- Location
- Canada
Looks good to me. I'm always in favor of a more streamlined voting process
The Perfectly Normal High School: A Slice of Life Quest! (Defunct)
- Thread starter LuciDreamer
- Start date
- Original
Jhin Lemon
Lawful Cute
- Location
- Trapped in the interwebs, please send help
Seems fine to me too
Week 2 Part 3: Nightmares and Movies
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A/N: Wew lad. Sorry about the wait! I lost my muse for a bit…
My biggest conflict this time round was trying to consolidate the happy-go-lucky, ecstatic tone I started out with with the fact that there is clearly something going on in this school that Silas does not see. I hope I did well!
[] [ATONE] Maeda Kirino
Success Threshold: 57.5 (Base) - 20 (Loner) - 5 (Former NEET) - 6.25 (Low CHAR) + 10 (Big Sister Interference) + 15 (Sensitive) + 40 (Atonement #3) = 91.25
DICE ROLL: 88
Result: Success!
Maeda seemed to be getting busier and busier as the week dragged on, always jotting down quick notes in her notebook and sending streams of messages on her phone - Student Council work must have begun in earnest sometime in the past couple of days. It made actually getting close enough to her to talk very hard - there was never time during class, and Maeda always seemed to spend every moment of their lunch bell out on Student Council business or just conspicuously absent from the classroom.
Not today, though, thankfully. Silas scooted himself over next to Maeda as she wolfed down her bento - interestingly, a Western meal, Silas noticed - and sat uncomfortably for a few awkward moments before Maeda finally decided to acknowledge Silas's presence.
"You… uh… need something, Yamigawa-kun?" she asked.
Silas gulped. Would it be better to come clean immediately or do a lead-in? "Err… I just wanted to talk with my class representative a bit. Because… Um…"
"Get to the point," Maeda mumbled through her ham sandwich. "Don't have all day."
"I wanted to say sorry for messing up your work last weekend," Silas squeezed the words out quickly; he didn't want to stutter for this. "Err… I never got a chance to properly apologize. I'm sorry."
"Hmm? What? That?" Maeda asked. Then she seemed to think for a bit. To Silas's relief, she chuckled softly. "Oh… yeah. Um… sorry, part of the blame's gotta fall on me. Err… apology accepted."
"Oh… that's good," Silas replied half-heartedly.
Maeda took another bite of her sandwich. Silas decided to sip his ramune. A couple of times, Maeda seemed to be on the verge of saying something before shutting her mouth. The silence was a long one.
"I have nightmares," Maeda said suddenly.
"...Huh?"
Maeda repeated: "I have nightmares. They're… part of the reason why I was so irritable last weekend. I don't get them often, but recently they've been getting… worse. Like, progressively. Stress of being elected class representative again probably didn't help…"
"Nightmares?" Silas repeated incredulously. "But you seem so… stable…" Silas glanced at the new window in the corner of the classroom, where Maeda had punched out the glass last weekend. "I mean…"
"Don't bother trying to justify my anger to yourself, Yamigawa-kun. I have a short temper; I'm just really good at hiding it," Maeda smiled. "And breaking that glass felt good… It's stress relief. Really, really expensive stress relief."
"Anyway, " Silas decided to switch topics. "They must have been bad if you were that… angry… er... What kind of nightmares? - I-I hope I'm not talking out of line…"
"Don't be ridiculous, it's fine," Maeda waved him off. She seemed to think for a moment, scratching her head. Silas noticed there were tiny, dark circles under her eyes. "It's mostly just… general stuff. Like being trapped in a dark room with no way out and only a tiny candle for light, which was slowly burning itself to a puddle on the floor... or being stuck in a glass container that's slowly filling with water, with a tiny pocket on top that I can't fit through… or waking up and suddenly realizing that my entire family has disappeared. That sort of thing."
"Do your…" Silas started. Maeda didn't seem particularly comfortable talking about this; it was probably move on. "Do your parents matter a lot to you?"
"Yeah, of course," she replied quickly. "Don't yours?"
Silas hesitated, bringing his arms closer to his chest. Maeda raised an eyebrow. "...I've never met my parents."
"Really? Who do you live with?"
"I live alone," Silas said, before correcting himself: "I mean, I have Big Sister with me, and she's basically my mother. She's a nice mother, too."
A blushing anime girl faded into a screen behind Matsuoka, with the words, "Awwww shucks" written in the foreground.
"I… don't really have any connection to my mother and father, being honest," Silas admitted.
"Huh," Maeda scratched her chin. "I guess… I think I know how that feels."
"You've been separated from your family before?" Silas asked.
"In a way," Maeda said in a way that silenced any attempts at pursuing the subject. "Hey. You've been trying to talk to me a lot these past couple of weeks - I've noticed. Why is that, exactly?"
"Oh, um…" Silas felt his cheeks reddening a bit. "I've just been trying to find the time to apologize."
"That's it?" Maeda asked. "No… ulterior motive? You don't want anything from me? Didn't Matsuoka set you up to this? I'd be totally fine if any of that were true, you know."
"N-No, I'm serious! I just… I wanted to. And I hadn't really had the chance to until now." Silas said. "Actually, I was gonna try to apologize afterschool the other day, but... "
"...Oh." Maeda looked guilty for some reason. "I see. Yeah, sorry about that. You're a good kid, Yamigawa-kun."
"You say that a lot. As if you're older than me!" Silas laughed.
Maeda giggled. The dark spots under her eyes seemed a little lighter. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I kind of want to know more about your big - "
"Maeda-san."
"Hmm?" Maeda turned her head - the Student Council Kaichou was looming over the both of them, with a very sour look on his face. Silas flinched a little when he saw him - for some reason, seeing the Kaichou's face opened up some sort of unpleasant memory in the dark recesses of his mind. Subconsciously, he scratched at a tiny red mark on his right arm. "We asked for you in the Council room fifteen minutes ago."
Maeda grimaced. "Ichiro-kun, you just texted me saying that I could take the lunch break off." She showed her phone to the boy. "See?"
"I can assure you, I did no such... thing..." the Kaichou raised his eyebrows, confused. "I… never sent this message, Maeda. None of us did."
"Really?" A strange expression washed over Maeda and the Kaichou's facial features. Fear? Anxiety? Paranoia? It was gone in an instant, though, and Maeda went on as if this were a normal occurrence. "Oh, well then. I'll be in the Council room soon."
"Yes, please be there. We have business to discuss," the Kaichou said curtly. He left the room with a sort of military-like precision, bumping clumsily onto the side of the doorway on his way out. "GAH! Damn wall… stupid body… let's go!"
Silas watched him leave. "He seems…"
"Yeah, our Kaichou is a bit of an idiot, as much as he likes to pretend he's still a master of intrigue," Maeda smirked. "Still, he's our idiot. Anyway, I've gotta go. Seeya, Yamigawa-kun. Oh, and thanks."
"See ya…" Maeda was gone with a flash, taking after the Student Council Kaichou with what seemed like a renewed purpose. She seemed a bit lighter on her feet, too.
Maeda Kirino: +4 REL
Maeda Kirino is now ACQUAINTED with Silas
As she left, though, he had to wonder… Why did he want to apologize to Maeda so much?
[] He was feeling guilty. (Trait gain?)
[] He wants to become Maeda's Friend. (Trait gain?)
[] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
[] Does he really need a reason? (Freight train?)
[] [TALK] Allen
Success Threshold: 55 (Base) - 10 (Erudite) - 7.5 (Low COUR) - 20 (Loner) + 10 (Big Sister Interference) + 10 (Sensitive) + 5 (History Nerd) = 42.5
DICE ROLL: 78
Result: Failure
"...and this one's named Toranpu-kun! He has a bad temper and he's a bit hard-headed, and he's an enormous showboat. He acts mean to most people around him, too, so most people think he's a jerk!"
"...he seems awfully one-dimensional, though."
"He is not! Toranpu-kun is just… misunderstood! That's how I characterize him, at least - a blundering fool with too much power."
Silas couldn't quite believe his eyes. Of all the things he thought he might see today, this wasn't one of them: Allen and Dorima-san, getting along. The two most vitriolic people he knew so far were apparently on the track to becoming best of friends.
People were weird.
"Ah… oh… haha! Oh, that's clever. I'm guessing Mister Toranpu - "
"Toranpu-kun!"
"Whatever. So Mister Toranpu and this… what was it? 'Yuu esu ei?' This fictional country you've created - it's a stand-in for the Ambernian Republics, isn't it?"
"You're absolutely right!"
"Dude, that is amazing! Do you have any political maps or outlines, yet? Oh! And lore! Every fictional country needs lore! What political philosophy does he represent? Does he - "
"Stop! Too many questions!" Dorima snapped. She recoiled a bit. "...anyway, I… don't have any of that stuff. I just have these drawings… well, there's a place online where I keep a few of my stuff… some people there write fiction for me sometimes, too."
"Cool, shoot me a link sometime. Maybe I can help with the worldbuilding! Oh, wow - that building Mister Toranpu is standing in front of, it looks so… holyshit, man. What's it called?"
"I call it 'White House.'"
"...why?"
"No idea. It's white. And it's a house. White House."
"Now that just seems lazy. What kind of idiot would come up with a name like that? Hey, maybe you should call it - "
Silas cleared his throat, and Dorima and Allen suddenly realized he was there, standing awkwardly just a few feet from their shared table and holding his bento box. "...hi."
Dorima glared, and Allen peeked at his smartwatch. Neither of them looked particularly accommodating. "...can I sit here?"
"Isn't there anyone else you could sit with, Yamigawa-kun?" Dorima asked. "We're busy."
"Yeah. Shiru - "
"MY NAME IS DORIMA!" the color in Dorima's cheeks grew a little bit in intensity.
" - and I are discussing something important. Very important. And, like, no offense to you, man, but… this table's occupied."
"We're world-building!" Dorima exclaimed. "...and you're not part of the process. In fact, every second you stand there makes the process go slower. Shoo."
"Now, you don't need to be so blatant…" Allen said.
"Yamigawa-kun isn't worthy of nuance!" Dorima insisted. They continued their friendly bickering for a few seconds before returning to their original conversation - pointedly ignoring him in the process.
Silas backed away, feeling deflated. He turned back to his food, and didn't feel like talking with anyone else for the rest of the lunch period. Which was fine - Big Sister spent most of the rest of the block sending consoling messages to him through his phone. She's always so thoughtful, Silas thought to himself, smiling.
Allen Furai, Dorima Shiru: +0 REL
Character Sheet Updated
[] [CLUB] Work (???)
"Yamigawa-kun?" The club room was empty save for Matsuoka, who was sitting comfortably in a corner and munching on some lightly-salted potato chips. "Oh hey! Nice of you to show up early!"
Silas looked around. "Early?"
"Well… Yeah!" Matsuoka stuck another chip into her mouth. "Riku-san won't be here for another hour. She has piano lessons somewhere in the school with Renji-kun, I think. Heheh. That's what she said, at least... " she broke into a mischievous grin. "Shinohara isn't here, but she doesn't show up all the time. And Kuroda and Mikado won't usually arrive for another fifteen minutes. You're early!"
"...huh." It occurred to Silas just how small this club was…
[] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[] [REACT 2] And it bothers him. The loneliness is a bit chilling, even with Matsuoka around... Maybe he could help make the club bigger?
"Anyway, your timing is perfect!" Matsuoka continued. "I needed someone to sort through the movies we were going to watch for next week's meeting! It's just some organizational stuff. Renji-kun wants us to have more direction this year, you know?"
"What was it like last year?" Silas asked.
"Omigod, it was horrible!" Matsuoka giggled. "We spent most days doing nothing but watching movies, and sometimes Renji-kun would make us all listen to his freestyle poetry, but that was about it. This year, we're gonna be doing stuff! ...Probably, at least."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well…" Matsuoka winked. "It's in the works. That's all you've got to know! For now, though - " Matsuoka got up from her seat and grabbed a long-looking list. She pushed it into Silas's hands. "Here's the list of movies. Pick… um… five, or something. You have a MiPhone, right? If not, just use the computer."
SIlas stared confusingly between the list and Matsuoka. "Wait - what? You're entrusting this to me?"
"Sure, why not," Matsuoka replied nonchalantly. "I trust your judgement!" She started walking towards the door.
"W-Wait! What kinds of movies did you guys watch last year?!"
"Movie movies!" she replied. "Just choose whatever! It'll be fine!"
"And where are you going?!"
Matsuoka stood under the threshold. "The cafeteria's serving cupcakes! I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Bye!"
"Uh… okay then. Bye, Matsuoka-san!"
"Hmm?" Matsuoka paused just before leaving the room. She glanced book and Silas, looking him up and down. "...One week."
"...What?"
"I'll give you about one week!" Matsuoka explained cheerily. "Then you can start calling me Yumika-san if you want. And I'll also start calling you Silas-kun. Err - no, that sounds weird… Ah! Sai-kun. Does that sound like a deal?"
"Um - " Silas's mind drew a blank. "Okay?"
"Great! Seeya, Yamigawa-kun!" Yumika smirked as she ducked into the hallway, leaving SIlas alone in the clubroom with a list of movies - wait, had the club president just dropped all of her work onto his lap?!
Silas looked over the paper - it was a long list. His heart jumped, though, when he realized he recognized some of the titles; a number of the movies were anime-style original productions or live-action films of shows he really, really liked. But there were other movies he recognized, too - popular romcoms, psychological thrillers, a couple horror shows…
And he had absolute control over which ones Matsuoka would be choosing for their club meeting next week.
Grinning, Silas slid his way into one of the computers. It booted up without his pressing a button; Big Sister was here. These next few minutes were going to be fun.
Choose One:
[] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[] [CLUBWORK 1] It is time! Bring on the meganekko! The tsunderes! The rich otaku culture! The constant jokes about male leads falling on the female characters' panties! DRAMA CLUB WILL BE ASSIMILATED!
Choose One:
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards seinen and action movies. Sure, most of them are a bit cliche, but surely everyone will love watching the Power of Friendship overcome adversity… right?
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards romantic comedies and tragedies. Nothing is more sweet than a genuine love story, or more gut-wrenching than a genuine love story gone wrong. Though, some of the more recent ones have been pretty cheesy...
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards fantasy. Epic tales of heroes, kingdoms, conquest, and political intrigue! ...at least, when the writers aren't busy writing character stereotypes and making the male lead's harem bigger.
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards sci-fi and psychological thrillers. Nothing like a good futuristic dystopian movie to keep everyone on their toes, even if sometimes the special effects overshadow the movie itself.
[] [CLUBWORK 2] No, no, there's gotta be something else… (Write-in)
About a half-hour later, Silas had consumed nearly twenty of the movies on the list, but he still had plenty to go. His eyes were glued to the screen, and his earbuds blocked out the outside world. His work was meticulous, and his fingers danced across the keyboard. At this desk, he was at home.
There was a light tap on his shoulder. Silas jumped in his seat, and his earbuds fell.
"Here," Rakuyama was handing him a cupcake. Her offer was genuine. "You seemed busy."
She turned away and walked back to the table without another word. Silas hadn't noticed, but the rest of the Drama Club had arrived. Matsuoka was leading a lively conversation with Mikado and Kuroda, the latter of which seemed to be re-enacting some sort of dramatic fight scene. Rakuyama and Reizei were off to the side a bit, having a mini-conversation by themselves, with Shinohara hugging the corner and talking only occasionally.
There was a rather conspicuous seventh and eighth chair, both of them empty, even though food and drink had been placed in both spots.
Silas's eyes slid between the screen, himself, and the Drama Club group seated just a few meters away. His fingers froze on the mouse. He had the sudden urge to leave his chair. The group seated a few meters away - they were at once inviting and intimidating, so friendly to the point where he couldn't even imagine inserting himself into their conversation.
He sighed, and put his earbuds back on. He felt this weird pang in his heart, but he couldn't quite place it.
Not quite yet…
Matsuoka Yumika: +2 REL
Rakuyama Riku, Reizei Renji: +1 REL
[] [EXTRA] [JOB] Fill out the Moderator Application
Where can you find the Community Guidelines?
Explain the importance of Rule Two and describe a situation in which a post might be intractable for violation of Rule Two.
What is a threadban? Use your own words. Dipshit.
A particular user is being, to put it nicely, a complete asshole, and is constantly tagging you, a moderator, demanding that you step in and threadban the people who is arguing with him. What is your response?
What does the phrase "Greytide Worldwide" mean, and what is the most common countermeasure used by the moderation team to counter it?
What are the names of the current moderation team? Their real names. Except mine, of course. Have fun.
Define "Romanticism," give me the name of one (fictional) country which embraced it, and tell my what effect that had on said country. Look in the Quest section of the subforum. Hint.
"...what?" Silas stared at the screen.
The questionnaire was a very weird one. Sure, some of the questions were rather cut-and-dry; tell me what this button does, describe that rule of the Community Guidelines… but then DreamerLuci would throw in a curveball, or a question with a subjective answer, or something only people dedicated to JubunNaSokudo.com would know about. Plus, she for some reason decided that every other word either had to be an insult to his intelligence or a snide remark about him wanting to be a moderator.
"...I would suggest checking the Path of Empires quest," Big Sister posited. "That one seems to have lots of references to pseudo-philosophy and the like."
He still managed to find the answers, of course. Especially with Big Sister around. "...thanks, Big Sis. Sheesh, what kind of questionnaire is this?"
"I believe Miss Luci believes that knowledge of the her subforum's culture is more important than actual code of conduct," Big Sister sighed an electronic sigh.
"Grr…" Silas mumbled. He glanced over at Big Sister - whether consciously or not, Big Sister was evoking her avatar to appear distant, and deep in thought. "Hey. You alright?"
"Hmm? Oh! Nothing," Big Sister replied. Something flickered in her eyes, but it was gone in a flash. "Just pondering something I saw earlier this week."
Silas nodded his head in understanding. Big Sister was always busy, after all, even when she wasn't.
It took many hours, but after much work Silas finally finished the goddamn questionnaire. Now the only thing to do would be to wait for a response…
DREAMERLUCI WILL REPLY… LIKE… WHENEVER, I GUESS.
SHE'LL DEFINITELY REPLY THOUGH. PROBABLY.
"Wow! You're pretty good at this, aren't you?"
Silas had to suppress the urge to break out into a smile of pride. Derivatives were hard, but he felt like he had this concept mastered. "Matsuoka-san, you're flattering me."
Matsuoka giggled. "I'm sure you'll be ready for the unit test next week!"
Silas smile faded. "..what?"
"You know?" Matsuoka raised an eyebrow. "The unit test? Derivative functions and stuff… oh, and I think the science teachers are gonna pop the unit test next week, too. And I overheard Kamasaki-sensei talking about an Ambernian quiz as well." Matsuoka shivered. "Speaking Ambernian feels so… dry."
"...oh."
"That's a look of worry!" Matsuoka exclaimed. "You shouldn't have that! I'm sure you'll be fine! You've studied, right?"
"..."
"...riiiiight?"
"A little."
"Heh," Matsuoka rolled her eyes. "Well, you ought to study, Sai-ku - err, I mean, Yamigawa-kun! But I'm sure you'll do alright regardless. Because Yamigawa-kun's so smart!"
"...thanks…" Silas tried to smile, but his stomach was churning. He hadn't been studying at all recently…
"...hey," Matsuoka was speaking. "If you feel uncomfortable, me and the Drama Club are gonna be organizing a study hall at my home over the weekend."
"Really?!" Silas tried not to sound to enthusiastic.
"Yeah! We're club members! It's what we do!" Matsuoka put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest proudly. "We're comrades! We help each other!"
"Matsuoka-san!"
"Hai, Kamasaki-sensei?" Matsuoka replied, without looking back.
"Please, class has started already. Turn around and face the board. I don't want to have to repeat myself."
"Haaaaiii!"
Matsuoka turned around, just in time to not notice Silas's face grow warm. I have a comrade...
UNIT TESTS AT THE END OF NEXT WEEK
SILAS NEEDS AT LEAST 2 SKL TO AVOID A NEGATIVE RESULT
WEEK 2 ENDS! WEEKEND 2 BEGINS!
Passive Bonuses Conferred (+0.5 CHAR, +0.25 CRE, +0.25 COUR)
Please select three [AFTERSCHOOL] activities and one [CLUB] activity. At least TWO of these must be "Otaku Stuff" due to Silas's Personality. Don't forget about the other votes earlier in the text.
[] [CLUB] Hang out (Random REL Increase with club members)
[] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[] [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 (???)
My biggest conflict this time round was trying to consolidate the happy-go-lucky, ecstatic tone I started out with with the fact that there is clearly something going on in this school that Silas does not see. I hope I did well!
[] [ATONE] Maeda Kirino
Success Threshold: 57.5 (Base) - 20 (Loner) - 5 (Former NEET) - 6.25 (Low CHAR) + 10 (Big Sister Interference) + 15 (Sensitive) + 40 (Atonement #3) = 91.25
DICE ROLL: 88
Result: Success!
Maeda seemed to be getting busier and busier as the week dragged on, always jotting down quick notes in her notebook and sending streams of messages on her phone - Student Council work must have begun in earnest sometime in the past couple of days. It made actually getting close enough to her to talk very hard - there was never time during class, and Maeda always seemed to spend every moment of their lunch bell out on Student Council business or just conspicuously absent from the classroom.
Not today, though, thankfully. Silas scooted himself over next to Maeda as she wolfed down her bento - interestingly, a Western meal, Silas noticed - and sat uncomfortably for a few awkward moments before Maeda finally decided to acknowledge Silas's presence.
"You… uh… need something, Yamigawa-kun?" she asked.
Silas gulped. Would it be better to come clean immediately or do a lead-in? "Err… I just wanted to talk with my class representative a bit. Because… Um…"
"Get to the point," Maeda mumbled through her ham sandwich. "Don't have all day."
"I wanted to say sorry for messing up your work last weekend," Silas squeezed the words out quickly; he didn't want to stutter for this. "Err… I never got a chance to properly apologize. I'm sorry."
"Hmm? What? That?" Maeda asked. Then she seemed to think for a bit. To Silas's relief, she chuckled softly. "Oh… yeah. Um… sorry, part of the blame's gotta fall on me. Err… apology accepted."
"Oh… that's good," Silas replied half-heartedly.
Maeda took another bite of her sandwich. Silas decided to sip his ramune. A couple of times, Maeda seemed to be on the verge of saying something before shutting her mouth. The silence was a long one.
"I have nightmares," Maeda said suddenly.
"...Huh?"
Maeda repeated: "I have nightmares. They're… part of the reason why I was so irritable last weekend. I don't get them often, but recently they've been getting… worse. Like, progressively. Stress of being elected class representative again probably didn't help…"
"Nightmares?" Silas repeated incredulously. "But you seem so… stable…" Silas glanced at the new window in the corner of the classroom, where Maeda had punched out the glass last weekend. "I mean…"
"Don't bother trying to justify my anger to yourself, Yamigawa-kun. I have a short temper; I'm just really good at hiding it," Maeda smiled. "And breaking that glass felt good… It's stress relief. Really, really expensive stress relief."
"Anyway, " Silas decided to switch topics. "They must have been bad if you were that… angry… er... What kind of nightmares? - I-I hope I'm not talking out of line…"
"Don't be ridiculous, it's fine," Maeda waved him off. She seemed to think for a moment, scratching her head. Silas noticed there were tiny, dark circles under her eyes. "It's mostly just… general stuff. Like being trapped in a dark room with no way out and only a tiny candle for light, which was slowly burning itself to a puddle on the floor... or being stuck in a glass container that's slowly filling with water, with a tiny pocket on top that I can't fit through… or waking up and suddenly realizing that my entire family has disappeared. That sort of thing."
"Do your…" Silas started. Maeda didn't seem particularly comfortable talking about this; it was probably move on. "Do your parents matter a lot to you?"
"Yeah, of course," she replied quickly. "Don't yours?"
Silas hesitated, bringing his arms closer to his chest. Maeda raised an eyebrow. "...I've never met my parents."
"Really? Who do you live with?"
"I live alone," Silas said, before correcting himself: "I mean, I have Big Sister with me, and she's basically my mother. She's a nice mother, too."
A blushing anime girl faded into a screen behind Matsuoka, with the words, "Awwww shucks" written in the foreground.
"I… don't really have any connection to my mother and father, being honest," Silas admitted.
"Huh," Maeda scratched her chin. "I guess… I think I know how that feels."
"You've been separated from your family before?" Silas asked.
"In a way," Maeda said in a way that silenced any attempts at pursuing the subject. "Hey. You've been trying to talk to me a lot these past couple of weeks - I've noticed. Why is that, exactly?"
"Oh, um…" Silas felt his cheeks reddening a bit. "I've just been trying to find the time to apologize."
"That's it?" Maeda asked. "No… ulterior motive? You don't want anything from me? Didn't Matsuoka set you up to this? I'd be totally fine if any of that were true, you know."
"N-No, I'm serious! I just… I wanted to. And I hadn't really had the chance to until now." Silas said. "Actually, I was gonna try to apologize afterschool the other day, but... "
"...Oh." Maeda looked guilty for some reason. "I see. Yeah, sorry about that. You're a good kid, Yamigawa-kun."
"You say that a lot. As if you're older than me!" Silas laughed.
Maeda giggled. The dark spots under her eyes seemed a little lighter. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I kind of want to know more about your big - "
"Maeda-san."
"Hmm?" Maeda turned her head - the Student Council Kaichou was looming over the both of them, with a very sour look on his face. Silas flinched a little when he saw him - for some reason, seeing the Kaichou's face opened up some sort of unpleasant memory in the dark recesses of his mind. Subconsciously, he scratched at a tiny red mark on his right arm. "We asked for you in the Council room fifteen minutes ago."
Maeda grimaced. "Ichiro-kun, you just texted me saying that I could take the lunch break off." She showed her phone to the boy. "See?"
"I can assure you, I did no such... thing..." the Kaichou raised his eyebrows, confused. "I… never sent this message, Maeda. None of us did."
"Really?" A strange expression washed over Maeda and the Kaichou's facial features. Fear? Anxiety? Paranoia? It was gone in an instant, though, and Maeda went on as if this were a normal occurrence. "Oh, well then. I'll be in the Council room soon."
"Yes, please be there. We have business to discuss," the Kaichou said curtly. He left the room with a sort of military-like precision, bumping clumsily onto the side of the doorway on his way out. "GAH! Damn wall… stupid body… let's go!"
Silas watched him leave. "He seems…"
"Yeah, our Kaichou is a bit of an idiot, as much as he likes to pretend he's still a master of intrigue," Maeda smirked. "Still, he's our idiot. Anyway, I've gotta go. Seeya, Yamigawa-kun. Oh, and thanks."
"See ya…" Maeda was gone with a flash, taking after the Student Council Kaichou with what seemed like a renewed purpose. She seemed a bit lighter on her feet, too.
Maeda Kirino: +4 REL
Maeda Kirino is now ACQUAINTED with Silas
As she left, though, he had to wonder… Why did he want to apologize to Maeda so much?
[] He was feeling guilty. (Trait gain?)
[] He wants to become Maeda's Friend. (Trait gain?)
[] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
[] Does he really need a reason? (Freight train?)
[] [TALK] Allen
Success Threshold: 55 (Base) - 10 (Erudite) - 7.5 (Low COUR) - 20 (Loner) + 10 (Big Sister Interference) + 10 (Sensitive) + 5 (History Nerd) = 42.5
DICE ROLL: 78
Result: Failure
"...and this one's named Toranpu-kun! He has a bad temper and he's a bit hard-headed, and he's an enormous showboat. He acts mean to most people around him, too, so most people think he's a jerk!"
"...he seems awfully one-dimensional, though."
"He is not! Toranpu-kun is just… misunderstood! That's how I characterize him, at least - a blundering fool with too much power."
Silas couldn't quite believe his eyes. Of all the things he thought he might see today, this wasn't one of them: Allen and Dorima-san, getting along. The two most vitriolic people he knew so far were apparently on the track to becoming best of friends.
People were weird.
"Ah… oh… haha! Oh, that's clever. I'm guessing Mister Toranpu - "
"Toranpu-kun!"
"Whatever. So Mister Toranpu and this… what was it? 'Yuu esu ei?' This fictional country you've created - it's a stand-in for the Ambernian Republics, isn't it?"
"You're absolutely right!"
"Dude, that is amazing! Do you have any political maps or outlines, yet? Oh! And lore! Every fictional country needs lore! What political philosophy does he represent? Does he - "
"Stop! Too many questions!" Dorima snapped. She recoiled a bit. "...anyway, I… don't have any of that stuff. I just have these drawings… well, there's a place online where I keep a few of my stuff… some people there write fiction for me sometimes, too."
"Cool, shoot me a link sometime. Maybe I can help with the worldbuilding! Oh, wow - that building Mister Toranpu is standing in front of, it looks so… holyshit, man. What's it called?"
"I call it 'White House.'"
"...why?"
"No idea. It's white. And it's a house. White House."
"Now that just seems lazy. What kind of idiot would come up with a name like that? Hey, maybe you should call it - "
Silas cleared his throat, and Dorima and Allen suddenly realized he was there, standing awkwardly just a few feet from their shared table and holding his bento box. "...hi."
Dorima glared, and Allen peeked at his smartwatch. Neither of them looked particularly accommodating. "...can I sit here?"
"Isn't there anyone else you could sit with, Yamigawa-kun?" Dorima asked. "We're busy."
"Yeah. Shiru - "
"MY NAME IS DORIMA!" the color in Dorima's cheeks grew a little bit in intensity.
" - and I are discussing something important. Very important. And, like, no offense to you, man, but… this table's occupied."
"We're world-building!" Dorima exclaimed. "...and you're not part of the process. In fact, every second you stand there makes the process go slower. Shoo."
"Now, you don't need to be so blatant…" Allen said.
"Yamigawa-kun isn't worthy of nuance!" Dorima insisted. They continued their friendly bickering for a few seconds before returning to their original conversation - pointedly ignoring him in the process.
Silas backed away, feeling deflated. He turned back to his food, and didn't feel like talking with anyone else for the rest of the lunch period. Which was fine - Big Sister spent most of the rest of the block sending consoling messages to him through his phone. She's always so thoughtful, Silas thought to himself, smiling.
Allen Furai, Dorima Shiru: +0 REL
Character Sheet Updated
[] [CLUB] Work (???)
"Yamigawa-kun?" The club room was empty save for Matsuoka, who was sitting comfortably in a corner and munching on some lightly-salted potato chips. "Oh hey! Nice of you to show up early!"
Silas looked around. "Early?"
"Well… Yeah!" Matsuoka stuck another chip into her mouth. "Riku-san won't be here for another hour. She has piano lessons somewhere in the school with Renji-kun, I think. Heheh. That's what she said, at least... " she broke into a mischievous grin. "Shinohara isn't here, but she doesn't show up all the time. And Kuroda and Mikado won't usually arrive for another fifteen minutes. You're early!"
"...huh." It occurred to Silas just how small this club was…
[] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[] [REACT 2] And it bothers him. The loneliness is a bit chilling, even with Matsuoka around... Maybe he could help make the club bigger?
"Anyway, your timing is perfect!" Matsuoka continued. "I needed someone to sort through the movies we were going to watch for next week's meeting! It's just some organizational stuff. Renji-kun wants us to have more direction this year, you know?"
"What was it like last year?" Silas asked.
"Omigod, it was horrible!" Matsuoka giggled. "We spent most days doing nothing but watching movies, and sometimes Renji-kun would make us all listen to his freestyle poetry, but that was about it. This year, we're gonna be doing stuff! ...Probably, at least."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Well…" Matsuoka winked. "It's in the works. That's all you've got to know! For now, though - " Matsuoka got up from her seat and grabbed a long-looking list. She pushed it into Silas's hands. "Here's the list of movies. Pick… um… five, or something. You have a MiPhone, right? If not, just use the computer."
SIlas stared confusingly between the list and Matsuoka. "Wait - what? You're entrusting this to me?"
"Sure, why not," Matsuoka replied nonchalantly. "I trust your judgement!" She started walking towards the door.
"W-Wait! What kinds of movies did you guys watch last year?!"
"Movie movies!" she replied. "Just choose whatever! It'll be fine!"
"And where are you going?!"
Matsuoka stood under the threshold. "The cafeteria's serving cupcakes! I'll be back in fifteen minutes. Bye!"
"Uh… okay then. Bye, Matsuoka-san!"
"Hmm?" Matsuoka paused just before leaving the room. She glanced book and Silas, looking him up and down. "...One week."
"...What?"
"I'll give you about one week!" Matsuoka explained cheerily. "Then you can start calling me Yumika-san if you want. And I'll also start calling you Silas-kun. Err - no, that sounds weird… Ah! Sai-kun. Does that sound like a deal?"
"Um - " Silas's mind drew a blank. "Okay?"
"Great! Seeya, Yamigawa-kun!" Yumika smirked as she ducked into the hallway, leaving SIlas alone in the clubroom with a list of movies - wait, had the club president just dropped all of her work onto his lap?!
Silas looked over the paper - it was a long list. His heart jumped, though, when he realized he recognized some of the titles; a number of the movies were anime-style original productions or live-action films of shows he really, really liked. But there were other movies he recognized, too - popular romcoms, psychological thrillers, a couple horror shows…
And he had absolute control over which ones Matsuoka would be choosing for their club meeting next week.
Grinning, Silas slid his way into one of the computers. It booted up without his pressing a button; Big Sister was here. These next few minutes were going to be fun.
Choose One:
[] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[] [CLUBWORK 1] It is time! Bring on the meganekko! The tsunderes! The rich otaku culture! The constant jokes about male leads falling on the female characters' panties! DRAMA CLUB WILL BE ASSIMILATED!
Choose One:
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards seinen and action movies. Sure, most of them are a bit cliche, but surely everyone will love watching the Power of Friendship overcome adversity… right?
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards romantic comedies and tragedies. Nothing is more sweet than a genuine love story, or more gut-wrenching than a genuine love story gone wrong. Though, some of the more recent ones have been pretty cheesy...
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards fantasy. Epic tales of heroes, kingdoms, conquest, and political intrigue! ...at least, when the writers aren't busy writing character stereotypes and making the male lead's harem bigger.
[] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards sci-fi and psychological thrillers. Nothing like a good futuristic dystopian movie to keep everyone on their toes, even if sometimes the special effects overshadow the movie itself.
[] [CLUBWORK 2] No, no, there's gotta be something else… (Write-in)
About a half-hour later, Silas had consumed nearly twenty of the movies on the list, but he still had plenty to go. His eyes were glued to the screen, and his earbuds blocked out the outside world. His work was meticulous, and his fingers danced across the keyboard. At this desk, he was at home.
There was a light tap on his shoulder. Silas jumped in his seat, and his earbuds fell.
"Here," Rakuyama was handing him a cupcake. Her offer was genuine. "You seemed busy."
She turned away and walked back to the table without another word. Silas hadn't noticed, but the rest of the Drama Club had arrived. Matsuoka was leading a lively conversation with Mikado and Kuroda, the latter of which seemed to be re-enacting some sort of dramatic fight scene. Rakuyama and Reizei were off to the side a bit, having a mini-conversation by themselves, with Shinohara hugging the corner and talking only occasionally.
There was a rather conspicuous seventh and eighth chair, both of them empty, even though food and drink had been placed in both spots.
Silas's eyes slid between the screen, himself, and the Drama Club group seated just a few meters away. His fingers froze on the mouse. He had the sudden urge to leave his chair. The group seated a few meters away - they were at once inviting and intimidating, so friendly to the point where he couldn't even imagine inserting himself into their conversation.
He sighed, and put his earbuds back on. He felt this weird pang in his heart, but he couldn't quite place it.
Not quite yet…
Matsuoka Yumika: +2 REL
Rakuyama Riku, Reizei Renji: +1 REL
[] [EXTRA] [JOB] Fill out the Moderator Application
Where can you find the Community Guidelines?
Explain the importance of Rule Two and describe a situation in which a post might be intractable for violation of Rule Two.
What is a threadban? Use your own words. Dipshit.
A particular user is being, to put it nicely, a complete asshole, and is constantly tagging you, a moderator, demanding that you step in and threadban the people who is arguing with him. What is your response?
What does the phrase "Greytide Worldwide" mean, and what is the most common countermeasure used by the moderation team to counter it?
What are the names of the current moderation team? Their real names. Except mine, of course. Have fun.
Define "Romanticism," give me the name of one (fictional) country which embraced it, and tell my what effect that had on said country. Look in the Quest section of the subforum. Hint.
"...what?" Silas stared at the screen.
The questionnaire was a very weird one. Sure, some of the questions were rather cut-and-dry; tell me what this button does, describe that rule of the Community Guidelines… but then DreamerLuci would throw in a curveball, or a question with a subjective answer, or something only people dedicated to JubunNaSokudo.com would know about. Plus, she for some reason decided that every other word either had to be an insult to his intelligence or a snide remark about him wanting to be a moderator.
"...I would suggest checking the Path of Empires quest," Big Sister posited. "That one seems to have lots of references to pseudo-philosophy and the like."
He still managed to find the answers, of course. Especially with Big Sister around. "...thanks, Big Sis. Sheesh, what kind of questionnaire is this?"
"I believe Miss Luci believes that knowledge of the her subforum's culture is more important than actual code of conduct," Big Sister sighed an electronic sigh.
"Grr…" Silas mumbled. He glanced over at Big Sister - whether consciously or not, Big Sister was evoking her avatar to appear distant, and deep in thought. "Hey. You alright?"
"Hmm? Oh! Nothing," Big Sister replied. Something flickered in her eyes, but it was gone in a flash. "Just pondering something I saw earlier this week."
Silas nodded his head in understanding. Big Sister was always busy, after all, even when she wasn't.
It took many hours, but after much work Silas finally finished the goddamn questionnaire. Now the only thing to do would be to wait for a response…
DREAMERLUCI WILL REPLY… LIKE… WHENEVER, I GUESS.
SHE'LL DEFINITELY REPLY THOUGH. PROBABLY.
"Wow! You're pretty good at this, aren't you?"
Silas had to suppress the urge to break out into a smile of pride. Derivatives were hard, but he felt like he had this concept mastered. "Matsuoka-san, you're flattering me."
Matsuoka giggled. "I'm sure you'll be ready for the unit test next week!"
Silas smile faded. "..what?"
"You know?" Matsuoka raised an eyebrow. "The unit test? Derivative functions and stuff… oh, and I think the science teachers are gonna pop the unit test next week, too. And I overheard Kamasaki-sensei talking about an Ambernian quiz as well." Matsuoka shivered. "Speaking Ambernian feels so… dry."
"...oh."
"That's a look of worry!" Matsuoka exclaimed. "You shouldn't have that! I'm sure you'll be fine! You've studied, right?"
"..."
"...riiiiight?"
"A little."
"Heh," Matsuoka rolled her eyes. "Well, you ought to study, Sai-ku - err, I mean, Yamigawa-kun! But I'm sure you'll do alright regardless. Because Yamigawa-kun's so smart!"
"...thanks…" Silas tried to smile, but his stomach was churning. He hadn't been studying at all recently…
"...hey," Matsuoka was speaking. "If you feel uncomfortable, me and the Drama Club are gonna be organizing a study hall at my home over the weekend."
"Really?!" Silas tried not to sound to enthusiastic.
"Yeah! We're club members! It's what we do!" Matsuoka put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest proudly. "We're comrades! We help each other!"
"Matsuoka-san!"
"Hai, Kamasaki-sensei?" Matsuoka replied, without looking back.
"Please, class has started already. Turn around and face the board. I don't want to have to repeat myself."
"Haaaaiii!"
Matsuoka turned around, just in time to not notice Silas's face grow warm. I have a comrade...
UNIT TESTS AT THE END OF NEXT WEEK
SILAS NEEDS AT LEAST 2 SKL TO AVOID A NEGATIVE RESULT
A/N: From personal experience, just being smart isn't enough to be able to pass a test (eheheheh). Silas needs to do some studying.
WEEK 2 ENDS! WEEKEND 2 BEGINS!
Passive Bonuses Conferred (+0.5 CHAR, +0.25 CRE, +0.25 COUR)
Please select three [AFTERSCHOOL] activities and one [CLUB] activity. At least TWO of these must be "Otaku Stuff" due to Silas's Personality. Don't forget about the other votes earlier in the text.
[] [CLUB] Hang out (Random REL Increase with club members)
[] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[] [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 (???)
[x] He was feeling guilty. (Trait gain?)
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It is time! Bring on the meganekko! The tsunderes! The rich otaku culture! The constant jokes about male leads falling on the female characters' panties!DRAMA CLUB WILL BEASSIMILATED!
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[x] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Anime, music,"culture!" (CRE +0.25)
Well...bring it.
They gave us the power, so do what we know, researxh it and be able to back its merits up
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It is time! Bring on the meganekko! The tsunderes! The rich otaku culture! The constant jokes about male leads falling on the female characters' panties!DRAMA CLUB WILL BEASSIMILATED!
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[x] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Anime, music,"culture!" (CRE +0.25)
Well...bring it.
They gave us the power, so do what we know, researxh it and be able to back its merits up
- Location
- St. Petersburg
I understand the need to finally get it done and move on, so bonuses to Atonement are perfectly fine, but there is one thing to consider. Dice willing, our stats will only go up, and our negative traits will either disappear or be negated with positive ones (I can't believe how powerful Sensitive was for the first pick). It will only get easier to succeed at conversation as time goes on - Loner will be gone eventually (and perhaps soon, too) and CHAR will naturally improve. Now, it might reflect the natural state of things, but to keep up the challenge/suspence you'll probably need to introduce some complications. I don't know which form it'll take, maybe allow us to choose topics (we'll get bonuses for things they'd love to talk about or penalties for sensitive subjects), reduce REL gains once we have a decent understanding with a person, give situational modifiers or temporary traits messing stuff up, or make some of the harder-to-talk-to characters the most interesting ones (so that there was a natural incentive to challenge ourselves).
I just think the moment where conversing with people becomes trivial with all the bonuses we keep getting is not that far off.
And I think there is plenty to be curious about.
[x] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
I don't want to go full otaku on them... we chose Drama to get better at what we thought we could not do and broaden our hobbies, not to convert others to ours.
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
I want Shinohara as our second best friend. She is just so... perfect. We'd make such a lovely creepy duo, and Yumika would dispel whatever netative effects there are.
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
Plus it'd show us what the rest of the Club are made of. I just hope the mental scars won't be too deep. :lol
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
Gah! I want to talk to Big Sis, but our PHYS is pathetic, and we may lose what CHAR we've got if we are the odd one out in the gym. I suppose that's another reason why I want to diminish our otaku side a little. Not a total refusal, no, but cutting down on it in favor of other stuff.
Edit:
Forgot the option existed
[x] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
Last edited:
Altharis
Tovarisch Volksdeutsch, Professional Crucifier
- Location
- Poland
[X] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
[X] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[X] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[X] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
I have no idea about the clubwork 2 action. I kinda want to write-in 'Why not everything?' but that sounds like trying to game the system. Plus it would probably have very diminished gains.
[X] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[X] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[X] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
I have no idea about the clubwork 2 action. I kinda want to write-in 'Why not everything?' but that sounds like trying to game the system. Plus it would probably have very diminished gains.
- Location
- Canada
[X] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
[X] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[X] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[X] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[X] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
- Location
- Leeds
If we don't answer any questions do we at least get 0?
In regards to the vote, I want [] Does he really need a reason? (Freight train?) but not committed to anything else.
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Vote's closing tomorrow afternoon!
Best case scenario, the update comes tomorrow evening. But by now you ought to know I'm not very good at scheduling myself...
Best case scenario, the update comes tomorrow evening. But by now you ought to know I'm not very good at scheduling myself...
Jhin Lemon
Lawful Cute
- Location
- Trapped in the interwebs, please send help
[X] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
[X] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[X] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[X] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[X] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[X] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[X] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[X] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[X] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[X] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I just realized I forgot to change the [EXTRA] blocks into [AFTERSCHOOL] blocks.
*Internal sighing*
Anyway! Vote locked:
Afterschool:
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Anime, music,"culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
Club:
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
Miscellaneous:
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[x] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
*Internal sighing*
Anyway! Vote locked:
Afterschool:
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Anime, music,"culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
Club:
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
Miscellaneous:
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[x] [CLUBWORK 2] Gear the choices towards horror flicks. Fall is coming up, after all; it would be in season. Plus, The Square just got a new remaster, filled with new vocals and audio and more realistic tentacles this time!
[x] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
Erithemaeus
GWS Recipient
- Location
- Around Dover Street
[x] He wants to learn more about Maeda. (Trait gain?)
[x] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[x] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[x] [REACT 2] Silas doesn't mind it, though. He could devote more of his energy to fewer people, that way!
[x] [CLUBWORK 1] It'd probably be best to leave out all the anime titles…
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[x] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[x] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
[x] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Oh, uh... sorry. You were a few minutes late... :/
Erithemaeus
GWS Recipient
- Location
- Around Dover Street
Ah ~ Ah~
- Location
- St. Petersburg
His vote is the one that won anyway (with the exception of Otaku hobbies).
There is also this:
Don't know what it affects - maybe it's a vote not to do anything - but it's there.
- Location
- Leeds
Those rolls.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
Study Hall is a d3, don't know whether it follows the rule of 'lower is better'. The rest are pretty good... but I am not sure whether they are meaningful? The Otaku roll is probably to determine whether we lose CHAR from indulging in the stuff, and 70 was a pass last week, so 3 is kind of an overkill.
- Location
- Leeds
On a d3 my guess is that it was choosing who we interact with. Probably us wondering why our shirt is wet while Nanase cries.
Actually while I'm on that topic shouldn't big sister be aware of the inconsistencies whenever ghost friend is around? Near omnipresence and a presumably flawless and all that.
- Location
- St. Petersburg
It is possible.
This part implies that it might be deliberate, since it makes it sound as if we'd have to give up Big Sister (and somehow, our hobbies) to have Nanami back.
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Who's Nanami?
Weekend 2: Shinohara's Not Crazy. I Swear. She's Not.
LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
A/N: Wow haha this is awkward…
I recently changed my status to "Hiatus? I don't know the meaning of the word!" ...This was meant to be irony, because I expected to have an active update schedule this past week. Especially since the weekend turns are a lot shorter than the weekday turns. A lot shorter. But… then I got a few penpal letters… and a *shiver* dialectical journal project… and my brother's birthday put me out of commission for a whole Saturday… Heheh… Sorry.
Also, I'm going to start seriously consolidating these turns. First and foremost, this is a Quest, not a novel, and while the narrative is important, I have to make sure this seems more like a game with a strong narrative than a story with tacked-on mechanical effects and stats. Besides, getting all the information I want to portray into as few words as possible is a writing skill in it of itself. Also… I really just want to be able to update more often.
NEW STATUS!
Silas wants to know more about Maeda. New Information about her in the character sheet will be considerably more accurate and come with more detail. This ignores the penalty for "Sensitive". (Duration: 3 weeks.)
PERSONALITY EVOLVES!
Former NEET --> Student Otaku - Silas is slowly emerging from his NEET stupor, and he is more open to social situations... but only to people he already has a bond with, out of a fear of exposing his otaku-ness to others. Silas is incredibly appreciative of the people he has already met, but is slow to connect to new people now that the initial rush to find friends has passed. (Sociability set to Warm. +15 Success threshold to social interactions with all students whose REL >= 7 OR students who are fellow club members, -5 Success Threshold otherwise.)
Club Actions:
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
The walk to the drama club room was a long one, but Silas himself didn't mind the distance. There was a certain spring to his step, and he found himself absentmindedly humming one of RikuRiku's recent songs - something about sakura blooms in the wind, spinning and dancing in the glow of the afternoon light. It was a fun tune.
With a purpose, he grabbed, with both hands, the sliding door to the club room and forced it open. "U-Um… hi, guys! I'm - " he started to say. But he froze.
Shinohara was standing in the doorway, barely a few inches in front of his face. Whatever idle conversation that had been going on behind her died down.
"...here."
Shinohara's face scrunched up into something that looked like apprehension. She backed away slowly. Silas did, too. "...You."
"...Me." Silas couldn't look her in the eye. "Uh… hi, Shinohara."
"You," Shinohara repeated. She spoke in a quieter tone: "You weren't supposed to hear that…"
Suddenly, Shinohara pushed her way past Silas, ducking into the hallway and leaving a trail of papers in her wake. "Just realized I have stuff to do. Sorry, Yumika-san!" she said as she disappeared into Yamaha's labyrinth of hallways.
"...Uh… Hana?" Mikado scratched his head. "What was that all about…?"
Reizei concurred. "What's her problem? Yumika?"
"Oh no. Oh no," Matsuoka looked grief-stricken. "Sai-ku - ah - I mean, Yamigawa-kun, this isn't our fault, is it? No, no no… it's our fault!"
"Wait, what? How would it be - " Reizei was talking, but Matsuoka interrupted him.
"Remember last week? We were making fun of her since she used Yamigawa-kun's first name?"
"Oh, yeah! Shit, I didn't think she was taking that seriously…" Reizei sighed. "You don't think - "
"We must rush to the aid of our comrade at once!" Kuroda exclaimed. "She is in need of assistance! It is our sworn duties to protect - "
"-Um!" the clubroom fell silent. "It's… it's not you guys. It's probably my fault." Silas's eyes trailed the floor.
"Eh? Why?"
"I…" Silas fidgeted in place. They were looking at him, some of them with suspicion behind their expressions. His heart sunk; he hated the feeling that he'd let them down, even marginally, even if he didn't actually do anything. "I was talking to her the other day, and we brought up horror movies, and… u-uh… she might have… revealed more about herself t-than she wanted to?"
To his surprise, the room started uttering sighs of understanding. "Ohh… hahah… yeah…" Rakuyama scratched her head. "Well, uh… I don't… I mean…"
"Hana is quite..." Kuroda started, but he stopped himself. "S-She's… ah… a kindred spirit…?"
"She's sort of… Well, it's not like she's bad about it, or anything, but…" Mikado looked uncomfortable.
"She's sort of a sa - " Reizei tried, but Matsuoka cut him off. Again.
"Hana likes drama! A lot!" Matsuoka explained quickly. "...but she's… a bit… passionate about her liking? That's a good way to describe it, right, Renji-kun?"
"Y-Yes, yes! Passion! That's how I'd describe it!" Reizei nodded, a bit too enthusiastically.
Silas found he was chuckling softly. It was a nervous chuckle. "You guys are keeping something from me, aren't you?" His fellow clubmates tried their best to avert their eyes and hide their guilty faces.
"Hey, at least we aren't the Student Council," Matsuoka replied, smirking. She got a few chuckles in response.
"Oh, so I wasn't the only one to pick up on that?" Silas said, genuinely smiling.
"I know, right?" Rakuyama seemed relieved to be away from that topic. "Like, the Student Council kids are always sulking and mumbling about dark shit. They need to chill out. Except for Maeda, though. She's nice."
"Right? Omigod, did I ever tell you this time the Student Council president approached me around when school started? Ichiro-kun walked up to me, this weird, macabre expression on his face, and he said, 'Does the Black Moon howl?' Who says - "
"Oi! Are we going to begin our studying any time soon, my friends?" Kuroda boomed. "Or will we be here forever, mucking about in our own inaction and complacency? The time for action is nigh!"
"...I'm kind of with him. Can we start?" Silas asked gingerly.
Matsuoka gigled. Rakuyama rolled her eyes. Reizei sighed exasperatedly. Mikado shook his head, smiling. The tension seemed to have dissipated from the room, now. There would be no more talk of Shinohara for the rest of the weekend. Gingerly, Silas seated himself near the edge of the table and next to Rakuyama. For a while, they settled into relative normalcy - at least, as normal as this particular group of students could possibly manage. There they were: Six perfectly normal teenaged children... and two empty seats.
"... I don't get it."
Silas furrowed his brows. "You multiply this by this, then take this to the other side… and since the variable here isn't x, you have to multiply it by dy/dx."
"Wait - what?"
"Implicit differentiation rules! You know - "
"I don't know! Please, stop assuming I do."
Silas paused. Rakuyama was looking more and more exasperated as the day went on, and he had a feeling at least some of it was his fault… it was pretty difficult to articulate these kinds of things. "...sorry."
Rakuyama sighed. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm just… I'm not very good at this. I'm grateful you're trying, at least…"
"I can go over it again, if you want."
"Yes," Rakuyama smiled weakly. "Please. Slowly."
Reizei looked over. Silas caught his eye. There was a strange expression on his face, something that seemed like anger but really, really subdued - but the look passed as quickly as it had come, and Reizei returned to his work.
Shinohara seems to be avoiding Silas...
One of Rakuyama's traits has been discovered!
Slow - Rakuyama is a bit airheaded, and her grades tend to suffer as a result. This dismays her quite a bit. (Higher chance for REL Increase for study-related actions involving Rakuyama. She tends to want to seek study actions with other students.)
Rakuyama Riku, Matsuoka Yumika, Kuroda Harima: +1 REL
SKL: +1
Afterschool actions:
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
Study was all about memorization and recall, something which Silas was almost intimately familiar with. Some of the best grand strategy titles relied upon intricate attention to detail and the ability to keep track of millions of little variables going on at once. It was a system; a cycle. And Silas was rather adept at it.
...Unfortunately, all of the nebulous metaphors to grand strategy games and the ready access to his computer gradually drove him to visit the AH subforum on JubunNaSokudo again, and from there on it was a hop skip and a jump to binging something from the Fall seasonal anime list…
Long story short, Silas's study session melded into an Otaku night very, very quickly. Thankfully, only after he'd gotten through most of the important stuff. So it was okay, right?
It was already around midnight, and Silas was lying in the futon in the middle of his room, surrounded by cans of soda and crumpled bags of chips. He'd clean it out tomorrow, he promised himself. He watched with morbid fascination the anime on his tablet - something about a sand planet and a cameo for RikuRiku constantly searching for water and life in a parched and barren land.
"I like this one," Big Sister said idly.
"You do?" Silas asked. "Is it because the idol is RikuRiku?"
"Oh, I like that about it, too," Big Sister's avatar grinned. "But… it's more about the existentialist theme. Searching for meaning in a meaningless world. That sort of thing."
"Ah."
Silence.
"...I don't see it like that." Silas elaborated.
"Hmm?"
"I mean, I don't think it's meaningless. It's only meaningless if you make it meaningless. And the RikuRiku in this anime decided that she was going to give herself her own meaning, which to her is just… living. For the sake of living. She'll wander forever because she… can."
"...Are you sure? I interpret her whole stance on life as ambivalent at best. She seems pessimistic, especially in her acknowledgement of the fact that whatever they do, they will never have any semblance of permanence in the sand planet," Big Sister insisted.
Silas sniggered. "Heheh. I'm - I'm sorry. Hearing RikuRiku's voice say all those big words just sounds so… I mean… hah…" Silas chuckled some more. Big Sister raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, Big Sister intoned in a loud, cheery voice: "How about like this: 'RikuRiku just seems so… down, you know? I don't think she's nearly as happy as you make her out to be, Silas! She's always talking about how 'no grass will grow for a millenia,' and her body language is so… stiff. Like, she's always got this scowl on. Your interpretation seems awfully naive!" All the while, she had a goofy, air-looking smile on, and she'd increased the brightness of her character sprite by a few lumens.
"Dear god, no no no, that's too much!" Silas laughed. In response, Big Sister made a noise that was probably a giggle of her own. Which was strange, because Big Sister didn't giggle. "Besides, you're still wrong. Even if you phrased it more childishly."
"You think you can beat your Big Sister at something like this?" Big Sister looked almost mocking.
"I can if you're wrong," Silas said. "Big Sis - RikuRiku knows that everything she does is futile, but she doesn't care. She knows some of her friends are leaving to never come back, she knows she herself will fade away eventually - but she doesn't care. She's alive, and walking, now, and so she's fine with doing what she can to shape the world while she clings to existence. That's... that's how I see it, anyway."
"You seem awfully passionate about that." Big Sister sounded impassive.
"Yeah."
"I… I hope your interpretation is correct."
"...yeah."
A long time passed before either of them made a sound. The lights slowly started to dim. Silas's eyes started to get droopy. Before he succumbed to sleep entirely, he closed the video streaming service on his tablet. He rested the tablet right by his head, the smooth frame knocking lightly against his cheek. "Night, Big Sis."
"Goodnight, Silas."
Big Sister: REL +1
SKL: +0.5
CHAR: +0.25
CRE: +0.25
WEEK 3 IS STARTING! It will be AUTUMN next turn.
Please choose two [SOCIAL] actions, one [CLUB] action and one [AS] action.
[] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: (Who?)
[] [SOCIAL] Atone to someone: (Who? Must have negative REL)
[] [CLUB] Hang out (Good chance for REL Increase with club members)
[] [CLUB] Work. (Influence future club actions, ???)
[] [CLUB] Help out the officers. (REL increase for Matsuoka, Reizei, ???)
[] [AS] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[] [AS] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[] [AS] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [AS] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
[] [AS] Stay after school (May meet classmates there, ???)
[] [AS] Talk with Big Sis (???)
I recently changed my status to "Hiatus? I don't know the meaning of the word!" ...This was meant to be irony, because I expected to have an active update schedule this past week. Especially since the weekend turns are a lot shorter than the weekday turns. A lot shorter. But… then I got a few penpal letters… and a *shiver* dialectical journal project… and my brother's birthday put me out of commission for a whole Saturday… Heheh… Sorry.
Also, I'm going to start seriously consolidating these turns. First and foremost, this is a Quest, not a novel, and while the narrative is important, I have to make sure this seems more like a game with a strong narrative than a story with tacked-on mechanical effects and stats. Besides, getting all the information I want to portray into as few words as possible is a writing skill in it of itself. Also… I really just want to be able to update more often.
NEW STATUS!
Silas wants to know more about Maeda. New Information about her in the character sheet will be considerably more accurate and come with more detail. This ignores the penalty for "Sensitive". (Duration: 3 weeks.)
PERSONALITY EVOLVES!
Former NEET --> Student Otaku - Silas is slowly emerging from his NEET stupor, and he is more open to social situations... but only to people he already has a bond with, out of a fear of exposing his otaku-ness to others. Silas is incredibly appreciative of the people he has already met, but is slow to connect to new people now that the initial rush to find friends has passed. (Sociability set to Warm. +15 Success threshold to social interactions with all students whose REL >= 7 OR students who are fellow club members, -5 Success Threshold otherwise.)
Club Actions:
[x] [CLUB] (Special) Attend Study Hall (??% SKL +0.5, ??% SKL +1)
The walk to the drama club room was a long one, but Silas himself didn't mind the distance. There was a certain spring to his step, and he found himself absentmindedly humming one of RikuRiku's recent songs - something about sakura blooms in the wind, spinning and dancing in the glow of the afternoon light. It was a fun tune.
With a purpose, he grabbed, with both hands, the sliding door to the club room and forced it open. "U-Um… hi, guys! I'm - " he started to say. But he froze.
Shinohara was standing in the doorway, barely a few inches in front of his face. Whatever idle conversation that had been going on behind her died down.
"...here."
Shinohara's face scrunched up into something that looked like apprehension. She backed away slowly. Silas did, too. "...You."
"...Me." Silas couldn't look her in the eye. "Uh… hi, Shinohara."
"You," Shinohara repeated. She spoke in a quieter tone: "You weren't supposed to hear that…"
Suddenly, Shinohara pushed her way past Silas, ducking into the hallway and leaving a trail of papers in her wake. "Just realized I have stuff to do. Sorry, Yumika-san!" she said as she disappeared into Yamaha's labyrinth of hallways.
"...Uh… Hana?" Mikado scratched his head. "What was that all about…?"
Reizei concurred. "What's her problem? Yumika?"
"Oh no. Oh no," Matsuoka looked grief-stricken. "Sai-ku - ah - I mean, Yamigawa-kun, this isn't our fault, is it? No, no no… it's our fault!"
"Wait, what? How would it be - " Reizei was talking, but Matsuoka interrupted him.
"Remember last week? We were making fun of her since she used Yamigawa-kun's first name?"
"Oh, yeah! Shit, I didn't think she was taking that seriously…" Reizei sighed. "You don't think - "
"We must rush to the aid of our comrade at once!" Kuroda exclaimed. "She is in need of assistance! It is our sworn duties to protect - "
"-Um!" the clubroom fell silent. "It's… it's not you guys. It's probably my fault." Silas's eyes trailed the floor.
"Eh? Why?"
"I…" Silas fidgeted in place. They were looking at him, some of them with suspicion behind their expressions. His heart sunk; he hated the feeling that he'd let them down, even marginally, even if he didn't actually do anything. "I was talking to her the other day, and we brought up horror movies, and… u-uh… she might have… revealed more about herself t-than she wanted to?"
To his surprise, the room started uttering sighs of understanding. "Ohh… hahah… yeah…" Rakuyama scratched her head. "Well, uh… I don't… I mean…"
"Hana is quite..." Kuroda started, but he stopped himself. "S-She's… ah… a kindred spirit…?"
"She's sort of… Well, it's not like she's bad about it, or anything, but…" Mikado looked uncomfortable.
"She's sort of a sa - " Reizei tried, but Matsuoka cut him off. Again.
"Hana likes drama! A lot!" Matsuoka explained quickly. "...but she's… a bit… passionate about her liking? That's a good way to describe it, right, Renji-kun?"
"Y-Yes, yes! Passion! That's how I'd describe it!" Reizei nodded, a bit too enthusiastically.
Silas found he was chuckling softly. It was a nervous chuckle. "You guys are keeping something from me, aren't you?" His fellow clubmates tried their best to avert their eyes and hide their guilty faces.
"Hey, at least we aren't the Student Council," Matsuoka replied, smirking. She got a few chuckles in response.
"Oh, so I wasn't the only one to pick up on that?" Silas said, genuinely smiling.
"I know, right?" Rakuyama seemed relieved to be away from that topic. "Like, the Student Council kids are always sulking and mumbling about dark shit. They need to chill out. Except for Maeda, though. She's nice."
"Right? Omigod, did I ever tell you this time the Student Council president approached me around when school started? Ichiro-kun walked up to me, this weird, macabre expression on his face, and he said, 'Does the Black Moon howl?' Who says - "
"Oi! Are we going to begin our studying any time soon, my friends?" Kuroda boomed. "Or will we be here forever, mucking about in our own inaction and complacency? The time for action is nigh!"
"...I'm kind of with him. Can we start?" Silas asked gingerly.
Matsuoka gigled. Rakuyama rolled her eyes. Reizei sighed exasperatedly. Mikado shook his head, smiling. The tension seemed to have dissipated from the room, now. There would be no more talk of Shinohara for the rest of the weekend. Gingerly, Silas seated himself near the edge of the table and next to Rakuyama. For a while, they settled into relative normalcy - at least, as normal as this particular group of students could possibly manage. There they were: Six perfectly normal teenaged children... and two empty seats.
"... I don't get it."
Silas furrowed his brows. "You multiply this by this, then take this to the other side… and since the variable here isn't x, you have to multiply it by dy/dx."
"Wait - what?"
"Implicit differentiation rules! You know - "
"I don't know! Please, stop assuming I do."
Silas paused. Rakuyama was looking more and more exasperated as the day went on, and he had a feeling at least some of it was his fault… it was pretty difficult to articulate these kinds of things. "...sorry."
Rakuyama sighed. "It's alright, it's alright. I'm just… I'm not very good at this. I'm grateful you're trying, at least…"
"I can go over it again, if you want."
"Yes," Rakuyama smiled weakly. "Please. Slowly."
Reizei looked over. Silas caught his eye. There was a strange expression on his face, something that seemed like anger but really, really subdued - but the look passed as quickly as it had come, and Reizei returned to his work.
Shinohara seems to be avoiding Silas...
One of Rakuyama's traits has been discovered!
Slow - Rakuyama is a bit airheaded, and her grades tend to suffer as a result. This dismays her quite a bit. (Higher chance for REL Increase for study-related actions involving Rakuyama. She tends to want to seek study actions with other students.)
Rakuyama Riku, Matsuoka Yumika, Kuroda Harima: +1 REL
SKL: +1
Afterschool actions:
[x] [EXTRA] (Special) Otaku stuff!
[X] [EXTRA] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
Study was all about memorization and recall, something which Silas was almost intimately familiar with. Some of the best grand strategy titles relied upon intricate attention to detail and the ability to keep track of millions of little variables going on at once. It was a system; a cycle. And Silas was rather adept at it.
...Unfortunately, all of the nebulous metaphors to grand strategy games and the ready access to his computer gradually drove him to visit the AH subforum on JubunNaSokudo again, and from there on it was a hop skip and a jump to binging something from the Fall seasonal anime list…
Long story short, Silas's study session melded into an Otaku night very, very quickly. Thankfully, only after he'd gotten through most of the important stuff. So it was okay, right?
It was already around midnight, and Silas was lying in the futon in the middle of his room, surrounded by cans of soda and crumpled bags of chips. He'd clean it out tomorrow, he promised himself. He watched with morbid fascination the anime on his tablet - something about a sand planet and a cameo for RikuRiku constantly searching for water and life in a parched and barren land.
"I like this one," Big Sister said idly.
"You do?" Silas asked. "Is it because the idol is RikuRiku?"
"Oh, I like that about it, too," Big Sister's avatar grinned. "But… it's more about the existentialist theme. Searching for meaning in a meaningless world. That sort of thing."
"Ah."
Silence.
"...I don't see it like that." Silas elaborated.
"Hmm?"
"I mean, I don't think it's meaningless. It's only meaningless if you make it meaningless. And the RikuRiku in this anime decided that she was going to give herself her own meaning, which to her is just… living. For the sake of living. She'll wander forever because she… can."
"...Are you sure? I interpret her whole stance on life as ambivalent at best. She seems pessimistic, especially in her acknowledgement of the fact that whatever they do, they will never have any semblance of permanence in the sand planet," Big Sister insisted.
Silas sniggered. "Heheh. I'm - I'm sorry. Hearing RikuRiku's voice say all those big words just sounds so… I mean… hah…" Silas chuckled some more. Big Sister raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, Big Sister intoned in a loud, cheery voice: "How about like this: 'RikuRiku just seems so… down, you know? I don't think she's nearly as happy as you make her out to be, Silas! She's always talking about how 'no grass will grow for a millenia,' and her body language is so… stiff. Like, she's always got this scowl on. Your interpretation seems awfully naive!" All the while, she had a goofy, air-looking smile on, and she'd increased the brightness of her character sprite by a few lumens.
"Dear god, no no no, that's too much!" Silas laughed. In response, Big Sister made a noise that was probably a giggle of her own. Which was strange, because Big Sister didn't giggle. "Besides, you're still wrong. Even if you phrased it more childishly."
"You think you can beat your Big Sister at something like this?" Big Sister looked almost mocking.
"I can if you're wrong," Silas said. "Big Sis - RikuRiku knows that everything she does is futile, but she doesn't care. She knows some of her friends are leaving to never come back, she knows she herself will fade away eventually - but she doesn't care. She's alive, and walking, now, and so she's fine with doing what she can to shape the world while she clings to existence. That's... that's how I see it, anyway."
"You seem awfully passionate about that." Big Sister sounded impassive.
"Yeah."
"I… I hope your interpretation is correct."
"...yeah."
A long time passed before either of them made a sound. The lights slowly started to dim. Silas's eyes started to get droopy. Before he succumbed to sleep entirely, he closed the video streaming service on his tablet. He rested the tablet right by his head, the smooth frame knocking lightly against his cheek. "Night, Big Sis."
"Goodnight, Silas."
Big Sister: REL +1
SKL: +0.5
CHAR: +0.25
CRE: +0.25
WEEK 3 IS STARTING! It will be AUTUMN next turn.
Please choose two [SOCIAL] actions, one [CLUB] action and one [AS] action.
[] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: (Who?)
[] [SOCIAL] Atone to someone: (Who? Must have negative REL)
[] [CLUB] Hang out (Good chance for REL Increase with club members)
[] [CLUB] Work. (Influence future club actions, ???)
[] [CLUB] Help out the officers. (REL increase for Matsuoka, Reizei, ???)
[] [AS] Study Alone (SKL +0.5)
[] [AS] (Special) Otaku stuff!
-[] Grand Strategy games! (INT +0.25)
-[] Anime, music, "culture!" (CRE +0.25)
-[] Forum scrolling! (CHAR +0.25)
[] [AS] Exercise… yay? (+0.25 PHYS)
[] [AS] Walk around the city (May encounter events, random, ???)
[] [AS] Stay after school (May meet classmates there, ???)
[] [AS] Talk with Big Sis (???)
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[X] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: Maeda Kirino
[X] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: Matsuoka Yumika
[X] [CLUB] Work. (Influence future club actions, ???)
[X] [AS] Stay after school (May meet classmates there, ???)
Maeda for the quest. Matsuoka is the closest to a Friend we can get, for now, so she's up for First Friend(after Big Sister).
Plus once we befriend her, her bonuses would help wit hthe next one!
[X] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: Matsuoka Yumika
[X] [CLUB] Work. (Influence future club actions, ???)
[X] [AS] Stay after school (May meet classmates there, ???)
Maeda for the quest. Matsuoka is the closest to a Friend we can get, for now, so she's up for First Friend(after Big Sister).
Plus once we befriend her, her bonuses would help wit hthe next one!
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
But Sensitive does not have penalties?
Incidentally, Shinohara does have REL at +8, so she is eligible for this bonus. It's still not the best chances, but it's better than ~27% we've had before. The next closest is... Rauyama Riku? Huh.
Please don't kill us horribly, it was just an accident.
When is our movie week due?
We need a Study action in there to bring our SKL up to par, but other than that I am open to suggestions. Maeda and Matsuoka don't sound too bad.
Edit: nvm, our SKL is at 2.25 already, so we can pass the test, even though the grade likely won't be anything special.
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LuciDreamer
Maliciously Incompetent
- Location
- United States
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Ah, Sensitive's penalty would be the "But he is a little bit oblivious to things people may want to hide" part of the flavortext.
EDIT; Oh, and Matsuoka hasn't looked at the list Silas sent her yet, but reckons she can get the movie night in at the end of this week. If all goes well, there might even be guests on that day.
EDIT; Oh, and Matsuoka hasn't looked at the list Silas sent her yet, but reckons she can get the movie night in at the end of this week. If all goes well, there might even be guests on that day.
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- Location
- St. Petersburg
More collateral damage, yaaay!
Also, we seem to have mini-goals that aren't reflected anywhere on our CHAR sheet.
Does PHYS decline with lack of exercise? Or would it be too much to keep track of?
[X] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: Maeda Kirino
[X] [SOCIAL] Talk with someone: Matsuoka Yumika
[x] [CLUB] Help out the officers. (REL increase for Matsuoka, Reizei, ???)
[x] [AS] Talk with Big Sis (???)