How about "Apply"/"Application"?
To "apply" generally means to use a tool or a method in purpose of a goal. Someone with a strong sense of self and the flexibility to change peripherals seems to fit the word.
The Practice War [Complete]
- Thread starter Snowfire
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
To "apply" generally means to use a tool or a method in purpose of a goal. Someone with a strong sense of self and the flexibility to change peripherals seems to fit the word.
Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
I take it you've decided the Focus?
......I am terrified right now. Very, very terrified.
I can't even wrap my head around what extremely powerful but poorly controlled Nirvana (the state, not the band) would be like.
That's like some kind of Yin-Yang Bomb!
That, original, meaning of "Nirvana" usually applies to Buddha!
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Oh no, he's looking low energy. Everyone, please clap!
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Well, it's certainly not going to be 'Nirvana'. But it might be something related to it.
On the matter of control/power however, the dichotomy here is a result of what a Unison Platform makes a Potential capable of after synchronisation. It's not exactly more power, but a wider ability to apply one's Focus to the world. So someone with limited ability to do so going to...much more. Very suddenly. They've had a few weeks/months to get used to it, but still...
Like @Coda said, training will be required.
Lots and lots of training.
Exploration
Adaptation
Music
Intelligence
Or if you want some real fun: (little yellow) boxes
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
You know, for some reason, I keep having these visions and bits of pieces...
Rubik Cube, and how its core is constant.
Axis of a wheel, which is more or less immovable while everything else is circling it.
Some kind of weird modular training device, like one in Dune of 1984 in the scene where Paul Atreides is training with his wierding module...
Some kind of old handwave of making analogue of a werewolf condition in a story - where both the wolf and the man are one and the same, like a 3d cylinder - but a 2d plane intercecting said cylinder can return both a square (man) and an ellipse (wolf).
A Swiss Army Knife... A multitool...
A Versatility Focus maybe?
- Location
- Somewhere out there
Who makes dough on a SV quest?
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah, mythological creatures. That fits.The QMs who use Patreon and have enough people willing to support it
Jeboboid
Draconic GM
- Location
- United Kingdom
She, I'm female.
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
Never come across you before, but noted - though Jeb Bush isn't to my knowledge, which was the joke.
- Location
- In a Fantasy
Desires??
Now I'm imagining him using his power on Amanda and she sees Mary in lingerie coming towards her , or on Mary who sees Amanda.
Jeboboid
Draconic GM
- Location
- United Kingdom
Hi there, I see someone bringing up Amanda/Mary again, which means that it's time for me to fulfill a promise I made to Snowfire a while back, because apparently I have a clearer grasp on the relationship between Amanda and Mary than damn near everyone else in the thread. (for those that are curious, this is the thing that I was completely right about.)
From the start of their story, there's been a closeness between Amanda and Mary, a compatibility which speaks volumes. They get each other on a level which is rare, and it suggests a deeper connection between them than I find easy to describe. If this were a story where they were each under less pressure, I'd likely expect them to have gotten together at some point. But until now, they've had roles to perform which meant that neither of them have had time for little else. For Amanda, it was the presidency, and that, as well as her role as a Unisonbound, meant that she was frequently travelling about the solar system, being a source of both moral support, and a decision maker, meaning that even if she were to get into a relationship, she'd be hard pressed to find the time and energy to make it work properly. Whereas for Mary, she was one of Amanda's ministers (meaning that there would then be a conflict of interest that would likely result in Mary having to step down from her position as Science Minister in order to keep things above board.), and an extremely busy scientist to boot. It is therefore unsurprising that thoughts of romance rarely crossed either of their minds but the complete lack of focus either has had on anything to do with romance aside from a few private jokes between themselves and their other friends about the tabloids investigating their "relationship" suggests that either one, or both of them are asexual. (Though I will admit that that last bit is a little bit of wishful thinking on my part.)
However, the easy affection they show suggests a deep bond, deeper than friendship, as deep as family, but in a way, different. I feel like the closest way to describe their relationship would be that of soulmates. Their bond seems in equal parts romantic, platonic and familial, and I feel like it is the strongest bond that either of them has. Now that they're in less strenuous roles, I could see them maybe falling into a relationship, but it depends on them. What it won't depend on is me, or you, and it probably won't even depend on Snowfire. Characters tend to do what they like, regardless of what their creators want. Whatever happens, I can probably see them living together down the line, if only to raise Iris together.
That said, I was called in because Snowfire actually really dislikes these sorts of comments, and he would really appreciate it if you could stop. Shipping the characters is fine, but for the sake of civility and all that good stuff, there is a line that you shouldn't cross.
From the start of their story, there's been a closeness between Amanda and Mary, a compatibility which speaks volumes. They get each other on a level which is rare, and it suggests a deeper connection between them than I find easy to describe. If this were a story where they were each under less pressure, I'd likely expect them to have gotten together at some point. But until now, they've had roles to perform which meant that neither of them have had time for little else. For Amanda, it was the presidency, and that, as well as her role as a Unisonbound, meant that she was frequently travelling about the solar system, being a source of both moral support, and a decision maker, meaning that even if she were to get into a relationship, she'd be hard pressed to find the time and energy to make it work properly. Whereas for Mary, she was one of Amanda's ministers (meaning that there would then be a conflict of interest that would likely result in Mary having to step down from her position as Science Minister in order to keep things above board.), and an extremely busy scientist to boot. It is therefore unsurprising that thoughts of romance rarely crossed either of their minds but the complete lack of focus either has had on anything to do with romance aside from a few private jokes between themselves and their other friends about the tabloids investigating their "relationship" suggests that either one, or both of them are asexual. (Though I will admit that that last bit is a little bit of wishful thinking on my part.)
However, the easy affection they show suggests a deep bond, deeper than friendship, as deep as family, but in a way, different. I feel like the closest way to describe their relationship would be that of soulmates. Their bond seems in equal parts romantic, platonic and familial, and I feel like it is the strongest bond that either of them has. Now that they're in less strenuous roles, I could see them maybe falling into a relationship, but it depends on them. What it won't depend on is me, or you, and it probably won't even depend on Snowfire. Characters tend to do what they like, regardless of what their creators want. Whatever happens, I can probably see them living together down the line, if only to raise Iris together.
That said, I was called in because Snowfire actually really dislikes these sorts of comments, and he would really appreciate it if you could stop. Shipping the characters is fine, but for the sake of civility and all that good stuff, there is a line that you shouldn't cross.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I'll just restate my position, then.
It doesn't matter whether they "get together". It won't affect the story one whit; their relationship can't practically speaking get closer than it already is, all you're wondering about is where they sleep, which Snowy obviously isn't going to describe in detail.
What would you want out of a relationship? Well, interludes where they're having fun together, or descriptions of mutual support, or a partner who dependably will always be there... or a daughter, perhaps? Or, potentially, the emotional consequences of losing one of them.
Yes. Okay. We've already got all of that.
The shippers have won. We can stop shipping now. Kthxbye... Now let's write happy omakes with Iris.
It doesn't matter whether they "get together". It won't affect the story one whit; their relationship can't practically speaking get closer than it already is, all you're wondering about is where they sleep, which Snowy obviously isn't going to describe in detail.
What would you want out of a relationship? Well, interludes where they're having fun together, or descriptions of mutual support, or a partner who dependably will always be there... or a daughter, perhaps? Or, potentially, the emotional consequences of losing one of them.
Yes. Okay. We've already got all of that.
The shippers have won. We can stop shipping now. Kthxbye... Now let's write happy omakes with Iris.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"... Amanda? Mom? Will I have a sister?"
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I already started writing that one several months ago.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I already started writing that one several months ago.
And one day you'll even finish it
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
To paraphrase: "Publish or perish."I already started writing that one several months ago.
Turn 15, Part 3 - Young Light
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
June 17th, 2120
"We have, actually." Kalilah fiddled with the tablet, then passed it over again, lips twitching in amusement at the look you gave her. Of course she could simply transfer the information through your Unison links, but it wasn't the same – her words. "He's an interesting one."
"Oh really?" You raised an eyebrow, looking down at the profile. You read in silence, and Kalilah let you. He was one of the younger Third, having finished training during your time as President. With a focus that had been a consistent difficulty in applying, which you could understand to a degree. In a world preparing for war, a Focus of Peace was hard to make useful. After time as a Maker, he made the jump to Jessica's psych support organisation in 2117. Applied for synchronisation trials early this year. The process had been unremarkable for a successful synchronisation. Until it... You stopped reading, eyes locking on your former bodyguard.
"Is this a joke, Kalilah?" You asked, very quietly. You were almost certain it wasn't, and the question wasn't meant to be an insult. But what the last parts of the report said.
"I'm not sure if I'm happy or worried to say that it's not." Something between concern and gratitude flickered across her face. "His Focus was always hard to apply, but he learnt to work with that as best he could. Synchronisation changed all that." She nodded at the place in the report that had stopped you cold. "His Focus's application has increased immensely, but that's not all. He might still be learning how to use what he can do now, but he's got the same sort of potential," the word was audibly uncapitalized, "as the rest of us."
"Where is he?" Of all the organic groupings within the Two Twenty Three, yours had always been different. Smaller, but also greater. You, Vega and Kalilah were each beacons of power, bound to Lea and Elil in ways that made you all so much stronger. Bringing another into that unity was hard to even imagine. And yet…and yet. The harmonic insight of the web that bound all two hundred of you together had never been wrong. As each Heartcircle had formed, grown and come to master their powers you'd seen reactions like this. If Kalilah thought that this young man had the same potential as the rest of you, to be something more even among Unisonbound? Then he almost certainly did.
"Training with Elil and Lea." Kalilah smiled faintly, and her slender fingers brushed across the smooth grain of the desk. "This has kept me here more than I'd like to admit." There was something under her bluntness, almost like a request for help. "I was actually wondering if you'd be able to give me a hand," and there was the request itself.
"Of course." You cut her off. "It took me time to get used to it, after all, and I've had far more experience with the unpleasant realities of paperwork." The first thing you'd be doing would be asking what she'd done with your adjutant. He'd been responsible for far more of the accurately filed and signed reports than you'd ever completed. "But for now," you extended your Aegis, "I'd like to meet our latest member."
Kalilah's Aegis snapped into being in a flurry of silver metal and crimson, and the windows between you and the training field…stretched. The clear panels expanded all the way to the floor, then faded away. Your host shook her head, floating out ahead of you. "Decades by millions for this to even begin. And we do it in less than five years."
"I hadn't realised," you breathed out in a whisper, stepping out of the temporary space into empty air. Then you stared, wide-eyed, as the clear glass flowed back into existence, followed by the rest of the wall. "That's so much further than the cities, Kalilah. Does-"
"It started early this year," she told you, moving off towards the training field. You followed along the lines of harmonic connection that Sidra could trace so easily compared to you. "Only some of us can effect change, or maybe only some of us want to. Adriana juggled a few last-minute projects to get a new sensor suite installed. Not sure if the data will be any good, but," she shrugged, "I'm no scientist."
Your mind raced across the breadth of possibilities, the idea of being able to bend reality to your will, even if only in a small space. With such power, how much would truly be beyond humanity? What were its limits? Questions without number, each spawning a brood of their own. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Perhaps not today," Elil called out from above, swooping down to fly beside you. "I could feel your curiosity from the other side of the field, 'Mandy." You shook your head at the dusty-skinned Insight-Focused, but a smile escaped you nonetheless. "Geek about it with Mary later, we all know you will anyway."
"You're terrible." The sharp cut of the reply was ruined by the comradely affection in the words. "But you're right, as well." You looked up, eyes narrowing at the sight of two Unisonbound dancing across the sky. One was a little unsure, you could feel it from the way they moved, but the other steadied them. You looked a question at Elil.
"I observe, Lea breaks him of any bad habits before they can form." He explained. "We're having to fight some of the Unison Platform 'instincts', but it's nothing we can't handle." That was expected, if maybe not welcome. You'd had to do that ever since the path of your Heartcircle started to diverge from the rest of the Two Twenty Three. This seemed worse, however. You said so too, and Elil laughed.
"It's not as bad as it could be, I think. But I'm glad that these are the last few Unisonbound. The instincts from the other Platforms aren't a negative influence, but they can too easily be a crutch."
"Is that happening?" His tone implied that it was, if only in some cases. His nod confirmed it.
"They aren't a bad thing, Amanda." He added quickly, as the three of you rose towards Lea and Mir. "The problem lies in how long it can take some Unisonbound to start to experiment beyond what their Platform lets them know they can do."
"It'll get someone killed someday, Elil." Kalilah pointed out. "If we rely on what others know and don't innovate, even when it's hard, we lose the edge that makes us the most powerful weapon in humanity's arsenal."
The Clarity-Focused grimaced unhappily, but his silence spoke volumes. "The Insight Focused are pushing against it, and we're making progress." He stopped with a sigh, shaking his head. "The problem is that we aren't a true military organisation, not out of combat. That means that, to a point, the rules are flexible. Given how many of the old guard learned to fight with this help, it's hard to dislodge the opinion."
"They'd listen to Amanda." Kalilah again, blunt as always. "If she talked to them, explained why this was dangerous, the change would move much faster."
"But not without problems." You were beginning to realise that this was a well-trodden debate. "The only way to make it smooth would be to ask her to dedicate time next year to the unit, beyond ourselves. We can't just-" Kalilah was opening her mouth to respond when you cleared your throat. Both stopped, a little shamefaced at having talked over your head as if you weren't there. But that didn't remove the unspoken question.
What do you do?
[] Accept the need for swift change, and dedicate time next year to help move the Unisonbound away from direct reliance on Unison Platform 'instincts'. (Locks a Minor Action next turn to Valkyries)
[] Allow a process already begun to take its course, there is time enough before the 223 will have to fight again.
With that dealt with, you continued up, into easy visual range. Lea looked a little harried, but none the worse for it if the smile on her face was anything to go by. This was an exertion of her Focus in some ways, after all, and it was a rare Potential who didn't take joy in that. Mir, however, was something different.
Short, golden hair had been blown back like straw in the wind, a clear sign that he was still learning how to properly use his Aegis. And yet that wasn't important. Nothing in how he looked was. Not to the way you could see the world. The man in front of you was a rare creature, one of many parts, around a core of simple truth. He didn't cling to that keystone of his soul, nor did he seek it like a questing knight. At the very centre of his existence was a simple peace. An acceptance of who he was that was all too rare, even among Potentials. The Focus was a piece of the puzzle, but it was only that. A single piece, not all there was to it.
His Aegis was an extension of his very existence, a declaration that would seek to absolve him of harm, no matter the source. The very air seemed to respect it. It would have been a powerful image, if he wasn't stuck flying upside down, with jerky movements.
:Lea, help him down. I'd like to talk.: You felt her impish reluctance even before her reply arrived.
:Oh alright. At least I have all the pictures I'd ever want by now.: A few 'greatest hits' flickered between you, and only over a decade of statesmanship kept you from giggling. :I have to make sure his training is documented, after all.:
:That's a terrible excuse, Lea.: You chided her. :Especially with all the new sensors.: Not that you expected her to stop, of course. She'd never take it beyond gentle teasing.
She righted Mir with a steady hand, then pointed down towards you, standing between the two other members of the Heartcircle that he knew. For all his awareness of self, he truly was as young as his file said. Barely into his thirties, he could be forgiven for being momentarily overwhelmed. But his Platform, they'd usually be able to help stabilise him by now.
:Her name is Sakina.: Sidra supplied helpfully. :She's been having some trouble with all her instincts being wrong compared to what our Heartcircle needs, but we've all been helping.:
:And not telling me about it either, I've noticed.: You weren't angry, but there was some confusion there. You were curious as to why Sidra hadn't mentioned Mir to you before today, his file said he'd been with the 223 for several months now.
:Would any description of mine match your own senses, 'Mandy?: They asked softly, and you treated them to the rare 'sound' of you swearing mentally. That was a low blow…but it was also true. The three of you ascended quickly, compared to the more sedate passage of Lea and her pupil.
"Hello Mir," you called as soon as you were close enough, unwilling to use a Unisonbound link whilst he was still new to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I, thank you Madame P-" he stopped, eyes shifting in the telltale way of a Unisonbound interacting with their Platform. "Um, Amanda." He extended a hand in greeting, and you took it. This close, you could feel the rippling of his Focus around you. It wasn't that he was trying to use it, it was that he was trying to extend that pillar across the rest of his being, and that was causing issues. Structure would help, if you weren't mistaken.
:Teacher or friend?: You mused to Sidra, across a private link.
:Quit asking me to make up your mind for you.: They replied, batting the decision back. Well, you'd just have to decide yourself, then. It wouldn't be forever, but how you chose to interact with him now would dictate quite a bit in the near future.
How do you choose to interact with Mir?
[] A friend?
[] A teacher?
[] Write-in?
"We have, actually." Kalilah fiddled with the tablet, then passed it over again, lips twitching in amusement at the look you gave her. Of course she could simply transfer the information through your Unison links, but it wasn't the same – her words. "He's an interesting one."
"Oh really?" You raised an eyebrow, looking down at the profile. You read in silence, and Kalilah let you. He was one of the younger Third, having finished training during your time as President. With a focus that had been a consistent difficulty in applying, which you could understand to a degree. In a world preparing for war, a Focus of Peace was hard to make useful. After time as a Maker, he made the jump to Jessica's psych support organisation in 2117. Applied for synchronisation trials early this year. The process had been unremarkable for a successful synchronisation. Until it... You stopped reading, eyes locking on your former bodyguard.
"Is this a joke, Kalilah?" You asked, very quietly. You were almost certain it wasn't, and the question wasn't meant to be an insult. But what the last parts of the report said.
"I'm not sure if I'm happy or worried to say that it's not." Something between concern and gratitude flickered across her face. "His Focus was always hard to apply, but he learnt to work with that as best he could. Synchronisation changed all that." She nodded at the place in the report that had stopped you cold. "His Focus's application has increased immensely, but that's not all. He might still be learning how to use what he can do now, but he's got the same sort of potential," the word was audibly uncapitalized, "as the rest of us."
"Where is he?" Of all the organic groupings within the Two Twenty Three, yours had always been different. Smaller, but also greater. You, Vega and Kalilah were each beacons of power, bound to Lea and Elil in ways that made you all so much stronger. Bringing another into that unity was hard to even imagine. And yet…and yet. The harmonic insight of the web that bound all two hundred of you together had never been wrong. As each Heartcircle had formed, grown and come to master their powers you'd seen reactions like this. If Kalilah thought that this young man had the same potential as the rest of you, to be something more even among Unisonbound? Then he almost certainly did.
"Training with Elil and Lea." Kalilah smiled faintly, and her slender fingers brushed across the smooth grain of the desk. "This has kept me here more than I'd like to admit." There was something under her bluntness, almost like a request for help. "I was actually wondering if you'd be able to give me a hand," and there was the request itself.
"Of course." You cut her off. "It took me time to get used to it, after all, and I've had far more experience with the unpleasant realities of paperwork." The first thing you'd be doing would be asking what she'd done with your adjutant. He'd been responsible for far more of the accurately filed and signed reports than you'd ever completed. "But for now," you extended your Aegis, "I'd like to meet our latest member."
Kalilah's Aegis snapped into being in a flurry of silver metal and crimson, and the windows between you and the training field…stretched. The clear panels expanded all the way to the floor, then faded away. Your host shook her head, floating out ahead of you. "Decades by millions for this to even begin. And we do it in less than five years."
"I hadn't realised," you breathed out in a whisper, stepping out of the temporary space into empty air. Then you stared, wide-eyed, as the clear glass flowed back into existence, followed by the rest of the wall. "That's so much further than the cities, Kalilah. Does-"
"It started early this year," she told you, moving off towards the training field. You followed along the lines of harmonic connection that Sidra could trace so easily compared to you. "Only some of us can effect change, or maybe only some of us want to. Adriana juggled a few last-minute projects to get a new sensor suite installed. Not sure if the data will be any good, but," she shrugged, "I'm no scientist."
Your mind raced across the breadth of possibilities, the idea of being able to bend reality to your will, even if only in a small space. With such power, how much would truly be beyond humanity? What were its limits? Questions without number, each spawning a brood of their own. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Perhaps not today," Elil called out from above, swooping down to fly beside you. "I could feel your curiosity from the other side of the field, 'Mandy." You shook your head at the dusty-skinned Insight-Focused, but a smile escaped you nonetheless. "Geek about it with Mary later, we all know you will anyway."
"You're terrible." The sharp cut of the reply was ruined by the comradely affection in the words. "But you're right, as well." You looked up, eyes narrowing at the sight of two Unisonbound dancing across the sky. One was a little unsure, you could feel it from the way they moved, but the other steadied them. You looked a question at Elil.
"I observe, Lea breaks him of any bad habits before they can form." He explained. "We're having to fight some of the Unison Platform 'instincts', but it's nothing we can't handle." That was expected, if maybe not welcome. You'd had to do that ever since the path of your Heartcircle started to diverge from the rest of the Two Twenty Three. This seemed worse, however. You said so too, and Elil laughed.
"It's not as bad as it could be, I think. But I'm glad that these are the last few Unisonbound. The instincts from the other Platforms aren't a negative influence, but they can too easily be a crutch."
"Is that happening?" His tone implied that it was, if only in some cases. His nod confirmed it.
"They aren't a bad thing, Amanda." He added quickly, as the three of you rose towards Lea and Mir. "The problem lies in how long it can take some Unisonbound to start to experiment beyond what their Platform lets them know they can do."
"It'll get someone killed someday, Elil." Kalilah pointed out. "If we rely on what others know and don't innovate, even when it's hard, we lose the edge that makes us the most powerful weapon in humanity's arsenal."
The Clarity-Focused grimaced unhappily, but his silence spoke volumes. "The Insight Focused are pushing against it, and we're making progress." He stopped with a sigh, shaking his head. "The problem is that we aren't a true military organisation, not out of combat. That means that, to a point, the rules are flexible. Given how many of the old guard learned to fight with this help, it's hard to dislodge the opinion."
"They'd listen to Amanda." Kalilah again, blunt as always. "If she talked to them, explained why this was dangerous, the change would move much faster."
"But not without problems." You were beginning to realise that this was a well-trodden debate. "The only way to make it smooth would be to ask her to dedicate time next year to the unit, beyond ourselves. We can't just-" Kalilah was opening her mouth to respond when you cleared your throat. Both stopped, a little shamefaced at having talked over your head as if you weren't there. But that didn't remove the unspoken question.
What do you do?
[] Accept the need for swift change, and dedicate time next year to help move the Unisonbound away from direct reliance on Unison Platform 'instincts'. (Locks a Minor Action next turn to Valkyries)
[] Allow a process already begun to take its course, there is time enough before the 223 will have to fight again.
With that dealt with, you continued up, into easy visual range. Lea looked a little harried, but none the worse for it if the smile on her face was anything to go by. This was an exertion of her Focus in some ways, after all, and it was a rare Potential who didn't take joy in that. Mir, however, was something different.
Short, golden hair had been blown back like straw in the wind, a clear sign that he was still learning how to properly use his Aegis. And yet that wasn't important. Nothing in how he looked was. Not to the way you could see the world. The man in front of you was a rare creature, one of many parts, around a core of simple truth. He didn't cling to that keystone of his soul, nor did he seek it like a questing knight. At the very centre of his existence was a simple peace. An acceptance of who he was that was all too rare, even among Potentials. The Focus was a piece of the puzzle, but it was only that. A single piece, not all there was to it.
His Aegis was an extension of his very existence, a declaration that would seek to absolve him of harm, no matter the source. The very air seemed to respect it. It would have been a powerful image, if he wasn't stuck flying upside down, with jerky movements.
:Lea, help him down. I'd like to talk.: You felt her impish reluctance even before her reply arrived.
:Oh alright. At least I have all the pictures I'd ever want by now.: A few 'greatest hits' flickered between you, and only over a decade of statesmanship kept you from giggling. :I have to make sure his training is documented, after all.:
:That's a terrible excuse, Lea.: You chided her. :Especially with all the new sensors.: Not that you expected her to stop, of course. She'd never take it beyond gentle teasing.
She righted Mir with a steady hand, then pointed down towards you, standing between the two other members of the Heartcircle that he knew. For all his awareness of self, he truly was as young as his file said. Barely into his thirties, he could be forgiven for being momentarily overwhelmed. But his Platform, they'd usually be able to help stabilise him by now.
:Her name is Sakina.: Sidra supplied helpfully. :She's been having some trouble with all her instincts being wrong compared to what our Heartcircle needs, but we've all been helping.:
:And not telling me about it either, I've noticed.: You weren't angry, but there was some confusion there. You were curious as to why Sidra hadn't mentioned Mir to you before today, his file said he'd been with the 223 for several months now.
:Would any description of mine match your own senses, 'Mandy?: They asked softly, and you treated them to the rare 'sound' of you swearing mentally. That was a low blow…but it was also true. The three of you ascended quickly, compared to the more sedate passage of Lea and her pupil.
"Hello Mir," you called as soon as you were close enough, unwilling to use a Unisonbound link whilst he was still new to them. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"I, thank you Madame P-" he stopped, eyes shifting in the telltale way of a Unisonbound interacting with their Platform. "Um, Amanda." He extended a hand in greeting, and you took it. This close, you could feel the rippling of his Focus around you. It wasn't that he was trying to use it, it was that he was trying to extend that pillar across the rest of his being, and that was causing issues. Structure would help, if you weren't mistaken.
:Teacher or friend?: You mused to Sidra, across a private link.
:Quit asking me to make up your mind for you.: They replied, batting the decision back. Well, you'd just have to decide yourself, then. It wouldn't be forever, but how you chose to interact with him now would dictate quite a bit in the near future.
How do you choose to interact with Mir?
[] A friend?
[] A teacher?
[] Write-in?
Last edited:
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Write-ins in this case may be as complex as you wish, to the point of charting out a plan of conversation if the fancy takes you (I don't really expect it to, but you never know). Mir, whilst possessed of a Focus of Peace, isn't quite able to deal with meeting one of the most powerful people in the star system without some nervousness. In his defence, he really is quite young. Although the vote here might seem simple, it will also decide how Amanda works with Mir this year and what parts she'll focus on in his training. This should be relatively self-evident, but if it's not don't hesitate to ask.
Sorry for how long this took to get together, last week was utterly manic. Still, we're here now, and with my second longest update since we moved into Turn 15 at that! Hope it was (and the votes are) interesting.
Sorry for how long this took to get together, last week was utterly manic. Still, we're here now, and with my second longest update since we moved into Turn 15 at that! Hope it was (and the votes are) interesting.
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[X] A teacher?
Garm352
Bearer of the Stars of Creation
- Location
- The Void Between Stars
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Accept the need for swift change, and dedicate time next year to help move the Unisonbound away from direct reliance on Unison Platform 'instincts'. (Locks a Minor Action next turn to Valkyries)
This vote, at least, I can answer with certainty as to which I think is the best course of action. The other vote...
[] A teacher?
I'm tempted to go with this one, but I feel like we need to do a write in on this. Problem being, I'm not sure what to do here about this. Honestly, I feel [] A Mentor might be a better option, because there is a difference between a teacher and a mentor. Perhaps [] A Guide might be a better idea though. Give him some ideas to try, so that he can learn in his own way, but never telling him what he can't do. Because we could be wrong about that, and we don't want to limit his potential or his Potential. So...
[] A Guide
-[] Provide some ideas based on things that have helped you with your own Practice and Focus, but don't go too much into detail unless he asks questions
-[] Don't tell him what he can't do; given the potential of Potential, that could just limit him or prevent him from doing things he actually could do.
-[] Make sure he knows he can ask for advice if he wants, that he can and should benefit from your experiences
Anyone have any thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Additions?
This vote, at least, I can answer with certainty as to which I think is the best course of action. The other vote...
[] A teacher?
I'm tempted to go with this one, but I feel like we need to do a write in on this. Problem being, I'm not sure what to do here about this. Honestly, I feel [] A Mentor might be a better option, because there is a difference between a teacher and a mentor. Perhaps [] A Guide might be a better idea though. Give him some ideas to try, so that he can learn in his own way, but never telling him what he can't do. Because we could be wrong about that, and we don't want to limit his potential or his Potential. So...
[] A Guide
-[] Provide some ideas based on things that have helped you with your own Practice and Focus, but don't go too much into detail unless he asks questions
-[] Don't tell him what he can't do; given the potential of Potential, that could just limit him or prevent him from doing things he actually could do.
-[] Make sure he knows he can ask for advice if he wants, that he can and should benefit from your experiences
Anyone have any thoughts? Suggestions? Comments? Additions?