A/N: Err... hi! I'm LuciDreamer. This Quest is... something of a writing project for me. I...
The Perfectly Normal High School: A Slice of Life Quest! (Defunct)
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Introduction
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A/N: Err... hi! I'm LuciDreamer. This Quest is... something of a writing project for me. I really like writing, but usually I get so inundated with ideas that I can never choose between all of them, so then I end up doing none of them. This is usually followed by me being frustrated with myself for not being able to stretch my creative muscles, so I play some Victoria II or EUIV to blow off some steam. Unfortunately, this also means that I end up writing even less, because I end up spending so much of my time ruthlessly conquering Poland as the Constitutional Republic of Russia or creating yet another socialist utopian democracy in Japan or something. It's a self-perpetuating cycle of disappointment and self-loathing, the best kind! To try and break myself out of this creative rut, I've decided to make a Quest, because then I'll be forced to write out of guilt to the people who actually decided to invest their time in my little thread.
As for what this Quest is about?
...
Well, I know I want to make a character-driven slice of life with a dash of mystery, but as for the specifics? I have no idea.
So this will be fun, yeah?!
THE PERFECTLY NORMAL HIGH SCHOOL
Or
CKII, but with Anime Schoolgirls
Or
Mechanically Categorize Social Relationships using Arbitrary Numbers and Statistics
><><><
The bullet train is eerily quiet.
Not that Silas Yamigawa really minded. He liked the quiet, in fact, much preferring an excess of silence over the overabundance of noise. But today, perhaps, he might have liked to have had more company on the train, if only so that he could better hide the fact from the bullet train's few occupants that Silas was shaking slightly from the legs.
School. Silas had never attended public school before today. He hadn't felt that he really needed to. For most of his early life, he had regarded the Mihoku public schooling system with unease and distrust, preferring to stay away and study at home. There were many reasons for this, but the chief among them was the fact that…
[] ...Silas's parents had always insisted he be homeschooled, claiming that their personal tutoring would be leagues ahead of any public sector teacher. He had never really found reason to disagree with them before they disappeared, not even leaving a paper trail in their wake. (Silas is a ditzy rich kid. Some of his parents' elitism has rubbed off on him, so he doesn't make friends with most people very well. He's terrifyingly smart, however, and his parents' lessons have made him a natural smooth-talker.)
[] ...Silas prefers to live his own life, thank you very much. He was perfectly fine spending his life playing online video games and chatting up forum threads thanks to the money he had inherited from his parents' will, and only really wants to attend school now because the social isolation was really starting to get to him. (Silas is a sociable NEET. He spends a bit too much time obsessing over videogames and anime, but he's more than friendly to those that can somehow manage to get closer to him, and he has a creative mind.)
[] ...Silas is really, really shy. He doesn't remember much about his childhood, but he does remember that he clung to his mom and dad incessantly, finding much warmth and comfort in their arms. When they left him, he stopped communicating with much of the world for a while, and only now feels confident enough to finally step into the social sphere again. (Silas is a Shrinking Violet, but has a big heart. He finds interacting with humans again terrifying, but really wants to make friends regardless. The years he spent in isolation has unfortunately made him a bit slow.)
Whatever the reason, there is no turning back now. He'd signed the documents, forged his parents' signatures (something he'd learned to do a long time ago) and now he was enrolled into Yamaha High School, the closest one to his apartment block. The very thought sent a chill up his spine. He clutched the handrail a bit tighter as he felt the force of the bullet train tug against him.
He wasn't all alone, though. When the train stopped at his station, who else would be waiting for him other than his…
[]Big sister. Reina has this mischievous smirk on her face, as if to say, 'You didn't think I wouldn't know if you suddenly decided to start attending school, now did you?' She seems really pleased with him, though. Probably because she's proud to see her baby brother all grown up or something sappy like that. Reina's been around forever, and even though she can't live with him, Silas wouldn't be able to count the number of times he could rely on her when he'd hit a low spot. (+Courage, +Physique, ???)
[]Big Sister. Silas sees her flickering in the TV screens; feels her vibrate his phone slightly just to let him know she's there. Silas can't really describe what his Big Sister is, other than the fact that she seems to be everywhere all at once, and that bad things tend to happen to people that threaten him. Big Sister texts Silas regularly, giving advice and tips from his phone; coming to school was one such tip. Remember, Big Sister is watching… (+++Intelligence, -Charisma, bonus to all actions if Big Sister is present, ???)
[]Childhood friend. Nanami waves at him, grinning, and Silas waves back. She was absolutely ecstatic when he told her he'd be attending Yamaha this year, as incidentally that's the exact same school she goes to. Silas always thought that she was strangely clingy, for some reason, but other than that she's been a good friend despite him not really being all that outgoing. Some of Nanami's personality has really rubbed off on him over the years. (+Charisma, +Creativity, bonus to all actions with Nanami present, ???)
At the sight of her, some of Silas's tension bubbles away. Things were going to be fine. Right? He's got a close ally, at least. Someone dependable that he can trust. That should make everything much more bearable. Right?
Silas took a deep sigh. School wasn't too far now, and no doubt she'd be following him all the way there. That would make him feel a little better. But then, once inside, he had no idea what would happen. Fanciful ideas swam inside his head. Would he make lots of friends, or bitter enemies? Would there be clubs he had to join; social groups he had to link to? What kind of classes would he be taking? What kind of people attended Yamaha? Punks? Otaku? Crazies?
To any normal Mihokujin schoolboy, this day would just be a day like any other. They would probably come to school in groups, or go looking for one as soon as possible. They'd know what they should be doing; they'd enter the school with an air of confidence.
But for Silas, though?
This was completely foreign ground for him.
Gingerly, he took a step out of the bullet train. The city around him seemed to slow down. It was such a small step, but for some reason it felt like a huge leap for him. His foot touched the concrete floor of the station interior.
And thus, Silas entered into the real world for the first time in four years.
As for what this Quest is about?
...
Well, I know I want to make a character-driven slice of life with a dash of mystery, but as for the specifics? I have no idea.
So this will be fun, yeah?!
THE PERFECTLY NORMAL HIGH SCHOOL
Or
CKII, but with Anime Schoolgirls
Or
Mechanically Categorize Social Relationships using Arbitrary Numbers and Statistics
><><><
The bullet train is eerily quiet.
Not that Silas Yamigawa really minded. He liked the quiet, in fact, much preferring an excess of silence over the overabundance of noise. But today, perhaps, he might have liked to have had more company on the train, if only so that he could better hide the fact from the bullet train's few occupants that Silas was shaking slightly from the legs.
School. Silas had never attended public school before today. He hadn't felt that he really needed to. For most of his early life, he had regarded the Mihoku public schooling system with unease and distrust, preferring to stay away and study at home. There were many reasons for this, but the chief among them was the fact that…
[] ...Silas's parents had always insisted he be homeschooled, claiming that their personal tutoring would be leagues ahead of any public sector teacher. He had never really found reason to disagree with them before they disappeared, not even leaving a paper trail in their wake. (Silas is a ditzy rich kid. Some of his parents' elitism has rubbed off on him, so he doesn't make friends with most people very well. He's terrifyingly smart, however, and his parents' lessons have made him a natural smooth-talker.)
[] ...Silas prefers to live his own life, thank you very much. He was perfectly fine spending his life playing online video games and chatting up forum threads thanks to the money he had inherited from his parents' will, and only really wants to attend school now because the social isolation was really starting to get to him. (Silas is a sociable NEET. He spends a bit too much time obsessing over videogames and anime, but he's more than friendly to those that can somehow manage to get closer to him, and he has a creative mind.)
[] ...Silas is really, really shy. He doesn't remember much about his childhood, but he does remember that he clung to his mom and dad incessantly, finding much warmth and comfort in their arms. When they left him, he stopped communicating with much of the world for a while, and only now feels confident enough to finally step into the social sphere again. (Silas is a Shrinking Violet, but has a big heart. He finds interacting with humans again terrifying, but really wants to make friends regardless. The years he spent in isolation has unfortunately made him a bit slow.)
Whatever the reason, there is no turning back now. He'd signed the documents, forged his parents' signatures (something he'd learned to do a long time ago) and now he was enrolled into Yamaha High School, the closest one to his apartment block. The very thought sent a chill up his spine. He clutched the handrail a bit tighter as he felt the force of the bullet train tug against him.
He wasn't all alone, though. When the train stopped at his station, who else would be waiting for him other than his…
[]Big sister. Reina has this mischievous smirk on her face, as if to say, 'You didn't think I wouldn't know if you suddenly decided to start attending school, now did you?' She seems really pleased with him, though. Probably because she's proud to see her baby brother all grown up or something sappy like that. Reina's been around forever, and even though she can't live with him, Silas wouldn't be able to count the number of times he could rely on her when he'd hit a low spot. (+Courage, +Physique, ???)
[]Big Sister. Silas sees her flickering in the TV screens; feels her vibrate his phone slightly just to let him know she's there. Silas can't really describe what his Big Sister is, other than the fact that she seems to be everywhere all at once, and that bad things tend to happen to people that threaten him. Big Sister texts Silas regularly, giving advice and tips from his phone; coming to school was one such tip. Remember, Big Sister is watching… (+++Intelligence, -Charisma, bonus to all actions if Big Sister is present, ???)
[]Childhood friend. Nanami waves at him, grinning, and Silas waves back. She was absolutely ecstatic when he told her he'd be attending Yamaha this year, as incidentally that's the exact same school she goes to. Silas always thought that she was strangely clingy, for some reason, but other than that she's been a good friend despite him not really being all that outgoing. Some of Nanami's personality has really rubbed off on him over the years. (+Charisma, +Creativity, bonus to all actions with Nanami present, ???)
At the sight of her, some of Silas's tension bubbles away. Things were going to be fine. Right? He's got a close ally, at least. Someone dependable that he can trust. That should make everything much more bearable. Right?
Silas took a deep sigh. School wasn't too far now, and no doubt she'd be following him all the way there. That would make him feel a little better. But then, once inside, he had no idea what would happen. Fanciful ideas swam inside his head. Would he make lots of friends, or bitter enemies? Would there be clubs he had to join; social groups he had to link to? What kind of classes would he be taking? What kind of people attended Yamaha? Punks? Otaku? Crazies?
To any normal Mihokujin schoolboy, this day would just be a day like any other. They would probably come to school in groups, or go looking for one as soon as possible. They'd know what they should be doing; they'd enter the school with an air of confidence.
But for Silas, though?
This was completely foreign ground for him.
Gingerly, he took a step out of the bullet train. The city around him seemed to slow down. It was such a small step, but for some reason it felt like a huge leap for him. His foot touched the concrete floor of the station interior.
And thus, Silas entered into the real world for the first time in four years.
Last edited:
Character Sheet
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
SILAS YAMIGAWA
Popularity: SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
Stress: VERY HIGH
Personality:
Unabashed Shut-In - Silas's at-home efficiency is at an all time high. He's highly proficient at all kinds of not-going-outside activities, like laundry, cooking, vacuuming, video games, streaming services, internet politics, and imageboard-surfing. His lifestyle is comfortable; decadent, even.
Traits:
Loner - Silas has been shying away from people in general for the better part of his entire life. He's not about to stop now. (-20 to all social actions. Any action taken at school or otherwise outside the house incurs at least +1 Stress regardless of outcome.)
Self Deprecating - Silas has the bad habit of falling into the negative feedback loop of unfairly beating himself up for having personal faults, causing him to develop more personal faults. Some people find his humility endearing, but it stifles his ability to get anything meaningful done. (+5 to all social actions. Stress gains from failure doubled.)
Hell is Other People - The door opens, but Silas stays inside. (Advantage on social actions, disadvantage on intrigue actions. Silas is bound to a certain worldview which limits has obscured many of his options. It will take work to reveal them.)
Side Characters:
Popularity: SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
Stress: VERY HIGH
| Attribute | Status | Progress/Degradation |
| CHARISMA (CHA) | LOW | 0/100 |
| COURAGE (COU) | VERY LOW | 0/100 |
| INTUITION (INT) | EXCELLENT | 0/100 |
| CREATIVITY (CRE) | AVERAGE | 0/100 |
| PHYSIQUE (PHY) | ABYSMAL | 0/100 |
| MEMORY (MEM) | ABYSMAL | -25/-100 |
Personality:
Unabashed Shut-In - Silas's at-home efficiency is at an all time high. He's highly proficient at all kinds of not-going-outside activities, like laundry, cooking, vacuuming, video games, streaming services, internet politics, and imageboard-surfing. His lifestyle is comfortable; decadent, even.
- Intuition increases slowly.
- Charisma increases very slowly.
- Actions taken at home, alone, will not increase stress, even if they should.
- ???
- As Silas grows, he will unlock more aspects of his personality.
Traits:
Loner - Silas has been shying away from people in general for the better part of his entire life. He's not about to stop now. (-20 to all social actions. Any action taken at school or otherwise outside the house incurs at least +1 Stress regardless of outcome.)
Self Deprecating - Silas has the bad habit of falling into the negative feedback loop of unfairly beating himself up for having personal faults, causing him to develop more personal faults. Some people find his humility endearing, but it stifles his ability to get anything meaningful done. (+5 to all social actions. Stress gains from failure doubled.)
Hell is Other People - The door opens, but Silas stays inside. (Advantage on social actions, disadvantage on intrigue actions. Silas is bound to a certain worldview which limits has obscured many of his options. It will take work to reveal them.)
Side Characters:
YUMIKA MATSUOKA
Relationship: Acquaintances (1/10)
Description/Notes:
A girl with a kind temperament. She seems to be moderately popular, and very socially-aware. Also, Shinohara-san said something about the fact that she "picks up
strays"...?
Traits:
Genki Spirit - Yumika Matsuoka has an infectious energy about her. She's incredibly patient, and impossibly outgoing - and nobody, seemingly, is beneath her concern and friendliness. (Yumika is especially patient with people who have a CHAR or COU of VERY LOW or less. During direct social actions with such people, +10 to succeed, and any failures will resolve as a PASS.)
Relationship: Acquaintances (1/10)
Description/Notes:
A girl with a kind temperament. She seems to be moderately popular, and very socially-aware. Also, Shinohara-san said something about the fact that she "picks up
strays"...?
Traits:
Genki Spirit - Yumika Matsuoka has an infectious energy about her. She's incredibly patient, and impossibly outgoing - and nobody, seemingly, is beneath her concern and friendliness. (Yumika is especially patient with people who have a CHAR or COU of VERY LOW or less. During direct social actions with such people, +10 to succeed, and any failures will resolve as a PASS.)
Last edited:
A List of Significant Nation-States
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A List of Significant Nation-States
Warning: Lots of boring politics ahead. Most of this is fluff and a result of me playing too much Victoria II and Stellaris, and absolutely nothing here has any relevance to the plot of this innocent Slice-of-Life whatsoever. You can trust me! I've never lied before!
Major World Powers:
The current Empress is a popular figure, frequently seen as a "woman of the people," much to the chagrin of the Imperial Diet. When not attending to business of the state, she frequently tours her country, popping in unannounced in theatres, workplaces, and schools in order to, as she says, "feel the pulse of her nation." The Ambernian media likes to pretend she doesn't exist.
The political situation in Mihoku is largely stable. For a majority of the Imperial Republic, nearly a century of living under the rule of the Celestial Throne has lead to their effective assimilation into the Mihoku state. The only notable exceptions are several periphery cities which continue to exercise high levels of autonomy due to nationalistic zeal; of note is the city of Shiaxiang, one of the final holdouts for "Old Chuugo" culture, as it is often deferentially referred to in the archipelago.
The Imperial Republic is divided between seven PREFECTURES: Maiyama-fu, Miyao-fu and Hirabayashi-ken, which share the Mippori Archipelago where the Empress traces her lineage; Kanko-fu, Chuusei-ken, and Chuutou-ken, which are ethnically Mihokujin-related states which were settled in the early years of the Saisei Era; and Nonnatochi-ken, a strip of cold tundra bordering the sea which was acquired during the Great War.
The national flag of Mihoku is a vertical teal stripe beneath a pink sakura bloom with a white background.
Presently, Ambernia's First Citizen, Adam Fryling, is a fire-hearted reformist who rocketed into power by promising to cut away at the bloated, corrupted Amberrish bureaucracy and to halt Amberrish atrocities in the eastern frontier. Has made just as many enemies in the Aubern as friends. He has relatives in Mihoku.
Politics in Ambernia is constantly in flux. The unsteady alliance held by the conservatives and the social-liberals is at risk of breaking at any time due a myriad of small issues, such as differences in opinion over the democratization of the workplaces, the question of allowing foreign capital into the country, and various other sectionalist grudges and partisan disagreements. The situation is further exacerbated by the increasing trend towards autonomy by the two founding States of the Union, which threatens to turn the federal administration into little more than a shadow government to be bullied around by the Senate in the North and the Assembly of Unions to the South.
USAR is divided into three STATES: The Republic of Vraie Amber, a northern territory where the Aubern Congress meets and acts as the cultural and administrative center of the Union, The United Communes of Vino Bay, a territory which hugs the sea and houses most of the Union's manufacturing industries, trade ports, and Worker's Unions, and The Hooverian League, which encompasses settlements in the vast fields of wheat and barely-habitable wastelands that characterize the "Great Amberrish Desert."
USAR's national flag is the likeness of an eagle, but with sharp angles and perfect symmetry, colored in gold against a white background. Sometimes this is accompanied by the letters "U S A R" in the foreground.
President Manuel Diguelo, the former High Admiral of the Manipinoan merchant marine, is thought to be universally hated amongst his constituents, yet has been re-elected five times since he entered office.
The Republika is divided into several hundred CITY-STATES, each of which has an associated PROVINCE. Prominent ones include Banloia City, the seat of the ruling elite and largest shipping hub of the archipelago, and Sarrik Aguao, a city close to the Mani-Mihoku border which is a multicultural hub where media corporations, naval traders, tourists andnarcotics traffickers alternative pharmaceutical manufacturers gravitate.
Manipinoy's flag is a red, white and blue tricolor beneath a four-pointed star and circle.
The Eastern Pravlands are the world's chief producers of furs, fish, and non-Wheaten lumber. In many ways, their economic output is very similar to the Qanad tundras of North Ambernia. But its biggest source of wealth, and the thing which sets it apart from most other polities, is undoubtedly its vast deposits of oil and natural gas, some of the rarest and most efficient methods of generating electricity known to man. The Pravlands' wealth has been a double-edged sword, however, as
The region is also inexplicably controls 76% of the world's supply of donuts. Pravic immigrants in Mihoku are uncommon, but nonetheless have a reputation of being cold and short-tempered but hard-working and earnest.
The Federation is divided geographically and politically into five large DISTRICTS: Havse District, which is the de-jure political capital of the country, Nonna District, the gateway to the East, and also now a protectorate of the Empire, Bevych District and Kalinda District, the easternmost Pravic districts which touch the Mihoku Imperial border, and Istinny Sybir District, a historic administrative center of the old Russiyan Republic far to the West. The District system is, however, currently in the process of being decentralized into a system of Oblasts.
Pravdu's national flag is a white shield in front of the silhouette of two crossed hammers and a vertical sword pointed upward with a red background.
The culture of NAU, up to and including religious practices, national stereotypes, and even written language are unknown. NAU diplomats have always engaged in dialogue using the language of the recipient diplomat's nation.
The Liaison for the "democratic oligarchy" that rules New Africa simply goes by the name "Liaison." The Mihokujin popular media call her "Kuu-san," under the assumption that, because the entire Mihoku multimedia network hasn't been incinerated from orbit as of yet, the nickname is acceptable.
No one outside of New Africa knows how the NAU organizes themselves internally. They also bare no flag, but most documents received from the Union are stamped in orange ink.
Warning: Lots of boring politics ahead. Most of this is fluff and a result of me playing too much Victoria II and Stellaris, and absolutely nothing here has any relevance to the plot of this innocent Slice-of-Life whatsoever. You can trust me! I've never lied before!
Major World Powers:
- 帝共和国ミホク (Tei-kyouwakoku Mihoku) - The Imperial Republic of Mihoku
Current Leading Party:
The Harmonious Ruling Association for the Strengthening of the Kokutai (Social conservatives, mildly, yet paternalistically, xenophilic, stronger gov't, more military and cultural spending. Anti-sectionalism; anti-autonomy.)
The current Empress is a popular figure, frequently seen as a "woman of the people," much to the chagrin of the Imperial Diet. When not attending to business of the state, she frequently tours her country, popping in unannounced in theatres, workplaces, and schools in order to, as she says, "feel the pulse of her nation." The Ambernian media likes to pretend she doesn't exist.
The political situation in Mihoku is largely stable. For a majority of the Imperial Republic, nearly a century of living under the rule of the Celestial Throne has lead to their effective assimilation into the Mihoku state. The only notable exceptions are several periphery cities which continue to exercise high levels of autonomy due to nationalistic zeal; of note is the city of Shiaxiang, one of the final holdouts for "Old Chuugo" culture, as it is often deferentially referred to in the archipelago.
The Imperial Republic is divided between seven PREFECTURES: Maiyama-fu, Miyao-fu and Hirabayashi-ken, which share the Mippori Archipelago where the Empress traces her lineage; Kanko-fu, Chuusei-ken, and Chuutou-ken, which are ethnically Mihokujin-related states which were settled in the early years of the Saisei Era; and Nonnatochi-ken, a strip of cold tundra bordering the sea which was acquired during the Great War.
The national flag of Mihoku is a vertical teal stripe beneath a pink sakura bloom with a white background.
- Union of Sovereign Ambernian Republics - USAR
Current Leading Coalition:
National Conservative Party (Mix of orthodox socialists and stat-syndicalists. Mildly xenophobic, big proponents of worker's rights and unions.) AND Freedom League (Social liberals. Decreased gov't except where social services are concerned, more economic and social freedom.)
Presently, Ambernia's First Citizen, Adam Fryling, is a fire-hearted reformist who rocketed into power by promising to cut away at the bloated, corrupted Amberrish bureaucracy and to halt Amberrish atrocities in the eastern frontier. Has made just as many enemies in the Aubern as friends. He has relatives in Mihoku.
Politics in Ambernia is constantly in flux. The unsteady alliance held by the conservatives and the social-liberals is at risk of breaking at any time due a myriad of small issues, such as differences in opinion over the democratization of the workplaces, the question of allowing foreign capital into the country, and various other sectionalist grudges and partisan disagreements. The situation is further exacerbated by the increasing trend towards autonomy by the two founding States of the Union, which threatens to turn the federal administration into little more than a shadow government to be bullied around by the Senate in the North and the Assembly of Unions to the South.
USAR is divided into three STATES: The Republic of Vraie Amber, a northern territory where the Aubern Congress meets and acts as the cultural and administrative center of the Union, The United Communes of Vino Bay, a territory which hugs the sea and houses most of the Union's manufacturing industries, trade ports, and Worker's Unions, and The Hooverian League, which encompasses settlements in the vast fields of wheat and barely-habitable wastelands that characterize the "Great Amberrish Desert."
USAR's national flag is the likeness of an eagle, but with sharp angles and perfect symmetry, colored in gold against a white background. Sometimes this is accompanied by the letters "U S A R" in the foreground.
- Republika ng Manipo - The Manipinoian Republic
Current Leading Party:
The National Front (Despite what the name implies, extremely xenophilic liberals. Small gov't, bigger business, lots of expensive partying. Also corruption.)
President Manuel Diguelo, the former High Admiral of the Manipinoan merchant marine, is thought to be universally hated amongst his constituents, yet has been re-elected five times since he entered office.
The Republika is divided into several hundred CITY-STATES, each of which has an associated PROVINCE. Prominent ones include Banloia City, the seat of the ruling elite and largest shipping hub of the archipelago, and Sarrik Aguao, a city close to the Mani-Mihoku border which is a multicultural hub where media corporations, naval traders, tourists and
Manipinoy's flag is a red, white and blue tricolor beneath a four-pointed star and circle.
- Великая Федерация Правду (Pravdu Velikaya Federatsiya) - The Grand Federation of Truth
Current Reigning Matriarch:
Katyusha Havse (Benign despotism; Post-Russiyan identity; superregional integration)
The Eastern Pravlands are the world's chief producers of furs, fish, and non-Wheaten lumber. In many ways, their economic output is very similar to the Qanad tundras of North Ambernia. But its biggest source of wealth, and the thing which sets it apart from most other polities, is undoubtedly its vast deposits of oil and natural gas, some of the rarest and most efficient methods of generating electricity known to man. The Pravlands' wealth has been a double-edged sword, however, as
The region is also inexplicably controls 76% of the world's supply of donuts. Pravic immigrants in Mihoku are uncommon, but nonetheless have a reputation of being cold and short-tempered but hard-working and earnest.
The Federation is divided geographically and politically into five large DISTRICTS: Havse District, which is the de-jure political capital of the country, Nonna District, the gateway to the East, and also now a protectorate of the Empire, Bevych District and Kalinda District, the easternmost Pravic districts which touch the Mihoku Imperial border, and Istinny Sybir District, a historic administrative center of the old Russiyan Republic far to the West. The District system is, however, currently in the process of being decentralized into a system of Oblasts.
Pravdu's national flag is a white shield in front of the silhouette of two crossed hammers and a vertical sword pointed upward with a red background.
- The New African Union - NAU
The culture of NAU, up to and including religious practices, national stereotypes, and even written language are unknown. NAU diplomats have always engaged in dialogue using the language of the recipient diplomat's nation.
The Liaison for the "democratic oligarchy" that rules New Africa simply goes by the name "Liaison." The Mihokujin popular media call her "Kuu-san," under the assumption that, because the entire Mihoku multimedia network hasn't been incinerated from orbit as of yet, the nickname is acceptable.
No one outside of New Africa knows how the NAU organizes themselves internally. They also bare no flag, but most documents received from the Union are stamped in orange ink.
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Week 1 Part 1 - Breaking In
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Miyao isn't the richest city in the Mihokujin Imperial Republic. But to Silas, it truly was a sight to behold. Everywhere he went, every turn he made, he found himself surrounded by technology - VR machines in the retail stores; hologram projectors in the city centers advertising the most recent reclaimed anime production; hordes of drones ferrying goods in the skylanes far above the urban streets. And then, of course, there was the people - crowds of them littered the sidewalk and weaved through the alleyways. He'd only ever seen images like this through his computer screen. To see it in the flesh...
He suddenly felt very, very small.
His clothes all of a sudden felt like they didn't fit right. Did the way he wore his gakuran make him look fat? Was he wearing the thing too loose or too tight? He had the thing on right-side out, right?
His feet refused to move. Doubt creeped into his spine again. All these people - were they watching him? He felt eyes burning into his back, people were giving him sideways glances or looking at him funny. He just knew it. This was a mistake. This was a mistake and he should turn back n -
Eyes forward, feet up. Come on, you've made it this far.
The words materialized in a television screen hanging on the side of a building ahead of him. Big Sister's here… Silas thought. Quickly, the words faded away and were replaced by the normal news headline - something about the Ambernian stock market that he didn't really care about.
Big Sister was watching him. No one else would see her, because no one else was looking, but she was always there. Watching in the background, sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning, always focused and unyielding. When he'd first become aware of Big Sister, Silas had thought it was his own mind playing tricks on him. But somehow, he just knew she was there, even if he wouldn't ever catch more than a glimpse of her figure at a time.
Bzzt, bzzt.
The shaking in his phone caught him by surprise. Big Sister didn't text very often, but whenever she did, he was quick to read and respond - her contact number was the only one on his phone.
Big Sis: Are you gonna go on ahead, or…?
Silas chuckled to himself. His thumb quickly found its way to the electronic keypad and he texted back:
YamiOtako: Just a bit nervous is all.
Big Sis: I see. Are you just going to turn back?
YamiOtako: Never!
Big Sis: Then move on ahead.
Big Sis: They're not looking at you, Silas. They haven't noticed you. It's in your head.
Big Sis: They won't notice you unless you make a scene. Freezing in the middle of the sidewalk is a scene. Start moving your legs.
YamiOtako: ...I'm scared.
Big Sis: I won't let anyone harm you, if that's it.
YamiOtako: It isn't, though.
Big Sis: Whatever it is, bury it inside you somewhere. Remember, a lot of the people here are like you.
YamiOtako: They've spent the majority of their lives locked in their room gaming, streaming videos, and eating tacos?
Big Sis: ...No. They're scared, too.
Big Sis: Everyone is scared, Silas. I would know.
Big Sis: Some of them are just better at hiding it.
YamiOtako: ...yeah. I know. Thanks, Sis.
Big Sis: You should hurry. It's 6:46 A.M. Homeroom starts in 23 minutes and 17 seconds.
YamiOtako: I'm on my way.
Big Sis: Good luck. I'm rooting for you.
Most of Silas's interactions with Big Sister were like that. Crisp and to the point, and only through the medium of texting, but her words were warm and encouraging. Silas didn't really know much about Big Sister personally, but he did know that she was also kind, and always had his best interests at heart. He'd never had any reason to think otherwise, at least. And who didn't like having their own Big Sister?
Just talking with Big Sister made his heart feel warmer, and made his chin rise a bit higher. So long as Big Sister was with him, he didn't have anything to fear. Surely.
The gate to Yamaha was wide open, and it was flush with students entering the building in droves. Some of them clung to tightly-woven cliques, but many others, like himself, walked alone. People… Silas thought. People MY age.
Part of him felt giddy, almost.
Homeroom wasn't difficult to find. The fact that several TV screens he passed surreptitiously displayed arrows in the direction of destination definitely helped. What was difficult was actually crossing the threshold from the hallway into the classroom. So many people were enclosed in such a small space; it seemed much of his homeroom had arrived early. Inside, millions of different lively conversations were going on at once. Silas wondered what he should do…
FORT CHECK 3 - 3
Painful Success
He discreetly entered the classroom, not quite making eye contact with anyone inside. But once he was through the threshold, something stirred inside him, and forced his eyes to face the classroom - surprisingly, someone had acknowledged that he'd entered. And they were looking at him. And smiling.
"Heya!" she said. Her arms were on the desk, and her head was resting on her fingers. She seemed really relaxed. "You seem new."
CHAR CHECK 1 - 2
Failure
"Err...uh… y-yeah, I… um..." Silas's mind pulled a blank as he fumbled over the words. Shit, shit, shit… he thought. This was so different from chatting online! He would have ample time to formulate a response, and the words always came out in the form of text, so he never had to enunciate or worry about facial expressions and body language and -
Suddenly, she was laughing. Immediately, Silas frowned, assuming she was laughing out of malice - but something about the way she giggled and the smile on her face felt disarming to him. "Omigod, look at your face! So many emotions at once - introspection? Fear? Awkwardness? Calm down, man. You're good!"
"Uh… thanks?" Silas replied. If only I could be this outgoing… he thought to himself. "S-so… um… do we have assigned seats here, or…?"
"Nah! You can sit where you want. The name's Matsuoka Yumika, by the way!"
She extended a hand. Silas took it and shook it meekly. "Silas. Silas Yamigawa."
To his surprise, the girl seemed to glare, albeit playfully. "Last name first."
"Y-Yamigawa Silas," he corrected quickly.
"Well! I'll see you around, Yamigawa-kun!" she said, doing a little wave. Silas decided he ought to do a little bow - and again, Matsuoka burst out laughing. "Stop acting so timid, will you?"
"R-Right. Sorry." Silas extracted himself from that situation as soon as he could. He didn't feel like he did badly… but he was sure he could have done better. Now Matsuoka was going to look at him with a tiny degree of pity, he knew it…
A nearby television screen briefly flickered to life, displayed a little thumbs-up, and then turned right back off. Silas chuckled.
Matsuoka Yumika: +2 Relationship
Silas is now Acquaintances with Matsuoka.
Silas found a seat near the middle of the second-to-last row (Long before he'd entered the classroom, he'd decided that he was not going to sit near the window, or in the back row; that was just asking for some sort of emotional heartbreak.) and looked around at his surroundings. He figured that he had about five minutes before homeroom starts… more than enough time to talk to someone. Matsuoka was in a small group, chatting heartedly with what were probably some of her close friends. To his left, two classmates, both of them boys, seemed to be having an argument about…
INT CHECK 5 - 4
Good Success
...huh. It was a flurry of two different languages, Amberrish and Mihokugo, but he'd self-taught himself rudimentary Amberrish long ago so that he could watch the Western cartoons without subtitles. From what he understood, they seemed to be having a debate. About politics. Interesting...
"I have said it once, and I'll say it again: The Mihokujin government is not the i#### ###e##l u####a that you say it is!" the foreign boy was speaking, but some of his words didn't come out clearly enough for Silas to understand. "Your head of state is an auto#r##i# figure. The power is v#st#d in the elite, rather than the people! And you ###l that democracy?"
"Socialists…" the other boy growled back in Mihokugo. "One cannot have governance if the elected body is a babble of voices! There must be order, and the higher order must have precedent over the lower order! Otherwise there is chaos!"
"The #####nt #eudal ###archies thought the same!" the foreign boy shot back.
Silas could interrupt those two to see what they were talking about, if he wanted. Maybe even join in...? Though the thought was kind of scary. On the other hand, Matsuoka was still there… and there were also plenty of other people he could try talking to. Less… talkative people. That might work too, right?
[] [TALK] Matsuoka Yumika (Raise relationship level? More acquaintances? Success threshold very slightly affected by CHAR stat)
[] [TALK] The two debaters (More acquaintances? Success threshold very heavily affected by INT stat)
[] [TALK] Someone else? (???)
[] [TALK] (SPECIAL) Big Sister (???)
[] [TALK] Nah… (UNAVAILABLE: Sociability set to "Friendly")
Before thinking of who to go to, Silas tentatively opened his bag, and pulled out a few things that he'd brought with him. The one thing that stood out was…
[] [ITEM] A little sketchbook. He wasn't very good, but it's the thought that counts… (+Creativity)
[] [ITEM] His new MiPhone. He still liked to keep the old flip-phone in his pocket, if only because he associated it closely with Big Sister, but this one might resonate with modern social culture more. Or something like that. (+Charisma)
[] [ITEM] A list of some of the Trigonometry functions he had memorized a week before. Never hurts to be prepared! (+Intelligence)
[] [ITEM] (SPECIAL) Some notes Big Sister had taken printed for him the day before. He was actually a few weeks ahead of class because of all the work she had sent him. (+0.5 Skill)
He suddenly felt very, very small.
His clothes all of a sudden felt like they didn't fit right. Did the way he wore his gakuran make him look fat? Was he wearing the thing too loose or too tight? He had the thing on right-side out, right?
His feet refused to move. Doubt creeped into his spine again. All these people - were they watching him? He felt eyes burning into his back, people were giving him sideways glances or looking at him funny. He just knew it. This was a mistake. This was a mistake and he should turn back n -
Eyes forward, feet up. Come on, you've made it this far.
The words materialized in a television screen hanging on the side of a building ahead of him. Big Sister's here… Silas thought. Quickly, the words faded away and were replaced by the normal news headline - something about the Ambernian stock market that he didn't really care about.
Big Sister was watching him. No one else would see her, because no one else was looking, but she was always there. Watching in the background, sometimes smiling, sometimes frowning, always focused and unyielding. When he'd first become aware of Big Sister, Silas had thought it was his own mind playing tricks on him. But somehow, he just knew she was there, even if he wouldn't ever catch more than a glimpse of her figure at a time.
Bzzt, bzzt.
The shaking in his phone caught him by surprise. Big Sister didn't text very often, but whenever she did, he was quick to read and respond - her contact number was the only one on his phone.
Big Sis: Are you gonna go on ahead, or…?
Silas chuckled to himself. His thumb quickly found its way to the electronic keypad and he texted back:
YamiOtako: Just a bit nervous is all.
Big Sis: I see. Are you just going to turn back?
YamiOtako: Never!
Big Sis: Then move on ahead.
Big Sis: They're not looking at you, Silas. They haven't noticed you. It's in your head.
Big Sis: They won't notice you unless you make a scene. Freezing in the middle of the sidewalk is a scene. Start moving your legs.
YamiOtako: ...I'm scared.
Big Sis: I won't let anyone harm you, if that's it.
YamiOtako: It isn't, though.
Big Sis: Whatever it is, bury it inside you somewhere. Remember, a lot of the people here are like you.
YamiOtako: They've spent the majority of their lives locked in their room gaming, streaming videos, and eating tacos?
Big Sis: ...No. They're scared, too.
Big Sis: Everyone is scared, Silas. I would know.
Big Sis: Some of them are just better at hiding it.
YamiOtako: ...yeah. I know. Thanks, Sis.
Big Sis: You should hurry. It's 6:46 A.M. Homeroom starts in 23 minutes and 17 seconds.
YamiOtako: I'm on my way.
Big Sis: Good luck. I'm rooting for you.
Most of Silas's interactions with Big Sister were like that. Crisp and to the point, and only through the medium of texting, but her words were warm and encouraging. Silas didn't really know much about Big Sister personally, but he did know that she was also kind, and always had his best interests at heart. He'd never had any reason to think otherwise, at least. And who didn't like having their own Big Sister?
Just talking with Big Sister made his heart feel warmer, and made his chin rise a bit higher. So long as Big Sister was with him, he didn't have anything to fear. Surely.
The gate to Yamaha was wide open, and it was flush with students entering the building in droves. Some of them clung to tightly-woven cliques, but many others, like himself, walked alone. People… Silas thought. People MY age.
Part of him felt giddy, almost.
Homeroom wasn't difficult to find. The fact that several TV screens he passed surreptitiously displayed arrows in the direction of destination definitely helped. What was difficult was actually crossing the threshold from the hallway into the classroom. So many people were enclosed in such a small space; it seemed much of his homeroom had arrived early. Inside, millions of different lively conversations were going on at once. Silas wondered what he should do…
FORT CHECK 3 - 3
Painful Success
He discreetly entered the classroom, not quite making eye contact with anyone inside. But once he was through the threshold, something stirred inside him, and forced his eyes to face the classroom - surprisingly, someone had acknowledged that he'd entered. And they were looking at him. And smiling.
"Heya!" she said. Her arms were on the desk, and her head was resting on her fingers. She seemed really relaxed. "You seem new."
CHAR CHECK 1 - 2
Failure
"Err...uh… y-yeah, I… um..." Silas's mind pulled a blank as he fumbled over the words. Shit, shit, shit… he thought. This was so different from chatting online! He would have ample time to formulate a response, and the words always came out in the form of text, so he never had to enunciate or worry about facial expressions and body language and -
Suddenly, she was laughing. Immediately, Silas frowned, assuming she was laughing out of malice - but something about the way she giggled and the smile on her face felt disarming to him. "Omigod, look at your face! So many emotions at once - introspection? Fear? Awkwardness? Calm down, man. You're good!"
"Uh… thanks?" Silas replied. If only I could be this outgoing… he thought to himself. "S-so… um… do we have assigned seats here, or…?"
"Nah! You can sit where you want. The name's Matsuoka Yumika, by the way!"
She extended a hand. Silas took it and shook it meekly. "Silas. Silas Yamigawa."
To his surprise, the girl seemed to glare, albeit playfully. "Last name first."
"Y-Yamigawa Silas," he corrected quickly.
"Well! I'll see you around, Yamigawa-kun!" she said, doing a little wave. Silas decided he ought to do a little bow - and again, Matsuoka burst out laughing. "Stop acting so timid, will you?"
"R-Right. Sorry." Silas extracted himself from that situation as soon as he could. He didn't feel like he did badly… but he was sure he could have done better. Now Matsuoka was going to look at him with a tiny degree of pity, he knew it…
A nearby television screen briefly flickered to life, displayed a little thumbs-up, and then turned right back off. Silas chuckled.
Matsuoka Yumika: +2 Relationship
Silas is now Acquaintances with Matsuoka.
Silas found a seat near the middle of the second-to-last row (Long before he'd entered the classroom, he'd decided that he was not going to sit near the window, or in the back row; that was just asking for some sort of emotional heartbreak.) and looked around at his surroundings. He figured that he had about five minutes before homeroom starts… more than enough time to talk to someone. Matsuoka was in a small group, chatting heartedly with what were probably some of her close friends. To his left, two classmates, both of them boys, seemed to be having an argument about…
INT CHECK 5 - 4
Good Success
...huh. It was a flurry of two different languages, Amberrish and Mihokugo, but he'd self-taught himself rudimentary Amberrish long ago so that he could watch the Western cartoons without subtitles. From what he understood, they seemed to be having a debate. About politics. Interesting...
"I have said it once, and I'll say it again: The Mihokujin government is not the i#### ###e##l u####a that you say it is!" the foreign boy was speaking, but some of his words didn't come out clearly enough for Silas to understand. "Your head of state is an auto#r##i# figure. The power is v#st#d in the elite, rather than the people! And you ###l that democracy?"
"Socialists…" the other boy growled back in Mihokugo. "One cannot have governance if the elected body is a babble of voices! There must be order, and the higher order must have precedent over the lower order! Otherwise there is chaos!"
"The #####nt #eudal ###archies thought the same!" the foreign boy shot back.
Silas could interrupt those two to see what they were talking about, if he wanted. Maybe even join in...? Though the thought was kind of scary. On the other hand, Matsuoka was still there… and there were also plenty of other people he could try talking to. Less… talkative people. That might work too, right?
[] [TALK] Matsuoka Yumika (Raise relationship level? More acquaintances? Success threshold very slightly affected by CHAR stat)
[] [TALK] The two debaters (More acquaintances? Success threshold very heavily affected by INT stat)
[] [TALK] Someone else? (???)
[] [TALK] (SPECIAL) Big Sister (???)
Before thinking of who to go to, Silas tentatively opened his bag, and pulled out a few things that he'd brought with him. The one thing that stood out was…
[] [ITEM] A little sketchbook. He wasn't very good, but it's the thought that counts… (+Creativity)
[] [ITEM] His new MiPhone. He still liked to keep the old flip-phone in his pocket, if only because he associated it closely with Big Sister, but this one might resonate with modern social culture more. Or something like that. (+Charisma)
[] [ITEM] A list of some of the Trigonometry functions he had memorized a week before. Never hurts to be prepared! (+Intelligence)
[] [ITEM] (SPECIAL) Some notes Big Sister had taken printed for him the day before. He was actually a few weeks ahead of class because of all the work she had sent him. (+0.5 Skill)
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Turn Structure
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Also, each turn makes up about a fourth of a (in game) day, give or take. However, most (in game) days of a particular (in game) week will be generic; this means you cannot vote for specific actions, but must instead vote for Silas's general priority throughout the day. Narrative also will not occur for most generic days.
Okay, completely redoing this organization. Instead, there will be about three turns per in-game week: Two for the in-game weekdays, and one for the in-game weekend.
This will make more sense in the future, I swear.
DUE TO THE IMPENDING REWORK, EVERYTHING IN THIS INFORMATIONAL IS OUTDATED
WELL, IT'S BEEN OUTDATED FOR ABOUT A YEAR NOW. BUT NOW IT'S MEGA-OUTDATED
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Week 1 Part 2 - Self-Introduction Messup
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Note that the base Success Threshold is calculated by taking the average of Silas's and Matsuoka's "Sociability." In order for an action to PASS, it must roll, AT MOST, the exact number of the success threshold. Anything above that number will constitute a FAIL.
Yes, it's a weird system, and I apologize for that… but my use of the words "Success threshold" backed me into a corner.
Oh, and don't worry, there aren't consequences for getting low rolls just yet. Not really. Technically.
[] [TALK] Matsuoka Yumika (Raise relationship level? More acquaintances? Success threshold very slightly affected by CHAR stat)
Success Threshold: 70 (Base) -20 (Loner) -10 (Low CHAR) -5 (Former NEET) +10 (Big Sister Interference) = 45
DICE ROLL: 49
RESULT:FAIL PASS (See Character Sheet)
Silas slipped the notes under his binder, and sighed deeply.
Yumika seemed to have mostly forgotten about him; a couple more students had arrived since he had sat down, and she was engaged in a very lively conversation with the lot of them. He wanted to approach her, but he felt like it would be weird just inserting himself into that group for no reason.
Silas mulled it over in his head. The more he thought about it, the less and less of a good idea it seemed… but then again, Yumika didn't seem like the type of person who'd be mean if he messed something up. Right?
Screw it. I'll just talk to her and damn the consequences, he thought. This'll be just like that time I successfully created that alliance with the Holy Empire of Trislei in Akataiyo IV; just establish relations and keep sending them gifts of small amounts of money, and they'll be bound to send an alliance invitation in no time. Now if only I had a couple of daughters I could marry to one of her sons… Wait, what?
Disregarding the last part of that thought process, Silas abruptly rose from his chair, pushing the seat behind him back a few inches in the process. He was bubbling with COURAGE. He was filled with DETERMINATION. Nothing would stop him now.
Each step felt like it was weighed down by iron. Each breath he took felt as though fire was passing through his lungs. But he pushed onwards, to victory! To friendship!
He stopped before the table where Matsuoka and some of her friends were talking. It dawned on him just how tall he was; his figure cast a dark shadow on Matsuoka's face. A few people turned towards him, mostly in confusion. Who's this guy? He heard them mutter. New kid? I've never seen him before.
He opened his mouth to speak, and…
Shit, he thought. Shit, shit, shit.
What was he going to say again…?
"U-Um…"
Matsuoka was facing him now, frowning and raising her eyebrows. Everyone else was facing him, too, suspiciously. Desperately, Silas looked towards a nearby computer screen, begging for some assistance. It read the following words:
SELF-INTRODUCTION!!
Oh, right!
"SELF-INTRODUCTION!!" He shouted loudly, banging his fists onto a table.
The whole room went quiet. Outside the open window, a bus loudly shut its doors and busied itself along the road.
And then the class erupted into laughter.
"Haha! What did he do that for?! Did he just -"
"Are you a foreign exchange student? Or is this some sort of self-inflicted drama?"
"Gawds, that didn't sound awkward at all… Nice going, champ!"
On the computer screen, three ellipses formed, and and the image of a facepalming blue-haired anime girl appeared above the text.
"Omigod, what?! HAHAAHAAA! WOHAAHAAAHAAAA! Sheesh, man!"
It was Matsuoka's laugh that hurt the most. Defeated, Silas started to slink back towards the safety of his seat. But to his surprise, he felt a hand grabbing on to his arm. "Oh, no, no, no, mister! You're getting back here, right now!"
"B-But I - "
"Everyone!" Matsuoka shouted to the group, but the noise clearly reverberated throughout the classroom, too. "This is Yamigawa Silas. Call him Yamigawa-kun, kay? He's doing his self-introduction, as you've just heard."
"W-What?! Wait, but I -" Silas stared longingly at his seat.
"START!" Matsuoka pointed at Silas's chest. Silas gulped.
"U-Um…"
"I said: START!" Matsuoka poked him slightly.
"Okay… h-hello! Good morning! My name is Yamigawa Silas. I am seventeen years old. I am a junior at Yamaha High School. I am half Mihokujin and half Ozzetche. I live alone. My birthday is November 7th. I… um… I like anime and tacos. Nice to meet you all!" Silas bowed, his face practically burning. This isn't how this is supposed to happen!
"Hey, good job!" Matsuoka said. She reached up and patted Silas on the back.
"Yeah, good job, new kid!" another one of her friends followed her example.
Silas felt like they were mocking him, but Matsuoka's eyes betrayed no malice. In fact, she winked. Wait, what?
"Want a seat, Yamigawa-kun?" Matsuoka pulled a seat from an empty desk. "Don't worry about Shinohara-san! She'll probably be late, as usual."
"Uh… sure…" Silas said, glancing repeatedly at all the faces looking at him. At him. And smiling. This was surreal. He took his seat, and suddenly he was faced with a million different conversations at once as the classroom returned to its natural state.
"Soooo… what a way to introduce yourself, amirite?" Matsuoka laughed. "Yamigawa-kun, this is Class Rep Kirino Maeda-chan! Say hi, Kirino!"
"Err… hi?" Silas mumbled.
"Hi," the girl's face was an enigma behind the thick glasses she wore. "I hope you didn't do that on purpose. I don't like showboats."
"I swear!" Silas panicked. "I didn't - "
"Kirino!" Matsuoka shook her head, waving a finger in front of the class rep's face. "That's no way to talk to a shy boy! So mean!"
"I have a name…"
"Oh, er, that's no way to talk to Yamigawa-kun! So mean!"
"...thanks…"
"Oh, also! Also!" Matsuoka pulled on the arm of another person near her. "This is Chihiro Hanamura! I call him Chii-kun! Say hi, Chii-kun!"
Hanamura nodded his head. He was smirking, still trying to recover from that great laugh Silas just gave him. "Nice to meet you, Silas! It's fine if I call you Silas, right?"
It wasn't. "...sure."
"Great! I'm sure we'll be great friends!"
"Yay…?" Silas felt more and more disturbed the longer he talked with this boy. How could he possibly manage to look so happy?! What kind of smile was that?!
"There's a couple more I want to introduce you, Um, um… where's Allen-kun?"
Just then, across the room, the debate Silas had noticed earlier between the Ambernian and the other student finally seemed to be boiling over into an outright shouting match. Surprisingly, the foreign boy, Allen, was speaking perfect Mihokugo now.
"How dare you sully the Mihokujin history? Our's is a story of struggle! Of sacrifice!" the Mihokujin boy shouted.
"I have the right to make my opinions heard, Godammit!" the foreign boy, the one named Allen, yelled back. "Mihoku has had an easy history. The entire foundation of the Union of Sovereign Ambernian Republics has been an upwards crawl, from start to finish!"
"You would defend that claim to the death, foreigner?"
"I would drag my opinion to Hell and back!"
"Ohhh boy, this looks like it's gonna get ugly. Be right... back…?" the class representative started to move towards the pair, but stopped.
The Mihokujin boy reached behind Allen… and pulled him into a fierce hug. "Then by the Gods, I have a brother!"
And Allen responded with that same enthusiasm. "Heelll yeah! That was awesome! You should join Debate Club with me!"
"Perhaps I should! Then, perhaps, you'll finally be convinced of the true way."
"Fat chance, skinny-eyes!"
Maeda blinked, apparently trying to rationalize the scene that was unfolding before her. "...nevermind."
"Oh ho-ho-ho, someone's getting a romance arc in my new fanfic…" the boy named Hanamura muttered. Silas pretended not to hear him.
He looked between Matsuoka, Maeda, and Hanamura. The sudden commotion had finally brought the attention away from him, and he was cooling down. That was… hard. Talking so much at once. But still… he did it. And he felt like he was a little more familiar with the class now, even if much of his interactions with them were humor at his expense. Better than nothing, right?
Maeda Kirino: +1 Relationship
Maeda is now Acquaintances with Silas.
Hanamura Chihiro: +1 Relationship
Hanamura is now Acquaintances with Silas.
Matsuoka Yumika: +2 Relationship.
Unfortunately, shortly after that strange affair, their sensei finally showed up. Along with the rest of the class, Silas returned to his seat quickly, but for a brief moment he saw Matsuoka turn back at him, point at her lips with both of her index fingers, and mouthed some words. Silas couldn't read them, but soon thereafter he heard the small bzzt, bzzt of Big Sister sending him a text. He checked the message.
"Smile; you did good."
Silas nodded, and, consciously, he felt his features turn into a little smile. Yumik - err, Matsuoka seemed nice.
Their sensei looked disapprovingly at his rather rowdy class before tapping the electronic whiteboard with his stylus. "Now, now, I know summer hasn't quite ended for some of you, but it absolutely has ended for the rest of us. Maeda-san!"
"Hai!" Maeda rose.
"Front of the classroom, please."
"Of course!" Maeda marched, with military precision, to her sensei's side. "Rise!"
INT Check: 5 - 3
Good Success
The class rose. Silas was just a millisecond behind them.
"Bow!"
The class bowed. Silas bowed, too.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning!" It was a cacophony of a response.
"Sit!"
...And the class sat. Phew. If Silas hadn't been thinking, he probably would have forgotten about that particular part of the morning routine.
"Hello, everyone! It's nice to see you all here today. I hope we'll have a wonderful time together in Yamaha's Class 4-1." Maeda sounded calm and composed, but then, as if remembering something funny, she broke into a smile. "Of course, we have a couple of new students here. We'll all miss Sakamaki-chan and Hauptmann-kun. So, naturally, we'll have to start by…"
A few students were looking at him. Maeda, too, strangely. Why were they looking at him? He didn't do anything wrong.
Wait.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Noooo.
"...doing our… heheh… excuse me. Our self-introductions."
OH FOR FU -----
<('_'<) <( '_' )> (>'_')>
Approximately thirty minutes of torture later
<('_'<) <( '_' )> (>'_')>
Well, that could have gone better, but it certainly could have gone worse. At the very least, Silas could say that he knew some of the names of some of his fellow classmates now… great…
Character Sheet Updated
First and second bells went by without much of anything to note. Silas quickly realized that he was leagues ahead of the rest of the class in terms of knowing the material; in fact, more than a few times some of his neighbors would ask for a little help. Unfortunately, he was terrible at explaining the concepts to them, and more than once they came out of his attempted help more confused than before. It didn't help that Big Sister's advice usually boiled down things like "Tell them that the rate of change can be found using the formula m = (f(x+h) - f(x))/(x+h-x)." Sure, he knew what that meant, but that didn't mean he could articulate it without some sort of context! He was going to have to fix that…
Positive effects due to high INT will have half their effect so long as CHAR remains =< 1
...And then P.E. happened. Silas wasn't particularly fat… but he was still very, very weak. And he learned that today.
"Yamigawa-kun, move faster! The entire class has lapped you already!"
"I'm trying - hah - Toyotomi-sensei!" Silas gasped for air. "IT's - hah - hard!"
Something was going to have to be done about this… if he wasn't at least at the lowest common denominator, he'd be the laughing stock of the class. Again.
New Goal: Have at least 1 PHYS by the end of three weeks or Silas will lose -1 CHAR
Lunch, third and fourth blocks sped by, and, faster than he'd expected, Silas was on the bullet train headed home. The city streets flitted past the window, a mess of billboards and apartment blocks and malls.
Silas let out a long, long sigh. He'd been holding it in since the beginning of school; it felt good to finally let it out. Home was but a few stops away, and Silas felt…
Satisfied.
To be perfectly honest, Silas had expected a lot worse. A lot worse. But he found that he was looking forward to tomorrow with a sense of excitement, rather than dread.
It was fun.
Serendipitously, at that exact moment, music from the bullet train's speakers went to the chorus of a particular song which included the lines "I told you so" repeated over and over and over again.
What will Silas's actions be for the rest of the week?
Choose two [Talk] Actions, and two [Extra] actions.
Note: [TALK] actions with characters have a high chance of making acquaintances out of those characters' friends. Choose wisely!
Another Note: WAIT UNTIL THE CHARACTER SHEET IS UPDATED TILL YOU VOTE, PLZ, THANX FAM
[] [TALK] Matsuoka Yumika (She seems nice)
[] [TALK] Hanamura Chihiro (He seems… interesting)
[] [TALK] Maeda Kirino (She seems… uh…)
[] [TALK] Allen Furai (He seems… openminded)
[] [TALK] Taro Yamaguchi (He seems… patriotic)
[] [EXTRA] Study (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.1)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Big Sister downloaded an exercise plan onto Silas's phone. This should help… (75% chance +1 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
Yes, it's a weird system, and I apologize for that… but my use of the words "Success threshold" backed me into a corner.
Oh, and don't worry, there aren't consequences for getting low rolls just yet. Not really. Technically.
[] [TALK] Matsuoka Yumika (Raise relationship level? More acquaintances? Success threshold very slightly affected by CHAR stat)
Success Threshold: 70 (Base) -20 (Loner) -10 (Low CHAR) -5 (Former NEET) +10 (Big Sister Interference) = 45
DICE ROLL: 49
RESULT:
Silas slipped the notes under his binder, and sighed deeply.
Yumika seemed to have mostly forgotten about him; a couple more students had arrived since he had sat down, and she was engaged in a very lively conversation with the lot of them. He wanted to approach her, but he felt like it would be weird just inserting himself into that group for no reason.
Silas mulled it over in his head. The more he thought about it, the less and less of a good idea it seemed… but then again, Yumika didn't seem like the type of person who'd be mean if he messed something up. Right?
Screw it. I'll just talk to her and damn the consequences, he thought. This'll be just like that time I successfully created that alliance with the Holy Empire of Trislei in Akataiyo IV; just establish relations and keep sending them gifts of small amounts of money, and they'll be bound to send an alliance invitation in no time. Now if only I had a couple of daughters I could marry to one of her sons… Wait, what?
Disregarding the last part of that thought process, Silas abruptly rose from his chair, pushing the seat behind him back a few inches in the process. He was bubbling with COURAGE. He was filled with DETERMINATION. Nothing would stop him now.
Each step felt like it was weighed down by iron. Each breath he took felt as though fire was passing through his lungs. But he pushed onwards, to victory! To friendship!
He stopped before the table where Matsuoka and some of her friends were talking. It dawned on him just how tall he was; his figure cast a dark shadow on Matsuoka's face. A few people turned towards him, mostly in confusion. Who's this guy? He heard them mutter. New kid? I've never seen him before.
He opened his mouth to speak, and…
Shit, he thought. Shit, shit, shit.
What was he going to say again…?
"U-Um…"
Matsuoka was facing him now, frowning and raising her eyebrows. Everyone else was facing him, too, suspiciously. Desperately, Silas looked towards a nearby computer screen, begging for some assistance. It read the following words:
SELF-INTRODUCTION!!
Oh, right!
"SELF-INTRODUCTION!!" He shouted loudly, banging his fists onto a table.
The whole room went quiet. Outside the open window, a bus loudly shut its doors and busied itself along the road.
And then the class erupted into laughter.
"Haha! What did he do that for?! Did he just -"
"Are you a foreign exchange student? Or is this some sort of self-inflicted drama?"
"Gawds, that didn't sound awkward at all… Nice going, champ!"
On the computer screen, three ellipses formed, and and the image of a facepalming blue-haired anime girl appeared above the text.
"Omigod, what?! HAHAAHAAA! WOHAAHAAAHAAAA! Sheesh, man!"
It was Matsuoka's laugh that hurt the most. Defeated, Silas started to slink back towards the safety of his seat. But to his surprise, he felt a hand grabbing on to his arm. "Oh, no, no, no, mister! You're getting back here, right now!"
"B-But I - "
"Everyone!" Matsuoka shouted to the group, but the noise clearly reverberated throughout the classroom, too. "This is Yamigawa Silas. Call him Yamigawa-kun, kay? He's doing his self-introduction, as you've just heard."
"W-What?! Wait, but I -" Silas stared longingly at his seat.
"START!" Matsuoka pointed at Silas's chest. Silas gulped.
"U-Um…"
"I said: START!" Matsuoka poked him slightly.
"Okay… h-hello! Good morning! My name is Yamigawa Silas. I am seventeen years old. I am a junior at Yamaha High School. I am half Mihokujin and half Ozzetche. I live alone. My birthday is November 7th. I… um… I like anime and tacos. Nice to meet you all!" Silas bowed, his face practically burning. This isn't how this is supposed to happen!
"Hey, good job!" Matsuoka said. She reached up and patted Silas on the back.
"Yeah, good job, new kid!" another one of her friends followed her example.
Silas felt like they were mocking him, but Matsuoka's eyes betrayed no malice. In fact, she winked. Wait, what?
"Want a seat, Yamigawa-kun?" Matsuoka pulled a seat from an empty desk. "Don't worry about Shinohara-san! She'll probably be late, as usual."
"Uh… sure…" Silas said, glancing repeatedly at all the faces looking at him. At him. And smiling. This was surreal. He took his seat, and suddenly he was faced with a million different conversations at once as the classroom returned to its natural state.
"Soooo… what a way to introduce yourself, amirite?" Matsuoka laughed. "Yamigawa-kun, this is Class Rep Kirino Maeda-chan! Say hi, Kirino!"
"Err… hi?" Silas mumbled.
"Hi," the girl's face was an enigma behind the thick glasses she wore. "I hope you didn't do that on purpose. I don't like showboats."
"I swear!" Silas panicked. "I didn't - "
"Kirino!" Matsuoka shook her head, waving a finger in front of the class rep's face. "That's no way to talk to a shy boy! So mean!"
"I have a name…"
"Oh, er, that's no way to talk to Yamigawa-kun! So mean!"
"...thanks…"
"Oh, also! Also!" Matsuoka pulled on the arm of another person near her. "This is Chihiro Hanamura! I call him Chii-kun! Say hi, Chii-kun!"
Hanamura nodded his head. He was smirking, still trying to recover from that great laugh Silas just gave him. "Nice to meet you, Silas! It's fine if I call you Silas, right?"
It wasn't. "...sure."
"Great! I'm sure we'll be great friends!"
"Yay…?" Silas felt more and more disturbed the longer he talked with this boy. How could he possibly manage to look so happy?! What kind of smile was that?!
"There's a couple more I want to introduce you, Um, um… where's Allen-kun?"
Just then, across the room, the debate Silas had noticed earlier between the Ambernian and the other student finally seemed to be boiling over into an outright shouting match. Surprisingly, the foreign boy, Allen, was speaking perfect Mihokugo now.
"How dare you sully the Mihokujin history? Our's is a story of struggle! Of sacrifice!" the Mihokujin boy shouted.
"I have the right to make my opinions heard, Godammit!" the foreign boy, the one named Allen, yelled back. "Mihoku has had an easy history. The entire foundation of the Union of Sovereign Ambernian Republics has been an upwards crawl, from start to finish!"
"You would defend that claim to the death, foreigner?"
"I would drag my opinion to Hell and back!"
"Ohhh boy, this looks like it's gonna get ugly. Be right... back…?" the class representative started to move towards the pair, but stopped.
The Mihokujin boy reached behind Allen… and pulled him into a fierce hug. "Then by the Gods, I have a brother!"
And Allen responded with that same enthusiasm. "Heelll yeah! That was awesome! You should join Debate Club with me!"
"Perhaps I should! Then, perhaps, you'll finally be convinced of the true way."
"Fat chance, skinny-eyes!"
Maeda blinked, apparently trying to rationalize the scene that was unfolding before her. "...nevermind."
"Oh ho-ho-ho, someone's getting a romance arc in my new fanfic…" the boy named Hanamura muttered. Silas pretended not to hear him.
He looked between Matsuoka, Maeda, and Hanamura. The sudden commotion had finally brought the attention away from him, and he was cooling down. That was… hard. Talking so much at once. But still… he did it. And he felt like he was a little more familiar with the class now, even if much of his interactions with them were humor at his expense. Better than nothing, right?
Maeda Kirino: +1 Relationship
Maeda is now Acquaintances with Silas.
Hanamura Chihiro: +1 Relationship
Hanamura is now Acquaintances with Silas.
Matsuoka Yumika: +2 Relationship.
Unfortunately, shortly after that strange affair, their sensei finally showed up. Along with the rest of the class, Silas returned to his seat quickly, but for a brief moment he saw Matsuoka turn back at him, point at her lips with both of her index fingers, and mouthed some words. Silas couldn't read them, but soon thereafter he heard the small bzzt, bzzt of Big Sister sending him a text. He checked the message.
"Smile; you did good."
Silas nodded, and, consciously, he felt his features turn into a little smile. Yumik - err, Matsuoka seemed nice.
Their sensei looked disapprovingly at his rather rowdy class before tapping the electronic whiteboard with his stylus. "Now, now, I know summer hasn't quite ended for some of you, but it absolutely has ended for the rest of us. Maeda-san!"
"Hai!" Maeda rose.
"Front of the classroom, please."
"Of course!" Maeda marched, with military precision, to her sensei's side. "Rise!"
INT Check: 5 - 3
Good Success
The class rose. Silas was just a millisecond behind them.
"Bow!"
The class bowed. Silas bowed, too.
"Good morning!"
"Good morning!" It was a cacophony of a response.
"Sit!"
...And the class sat. Phew. If Silas hadn't been thinking, he probably would have forgotten about that particular part of the morning routine.
"Hello, everyone! It's nice to see you all here today. I hope we'll have a wonderful time together in Yamaha's Class 4-1." Maeda sounded calm and composed, but then, as if remembering something funny, she broke into a smile. "Of course, we have a couple of new students here. We'll all miss Sakamaki-chan and Hauptmann-kun. So, naturally, we'll have to start by…"
A few students were looking at him. Maeda, too, strangely. Why were they looking at him? He didn't do anything wrong.
Wait.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Noooo.
"...doing our… heheh… excuse me. Our self-introductions."
OH FOR FU -----
<('_'<) <( '_' )> (>'_')>
Approximately thirty minutes of torture later
<('_'<) <( '_' )> (>'_')>
Well, that could have gone better, but it certainly could have gone worse. At the very least, Silas could say that he knew some of the names of some of his fellow classmates now… great…
Character Sheet Updated
First and second bells went by without much of anything to note. Silas quickly realized that he was leagues ahead of the rest of the class in terms of knowing the material; in fact, more than a few times some of his neighbors would ask for a little help. Unfortunately, he was terrible at explaining the concepts to them, and more than once they came out of his attempted help more confused than before. It didn't help that Big Sister's advice usually boiled down things like "Tell them that the rate of change can be found using the formula m = (f(x+h) - f(x))/(x+h-x)." Sure, he knew what that meant, but that didn't mean he could articulate it without some sort of context! He was going to have to fix that…
Positive effects due to high INT will have half their effect so long as CHAR remains =< 1
...And then P.E. happened. Silas wasn't particularly fat… but he was still very, very weak. And he learned that today.
"Yamigawa-kun, move faster! The entire class has lapped you already!"
"I'm trying - hah - Toyotomi-sensei!" Silas gasped for air. "IT's - hah - hard!"
Something was going to have to be done about this… if he wasn't at least at the lowest common denominator, he'd be the laughing stock of the class. Again.
New Goal: Have at least 1 PHYS by the end of three weeks or Silas will lose -1 CHAR
Lunch, third and fourth blocks sped by, and, faster than he'd expected, Silas was on the bullet train headed home. The city streets flitted past the window, a mess of billboards and apartment blocks and malls.
Silas let out a long, long sigh. He'd been holding it in since the beginning of school; it felt good to finally let it out. Home was but a few stops away, and Silas felt…
Satisfied.
To be perfectly honest, Silas had expected a lot worse. A lot worse. But he found that he was looking forward to tomorrow with a sense of excitement, rather than dread.
It was fun.
Serendipitously, at that exact moment, music from the bullet train's speakers went to the chorus of a particular song which included the lines "I told you so" repeated over and over and over again.
What will Silas's actions be for the rest of the week?
Choose two [Talk] Actions, and two [Extra] actions.
Note: [TALK] actions with characters have a high chance of making acquaintances out of those characters' friends. Choose wisely!
Another Note: WAIT UNTIL THE CHARACTER SHEET IS UPDATED TILL YOU VOTE, PLZ, THANX FAM
[] [TALK] Matsuoka Yumika (She seems nice)
[] [TALK] Hanamura Chihiro (He seems… interesting)
[] [TALK] Maeda Kirino (She seems… uh…)
[] [TALK] Allen Furai (He seems… openminded)
[] [TALK] Taro Yamaguchi (He seems… patriotic)
[] [EXTRA] Study (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.1)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Big Sister downloaded an exercise plan onto Silas's phone. This should help… (75% chance +1 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
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Week 1 Part 2.5
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Vote locked!
[] [TALK] Maeda Kirino (She seems… uh…)
[] [TALK] Allen Furai (He seems… openminded)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Big Sister downloaded an exercise plan onto Silas's phone. This should help… (75% chance +1 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
Going to be implementing the midturn mechanics now. Occasionally, a student from SIlas's class (or any other person who Silas knows) might interrupt his turn by attempting to interact with him; in this case, it is in the form of an [ATONE] action (more on that later). When this happens, you have the option to either [IGNORE] them or to sacrifice one action of the same type that you had planned to do previously. Since Silas is still Friendly, however, he doesn't get the [IGNORE] option, so you'll be forced to sacrifice a [TALK] action this turn.
Maeda Kirino was sitting alone, diligently working on a stack of papers. What kind of paperwork it was, he couldn't possibly know - they hadn't turned in any quizzes to even grade yet. But Silas was sure it was something important. She was the class rep, after all! It might be rude to interrupt her in the middle of her work, but maybe he could offer to help? That would be seen as nice... right?
On the other hand, Furai was sitting near the corner of the room, arguing once more with the Yamaguchi boy. This time it seemed to be about Otaku culture, believe it or not - Furai was (rather loudly, much to the chagrin of the students around him trying to enjoy their food) proclaiming that Otaku had the right to enjoy whatever media they wanted, citing "natural rights" and "freedom of expression" or something like that, whereas Yamaguchi countered that everything Otaku was degenerative, debilitating and a disgusting perversion of the Mihokujin traditional culture, and had no place in world.
...Goddamn. That hurt. All of a sudden he really wanted to be in that argument.
Decisions, decisions...
Suddenly, Silas felt a sharp prick in his back. "GAH!" He immediately turned around - the student sitting behind him was retracting their mechanical pencil from Silas's spine, looking rather pleased with themselves.
"What was that for?!" Silas exclaimed. Subconsciously, his eyes wandered to a nearby monitor where he knew Big Sister was usually watching. Thankfully, nothing was exploding, and no nearby drones were suddenly changing course to slam against this person's skull. He didn't want to have to deal with that kind of mess again...
"Payback," the student said, simply. "Dorima Shiru. Nice to meet you."
"Payback for what, exactly?" That spot in his back was starting to sting, now.
"Remember yesterday?" Dorima asked. "If not, I can reenact it for you... ahem... 'SELF-INTRODUCTION!!' Remember that? Because I did."
Silas flinched. "Yes, I remember that. What's your problem, then?"
"When you got up to express your complete inability to communicate with other human beings, you moved my desk back like four inches, dipshit."
"I - what?" Thinking back, he did remember that when he stood up from his chair, he'd pushed the chair back a bit... "Uh... sorry?"
"Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to Toranpu-kun!" Dorima exclaimed, opening her sketchbook and flipping to an image of an old-looking man with bizarrely orange hair. Silas has a few seconds to register that the drawing was actually pretty good before realizing it was now covered in dirt from the cold hardwood floor. "You messed up his face even more! Do you know how much time I spent drawing each individual wrinkle on Toranpu-kun's face? Each line on his forehead? Now it's all wasted! Gawds!"
"E-Err..." Silas looked towards the monitor - no advice. Then he looked towards Maeda and Furai , almost longingly. Those two seemed cool, but this girl was outright belligerent. He would have given anything to be with them, rather than here...
Dorima tapped her mechanical pencil against the desk passive-aggressively. "Sooo... are you gonna apologize?"
Character Sheet Updated
DORIMA WANTS SILAS TO [ATONE]!
CHOOSE AN ACTION:
[] [IGNORE] Silas has better things to do, actually... (UNAVAILABLE BECAUSE SILAS IS FRIENDLY)
[] [ATONE] "U-Um... sorry?"
[] [ATONE] "Why can't you just draw another one?"
[] [ATONE] "You apologize first!"
CHOOSE A [TALK] ACTION TO CANCEL:
[] [CANCEL TALK] Maeda Kirino
[] [CANCEL TALK] Furai Allen
A/N: Voting will be closed tomorrow night, and I'll hopefully have the update (with the rest of the turn's actions) ready the day after that.
Anyway, down to explaining the sudden appearance of the [ATONE] action...
There are various Relationship levels Silas will be at for the many different students in his class. For example, 1-9 is "Acquaintance," 10-19 is "Close Acquaintance," (-10, -1) is "Annoyed/Dismissive," etcetera. Depending on Silas's Relationship level, different actions are available for particular students. For students with whom Silas has a negative relationship (and knows about), the [ATONE] action is available. The use of this action will rapidly bring Silas's relationship back to 0, but cannot make that number positive. I'll be adding a full list of similar actions and their effects as an Informational.
[] [TALK] Maeda Kirino (She seems… uh…)
[] [TALK] Allen Furai (He seems… openminded)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Big Sister downloaded an exercise plan onto Silas's phone. This should help… (75% chance +1 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
Going to be implementing the midturn mechanics now. Occasionally, a student from SIlas's class (or any other person who Silas knows) might interrupt his turn by attempting to interact with him; in this case, it is in the form of an [ATONE] action (more on that later). When this happens, you have the option to either [IGNORE] them or to sacrifice one action of the same type that you had planned to do previously. Since Silas is still Friendly, however, he doesn't get the [IGNORE] option, so you'll be forced to sacrifice a [TALK] action this turn.
----------
Lunch was, decidedly, the best time for Silas. He got to eat his rice tacos and spam onigiri Big Sister had packaged for him (Express delivery from the Mihokujin National Drone Delivery Network, too), and there was always ample time to chat with the other students in his class.
Maeda Kirino was sitting alone, diligently working on a stack of papers. What kind of paperwork it was, he couldn't possibly know - they hadn't turned in any quizzes to even grade yet. But Silas was sure it was something important. She was the class rep, after all! It might be rude to interrupt her in the middle of her work, but maybe he could offer to help? That would be seen as nice... right?
On the other hand, Furai was sitting near the corner of the room, arguing once more with the Yamaguchi boy. This time it seemed to be about Otaku culture, believe it or not - Furai was (rather loudly, much to the chagrin of the students around him trying to enjoy their food) proclaiming that Otaku had the right to enjoy whatever media they wanted, citing "natural rights" and "freedom of expression" or something like that, whereas Yamaguchi countered that everything Otaku was degenerative, debilitating and a disgusting perversion of the Mihokujin traditional culture, and had no place in world.
...Goddamn. That hurt. All of a sudden he really wanted to be in that argument.
Decisions, decisions...
Suddenly, Silas felt a sharp prick in his back. "GAH!" He immediately turned around - the student sitting behind him was retracting their mechanical pencil from Silas's spine, looking rather pleased with themselves.
"What was that for?!" Silas exclaimed. Subconsciously, his eyes wandered to a nearby monitor where he knew Big Sister was usually watching. Thankfully, nothing was exploding, and no nearby drones were suddenly changing course to slam against this person's skull. He didn't want to have to deal with that kind of mess again...
"Payback," the student said, simply. "Dorima Shiru. Nice to meet you."
"Payback for what, exactly?" That spot in his back was starting to sting, now.
"Remember yesterday?" Dorima asked. "If not, I can reenact it for you... ahem... 'SELF-INTRODUCTION!!' Remember that? Because I did."
Silas flinched. "Yes, I remember that. What's your problem, then?"
"When you got up to express your complete inability to communicate with other human beings, you moved my desk back like four inches, dipshit."
"I - what?" Thinking back, he did remember that when he stood up from his chair, he'd pushed the chair back a bit... "Uh... sorry?"
"Don't say sorry to me, say sorry to Toranpu-kun!" Dorima exclaimed, opening her sketchbook and flipping to an image of an old-looking man with bizarrely orange hair. Silas has a few seconds to register that the drawing was actually pretty good before realizing it was now covered in dirt from the cold hardwood floor. "You messed up his face even more! Do you know how much time I spent drawing each individual wrinkle on Toranpu-kun's face? Each line on his forehead? Now it's all wasted! Gawds!"
"E-Err..." Silas looked towards the monitor - no advice. Then he looked towards Maeda and Furai , almost longingly. Those two seemed cool, but this girl was outright belligerent. He would have given anything to be with them, rather than here...
Dorima tapped her mechanical pencil against the desk passive-aggressively. "Sooo... are you gonna apologize?"
Character Sheet Updated
DORIMA WANTS SILAS TO [ATONE]!
CHOOSE AN ACTION:
[] [ATONE] "U-Um... sorry?"
[] [ATONE] "Why can't you just draw another one?"
[] [ATONE] "You apologize first!"
CHOOSE A [TALK] ACTION TO CANCEL:
[] [CANCEL TALK] Maeda Kirino
[] [CANCEL TALK] Furai Allen
-----
A/N: Voting will be closed tomorrow night, and I'll hopefully have the update (with the rest of the turn's actions) ready the day after that.
Anyway, down to explaining the sudden appearance of the [ATONE] action...
There are various Relationship levels Silas will be at for the many different students in his class. For example, 1-9 is "Acquaintance," 10-19 is "Close Acquaintance," (-10, -1) is "Annoyed/Dismissive," etcetera. Depending on Silas's Relationship level, different actions are available for particular students. For students with whom Silas has a negative relationship (and knows about), the [ATONE] action is available. The use of this action will rapidly bring Silas's relationship back to 0, but cannot make that number positive. I'll be adding a full list of similar actions and their effects as an Informational.
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Actions Guide
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
All Possible (known) Regular Actions:
[TALK]: Available for Acquaintances only. May create more acquaintances. +2 REL
[CHAT]: Available for Friends (20+ REL) and up. +1 REL, Special events?
[ATONE]: Available for students with a negative relationship. Increased Success threshold. *4 Effect.
?????
?????
All Possible (known, non-special) [EXTRA] Actions:
[EXTRA] Otaku Stuff: Available because Silas is a Former NEET. Has a small chance of decreasing CHAR stat.
[EXTRA] Study: Increases SKL.
[EXTRA] Exercise: Increases PHYS.
[EXTRA] Walk around the city: Trigger event. May be good or bad.
[EXTRA] Talk to Big Sister: Exposition and random stat increase. Strangely, Silas was never able to do this before he started going to school...
?????
?????
Other actions, which Silas hasn't discovered yet, include [CLUB] and [SOCIAL]. And [BITE]. But Silas won't be using that one.
[TALK]: Available for Acquaintances only. May create more acquaintances. +2 REL
[CHAT]: Available for Friends (20+ REL) and up. +1 REL, Special events?
[ATONE]: Available for students with a negative relationship. Increased Success threshold. *4 Effect.
?????
?????
All Possible (known, non-special) [EXTRA] Actions:
[EXTRA] Otaku Stuff: Available because Silas is a Former NEET. Has a small chance of decreasing CHAR stat.
[EXTRA] Study: Increases SKL.
[EXTRA] Exercise: Increases PHYS.
[EXTRA] Walk around the city: Trigger event. May be good or bad.
[EXTRA] Talk to Big Sister: Exposition and random stat increase. Strangely, Silas was never able to do this before he started going to school...
?????
?????
Other actions, which Silas hasn't discovered yet, include [CLUB] and [SOCIAL]. And [BITE]. But Silas won't be using that one.
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Week Part 3: Ultimate Backsass
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[] [ATONE] Dorima Shiru
Success Threshold: 50 (Base) -20 (Loner) -20 (Low CHAR) -20 (Low COUR) -10 (Paper-Thin Tsun-tsun) +10 (Big Sister Interference) +50 (Clever Comeback) = 40
DICE ROLL: 39
RESULT: Clutch Success!
CLASS REP INTERFERENCE ROLL HAS BEEN DISCARDED
"Well? Are you?!"
This was getting really uncomfortable now. A couple other students - Maeda included - were now pausing their lunches to look curiously between him and the Dorima girl. The room had also gotten unbearably quiet, as if the sound of Dorima's voice had hushed them all into paying rapt attention.
"I'm not gonna wait all day, bud," Dorima said, looking rather smug. The tapping on her desk increased in speed.
"Err…" Silas glanced around. How was he supposed to respond to this? To apologize outright would be to submit, and somehow Silas felt like that would only make things worse. But he couldn't not apologize - because he did hold some of the blame she was throwing at him.
He was standing at the crossroads between cold war and peace, and he felt the next few words he said were going to decide whether or not this cold war turned hot.
And then, Silas got an idea.
He summoned his wits. "S-Sure. Show me… uh… show me whatsis name."
"Toranpu-kun!" Dorima exclaimed, a bit too loudly. Now even Allen and Yamaguchi had stopped their debating, as they too watched the scene unfold between them.
"Yeah, him."
Dorima huffed, then pulled up the drawing of the man named Toranpu-kun. Silas faced the parchment, clasped his fingers together, and bowed his head. "M-My sincere apologies, err… Mister Toranpu - "
"He's a president! Address him as such!"
Silas rolled his eyes. Internally, at least. "...Mister President Toranpu. My actions were truly despicable and deplorable. I must humbly ask that you forgive me for my slight against your…um... h-honor."
Inside, Silas was completely wracked with worry. Each word of disingenuous apology he spoke made him feel more and more afraid of retaliation. His heart thrummed against his chest. A few beads of sweat rolled down the back of his head. But he didn't let the girl see it. He refused to show her weakness. Somehow, he managed to get through the entire apology without losing his focus once.
When it was over with, Silas had one thought: That felt good.
(+0.5 permanent COUR, +1.5 COUR till the end of the week)
Dorima was smiling now, but in a wicked sort of way. "Good… Toranpu-kun has a big ego, you see? You can't insult him or berate him, or he'll become irate. And none of us want that, isn't that right?" At this point, she started stroking Toranpu-kun's hair… weirdly.
"Now." Dorima looked Silas right in the eyes. "My turn."
Silas hesitated.
And then he smiled. "U-Um… no."
Silas could feel the entire classroom hold its breath. Subconsciously, he became aware that even their next class's sensei had entered the room, but not even she was willing to disturb the silence.
Dorima's face was overcome with red-hot anger. "What did you say?"
"Y-You said… um…" Silas told himself to keep calm. Keep calm. Everything's going just swell. "Y-You said n-not to apologize to you. So I w-won't. Unless… you w-want to ask again? Maybe politely, this time?"
Dorima's forehead was now bright purple. Her mouth twitched. Her fist clenched, and for a single agonizing second, Silas thought he was about to get a left hook to the jaw.
"...clever."
Suddenly, her left hand was flying towards Silas's collar, and he was jerked forward from his seat. His bento fell to the floor. "Reeaaaally clever. I like that. I really do. Though, if you don't mind, I'm still gonna punch your goddamn teeth through your throat - "
"Dorima-san!"
Their sensei was speaking. It seemed as though the entire room suddenly realized he even existed. "Dorima-san, I believe that's enough. Maeda-san, please have everyone clean up their lunches, class should have started already."
"Hai, sensei!"
Dorima's grip on Silas's collar lessened, and Silas felt himself falling back into his seat. His eyes were on the floor. Absentmindedly, he started picking up the remains of his last onigiri and a few rice grains that had fallen on the floor. The rest of the class, as if just forced out of a daze, started following suit, gathering their food and preparing for the next block.
He felt ecstatic. He had no idea how, but he felt like he'd just barely missed a landmine.
As he moved to gather the last of the rice grains, a hand swiped the rest off of the floor for him. It was Maeda's. The class representative was smiling. "You handled that quite well," she said simply, before patting Silas on the back and taking away his trash for him.
Maeda Kirino: +3 REL
Part of Maeda's Personality Discovered:
Keeper of the Peace - Maeda seems to like it if Silas is part of something which disrupts the peace in the classroom but manages to resolve it without coming to blows or a shouting match. (+REL If Silas succeeds an interaction which would otherwise have caused disruptions in the classroom. If Maeda sees a possible disruption, she may interfere.)
????????
When all was said and done, Silas hastened a glance back at Dorima. She was glaring right back at him, and still that wicked smile was plastered on her face. She pointed two fingers towards him, and then pointed those two fingers right back at her, before making a guillotine motion with her index finger. Silas flinched. Yet, right after that, she seemed to giggle. Obviously, she wasn't quite satisfied with him just yet, but it seemed that she was actually marginally impressed by his show of defiance. Interesting.
Dorima Shiru: +12 REL
Dorima is now DISMISSIVE towards Silas
Part of Dorima's personality has been discovered:
Paper-Thin Tsun-Tsun - Dorima is so tsun-tsun it's almost as if she were cut right out of a shoujo manga. (-20 Starting REL, -10 Success Threshold for social interaction. The COUR stat always factors into interactions involving Dorima, and it has an increased effect of *2)
????????
One of Dorima's traits have been discovered:
Standoffish - Dorima is naturally judgemental and easily angered, but those that can find a way to defy her will get her respect. (-20 Success threshold to social interaction UNLESS COUR >= 8 OR Silas makes a clever response to her, in which case +50 Success threshold)
Silas's phone buzzed. Tentatively, so as not to alert the teacher, he opened it and peered at the chat screen:
Big Sis: Very good! Four marks.
Big Sis: I'm proud of you. Not so proud of Dorima, though.
YamiOtako: It was nothing. Hey, you're not gonna do anything to her, are you?
Big Sis: Nothing… permanent.
YamiOtako: Big Sis…?
Big Sis: 3…
Big Sis: 2…
Big Sis: 1...
"YO WHAT THE HELL?" Silas was startled as he heard Dorima yell out in the middle of their sensei's opening lecture. "THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY PHONE?! WHAT'S ALL THIS SHIT DOING HERE?"
Silas giggled to himself. Of course Big Sis would do something like that.
[] [TALK] Allen Furai (He seems… openminded)
Success Threshold: 55 (Base: (60 + 50)/2) - 10 (Erudite) - 20 (Loner) + 10 (Big Sister Interference) = 35
DICE ROLL: 42
RESULT: Failure!
The day after the debacle with Dorima (A/N: I am so proud of this alliteration for some reason…), Silas decided he was going to avoid sitting near her during lunch bell for the time being. All the better, because he had put it in his mind that he wanted to try talking to Allen, the foreign student, a bit. Surprisingly, he disattached from Yamaguchi for once, instead sitting in his corner of the room with another classmate, a girl, whom he hadn't acquainted himself with before.
"Um… hi." Silas made his presence known in perhaps the most tactless way possible, but that didn't seem to matter too much to the Allen and his two friends. "Um…"
"Oh, you're the self-introduction kid, right?" Allen turned towards him. The way his eyes seemed to shine behind his glasses gave Silas the distinct feeling that he was being closely analyzed. "Nice show you made yesterday."
"What - ? I didn't mean it!" Silas blurted.
Allen waved him off. "It's fine, it's fine. Want to have a seat?"
The girl with them seemed visibly uncomfortable with Silas's presence, and Silas caught her glancing Allen's way. Allen shot her back a meaningful look, and she seemed to relent. Her mouth opened: "...Hi. I'm Shinohara Hana. You took my seat the first day of class to talk with Yumika."
"Oh, really? Sorr - "
"Please, don't be."
Silas nodded. This was getting awkward…
"And I'm Allen Furai. Nice to meet you, Silas." Allen adjusted his glasses.
"Nice to meet you, Furai-kun," Silas responded. Allen frowned.
"Please, first names. It feels… weird being called by my last name. I guess it's an Amberrish thing, I dunno."
"Ah, okay. Allen-kun."
"And can you not add the honorific?"
"Allen, then?"
"Better."
More and more this was starting to feel like a bad mistake… Come on, think, Silas. What is it that Allen seems to like? What does he normally do?
"So… you like debating with people?"
Allen blinked, and readjusted his glasses. "As a matter of fact, yes. Yamaguchi's off somewhere, though, so I can't get my fill in. You wouldn't happen to be willing to engage in some civil discussion, would you?"
"'Civil discussion?'" Silas choked on his onigiri. Without thinking, he blurted: "What you and Yamaguchi were doing was nothing short of an actual shouting match!"
Silas's hands went to his lips, but to his surprise, the Ambernian chuckled. "Ahahah! Oh, but it sure was a satisfying one. Hey, let's pick a topic. It'll be quick and painless, I promise!"
"Um…" Silas started wondering just what exactly he got himself into. He decided to choose something they could agree on. "Err… Otaku culture!"
"Hmm... " Allen rubbed his chin. Something flashed behind those glasses. "Excellent! I assume you're taking the side of 'Otaku is worth it' or something like that?"
"Yes…?" Silas said.
"Interesting… so. I'm going to be arguing against that point."
"Wait, what?!" Silas started to panic. "But you - "
"I know, I know, personally, I'm on your side, but it's hardly a debate if we both agree!" Allen seemed almost gleeful. "Let's begin!"
Oh dear, Silas thought.
"...and quite frankly, your argument is riddled with obvious personal bias and a serious lack of logical evidence to back yourself up. In short: It is buuuulshit."
Silas's mouth was agape. That had been literally fifteen minutes of him being blasted around by this Ambernian's rhetoric. He could barely even get a word in edgewise - every point he tried to make had been shot down with due haste by some stronger point, or a more solid piece of evidence.
Not even Big Sister could help - at the rate Allen was speaking, the advice she would try popping onto a nearby monitor would be seconds too late, as Allen would be on a completely different part of his argument by the time Silas could even read it. By the end of the whole ordeal, the monitor was visibly smoking.
"I believe I've won."
"Yeah…" Silas mumbled. Not only had he had lost not only the debate, but also part of his pride. Just being near him seemed to drain his spirit now.
"Agh…" Allen sighed. It seemed even he wasn't really enjoying this. "Sorry, man, but you're no fun. You don't offer any resistance."
"Sorry!" Silas shot back.
"Nah, nah, it's fine, it's fine," Allen lied, shaking his head. "I think… I'm gonna go over there now. Seeya. Hey, Yamaguchi!"
Allen got up abruptly, making his way to the other side of the classroom. Silas watched him go, and felt as though he'd lost a lot of respect from that boy without even trying very hard.
Allen Furai: -10 REL
Allen is now DISMISSIVE of Silas
Part of Allen's personality has been discovered:
Judgemental Ambernian - Coming from a country with strong democratic roots, Allen lives for the thrill of debate. He seems to be rather dismissive of people if they cannot challenge him in a conversation of wit and rhetoric. (-10 REL immediately because Silas failed their first interaction. The INT and COUR stats always factor into interactions with Allen, and have an increased effect of *2)
????????
Some of Allen's traits have been discovered:
Erudite - Allen is really, really smart. He tries not to be an ass about it, but tends to lose interest in people very quickly if they can't hold an intelligent conversation with him. (-20 Success threshold for INT + COUR < 8, -10 Success threshold of INT + COUR < 12. If Silas is an Erudite, ?????, or Genius, +20 Success threshold for social interactions)
Genius - Allen is smarter than most University professors. He is a master at deductive reasoning and can solve most school problems with ease. (+0.5 Passive SKL per week, Trigger: Very High INT)
"Hey…"
Silas jumped. He had completely forgotten the other girl, Shinohara was even there. It was like she was actively trying to melt into the background.
"Don't worry too much about Allen. It takes a lot to get to know him, but once you do, you'll find out he's got a soft interior. I swear."
Shinohara seemed to be speaking earnestly, at least. "...Okay. I'll take your word for it."
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city
DICE ROLL: 99
RESULT: SPECIAL
The bullet train was eerily quiet.
But Silas didn't mind the quiet; oh no, not at all. He was too busy looking forward to the next stop.
When the train's doors swung open, Silas eagerly stepped onto the platform, where he was suddenly bathed in light. And then he was tackled to the ground. A girl was hugging him fiercely, giggling and laughing without a care in the world.
"SILAS! My bosom friend! Finally out from your little shell in that apartment, eh?"
Silas laughed, hugging back. "You know it, Nanami."
"I knew I shouldn't have gave up on you!" Nanami said. "I knew I'd get you to come over to Yamaha some day! Gosh, you're going to meet so many cool people! There's this girl named Yumika - you're gonna love her! She's such a bundle of energy and - and Allen! My god! He's such a character! Always debating!"
"Calm down, Nanami, calm down!" Silas said. Nanami separated from him at long last, looking him up and down.
"Okay, okay… I'm just so excited! I finally get to show my friends that you're real! Imagine that - most of them don't believe you exist! Haha!"
Silas giggled. "Well, it's not like I was making it any easier on you…"
"Well, enough of that!" Nanami grabbed Silas's arm, pulling him towards the street. "We're going to Yamaha!"
Silas went along willingly. He'd interacted with Nanami like this before - on Christmas, or some other holiday, she'd come to his door and forcefully drag him out to go shopping or something. But now, he was going to school with her. This was going to be fun! ...terrifying, but fun! Nanami was so worth giving up on being a NEET, giving up on his hobbies and online activities, giving up on the comfort of his own apartment.
Giving up on having a Big Sister.
Silas blinked. His feet were frozen to the ground.
"Silas? Silas, what's wrong?" Nanami was tugging on him some more. "Err… don't get cold feet now! C'mon, we're almost there! I told Yumika to wait for us at the entrance and everything!"
"...huh?" The world was going in and out of focus. He turned to Nanami and saw an empty street. "Nanami…?"
"Yeees?"
"Who… are you?" Nothing made sense. He'd never met anyone outside of his apartment before. He'd only ever had Big Sister, his loyal guardian and protector.
Nanami chuckled. "I'm Nanami! You've known me, like, forever!"
"What?" Nothing made sense. He'd never had a Big Sister. Nanami had always been there, his closest friend and best companion.
"C'mon, Silas, snap out of it." Nanami was sounding desperate now. "I'm your childhood friend. I know you. You know me. Right? Please."
"Who…?"
Silas blinked.
It was nighttime. He had gone out for a jog as part of Big Sister's exercise plan, and afterwards he wanted to wander the city. But now he was lost. The sound of car honks and cicadas filled the air. Where am I…?
Why don't you… remember me…?
Something was following him. Silas was consumed with fear. He had to run. But where? But where?!
I'm right here… can't you see me…?
Silas felt a blow to the back of his head, and then all was white.
Silas's phone buzzed. His eyes shot open. He reached for his phone from across the futon - Big Sister was probably waking him up.
Big Sis: Wake up, sleepyhead. It's morning.
YamiOtako: Sorry, Big Sis. Bad dream.
YamiOtako: Hey.
Big Sis: Hmm?
YamiOtako: Do I know anyone named 'Nanami Nai?"
Big Sis: No, I don't believe so.
Big Sis: A cursory glance at the Mihokujin National Census indicates no one of that name exists. Why do you ask?
YamiOtako: Oh, nothing. Just wondering.
Silas breathed deeply. What an odd dream… he thought. I feel like it was such a vivid one, too, but I can't even remember a thing about it.
(+1 PHYS)
Character Sheet Updated
IT IS NOW THE WEEKEND.
CHOOSE 4 ACTIONS TO TAKE:
Because of Silas's Personality, at least TWO of these must be "Otaku Stuff." Actions may be doubled for synthesis effects.
[] [EXTRA] Study (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.2)
[] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Go to school (May meet classmates there, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Talk with Big Sis (???)
Success Threshold: 50 (Base) -20 (Loner) -20 (Low CHAR) -20 (Low COUR) -10 (Paper-Thin Tsun-tsun) +10 (Big Sister Interference) +50 (Clever Comeback) = 40
DICE ROLL: 39
RESULT: Clutch Success!
CLASS REP INTERFERENCE ROLL HAS BEEN DISCARDED
"Well? Are you?!"
This was getting really uncomfortable now. A couple other students - Maeda included - were now pausing their lunches to look curiously between him and the Dorima girl. The room had also gotten unbearably quiet, as if the sound of Dorima's voice had hushed them all into paying rapt attention.
"I'm not gonna wait all day, bud," Dorima said, looking rather smug. The tapping on her desk increased in speed.
"Err…" Silas glanced around. How was he supposed to respond to this? To apologize outright would be to submit, and somehow Silas felt like that would only make things worse. But he couldn't not apologize - because he did hold some of the blame she was throwing at him.
He was standing at the crossroads between cold war and peace, and he felt the next few words he said were going to decide whether or not this cold war turned hot.
And then, Silas got an idea.
He summoned his wits. "S-Sure. Show me… uh… show me whatsis name."
"Toranpu-kun!" Dorima exclaimed, a bit too loudly. Now even Allen and Yamaguchi had stopped their debating, as they too watched the scene unfold between them.
"Yeah, him."
Dorima huffed, then pulled up the drawing of the man named Toranpu-kun. Silas faced the parchment, clasped his fingers together, and bowed his head. "M-My sincere apologies, err… Mister Toranpu - "
"He's a president! Address him as such!"
Silas rolled his eyes. Internally, at least. "...Mister President Toranpu. My actions were truly despicable and deplorable. I must humbly ask that you forgive me for my slight against your…um... h-honor."
Inside, Silas was completely wracked with worry. Each word of disingenuous apology he spoke made him feel more and more afraid of retaliation. His heart thrummed against his chest. A few beads of sweat rolled down the back of his head. But he didn't let the girl see it. He refused to show her weakness. Somehow, he managed to get through the entire apology without losing his focus once.
When it was over with, Silas had one thought: That felt good.
(+0.5 permanent COUR, +1.5 COUR till the end of the week)
Dorima was smiling now, but in a wicked sort of way. "Good… Toranpu-kun has a big ego, you see? You can't insult him or berate him, or he'll become irate. And none of us want that, isn't that right?" At this point, she started stroking Toranpu-kun's hair… weirdly.
"Now." Dorima looked Silas right in the eyes. "My turn."
Silas hesitated.
And then he smiled. "U-Um… no."
Silas could feel the entire classroom hold its breath. Subconsciously, he became aware that even their next class's sensei had entered the room, but not even she was willing to disturb the silence.
Dorima's face was overcome with red-hot anger. "What did you say?"
"Y-You said… um…" Silas told himself to keep calm. Keep calm. Everything's going just swell. "Y-You said n-not to apologize to you. So I w-won't. Unless… you w-want to ask again? Maybe politely, this time?"
Dorima's forehead was now bright purple. Her mouth twitched. Her fist clenched, and for a single agonizing second, Silas thought he was about to get a left hook to the jaw.
"...clever."
Suddenly, her left hand was flying towards Silas's collar, and he was jerked forward from his seat. His bento fell to the floor. "Reeaaaally clever. I like that. I really do. Though, if you don't mind, I'm still gonna punch your goddamn teeth through your throat - "
"Dorima-san!"
Their sensei was speaking. It seemed as though the entire room suddenly realized he even existed. "Dorima-san, I believe that's enough. Maeda-san, please have everyone clean up their lunches, class should have started already."
"Hai, sensei!"
Dorima's grip on Silas's collar lessened, and Silas felt himself falling back into his seat. His eyes were on the floor. Absentmindedly, he started picking up the remains of his last onigiri and a few rice grains that had fallen on the floor. The rest of the class, as if just forced out of a daze, started following suit, gathering their food and preparing for the next block.
He felt ecstatic. He had no idea how, but he felt like he'd just barely missed a landmine.
As he moved to gather the last of the rice grains, a hand swiped the rest off of the floor for him. It was Maeda's. The class representative was smiling. "You handled that quite well," she said simply, before patting Silas on the back and taking away his trash for him.
Maeda Kirino: +3 REL
Part of Maeda's Personality Discovered:
Keeper of the Peace - Maeda seems to like it if Silas is part of something which disrupts the peace in the classroom but manages to resolve it without coming to blows or a shouting match. (+REL If Silas succeeds an interaction which would otherwise have caused disruptions in the classroom. If Maeda sees a possible disruption, she may interfere.)
????????
When all was said and done, Silas hastened a glance back at Dorima. She was glaring right back at him, and still that wicked smile was plastered on her face. She pointed two fingers towards him, and then pointed those two fingers right back at her, before making a guillotine motion with her index finger. Silas flinched. Yet, right after that, she seemed to giggle. Obviously, she wasn't quite satisfied with him just yet, but it seemed that she was actually marginally impressed by his show of defiance. Interesting.
Dorima Shiru: +12 REL
Dorima is now DISMISSIVE towards Silas
Part of Dorima's personality has been discovered:
Paper-Thin Tsun-Tsun - Dorima is so tsun-tsun it's almost as if she were cut right out of a shoujo manga. (-20 Starting REL, -10 Success Threshold for social interaction. The COUR stat always factors into interactions involving Dorima, and it has an increased effect of *2)
????????
One of Dorima's traits have been discovered:
Standoffish - Dorima is naturally judgemental and easily angered, but those that can find a way to defy her will get her respect. (-20 Success threshold to social interaction UNLESS COUR >= 8 OR Silas makes a clever response to her, in which case +50 Success threshold)
Silas's phone buzzed. Tentatively, so as not to alert the teacher, he opened it and peered at the chat screen:
Big Sis: Very good! Four marks.
Big Sis: I'm proud of you. Not so proud of Dorima, though.
YamiOtako: It was nothing. Hey, you're not gonna do anything to her, are you?
Big Sis: Nothing… permanent.
YamiOtako: Big Sis…?
Big Sis: 3…
Big Sis: 2…
Big Sis: 1...
"YO WHAT THE HELL?" Silas was startled as he heard Dorima yell out in the middle of their sensei's opening lecture. "THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY PHONE?! WHAT'S ALL THIS SHIT DOING HERE?"
Silas giggled to himself. Of course Big Sis would do something like that.
~~~
[] [TALK] Allen Furai (He seems… openminded)
Success Threshold: 55 (Base: (60 + 50)/2) - 10 (Erudite) - 20 (Loner) + 10 (Big Sister Interference) = 35
DICE ROLL: 42
RESULT: Failure!
The day after the debacle with Dorima (A/N: I am so proud of this alliteration for some reason…
), Silas decided he was going to avoid sitting near her during lunch bell for the time being. All the better, because he had put it in his mind that he wanted to try talking to Allen, the foreign student, a bit. Surprisingly, he disattached from Yamaguchi for once, instead sitting in his corner of the room with another classmate, a girl, whom he hadn't acquainted himself with before."Um… hi." Silas made his presence known in perhaps the most tactless way possible, but that didn't seem to matter too much to the Allen and his two friends. "Um…"
"Oh, you're the self-introduction kid, right?" Allen turned towards him. The way his eyes seemed to shine behind his glasses gave Silas the distinct feeling that he was being closely analyzed. "Nice show you made yesterday."
"What - ? I didn't mean it!" Silas blurted.
Allen waved him off. "It's fine, it's fine. Want to have a seat?"
The girl with them seemed visibly uncomfortable with Silas's presence, and Silas caught her glancing Allen's way. Allen shot her back a meaningful look, and she seemed to relent. Her mouth opened: "...Hi. I'm Shinohara Hana. You took my seat the first day of class to talk with Yumika."
"Oh, really? Sorr - "
"Please, don't be."
Silas nodded. This was getting awkward…
"And I'm Allen Furai. Nice to meet you, Silas." Allen adjusted his glasses.
"Nice to meet you, Furai-kun," Silas responded. Allen frowned.
"Please, first names. It feels… weird being called by my last name. I guess it's an Amberrish thing, I dunno."
"Ah, okay. Allen-kun."
"And can you not add the honorific?"
"Allen, then?"
"Better."
More and more this was starting to feel like a bad mistake… Come on, think, Silas. What is it that Allen seems to like? What does he normally do?
"So… you like debating with people?"
Allen blinked, and readjusted his glasses. "As a matter of fact, yes. Yamaguchi's off somewhere, though, so I can't get my fill in. You wouldn't happen to be willing to engage in some civil discussion, would you?"
"'Civil discussion?'" Silas choked on his onigiri. Without thinking, he blurted: "What you and Yamaguchi were doing was nothing short of an actual shouting match!"
Silas's hands went to his lips, but to his surprise, the Ambernian chuckled. "Ahahah! Oh, but it sure was a satisfying one. Hey, let's pick a topic. It'll be quick and painless, I promise!"
"Um…" Silas started wondering just what exactly he got himself into. He decided to choose something they could agree on. "Err… Otaku culture!"
"Hmm... " Allen rubbed his chin. Something flashed behind those glasses. "Excellent! I assume you're taking the side of 'Otaku is worth it' or something like that?"
"Yes…?" Silas said.
"Interesting… so. I'm going to be arguing against that point."
"Wait, what?!" Silas started to panic. "But you - "
"I know, I know, personally, I'm on your side, but it's hardly a debate if we both agree!" Allen seemed almost gleeful. "Let's begin!"
Oh dear, Silas thought.
~Some time later~
"...and quite frankly, your argument is riddled with obvious personal bias and a serious lack of logical evidence to back yourself up. In short: It is buuuulshit."
Silas's mouth was agape. That had been literally fifteen minutes of him being blasted around by this Ambernian's rhetoric. He could barely even get a word in edgewise - every point he tried to make had been shot down with due haste by some stronger point, or a more solid piece of evidence.
Not even Big Sister could help - at the rate Allen was speaking, the advice she would try popping onto a nearby monitor would be seconds too late, as Allen would be on a completely different part of his argument by the time Silas could even read it. By the end of the whole ordeal, the monitor was visibly smoking.
"I believe I've won."
"Yeah…" Silas mumbled. Not only had he had lost not only the debate, but also part of his pride. Just being near him seemed to drain his spirit now.
"Agh…" Allen sighed. It seemed even he wasn't really enjoying this. "Sorry, man, but you're no fun. You don't offer any resistance."
"Sorry!" Silas shot back.
"Nah, nah, it's fine, it's fine," Allen lied, shaking his head. "I think… I'm gonna go over there now. Seeya. Hey, Yamaguchi!"
Allen got up abruptly, making his way to the other side of the classroom. Silas watched him go, and felt as though he'd lost a lot of respect from that boy without even trying very hard.
Allen Furai: -10 REL
Allen is now DISMISSIVE of Silas
Part of Allen's personality has been discovered:
Judgemental Ambernian - Coming from a country with strong democratic roots, Allen lives for the thrill of debate. He seems to be rather dismissive of people if they cannot challenge him in a conversation of wit and rhetoric. (-10 REL immediately because Silas failed their first interaction. The INT and COUR stats always factor into interactions with Allen, and have an increased effect of *2)
????????
Some of Allen's traits have been discovered:
Erudite - Allen is really, really smart. He tries not to be an ass about it, but tends to lose interest in people very quickly if they can't hold an intelligent conversation with him. (-20 Success threshold for INT + COUR < 8, -10 Success threshold of INT + COUR < 12. If Silas is an Erudite, ?????, or Genius, +20 Success threshold for social interactions)
Genius - Allen is smarter than most University professors. He is a master at deductive reasoning and can solve most school problems with ease. (+0.5 Passive SKL per week, Trigger: Very High INT)
"Hey…"
Silas jumped. He had completely forgotten the other girl, Shinohara was even there. It was like she was actively trying to melt into the background.
"Don't worry too much about Allen. It takes a lot to get to know him, but once you do, you'll find out he's got a soft interior. I swear."
Shinohara seemed to be speaking earnestly, at least. "...Okay. I'll take your word for it."
~~~
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city
DICE ROLL: 99
RESULT: SPECIAL
The bullet train was eerily quiet.
But Silas didn't mind the quiet; oh no, not at all. He was too busy looking forward to the next stop.
When the train's doors swung open, Silas eagerly stepped onto the platform, where he was suddenly bathed in light. And then he was tackled to the ground. A girl was hugging him fiercely, giggling and laughing without a care in the world.
"SILAS! My bosom friend! Finally out from your little shell in that apartment, eh?"
Silas laughed, hugging back. "You know it, Nanami."
"I knew I shouldn't have gave up on you!" Nanami said. "I knew I'd get you to come over to Yamaha some day! Gosh, you're going to meet so many cool people! There's this girl named Yumika - you're gonna love her! She's such a bundle of energy and - and Allen! My god! He's such a character! Always debating!"
"Calm down, Nanami, calm down!" Silas said. Nanami separated from him at long last, looking him up and down.
"Okay, okay… I'm just so excited! I finally get to show my friends that you're real! Imagine that - most of them don't believe you exist! Haha!"
Silas giggled. "Well, it's not like I was making it any easier on you…"
"Well, enough of that!" Nanami grabbed Silas's arm, pulling him towards the street. "We're going to Yamaha!"
Silas went along willingly. He'd interacted with Nanami like this before - on Christmas, or some other holiday, she'd come to his door and forcefully drag him out to go shopping or something. But now, he was going to school with her. This was going to be fun! ...terrifying, but fun! Nanami was so worth giving up on being a NEET, giving up on his hobbies and online activities, giving up on the comfort of his own apartment.
Giving up on having a Big Sister.
Silas blinked. His feet were frozen to the ground.
"Silas? Silas, what's wrong?" Nanami was tugging on him some more. "Err… don't get cold feet now! C'mon, we're almost there! I told Yumika to wait for us at the entrance and everything!"
"...huh?" The world was going in and out of focus. He turned to Nanami and saw an empty street. "Nanami…?"
"Yeees?"
"Who… are you?" Nothing made sense. He'd never met anyone outside of his apartment before. He'd only ever had Big Sister, his loyal guardian and protector.
Nanami chuckled. "I'm Nanami! You've known me, like, forever!"
"What?" Nothing made sense. He'd never had a Big Sister. Nanami had always been there, his closest friend and best companion.
"C'mon, Silas, snap out of it." Nanami was sounding desperate now. "I'm your childhood friend. I know you. You know me. Right? Please."
"Who…?"
Silas blinked.
It was nighttime. He had gone out for a jog as part of Big Sister's exercise plan, and afterwards he wanted to wander the city. But now he was lost. The sound of car honks and cicadas filled the air. Where am I…?
Why don't you… remember me…?
Something was following him. Silas was consumed with fear. He had to run. But where? But where?!
I'm right here… can't you see me…?
Silas felt a blow to the back of his head, and then all was white.
Silas's phone buzzed. His eyes shot open. He reached for his phone from across the futon - Big Sister was probably waking him up.
Big Sis: Wake up, sleepyhead. It's morning.
YamiOtako: Sorry, Big Sis. Bad dream.
YamiOtako: Hey.
Big Sis: Hmm?
YamiOtako: Do I know anyone named 'Nanami Nai?"
Big Sis: No, I don't believe so.
Big Sis: A cursory glance at the Mihokujin National Census indicates no one of that name exists. Why do you ask?
YamiOtako: Oh, nothing. Just wondering.
Silas breathed deeply. What an odd dream… he thought. I feel like it was such a vivid one, too, but I can't even remember a thing about it.
(+1 PHYS)
Character Sheet Updated
~~~
IT IS NOW THE WEEKEND.
CHOOSE 4 ACTIONS TO TAKE:
Because of Silas's Personality, at least TWO of these must be "Otaku Stuff." Actions may be doubled for synthesis effects.
[] [EXTRA] Study (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.2)
[] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Go to school (May meet classmates there, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Talk with Big Sis (???)
Last edited:
Weekend 1: Oops
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku Stuff!
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.2)
DICE ROLL: 70 (CHAR LOSS?)
RESULT: NO
It was friday evening. The curtains were tightly clamped around Silas's one window. The lights were off, the only light coming from the eerie blue luminescence of his phone.
Silas had been holding back. Oh, yes, he'd been holding back. But finally, he was here. He was here! The comfort of his own room - the anonymity behind his own computer screen - the safety of his locked door! No need for social conventions or complicated emotions or annoying tsuns; for in here, everything was a constant.
Silas slipped on his headphones and started up his computer. It whirred to life, agonizingly slowly. Silas started tapping his foot against the ground and biting his lower lip in anticipation. Why wouldn't the stupid thing start already?!
At last, at long last, his two monitors lit up. He took a few seconds to rapidly type in his password - and a few more seconds to type it again after getting it wrong the first time - and, at long last, he was back at his desktop, more enthusiastic than ever.
As usual, Big Sister had replaced his desktop background with an avatar of herself - this time it was RikuRiku from SynthetiMuse, a vocal synthesis line that had been becoming popular recently. Silas gaped at the screen. The short, teal-haired virtual idol was such a stark juxtaposition to Big Sister's stoic, professional personality. And that was before she started to speak through RikuRiku's voice synthesis apparatus: "Hi hi! I have been waiting for you! Oh my, I sound so… girly. I believe I am liking this face and voice quite much!"
Silas chuckled, confused more than anything. "Err… don't you think you took it a bit… too far, Big Sis?"
"What? Never!" Big Sister shook her head vehemently. "Well… I suppose I could choose a more subdued character next time. But RikuRiku's voice software was just so… perfect! I'll do better next time, I promise."
"No, no, good, Big Sis, you're good." Silas said. Sheesh, she really is enjoying this character, isn't she? He thought to himself. I wonder what's the cause for the change all of a sudden? Usually she chooses someone less… bubbly. She seems happier this way, though… so it's probably a good thing. Right?
"Anyway! A - ny - way!" Big Sister pulled up Silas's browser. "I've finally managed to integrate myself into PicoSoft Edge's hardcode, so just give me a query and we'll start!" Big Sister bowed and winked.
Now this was getting just a little but unnerving. She just seems so… off, Silas thought. It's like she's trying too hard or something…
But now wasn't the time to be thinking too much. He had anime to watch, goddammit! "Err… the Fall Season just started, right? Search up the newest anime that is projected not to be shit on bring it up on my second monitor. Also, open JuubunNaSokudo.com on my first monitor. I want to see what the Alternate History thread has been up to recently."
"Very weeeel!" Big Sister's response was prompt. Almost immediately, a the forum opened on his first screen and a video popped up on his second. "Re:Creators? Sure, why not. Sounds interesting, I guess…"
"Preliminary reviews seemed pretty good, and they match your search history, so…"
"Well!" Silas reached under his desk and grabbed a bag of lightly-salted chips and an Ambernian Cola. His heart rate quickened. This was going to be fun. "Let's start!"
"Holy shit, it's Mamika! Big Sis, it's Mamika! They freakin' put Mamika in here!"
"Yes, it is rather bold…"
"Well this show got turned into a Slice-Of-Life really fast…"
"HAHAHAAAA! Big Sis, are you reading this?!"
"I am. I wish I had the capacity to laugh."
"Honestly, this alternate history timeline is just golden. And the artwork is nice too - lemme just like and hug this post. And what kind of name is Trump? I mean, Trump? Really? Ambernians and their weird names, amirite? Haha!"
"Try not to be too insensitive, Silas. People are watching."
"What?"
"Nothing~"
"Silas?
"Silas, are you alright?"
"...She just killed Mamika."
"Err… I believe you are correct!"
"She. Killed. Mamika."
"...Silas?"
"That's it. THAT'S IT, THIS BITCH ALTAIR NEEDS TO DIE."
"...This is troubling. Should I call social services?"
Silas glanced at the digital clock on his taskbar - 1:56 PM. He'd been at this for seven hours now. Not bad. But he could keep going! He was almost at the final episode of Re:Creators, and he had to know whether Altair was going to get her just due or not and…
And…
Something stirred inside him. He wanted to keep on at it, but at the same time… He decided to start going to school to get away from the social isolation, right?"
"Hey, Big Sis?"
"Hmm?"
"I think… I'm gonna retire for the night."
"What? Why?"
"I dunno. I just feel… I mean…"
"You don't have to feel pressured to give up your personality, you know! You same perfectly fine as is. Please, stay."
Silas glanced at Big Sister warily. She was acting… odd all evening. A bit more clingy than usual. "But I…"
"Silas." Big Sister was starting to look uncomfortable - wait that was even possible? "I… you know I can't truly interact with you much outside of this computer screen. And, with you leaving most days and spending most nights on work, I've been… bored. And… more than a little lonely."
"Oh." Of course. Of course! It had been a whole week he'd spent not showering Big Sister in affection and spending time with her. Of course she was feeling neglected… "Hey. Sunday night, I'll be all yours."
"Hmm? Really?"
"Yeah! Once I get finished with our Monday assignments, I'll close everything up and we can just… talk. Like, a normal talk. That'll be okay, right?"
"Right!"
Seeing Big Sister smile made Silas's heart flutter. "Alright, thanks, Big Sis. I'm gonna log out now. See you tomorrow."
"I'll be waiting!"
Gingerly, Silas powered down his computer, and the light blinked away with a small pop. His room was nearly pitch-black now; he moved to his futon in the darkness, and stared into the ceiling for half an hour before finally retiring to sleep.
SILAS SPENT AN EVENING INDULGING IN OTAKU
(CRE: +0.25, CHAR: +0.2)
[] [EXTRA] Go to school (May meet classmates there, ???)
EVENT ROLL: 96
(High Numbers indicate more negative events.)
RESULT: BAD
The bullet train was quiet. And for some reason, Silas was wracked by a really strange case of deja vu.
It was a much faster trek to Yamaha High School than his first time felt, but the trip still felt weird. There were people out here. And some of them might be watching him. They probably weren't. But they could be.
...Silas really needed to get over his fear of people, sheesh.
Surprisingly, when he got to the gate, Yamaha seemed pretty active, even though it was a Saturday. The double-doors were wide open, and a good number of students were hanging out around the entrance, talking in cliques or even playing sports in the nearby field.
Silas figured his best bet was in his homeroom. He took off with a purpose, trying not to catch too many peoples' eyes on the way. When he came to the sliding door of Class 4-1, he found it wide open, and stepped inside.
"ARGGHHHH!"
Silas was jumped, and nearly fell backwards out of the threshold.
"THIS. DOESN'T. MAKE. SENSE."
"Err…"
"WHAT?!"
Maeda was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, surrounded by a litany of papers and documents. At the sight of Silas, though, her angry gaze softened, if only a little bit. "Oh. Yamigawa-kun. Forgive me. I'm having a bit of a bad day.
"How so?" Silas asked.
Maeda sighed, shaking her head. "Just grading papers for Kamasaki-sensei. It's supposed to be easy but…"
"But?"
"Okay, okay. Context." Maeda slapped one stack of papers with her hand. "There are thirty-four students in this classroom. Thus, there should be thirty-four names, and thirty-four papers in this stack."
"Yes…? Is there someone missing?"
"No. That, I would be able to do something about. The problem is… there are thirty-four students, but I'm certain there's thirty-five papers in this stack."
"So… someone turned it in twice?" Silas scratched his head. How could this possibly be causing so much anguish?
"See, that's the problem," Maeda sighed. "I counted this stack. Over and over again. There are, undoubtedly, thirty-four names in this stack of papers. But I know for a fact that there are thirty-five papers here! And no repeats or anything! That's not… physically… possible! It's infuriating!"
"Maybe you just overlooked it, or one of the papers is attached to the other…?"
"No, I've looked over this stack thirty times. And that's not the only anomalous property - err, I mean, weird thing. This pattern's repeating over and over again. Look over there - " she pointed to the lines of desks facing the electronic board. "There are thirty-five seats in this classroom, right? RIGHT?! And only thirty-four students. So why is this classroom always full?!"
"It is…?"
"YES! It IS!" Maeda fumed. "But there only only thirty-four names on the roster! I even took a picture of the classroom on the first day to make the seating chart for sensei. All thirty-five chairs are filled, but I can only count thirty-four people. ARGH!"
At this point, Maeda slammed her two fists against her desk. Some of the other students in the classroom looked towards the front to see what the commotion was, saw that it was Maeda, and promptly went back to whatever they were working on. Silas looked at her, feeling strangely guilty. Maeda must really like having order in her life. Maybe he could help?
"Hmm… uh… I could sort some of these papers for you, Maeda-san. Maybe save you some time?"
"What? No, no I'm fine, really, Yamigawa-kun…" Maeda sunk in her chair. "This is just part of my job as your class rep. I really shouldn't be imposing on you to do my work for me."
"No really, it's fine!" Silas approached the desk. "Hey, you know what, I'll just grab this stack and start - "
"YAMIGAWA, NO!"
Silas reached for the stack and pulled it loose, but he didn't see that another, larger stack had apparently been relying on it for support. In one fell swoop, nearly the entire set of papers was scattered across the floor in a jumbled mess of grades and classwork.
Maeda's face turned white. And then, it turned red.
There was a great flurry of movement behind him. Silas looked back - the entire classroom was hurriedly vacating. Panic began to set in. He looked back at Maeda and saw the fires of Hell burning in her eyes.
"Yamigawa-kun."
"Y-Yes?" he squeaked. Frantically, he tried to find a computer screen for help, but his eyes were locked on Maeda's.
"You're a good kid, Yamigawa-kun. Please… stand outside for a bit. Don't leave, though. I need to relieve some stress."
"O-Of course. Of course! I'm just gonna… go…" Silas made his way to the door.
"Close it behind you."
Silas did just that. The sliding door slid shut with the tiniest clunk.
Outside, the rest of the class was whispering frantically amongst themselves. Silas found a face he sort of knew - Shinohara's - and started whispering, too: "Shinohara-san? What just happened?"
Shinohara's eyes were down. She was bobbing her head, tapping her finger against the wall behind her. "Maeda's angry," she replied, simply. "It's… ah… not safe to be around when Maeda's angry."
"Why would that be - "
"AAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!"
The high-pitched scream made Silas try to cover his ears. It was followed by a loud thump, and the sound of a desk tipping over. "I'M TOO YOUNG FOR THIS SHIIIIIIIT! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! AARRRGGGGHHHHHH!"
"Is… she going to be okay?" Silas whispered.
"I'd be more worried about yourself."
"Oh."
Another loud thump, and two more desks came tumbling down. "I HATE EVERYTHING! I HATE EVERYTHING! WHY WON'T THESE PAPERS JUST GO AWAY?!"
Another loud sound; this time, it was the breaking of glass. "Wait… was that the window?" a nearby student muttered. "I should go get Kamasaki-sensei," another one said, but they didn't move a muscle.
"AARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Heavy breathing, like an angered beast, and then, quiet. There was the sound of desks and chairs scraping against the floor, and then the sound of glass bits and a broom in contact. And then she walked to the sliding door. Silas felt each footstep she took. Suddenly, he realized that he'd been abandoned in the hallway; everyone else had run off.
The sliding door slid open slowly. Surprisingly, the classroom behind Maeda didn't look the least bit damaged, except for the broken window chunks near the wall. Maeda sighed. "Yamigawa."
"Y-Yes?" Silas's brain was telling him to run, but his feet were frozen to the ground.
"I hope you didn't have any plans for today. We're gonna be grading papers and sorting documents till night falls. Wait, no! Till after night falls."
"H-Huh? But I just - "
"No buts. Your class representative said so. And… please… I really don't want to yell at you, so can you just come inside?"
Maeda's face didn't look angry, but Silas suspected there was a hidden fury there. "Yes. Of course. I'm…. I'm coming in."
Maeda didn't wait. He pulled him into the classroom, and then slammed the door shut.
SILAS SPENT TIME WITH MAEDA AT SCHOOL
(+0.25 SKL, +0.25 INT)
Maeda Kirino: - 7 REL
MAEDA WILL REMEMBER THIS.
[] [EXTRA] Talk with Big Sis (???)
YamiOtako: ...So that was my Saturday. Sorry I couldn't come home sooner…
Big Sis: It's no problem, truly. I was watching, you know. You don't need to tell me.
YamiOtako: Well, I knew you knew, I just wanted to talk about it.
Big Sis: Understandable. Speaking of which… are we still going to talk tomorrow night?
YamiOtako: Of course. You're my Big Sister! I'd never go back on a promise I'd made to you.
YamiOtako:
"Phew! Homework: Done. And with hours upon hours to spare…"
"Yes, quite!" Big Sister popped onto his screen.
It was already getting dark out, truth be told. Silas had woken up much later that day, and homework brought them all the way to about 6 o'clock. Still, they had plenty of time. "So… Big Sis."
"Hmm?"
Silas opened his mouth, and then closed it. This felt weird. He'd never… really talked to Big Sis before. Not in a casual sense, at least. It was always taking her advice, or listening to her commentary… What could he ask about?
"Err… can you tell me a bit more about yourself?"
"I'm your Big Sister."
Silas blinked. "Oh, well yeah. That's obvious."
"Is there anything in particular you want to know about me?" Big Sister asked. Her avatar turned her head ever so slightly, and her fingers clasped together.
[] [ASK] What were my parents like?
[] [ASK] Do you have a real face and voice?
[] [ASK] How do you do… all the things you do?
[] [ASK] Do I have any other siblings?
[] [ASK] Write-in
Silas and Big Sister talked a lot that evening, mostly about trivial things. It felt refreshing, talking to Big Sister in such a normal setting. Silas felt he liked it. He took a glance at the clock - 11:43 PM. He'd have to go to sleep soon.
"Oh, Silas. I… ahhh… I have a question for you, this time."
"Hmm? Ah. And I have an answer. What is it?"
"Are you… satisfied with me?"
"Hmm?" Silas mused. That was a weirdly-worded question. "Err… yes?"
"No, I mean…" Big Sister's avatar was looking to the ground. Silas always wondered whether that was just something she did to simulate a real conversation for his sake, or if it was something she just did out of habit. "Are you fine with me… being around? Forever? Always? I… I enjoy spending time with you. That's why I'm asking."
[] [RESPONSE] Of course!
[] [RESPONSE] I mean… forever?
[] [RESPONSE] Write-in
SILAS TALKED WITH BIG SISTER
(+0.5 CHAR)
BIG SISTER WILL REMEMBER THIS
WEEK 2 IS NOW STARTING!
Please choose TWO [TALK] or [ATONE] actions and TWO [EXTRA] actions:
[] [ATONE] (Who? Must have negative REL)
[] [TALK] (Who?)
[] [EXTRA] Study (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.2)
[] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Stay after school (May meet classmates there, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Talk with Big Sis (???)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.2)
DICE ROLL: 70 (CHAR LOSS?)
RESULT: NO
It was friday evening. The curtains were tightly clamped around Silas's one window. The lights were off, the only light coming from the eerie blue luminescence of his phone.
Silas had been holding back. Oh, yes, he'd been holding back. But finally, he was here. He was here! The comfort of his own room - the anonymity behind his own computer screen - the safety of his locked door! No need for social conventions or complicated emotions or annoying tsuns; for in here, everything was a constant.
Silas slipped on his headphones and started up his computer. It whirred to life, agonizingly slowly. Silas started tapping his foot against the ground and biting his lower lip in anticipation. Why wouldn't the stupid thing start already?!
At last, at long last, his two monitors lit up. He took a few seconds to rapidly type in his password - and a few more seconds to type it again after getting it wrong the first time - and, at long last, he was back at his desktop, more enthusiastic than ever.
As usual, Big Sister had replaced his desktop background with an avatar of herself - this time it was RikuRiku from SynthetiMuse, a vocal synthesis line that had been becoming popular recently. Silas gaped at the screen. The short, teal-haired virtual idol was such a stark juxtaposition to Big Sister's stoic, professional personality. And that was before she started to speak through RikuRiku's voice synthesis apparatus: "Hi hi! I have been waiting for you! Oh my, I sound so… girly. I believe I am liking this face and voice quite much!"
Silas chuckled, confused more than anything. "Err… don't you think you took it a bit… too far, Big Sis?"
"What? Never!" Big Sister shook her head vehemently. "Well… I suppose I could choose a more subdued character next time. But RikuRiku's voice software was just so… perfect! I'll do better next time, I promise."
"No, no, good, Big Sis, you're good." Silas said. Sheesh, she really is enjoying this character, isn't she? He thought to himself. I wonder what's the cause for the change all of a sudden? Usually she chooses someone less… bubbly. She seems happier this way, though… so it's probably a good thing. Right?
"Anyway! A - ny - way!" Big Sister pulled up Silas's browser. "I've finally managed to integrate myself into PicoSoft Edge's hardcode, so just give me a query and we'll start!" Big Sister bowed and winked.
Now this was getting just a little but unnerving. She just seems so… off, Silas thought. It's like she's trying too hard or something…
But now wasn't the time to be thinking too much. He had anime to watch, goddammit! "Err… the Fall Season just started, right? Search up the newest anime that is projected not to be shit on bring it up on my second monitor. Also, open JuubunNaSokudo.com on my first monitor. I want to see what the Alternate History thread has been up to recently."
"Very weeeel!" Big Sister's response was prompt. Almost immediately, a the forum opened on his first screen and a video popped up on his second. "Re:Creators? Sure, why not. Sounds interesting, I guess…"
"Preliminary reviews seemed pretty good, and they match your search history, so…"
"Well!" Silas reached under his desk and grabbed a bag of lightly-salted chips and an Ambernian Cola. His heart rate quickened. This was going to be fun. "Let's start!"
~~~
"Holy shit, it's Mamika! Big Sis, it's Mamika! They freakin' put Mamika in here!"
"Yes, it is rather bold…"
"Well this show got turned into a Slice-Of-Life really fast…"
~~~
"HAHAHAAAA! Big Sis, are you reading this?!"
"I am. I wish I had the capacity to laugh."
"Honestly, this alternate history timeline is just golden. And the artwork is nice too - lemme just like and hug this post. And what kind of name is Trump? I mean, Trump? Really? Ambernians and their weird names, amirite? Haha!"
"Try not to be too insensitive, Silas. People are watching."
"What?"
"Nothing~"
~~~
"Silas?
"Silas, are you alright?"
"...She just killed Mamika."
"Err… I believe you are correct!"
"She. Killed. Mamika."
"...Silas?"
"That's it. THAT'S IT, THIS BITCH ALTAIR NEEDS TO DIE."
"...This is troubling. Should I call social services?"
~~~
Silas glanced at the digital clock on his taskbar - 1:56 PM. He'd been at this for seven hours now. Not bad. But he could keep going! He was almost at the final episode of Re:Creators, and he had to know whether Altair was going to get her just due or not and…
And…
Something stirred inside him. He wanted to keep on at it, but at the same time… He decided to start going to school to get away from the social isolation, right?"
"Hey, Big Sis?"
"Hmm?"
"I think… I'm gonna retire for the night."
"What? Why?"
"I dunno. I just feel… I mean…"
"You don't have to feel pressured to give up your personality, you know! You same perfectly fine as is. Please, stay."
Silas glanced at Big Sister warily. She was acting… odd all evening. A bit more clingy than usual. "But I…"
"Silas." Big Sister was starting to look uncomfortable - wait that was even possible? "I… you know I can't truly interact with you much outside of this computer screen. And, with you leaving most days and spending most nights on work, I've been… bored. And… more than a little lonely."
"Oh." Of course. Of course! It had been a whole week he'd spent not showering Big Sister in affection and spending time with her. Of course she was feeling neglected… "Hey. Sunday night, I'll be all yours."
"Hmm? Really?"
"Yeah! Once I get finished with our Monday assignments, I'll close everything up and we can just… talk. Like, a normal talk. That'll be okay, right?"
"Right!"
Seeing Big Sister smile made Silas's heart flutter. "Alright, thanks, Big Sis. I'm gonna log out now. See you tomorrow."
"I'll be waiting!"
Gingerly, Silas powered down his computer, and the light blinked away with a small pop. His room was nearly pitch-black now; he moved to his futon in the darkness, and stared into the ceiling for half an hour before finally retiring to sleep.
SILAS SPENT AN EVENING INDULGING IN OTAKU
(CRE: +0.25, CHAR: +0.2)
~~~
[] [EXTRA] Go to school (May meet classmates there, ???)
EVENT ROLL: 96
(High Numbers indicate more negative events.)
RESULT: BAD
The bullet train was quiet. And for some reason, Silas was wracked by a really strange case of deja vu.
It was a much faster trek to Yamaha High School than his first time felt, but the trip still felt weird. There were people out here. And some of them might be watching him. They probably weren't. But they could be.
...Silas really needed to get over his fear of people, sheesh.
Surprisingly, when he got to the gate, Yamaha seemed pretty active, even though it was a Saturday. The double-doors were wide open, and a good number of students were hanging out around the entrance, talking in cliques or even playing sports in the nearby field.
Silas figured his best bet was in his homeroom. He took off with a purpose, trying not to catch too many peoples' eyes on the way. When he came to the sliding door of Class 4-1, he found it wide open, and stepped inside.
"ARGGHHHH!"
Silas was jumped, and nearly fell backwards out of the threshold.
"THIS. DOESN'T. MAKE. SENSE."
"Err…"
"WHAT?!"
Maeda was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room, surrounded by a litany of papers and documents. At the sight of Silas, though, her angry gaze softened, if only a little bit. "Oh. Yamigawa-kun. Forgive me. I'm having a bit of a bad day.
"How so?" Silas asked.
Maeda sighed, shaking her head. "Just grading papers for Kamasaki-sensei. It's supposed to be easy but…"
"But?"
"Okay, okay. Context." Maeda slapped one stack of papers with her hand. "There are thirty-four students in this classroom. Thus, there should be thirty-four names, and thirty-four papers in this stack."
"Yes…? Is there someone missing?"
"No. That, I would be able to do something about. The problem is… there are thirty-four students, but I'm certain there's thirty-five papers in this stack."
"So… someone turned it in twice?" Silas scratched his head. How could this possibly be causing so much anguish?
"See, that's the problem," Maeda sighed. "I counted this stack. Over and over again. There are, undoubtedly, thirty-four names in this stack of papers. But I know for a fact that there are thirty-five papers here! And no repeats or anything! That's not… physically… possible! It's infuriating!"
"Maybe you just overlooked it, or one of the papers is attached to the other…?"
"No, I've looked over this stack thirty times. And that's not the only anomalous property - err, I mean, weird thing. This pattern's repeating over and over again. Look over there - " she pointed to the lines of desks facing the electronic board. "There are thirty-five seats in this classroom, right? RIGHT?! And only thirty-four students. So why is this classroom always full?!"
"It is…?"
"YES! It IS!" Maeda fumed. "But there only only thirty-four names on the roster! I even took a picture of the classroom on the first day to make the seating chart for sensei. All thirty-five chairs are filled, but I can only count thirty-four people. ARGH!"
At this point, Maeda slammed her two fists against her desk. Some of the other students in the classroom looked towards the front to see what the commotion was, saw that it was Maeda, and promptly went back to whatever they were working on. Silas looked at her, feeling strangely guilty. Maeda must really like having order in her life. Maybe he could help?
"Hmm… uh… I could sort some of these papers for you, Maeda-san. Maybe save you some time?"
"What? No, no I'm fine, really, Yamigawa-kun…" Maeda sunk in her chair. "This is just part of my job as your class rep. I really shouldn't be imposing on you to do my work for me."
"No really, it's fine!" Silas approached the desk. "Hey, you know what, I'll just grab this stack and start - "
"YAMIGAWA, NO!"
Silas reached for the stack and pulled it loose, but he didn't see that another, larger stack had apparently been relying on it for support. In one fell swoop, nearly the entire set of papers was scattered across the floor in a jumbled mess of grades and classwork.
Maeda's face turned white. And then, it turned red.
There was a great flurry of movement behind him. Silas looked back - the entire classroom was hurriedly vacating. Panic began to set in. He looked back at Maeda and saw the fires of Hell burning in her eyes.
"Yamigawa-kun."
"Y-Yes?" he squeaked. Frantically, he tried to find a computer screen for help, but his eyes were locked on Maeda's.
"You're a good kid, Yamigawa-kun. Please… stand outside for a bit. Don't leave, though. I need to relieve some stress."
"O-Of course. Of course! I'm just gonna… go…" Silas made his way to the door.
"Close it behind you."
Silas did just that. The sliding door slid shut with the tiniest clunk.
Outside, the rest of the class was whispering frantically amongst themselves. Silas found a face he sort of knew - Shinohara's - and started whispering, too: "Shinohara-san? What just happened?"
Shinohara's eyes were down. She was bobbing her head, tapping her finger against the wall behind her. "Maeda's angry," she replied, simply. "It's… ah… not safe to be around when Maeda's angry."
"Why would that be - "
"AAAAAAARRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!"
The high-pitched scream made Silas try to cover his ears. It was followed by a loud thump, and the sound of a desk tipping over. "I'M TOO YOUNG FOR THIS SHIIIIIIIT! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! AARRRGGGGHHHHHH!"
"Is… she going to be okay?" Silas whispered.
"I'd be more worried about yourself."
"Oh."
Another loud thump, and two more desks came tumbling down. "I HATE EVERYTHING! I HATE EVERYTHING! WHY WON'T THESE PAPERS JUST GO AWAY?!"
Another loud sound; this time, it was the breaking of glass. "Wait… was that the window?" a nearby student muttered. "I should go get Kamasaki-sensei," another one said, but they didn't move a muscle.
"AARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"
Heavy breathing, like an angered beast, and then, quiet. There was the sound of desks and chairs scraping against the floor, and then the sound of glass bits and a broom in contact. And then she walked to the sliding door. Silas felt each footstep she took. Suddenly, he realized that he'd been abandoned in the hallway; everyone else had run off.
The sliding door slid open slowly. Surprisingly, the classroom behind Maeda didn't look the least bit damaged, except for the broken window chunks near the wall. Maeda sighed. "Yamigawa."
"Y-Yes?" Silas's brain was telling him to run, but his feet were frozen to the ground.
"I hope you didn't have any plans for today. We're gonna be grading papers and sorting documents till night falls. Wait, no! Till after night falls."
"H-Huh? But I just - "
"No buts. Your class representative said so. And… please… I really don't want to yell at you, so can you just come inside?"
Maeda's face didn't look angry, but Silas suspected there was a hidden fury there. "Yes. Of course. I'm…. I'm coming in."
Maeda didn't wait. He pulled him into the classroom, and then slammed the door shut.
SILAS SPENT TIME WITH MAEDA AT SCHOOL
(+0.25 SKL, +0.25 INT)
Maeda Kirino: - 7 REL
MAEDA WILL REMEMBER THIS.
~~~
[] [EXTRA] Talk with Big Sis (???)
YamiOtako: ...So that was my Saturday. Sorry I couldn't come home sooner…
Big Sis: It's no problem, truly. I was watching, you know. You don't need to tell me.
YamiOtako: Well, I knew you knew, I just wanted to talk about it.
Big Sis: Understandable. Speaking of which… are we still going to talk tomorrow night?
YamiOtako: Of course. You're my Big Sister! I'd never go back on a promise I'd made to you.
YamiOtako:
~~~
"Phew! Homework: Done. And with hours upon hours to spare…"
"Yes, quite!" Big Sister popped onto his screen.
It was already getting dark out, truth be told. Silas had woken up much later that day, and homework brought them all the way to about 6 o'clock. Still, they had plenty of time. "So… Big Sis."
"Hmm?"
Silas opened his mouth, and then closed it. This felt weird. He'd never… really talked to Big Sis before. Not in a casual sense, at least. It was always taking her advice, or listening to her commentary… What could he ask about?
"Err… can you tell me a bit more about yourself?"
"I'm your Big Sister."
Silas blinked. "Oh, well yeah. That's obvious."
"Is there anything in particular you want to know about me?" Big Sister asked. Her avatar turned her head ever so slightly, and her fingers clasped together.
[] [ASK] What were my parents like?
[] [ASK] Do you have a real face and voice?
[] [ASK] How do you do… all the things you do?
[] [ASK] Do I have any other siblings?
[] [ASK] Write-in
~~~
Silas and Big Sister talked a lot that evening, mostly about trivial things. It felt refreshing, talking to Big Sister in such a normal setting. Silas felt he liked it. He took a glance at the clock - 11:43 PM. He'd have to go to sleep soon.
"Oh, Silas. I… ahhh… I have a question for you, this time."
"Hmm? Ah. And I have an answer. What is it?"
"Are you… satisfied with me?"
"Hmm?" Silas mused. That was a weirdly-worded question. "Err… yes?"
"No, I mean…" Big Sister's avatar was looking to the ground. Silas always wondered whether that was just something she did to simulate a real conversation for his sake, or if it was something she just did out of habit. "Are you fine with me… being around? Forever? Always? I… I enjoy spending time with you. That's why I'm asking."
[] [RESPONSE] Of course!
[] [RESPONSE] I mean… forever?
[] [RESPONSE] Write-in
SILAS TALKED WITH BIG SISTER
(+0.5 CHAR)
BIG SISTER WILL REMEMBER THIS
~~~
WEEK 2 IS NOW STARTING!
Please choose TWO [TALK] or [ATONE] actions and TWO [EXTRA] actions:
[] [ATONE] (Who? Must have negative REL)
[] [TALK] (Who?)
[] [EXTRA] Study (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.2)
[] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [EXTRA] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Stay after school (May meet classmates there, ???)
[] [EXTRA] Talk with Big Sis (???)
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