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Kenji, couldn't you find one hour to talk to your friends about this whole "there's a gang after you"? Did you just forget during while having a nice chat about the week, or you didn't even do that, so busy with your new friend that you failed to talk to us boring commoners? I'm disappointed in you. It's okay, don't worry about us, we'll manage without you. *sniff* Okay, that's out of my system. I start to understand why my old folks do it, though. Xarbala posted:Oh ya. voting! 1.Sit on the favor for now. 2. How much of 'em know each other (Gentroo and Min Yun should know each other, having gone running together at least once - that's how we met both!) ? We can use it to ask one to talk to the other ("Kenji's saying he can't contact you for some reason, but he can me - and he want me to tell you..."). Because "I'm calling my room mate" sound alright, but go find a good cover for Gentroo. 3. Answer honestly - "Wow, okay, I didn't expect that - it will take me some time to digest, then I'll answer". Aside, we lack the knowledge of the finer details of nobility behavior, but - what does this means? Gonna meet and greet, have a date, else? We exchanged one sentence. What kind of commitment it is? 'Cause anything more than a blind date is asking for a bit much. Also, she may be good looking girl and all, but the politics means we can't just do it - or at all (we like our freedom and independence, and start dating nobles like that throws us straight into the system. Hard to sell). Ice Phisherman posted:Then she asks him if he’s seen someone named Kenji. He has black hair, Asian kid, pretty, hard to miss Didn't appear in the text. quote:There was a message from Fuzzy, asking him to tell Julie sorry for not showing up this week.
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Aug 19, 2018 23:14
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editing:quote:Kenji hoped that this wouldn’t be remembered and went directly into the bathroom as people. Not sure what this was supposed to be.
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Aug 20, 2018 02:03
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At least respond to Min Yun. Gun Jam's idea is clever if we're at risk for doing too many responses. If we have time to go on a date we should. Kenji's thing is being liked and it'll make people like us more. Probably.
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Aug 20, 2018 03:31
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Apologies for the strange words in the subtext. I write stuff to myself and finished this morning sort of tired. I'll fix the red text. ' As for what courting entails, that is up to Saanvi. Joyce was not specific.
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Aug 20, 2018 04:01
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Ask about what courtship entails. This could be a hell of an inroad for Kenji.
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Aug 20, 2018 04:06
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Kenji's top priority really needs to be finding at least the minimum amount of time necessary to arrange that run against the Human Brotherhood. That's time-sensitive and a matter that could easily be life-and death. He's stared death in the face enough times to know to prioritize that. Hit up Min Yun with a text while they're in the air. Then, after meeting with Julie and Krupa, find an excuse to cut out for a few hours - but make plans to meet back up again for dinner so that Joyce doesn't feel completely bailed on. Arrange the Tacoma run - with a scant direct payment, and the primary pay instead being 'steal everything that isn't nailed down' - and then get back to Joyce. Probably use Clever as escrow, and meet up with Min Yun while arranging that. As for courtship, I say hell yes. It could become a bad complication, but I actual think it has more potential for good than not, as crazy as that sounds. The courting stage can easily end short of actually establishing a romance, and it could make for a useful opportunity at making a new Tir friend - this time a get-poo poo-done type instead of a diplomatic fop. Best case scenario he turns it into a platonic and useful friendship, realistic case things fizzle out when neither has access to each other, and worst case scenario she turns out to be really cool and Kenji starts liking her in a way that sure to turn into problems. But make it real clear going in that Kenji is completely clueless about how courtship is supposed to work, so it'll have to be exactly what Joyce said: her courting him.
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Aug 20, 2018 08:08
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I am, as usual, down with plan jag
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Aug 20, 2018 10:13
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plan jag
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Aug 20, 2018 13:11
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1. Sit on the favor. 3. Ask for more details about what the courtship entails before we agree to anything. Dr Subterfuge fucked around with this message at 13:29 on Aug 20, 2018 |
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Aug 20, 2018 13:25
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I don’t think we’ll be able to cut out for hours, probably just 15-30 minutes, but otherwise plan jag is fine.
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Aug 20, 2018 13:41
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Plan Jag seems legit, it'll be interesting to see how the competent but no less traumatized version of Edward deals with love 
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Aug 20, 2018 15:47
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ThatBasqueGuy posted:Plan Jag seems legit, it'll be interesting to see how the competent but no less traumatized version of Edward deals with love Someone seems to be forgetting about Julia  Also, it's going to be difficult to keep a relationship like this from Olisha. I'm thinking Olisha is a bit of a millstone around our necks right now, though, so working on diversifying Kenji's art contacts is probably a big priority either way. Dr Subterfuge fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Aug 20, 2018 |
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Aug 20, 2018 16:46
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Xarbala posted:Oh Plans Gun Jam and Dr Subterfuge
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Aug 20, 2018 17:05
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Ice Phisherman posted:As for what courting entails, that is up to Saanvi. Joyce was not specific. Wouldn't Kenji be able to ask Joyce about the customs surrounding courtship in Tir?
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Aug 20, 2018 17:34
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Was the plate armor something you came up with? I scoffed for a nanosecond before realizing it's actually incredible, especially with weird future-nobility.
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Aug 20, 2018 17:43
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Toughy posted:Also Ice, did you role for Joyce vs Julian to get permission for Kenji to leave, or just hand wave it? I hand waved it. Joyce has been in Julian's class for a year and he knows how to deal with getting someone out of their mentor driven mindsets. It's the first thing they learn how to do as a sort of magical safety class. Anyhoo, apologies if the write-up didn't exactly match the story. I did the write-up before I edited book one and while I got the rolls correct, I didn't get all of the story beats correct. There was about a two week gap between me storyboarding and me writing the last of the story so I forgot some details. It seems like no one is interested in spending the favor, everyone surprisingly is into "being courted" though I'll also mix in the sort of trepidation that much of the thread feels about that while also being up front that Kenji doesn't have a lot of time on his hands. So we'll see how that goes. I found it funny that normally it's the women are interested in Kenji, but while this is still true, he's not the one who is being the aggressor or pursuer. It's a sort of subversion of the romance genre and really normal heterosexual relationships for the woman to pursue the man, which I also find interesting. In many of these cases in books, you end up with a girl who is fairly unthreatening, but interested. As a Tir paladin in training, she is inherently threatening. Anyway, I'm going to have fun with this. We'll see where it goes.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:06
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I'll be the voice of dissent to say thank you but no
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Aug 20, 2018 18:25
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Yeah I think this is a danger zone for Kenji - he could really hurt himself by getting involved with nobility, and will probably wait and see how things are going politically before committing.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:29
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I don't want to dismiss the overture out of hand, but I'm also not too keen on it. I recognize that the extra contact(s) are worth something but pretty much the only way I'd be satisfied in being involved in Tir is subverting it.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:34
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1. Bank the favor 2. Prioritize Fixing 3. Go courting with an eye to develop more fixer contacts even if the romantic part doesn't work out
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Aug 20, 2018 18:35
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How would Edward respond to waking up and being married to a facist elf lesser noble? Not well, I’m thinking.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:41
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I'll say it again, my only issue with Krupa is that she's naive and is from the Nazi-Elf State. I'm down for learning about her sister, and what courtship would entail. For those concerned about the JulieXKenji situation, I'm not opposed to that going somewhere, but Kenji/Julie is no less of a trainwreck than Julie/Marco was, and this is a hell of an opportunity that I don't think we (Kenji) can afford to pass up.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:50
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jagadaishio posted:Then, after meeting with Julie and Krupa, find an excuse to cut out for a few hours "Since this is the only time I'll have signal for who know how much, mind I make a phone call, arrange something with my roommate?" jagadaishio posted:As for courtship, I say hell yes. It could become a bad complication, but I actual think it has more potential for good than not, as crazy as that sounds. The courting stage can easily end short of actually establishing a romance, and it could make for a useful opportunity at making a new Tir friend - this time a get-poo poo-done type instead of a diplomatic fop. Best case scenario he turns it into a platonic and useful friendship, realistic case things fizzle out when neither has access to each other, and worst case scenario she turns out to be really cool and Kenji starts liking her in a way that sure to turn into problems. In the "bad idea that could be hilarious, let's not do it" - let's not learn about courtship, and just assume things. Because the look on their faces when Kenji'll say "why didn't you told me she got a single sister, man" and ask for her number will be priceless. More seriously - maybe I'm taking it a bit too much since it sound formal and noble-y, but - They know Kenji's for a few hours, and the sister only heard about him. If it is just " 'hey, cute guy', 'I'm gonna check him out' ", sure - but we know there's arranged marriages and all of that. And while the "it's not a date" line could be same thing, different name cause we be superior to these peasants... This is just attempting to recruit an awakened elf (who, as a bonus, has no prior loyalties), isn't it? Him being attractive is not relevant, but just the cherry on the cake. Ice Phisherman posted:everyone surprisingly is into "being courted" though I'll also mix in the sort of trepidation that much of the thread feels about that while also being up front that Kenji doesn't have a lot of time on his hands Everyone 'cept for us in the minority. I do suggest that even if he answer yes, he'll take time to sleep on it. Talk with his friends a bit on that.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:52
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Fixers meet people and develop contacts. Successful fixers meet successful people and develop powerful contacts. Not many of those powerful people are going to be good people, but Kenji will still work with them, because he's a pragmatic person. Kenji is not going to turn up his nose at getting involved with the Tir crew. He is, and should be, extremely wary of *owing* anything to them, but he'll take whatever benefits and contacts he can get. Just don't make any promises.
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Aug 20, 2018 18:55
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Pretty much. I doubt he'd be THRILLED at the prospect, but it's an opening to a potentially very lucrative market with a lot of unknowns all around. Open minded caution is the best approach for now, who knows whats up with BattleSis atm.
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Aug 20, 2018 19:07
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Okay, so I'm also seeing a lot of dissenting voices too. I haven't written anything yet. I think Kenji would be interested to develop new contacts, he'd talk to his friends and test the waters with Saanvi, but not commit to anything. This is me throwing out red meat for the thread and seeing what happens. I'm definitely giving options of drawing Kenji in to the Tir faction and I want to see how far everyone will go knowing what they know so far. This isn't a values statement from me as I'm definitely not pro-fascism. This is much the same lesson that we've learned in year one in Fuzzy's story. There are benefits to being on the receiving side of power and corruption, but they also come with costs. We'll eventually be taking a look at those costs either by running into them blindly or by being informed. Or even misinformed in some cases. What I like doing in stories isn't making explicit statements of values. I prefer to take two opposing sides of an argument or identity or ideology or culture or what have you and bang them together. What is right and what is wrong is left largely up to the person reading and while I will not often talk in explicit terms about morality the characters have their own points of view. If this was Fuzzy and she weren't dating Sasha, she would probably reject courting out of hand. Kenji is more pragmatic and I feel like in a way he's still following his old programming from Edward. He's making contacts and that reflexive need to do so is going to get challenged in a way which I want to be interested and organic. I will explicitly say that we're going to have a counter-argument to the Tir faction pretty soon. It just hasn't come up yet because Kenji is actively avoiding Olisha as he hasn't rejected Joyce and Krupa out of hand. The way I've been writing Joyce, Krupa and Olisha has been deliberate and it serves a purpose which I hope will make sense in retrospect, but isn't entirely clear to everyone right now. Gun Jam posted:Kenji, couldn't you find one hour to talk to your friends about this whole "there's a gang after you"? Did you just forget during while having a nice chat about the week, or you didn't even do that, so busy with your new friend that you failed to talk to us boring commoners? My line of thinking is that he didn't tell Fuzzy about the gang being after her until the gang is dealt with. That way Fuzzy doesn't cowboy up and try to take them on herself which is a bad idea. She's a little asskicker, but she's also a blunt instrument. I don't think that she would, but Kenji isn't so sure. I planned on Kenji telling Fuzzy after the task is accomplished. I might go back and make that obvious though. Fuzzy is still restricted to Vashon Island because there's no Human Nation presence there. It's 98% burbland with a non-Lone Star non-Knight-Errant police contract. So she's pretty safe there right now. And she's going to be training with a boxing instructor until she is able to get it right. Bear Enthusiast posted:Was the plate armor something you came up with? I scoffed for a nanosecond before realizing it's actually incredible, especially with weird future-nobility. It is something I came up with and it's something we've seen before. Fuzzy's spearknife, her shield and the grip on the Ares Predator 6 is all made up of this new metamaterial. Ares is currently demoing metal which can take any shape it's programmed to. I'm slow rolling in something I've been wanting to do for a while and the cowl is a part of that. I feel like playing up the matrix, augmented reality and wireless stuff has really hit its zenith. It was revolutionary in fourth edition and more fleshed out in five, but getting even more into the deep tech is something that people struggle with now. I feel like Shadowrun should take a different approach to high tech stuff. And that approach is materials science which is high science masquerading as magic. The trick is that on the surface it looks like magic, but if you understand it then it's just high science stuff. So the people who are into the magic side of shadowrun get to have their magic weapons and armor and clothing, but the science minded people get to have high science gear. It's like having your cake and eating it too. Whether it's viewed as "magic" or "high science" depends entirely on the player or GM and requires no understanding. So I've been looking at the super high tech stuff in one of the new Shadowrun books, I forget its name. You get jump packs and plasma guns and stuff. They don't have prices and they're supposed to be GM handed out gear only. Special rewards. Even so, I feel like that's basically going into Eclipse Phase territory. That's obviously high science (for those that don't know, Eclipse Phase is a transhumanist sci-fi/cyberpunk game) and honestly I don't think that's the right direction for Shadowrun to establish its brand. So between Eclipse Phase and the upcoming Cybperpunk 2077 they're going to need to pick a new direction or they'll just be doing the same thing. One is high science, one is hard cyberpunk, and so where does that leave Shadowrun? I suggest that they embrace science that looks like magic to the point that it blurs the lines, and this exists today with materials science which is drat cool. This tech exists in a basic form today. It's called memory metal. It remembers its original shape when you run an electric current through it. So if a car was damaged, as long as all of the metal was there you could run some sort of fixed temperature or electric current through it and it would pop back into place. Then you just buff out the scuff marks. Here's what that looks like at a very basic level: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4hfv1PeXRk Fuzzy's spearknife is basically just the principle of applying small amounts of electricity, heat or cold to a very specific temperature or just a little bit of electricity and it will take its new shape. Just like in the video, it's a nickel and titanium alloy which remembers its shape. So as long as Fuzzy doesn't lose it or lose pieces of it, it can never truly be damaged and it can change its shape on command. The same goes for her shield. It's a bracer, a small shield, a ballistic shield and riot shield. It's lightweight and so that is a bit of a problem for really taking a hit, but it is resistant to small arms fire. So the memory metal alloy is not inherently tougher than its normal counterparts in the book. It's just lightweight and easy to hide and store on the body. If you wanted to think of it in fantasy terms, which I do, imagine it as a sort of shape shifting mithril. And in fantasy it is just lighter and stronger than steel. So the breakdown is like this: Fuzzy's spearknife: 1500 nuyen (she paid more, but this was the original price). Fuzzy's shield: 10,000 nuyen A paladin's helmet: Far more expensive. In practical terms, it's about five or ten or twenty times as expensive as their normal counterparts depending on how many forms it can take, how simple the object is and how much tech is stuffed inside. Fuzzy's spearknife is a spear, a comnat knife, a skinning knife (survival knife minus the doodads), a staff and a club. There's zero tech in this beyond the memory metal itself. So it's fairly cheap as it's only about two pounds. Fuzzy's shield is a lot of different kinds of shields and it has a flash pack inside, but the form of a shield is still pretty simple. So it's more expensive. Saanvi's paladin helmet has a ton of tech inside of it as it's made for special forces (Tir paladins). So it'll be pretty darn expensive. It's form is also wildly complicated, but it only has two forms: The helmet and the cowl. Functionally, it's a full body armor helmet which looks impressive. Even the Ares Predator 6 just has a memory metal grip that perfectly conforms to the specifications of the user. It's just a custom grip, but it's a neat touch because every gun is unique and tailored to the user rather than being stock or having to be custom tailored by a professional. I see this as a path for new shadowrun to take is all. It looks like magic but can be understood as science. You still have all of your mundane stuff, but you can upgrade your armor, weapon, vehicles, drones, etc into this far more expensive memory metal which gives bonuses. And if the formula is fleshed out, you can add it as an option to every single item in the game. It's just a money sink. For another example, imagine most friendly fire sliding off you if you use the right bullets and have the right armor. Again, this would be using tech from today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws6AAhTw7RA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxror-fnOL4 Quantum locking looks like magic. It be locked in a field on an X and Y axis, but it can pivot. It's held by a weak magnetic field. If the material is cold enough and has 1 part per 70,000 parts of superconducting material, theoretically a bullet could be deflected so long as it is a glancing blow. The bullet would have to be wildly overengineered and so would the armor, but materials science is loving neat and science fiction is a big part of what pushes actual science forward. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Aug 20, 2018 |
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Aug 20, 2018 19:26
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JUST MAKING CHILI posted:How would Edward respond to waking up and being married to a facist elf lesser noble? Not well, I’m thinking. But then again: Who gives a poo poo about what Edward thinks? I'd propose using the favour to either get an hour or two to ourselves today to arrange Kenji's plans or to get some Tir Tairngre "security advisors" to get into a "completely unprovoked" altercation with some Humanis assholes Is this using the favour for its maximum worth? No, but holding on to it for too long is both bad form, and there's something right here where we can affect change for the better. I'll support inquiring more into what courtship entails and going along with it for now if it doesn't mean too many entanglements for now and he has the time.
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Aug 20, 2018 19:35
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sheep-dodger posted:But then again: Who gives a poo poo about what Edward thinks? The man that Edward can delete from existence if he wants, without the ability to do anything about it or even be awake when it's happen.
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Aug 20, 2018 19:38
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Gun Jam posted:The man that Edward can delete from existence if he wants, without the ability to do anything about it or even be awake when it's happen. Sure, but for that Edward would have to ever emerge again and be willing to actually live a life. Considering that he doesn't grow as a person while he's out that sounds like an unlikely prospect.
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Aug 20, 2018 19:45
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Well, Edward emerges every time Kenji blacks out, so there's that at least. Just relying on him noping out every time that happens isn't particularly secure.
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Aug 20, 2018 19:57
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To expand on what I was saying earlier: Why I write the way I write isn't just "fascism is bad and here's why" and expect everyone to nod their heads. I'm a political scientist with practical field experience. I can tell you that the message that fascism being inherently bad is a harder sell than people think because they're often faced with an alternative that is a status quo that is already humiliating and exploiting them and they want to roll the dice and hope they get a strongman who will make all their wishes come true. This is also compounded that humans like to group themselves in hierarchies which are often racial, and that some white dude who's making minimum wage and eating beans will buy into fascism because the black dude in his office is making even a dollar more than him. Yes, it gets that stupid and petty. Buying into fascism is almost always a bad choice in the short term and always a bad idea in the long term. Fascist regimes are almost always thuggish and stupid, but people will choose an escape if faced with more grinding exploitation that is late stage capitalism, even if that escape isn't real. I look at the perception from the republican party that everything is fine skyrocketed upwards now that their party is in power even though they're actively loving over their constituents. Perception matters to them more than reality. The white dude may not be able to afford more beans, but he can definitely tear down the guy who is making more than him. Spite drives people. I want to present a clear statement of ideology from each side so the reader themselves can decide. I hope that the reader decides fascism is bad, but to also understand that the reason that someone else would choose fascism doesn't exist in a vacuum. So on one hand, Joyce comes from fascism, but his approach is paternalistic and he makes a big deal about being reasonable for reasons we'll see later. On the other hand, Olisha is pro-democracy, but also late stage capitalism. She's also a jerk. So their personalities are being mixed with the messages. And Kenji is going to get tugged around by both of these people and these forces. I like to slow play ideas. These ideas take time to properly mature. Like I've said before, I'm trying to go beyond the 1950's and 1960's science fiction where the assumption of morality is inherent and that characters are flat in large part because they're mouthpieces for a single idea. Nuance is hard and I do hope that people in the thread don't assume I'm going to bat for fascism. That's not what I want to write. However, if I went with Olisha's pro-democracy side first, all of this writing would fall flat. There's a reason why Joyce gets his say first. The choices I make are deliberate and nuanced. Who gets their say first, what they say and how they say it are pretty tightly planned, especially in Joyce's case. Part of not going with moral absolutism, which is a statement of "This is bad, always is and always has been" isn't what I like to do. I want people to decide for themselves after I've given them all of the information. So this nice, shiny, pretty, classist, fascism? Yeah, we're seeing its best face right now under an extremely controlled situation which again is deliberate writing on my part. That isn't going to last. I'm going to drag that motherfucker through the mud through Olisha's point of view. It's going to take some time. Please be patient with me.
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Aug 20, 2018 20:13
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Best face forward and from the perspective of the people who benefit the most.
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Aug 20, 2018 20:22
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This is probably a good way to get Kenji in on it then, and a good case made for plan jag. I'm not changing my vote but I'm comfortable with losing.
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Aug 20, 2018 23:52
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Surgery tomorrow, good times. I hope to see Kenji get a rich girl.
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Aug 21, 2018 04:14
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Surgery tomorrow, good times. I hope to see Kenji get a rich girl. Hope you do okay, man. 
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Aug 21, 2018 04:58
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No to the courtship - Kenji has too much on his plate at the moment to think about courtship, and the whole process and scenario is wierd to him. He'd probably ask for more info and be polite, but turn it down or claim he has too much on his plate - which he does.
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Aug 21, 2018 09:46
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Surgery tomorrow, good times. I hope to see Kenji get a rich girl. Good luck, bud. I find out today if I'm one of the lucky ducks that gets laid off. It's been an eventful week.
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Aug 21, 2018 19:14
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Surgery tomorrow, good times. I hope to see Kenji get a rich girl. Have a painless operation and an easy recovery.
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Aug 21, 2018 19:34
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I find it weird that people think Kenji, the person who has pre-emptively murdered somebody based on a hunch, would care about Tir being fascist at all. I also fine it odd that people think a teenage boy wouldn't be 100% all in on an extremely rich and powerful girl wanting to jump his bones/court him, especially when the entire core of his being until not long ago was literally 'acquire influence'.
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Aug 21, 2018 20:39
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Zodiac5000 posted:I find it weird that people think Kenji, the person who has pre-emptively murdered somebody based on a hunch, would care about Tir being fascist at all. I also fine it odd that people think a teenage boy wouldn't be 100% all in on an extremely rich and powerful girl wanting to jump his bones/court him, especially when the entire core of his being until not long ago was literally 'acquire influence'. Let's not confuse things: Kenji is not a boy. Kenji is a constructed personality. He didn't have the free will before that he does now. I figured it was worth pointing that out.
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Aug 21, 2018 21:05
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