I've suspected for a while that things we've generically enchanted, like the squishy rock, might be controllable by our Griefbending, but I don't think we've actually tried it.
We need to spend some more time trying to enchant with a specific intent to see if Grief cubes are a possibility.
No. You completely missed my point. We decide when Homura seems troubled. Not Brinapilot. We read what she said and think about it. You want to make her feel like we're listening to her? Then actually listen to her instead of rushing out of every conversation like we can't wait to escape and get on with our day.
And you're not putting enough effort into actually comforting her. Is "attempt hugs" really the best you can do? Quit trying to plan out the rest of the day in every single vote. Don't half-ass shit because you want to half-ass two things at once. Especially when we're talking to Homura.
I'll write a better vote later. For now, this is what you should be voting for:
[X] Homura.
-[X] Tone: Relief and concern.
-[X] Attempt hugs.
-[X] Look after Homura, ask how she's doing, encourage her to express her own feelings, acknowledge her efforts.
-[X] Relax.
--[X] Comment about Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Ask Homura about hitting another Yakuza base for (4D) pocket money.
I've suspected for a while that things we've generically enchanted, like the squishy rock, might be controllable by our Griefbending, but I don't think we've actually tried it.
We need to spend some more time trying to enchant with a specific intent to see if Grief cubes are a possibility.
mCooperative, I don't know what it means? Do you want them to schedule the difficult talks with us?
Well, anyway, I think that the idea of scheduling stressful topics specifically is a bit silly. Maybe generalize it? When we get out of the timestop, ask Sayaka, Mami and Homura when we can continue discussing the future of Megucadom. Or something.
I believe this question is intended more along the lines of well, at what kind of times do they prefer to have a stressful conversation? When they're in a good mood, to more easily deal with it? Or when they're in a bad mood already, so that their mood can't really get that much worse by the conversation?
... in all fairness, a given suggestion was "[] Hug teh homu". And it's as much for Sabrina as for Homura, really, she's got to be feeling a lot of the thread's urge lately to hug the Homu. And, as a physical communication of comfort and concern towards someone who doesn't get a lot of hugs, it's not a bad start. That said, you've got a point. We did forget rather quickly the resolution to stay zoomed into important conversations; thanks for reminding us. How's this? 150 words by the count.
[X] Homura.
-[X] Tone: Soft. A bit tired. Relief. Concern.
-[X] Ask permission to hug teh homu.
-[X] Acknowledge the amount of trust she's putting in us. The efforts she's making.
--[X] Thank her. Not just formally. Her trust touches us, emotionally; she deserves to know that.
--[X] Apologize for putting so much stress on her. Not just conversations, or our approach to allies/enemies/information/policy. We keep pushing; our whole modus operandi is pushing. We break her world's paradigms, its certainties. For good, we hope. But we know it's a lot.
-[X] Look after Homura.
--[X] Ask how she's doing. Gently, encourage her to express her feelings.
--[X] Listen to her. Don't just jump into reassuring.
--[X] Follow her lead on what to address/discuss.
--[X] Break to vote as necessary.
-[X] When appropriate: relax.
--[X] Comment about Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Ask Homura about hitting another Yakuza base for (4D) pocket money.
No. You completely missed my point. We decide when Homura seems troubled. Not Brinapilot. We read what she said and think about it. You want to make her feel like we're listening to her? Then actually listen to her instead of rushing out of every conversation like we can't wait to escape and get on with our day.
And you're not putting enough effort into actually comforting her. Is "attempt hugs" really the best you can do? Quit trying to plan out the rest of the day in every single vote. Don't half-ass shit because you want to half-ass two things at once. Especially when we're talking to Homura.
I'll write a better vote later. For now, this is what you should be voting for:
[X] Homura.
-[X] Tone: Relief and concern.
-[X] Attempt hugs.
-[X] Look after Homura, ask how she's doing, encourage her to express her own feelings, acknowledge her efforts.
-[X] Relax.
--[X] Comment about Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Ask Homura about hitting another Yakuza base for (4D) pocket money.
Actually, had a small thought, tiny edit. Don't just jump into reassuring- but be reassuring if it's needed, yeah? Also, yeah, the Oriko thing, given that's literally the topic we just left. Thought at first it'd be folded into the ask about Homura's feelings bit, but specificity is what we're here for. Still 150 words by the count. Do we want to put more words into the Oriko thing, or let "breaking to vote in order to expand the conversation for specifics" handle it as it stands below? Or go back to what I had before and let it be handled in the more general case? All input is welcome.
[X] Homura.
-[X] Tone: Soft. A bit tired. Relief. Concern.
-[X] Ask permission: hug teh homu?
-[X] Acknowledge the amount of trust she's giving us. The efforts she's making.
--[X] Thank her. Not just formally. Her trust touches us, emotionally; she deserves to know that.
--[X] Apologize for putting so much stress on her. Not just conversations, or our approach to allies/enemies/information/policy. We keep pushing; our whole modus operandi is pushing. We break her world's paradigms, its certainties. For good, we hope. But we know it's a lot.
-[X] Ask how she's doing. Gently, encourage her to express her feelings. --[X] General emotions? Additional Oriko concerns?
--[X] Listen to her. Don't just jump into reassuring. Seriously consider responses.
--[X] Break to vote as necessary. (e.g. Reassurance needed/expanding upon conversation)
-[X] When appropriate: relax.
--[X] Comment about Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Ask about hitting another Yakuza base for (4D) pocket money.
Edit: I keep waffling about how to phrase the "Seriously consider responses/Follow her lead about what to address/discuss" line succinctly. Any advice?
Further edit: To clarify, I get the sneaking suspicion that "follow her lead about what to discuss" is at odds with "encourage her to express her feelings", because Homura might well decide to deflect from the latter by leading into the former about practical concerns that, while needing to be addressed, aren't what we're most concerned about if we don't also get into the feelings talk too.
No. You completely missed my point. We decide when Homura seems troubled. Not Brinapilot. We read what she said and think about it. You want to make her feel like we're listening to her? Then actually listen to her instead of rushing out of every conversation like we can't wait to escape and get on with our day.
And you're not putting enough effort into actually comforting her. Is "attempt hugs" really the best you can do? Quit trying to plan out the rest of the day in every single vote. Don't half-ass shit because you want to half-ass two things at once. Especially when we're talking to Homura.
I'll write a better vote later. For now, this is what you should be voting for:
[X] Homura.
-[X] Tone: Relief and concern.
-[X] Attempt hugs.
-[X] Look after Homura, ask how she's doing, encourage her to express her own feelings, acknowledge her efforts.
-[X] Relax.
--[X] Comment about Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Ask Homura about hitting another Yakuza base for (4D) pocket money.
I trust Firn/Brinapilot. I'd rather give him a vote that'll give him leeway to break to voting if he feels it's necessary, or write a monster update if he feels like it. He's done both things in the past and it works well.
He does ask for more detail on Homutalks, so I see the merit of including more of that.
[X] Homura: Look after her; she's been going through a lot. -[X] Break to voting if any point needs more detail, or if Homura seems troubled. Don't be pushy.
-[X] Tone: Relief and concern.
-[X] Attempt hugs.
-[X] How is she doing?
--[X]Encourage her to express herself as needed.
-[X] Acknowledge her efforts and hardships.
--[X] ... And your part in them. Apologize again for being so pushy.
-[X] Thank her. Her trust means a lot to you.
-[X] Ask for any concerns she has.
-[X] Relax. Comment:
--[X] Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Raiding Yakuza for (4D) pocket money.
[X] O&K.
-[X] Probably a 'random' apartment.
-[X] You don't know the Kure adults. Could be a bad idea.
[X] Everyone.
-[X] Explain your discomfort when dropping heavy topics. Ask if there's anything you can do to make it less stressful?
-[X] Offer to watch the spar video.
[X] Put in an order for the tracking devices.
[X] If there's time, practice enchantment:
-[X] Try using Control Magic...
--[X] On Grief.
--[X] To shape something into a Pocket Brina.
I don't think the line in purple is really necessary, but extra safety, I guess.
That seems to be part of our character class. As such, this action can occur at the end of any round, without affecting anything else in progress.
The idea of re-uniting with Kirika's parents needs direct attention. They could mess up badly, even if we think they are good people. Kirika must explain her new self to them. I'm sure they aren't ready for her priorities re: Oriko, but we have to find out if they wish to adapt. Or trouble.
Has anyone ever considered trying a word frequency chart tool upon the thread?
I think Coop has the right end of the stick here, honestly. Onmur, you really are trying to do too much in a single vote. Brinapilot is a logical necessity for this kind of quest, and we've successfully created a competent, helpful character whose enthusiasm sometimes leads her to go too far or push too hard (which fits SV to a tee, honestly), but ultimately this is, again, a turning point; if it weren't, would Firn have stopped to vote? Sometimes turning points are only a few radians, and sometimes they're a whole third of a circle, and one of the challenges of real life is that we never know which are which. Dealing with Homura (really everybody, but particularly Homura) carefully and lovingly is necessary, not just because she's a central figure of the quest but because she is our friend; this is a situation in real life where I would dedicate all of my available resources to the conversation and friend in front of me because they deserve nothing less, particularly about a subject this deep and personal.
I think Coop has the right end of the stick here, honestly. Onmur, you really are trying to do too much in a single vote. Brinapilot is a logical necessity for this kind of quest, and we've successfully created a competent, helpful character whose enthusiasm sometimes leads her to go too far or push too hard (which fits SV to a tee, honestly), but ultimately this is, again, a turning point; if it weren't, would Firn have stopped to vote? Sometimes turning points are only a few radians, and sometimes they're a whole third of a circle, and one of the challenges of real life is that we never know which are which. Dealing with Homura (really everybody, but particularly Homura) carefully and lovingly is necessary, not just because she's a central figure of the quest but because she is our friend; this is a situation in real life where I would dedicate all of my available resources to the conversation and friend in front of me because they deserve nothing less, particularly about a subject this deep and personal.
I believe Firn will break to voting if he feels there's not enough detail for the conversation with Homu; I believe he usually does, when it comes to Homura.
Either vote winning is fine; my personal preference is to leave future actions in the vote in case things go smoothly and Firn want to keep writing from there.
"Hey," you say, standing and smiling gently at Homura. You offer your wrist to her, opposite to her hand on your shoulder, and she takes it, gripping your wrist. It's a little easier, letting you stand a little further away than arm's length.
"What do you need?" Homura asks, eyes intent.
"I wanted to thank you, sincerely," you say, smiling. "I... I'd like to know what you're thinking, and I'd like to give you a hug. May I?"
She nods, a tiny, jerky motion.
You step forward, wrapping your arms around her. She's still too thin, too fragile for the unyielding determination she embodies. Slowly, hesitantly, she hugs you back.
You pull back a few moments later, her hand dropping back to your wrist. "Is that OK?" you ask, watching her with some concern.
She nods again.
"Thank you again, Homura," you say, giving her another smile. "Thank you for extending me your trust."
Homura's shoulders slump a little.
You gently cover her hand with yours, not tightening your grip so that she can easily pull away if needed. She stiffens under the touch, cold little fingers twitching, but she doesn't retreat.
"I... Homura?" you say. "I don't... I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but if you're concerned, or upset, or anything, please talk to me?"
Silence.
Homura doesn't meet your eyes, either, her gaze skittering off to look past you. At Sayaka, at Mami, and you can feel her hand trembling ever so slightly under yours. It's not a thousand-yard stare, not really, but that's all you can liken it to. You're just about to speak again when she beats you to it.
"You're getting results," she says. "I don't-"
She bites the sentence off, jaw working silently.
"This isn't-" she tries again, before cutting herself off.
You smile at her encouragingly. Hopefully. You won't judge her, and you hope she knows that.
She doesn't say anything more, though, just shaking her head.
"May I speak?" you murmur.
Homura nods jerkily.
"I'm grateful, Homura," you say. "I know I've gone on and on about it, but I really am grateful for all the trust you've extended me. It means a lot to me. And I know that... I know you've gone through so much pain. And I know I've contributed to it too. I'm sorry."
She doesn't say anything more, her gaze dipping to the ground.
"Are you truly OK with this Oriko thing?" you ask carefully. "I know I've been pushing hard on it, and... I hate that I've upset you with the topic."
"She's dangerous," Homura whispers. "She-"
"I know, Homura," you say. Deep down inside Homura, that scared girl who looked out onto a world and knew that here be monsters is still there. She never went away, just built layers of armour to protect herself. "I know she is-"
"We have allies," Homura whispers with a convulsive swallow. "It's early, but we have allies. They know about Walpurgisnacht."
"Yeah," you say, grinning at Homura.
"I've- this never worked," she whispers, and there's stark, raw pain in her voice, her shoulders hunched against a blow she's endured over and over and over again. "It never worked before."
"I won't let Oriko interfere-"
"It doesn't have to be her," Homura whispers, shaking her head. "It- all this works. For you."
[] Write-in (word count limit: 150 words)
-[X] Break to voting if any point needs more detail, or if Homura seems troubled. Don't be pushy.
-[X] Relax. Comment:
--[X] Homura's hair and higher dimensions.
--[X] Raiding Yakuza for (4D) pocket money.
[X] O&K.
-[X] Probably a 'random' apartment.
-[X] You don't know the Kure adults. Could be a bad idea.
[X] Everyone.
-[X] Explain your discomfort when dropping heavy topics. Ask if there's anything you can do to make it less stressful?
-[X] Offer to watch the spar video.
[X] Put in an order for the tracking devices.
[X] If there's time, practice enchantment:
-[X] Try using Control Magic...
--[X] On Grief.
--[X] To shape something into a Pocket Brina.
