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Two notes. First, I think that a cut of that money needs to go to Min Yun and probably quietly Saanvi too. Touristville probably deserves at least some money for repairs too. After that, though, yeah - I have zero problem with Julian dedicating the remainder to the scholarship fund. And second, yeah, welcome to Mentor Spirits. They're gods in the pluralistic, pantheonic sense. They provide you with guidance, steer you towards resources, help you grow, and grant you boons. But every now and then, they put you on a quest, and you'd better believe they're steering you to do certain things in their name. Whether it's Dog making sure you have all the right things in the right place at the right time to save a community, Firebringer flipping his poo poo when you fail to protect your wards in the way it intended, or Athena giving you a shield so you can go slay the Medusa, they've got their plans. They're beings huge beyond just the part that you see, and alien to behold until you frame them in terms of ancient deities. All in all, though, Dog's friendly paws left prints over almost every single part of this success. Kenji wouldn't have been able to do this without his deity's guidance, in a very real sense.
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Dec 3, 2018 22:47
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I assumed that the general way the money was going to work was: There are equal shares for everybody. Min Yun and Saanvi get theirs up front and are square just so Julian can immediately eliminate anything frustrating. Everyone else is paying the "Blake Island Tax", which is a fun and exciting way of saying "Sasha's tuition is paid for now, as are yours. I could be convinced to increase the tax to cover Oli." Then everybody left splits the rest largely equally and Julian lights his hair on fire.
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Dec 3, 2018 23:05
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Ice Phisherman posted:Aww. Thanks.  For reals, yo! Hit me up if you’re ever out here, we’re go for a run, have some vegan food, hug a palm tree, it’ll be great. I’m not even joking either.   Ice Phisherman posted:I did my research for a few more too! Boy howdy did you ever! More on that as we get there. Ice Phisherman posted:“I do,” said Kenji, “I know what to do.” /queue slow hero walk Ice Phisherman posted:“Your name is Minion?” she asked. Nice. Ice Phisherman posted:When he turned around, Julie had her hand raised as if this was a classroom. Kenji sighed and called on her. Oh Julie, you sweet summer convicted murderer-child you. Ice Phisherman posted:“Think it could be a bomb?” asked Saanvi. So, how did she make that logic jump, exactly? I mean, sure, she’s EOD, so, she’d naturally think about there being a bomb. Is this just a function of Dog knowing the full story and arranging the pieces to be in place? Or is this dice behind the scenes? Combination of stuff? I’m asking because as a player at the table, I wouldn’t have made that connection. Ice Phisherman posted:Min Yun shrugged her shoulders and made a distinctive jacking off motion with her hand. Julian suppressed a grin. Caw. Ice Phisherman posted:“A lifetime ago,” he admitted, grimly. /insert flashback sequence here Ice Phisherman posted:“Don’t worry, I’ll tell him the poem. It’s a good one,” said Saanvi, darkly. CawCaw. Ice Phisherman posted:“What more do you want from me?” he asked, with a choked sob, “All of them should go home but they won’t. They should be safe but they’re not. They don’t listen to me.” Ice Phisherman posted:“You won’t go home?” he asked, quietly.  Ice! You manipulator of emotions and plot!!! Why you making me feel all the things??!  Seriously, bravo. You turned a ‘Milkrun’ into a ‘Coming to Jesus’ for the entire cast; not sure how you did it, and, you did it well. None of this feels forced or ‘Deus Ex’ed’. I read the entire fight before writing this, and, when I got here I was convinced Julian wasn’t going to get out of this one alive; Firebringer is expressing his displeasure, and the only way to make up for it at this point is to literally sacrifice himself to keep his kids safe. Ice Phisherman posted:“Best first date ever,” cooed Saanvi. CawCawCaw. Ice Phisherman posted:Julie quietly prayed, but she did not leave. Her rat rabbit spirit stayed close to her. Huh. Have we seen her pray before? Ice Phisherman posted:“With bullets?” asked Saanvi. /queue the glass break and combat sequence music. Ice Phisherman posted:While his spirit of fire had been Bak Mei, the Shaolin Kung Fu master, or as close to it as he could find, the rest of his demons were from Journey to the West. Ice, you’re an eff’ing genius. Not sure you could have made a better choice. Ice Phisherman posted:Perhaps he would help Lady Earth Flow manifest and ask if she might be his wife. Yes, of course he’d be a spirit / demon humper. Ice Phisherman posted:“I've got a poem for you, Fuckface!” screamed a feminine voice, from beyond his now ruined window, “Roses are red, violets are blue! Eat poo poo, gently caress you!” CawCawCawCaw. Ice Phisherman posted:The world became chaos. Was sooooo pumped when I read up to this point. GimmickMan posted:I'm loving the look we're getting into Julian breaking down here. Stay strong, fire dad. Fire Dad is best Dad. He’s trying his best, you goram kids, cut the man some slack; I want to see Julian take all them tykes and their dates for real ice cream and a boat ride. GimmickMan posted:Also Saanvi is too perfect and precious, we don't deserve her. Yeah, good thing Dog intervened. Ice Phisherman posted:Both Kenji and Saanvi are in the midst of finding their identity in wildly different ways. She'll calm down later, but only after she's done binging on doing bad. And she has a lot of frustration, rage and pain to vent before she'll be satisfied. Oh no! Is Kenny gonna take her behind the bleachers to make out and teach her how to smoke a cigarette??! Ice Phisherman posted:It's bonkers. Pure strain Shadowrun. Yeah. Yeah it is. Volmarias posted:Really that's all we asked for. Yeah. We really actually did ask for a Feng Shui run. Ice Phisherman posted:The huntress rammed her spear directly into the spirit's neck and like some so many pigs she’d killed over the summer it died screaming. Though pigs didn't squeal like a teapot bursting. Shield and spear out, she rammed her body into the spirit and rode it to the ground like an animal. Once again it disintegrated into ash and that ash disappeared. She’s a goram terror with that shield and spear. Ice Phisherman posted:“You’re not my mom!” she screamed as she moved, and tore her throat, though she was inaudible over the cacophony, “You’re not my loving mom! gently caress you!”      Ice Phisherman posted:She wound up and pitched the destructive magic in an underhand softball fast pitch. The ball stretched out into a bolt of magic and so aiming wasn’t strictly necessary. It went she told it to go. This is the most anime thing yet; “Maaaaannnaaabeeeaaaaaaarrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!” Ice Phisherman posted:“Well? Go get Pinchface,” she said, conversationally, “Don’t kill him though. You know, so we don’t all die." Julie cracks me up during these moments. It’s like she doesn’t really grasp what’s she’s doing, who and what she’s doing it with, and where she’s at. Then she hurls manaballs like the best mage of her generation. Ice Phisherman posted:“My wife to be!” screamed Pinchface, “My beautiful wife! She was mine! She belonged to me!” Nerd. Ice Phisherman posted:Unable to speak or articulate words anymore, she collapsed her shield in order to rip off her mask. She screamed with a broken voice into the skeleton’s face as it was banished. Julian watched it all and his heart broke for the second time today. Ice, while you’re at it, why don’t you kill off Puppy too, you monster.  Ice Phisherman posted:The thought of him dying at all was unthinkable, even in revenge, though he did try to threaten anyway. The threat died on his lips as the alcohol spirit tried to force him into its body once more. If this isn’t ‘geeking the mage’, I don’t know what is. Ice Phisherman posted:The fight was almost over and he figured correctly that all she would do was hurt herself or others now. She feebly tried to dispel his magic, but she was barely an amateur with spells and it only made her tired. Unable to fight anymore, she went limp and began to sob. If only parents actually could levitate their kids during a ‘timeout’; I’m sure it would be practical application of superconductive magnets. Ice Phisherman posted:“I want my mommy,” she sobbed, brokenly. Oh eff-you Ice, you’re spiking the ball at this point. Ice Phisherman posted:“Now you care?” he asked, quietly. Don’t you start with that passive aggressive nonsense, Jules. Ice Phisherman posted:“I prefer you being a guy too,” she said, “I’d uh…Kiss you, but you’re kind of a girl right now. So…” Combat-nookie? Ice Phisherman posted:“You’re getting so big,” he whispered. /queue Whitney Houston ‘Annnnnd iiiiiii, wiiiiiilll alllllwayyys, loooooove yooou . . . ‘ Ice Phisherman posted:“Don’t need to get into fights,” said Saanvi, “Just go on a run or something. Burn off the adrenaline.” Combat. Nookie. HiHo ChiRho posted:Fuzzy should call Kenji Mom from now on Dog-Mom. Ice Phisherman posted:They're going to get 150,000 nuyen each after taxes. Initial thoughts: Kenny: Invest it in Oli (her tuition); maybe tools for his tattoo’ing since this is already canon. Julie: Her clinic, naturally. Fuzzy: Sasha’s tuition. Saanvi: Is 150k enough to ‘buy’ herself out of the military? Min: Dog-Things. Jules: Firebringer Things; maybe something for each of the kids? Deadmeat5150 posted:Now here is the best part, at least in my opinion: People were watching and they were probably recording. There are [i]always people ballsy, stupid, or obsessed enough by street theater and violence to watch even though they are in danger. If nothing else, the Touristville police was front and center for this one; I’m sure someone recorded the whole drat thing, from outside the store anyways. Zodiac5000 posted:Oh man, Julian is going to have some really weird emotions associated with this. On one hand - his wards just did a whole series of insanely dangerous things under his direct supervision, disobeying his explicit orders. On the other, one of his wards solo'd a toxic fire spirit that was going to kill somebody, then the rest of them teamed up to literally save the area from a bomb attack, stopping a toxic shaman and doing objectively good deeds explicitly to help people. They didn't even kill anybody despite the immense personal risk they were under. This might be a good opportunity to discuss what exactly Firebringer wants Jules to do with these kids. Is he to protect them, or, educate them? Maybe I’m making the difference too black and white here; my point is, was Jules meant to keep them in a safe little box (Blake Island), or, nurture their ‘juice origins’ to become even more potent forms of themselves? Our cast of three is stronger and better at doing what they do; however, it might be viewed as a ‘failure’ from Jule’s perspective because his intentions where to remove them from their ‘poverty’, so that they don’t have to be who they were anymore. Which, in hindsight, sounds awfully conceited and ‘White Savior’ complexy. Zodiac5000 posted:We probably should make sure he's not going to slam down half a bottle of gin tonight or something. He’s slamming down half a bottle right now, and, that’s not the only thing he’s planning on slamming tonight. He’s calling his blondie standbys as he’s escorting PinchFace out. Deadmeat5150 posted:Easy, we invite him to partake at 88 Flavors for a victory meal. As fun as that would be, ain’t no one and nothing happening down in T-Ville for awhile, not until that can of chlorine gas is removed and the rest of that shop is torn down for additional traps. Speaking of, Pinchface didn’t keep a can of chlorine gas just sitting around, did he? Because that’s not how that works, and it would be insane to do so, as free-form chlorine gas will just eat through that tank and leak. Zodiac5000 posted:I would find some humor in a debrief with Julian where Kenji shows up at Julian's cabin with a bottle of ACHE toilet vodka and Julian is so fatigued about the day he doesn't even comment about sharing a drink with a minor in his care until Kenji gets up to go, where he makes him leave the bottle or something. Gun Jam posted:However - having Kenji show up with a bottle, Julian starts to drink and then be surprised that it's juice/coffee, (Kenji:"you did told me not to drink") will be a bit funny, though. While this would be funny to see, I don’t think it would fit Julian’s character, especially after this fight. As far as Jules is concerned, his failure is abject and complete; I can’t see him sinking further by drinking with students. Ice Phisherman posted:Yep. A forced butt chug. The alcohol hits the blood stream like a hammer. Did a double take when I read that as well. We can likely sell that video of PinchFace being ‘violated’, plenty of demand in that niche, I’m sure. Ice Phisherman posted:Maybe she might see if it wants to protect her home or business. After this fiasco, Auntie Shadowrun would pay handsomely for a protector and mascot at her business. Ice Phisherman posted:. . . and Mother Bear has been ill lately. No. No no no no no no no. You leave Momma Paige alone, she’s well and we’re going to visit her next Sunday with a basket picnic. Ice Phisherman posted:Sun Wukong, the monkey, who you might know was the inspiriation for Goku, repeatedly defeated and eventually slew Baigujing after it repeatedly came to him. I like how you recast Fuzzy as the power-staff wielding Monkey King, by the way; plus, she can shapeshift too. We just need to give her a flying motorcycle, to complete the picture.
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Dec 3, 2018 23:41
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Goddamn... I didn't make the connection of Fuzzy being the Monkey King.  Everything somehow managed to get even more amazing now. 
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Dec 4, 2018 00:10
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Ice Phisherman posted:“Right, so I brought help,” said Kenji. Going back and looking at things from the legwork phase and holy poo poo how did I not notice how funny this exchange was the first time I read this.
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Dec 4, 2018 00:26
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Dr Subterfuge posted:Going back and looking at things from the legwork phase and holy poo poo how did I not notice how funny this exchange was the first time I read this. Yeah I cackled out loud when I read that bit.
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Dec 4, 2018 00:29
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Deadmeat5150 posted:Goddamn... I didn't make the connection of Fuzzy being the Monkey King. Yep. I can't take credit for drawing the connection though, as Ice mentioned it somewhere in the last few updates. Still, it came to me just as he mentioned 'power-staff'. Dr Subterfuge posted:Going back and looking at things from the legwork phase and holy poo poo how did I not notice how funny this exchange was the first time I read this. Deadmeat5150 posted:Yeah I cackled out loud when I read that bit. Holy heck, I missed this reference! Guess the Shadowrunner retirement plan of 'getting out of the game and opening a bar' worked out well for Auntie Shadowrun.
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Dec 4, 2018 00:50
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CourValant posted:While this would be funny to see, I don’t think it would fit Julian’s character, especially after this fight. I mean, isn't the point of 'abject and complete failure' that you can't sink further? That you are at failure bedrock? I would think that after participating in the fight the idea of caring that Kenji is too young to drink is... somewhat darkly humorous to Julian. Which is worse: "Drank moonshine with student" or "Agreed to participate in a teenager assault on an evil wizard's house"? I think after doing the second one, the first one sounds quaint. I'm sure he'll pick up eventually, or we can to something to help, but right now I have to think his "gently caress it" meter buried the needle.
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Dec 4, 2018 01:09
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Dr Subterfuge posted:Going back and looking at things from the legwork phase and holy poo poo how did I not notice how funny this exchange was the first time I read this.  I actually missed the implication there on my first readthrough, nice.
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Dec 4, 2018 01:14
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Dr Subterfuge posted:Going back and looking at things from the legwork phase and holy poo poo how did I not notice how funny this exchange was the first time I read this. Missed this too, thanks for calling it out
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Dec 4, 2018 01:17
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Zodiac5000 posted:I would think that after participating in the fight the idea of caring that Kenji is too young to drink is... somewhat darkly humorous to Julian. I'm not sure its a matter of the 'gently caress-its' with Jules right now. The issue (in my head anyways) isn't that underage drinking is quaint after this incident. Its that underage drinking is happening at all. The more I think about it, the more I feel Jule's mission, and direction from Firebringer, is to make these kids 'better'. Not a better hunter, a better ex-con, or a better delver. Better 'kids' who can transcend their past and not be 'who-they-where' anymore. So in short, Jules wants to see Kenny become a straight-laced A+ student, who minds his Ps&Qs, who wouldn't even think about doing needle drugs and or sneaking a drink, not relating to his ACHE past, because he's 'left that life' behind. You know, kinda like how he did with his nebulous 'combat experience' past. Drinking with Kenny would be him admitting that 'I give up, there's nothing I can do anymore, you kids win, I might as well just write the lot of you off'. This might be the source of hidden tension throughout Book 1, between the kids and Jules. Its more than just not letting the kids be kids, its making them be the kids that Firebringer says they should be.
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Dec 4, 2018 01:22
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CourValant posted:
Aww. I'll keep that in mind.  quote:So, how did she make that logic jump, exactly? I mean, sure, she’s EOD, so, she’d naturally think about there being a bomb. Fuzzy's sense of danger was the exact same wherever she was. It didn't change and her danger sense is about her proximity to danger, so it should change when she moves around. It didn't, which Fuzzy found bizarre. Saanvi is smart on par with Julie, but her maxed out attribute is intuition. It's not women's intuition as much as a survivor's intuition of sorts and that has made her pretty keen. I'll see about making this more explicit later. Saanvi occasionally picks up on stuff that others don't. So I'll go back and make that more explicit pretty soon. quote:Ice! You manipulator of emotions and plot!!! Why you making me feel all the things??! Because I'm mean. quote:You turned a ‘Milkrun’ into a ‘Coming to Jesus’ for the entire cast; not sure how you did it, and, you did it well. None of this feels forced or ‘Deus Ex’ed’. Narratively, that may make sense, but I'm not picking winners and losers. One of the neat things about the model of storytelling that I'm using is that the story beats are harder to predict. This would have been a time where at his lowest, he is critically injured or even killed while trying to protect his kids. It would show that the kids are on their own now, responsible for themselves and no one is really looking out for them anymore. At least not like Julian did. You saw the same sort of story beat in book six of Harry Potter when Dumbledore was killed. The old wizard isn't here to protect Harry and crew anymore and it gives a sense of danger that wasn't present in the other books. I on the other hand roll dice. I don't pick who lives and who dies. The story beats don't conform to some sort of known narrative structure. Weird, bad poo poo can happen. That's how violence often goes. In one of my favorite shows of all time, Legend of Galactic Heroes, it's a character drama space opera. The show is absolutely full of political intrigue, space battles and larger than life characters. Well, one of the main characters gets killed by a faceless nobody and it was a total shock. It signaled that none of the other characters were safe and that anything could happen. I liked that, even though the death of that character was heartbreaking. quote:Huh. Have we seen her pray before? Maybe? I know she's quoted from the bible a few times. She's still pretty new to Christianity after all. A year isn't a lot of time to be in that culture if you're just going weekly. She's still developing her own personal sense of ethics and trying to square her power with her faith. We're going to see more of that in book seven. Her mantra for book seven, and what I plan on opening with is from Micah:8 "Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly." She's just going to repeat it as a mantra and I'll see if the thread will stick to her ethos or not when life gets hard. quote:Ice, you’re an eff’ing genius. Not sure you could have made a better choice. Journey Into the West is perhaps the best known Taoist piece of literature, especially since Akira Toriyama wrote Dragonball as a play on that. I didn't want to do anything too obscure and I also named all of the demons/toxic spirits as a way of connecting them to something real and I did what I normally don't do, which is to be explicit with who the demons were. There is a thing as too much subtlety and I would rather be understood instead of being obscure since it was important. Pinchface is not calling on the heroes or nature spirits. He's calling on evil demons and they have names and backstories for the interested. Again, I didn't just want to make something that seemed reasonably "ethnic" like so many Western style martial arts movies, but to respect the culture that I was playing with while also trying to make the fight scene cool. It's not particularly difficult to respect a culture if you put in some time and effort. I might not always succeed, but I do try. quote:Yes, of course he’d be a spirit / demon humper. No mere human would do for Pinchface.  quote:Was sooooo pumped when I read up to this point. It seemed to work for a lot of people, so I'm glad that I set the tension so high. quote:Fire Dad is best Dad. He’s trying his best, you goram kids, cut the man some slack; I want to see Julian take all them tykes and their dates for real ice cream and a boat ride. I mean, he took on a bunch of at risk teens. I'm not sure what he expected. Julian going all Dead Poet's Society and his kids going "Oh Captain My Captain" is every English teacher's fantasy and that poo poo rarely if ever happens in real life. quote:Oh no! Is Kenny gonna take her behind the bleachers to make out and teach her how to smoke a cigarette??! More like he's going to take her out to the ACHE to smoke gang bangers. Though honestly, anything that's transgressive and rebellious would probably make Saanvi happy. quote:Yeah. We really actually did ask for a Feng Shui run. Feng Shui run! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFr74zI1LBM quote:This is the most anime thing yet; “Maaaaannnaaabeeeaaaaaaarrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!” To be a good healer, you need to be able to stuff your horror into a box and break down later. That's very important. It's the hallmark of a good doctor, nurse, EMT, anyone who deals with chaos, injury, misery and death on a regular basis, really. But yeah, she was definitely disassociating her extremely lethal power from what she was doing. She wasn't combating demons from Taoist folklore and a toxic Feng Shui practitioner. She was pitching softballs to save her friends and her community. They just happened to glow white and blue, streak out and land with 100% accuracy and injure/kill with a touch. quote:Ice, while you’re at it, why don’t you kill off Puppy too, you monster. Puppy is sacrosanct. quote:Oh eff-you Ice, you’re spiking the ball at this point. I've said this before, but I want the majority of my fight scenes to mean something. A lot of fights in stories are about spectacle and I don't like that. If it just looks cool but says nothing, then I'm wasting everyone's time. There was a ton that changed in this fight in terms of social dynamics, priorities and even personally. Fuzzy and Julian are shown to be more fragile than expected. Kenji and Saanvi did okay. Julie thrived. Min Yun got what I think of as a second introduction into the story as a minor player in book two. And I tried to stuff tension, interesting combat, high stakes and a culmination of many choices into the story. quote:Combat-nookie? This isn't the first time we've run into high libido after violence. It is a natural and normal human reaction to this kind of stress. If you recall, in book three both Fuzzy and Sasha were making out in Julie's clinic as were Marco and Julie. Fuzzy is too messed up for that. Julie is coming down from a post combat high and has no more Marco. Kenji and Saanvi are probably going to bond deeply after this. Julian is demoralized and will probably want to crawl into bed with someone to get some consolation. Min Yun is just punching a clock, and she'll do what she wants. I'll keep it PG for the kids as always, but we'll get a closer look at how Julian copes in the aftermath. quote:This might be a good opportunity to discuss what exactly Firebringer wants Jules to do with these kids. Is he to protect them, or, educate them? White savior teacher impulse is strong in this one. Julian is the archetypal martyr teacher, though he's also a trickster disciplinarian too. His character is actually a fake out from the wise wizard trope, because while he's educated, he's not particularly wise. He's a 35 year old teacher and has been doing this for a while, but teaching and parenting are two very different things and he assumed that he could do it on his own. What he actually roped himself into was eventually ending up as a sort of single parent to four at risk teenagers. He frequently does not make smart decisions, but the world would be poorer without him. quote:Speaking of, Pinchface didn’t keep a can of chlorine gas just sitting around, did he? Because that’s not how that works, and it would be insane to do so, as free-form chlorine gas will just eat through that tank and leak. Mumble grumble space age materials. They're made of handwavium. Just kidding. I might actually have him start the countdown and that would mix and disperse the chlorine gas together from two distinct canisters in the ground. quote:While this would be funny to see, I don’t think it would fit Julian’s character, especially after this fight. I think it would be interesting either way. Is Julian just having a bad day or has he given up? Does he bail when things get unreasonably hard or does he shift tactics? I have ideas and we'll see those soon. I'm going to try and tie a lot of loose threads together in the next few updates for Julian. quote:After this fiasco, Auntie Shadowrun would pay handsomely for a protector and mascot at her business. 2075 would be the year of the sheep. I was hoping for rat or rabbit, but ah well. 2076 is the year of the monkey though.  Rat, rabbit and Dog are all creatures of the zodiac though and I imagine they'd be welcome in her shop. Dog is definitely getting a small shrine. quote:I like how you recast Fuzzy as the power-staff wielding Monkey King, by the way; plus, she can shapeshift too. We just need to give her a flying motorcycle, to complete the picture. Deadmeat5150 posted:Goddamn... I didn't make the connection of Fuzzy being the Monkey King.  Dr Subterfuge posted:Going back and looking at things from the legwork phase and holy poo poo how did I not notice how funny this exchange was the first time I read this. Again, it's me experimenting with subtlety. I've been sticking to a simple three act structure for this book so I can experiment on smaller stuff. Also an exercise in subtlety when the tone of the book is heavily influenced by Chinese culture seems appropriate. Besides, explaining the joke just doesn't make it funny. So I'm glad you caught that on a reread. CourValant posted:I'm not sure its a matter of the 'gently caress-its' with Jules right now. This interests me. Julian talking about what he expected, what he got, how things are going and what is expected from him by his ah...Mentor spirit...Is a serious source of tension because the teens have agency and want to live their own lives. Julie is doing peachy under Julian's care because she's a lot like him: A scholar who wants to do right by people. But Fuzzy and Kenji definitely chafe at the rules and restrictions even if some of them are definitely for their own good. Kenji telling Julian that he was never a kid and can't be one was a serious blow to him. I imagine that Julian saw himself providing a real chance at innocence and childhood to Kenji on top of him being talented and making the corporate types work harder. Kenji is like a rescue dog who doesn't know how to play. It's sad and you feel like something is missing, but he's a good boy nonetheless. You can't teach the dog to play. It doesn't understand. All you can do is accept and love him instead of trying to teach him what he just doesn't get. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 02:07 on Dec 4, 2018 |
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Dec 4, 2018 01:59
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Ice don't forget Sasha's decker parts just laying around and hopefully functional, in the stock room maybe?
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Dec 4, 2018 02:34
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Ice Phisherman posted:Again, it's me experimenting with subtlety. I've been sticking to a simple three act structure for this book so I can experiment on smaller stuff. Also an exercise in subtlety when the tone of the book is heavily influenced by Chinese culture seems appropriate. Besides, explaining the joke just doesn't make it funny. So I'm glad you caught that on a reread. Oh, I know. I love it. Mixing in subtlety with your style of talking a little more directly to the reader than normal works very well, I think.
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Dec 4, 2018 02:43
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Now that the dust can start to settle, have you thought about retroactively adding in some more Pinchface vignettes throughout the book? For a little extra narrative footwork to build up to the climax.
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Dec 4, 2018 04:09
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Xarbala posted:Now that the dust can start to settle, have you thought about retroactively adding in some more Pinchface vignettes throughout the book? For a little extra narrative footwork to build up to the climax. I might. Though I honestly like how it goes from zero to sixty in 1.6 seconds. Everyone save for Pinchface is surprised, and he was underprepared and overconfident. I might sprinkle some mention of Pinchface in previous books and how much people just don't like him.
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Dec 4, 2018 04:13
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Ice Phisherman posted:I might. Though I honestly like how it goes from zero to sixty in 1.6 seconds. Everyone save for Pinchface is surprised, and he was underprepared and overconfident. I might sprinkle some mention of Pinchface in previous books and how much people just don't like him. That can work, yeah.
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Dec 4, 2018 04:25
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I think after this, Julian should be pack. He comes through in a pinch. That means Kenji should try to do some aftercare. Maybe we could get Dog to intercede with Firebringer to be a little less heavy handed? That's well beyond Kenji's skill level, so maybe he could talk to Mama Bear?
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Dec 4, 2018 04:42
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It's that time of year again. The ACHE is abuzz with excitement. Garbage Day came early this year to burn the excess trash and an enormous trash Santa is being constructed out of whatever people can find. This year they're doing it up, forty whole feet! No one is lighting zeroed out credsticks on fire to throw at the trash diggers to make their own lives feel less awful. Instead the addicts, gang members and prostitutes are yelling down encouragement as they get to work. The gunfire and posturing is slowly tapering off as the annual "gently caress Christmas" Christmas Truce is about to begin. People are stockpiling what drugs that haven't been shot into their veins, snorted, smoked or slotted into their SIM rigs so they can share and be shared with whoever, because you want to know who has the best poo poo and where to get it. Some of the gangs along with individual gang members are already talking about which beefs they're going to let die this year and which they're going to keep. And the poorest, scabbiest ACHE vagrant, the sort that would normally die breathing Garbage Day air will be selected as "King or Queen of the ACHE" and will lead the festivities. For a single day their life means something and their joy is always overwhelming and palpable, because everyone either knows someone like them or is them. Last year the only song the Lord of the ACHE knew was Happy Birthday, but he ended it with "Get plastered you bastards!" and everyone cheered. A few years ago the former Lady of the ACHE killed herself because that was the happiest day of her life and she wanted to end it on a good note, so in the last few years a small collection was taken up. Usually former lords and ladies end up overdosing afterwards and that somehow seems more appropriate, but last year the former Lord of the ACHE opened up a pawn shop with his gifts and has been doing pretty good. No one fucks with him. He's sacrosanct. Most people in the ACHE wouldn't know what the word means if you said it, but they know what it means even without the word. It's something you feel without being told. Food, drink and drugs are being stockpiled to share with your people and your people's people, as well as anyone who shows up that maybe wants to be your people too. People who can't put their bullshit aside for one day get threatened with getting put on Santa's lap. People take it seriously. A few years back some pissant gang pulled a surprise attack on a rival unarmed gang getting high and chilling out after a year of the grind. The entire ACHE descended and burned them all to death as a punishment. At least those who weren't killed in the initial firefight. Now people don't do that poo poo anymore. Save it for the day after. This is the only time of year that the ACHE gets real tourists. They bring in real money for gambling, drugs and sex work, and people need that cred. Gambling for money is forbidden unless it's with a tourist because people get heated about losing. You share with your people from the ACHE, fleece the tourists, but don't skin them. That earns you a sit down with Santa. He can't afford coal this year. Naughty boys and girls will do instead because the garbage pit might as well be one giant chimney that doesn't go outside. In short, calm that bullshit down. People are trying to earn. Don't mess with their hustle. In some burbhome there's a sign that just says, "Live, laugh, love" in the kitchen. That's what they do today, though anyone who says that out loud gets thumped later. But it's true, because it's better than dying, crying and hating. gently caress Christmas, it's the Christmas Truce. Pass that forty around and don't backwash. And you know what they say. "When you're out of Otherweiss, you're out of beer." Luckily we've got liquor and some weed someone's cousin grew in a bathtub. You could do hard drugs, but no one wants to see you tweaking. And so the tweakers stay behind closed doors. They don't get burned, but they do get a beat down if they're ruining things for people. For at least one day a year people are not going to deal with your crazy poo poo. A lot of babies are getting conceived this day if you know what I mean. The government floods the ACHE with condoms but we always run out. Most people ignored them until some bright guy branded them as "ACHE Stockings", red with a white reservoir tip, though they come in green and red too. Green and red lets someone know if you're a freak. It's all festive and poo poo. Word is that they're doing a double shipment this year. Even though most people don't use condoms it's a point of ACHE pride to see if we can use them all this year too. Motherfucker you think you know us but you don't. Send triple next time at the very least. Grab a girl or a guy or maybe mix and match, your drug of choice and get your stocking stuffer ready. The Christmas Truce is coming up. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Dec 4, 2018 |
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Dec 4, 2018 15:14
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If you want to buy me an Otherweiss, here are the links. Thanks to everyone who donates to the patreon or has donated in the past. You're awesome. If you contribute you're awesome. If you read you're awesome. Love you folks. https://www.patreon.com/icewrites Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 06:56 on May 15, 2019 |
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Dec 4, 2018 15:27
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Ice Phisherman posted:We're going to see more of that in book seven. Her mantra for book seven, and what I plan on opening with is from Micah:8 "Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly." She's just going to repeat it as a mantra and I'll see if the thread will stick to her ethos or not when life gets hard. I see. You plan on testing our Faith, do you, Mr. Ice? Ice Phisherman posted:I might not always succeed, but I do try. We’ve had this discussion before, and, your efforts definitely shows through. There’s a sincerity and genuineness that bleeds through, and nothing feels forced or pandering. Unlike, say, that atrocity of a movie “The Great Wall”. Ice Phisherman posted:More like he's going to take her out to the ACHE to smoke gang bangers. Though honestly, anything that's transgressive and rebellious would probably make Saanvi happy. Please let 150k ‘new-ends’ be enough to buy herself out of the military. Ice Phisherman posted:Puppy is sacrosanct. Momma Paige is sacrosanct too, you monster. You leave that poor woman alone, she’s been through enough. Ice Phisherman posted:I've said this before, but I want the majority of my fight scenes to mean something. It does, and I think that’s why we were all so invested in the outcome, especially since it was dice driven. You didn’t put in a fight scene because ‘oh wait, it’s been awhile since we had some action, so let’s shoot something’; the setup to this encounter was completely plot driven, and, our characters demonstrated how this traumatic event impacted them. In short, the violence meant something, as opposed to PinchFace being someone that the Team dunked on to show how cool they are. Except for Fuzzy. She dunked on them all. And that’s all that happened to her. Nothing else. She’s fine. I will hear no insinuations about her mental state. She just needed a nap after kicking all that spirit butt. That’s why Kenny is carrying her off, stage left. Yeppers. Ice Phisherman posted:Kenji and Saanvi are probably going to bond deeply after this.  Ice Phisherman posted:I'll keep it PG for the kids as always, but we'll get a closer look at how Julian copes in the aftermath. I already called how Jules is going to cope; he prefers his liquor the way he prefers his women, amber blonde and aged 25 years. Ice Phisherman posted:He frequently does not make smart decisions, but the world would be poorer without him. That’s most of us, really. Ice Phisherman posted:Mumble grumble space age materials. They're made of handwavium. Hey, author fiat is a thing, and far be it for me to poke holes in it (I’ll let the gas do that for me, *fofofofofofofofo). Just wanted to make sure that if you do want to make it more ‘authentic’, then that’s the technical note to the writer. Just kidding. I might actually have him start the countdown and that would mix and disperse the chlorine gas together from two distinct canisters in the ground. Ice Phisherman posted:2075 would be the year of the sheep. I was hoping for rat or rabbit, but ah well. 2076 is the year of the monkey though. Sheep / Ram Guardian; make it so! Ice Phisherman posted:This interests me. Good, I’m glad because this interests me too; it came into focus as I was struggling to understand why Jules was having a breakdown and intervention with FB right before a goram firefight. It could be argued that his kids are actually thriving in the Blake Island environment; they’re just not conforming to his measurement of thriving. So, why is that? Toughy posted:Ice don't forget Sasha's decker parts just laying around and hopefully functional, in the stock room maybe? Everything is covered in DNA chaff though, stockroom and all. Ice Phisherman posted:I might. Though I honestly like how it goes from zero to sixty in 1.6 seconds. Everyone save for Pinchface is surprised, and he was underprepared and overconfident. I might sprinkle some mention of Pinchface in previous books and how much people just don't like him. I like how it went from zero to sixty in no-time-flat as well; maybe hide Pinchface in with the other vendors like Justina, Mexican food-man, Mrs. Liu, and invent some others to flesh things out so it doesn’t feel like every introduced name in T-Ville is involved with the plot? Calling dibs on a vegan ramen shop dude who runs a noodle shop on a street corner, barstool seating only, with the hanging flaps and everything, kinda like that place Deckard was eating at near the beginning of Blade Runner. Ice Phisherman posted:Grab a girl or a guy or maybe mix and match, your drug of choice and get your stocking stuffer ready. The Christmas Truce is coming up. Ya know, you have the oddest way of rattling your ‘tin cup’. It’s like National Geographic Poverty-P0rn. We definitely appreciate your writing, Forum-Friend Mine! I’m sure we’ll all contribute what we can towards your Holiday Drinks Fund!
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Dec 4, 2018 23:36
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Holy poo poo holy poo poo holy poo poo we did it with nobody in the pack dying! That was amazingly written, riveting as hell and that toxic spirit mindtricking Fuzzy was a nutsack kick and a half. Also Saanvi continues to be Best Girl, I'm in love  That A Very ACHE Christmas bit you just posted is also fantastic.
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Dec 4, 2018 23:46
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Hexenritter posted:Holy poo poo holy poo poo holy poo poo we did it with nobody in the pack dying! That was amazingly written, riveting as hell and that toxic spirit mindtricking Fuzzy was a nutsack kick and a half. I think Julian died enough on the inside for the rest of 'em.
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Dec 5, 2018 00:01
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Well, yeah. Poor bastard  I don't think blondes, booze and blow will help much either
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Dec 5, 2018 00:25
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Chlorine gas isn't particularly hard to store even today much less with 2070's materials science, the right flavor of steel is more than enough. Chlorine gas is used in all sorts of industrial processes and you can just go buy a tank of it right now as long as you've got the right paperwork, it comes in a steel gas cylinder and it can sit for a long time before you have to worry about corrosion. Technically doesn't last forever, but having a tank of it sitting around isn't at all crazy or impossible.
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Dec 5, 2018 00:29
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Yea, a pressurized tank of Chlorine under the shop which he would blow the seal to is fair enough(temperature regulation is much easier deep underground for sure), and makes it a drat good thing that wasn't popped early - pressurized gasses are nasty enough when they aren't toxic. Doubt he could store enough to kill all of Touristville even so - heavier than air gas is going to take alot of space to spread out - but its not a surprise an amateur hasn't done his proper gas law calculations.
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Dec 5, 2018 01:00
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Julian, Min Yun and Kenji – Saturday, August 3rd, 2075 – Early afternoon – Touristville Julian secured the mage mask around Pinchface's head. Through a series of constantly flashing lights hidden on the inside it would disorient him, blind him, distract him and therefore keep him from casting any spells that needed line of sight and disrupt his concentration to keep him from astrally projecting. It was the magical version of the proverbial black bag. It put people who were seizure prone at high risk of having one, but nothing was perfect. He had no sympathy for toxic practitioners, but Pinchface was out of his mind on alcohol and could do little but mumble and soil himself at this point. To Julian’s chagrin, the old man had. Min Yun carried his focus staff without being asked. Though she couldn’t cast with it, it was still expensive and so he was still loathe in giving it up. Technically he could have levitated him, but Julian didn’t want to tax himself. He was missing the mage cuffs which would shock him into unconsciousness if he tried to cast a spell, but that couldn’t be helped. Julian knew where they were and cursed himself for being careless. They’d been hacked by his ex to administer a very mild shock and the last time he’d seen them they’d been hanging on her bedpost. He’d parted on good terms with her so it wouldn’t be a problem getting it back, but after the ad-hoc alterations he'd probably need a new pair. He’d been sloppy and now he’d have to watch Pinchface all the more carefully for its lack. With the chemical giddiness of the slap patch flowing through him, he managed to cast and successfully sustain three spells of invisibility, though one of them was sustained by the massive spirit. Maintaining spells was like juggling. It was easy to juggle one object, two was fairly easy, but three and beyond took skill. Also letting the wrong spell drop at the wrong time could be debilitating or even lethal. The spells weren’t particularly powerful, but even if someone was able to see past the illusion all they’d see were vague forms once they entered the rain. The droplets would bounce off them, there was no getting around that, but that just meant he’d need to stay away from people. “Rooftop,” he said to Min Yun. She grunted in agreement and as they exited Touristville they found a crowd of hundreds milling about, some in the rain, but most under awnings and in alleys, so navigating past them wasn’t too difficult. Invisibility in urban environments was both a feature and a bug when people and cars can’t see you. Getting bumped into or even run over was a real concern, but due to the rain the foot traffic and vehicle traffic was low. They went into a nearby office building, one tall enough and large enough for Julian’s needs and walked inside. There was a security guard, but he went back to his commlink once he noticed no one was there. If he'd looked a little harder he would have seen wet footsteps. Min Yun, Julian, his wolf spirit and Min Yun’s water spirit all had to take the stairs as the wolf spirit was sustaining an invisibility spell and was far too large for the elevator. There were ten floors, so Julian grumbled, cast a fourth spell and levitated himself and Pinchface together up. He figured it would be far less taxing than climbing the stairs. They emerged onto the rooftop and back into the rain. He dropped the defeated, drunk, piss soaked toxic practitioner onto the concrete with little in the way of gentleness. He was too tired. And he let all four spells go with a sigh of relief. They hadn’t taxed him much, but he’d been sloppy in casting two at once while attacking and levitating Fuzzy. Casting two at a time was always taxing. He hadn’t rationed the strength of his spells and at his level of proficiency, casting at full strength without preparation could floor him if he wasn't careful. “You very good,” said Min Yun, “Powerful.” “Thank you,” said Julian, “I need to make a few calls. Can you watch him?” “Yes,” said Min Yun, “Why up here?” Julian knew he'd have to take his eyes off her, but set his wolf to guard him just in case. One couldn’t be to careful. He didn’t care about the money, only that he’d be safe and that Pinchface couldn’t escape. He walked to the edge and opened his astral sight. Down below he saw Kenji and instead of going through the normal comm system, because that would leave comm records, he tapped through the options on his commlink to connect peer to peer. “If he gets up and tries fighting, I levitate him into the air with a spell and then burn him to death while he’s blinded by the mask and unable to dodge. The only reason I didn’t levitate him before because he was hiding most of the time and I need line of sight. Also the horrible spirits. We’re up here because we’re less likely to be noticed when that happens,” he explained. “Practical good. Worth lot of money,” said Min Yun, "Try not kill. Would be mad." “So make sure he doesn’t wake up,” said Julian. He injected more weariness than he felt into his voice. If she was going to attack him, he’d invite that attack now rather than later. He was bone weary, but it was more of a mental and emotional exhaustion than a physical one. Physically he felt like he’d just had a tall cup of soykaf all at once. However, nothing happened. Min Yun just watched the prisoner. And this left Julian free to call Kenji, who answered on the first ring. “Hey, what’s up?” asked Kenji, and then he cooed, “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here.” Julian felt a lump in his throat at the thought of Fuzzy suffering, but swallowed it down. There was so much to do and so little time to do it. “Two things,” said Julian, “First, I need you to talk to whomever you can and suppress any video of the event. We need to get ahead of this. Do whatever it takes, promise whatever it takes and if that doesn’t work, use your voice to make them do it.” “Uh…I really don’t like influencing people with voice anymore. Not with magic anyway,” said Kenji, “Feels skeevy. And I’ve got someone with me that we both know.” Julian pinched the bridge of his nose. He probably had everyone he needed to get ahead of this, but they were occupied. “First thing's first. You’ve been hanging out here a lot so I’m guessing you were developing some contacts. I hope that they’re good enough, so impress this upon them,” said Julian, tiredly, “Toxic practitioners kill people, but a scared public kills the communities that produce them. You’ll have an angry mob here if that’s the story and that’s not an exaggeration, not to mention tons of trouble from the government and probably a collapse of their local economy. This is critical. Make it happen. I don’t care what it takes. We have to convince the public that the toxic practitioner came from anywhere else but inside Touristville.” There was a pause and Kenji sighed. "Well that sucks, but it sucks in a way that makes sense. Is this line secure?" he asked. "Peer to peer," said Julian, "No record." "Good, Saanvi is out and the bomb has been defused," he whispered, and then said more loudly, "No...No baby, mommy is on the comm. Just a minute...Sorry," he said, and began whispering again, "It's some sort of chlorine gas bomb. There's no telling how big it is, but we can't get it out. It's in the stone. No idea how it got there." "I'll make some calls," said Julian, "Not sure who yet, but I'll make them." “Okay," he said, “I’ll talk to some people. What about Fu…Um…Her?” “Call an ambulance and keep her with you until it arrives. Get her to Mr. Brand. He's a friend of mine and can be trusted with this sort of thing. Ask Julie about his location for emergency psychological counseling. I know it’s not perfect, I know you’re going to want to go with her, which means you need to work fast before it gets here," he said, wearily, "The story right now is that there was an attack by a toxic shaman and he was killed with extreme prejudice, but he left a bomb which is why people need to evacuate. Pinchface, or whatever his real name is, has been tragically incinerated by a toxic spirit of fire, but he was the only casualty. Don’t spread it yourself. Get someone you trust to do it for you. Tell Julie to talk to whomever it takes to keep people out of Touristville until we figure out the details. No one goes in, only out. That’s all. I need to make more calls. Good luck.” He hung up before Kenji could respond. Seconds counted. He sent a mass text out to the incoming group. “Toxic practitioner down, still need help,” he texted, “Pinging location. On top of building." Julian was still young and he'd almost always been isolated on Blake Island. So he'd never been involved in something like this before beyond sending a spirit or two as backup. The others had and they’d probably know what to do, what to expect and how to handle this. At least he hoped so. He’d speak to them when they arrived. He got a few texts back that only acknowledged and called the Draco Foundation, the group that offered the bounty on toxic practitioners. He had no idea who to call so he just called their general line. He didn’t want to text about a capture to make it out and destroy his story about Pinchface being incinerated. So he called the Draco Foundation's general line. “Hello, thank you for calling the Draco Foundation,” began a feminine voice. “Hello, my name is…” started Julian. “Please listen carefully as our options have recently changed,” continued the voice. “Son of a bitch,” growled Julian, “A phone tree? Really? This is important!” “If you know the extension number of your party, please press one. Para español, por favor presione ocho. Japanese no tame ni, kyuu o oshite kudasai. Duìyú pǔtōnghuà, qǐng àn líng,” read off a number of different voices, before the woman’s voice returned again, “For our billing department, please press two. For employment opportunities, please press three. If you have any news of toxic shaman activity, please press four. If you…” Julian furiously mashed four as he grit his teeth. “Thank you,” said the voice, “All calls will be monitored for quality assurance. Please hold.” Julian was briefly subjected to music while the call was transferred. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mML2fPec7xU “Hello,” said a polite voice, “My name is Peggy. You’re calling because you have toxic activity to report?” “Yes, you could say that,” he said. “And you are…Julian Smith?” she asked, “Is that correct?” “I will neither confirm nor deny who I am nor what I am doing until this line is secure,” said Julian, tersely, “I know my business. Secure the line and kick me up the chain as high as you can go as fast as you can. I’m in a hurry.” There was stunned silence before she answered. “Right away,” she said. The music continued right where it left off. Julian paced while it continued to rain. Min Yun stood over Pinchface, who still had on his mage mask and had barely moved. Julian was on the line for another thirty seconds before someone picked up. “Hello, this is Guy Park, regional manager for the Seattle area,” said a gruff voice, “What can I do for you Mr. Smith?” “I can neither confirm nor deny my identity,” said Julian, “Is this a secure line?” “Yes,” said Mr. Park, reassuringly, “We here at the Draco Foundation understand discretion as information and captures often happen in odd circumstances. Do you have any knowledge about toxic shamans?” Julian had no way of knowing if he was doing this correctly, but at some point he had to deal with his wounded heart and growing paranoia. So he suppressed them for the moment. “I received a tipoff about a possible toxic practitioner, not shaman, thank you,” he said, irritably, “And I have captured one and I am knowledgeable enough to confirm that the subject is indeed a toxic practitioner. He's unconscious at the moment.” “Oh!” he exclaimed, “My apologies. I can arrange for pickup and delivery of the bounty. Are you in the Seattle area?” “I am,” he said, crisply, “I need more than just the bounty. There is an at risk community that I happen to care about which is under immediate threat. Some may mistake the practitioner as being from this community if you understand me. There is also a bomb that needs defusing and removal in short order in a discreet way. For this, I am willing to trade a particularly rare form of toxic practitioner. Like I said earlier, I know my business. No shaman or mage, but someone that you might call unholy. What I care about most in this moment is time, not money. I could be arranging some of this myself, my people call their people who call their people, but I am busy guarding him. If you can do this for me, I will give him to you. If not, I will pay the help that came out of my own pocket and he will disappear. That will seriously hurt me, but I don’t have time to argue and I have no interest in negotiating. I will pay for expenses for up to one sixth of the bounty. Is this acceptable? The kids would just have to understand if he said no. He’d pay Min Yun and see about making reparations later, but this was important. He needed time far more than he needed money. “What is his magical tradition?” asked Mr. Park. Julian mulled it over and shrugged. “Taoist, specifically a Feng Shui practitioner,” said Julian, “I just fought a bunch of demons from Journey to the West if I’m not mistaken. I personally took down Tuolong, the water dragon, or at least some spirit posing as him. The bronze banded club and green skin was distinctive.” “Done. Both the recovery team and the bomb squad should be there in half an hour and they will be discreet,” said Mr. Park, immediately, “I’ll need to bill you for the labor, removal and crowd control though.” “The crowds are mostly out,” said Julian, “It’s Touristville’s east end. A place called Lucky Dragon Electronics.” “I was unaware that Touristville was in downtown Seattle,” said Mr. Park. “Not the one in Redmond, the one in the Ork Underground. Apparently someone forgot about that when naming the place. I suppose that Seattle can just have two of them,” said Julian, “I’m on top of a building. I’ll ping the location for you. Send a pickup as quick as you can. Oh, and you might want some mage cuffs. Payment will be on a certified credstick. No banks please. There are some here who will not be taking credit for the job and will be taking the money anonymously. We’ll be wearing masks and will be turning off our commlinks in twenty minutes so as not to betray our identity.” Min Yun smiled broadly. Her share would not be taxed and she appreciated it. What Julian was doing was thin, but it did preserve some sort of deniability. “We’ll be there shortly. Please keep toxic practitioner secure,” said Mr. Park. He hung up and Julian sagged. That stim patch wasn’t really working as well for him anymore. He was still alert, but he was emotionally drained. He made Pinchface invisible once again to keep him from being recorded, made a few more calls, put on the ballistic mask and turned off his commlink at the twenty minute mark. Min Yun did the same. A small aircraft with armed guards showed up, but did no touch down on the roof. Someone who Julian guessed was a fellow awakened stared at him for a time, nodded once and then a team of well armed private security guarded the toxic shaman while one slapped magecuffs on Pinchface. Julian was handed a certified credstick and they departed without a word. On it was a nine-hundred thousand nuyen in untraceable nuyen. A bomb squad ready to go in half an hour was a steal for that amount, or at least Julian assumed that. He had no way of knowing what that actually cost and he really didn’t care. He’d done what he could. If the story had spread out of control, it already would have done so by now. “Money?” asked Min Yun. He checked his commlink for one sixth of a million, came up with one-hundred and sixty-six thousand, gave her some extra from his own dwindling share and nodded to her. “A tip for bringing the armor and weapon I suppose,” sighed Julian. Min Yun seemed pleased with this. Though it was normally rude to do so, he read her aura in the astral. She seemed truly happy, which was good, because it meant she probably wasn’t going to murder him for the rest. He didn’t care. He just wanted to sleep. “Equal shares for kids?” asked Min Yun. “They’re not kids anymore,” Julian said, miserably, “College funds maybe. I’m not sure yet. We’ll have a long discussion about it later.” Min Yun nodded and stuffed her own battered credstick into her pocket. “Kenji did good job. Others too,” she said. “Yeah,” said Julian, “Too good. Apparently his new girlfriend is a Tir Paladin in training. The only reason I’m not panicking is because she’s the sister of one of my students.” “Really?” asked Min Yun. “Mhm,” said Julian, “I’ll talk to him later about it. That’s bad news. This has a weird feeling about it. She’s a bomb tech right when we need one and knows her way around a gun. Fuzzy senses a bomb. We all get help when we need it. We get told not to kill him because you’re there to identify his heartbeat vest. We didn’t even fight a full-fledged toxic shaman. I’m told that they normally have cultists with melee weapons, firearms and a can-do attitude about murdering people. We fought a shopkeeper on his public debut to becoming a real terror. And did you read Kenji in the astral?” Min pushed wet hair away from her face and shook her head as the downpour escalated. “Why?” she asked. “He was glowing like the drat sun at the end!” exclaimed Julian, “This was Kenji’s debut too. And if this is how Dog is using him then I worry for his future. You rarely get this level of help. It makes you think you’re invulnerable when people his age already think they’re invulnerable. None of us died, they’re not going to take this seriously and they don’t listen to me anymore. I’m terrified that he’s going to make this some sort of habit and drag his friends in with him, or that Dog is going to use him until he burns out and dies. This has spirit mentor all over it and it freaks me out.” “No,” said Min Yun. “No?!” sobbed Julian, “It has Dog's paws all over it!" "Yes," said Min Yun, simply, "But no. Not all time." "Well please explain. I’ll take anything that tells me this isn’t just going to happen again. Really, convince me. Please," said Julian, desperately. Min Yun looked at Julian for a while and he realized that she was reading him jn the astral too. Then she nodded once, looked to her alcohol spirit and it made a dry area. Water receded from a circle on top of the building and the spirit formed itself into a makeshift umbrella which stood on its own. The rainwater stayed away from the dry spot and she motioned to it. “Sit,” she said. Julian hesitated. Her alcohol spirit had enveloped and intoxicated Pinchface. He was just as vulnerable, though his wolf spirit would protect him if he passed out. That gave him some comfort. “Not hurt you,” said Min Yun, impatiently, “I…No. You…No…We care about last pack member who not abandon I. Sit. Talk. Learn.” “I teach this subject for a living,” said Julian. “Are Dog shaman? No? Then sit,” she said. So he sat under the alcohol spirit. It reeked of booze. She sat. She reeked of trash, though the rain and the alcohol took most of the sting out of that. She folded her legs and frowned at him. “Dog protector. Dog loyal. Dog companion. You know this, yes?” she asked. “Yes,” he said. “Good, but only of certain people, certain places. Not most. Dog take territory too. Protect pack territory like pack. Feel strong. Protect places pack be.” “So what, this is about his friends?” asked Julian. “Friend not always pack like family not always loved. Sometimes pack just pack because. Trust help, but not always,” she continued, “Kenji pack here, yes?” “Yes,” said Julian. “Care about place?” asked Min Yun. It dawned on Julian and suddenly he felt like an idiot. He’d been on Blake Island for too long. The kids were corporate and friendships did occur, but they were rare. They'd been conditioned for most of their lives to loathe their competitors even from within the same corporation. They formed cliques, they formed rivalries, they formed interests, they even dated one another, but real friendship was rare and using one another was how most of them lived their lives. Everyone was a potential competitor except for a select few who either bucked their corporate indoctrination, which was rare, or were outsiders like his kids. He hadn’t taken friendship into account because of the environment where he worked and lived. And it showed Julian just how little he understood his kids. He knew they were friends, he knew they were different, but there was a difference between understanding a thing to be true and knowing on a deep level. He’d failed to truly know his kids. He’d been too busy working to share in their lives. He should have understood. This was his job and his responsibility. He’d failed again in such a fundamental way. It was both heartbreaking and a relief. Kenji wasn’t going to take on the world. He was there because Julie and Fuzzy cared about the place. After the recent combat, the constant stress from work, the almost total lack of help in trying to provide for and raise four at risk teens and so many sleepless nights trying to educate himself on how to better help them. And there was Julie’s prophecy about the massacre coming up that he had no idea how to deal with. Everything was so big and he felt so small. He hadn’t even told her why he thought she had that prophecy either, because letting her think she was some sort chosen one was better than telling her the truth about what he knew and his suspicions. She deserved to know, but he wanted to be someone in her life who didn't hurt her when so many others did. It was too much too fast and he finally hit his limit. He broke down, buried his face in his hands and began to sob. The world fell away as his grief gripped him. He was vulnerable in front of a dangerous stranger and he began to do what he hadn’t done in a long time. He was himself. Not his work self or what he thought of as his parenting self or the person he showed to his occasional girlfriends or one night stands. No, he became his real, terrified self. "You okay?" asked Min Yun, warily. And it all came spilling out. “I don’t have anyone to talk to,” he sobbed, “I'm so lonely. I took on too much responsibility and it feels like all I do is live for other people who don't care what I have to say. I didn’t know what I was getting into with these kids. All of my coworkers told me but I didn’t believe them. I thought I was different. I love them so much, but danger keeps finding them. This is a dangerous world and I can’t protect them like I want to. They won’t listen to me and they’re making the same mistakes that I made when I was their age, only somehow worse. I was only supposed to take two children out of two-hundred. Every single one of them needed help and I couldn’t.” He wiped his eyes hard but the tears kept coming. His voice broke. “I lied to Julie and said I found donations for her,” he continued, “There was a little left in the budget, but it's gone now so I’ve just been paying for her out of pocket. I find donations here and there to stretch things, but it's so drat expensive even when I'm getting discounts. My coworkers thinks I’m crazy and I just gave away most of my money that fell on me which would've given me so much breathing room. The original program...There was so much money and it would have went so far for all of those kids, but the school wanted talented children, not to help everyone on that list. So I wanted to do one thing right, because the school made its choices early and I kept seeing the rest of the kids to punish myself for...I don't know why. And near the end I stumble across this girl in prison who was punishing herself for what she hadn’t done and all I can see is myself. I can’t save myself, but I can save her. And she’s so good, but she didn’t know what she did. I’ve been hiding it from her. I’ve been editing her books and lessons because of course she reads ahead. I convinced my coworkers not say anything. I put my job and my reputation on the line for a stranger. I don’t…I don’t…” “What?” asked Min Yun, “What she do?” “She violated taboo!” squeaked Julian, and he couldn’t stop himself, “Kinslaying! She did it and gained power that she shouldn’t have. No one tops out their power without serious time and dedication. Some of my other kids did the work beforehand even though they don't know it, but she was forced to take the easy way. And when she ran out of space for that power she had some serious spillover that I have no idea how to deal with. Something…No, forget that please…I…The only reason that she didn’t go toxic from killing her father with magic is because she was forced to do it or die. It wasn't a murder, it was self defense. But people don't understand that. She got into school on a technicality and even then everyone who knows has only been calming down since she’s going out of her way to be a good person on her own. I got so many questions about if I was manipulating her into doing good things and I was so proud of her each time I could truthfully say no. The taboo against even possibly being toxic is too great that this wonderful little girl was going to get ignored and die in prison for defending herself. Julie was going to punish herself into a life in prison, because of course that’s when she stopped defending herself. That was in court, not when her father was trying to kill her.” Julian began to laugh brokenly and didn’t bother wiping his eyes. Min Yun stayed silent, but looked down. “My coworker Connie Maureen is terrified of her. Less so now, but…She thought Julie summoned a toxic ally spirit because its spirit form was made up from trash, but it was only because she’d been picking up trash on the beach,” he continued, “I had to talk her down from quitting. We don’t talk about taboo until someone becomes an adult and she just proclaimed to me that she is one. I’ve been pushing back the school ceremony until people graduated even though it’s a year late. I swore the senior class to secrecy the year she came in and I think that one of them maneuvered some idiot child on a rampage to bully her to drive her out. I never figured out who did it and that little idiot wouldn’t stop. It ended in a shooting and the only reason I didn't get fired was because it happened off school grounds. I just wanted Julie to be a kid for a little while longer. I asked Kenji if he wanted to stay a child because I couldn’t look at her, and of course she just went along with her friends. So what the gently caress was Dog doing when he was right there helping Kenji? Isn’t she his pack or something? Doesn’t she deserve to be a kid? So now I’m going to have to sit down with her and have a conversation with her when she’s so fragile. Don’t worry, you were just forced to break one of our most sacred laws and that’s why your magic is so strong. You’re not a monster though, really. And she’s such a good person and I can’t tell her that kinslaying is horrible that it ranks up there with something like cannibalism. I can’t do it.” And that’s all he kept repeating, over and over. “I can’t do it.” The words broke down into wails of grief. He’d buried his feelings for so long and now they’d come out, unexpected, unbidden and completely overwhelming. He cried there for a time in front of a stranger. He didn’t know how long. He must have tipped over at some point, because a small hand rubbed his back. “Gentle and kind,” she said, “Like that.” Julian opened his eyes, wiped his nose and looked up at her. “Stupid too,” she teased, “Like that too.” Julian was shocked at first, but Min Yun giggled and it wasn’t derisive. So he laughed too. His sadness that felt like a fist squeezing his heart suddenly relaxed. It wasn’t gone. In fact it was still painful, but the partial relaxation of tension was welcome. “Stupid?” he croaked. “Yes,” she said, “Four kid. No help? Kenji alone too much.” He shook his head and she scoffed. “Very stupid. Need help,” she said. “I would love help,” he said, hoarsely. “Can retire,” she said, thoughtfully, “Watch after Kenji. Make sure no get kill. Must watch pack. All have left. Bad few weeks.” “Your pack died?” asked Julian, quietly. Min Yun sniffed disdainfully and looked away. “Wish had died. Abandoned,” she said, acidly. She lifted her armored coat and shirt on the side to show off a fresh looking row of scars. She’d been struck by something with claws. “Ghoul attack in Delve,” she said, disdainfully. Julian froze. The virus that caused people to turn into ghouls was highly contageious and would turn other people into ghouls. People could get over it, but it turned those that didn’t into creatures which ate the flesh of people. “Got over it,” she said, as she rolled her eyes, “Two month ago. No tell Kenji. Got lucky.” Julian relaxed and nodded. She would’ve known if she was infectious in a week. “Pack in ACHE abandon me,” she said, angrily, “Not call Kenji, because all have left. Did not want lose all. Would have give up. Boyfriend not pack, but give only food and place to sleep because no cure. Did no visit. No blame, but will not touch now. Over. Abandon. Think unlucky, but maybe lucky. Delve not so good. Need go deeper. Less money, more risk. Maybe time retire. Time leave. Kenji stupid sometime, but me…No…I stupid sometime too. Have money retire. No think about retire, only money. Help pack, which only Kenji now. Make new one. Make spirits like want to.” “Spirits?” he asked, then remembered the alcohol spirit by its smell, “Spirit spirits?” Min Yun giggled and nodded. “Spirit spirits, yes. You funny,” she agreed, “Like that. You tell that Kenji protect place. That Touristville. I protect gang in ACHE. Gang do well. Not part of gang, but around. Dog here now, like say. Help other. Me…Uh…I help Kenji. Dog help me. Dog never reward Dog shaman. Will give power, but only for short time. Dog Shaman treasure for pack. Treasure for community. Dog reward them only, never Dog shaman.” She looked closely at Julian, but only so she could lift her chin in a way that spoke of pride. It was almost regal. “Am paid in appreciation from pack and community," she said, seriously and slowly, "No appreciation, no stay. Understand?” Julian’s heart began to race as he desperately grasped for understanding. He knew some of these things and would have eventually explained them to Kenji, but he felt like something else was happening too. All that he knew is that he was scared for reasons completely unrelated to the fight or his kids. "I think I do," said Julian. “"Good! Not stupid. Kenji protect community,” she mused, “Dog approve. Me…Mmm…No, I approve too. Problem conjugation. English four language. Hard language. Can learn. Maybe you teach me English. Help with kid. Good job. Handsome man. Kind. Funny. Only stupid sometime. Could do worse. Like said, Dog paw all over today. Would be stupid not understand what want. New boyfriend. Start new business. Brew spirit spirits. Very profitable. Give Kenji something do to keep trouble out. New space open Touristville. Cursed though and full bullet holes, community will hate. Would stay closed, cursed. Can break curse. Can fill bullet holes. Mean good price on good property. Would be human in ork and troll place, but speak right languages. Nothing perfect. Corridor remind of ACHE so like home with less violence and less bad smell. So, Julian. Thank for taking bomb out of new shop. Very generous. Feel appreciated. Keep doing. Am living treasure for those who appreciate. And this treasure?” Julian realized she was teasing him as she leaned over and whispered into his ear. “Always horny after fight,” she said, with a hint of smugness. Julian shivered involuntarily and it had nothing to do with being soaked from the rain. She flashed white teeth and Julian realized that even though she was from the ACHE she took care of herself. Smells could be washed away. His eyes roved over her body, but he couldn't see much of her as she was wearing the armored jacket. Then he realized that not knowing might very well be temporary. “I’m uh,” he began, and gulped, “Humbled, but I’m not sure how appropriate this is. You’re my student’s…” “Former coworker, future boss,” she said, smugly, as she cut him off, “Kenji need something do on weekend. No good talking people. He good talking people. Will learn English better so not sound stupid. Know self sound stupid. Very smart sound in own language. You speak Hmong?” “Can’t say that I do,” said Julian, "I speak Salish and Latin." Min Yun pursed her lips in a small frown, but shrugged. “You busy. I learn,” she said, “Small sacrifice. Can help. This is good day. Thank you, Dog.” She pressed her hands together as a small gesture of thanks. Julian knew that spirit mentors straddled the line between tiny gods and big spirits. The arguments about what they were was mostly academic in the vein of opinion, meaning it would probably never be solved but people would always argue. There were no religions that formed around them. There were no churches, no temples, no clergy, no promise of an afterlife that was good or bad and they generally did not desire worship at all, but action from the few they chose. They were present, but detached from most people, often alien, often strange and almost completely unknowable. Julian was trapped in Dog’s wake. The worst part about it was how good it felt and if he wanted to escape, he had a feeling like it would be gnawing off his own leg. He would only damage himself in the attempt. “Good thing though?” asked Min Yun, with a sly smile, “Bad at English no matter tonight. All gently caress in same language. Say yes. Will give up crime. Not be perfect, but will try be good. Help with Kenji. Maybe other too if they want. New identity so past no follow much. Cute girlfriend for you.” “Yes,” said Julian, helplessly, “Everything you said sounds great.” “Not stupid all time!” she said, happily, “No twist arm to do. Is good. Man stupid sometime cute. Man stupid all time brute. See? Funny too. Will take time clean up. Know smell bad. Go ACHE. Break up official. Get things. Feel bad about ex-pack. Treasure gone, won't do well, but their choice. Go spa. Get bath.” An exasperated look came over her features. “Go spa many time. Will smell okay tonight, good, not perfect. Will take time. Your place. Have place?” she asked. “I don’t go often,” he said, his voice detached and dreamlike, “I mostly live at the school. I’m a busy person. It’s hard make time for myself. Sorry. How old are you?” “I busy girl and it not bother. Like being independent. I twenty-three. You?” she asked. “I’m thirty-six this month,” he responded, numbly. “Eh, not bother too much. You elf. Live long. Live longer with lucky Dog shaman around,” she said, happily, “Much luck. Much longevity. All need is appreciate. Feel good. Cannot help with all problem, but will try. You sad, will listen though not always know what say. Good to talk anyway. Fortuitous day. Feel good about end of old career. And tonight, meet your place. Break bed. Need comm number and address.” Julian sent Min Yun both of them. He was unwilling to leave the trap. It was that good. She kissed him on the forehead and walked away. Julian stared at her backside as she left and his eyebrows rose in appreciation. She caught him looking and swayed her hips just a little more as she departed. She left her alcohol spirit to shield him from the rain and so he was left there. Dog had been here, had listened and had helped. He wondered how Fire Bringer was going to take this. Probably not very well, but that was a conversation for later. Then he realized, belatedly, that he really needed to have that talk with Julie. It would be a hard talk to have, but one that he’d been putting off for far too long. That would be tomorrow though. She deserved to have one more day of happiness. The he realized that he’d almost completely been ignoring his own happiness for far longer. And maybe, just maybe, it was okay for him to be happy too. It had been a long time since Julian had been so thoroughly defeated, but losing had never felt so good. It was like a weight off his shoulders. He was still a little sad, but more confused than anything as he came to grips with his new reality. "What the gently caress just happened to me?" he asked the sky. The sky did not reply. It only rained. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 18:35 on Dec 6, 2018 |
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Dec 6, 2018 03:07
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Hahahahaha absolutely excellent, topnotch. Julian just got owned and loved it.
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Dec 6, 2018 03:23
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Hexenritter posted:Well, yeah. Poor bastard Nope, I daresay blondes won't help at all. Dark haired women though... Julian needs someone who actually cares about him that he can also be himself around. He has no work/life balance. Just work and kids with some small moments snatched for himself. Min Yun is doing this for her own reasons and she's not the sort to take no for an answer. Very forceful personality as I'm writing her now. Also the clarity that a real fight gives is a real thing. So she's making a life change. It's not going to go great for Clever's Boy's though. They should have appreciated her more. CourValant posted:I see. You plan on testing our Faith, do you, Mr. Ice? More like seeing if people want to keep Julie as she is or change her. She's definitely someone in need of identity though. Breaking down her Christianity with no new identity will profoundly harm her. Remember that Julie has had her racial identity as human and her family violently stripped away from her. She also did not like her magic at first. Identity is extremely important to a person and one of the reasons that Julie embraced Christianity is because A. The boy she liked was a Christian. B. It gave her a sense of community and belonging. C. It gave her a way of viewing the world. I've been pretty gentle towards Christianity for most of year one, but there are some things in her story which she's just flat out not going to agree with that have to do with her faith and her community come the next book. quote:Ya know, you have the oddest way of rattling your ‘tin cup’. Yep. I'm weird like that. -- So I've been sitting on this since book three. In many shamanic traditions, you often can grow your magic through the breaking of taboo. This is heavily looked down on to the point someone might be called whatever name they have for evil caster of spells. Julie was forced into the taboo of kinslaying which maxed her magic out and more. She's not some chosen one. Her vision into the future comes directly from killing her father in self-defense. It's why she saw him first in her vision quest when she did that ceremony with Mrs. Maureen. The excess magic went wild and manifested in seeing something she wasn't supposed to see. Julie is in a strange place where she broke taboo on a technicality, which puts her in a morally grey area. She's not pure, but she's not evil either. Julian took her in and risked a lot to keep her in the school, but couldn't directly influence her decisions. Killing people for power is what Pinchface tried to do to bootstrap his magic without spending time or energy on it. Only other's lives and times. This makes the toxic practitioner far more deadly (in my own headcannon) because they have all of this karma they don't have to spend on increasing their magic rating. They don't spend karma. They break taboo. Ritual sacrifice, non-ritual cannibalism, kinslaying, destroying life with magic for power, basically. It's a way to gain lots of power fast if you don't give a poo poo about others or your own sanity. Julie found a loophole because she wasn't seeking power, but to defend herself. She didn't go toxic, but got the power anyway. It's not a process which can be reliably repeated either, which makes it understudied and therefore admitting her was dubious. Julian really martyred himself for Julie. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Dec 6, 2018 |
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Dec 6, 2018 03:34
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Ahahaha that was awesome.
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Dec 6, 2018 03:56
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That was an amazing scene.
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Dec 6, 2018 04:11
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Holy poo poo
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Dec 6, 2018 04:17
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Ice Phisherman posted:"What the gently caress just happened to me?" he asked the sky. Hahahahahaha amazing Kenji is going to be just as confused.
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Dec 6, 2018 04:45
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That was amazing. 
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Dec 6, 2018 04:54
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But also Julie
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Dec 6, 2018 05:08
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Dr Subterfuge posted:But also Julie Definitely setting up Julie for a bad day in book six. Ice Phisherman fucked around with this message at 11:11 on Jan 14, 2019 |
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Dec 6, 2018 05:13
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Just want to say that I appreciated the Spanish Flea insert.
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Dec 6, 2018 07:49
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Volmarias posted:Just want to say that I appreciated the Spanish Flea insert. Thank you. I laughed like an rear end in a top hat for more minutes than I feel comfortable with upon adding that. If this were a show or a movie, I'd have a long cut of just Julian's face as he deals with a phone tree during a critical time. And everyone can identify with it. And through his rage and frustration, the small, telling shifts in his face that show his emotions laid bare that we can all identify with... All of that set to Spanish Flea. I'm a monster.
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Dec 6, 2018 07:50
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You didn't get defeated, Julian. It just that Min Yun won (for both of you - it ain't a zero-sum game). Also, I was pleasantly surprised at Spanish Flea - thought it would be something bad. quote:“Call an ambulance and keep her with you until it arrives. Get her to Mr. Brand. He's a friend of mine and can be trusted with this sort of thing. Ask Julie about his location for emergency psychological counseling. I know it’s not perfect, I know you’re going to want to go with her, which means you need to work fast before it gets here," Ice Phisherman posted:Nope, I daresay blondes won't help at all. Dark haired women though... whynotboth.png
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Dec 6, 2018 13:28
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Ice Phisherman posted:"What the gently caress just happened to me?" he asked the sky. That was amazing Ice! I think things are finally looking up for poor Julian. In the weirdest possible way, but hey. E: btw, which is Min Yun's third language? Hmong is her first, she knows Cantonese, and English is her fourth. So which is her third (or second if Cantonese is her third)? Groetgaffel fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Dec 6, 2018 |
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Dec 6, 2018 15:48
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