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Palace of Greed, El Dorado (Library of Ruina)

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thePUNisher said:
Lin receives: A sign of the respect his tenants have for him.

Iris and John Husbandman receive: A daughter who needs to be waterboarded to admit she mildly likes someone due to years of landlord shittery.

Man what a steal, Adil needs to name her kid after Lin too if she ever finds the right chainsaw demon guy for her :V
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Won't lie, this does make me laugh. Appreciate that the thread as a whole is on the side of "Tsunderes are valid if they're clearly the result of immeasurable psychological trauma."

Really am waiting to see what Adil's like in a dedicated one on one conversation, I want their to be Emotional Tension when it ends up that she's an insane clown music demon, or more incomprehensibly, the idea she might be an actually nice person who doesn't harm Lily for taking interest in her despite Soothing having a Makima faceclaim ready to drop the instant she was introduced.

I realize this sounds fake but we are fresh off the chapter Soothing made buffoons of us for thinking we'd be engaging in close contact psychological warfare with the illusionary loved one.

Not gonna lie I'm still a little shellshocked from that turn Iris wasn't even slightly nasty about the love hell dream, I was expecting nail biting Justice rolls, maybe even still debuffed from low Sanity maluses, to even contemplate Moon was gnawing on Lily's brain throughout this, but no, Lily just, sunk through the comfort back into awareness.

It makes me intensely curious about what would've happened if Kai Mao or Sun got picked, like, did the thread vote the "right" option with Mom, avoiding a distressingly romance forced dream? Was it the case, that whoever Lily saw would be positive for their relationship?

Sounds fake.

Hang on a brainwave's coming through:

SoothingCoffee said:
Despite being pretty sure that she's older than you, Miss Sun is a small petite thing barely reaching the height of your shoulders, and Mao's chest. Sandy blonde hair going past her shoulders, and a pair of wide teary purple eyes. You do not miss the heavy bags in her eyes, the familiar deadness you've seen in your neighbor's eyes, fading at the sight of Mao. You recognize the sinking in her cheeks, her stretched skin covering her too-narrow chin. She wears a baggy, wide-sleeved sweater, practically swallowing a good 70% of her body. The moment the door fully opens, she practically throws herself to Mao, crying.
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SoothingCoffee said:
The four in the background wear similar looking clothes, but without the long coat – a cap on their head and collared up brown clothes on their body with too many pockets. The second person that stands out stands surrounded by the four. Wispy white-blue hair, and a pair of wide red eyes. Unlike the others, he wears a simple shirt-and-trousers combo; something that you wouldn't bat an eye over in the streets. It's something that you would wear.
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[Narrows eyes at Lily having blonde hair and green eyes while Kai has white hair and blue eyes] ...Coffee Man played a funny with the questers' likelihood of falling over heels in partnership with Kai, huh.

Ros and Los said:
Oooooooooh, right. That is a thing. I am not really pushing the shipping angle but I am wondering why it is this easy to make these implications. The sitcom thing was a joke but I am starting to think it might be reality. Lily and Kai are here having a wholesome and heartwarming partnership, then there is everyone else who is reading too much into their interactions.
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Reminded me I wanted to say something here, and that's really just the result of picking the 'protect a girl from her ex' job as the prologue mission, talking about said ex instead of deflecting to the impersonal Fixer Office stuff, staying invested in Sun and her predominantly romance focused baggage, hanging out with Kai consistently enough to get the question that was answered with "Partners", then picking out matching red string of fate alluding ribbons, after which a random antagonist goes:

SoothingCoffee said:
"… I'll kill you," he mutters, barely loud enough amidsts the clash of steel. You make a swing of your knockbar, and he flinches, immediately leaping back from you. He breathes heavily, body hunched over, hatchets low on the ground, eye seething. "I'll make it slow. Make it painful. That girl – your girl," you frown, and he returns it with a wide grin. "You care for her, don't cha? I'll torture her. Make you watch – watch the life drain from her eyes. Fucked her up that I'll have you kill her outta mercy. I could do that. I know I could. Break you. Break her."
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Just, a lot of little choices over time.

Also Soothing just knows his audience, so clearly he's willing to play into the popularity of the pairing whether it goes all the way or not. That's why we get little nudges like:

SoothingCoffee said:
You give her a look, before looking back to the board, rolling your eyes. "Yes, mom, there's more," she leans close to you. You let out a huff, lips twitch despite yourself. "Kai's my partner," you watch Mom blink. "We work together on Urban Myths," her mouth opens into an 'O' shape. She looks disappointed. You shoot her a pointed look.
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Which by the by is a parallel to this because our quest runner doesn't have the kindness to simply disembowel us.

SoothingCoffee said:
"I see," Mother nodded. Fretfully, as Kai chewed some crunchy bits of rice that weren't completely cooked – she thought it added to the texture – she glanced up to Mother. Her pale blue eyes were focused elsewhere from her eyepatch. "Did one of them give you that ribbon?"

Kai's hand reaches to her neck – and stops an eighth way through the motion. "Yes," she said instead, placing her hand down. "Her name is Lily, she's a –" no, not a "—she's my Partner," Mother tilted her head slightly. "We work on Urban Myth jobs together."

"I see," Mother said, after a moment.
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Anyway my personal standpoint is that I'd be fine if Lily's path to enlightenment never involves tonguing another human being, but it'd be alright if it did.

The real question is if the bachelorette life will be Lily's choice or if god will smite her for daring to get laid like Roland.
 
[X] "… I miss you. I love you."

[X] Write-in: "...You think, I'll ever learn to be okay on my own?"

Both these are intensely interesting options.
 
SoothingCoffee said:
Your head plants onto her shoulders, burying your face – that familiar unfamiliar scent fills your head: vanilla, and something floral, with the undercurrent of what you now recognize as blood.
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This initially freaked me out, she smells like blood? Then I remembered she's a Fixer, and all Fixers eventually smell like blood. Occupational hazard.
 
Birthday said:
This initially freaked me out, she smells like blood? Then I remembered she's a Fixer, and all Fixers eventually smell like blood. Occupational hazard.
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Not only a Fixer but a fairly high-grade one at that, just like Mao. Hell for all we know she might have been a 1st Grade.

Speaking of, I do wonder if Kai's Mom knows anything about Iris, probably not but we could check, if Ithe Wonderland isn't a "no friends except the ones I choose for you" type that is.
 
[X] Write-in: "...You think, I'll ever learn to be okay on my own?"

[X] "… I miss you. I love you."

If either of these win I'll be happy. Lily deserves to have alittle vindication after all of this hell, even if it's just from herself. And Mao had better have some hugs and head pats ready when she wakes up!
 
RiceRockRekt said:
Anyway my personal standpoint is that I'd be fine if Lily's path to enlightenment never involves tonguing another human being, but it'd be alright if it did.
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Same here. I lean into the romantic angle a lot with Kai because I find it lighthearted to joke about and it is so very easy to do. I kid about that is what is going but it also does not surprise me if things go that way. It is also incredibly funny to use "Til Death Do You Part" when one side defies death, and the myriad other awesome tag-team scenarios.

Kai's and Lily's bond has been an interesting and surprising quick one. Kai was glossed over when we first met her, we kind of ignored her at the fixer license exam. Then we learn we joined the same office by chance and decided it was a good idea to understand the other rookie a bit better, we were going to work together at some point.

SoothingCoffee said:
"You returned from your mission unharmed," you jump as Kai speaks. You blink, shooting her a look. Her brows are lightly furrowed. "How is that?"
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SoothingCoffee said:
She blinks. "You made the decision?"
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SoothingCoffee said:
"I did fuck all though, unlike you – "you cut yourself immediately. Fuck. Why did you say that? You grimace. You and your goddamn mouth. "Fuck. Forget I said that."
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SoothingCoffee said:
What's the point of power if you can't use it?
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And then we start to see the issues both sides have and maybe why both work so well together. Kai wants to be able to act to show she can stand on her own instead of others making decisions for her. Lily wants to do something and it mean something instead of being looked down on and mocked. "What's the point of power if you can't use it?" means having self-determination for both of them in different ways.

Lily is inspiring Kai to voice her opinion more often and Kai is helping Lily with making her choices matter. It also helps their partnership that Kai wants to be treated as an equal and Lily does not want to be indebted to anyone, that specific combination heavily incentivize both of them to give their all to bond. They are both too stubborn to not give their 100% when both are trying to prove themselves.

They are...they are such dorks!

They choose to be partners in two weeks of knowing each other for Pete's sake! They are both wearing the Scarecrow Office logo proudly! They have matching ribbons! Matching ribbons! I was going to bring up that one could make the argument that Lily is taking advantage of Kai but I can not get over this. Both of them fail at emotional connections so hard that they bumble into a serious "life or death" partnership.

They are such idiots and I adore them so much.
 
[X] "… Are you still alive, out there?"

Some people are saying they'll be happy with whatever vote wins.

They are wrong.

I can only see satisfying sadness in the future.
 
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