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Xarbala posted:Oh, I like the pacing of this progression. Switching to plan Jag Julie's probably going to panic a little if Kenji asks about prophecies, yes? Otherwise, good plan. (Unless the panicking is part of it.) DreamingofRoses fucked around with this message at 13:30 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 13:25
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DreamingofRoses posted:Julie's probably going to panic a little if Kenji asks about prophecies, yes? Otherwise, good plan. (Unless the panicking is part of it.) She'll most likely panic a bit, yeah. I'd roll the dice to see how much. However, Kenji has no idea about said prophecy as most people chose to go to her teachers instead of her friends last year. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 15:04 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 13:34
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DreamingofRoses posted:Julie's probably going to panic a little if Kenji asks about prophecies, yes? Otherwise, good plan. (Unless the panicking is part of it.) That's absolutely part of the meta-plan. He doesn't know about it in-character, and it'll be satisfying for the audience.
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May 23, 2018 13:38
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Ice Phisherman posted:Blake Island, Year Two - Book Five - The Voice of Dog I... really wish I hadn't been in public when I read all that. Jesus Christ. quote:CYOA Time I'm going to go against the grain and say he hasn't figured it out yet. He's always been focussed on the material rather than the introspective side of things. Besides, why would Dog take an interest in him? Sure, his friends are loyal, but he's only ever gone after profit and gain! What has he ever done that's exceptionally loyal rather than just the regular looking out for the people you use? (Yes, one of the hallmarks of being especially loyal is the belief that your behaviour is just normal rather than special. Like how genuinely good people think they're "okay" or "could be better".)
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May 23, 2018 18:09
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inflatablefish posted:I... really wish I hadn't been in public when I read all that. Jesus Christ. Sorry.  Edit: It's a bit late, but I put a content warning on that post. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 18:49 on May 23, 2018 |
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May 23, 2018 18:23
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inflatablefish posted:Besides, why would Dog take an interest in him? Sure, his friends are loyal, but he's only ever gone after profit and gain! What has he ever done that's exceptionally loyal rather than just the regular looking out for the people you use? He nearly died, and was ready to die, fighting his programming in order to save his friends. It was an entirely selfless act of loyalty to Fuzzy and Sasha. I'm sure that Dog will try to claim that the Pack has been watching him his whole life, though. Lol.
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May 23, 2018 18:30
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inflatablefish posted:I... really wish I hadn't been in public when I read all that. Jesus Christ. You think you've learned your lesson, then you prove yourself wrong. Again and again.
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May 23, 2018 23:37
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"I choose friends" was a really good moment. And a great capstone to Kenji's character development throughout the book. He may have started as just a guy protecting an investment, but that was when he was only brought out of slumber to deal with whatever crises Edward couldn't. On Blake Island he became the primary waking personality and started building genuine connections with people, and that's when he started to strain against the confines of his programming. That's when he started to distinguish between friends and contacts. From that point on he's stuck by them through the thick of it, even going above and beyond like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. Heck, Octo didn't even realize he wanted to establish a real friendship with her until he stopped her from killing herself from neglect. Kenji could've just gone onto Shadowlands BBS and hired another decker if it came down to it, and it's not that difficult to do. But he didn't, he wrangled the most powerful magic users he could so they could cast a ritual just to have a chance at saving her life. That's a remarkable amount of loyalty shown for a friendship neither Octo or Kenji were even sure was actually there. And Kenji did it without missing a beat, because that's what friends do. If you look at it, during the incident where Kenji had to face Fuzzy in front of Sasha's cabin, Kenji was protecting an investment. The most valuable investment he had: the emotions, the memories, the bonds of mutual trust between him and the people important to him. These intangible, yet priceless assets that made Kenji more than just a tool for Edward to use. And in that moment of crisis, threatened with complete oblivion--the death of Kenji as a person--he had to decide whether he would follow his ultimate directive to Survive or if he found something more important than that. And he chose friends. gently caress yes Dog is going to notice that Kenji's a good boy.
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May 23, 2018 23:54
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Ice Phisherman posted:Content warning. This gets pretty intense. Ice, buddy, I don’t know how you do this, and frankly, I don’t want to dwell on it too much; this was too real and too specific by far. Great writing, you put me in that ACHE hallway on garbage day. Each and every one of us could have been Clever, if we were forced to live in that environment; too, too real by far. Ice Phisherman posted:"Min. Calling in my favor," said Clever. "Need you to heal him up." No wonder she sees Kenny as pack; she was literally his Pack Mother. Min brought him (back) into this world just as much as his biological Mother. Ice Phisherman posted:"But I'm the only one on the lease. You're too young. So Kenji, baby, sweetheart," she said sweetly, "When you're gone, I am going to gently caress this place up. It's going to happen. I bought a kiddie pool. I'm going to fill it full of cocoa butter for sexy 'wrassling right in the middle of the floor. I am going to absolutely ruin this carpet. Bill collectors will hound us until we die. I was waiting for you to go since I want to preserve your innocence." Otaku girls are so awesome. Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time Kenny isn’t overly suspicious; why would he be? He isn’t indoctrinated to the spirit, mentor, world enough to know this is an omen. Perhaps he brings it up in passing to Julie, i.e., I keep dreaming about this dog, and she makes the connection? Or, Min somehow picks up on the fact that Dog has chosen him the next time they speak? I can’t imagine how Kenny, a practical, faith in myself and only myself kinda guy, would suddenly suspect ‘Dog wants me as pack, yo’. Ice Phisherman posted:
 Ice Phisherman posted:So I'm still going to be working on You Can't Steal My Joy (go read it please). However, I'm rapidly coming to a point where I'm going to need to do some research before I continue. Specifically on face culture. I'd rather pivot to this story than come to a halt and twiddle my thumbs. Cool; please do continue to work on ‘Joy’, I like that setting and story far too much to want to see it wither on the vine. Ice Phisherman posted:I will say in no uncertain terms right now that we're going to have criminal Shadowrunners trying to take down the corrupt leadership of a megachurch. I am going to be deeply critical of the sort of Christianity that comes with the megachurch movement. So yes, we're going to be exploring that. This is me being up front in case anyone wants to get off the ride. As my research materials I'm going to be pulling from two books on how to grow a megachurch. Church as business, the bigger the better. Please and thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me and bothers me, as both a Catholic and a person of Faith. The monetization of Religion lead to some pretty dark places (I’m Catholic, we did that 500 years ago, and we still feel the schism today), so yes, let’s talk about it in a safe, respectful manner. Ice Phisherman posted:I am going to be drawing heavily from the Charlottesville white nationalist/supremacist/nazi rally. To my knowledge, no work of fiction has talked about that event yet so unless something came out I'm going to be breaking some new ground. If you’re courageous enough to go there, I’ll come on the ride with you. Ice Phisherman posted:Instead, I'm going to find as much amateur film as possible and watch it until I can't stand to watch it. I want to capture the emotion of the event most of all. Please be careful. Taking in that much unfiltered rage and hate does weird, awful things to people; we’re all raw, emotional, open-loop biological creatures, and knowing that it will affect you doesn’t lessen the impact or ramifications. Don’t hurt yourself in this. Ice Phisherman posted:Again, I'm going to do my very best to be respectful. Please understand that, but I know that I'm going to gently caress up at some point. Please call me out on it when I do. We’ll be alright; think we’ve fostered a culture of acceptance and meaningful discourse in this thread wherein we should be able to handle this debate. If not, just lock the thread for a week and out us on time-out. Ice Phisherman posted:Though I want to have other files up in drop box for you fine folks to listen to first so you can let me know if I messed up at all before I do the public release. Ice Phisherman posted:This also means that I need to get a website up (money already earmarked, thanks Cour) and I need to design the website, get some web hosting for my audio stuff, get some artwork and also just figure out the audio editing stuff.   Actually, budget willing, I feel like I owe you a ‘tip’ for Joy; the feels man, the feels. Ice Phisherman posted:Also, finally, the disclaimer since I'm working in someone else's IP. We’re Official! Can we claim to own all of Shadowrun now and file Harmony Gold level of lawsuits ala Battletech?
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May 24, 2018 00:17
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Surprise! Welcome to Blake Island Year Two!
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RickVoid posted:He nearly died, and was ready to die, fighting his programming in order to save his friends. It was an entirely selfless act of loyalty to Fuzzy and Sasha. I'm sure that Dog will try to claim that the Pack has been watching him his whole life, though. Lol. You know that and I know that. But Kenji? Especially a Kenji who's battling depression and trying to figure out just who the hell he is, or if there's even a "him" behind all those directives? I think maybe he might not. Step 1 of depression is having a brutally twisted sense of your own self-worth.
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May 24, 2018 00:25
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Deadmeat5150 posted:You think you've learned your lesson, then you prove yourself wrong. Again and again. Apparently I'm a horrible monster that makes people cry. I don't like the word trigger, but I can't really think of anything else to say in that vein. So I'm not trying to trigger people on purpose. I figured that if people could make it through year one that they understood how raw my style could be. In fact the first hurdle to get over is a lynching and Julie's father trying to strangle her in her hospital bed. So I let people know what's up pretty early on and what to expect, so they can check out early if this isn't the kind of story for them. Still, I'm not trying to ramp everything up into intolerable ultra-violence for the sake of doing it. That's not my goal. If the violence doesn't serve the story then it doesn't go in. I wanted to illustrate how awful and lovely the ACHE is while also fleshing out Kenji's first moments, Clever's first appearance and having Dog appear before Kenji. Xarbala posted:"I choose friends" was a really good moment. That was beautiful and I loved that.  CourValant posted:Ice, buddy, I don't know how you do this, and frankly, I don't want to dwell on it too much; this was too real and too specific by far. Great writing, you put me in that ACHE hallway on garbage day. I've been planning that scene for a while now. Fuzzy and Kenji both grew up in horrible places in horrible poverty, but Fuzzy definitely came out of a better place. Kenji for the longest time was basically a tool that Edward pulled out when life got too hard, which was often as the ACHE is a brutal place. Edward would have died without Kenji because Edward had been horribly treated. So Kenji experienced a lot of moments where he needed to fight, be abused or die. He was also Edward's silver tongue, so he did have moments where he was talking to people. Kenji had to grow up fast, but he grew into a person when he made more friends than just Min Yun. Min Yun is also someone that he has a hard time communicating with sometimes and he's also attracted to her. However, he's a good team leader, so she follows him and backs him up. They do trust one another and care for one another, but Kenji never really made friends with people his own age before. He didn't even have peers his own age. Everyone was a favor or a mark. Everything was in service to his programming. Then he ran to the logical end of his programming in book two, and didn't get tucked away in Edward's mind like normal. So after a lot of thought he reached out in his own, awkward way, and made some friends. And as it turned out, other people reached out to him as well. quote:No wonder she sees Kenny as pack; she was literally his Pack Mother. Min brought him (back) into this world just as much as his biological Mother. Min Yun is the third person Kenji ever met, and the first woman. She's also got that apple booty.  I think that she's six years older than him, but I'm not 100% on that. She's always been this mysterious, older woman with powers. Powers that healed him when he was dying. The sort of crush he has on her is truly devastating.quote:Otaku girls are so awesome. I love writing Octo scenes. She's my favorite banter character. quote:Cool; please do continue to work on Joy, I like that setting and story far too much to want to see it wither on the vine. I have a multi-book plan for that story. No way am I letting it wither. quote:Please and thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me and bothers me, as both a Catholic and a person of Faith. I will say up front that while I am going to be critical of megachurches and the monetizing of stuff, it's going to be through the eye of a person who has a cynical view about what they do. I'm not a big fan of good and evil fighting it out. I'm a big fan of opposing philosophies fighting it out. Most people believe they're right. The battle is convincing one another and others that they're correct. quote:Please be careful. Taking in that much unfiltered rage and hate does weird, awful things to people; we're all raw, emotional, open-loop biological creatures, and knowing that it will affect you doesn't lessen the impact or ramifications. I've thought about this, and if it effects me too much I'll take a break from watching and read some articles. I'm well aware of how media effects people and I'm aware that I'm vulnerable. quote:Actually, budget willing, I feel like I owe you a tip for Joy; the feels man, the feels. Only if you want to. This story is free. No one owes me anything. -- So while I'm story boarding for my two books, here's what classes are going to look like from the votes: Sasha is going to be taking combat magic and programming (which barely beat out theater). As an aside, Sasha is a willowy teenage girl who is prone to panic attacks. She is stepping far outside of her comfort zone in doing this, especially knowing that she's going to be sparring with students who are likely to bully her. She knows that she needs to protect herself and to toughen up because Fuzzy is bent on protecting her against everyone who hates her. The list of people who hate her family and therefor would hate her too would stretch into the millions of people. Not all of them are going to try and harm her, but if Sasha gets outed as her father's daughter in a public space or gets recognized, she's going to be in trouble and that means Fuzzy is likely going to be in trouble too. Especially as Seattle gets more and more violent. Fuzzy is going to try and take history with Sasha, theater won out and so did spellcasting. This is a problem if Fuzzy can't get into third year history. We'll get to this in a bit. Also, on a meta level, I will literally have Fuzzy and Sasha try out for the roles of Romeo and Juliet to mess with you, Cour. You know, since you draw the distinction between the two so often. I might as well embrace it. Or not. Maybe.  Julie is taking assensing/astral projection and spellcasting for her first semester. No electives here. She's prepping for the prophecy. Kenji is definitely going into art with Oli. His presence will help her get along with people and short circuit almost any bullying. He's going to be taking enchanting too. These will compliment one another as I'll always roll his art skill first to give his enchanting skill extra dice. Keep in mind that I love tattoos, but not trashy ones. Tattoos are like any art. You can have terrible looking art, you can have well made, trashy art, you can have workman like art, you can have the work of a talented amateur or you can make your body a painting. I lean towards the last. No barbed wire. No trashy lower back tattoos. No Celtic knots. Nothing like that. Kenji is money motivated and being able to ink magic tattoos can turn into a lucrative business for him. I want the art to be personal, meaningful and tasteful. For example, Fuzzy loves to press flowers and received them as a gift from someone that she saved. Inking copies of those flowers as a full sleeve or perhaps the bicep to the shoulder would make the magic more personal and therefor more effective as well as looking aesthetically pleasing. She has received her weight in flowers from a grateful friend. Now she can wear them too. That is what I have in mind as a for instance. Anyway, I'll allow Kenji to buy up to 3 points of enchanting for the first class or 2 points of enchanting and a tattoo specialty in his first semester. The elective in art will give him a +1 in the artisan skill. For his magic skills he'll need to spend karma (he has a lot of karma) though he'll need to make contact with a magical tattoo specialist to pick up a specialty. Mr. Peters can assist him in that by helping him find one to apprentice under. However, this will take time, which is going to be eaten up by Min Yun and shadowrun nonsense. I don't foresee it happening before Christmas at the very least. Since we're not taking the class with Julian, this means he's going to attempt to talk to Min Yun about Dog. There's are two catches here. One medium sized, and one big. First, Kenji can only talk to her on the weekends. She's also her own person and she's going to be busy. She'll help him, because she's pack and that's what Dog shamans do for their pack, but this isn't a sprint. It's a marathon. The big catch is that neither of them speak the same language at a technical level (either native or 12 points combined intuition plus language skill or above). They don't even speak the same language at a conversational level (which is an 8 combined), though most of the time they can make it work for what they often do which is ACHE delving and gambling. Min Yun speaks Hmong as her native language which Kenji knows only at a basic level. Kenji speaks English as his native language. The closest language that they both understand each other best in is Korean. This is Kenji and Min Yun's third language. Kenji is not conversational in it, though he is close. English is Min Yun's fourth language. On the other hand, Min Yun is a passable teacher as she taught Kenji how to cheat at cards when he was little as well as a smattering of how to survive in the ACHE and on ACHE delves. The trust they share does greatly aid in the learning process. Julian would be almost ideal in understanding Dog save for his lack of practical experience due to not being a Dog shaman. Min Yun would be ideal for Kenji if he spoke Hmong or she spoke English at a technical level, but neither do. He's not even conversational in Hmong and speaks it at about a sixth grade level. So they're going to fumble a lot as they try to talk about technical magical concepts in the smattering of languages that they both know: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Hmong. Min Yun doesn't speak Japanese though Kenji does and Kenji doesn't speak Lao (the Laotian language), though Min Yun does. It's going to be a slow and frustrating process. Further, due to the topic of magic, a lot of it can't be expressed through a translation program. They've gotten a lot better, but talking about capital D Dog is pretty esoteric and future google translate is going to be useless. It's also going to eat into their time on the weekends, and Min Yun is going feature prominently in this arc, so her time is going to be precious. Anyhoo, it looks like Kenji is going to ask Julie about his dreams. We'll see how that goes.
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May 24, 2018 01:25
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I think that Fuzzy would make a marvelous Juliet. She loves being the one romanced, after all, and it would be a great opportunity for her to have to wear a dress. By the same token, Sasha as Romeo would give her some great opportunities to explore some of the aggression, anger, and frustration she's going through right now. Kenji should buy a good Linguasoft and use it as an AR translator. Or, alternatively, gift Min Yun one for English. She'll probably get more mileage out of an English-Hmong translator than Kenji would.
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May 24, 2018 02:21
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jagadaishio posted:I think that Fuzzy would make a marvelous Juliet. She loves being the one romanced, after all, and it would be a great opportunity for her to have to wear a dress. Oh gosh. I don't remember Juliet being so buff or having so many tattoos! 
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May 24, 2018 03:54
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Oh man, I can almost see Fuzzy with the sleeves of pastel flower tattoos. That's gonna look really nice. I know we're not there yet, but I'm thinking her first tattoo being a single open flower between her shoulder blades that lets her see the world as Sasha does (the Astral) would be great.
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May 24, 2018 03:54
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Stylized flowers would be a great motif for her tattoos. You know, like the way waves feature prominently in Japanese tattoos. Probably with totemic animals featured against that background, especially for the magic ones? Fuzzy does love flowers, after all.
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May 24, 2018 04:09
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Ice Phisherman posted:Also, on a meta level, I will literally have Fuzzy and Sasha try out for the roles of Romeo and Juliet to mess with you, Cour. You know, since you draw the distinction between the two so often. I might as well embrace it. Or not. Maybe.  Great, now you got this song stuck in my head! Love me love me Say that you love me Leave me leave me Just say that you need me I can't care 'bout anything but you jagadaishio posted:I think that Fuzzy would make a marvelous Juliet. She loves being the one romanced, after all, and it would be a great opportunity for her to have to wear a dress. Get out of my head!! I was literally thinking the same thing; if we really want to mess with the genre, then let's flip the role for these two. Not sure how we'd swing this as part of 'auditions' though. That said, yeah, Sasha being the rash emotional Romeo poisoning herself over Fuzzy, and Fuzzy going, "Oh, happy dagger, this is thy sheath. There rust and let me die." works too; Fuzzy would never suicide, and, I can definitely seeing her sacrificing herself for love. Hell, we even have spear-knife ready to go. Eff it, I just set that scene for Ice didn't I? /gasp: Did Fuzzy just pull out a real knife for the scene?!? Ice Phisherman posted:So they're going to fumble a lot as they try to talk about technical magical concepts in the smattering of languages that they both know: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean and Hmong. Min Yun doesn't speak Japanese though Kenji does and Kenji doesn't speak Lao (the Laotian language), though Min Yun does. So, Cityspeak then. I mean, its that similar Shadowrun / Bladerunner setting right?
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May 24, 2018 05:37
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Ice Phisherman posted:That was beautiful and I loved that. Thanks! I've really enjoyed watching these kids grow over the schoolyear but I had to give special props for Kenji's story. The capstone to his development arc may have been folded into the climax of Fuzzy and Sasha's story for that year, but it was a really touching moment. The other kids in the story might not have had time to fully grasp the enormity of his decision in the heat of the moment but us readers certainly did. Then Fuzzy almost put the poor kid into the ground by accident and H O O B O Y
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May 24, 2018 10:32
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If you guys wanted the Fuzzy/Sasha Romeo/Juliet scene, you should have voted Theatre 
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May 24, 2018 10:37
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Xarbala posted:. . . H O O B O Y I get this reference, and I miss that thread. sheep-dodger posted:If you guys wanted the Fuzzy/Sasha Romeo/Juliet scene, you should have voted Theatre I wanted Teen Tikes Courtroom Drama, thank you very much, except no one else voted for Law.
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May 24, 2018 20:51
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Julie and Chip - Monday, July 22, 2074 - Morning - Touristville Julie awoke to the chirping of a commlink near her bedside. The internal lights were linked wirelessly to her commlink and so they slowly began to brighten, like a sunrise, though from above. A warm body was pressed up against hers. She sighed internally and rolled away. That internal sigh was met with a feeling. She felt it, but it wasn't hers. This was normal. It was a response of sheepishness and happiness. It wasn't anything illicit or lewd. Sometimes Chip, her ally spirit, just liked crawling onto the bed with her. Mentally and emotionally he was a pre-teen, maybe ten or eleven. Still, she was trying to break him of the habit. The thought about breaking him of the habit was met with the emotional equivalent of a blown raspberry, as he could read her emotions and thoughts and she could read his. The little, dark skinned ork boy in the blue shorts and the white t-shirt vanished and the tiny weight that was on the bed with her disappeared. However, he wasn't an ork at all. Like Julie, he'd been something else before, a spirit of man, and Julie had once been a human. Chip was a tiny spirit that she'd made a pact with just after Christmas this year. He reappeared at her door. This disappearing and reappearing as he moved through the astral plane, the plane of magic where spirits resided and ran parallel to the real world, was normal to her now. "Can I make pancakes?" he asked, innocently. "You suck at making pancakes," she groaned. "You always make a mess and never clean it up." Julie knew this was on purpose. She'd gleaned that the spirit enjoyed food that was cooked for him, not food that was cooked by him. In the literal sense she could feel that he enjoyed it less. The little spirit that looked suspiciously like a young ork rocked back and forth on the heels of his bare feet, his arms behind his back as he suddenly looked away. A sly smile sliced across his face. "Then can you make pancakes?" he asked, slyly. Chip didn't need to eat or sleep for that matter. Though he was a spirit of man, he was still a being composed entirely of magic. The little glutton ate for the pure enjoyment of it, not because he needed to eat. In her less charitable moments, Julie would resent this fact as she wished she could do just that. However, when he slept next to her it was because he liked her and because she liked him. After all, she'd fed him many of her own experiences. In a way, he was her, or at least in part. She'd chosen to feed him mostly her experiences of healing others, but she had also fed him a tiny ration of her experiences of mischief and violence to round him out as a person. "You don't want me to make pancakes," said Julie, groggily. "You want Oli to make pancakes." "Yeah!" he exclaimed. "Oli's pancakes are the best!" Julie put a pillow over her head to stop the lights from hitting her eyes. She groaned as the commlink continued to chirp louder and louder, the lights brighter and brighter. She couldn't just slap her hand over her commlink like one could an alarm clock. For one it was expensive. So expensive in fact that one could buy a used car for the same price. Not that she could afford to buy it. It had not only been gifted to her by Sasha back when she was still the child of Ares upper management, something akin to corporate nobility, but Kenji had taken a pass on it to help her be more socially accepted. It was a status symbol. And so, her status symbol continued to chirp. Unable to take it any longer, the bright lights, the chirping or Chip's childlike exuberance, she sat up and grabbed her sleek, silver colored commlink. She unlocked the commlink via the touchscreen with a few swipes of her thumbs, each moving in a complex pattern, stopping and starting at different times to make an abstract geometric shape. "Unlock," she said, as she cracked a yawn. "Dual thumbscan complete, pattern unlock complete, trusted location unlock complete, voice unlock incomplete," it read. "Please try again." Julie pushed her long, black hair out of her face and cleared her throat. "Unlock," she said, clearly. "Voice unlock complete," it read. The wake-up screen for the tippy top of the line commlink, the Transys Avalon, quickly loaded just long enough with a low hum, reminiscent of an electronic orchestra that was heavy on the strings section. She had one video text from Kenji. She opened it up, now fully awake, though with messy hair. A picture of him appeared and as always her Asian friend was ridiculously photogenic. She saw his light brown eyes, cupid's bow lips and pointed chin. However, he must have been experimenting with his powers again, because his hair was a chestnut brown instead of his usual black. He was more beautiful than handsome. She stared at that picture for a few seconds longer than she normally would have months ago and pressed play. The video began, and his head bobbed as he walked. "Hey, it's me," he began. "Out the door on my apartment forever. I'm going to celebrate my few hours of homelessness before I settle into a new cabin at school. I'm thinking Eighty-eight Tastes. Now I know what you're thinking, Kenji, that's an ork and troll territory. What's an elf like you doing down there?" "Mind reader," she complained. He'd even paused and flashed her a smile, the twin dimples he displayed were absolutely devastating to the young woman in ways that she didn't fully comprehend. She was keenly aware of the tangled mess that her hair was in and felt positively wretched. "Well they have these steamed buns that look like little rabbits and pigs on their matrix page," he continued. "The rabbits are sweet and the pigs are salty. Sasha will think they're too cute to eat and Fuzzy will think they're cute and eat them anyway. You know, since they can't get some for themselves since they're on the island? Julian was right about the weekend Knight-Errant and Lone Star protests spilling into Monday, so F and S are already on the island. Anyway, I thought I'd be a sweet friend and stuff and be magnanimous. I'll buy you, Oli and yes, even Chip some dim sum and tea while I butcher the Cantonese language in front of strained, smiling orks." He waggled his eyebrows. At this at least she could roll her dark brown eyes. "I figure the tourists aren't flocking down there yet and people at Mrs. Liu's shop keep their judgement on the inside," he said, smugly. "I'm thinking I'll pretend I'm all bougie and get the chrysanthemum tea as that sounds the most pompous to my uncultured mind. Got to keep up appearances, you know? I'll be there at seven-thirty. I want to be out of Touristville by eight to catch the nine o'clock boat. Hit me back when you get this. Later." He tilted his head slightly winked at her, and his dimples made their encore appearance, one just a tad more dimply than the other. That was the last frame in the video message. Again, Julie stared at the picture for a solid thirty seconds. A few months ago getting a wireless message wouldn't have been possible in her house, but she'd used some of that unofficial Touristville currency which she still didn't understand how much she had or how it worked to hook up her doctor's office to the matrix. It was much easier when medical tourists could actually schedule visits and make changes and cancellations, and her nurses could talk to insurance companies and receive bills like a normal business. Then after that she'd just hooked up her home since it was just across the lane, a mere ten feet away. She had to hook up every room since it was her home, and her walls were made of the native stone, but she had access to the matrix now. Julie shushed Chip and made her response. It was audio only since she was a mess. "H-Hey Kenji," she said, nervously, "It's um...Six thirty- five. I'll send Chip to go get Oli. I think she's at home. I mean, why wouldn't she be at home? Where else would she be? So yeah...This is um...Me. Hitting you back. I bet you'd like that. Ha ha." Her thumb hovered over the send button. Then, realizing how lame she sounded, she furiously mashed delete. "Argh! I'm so lame!" she agonized. "Why am I so lame?! "You like him," said Chip. He'd stopped jumping around. He disappeared from his spot near the door and reappeared a second later as he sat near the far edge of her bed, his legs crossed. His tone was absent of his normal teasing or brattiness. "No I don't," said Julie, defensively. Chip cocked his head to the side like a dog. It was just alien enough to remind her that he wasn't a metahuman. He sent her a silent emotional message, as were all of their emotional conversations. These conversation were faster than speech and helped resolve his difficulties with Julie when normal speech was too imprecise. "Misunderstanding?" he asked, emotionally. Julie hesitated before answering. If she didn't say something he wouldn't stop pestering her. Belatedly she realized that he was feeling her hesitation and doubt. "Don't understand myself," she replied, emotionally. Her emotions were tinged with resignation which again she realized he could feel. She couldn't lie to herself when Chip was involved. Her ally spirit smiled innocently at her, his cocked head set right again. "I help. I understand you," he said, emotionally. "You like him." Julie sighed miserably. Unlike a normal sixteen year old girl, she didn't have the blessing or curse, depending on which way you looked at it, of figuring out her emotions for herself or perhaps with a friend over a steaming mug of horchata, soykaf or tea. Chip helped her with that by having access to her emotions with near perfect outside context. He understood her because in part, he was made of her experiences. She could shut him out, and occasionally would, but normally their emotional dialogue was on, not off. Instead of Chip's revelation simplifying things, this just brought her feelings into further confusion. This confused Chip, which she felt like an echo of her own. "Do you want to kiss him and stuff?" he asked, with his words this time. Julie didn't have a response for that. She was uncomfortable, but hadn't told him to stop yet. If she asked he would. "Touch butts together?" he asked. Julie spluttered in surprise. "What?!" she exclaimed. Chip was taken aback. He didn't stand up or shift, but almost hovered backwards to the edge of the bed without breaking his crossed legged posture. It was almost as if he was growing smaller, but he was actually just slowly sliding away. "I asked Kenji one time what people do when they really, really like each other," he said, sheepishly. "You know, besides kissing. You told me that one time that I shouldn't look at people when they're alone together like that, but I'm curious. So I asked him. He said when they're alone they touch their butts together." If Julie had the complexion for blushing, her face would have lit up. However, her skin was too dark. Her cheeks still warmed considerably though. She read his emotions and just like she expected, he wasn't teasing her. Chip was completely serious. "You know," continued Chip. "Like...Smoosh." Chip pressed his two small hands together as if to illustrate. Julie just stared at him in shock. "Butt to butt, right?" he asked, nervously. "I'm not sure if you're old enough for that conversation!" she said, quickly. She continued, somewhat more slowly and calmly, "And I see that the fact that Kenji can lie now is being used for evil. Somehow I'm not surprised." Chip hesitated and paused for a few seconds. Julie could feel the confusion radiating off him and he shifted nervously. "I don't understand," he said, his tone confused. Julie shook her head and pointed towards the door. "Go get Oli and make sure she's ready," said Julie. "Remember to knock and wait this time. You've been forgetting." "But it takes a long time," he whined. "Everyone is so slow." She paused and thought about it for a second. "You know, we've wasted," she began, and checked her commlink. "Five minutes talking. That's five fewer minutes to eat Chinese food. If we're not fast enough we might miss Chinese food altogether. We may not even be able to get any to go." Chip's face contorted with horror. Without another word he got up, ran for her door and disappeared before hitting it. Julie grumbled. Now that Chip was gone she could take a shower and get dressed. However even before that, she took a minute, knelt by her bed and said a quick morning prayer as she reserved the lengthier one for the night before bed. She set her commlink to chirp in fifteen minutes and took that shower, brushed her teeth, blow dried her long, black hair and stepped into her school uniform. The fall and spring uniform reminded her of a fancy summer camp uniform that she'd seen in a movie once. There were dark blue shorts and a light green shirt with the simple isignia of Blake Island School of Magic, her school, set just below the collar bone and above her heart in white. She changed into these while she looked through her wardrobe for accessories. Her friend Justinia, the owner of the clothing shop in Touristville's west end that bore her name, kept repeating to Julie that if Julie tried to keep up with the trends of the extravagantly rich corporate teens she'd bankrupt herself. That included clothing. Even the accessories could do that, which was all that Blake Island allowed during school hours. Instead she'd been encouraged to find her own style. One that flattered her without chasing the trends. She'd taken this to heart, and today she pinned up her hair and threaded a light green and black colored head scarf with floral patterns to cover her forehead and green and black colored glasses. She didn't need glasses, but they were a good way to get a good look at augmented reality which was an absolute necessity when moving through the Seattle Metroplex. Plus they were stylish, or so Justinia had reassured her. She checked out herself in the mirror. She really wished she didn't have to wear the light green and dark blue uniform, but rules were rules. The glasses helped slim her round face and take attention from what was in her opinion her too wide nose. She hated her lips too. Too big and too wide. The small white tusks, the hallmark of the ork, that peeked out from between them. They gleamed white against her dark skin. She was also too tall, six feet exactly. The height she would have preferred was something in the range of five feet. Even five eleven would have been acceptable, but no. Six feet tall and not a single inch shorter. She liked her skin color though. A rich mocha, as she was Afro-Latina. Her eyes were okay she guessed, a dark brown. Nothing to get excited about. She lifted her shirt a little and saw her flat belly. This was something to be happy about, which made her smile. Those hikes around Blake Island while picking up reagents, tiny pieces of the natural environment that magic attached itself to, really helped shed those excess pounds. Though her smile diminished. Perhaps she could be a little thinner. It had been almost a full summer since she'd been on a hike. She'd been too busy getting her EMT training, learning her new spells, healing and diagnosing people in her doctor's office to take a look of time to eat right and exercise. After a critical look at herself she noticed it wasn't as flat as she wanted it to be. "Man," she complained. "Time to hike the island a lot and eat better. I guess." She put on her makeup. This was the easiest part. Gone were the days of kits with their cosmetics, numerous brushes and tweezers. A simple handheld machine that could fit into your pocket did this. She simply selected the style that she wanted that Justinia programmed into it for her. Julie selected "elegant". Then she slowly yet perfectly rolled a small cylinder across her face. Once quickly to apply foundation and then again more slowly to apply the makeup. It chirped, reminded through her augmented reality glasses that she needed to apply more to her eyes, and she did. It was as simple as that, and it was all done in just over two minutes. Perfect makeup every time. Justinia could get it done in over a minute, but Julie liked to take her time. She put in her two earrings. Stones of jet dangled from her ears, framed in dark metal. Several of them branched off from one main, large stone, all in different circular shapes. The jet was synthetic, but still she liked the earrings. They'd been a present from Justinia some months ago. Despite their quality, they were perhaps one of the nicest things that Julie owned and she treasured them. Then she stepped into cute little black sandals with straps. Blake Island wasn't a good place for heels, even tiny ones. It just wasn't practical since most of the trails were tightly packed dirt. Then finally, she put on a black jacket with dark green buttons that reached almost to the bottom of her shorts. It was going to rain later today, but the real reason she wore it was because it was lightly lined with Kevlar. Touristville was a safe place and it had stayed that way over the summer. However, Seattle had become far more dangerous in the last few months since the news of how the police had so brutally abused Seattle's citizens had dropped. The Knight-Errant police force with drugs and the smaller Lone Star police force, who ran the prison she was once an inmate at, covertly experimented on hundreds of children before discarding them. One of those children being her friend Kenji, who'd survived. He was one of few. That thought gave her pause. Her fists tightened into angry balls, but she mastered her anger. She needed to save that for the days to come. Today she would try and relax. She focused on the now. Unable to think of anything else, she lamely tried to think about how cute the jacket was. That was what Justinia said at least. Yes, that was what she would do. She focused on the outfit as a whole to distract herself from dark thoughts that were oh so familiar. Focus shifted to last night, for this ensemble hadn't been thrown together on the spot. Oh no. She didn't even do it alone. This had been the final result of many anxiety plagued hours with Justinia where Julie swore up and down that she just wanted to look nice for the first day of school. That was it. No other reasons. None at all. No sir. None. Not a one. Justinia, being a friend who knew Julie wasn't ready or willing to be confronted about her feelings, didn't disabuse Julie of her delusion like Chip so helpfully and so brutally had. She just helped her friend dress to look lovely on her first day back to school. She looked in the mirror and felt marginally better about herself. Now she was ready to face the day. She picked up her commlink, tapped it a few times and sent a message to Kenji. "Hey Kenji," she said, and she forced disinterest into her tone. "I'm seeing that it's seven ten and I'm out the door. Chip is getting Oli. I'll meet you at Eighty-eight Tastes. Oh, and we need to have a talk about you and Chip. Apparently he thinks that people touching their butts together is what they do when they, in his words, really, really like each other. So we're going to talk about you messing with Chip. See you in a few. This is me. Hitting you back." Then just like that, Julie Freeman, resident healer of Touristville, one of Seattle's finest tourist spots for authentic ork and troll culture and former impoverished ork ghetto, walked out of her apartment. She locked the door and left to go eat Chinese food for breakfast. CYOA Time So how honest is Julie with herself about her feelings? Chip did confront her even if he didn't mean to. Further, what will be Kenji's reaction upon seeing Julie looking awesome? He hasn't seen her in person in weeks and this is the first time she's really put so much effort into how she looks. She's as dressed to the nines as her school uniform will allow for. What is Oli's reaction? Remember, she is a younger, overweight, plain looking poor girl with pink hair on her first day of school. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 00:57 on May 26, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 05:56
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touch all the the butts
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May 25, 2018 06:46
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Julie's probably still feeling unsure about whether she's really into Kenji or just on the rebound, but I also think she's well into Kenji whether she's sure of it or not. Her lingering prejudices against elves may complicate her feelings further but she's a good person making a genuine attempt to be better. It may even spice up her own emotions if she decides to go for it, the knowledge that she's pursuing a relationship with someone from a racial demographic that she, on a basic emotional level, considers her enemy. Even her memories of how she used to see him as just some sleazy elf, and how cold she was, probably rebound back at her as she's forced to reconsider them again. Once when she realized she wanted to be Kenji's friend. And now again that she wants to take that relationship further. She may even be feeling a little guilty about that, though Kenji wouldn't think there was any reason for guilt at all. For as long as she's known him, he's always been this beautiful jackass who's always ready to help out a friend. Kenji's appeal is also entirely different from Marco's, and she's probably unsure of how to reconcile that. Kenji'll be impressed, perhaps enough that he's not sure how he's going to respond. He knows Julie's pretty but now he knows she's a knockout. His heart's still with Min Yun but there's a sense of longing and distance between them, Pack or no, because any romance between them just won't work out. I imagine Kenji does a lot of compartmentalization in his life (as a matter of course) so he may still be unsure about seeing Julie as a woman rather than just as a friend. And he's usually used to treating seduction as part of his job rather than an earnest attempt to woo a partner--which is probably one of the core reasons why he's liable to be unlucky in love. After all, while he and Min Yun are close, he's more awkward with her than he is with many more conventionally, artificially, gorgeous girls he's had to network with. And he's awkward because emotional sincerity is still new territory for him. Kenji's made strides over the past year but there's always room to improve. Similarly, he might also not be sure she's his type, or if his type may need to be re-evaluated, because she's definitely taller than him. Oli is probably going to be about as out of her depth at Blake Island as Julie was, though not as much as Fuzzy. She might even be a little overwhelmed by the rustic beauty of it all. She might still take some barbs along the way but at least she has a support network in the form of her sophomore friends. Also, Grognan posted:touch all the the butts
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May 25, 2018 10:21
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May 25, 2018 11:22
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They smush butts. Julie's going to begrudgingly admit that she finds Kenji super pretty. She's not going to explore any more detailed of feelings yet. No denial, just... Not yet. Kenji's a lot less reluctant to feel for someone, and after that moment they shared at Oli's scholarship party he's got the bug. I say he does that eye-widening double take where you take a glance at someone, then come back for a better look. He gets his demeanor back under control quickly, but Julie's actually really hot, yo. Then they both avoid addressing the attraction out loud by talking about Chip.
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May 25, 2018 11:56
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Julie is making Kenji feel uncomfortable. Not in a bad way, but looking at her makes him feel things that he used to only associating with Min Yun, and this bothers him. He's going to think she looks great, really great. In fact, for a few seconds, his brain is going to completely turn off while he takes her in. Not slack-jawed drooling, but a somewhat uncomfortable stare that's going to make Julie self-conscious and wondering if she's got a stain somewhere on her, before he masters himself and dissembles. Ollie is going to be equally struck, but from a POV of "Big Sis looks great!" Followed immediately by "I wish I looked that good..." And trying to hide behind something. Ollie has conflicting feelings about Kenji, vis 1) He's pretty, 2) He's Older, 3) He's her Patron/Agent/Business Associate, 4) He just stared at Big Sis like like she was a tall drink of water and he a man dying of thirst in the desert. It's Complicated. Edit: Right, Julie's side. It's super hard to lie to yourself when part of you is external and has no problem with calling you out. So she's going to have to admit that she likes him. Doesn't mean she has to do anything about it. After all, how she feels isn't necessarily how he feels, and sure he was pretty flirty this morning but he flirts with basically everyone, so it's not like she's special or anything, right? Right. What's he staring at, anyway? Oh god, did I spill some of breakfast on me? Crap crap crap crap crap... RickVoid fucked around with this message at 14:23 on May 25, 2018 |
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May 25, 2018 14:15
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quote:These were the thoughts of Julie Freeman as she looked in the mirror. Like many young women her age, she had body image problems. Day in, day out, she was inundated with media that told her that she could be thinner if she bought into this diet, more beautiful if she bought this clothing or that makeup. Too much of this, not enough of that, whatever this and that was. Many of those beauty standards were set by models so artificially beautiful that they might as well be otherworldly. Julie Freeman was definitely pretty. Especially if one liked dark skinned ork women, and many people did. However, being pretty and feeling pretty are two very different things. You might want to heavily rewrite or just excise this paragraph where you just kool-ade man your way through the fourth wall and monologue at the reader.
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May 25, 2018 14:50
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Oli is not going to be helped by Julie's appearance. Oli is nervous about this, doesn't know what to expect, is going to be looking to Julie for guidance... And Julie is now looking better than she's ever seen her? Is this how she should look? Should she have put more effort in? Is this going to workout, oh god I look terrible next to Julie I'm going to stand out so much...
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May 25, 2018 16:12
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Volmarias posted:You might want to heavily rewrite or just excise this paragraph where you just kool-ade man your way through the fourth wall and monologue at the reader. Yeah... Yeah he's not wrong. It's not awful given that we're at the start of a new book but... Eh.
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May 25, 2018 17:35
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Volmarias posted:You might want to heavily rewrite or just excise this paragraph where you just kool-ade man your way through the fourth wall and monologue at the reader. Thanks. I fixed that.
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May 25, 2018 19:22
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Ice Phisherman posted:Julie knew this was on purpose. She'd gleaned that the spirit enjoyed food that was cooked for him, not food that was cooked by him. In the literal sense she could feel that he enjoyed it less. Don’t we all. Ice Phisherman posted:The little glutton ate for the pure enjoyment of it, not because he needed to eat. In her less charitable moments, Julie would resent this fact as she wished she could do just that. I feel like this will eventually become a problem. Ice Phisherman posted:"Dual thumbscan complete, pattern unlock complete, trusted location unlock complete, voice unlock incomplete," it read. "Please try again." Four layers? I’d toss my phone if I had to go through 4 layers of unlock every time. Ice Phisherman posted:I'm thinking Eighty-eight Tastes. Oh Kenny, don’t ever change. Ice Phisherman posted:I'll buy you, Oli and yes, even Chip some dim sum and tea while I butcher the Cantonese language in front of strained, smiling orks." Yep, checks out; we’d all used to stare at the white guy buying his Canto girlfriend’s family the Sunday dim sum lunch, it can be quite the show. Ice Phisherman posted:"I'm thinking I'll pretend I'm all bougie and get the chrysanthemum tea as that sounds the most pompous to my uncultured mind. Got to keep up appearances, you know?” Chrysanthemum Tea is moderately bougie, good research Ice. It’s considered moderately snootier than regular tea because it’s a flower, not actual tea leaves, so the taste is more subtle, and you’re expected to get fresh flowers for your pot after a refill or two. It’s meant for those with a more ‘discerning palette’, as it were. Ice Phisherman posted:"You like him," said Chip.  Ice Phisherman posted:"No I don't," said Julie, defensively. Oh, sweetie. Ice Phisherman posted:"Don't understand myself," she replied, emotionally. Ice, stop making me feel like I have a literary proxy daughter! Ice Phisherman posted:"Do you want to kiss him and stuff?" he asked, with his words this time. Ice Phisherman posted:"Touch butts together?" he asked. Young man, Imma wash your mouth out with soap. Ice Phisherman posted:"You know," continued Chip. "Like...Smoosh."  They grow up so fast. Ice Phisherman posted:This had been the final result of many anxiety plagued hours with Justinia where Julie swore up and down that she just wanted to look nice for the first day of school. That was it. No other reasons. None at all. No sir. None. Not a one. Justinia, being a friend who knew Julie wasn't ready or willing to be confronted about her feelings, didn't disabuse Julie of her delusion like Chip helpfully and brutally had. She just helped her friend dress to look lovely on her first day back to school. Oh sweet’ums, I see it’s time for another girls pizza and ice cream night. Ice Phisherman posted:CYOA Time Julie’s confused, and I think she’s going to stay confused for a while. Kenny’s status intimidates her, and even if she were to full reconcile her feelings, I think the hurdle of her doing something about her crush is one leap too far; it’s the equivalent of the high school nerd asking the head cheerleader / captain of the football team out. I think she’s happy to let things stay ambiguous, because ambiguity means not suffering the pain and hurt of rejection. Ice Phisherman posted:Further, what will be Kenji's reaction upon seeing Julie looking awesome? Kenny will raise an eyebrow and compliment her in that Kenny way, then otherwise get back to the business at hand. They haven’t done anything together, in a relationship building sense, since the ‘incident’, so he might have completely forgotten about the whole thing, or caulked it up to the alcohol. Ironically enough, the way to get a guy like Kenny to pay attention to you isn’t to be ‘pretty’, dude gets enough skirts fluttering around him as it is, what’s another one? You gotta show him you’re worthy of his respect, play at his level. Which is why this whole thing between Julie and Kenny is doomed. Ice Phisherman posted:What is Oli's reaction? Remember, she is a younger, overweight, plain looking poor girl with pink hair on her first day of school. Oli takes one look at Kenny, Julie, and regrets her decision to go to Blake. The reality has hit home this morning, she’s going to an elite school, and she doesn’t belong there. Maybe even a slight panic attack; her adjustment is going to be tough, maybe even tougher than Julie’s. Now I get why Ice warned us Oli’s gonna get bullied unless one of the protags shares a class with her.
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May 25, 2018 20:47
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CourValant posted:
I agree with all of this. Also, Kenji will say something smartarse about her getting all dressed up for someone. In regards to Julie's feelings, I think she'll be pretty honest. It's hard not to with Chip around. It might exacerbate her racism somewhat in a kind of 'I like you, but I don't want to. Stupid pretty elves!' sort of way.
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May 25, 2018 22:38
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Chatrapati posted:Also, Kenji will say something smartarse about her getting all dressed up for someone. No matter what, this is a good place to start. I do want to see Kenji and Julie try, though I don't think it'll work out. And I say this in a more sombre tone than when I say Octo and Gentoo won't work out, which I'm more lighthearted about.
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May 26, 2018 04:00
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Chatrapati posted:Stupid pretty elves!' sort of way. You've been reading my fan fiction again?
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May 26, 2018 05:17
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Tsundere Julie? Do not want.
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May 26, 2018 05:44
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Oh man, more Blake Island! RickVoid posted:Julie is making Kenji feel uncomfortable. Not in a bad way, but looking at her makes him feel things that he used to only associating with Min Yun, and this bothers him. He's going to think she looks great, really great. In fact, for a few seconds, his brain is going to completely turn off while he takes her in. Not slack-jawed drooling, but a somewhat uncomfortable stare that's going to make Julie self-conscious and wondering if she's got a stain somewhere on her, before he masters himself and dissembles. Also, touch all the butts. About getting a podcast going: This might be a real stupid idea, but whatever. I listen to 40k podcast by the two goons SRM and TheSexCannon, both of which are, as I understand it, actual audio engineers. Anyway, I bring it up because the Badcast has excellent audio quality and production values, and I figure fellow goons might be able to give some nice pointers. Link here: https://40kbadcast.com/contact/
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May 26, 2018 07:18
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RickVoid posted:Tsundere Julie? Exactly, Julie can still be caught off guard with her feelings but she's definitely going to be maturing and acting like an adult sooner than later, the crucible of pressure she's in is going to result in a gem of a person with self confidence, something is going to make it click for her. Someone said that Kenji and Fuzzy had the worst backgrounds, that's true but Julie's is only a little better because of the normalcy before her change. She was in a prison for years and as still a good person, she's got strength of will and strendt of magic and a good moral compass, so eventually her self confidence is going to kick in. As far as the narrative in like plan Rick Void
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May 26, 2018 11:39
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RickVoid posted:Tsundere Julie? Do not want this either. I'm a bit of a weeb, but I'm more into giant robots fighting one another or ships in space lead by men way too pretty to be generals. There's a formula to most current anime that I'm not into. I'm trying to do something interesting and new, and I want to be as far away from formula as possible. In fact it's why I left erotica and romance. Anyway, if anything, Chip is going to keep Julie honest with herself. This is the effect of giving him etiquette as a skill all those months ago. If Chip gets an upgrade (which is possible, Julie has enough karma), he's going to be better at talking to people than Julie will. And since he is a part of Julie, he's going to understand her better than she will understand herself. However, Julie is not particularly socially graceful. Kenji is the best of the lot, Fuzzy is working on that (still can't lie worth a drat) and Julie has one point each in etiquette and con. She can intimidate people and she's good at it, but she's only really been skating by so far on her looks so far when it comes to lying. And unlike Kenji and to a lesser extent, Fuzzy, she can't rely on her reputation, which is still screwed. She's not being bullied anymore, but she's still something of an awkward social outcast. Kenji on the other hand is great at getting along with people. However, this has drawbacks as well. He's basically the island's male arm candy. A sort of natural resource for bored corporate nobility. The dating scene on Blake Island is amazingly toxic (that's going to be a minor theme this year with a secondary character) and if Kenji and Julie did get together it would be a major slap in the face to the half dozen or so people he turns down to be with her. Julie has very little idea about what she wants, is still an emotional mess and doesn't really understand social graces. She still doesn't understand that by breaking up with Marco last year that was personally humiliating to him, and if it were almost anyone else they would have sought out some sort of retribution. So Julie has no idea what she wants, what she'd be asking for and if she discovered it what she wanted, would have no idea about the politics of what that meant. So it's high school all over again. It's high stakes to the people that live there. It feels low stakes to us as we're older and have left it. It's both high stakes and low stakes. It's low stakes right up until they point where your'e dragged into an alley and mercilessly thrashed for breaking up with Becky and making her cry. She is rich and has privilege, you are not and do not and you don't have anyone in your corner who would stave off Becky's wounded pride as she lashes out in a petty and thoughtless burst of anger. The corporate upper management class aren't like today's rich people (at least in the west) that we're aware of. Today there's still a veneer of everyone being equal. In Shadowrun that's largely stripped away. The laws aren't all in effect for them to be nobility, but they're in the process of solidifying. Today's rich in the west have wealth and power. Tomorrow rich have wealth, power and privilege. Think of the worst days of the Victorian era where a poor man bumps into a rich one and the rich one feels no hesitation about mercilessly beating the poor man with his cane, or simply having his carriage driver horsewhip him. So Kenji and Julie are single. Kenji is navigating the island's toxic dating scene because he wants access to the wealthy and is well aware of how dangerous that is. Julie on the other hand has no social graces, and Kenji and Sasha, the only two people who would really be in a position to explain this to her, are currently dealing with their own problems. On top of that, it's also a delicate topic to bring up. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 20:52 on May 26, 2018 |
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May 26, 2018 20:46
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I'm still tittering at Chip. TOUCH ALL THE BUTTS! I'm tablet posting so formulating long posts is a pain in my rear end but basically (wtf autocorrect? Vaginally? Really?) Plan RickVoid hits everything I would have said. This is a beautiful disaster waiting to happen. I love the lingering gaze she keeps giving Kenji's video message. I've been that wrapped up in someone without wanting to acknowledge it before.
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May 26, 2018 20:54
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Man, I'm down for upgrading Chip literally whenever possible. More Force, more Skills, more Powers, more Spells; it's all good. He's like a Master's-level thesis - him being as powerful and complex as possible opens a lot of doors to Julie, where magical prestige is concerned. That, and Chip is just loving great. And rich teenagers are exactly the type of people with the power and the means to hire a squad of shadowrunners (think Kenji, Gentoo, Min Yun, and Octo) to all go and beat up their ex without even shrugging at the personal security that's going to get killed in the process. Some shadow runs are cunning ploys, carefully planned for strategic reasons - and some are knocking some heads for the pettiest possible reasons.
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May 26, 2018 22:58
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| # ? Apr 25, 2024 02:38 |
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I agree, Chip is the bestest. I like the idea of him being almost a thesis, that's an excellent way of putting his growing comp!exity. Also shadowrunners hired to beat someone up because they ditched Muffy is high school basic bitchery dialed to corp princess levels of perfection for the setting.
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May 26, 2018 23:06
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