revanninja
Lost on the Road of Life
Since no mention of doing a panty raid on sakuya he isnt that stupid.LGear said:
Halkegenia Online Thread 14 - How I Learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Salamander
- Thread starter Triggerhappy
- Start date
Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
If I seem quick to anger today I apologize, I'm very stressed right now.
Painting something right now to deal with stress.
Off-note, Cu Sidhe, does TH have his variation to put up or should I finish the last of the Sidhe types?
I express my curiosity on Offline and the Bestiary, pray tell if it's going there or if TH is handling that part?LGear said:
Painting something right now to deal with stress.
Off-note, Cu Sidhe, does TH have his variation to put up or should I finish the last of the Sidhe types?
InfiniteFreedom
Benign hackers unite.
*Turns to look upon others, Perfect Zector in hand* Fly you fools. *Turns back to face down the three ALO versions of the Cave Trolls*revanninja said:
- Location
- Oblivion
Do you remember the Insurance Girls from Trigun?LGear said:
Well I have a feeling pixie debt collectors would have similar luck in actually getting anybody to pay them back.
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
I think TRIST has found the first extra military application for POE-Ms.Vaermina said:Do you remember the Insurance Girls from Trigun?
Well I have a feeling pixie debt collectors would have similar luck in actually getting anybody to pay them back.
And like all good loan agents, the Pixies run the numbers, the muscle is hired on from elsewhere.
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
Repo POE-Ms?Triggerhappy said:
RePOE-Ms?
**********
(As an aside, Offline updated with Guiche: Hero of the Academy).
- Location
- Oblivion
So again just like Trigun?Triggerhappy said:
Bookeeper: "So you went out to collect 54 gold from [Insert Name Here]. To do this you used up 200 gold worth of windstones to power the suits and caused 478 gold in property damages that had to be repaid."
Pair of Pixies: *hanging their heads* "Yes boss."
10
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
This was actually supposed to go at the end of the last part so it doesn't count as part three. Consider it a New Year's eve present. Commencing Improvements now!
Saito had gotten an early start the next morning after what felt like a dreamless sleep, the joys of not waking to old aches and pains more stimulating than caffeine had ever been as he stretched and yawned in his loose nightshirt and shorts and prepared to start his day.
The heat the night before had left him covered in sweat, which meant another quick wash with a towel and pot of heated water while the birds chirped outside the kitchen window.
Grabbing clothes from the closet, the blue purse sitting on the floor served as an urgent reminder. 'Right.' Saito thought as he cast a look over his shoulder. Nanami was still tucked into bed, hugging her pillow close to her chest while drooling over some pleasant dream. He'd take care of this and have Nanami's bag for her by lunch he decided as he made his way out the door and onto the footpath that wound through the semi wooded outskirts of Arrun's outer district.
Saito wasn't in a rush that morning, so he let himself enjoy the walk, the lightening sky overhead, and calls of neighbors bidding him a good morning. The foot traffic picked up as he entered the more urban districts and then hit the main street where the shops were already beginning to open.
As it turned out, finding Arrun Home did not prove difficult at all. Though the formerly geriatric doctor, now a Sylph youth, had never been to the Children's Home himself, like most important structures, it was located close to the main street.
It turned out to be very much a case of a place that he had often passed but never payed much mind to. And now that he was actually paying attention, he was almost surprised he hadn't noticed it before. The Home's necessity however, was well impressed on his mind.
'If I wasn't here, Nanami might have ended up in a place like this.' Not that it would have been a terrible fate judging by the buildings facade and the well kept gardens.
Certainly she would have been older than most of the children, but she also hadn't been a member of any guild or strongly affiliated with her faction. She would have had no one to turn to.
After the disastrous launch of SAO, ALfheim Online had been one of the few Full Dive games to meet with much commercial success, launching coincidentally with the AMUsphere as one of the stopgap system's flagship games.
Due to the expense of developing a full dive game, and the wealth of immersion technology that had been salvaged from the defunct ARGUS when the company's assets had been liquidated, RETCO subsidiary RETCO Progress had made a decision early in ALO's rushed development cycle to appeal to as wide a player base as possible.
And so, despite the emphasis on skill based combat and heavy focus on PVP, ALfheim Online had made an effort to appeal to a much broader audience. Not only the heavy PvPers, but players seeking PvE dungeon crawling, or simply playing for the social aspect of exploring a fantasy world. Coupled with ALOs fantastical public image and the oft mentioned safety of the updated Full Dive consoles, and it had become the go to game for younger children trying to sneak an action adventure past their cautious parents.
But what had been harmless fun, had now become a tragedy that had torn those children from their families, and trapped them in a violent and frightening world that they did not know and had no hope of understanding on their own.
Nanami had born the revelation of the Transition with astonishing strength for someone so young. This world had been rough on her at times, but she was not entirely a child anymore. And Nanami at least had him for support, a confidant and a shoulder to cry on when it got too tough. He could only begin to imagine how much more difficult it had been for those who were even younger and had no one in this world.
Thankfully for those wayward souls, they were not as alone as they'd at first thought.
Disaster had a tendency to galvanize communities, Saito mused as he received directions from a helpful young Cait drawing attention to a newly opened bakery. Hardship brought people together in ways that they would never have thought possible. Loosely associated groups of players known as Guilds had fast found themselves becoming disciplined fighting cadres or staunch business partners, and the factions that had been the foundation of ALO's PvP dynamic had been remade into the foundations of self governance, the Lords listening to and addressing the concerns of their constituents.
One such concern had been what to do for the youngest and most helpless of the players turned Fae. The Children, not always in child bodies, who needed to be watched over and taught how to care for themselves in this world.
Arrun Home had started off as a temporary guardianship established by the Fae Lords by unifying and bolstering the efforts of the well intentioned individuals and guilds that had been watching out for vulnerable players. By providing resources to the volunteers, the hope had been to create a place for the children to stay and know that they were safe and looked after.
Every one of the Faerie settlements now possessed such a Home, but as with the Central Hospital, Arrun Home was largest by virtue of the city's population.
As the days had turned to weeks, and the weeks to months, that temporary guardianship had been extended and then made official in the eyes of the burgeoning Faerie Government.
Of course, it was still referred to as the 'Children's Home', a concession to the hope that its wards might one day be returned to their proper place. Else, Saito thought as he made his way to the gates, smile fading slowly, else they really would be orphans.
'When did I get to be so negative?' Saito wondered, hefting the misplaced purse. It certainly wasn't from his old life.
Hopefully he wouldn't be thought some sort of thief by bringing this back in person. Especially when it contained an image that was almost certainly of great sentimental value to that young woman. People became rightly attached to such things and didn't take kindly to them going missing.
'And here we are at last.' He came to a stop, looking up past the rot iron gate that separated the gigantic stone guild hall and its attending outbuildings from the street. Not much of an obstacle for Faerie Wings, but things like walls and gates continued to persist for reasons of practicality, and also a certain aesthetic.
Another concession to aesthetic was situated on the shoulder of the roadway beside the opened gate. Wooden placards strung one after another in six rows, each containing a handwritten name. The names of all of the children and their minders. It was a touching effort to liven the place up.
'At least the Children appear to be in good hands.' Saito observed as he stepped off of the street, climbing the steps into the yard where he was met by the sounds of voices and the noises of children playing.
It was still early, but early or late, children got restless to be outdoors once the sun came up, a constant in any world that was to be expected. Small bodies filled the yards and gardens of the Guild building, children at play, limbs pumping fast and furious as they chased each other in games of tag and dodge ball, and the occasional flaring of wings as they indulged in not entirely sanctioned aerial antics.
What wasn't so expected was the man at the center of the fracas, struggling to balance as he was besought upon by a pair of children apparently aged around nine or ten intent on pulling him in two directions at once. A rotund little Leprechaun who would have stood out for his stature and build even if not for metallic hair and mustache.
"Come on Ji-chan!" One of the children, a little Cait girl, ears twitching excitedly. "Come look and see what me and Paraila-chan made!"
"No way!" An Undine boy cried. "We want Ji-chan to help us play dragoon first!"
The little girl scowled at her companion. "You need at least two 'dragons' for that, dummy!"
"Now now, just a moment you two! One at a . . . one at a time!" Between the two arguing children, Lord Rute, Lord of the Leprechauns and First Lord of Goubniu struggled to get a word in edge wise, giving a mighty huff to stay balanced as a third child, a little Salamander girl with long, warm, red hair practically jumped onto his back.
"Yeah, we're going to get Rika-chan to be the other one!" The Undine declared, pointing to a nervous looking Gnome woman beside him who stood head and shoulders above the Faerie Lord.
Having only encountered the Leprechaun Lord during his reports to the Faerie Lords, it was not, Saito thought, how he would have expected him to spend his free time. Rute's ostentatious red coat with all the finery of its golden buttons and braiding had been cast aside, revealing undershirt and suspenders holding up red trousers, like some less endearing Old Saint Nick in the off season.
"Takaeo, that's no fair!" The young feline accused. "Rika-chan would be a way better dragon than Ji-chan!"
Rute's mustache worked furiously as his face turned beat red. "Why you!"
"Faerie back ride! Faerie back ride!" The little Salamander girl declared excitedly. "Come on Ji-chan, I know you can do it, just like daddy!"
The blustering Lord seemed powerless to do anything but accept, grumbling good naturedly as he conjured his own sprocketed wings and climbed skyward to circle the guild building, his Salamander passenger squealing with delight. Saito shielded his eyes from the sun as they disappeared behind a turreted tower that dominated one corner of the main building.
"I never would have thought old Rute-san would have it in him." Saito said out loud.
"Most people don't realize it, but actually, Rute-sama is a really good person." A young voice replied conversationally right beside him.
A rustling above Saito's head startled him, twitch reflexes he'd started to fast develop now that his body remembered what reflexes were supposed to be, almost caused him to kick off skyward in surprise. As it was, Saito had merely summoned his wings without actually using them, the four magic limbs flared and glowing with their full charge before he realized what he was doing. He considered it a partial victory. At least he would be able to salvage most of his dignity, he hoped. The laughter coming from the Imp girl who had materialized by his side left him doubtful.
Then again, he was hardly the only one who presently looked ridiculous. Hanging upside down with her legs hooked around a branch so that her long violet hair nearly brushed the ground, her skirt had come partly up as well, revealing the by now expected pair of shorts that most girls had taken to now that the [<System Auto Sensoring]> was no longer in effect.
"Erm . . . E-Excuse me . . ." Saito began uncertainly.
"Sorry, sorry!" The dark haired girl stopped laughing, wiping a tear from one cherry red eye. "I hope I didn't startle you too much."
Without another word, in fact without any forewarning save for a light rocking back and forth, the Imp girl curled upward, a feat that would have been an impressive display of abdominal strength for a normal human, uncurled her legs, and performed an acrobatic little flip as she fell neatly to the ground as his side.
"Uhm . . No." Saito scratched at the back of his head, night quite sure how to proceed. She certainly looked like one of the children, rising from a crouch, she had a child's exuberance about her. "Uhm, I'm looking for your Sensei, ah, Irene-san?" He asked politely. "Forgive me for asking this but . . ."
"I'm not one of the teachers." The Imp girl answer for him, dusting herself off and shaking out the leaves in her hair. She gave the definite impression that being dirty was nothing new to her. "But I do help out watching the younger kids. I like to pay may own way!" She smiled so brightly, Saito thought that she'd eclipse the sun. If they boxed that smile and sold it in a burger shop, it would sell faster than the french fries. At least, that's what he thought. "You must be new to Arrun home, there are lots of people here who are 'Out of Time'."
"Out of time?" Saito puzzled the phrase.
"Un." She nodded seriously. "You know, out of phase with their lifetime?"
"O-Oh . . ." Saito nodded slowly. "Yes, I have some experience with those sort of people." He grinned ruefully. "Out of Time. So that's what you call it?" Then he was very [<Out of Time]> indeed.
Saito had been well aware of this problem. Kiriyu had been heading up the effort to help the children who had ended up finding their minds in grown forms that were not merely sensory overlays but fully functional bodies with all of the biological feedback that would imply. Some of them were nothing but bundles of nerves over it.
It wasn't overly common, thankfully. At least, not as common as it could have been. ALfheim had possessed parental controls and at least some parents had used them to prevent their children from doing something irresponsible. The avatar generator too had done a reasonable job of guessing a player's age based on gender and calibration data. Saito's own youthful appearance, he'd discovered, had been a result of being quite short by modern standards and the Character Generator defaulting to its standard age range.
But that still left the children with irresponsible parents and the financial means to customize their avatar, and those who had simply had the bad luck of borrowing a sibling's account, of which there were far too many.
"Well, until someone comes up with a better name." The Imp girl agreed. "I don't know what the adults are calling it when they end up in a younger body, but here we just call it 'Out of Time.' It's a big problem, but if you look close you'll see we have a solution. See the Gnome girl over their?"
The young Imp pointed to the woman who Saito had seen earlier. Several of the children were chattering with her excitedly while she crouched forward, smiling and nodding and answering back with the same shyness she'd been exhibiting earlier. "That bracelet on her right wrist lets you know that Rika-chan is Out of Time. The teachers and watchers who look too young wear a handkerchief or bandana so that guests can tell them apart."
"Then what about you?" Saito asked, eyeing the girl's bare wrists.
She grinned. "I look my age so I don't need to show that I'm Out of Time, but I wear this to show that I'm a dorm assistant." The girl touched an orange handkerchief tied around her right arm. "That way the younger kids know they can come to me for help. There's lot of times when they'd rather talk to us than the teachers or minders, so it helps out a lot."
Saito nodded, he could only imagine, though it did leave one question. "How . . ." How exactly did one tell that someone was really the age they'd originally claimed to be. A child would get found out eventually imitating an adult, it wasn't necessarily true in the other direction. But before he could get further in asking the question, another interruption arrived from above.
"We found you!" A Spriggan boy, plummeting through the air, flared his wings at the last moment, landing with a solid -thud- beside the imp and reaching out to grab hold of her skirt. "Got you!" The boy cried out with delight. "I win again!"
"No fair! No fair!" A Puca boy complained as he landed a moment later with a good deal more caution. "She wasn't really trying to hide this time! That one doesn't count, it's still a tie!"
"It does too count!" The Spriggan huffed, turning quickly to Saito. "Say, Nii-chan? It totally counts, right? It doesn't matter if she's out in the open, right?!"
"It doesn't count!"
"Does too!"
A sharp whistle broke the two boys up as efficiently as a charging boar type mob. Both came to sharp attention. "Members of the Sleeping Knights Junior Branch, attention!" The Imp girl called sharply.
Junior branch? Saito wondered. But it seemed to be working.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Both boys stood stock straight.
Looking the two over she nodded seriously. "Sorry, but I have to help this guy find Irene-sensei so Miska was right, it doesn't count this time. Sorry Deimo-kun."
"So you can show me where to find her?" Saito felt mildly relieved. This should be simple enough after all.
The girl crossed her arms confidently. "Of course! You're looking at Two Star Licensed Courier Konno Yuki of the Guild [<Sleeping Knights]>. Just leave it to me!"
Commencing Improvements now!Saito had gotten an early start the next morning after what felt like a dreamless sleep, the joys of not waking to old aches and pains more stimulating than caffeine had ever been as he stretched and yawned in his loose nightshirt and shorts and prepared to start his day.
The heat the night before had left him covered in sweat, which meant another quick wash with a towel and pot of heated water while the birds chirped outside the kitchen window.
Grabbing clothes from the closet, the blue purse sitting on the floor served as an urgent reminder. 'Right.' Saito thought as he cast a look over his shoulder. Nanami was still tucked into bed, hugging her pillow close to her chest while drooling over some pleasant dream. He'd take care of this and have Nanami's bag for her by lunch he decided as he made his way out the door and onto the footpath that wound through the semi wooded outskirts of Arrun's outer district.
Saito wasn't in a rush that morning, so he let himself enjoy the walk, the lightening sky overhead, and calls of neighbors bidding him a good morning. The foot traffic picked up as he entered the more urban districts and then hit the main street where the shops were already beginning to open.
As it turned out, finding Arrun Home did not prove difficult at all. Though the formerly geriatric doctor, now a Sylph youth, had never been to the Children's Home himself, like most important structures, it was located close to the main street.
It turned out to be very much a case of a place that he had often passed but never payed much mind to. And now that he was actually paying attention, he was almost surprised he hadn't noticed it before. The Home's necessity however, was well impressed on his mind.
'If I wasn't here, Nanami might have ended up in a place like this.' Not that it would have been a terrible fate judging by the buildings facade and the well kept gardens.
Certainly she would have been older than most of the children, but she also hadn't been a member of any guild or strongly affiliated with her faction. She would have had no one to turn to.
After the disastrous launch of SAO, ALfheim Online had been one of the few Full Dive games to meet with much commercial success, launching coincidentally with the AMUsphere as one of the stopgap system's flagship games.
Due to the expense of developing a full dive game, and the wealth of immersion technology that had been salvaged from the defunct ARGUS when the company's assets had been liquidated, RETCO subsidiary RETCO Progress had made a decision early in ALO's rushed development cycle to appeal to as wide a player base as possible.
And so, despite the emphasis on skill based combat and heavy focus on PVP, ALfheim Online had made an effort to appeal to a much broader audience. Not only the heavy PvPers, but players seeking PvE dungeon crawling, or simply playing for the social aspect of exploring a fantasy world. Coupled with ALOs fantastical public image and the oft mentioned safety of the updated Full Dive consoles, and it had become the go to game for younger children trying to sneak an action adventure past their cautious parents.
But what had been harmless fun, had now become a tragedy that had torn those children from their families, and trapped them in a violent and frightening world that they did not know and had no hope of understanding on their own.
Nanami had born the revelation of the Transition with astonishing strength for someone so young. This world had been rough on her at times, but she was not entirely a child anymore. And Nanami at least had him for support, a confidant and a shoulder to cry on when it got too tough. He could only begin to imagine how much more difficult it had been for those who were even younger and had no one in this world.
Thankfully for those wayward souls, they were not as alone as they'd at first thought.
Disaster had a tendency to galvanize communities, Saito mused as he received directions from a helpful young Cait drawing attention to a newly opened bakery. Hardship brought people together in ways that they would never have thought possible. Loosely associated groups of players known as Guilds had fast found themselves becoming disciplined fighting cadres or staunch business partners, and the factions that had been the foundation of ALO's PvP dynamic had been remade into the foundations of self governance, the Lords listening to and addressing the concerns of their constituents.
One such concern had been what to do for the youngest and most helpless of the players turned Fae. The Children, not always in child bodies, who needed to be watched over and taught how to care for themselves in this world.
Arrun Home had started off as a temporary guardianship established by the Fae Lords by unifying and bolstering the efforts of the well intentioned individuals and guilds that had been watching out for vulnerable players. By providing resources to the volunteers, the hope had been to create a place for the children to stay and know that they were safe and looked after.
Every one of the Faerie settlements now possessed such a Home, but as with the Central Hospital, Arrun Home was largest by virtue of the city's population.
As the days had turned to weeks, and the weeks to months, that temporary guardianship had been extended and then made official in the eyes of the burgeoning Faerie Government.
Of course, it was still referred to as the 'Children's Home', a concession to the hope that its wards might one day be returned to their proper place. Else, Saito thought as he made his way to the gates, smile fading slowly, else they really would be orphans.
'When did I get to be so negative?' Saito wondered, hefting the misplaced purse. It certainly wasn't from his old life.
Hopefully he wouldn't be thought some sort of thief by bringing this back in person. Especially when it contained an image that was almost certainly of great sentimental value to that young woman. People became rightly attached to such things and didn't take kindly to them going missing.
'And here we are at last.' He came to a stop, looking up past the rot iron gate that separated the gigantic stone guild hall and its attending outbuildings from the street. Not much of an obstacle for Faerie Wings, but things like walls and gates continued to persist for reasons of practicality, and also a certain aesthetic.
Another concession to aesthetic was situated on the shoulder of the roadway beside the opened gate. Wooden placards strung one after another in six rows, each containing a handwritten name. The names of all of the children and their minders. It was a touching effort to liven the place up.
'At least the Children appear to be in good hands.' Saito observed as he stepped off of the street, climbing the steps into the yard where he was met by the sounds of voices and the noises of children playing.
It was still early, but early or late, children got restless to be outdoors once the sun came up, a constant in any world that was to be expected. Small bodies filled the yards and gardens of the Guild building, children at play, limbs pumping fast and furious as they chased each other in games of tag and dodge ball, and the occasional flaring of wings as they indulged in not entirely sanctioned aerial antics.
What wasn't so expected was the man at the center of the fracas, struggling to balance as he was besought upon by a pair of children apparently aged around nine or ten intent on pulling him in two directions at once. A rotund little Leprechaun who would have stood out for his stature and build even if not for metallic hair and mustache.
"Come on Ji-chan!" One of the children, a little Cait girl, ears twitching excitedly. "Come look and see what me and Paraila-chan made!"
"No way!" An Undine boy cried. "We want Ji-chan to help us play dragoon first!"
The little girl scowled at her companion. "You need at least two 'dragons' for that, dummy!"
"Now now, just a moment you two! One at a . . . one at a time!" Between the two arguing children, Lord Rute, Lord of the Leprechauns and First Lord of Goubniu struggled to get a word in edge wise, giving a mighty huff to stay balanced as a third child, a little Salamander girl with long, warm, red hair practically jumped onto his back.
"Yeah, we're going to get Rika-chan to be the other one!" The Undine declared, pointing to a nervous looking Gnome woman beside him who stood head and shoulders above the Faerie Lord.
Having only encountered the Leprechaun Lord during his reports to the Faerie Lords, it was not, Saito thought, how he would have expected him to spend his free time. Rute's ostentatious red coat with all the finery of its golden buttons and braiding had been cast aside, revealing undershirt and suspenders holding up red trousers, like some less endearing Old Saint Nick in the off season.
"Takaeo, that's no fair!" The young feline accused. "Rika-chan would be a way better dragon than Ji-chan!"
Rute's mustache worked furiously as his face turned beat red. "Why you!"
"Faerie back ride! Faerie back ride!" The little Salamander girl declared excitedly. "Come on Ji-chan, I know you can do it, just like daddy!"
The blustering Lord seemed powerless to do anything but accept, grumbling good naturedly as he conjured his own sprocketed wings and climbed skyward to circle the guild building, his Salamander passenger squealing with delight. Saito shielded his eyes from the sun as they disappeared behind a turreted tower that dominated one corner of the main building.
"I never would have thought old Rute-san would have it in him." Saito said out loud.
"Most people don't realize it, but actually, Rute-sama is a really good person." A young voice replied conversationally right beside him.
A rustling above Saito's head startled him, twitch reflexes he'd started to fast develop now that his body remembered what reflexes were supposed to be, almost caused him to kick off skyward in surprise. As it was, Saito had merely summoned his wings without actually using them, the four magic limbs flared and glowing with their full charge before he realized what he was doing. He considered it a partial victory. At least he would be able to salvage most of his dignity, he hoped. The laughter coming from the Imp girl who had materialized by his side left him doubtful.
Then again, he was hardly the only one who presently looked ridiculous. Hanging upside down with her legs hooked around a branch so that her long violet hair nearly brushed the ground, her skirt had come partly up as well, revealing the by now expected pair of shorts that most girls had taken to now that the [<System Auto Sensoring]> was no longer in effect.
"Erm . . . E-Excuse me . . ." Saito began uncertainly.
"Sorry, sorry!" The dark haired girl stopped laughing, wiping a tear from one cherry red eye. "I hope I didn't startle you too much."
Without another word, in fact without any forewarning save for a light rocking back and forth, the Imp girl curled upward, a feat that would have been an impressive display of abdominal strength for a normal human, uncurled her legs, and performed an acrobatic little flip as she fell neatly to the ground as his side.
"Uhm . . No." Saito scratched at the back of his head, night quite sure how to proceed. She certainly looked like one of the children, rising from a crouch, she had a child's exuberance about her. "Uhm, I'm looking for your Sensei, ah, Irene-san?" He asked politely. "Forgive me for asking this but . . ."
"I'm not one of the teachers." The Imp girl answer for him, dusting herself off and shaking out the leaves in her hair. She gave the definite impression that being dirty was nothing new to her. "But I do help out watching the younger kids. I like to pay may own way!" She smiled so brightly, Saito thought that she'd eclipse the sun. If they boxed that smile and sold it in a burger shop, it would sell faster than the french fries. At least, that's what he thought. "You must be new to Arrun home, there are lots of people here who are 'Out of Time'."
"Out of time?" Saito puzzled the phrase.
"Un." She nodded seriously. "You know, out of phase with their lifetime?"
"O-Oh . . ." Saito nodded slowly. "Yes, I have some experience with those sort of people." He grinned ruefully. "Out of Time. So that's what you call it?" Then he was very [<Out of Time]> indeed.
Saito had been well aware of this problem. Kiriyu had been heading up the effort to help the children who had ended up finding their minds in grown forms that were not merely sensory overlays but fully functional bodies with all of the biological feedback that would imply. Some of them were nothing but bundles of nerves over it.
It wasn't overly common, thankfully. At least, not as common as it could have been. ALfheim had possessed parental controls and at least some parents had used them to prevent their children from doing something irresponsible. The avatar generator too had done a reasonable job of guessing a player's age based on gender and calibration data. Saito's own youthful appearance, he'd discovered, had been a result of being quite short by modern standards and the Character Generator defaulting to its standard age range.
But that still left the children with irresponsible parents and the financial means to customize their avatar, and those who had simply had the bad luck of borrowing a sibling's account, of which there were far too many.
"Well, until someone comes up with a better name." The Imp girl agreed. "I don't know what the adults are calling it when they end up in a younger body, but here we just call it 'Out of Time.' It's a big problem, but if you look close you'll see we have a solution. See the Gnome girl over their?"
The young Imp pointed to the woman who Saito had seen earlier. Several of the children were chattering with her excitedly while she crouched forward, smiling and nodding and answering back with the same shyness she'd been exhibiting earlier. "That bracelet on her right wrist lets you know that Rika-chan is Out of Time. The teachers and watchers who look too young wear a handkerchief or bandana so that guests can tell them apart."
"Then what about you?" Saito asked, eyeing the girl's bare wrists.
She grinned. "I look my age so I don't need to show that I'm Out of Time, but I wear this to show that I'm a dorm assistant." The girl touched an orange handkerchief tied around her right arm. "That way the younger kids know they can come to me for help. There's lot of times when they'd rather talk to us than the teachers or minders, so it helps out a lot."
Saito nodded, he could only imagine, though it did leave one question. "How . . ." How exactly did one tell that someone was really the age they'd originally claimed to be. A child would get found out eventually imitating an adult, it wasn't necessarily true in the other direction. But before he could get further in asking the question, another interruption arrived from above.
"We found you!" A Spriggan boy, plummeting through the air, flared his wings at the last moment, landing with a solid -thud- beside the imp and reaching out to grab hold of her skirt. "Got you!" The boy cried out with delight. "I win again!"
"No fair! No fair!" A Puca boy complained as he landed a moment later with a good deal more caution. "She wasn't really trying to hide this time! That one doesn't count, it's still a tie!"
"It does too count!" The Spriggan huffed, turning quickly to Saito. "Say, Nii-chan? It totally counts, right? It doesn't matter if she's out in the open, right?!"
"It doesn't count!"
"Does too!"
A sharp whistle broke the two boys up as efficiently as a charging boar type mob. Both came to sharp attention. "Members of the Sleeping Knights Junior Branch, attention!" The Imp girl called sharply.
Junior branch? Saito wondered. But it seemed to be working.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Both boys stood stock straight.
Looking the two over she nodded seriously. "Sorry, but I have to help this guy find Irene-sensei so Miska was right, it doesn't count this time. Sorry Deimo-kun."
"So you can show me where to find her?" Saito felt mildly relieved. This should be simple enough after all.
The girl crossed her arms confidently. "Of course! You're looking at Two Star Licensed Courier Konno Yuki of the Guild [<Sleeping Knights]>. Just leave it to me!"
Blinded
I'm... impressed I suppose.
Going by the theme Major (Coinen Sidhe) and Minor (Sion Sidhe) theme for West/south east territories and considering DDs are in the North and numerous enough to be a threat to Gnome capital. will Cu Sidhe (if they get [<Approval]>) also be in the North/North-East?Exsequens said:
Also DDs don't give the impression of "flying" so going by Bunny-Fox relation again, Cu Sidhe should probably be "all but helpless in magical aspects (no better than Sion Sidhe) but still have power of flight", and be more of a male dominant group with warrior-priests/mages in place of Miko (I'm thinking Inuyasha and Cu Chulainn here).
EDIT:
- Yup!! I was right. Saitou mistook Aoi for Irene!! But nevertheless Irene IS a young woman compared with the formerly elderly,Triggerhappy said:This was actually supposed to go at the end of the last part so it doesn't count as part three. Consider it a New Year's eve present.
- Wow... despite whatever they might say about Rute's attempt at economical take-over of the world, he DOES have a heart of solid gold. This sort of activities without a group of attendants does not improve his reputation or earn him vote, but that's what makes it even more precious.
And now we officially have a Santa!!
- It seems the whole [<His/her wings popped out]> or something like that is going to become a Faery expression for "getting shocked/startled"... First Yui and now Saito.
- I think considering Yuuki had AIDS she could not get her hands muddy IRL, so the whole mud and dirt has a sort of novelty for her.
- That ... Auto Character-generator feature... ah...mm... donno what to say!!
- Good job and thanks for the wonderful gift!!
Typo and stuff:
- passed but never
payedpaid - foundations of self-governance
- the efforts of well-intentioned
SaitoSaitou shielded his eyesSaitoSaitou said out loud (Though I'm starting to think maybe "Saito" is more conveneint than "Saitou"... unless they have different meaning in japanese? So from this point onward I'm gonna ignore "Saito")- the System Auto
SensoringCensoring - The Imp girl answered for him
- I like to pay
maymy own way! - You must be new to Arrun Home
- the same shyness she'd been exhibitting exhibiting
- "Members of the Sleepin Knights Junio Branch, attention!" (I'm guessing the missing bits are to emphasize to sharpness of Yuuki's call)
Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
Coinin Sidhe are the AGI types, Sion Sidhe are the INT types (Which is why they are much easier to negotiate with and have a high-destruction spell in their arsenal.), Cu Sidhe take the STR in my book.Blinded said:
Depending on who you ask, I will tell you that Cu Sidhe have a pack society, and follow one simple rule, might makes right. Everything else I keep secret except the bit they are more present on the East side of ALfheim and are far from pleasant.
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
That's kind of been the point.LGear said:Sleeping Knights are in the house!!!!
Thematically though, it does fit.. both Saito and Yuki are those who found second lives thanks to the Transition. Still, nice to finally see her in HalO.
Saito confronted his present life in the first snip. His past in the previous snip. The last part is his future. And who better to meet then Yuki before confronting his own future?
Yuki should be interesting though, especially when it sinks in that she has the chance to live on for both her own sake and the memory of her family. I could think of no better fate for her than living her life for herself and in honor of her sister's memory.
Triggerhappy
Stick with Trigger and You'll Make it Through
- Location
- SoCal
Given her description makes her sound like the Undine version of a surfer chick, I'd say its doubtful.dan-heron said:
Not every OC character is an expy. I've actually been a little annoyed by that assumption recently.
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
A prompt by Blinded made me think I'm approaching Offline the wrong way:
Since I've already declared that Offline will be a repository of omakes, sidestories and crack... do I really need to order it so tightly? I did say that I'll organize the story page according to author... but some authors here have so many stories that if I post them in my current 1-story-a-day arrangement, some authors will take weeks for their works to be seen. Already, I'm seeing that my own impression of Offline is turning it into the aightaight2 show, since he's the one with the fortune of having a name first in alphabetical order. The suggestion of spacing so that it gets reviews means that Offline has turned from being a simple dumping ground of previously written stories, and has become a serial in its own right.
I'm kinda thinking that I need to deal with this a bit more loosely. My idea is to proceed with alphabetical order, but for authors with more than 4 stories under their name, I'll be posting 4 stories from them, then immediately proceed to the next author in line. For multi-chapter stories, I'll post the chapters until the story is finished, and I'll probably have to consolidate short chapters into longer ones. Once the list is exhausted, then I'll return to 4 of the first author's unposted works in the rotation and so forth. That way we can expedite showing off other author's works faster. If I proceed, this means that the next update for tomorrow will be a work by an NPC.
Thoughts?
Since I've already declared that Offline will be a repository of omakes, sidestories and crack... do I really need to order it so tightly? I did say that I'll organize the story page according to author... but some authors here have so many stories that if I post them in my current 1-story-a-day arrangement, some authors will take weeks for their works to be seen. Already, I'm seeing that my own impression of Offline is turning it into the aightaight2 show, since he's the one with the fortune of having a name first in alphabetical order. The suggestion of spacing so that it gets reviews means that Offline has turned from being a simple dumping ground of previously written stories, and has become a serial in its own right.
I'm kinda thinking that I need to deal with this a bit more loosely. My idea is to proceed with alphabetical order, but for authors with more than 4 stories under their name, I'll be posting 4 stories from them, then immediately proceed to the next author in line. For multi-chapter stories, I'll post the chapters until the story is finished, and I'll probably have to consolidate short chapters into longer ones. Once the list is exhausted, then I'll return to 4 of the first author's unposted works in the rotation and so forth. That way we can expedite showing off other author's works faster. If I proceed, this means that the next update for tomorrow will be a work by an NPC.
Thoughts?
Well if I were them I would likely try to petition for an extermination campaign against the Dark Dwarfs.Jonnoda said:
Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
It happens TH, the moment someone acts or does something similar to another person, they're called an expy. It's one of Monty Oum's berserk buttons coincidentally, also one of mine on a less serious basis.Triggerhappy said:Given her description makes her sound like the Undine version of a surfer chick, I'd say its doubtful.
Not every OC character is an expy. I've actually been a little annoyed by that assumption recently.
Speaking of which, I never did get that question about the Bestiary and Offline thing answered (I don't get a lot of questions answered anyway.), how's that one going?LGear said:
The moment you pass the event horizon, the niceties go out the airlock, though there are as many tunnels as there are dwarves, all of which deserve nothing less than the fury of death, or better, somehow being used as a peace offering to some of the more giant species as makeshift footballs. (Even if that is far from possible.)BBM said:
By the way, SAO Dark Dwaves.
Thellton
Lover of giant mecha jets
Sounds like as though that would work rather nicely at what you're hoping to do with it!LGear said:
I say go for it!
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
I think I did provide an answer about the bestiary a while back iirc: said they'd be treated the same as any other snippet.Exsequens said:
Until Pina grows into a full-sized dragon anyway.Murazor said:
Blinded
I'm... impressed I suppose.
And considering RETCO was a little too totally creatively bankrupted (Though admittedly unless someone is from SAO they wouldn't have noticed at all)... I'd say they just repainted, expanded and added more gears to them.Exsequens said:
What would happen if Kirito goes there for whatever reason:
GG: As you can see, Kirito-dono, our Gnomish Guardians usually fight against the Dark Dwarf raiding Parties, keeping Tua Tona safe blahblah blah...
Kirito: *Looks at the Dark Dwarf gears piled around the Gnome outpost. They look awfully familiar*
GG: One of their favorite tactics is to use baits, usually high level gears, more often than not a prisoner or some of them faking as captured faery, to lure the rescue parties and patrols into an ambush-room, that's what we call it, and...
Kirito: *Eyes opened wide with realization. he takes very close look at the DD gears... they are definitely the same design as a certain SOA-mobs... the plan sounds painfully familiar too...*
GG:* Reliving some of his own dark memories and oblivious to hysteric, almost hyperventilating Spriggan* vicious little cannibals....
Kirito takes one last look at the Dark Dwarf Gears and:
[ ] Takes a deep, calming breath. Sachi and rest of the Black Cats were killed by Kayaba's death trap and these are essentially a different mobs. But still I'm gonna make sure they would not hurt anyone. The Faery Council should do something and I'm going to make them if I have to!!
[ ] Takes a deep, calming breath. Sachi and rest of the Black Cats were killed by Kayaba's death trap and these are essentially a different mobs. But still I'm gonna make sure they would not hurt anyone. I will join GGs for now to make sure something is done.
[ ] ARRRGH!! I'M GONNA KILL THEM ALL!!
[ ] Faints
[ ] Write in action...
Usually I make these things as jokes... this one was just too heavy a subject to make a joke of.
noahgab1133
Fluffy?
yup he would definitely kill them all.
Exsequens
I Ent Dead!
- Location
- Back in the Toaster.
In that case, you have the green light on some of the stuff I've written. Can't exactly leave the peeps' there hanging on what's Coinin and Sionnach Sidhe now can we?LGear said:
I'd say the likelihood is high that Kirito would not charge in like the berserker he is, he's no fool he can't take on hundreds of these scum-suckers all by himself, likely Option A and B would occur, with B being in his free time.Blinded said:
On a side note, the Extra Edition has given me a new acronym to give to Klein.
KLEIN - Kicking Luck's Extraordinarily Insensitive Nuts
Because not only did he get a faceful of Agil before the last line of a beach, he mistook a calamari as a mermaid, and no bikinis for you Klein, your luck isn't going to get any better no matter how much you take your pain out on the Man of Fortune's nuts.