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Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Had a nice night with my friend and his family. I'm feeling good and ready to go. Let's take a look at the votes.

Fuzzy: It looks like Fuzzy has stuff to get off her chest. She's going to go with the awful and the good. I feel like if she's the one to bring it up she has the most to get off her chest.

Julie: She's going to blurt out her attraction to Marco and everyone is going to already know. She's got terrible self esteem though. She's going to admit something afterwards on the second pass.

Sasha: It looks like she's going to talk about the LeBlanc method, her father handing off the file on her family to her, her inability to make sense of anything and her awkward connection to Christina.

Kenji: It looks like Kenji is going to try to shock people, but also keep it light.

We may do multiple passes. Normally when people start sharing like this they keep sharing.

Writing now.

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CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

Had a nice night with my friend and his family. I'm feeling good and ready to go. Let's take a look at the votes.

Glad you had a good night!


Wait a sec, I just realized something; this is a High School Halloween Slumber Party without adult supervision??!

How are we just playing truth and leaving out the dare? And yes, we can still keep it G rated.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Kenji, Fuzzy, Julie and Sasha - Wednesday October 31st - Evening - Blake Island, Sasha's Cabin

"Hey Sasha, do you have anything to mix this stuff with?" asked Kenji.

He swished his open bottle of mouthwash that contained the alcohol he'd brought.

"Somehow I'm not sure if I'm really comfortable with us drinking, Kenji," said Sasha.

"I disagree. Tonight is a good time to get stuff off our chests. A little bit of this stuff makes for great social lubricant. Not enough to get smashed because we're keeping a low profile, but one mixed drink to sip on isn't going to kill us," he said.

Sasha took a good, hard look at Kenji's aura. She wasn't fully sure if what she was reading was real anymore since she knew what lay underneath but she tried anyway. If he was hiding anything or trying to misdirect she wasn't seeing it.

"C'mon Sasha, don't you want to celebrate?" asked Julie.

Julie looked interested in the alcohol in a way Sasha wasn't fully comfortable with. She looked to Fuzzy in her biker leathers. The new leather creaked when she shrugged.

"I'll try it once," she said. "I've never drank before."

Sasha pondered and in the end she decided that tonight was a night for keeping a low profile, sure, but it was also a night for breaking the rules it seemed.

"There are cups in the cabinet and juice below. Just one and not too strong, okay?" said Julie.

She said it quickly before she could change her mind. Kenji moved his feet from the second lawn chair he used it to prop his feet up with and then rose from the chair he was sitting in. He went to the cabinet, pulled a few bottles of juice with expensive sounding names and a few fancy glass cups from their place in the pantry and mini fridge and placed them on the coffee table. She accessed her commlink and began to change the cabin's lighting and trideo and screen to make the ambiance of the cabin more pleasant. Sasha turned on the trideo but the slasher film was off now and so it was just in standby mode with multicolored bubbles rising from below and then up and out of sight as a screen saver. The trideo, a sort of 3D television was basically a just water filled tank though it came with some extra features. She turned on a favorite standby of hers and that tank suddenly mimicked a crackling outdoor fire. It was too high off the ground to be a convincing fireplace, but a campfire was more believable when she dimmed the lights. Just underneath hot air started to blow to warm the cabin. Trideos definitely didn't come standard with AC, but she did come from money after all.

"So I notice that you have wine glasses in there," said Kenji.

Sasha made a face.

"They were presents from mom last year. It was a not subtle hint that I should entertain more people at my cabin. I got rid of the wine but kept the glasses. It didn't seem right to toss a Christmas present though," said Sasha.

"Yeah, I noticed they were dusty," said Kenji. "Okay Sasha, I'm pouring. Say when."

"You don't backwash, do you?" asked Sasha, dubiously.

"Nope."

"Okay then. Start pouring. Slowly please."

Kenji began to pour. It was just under two shots before she called it.

"When," she said.

Fuzzy looked to Sasha and she caught her unasked question.

"It's what you say when you want someone to stop pouring for you," said Sasha.

"Okay, but I don't get it," said Fuzzy.

"Neither do I," said Sasha, thoughtfully, "You just do it. Not everything makes sense."

Fuzzy let out a small sigh while Kenji poured the same amount for Julie.

"How about some more?" asked Julie, hopefully.

"Not unless Sasha says it's good. I'm a guest in her place," said Kenji. "One of the things I learned from Clever, that's my cousin by the by, is that if you're in the house of someone you respect you show respect. You live longer that way."

Sasha smiled a little at the respect she was shown despite herself. She wasn't used to feeling respected.

"Yeah, okay, I get respect," said Julie without any more fuss.

Respect was one of Julie's watchwords. People did indeed tend to live longer that way or at least not get beat down. Prison taught her that.

"Just a little," said Fuzzy.

Kenji poured slowly and Fuzzy nodded at half the amount the other two girls had. Sasha's fancy assortments of juice was poured on top to ensure a good mix. Sasha lifted her glass.

"To a good night," she said.

Julie and Kenji lifted their glasses. Fuzzy lifted hers belatedly once she saw what everyone else was doing. Julie and Kenji repeated it and again Fuzzy, belatedly said it after. They clinked glasses which Fuzzy could participate in since Sasha knocked her glass lightly first and everyone else followed in suit. Then they all had a swallow and the heavy taste of pear cloaked the taste of alcohol. The ritual didn't make sense to Fuzzy, but she'd ask Sasha about it later in private.

"So wait, is this just truth without the dare?" asked Julie.

"Kenji would just perv out on us," said Sasha, dismissively.

"I'll cop to that, but only a little bit. Despite myself I know two of you are dating and Julie isn't interested in me," said Kenji.

"Still not getting it," said Fuzzy.

"Truth or dare is a game people play when they drink. They chose either to tell the truth or to do a dare if someone asks them, but you don't get to hear what the truth or the dare is beforehand and the person asking gets to choose. Sometimes you reveal stuff about yourself if it's the truth, sometimes you do something silly on a dare, but boys usually use it as a time to try and get a girl's clothes off," explained Sasha.

All the girls gave Kenji varying levels of stink eye as he dragged his chairs to the other side of the coffee table to laze about.

"Wow. A lot of that getting thrown my way. Don't let me stop you if you're in the mood to strip, but I'll remind you that Sasha brought it up, not me," said Kenji, defensively. "Anyway, who's going to start?"

They all looked around at one another. Sasha shrugged.

"All right," said Sasha, "Let me think."

She sipped her drink to buy time and consider. She decided against starting with LeBlanc because that would end all of this before it even began.

"I um...I'm not used to having friends. Like I said I'm not that popular. My family is actually what you might call new blood. We didn't start rich. Some of the big corporations are half a century old and so a lot of the students here are third generation wealthy. Some are even older, but that's before the corporations got really big. My dad didn't start at the bottom, but he just used to be a normal cop. Not a beat cop, but he was just a detective when he started. I was little back then, but he kept climbing and climbing. He got his big break when Knight-Errant took over the Seattle contract and they needed an assistant chief for Seattle's Renton district. Then I awakened and dad made the jump from assistant chief to deputy chief and now he runs one of Seattle's thirty precincts. You know, one for each million people in Seattle? Anyway, it was a huge promotion and they must have been wanting to do it anyway, because normally something like that would only get you a small promotion. Like it was ceremonial or something," said Sasha. "Anyway, everyone knows that my dad just used to be a normal guy. I was raised differently than almost everyone here and my dad was constantly climbing the social ladder so it was hard to make friends. People either saw me as someone to suck up to to get close to dad or someone to mess with to help bring him down. You know it's funny, I actually used to be friends with Christina and..."

"Wait, what?" asked Julie, suddenly. "You were friends with that bitch?"

Sasha looked away and blushed.

"Yeah um...She used to be nicer and I was...Meaner. I mean really mean. I'm not proud of who I used to be or how I used to act," she admitted. "We were close for a good part of last year but I always felt like she wanted something from me. I mean we were from opposing corporations, but we're both from cop families so we hit it off despite all of that. I always felt like she wanted something from me though and eventually I told her I didn't want to be friends with her anymore even though I didn't get along with many other people. She took it really hard. Sometimes I think if I'd have been a better friend you guys would've been better off. Sorry..."

The girls were all sitting together so Julie turned her head to frown deeply at Sasha. Kenji stepped in to play peacemaker.

"Sasha, you didn't make her send those files. She's her own person. Besides, the secret is better out than held over our heads," said Kenji.

"What? Why?" said Julie, indignantly.

"Would you rather have it out or would you rather have someone hanging it over your head as blackmail to get you to do things?" asked Kenji.

Julie sighed miserably.

"Neither..." she whispered.

"It was all going to come out anyway. It was just a matter of time. At least someone didn't try to make you dance before they did it," said Kenji.

"What changed?' asked Fuzzy.

She looked to Sasha. Sasha stopped feeling so glum and thought for a while.

"You mean about me being mean?" asked Sasha.

"Yeah. You're not mean now. I wouldn't date you if you were mean, but you're not. So what changed?" asked Fuzzy.

Sasha puffed her cheeks and blew out a breath as she thought about how to word her constant assensing without outing herself as being unable to stop. After all, assensing without permission was looked upon as rude at best but as something of a rare disability at worst.

"I'm not great at a lot, but when I awakened I was really good at assensing and I've only gotten better at it. It took me a long time, but I saw how awful the people who surrounded me were. I realized I was being awful too and that it just wasn't the people around me. It's hard to assense myself, but when I looked inwards I didn't like what I saw but I didn't know what to do about it. It was only really this year that I decided to be better," she said, and then winked at Fuzzy. "Plus I met this girl who likes me for me, and not family's money or who I'm related to. I can tell that she's a wonderful person on the inside and I wanted to be a little more like her. She's pretty special and she makes me want to be a better person."

Fuzzy blushed violently and felt both happy and deeply embarrassed. That only increased when Sasha lifted her chin to kiss her and that blush touched both of her ears. Julie looked away and Kenji privately had his thoughts. Sasha was so happy that Kenji's emotions didn't ruin her mood.

"See, I thought that was going to go to a dark place, but there you go lightening the mood," said Kenji. "That's what I'm talking about."

He'd put down the mouthwash bottle and was drinking his mixed drink. Despite only being fifteen as an experienced drinker he knew it was either time to slow down or commit to getting trashed. The second option wasn't really an option both tonight and around these three. Especially since they were sharing secrets.

"I like Marco," blurted Julie.

"No surprise there," said Kenji.

"Yep," said Sasha.

"Mhm," said Fuzzy.

Julie laid her head back heavily against the couch an groaned. The plastic cat mask, currently on top of her head, hit the couch, rode up and mussed her hair. She pulled it off, flicked it away and tried to comb her hair with her thick, blunt fingers to little success.

"You all know?" she asked, dismayed.

They all nodded and she groaned again.

"Without trying to sound mean I think the only person who doesn't know is Marco," said Sasha, carefully.

Julie was already airing out her insecurities and feelings before Sasha finished her sentence. She talked animatedly with her hands, something she normally didn't do and her mixed drink sloshed dangerously.

"I mean he's mature and I'm not. He's rich and I'm not. He's cute and I'm not. He's a wonderful person and I'm a..." she paused purposefully, chose a better word than what she was going to say and finished with, "...criminal."

"Oh, Julie," Sasha said, sympathetically.

Sasha patted her on the shoulder. Julie drank much of her drink with a few heavy gulps.

"Okay, quick aside," said Kenji, blithely. "You can choose to be more mature if you work at it, you can earn money with your skills and to be honest, you're already cute enough that I could probably get you looking good enough to turn a head or two and maybe even Marco's. As for being a criminal? Julie, you feel bad. It means you can be saved or better yet you can save yourself. I can help you work on yourself if you want. My rates are reasonable."

Julie seemed to be pondering this. Fuzzy was still feeling good after what Sasha said. Sasha looked sharply at Kenji.

"What's with you and your rates? I hoped you'd get over that," said Sasha, crossly.

"Can't. I don't get a choice. If you want me to stop trying to get money and favors then talk to Edward next time he's in," said Kenji with a bored sigh, "I don't change just because I want to be friends. In fact trying to be friends only complicates my life. I can't change unless I'm made to change. My life isn't exactly full of choices."

Sasha frowned at Kenji, but not as deeply as she would have a month ago. She turned to Julie.

"Julie, don't worry about it. I'll take you clothes shopping, get you some makeup and maybe get your hair done too," offered Sasha.

"Sasha, no offense, but I don't want charity," said Julie, carefully. "It's sweet that you offer and I don't think it would be a big deal to you, but I feel like if I took charity I'd never stop taking it. Marco took over my debt from before because he's really sweet, but I didn't ask him to and didn't want him to. At least this way I can pay for stuff. It's just like getting a job only I don't know what the job is. The only thing I can really afford right now is pride. I don't want that taken from me too. Thanks for the offer though. Really."

"Super reasonable rates. Really, bargain basement," said Kenji, and his voice strained.

He guzzled his mixed drink but one eyelid began to twitch.

"Something...Fair to all parties," he said, carefully. "Everyone gets what they want."

The twitching stopped. Kenji groaned and poured himself another drink.

"That's sort of disturbing," said Fuzzy.

Sasha said nothing, but was both quietly and intensely curious and sad for him.

"Tell me about it. Someone else talk please," he said, loudly.

He laid back heavily against his lawn chair. In a way Kenji had just shared in his own, strange way, so eventually Sasha looked to Fuzzy while Julie thought about Kenji's offer.

"I have nightmares," said Fuzzy, quietly.

"I remember," said Sasha.

"I mean all the time," she added.

The two girls delicately held hands. Both of them thought to do so at the same time. It'd become so common that neither of them noted it as anything particularly special. Despite being two very different people the two knew how to read each other's moods and were just starting to be able to anticipate one another.

"But Sasha saved me from one once. I didn't have any more for a whole week. I've never slept so well. I haven't had a really bad one since either," said Fuzzy, cheerily.

"Do you work with dreams or something?" asked Julie.

"Yeah," said Sasha. "I'm not powerful enough to just change them how I like, but I'm good at working with them. Dreams have their own kind of logic. If I understand the person I can change them or at least try."

"Can you work on your own?" asked Julie.

"No. I have to be awake to cast," said Sasha.

"drat. Oh well, it was worth a shot," groused Julie.

The drinks were drained as the four kept sharing and despite Julie's wheedling Sasha wouldn't budge on more drinks. Sasha thought about talking about LeBlanc and what she knew, but she didn't want to spoil the mood. She resolved to do it soon though. Eventually the main event came up and it was dark enough and quiet enough to go outside and retrieve her camera. She came back, accessed the camera, transferred it to the trideo, turned off the campfire without turning off the heat and they all began to repeatedly watch Christina get splattered with the lube grenade on her front doorstep. There she was in her toga using her hand print on the door scanner, she opened the door, swung it open and splat, lube everywhere. Some even got in her mouth which Julie remarked upon several times. She'd been totally surprised. Julie cackled, Fuzzy grinned, Sasha felt mixed feelings and Kenji laughed just a little too hard. Julie was way too into it to notice and Sasha was equally distracted though in a different way and Fuzzy was sleepy from the big day and what little alcohol she had and her almost total lack of tolerance. So over the numerous instant replays Kenji watched Julie's mockery, Sasha's guilty enjoyment and Fuzzy's sleepy yawns. He managed to keep it together.

"Hey, it's getting late. I think I'm going to head home. Would you mind if I got a copy of the Christina video though?" asked Kenji oh so casually.

"Oh yeah, sure," said Sasha.

Just like that she transferred the file to his commlink.

"Let's not spread it around though. If we gloat she'll figure out it was us," said Sasha.

"Yeah, yeah," griped Julie. "I better get going too. It's way past curfew. Save it though. I'll want to watch it again."

"No problem," said Sasha, easily.

Kenji and Julie both left, though Kenji briefly wandered by Christina's cabin to check something. He was suddenly deeply disturbed at what he read on her nameplate though he continued on as if nothing had happened.

Inside Fuzzy dozed. Sasha almost stayed just like that with her since she leaned up against her, but it was getting past curfew. She tapped Fuzzy's shoulder.

"Mmmwha?" murmured Fuzzy.

"It's late. Maybe it's time to go back to your cabin," said Sasha, gently.

It really was a maybe though. Tonight, this one night of all nights Sasha could reasonably have Fuzzy to herself all alone. There was so much chaos tonight and so the teachers were busy, the tracking device in her clothes were at home and Fuzzy was still in the biker leathers that Sasha bought her. Fuzzy wiped away a little bit of drool from her cheek with the back of her hand.

"Wanna stay," said Fuzzy, tiredly. "Tired."

"Fuzzy, I don't want you to get in trouble," said Sasha.

Fuzzy and Sasha were shoulder to shoulder on the couch, however Fuzzy seemed more alert all of a sudden. She was quiet and Sasha didn't rush her because she didn't want her to leave, but feared asking her to stay.

"Can you make my nightmares go away again?" asked Fuzzy, quietly.

Sasha's heart twisted up and beat hard in her chest. Both of them would be in so much trouble if Fuzzy was caught sleeping here overnight. She knew what everyone would think if they got caught but she didn't care. She simply couldn't ask her to leave. She couldn't even mention it as a possibility. She didn't have it in her to be so cruel. Minutes later Fuzzy retreated to the bathroom, changed into one of Sasha's biggest shirts and gym shorts so she could pull the draw string tight. Sasha pulled down her bed an found the extra blanket her grandma had given to her before she'd passed. It was a token of a different life when she'd not lived in that high tower in the arcology, but just another tiny rented apartment with her mom and dad. The girl who could have almost anything prepared to give her most prized possession to her girlfriend to keep her warm. When Fuzzy came out of the bathroom Sasha was both dismayed and relieved that she went back to the couch, but Sasha knew that would've been too much. She laid her grandmother's blanket over her, they kissed and Sasha went to bed while Fuzzy snuggled into both clothes and blanket that smelled like Sasha and was asleep in seconds. Sasha spent the next few hours awake and just over three hours later she cast on Fuzzy and chased her nightmares away. In the morning Fuzzy would leave invisibly and in her costume, but Sasha would be missing that shirt.

Kenji - Wednesday November 1st - Midnight - Blake Island, Kenji's cabin

Kenji didn't have a trideo tank and he didn't trust anything with a wireless signal that he couldn't disable. Not with what he had. He immediately transferred Christina's file onto a data stick, deleted it off his commlink and would later advise Sasha to do the same. For now he was too busy watching Christina's reaction to being hit with the lube grenade. Not minutes after when she'd began to cry and teachers surrounded her to calm her down and lead her away to be cleaned up. Not when she was being taunted and shamed minutes earlier. No, that was normal. It was the normal reaction of someone who'd been publicly and thoroughly humiliated. No he watched the same eight seconds. He'd run the footage over and over for hours in parallel with his own footage with Edward crying and eating a hot dog before switching to Kenji in public. Christina had caught this on camera. He'd checked with Octo and had her show him how to check the metadata. They were like digital fingerprints. They were able to be wiped or altered, but someone sloppy would leave metadata and someone smart could learn quite a lot about who that data belonged to by checking the metadata. Christina looked like she'd used a burner commlink and that was smart, but she'd used the same burner commlink when she'd been cruel to others recently along with the email she'd sent to out Julie as a criminal, Fuzzy as being from the barrens and himself from being from the ACHE.

He ran that video over and over for hours next to his own. Sometimes both running at the same time. Sometimes just one. Sometimes he freezed each frame in different shots. His reaction was different than Christina's. He began that eight second clip for the last time. At first she'd been surprised, then sad, then outraged, but just for a split second she looked confused. It didn't fit. For the briefest of moments she didn't look like she knew where she was or what had been done to her. Then the mask was back on. It was the lie that was Christina. He'd seen her last name on her cabin door and that made the flame of suspicion burn hotter. Now it only chilled him. Kenji was sure that there was something deeply wrong with Christina. He was sure that she'd been trained like Edward. Kenji wasn't sure about something else though, and this was what would keep him awake at night for many nights to follow.

He wondered if she knew what he was.

End of arc two.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 11:54 on Dec 6, 2017

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



:smugdog:

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

drat, who was it that called that shot.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



MinutePirateBug posted:

As an aside I'm not sure Christina really has an essence problem I think she is another Leblanc method graduate and the supposed cellular degradation at age 12 was a front for Leblanc training and her aura just looks squidgy because she has multiple personalties she can call on, though it isn't nearly as bad as Kenji because Lone Star or her mother refined the method by the time she was inducted. Her seeming inability to be able to do magic well might just be a long con to mislead other corps who might be spying on the student body. This paranoia would be especially justified since Seattle is basically enemy territory for her given Ares control of the cops. If you can instantly conjure up a super studious personalty to learn spells and be good at magic or whatever later in life, there is no reason not to have a super social/ambitious front personalty in high school.

Looks like it was MinutePirateBug. Good shot on predicting me. I thought I'd been clever in keeping Christina low stakes enough to stay off the radar as a possible choice.

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

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

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

VanSandman
Feb 16, 2011
SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER
Yeah Christina is loving dangerous.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN

HiHo ChiRho
Oct 23, 2010

So I wonder how Kenji is going to react that he found out about this on his own when Sasha was holding onto the information.

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

Welp I wonder how much of what Sasha knew was a different personality.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Xarbala posted:

Welp I wonder how much of what Sasha knew was a different personality.

Yes. Yes, let the speculation begin!

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

Ice Phisherman posted:

Yes. Yes, let the speculation begin!

Hah


Anyway this does reveal that Christina is more dangerous than we thought, but if she is another product of Lone Star's experiments she's already a tragic victim of trauma, or at least her creator was.

I think since this petty schoolyard feud has now paid off I think as a thread we can change gears to start taking her and her issues more seriously.

While only Kenji is aware of this at the moment, I think as the peanut gallery we can try to steer events away from making this kid another tragedy. Well, emphasis on try.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Whoomp, there it is.

Good job on calling it MPB

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



All right. Time to start juggling. This is what I currently have up in the air:

1. The website. It's just going to be a simple wordpress website is all, but I actually have to take time to learn how to create it.

2. Arc 2.5, the "Very Shadowrun Christmas Special" which will mostly be a series of short stories. Obviously this won't be a gigantic book. I might get up to 15k-20k words though.

3. Planning for Julie's arc, arc 3. For a story called "Blake Island School of Magic" the characters actually haven't performed a lot of magic outside of healing, scaring nazis with glowy hands, showing that spirit and Kenji's voice. There also hasn't been a lot of time devoted to class and what that looks like. The few times I ventured into explaining what magic class looked like I kept running into woo. I don't want to drown people in woo because that's boring and largely irrelevent. I plan on her relying on her talent and finding that even though she's gifted it has limitations, but when you have a hammer all your problems look like a nail and so you hammer the poo poo out of everything nail or no. I'm going to advance the plot but she's going to have her own problems. At the same time she's been more of a secondary character rather than a third protagonist and that's my fault. At some point I may go back and add a few more character asides for her into arc 1 and 2 to give her some better characterization.

4. Setting up a patreon. I feel like I can't really sustain this forever without getting funded somehow. Not because I don't have the creativity. I keep looking at my own creative well and it still feels like it's full. No, it's mostly a matter of justifying my own time. I'm patient and there's no immediate rush. I'm enjoying a passion project and I intend on finishing it, but everyone has to make a living. Even if it's supplementary that'd be great though. I see this as an opportunity to try my hand at writing real fiction instead of slouching back to romance. This sort of ties into...

5. Growing my audience. There are quite a number of websites out there that I've been on for Shadowrun along with a number of tabletop/actual play podcasts that I'm familiar with. I don't intend to do Shadowrun 100% all the time. I'd like to write some of my own stuff so I can sell it on my own. Going from someone who is essentially writing (in my humble opinion) novel length and quality fanfiction to writing novels again and taking that "former" moniker off former professional writer or novelist. The irony of romance is that the audience is already baked in. They find it on their own if it's their thing. This is niche despite me writing to an audience who doesn't have to be intimately familiar with Shadowrun at all to enjoy it.

Then again it's literally only been a month and maybe I'm expecting too much from myself. It feels strange when I look back on it, but this has probably been the most creative and most productive month in my career as a novelist. If I'd stumbled onto a story like this and was this prolific as a romance author I'd probably be rolling in a moderately sized pile of money right now, but that's not where my immediate priorities are at the present. I'm lucky enough not to need it at the moment and that makes me think that I have a sort of privilege in my life to create without having to worry about stuff for a little while.

gently caress, it's only been a month and I've written two books.

gently caress

Also, if anyone has any comments or critiques for the books I'd appreciate some feedback as I'm going to see about posting them online soon and they'll be more difficult to alter once they're there. I know I'm not going to be leading with a finished and edited product, but I'm not a professional editor and that's not my strength. I have had enough time away from Fuzzy's arc that I can do a second editing pass over it though.

Anyway, I'll be slowing down for a bit with some short stories while in the background I storyboard and work on back end stuff. Julie's arc is probably going to be a bit trickier than Fuzzy's and Kenji's. It means that I need to keep the proper pacing to make the story enjoyable with a character that I really haven't shed a lot of light on. That's my fault, but hey, that's what I get for writing all of this stuff in real time.

I'm 100% sure I can make beer money off this at least and I think a passion project that gets you beer is a pretty sweet passion project indeed.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 01:08 on Oct 22, 2017

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



:toot: Hey folks! It's time for a Very Shadowrun Christmas Special! :toot:

Shadowrun, that game about sociopaths, rampant corporatism, corruption and murder is going to have a series of wholesome short stories. Or at least comparatively.

Click here! Get hype!

Writing now.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Oct 22, 2017

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Let's all gather around the merry Trash Santa as it burns in reds and greens. We'll get smashed on soynog and shoot all the gribblies that crawl out from the depths.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Deadmeat5150 posted:

Let's all gather around the merry Trash Santa as it burns in reds and greens. We'll get smashed on soynog and shoot all the gribblies that crawl out from the depths.

As is tradition.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Julie and Marco - December 24th - Afternoon - Ork Underground, Touristville, Our Abbey Underground

A white Christmas in the emerald city is normally out of the question. Despite being in the pacific northwest and in the dead of winter, Seattle was a balmy fifty-five degrees Fahrenheit and was only expected to get as low as forty-nine. One of the peculiarities of the area is that it stays cool in the summer, warm in the winter and it often rains. Warm water currents that flow all the way from the Kingdom of Hawai'i and beyond end up warming not just the Seattle area, but all of what used to be Washington, now Salish-Shidhe since it was taken over by the first nations all the way back in 2017 and even a bit of northwest Tir-Tairngire, the xenophobic elven state what used to be Oregon and Northern California. The weather doesn't care about borders or what people call themselves wherever they are and despite the changes of nations and peoples the warm water current called the Pineapple Express remained the Pineapple Express. There would be no white winter, but the temperatures were always lovely if you could deal with the rain.

Christmas had new meaning in 2074 compared to fifty or sixty years earlier. Christianity lost much of its prestige with the resurgence of magic and was largely unable to explain, predict or in most cases up until the last two decades even accept the changes to the world unless you were willing to squint your eyes and skip over a lot of lines. There had been a major resurgence in the religions that Christianity had subverted and nearly crushed in order to claim the winter solstice as its own, but what stood strong in the face of gods and men was capitalism. On the streets of the Seattle metroplex everything was on sale and capitalism was doing its best to convince consumers that if you bought presents for your loved ones they'd love you more. This was harder and harder to do each year as the traditions previously holding up Christmas, in short, Christianity, was currently at a low ebb and so the traditions were running on fumes. So they made up for it it with targeted ads that ruthlessly exploited a person's interests and sensibilities. Most people dealt with this if they did so at all with ad blockers. However the corporations were in an ever expanding arms race with those that blocked the ads, as was tradition for the last half a century back even when the matrix was just called the internet.

The normal augmented reality overlay for Seattle was usually an emerald green. However the stock program that governed this switch to its Christmas mode just after Halloween. Seeing as most of the west coast and former Midwest of the former United States was now populated by the Native American Nation successor states, the NAN, Thanksgiving was unsurprisingly not not celebrated. This suited the corps just fine as they got to hype consumers up for the big spending spree as early as possible. And so the metroplex, dirty, crime ridden, smog filled and crowded was now overlaid with augmented reality Christmas lights, tinsel and even the occasional sugarplum fairy or nutcracker or whatever new corporate mascot they were trying to shill to children would make an appearance.

Julie and Marco were not topside though. They were below the docks district in Touristville. The matrix never worked that well down here to begin with so the tinsels and Christmas lights were real and strung up in the narrow halls and high ceilings of Touristville. There were no targeted ads down here. Instead people bellowed, barked and hustled to sell tourists whatever stuff they had from useful to kitschy the orks had found from who knows where. The murals were cheery this time of year for the most part. No one had caught whomever had spray painted some sort of ork Santa completely trashed and peeing down what looked like a new alley using perspective to fool the eyes. The clever artist's talents were covered up in the morning with something that wouldn't offend the sensibilities of the tourists. Thankfully the tourists never saw it so they could feel comfortable to slot their credsticks so the nuyen could roll off it and onto their own.

It was colder down here though than topside. Julie, Marco and a few other orks from Our Abbey Underground were deep in Touristville where everyone actually lived. They were inside the abbey which was also Devin's house. The decorations here were more personal, often understated and mixed in with the hanging laundry or sometimes the Christmas lights were even used as clotheslines though only the ones with bulbs that didn't burn hot. Space was at a premium after all.

"So what are these?" asked Julie.



She looked covetously at the stacks of candied fruit on wooden skewers. One was even arranged into a tiny, festive candy tree which looked almost too pretty to eat. Almost. Marco turned to her and explained.

"Oh, Mrs. Liu and her family makes these. She gives the abbey a few as a thank you for keeping her family healthy and drops off a big shipment once a year for Christmas. She always makes a big deal about how they're real fruit and that the Hawthorn fruit is real Chinese hawthorn fruit. They sort of have the consistency of an overripe apple, but are a pretty sour, but they're just a little bigger than a cherry. The candy on the outside gives it a crunch to offset the softness and sweet to offset the sour. I think they're called tangbooloo...No, tanghulu. Anyway, she does hers up with plums, bananas, kiwis and cherry tomatoes. Oh, and those over there are covered in chocolate and sesame sprinkles instead of just sugar. They're pretty great. They sell like crazy with the Chinese tourists. Mrs. Liu says that a Chinese tourist would rather hold tight to a taste of home than hold tight to their credstick. Some of the tourists just come to her place and not for the underground at all. She's pretty popular."

They didn't just look tasty. They looked tasty and expensive. Mrs. Liu was near the head of one of the four main entrances and so her business was incredibly prosperous. Julie would never be able to afford something like this on her own. Even on Blake Island the food was real, but she'd never gotten used to eating real food every day. She'd grown up with so many brothers and sisters non-soy food was a rare treat.

Julie felt a pang of heartache and loneliness as she thought about her family. She didn't have a home to go to anymore. Not after she became an ork and killed her father with magic despite the fact that it was in self defense. She knew that rationally, but still she hadn't fought the charges and so she'd went to prison. Last year for Christmas she and Big Rita, the troll prisoner who took her in and was her cellmate during her time there made electric noodles. They were also called stinger noodles. Soy ramen noodles were the cheapest food you could get from the commissary due to the fact that they were hard too cook and make tasty. The pots from the commissary cost a whole 18 nuyen, a fortune to most in prison since most jobs paid 1 nuyen an hour. It had a themostat in them to keep the water from boiling which meant that anything cooked in them would be warm at best and therefor soggy and terrible. This also was important because boiling water could potentially be thrown onto someone you hated, often the face. You could either break or rewire the wireless thermostat and maybe keep it for another week and risk the hole or you could be clever. Prison clever that is which is definitely next level clever. They couldn't boil water, but they did have sinks with cold running water, nail clippers, a power chord and the courage to drop a live wire into a cup of soup. Big Rita's cups were as big as bowls to Julie so for Christmas she showed her how to make electric noodles. After a few minutes of setup Big Rita dropped the live wire into her cup. There was a spark and a snap and the water was soon boiling. Big Rita did this twice more and in a touching moment she'd even taken the powdered soy cheese from her normal mac and cheese noodles, a whole 4 nuyen a piece for troll sized mac and cheese and shared with Julie since Julie had been a pretty awesome celly she'd been told. Big Rita's electric noodles were perhaps the most touching Christmas present she'd ever received. Better still because no one got electrocuted.

She thought about those noodles while she turned the skewer of candied fruits. She tasted them and they were good, but they weren't electric noodles good. After all, those had been seasoned not just with soy cheese, but with unexpected kindness in a horrible place. She ate three skewers worth in the kitchen while people bustled around her. Technically Julian was her guardian so he had arranged for her to stay on the island in case she hadn't found a place to stay for Christmas. Not wanting to be alone she'd asked Devin if he knew a place. He did indeed know a place. His place. She'd been staying here and even doing some weekday healing work for the abbey as thanks for staying in their guest bedroom, eating their food and most importantly enjoying the company of people who genuinely seemed to like her. They'd even given her two outfits as an early Christmas gift. These would be the only two pairs of clothing that she owned that she hadn't received from school. They weren't fancy, but they were warm and well received. It was hard to accept the charity, but she'd at least convinced herself that she'd earned it because she'd them have to shame herself by trying to give them back.

"They're good, right?" asked Devin.

The moderately large man, at least as far as trolls went with the curly brown hair, big beard and glasses smiled at her.

"Yeah, it's pretty good," she said.

"So I was wondering if you had a minute to talk about something," he said.

"Um...Okay, sure," she said, nervously.

She looked back to the bustling kitchen as she walked away. His wife and some volunteers were preparing a Christmas dinner for the community for tomorrow and something for guests tonight. She followed Devin back into his study and he offered her a seat before she sat down.

"I just wanted to ask how you're doing," he said.

"Same as yesterday," she said, nervously.

Devin had a fair number of parishioners, but they were low enough in number, only around 35, that he could actually minister to them individually instead of hand that off to other people. Despite the services he provided to the community the number of people that came were usually rather low. He and she made small talk for a while while he danced around the subject. However they'd exhausted most of the small talk days ago and so they awkwardly retread old topics before he finally came to what he was going to ask about.

"I was wondering if you'd like to take on a role with more responsibility within the church," he said, carefully.

Julie shifted nervously in her seat. She had a feeling that this was coming. Devin had been circling this topic for quite a while. He hadn't asked outright but she wasn't sure yet of how to say no.

"I'm not sure," she said, cautiously. "I was actually hoping to find a job. I've been having problems with money lately. It's been hard to get things that I need for school. Or even life."

Julie sighed miserably at the admission. She'd had to walk here after all once getting off the boat. She'd been completely tapped out of what she could scrape together. She couldn't even afford bus fare anymore and had been kicking herself for not getting a pass earlier this year, not that it wouldn't have just expired come the new year which was only a week away. Still, it would've meant that her shoes would've been in better condition. She was nearly at the point where she'd have to either break down and ask someone for help or use duct tape.

"You know that you can just ask, right?" he said, slowly.

"To get a job?" she asked.

"I mean, yes that too, but I can guarantee you that if I took you down the streets and you wanted something, if you asked for it nicely enough you'd just get it as long as it wouldn't break the bank. They wouldn't even ask for money. You keep some on hand just in case someone asks, but I can safely say that they probably won't."

"I don't want to take advantage of people," said Julie, too quickly. "That sounds wrong."

"Taking advantage of people is wrong. You're absolutely right. I think I understand your perspective though. You're still thinking of yourself as an outsider, and to be completely honest you're not fully wrong. It takes time to work yourself into a community. Julie, most people don't know your story and I am deeply humbled that you told me about what happened to your father, but even if they knew I think most would understand. Every Sunday they see your heart and feel your work on their flesh. Most students that Marco brings don't last a week. Maybe they last two. Your friend, Fuzzy, she comes here maybe twice a month which is great, and I can't say that enough, but you're here every week doing God's work."

Julie blushed and looked at down at her shoes. The were near ragged. She'd been teased mercilessly at school for them last month by Minuet, Roberta and Skylar, the elven trio who'd went back to their old antics after Julie bowled over Minuet. Their attempts had been subtle and probing at first, but they were nearly as vicious as they were before and she still wasn't sure what to do.

"Julie, you're being paid and you don't even know it. It's called Touristville, but all that up front near the entrances?" he asked, and made a gesture towards the nearest entrance. "That's for the tourists. You're not a tourist. I don't invite tourists into my home like I did for you. Sharing my table and bread with you is the least I can do for you. I'm not sure if you know this, but I was raised Cajun all the way down in Baton Rouge a million years ago. I've mostly lost the accent as it's been almost two decades, but I never forgot how I was raised. We'd have a hot pot because we didn't have enough to eat on our own all the time, but we did have enough to share even if it wasn't every day."

He began to talk animatedly with his hands, and began to mime putting food into a pot.

"One person brings some lettuce, another a piece of chicken, someone else a piece of cheese, it's Baton Rouge so everyone has hot sauce," he joked. "Some people who were just hungry they just brought their appetites and would bring what they could next time. Maybe the pot was just enough for your neighbors, maybe the pot was big enough for the community, but as long as you brought what you could when you could you could still eat. Us down here? We've just been seeing you filling up the pot and not eating anything, Julie. Marco does that and I think you learned one of his bad habits despite his good intentions. We charge the tourists because we can't make absolutely everything we need down here. Us though? We fill up that pot so others can have their fill. Our pot is big enough for this entire community and your talent and love has been helping fill it to the brim. You've already been working. It isn't as flashy as what your friend did, sure, but you do good work and you have earned a place at not only my table, but every single table down here. It's nearly Christmas. Please Julie, let me show you. Tourists pay their way. That's what they do. Orks and trolls though? We work. I have to say that after talking with you and seeing how you've been doing for the past few days, you look like you could use a bowl of hotpot if you understand my meaning."

Julie began to grasp something. Maybe she'd been working all along. She wasn't sure though and so she worried at her lip with her teeth. She still wasn't sure if this was right to do or if she felt worthy. Still, his words helped her consider it at least.

CYOA Time

Touristville orks don't really charge each other for stuff. Their internal economy is built on labor and reputation. They charge the tourists, but they share what they have in the way only a community that knows both poverty and community does. This is how I'm justifying Julie getting her Karma from Fuzzy and Kenji's stories as she's been volunteering for about four months now. However we can turn that karma into stuff or keep it. Karma doesn't transfer into wealth very well at only 500 nuyen per karma. However she can get stuff at 1000 nuyen per karma. Since I don't want to do a full grocery list of stuff to buy I'll put what that can buy her at the bottom of the list.

Does Julie accept anything after having this explained to her? Why or why not? I will say that she primarily came down here for Marco, but did she stay solely for him or did she actually feel something for them?

Julie is still a racist after all, but her feelings towards metahumans (save for elves) is mild and mostly internal. That includes orks and trolls despite the fact that she is one and Marco is one because feelings don't always make sense.

Things she can buy with karma.

1. She can update her clothes to something nice that won't give her penalties to her social rolls for 1 karma and still have 250 nuyen to spare. Clothes are abstracted by lifestyles so you don't have to buy this if she gets a home.

2. She can get access to contacts within the community at a rate of 3 points of connection per 2 karma with a maximum of 4 karma spent on anyone. So for example she could develop a connect 5 loyalty 1 contact of your choice. Someone like the person who runs the place for example and she could get his ear. On the other hand she could try to make friends with someone closer to her in status and get a connection 2 loyalty 4 contact. These would be in Touristville only.

3. She can straight up get a home dug out of the bedrock for her for 5 karma. It wouldn't be great but it would be hers. It would cost money to keep up though, but it would be her pad. The Touristville orks REALLY want her down here. I can't stress that enough. There would be upkeep though. Either 1000 a month or 1 karma as they'd subsidize a low lifestyle for her. If she wants a medium lifestyle, which would be middle class it would cost 10 karma and cost 3000 nuyen a month or 3 karma. These are 50% and 40% cheaper than what she would normally get but would come with both the benefits and problems of being in a community that would want to depend on her. I will say that if she purchases the lifestyles they will be paid up for the rest of year one.

As a note, lifestyles mean that she'd be able to afford stuff out in the world and I would abstract it if it made sense for her to be able to get it. Currently she has to pay for everything out of her pocket which is why she can't afford anything. Nothing. Julie is flat broke. The Blake Island lifestyle is actually a high lifestyle, but it doesn't give her any purchasing power out in the world. A low lifestyle means that she could get a bus pass and be able to eat fast food while out. A medium lifestyle means taxi fares are free and she could go to something like a chain restaurant and bring a friend or two.

Normally it'd be weird for a 15 year old girl to have her own home. However orks and especially trolls are expected to grow up sooner because they don't live as long as humans. Orks tend to die between age 50-60 and trolls are lucky if they make it past 45. Plus she's a healer and they really want her.

4. She can buy a scooter for 1 karma (toot toot), a motorcycle for 3 or a car for 7. I'll say that parking would be provided for free if she has at least a low lifestyle. Otherwise it'll cost for storage.

This is just what she has now. She can pursue money later. After this she'll have to earn money through jobs either legal or illegal and karma through doing stuff.

Or, and this is important, just because I wrote all of this up doesn't mean you should feel obligated to take any of it. Julie can just keep doing what she's doing and try to make it without the Touristville community.

If this seems like a lot, it is. They understand how powerful she is and she's being drawn in not just by Devin, but by the whole community because they'd want their own awakened shaman, even if it was just part time. They want to invest in her in hopes that she'll want to stay when she finishes school.

She is currently sitting on 41 karma. That's Fuzzy's plus Kenji's karma intake plus her own "run" when she helped break into Christina's cabin. Anything not spent can be allocated to attributes, skills, increasing her magical power or earmarked to get rid of her bad traits. I'll post her character sheet along with Kenji's at the end of the Christmas arc.

As a note I'll be slowing down karma gained after this season. Runs will be open to everyone that wants to participate after this as they'll probably form a sort of loose team. Or not! Don't know. That's up to you folks. I don't expect everyone will always go though.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 09:32 on Oct 22, 2017

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN
Are we going to get to see her character sheet?

Edit: Also I noticed Fuzzy's sheet sheet hasn't been updated. Tsk tsk, mr IP. :v:

Deadmeat5150 fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Oct 22, 2017

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Deadmeat5150 posted:

Are we going to get to see her character sheet?

Edit: Also I noticed Fuzzy's sheet sheet hasn't been updated. Tsk tsk, mr IP. :v:

It's late/early so I'll post Julie's now, post Kenji's tonight or on Monday because it's no longer filled with spoilers and update Fuzzy's then.

Julie has both a good and terrible reputation, is a criminal and also a racist. On the flipside she's wicked smaht, tough as hell and probably the best caster out of everyone but doesn't have much in the way of other skills. She's very reliant on her talents in magic.

Name: Julie Freeman
Runner Name: None
Metatype: Ork
Body: 7/9
Agility: 3/6
Reaction: 5/6
Strength: 3/6
Charisma: 5/5
Intuition:5/6
Logic: 4/5
Willpower: 5/6
Edge: 2/6
Magic: 6/6

Street cred: 4
Notoriety: 4(!)
Public awareness: 0

Qualities:

Magician - Can cast spells, summon spirits, and can astrally project.
Living Focus rating 6 - Can sustain spells up to level 6 for free.

Criminal SINner - She's a criminal. Narrative problems along with 1 notoriety.
Bad rep - Killed her dad. It was in self defense, but she never defended herself. 3 notoriety.
Prejudiced (Common, Biased, Metahumans) - 1 to social rolls with all metahumans

Contacts:

Fuzzy - Connection 2/6 Loyalty 3/6 - Blake Island Student / Touristville Connected
Sasha Oliver - Connection 2/6 loyalty 3/6 - Blake Island student / Ares corporate princess / Assensing specialist
Kenji Okamura - Connection 3/6 loyalty 1/6 - Blake Island student / Fixer / ACHE specialty Shadowrunner
Marco - Connection 3/6 loyalty 4/6 - Blake Island student / Christian Theurgist Healer / Super Secret Crush
Devin Faris - Connection 3/6 loyalty 3/6 - Doctor / Ork and Troll activist preacher / Runs Our Abbey Underground in Touristville (located nearby the entrance to The Big Rhino)
Big Rita - Connection 3/6 Loyalty 3/6 - Prisoner / Troll Street Shaman
Patricia Freeman - Connection 1/6 Loyalty 1/6 - Mom

Enemies:

Christina (Last name unknown) Connection 2/6 occurrence 3/6 (Can appear at any time)

Skills:

Arcana 2 + magic 6 = 8
Banishing 2 + magic 6 = 8
Binding 2 + magic 6 = 8
Con 1 + charisma 5 = 6
Counterspelling 3 + magic 6 = 9
Etiquette 1 + charisma 5 = 6
First Aid 3 + logic 4 = 7
Intimidation 4 + charisma 4 = 8 (12 for street cred)
Perception 3 + intuition 5 = 8
Ritual Casting 2 + magic 6 = 8
Running 1 + strength 3 = 4
Sneaking 1 + agility 3 = 4
Spellcasting 3 + magic 6 = 9
Summoning 2 + magic 6 = 8

Spells:

Stunbolt - Throw a bolt of stun damage. Bypasses armor. Doesn't work on machines.
Manabolt - Throw a bolt of physical damage. Bypasses armor. Doesn't work on machines.
Increase Logic - Increase logic by number of hits. Must be sustained.
Improved Invisibility - Be unseen even by machines. Must be sustained.
Levitate - Lift 200 kg for every hit. Unwilling subjects resist with strength + body.
Heal - Heal one hit per round of damage. One try only per set of wounds. Touch based. Duration is permanent. Drain value -4.

Knowledge Skills:

Area Knowledge: Seattle 3 + intuition 5 = 8
English: Native Speaker
Gangs: 2 + intuition 5 = 7
Humanis Policlub: 2 + intuition 5 = 7
Magic Traditions 3 + intuition 5 = 7
Magical Law 2 + logic 4 = 6
Magical Threats 2 + logic 4 = 6
Or'Zet (ork language) 1 + intuition 5 = 6
Spirits 3 + intuition 5 = 8

Stuff:
Metalink commlink.
Two outfits of clothing
Terrible kicks
Second hand coat
Old backpack

Lifestyle:

Student Cabin

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 08:43 on Oct 30, 2017

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

I don't care if it's ethical; I want a Mammoth Steak.
The Touristville home - can that come with a storefront? Is Julie licensed to cast spells yet, if Knight Errant were to ask? Could she run a shop that trades magical services to tourists for money and to orks for community good will on the weekends?

Because after what Marco just said, I could see her trying to follow in the footsteps of Mrs. Liu - run something so good/special that people are willing to come down for specifically ge her services, and not just as a tourist thing.

All of that affects my decision, because while she's desperate for somewhere to feel at home, she's also the type that needs to work and earn, because she doesn't feel like she deserves anything if she didn't work for it.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



jagadaishio posted:

The Touristville home - can that come with a storefront? Is Julie licensed to cast spells yet, if Knight Errant were to ask? Could she run a shop that trades magical services to tourists for money and to orks for community good will on the weekends?

Because after what Marco just said, I could see her trying to follow in the footsteps of Mrs. Liu - run something so good/special that people are willing to come down for specifically ge her services, and not just as a tourist thing.

All of that affects my decision, because while she's desperate for somewhere to feel at home, she's also the type that needs to work and earn, because she doesn't feel like she deserves anything if she didn't work for it.

Capitalism ho!

She could do that with the workshop with the medium lifestyle upgrade. Her only real marketable spell is heal though. That is a big deal, but she could earn more if she learned more useful spells. She doesn't have to specialize in health spells either as there are other useful spells. Fix would be a good one because she can repair small objects. Diagnose is a detection spell and that would be useful too because she could detect what was actually wrong with people. Marco doesn't have that as he only has health spells. Fashion would work too because she could turn less useful clothes into useful clothing, do custom stuff or even make knockoffs. Fix and fashion could be used all week with a sort of week long turnaround to sell stuff in the shop.

Three caveats though:

1. I will say again that getting money will be sub-optimal because the orks work on barter and reputation economy. Stuff she could get. Money would be more difficult at first. They just don't have a ton of it. Orks want money to flow in and not out. She could drum up outside business though like you say, but that wouldn't happen immediately. She'd need word of mouth to spread or to go for ads or something. I'd abstract that.
2. Her business would be quasi-legal at best. Until now she's been under the auspices of the church and that lends her legal cover. She'd have to make the decision to pay taxes or not and whether to get a license or not.
3. The way that I built her means that she's run to the end of her free spells. Any new spells will have to be bought with 5 karma. Fuzzy can still learn a number of spells for free because they're students and are back filling what they can learn, but Julie, smart cookie that she is has run to the end of what she can do for free.

She also may want to learn the bargain skill. She currently has no ranks in it. More useful spells means she'd be able to earn more.

Boogle
Sep 1, 2004

Nap Ghost
Honestly I could see Julie's future career path, such as is, by becoming a street doc for the Underground since it looks like medical services are in short supply down there. A way for her to make extra dosh might be leveraging Kenji's connections as a fixer to treat shadowrunners as she gains more skills and spells. Sort of like what he did for Gentoo when he first came to town.

Crazycryodude
Aug 15, 2015

Lets get our X tons of Duranium back!

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


I think we'd get new clothes, a scooter, and a couple points worth of spending money but save most of our karma for later and pass on the house. I figure that while Julie's starting to find her niche, she's still a real nasty combination of anti-social/awkward/racist at the end of the day and isn't willing to fully slot into the community (yet), so no house.

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

I don't care if it's ethical; I want a Mammoth Steak.
Don't forget that Shape (Earth) is an actual spell. If she learned that, she could literally magic new rooms into the bedrock with magical precision.

Anyway, I definitely dig the idea of somewhere that's less a domicile and more a weekend shop, with the option of expanding it once she graduates and needs a more permanent home.

MinutePirateBug
Mar 4, 2013
I think she would leap at this opportunity for security, stuff/cash, acceptance, purpose, and scoring points with Marco. Having a medium lifestyle means she has enough cash on hand for decent clothes and can afford transportation around town (and other things like food entertainment etc..), which makes the clothes/scooter kind of redundant. I propose spending 10 karma on the half priced medium lifestyle and 10 karma on contacts. The rest of the Karma going to buying useful spells + buying off the racism hinderance (utilitarian stuff like fashion and repair and shape(Earth) and maybe combatish/support stuff if Kenji/the Orc underground gets her on any Shadowrun/pseudo-run gigs).

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



MinutePirateBug posted:

The rest of the Karma going to buying useful spells + buying off the racism hinderance (utilitarian stuff like fashion and repair and shape(Earth) and maybe combatish/support stuff if Kenji/the Orc underground gets her on any Shadowrun/pseudo-run gigs).

I will say that buying off racism will require some time and an event. It's not really something she works through if we buy it off immediately.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


I'm good with spending for the medium lifestyle and ten points in contacts as Julie tries to network her way out of poverty. Same goes for expanding her repertoire. Buying off the racism is going to take some doing though, as changing an ingrained habit, prejudice or personal failing isn't a simple thing.

Deadmeat5150
Nov 21, 2005

OLD MAN YELLS AT CLAN

jagadaishio posted:

Don't forget that Shape (Earth) is an actual spell. If she learned that, she could literally magic new rooms into the bedrock with magical precision.

Anyway, I definitely dig the idea of somewhere that's less a domicile and more a weekend shop, with the option of expanding it once she graduates and needs a more permanent home.

Shape (Earth) would make her even more invaluable with the Underground.

Are fetishes still a thing in 5th edition? Is it possible for Julie to get one?

jagadaishio
Jun 25, 2013

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

Deadmeat5150 posted:

Shape (Earth) would make her even more invaluable with the Underground.

Anywhere, really. Combined with Shape Concrete, you end up able to encase someone in earth/concrete instead of shooting or tasing them. Turning walls into doors, turning open fields into mazes, turning the floor into stairs, making pitfall spike traps with your mind...

And, of course, making shelter above and below ground.

It's hard not to love being an earth bender.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



Deadmeat5150 posted:

Shape (Earth) would make her even more invaluable with the Underground.

Are fetishes still a thing in 5th edition? Is it possible for Julie to get one?

There's foci. They cost money and karma to bond. They're also addictive if you have more than your magic rating on at once. So she could have a force six foci or six force one foci or anything in between so long as she could lay her hands on one. However the orks can't really make that for her. She'd have to find a tailsmonger (a possible contact) or make one herself, but making one for herself would have risks.

They also tend to be restricted. So until we clear up that criminal SIN they'd be hard to get. Legally.

http://adragon202.no-ip.org/Shadowrun/index.php/SR5:Magical_Equipment:Foci#Spirit_Focus

Chatrapati
Nov 6, 2012

Ice Phisherman posted:

Does Julie accept anything after having this explained to her? Why or why not? I will say that she primarily came down here for Marco, but did she stay solely for him or did she actually feel something for them?

Julie is still a racist after all, but her feelings towards metahumans (save for elves) is mild and mostly internal. That includes orks and trolls despite the fact that she is one and Marco is one because feelings don't always make sense.


I feel like she would be uncomfortable accepting help from metahumans. Coming down to help is fine, especially since Marco is there. And I'm sure she can feel sympathetic towards the people in Touristsville, but because of her racist hangups I don't think she would integrate herself further into the ork community.

Maybe she could accept help from Devin getting a job, since the relationship between an employer and employee could seem more distant and easier to cope with.

She should also get some new clothes and a motorbike. A motorbike if only for a scene with her and Marco riding it together :wink:.

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

I'm 100% sure I can make beer money off this at least and I think a passion project that gets you beer is a pretty sweet passion project indeed.

Dude, you got my support, make your Patreon and I'll pitch in for beer money. :ocelot: :)

Ice Phisherman posted:

Julie and Marco - December 24th - Afternoon - Ork Underground, Touristville, Our Abbey Underground

A white Christmas in the emerald city is normally out of the question.

Bravo. The world building and research in this post is top notch; everything from the Christmas AR overlay details to 'electric noodles'. Well done.

Ice Phisherman posted:

Julie felt a pang of heartache and loneliness as she thought about her family.

/sigh; this Julie arc is going to be brutal isn't it? I think of all three characters, I like / identify with our racist, damaged, self-loathing Ork the most.

Ice Phisherman posted:

CYOA Time

Does Julie accept anything after having this explained to her? Why or why not? I will say that she primarily came down here for Marco, but did she stay solely for him or did she actually feel something for them?

Julie trades enough Karma to get a few changes of clothes and supplies for school, plus a little spending money. She also pays to have Devin as a formal contact. (I don't know how the Shadowrun mechanics work, so, please help me with the character sheet changes if this is what we go with).

This is a confused, scared, low-esteem teenage girl we're talking about. Sure, she can get to where we want her to be eventually, just, not now, and not in one big character developing leap. Julie will be defined in tiny steps.

She's not sure about anything right now, beyond applying herself in school and hoping to learn her way out of her troubles. I vote we stick with that for now; she's grateful to be included in the community, sure. She's not ready to jump all-in at the first sign of kindness though; her Father and Prison literally beat that Hope out of her.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



CourValant posted:

Bravo. The world building and research in this post is top notch; everything from the Christmas AR overlay details to 'electric noodles'. Well done.

I did my research on prisoner made food because prisoners are super crafty and clever when it comes to jury rigging stuff. I saw electric noodles and I just couldn't help myself.

quote:

/sigh; this Julie arc is going to be brutal isn't it? I think of all three characters, I like / identify with our racist, damaged, self-loathing Ork the most.

I'd like to think that Julie comes in a mess of problems but can emerge better than she was. The beginning though is not going to be particularly great for her.

Not going to write anything tonight. Feeling under the weather. Going to head to the doctor tomorrow. I'll try to get an update in if I can as well as Kenji's sheet. It takes a while to type those up.

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

Not going to write anything tonight. Feeling under the weather. Going to head to the doctor tomorrow. I'll try to get an update in if I can as well as Kenji's sheet. It takes a while to type those up.

Feel better, let us know how it goes with the Doc.

Ice Phisherman
Apr 12, 2007

Swimming upstream
into the sunset



CourValant posted:

Feel better, let us know how it goes with the Doc.

He found nothing but referred me to a neurologist after I told him about my symptoms. I'm on a regimen of anti-biotics just in case though. I have an appointment set up mid November and I'll see if I can scoot that forward by checking to see if there are any cancellations until the day of.

I'm checking the thread and it looks like opening up a shop and getting a house barely squeaked by. She won't have to buy clothing as that will be rolled into the lifestyle upgrade. I will say that there are going to be some pretty big growing pains to start. I thought about how to tie this into the plot and came up with something good pretty early on. Julie is going to undergo some serious self-examination but I do want to continue to advance the plot and metaplot as well.

Feel like butts. Still writing. Don't want to get into the habit of skipping days. Writing now.

Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Oct 23, 2017

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


Eat yoghurt to counteract the antibiotics killing the good bacteria unless you want poo poo like thrush in your mouth, which happened to my GF prior to her hospital stay, also my fingers are crossed for your continued good health.

Also Julie's not integrating yet, she's leveraging her brand to establish a profitable presence an underserviced market. She paid extra attention in economics class :v:

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CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Ice Phisherman posted:

Feel like butts. Still writing. Don't want to get into the habit of skipping days. Writing now.

Take care of yourself first and foremost, we're all behind you and don't want you to exhaust yourself.

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