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[Exalted/SMT] Shard of a Broken Sun

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But can we really trust the GM to tell us this is a trap?!

What if making us not vote for Demi-Fiend IS the trap?! What then? Then the GM will have won and trapped/tricked us!
 
Actually... while "anti-vote" isn't necessarily endorsed, something virtually identical is:
Baughn said:
Interlude time! Preference ordering; I might end up writing two.
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That looks like it means you can vote for all but one, in descending order of preference.

Which, y'know, is a valid vote setup for trying to get peoples' actual preferences.
 
Then scum I shall be! #pouts in a corner#

But, just for the sake of moving things forward;
[X] Komaki Midori
[X] Fumi
 
I am going to do something unspeakably Horrible! Tremendous! Anarchic!(Praise helix!)

I am going to.....
Disobey the GM and Vote Something Different!

[] Philemon
[] Nyarlatothep

... Or at least i would have done it, if i didn't knew that one interlude is basically "Velvet room as GameOver music" and the other is "Victory dance of the betentacled one".

So let's vote something different
[X] The Demi-Fiend (This is a trap!)
I voted this principally because i want to understand how in the hell the Demi-Fiend Managed to pass as a man for so much time.
[X] Komaki Midori
Becuase she was in the Velvet Room but in her game she shouldn't be aware of its existance. So how she got inside?
 
Fonzie passed as a human for so long before the Conception because... he was a human. He didn't become the Demi-Fiend until after it hit and Louis gave him a "gift".

Like I mentioned earlier, he's probably JRPG Protagonist-ing it up in downtown Tokyo right now; rummaging around in garbage bins and striking up a conversation with every random stranger he bumps into.
 
Quantumboost said:
That looks like it means you can vote for all but one, in descending order of preference.

Which, y'know, is a valid vote setup for trying to get peoples' actual preferences.
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That's pretty much it. I'll resolve this one along the lines of a single transferable vote.

Which means you can vote for anyone, yes; and if you're voting for someone I won't show you, you're not actually losing anything. Running out of time, though :p

Not to worry, I'm sure I'll have opportunity to use the system again later.
........ said:
Fonzie passed as a human for so long before the Conception because... he was a human. He didn't become the Demi-Fiend until after it hit and Louis gave him a "gift".


Like I mentioned earlier, he's probably JRPG Protagonist-ing it up in downtown Tokyo right now; rummaging around in garbage bins and striking up a conversation with every random stranger he bumps into.
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And that's why it's a trap. His interlude isn't completely useless, but there are probably more interesting people for you to watch.
 
[X] Komaki Midori
[X] Hinamori Midori
[X] Tadase
[X] Hikawa
[X] Fumi
[X] Autochthon
[X] Engine of Extinction
[X] Polaris
[X] Makoto
 
No update today on basis of having cut open my finger. On which note, the overall rate will probably slow down a little - I've more or less got my writing speed to where I want it, now, but quality is a different matter. Thus, perhaps one update every ~two days, probably a bit larger.
 
Winged One said:
Dammit Lilithium.

Also, why Shinji with Kaworu's coloration?
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Because colorswaping is fun when it brings along role reversal and therefore wondering at the ramifications! Plus, he still looks super cute~!
 
The various cellular nanofactories have done their thing, and the vote is in. It looks like this:
6 Komaki Midori
6 Fumi
7 Polaris
4 Hikawa
3 Tadase
1 Philemon
2 Demi-Fiend
*snip*

So it'll be Midori and Fumi. Well, that should work nicely. But, huh, there's are some odd inversions going on there... I wonder if my program has a bug. I did throw it together in ten minutes, so it wouldn't be surprising. :X

Anyone spot something?


Code: 
def Best(votes):
    m = max(votes.values())
    for k in votes:
        if votes[k] == m:
            return k
 
def Worst(votes):
    m = min(votes.values())
    for k in votes:
        if votes[k] == m:
            return k
 
def Get(prompt):
    return raw_input(prompt + '> ')
       
 
voters = {}
 
while True:
    voter = Get("Voter")
    if not voter:
        break
    v = []
    while True:
        vote = Get("")
        if not vote:
            break
        v.append(vote)
    voters[voter] = v
 
print voters
 
 
printed = set()
ignore = set()
 
# Instant runoff.
while True:
    votes = {}
    for _, ranking in voters.iteritems():
        for vote in ranking:
            if not (vote in printed or vote in ignore):
                votes.setdefault(vote, 0)
                votes[vote] += 1
                break
    if not votes:
        break
    total = sum(votes.values())
    best = Best(votes)
    # print best, votes[best], total
    if votes[best] > total / 2:
        print votes[best], best
        printed.add(best)
        ignore = set()
    else:
        worst = Worst(votes)
        ignore.add(worst)
 
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Sunday's Melancholy Interlude: Midori
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    • Alectai said:
    Any updates with the interlude yet?
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    Since you ask so nicely.

    Interlude: Komaki Midori

    The scene was that of a cozy family home. Outside the windows, should she look, she knew she would find a verdant valley of wildflowers; inside, the wooden walls gave way to strangely generic portraits and well-used bookshelves. Children's books near the floor, scarier or harder-to-read ones relegated to the ceiling, but the entire arrangement had the telltale hint of chaos that only came from frequent usage in spite of the someone's best efforts at keeping it sorted. Casting her gaze wider, she saw toys gleefully scattered under a table and its attendant chairs, some of which would once have been quite painful to step on. This was a place where people had lived, and a single half-full cup of tea spoke of their imminent return. A nostalgic place, where every glance reminded her of her lost childhood.

    Fake, every part of it. The day she forgets that is the day she'll be lost.

    So she ignored the windows, and she didn't run her hands over the bookshelf. Instead, as so many times before, she walked straight to the table and sat down. A twist of will produced a cup of lemon-flavoured green tea, which - while fundamentally meaningless - still had the power to calm her down, through some spiritual equivalent of the placebo effect. She would have liked to minimize her time in the room; if she still had a heart, it would be beating fast. She should have been used to this, but that was the one thing she couldn't allow.

    She blinked, and then there was a boy sitting across from her.

    Lucifer took a sip of his tea, prompting her to drink her own. She did so in a single, convulsive gulp, and she wasn't sure if the slight narrowing of his eyes was frustration, suppressed laughter or something darker. Whatever emotion it might be, she was certain it's one he intended to show. He was perfect in every other way, so of course his control was perfect as well.

    As always, she resolved not to let him get to her. As always, she understood that her resolve was only as good as he'd allow. Strong-willed as she was, she had no hope of leaving the conversation in any state of mind but the one he wanted. As always, she would trust in his promise, and hope that her skeptical mood wasn't precisely what he desired.

    He claimed to despise tyrants, and he was never a hypocrite, but as the incarnation of perfection he could talk anyone into following him without using even a hint of power. She knew this for a fact; she had seen it happen, arranged for certain unique individuals to meet him. He has to handicap himself not to do it to his allies.

    She put her cup down. A split second later, so did he.

    "How is she doing?"

    His voice was pleasant, unhurried. Not what you'd expect from the second most powerful being in existence, at least not until he takes the time to explain the facts of life, which he will do for anyone who asks. He is pleasant because it pleases him to be so, and because he will not accept any constraint telling him to be otherwise. He is unhurried because, while he is talking to you, he is coordinating a thousand battles, debriefing a million agents. Neither of those made her safe, should she ever become more trouble than she's worth. He isn't sentimental.

    "As well as can be expected," she answered, frowning. "Which is to say, not very well at all. She's ten, and you know what that means; ordinarily she would bend, not break, and her unique nature only emphasises that aspect of immaturity. If she had somehow survived Kagutsuchi's reset, she would have torn herself to pieces trying to fix it. That's why she wasn't on the candidate list. With the outsider involved, though…" She bit her lip. Lucifer already knew this; she was only reminding herself.

    "She is completely disconnected from Fate, and the outsider sealed the back-channel I used in a matter of minutes. Continue." Meaning he didn't currently have a way to monitor her.

    "Her reactions are muted. She isn't building up as much stress as I expected, and she isn't bending… well, not in any directions but the ones she wants. I'm almost certain this is the outsider's doing. It's a positive development, but I would prefer time to study and approach her limits slowly, not to immediately drop her in a CK or even ZK-class scenario. If you could ask Samael to delay, even a few days…"

    Midori had picked up a good grasp of practical psychology over the years, both human and demonic, none of which seemed applicable to Amu at the moment. Amu just wasn't reacting the way she should. If she could have had time to study her, make sure Amu would grow into her role, she would have felt much less uncomfortable manipulating a young child the way she was doing.

    "Denied," Lucifer flatly stated. "Amu is your experiment. If your proposal succeeds, so much the better, but it's a long shot. We don't have the luxury of hobbling the war effort to improve your chances." Translation, he already knew how to create powerful demons with this scenario, and didn't want to delay his next attempt even slightly.

    She let her shoulders slump. Attempting to hide her emotions was meaningless, so she didn't bother trying.

    Lucifer waited a moment, then spoke again. "Even if she dies, the outsider will eventually pick a new host, like the other one. Sooner or later you'll have a second chance."

    He might actually have tried to cheer her up, in his deliberately-imperfect way, but it wasn't working. If Amu died… well, she wouldn't be any more dead than if Midori had never met her, but it was much harder to think of the greater good after meeting the girl. She hoped it wouldn't matter. Lucifer would call that a failing, should she ask, but she'd never ask and he'd never volunteer. Melancholia had become a familiar feeling, these last few decades.

    "Moving on," she said. "I do have some good news; she's gotten in touch with Kanno Fumi. I hardly needed to nudge her at all." Good thing, too; the only person she might have felt more nervous around was Hotsuin, or perhaps Alcor. "The outsider outlined a reasonable analog to a Merakuja pattern, so it appears we'll see scenario two."

    "I'm sure Kagutsuchi will be thrilled," he agreed. Was that a hint of a smile?

    Personally she was quite sure Kagutsuchi would be the opposite of thrilled, but with this timing he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. It honestly couldn't happen to a better god-demiurge-thing.

    "For my own part, it would normally take the better part of a week to integrate. With the conception coming up, I should be able to take a direct hand in two days' time. Until then I will keep monitoring the situation."

    Lucifer nodded at her, picking up his cup for another sip. "Good work, make sure to store a gestalt for later review. That will be all, then. Unless you have questions?"

    She hesitated. Knowing what was going on with Hikawa and the potential recruit would have helped sate her curiosity, but - "No, nothing." Asking for something she didn't strictly speaking need to know would be… imprudent.

    Midori closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them he was at least apparently gone. A moment later, so was she.

    A/N: Miss me? We should be back to normal in a day or two, but first there's another interlude.
     
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