's spine fund.
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Aug 30, 2018 10:19
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Xarbala posted:Every avatar bought goes to Lowtax's spine fund. Lowtax is our Jayvon. Wait, lowtax is 6 letters... Jayvon is 6 letters... 
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Aug 30, 2018 16:05
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