Question The Penance Factor

Elrod wrote: TK has to take a lower profile. You may not like how we choose to deal with it, but we HAVE to deal with it.

Elrod wrote: Are we deconstructing Team Kimba? Yes and no.
(Snip)
I hope you can appreciate that in order to KEEP the characters around, we have to make them easier to write as BACKGROUND characters out of the spotlight, and that WILL involve changes to them. And we are very sensitive to our fans, which is why we don't pack them in a bus for a spring break trip skiing in the Alps and get electrocuted in a freak accident while posing for a group photograph, after a cable becomes wet during a storm.

Sir Lee wrote: losing Aunghandail. It is traumatic, yes, but is it really a nerfing? It has been implied that Nikki still has the memories and knowledge of Aung... somewhere. She just hasn't learned to access those fully yet. It may take quite a while, so again it is a temporary nerfing at most. And, as has been pointed out, Aung was not the best of influences in terms of personality, and she had a tendency to take old-fashioned approaches to things. So losing Aung might eventually *help* Nikki to develop her own approach to magic, which means a faster power re-escalation than she might have achieved while under Aunghandail's reactionary influence. In fact, losing one's elderly mentor and having to find one's own path is a traditional part of the Hero's Journey. Examples are simply too numerous to list.

Pheonix Spiritus wrote: When Elrod suggested I write a "Vignette" out of my Micro-Scenes I full on panicked, and that was for Hank! (Snip)

Fey is hard.

Ayla is a nightmare.

There is too much of their authors in them for others to easily pick up the characters, and all this is just someone looking in from the outside.

Ib12us wrote: My point being is this. NONE, NO ONE, will be able to do justice for those on Team Kimba for none will know what the author had intended. Its harsh, it hurts but its fact.

Elrod wrote: And I have plans for Fey. Big plans. Just like I'm writing some Chou into Kayda's stories, so too will I write more Fey. Hey, I like the characters, too!

MarkReed wrote: Well... I finally did that 'finish the whole thread' thing.

Whoooooo boy. I have angered a lot of people.

Everyone, I am sincerely sorry. I came in months late and re-ignited something which had long since been put to rest. I thought it would be a good idea to fire off opinions before reading the thoughts of others. It wasn't. I mean... It really, really wasn't.

I apologize. My posts were ignorant in the full dictionary sense of the word. (Also the sense that means inconsiderate and stupid.)

I can't clean up the mess, but I can promise not to make another one. I will not repeat this mistake in the future.

MarkReed wrote: Well... I finally did that 'finish the whole thread' thing.

Whoooooo boy. I have angered a lot of people.

Everyone, I am sincerely sorry. I came in months late and re-ignited something which had long since been put to rest. I thought it would be a good idea to fire off opinions before reading the thoughts of others. It wasn't. I mean... It really, really wasn't.

I apologize. My posts were ignorant in the full dictionary sense of the word. (Also the sense that means inconsiderate and stupid.)

I can't clean up the mess, but I can promise not to make another one. I will not repeat this mistake in the future.

NeoMagus wrote:

MarkReed wrote: Well... I finally did that 'finish the whole thread' thing.

Whoooooo boy. I have angered a lot of people.

Everyone, I am sincerely sorry. I came in months late and re-ignited something which had long since been put to rest. I thought it would be a good idea to fire off opinions before reading the thoughts of others. It wasn't. I mean... It really, really wasn't.

I apologize. My posts were ignorant in the full dictionary sense of the word. (Also the sense that means inconsiderate and stupid.)

I can't clean up the mess, but I can promise not to make another one. I will not repeat this mistake in the future.

I just want to go ahead and say that I'm REALLY happy to see this response. You're acknowledging that you made a mistake and committing to avoid it as much as possible in the future. That is SO much better than getting defensive and sticking to your guns about why you made the comment in the first place, and it's honestly very refreshing to see. Wish we had more people who would react this way after making a mistake. Kudos to you!

MarkReed wrote: Well... I finally did that 'finish the whole thread' thing.

Whoooooo boy. I have angered a lot of people.

Everyone, I am sincerely sorry. I came in months late and re-ignited something which had long since been put to rest. I thought it would be a good idea to fire off opinions before reading the thoughts of others. It wasn't. I mean... It really, really wasn't.

I apologize. My posts were ignorant in the full dictionary sense of the word. (Also the sense that means inconsiderate and stupid.)

I can't clean up the mess, but I can promise not to make another one. I will not repeat this mistake in the future.

elrodw wrote: Ain't nobody going to write Ayla like Diane, and no-one will write Fey like Maggie!

elrodw wrote: And in all of this, NO-ONE has picked up on two references I made - one from a movie and one (in the past couple of days) from a TV show.

The first: skiing in the Alps and get electrocuted in a freak accident while posing for a group photograph, after a cable becomes wet during a storm. (movie)

The second: killed by a satellite (TV show - quite offbeat, actually)

elrodw wrote: And in all of this, NO-ONE has picked up on two references I made - one from a movie and one (in the past couple of days) from a TV show.

The first: skiing in the Alps and get electrocuted in a freak accident while posing for a group photograph, after a cable becomes wet during a storm. (movie)

The second: killed by a satellite (TV show - quite offbeat, actually)

Kettlekorn wrote: She's just being reduced to a more normal budget (which fits with the whole "You are not a queen" message Carson is trying to drive home).

Malady wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: She's just being reduced to a more normal budget (which fits with the whole "You are not a queen" message Carson is trying to drive home).

Umm... What other income sources does she have? Like a credit card or something, from her parents I guess? ... Have we gotten a description of (typical) student finances yet?

#NeverBeenToABoardingSchool

elrodw wrote:

Warning: Spoiler! [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

Malady wrote:

E. E. Nalley wrote:

ThaleDison wrote: I thought Nikki was not arrogant, arrogance being one of the tells that Aunghadhail was in charge.

Now, you see Nikki's personality change and she gets regal and arrogant and such and you realize it's a tell we, the authors, are using to let you the reader know that. But the people IN THE STORY only see Nikki's personalty change. Yes she says a couple of times that Aung was just speaking through her, but that goes against all the 'accepted' knowledge of how spirits and avatars work.

So the people IN THE STORY can only assume that NIKKI is changing. Make more sense now?

So, is Nikki's personality actually changing in the long-term? Kodiak seems to think that it was happening? But then again, Avatars are a new thing, especially to the Five Fold Court Remnants?

Okay, here's an actual quote from the story that EE and I wrote:

After a few awkward seconds, Nikki looked up at Wyatt, her violet eyes moist and pleading. "Am I really that bad?"

"If you can ask that question," Wyatt replied, gently putting his big hand reassuringly on Nikki's, "then there's hope for you."

The bear looked at the stricken girl. Aung was alright. She was a great friend, loyal to those few who she called friends.

"Was she ... like the other queens? A cold-hearted bitch?" the redheaded beauty asked nervously, not quite sure she wanted to know the answer.

In some ways, she was more politically manipulative than her sisters, but in many other ways, not. Self-centered at times, arrogant most of the time, but not nearly as bad as she could have been. And driven to complete her own agenda, the Kodiak replied.

Fey winced. "Am I ... did I ... pick up those traits from her?" she asked hesitantly.

"Honestly?" Wyatt asked, looking with one raised eyebrow at the girl. She goggled at him, wondering for a moment, and then she nodded. "Mrs. Carson was right; Aung was a bad influence on you." He ignored Fey's gasp of disbelief. "You were sometimes arrogant and haughty, and getting more so the longer she was influencing you."

Fey's tears, a small trickle, became a deluge as the girl, wracked by sobs, confronted a truth that she knew the Kodiak had told. "I ... I'm afraid," she said between sobs. "I'm afraid ... that I lost ... lost myself." She shook her head sadly, "Even if I could have, I would have never cast that evil of a spell before ... before Aung came to me," she cried. "I never hurt anyone like that before! Mrs. Carson was right - I've become her!" She let her face drop into her hands as she convulsed with sobs.

Wyatt put his hand on her shoulder. "Nikki," he said soothingly, "if you can remember that, if you can even think that, it shows that you're still Nikki Reilly, not the heir apparent to the Sidhe Paramount Queen of the West."

Now, that's WOG - Nikki's personality IS changing enough that the one who knew Aunghadhail, the Kodiak, notices. Aung IS a bad influence and WAS affecting Nikki's personality.

Also, Ayla noticed when he was conversing with Mrs. Carson.

Ayla nodded. "She was very callous about the spell she cast, sufficiently so that I don't believe that she cared whether the results were disproportionate to the actions of the Solicitor and Hekate or not.

Good enough?

Valentine wrote:

Malady wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: She's just being reduced to a more normal budget (which fits with the whole "You are not a queen" message Carson is trying to drive home).

Umm... What other income sources does she have? Like a credit card or something, from her parents I guess? ... Have we gotten a description of (typical) student finances yet?

#NeverBeenToABoardingSchool

Typical, if such thing exists, student finances? Aquerna and Jade have virtually no money. Phase has virtually unlimited money. Everyone else is inclusively between those two extremes.

Sir Lee wrote: Regarding Nikki's financial status:

We do know she is not on even a partial scholarship, because from "Adjustments" it's clear that her taking a job is encouraged but not required.
Also, her clothes tend to be high-end, and Daddy custom-ordered a protective suit for her. So apparently they are quite well off.

That might sound odd since Dad is a public servant (DARPA director), but he might not always have been one: he might have made an appreciable "nest egg" in the private sector before taking the DARPA job. And it's not clear, but Mom might be financially comfortable on her own too.

Malady wrote:

Valentine wrote: Typical, if such thing exists, student finances? Aquerna and Jade have virtually no money. Phase has virtually unlimited money. Everyone else is inclusively between those two extremes.

So, where is Nikki on that scale?

jmhyp wrote: It doesn't matter how much money Fey has. Didn't they freeze her accounts? She can't do anything with her wealth if her accounts are frozen.

jmhyp wrote: I thought the discussion was about what she could do with her wealth NOW. (And thus my pointing out it's frozen)

Kettlekorn wrote:

jmhyp wrote: It doesn't matter how much money Fey has. Didn't they freeze her accounts? She can't do anything with her wealth if her accounts are frozen.

Sure. They're just discussing what level of wealth she had access to prior to losing that access, in order to better understand how much she has lost.

Mrs. Carson narrowed her eyes until the girl flinched again. "The offer is payment of all of your royalties from modeling for the duration of your stay at Whateley, minus a stipend for living and educational expenses."

Malady wrote:

jmhyp wrote: I thought the discussion was about what she could do with her wealth NOW. (And thus my pointing out it's frozen)

Kettlekorn wrote:

jmhyp wrote: It doesn't matter how much money Fey has. Didn't they freeze her accounts? She can't do anything with her wealth if her accounts are frozen.

Sure. They're just discussing what level of wealth she had access to prior to losing that access, in order to better understand how much she has lost.

I think I was trying to figure out how much money she lost, AND how much she has now, to figure out how much of an impact it would have on her school life, and possibly beyond, to see if her reaction seems disproportionate or not.

For example:

If the Solicitor was taking $1 of a $10 salary, vs. $100 of $1000 (yes, that's a lot less than Fey actually makes, this is an example...), same percentage lost, but different impact.

Kettlekorn wrote: Nikki does have other options outside of modelling if she needs more money for something during the next three years. She is a powerful mage, and there are plenty of wealthy people around campus who may be interested in hiring her to cast a spell for them, as well as elsewhere in the world when she's on break.

E. E. Nalley wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: Nikki does have other options outside of modelling if she needs more money for something during the next three years. She is a powerful mage, and there are plenty of wealthy people around campus who may be interested in hiring her to cast a spell for them, as well as elsewhere in the world when she's on break.

Say, that's not a bad idea! She could set up a little shop, maybe have it move around interdimensionally to wherever she's needed. Of course it needs a catchy name. What about Spells R Us? That has a ring to it don't you think?

E. E. Nalley wrote:

Kettlekorn wrote: Nikki does have other options outside of modelling if she needs more money for something during the next three years. She is a powerful mage, and there are plenty of wealthy people around campus who may be interested in hiring her to cast a spell for them, as well as elsewhere in the world when she's on break.

Say, that's not a bad idea! She could set up a little shop, maybe have it move around interdimensionally to wherever she's needed. Of course it needs a catchy name. What about Spells R Us? That has a ring to it don't you think?

Ib12us wrote: Better yet she sets herself up as a travel agency that provides portals to various locations. She provides discount tickets, clandestine rendezvous points as with finding interdimensional settings of opposite universes that change ones perspective as with gender, age or animal.

Ib12us wrote: The worst she could do is be like a Paris Hilton and a TV reality show. Worst Kim Kardashian. Well is there anything worse than that?

Phoenix Spiritus wrote:

Ib12us wrote: The worst she could do is be like a Paris Hilton and a TV reality show. Worst Kim Kardashian. Well is there anything worse than that?

I'll take a stab at that, how about pay-per-view stripper? Or would that still be considered 'modelling'?

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Team Kimba is probably too well know and too powerful to "drop out", there would be too many ('friendlies' as well as villains) who would go after them to control them (or for revenge).

gogogodzilla wrote: You know, you don't have to kill off or otherwise mess with the characters to get them off the central stage. You just stop writing about them...