I'm sorry, uh - I spent more time than I care to admit on that conversation. It's based on an argument a friend of mine once had with his buddy in their engineering class.
...uh, do you want a cookie? A spoiler? Wait, I probably shouldn't make a habit of awarding people who notice little things about my writing. That sounds... skeevy. And arrogant. I'm sorry, I'm just really giddy that somebody actually saw that >_>
...uh, do you want a cookie? A spoiler? Wait, I probably shouldn't make a habit of awarding people who notice little things about my writing. That sounds... skeevy. And arrogant. I'm sorry, I'm just really giddy that somebody actually saw that >_>
There's a lad on Anonkun/Fiction.live who awards people stuff like rerolls just for posting smutty pics of his characters in his chat, and he's great.
You'll see no arguments coming from my end. What do I get for a Shinohara upskirt?
More seriously though, it wouldn't be a bad thing, just a tonal choice. You'd get more chat participation but also feel looser as a QM and less in control. At least that's my experience with QMs who give out such rewards.
I will say, story misdirection is fine, but doing this kind of thing with actual mechanical stuff is perhaps ill-advised. Since it's the thing players can directly control, it tends to raise hackles when players feel misled.
Hey, if you kept this up long enough, you could have been the only one to know how it works and no one would be able to tell otherwise! Think of the creative freedom it would allow you!
(also, cutting edge is good for technology, not so much for personality. Speaking of personalities...
It's anime; if you find yourself confused by anything please refer to your hand. All the answers must surely be written there.
We should check how many levels of palm reading we have on our Charsheet. We should make it our new hobby instead of Drama.
"Now entering: Yamaha Subdivision. Now entering: Yamaha Subdivision. The Miyao City Council would like to welcome all returning students to their first day of the new school year. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
By the way, Maeda does not wear pink, and her hairstyle of choice is a ponytail. Perhaps the lack of Big Sister could lead to certain developments that could not have happened in the original timeline.
"I have contingencies. Frankly, I hope that I am wrong. If so, I can go ahead and wipe your memory, and we can go back out there and have a nice tea party." She looked aside. "...I'm sure Yamae'3q[m2m-acrenan would prefer that outcome, at any rate."
[...]
He had just been invited over to the Class Rep's apartment - or was the apartment of one of her friends?
Oi, you can take Big Sister from the memory, that is perfectly alright considering we've already done this once, but keep your hands off Yuuko, will you? Put her back right this instant! We didn't choose to think she was nice only to forget her the very next update!!
It read: "A CIVIL SERVICE: JOIN THE NEWSPAPER CLUB TODAY!" For some reason, Silas found himself scrutinizing the paper, as if it held some significance to him - but he forced himself to back off.
So he was in a limited mental projection of his highschool experience, starting on the first day and ending… whenever. And, even more troublingly, he had agency here.
Yes, agency is such a troublesome thing. You can't blame the results of your actions on anyone else. Very inconvenient.
The correct way to go about solving this puzzle, is, of course, to get to know these people all over again... and then test the limitations of the world on them to find its breaking points. Why go experiment on yourself by yourself when there is a pool of subjects to choose from!
The Power of Hindsight is indeed a terrifying thing. We should use our knowledge of the events that will happen to go out of bounds and reach the truth of this world-in-our-brain.
[x] ...by sifting through the darkness below.
We've been avoiding the question of Silas' identity for a long time. This shall not stand.
By the way, Maeda does not wear pink, and her hairstyle of choice is a ponytail. Perhaps the lack of Big Sister could lead to certain developments that could not have happened in the original timeline.
Comparing Day 1 of this mindscape to the actual Day 1 reveals a few more differences but it may be a bit tough to tell how much of it is simply the imperfection of human memory causing Silas to just forget minor details, just Silas's cognition of things/people altering things relatively harmlessly, or OH GOD REALITY IS MALFUNCTIONING AGAIN PANIC.
I initially starting compiling a list of said differences before realizing down that path lay my own madness and paranoia. But from memory just looking at the classroom: Allen and Taro's debate topic has probably changed. Silas's eavesdropping seems to have occurred at slightly different times so this could be nothing but originally it was about Mihoku vs Ambernia on political philosophy. Perhaps a bit more significant is that in Original Day 1 Hana was not initially present when we entered. Yumika gave Silas her seat after the SELF-INTRODUCTION telling him not to worry about it because she was probably late "as usual." If you really want to split hairs the circumstances behind SELF-INTRODUCTION and the very precise order of being introduced to people (Yumika introduces Maeda to Silas right after that; Silas doesn't flee the classroom after the debacle, and not just because Yumika stops him, he was "merely" going to retreat back to his original seat, etc.) have varying levels of differences.
Though the obvious one is of course the absence of Big Sister thus far.
Comparing Day 1 of this mindscape to the actual Day 1 reveals a few more differences but it may be a bit tough to tell how much of it is simply the imperfection of human memory causing Silas to just forget minor details, just Silas's cognition of things/people altering things relatively harmlessly, or OH GOD REALITY IS MALFUNCTIONING AGAIN PANIC.
It felt like - it felt like he'd been stretched out, dilated over and over again, like a piece of gum. Chewed and chewed and chewed, only to be spat out. Pieces of him scattered across a plane, little particulates shaping and reforming, shaping and reforming -
So at the end of it we may be getting a different set of memories. It's something that happened already with Nanami, I suppose, but this time we may have control over certain parts... and have no idea what is being changed.
These mental projections are Silas' impressions of people, so it's no wonder that the subject of Allen's and Taro's discussion is different; what matters is that they are having a loud and inane argument because that's all they ever do every time Silas sees them. Similarly, the particulars of Yumika's and Hana's conversation are irrelevant as they keep their most important characteristics and relationships. It is implied, however, that the world isn't limited to what Silas knows, and the projections may have some autonomy and can act in unexpected ways. I don't know what that would mean for Silas once he wakes up... will he have a different understanding of these people? Will the relationships in the "matrix" impact his view of them IRL? Keeping the ties to the "Conspiracy" might be important then.
At least delving into his own psyche is relatively straightforward in its goals. He won't be trying to make this new and exciting world make sense, he will be attempting to break the simulation and get to the core of the matter. Is it possible to revert the 'reforming' process? Is it desirable to do so? There is no way to tell until we know what it is in the first place.
He also can't remember Yuuko, despite remembering Maeda and even some of the Drama Club members. Could be because it's not yet time for Yuuko to be introduced to his memories and he doesn't have a close enough relationship to her to remember her the same as he does his clubmates. Could be because the memory scramble was caused by Maeda applying some kind of Foundation procedure, and Yuuko is a Foundation member. We'll know which one it is once we meet more Foundation members.
He can, however, remember something about Nanami, even though it causes him a headache.
While I agree that the particulars of Allen's debate are almost certainly irrelevant (indeed, that I found myself thinking about that was largely the impetus for me deciding to scrap my compilation of changes because I was surely overthinking things there) I don't necessarily agree that the presence of Hana where she wasn't "originally" and some of the altered dynamics are as well.
Ultimately I disagree with Silas's own assessment of his options here:
Maybe… maybe by interacting with their reflections, he could get a greater insight into what his past was? Would they even be helpful? If they were truly crude reflections, wouldn't that mean trying to ingratiate himself to them was just a roundabout way of talking to oneself? Even so - their ghosts in his memory made him feel things. Like warmth; fondness. And concern - protectiveness, fear. Betrayal?
Ahh, he wanted, oh so desperately, to see if he could reconnect with who he assumed must have been close friends of his. But maybe that would be fruitless. They weren't even real, after all. There was another path ahead of him, a path laden with what was sure to be some deep and uncomfortable introspection. He could try prodding at the limits of this world, to try and find himself within it… by himself. Truth in it of itself was more valuable than truth through reflection, after all, right?
He has managed to get this both right and wrong, IMO. He frames probing the rules and boundaries of this world as the path of "deep and uncomfortable introspection" in contrast to his interaction with the reflections.
If - and this is a pretty big if, but it's currently Silas's best guess - we're in a world of Silas's subconscious then interacting with his "classmates" is introspection for precisely the reason Silas himself diagnoses - he's ultimately talking to himself. These aren't Yumika, Hana, Maeda, etc. - they're his cognition of them. Their knowledge should be limited to what Silas himself knows and colored by his own perception of them. Being that he's Silas I would anticipate that sooner or later his interactions with them will turn dark quick as his own fears, anxieties, and insecurities become reflected in them and he finds himself being confronted by them in the guise of his classmates and friends; furthermore, being creations of his subconscious it's likely they will have ties to deeper sections of Silas's mind and memories than the conscious one has had and will bring that knowledge into the light in the process.
By contrast, "sifting through the darkness" and trying to figure out the rules of this mindscape to me seems to be more of a direct attempt to break out of whatever this is and return to reality. Being an apparent creation of his subconscious this no doubt involves introspection as well - anything we do here ultimately is in a way - but without knowing how exactly Silas means to attempt to test this world I'm not sure it's any more introspective than interacting with his projections. Honestly, my first instinct is that it's less so in that it's a more laser-focused drive to escape rather than a more broad and unfocused one.
To borrow Lucid's Persona 4 analogy of this whole thing I kind of expect that the ultimate resolution of this in either scenario is for Silas to overcome his "Shadow" - some uncomfortable truths about himself he has buried deep in his subconscious. My thoughts to this point are that the "grasping at the light" scenario frames this conflict/quest/journey in such a way that the cognitive versions of Silas's friends are essentially pieces of that Shadow divided up, representing different aspects of it while "sifting through the darkness" keeps it intact as either an abstract notion of those truths or maybe it's just straight-up Persona and an actual cognitive version of Silas himself.
...If any of that made sense. I'm not sure it did. Also I might be crazy. And overthinking. Or jumping to conclusions based off things that only exist in my mind. Honestly that's typically a safe bet I've found.
It does. Perhaps it's not the depth of introspection that matters. We may find the truth either way should we succeed, but it may influence how Silas reacts to what he finds. In the first branch, he accepts the rules of the game and plays along; in the other, he rejects them and tries to glitch it to see through it.
This could result in two very different people coming out of Maeda's interrogation chamber room.
Well, I can't say I didn't see it coming. I am genuinely surprised to see that the opposite choice had some genuine competition, however!
Truth would be found. And Silas had to find it, before it was too late, and he would go about doing it...
[X] ...by grasping at the light above.
So, I suppose I should give you all a teaser of what's coming up.
So, as the redtext said, A path forward has been revealed.In order to figure out what the hell is going on, Silas will attempt to discover himself through others. The next two weeks (or less) will act out as normal Days, separated between Afternoon and Evening blocks, for which you will have one action each. In that limited time, you have a couple of objectives to reach. Some of them have explicitly stated win conditions. Others are more vague. Here are the first three you are given to start out with:
OBJ BLACKWHITE: Who is Silas Yamigawa? Advanced by completing objectives.
OBJ 1: Who is Yumika Matsuoka?
Advanced by initiating social actions.
OBJ 2: Who is Hana Shinohara?
Advanced by initiating social actions.
OBJ 3: Who is Allen Furai?
Advanced by initiating social actions, certain intrigue actions.
(Not final, subject to changes pending review. Read: I don't plan this stuff in advance because I am a moron)
I will warn you, from here on out, Stress is now in affect, and causes certain things to happen. I will not tell you what they are. Furthermore, while this path has explicit objectives revealed, nothing is stopping you from "discovering" the other route(s) and going down them, as well. Doing so might lead to good things. Or bad things. No one ever said the dark option was any better than the light option, right? Or maybe I'm trying to screw with you. Who knows? I do. But I'm not telling.
By the way, you may have noticed the new attribute, MEMORY (MEM). It's important. But not right now. Don't worry about it just yet; it affects none of the primary dice rolls and will disappear after the Interlude is over. But start worrying about it sooner rather than later.
Wow, Silas is going to have a really awkward walk back to the classroom, huh? I suppose it's better than breaking into a run and blasting it out of school with no heed at all whatsoever to social normalcy, like he was going to do if you chose the dark option.
Matter condenses and takes form. Contours scratch at Silas's periphery, tracing out the shapes of walls, windows, light fixtures, floor tiles. A thin line of color streaks through his vision, drowning the void with blues, whites, greys, and then everything else.
With each blink, the world snaps more and more resolutely into place. Reason comes in and fills the void left by the chaos of his subconscious. He is in Yamaha High School again.
He suddenly felt short of breath. He holds onto that train of thought; clutches it to his chest. I'm here again. And if I want to figure out why, I need to explore this world.
The thought made him feel sick to his stomach. As far as he knew, he had never left his home in years - he was an unabashed, unashamed hikikomori. The lowest on the totem pole of the social pecking order. How could he possibly hope to find his place in this school, in this society, whether it were real or fake?
But I've done it before, he thought to himself. The idea fills him with warmth; like a fire in his belly. And if I've done it once… I can do it again. I will do it again!
He raised his head high, and felt life return to his body. The morning sun was rising, a brilliant, creamy dot in the sky, embracing him with its rays.Class 4-1 wasn't too far away. The sounds of the students there were beckoning him. He had a place there, with them. How stupid was he, to think he might be able to discover himself without the help of these people, even if they were just odd mental reflections? Maybe the information he'd glean from them would be incomplete, or wrong, or flimsy, couched in the murky nature of his personal emotions and feelings. But at least feelings are authentic. At least they're real.
And besides, his memories of them were intrinsically important. It unnerved him that he could just forget. People build their entire personalities out of the relationships they have with others, don't they? If a person was a part of his life, then he was changed because of their influence. And what kind of friend would he be if he would then go on to deny their existence in his life? If he had to choose only one thing to come out of this ordeal remembering anything about, it would be the bonds he had forged with the people in Yamaha High.
His resolve re-affirmed, Silas picked himself up and strode for the door to class 4-1. He had a purpose now - and it would be found in the arms of his friends and companions.
All the time he spent psyching himself up, however, did nothing to stop the shock and shame he felt as soon as he awkwardly shuffled into the classroom and realized that that the previously lively hubbub died down to a whisper, and that everyone was staring at him.
"U-Um." He squeaked. This was not a part of the plan. He forced himself to step forward. He couldn't look any of them in the eye.
All his talk about bonds and relationships shattered to his feet. He was terribly alone, and the sun, which he thought would uplift him, was a clingy, jealous thing in the sky, holding him hostage in its rays, binding his arms and legs with its brilliance, blinding him with its…
"Alright, that's - come again?" Maeda peeked at him from the corner of the room. "What was that last one?"
"Y-Yumika?" Silas repeated.
"...sure," Maeda said. "Explain that for me, then."
"...I can't," he admitted. "It's just… what I feel."
"That's fair." She seemed to be studying his face. "You two are… close, yes?"
I will not sell out my friend to this… this danger…!
"...yeah. Not… too much. She… h-helped me, a lot. In the beginning of the school year. She… S-She always made it easy to be around her. And she doesn't give up easily, e-even with intransigent people, like... myself. She perseveres. Sometimes to the p-point of excess."
"I see." She didn't seem satisfied, but did not push him on the issue. "Let's move on. Next word..."
<><><>
Click.
The sun's angry gaze seemed to fade away. Still bright, but no longer blinding. In the place of its impossible brilliance was a girl. With short pigtails and and green eyes, meek and unassuming, she nonetheless seemed to take up the entire room with her presence. When she came up to him, her hands were curled into a ball in front of her chest. "D-Dude!" she said. "You… came back."
Seeming to register his silence, Yumika Matsuoka spoke again: "Hey... um… a-are you… are you good?"
Silas stared at her in stunned silence. What am I supposed to say, here? It suddenly dawned on him how absolutely stupid he would seem if he explained himself to her in full. 'Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure that I know you already and that everything in this classroom is some sort of Jungian self-reflective mindscape brought upon me by some sort of mental stress related to some an investigation involving that innocent-looking student council representative over there. Oh and you aren't real.'
Paralyzed as he was, he probably would have ran back out again, in shame. But the sun was on him now - and it wasn't about to let him go a second time.
"Was it something I said, dude?" She asked, twiddling her fingers. She stepped a little closer. "I, um. I know I can be abrasive. I'm sorry?"
She fiddled on the spot. Silas's insecurity fell away as he realized she was just as mortified as he was.
"D-Don't apologize!" Silas found himself saying suddenly. He had to keep going - there was no time for doubt, anymore. "Don't - please don't, I - I just. You did nothing wrong, Yu - M-Matsuoka-san. I just - t-this whole… school is just… i-it's new to me. I'm not used to it. T-There are so many… sounds and… sensations and… I… g-got a little bit overwhelmed. It wasn't your fault. It isn't your fault."
The silence around them sank into a steady, if somewhat tense, chatter. Yumika Matsuoka closed her eyes, pressing her hands against her chest. She seemed relieved.
Her eyes fluttered back open. "I still shoulda… I don't know. I should have done something different, probably. I can be insensitive sometimes! Or so Hana-chan tells me."
"N-No! I c-caused that. It's a-all on me."
"Hey now, talk like that walks a dangerous line between humility and self-deprecation, dude!" She giggled, and Silas felt his features softening. "How about I meet you in the middle, and we both take responsibility?"
"But you didn't do anything…" Silas insisted.
"Doh. You're making this so difficult!" She smiled at him. "Alright, alright… but, let's step back a bit. I don't think we've been properly introduced, have we? Though, you met Hana-chan earlier."
She clasps her fingers together and bows slightly. "My name's Matsuoka Yumika! On behalf of Class 4-1, I'm glad to meet you!" She turns a little red. "I hope we'll be more accommodating in the future, aha…"
"Yamigawa… Silas." This was surreal. He wondered if he was living out the plot of some sort of visual novel, and his real self was an older man who wanted to relive his childhood memories. "I… h-hope so, too? N-Not to imply you hadn't been accommodating before, of course!"
"Sure." Her face broke into an honest, relaxed grin. "Yamigawa Silas, huh? Sa - i - ra - su."
" - t-that's right!"
She tapped her chin a few times. "...Sai-kun, then!" She hesitated. "Unless, of course, you, um, aren't comfortable with - "
"No! Nononono, that's… that's perfectly fine! It feels nice and… functional! It..." It feels right. "It's not too much of a problem. I… understand that my name isn't very good on Western languages, anyway, eheh..."
"Sweet! If it works, it works! Just don't go crazy on me now, Sai-kun, or I might just have to call you -"
" - Psycho-kun?" Silas interrupted.
"Hey!" She laughed. "How did you know? Took the words right outta my mouth!"
It was at that moment that Sensei rose from her seat and called the class to begin roll call. Silas and Yumika were forced to find their own seats - unfortunately, the only place he could find was far in a corner, away from where Yumika was sat. Even so, from such a brief encounter he felt… calm. Relaxed.
You almost made it easy, didn't you? He thought, thinking of that enigmatic green-eyed girl. Why is that? Why are you so kind? And why, to me?
He wondered how their relationship took form, and was amazed to imagine that some more whole version of him had somehow found it in himself to pursue her friendship, no matter how obvious the disparity in their social power balance was. In her, Silas found… hope.
He became determined to safeguard that hope, no matter the cost.
Yumika Matsuoka's REL increases! (+1)
Silas gains a trait! 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.)
Silas has discovered one of Yumika Matsuoka's 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.)
Silas wants to Rediscover Himself
Silas desperately wants to learn who he was - to recover his lost memories. The key to these memories lies in the world he finds himself in, which is some sort of metacontextual reflection of his lived experiences, starting from his first day in high school and ending… well. Ending somewhere.
He has several avenues of accomplishing this.
Path 1: FEELING
Silas will attempt to grasp at the things that inspire feeling in him. Mostly, this means people - but other things spark emotions, as well.
OBJ 1: Who was Yumika Matsuoka?
Green eyes and midnight hair; an outgoing personality and a gentle smile. Yumika Matsuoka is the prototypical Miyaojin woman, and it completely confounds him that she has a place in his memories. But she does. How?
Goals: Become Friends.
Rewards: MEMORY, CHARISMA
OBJ2: Who was Hana Shinohara?
Hana Shinohara brings about her an unceasing sense of dread, and yet she's collected, measured, and actually pretty sweet. Silas feels like there's layers, here. Their relationship was important to him, clearly. Why?
Goals: Become Friends.
Rewards: MEMORY, COURAGE
OBJ3: Who was Allen Furai?
The foreigner. A brash young man, with a heart of fire and a tongue of acid. He makes him feel inadequate and small; but Silas can't find it in himself to feel any actual enmity for him. In fact, Silas almost feels… fond? Nostalgic? Who is he?
Goals: Become Friends.
Rewards: INTUITION, COURAGE
<<Further Objectives Obscured>>
Path 2: <unknown>
No context is available for this path.
It is the 11th of September, 35 Heiwa/2020 MAC. It is Monday.
Please choose one[AFTERNOON] action, and one [EVENING] action.
[] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch Social action. During lunch-break, Silas discovers that Yumika is sitting alone, much to his surprise. She's chowing down on some sort of bread pastry that Silas doesn't recognize. Maybe he could try mutually sharing their food? He remembers having some rice tacos with him…
[] [AFTERNOON] INT DC 35 (Easy) - Interact with the Student Council Rep. Social action. Silas… can't help but feel a vague sense of dread whenever he thinks of, or regards, Maeda Kirino now that he has these memories painting her as some sort of villain. But could she really be so bad? She seems strict, but honest. Amiable, even.
[] [AFTERNOON] COU DC 50 (Medium) - Try to find Hana Shinohara. Intrigue action. Hana seemed to completely disappear after classes concluded for the day. Where did she go off to? ...does Silas even want to know?
[] [AFTERNOON] PHY DC 65 (Difficult)- Try to catch up with Allen Furai. Intrigue action. Allen Furai is quite the ambivalent character. Silas sees him ducking in and throughout the hallways intermittently during lunch break, and again now that classes are over. He seems to have quite a lot of commitments, all the time. What are they?
[] [AFTERNOON] INT DC ?? (Random) - Wander around Yamaha High Exploration action.If Silas's theory holds that he's in sort of internal mindscape, then the fact that Yamaha exists at all to such an extended capacity must mean that the building holds some significance to him. He should probably try to find out what.
[] [EVENING] Go home.
-[] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
-[] ...and listen to music. (Reduces stress.)
-[] …and go forum-scrolling. (May reduce stress slightly.)
-[] ...and practice cooking. (May reduce stress slightly.)
-[] ...and tidy things up around the house. (May reduce stress slightly.)
-[]<<OBSCURED>> Stress action.Silas's room is a relaxed place to be; it's his sanctuary, his refuge. Within his solitary apartment, he has plenty of hobbies to distract himself from the horrors of everyday life, and not… all of them are inherently unhealthy!
[] [EVENING] Head out into town
-[] ...with no plans, whatsoever. (Random)
-[] <<OBSCURED>> Exploration action.Miyao City is a big place, and there are bound to be many locations of interest to him; landmarks he might have visited in his other life. If only he had any idea where to start…
The Breakdown Counter (BRK) has been set to 10. At the end of each day, this counter will decrease by 1.
D/N For Dorima's Notes. Just so you can tell when it's me speaking and when it's that college student with the bad lip hair and the awful breath.
Feel like I oughta put this here: The five primary Attributes have seven ranks, from ABYSMAL to EXCELLENT. The ranks provide roll bonuses in this order: -30, -20, -10, +0, +10, +20, +30. The ranks also have other effects, depending on character bonuses. Now, you'll notice that there is a sixth attribute. It does not factor here, for now. Also, LuciDreamer would like me to tell you (cause he's too CHICKEN to say it outright) to kindly ignore any references to dates before now, and that the 11th of September is now the canonical starting date for Silas's first day in high school.
As usual, please tell me if you see anything amiss! The Character Database should be updated to present, and the Worldbuilding Fact-Sheet has received a number of plausibility updates, if you're into that kind of reading. Well... goodnight!
Hmm, so Real World!Maeda's (suspicious/concentrated) attention seems to materialize in this mindscape as the sun. With some Inception vibes with it/the class returning to normal after silently staring at him as he gives an excuse she reluctantly goes along with.
[X] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch
[X] [EVENING] Go home.
-[X] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
I think this is pretty much the ideal course of action for this day on a number of levels. I am very much not opposed to exploring our other obscured path - whether it just be for curiosity, or even to switch tracks in terms of our path out - but given Silas's current situation today very much does not seem like the day for that.
Silas's current stress level is VERY HIGH. That's the stage right before DANGEROUS which as much as the warnings about what may happen if we act at or above that level intrigue me that's probably not a Day 1 kind of experiment. Or really a Day n kind of experiment really. Silas's Loner trait guarantees any not-Silas's-House action will increase it by 1 stage. I'm not sure if that's applied immediately or after the fact (we should probably figure that out) but either way whatever we do in the afternoon is going to put us at DANGEROUS by default. Silas's Self-Deprecating Ability doubles stress gain on failure so any afternoon failure is putting us in the scary zone. Choosing light disadvantages us on intrigue and the Hana/Allen intrigue options are already on stats that are facing -20 and -30 penalties to begin with.
Our social actions on the other hand probably come out as a wash (Silas's traits give him an inherent -15 social disadvantage but choosing light gives us an unlisted advantage. Assuming it's +10 or 20 it basically cancels that out.) Maeda is an INT DC and Silas's INT is at EXCELLENT already so it's a +30 modifier so at a DC of 35 we're probably looking at an effective DC 10 on a d100 at worst. Nevertheless, while chatting with Maeda is something I have no issue with, we literally can't fail the Yumika action because despite being a check against a worse stat for Silas, Yumika's Genki Spirit trait activates since Silas has VERY LOW Courage and states that any fail resolves as a pass. It also cancels out the -10 disadvantage from Silas's Charisma so we're likely looking at an effective DC40 or 30.
But I think it's more likely that by reestablishing our friendship/acquaintance with Yumika/Drama we can maybe get talking to Hana to become a social action rather than intrigue which could be helpful. (Or maybe Hana is just intrigue today and tomorrow will be social because she's just hanging out in the classroom and I've overthought all of this ) From memory of the old character sheet, Hana also had a trait that would help Silas interact with her so long as his courage remains low but who knows if it will still apply.
Exploration could be fun too since it's our mystery box but the stress situation is what dissuades me from it right now. Evening is similarly straightforward. Going out should raise stress and we should be at DANGEROUS at that point so uh-oh. Gaming is the best stress reduction tool we have so yeah. In lower stress situations I'd be interested in trying to trigger memories (or poke at the worldstate by looking up stuff) by going on the forums or even music (Riku -> Drama!Riku, Big Sister, or even just when Hana shared music with us) but alas not today.
Finally, I did a full re-read of the quest prior to this update and something that stuck out to me that might be relevant here for future reference is Hana's foray into Silas's nightmare. In principle the situations share some similarities and Hana - who implies a good deal of experience at this - believes the best way to wake Silas up from his nightmare was to break his suspension of disbelief. Just something to keep in the back of our minds I suppose. That sounds more like the ultimate goal of the darkness path but still. Also since Maeda is inducing this in reality it likely isn't that simple to break it, but hey.
tl;dr: Silas's stress is very high. We're told stress can do bad things if it gets too high. Yumika is mechanically a "can't fail" action at the moment and might make talking to Hana easier by getting us back in our original friend group. Evening is just taking the best stress reduction activity so we can hopefully enter Day 2 with less worry that Silas's stress will overcome him. Under better circumstances I'd be far more amenable to talking with Maeda or exploring and I'm hoping to make Day 2 a day of better circumstances.
[X] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch
[X] [EVENING] Go home.
-[X] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
[X] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch
[X] [EVENING] Go home.
-[X] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
[X] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch
[X] [EVENING] Go home.
-[X] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
[X] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch
[X] [EVENING] Go home.
-[X] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
[X] [AFTERNOON] CHA DC 35 (Easy) - Eat with Yumika for lunch
[X] [EVENING] Go home.
-[X] ...and play some video games. (Reduces stress greatly. Consecutive uses have reduced effects.)
Matter condenses and takes form. Contours scratch at Silas's periphery, tracing out the shapes of walls, windows, light fixtures, floor tiles. A thin line of color streaks through his vision, drowning the void with blues, whites, greys, and then everything else.
Hmm, so Real World!Maeda's (suspicious/concentrated) attention seems to materialize in this mindscape as the sun. With some Inception vibes with it/the class returning to normal after silently staring at him as he gives an excuse she reluctantly goes along with.
Well, Maeda was flashing a projector in Silas' face, so it isn't implausible.
But isn't it more likely that the sun associates with light, which was also the path we chose? And light associates with friends, safety and Yumika. Cue her coming to our help.
Maeda could be incidental to this entire exchange, as of course our memories of the real world would be gated through whatever procedure she performed on us. So every time we remember something, we'll likely remember because of association games she made us play. It's in the name of the path:
Path 1: FEELING
Silas will attempt to grasp at the things that inspire feeling in him. Mostly, this means people - but other things spark emotions, as well.
I would caution against following the objectives of a single path without knowing anything of the other one. I would also maintain that we need to interact with the Student Council more. The keys to understanding this mindscape may be hidden there.
Oh, and Yuuko could probably contribute to the path of FEELS while also being related to the mystery. Plus...
And what kind of friend would he be if he would then go on to deny their existence in his life? If he had to choose only one thing to come out of this ordeal remembering anything about, it would be the bonds he had forged with the people in Yamaha High.
But I think it's more likely that by reestablishing our friendship/acquaintance with Yumika/Drama we can maybe get talking to Hana to become a social action rather than intrigue which could be helpful.
It's unlikely to make a lot of difference, because whatever disadvantage on Intrigue actions we got from "Hell is other people", it can't possibly be higher than -20 we get from Loner on social actions. Unless the meaning of disadvantage is "roll twice, take lowest".
Well, Maeda was flashing a projector in Silas' face, so it isn't implausible.
But isn't it more likely that the sun associates with light, which was also the path we chose? And light associates with friends, safety and Yumika. Cue her coming to our help.
Maeda could be incidental to this entire exchange, as of course our memories of the real world would be gated through whatever procedure she performed on us. So every time we remember something, we'll likely remember because of association games she made us play. It's in the name of the path:
It could be but Silas notes that the sun grew more intense to the point where it was "holding him hostage" before cutting to the real world with Maeda. And once that scene concludes with him getting Maeda to move off the topic after his mentioning of "Conspiracy" got her attention we return to the mindscape with Silas noting the sun's "angry gaze" had faded with things apparently returning to normal.
It's unlikely to make a lot of difference, because whatever disadvantage on Intrigue actions we got from "Hell is other people", it can't possibly be higher than -20 we get from Loner on social actions. Unless the meaning of disadvantage is "roll twice, take lowest".
Social Mods on Silas's end are -20 (Loner) +5 (Self-Deprecating) +?? (Hell Is Other People)
Intrigue Mods are -?? (Hell Is Other People)
If Hell Is Other People is numerical then yeah, it's probably not a huge difference. If the advantage/disadvantage is the same each way then at +/-10 it works out to Social having only a net advantage of +5 over Intrigue. At 20 it would be far more substantial at +25 in favor of social on net. If the advantage/disadvantage is something like roll twice take highest/lowest then that's another ballgame.
It could be but Silas notes that the sun grew more intense to the point where it was "holding him hostage" before cutting to the real world with Maeda. And once that scene concludes with him getting Maeda to move off the topic after his mentioning of "Conspiracy" got her attention we return to the mindscape with Silas noting the sun's "angry gaze" had faded with things apparently returning to normal.
But I've done it before, he thought to himself. The idea fills him with warmth; like a fire in his belly. And if I've done it once… I can do it again. I will do it again!
He raised his head high, and felt life return to his body. The morning sun was rising, a brilliant, creamy dot in the sky, embracing him with its rays. Class 4-1 wasn't too far away. The sounds of the students there were beckoning him. He had a place there, with them.
Paralyzed as he was, he probably would have ran back out again, in shame. But the sun was on him now - and it wasn't about to let him go a second time.
"Was it something I said, dude?" She asked, twiddling her fingers. She stepped a little closer. "I, um. I know I can be abrasive. I'm sorry?"
The sun is present both before and after the flashback, first when he resolved to follow the Path of Feelings, and second when he decided to talk to Yumika. The latter explicitly mentions not letting him go the second time, implying there was the first, which might be referring to when he run away from her last update.
But hey, if you are arguing in favor of going skulking in the middle of the night, I am all for it!
What do I get for a Shinohara upskirt?
