Question Galatea Debutante

Hmm, with that title I expected an Eldritch + New Olympians story.

It would be nice, but very unlikely.
It was a good story. Tansy is still a bitch, but at least it's not just for petty reasons this time and she realizes she's one. Nice character development there without jumping over into instant change territory.
The fight was cool. I liked the comment about warning the boys about Kayda and certain words.
I would really like to see the first fight between Bladedancer and Kayda. What was the cheap shot? Why was it so bad?
Overall it was really good.

Excellent choice of opening song lyrics to go with the story, E.E. Wait, Hartford can make changes to who gets matched with who in the combat finals. Note to self, try to not annoy Ms. Hartford too much. Dang, one of the matches changed because of Tansy's suggestion, didn't expect something like that. Already interesting and it is just the start of the story.

Okay, I know they need to be taught how to survive in the real world, but Kayda against a brick! That is brutal, I can see why everyone was in a near-riot. Winced upon reading how Hippy was hurt in her match, impaling brings graphic images to mind of bloody injuries and lots of flesh tearing in my mind.

When, not if but when, Lannie finds out what Tansy did to Lifeline before their match it will take Kodiak and possibly Mrs. Carson to hold her back from killing the manipulative bitch. I thought Tansy was going good, but it seems working with Hartford and the woman's plans for the girl override any attempt at true redemption. And no wonder, just the talk she has with Cody shows she still has serious self esteem issues, thus can be easily manipulated by those who say they have her best interest in mind. Go from hating her again to pitying her and how this 'plan' is tearing her up inside all in a few sentences.

For what little work Tansy was described as doing to push Lifelife, she must really hate Grizzy and believe she is a monster deep down to not back down and treat someone who was her best friend like this. And to do a blood oath like that, I know Tansy pushed her some but this was just hiding under the surface for it to come out so quickly. I don't think even Tansy expected this level of hate when she pushed Lifeline.

At least Tansy is questioning her own actions, if only someone knew what is happening with Hartford and could intervein she might be saved. She truly wishes to be Lannie's friend, but fears turning on Hartford and her associates. Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Too stubborn teenage girls, determined to help their friend, Gunny doesn't stand a chance of getting either to back down. At least he stood up to Cody, shows he is still in charge at least. Besides, Kodiak plus those 3 would be too much for the combat track to take. At least Tansy talked her out of changing her codename, that would have sucked. I know she hates Loophole but we have gotten so used to it, changing it now would confuse people and make links to stories with her complicated.

Nice costume change by Lannie, wonder how advanced that little piece of tech is. Tansy getting turned on by herself in that outfit, at least they don't have Peeper doing commentary for the combat finals this time. Although I think the poor boy might pass out if he looks at her too long in that outfit, even he has his limits. Maybe with some true confidence Tansy will learn to say no to Hartford and associates requests. And Tansy, let Kayda wear the dress if she wishes to, we didn't even get to hear about what the beads do.

Why did Gunny have to choose that senario? This is going to be brutal, hope they can adapt on the fly to each others style and tactics. And reading the history which Lannie detailed, it is worse than I thought. At least Tansy knows Gunny well enough to realize he will put them through hell if he thinks it will teach them something.

Eep! I don't like the way Lannie said she is in the mood for killing, hope she doesn't take things too far and only takes it out on the ANTs. Never talk politics while in a war zone or hostage situation. Dang, Tansy is good, tricking her father and setting up a dummy corporation all to get master keys to every lock in existence. No one is going to believe she is as dumb as she was acting in the past at Whateley now.

And once more Ms. Hartford shows how good she is at knowing what others want to get what she wants. The older Whateley stories showed her as hard, but dedicated, yet seeming to try to keep out students she didn't wish at Whateley. The newer stories show her as cunning, intelligent, but also ultimately on the side of the students and school. Love the new insight into her, now if only she would do right by Tansy and let her make true friends instead of driving her to continue her manipulative ways.

"Avon calling!" Bwahahaha, I just know Gunny is annoyed at her being so flippant. Okay...I knew that Ito's training was extremely effective, seeing it in action like that and in their different techniques makes me wonder why more students don't take his martial arts classes. That was like a ballet of death and beauty at the same time. And to see Ito satisfied that Tansy did pay attention in class, wonder if the staff will realize from this combat final that her exemplar rating is way too low or if they already know and let her think they are in the dark. It's probably the latter.

At least Lannie remembered the goal here, get the Colonel out alive. Best to run after that goal is completed than keep fighting when you don't have to. And dang, Kayda's powers make her the perfect scout, and she hasn't even finished a full year of school yet. Tansy, Lannie, one lesson you have have been taught and remember is an old one. Never underestimate an opponent, especially one you have never faced before. Never threaten rape to any female or her friends, family, etc. They will end you almost every time.

And Gunny, doesn't matter if she is mostly over PTSD, threatening her friend with the same thing which traumatized her would set her off. Although good idea, should tell them not to use the word rape towards any female on campus. And with Kayda gone, without reading further down, I'm guessing we get to see what Tansy is really capable of. Bwahahaha, Princess Leia.

Someone finally figured out Hartford manipulated things for this match. Dang it, Tansy! All this to get Lannie to believe you are her new best friend and ally. This is going to blow up in your face, sooner than you think, Tansy. Why Hartford didn't advice against it is beyond me, except to impress the unnamed voice with her protege.

Providing the unnamed voice details on the students, I know the school is neutral but I think Carson would have words with Hartford over this. Especially about Lannie and Kayda. If Mrs. Carson heard this little convo between Hartford and the mystery voice, she would tear Hartford apart for betraying her trust.

Gunny!!!! He couldn't make it simple, or is this how it actually went down. From what Kayda reasons, sounds like he is running it how it went down except for leaving the Colonel alive and putting into the mutant threat below. Still, all that fire power is going to be hard to take down before the hovercraft shows up.

Nice, she figured out how to put spells onto her arrows. Was wondering when that would come up again, a great spell choice as well. D'oh! Out of essense at a critical point in the fight, heros always seem to run out of vital resource at a critical time. And ANT calvary to the rescue and sim is over, if Gunny is too harsh on them he wasn't watching the same incident go down.

Darn, figures the ANT foe would hit in the weak point for her costume. Nice bonus for Kayda, shows what initiative can get you. Everything fair game unless told otherwise, nice rule without having a ton of rules. Hehehe, knew Tansy would get called out, was just a matter of who did it. Had been expecting Mrs. Carson to do it and state she would go through powers testing again and this time they would be watching to see if she was holding back.

And if they wanted Lannie to not take her anger out on the sim, they should have sent another group in and given her at least a few hours to cool down first. They saw what happened with her, unfortunately, former best friend and still had her go into the sim with her team in under an hour after the incident. I'm surprised any of the buildings were left standing with how angry, frustrated, and upset she is over how things went with Lifeline.

If she needs X-rays on her ribs, along with her left ankle and knee, why would they ask or even let her walk? Walking on a potential fracture or break is a bad idea, I would think the medics would insist on driving her over. And I'm surprised I said basically what Tansy did before I read it, if she can figure that out then Gunny and Ito should have been able to as well and not penalized Lannie.

Tansy, you really should have told Carson what Hartford is up to with her favorite students. After everything that Kayda and Lannie have been through and what Carson feels about them, when this all comes out Hartford and Tansy had better have very deep holes to hide in. All this just to find out what the Atlantean League is about. Hartford is going to be shocked at the truth of the matter when she finds out.

Domoviye wrote: The fight was cool. I liked the comment about warning the boys about Kayda and certain words.
I would really like to see the first fight between Bladedancer and Kayda. What was the cheap shot? Why was it so bad?
Overall it was really good.

I've never had as much fun writing as I have collaborating with EE. It's like we were born to write together. He gets an idea, bounces it off me, it stirs ideas, which he refines or adjusts, and so on. And vice-versa. I hit a scene, he freely contributes to the point that my stories are as much his as mine. He asks for feedback, I make a suggestion, and he runs with it. I ask him for feedback on a story, and I get a section that's perfect to insert. EE is really, really something. I want to travel to visit my brother in Atlanta again so I can take him to lunch again - he's that neat a guy!

The final - it will be seen. I have about 87 pages of Kayda's final spring weeks done, including that fateful final.

Hmm... Does Hartford know about Maggie's Blood Oath by the end of this? I don't think so? Or did she just accept condemning a student into a magical oath like that, with her manipulations?

Okay, if I remember right, Hartford doesn't know about the true goals of the Atlantean League or else her priorities would be different? Hartford's on the side of humanity, right?

elrodw wrote:

Domoviye wrote: The fight was cool. I liked the comment about warning the boys about Kayda and certain words.
I would really like to see the first fight between Bladedancer and Kayda. What was the cheap shot? Why was it so bad?
Overall it was really good.

I've never had as much fun writing as I have collaborating with EE. It's like we were born to write together. He gets an idea, bounces it off me, it stirs ideas, which he refines or adjusts, and so on. And vice-versa. I hit a scene, he freely contributes to the point that my stories are as much his as mine. He asks for feedback, I make a suggestion, and he runs with it. I ask him for feedback on a story, and I get a section that's perfect to insert. EE is really, really something. I want to travel to visit my brother in Atlanta again so I can take him to lunch again - he's that neat a guy!

The final - it will be seen. I have about 87 pages of Kayda's final spring weeks done, including that fateful final.

fanboy squeal!
You and EE work really well together. So it's always interesting and usually fun reading your collaborations. Possibly more then when you guys work alone.

I suppose the use of Galatea in the title refers to Tansy (the Debutante) finally "coming to life". But that's a bit of a stretch.

This story contains one of my pet peeves so it will never be a favorite story. But beyond that it was pretty good.

Not sure how Lady Astarte is incapable of interrupting Miss Finson's blood oath in time. When to athame was first drawn, she should have reacted. And anyone starting a sentence with the word "By" you know is up to no good.

And I agree with the above, why have Elaine go into the simulator when the blood from a blood oath is still dripping off her chin? That will not give a fair assessment of her skills.

I am highly surprised that Hartford believes she can get Kayda to do the kinds of things the Syndicate would need doing. Or is she going after Kayda and Elaine because she knows they are under Liz' protection?

Depending on how blood oaths work, it could easily be the case that it would have been less cruel of Tansy to have murdered Lifeline. If it's hereditary preventing her from ever having children might be a very good idea.

OK. Hmm. Let me see...

I have a few problems, not with the story per se, but with the background detail.
First, at reading time it bothered me that Tansy apparently knew enough about the way the Finals would be. On rereading, though, I noticed two things:
1- The action is all in the same day.
2. It's a Tuesday, and Combat Finals usually take a full week.
So apparently Tansy saw the first matches on Monday, noticed that Loophole hadn't been called yet, formulated her plan and went to Hartford in time for Hartass to meddle on the Tuesday matchups. Not as much of a problem as I first thought.

A few other details, however, were unnecessary deviations from past stories and sorta grated on me.

Calling students by numbers instead of by codenames, as was done in the Winter finals, was such a case. I didn't see any point on the change.

Worse, the numbers were too low, so they didn't make any sense as "student ID numbers" or similar permanent assignmens. They would have to be generated only for the Finals, and that would be a source of problems with students who forgot their numbers and such.

I don't have a problem with there being a variety of different scenarios for the individual Finals, or with Bardue changing details at runtime -- this makes a lot of sense, in that it would keep students on their toes, since they couldn't simply copy the tactics of previous teams, and also allows the actual difficulty and danger level of the Final to be tailored to the survival ability of the students. You don't want any low-level student to actually DIE on the Finals, after all, nor do you want to offer a high-level student a cakewalk.

I find interesting and a bit chilling that Hartford is scheming to turn Loophole into the Syndicate, possibly as part of a burglary/hit team with Solange -- and with Pejuta as a bonus. There are subtle hints that it may not go the way she and her unnamed partner want, though -- Solange has pangs of guilt about what she is doing, and that may make her crack eventually.

The thing with Lifeline is a problem down the line -- will someone be able to convince Lifeline that she is mistaken? Even if she is convinced, can she take back a blood oath? How much would it cost her? And if she goes through with it, how much damage will she be able to do?

Oh... nice nod to the Erynies.

jmhyp wrote: Not sure how Lady Astarte is incapable of interrupting Miss Finson's blood oath in time. When to athame was first drawn, she should have reacted. And anyone starting a sentence with the word "By" you know is up to no good.

Well, because like all characters her reactions are at the speed of plot. Lets be honest, if Mrs. Carson reacted and did things at the level she's capable of in universe, there wouldn't be any stories because she'll have stopped things before they get out of hand enough to make for interesting stories. Chalk it up to amazement that anyone could do something so foolish.

Out of curiosity, what's the pet peeve?

Yes indeed, collaborating with El has proven remarkably fruitful and made writing fun again. And if anyone is wanting to know how to write a great feedback comment, Dreamer sets the Gold Standard! That's like watching a reaction video! Always fun.

I agree that Hartford appears to be looking for recruiting this group for the Syndicate, in fact the mysterious voice sounded a lot like Lord Paramount to me, which would have been amusing considering that the combat final was a sim of a mission on which he lost a lot of people.

There are large numbers of cases in Whateley where apparently intelligent people don't consider the obvious consequences of their actions or that they might get caught in their clever plan. On the other hand, that is equally true in the real world.

Sir Lee wrote: OK. Hmm. Let me see...

I have a few problems, not with the story per se, but with the background detail.
First, at reading time it bothered me that Tansy apparently knew enough about the way the Finals would be. On rereading, though, I noticed two things:

2. It's a Tuesday, and Combat Finals usually take a full week.
So apparently Tansy saw the first matches on Monday, noticed that Loophole hadn't been called yet, formulated her plan and went to Hartford in time for Hartass to meddle on the Tuesday matchups. Not as much of a problem as I first thought.
.

Note - that Monday is Memorial Day, so Tuesday is the first day of Combat Finals.

The first matches on Tuesday are crashes. So there's time - and it's not spoken in this story, but Tansy hatched her plot earlier. What's shown is merely Hartford using her skill and bribery to arrange matches a bit differently on the day of. No-one but a few faculty know the matches until they're announced.

elrodw wrote:
The first matches on Tuesday are crashes. So there's time - and it's not spoken in this story, but Tansy hatched her plot earlier. What's shown is merely Hartford using her skill and bribery to arrange matches a bit differently on the day of. No-one but a few faculty know the matches until they're announced.

Indeed, Hartford and Tansy hatched this in the club at the end of As Beauty Does.

Notice how EE and I tag-team our responses? We work well together, and it's FUN!

Now - back to the Kayda story I'm working on. EE - got any more ideas you want slipped in?

Hartford changing the crash students and appearing to think know one will notice seems to me to be very dismissive of Gunny Bardue and Sensei Ito. I expect that they know who should be in every crash. They may not say anything in front of the students but they probably have ways of finding out.

sam105 wrote: Hartford changing the crash students and appearing to think know one will notice seems to me to be very dismissive of Gunny Bardue and Sensei Ito. I expect that they know who should be in every crash. They may not say anything in front of the students but they probably have ways of finding out.

Keep in mind this was not a crash. While the card changed due to Maggie refusing to work with Loophole, the match itself is still in the theme for the finals which is hostage rescue with either someone you've never worked with before or someone who is a rival to you. This match meets that definition and so is a standard quote unquote match.

Thank You EE for the story.


Initial impressions:
1. The Cheap shot from Blade Dancer seems out of character.
2. Hippolyta needing medical help and Banned Aids assistance seemed out line for a Regen 6
3. Elaine is having problems with her armor. We know her gadgeteer rating is injured due to the Grizzly bonding; but she was unaffected with things, like the bow, that she already learned. Elaine also has a weak Devisor rating. Is the armor a least partially a devise? If she has lost partial use of this ability it could explain not being able to use the armor.
4. Elaine deserved a better grade

Still would like to see a scene with the rest of the Lit Chix; as we have not seen which side they have been on in the Elaine/ Maggie conflict.

Thanks again

E. E. Nalley wrote: And if anyone is wanting to know how to write a great feedback comment, Dreamer sets the Gold Standard! That's like watching a reaction video! Always fun.

That's because it is a reaction video in type, I type up my comments as I read the story, even making comments about things without knowing what is said in even the next paragraph many times. Thanks for saying that about my feedback comment, E.E. Was starting to think no one really noticed them. Although I don't want them to distract from the wonderful stories. And this one had me bouncing back and forth between hating and feeling pity for Tansy through the whole thing. That is a hard thing for any writer to do, making you both care for, ticked off at, and pity the same character.

Palomon wrote: 1. The Cheap shot from Blade Dancer seems out of character.
2. Hippolyta needing medical help and Banned Aids assistance seemed out line for a Regen 6
3. Elaine is having problems with her armor. We know her gadgeteer rating is injured due to the Grizzly bonding; but she was unaffected with things, like the bow, that she already learned. Elaine also has a weak Devisor rating. Is the armor a least partially a devise? If she has lost partial use of this ability it could explain not being able to use the armor.
4. Elaine deserved a better grade

Still would like to see a scene with the rest of the Lit Chix; as we have not seen which side they have been on in the Elaine/ Maggie conflict.

Thanks again

1 I may not have been as clear with this as I would like to of been about what happened with the late hit. It was not Chou who hit Kayda late but an ANT disguised as a super villain. Note the quote below:

The entire arena was on its feet and booing as the hulking brick slammed into Kayda, right as she crossed the police lines. The jeers and cat-calls of the late hit and suicidal charge of the villain into the police barricade were the object of creative obscenities.

2 Well you're also not getting the whole story just through dialogue.

3 If you recall from her fight in New York against Odinson when she was launched in space she found that the power pack in a backpack arrangement was far too vulnerable and so is redesigning it. Or would be redesigning it if she wasn't having problems with her gadgeteering.

4 Well she accomplished everything that was asked of her but Gunny does have a point she didn't do anything more and she didn't do anything clever.

As far as what's going on with her and the rest of the lit chick's that we talk about in my forthcoming story The Boys of Summer. And you're very welcome for the story. It was my pleasure.

Palomon wrote: 1. The Cheap shot from Blade Dancer seems out of character.

I don't think Kayda was fighting Chou. The term to describe whomever hit Kayda was "Hulking Brick." Those are the last words I'd use to define Chou. Likewise, Lanie's combat final is a cooperative set-up instead of a competitive one, and EE said that this wasn't a crash. So, I'm guessing that Kayda and Chou were teamed up (due to their minor rivalry on the archery range) and an ANT smashed into Kayda after she should have been done with her final.

EDIT: And EE answers this as I'm writing this up. Just my luck.

Actually, Now I have a question/assumption... Is the facility using numbers for the students so that the students don't know who they're stuck working with until just before the final beginning?

Blue Moose wrote: Actually, Now I have a question/assumption... Is the facility using numbers for the students so that the students don't know who they're stuck working with until just before the final beginning?

Ah! Someone has their thinking cap on! Yes, that's why.

I don't see how this makes much of a difference. Yes, it slightly delays the student finding out who their partner/opponent is going to be; but then, if someone is planning on taking a page out of She-Beast's book and come with several "toolkits" geared towards different kinds of opponents, all they would have to do is get a seat somewhere with a good view of the setup area, and wait until the opponent shows up.

Re: the Kayda/Chou pairing... I'll have to wait for the Kayda POV story, but I see it as a poor fit for the stated goals of these Finals. I mean, Kayda and Chou are friends, and their "rivalry" is more of a friendly competition. What's the point in "forcing" them to work together? They have no problem working together already, and they know each other's strengths pretty well.

The only reason I currently could see is the admin deliberately attempting to make it a bit easier for Kayda (considering that she has less than half the experience of most other students, and has had the Semester From Hell already). It doesn't explain giving Chou an easy pairing, though.

Sir Lee wrote: I don't see how this makes much of a difference. Yes, it slightly delays the student finding out who their partner/opponent is going to be; but then, if someone is planning on taking a page out of She-Beast's book and come with several "toolkits" geared towards different kinds of opponents, all they would have to do is get a seat somewhere with a good view of the setup area, and wait until the opponent shows up.

This is why they have to report to room three which is out of sight of the bleachers for just that reason. And the staff waits until there's a general hubbub of people running the restroom, heading over to the concession stand get a snack between matches, and other commotion before they announce who the next contestants numbers are so that you can't just sit there and watch and see who gets up. They do think about these things.

Review Galatea Debutante

This is my first attempt at ever writing a critique. No I have 'never' written one. Not even in HS.

And interesting name Galatea as used in the title by E.E Nalley on a girl who had kept parts of her life hidden in the background. Hiding not only her intelligence, but also her cunning behind her beauty which many people go by first.

Now we have a story where Galatea, which can be interpreted as many things: She who is milk-white, as in the Greek name. A durable, striped cotton fabric used in making clothing as defined by the dictionary.

Or if I were to look at the name in another view I see it of where the name came from the D.C. universe Galatea is also a powerful clone of Supergirl. No I am not assuming that Tansy is, only that we are seeing one facet of a girl who has apparently many sides that we don't know about hidden within a rough gem.

Too many people, they only looked upon Tansy for her beauty, failing to take in account for what lay hidden inside her interior. I don't even think the Don knew who he was dealing with. The song E.E. had chosen seems appropriate given what we are learning about Tansy's home life as with her defeat with the Alphas at school. She's not a quitter. Perhaps this is the quality that Ms. Harford sees. The tests to determine her worth as well as her potential.

This story isn't just about Tansy but about actions of others as well. Ms. Hartford who in the beginning of the story is making changes to students, more particularly Loophole's. Many may assume that Ms. Hartford is tampering with Loopholes combat schedule, but she wasn't hacking she was manipulating a student's combat by now having Loophole fight against Freeze Frame. She justified her action as a 'right' to make the change given how both admin and security failed to pair against each other for over a year and by her interpretation she saw it as more of a challenge. I'm sure her change was recorded by the computer and can be found easily if questioned. She had no fear of doing so even if it was at the last minute. As stated

The entire point of this year's spring combat finals was to pair either rivals or strangers and force them to work together in an exercise that would demand teamwork and communication skills. It was a scenario that usually made for interesting matches.

Yes it was risky and it was Tansy's suggestions, not hers.

There are those that questions Kayda (Pejuta), being sent against a 'brick' but given her past history, not including her PTSD, she has proven herself capable of handling someone of her stature. You don't go against a demon without getting hurt. I'm not saying it was fair, only that as they say, she could take it and they, as in security and admin, would not allow her to be killed and given her exemplar status could heal herself if injured so in their eyes it was deemed a fair fight given her abilities.

After Kayda's fight we come to where Elaine is having trouble with her armor. A suit she specifically designed for herself. It seems strange that a suit would suddenly have problems and Elaine (Loophole) would have to rely upon her other persona's outfit 'Wicked'. Was it somehow manipulated to where she would have to rely upon her other skills and not her 'techno' skills? Would the fight have been different if her suit had not 'malfunctioned' for a better term? We'll never know.

Now we have it where Tansy and Wyatt are together once more. We don't see what's going on inside Wyatt's thinking only what's happening with Tansy. Given the conversation it seems that Tansy is being careful not to use her ability to manipulate emotions. She knows it won't work against him but has to tread carefully in her conversation and admit what she knew. Wyatt used her for his own gains like she used others. Perhaps she did want someone to love even if she enjoys sex given what she knew of him and the realization that it wasn't returned hurts. As has been depicted in previous stories Tansy's in conflict. She's trying to make amends with those that she hurt and now here she is once more 'manipulating' those she has to make friends with. It’s a conscious effect. She's fighting herself and its possibly hurting her inside. She confides in him and it hurts her to know that its succeeding in her manipulations. She's done it in the past but now it appears different for her.

Afterwards we go to Area 99 where a distraught Elaine is in tears as her assigned companion refuses to work with her. The tension had been shown before but now it's more escalated. We later learn it was Tansy who was doing the manipulation on Maggie (Lifeline) emotions. Only I suspect none, not even Tansy, Ms. Hartford or even Mrs. Carson would hear the blood oath evoked. If Elaine's avatar is anything like Cody's (Kodiak), she had just signed her death kneel. There has been considerable debate on how strong Cody's avatar is but given what has been shown, it will not be good when and if it comes down to the blows. Maggie's emotions and fear of GSD had been pushed to the limits and given her previous friendship I don't think Maggie was in the right frame of mind to make such a gesture it may come back to haunt her later.

Either way the manipulation worked in that Lifeline withdrew allowing Tansy to step in as with an still injured Kayda. It seems strange at this point that even with what was diagnosed as an injured shoulder as well as having done one fight already Admin allowed her to enter the fray once more. Yes Gunny was concerned and had pointed it out, only to relinquish to her.

Also we now have a distraught girl still being tasked with needing to complete her combat exercise. Perhaps it was pride as with anger in wanting something to lash out, Elaine failed to request more time to gain more time over her emotional distraught. In fact it seemed the administration was pushing her to continue under the circumstances. None offered her more time to compose herself, only to relinquish when she wanted to continue. Given her knowledge of the rules perhaps her failure to request more time was due to her being upset.

Elaine donning her Wicked outfit wanted to use the name and was talked out of it, but as the fight would be broadcast to sports arenas besides the many attempts to stop them wouldn't her outfit still be seen as being Wicked? Wouldn't her appearance set off warning bells or when transformed in her bear form would it have been enough to where she wouldn't be recognized?

Once Tansy suits up it seems to take everyone by surprise. This is where I feel the Galatea part takes effect. None had seen here dressed in this manner given that she was more of an escape and evade individual. Was that more for those who will be villains? Or was it a misinterpretation of what they knew about her abilities? Either way we see a bit more of the inside of Tansy. The part where she always compares herself to her younger self. Looking in the mirror she obsesses over her change. A sense of pride forms inside of her to where she's going to treat herself with a diamond. A new side is being exposed for all to see and there is no turning back. She's now exposing herself to those who thought they knew her. I'm sure the audience were caught in a shock and awe moment wondering who this person was. Most I'm sure would assume that Tansy would hide in the background and not take a more frontal approach to the upcoming fray that was going to ensure. At this point none would look at her the same, as was her intent. But her outfit did more for her than most would know. It vindicated her in her new persona. A girl who was 'confident' in her abilities not shying away from who she had kept hidden. In essence it seems she wanted to be a hero and now was her chance to prove it.

The conversation between Kayda and Tansy concerning Kayda wearing a dress to the fight may have been more related to her fashion sense as well as practicality. Unfortunately it was cut off by Elaine.

Now with the three ready to enter the arena two are familiar with the history of their opposition whereas Tansy seems to care little for it. Or more specifically the politics of it. It seems that Tansy is a information type of person looking for the ins and outs of the battle. Only here it seems she's out of her element. She's not familiar with the setting and is now reliant on those she is with for the info. This goes back to the escape and evade scenarios she was used to. If she is going to continue in this type of environmental learning she's going to have to buckle down and do the research as well. A failing on her part.

None are more surprised it seems than Ms. Hartford. Tansy had used her wits to overcome a deficiency with knowhow in obtaining keys. She even knew the type by number on which to use. I’m sure this not only impressed Elaine and Kayda but those who were listening in to the conversation in the control booth.

We spring back to Ms. Hartford who is listening in on the conversation as well. Now we learn more of the manipulative side of her as she 'bribe's' Gunny into upping the game a bit by changing the scene to where the Colonel lives. By their history he dies before being rescued. We know she wants them tested and ups the ante. Challenge them just don't give them an easy win. The girls have to earn it, but none too easy so it gives Gunny the out he needs. The bribe is subtle so it appears she had done it before given what she knows of him.

As we return back to the battle Elaine hadn't relinquished her anger and uses it in the battle. Was it more of her Avatars doing or was it a combination of both?

As they make their first move against enemy combat A.N.T.s. it becomes apparent what Tansy is capable of. In a coordinated surprised event staff are taken by surprise by Tansy's graceful actions in working with Elaine, none more so than Sensei Ito. In later training I'm sure he won't be easily taken when he challenges her more. In their movement of grace Kayda is overwhelmed in that she wasn't really needed for the take downs. We were not privy to what the audience thought but I'm sure a few were sweating once they saw the action.

It's where Kayda returns after doing a recon that the events become more escalated. We are not told how she was seen with perhaps thinking she didn't use her invisibility spell only that they had been called out. Here the action becomes more intense in that decisions were made. Send her back out once more as the other two go head on with a faceoff. A sneak attack. Most of the A.N.T.s are taken out relatively easy till they come across a high level regenerator. This is where the bonding between Elaine and Tansy seem to come together. As with the barbs that are thrown out. Tansy comparing the villain to Ali Baba. The Villain comparing the pair as whores. And as the results show a very offended group when told of what would be done to them. None more so than Kayda given her past PTSD experience with males. It's fitting that Kayda stands out when told she would be raped once more using her rage to her advantage, much to the detriment of all males present. I'm sure none will want to question what she would do them if told what she'd do to them given the visual that she displayed for all to see. Even Gunny was put off by her savage action of where she placed one tomahawk and how many males became squeamish covering themselves not caring who saw?

This is also where Tansy and Elaine shine in their coordinated attack on 'Baig'. As the two continued to distract him Tansy went for the win as they say. Best to have a least one survive with the hostage then to have him engage in the fray itself. Of course we know Gunny isn't that easy to be fooled and Kayda had a little more study of history or perhaps Gunny's thinking. The barbs between Kayda and Col Anthem was great. Unfortunately Kadya got the wrong branch, yet still worked.

We are given privy to a conversation between Ms. Hartford and an unknown male on the phone. She is giving him her personal assessment of the three who seems to have doubts about the rivalry between Elaine and Tansy. We learn that Tansy works best with a threesome thus it appears that she is rethinking her assessment of Kayda as with whatever plans she is working on. The psych analysis of the Kayda as well as Elaine. Was this fight nothing more than evaluation of fitting their needs? We learn here this is where Tansy alienates Maggie from Elaine. We learn more of how devious Tansy is. The process of sending Kayda to go for the Colonel while she works hand in hand with Elaine. In essence she's weaseling her way into Elaine's good graces, by keeping Kayda away from the fight. A very clever maneuver on her part. Both it seems are in agreement that Kayda will also need to be part of the entanglement as there appears to be no way to separate the two given past occurrences. We learn of a meeting only to find that it's to appear more than a year; October which in Wateley's timeframe could be a decade from now for us. Let us hope the writers don't forget about that, unless there is a happenstance of misfortune.

As the battle concludes I wonder if where Kayda's use of a her arrows caused the premature detonation of the RPG. Was the grenade o the impact type or one where it took a few seconds to arm itself. Given how the weapon exploded once the enemy fell I only raise this question as many times movies failed to properly depict the type of weapon for theatrical effects. One of Rambo's movies sticks in my mind. But given that an impact grenade did have fatal effects in the late 70's early 80's I'm inclined to think if was one used during that era in lieu of the newer RPG's in use.

None is more fearsome than the Vulcan when used in close combat support. Its effectiveness has been proven many times over given its firepower as with its destructiveness. Able to place one round every inch there is no way for any in its path to escape it nor would one live when hit with a 20mm round.

Two people were surprised with their grades. Kayda not fully understanding the grading system as with Elaine. Given how Tansy performed I'm surprised that she didn't glow more with self-approval given how this was her first time in such a scene.

Overall Kayda learned more about herself in that she had become too reliant on essence when fighting. Also I'm sure others will inform her more on proper armament when it comes to doing certain combat scenario's. Nothing will stop a bullet or fist if she's unable to throw up a protection spell.

Elaine is going to have to learn more of tempering her own anger given how she has an avatar. I'm wondering why her grizzly didn't caution her in her actions or is her avatar to novice to the schools fighting that caused her to be over confident in her ability? Stealth would have worked more and I feel it would have happened except for Kayda being caught. In part I felt it was a trap in that both Tansy and Elaine 'would' have had to fight either way. Was she docked for going full out as a bear or for not looking for another solution to the problem as she's been known for?

Tansy s outcome in the fight, I'm sure upped her self-confidence about her ability as with those of many around her. The question is what future roles will she be placed against now that her secrets been outed. What more are we going to be privy to as we learn more of a girl having to manipulate those around her?

More importantly Tansy solidified her role with several people, most importantly Elaine. She has now garnered the friendships of both Kayda as well as Cody. And having done so is also playing with Tany's own morals causing them to go into flux. How far will she go to betray that friendship, convincing herself that what she's doing is for a purpose? And how will she feel further down the line if found out if an when Maggie decides to make do with that blood oath she swore?

Over all the story was good, well written except for a few misplaced typo's but not enough to distract from the story itself. The collaboration between several authors is evident as with how it easily flows not detracting from the characters personalities which happens when other authors write them in without consulting causing character conflicts.

Ibi

Hartford had a perfect excuse for changing Lanie's combat partner, and commented on it, Freeze Frame wasn't a rival anymore. Her second choice wasn't appropriate, but she could claim to not know Lanie and Maggie were friends. So she had her ass covered.

Domoviye wrote: Hartford had a perfect excuse for changing Lanie's combat partner, and commented on it, Freeze Frame wasn't a rival anymore. Her second choice wasn't appropriate, but she could claim to not know Lanie and Maggie were friends. So she had her ass covered.

From the way it was given and I may not have been clear, it appears to me that Freeze Frame was setup for a future combat and not the current one.

Read that wrong.

Domoviye wrote: Read that wrong.

LOL At least I'm not the only one that can't read write.

E. E. Nalley wrote: Well, because like all characters her reactions are at the speed of plot. Lets be honest, if Mrs. Carson reacted and did things at the level she's capable of in universe, there wouldn't be any stories because she'll have stopped things before they get out of hand enough to make for interesting stories. Chalk it up to amazement that anyone could do something so foolish.

Well, amazement will have to do. But I also remember that the point of the universe is that you have to show your work. Powers have "scientific" backing. The use of hand waving is to be minimized and all that. And from Carson's POV, I would think accidentally braking Mag's hand would be preferable to having her complete a blood oath.

I find it ironic that it's Maggie's insertion character that is getting this treatment, much like Fey. (Entirely tongue in cheek)

I am curious about how Tansy's enemies are reacting to Tansy getting back in Wyatt's and Lanie's good graces. A lot of campus has to be going, "What's her play now?" It seems to me that Tansy is finally playing the trumps that she's been hiding, and I can't help but wonder if she's doing that too early. Of course, continuing with Step 9 of Bitches Anon may help with that. (I really want to see her apologize to Ayla..... likely for several hours.)

Oh and before it is brought to my attention on my review, I am well aware that Galatea is also from Greek Mythology in that she was brought to life. I could also say as some others have said, this is where Tansy comes to life as a more fleshed out character.

Awesome post, Ib12us! Had a great time reading it. Though not mentioned in Ovid, it's "generally accepted" that the statue Pygmalion carved was of the Sea Nymph Galatea.

Blue Moose, Tansy's changes have not gone unnoticed, never fear.

While I think she deserved at least a B, maybe the C+ will be a wakeup call for Lanie that she needs to get her anger under control. She's been getting a lot angrier ever since Wyatt and Grizzly have been involved with her life. Granted, much has gone down this semester.

The Syndicate plot is interesting. Tansy had gone down the dark path, came back, and is now heading down a different dark path. Lanie might follow her just to be Wicked full time. Kayda is the X-Factor, superhero girlfriend would probably not approve of supervillain friends. Maybe Kayda can pull the trio back, maybe she'll be tricked and trapped, maybe she'll be seduced by evil. I'm not sure Wakan Tanka would care as long as Kayda carried out her role for The People; especially if their criminal activity could be classified as a raid against a rival nation. Although Wakan Tanka would probably chastise greedy behavior, and any kind of excessive behavior (all things in moderation).

ThaleDison wrote: The Syndicate plot is interesting. Tansy had gone down the dark path, came back, and is now heading down a different dark path. Lanie might follow her just to be Wicked full time. Kayda is the X-Factor, superhero girlfriend would probably not approve of supervillain friends. Maybe Kayda can pull the trio back, maybe she'll be tricked and trapped, maybe she'll be seduced by evil. I'm not sure Wakan Tanka would care as long as Kayda carried out her role for The People; especially if their criminal activity could be classified as a raid against a rival nation. Although Wakan Tanka would probably chastise greedy behavior, and any kind of excessive behavior (all things in moderation).

EE and I have plans (BWAH HAH HAH HAH ) It will be a surprise

ThaleDison wrote: While I think she deserved at least a B, maybe the C+ will be a wakeup call for Lanie that she needs to get her anger under control. She's been getting a lot angrier ever since Wyatt and Grizzly have been involved with her life. Granted, much has gone down this semester.

The Syndicate plot is interesting. Tansy had gone down the dark path, came back, and is now heading down a different dark path. Lanie might follow her just to be Wicked full time. Kayda is the X-Factor, superhero girlfriend would probably not approve of supervillain friends. Maybe Kayda can pull the trio back, maybe she'll be tricked and trapped, maybe she'll be seduced by evil. I'm not sure Wakan Tanka would care as long as Kayda carried out her role for The People; especially if their criminal activity could be classified as a raid against a rival nation. Although Wakan Tanka would probably chastise greedy behavior, and any kind of excessive behavior (all things in moderation).

Given by Gunny's standards I would say she was real close to a B. Still that would have upset her. The failure came when they finally engaged the Regenerator in my opinion. To me she saw it as the opportunity for payback in what happened in the staging room and thus let her rage control her thought process. We all have our moments but those in a leadership position must control all such an actions else its detrimental to the overall team.

Example: A rogue Lieutenant or Captain ordering his soldiers to kill innocents for no purpose at all. Cool heads must prevail else ones anger can overwhelm a situation. I think Gunny was looking for her to find another way around the fighting, such as containing him, before being forced to engage which he knew would happen. Look for other avenues of approached before having to engage the enemy thus keeping casualties down to a minimum. Their fighting could have escalated to where 'Baig' (a play on Bane from Batman perhaps) or to mean Commander possibly, could have charged Kayda and the Col thus possibly killing him or injuring Kayda further or both.

Ibi

E. E. Nalley wrote: Awesome post, Ib12us! Had a great time reading it. Though not mentioned in Ovid, it's "generally accepted" that the statue Pygmalion carved was of the Sea Nymph Galatea.

Blue Moose, Tansy's changes have not gone unnoticed, never fear.

Your welcome. I've tried to read Metamorphosis just can't get into it. Its like trying to read Shakespeare. Either you can or you can't. I've also tried the Iliad.

Now just call me Ibi. Not Bond, not late for dinner or for my pay. Just Ibi.

Ibi

ThaleDison wrote: While I think she deserved at least a B, maybe the C+ will be a wakeup call for Lanie that she needs to get her anger under control. She's been getting a lot angrier ever since Wyatt and Grizzly have been involved with her life. Granted, much has gone down this semester.

Minor point here. I don't think Lanie's anger is that recent. She has exhibited substantial anger before: against Freya, (mistakenly) against Songbird... I think that, under that Southern Lady façade, Lanie is quite hotheaded. Witness her dream-self avatar, a Pict Warrior...

Sir Lee wrote:

ThaleDison wrote: While I think she deserved at least a B, maybe the C+ will be a wakeup call for Lanie that she needs to get her anger under control. She's been getting a lot angrier ever since Wyatt and Grizzly have been involved with her life. Granted, much has gone down this semester.

Minor point here. I don't think Lanie's anger is that recent. She has exhibited substantial anger before: against Freya, (mistakenly) against Songbird... I think that, under that Southern Lady façade, Lanie is quite hotheaded. Witness her dream-self avatar, a Pict Warrior...

That is telling now isn't it?



Certainly Lanie is no slouch in the temper department, and it's not like Grizzly as a source of cool levelheaded logic either.

E. E. Nalley wrote:

Sir Lee wrote:

ThaleDison wrote: While I think she deserved at least a B, maybe the C+ will be a wakeup call for Lanie that she needs to get her anger under control. She's been getting a lot angrier ever since Wyatt and Grizzly have been involved with her life. Granted, much has gone down this semester.

Minor point here. I don't think Lanie's anger is that recent. She has exhibited substantial anger before: against Freya, (mistakenly) against Songbird... I think that, under that Southern Lady façade, Lanie is quite hotheaded. Witness her dream-self avatar, a Pict Warrior...

Certainly Lanie is no slouch in the temper department, and it's not like Grizzly as a source of cool levelheaded logic either.

She IS a redhead, after all, and they are reputed to be somewhat ... feisty

Nobody yet has touched on why Tansy was so keen to become Lainie's best friend (espeically given past rivalries), to the point of arranging to switch Lainie's combat final partner and (when Maggie refused) take over herself. While she genuinely does want to be friends with Lainie, there is the small matter of her being blackmailed by Hartford. She has to be accepted into the Atlantean League, but given her history (both with Cody / Laine and with her choice of physical education - survival rather than martial arts) just walking up to them and asking to join would have a virtually zero chance of success. However, arranging things so she can show the light she's been hiding under a proverbial bushel, as well as working as a team with Lainie (Kayda was an unexpected boost), is a big step closer towards being invited into The League.

She'd almost certainly heard about the antagonism Maggie's felt towards Lainie since Grizzly's appearance, so probably thought that if she nudged Maggie enough, she'd refuse point blank to work with Lainie (and maybe even try attacking her outside the arena) - I very much doubt she expected Maggie would boil over to the extent of invoking a Sorceror's Contract to bind her to attempting to kill the spirit¹. Either Tansy had underestimated Maggie's existing antipathy towards Grizzly, or she's not been the only one amplifying Maggie's feelings (given what else has happened on campus since Kayda's arrival, that's a distinct possibility).

Sidenote: I wonder if Tansy's still trying to be a mole within The Don's social circle on behalf of Cody, or whether the increasingly public knowledge of her apparent heel-face turn (cause by her heel realisation) has vexed that possibility.

Finally, it'll be interesting through future stories learning more tidbits about what Hartford and Mystery Voice are up to - judging by the chuckle as he mentioned possibly seeing the trio at Halloween, it's already looking as though this coming year's will be more eventful than average (although how it'll compare to last year's halloween remains to be seen/discovered...)

Regarding the lack of commentary from Peeper, the entire focus of the narrative is from the perspective of the participants, so other than that brief interlude where we cut to the spectator PoV, we wouldn't have heard the commentary. Not that Peeper would have had chance to say much, as by the time he would have concocted his opening remarks (which would take him longer than usual given there were three "babes" entering the arena at the same time, each wearing a completely different outfit), all hell would have been breaking loose down below. Which reminds me - another advantage of calling students by alloted numbers rather than their names is that not only do the participants not know who's joining them until they meet outside the door, but the specators (and WARS) don't know, so everyone's waiting in anticipation of what will come next.

More generally, I doubt Bunny's secret weapon will work this time - while ramping up the difficulty of the scenario could easily allow it to suffice for the Crash students as well - get to the hostage and get them out - alive - as quickly as possible - preferably without levelling the building in the process!

[1] That's going to create a headache for the Magical Arts Department, and if Administration have their heads screwed on, possibly Security as well, for if word gets out about Maggie's Sorceror's Contract, she could be a tempting recruitment target for _TWFKAHekate's Master's scheming...
Excluding her could possibly bring her to the attention of TWFKAH, given Administration know she's on the loose - or maybe Boston's favourite Necromancer, Charlie Darrow...

One thought dancing through my head over the past day or so is that the mysterious contact on Ms. Hartford's phone might be the ever illusive Nimbus. AKA Heckate's Master, if Tansy is to be believed. Nimbus is known to be a high level member of the syndicate, and Whateley is a sensitive enough place that Ms. Hartford's handler would likely be highly ranked. The member of the payola platoon is just there to distract security from who the true syndicate insider is. It also sounds like next Halloween could be another story in the offering.

Why do I hear EE and/or Elrod's cackling in the background?

cprime wrote:
Why do I hear EE and/or Elrod's cackling in the background?

Oh, don't mind us! Carry on, by all means!

On Tansy keeping on as a mole on the Don's faction:

I seriously doubt it. Not only the Don lost all nerve (and therefore any semblance of respect) after his confrontation with HM/Nimbus, Tansy is scared stiff of whoever was that the Don met in the tunnels -- she would want to keep her distance from the Don lest some of it splashes on her.

Also, what does the Don control right now? He might have Hamper and Damper. But I doubt anyone else is hoping the Don will like them.

Kristin Darken wrote:
Personally, I think that.. even unplanned... this is a good example of the weight of intent in the use of magick (in universe and otherwise). Lifeline has already committed to the oath even as she takes out her athame... and stains her spirit by using a pure blade to draw blood (if you don't know about athame's, they are a physical extension of the spirit and will as a tool for cutting the boundaries between realities - an athame isn't used to cut physical objects and especially not to draw blood - in a 'few' cases it is considered appropriate to harvest specific herbs with the athame but that depends on the tradition you practice).

It definitely depends on the tradition that the spell-caster follows, and their level of skill at transcending the physical plane.

Granny Weatherwax, for instance, uses a good quality kitchen knife when she needs something that would symbolise an athame.

This comes from decades of having to be careful about concealing what she can do.

There's a nice under-current in one of the Tiffany Aching stories that describes this effectively.

cprime wrote: AKA Heckate's Master, if Tansy is to be believed. Nimbus is known to be a high level member of the syndicate, and Whateley is a sensitive enough place that Ms. Hartford's handler would likely be highly ranked.

I should point out that all of you are looking at the Syndicate as a monolithic, unified block moving in lockstep with all the members in agreement. It is, in fact, a very loose organization of members, some of whom have competing or even contradictory goals.

Just Say'n.

For whatever reason, I never finished reading "As Beauty Does". I have to say that reading it makes a lot of this make more sense.

I agree with some of the others that I don't think Tansy expected things to go so badly with Lifeline and I expect some angst when she realizes the scope of it. That said, unless she blurts out the truth that she was manipulating emotions, I could see her bluffing her way out with "I was just trying to force a resolution between you two. I'm sorry" as her explanation.

On a side note, the hostage's AI was very good, able to hold a conversation about extrinsic details such as Kayda's weaponry. Either they use actors, they've got a very good conversation tree, or maybe the simulator is starting to develop some degree of self-awareness.

Oh we do love it when people notice the details...

Clearly HM and Nimbus are also the Palm, and they are hiding in the ANTS and Mega-Death's squid robot. The avatar spirit stealing project is an extension of his download-to-a-body project, and the induced mutations he's causing within the Goodkinds are an attempt to set up a suitably powerful and influential host body to download into.

FuzzyBoots wrote: On a side note, the hostage's AI was very good, able to hold a conversation about extrinsic details such as Kayda's weaponry. Either they use actors, they've got a very good conversation tree, or maybe the simulator is starting to develop some degree of self-awareness.

I think it's just that the (ostensibly) NPCs on the Sims are "enhanced" by the techs' direct intervention. I mean, do you remember seeing them in the Ayla stories? They are sure to be a bunch of game addicts. Try KEEPING them from taking over a character in a sim...

Kettlekorn wrote: Clearly HM and Nimbus are also the Palm, and they are hiding in the ANTS and Mega-Death's squid robot. The avatar spirit stealing project is an extension of his download-to-a-body project, and the induced mutations he's causing within the Goodkinds are an attempt to set up a suitably powerful and influential host body to download into.

I think I need more caffeine, that makes way too much sense. It also probably fits in with the government guys that used Mythos enhanced technology on Circuit Breaker.

E. E. Nalley wrote: Oh we do love it when people notice the details...

I don't think has been brought up...

“I've played with worse,” Kayda declared. “I finished a game once with a broken ring finger.”

Ito, Gunny Bardue, Loophole, Tansy, some paramedics, Mrs. Carson, perhaps Maggie, and how many others were in the room when Kayda made that little announcement?

Girls play football, usually until puberty sets in for the boys, but it's not unheard of. There's also flag football which while gentler can still have accidents.

Plus there is football, as in soccer, that girls play and get hurt in. Nowhere does it state what game he was playing.

True. Could be volleyball, that would make a broken finger really painful, and that's popular with girls.

“You're injured, Miss Franks,” Gunny protested strongly. She was halfway through taking the sling off before one of the paramedics laid a cautioning hand on her, stopping her.

“It's more than likely just a bad sprain,” the other paramedic told Gunny, nervously watching Kayda. "I don't think she tore the rotator cuff, and clearly it wasn't dislocated. NFL pros play with worse.”

“I've played with worse,” Kayda declared. “I finished a game once with a broken ring finger.”

“Brave and stupid aren't selling points,” the Marine replied grimly, then turned his attention to Tansy. “And you! You're on the Escape and Evade track! You've never even been in a combat final that you weren't supposed to run away from!”

Unless she was a goalie, a broken finger in a soccer match wouldn't be a big thing.

That's why I went with football first. But volleyball, lacrosse, field hockey, even soft ball would all hurt.

Valentine wrote:

E. E. Nalley wrote: Oh we do love it when people notice the details...

I don't think has been brought up...

“I've played with worse,” Kayda declared. “I finished a game once with a broken ring finger.”

Ito, Gunny Bardue, Loophole, Tansy, some paramedics, Mrs. Carson, perhaps Maggie, and how many others were in the room when Kayda made that little announcement?

Given that only Gunny, Tansy and maybe Maggie don't know Kayda's background I think it would be a moot point for them. If Tansy or Maggie was interested then yes Kayda would have to provide more family details else they would most likely blow it off as having some childhood injury.

At my first school, nearly every girl in my grade was on the basketball team.

Kettlekorn wrote: At my first school, nearly every girl in my grade was on the basketball team.

... That sounds like too many people for one team, but then again I don't know how your system worked...

Could be a small school.

Yeah, it was pretty small. At one point there were only 18 people in my grade. I think we peaked at 27 before I moved.

Kettlekorn wrote: Yeah, it was pretty small. At one point there were only 18 people in my grade. I think we peaked at 27 before I moved.

Yep. Definitely small...

Incidentally, what grade level would you happen to be referring to? Elementary? Junior High? High School?

My high school wasn't big either. 150 students in high school - total. 33 in my class.

Sixth grade was the last year I lived there. Sixth is considered the last year of elementary in that school system, but the school itself is a combined deal, housing the whole PK-12 run in one building. They've got a total population of about 330 kids nowadays. I think it was only about 300 when I attended back in the 90s.

Kayda's town was modeled after Woonsocket . It has twice the population of the town housing my school, but it's also in a slightly less densely populated area overall, so their school is even smaller than mine at just under 200. You can see more detailed demographics info on Woonsocket's school here .

elrodw wrote: My high school wasn't big either. 150 students in high school - total. 33 in my class.

Dang...

I had almost 1000 students in just my graduating CLASS, let alone my whole high school...

And here I've been thinking all this time that my high school experience was fairly typical...

My school had about 900 students all told. Now that my daughters in the same school there's probably 300.

Kettlekorn wrote: Sixth grade was the last year I lived there. Sixth is considered the last year of elementary in that school system, but the school itself is a combined deal, housing the whole PK-12 run in one building. They've got a total population of about 330 kids nowadays. I think it was only about 300 when I attended back in the 90s.

Kayda's town was modeled after Woonsocket . It has twice the population of the town housing my school, but it's also in a slightly less densely populated area overall, so their school is even smaller than mine at just under 200. You can see more detailed demographics info on Woonsocket's school here .

Holy shit - I didn't realize the school had gone THAT far down in size since I went there. There were 150 students in HIGH SCHOOL when I was there - average about 35 per class! Of course, it's been 20 years since I've been back to the town (and a LOT more since I graduated)....

These small rural towns are drying up like tumbleweeds.....

elrodw wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: Sixth grade was the last year I lived there. Sixth is considered the last year of elementary in that school system, but the school itself is a combined deal, housing the whole PK-12 run in one building. They've got a total population of about 330 kids nowadays. I think it was only about 300 when I attended back in the 90s.

Kayda's town was modeled after Woonsocket . It has twice the population of the town housing my school, but it's also in a slightly less densely populated area overall, so their school is even smaller than mine at just under 200. You can see more detailed demographics info on Woonsocket's school here .

Holy shit - I didn't realize the school had gone THAT far down in size since I went there. There were 150 students in HIGH SCHOOL when I was there - average about 35 per class! Of course, it's been 20 years since I've been back to the town (and a LOT more since I graduated)....

These small rural towns are drying up like tumbleweeds.....

I'd take the information on that website with a grain of salt, a grain of salt the size of Slab. The Woonsocket football team has 40 players on it, and only a couple may be girls. www.woonsocket.k12.sd.us/fb www.flickr.com/photos/sdpb/22350180424/i...m-72157660088068037/ They came in second in Class 9AA Football Championships.

Please disregard this post, it appears that the Woonsocket football team is comprised of students from 3 different schools. What an odd system.

Valentine wrote:

elrodw wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: Kayda's town was modeled after Woonsocket . It has twice the population of the town housing my school, but it's also in a slightly less densely populated area overall, so their school is even smaller than mine at just under 200. You can see more detailed demographics info on Woonsocket's school here .

Holy shit - I didn't realize the school had gone THAT far down in size since I went there. There were 150 students in HIGH SCHOOL when I was there - average about 35 per class! Of course, it's been 20 years since I've been back to the town (and a LOT more since I graduated)....

I'd take the information on that website with a grain of salt, a grain of salt the size of Slab. The Woonsocket football team has 40 players on it, and only a couple may be girls. www.woonsocket.k12.sd.us/fb www.flickr.com/photos/sdpb/22350180424/i...m-72157660088068037/ They came in second in Class 9AA Football Championships.

Please disregard this post, it appears that the Woonsocket football team is comprised of students from 3 different schools. What an odd system.

Not really. When I was in school, we played 9-man football, because full 11-man football was a stretch. and most smaller schools did as well. And sometime after I graduated, they had to include Alpena to field a team. Now - probably Alpena and probably Artesian or Letcher. when I was in school, the population was about 850-900. and farm families were big - many 6 or more. One had 14 kids.

I feel so city-folkish in my east coast suburb. This 2.7 sq mile town of 13,500ish residents graduates 120-150 students each year from its high school. The distance to the next town is 0 feet. Most housing lots are 50x100 feet. Next town over is 10 times its size and its population hovers around 100,000.

My high school pulled from roughly 100 square miles of land, and 4 towns with a total population of about 17,000. The high school had between 3500-4000 students. Those four towns are now about 70,000 and a Census-designated place with another 9,000. The high school is now a district with 4 schools, although they want to close one, which will cause all sorts of chaos as students are forced to switch schools between the other three. (I lived 3.5 miles from the school, if I took the Activity/Detention bus home, it took me about 2 hours to get home, and I was the last person on the bus.)

I really can't get my mind around a high school with 150 or fewer students, my gym classes were that big.

Wow, listening to how large your schools are is impressive, in Australia our schools are much smaller, our "High Schools", which cater for years seven to twelve, are usually somewhere around eight, nine hundred students, and that's in Sydney, our biggest city.

I went to one of the largest, it was sixteen hundred students, and my mother's class at her school was sixteen students, her country school was so small that was actually three years combined together.

My high school had about 4,000 students. It's one of the largest in the area (the band in particular tended to win band competitions by being the only one in it's size bracket) but there are others of comparable size in the area. We had 900-1,000 students in my graduating class, and 98 students with 4.0 or higher (from APs) GPAs.