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CourValant posted:This more than anything is causing me to despair and worry about the future. This 'thing of ours' is more fragile than anything one of us might think, and yeah, this is how a Fascist State can begin. A lot of them did! Also many who didn't get arrested were identified and their lives got ruined through doxxing. The attackers in NYC are starting to get identified by the FBI as well. To my knowledge one got arrested and after that, most likely he's going to flip on others. Charlottesville was the chance for white hate to sink or swim. They weren't able to keep a lid on their violent ideology and it was definitely a defeat for them. They haven't really recovered from Charlottesville yet, though they are trying. I follow politics pretty closely. In fact if I were healthy I'd probably be working in my district to flip it blue since my local congressman is an idiot. And I know he's an idiot because my family knows his family, but health problems keep me from campaigning like I want to. If the polls hold like they are, republicans are going to take a bath in the house at 2006/2008 levels or even worse. Democrats are furious and when they're motivated they beat republicans pretty handily. The gerrymandering that marginalizes democrats is going to backfire hard on the republicans. The only reason the senate isn't going to flip is because dems hold most of the senate seats that are up for election. If this were 2020 the dems would win the senate handily. The house is flipping blue. Also my girl Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is getting elected and she is good and cool. I don't despair. I... 
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Oct 19, 2018 07:16
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Ice Phisherman posted:Also my girl Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is getting elected and she is good and cool. I don't despair. I... Oi! You leave me my excuses to play Red Dead Redemption 2 to the exclusion of all my other real life responsibilities! I'm getting my girlfriend to name all my horses!!   Hopefully Orange County will flip blue as well, which would be a BIG deal around here. Nothing would warm my heart more though, than to see Ted Cruz lose his seat. Likely not going to happen; leave me my dreams.
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Oct 19, 2018 07:31
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Yes to both breakfast and MOM Also, uh, why would Kenji be upset that some racists died? That's what happens to people that you send shadowrunners to shoot at, killing them and burning down their clubhouse is a feature not a bug. As an ex-runner and current fixer, he of all people knows this. I guess the bad premonitions could be because one of the casualties is Gentoo or something, we don't know specifically who the bodies are, but the abstract concept of a violent racist gang member dying in a shootout is not in the slightest bit surprising or unexpected.
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Oct 19, 2018 07:46
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Crazycryodude posted:Yes to both breakfast and MOM It has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with potentially getting caught. The plan was that they steal everything not nailed down to make them weak. Another gang would sense weakness and wipe them out for good. If his runners killed two people and burned a place down then that's a problem in case he might get caught. Not a huge problem you count unless morally, but still a problem. There's a slight chance it might get followed up on. After all, why kill anyone when someone else was going to do it for you? Edit: Here we go. quote:This time, Fuzzy stayed quiet, though her mouth made a firm line. Kenji suppressed that cold feeling. Saanvi’s letters back had kept arriving and he wasn’t in jail, so there was something he was missing. He really hoped his team hadn’t gunned down gang members and burned the few left inside alive. The plan was for them to steal everything not nailed down and for another gang to sense weakness and wipe them out. If his team had killed people that may cause problems in the future, though he doubted anything would come of it. Any shadowrunner knows that modern day police work was primarily about prevention, not resolution. Prevention is cost effective. Resolution, meaning actual detective work, is expensive. It meant that police tended to lean more heavily on stopping crime before it starts as through fear and intimidation, or community outreach like Knight-Errant used to do before the community started hating them. Few criminals were caught after the fact anymore. It was one of the problems with corporate police. The bottom line was protected first and the public came second. Added in a paragraph to explain. Corporate policing is about prevention, not resolution. Resolution costs resources and time and they cost money. Prevention is way cheaper. Though there are problems with that model when crimes are happening at an intolerable rate and nothing seems to be getting resolved. There's a great post on reddit called Rule Zero that explains this more in detail: https://www.reddit.com/r/Shadowrun/comments/6bduwu/lets_talk_about_rule_zero_shadowrunners_exist/ Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 09:02 on Oct 19, 2018 |
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Oct 19, 2018 07:51
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Politics: The only reason why non-violent movements work is because people would rather have the carrot than the stick. Dr. King's marches would not have been effective if things like violent race riots, the Black Panthers, and other events/organizations hadn't been scaring people. The stick chases people to the carrot - makes people willing to compromise instead of just keep digging in their heels. This is usually the case in successful non-violent street protests and political movements. Gandhi wasn't just successful because he marched people into British clubs and starved himself; colonialists could let that happen all day. He was successful because violent Indian nationalists were active contemporaries, and he was the more palatable option. The same was true in worldwide late 1800s/early 1900s labor movements. People rioted, burned factories, and smashed equipment. So, the powers that be made concessions to the 'reasonable' ones. This is why political protest in the US has been ineffective for decades now. It's been replaced almost entirely by lobbying because people always listen to money, but they don't listen to peaceful protest unless violent protest is forcing their hand. That's just a historical reality. A peaceful protest that isn't performed as a non-violent alternative to existing violence isn't a protest; it's just a parade. Both left and right hand play an essential role in the advancement of agendas politically. Just ask Humanis.
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Oct 19, 2018 13:58
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Yes to both.
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Oct 19, 2018 13:58
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Bandwagon-ing on the Double yes. Now, regarding Saanvi, he inquires about a couple of thing: First, "you okay?" Besides verifying that all our runners are alive and in one piece, this is her first time in the shadows, and there's casualties. Need to check how's coping - sure, possible that she'll go "crime's best, my only regret is that I didn't kill more Fascists", but killing people doesn't come easily to anyone, and neither is being a criminal (wanting in is one thing ; getting it is another). Secondly, What happened there? Not calling it a failure ; A silent and deathless raid is the dream, seems like we got the probable best. But still curious about the details. (Knowing you, Ice, I'm guessing you already got the basic framework and the rolls, right?) And lastly, now that the raid's done, can we finally get Fuzzy into the loop? I know I keep harping about it, but it bugs me a bit that despite being the target of the gang, and our plan is to help her, she got all the input and agency of a gold trophy, and is basically irrelevant to the whole process.
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Oct 19, 2018 14:46
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More thoughts about this update: Alas, another barely missed opportunity for Kenji to figure out just what fascism is without looking like an idiot in front of Olisha. I do agree that keeping Fuzzy in the dark about why she wasn’t allowed to leave the islands should probably end pretty soon. And Kenji should be a little bit careful about how he asks about how the raid went. He’ll definitely want to know that everyone is okay.
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Oct 19, 2018 15:57
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Gun Jam posted:Secondly, What happened there? Not calling it a failure ; A silent and deathless raid is the dream, seems like we got the probable best. But still curious about the details. Yep! Shadowruns always come with at least one complication. There's never supposed to be a straightforward run. I rolled the entire raid from top to bottom. quote:And lastly, now that the raid's done, can we finally get Fuzzy into the loop? I know I keep harping about it, but it bugs me a bit that despite being the target of the gang, and our plan is to help her, she got all the input and agency of a gold trophy, and is basically irrelevant to the whole process. I'm 100% okay with bringing Fuzzy in on whatever the thread wants to tell her. Remember though that Fuzzy sucks at lying, so let me know what Kenji wants to tell her and what he doesn't want to tell her. So if Kenji tells her, "I arranged an illegal shadowrun which ultimately resulted in a gang being wiped out with two deaths and a burned down gang clubhouse" it may come with unforeseen consequences. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 16:57 on Oct 19, 2018 |
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Oct 19, 2018 16:49
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Nothing, so far. Kenji doesn't know what happened yet.
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Oct 19, 2018 16:56
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Nothingtoseehere posted:Nothing, so far. Kenji doesn't know what happened yet. Record scratch. I'm a dummy and assume people have the same knowledge I did for some reason. 
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Oct 19, 2018 16:58
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Kenji explains that Human Nation targeting her was the reason she was being restricted from leaving the island, but basically leaves it at that without going into more detail. He does not mention that he was involved in their operations being burned down. E: Well, this is still probably what I'd stick with after talking to Saavni, unless there are some unexpected wrinkles that didn't make the news. Dr Subterfuge fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Oct 19, 2018 |
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Oct 19, 2018 17:02
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Yes to breakfast and yes to Fuzzy Visits the MOMs Also thanks for the political talk, it's nice to see people support the extremely logical stance of opposing fascism with ideally crushing levels of force. Hopefully people won't be so quick to forget the enabling of fascists by the liberal centre this time round. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbD1XDhKr8U
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Oct 19, 2018 18:54
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Ice Phisherman posted:]This is cyberpunk. Unless you're wealthy, the cops are probably going to ignore you, beat the poo poo out of you or arrest you to meet some quota. To be fair, this is accurate to real life as well. ACAB. Also, I wanted to point out another reason for MLK's strategy of nonviolence in protesting: It wasn't to eliminate violence, just on the end of the protestors they organized. They knew full well that the State and police would use violence on them to disrupt their protests, and were banking on the fact that with cameras capturing police brutality public opinion would be swayed to the side of the civil rights movement.
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Oct 19, 2018 19:14
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HiHo ChiRho posted:To be fair, this is accurate to real life as well. ACAB. That's the other angle, yeah. Non-violent protests only work when you can provoke the state into beating you. It's a PR strategy that works, but only when its necessary conditions are fulfilled. You're just a vocal nuisance until you're getting your head split on the evening news.
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Oct 19, 2018 19:38
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CourValant posted:This is why I'm going to stick my head in the ground and play Red Read Redemption 2 until after the midterms. 
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Oct 19, 2018 19:43
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Getting your rear end beat by the state also only works when the people you're trying to convince have empathy and don't want you to get your rear end beat. So, like, peacefully protesting fascists and getting beat up by them doesn't actually stop them or their supporters, and hell it actually empowers them, because watching people get beat up is a thing they like and enjoy and the entire goal of their movement.
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Oct 19, 2018 19:44
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pumpinglemma posted:This is an entirely fair and reasonable strategy for preserving your mental health as long as on November 6th you go out and vote. (Unless you're planning to vote by mail, of course.) It's important!  Heck yeah. If only I can emerge from my home, unwashed, unkempt, grizzled like a mountain man, and go vote at that there City Hall. Alas, work does not permit me to do such things.
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Oct 19, 2018 20:11
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CourValant posted:
Re Cryo: what if the audience is not the fascists?
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Oct 20, 2018 02:02
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Crazycryodude posted:Getting your rear end beat by the state also only works when the people you're trying to convince have empathy and don't want you to get your rear end beat. So, like, peacefully protesting fascists and getting beat up by them doesn't actually stop them or their supporters, and hell it actually empowers them, because watching people get beat up is a thing they like and enjoy and the entire goal of their movement. True, but I wasn't describing tactics useful against fascists. Civil rights movement worked because the opposition was conservative/reactionary but not necessarily fascist. Also that a lot of people sitting on the fence who were watching didn't like seeing heads getting busted open on TV.
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Oct 20, 2018 02:14
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HiHo ChiRho posted:True, but I wasn't describing tactics useful against fascists. Civil rights movement worked because the opposition was conservative/reactionary but not necessarily fascist. Also that a lot of people sitting on the fence who were watching didn't like seeing heads getting busted open on TV. Don't forget though that while he was alive and organising MLK was always in the negatives wrt approval ratings, it's only the white-washing of his activism that made him into a national icon. It's literally the exact same poo poo you see with the reaction to BLM today, which is what makes it all the more infuriating when a chud goes "MLK wouldn't approve of their tactics, they're just so radical"
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Oct 20, 2018 08:03
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CourValant posted:Sounds like he just went from being one kind of 'poo poo heel' to another kind of poo poo heel. Let's agree to disagree on this one. Fascism and racism aren't going to be countered by asking those who perpetuate them to stop being mean, thank you very much.
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Oct 20, 2018 20:59
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The important thing to remember about fighting "monsters" is to take care not to become one yourself. There's "I'm hitting you because you are an active threat to myself and others, stop making me hit you" and "I'm going to kill you and your family because I disagree with your lovely opinions". It's a fine line, walk it with care.
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Oct 21, 2018 03:29
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RickVoid posted:The important thing to remember about fighting "monsters" is to take care not to become one yourself. Those are the same thing when the lovely opinion is violence against yourself and others.
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Oct 21, 2018 16:18
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Kenji – Saturday, August 3rd, 2075 – Morning – Tacoma After a short twenty minute boat ride from Blake Island to Vashon Island, Kenji called a taxi to cross from the northern to the southern part of the island while corporate teens hopped into armored sedans with complete with trained security teams. While he had to take another ferry and then a taxi from the Tacoma area, his classmates would simply fly to where they needed to go into the city to save time. It was a luxury that Kenji just couldn’t afford. To them, their time was more valuable than their money. To him, it was money that was more valuable than time, though he could definitely use more of both. So one taxi ride, a short wait and then another boat ride later, an hour had elapsed. “I think I’m going to be fixing breakfast for lunch,” Kenji texted, “Sorry.” “It’s okay,” Saanvi texted back, “When do you think you’ll be here?” That was a good question. He checked for taxis or any mass transit that would take him from the northwest end of Tacoma, specifically the old Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium where he’d been dropped off, all the way to where Saanvi lived in the downtown Seattle area. It was a full forty-three miles, much of a straight shot up interstate five. He could take the bus, but there would be a number of stops and he’d have to hop from bus to bus. Plus the last one had just left and he’d need to wait for another twenty-five minutes before the next one arrived. He checked his options for taxis, for ride sharing and even considered chartering a VTOL, though not seriously since the expense was galling. There was just so much to do today. He kept ignoring the obvious answer. It was cheap, fast and had priority lanes for almost the entire way there. The service also made him irrationally angry, because while he knew he’d save ten minutes and would barely have to wait for a taxi, Grid Guide, the automated taxi service, would barrage him with commercials the entire way as its price for cheaper, faster service. He was looking at nearly an hour of commercials that he couldn’t turn off in order to save money and more importantly, time. Traffic was heavy on the I-5 and Grid Guide would save him an estimated half an hour. “gently caress my life,” he muttered. “I’ll be there in about an hour,” he finally texted, “I need to make a quick stop by the grocery store.” "Okay," see you then," she replied. Many Grid Guide taxis were within walking distance as he was near the zoo’s parking lot. He simply walked up to one, pinged it within his commlink, entered his destination and since it was so far he was given a minor fee instead of it being free. Though with Grid Guide, no one truly rides for free. As he opened the door, he was assaulted with his first of what promised to be many commercials. The ominous music of a political attack ad piped through the taxi’s speakers as Kenji buckled his seatbelt and entered in his destination, for there was no driver. Grid Guide was completely automated. The attack ad's music grew discordant and it added the sound of a heartbeat. The car started and began to move as it played. “Candidate Casey Connors says he cares about you, but does he really?” asked a woman in a low, concerned voice, “He says he’s for the Ork Underground being registered as a part of the city, but will that make you and your children safer? Should criminals really be given the right to vote?” The sound of the heartbeat grew faster and faster without a hint of subtlety and the woman’s voice grew in concern and intensity. “Do they deserve your hard earned tax dollars? Have they earned the right to be a part of this city?” she asked, “Connors thinks that criminals should have a say in how your city is run. We think differently.” The ominous music suddenly lifted and was replaced by a patriotic melody that was heavy on the trumpets and drums. The sound of the heartbeat which had become pounding quickly slowed and then faded into the background. “Governor Kenneth Brackhaven is a tried and true patriot. He knows how to keep Seattle safe - How to keep your children safe,” said the woman, whose voice became soothing, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for our children. Kenneth Brackhaven for a Better Seattle. Remember to vote on November third, your children need you.” An authoritarian sounding voice resonated through the taxi’s speakers. “My name is Kenneth Brackhaven and I approve this message.” Kenji felt angry and gross and it hadn’t even been thirty seconds. Then with the barest of a delay, a man began to talk, and he sounded like he was the everyest everyman ever to talk, marked only by his passion. It was a passion for pizza. “Do you want pizza? Do you want it right now?” asked the man, “Well we got it and we’ll deliver it to you right now! We’re Pizza Right Now and we’ll make pizza for you right now! Some people think that pizza should be covered in fancy toppings on fancy bread from a fancy restaurant with a fancy name. We here at Pizza Right Now believe that the best pizza in the world is the kind that’s in your hand right now! Pizza Right Now! Place an order right now!” Kenji’s stomach grumbled and he sighed. He’d tried to tune out the commercials and text Saanvi, but it took four times as much effort to send a single text to her because every commercial had been designed to grab his attention and stay memorable among the hundreds of other commercials trying to do the exact same thing. Each commercial tried to convince him that he desperately needed what they were selling. The main motivator tended to be the fear of not having it and it seemed like every other commercial contained a police siren, the sound of screeching tires or the sound of a car crash to gather his attention anew, though occasionally he'd hear the sound of a baby's cry just to mix it up. It was mentally and emotionally exhausting for Kenji - A hell march through consumerism, with it only being interrupted by the concurrent hell march through political ads. He couldn’t pay to turn it off and the taxi would eventually slow to a stop if he tried to plug his ears in any way. Each political ad one trying to convince him that their personal truth was correct and that their opponent was some sort of monster. Kenji couldn’t even vote yet, nor did he want to. Kenji grit his teeth and focused on texting Saanvi. It was all he could do to keep his mood from being completely ruined. Kenji and Saanvi – Saturday, August 3rd, 2075 – Late morning – Downtown Seattle Kenji promised himself he’d take at least ten minutes to decompress after the taxi ride. He figured that one of the fancier grocery stores would have high quality ingredients and so he splurged on real food at a specialty store that cost five times as much as soy, reconstituted krill or mycoprotein foods. The music that piped through was soothing to the senses, pleasant and bland, like some sort of sugary audio gruel. The smell of strawberries and fresh cookies filled the store which only made him even hungrier. While the cookies were real, when he passed by the strawberries in the produce section the smell didn't become stronger at all and he found this strange. After all, he'd rarely been to grocery stores while growing up. As he shopped he found the source of the cookie smell and it was a smiling young man stood behind a glass counter where he was baking cookies. The baking cookies were on display behind heatproof glass and a harried looking woman had to pull her child away from pressing his nose against it, his gaze only inches away from a baking cookie. As she continued to walk, the child tried to drag the woman like an anchor back towards the cookies as she tried to quickly pass by. “Mom, I want a cookie,” said the child. “It’s too early,” she said, “Maybe next time.” "But mooooom," whined the child. "Not today," she said, tiredly. The child ran in front of his mother, took a big breath and held it so quickly Kenji knew that he'd done it before. She sighed heavily and let him know that it wasn't going to work this time. Undeterred, the child continued to hold his breath and his face began to turn red. Kenji quickly bought a cookie and left before he witnessed the child further emotionally blackmail his mother with the threat of passing out, though the child's face had turned an angry purple by the time he left. Nuyen already wirelessly debited from his credstick for the cookie, he ate one of them to sate his sweet tooth and quell the gnawing in his belly. Being hungry often put him in a foul mood because it reminded him of being poor. That wasn’t how he wanted to arrive at Saanvi’s place and he figured a sweet snack would help blunt his hunger and balm his mood after the ride. Knowing nothing about how to evaluate produce, he simply bought extra, picked up a small wedge of cheese, some butter, some eggs and some orange juice to drink. There were no cash registers, though there were baggers. His shopping cart logged everything he bought and when he walked out of the store he only had to wait long enough for someone to bag his food. The rain dripped and drizzled on his head and he decided to just deal with it as Saanvi’s place. “I’m about a block away,” Kenji texted. Her response came back almost immediately. “I’ll be outside,” she responded. Kenji followed foot traffic as he made his way to her place. He saw it far before he arrived. This was a nice part of town, south of interstate ninety at the edge of Coleman Park. In fact as he neared it became apparent that the five story apartment building was inside of a green space as he walked over an old, stone bridge over a small stream that was flanked by all sides by trees and bushes that only grew thicker as he entered the park. When he took a sharp turn through a forested path, there she was on the trail. She held a simple, black umbrella in one hand. Her hair was down to her shoulders, straight and black instead of up in her braid. She wore off white top with thin straps which set off her brown skin, a pair of tight, grey capri pants that hugged her curves and black tennis shoes. Kenji’s heart skipped a beat as he noticed her and then again when she noticed him some seconds later, which made him briefly freeze in his tracks. She waved and then he waved, the movement helped him get his feet going again. “Hey Kenji,” she said. “Uh, hey, Saanvi,” he said back. There was an awkward silence where he didn’t know what to say. Then he noticed her smile. She didn’t smile in the way others did. Her mouth only turned up a little at the corners. “You remembered your hair,” she said, “Hair magic, right?” Kenji ran his hand through his now curly, black hair. The ringlets were loose and over the week he’d end shaved his head and regrown his hair over and over again until he’d gotten the style of curls that he hated the least. Belatedly he remembered that he probably needed a haircut and mentally kicked himself. “Yeah, hair magic,” he repeated. Her mouth twitched up just a little higher at the corners. “It looks good,” she said, “I like it. You didn’t have to do that though.” Relief washed through Kenji and he ran his fingers through his hair. Then his nervousness spiked again when she closed the distance to shelter him from the drizzling rain with her umbrella. Tall for a woman, she was still shorter than him by a few inches so he had to look down, and now that he was close he caught a glimpse of a generous amount of cleavage. Her high tech armor that she wore at the coffee shop had hugged her form in its relaxed clothing-like state, but it had concealed the generous curves she now had on display. Saanvi cleared her throat and lifted two fingers, which drew Kenji’s attention upwards. She pointed at her eyes. “I’m up here, Kenji,” she said, her voice deadpan. Kenji met her eyes and gulped. “Right, sorry,” he said, ashamedly. Then she slowly traced her fingers down her skin which drew his attention back down for a brief instant. “I’m down here too if you want a peek,” she said, with the barest hint of teasing. Kenji’s head bobbed back down as if he’d been a puppet with its strings pulled, but then she pulled her fingers back up, again he focused on her eyes, unsure of what to do. “Mostly up here though,” she said, her tone deadpan again, “Remember that.” “Uh…I will,” he said, stupidly. Kenji was suddenly aware that he was being messed with. The smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth only tugged at one this time and he wondered if that was smirk. She confirmed it when she giggled slightly, two small, throaty notes that bubbled up from her throat. “Curly hair. Woof. You’re fun to play with, Puppers,” she said, “And you sent me those letters which was really sweet. I read them a lot. They were the best part of my day. Thank you.” “You’re wel…” he began. The thought was stopped as her hand moved again. She ran her fingers through his damp hair as they both stood together under an umbrella in the rain. Her touch felt electric and he was sure that he was blushing now, but unsure about just how much. Again those two throaty giggles came again as she pulled her hand away. “Welcome,” he said, and cleared his throat, “I read yours a lot too. Anyway…Uh…I decided to hand deliver today’s letter.” Saanvi’s eyebrows climbed half an inch in surprise. “But you’re here,” she said. “Yeah,” said Kenji, “But I said every day. I meant it.” Saanvi made a small note of pleasure in her throat. Kenji dug into his pocket and pulled out a letter. To his horror, it had been deformed. He hadn’t thought about that at all and had just crammed it into his pocket before leaving his cabin. “I…Sorry, it’s a mess. I’ll rewrite it,” he began. As Kenji tried to return the letter to his pocket, Saanvi suddenly fumbled for the letter in an undignified manner which bonked Kenji in the head with the umbrella before he could put it away. Then when she grabbed the letter, it tore down the side and she froze. “drat,” she said, her voice suddenly animated by shame, face contorted into a frown “Your letter. I tore it. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…” Kenji looked at the letter. It wasn’t even torn that badly. On a hunch, he checked her body language with his kinesics power and sure enough, he could see anxiety, shame and self-loathing threatening to overwhelm her. His vision had been a week ago and the effects of understanding her hadn't diminished at all. He’d been practicing his power with Oli for the better part of a week with her permission, though he only used it when she threatened to shut down. While that was Oli’s go to for dealing with stress, he had a strong sense that if he didn’t stop Saanvi now then she would spiral into endless self-criticism. “We’ll get some tape,” he said, “Do you have tape at your place?” She wouldn’t even meet his eyes. “Just duct tape,” she muttered. “And it holds the world together,” he soothed, “What’s one letter compared to the world, right?” She sighed and nodded. “I guess so,” she said, tonelessly. Kenji stroked his chin, switched his groceries from one hand to the other and held her hand. He figured that if she could touch his hair, her hand should be fine. “I’m going to cover a few of my next ones in duct tape now,” he mused, “Just so this one won’t stand out so much.” The storm of anxiety, shame and self-loathing that quietly raged began to abate. He could tell that she was quietly flattered and guessed that he could see her blush if her skin were any lighter. Now that the minor crisis was over he relaxed his power, but he did have something to talk to her about. The Human Nation clubhouse had burned down on Thursday and there were two dead. That was something he definitely needed to know about, but he’d have to approach it carefully. “So not everything makes it into letters,” he said, his tone significant, “How was your week?” Saanvi’s understated smile returned and she squeezed his hand. “Well most of it was dull, but there were some kick-rear end moments. Want to go on a walk?” she asked, “I like walks in the rain.” There was something else to her voice, but Kenji couldn’t put his finger on what. Instead of asking he held up the bag of groceries and she frowned at it. “Anything that will go bad?” she asked. “Probably not,” said Kenji, “Let’s just not take an hour, okay?” She nodded and they walked away from the apartment building and into the park. Kenji and Saanvi – Saturday, August 3rd, 2075 – Late morning – Downtown Seattle Kenji was made aware of another reason why he liked Saanvi as they walked together in the rain. Yes, the park was full of well to do people. Yes, it was a fancy green space in the middle of the concrete and steel jungle that was the Seattle metroplex. Yes, Saanvi was from a rich family, but she had rough edges and he liked that. So when she asked if he had anything to drink, he just said orange juice. Not a small bottle either, but a quart of the stuff in a carton. “No cups?” she asked. “Nope,” said Kenji, “I didn’t expect a walk.” “Do you mind if I…” she began. She pointed to the carton, which was in her hand now. Kenji laughed as he got the message. “As long as you don’t backwash,” he joked. "You don't think it's trashy?" she asked, hesitantly. "Where I come from this is normal," he said, "You have to do some real next level stuff to be trashy in the ACHE. I'll drink with you. I'm a little thirsty too." “Thanks,” she said, with the barest smile. She popped off the top and drank from the carton as a jogger in expensive workout gear passed by and silently judged them. When Saanvi was done, she passed it to him and he had a drink too. Sharing like this reminded him of sitting on Clever’s couch and passing around whatever there was to drink on the lean days when only one of his crew or he himself could afford a drink. Those were usually the times before a delve when he was broke. “Glad to see that you can hang,” Kenji joked. “Yeah?” she asked. “Yeah,” he agreed, “Reminds me of home. Sharing drinks was just what people did when there wasn’t enough to go around, or at least the cool people shared.” “I guess that made you all right,” she said. "It was be all right or be hungry," said Kenji, wistfully, " You share that full rice bowl one day so someone shares with you when yours is empty. That's just how it was." Saanvi watched him silently for a few seconds before she nodded to him, tipped back the carton and took another drink. “I'll remember that," she said, quietly, "Anyway, I think we’re far enough away now.” She pointed to her commlink and then Kenji’s. Together they turned them off and stuck them deep in the bag of groceries. Kenji turned on his white noise generator and they began to talk. “So how’d it go?” asked Kenji. “It was awesome,” said Saanvi, her voice animated again, but this time with quiet excitement, “I shot a guy in the neck who was shooting at Gentoo and I shot another guy who had a knife. He fell on it and really hosed himself up. I’d never shot anyone before then and I thought I might freeze, but I didn’t. It was the biggest rush of my life.” “All right, all right,” said Kenji, “Hold up, let’s start from the beginning. What happened?” She turned to him and a big smile lit up her face, which made his stomach flip and his body squirm. Saanvi began to tell her tale as they walked. -- So Saanvi has an idea of Kenji’s reputation now that she’s been on a shadowrun and talked to his team. I roll Kenji’s charisma 8 + etiquette 4 + street cred 4 – those darn patels 3. And he gets a whopping 1 on the etiquette roll. Saanvi gets a 5 on charisma 6 + etiquette 2 and crits. She teases Kenji for a while and leads him around by the nose like a doofus for a bit. Thanks dice.  However, this eventually ends. Saanvi is clumsy. Not in a particularly cute way either. She’s good with her hands, but only when she concentrates. She is forever knocking into things when she’s not paying attention. She accidentally hits Kenji with the top of her umbrella and freaks out as she rips his letter. Again, her parents expected perfection from her all of the time and anything less than perfect earned her some sort of abuse, so this is a stress reaction. I roll etiquette again. On the same dice roll, Kenji gets 7 and Saanvi gets 5. Saanvi is rolling high, but Kenji rolls higher. He’s able to calm her down. He doesn’t expect her to be perfect and helps her feel better. He’s had practice at reassuring Oli for the last week so he has an idea of what to do. However, unlike Oli, who shuts down, Saanvi seems the sort of person to spiral into endless self-criticism for messing up in even the smallest way, which is strange for someone who wants to rebel. Even in her rebellion, she tells herself that she has to be perfect. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Oct 25, 2018 |
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Oct 22, 2018 00:21
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Oh. Mah. Gawd. I love these two
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Oct 22, 2018 01:02
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That was a very nice scene, is Seattle run by a governor or mayor, in the poli ad it said he was running for governor. A What a tease at the end I was excited the whole update to hear about the run. Bravo.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:13
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Toughy posted:That was a very nice scene, is Seattle run by a governor or mayor, in the poli ad it said he was running for governor. The governor is the mayor since Seattle is only the metroplex. Imagine a city that's its own state. I'm not sure what to call that position, personally. quote:What a tease at the end I was excited the whole update to hear about the run. Bravo. I'm horrible, I know. Also I'm drawing from about 6500 words for the writeup. Most of this was actually legwork which we'll hear about later as Saanvi wasn't involved since it's narratively important. I want to try telling the story out of order and from multiple points of view with unreliable narrators. I'm feeling like flexing my creative muscles again with a new exercise which I hope will be interesting. I did a full simulation front to back of the run along with ideas mixed in.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:19
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That scene was very cute. But I could hear all of those adverts in my head throughout, wheels screeching and babies crying and all. He should've received a bigger penalty in his social checks from having to put up with that.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:27
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Chatrapati posted:That scene was very cute. In retrospect, yes. However, I'm not sure how much worse Kenji could do than Saanvi critically succeeding over him and making him feel like a doofus. Might add something in about him being able to relax at some point into the text.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:30
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Hexenritter posted:Oh. Mah. Gawd. I love these two Not an emptyquote
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Oct 22, 2018 01:33
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Ice Phisherman posted:In retrospect, yes. However, I'm not sure how much worse Kenji could do than Saanvi critically succeeding over him and making him feel like a doofus. Might add something in about him being able to relax at some point into the text. I was half-joking, though if you want to go back and change things so that Kenji acts more flustered in front of his crush, be my guest. 
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Oct 22, 2018 01:40
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Well, on the one hand Saanvi definitely killed those guys and doesn't seem to be broken up about it. On the other hand those guys were Nazis and by definition had it coming. As long as it still looks more like opportunistic gang violence than a targeted hit, I'd put this down in the win column. That said it would be hilarious if the governor's son or brother or something turned out to be one of the corpses.
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Oct 22, 2018 01:58
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They're Nazis in a city where one of the candidates for the governorship just dropped the 14 Words. Its better to smash down the street support for the Nazis where we can and hope that can eventually contribute to political gains.
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Oct 22, 2018 02:12
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mcclay posted:They're Nazis in a city where one of the candidates for the governorship just dropped the 14 Words. Its better to smash down the street support for the Nazis where we can and hope that can eventually contribute to political gains. I was hoping someone would notice that.
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Oct 22, 2018 02:22
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The scenes with Saanvi are adorable butmcclay posted:They're Nazis in a city where one of the candidates for the governorship just dropped the 14 Words. Its better to smash down the street support for the Nazis where we can and hope that can eventually contribute to political gains. Ice Phisherman posted:I was hoping someone would notice that. gently caress Kenneth Brackhaven with a rusty spoon, and gently caress the human supremacists
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Oct 22, 2018 02:44
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Never not punch* nazis. *or shoot
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Oct 22, 2018 02:45
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That was incredibly adorable and I love that now that Kenji is moving into an actual relationship direction, the dice made him a total dork. It's very fitting.
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Oct 22, 2018 03:12
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Ice Phisherman posted:I was hoping someone would notice that. I kinda figured we all did at this point :\
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Oct 22, 2018 03:22
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Hoo boy endlessly clumsy when not concentrating is like the last thing you want to be when filling the role of fancy body guard with a psycho teacher. Which I'm sure is quite the point. Smitten Kenji is adorable. Excited to hear the details of the run. Still half convinced that Joyce knows everything.
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Oct 22, 2018 03:42
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