Question A Little R&R 3

Malady wrote: And what Donna's secret is... We haven't seen her around, so guesses are sorta useless...

Domoviye wrote: Great update.
I think we are very close to seeing Alyss cutting lose on the bullies. Regular bullying is one thing, almost killing her best friend is well beyond that.

Domoviye wrote: It's creepy hearing Saphire talking so casually about eggs and some of them not hatching. Almost like hearing about a stillbirth as if it's no big deal.

Domoviye wrote: So many good things here.

Suddenly, Kaylie let out a loud gasp as glowing green mist began to emerge from her skin and hair.

I wonder if Diamondback saw/met with Sapphire's family

Yolandria wrote:

I wonder if Diamondback saw/met with Sapphire's family

Now that's a very interesting question. I bet they would definitely have a ton of things to talk about. That's for sure.

Valentine wrote: So now the question is how mad is Alyss?

A. Alyss gets revenge herself.
B. Alyss tells the Gadgeteers/Devisors about the attack, and let them get revenge.
C. Alyss gets Poe involved.
D. Alyss gets Hawthorne involved.
E. Alyss lets Team Awesome take care of it.

Valentine wrote: So now the question is how mad is Alyss?

A. Alyss gets revenge herself.
B. Alyss tells the Gadgeteers/Devisors about the attack, and let them get revenge.
C. Alyss gets Poe involved.
D. Alyss gets Hawthorne involved.
E. Alyss lets Team Awesome take care of it.


I wonder if Diamondback saw/met with Sapphire's family. I wonder if Imp saw/met with Sapphire's family or worse overhear Sapphire's sisters.

Suddenly, Kaylie let out a loud gasp as glowing green mist began to emerge from her skin and hair.

Where's Absinthe when you need her.

NJM1564 wrote:

Valentine wrote: So now the question is how mad is Alyss?

A. Alyss gets revenge herself.
B. Alyss tells the Gadgeteers/Devisors about the attack, and let them get revenge.
C. Alyss gets Poe involved.
D. Alyss gets Hawthorne involved.
E. Alyss lets Team Awesome take care of it.


I wonder if Diamondback saw/met with Sapphire's family. I wonder if Imp saw/met with Sapphire's family or worse overhear Sapphire's sisters.

Suddenly, Kaylie let out a loud gasp as glowing green mist began to emerge from her skin and hair.

Where's Absinthe when you need her.

F. Gets the bad seeds involved.
G. Informs security.
E. Asks Tansy for help.
G. All of the above.
H. Or just informs the Alpha. They cover most of those options.

Domoviye wrote: It's creepy hearing Saphire talking so casually about eggs and some of them not hatching. Almost like hearing about a stillbirth as if it's no big deal.

konzill wrote: Alyss is a little mad. Something tells me she might bend her rule about not hurting anyone:

Katssun wrote: Honestly, I found it hard not to respect Exquisite the way she was presented here. She's just made a very bad choice in stooges since she hasn't figured out how Whateley works.

Katssun wrote: She wanted to be the new queen bee, the same as she was before, and set out to do exactly that in a very methodical way. She looked at the major cliques to take them over, but found out that thanks to the events of last year, the Alphas no longer control the school, the New Olympians wouldn't let her in and aren't really that strong with Team Kimba and The Outcasts around, The Golden Kids won't take her, and she doesn't want to use modeling for influence and money. So she did the smarter thing and formed her own little group.

Katssun wrote: But the problem is she isn't as brutal as Hekate, isn't as manipulative as Tansy (and that didn't work out great for her, did it?), and isn't as powerful as Freya. So she can't brute force it the way she's been doing it. Exquisite hasn't caught on to the fact that no matter how smart or skilled or powerful you are, there's someone else out there that can beat you. That's the entire point of the sims or the grades in combat finals.

She's about to get a very harsh lesson in why that is, and it will probably make her far, far more dangerous in the long run, because Miss Pryce is clearly not stupid.

Katssun wrote: That aside. I love Amy's mom. All her scenes and Amy's references to her made me laugh or smile or just go "awww". She means well, but for her faults, she made Amy the motherly and self-sufficient young lady she is today. A frozen statue for a whole month when Amy was nine?

Katssun wrote: Sapphire's precocious little sisters were adorable. Opal even liked Amy's hair, so there's a chance that they'll appreciate their big sister again eventually as well.

Hardric wrote: I'll take F. All of the above. Much more effective and satisfying. Besides, all of the options mentionned have a right to go for the payback (just try to keep Awesomes away from that...)

Dang, yet another wannabe godling of the campus like Don Assholo, Stupido, Witchbitch and the Wicked Bitch of the Great North... Does Whateley have to fill quotas or what, like 50% of pricks every year?

null0trooper wrote:

Katssun wrote: But the problem is she isn't as brutal as Hekate, isn't as manipulative as Tansy (and that didn't work out great for her, did it?), and isn't as powerful as Freya. So she can't brute force it the way she's been doing it. Exquisite hasn't caught on to the fact that no matter how smart or skilled or powerful you are, there's someone else out there that can beat you. That's the entire point of the sims or the grades in combat finals.

She's about to get a very harsh lesson in why that is, and it will probably make her far, far more dangerous in the long run, because Miss Pryce is clearly not stupid.

To sharks like HM and TWFKAH - and we have good reason to believe there are other users and abusers just as subtle and ruthless on-campus - the wannabe queen might make a perfect rook or bishop. Once the "hook" is set, she's smart enough to know how badly her line's been played against her.

Only Alyss, who is familiar with constant pain from cancer, and a handful of others would stand a chance against her. That's pretty terrifying to me.

Yolandria wrote:

Only Alyss, who is familiar with constant pain from cancer, and a handful of others would stand a chance against her. That's pretty terrifying to me.

Caitlinn would take her easily with one hand tied behind her back. Last i remember rocks don't have nerves like normal people.

NJM1564 wrote:

Valentine wrote: So now the question is how mad is Alyss?

A. Alyss gets revenge herself.
B. Alyss tells the Gadgeteers/Devisors about the attack, and let them get revenge.
C. Alyss gets Poe involved.
D. Alyss gets Hawthorne involved.
E. Alyss lets Team Awesome take care of it.


I wonder if Diamondback saw/met with Sapphire's family. I wonder if Imp saw/met with Sapphire's family or worse overhear Sapphire's sisters.

Suddenly, Kaylie let out a loud gasp as glowing green mist began to emerge from her skin and hair.

Where's Absinthe when you need her.

F. Gets the bad seeds involved.
G. Informs security.
E. Asks Tansy for help.
G. All of the above.
H. Or just informs the Alpha. They cover most of those options.

NJM1564 wrote:

Yolandria wrote:

Only Alyss, who is familiar with constant pain from cancer, and a handful of others would stand a chance against her. That's pretty terrifying to me.

Caitlinn would take her easily with one hand tied behind her back. Last i remember rocks don't have nerves like normal people.

I just remembered that the "Order of the Worn Wrench" would have dibs in this situation. Whahaha.

peter wrote: If they become aware of it. Now, big question, Has Alyss been approached by them. She is certainly qualified. A first rate mechanic who seems to be a small ten year old girl. It was to protect the vulnerable from the strong that the group was formed, and she is not obviously powerful.

Great. Now I want to see Alyss whack someone with a wrench.

Yolandria wrote:

Great. Now I want to see Alyss whack someone with a wrench.

But her bracelets are more fashionable. And hit harder.

Angeldude wrote:

peter wrote: If they become aware of it. Now, big question, Has Alyss been approached by them. She is certainly qualified. A first rate mechanic who seems to be a small ten year old girl. It was to protect the vulnerable from the strong that the group was formed, and she is not obviously powerful.

Great. Now I want to see Alyss whack someone with a wrench.

bergy wrote: One of these days Alyss needs to actually learn French so that we can appropriately pardon it.

Valentine wrote:

NJM1564 wrote:

Valentine wrote: So now the question is how mad is Alyss?

A. Alyss gets revenge herself.
B. Alyss tells the Gadgeteers/Devisors about the attack, and let them get revenge.
C. Alyss gets Poe involved.
D. Alyss gets Hawthorne involved.
E. Alyss lets Team Awesome take care of it.


I wonder if Diamondback saw/met with Sapphire's family. I wonder if Imp saw/met with Sapphire's family or worse overhear Sapphire's sisters.

Suddenly, Kaylie let out a loud gasp as glowing green mist began to emerge from her skin and hair.

Where's Absinthe when you need her.

F. Gets the bad seeds involved.
G. Informs security.
E. Asks Tansy for help.
G. All of the above.
H. Or just informs the Alpha. They cover most of those options.

Since this is more about Amy, why would the Seeds care, (some would care because they are decent human beings, but other than that...)

Alyss isn't really big into revenge for things done to herself, especially if they are physical. It was the teasing/bullying that she didn't know how to react to. Physically hurting a friend, possibly causing her death? Yeah Alyss is going to get her back, and it probably won't be pretty. If she talks to Ayla it might even be within school rules.

Hmmm, Alyss, Amy, Sapphire, and ??? vs Lightbright, Exquisite, Iron, and Gravmax.in a sanctioned fight.

Maybe Sphere?

NJM1564 wrote:
Any and Alyss are both Bad Seeds. If someone came after two of them they would care. You don't do that with out reprisals.

Roulette Chapter 1 wrote: Mom had briefly tried being a super hero, just so she could be Beth's partner, though it hadn't worked out. Mom hadn't liked being in that kind of danger, nor had she dealt well with the stress it caused. After going into a Diedricks rant in the middle of trying to stop a bank robber, she'd hung up her tights for good. Now, the closest Mom got to the super hero game was getting stories from Beth and occasionally making weapons for the local heroes.

Rose Bunny wrote: Exquisite in trying to be the "queen of the school" is setting herself up for failure. Let's think of her competition, even if they don't consider themselves as even trying to be the most popular girl in school...

the top 3 to not mess with:

Lanie - wouldn't care about the popularity, but the "Devisor Goddess" would have her fans behind her, she would have Kodiak supporting her, Kayda and Tansy would step in to protect her if anyone messed with her, as certainly the Order would as well.

Tansy - do I have to explain how bad an idea that'd be? Nope.

Nikki - more nope. Tick off team Kimba, the Outcasts, Venus Inc... oh yes, and Nikki herself, possibly one of the most powerful mages in the world.

I'm sure there are more names I'm forgetting, but that's because it's late.

to summarize... trying to plot your way to most popular girl in Whateley is pretty much a death sentence.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I find it amusing how often us forumites immediately jump to "these new characters could go to x,y, and z established characters, and they will solve the problem for them."

Yes, they could. They're not going to, but they could.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I find it amusing how often us forumites immediately jump to "these new characters could go to x,y, and z established characters, and they will solve the problem for them."

Yes, they could. They're not going to, but they could.

null0trooper wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I find it amusing how often us forumites immediately jump to "these new characters could go to x,y, and z established characters, and they will solve the problem for them."

Yes, they could. They're not going to, but they could.

If the characters and their one or two friends are too intellectually and emotionally crippled to look for help, it will be just as entertaining to see how they are killed off as collateral damage from whatever goes down in Spring 2008.

Angeldude wrote:

peter wrote: If they become aware of it. Now, big question, Has Alyss been approached by them. She is certainly qualified. A first rate mechanic who seems to be a small ten year old girl. It was to protect the vulnerable from the strong that the group was formed, and she is not obviously powerful.

Great. Now I want to see Alyss whack someone with a wrench.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I find it amusing how often us forumites immediately jump to "these new characters could go to x,y, and z established characters, and they will solve the problem for them."

Yes, they could. They're not going to, but they could.

Kaitha39 wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I find it amusing how often us forumites immediately jump to "these new characters could go to x,y, and z established characters, and they will solve the problem for them."

Yes, they could. They're not going to, but they could.

TBH, I find it a little funny, except for Alyss.
She's one of the few I could see doing it, in terms of "help me prank them and make them look stupid" instead of "help me beat them up."

Just because she has the mind of an adult and a physical strength level that she's scared of (See: denting the car in Steel Ribbon and jumping a mile in surprise.) She might have been fine deciding to beat up the Marquis, but IIRC, she mentioned that she was pissed the hell off with him and noted that he was an adult supervillain.

Pretty much everyone else jumping to established characters? Nah. They might turn to their training teams or friends, but realistically, only Jimmy-T and Miss Bardue defending the Hawthornites is going to happen.

Kaitha39 wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I find it amusing how often us forumites immediately jump to "these new characters could go to x,y, and z established characters, and they will solve the problem for them."

Yes, they could. They're not going to, but they could.

TBH, I find it a little funny, except for Alyss.
She's one of the few I could see doing it, in terms of "help me prank them and make them look stupid" instead of "help me beat them up."

Just because she has the mind of an adult and a physical strength level that she's scared of (See: denting the car in Steel Ribbon and jumping a mile in surprise.) She might have been fine deciding to beat up the Marquis, but IIRC, she mentioned that she was pissed the hell off with him and noted that he was an adult supervillain.

Pretty much everyone else jumping to established characters? Nah. They might turn to their training teams or friends, but realistically, only Jimmy-T and Miss Bardue defending the Hawthornites is going to happen.

Domoviye wrote: I could see the Poe characters going to Team Kimba for advice. The Kimbas were the top teams on campus previously, so having someone ask how they did it is certainly an option.
Asking established characters to fight their battles on the other hand is less likely.

P.S. Yes, I said recalibrate, we couldn't say "I beat some sense into Seaman Joe", we had to recalibrate him instead.

MM2ss wrote: Yes...there was always "that guy" that didn't shower. We developed a measuring system, the "funk radius"...

null0trooper wrote: "NJT" ( Pray it wasn't the XO that just gave your DivO some helpful advice. )

Kaitha39 wrote:

null0trooper wrote: "NJT" ( Pray it wasn't the XO that just gave your DivO some helpful advice. )

Okay, top result from google is "New Jersey Transport" company, so I have to ask, what does NJT stand for?

JG wrote: ALright folks, time to put the train back on the rails. We've gone WAAAAY off-topic.

mhalpern wrote: If Amy manages to control her shifting, she goes from one of the weakest, to one of the most dangerous combatants in the school, her psi can be used for assembling/disassembling (almost sonic screwdriver style), lock picking (sonic screwdriver) and to recover weapons Star Wars style, but those are all situational advantages, most of her abilities being low level are highly situational or preparatory, .

mhalpern wrote: On another note:

Maybe Alyss is bending pipes and such for Shine, it would make sense, Shine doesn't need money and Alyss doesn't have much, basically what Alyss can provide him is pipe/metal bending and heavy lifting which actually can double as a means for her to learn her strength with accurate control.

Speaking of Shine, i can imagine 3 types of weapons he could make which he will need for combat finals, thrown (ie molatove), flamethrower, and dev alcohol propelled projectile, both in gun and rocket form.

Katssun wrote: Exquisite knows how to bring others beneath her authority by psychological and political means alone. I don't know any other Gen 1 character that has done that before.

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

joreymay wrote:

Katssun wrote: Exquisite knows how to bring others beneath her authority by psychological and political means alone. I don't know any other Gen 1 character that has done that before.

Ayla has that skill set, but hasn't used it for anything that trivial. Treavor was raised to head up a major business empire, and given a thorough understanding of such tools. Since manifesting, Ayla has built on that base, but instead of wasting his time looking for the ego boost of "leading" a school clique he has turned his hand to more real-world results.

“But they used their powers,” Sapphire protested. “We heard their voices…”

“And all that can be faked,” Amy pointed out. “I know at least three people in the labs, who have voice modulators of one sort or another. There are a ton of bricks around campus, and everything else could easily be mimicked with magic, devises, or some other power. I mean, any strong telekinetic could make it look like they had Gravmax’s power.”

mhalpern wrote:

joreymay wrote:

Katssun wrote: Exquisite knows how to bring others beneath her authority by psychological and political means alone. I don't know any other Gen 1 character that has done that before.

Ayla has that skill set, but hasn't used it for anything that trivial. Treavor was raised to head up a major business empire, and given a thorough understanding of such tools. Since manifesting, Ayla has built on that base, but instead of wasting his time looking for the ego boost of "leading" a school clique he has turned his hand to more real-world results.

i know a few others, Tansy, and possibly Hekate come to mind.

konzill wrote: This story seems to have finished without resolving its main plot line, and the same goes for Imp 6 really, neither for them feel like a complete story to me. Because in both bases the central villain is still out there and still pursuing the same goal they had initially. And the heroes don't even have a plan of action at the end, other than we'll deal with it when it happens.

mhalpern wrote: If Amy manages to control her shifting, she goes from one of the weakest, to one of the most dangerous combatants in the school, her psi can be used for assembling/disassembling (almost sonic screwdriver style), lock picking (sonic screwdriver) and to recover weapons Star Wars style, but those are all situational advantages, most of her abilities being low level are highly situational or preparatory,
On another note:

Maybe Alyss is bending pipes and such for Shine, it would make sense, Shine doesn't need money and Alyss doesn't have much, basically what Alyss can provide him is pipe/metal bending and heavy lifting which actually can double as a means for her to learn her strength with accurate control.

Speaking of Shine, i can imagine 3 types of weapons he could make which he will need for combat finals, thrown (ie molatove), flamethrower, and dev alcohol propelled projectile, both in gun and rocket form.

Valentine wrote:

mhalpern wrote: If Amy manages to control her shifting, she goes from one of the weakest, to one of the most dangerous combatants in the school, her psi can be used for assembling/disassembling (almost sonic screwdriver style), lock picking (sonic screwdriver) and to recover weapons Star Wars style, but those are all situational advantages, most of her abilities being low level are highly situational or preparatory,
On another note:

Maybe Alyss is bending pipes and such for Shine, it would make sense, Shine doesn't need money and Alyss doesn't have much, basically what Alyss can provide him is pipe/metal bending and heavy lifting which actually can double as a means for her to learn her strength with accurate control.

Speaking of Shine, i can imagine 3 types of weapons he could make which he will need for combat finals, thrown (ie molatove), flamethrower, and dev alcohol propelled projectile, both in gun and rocket form.

Exactly what expenses does Alyss currently have?

Clothes? No, she makes her own.
Makeup? She's not at that point in her life yet, maybe in 20 years.
Food? No, it's part of her tuition.
Toys, games, and stuff like that (sort of stuff teens buy)? No, while she may join in a game, I doubt she owns anything more than a deck of cards and poker chips.
Books? Not until she finishes Whateley's Library and every other library out there.
Cigars? Yep
Booze? Yep

For all we know she had a tip jar out for Halloween costumes.

'Shine needs a weapon to put out a heavy mist of his strongest booze, although the staff might object to that weapon.

I'm still waiting to see 'Shine in a shoot off with the Grunts.

DanZilla wrote: If I'm reading things right she doesn't like her schooling being paid for by her kids so she's probably putting all she can to covering that so they don't have to keep doing so. It's not like she has the ability to make a substance that's worth millions or has invented something that can be patented and sold.

konzill wrote: This story seems to have finished without resolving its main plot line, and the same goes for Imp 6 really, neither for them feel like a complete story to me. Because in both cases the central villain is still out there and still pursuing the same goal they had initially. And the heroes don't even have a plan of action at the end, other than we'll deal with it when it happens.

Valentine wrote:

DanZilla wrote: If I'm reading things right she doesn't like her schooling being paid for by her kids so she's probably putting all she can to covering that so they don't have to keep doing so. It's not like she has the ability to make a substance that's worth millions or has invented something that can be patented and sold.

Remember that while no number has ever been put forward, the tuition at Whateley is higher than the most expensive colleges in the world. Any amount that Alyss is making wouldn't make a drop in the bucket of the cost of tuition. Assuming she works 10 hours or so a week, and works for 30 weeks, that is about 300 hours. Even at Ayla rates, it's not much help towards her tuition.

If you remember from Straight from the Squirrel's Mouth Aquerna got a stipend for her landscaping work. Likely Alyss does too.

If Alyss does get a project car, then she will have some more expenses, depending upon how much she wants to improve the car.

mhalpern wrote: Which is why she should try for a job as a costumer for Venus Inc

Katssun wrote: Jadis is a leader, and the closest thing to what Tansy would be if she didn't manifest as a high-exemplar.

Roulette is a leader. She has the maturity and calm demeanor that even Alyss wishes she had. Alyss sees Megan in Roulette, the Thornies look to her as a motherly figure, she's even a bit of a mother hen to her own mother.

JG wrote: ...and not every plotline will be wrapped with a neat little bow.

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Which is why she should try for a job as a costumer for Venus Inc

Heh. I'm suddenly imagining Alyss becoming the Venus Inc costumer. Then, in a year or two, Kaylie comes to Whateley and tries out for the club, and Alyss suddenly is responsible for dressing her granddaughter in revealing outfits.

Not that Kaylie seems like a likely Venus Inc candidate. But still, it would be funny.

mhalpern wrote:
What steady sources of income does Alyss have? I mean she works at the Garage, but that's mainly going into Tuition and there is saving up for a project car on the horizon, maybe she will find a '77 Plymouth Barracuda to restore... And then there will be aiding Kaylie's expenses, regardless of if it is needed or not.

mhalpern wrote:

Arcanist Lupus wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Which is why she should try for a job as a costumer for Venus Inc

Heh. I'm suddenly imagining Alyss becoming the Venus Inc costumer. Then, in a year or two, Kaylie comes to Whateley and tries out for the club, and Alyss suddenly is responsible for dressing her granddaughter in revealing outfits.

Not that Kaylie seems like a likely Venus Inc candidate. But still, it would be funny.

BITs can take a while to do their thing, and in a year or two, who knows, she WILL be a teenager after all

Kettlekorn wrote: Bonus points if they rig up the shop to start playing the appropriate song when she first walks in that day.

mhalpern wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

True, but Alyss still doesn't have much in the way of money, and trading favors is quite valid in the type of community he grew up in, its one thing to accept it from people who have some cash to spare, though trading it for favors may be more valuable to him as it means someone will go out of their way and spend their time doing something for him as opposed to just going to an ATM or something for his product

Mister D wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

True, but Alyss still doesn't have much in the way of money, and trading favors is quite valid in the type of community he grew up in, its one thing to accept it from people who have some cash to spare, though trading it for favors may be more valuable to him as it means someone will go out of their way and spend their time doing something for him as opposed to just going to an ATM or something for his product

Alyss is also a Gearhead, so wouldl be part of the favour-trading that operates in the Workshops.

mhalpern wrote:

Mister D wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

True, but Alyss still doesn't have much in the way of money, and trading favors is quite valid in the type of community he grew up in, its one thing to accept it from people who have some cash to spare, though trading it for favors may be more valuable to him as it means someone will go out of their way and spend their time doing something for him as opposed to just going to an ATM or something for his product

Alyss is also a Gearhead, so wouldl be part of the favour-trading that operates in the Workshops.

Which reminds me, Alyss probably has been picking up loads of small hard to quantify favors by the little things like tightening hard to reach bolts and such, a lot of goodwill favors, add to that Amy has a very highly demanded product, when word gets out they are looking for back up, they will get it.

Dpragan wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Mister D wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

True, but Alyss still doesn't have much in the way of money, and trading favors is quite valid in the type of community he grew up in, its one thing to accept it from people who have some cash to spare, though trading it for favors may be more valuable to him as it means someone will go out of their way and spend their time doing something for him as opposed to just going to an ATM or something for his product

Alyss is also a Gearhead, so wouldl be part of the favour-trading that operates in the Workshops.

Which reminds me, Alyss probably has been picking up loads of small hard to quantify favors by the little things like tightening hard to reach bolts and such, a lot of goodwill favors, add to that Amy has a very highly demanded product, when word gets out they are looking for back up, they will get it.

Ohh Yeah! messing with Maker of Devisor Brownies is up there with messing with their Coffee....that might get the Ratchet on them.

Dpragan wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Mister D wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

True, but Alyss still doesn't have much in the way of money, and trading favors is quite valid in the type of community he grew up in, its one thing to accept it from people who have some cash to spare, though trading it for favors may be more valuable to him as it means someone will go out of their way and spend their time doing something for him as opposed to just going to an ATM or something for his product

Alyss is also a Gearhead, so wouldl be part of the favour-trading that operates in the Workshops.

Which reminds me, Alyss probably has been picking up loads of small hard to quantify favors by the little things like tightening hard to reach bolts and such, a lot of goodwill favors, add to that Amy has a very highly demanded product, when word gets out they are looking for back up, they will get it.

Ohh Yeah! messing with Maker of Devisor Brownies is up there with messing with their Coffee....that might get the Ratchet on them.

Sir Lee wrote: Also... something I remember reading in an old-time (like, the 70s) motorcycle enthusiast magazine:

The guy was telling this tale of how he was becoming frustrated with an engine that "didn't want" to run, and a friend gave him the most illuminating speech he had, as a mechanic: that engines have no will and, if they are turning, the right mix of air and fuel is placed in the cylinder, the right amount of compression is applied and a spark is struck at the right time, it has no choice but run. So, you check if it's seizing, if it has compression, if air and fuel are entering and the spark, and eventually you will figure out what's wrong. But too many mechanics never internalize this process, and keep looking for "tricks" and "gotchas."

If this is true for regular people, triple it for the devisor/gadgeteer crowd. Particularly the devisors, who are used to making things work by sheer force of will. They would rather re-engineer their new thingummabob than check if there are physical conditions for the engine to run.

mhalpern wrote:

Dpragan wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Mister D wrote:

mhalpern wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: 'Shine does not need the money, but it's both a "still thinking small" thing and a pride thing.
First, he's a millionaire who still thinks like a small-time moonshiner and hasn't assimilated the meaning of that old joke about if it's worth Bill Gates' time to stop and bend for a US$ 100.00 bill.
Also, a pride thing. He takes a lot of pride on the quality of his work. Having people pay for it is a way to validate his pride.

True, but Alyss still doesn't have much in the way of money, and trading favors is quite valid in the type of community he grew up in, its one thing to accept it from people who have some cash to spare, though trading it for favors may be more valuable to him as it means someone will go out of their way and spend their time doing something for him as opposed to just going to an ATM or something for his product

Alyss is also a Gearhead, so wouldl be part of the favour-trading that operates in the Workshops.

Which reminds me, Alyss probably has been picking up loads of small hard to quantify favors by the little things like tightening hard to reach bolts and such, a lot of goodwill favors, add to that Amy has a very highly demanded product, when word gets out they are looking for back up, they will get it.

Ohh Yeah! messing with Maker of Devisor Brownies is up there with messing with their Coffee....that might get the Ratchet on them.

Its higher, not only are they messing with one of them, but they are messing with the ONLY source of a tasty alternative to their coffee, that's like messing with the guy who makes the psi grenades

Sir Lee wrote: Also... something I remember reading in an old-time (like, the 70s) motorcycle enthusiast magazine:

The guy was telling this tale of how he was becoming frustrated with an engine that "didn't want" to run, and a friend gave him the most illuminating speech he had, as a mechanic: that engines have no will and, if they are turning, the right mix of air and fuel is placed in the cylinder, the right amount of compression is applied and a spark is struck at the right time, it has no choice but run. So, you check if it's seizing, if it has compression, if air and fuel are entering and the spark, and eventually you will figure out what's wrong. But too many mechanics never internalize this process, and keep looking for "tricks" and "gotchas."

If this is true for regular people, triple it for the devisor/gadgeteer crowd. Particularly the devisors, who are used to making things work by sheer force of will. They would rather re-engineer their new thingummabob than check if there are physical conditions for the engine to run.

Valentine wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: Also... something I remember reading in an old-time (like, the 70s) motorcycle enthusiast magazine:

The guy was telling this tale of how he was becoming frustrated with an engine that "didn't want" to run, and a friend gave him the most illuminating speech he had, as a mechanic: that engines have no will and, if they are turning, the right mix of air and fuel is placed in the cylinder, the right amount of compression is applied and a spark is struck at the right time, it has no choice but run. So, you check if it's seizing, if it has compression, if air and fuel are entering and the spark, and eventually you will figure out what's wrong. But too many mechanics never internalize this process, and keep looking for "tricks" and "gotchas."

If this is true for regular people, triple it for the devisor/gadgeteer crowd. Particularly the devisors, who are used to making things work by sheer force of will. They would rather re-engineer their new thingummabob than check if there are physical conditions for the engine to run.

My dad told a story of him and a couple of his brothers doing maintenance on a lawn mower, including sharpening the blade. When they had finished and put it back together, it wouldn't run. It would turnover and a few seconds later stop. After troubleshooting for a while, one joked about having put the blade on upside down. They all laughed, and then turned the blade over. It started and ran like it was brand new. Never overlook what obviously can't be the problem.