Let me say that my retention of last night is somewhat lacking. After about 10 pm EST, I was playing while asleep. Around 11pm, I tried to lay down on my desk, but my Altoid tin got in the way. And we played 'til 1pm. Yeah, I was just hitting buttons, and sometimes they were even the right ones.
And I'm not feeling so hot today, so if I skip over stuff, you'll have to forgive me.
Apparently, the part we did about Fyre's locket was a little confusing. Briefly, let me correct it. Vagz (Yeah, I've known him for a looong time. I can call him that if I want) was meeting Fyre to tell her what he'd found out about the locket that Strym offered her. Mason and Frost show up just as Vagz started. Fyre's not exactly enthusiastic. Frost, she doesn't want to freak out any more. Mason... well, Fyre doesn't even particularly want him around. Frost and Mason are goofing off, so obviously this isn't important to them, anyway. Fyre suggests that they don't need to be there, and Mason says, "I want to help." Fyre figures that if it's like the "help" he's provided so far, she doesn't need it or want it, but since they have an audience, she lets it go.
Vagz tells them that the locket is old enough to have belonged to Fyre's ancestor, Katherine, but it's impossible to tell if it did or not. He says there is spell on it that would do what Strym said, protect Fyre from Katherine's and the demon's influence. However, that spell will drop away with a "magic word," or some type of key, and reveal a spell underneath. He makes the locket burst into flame, as a metaphor. The spell underneath will make her MORE susceptible to the demon's and Katherine's influence, more than likely allowing either of them to take over. Katherine especially just wants to kill and destroy. Releasing the second spell would certainly cause death and destruction. If Strym was counting on E being close to Fyre, it would be an excellent way to kill E. Or if he wants Jen out of the way for his own daughter to be the only "Child of Destiny," then possibly Jen. At least, just the nearest half dozen people. In the best case scenario for Strym, Fyre would kill at least E. In the worst case, Fyre's out of the equation, either being held accountable for probably multiple deaths, or dead.
That's a problem.
Vagz offers to remove the spells from the locket, but Fyre wonders if it's that's completely possible. She's doubtful. Mason makes a big deal of it later, but Fyre doesn't trust Vagz. No, he hasn't done anything to "screw her over," as Mason says, but she doesn't know him. At one point, Mason starts to point out that since Vagz is a magic user, Fyre should automatically trust him. Not in the least. After all, magic is what's gotten her into this mess to begin with. If it wasn't for a magical curse, her life would be entirely different.
I'm glad we didn't talk too much about E's condition, because I could not remember a thing about what E had posted on his blog. My reading comprehension was lacking, I guess.
Mason has his hissy fit, and Fyre refuses to go after him, though commonly that's something she's done. Frost and Fyre have a short conversation. Fyre is tired, and about to give up. Frost seems to hope she has a plan, but she doesn't. She's running out of options.
They do a relatively quiet mission or two.
During the Malta mission, I couldn't work Fyre up too much. Some of it was the player's failings. Some of it, though, was Fyre. There weren't actually many Malta in the mission. The first group, except for one, was destroyed when they blew up the first evidence box, which our characters never saw. I won't say that she's getting used to fighting Malta, but it's not so much of a shock now. She thinks maybe Mason knew that there was going to be Malta in the lab and just didn't tell her. Maybe on purpose to scare her, or freak her out, or get revenge for her fighting with and then ignoring him. And she's not willing to show him any weakness right then, even it it kills her. Plus, her player wanted to succeed in that stupid mission this time. (The first Malta mission they did, where Fyre FREAKED, was the same one, just E's version and they failed horribly. I didn't even know what the mission goal was that time, honestly) The second box was placed badly, and they failed again.
The pause after the crash I got exiting the mission pretty much did me in, and I slept through the rest of... whatever we did.
I'll either try to be more "with it" tonight, or maybe let Cass out of the box. Which doesn't sound like a bad idea for a couple of reasons.
I am getting frustrated with the Warshade. I'm beginning to remember why I didn't mind deleting the last one, even though she was level 33. After you get your pets at 32, before you finish saying, "Those are cool!" you're bored again. The powers are... kinda nifty, but they don't have such a big impact. The damage is nothing special, and that's more and more obvious with higher levels. I got rid of the dwarf because I didn't have it slotted very well, and I wasn't willing to use up anymore slots that I could use somewhere else on powers I used more often. If we'd keep playing these characters after 50, I wouldn't think twice about going back to blaster-Fyre. In fact, if I could think of a good reason, I'd probably drag blaster-Fyre around to be exemplared. We'll see, I guess.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Friday, June 1, 2007
Ninja Drama
No, there were no ninjas involved. But last night's "drama" snuck up on me.
Most of the night was relatively quiet. Yeah, Mase gave Fyre the back rub. Fyre knew what to expect. Fyre's not dumb. She doesn't have a lot of the kind of knowledge that E, the doctor, does, or Mason, the former chemist, does, but she's experienced with people. Particularly with people who want something from her. Giving someone a massage in the middle of Pocket D doesn't have anything to do with relaxation, or even the outside chance at seduction. Mason wanted something. She didn't know what until he studied the mark on her neck, and then she figured it out.
For someone who said no more lies and no more secrets, Mason's been untruthful at best, deceitful at worse. It made her mad, probably as expected.
Star had joined them and was acting strange. You know, stranger than usual. But Fyre was preoccupied, and when it was clear that Star wasn't hurt or in danger, Fyre just had more immediate concerns.
Fyre pulled E aside to tell him about the guy that Malta had kidnapped. She knew talking to E alone would make Mason and Frost suspicious, but she wasn't willing let out information that E would want kept quiet, even to Star. As soon as she was able, she at least told them what it was about, so they wouldn't be concerned. Of course, she doesn't care if they trust her or not, right? Of course not. Right. Suurre, she doesn't.
Throughout the night, Fyre was acting more than a bit "out of it," and a little vague. Uh, that was mostly the player. Long day, player was tired and preoccupied. But, it fit Fyre's storyline nicely, so I let it go, and even played it up some. Fyre's not sleeping, stressed, scared, and trying to manage entirely too many things. So if she doesn't pay attention when someone talks, goes the wrong direction, or stares into space for long periods of time, it's really no wonder.
Fyre considers one of her "people" being caught as another failure on her part. But she can't let herself doubt the plans or the people, or she'll make herself crazy worrying about Jen's safety. Fyre's putting only herself at risk, and both character and player slipped last night when Fyre said, "No one knows where Jen is except for me and the people with her." She and I didn't think anyone caught it, but she admitted that she knew where Jen was, when she had claimed not to previously. Fyre figures that eventually, Strym's going to go the direct route to get to Jen, and the only way to get to Jen is first find someone who knows where she is. If the others don't know, Strym has no reason to go after them. And, you can't tell information you don't have. She knows she won't tell, no matter what Strym does, but she's not willing to risk Jen's safety with anyone else.
While she was talking to E, though, she noticed that he was "glowing" more than before. He denied it, and she agreed, just to avoid an argument. She knows something's going on. She doesn't know what, though.
So, Council caves, Council World complete with Nazi parade march music... all pretty quiet, drama-wise. Mason dismisses Star, and they head to their next mission in King's Row. E gets there first, and he's on fire. Fyre's had nightmares like that for almost a year. She's shocked enough that she's almost not sure of what she's seeing for a minute. Cutting through Pocket D, someone had thrown fire shields on him, and she realizes that's what it is before E explains, but it was still a very unpleasant image for her.
Now that the four of them are alone, they discuss what Fyre told E. Nice, calm discussion. Mostly. Mason's a bit dense, and E is less than patient with him.
E starts rubbing his arm, and Mason tries to help him. E seems to very much NOT want help. Fyre stands back. There's nothing she can do, after all. Mason's the comforter, the healer. She's the destroyer, she does the damage. That's always been her role in the team, and in situations like this, she usually feels like she has nothing to contribute. And, E really, really doesn't seem to want "help." But then E starts saying he has to get to his "appointment." Fyre doesn't trust these "appointments" in the least. He's secretive and maybe a little obsessive about them, and they seem to be making him worse. E's not a good liar or secret-keeper. Something is very wrong here. He needs help, which becomes more and more apparent. His hospital teleporter kicks in, and the question of what to do with him is taken out of their hands.
(In the logs now, I see that E's player had exited the character from the team, but I'd already hit the teleport for Fyre to drag him back, and I didn't even see that line until today)
So... they all band together and cooperate to find a solution to the problem.
Yeah, right.
They're stunned, shocked, concerned, scared, and lost. Fyre's trying to think of something to do, and even wondering if there were signs that something this extreme was going to happen. Mason's unhappy about his apparent helplessness. He prompts Fyre to work on getting them more information. Fyre replies, condensed and paraphrased, "Duh." She is still angry about one of her "people's" failure, and has added that to the mistakes that she's made recently. She's working herself up to a rant, and Mason interrupts to say that he's sorry he was angry at her for not doing enough for E.
What?
She's done everything she feel she possibly could for E. She tried to help him get Jen back, and when necessary, she's put herself at risk to keep Jen, and E, safe. She gave him a place to stay, and more, when he needed it. During which time, Mason was a homicidal psychopath who wanted to kill them both, and not much after that, a ticking time bomb that they dragged around with them, trying to help him, with no help at all from him. As far as she's concerned, she's the only one who's actually working on the problem of Strym. Mason and E talk a lot, but they haven't done anything. She'd love to charge up to Strym and set him on fire... or as the case may be, turn him into one of those little fluff-balls that follow her around. But that's not possible, so she's been doing the only other thing that's open to her.
Mason plows on, telling her that she hasn't "taken care of" E. The hints he throws out seem to have a lot less to do with keeping E safe, and a lot more with significant-otherly duties, which Mason admits that E doesn't want from him. Fyre did that at one point, but it ended, prompted in no small part by the fight that Fyre and E had when Fyre bailed Mason out of jail. Fyre hasn't really explained that to Mason, though he's asked, because she doesn't want him to blame himself. When Mason hints now that it was because Fyre failed, she yells it at him.
She doesn't know what else she could have possibly done to "take care of" E. She suggests that she should let Strym kill her again, and maybe that would appease Mason. Mason, though, hears differently, and thinks that she's implying that she's cut, or attempted to cut, a deal with Strym. He throws up all his armors and tries to act threatening and intimidating. She's never been afraid of Mason, even when he was trying to kill her, so she's doubly not impressed now. And, also, more pissed off than ever. Threatening Fyre isn't going to get you anywhere you want to go.
Mason backs down from that tactic, and says he expected Fyre to be "maternal." When Mason says "maternal," she hears "weak, girly, silly," and a ton of other stereotypical, negative female roles. Fyre is incredibly protective of people she thinks deserve it. She's done it with E and Mason most notably, but also Star and to some degree Frost. While he's said she hasn't done enough for E, she thought he meant things like protective, but with "maternal," and "girl things," she's seeing that all along, he's meant "girlfriend things."
Mason says, "And that's probably all he wanted out of you."
What? That's all she's capable of? No way. The anger sky-rockets. "That's not all he wanted. Some men appreciate women that aren't weaklings. Some men like equals." Men who aren't "weaklings" themselves, who are confident enough not to be intimidated by a woman who's not a push-over. Like E. Not like Mason. Mason keeps going on his "maternal" rift, though, and he's equating "maternal" with "protective." Not only is she not buying it, but it's making her see red.
She screams at him, "What the fuck else did you want me to do? I died for him--" As soon as she says it, she realizes what she's said. Something she hasn't even said to herself. If she did die for him, then, in a way, her death was his fault.
Before Malta came up recently, she mentioned her death twice. Once in one sentence to E and Mason when they all regrouped, at the beginning of Team 2.0, and once to E, when they were fighting, in very cold, clinical terms. She hasn't thought about it, and certainly hasn't dealt with it.
Mason admits that he was wrong for saying that she hasn't done enough for E. It's too late, though, the damage has been done. Mason's already said what he thinks of her, that she's inadequate, untrustworthy, and good for little more than "girl things," which she can't even do right. Worse, the things that she has tried to do, above and beyond the things that Mason thinks she's capable of or that Mason himself is capable of, haven't worked.
Mason offers to let her hit him if it will make her feel better. Hitting things is Mason's answer to most questions, and the last thing she wants to do at that moment is be anything like Mason, though maybe she would really like to hit him. If he'd made the offer five minutes before, she'd have probably taken him up on it.
Mason suggests that he should go away for awhile. Mason likes to run away from things, Fyre knows. Usually she tries her best to make him see things through, but right now she just doesn't care, and definitely doesn't want him around. He's ceased to be any kind of help, and he's done his best to hurt her, just when she trusted him again.
E is out of of commission, Fyre's barely holding it together, Mason's... well, who can keep track of Mason?, and poor Frost is probably traumatized from everything he's seen and heard, and/or suffering radiation sickness. Team Angst should be... interesting tonight.
Most of the night was relatively quiet. Yeah, Mase gave Fyre the back rub. Fyre knew what to expect. Fyre's not dumb. She doesn't have a lot of the kind of knowledge that E, the doctor, does, or Mason, the former chemist, does, but she's experienced with people. Particularly with people who want something from her. Giving someone a massage in the middle of Pocket D doesn't have anything to do with relaxation, or even the outside chance at seduction. Mason wanted something. She didn't know what until he studied the mark on her neck, and then she figured it out.
For someone who said no more lies and no more secrets, Mason's been untruthful at best, deceitful at worse. It made her mad, probably as expected.
Star had joined them and was acting strange. You know, stranger than usual. But Fyre was preoccupied, and when it was clear that Star wasn't hurt or in danger, Fyre just had more immediate concerns.
Fyre pulled E aside to tell him about the guy that Malta had kidnapped. She knew talking to E alone would make Mason and Frost suspicious, but she wasn't willing let out information that E would want kept quiet, even to Star. As soon as she was able, she at least told them what it was about, so they wouldn't be concerned. Of course, she doesn't care if they trust her or not, right? Of course not. Right. Suurre, she doesn't.
Throughout the night, Fyre was acting more than a bit "out of it," and a little vague. Uh, that was mostly the player. Long day, player was tired and preoccupied. But, it fit Fyre's storyline nicely, so I let it go, and even played it up some. Fyre's not sleeping, stressed, scared, and trying to manage entirely too many things. So if she doesn't pay attention when someone talks, goes the wrong direction, or stares into space for long periods of time, it's really no wonder.
Fyre considers one of her "people" being caught as another failure on her part. But she can't let herself doubt the plans or the people, or she'll make herself crazy worrying about Jen's safety. Fyre's putting only herself at risk, and both character and player slipped last night when Fyre said, "No one knows where Jen is except for me and the people with her." She and I didn't think anyone caught it, but she admitted that she knew where Jen was, when she had claimed not to previously. Fyre figures that eventually, Strym's going to go the direct route to get to Jen, and the only way to get to Jen is first find someone who knows where she is. If the others don't know, Strym has no reason to go after them. And, you can't tell information you don't have. She knows she won't tell, no matter what Strym does, but she's not willing to risk Jen's safety with anyone else.
While she was talking to E, though, she noticed that he was "glowing" more than before. He denied it, and she agreed, just to avoid an argument. She knows something's going on. She doesn't know what, though.
So, Council caves, Council World complete with Nazi parade march music... all pretty quiet, drama-wise. Mason dismisses Star, and they head to their next mission in King's Row. E gets there first, and he's on fire. Fyre's had nightmares like that for almost a year. She's shocked enough that she's almost not sure of what she's seeing for a minute. Cutting through Pocket D, someone had thrown fire shields on him, and she realizes that's what it is before E explains, but it was still a very unpleasant image for her.
Now that the four of them are alone, they discuss what Fyre told E. Nice, calm discussion. Mostly. Mason's a bit dense, and E is less than patient with him.
E starts rubbing his arm, and Mason tries to help him. E seems to very much NOT want help. Fyre stands back. There's nothing she can do, after all. Mason's the comforter, the healer. She's the destroyer, she does the damage. That's always been her role in the team, and in situations like this, she usually feels like she has nothing to contribute. And, E really, really doesn't seem to want "help." But then E starts saying he has to get to his "appointment." Fyre doesn't trust these "appointments" in the least. He's secretive and maybe a little obsessive about them, and they seem to be making him worse. E's not a good liar or secret-keeper. Something is very wrong here. He needs help, which becomes more and more apparent. His hospital teleporter kicks in, and the question of what to do with him is taken out of their hands.
(In the logs now, I see that E's player had exited the character from the team, but I'd already hit the teleport for Fyre to drag him back, and I didn't even see that line until today)
So... they all band together and cooperate to find a solution to the problem.
Yeah, right.
They're stunned, shocked, concerned, scared, and lost. Fyre's trying to think of something to do, and even wondering if there were signs that something this extreme was going to happen. Mason's unhappy about his apparent helplessness. He prompts Fyre to work on getting them more information. Fyre replies, condensed and paraphrased, "Duh." She is still angry about one of her "people's" failure, and has added that to the mistakes that she's made recently. She's working herself up to a rant, and Mason interrupts to say that he's sorry he was angry at her for not doing enough for E.
What?
She's done everything she feel she possibly could for E. She tried to help him get Jen back, and when necessary, she's put herself at risk to keep Jen, and E, safe. She gave him a place to stay, and more, when he needed it. During which time, Mason was a homicidal psychopath who wanted to kill them both, and not much after that, a ticking time bomb that they dragged around with them, trying to help him, with no help at all from him. As far as she's concerned, she's the only one who's actually working on the problem of Strym. Mason and E talk a lot, but they haven't done anything. She'd love to charge up to Strym and set him on fire... or as the case may be, turn him into one of those little fluff-balls that follow her around. But that's not possible, so she's been doing the only other thing that's open to her.
Mason plows on, telling her that she hasn't "taken care of" E. The hints he throws out seem to have a lot less to do with keeping E safe, and a lot more with significant-otherly duties, which Mason admits that E doesn't want from him. Fyre did that at one point, but it ended, prompted in no small part by the fight that Fyre and E had when Fyre bailed Mason out of jail. Fyre hasn't really explained that to Mason, though he's asked, because she doesn't want him to blame himself. When Mason hints now that it was because Fyre failed, she yells it at him.
She doesn't know what else she could have possibly done to "take care of" E. She suggests that she should let Strym kill her again, and maybe that would appease Mason. Mason, though, hears differently, and thinks that she's implying that she's cut, or attempted to cut, a deal with Strym. He throws up all his armors and tries to act threatening and intimidating. She's never been afraid of Mason, even when he was trying to kill her, so she's doubly not impressed now. And, also, more pissed off than ever. Threatening Fyre isn't going to get you anywhere you want to go.
Mason backs down from that tactic, and says he expected Fyre to be "maternal." When Mason says "maternal," she hears "weak, girly, silly," and a ton of other stereotypical, negative female roles. Fyre is incredibly protective of people she thinks deserve it. She's done it with E and Mason most notably, but also Star and to some degree Frost. While he's said she hasn't done enough for E, she thought he meant things like protective, but with "maternal," and "girl things," she's seeing that all along, he's meant "girlfriend things."
Mason says, "And that's probably all he wanted out of you."
What? That's all she's capable of? No way. The anger sky-rockets. "That's not all he wanted. Some men appreciate women that aren't weaklings. Some men like equals." Men who aren't "weaklings" themselves, who are confident enough not to be intimidated by a woman who's not a push-over. Like E. Not like Mason. Mason keeps going on his "maternal" rift, though, and he's equating "maternal" with "protective." Not only is she not buying it, but it's making her see red.
She screams at him, "What the fuck else did you want me to do? I died for him--" As soon as she says it, she realizes what she's said. Something she hasn't even said to herself. If she did die for him, then, in a way, her death was his fault.
Before Malta came up recently, she mentioned her death twice. Once in one sentence to E and Mason when they all regrouped, at the beginning of Team 2.0, and once to E, when they were fighting, in very cold, clinical terms. She hasn't thought about it, and certainly hasn't dealt with it.
Mason admits that he was wrong for saying that she hasn't done enough for E. It's too late, though, the damage has been done. Mason's already said what he thinks of her, that she's inadequate, untrustworthy, and good for little more than "girl things," which she can't even do right. Worse, the things that she has tried to do, above and beyond the things that Mason thinks she's capable of or that Mason himself is capable of, haven't worked.
Mason offers to let her hit him if it will make her feel better. Hitting things is Mason's answer to most questions, and the last thing she wants to do at that moment is be anything like Mason, though maybe she would really like to hit him. If he'd made the offer five minutes before, she'd have probably taken him up on it.
Mason suggests that he should go away for awhile. Mason likes to run away from things, Fyre knows. Usually she tries her best to make him see things through, but right now she just doesn't care, and definitely doesn't want him around. He's ceased to be any kind of help, and he's done his best to hurt her, just when she trusted him again.
E is out of of commission, Fyre's barely holding it together, Mason's... well, who can keep track of Mason?, and poor Frost is probably traumatized from everything he's seen and heard, and/or suffering radiation sickness. Team Angst should be... interesting tonight.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
"Subtle" Drama
Okay, wised up a little today. Put the logs onto my flash drive so I could refer back today while I worked on a post. Don’t expect this level of brilliance to continue.
There was a lot of more subtle drama last night. The subtle stuff probably needs more explaining than the in-your-face melodrama that actually can be easier.
So, let’s start at the beginning. Frost had a hot cup of coffee. No big deal, right? It is to someone who could never eat or drink anything without turning it cold. It was too hot for Frost, though. Because he’s not used to it, or because the amulet is wonky? Good question.
(As an aside, I noticed this before, but… the NPC’s in Pocket D talk entirely too much. Shut up, already. And, there was a character in Pocket D while Frosty was having his coffee, talking in Broadcast named “MANCRUSH“ running around, saying “MANCRUSH mancrushes on“ and he‘d throw in a random name. *snicker*)
Oh, and we can’t forget E, Mason and Frost geeking out to Pikachu and friends. Fyre and I were both lost, and we both resisted commentating. Much.
That was Carnies and Praetorians. Frost has Carnie issues as we all know. But, he handled it well. Fyre and I are of the opinion it was mainly because there were about seven Carnies in the whole mission. The team backed him up, both with tactics and with moral support. But is that going to be enough if there are hordes of Carnies? It’ll be interesting to see.
Small detail Fyre noted: Mason mentioned Jack. Very minor mention, but it’s the first time she’s heard Mason talk about him since he was angry at Jack about the Star thing. Mean anything? Maybe not, but noted.
Frost called it a night, and E, Mason and Fyre did an uneventful Nemesis mission.
And then Malta. Fyre actually should have been more panicky, but I backed off a little. I’m probably… failing the character some, but I just can’t do long drawn out melodrama, I think. I made an effort, but I’m not sure how well it worked. Instead of totally freaking when she saw the Malta, she zoned out for a few minutes. She stayed that way through mission, in some degree or another. If someone would ask her now what happened during the mission, she wouldn’t remember much.
E and Mason tried to convince her there was nothing to worry about. Fyre said she didn’t want to do it, and E told her, “Someone’s going to die if we don’t.” In Fyre’s not-quite-correctly-functioning mind, she heard that someone else was more important than she was. After all, someone already had died, and she isn’t looking forward to doing it again. Then, E tried to make a joke. Mason jumped to her defense, and possibly even over-reacted a little. Having Mason defend her to E woke her up a little. It’s not supposed to work like that, after all, right?
Fyre was hesitant, timid, and quiet. Again, I may have been too subtle. Fyre doesn’t necessarily like fighting, but she’s never been hesitant about jumping in, even if it gets her beat up. She figures it’s just something that needs to be done, and trying to avoid it doesn’t get anyone anywhere, and usually just makes it worse.
Mason said, “I don’t remember them hitting that hard.” Fyre wanted to argue. Of course they hit hard. She’s proof. Then he qualifies it by stating that it was when he was covered in rock. “Oh,” she says. That does change it. She knows that he still has issues with not being as tough as he was, so she understands. And, it does make sense.
It was bound to happen, but there was a Malta Quantum. That revs up the panic level some. And it was about this time that I realized the game was trying to help me out. Fyre has the Warshade version of tp-foe. (Picked up in the last power-picking round, it’s brand new, unslotted) And it wouldn’t hit a damn thing. Well, that’s perfect, isn’t it? Fyre’s light-headed from panic, she’s shaking, she’s about to run out the door, or throw up, or something. Of course she can’t hit anything. I couldn’t have planned it better. (For actual use, that power needs an accuracy, stat.)
A few groups later, E wants to send Mason in his dwarf form into the room first. What?! They’ve been trying to tell Mason that he’s not a tank, pointing that it usually ends in a face-plant, and E wants to use him as a tank now? Is he trying to kill Mason, or what? Fyre wanted to argue, but Mason didn’t wait for it. And he was fine.
Next group, sapper. Uh-oh. Sappers aren’t fun, even when your character’s not deathly afraid of them. (This was the only sapper in the entire mission. I think they try to break new people in on Malta easy. Because I KNOW they usually aren’t this easy. I’ve been stomped by gunslingers and sappers way, way too many times). E suggests another teleport, setting the sapper “right where Doppy can see him.” Fyre has been thinking about E’s ghosts, and their real role. She’s starting to feel bad for them, even. So, she apologizes to Doppy first, then misses, again.
Mason makes a meant-to-be-harmless comment and spurs Fyre into a mini-anxiety-attack. Which, again, I probably under-played. She settles down, tries again, hits, they move on and rescue the hostage without much further incident.
The hostage identifies E by name, and Fyre thinks she recognizes him. E’s player had sent me a tell earlier, and we decided that the hostage is one of Fyre’s “people.” Styrm missed his deadline, remember? He’s going to step it up. He doesn’t seem like he’d take losing very well, so she’s been expecting something. Fyre would have made a phone call and confirmed that it was one of the people she’d had guarding E, though she’d called off that guard once they all realized that the ghosts weren’t going to let anything get past them. Of course, that’s what she was going to do. But, roadblock.
Fyre’s been rubbing the back of her neck. She has a scar there, from the Malta ambush that killed her. Remember, Fyre is still rather vain. Not only does she have an imperfection, but she’s carrying a reminder of a traumatic death. (is that redundant? Can a death be not traumatic? Anyway…) I don’t think she even realizes she’s been doing it, but when Malta comes up, she reaches to touch the scar.
(No, E, it’s NOT a crescent moon shaped scar. But… On that subject, Fyre has been wearing a purple crescent moon as a brooch on her cape since level 30, on the purple outfit. I know, it’s small. I changed the shade of the clothes once, and the cape once, and lost the fishnets, but the brooch has been there, untouched, for 12 levels. And no one’s noticed. What’s it mean? Nothing? Who knows?)
Mason has noticed her motions. She did it again when they were leaving the mission. He says she needs a massage. She catches what she did and figures Mason thinks she’s too tensed up. She thinks about it, and it sounds like a good idea, so she says she’ll call her masseur. Mason hesitates, then says, “Maybe I could do it for you.”
Hold on, time out!
The first time that E touched her more than casually was after a mission against something with a TON of knock back. Fyre didn’t stay on her feet for more than couple of minutes at a time, and complained about being sore. E offered a backrub. Fyre pointed it out to him then, and it should be a universal rule, if a man suggests a back rub, he’s got a lot more than a back rub in mind.
But, wait… Mason’s gay, right? Right? Isn’t he? Oh, sure, he’s said, “I’m not gay,” but that’s not what he meant, right? He’s just not ready to admit to total gay. He says he still likes looking at the Carnies, and he complimented the “hot little number” Fyre wore to lunch. But, women know they can admire and appreciate other women, and not be attracted to them. Fyre’s even told Frost he looks good in his cowboy hat, but that doesn’t mean she wants him. Mason wants E, certainly not Fyre.
Whew. Nothing to get worked up about. Right?
E doesn’t seem so sure. He takes an unfocused, round-about shot at Mason. Crackerjack box… Yeah, anyway. E goes off to talk to his contact.
Mason, somehow, has become the group comforter. He’s the one who talks E down when the Circle sends him into scared-out-of-his-mind-babbling mode. He’s the one who stands between Frost and the Carnies, and now Fyre and Malta. Right now, she doesn’t have any conflicts going with Mason, and again, if he’s gay, there’s no confusion. E has entirely too many of his own issues. She doesn’t trust his actions or motivations right now, and he’s not doing so hot a job at the comforting. So, she’s going to gravitate toward Mason for the moment, when she needs someone.
She has sympathy for him, too, for what she sees as his unrequited love for E. When he says how brave she was for facing Malta, she protests, and adds that she couldn’t have done it without Mason and E. She qualifies her statement when E asks over the comm by saying that he and the ghosts did a lot of the work. Mason says, “Don’t ever forget about E,” and seems upset. She sees it as Mason thinking about his feelings for E.
E comes back in time to say he’s calling it a night. He has mysterious “appointments” the next day again. Fyre tries to get him to explain what, but he avoids the question. He also references a comment Fyre made a long time ago, which I don’t remember completely, but it was something about cockroaches and E, and it wasn’t nice. Fyre flinches but doesn’t argue.
Mason offers to walk Fyre back to Pocket D, where she decides her next stop is.
Now, I’m going to go off on a small tangent here. Mason had said at one point that Fyre liked to hang out at Pocket D. She actually doesn’t. Back when she had a demon and an evil sorceress whispering in her ear, she was afraid to be around people. If she wasn’t with the E or the team, she stayed away from people. If she failed for a minute, Katherine was going to start killing people, whoever she could reach. The less people around her, the better. With the threat of that, and her early lack of control of her powers, she didn’t even want to meet Jen when E wanted her to. She got over most of that, and obviously met Jen and spent time with her, but Fyre still didn’t like crowds. Too many targets, still, and later, too many potential enemies. Later, she got used to E being around, but when he was gone, she felt more alone than ever. And recently she’s almost afraid to be alone. In Pocket D, she can be alone with people around. She can’t hurt anyone there, and no one can hurt her. She can’t sleep, and she’s way too stressed. So, she spends as much time as she can stand there, off and on.
They get there, but Mason’s ready to pass out, and Fyre protests that she does NOT need a baby-sitter, so she sends Mason on his way.
And that’s where we all left it. Thursday is supposed to be villain’s night, but I don’t know if we can let the angst rest for an entire night. We’ll see.
Oh, and just to keep you updated: I still hate I9. I got an orange salvage drop last night. It was only worth about 5k. *sigh* Apparently, I9 doesn’t like me much, either.
There was a lot of more subtle drama last night. The subtle stuff probably needs more explaining than the in-your-face melodrama that actually can be easier.
So, let’s start at the beginning. Frost had a hot cup of coffee. No big deal, right? It is to someone who could never eat or drink anything without turning it cold. It was too hot for Frost, though. Because he’s not used to it, or because the amulet is wonky? Good question.
(As an aside, I noticed this before, but… the NPC’s in Pocket D talk entirely too much. Shut up, already. And, there was a character in Pocket D while Frosty was having his coffee, talking in Broadcast named “MANCRUSH“ running around, saying “MANCRUSH mancrushes on“ and he‘d throw in a random name. *snicker*)
Oh, and we can’t forget E, Mason and Frost geeking out to Pikachu and friends. Fyre and I were both lost, and we both resisted commentating. Much.
That was Carnies and Praetorians. Frost has Carnie issues as we all know. But, he handled it well. Fyre and I are of the opinion it was mainly because there were about seven Carnies in the whole mission. The team backed him up, both with tactics and with moral support. But is that going to be enough if there are hordes of Carnies? It’ll be interesting to see.
Small detail Fyre noted: Mason mentioned Jack. Very minor mention, but it’s the first time she’s heard Mason talk about him since he was angry at Jack about the Star thing. Mean anything? Maybe not, but noted.
Frost called it a night, and E, Mason and Fyre did an uneventful Nemesis mission.
And then Malta. Fyre actually should have been more panicky, but I backed off a little. I’m probably… failing the character some, but I just can’t do long drawn out melodrama, I think. I made an effort, but I’m not sure how well it worked. Instead of totally freaking when she saw the Malta, she zoned out for a few minutes. She stayed that way through mission, in some degree or another. If someone would ask her now what happened during the mission, she wouldn’t remember much.
E and Mason tried to convince her there was nothing to worry about. Fyre said she didn’t want to do it, and E told her, “Someone’s going to die if we don’t.” In Fyre’s not-quite-correctly-functioning mind, she heard that someone else was more important than she was. After all, someone already had died, and she isn’t looking forward to doing it again. Then, E tried to make a joke. Mason jumped to her defense, and possibly even over-reacted a little. Having Mason defend her to E woke her up a little. It’s not supposed to work like that, after all, right?
Fyre was hesitant, timid, and quiet. Again, I may have been too subtle. Fyre doesn’t necessarily like fighting, but she’s never been hesitant about jumping in, even if it gets her beat up. She figures it’s just something that needs to be done, and trying to avoid it doesn’t get anyone anywhere, and usually just makes it worse.
Mason said, “I don’t remember them hitting that hard.” Fyre wanted to argue. Of course they hit hard. She’s proof. Then he qualifies it by stating that it was when he was covered in rock. “Oh,” she says. That does change it. She knows that he still has issues with not being as tough as he was, so she understands. And, it does make sense.
It was bound to happen, but there was a Malta Quantum. That revs up the panic level some. And it was about this time that I realized the game was trying to help me out. Fyre has the Warshade version of tp-foe. (Picked up in the last power-picking round, it’s brand new, unslotted) And it wouldn’t hit a damn thing. Well, that’s perfect, isn’t it? Fyre’s light-headed from panic, she’s shaking, she’s about to run out the door, or throw up, or something. Of course she can’t hit anything. I couldn’t have planned it better. (For actual use, that power needs an accuracy, stat.)
A few groups later, E wants to send Mason in his dwarf form into the room first. What?! They’ve been trying to tell Mason that he’s not a tank, pointing that it usually ends in a face-plant, and E wants to use him as a tank now? Is he trying to kill Mason, or what? Fyre wanted to argue, but Mason didn’t wait for it. And he was fine.
Next group, sapper. Uh-oh. Sappers aren’t fun, even when your character’s not deathly afraid of them. (This was the only sapper in the entire mission. I think they try to break new people in on Malta easy. Because I KNOW they usually aren’t this easy. I’ve been stomped by gunslingers and sappers way, way too many times). E suggests another teleport, setting the sapper “right where Doppy can see him.” Fyre has been thinking about E’s ghosts, and their real role. She’s starting to feel bad for them, even. So, she apologizes to Doppy first, then misses, again.
Mason makes a meant-to-be-harmless comment and spurs Fyre into a mini-anxiety-attack. Which, again, I probably under-played. She settles down, tries again, hits, they move on and rescue the hostage without much further incident.
The hostage identifies E by name, and Fyre thinks she recognizes him. E’s player had sent me a tell earlier, and we decided that the hostage is one of Fyre’s “people.” Styrm missed his deadline, remember? He’s going to step it up. He doesn’t seem like he’d take losing very well, so she’s been expecting something. Fyre would have made a phone call and confirmed that it was one of the people she’d had guarding E, though she’d called off that guard once they all realized that the ghosts weren’t going to let anything get past them. Of course, that’s what she was going to do. But, roadblock.
Fyre’s been rubbing the back of her neck. She has a scar there, from the Malta ambush that killed her. Remember, Fyre is still rather vain. Not only does she have an imperfection, but she’s carrying a reminder of a traumatic death. (is that redundant? Can a death be not traumatic? Anyway…) I don’t think she even realizes she’s been doing it, but when Malta comes up, she reaches to touch the scar.
(No, E, it’s NOT a crescent moon shaped scar. But… On that subject, Fyre has been wearing a purple crescent moon as a brooch on her cape since level 30, on the purple outfit. I know, it’s small. I changed the shade of the clothes once, and the cape once, and lost the fishnets, but the brooch has been there, untouched, for 12 levels. And no one’s noticed. What’s it mean? Nothing? Who knows?)
Mason has noticed her motions. She did it again when they were leaving the mission. He says she needs a massage. She catches what she did and figures Mason thinks she’s too tensed up. She thinks about it, and it sounds like a good idea, so she says she’ll call her masseur. Mason hesitates, then says, “Maybe I could do it for you.”
Hold on, time out!
The first time that E touched her more than casually was after a mission against something with a TON of knock back. Fyre didn’t stay on her feet for more than couple of minutes at a time, and complained about being sore. E offered a backrub. Fyre pointed it out to him then, and it should be a universal rule, if a man suggests a back rub, he’s got a lot more than a back rub in mind.
But, wait… Mason’s gay, right? Right? Isn’t he? Oh, sure, he’s said, “I’m not gay,” but that’s not what he meant, right? He’s just not ready to admit to total gay. He says he still likes looking at the Carnies, and he complimented the “hot little number” Fyre wore to lunch. But, women know they can admire and appreciate other women, and not be attracted to them. Fyre’s even told Frost he looks good in his cowboy hat, but that doesn’t mean she wants him. Mason wants E, certainly not Fyre.
Whew. Nothing to get worked up about. Right?
E doesn’t seem so sure. He takes an unfocused, round-about shot at Mason. Crackerjack box… Yeah, anyway. E goes off to talk to his contact.
Mason, somehow, has become the group comforter. He’s the one who talks E down when the Circle sends him into scared-out-of-his-mind-babbling mode. He’s the one who stands between Frost and the Carnies, and now Fyre and Malta. Right now, she doesn’t have any conflicts going with Mason, and again, if he’s gay, there’s no confusion. E has entirely too many of his own issues. She doesn’t trust his actions or motivations right now, and he’s not doing so hot a job at the comforting. So, she’s going to gravitate toward Mason for the moment, when she needs someone.
She has sympathy for him, too, for what she sees as his unrequited love for E. When he says how brave she was for facing Malta, she protests, and adds that she couldn’t have done it without Mason and E. She qualifies her statement when E asks over the comm by saying that he and the ghosts did a lot of the work. Mason says, “Don’t ever forget about E,” and seems upset. She sees it as Mason thinking about his feelings for E.
E comes back in time to say he’s calling it a night. He has mysterious “appointments” the next day again. Fyre tries to get him to explain what, but he avoids the question. He also references a comment Fyre made a long time ago, which I don’t remember completely, but it was something about cockroaches and E, and it wasn’t nice. Fyre flinches but doesn’t argue.
Mason offers to walk Fyre back to Pocket D, where she decides her next stop is.
Now, I’m going to go off on a small tangent here. Mason had said at one point that Fyre liked to hang out at Pocket D. She actually doesn’t. Back when she had a demon and an evil sorceress whispering in her ear, she was afraid to be around people. If she wasn’t with the E or the team, she stayed away from people. If she failed for a minute, Katherine was going to start killing people, whoever she could reach. The less people around her, the better. With the threat of that, and her early lack of control of her powers, she didn’t even want to meet Jen when E wanted her to. She got over most of that, and obviously met Jen and spent time with her, but Fyre still didn’t like crowds. Too many targets, still, and later, too many potential enemies. Later, she got used to E being around, but when he was gone, she felt more alone than ever. And recently she’s almost afraid to be alone. In Pocket D, she can be alone with people around. She can’t hurt anyone there, and no one can hurt her. She can’t sleep, and she’s way too stressed. So, she spends as much time as she can stand there, off and on.
They get there, but Mason’s ready to pass out, and Fyre protests that she does NOT need a baby-sitter, so she sends Mason on his way.
And that’s where we all left it. Thursday is supposed to be villain’s night, but I don’t know if we can let the angst rest for an entire night. We’ll see.
Oh, and just to keep you updated: I still hate I9. I got an orange salvage drop last night. It was only worth about 5k. *sigh* Apparently, I9 doesn’t like me much, either.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Random Thoughts
Last night was pretty uneventful, in comparison to other nights with Team Angst, at least.
Mason talked to Frost, apparently, but was a little vague and brief when he told Fyre and E that they talked. I expect to hear more about that, both IC and OOC.
Fyre and E ended up on their own for a bit, but both the characters and players avoided “drama.” I don’t have the logs, so I’ll try to paraphrase the only thing that seems to have stuck in my head. Fyre and E were on that big ruined map, the one that sort of looks like the ritzy section of Boomtown, chasing Clockwork. I hate Clockwork on that map. They’re too hard to see. Anyway… E’s phantom did something or other, and E said something about wondering why Doppy (the phantom) sometimes charges into things. Fyre, speaking before thinking as she often does, says maybe he’s mad because he’s dead. E says maybe, and suggests something else. Fyre starts to say something and stops. E prompts her, and she covers it with a joke, saying maybe he’s just cranky because he didn’t get his morning coffee. E laughs and they move on. What she was going to suggest, though, was that maybe he was mad because he was being forced to protect the person who killed him. Does she really think that way? Maybe, maybe not. Luckily, she caught herself before she said it.
And now I find myself with free time and no big events to rehash. Perfect time for random thoughts.
I listen to music, a lot. I also tend to associate certain people or situations with certain types of music or songs. Of course, the majority of my mental music library starts about 1987. For example, after the E/Fyre/Serra thing, I kept hearing “Breath,” by Breaking Benjamin. Fyre, by herself, makes me think of a couple of songs off the newer Evanescence album, The Open Door, “Weight of the World,” and “All That I’m Living For,” if you’re keeping track. I think Fyre probably hears, “Fighter,“ by Christina Aguilera in her head a lot. Mason, especially when he was doing his “I’m a bad, bad man,” schtick, made me think of “Behind Blue Eyes,” the Limp Bizkit version. All of Cass’s costumes have sunglasses, except one, because of the glare of the invulnerability power sets. I feel like I need sunglasses for it, so Cass wears them instead, so I hear “Sunglasses At Night,” by Corey Hart sometimes for her. Just cruising through the map, especially Steel Canyon, for some reason, I hear “Fascination Street,” by the Cure. Any time I hear “Alien Sex Fiend,” by Garbage, I think of the Kheldians in the game, especially the Warshade that I deleted., who was a not-entirely-reformed Nictus. Blaze gets “Witchy Woman,” the version by Babes in Toyland (which is, by the way, really, really hard to find.) I have a bunch more, but I’ll stop now.
Oh, yeah, and if I haven’t said it before… I hate I9. Crashes, lag, and bunch of enhancement stuff to re-learn. Oh, sure, I made a few million influence, and that was okay, something different to do. An orange drop was fun. But, then I decided to start playing with IO’s. Sure, that was fun for awhile, too. I even bought an invention table for the base. And THEN I paid 5 million influence for one piece of orange salvage for a yellow recipe. Yeah, so, like I said, I9 sucks. I’ve read-- I should say, I’ve TRIED to read all numbers and percentages that Keen, Mason, and others have posted. I get so far, and it all runs together. I don’t get it, and I guess I don’t care enough to work through it. If I wanted math, I wouldn’t have skipped all those algebra classes in college (and I do mean ALL. Still passed, somehow). So, I’ll “play” with them a bit, but I just can’t get serious about it. Still waiting for a nice, expensive wing drop, though.
Now, on to see what other mayhem Team Angst gets into.
Mason talked to Frost, apparently, but was a little vague and brief when he told Fyre and E that they talked. I expect to hear more about that, both IC and OOC.
Fyre and E ended up on their own for a bit, but both the characters and players avoided “drama.” I don’t have the logs, so I’ll try to paraphrase the only thing that seems to have stuck in my head. Fyre and E were on that big ruined map, the one that sort of looks like the ritzy section of Boomtown, chasing Clockwork. I hate Clockwork on that map. They’re too hard to see. Anyway… E’s phantom did something or other, and E said something about wondering why Doppy (the phantom) sometimes charges into things. Fyre, speaking before thinking as she often does, says maybe he’s mad because he’s dead. E says maybe, and suggests something else. Fyre starts to say something and stops. E prompts her, and she covers it with a joke, saying maybe he’s just cranky because he didn’t get his morning coffee. E laughs and they move on. What she was going to suggest, though, was that maybe he was mad because he was being forced to protect the person who killed him. Does she really think that way? Maybe, maybe not. Luckily, she caught herself before she said it.
And now I find myself with free time and no big events to rehash. Perfect time for random thoughts.
I listen to music, a lot. I also tend to associate certain people or situations with certain types of music or songs. Of course, the majority of my mental music library starts about 1987. For example, after the E/Fyre/Serra thing, I kept hearing “Breath,” by Breaking Benjamin. Fyre, by herself, makes me think of a couple of songs off the newer Evanescence album, The Open Door, “Weight of the World,” and “All That I’m Living For,” if you’re keeping track. I think Fyre probably hears, “Fighter,“ by Christina Aguilera in her head a lot. Mason, especially when he was doing his “I’m a bad, bad man,” schtick, made me think of “Behind Blue Eyes,” the Limp Bizkit version. All of Cass’s costumes have sunglasses, except one, because of the glare of the invulnerability power sets. I feel like I need sunglasses for it, so Cass wears them instead, so I hear “Sunglasses At Night,” by Corey Hart sometimes for her. Just cruising through the map, especially Steel Canyon, for some reason, I hear “Fascination Street,” by the Cure. Any time I hear “Alien Sex Fiend,” by Garbage, I think of the Kheldians in the game, especially the Warshade that I deleted., who was a not-entirely-reformed Nictus. Blaze gets “Witchy Woman,” the version by Babes in Toyland (which is, by the way, really, really hard to find.) I have a bunch more, but I’ll stop now.
Oh, yeah, and if I haven’t said it before… I hate I9. Crashes, lag, and bunch of enhancement stuff to re-learn. Oh, sure, I made a few million influence, and that was okay, something different to do. An orange drop was fun. But, then I decided to start playing with IO’s. Sure, that was fun for awhile, too. I even bought an invention table for the base. And THEN I paid 5 million influence for one piece of orange salvage for a yellow recipe. Yeah, so, like I said, I9 sucks. I’ve read-- I should say, I’ve TRIED to read all numbers and percentages that Keen, Mason, and others have posted. I get so far, and it all runs together. I don’t get it, and I guess I don’t care enough to work through it. If I wanted math, I wouldn’t have skipped all those algebra classes in college (and I do mean ALL. Still passed, somehow). So, I’ll “play” with them a bit, but I just can’t get serious about it. Still waiting for a nice, expensive wing drop, though.
Now, on to see what other mayhem Team Angst gets into.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Taskforces, Drama, and More Drama
So, a lot happened last night.
Oh, and we finished the first Shadow Shard Task Force, too. Quarterfield. Blaze now has 3 of the 4 Shard TF’s. This is semi-remarkable because 1) I hate task forces. I just don’t have the attention span for them, and I’ve done too many with PuG’s that I really don’t want to spend that much time with. Task Force Sundays, thankfully, have been the exception. We have good players, and good people, which makes the “ordeal” much easier. But, 2) I hate the Shadow Shard. Yes, it’s pretty. No argument there. Yes, it’s nice to do something different. But, it’s too freakin’ big. It’s too hard to get around. I dread taking my super-jumping scrapper there. And, I’ve given Fyre IC reasons for this, but it makes me dizzy and a little sick. I think it’s the 3D travel. Nothing is linear. The “islands” are above, below, off at angles. The more traveling, the more it bothers me. Luckily, I didn’t get much of that at all throughout the task force.
On to the drama. We’ll start slow.
Mason switched back to his old armor now that he has an enchanted mace, courtesy of the Vagabond. The blue and white on his new uniforms really looks good with his new hair. Let’s face it: Mason’s hot. I know it, Fyre knows it, Mason knows it. No one’s going to argue that. I was concerned about the white hair, but it’s working for him.
Frost has a magical amulet, courtesy of the Wombat (by the way-- Suicidal Wombat: Best. Name. Ever.) Where it came from was unclear at first. Fyre was suspicious, but trying not to get E worked up in Frost’s direction.
Fyre likes Frost. (Just “like,” before anyone gets ideas. This stuff is complicated enough!) She considers him a good kid. Yes, “kid,” even though if I remember correctly, Frost is older than she is. Frost is the only one of them that isn’t “broken” and bitter. Fyre would like to keep it that way, and figures the rest of them feel the same.
E caught on, though, and was close to ripping into Frost. After calming down and questioning Frost more closely, the origins of the amulet were established (or were they?) but the effects are still more than questionable. Fyre suggested that Vagz and Blaze take a look at it, since they were already on the case of the locket that Strym offered Fyre.
Almost forgot the part where Mason asked Fyre if she was “crazy.” Harmless comment, right? Not to someone who was committed against her will to a Victorian horror of a mental institution. Fyre did doubt her own sanity, both from the visions and suggestions that Katherine forced on her, and the things that went on in the asylum. And Mason didn’t do such a good job of backing out of it, even though he was, or seemed to be, trying. E noticed, and got the hell out of the way, even though the explosion was avoided.
And then we move on to the dreaded Malta mission. One of the very few times I’ve had to work myself up to something in the game, game-wise or RP-wise. Fyre was going to freak. There was nothing I could to do to get around that. But, like I said when E and I talked later, I could only plan out the first two minutes. Everything else depended on other people’s reactions and other things. Just for a small example, when Fyre ran out of the mission, she ended up boxed in, with walls on 3 sides. I couldn’t have planned that. Being cornered panicked her more.
Another thing I hadn’t planned on was E’s extreme reaction. I probably should have, I guess. Fyre didn’t expect it, either, and it did freak her out more.
Going back over the logs, which I won’t post (*coughMasoncough*), I see it’s even more complicated than I thought it was. So, just in the order that it occurs to me:
E’s ghosts freak Fyre out. Panicked, it was worse. She had thought that their appearance meant that E was forgiven for killing them, in some cosmic fashion. After Blaze told her the real reason why they were there, they remind her that he’s a killer. She didn’t want them anywhere near her.
Poor Mason. Fyre wasn’t in any condition to appreciate him, and in fact was getting angry at him, probably mostly out of habit. She shoved him at E because she thought that’s where he wanted to be. Later when she has time to think about it, she’ll see what we all see, that he was torn. Seriously. Poor Mason.
Fyre doesn’t blame E for Malta attacking and killing her, at least not consciously, or she wouldn’t have kept their reasons to herself for so long. She knew that he would blame himself, though, so, in her mind, she was protecting him, again. She should have predicted his reaction, in hindsight, but, as in the real world, hindsight is 20/20.
So, she did go back into the mission, due to Mason’s insistence, E’s heedless running in, and her player’s lack of anything else to do with her. She didn’t exactly get over it. She went in, because she HAD to, but she’s still going to have issues anytime Malta comes up. And I think there’s going to be a lot of Malta coming up. We’ve worked it into the story-line.
Skipping ahead: Mason admitted his feelings to E. It actually wasn’t that dramatic. While they talked, Fyre pretended not listen, but she and I both did. Fyre’s relieved. If Mason’s gay, then whatever confused feelings she has about Mason, she can disregard. She wasn‘t just relieved, she was happy about it, and even asked Mason to lunch again. She did have an alternative motive there. Tuesdays have been a day she’s had set aside to spend with Jen. Jen is in an undisclosed location that even Fyre doesn’t know. She’s worried, but she also doesn’t want to let on that she’s worried, and cause the rest of them, especially E, to worry. She’s rather have them suspicious of her than worry about Jen’s safety, if it comes to that. She also offered to get Mason a job. Vagz had suggested Mason get a job in construction. Coincidentally, Kelly Enterprises, Alexandra’s company that she inherited from her father, started as a lumber supply company, long ago, and their major focus is construction and construction equipment (yes, really. I picked that a long time ago, when I first drew up the background.) She figures he’s too smart for straight construction. He doesn’t want a cube job, so she’s thinking a salesman job. Mason’s social, personable when he wants to be. It should be a decent fit. She’ll pitch it to him at their lunch.
As far as E goes, aside from the Malta stuff, Fyre’s sort of avoiding him still. She isn’t sure of her feelings, and she doesn’t want to talk about Jen with him. She doesn’t entirely trust him, for various reasons with various things. She doesn’t want to point any of that out to him, though, because she suspects he won’t take it well.
I have a feeling I’ll have more to add tomorrow. I don’t think tonight will be quiet!
Oh, and we finished the first Shadow Shard Task Force, too. Quarterfield. Blaze now has 3 of the 4 Shard TF’s. This is semi-remarkable because 1) I hate task forces. I just don’t have the attention span for them, and I’ve done too many with PuG’s that I really don’t want to spend that much time with. Task Force Sundays, thankfully, have been the exception. We have good players, and good people, which makes the “ordeal” much easier. But, 2) I hate the Shadow Shard. Yes, it’s pretty. No argument there. Yes, it’s nice to do something different. But, it’s too freakin’ big. It’s too hard to get around. I dread taking my super-jumping scrapper there. And, I’ve given Fyre IC reasons for this, but it makes me dizzy and a little sick. I think it’s the 3D travel. Nothing is linear. The “islands” are above, below, off at angles. The more traveling, the more it bothers me. Luckily, I didn’t get much of that at all throughout the task force.
On to the drama. We’ll start slow.
Mason switched back to his old armor now that he has an enchanted mace, courtesy of the Vagabond. The blue and white on his new uniforms really looks good with his new hair. Let’s face it: Mason’s hot. I know it, Fyre knows it, Mason knows it. No one’s going to argue that. I was concerned about the white hair, but it’s working for him.
Frost has a magical amulet, courtesy of the Wombat (by the way-- Suicidal Wombat: Best. Name. Ever.) Where it came from was unclear at first. Fyre was suspicious, but trying not to get E worked up in Frost’s direction.
Fyre likes Frost. (Just “like,” before anyone gets ideas. This stuff is complicated enough!) She considers him a good kid. Yes, “kid,” even though if I remember correctly, Frost is older than she is. Frost is the only one of them that isn’t “broken” and bitter. Fyre would like to keep it that way, and figures the rest of them feel the same.
E caught on, though, and was close to ripping into Frost. After calming down and questioning Frost more closely, the origins of the amulet were established (or were they?) but the effects are still more than questionable. Fyre suggested that Vagz and Blaze take a look at it, since they were already on the case of the locket that Strym offered Fyre.
Almost forgot the part where Mason asked Fyre if she was “crazy.” Harmless comment, right? Not to someone who was committed against her will to a Victorian horror of a mental institution. Fyre did doubt her own sanity, both from the visions and suggestions that Katherine forced on her, and the things that went on in the asylum. And Mason didn’t do such a good job of backing out of it, even though he was, or seemed to be, trying. E noticed, and got the hell out of the way, even though the explosion was avoided.
And then we move on to the dreaded Malta mission. One of the very few times I’ve had to work myself up to something in the game, game-wise or RP-wise. Fyre was going to freak. There was nothing I could to do to get around that. But, like I said when E and I talked later, I could only plan out the first two minutes. Everything else depended on other people’s reactions and other things. Just for a small example, when Fyre ran out of the mission, she ended up boxed in, with walls on 3 sides. I couldn’t have planned that. Being cornered panicked her more.
Another thing I hadn’t planned on was E’s extreme reaction. I probably should have, I guess. Fyre didn’t expect it, either, and it did freak her out more.
Going back over the logs, which I won’t post (*coughMasoncough*), I see it’s even more complicated than I thought it was. So, just in the order that it occurs to me:
E’s ghosts freak Fyre out. Panicked, it was worse. She had thought that their appearance meant that E was forgiven for killing them, in some cosmic fashion. After Blaze told her the real reason why they were there, they remind her that he’s a killer. She didn’t want them anywhere near her.
Poor Mason. Fyre wasn’t in any condition to appreciate him, and in fact was getting angry at him, probably mostly out of habit. She shoved him at E because she thought that’s where he wanted to be. Later when she has time to think about it, she’ll see what we all see, that he was torn. Seriously. Poor Mason.
Fyre doesn’t blame E for Malta attacking and killing her, at least not consciously, or she wouldn’t have kept their reasons to herself for so long. She knew that he would blame himself, though, so, in her mind, she was protecting him, again. She should have predicted his reaction, in hindsight, but, as in the real world, hindsight is 20/20.
So, she did go back into the mission, due to Mason’s insistence, E’s heedless running in, and her player’s lack of anything else to do with her. She didn’t exactly get over it. She went in, because she HAD to, but she’s still going to have issues anytime Malta comes up. And I think there’s going to be a lot of Malta coming up. We’ve worked it into the story-line.
Skipping ahead: Mason admitted his feelings to E. It actually wasn’t that dramatic. While they talked, Fyre pretended not listen, but she and I both did. Fyre’s relieved. If Mason’s gay, then whatever confused feelings she has about Mason, she can disregard. She wasn‘t just relieved, she was happy about it, and even asked Mason to lunch again. She did have an alternative motive there. Tuesdays have been a day she’s had set aside to spend with Jen. Jen is in an undisclosed location that even Fyre doesn’t know. She’s worried, but she also doesn’t want to let on that she’s worried, and cause the rest of them, especially E, to worry. She’s rather have them suspicious of her than worry about Jen’s safety, if it comes to that. She also offered to get Mason a job. Vagz had suggested Mason get a job in construction. Coincidentally, Kelly Enterprises, Alexandra’s company that she inherited from her father, started as a lumber supply company, long ago, and their major focus is construction and construction equipment (yes, really. I picked that a long time ago, when I first drew up the background.) She figures he’s too smart for straight construction. He doesn’t want a cube job, so she’s thinking a salesman job. Mason’s social, personable when he wants to be. It should be a decent fit. She’ll pitch it to him at their lunch.
As far as E goes, aside from the Malta stuff, Fyre’s sort of avoiding him still. She isn’t sure of her feelings, and she doesn’t want to talk about Jen with him. She doesn’t entirely trust him, for various reasons with various things. She doesn’t want to point any of that out to him, though, because she suspects he won’t take it well.
I have a feeling I’ll have more to add tomorrow. I don’t think tonight will be quiet!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Evolution of a Hero
So how did a spoiled, socialite party girl (Think Paris Hitlon. Now subtract the skank, and the sex tape. Add an "evil step-mother" and at least part of a brain. Oh, and make her actually pretty) become a super-hero? Why, by being cursed by a wicked witch, of course.
Short version: Katherine Smith was burned at the stake in colonial Salem. She made a deal with a demon to survive it, which she did as a spirit, bound to the demon. Captivity by the demon, however, has made her insane, and the only thing she wants is to kill and destroy. She sees it as revenge, on everyone and everything. Certain of her descendants, born with the right combinations of magical ability inherit her powers over fire, gained from the demon, who wants loyal servants in "this" world out of the deal. So far, at least two of those servants have ended up in the Rogue Isles. Some have committed suicide, either to get away from Katherine and the demon or just driven insane, and a few have simply disappeared, never to be heard from again.
When the last previous descendant died, Fyre (just Alexandra then) started having nightmares of scenes of terrible fiery destruction, which progressively got worse. Though she eventually wasn't sleeping, the nightmares became daytime hallucinations. There were several inexplicable fires. All this was the excuse that her fiance and mother used to commit her to an insane asylum, actually a crooked establishment used to house inconvenient people. Katherine had the perfect opportunity to torment and cajole her newest victim, and eventually, the asylum burned down, killing four not-so-innocent people. Fyre told E once that it was Katherine who did that. In her mind, it was Katherine's fault. It may have been Katherine's idea, but it was Alexandra who walked through the hospital, trailing fire and searching for the people she thought should burn. She was all kinds of traumatized and drugged out of her mind, but she did it.
This, by the way, is one of the big reasons why she identified with Mason so much that she posted his bail and at least attempted to forgive him, despite E's thoughts, opinions and arguments.
She came to Paragon to ask for MAGI's help in dealing with Katherine and the demon. They saw more canon fodder... I mean, of course, another hero, and put her to work. They had an inexperienced, fragile blaster-type, and thought they'd had the perfect partner for her: a battle-hardened, healer-type with mind powers, who could keep track of her if she went off the deep-end and started burning everything in sight. Big mistake.
Fyre hated, HATED E. He was cocky, arrogant, and tried to tell her what to do. He was a "doctor," just like her ex and those "doctors" that tormented her in the hospital. Worse, he had those mind powers. Did she understand them? Not exactly. All she knew was that no one else was getting in her head. She already had a crazy-evil sorceress and a demon, and that was entirely too much. Still worse, she found out after awhile that E wasn't so bad, so she had to push harder and find more things to keep him away. E, obviously, wasn't going to stand for the way she treated him and pushed back, which gave her more ammunition.
There's no way those two would have stayed working together. Except the players made them. Stuck together, they would have killed each other. We kept the violence to a minimum.
Katherine thought she'd found the perfect ally. A villain with mind powers, put in charge of her latest victim. When she found out that she couldn't get to E, she went after Fyre more than ever, enraged. Fyre finally broke down and told E what was happening, and that helped them get along better. A little. For awhile. Sort of.
Some of the most important things to remember about Fyre: She doesn't like being a hero. She doesn't feel like a "hero," even after all this time. Especially at the beginning, she was afraid of everything. She's not the kind to run away, screaming (Um, often... ), but she was, and sometimes still is, afraid of the things they fight. She doesn't have "fun" in missions, like some of the others (except for that one mission right after I got the level 32 "nova" on blaster-Fyre and Mason and Fyre ran though the mission, blowing up large groups and giggling, where E thought she'd lost her mind). Fear translates into sarcasm, crankiness, and a general bad mood (Uh, usually). She wanted rid of her powers, so she could go back to a normal life. She still thinks, sometimes more often than others, of ditching Serra and taking off for anywhere that isn't Paragon City. She probably would, except she just doesn't think it would be that simple. And, "heroing" has become a habit. She's used to it, by now, even if she doesn't like it. At least, for now, that's enough.
And another aside... when creating Fyre's backstory, given all the horrible things that had happened to her (as I've mentioned before, once I realized how traumatized she must be from everything, I almost scrapped her story and the entire character), I realized I had to give her some sort of plus. Yes, thanks to the character creator, and some of her story, she was gorgeous. She had some money. She wasn't particularly brilliant; she didn't have any family or close connections; her powers, especially at that point, weren't all that great (I had no concept of the potential awesome-ness of the fire blast sets), her social abilities were based on her good looks and money... hey, money. Let's give her a lot of money. A LOT. I thought that was mostly cosmetic. And then various problems came up. E needs a lawyer to get Jen back, but can't afford a good one? Well, Fyre can. Jen needs guards and Longbow is suspect? Fyre can hire the best, and lots of them. Mason needs a million bucks to get out of jail? Pshaw, only a million?
And Fyre has evolved. She's a lot smarter than she was, has tons of experience, and doesn't trust anyone. No one. (Which has been and is being continuously reinforced) She's had people working on the Strym problem for awhile, and has had people protecting Jen for longer. Of course she had a plan to keep Jen safe from Strym, or anyone else that was after her. The fact that Mason, and possibly Frost, see her as suspect for that isolates her further from the group, which probably makes her look more suspect, and the reactions to that isolate her more AND adds to her distrust of the others, and people in general. Vicious cycle? Maybe, unless something breaks it.
Edit: Updates and commentary on stuff I almost forgot about: Fyre has been sort of in her own little world the past week. She's had a ton of things on her mind. Maybe most importantly, what's going to happen when Strym realizes he won't reach his Friday deadline? She feels that she's protecting the others by keeping them in the dark, but she's not sure that's how it's going to work, so that adds to the worry. She's afraid for herself, them, Jen, everyone. She's barely noticed whatever's going on with Mason and Frost, and she's trying to ignore E on purpose. She knows that not knowing where Jen is or what's happening to her must be killing him, and she doesn't want to give in and give him information that might put him at risk, or, possibly either purposely or accidentally, cause him to ruin the plan.
Short version: Katherine Smith was burned at the stake in colonial Salem. She made a deal with a demon to survive it, which she did as a spirit, bound to the demon. Captivity by the demon, however, has made her insane, and the only thing she wants is to kill and destroy. She sees it as revenge, on everyone and everything. Certain of her descendants, born with the right combinations of magical ability inherit her powers over fire, gained from the demon, who wants loyal servants in "this" world out of the deal. So far, at least two of those servants have ended up in the Rogue Isles. Some have committed suicide, either to get away from Katherine and the demon or just driven insane, and a few have simply disappeared, never to be heard from again.
When the last previous descendant died, Fyre (just Alexandra then) started having nightmares of scenes of terrible fiery destruction, which progressively got worse. Though she eventually wasn't sleeping, the nightmares became daytime hallucinations. There were several inexplicable fires. All this was the excuse that her fiance and mother used to commit her to an insane asylum, actually a crooked establishment used to house inconvenient people. Katherine had the perfect opportunity to torment and cajole her newest victim, and eventually, the asylum burned down, killing four not-so-innocent people. Fyre told E once that it was Katherine who did that. In her mind, it was Katherine's fault. It may have been Katherine's idea, but it was Alexandra who walked through the hospital, trailing fire and searching for the people she thought should burn. She was all kinds of traumatized and drugged out of her mind, but she did it.
This, by the way, is one of the big reasons why she identified with Mason so much that she posted his bail and at least attempted to forgive him, despite E's thoughts, opinions and arguments.
She came to Paragon to ask for MAGI's help in dealing with Katherine and the demon. They saw more canon fodder... I mean, of course, another hero, and put her to work. They had an inexperienced, fragile blaster-type, and thought they'd had the perfect partner for her: a battle-hardened, healer-type with mind powers, who could keep track of her if she went off the deep-end and started burning everything in sight. Big mistake.
Fyre hated, HATED E. He was cocky, arrogant, and tried to tell her what to do. He was a "doctor," just like her ex and those "doctors" that tormented her in the hospital. Worse, he had those mind powers. Did she understand them? Not exactly. All she knew was that no one else was getting in her head. She already had a crazy-evil sorceress and a demon, and that was entirely too much. Still worse, she found out after awhile that E wasn't so bad, so she had to push harder and find more things to keep him away. E, obviously, wasn't going to stand for the way she treated him and pushed back, which gave her more ammunition.
There's no way those two would have stayed working together. Except the players made them. Stuck together, they would have killed each other. We kept the violence to a minimum.
Katherine thought she'd found the perfect ally. A villain with mind powers, put in charge of her latest victim. When she found out that she couldn't get to E, she went after Fyre more than ever, enraged. Fyre finally broke down and told E what was happening, and that helped them get along better. A little. For awhile. Sort of.
Some of the most important things to remember about Fyre: She doesn't like being a hero. She doesn't feel like a "hero," even after all this time. Especially at the beginning, she was afraid of everything. She's not the kind to run away, screaming (Um, often... ), but she was, and sometimes still is, afraid of the things they fight. She doesn't have "fun" in missions, like some of the others (except for that one mission right after I got the level 32 "nova" on blaster-Fyre and Mason and Fyre ran though the mission, blowing up large groups and giggling, where E thought she'd lost her mind). Fear translates into sarcasm, crankiness, and a general bad mood (Uh, usually). She wanted rid of her powers, so she could go back to a normal life. She still thinks, sometimes more often than others, of ditching Serra and taking off for anywhere that isn't Paragon City. She probably would, except she just doesn't think it would be that simple. And, "heroing" has become a habit. She's used to it, by now, even if she doesn't like it. At least, for now, that's enough.
And another aside... when creating Fyre's backstory, given all the horrible things that had happened to her (as I've mentioned before, once I realized how traumatized she must be from everything, I almost scrapped her story and the entire character), I realized I had to give her some sort of plus. Yes, thanks to the character creator, and some of her story, she was gorgeous. She had some money. She wasn't particularly brilliant; she didn't have any family or close connections; her powers, especially at that point, weren't all that great (I had no concept of the potential awesome-ness of the fire blast sets), her social abilities were based on her good looks and money... hey, money. Let's give her a lot of money. A LOT. I thought that was mostly cosmetic. And then various problems came up. E needs a lawyer to get Jen back, but can't afford a good one? Well, Fyre can. Jen needs guards and Longbow is suspect? Fyre can hire the best, and lots of them. Mason needs a million bucks to get out of jail? Pshaw, only a million?
And Fyre has evolved. She's a lot smarter than she was, has tons of experience, and doesn't trust anyone. No one. (Which has been and is being continuously reinforced) She's had people working on the Strym problem for awhile, and has had people protecting Jen for longer. Of course she had a plan to keep Jen safe from Strym, or anyone else that was after her. The fact that Mason, and possibly Frost, see her as suspect for that isolates her further from the group, which probably makes her look more suspect, and the reactions to that isolate her more AND adds to her distrust of the others, and people in general. Vicious cycle? Maybe, unless something breaks it.
Edit: Updates and commentary on stuff I almost forgot about: Fyre has been sort of in her own little world the past week. She's had a ton of things on her mind. Maybe most importantly, what's going to happen when Strym realizes he won't reach his Friday deadline? She feels that she's protecting the others by keeping them in the dark, but she's not sure that's how it's going to work, so that adds to the worry. She's afraid for herself, them, Jen, everyone. She's barely noticed whatever's going on with Mason and Frost, and she's trying to ignore E on purpose. She knows that not knowing where Jen is or what's happening to her must be killing him, and she doesn't want to give in and give him information that might put him at risk, or, possibly either purposely or accidentally, cause him to ruin the plan.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Villians' Night
Brief. I promise, brief. Really.
Thursday night is apparently Villians' Night in some parts of the world. Who knew? Mason asked E and me along. I was hesitant. CoV... isn't my favorite. But, I haven't played it for a good while, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
I'll admit, it was fun. Lots of fun. E and I created alts forever ago. The first ones we tried, mine was a level 12 Mastermind. Mastermind? I hate Masterminds. What was I thinking? It took a bit, but I picked back up again, and it was a lot of fun. I think the team had a lot more to do with it than the AT. E's character kept him uncharacteristically quiet *cough,cough* but Sybil's fun, sort of a mean version of Fyre. Sort of. I think if we keep it up, Sybil and Sapphire Night are going to get into it. (Yes, that's a "lol.")
E and I switched to our 19's, my dom and his corruptor, but I was really too tired to enjoy it by then. Plus, Lily's timid and quiet, so not so much fun in a big group.
But, thanks, Futura Force, for inviting us along. I look forward to the next experiment in villiany.
Thursday night is apparently Villians' Night in some parts of the world. Who knew? Mason asked E and me along. I was hesitant. CoV... isn't my favorite. But, I haven't played it for a good while, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
I'll admit, it was fun. Lots of fun. E and I created alts forever ago. The first ones we tried, mine was a level 12 Mastermind. Mastermind? I hate Masterminds. What was I thinking? It took a bit, but I picked back up again, and it was a lot of fun. I think the team had a lot more to do with it than the AT. E's character kept him uncharacteristically quiet *cough,cough* but Sybil's fun, sort of a mean version of Fyre. Sort of. I think if we keep it up, Sybil and Sapphire Night are going to get into it. (Yes, that's a "lol.")
E and I switched to our 19's, my dom and his corruptor, but I was really too tired to enjoy it by then. Plus, Lily's timid and quiet, so not so much fun in a big group.
But, thanks, Futura Force, for inviting us along. I look forward to the next experiment in villiany.
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