In Progress [LP CYOA] Tower

[ItsChon]

Lambchop is right, we came to New Vienna to be with Elizabeth and try to help her. If we were going to go off and follow the Tlalli questline, why the fuck didn't we stay in Scotsfield and continue training like I and the others said! I'll keep my salt in check though and just leave it at CC>BC.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I do, actually. We came here to expand our horizons

I'm talking about the arguments posters made at the time to justify it and the actions we took in the update following it.

You knock on the door to Elizabeth's room, a bowl of liver soup in one hand and an envelope in the other. You wait for a while until you hear her weak, frail "Come in," before you open the door. Elizabeth has continued being bedridden for the past two months - whatever treatment the physicians were giving her, it does not seem like the effects will be seen that quickly. Elizabeth looks up as you enter, a wan, thin smile on her lips. Her condition hasn't improved any. You silently hand her the envelope, placing the bowl of soup on the nightstand.

Elizabeth sets the letter down and frowns at you. "You can't waste your time away in this place."

We spent our time nursing Liz rather than doing anything on our own. Our intent was clear as a character and it matches how we take care of Rain as a character.

Shrugging our shoulders and saying "she'll probably be fine" for 3 years while we try to start a commie revolution or go to cram school or whatever isn't the character we've tried to play before this disastrous last few updates.

Not a single choice we made since refusing Uridimmu's offer promised to get us closer to helping Elizabeth recover.

No shit.

As I said, it would have been better either to remain with her or else do the research thing.

All of them were made with the goal of picking up skills and making new connections.

Yes, we know how to draw and we've met several communists. Great job.

Which reminds me, I'll go ahead and make it CC>BC to avoid the commie trash.

edit:

Lambchop is right, we came to New Vienna to be with Elizabeth and try to help her. If we were going to go off and follow the Tlalli questline, why the fuck didn't we stay in Scotsfield and continue training like I and the others said! I'll keep my salt in check though and just leave it at CC>BC.

EXACTLY!

 

[Azira]

Oooh, discussion! I'll promptly ignore that and vote what I feel like; BC>CC

 

[Baltika9]

If we were going to go off and follow the Tlalli questline, why the fuck didn't we stay in Scotsfield and continue training like I and the others said!

Because the plan was to let the doctors cure Liz and join the Hunters together, instead of accepting Uridimmu's help and staying in Scottsfield. Now Sophie passes us a message from Tlalli with a letter of recommendation to get into a top academy for talented youngsters. This sounds like a great educational opportunity that also will provide us with preferential treatment to enter the Association. On the other hand, we already did Anime High School in EPIC.

1C is looking good too, not gonna lie. A doctor trying in vain to save their beloved and slowly going insane is an old tale, and the constant taunts and temptations that Urudimmu will no doubt present us with will definitely spice up the story. Plus, doctors have to be well-educated, so this may be a step closer to that Hunter/Scholar hybrid I always wanted. If Elizabeth doesn't drink our blood first, that is.

Cloud and Uridimmu

1A is still my first choice, though: it ties in with so many interesting and intriguing characters and events. Lenin is very likely opposed to both Rasputin and Alexei, both very worthy antagonists. This storyline will place us at the root of the coming political upheavals and all of the Tower's power structures, all the stuff that fascinated me about the setting from the beginning.

There are no bad choices in this update. I'll be cool with whatever we pick, bros.

Shrugging our shoulders and saying "she'll probably be fine" for 3 years while we try to start a commie revolution or go to cram school or whatever isn't the character we've tried to play before this disastrous last few updates.

That's not where I'm coming from at all. Barring the possibility of a deus ex machina intervention from Rain a-la Baby Yoda, I sincerely doubt that a young boy training to be an orderly can offer any course of action to seasoned medical professionals. None of the choices presented in this update, or the text itself, telegraph an intent to help her, either. We'll be hired to work as an orderly and maybe get to visit her if she's not under a strict quarantine. If we're not busy, you know, working.

I'm talking about the arguments posters made at the time to justify it and the actions we took in the update following it.

Yeah, all two of them. And we did take care of Liz, since we are her friend and her parents employed us as her caretaker. Now she's pushing us to pursue our best life instead of following her around like a dog (heh) would it's dying master.

There was no Great Betrayal of Expectations, no Vittoria Mutilata. Our choices delivered exactly what they promised to deliver, no more and no less.

===Tally===

==1st choice==
A - 3 (1)
B - 4 (6)
C - 7

==2nd choice==

A - 0
B - 2
C - 12

Spoiler

Baltika9 - AC>BC
Nevill - AC
hellofriend - AC>BC>CC

CappenVarra - BC
Nahel - BB
Grimgravy - BC>BB>CC
Azira - BC>CC

ChumBucket - CB>BB
Kz3r0 - CC
Kalarion - CC
Lambchop19 - CC>BC
asxetos - CC
Egosphere - CC
Nyx - CC

 

[Egosphere]

CC

 

[Tigranes]

I agree with Lambchop about one thing: there's no point randomly jumping between one thing and another.

I wasn't entirely sold on Commie Work, but we chose it, and then by not taking the bomb package, we also turned down opportunities within it. But if we then choose to rewind all of that and take up Tlalli's recommendation, what the hell was the point of leaving the village in the first place? We all knew that it's not like we were going to magically solve Liz's illness by sweeping her room for a few weeks.

We either came to the city for opportunities only the city can provide, in which case, we decided that was political hijinks, so we might as well take that up.
Or, we came to the city, abandoning Sophie etc., in order to try and save Liz, in which case, hospital work is the option we have available to us. One might wish that we could train to be a doctor, but that's not on the cards.

I don't know how urgent Liz's situation is, but taking a few years to get that training, or hanging out with commies, and then popping by to see her and magically being able to solve her illness, sounds pretty farfetched. (I don't know how being a hospital aide would help, but then, nobody knew how going to the city with her would help, either, and we did. So if we came to the city for Liz, we clearly did it to be able to be next to her.)

 

[Nevill]

But if we then choose to rewind all of that and take up Tlalli's recommendation, what the hell was the point of leaving the village in the first place?

We either came to the city for opportunities only the city can provide [...] Or, we came to the city, abandoning Sophie etc., in order to try and save Liz

And this has to be either/or, no middle ground or a mix of reasons?

I was thinking that, since her family needed health care only a big city could provide, we decided to tag along for a chance to see the world, and because we didn't want to leave Liz alone when she was at her lowest. Trying to save her may have been a consideration on the voters' part, but probably not Wrinkly's since he had no idea how to do that, except the obvious one that he turned down.

Perhaprs then it is not a question of abandoning paths and changing directions, but adjusting priorities? We have a closer relationship with Liz than we would have if we never left Scotsfield, and if we take Tlalli's offer now, it will be in the same city Liz' family is in. That's a major difference from having Tlalli pick one, and there is no issue of "popping by" to see her after several years because we are living in her household and are in contact with her and her parents.

One thing that bugged me about these LPs is that people push the idea that everything should be either 0% or 100%. If we aren't spending nights at Liz' bedside, then we might as well ditch her and should not have come here in the first place.

I am not even against the hospital (Liz is a very endearing character, and I like the idea of ourselves getting a medical education with the goal of finding a cure for our friend), but that logic irks me somewhat fierce.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

One thing that bugged me about these LPs is that people push the idea that everything should be either 0% or 100%.

That's not what I'm trying to do. But I am trying to provide a much needed course correction back to what's more important, both to our character and to us the players - at least according to what people have said in the past itt.

Blame the choices and not me if you feel they are too much one way or the other. I didn't write them.

I am not even against the hospital (Liz is a very endearing character, and I like the idea of ourselves getting a medical education with the goal of finding a cure for our friend), but that logic irks me somewhat fierce.

Then why don't you vote for the hospital or have it as a conditional?

You say "Liz Best Girl" and then keep trying to convince us to ignore her for 3 years to go down a rabbit trail of starting some sort of marxist revolution in the tower because reasons.

Talk about logic that irks.

 

[Nevill]

Then why don't you vote for the hospital or have it as a conditional?

Because I do not do conditionals anymore. Have not done it once since the start of the LP.

I want political hijinx, and I stand by my choice.

And because writing in all caps about poor Liz who would die, or whom we will abandon if we do not go the hospital route, and then setting up another option as a conditional (which is unacceptable according to your own logic) makes it look like you are ruled more by lingering butthurt over our choice of part-time work for the Marxist Institute when were eleven than actual care for anyone.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

and then setting up another choice as a conditional

I set it up to ruin the chances of the commie choice working so that you and anyone who thinks like you would be more inclined to vote CC, which is my preferred option. I pretty much said as much when I did it.

I also didn't do it until after arguing with you for several posts, so accusing me of having that as my original intention is not only baseless, but points to you being the butthurt one for drawing such an illogical conclusion.

 

[Nyx]

CC

 

[Tigranes]

But if we then choose to rewind all of that and take up Tlalli's recommendation, what the hell was the point of leaving the village in the first place?

We either came to the city for opportunities only the city can provide [...] Or, we came to the city, abandoning Sophie etc., in order to try and save Liz

And this has to be either/or, no middle ground or a mix of reasons?

I was thinking that, since her family needed health care only a big city could provide, we decided to tag along for a chance to see the world, and because we didn't want to leave Liz alone when she was at her lowest. Trying to save her may have been a consideration on the voters' part, but probably not Wrinkly's since he had no idea how to do that, except the obvious one that he turned down.

Perhaprs then it is not a question of abandoning paths and changing directions, but adjusting priorities? We have a closer relationship with Liz than we would have if we never left Scotsfield, and if we take Tlalli's offer now, it will be in the same city Liz' family is in. That's a major difference from having Tlalli pick one, and there is no issue of "popping by" to see her after several years because we are living in her household and are in contact with her and her parents.

One thing that bugged me about these LPs is that people push the idea that everything should be either 0% or 100%. If we aren't spending nights at Liz' bedside, then we might as well ditch her and should not have come here in the first place.

I am not even against the hospital (Liz is a very endearing character, and I like the idea of ourselves getting a medical education with the goal of finding a cure for our friend), but that logic irks me somewhat fierce.

I think all of this is fair. I'm just uneasy about the fact that we come to the city primarily for Liz (I'm assuming), and then we pass up two major choices where we thought there might tbe a more direct connection to helping her out (Astras, now Hospital).

Perhaps Liz will die no matter what once we turned down doggie. Perhaps she'll stably hang on just fine for 10 years. We don't know, so I won't vote based on any guess there. But yes, while not 0 or 100, it's about priorities, and the rationale for BC, for example, is not immediately apparent to me, except as a case of wanting to have all the cakes.

I don't know what to vote for, myself. I'm still a bit leery about AC because it seems pretty OOC for Wrinkly, a character who suffers from no messiah complex, does not have much a political bone (yet), and has no strong in-character motivation to go with AC at the expense of BC or CC.

 

[Nevill]

But yes, while not 0 or 100, it's about priorities, and the rationale for BC, for example, is not immediately apparent to me, except as a case of wanting to have all the cakes.

We never refused to go to the Hunter's Academy, and it was always our aspiration, even though we left Scotsfield. The dichotomy was something the Codexers imagined and used to campaign against going to Vienna. Wrinkly knew there would be an Academy branch in there.

So it could be seen as a continuation of the path we intended to take all along, except we are also in a big city making connections of our own, and we didn't let Liz leave without a friend. Is that not enough rationale?

I am not entirely sure apprenticing as an orderly bars that door to us, but the school is said to improve our chances of being accepted drastically, as well as provide training in skills specifically related to our future career as a Hunter.

 

[Baltika9]

I think all of this is fair. I'm just uneasy about the fact that we come to the city primarily for Liz (I'm assuming), and then we pass up two major choices where we thought there might the a more direct connection to helping her out (Astras, now Hospital).

I looked through all the various reasons people voted to leave Scottsfield. Most of them boiled down to 'why not?' and 'yeah, let's go pursue a different life!' Didn't help that all votes to come here were also votes against saving Liz.

And, to be fair, that's exactly what we did: we helped out our friend, earned some cash and developed our skills.

I'm still a bit leery about AC because it seems pretty OOC for Wrinkly, a character who suffers from no messiah complex, does not have much a political bone (yet), and has no strong in-character motivation to go with AC at the expense of BC or CC.

This is a really good point: we were just a simple bookkeeper at the KMI. We didn't have any recorded interactions with Ulyanov, so Wrinkly doesn't have much of a reason to even consider the dude as a mentor. Lord Zhang, being a model teacher, proved that he was willing to fight for us, while Lenin didn't even bother giving us a recruitment speech.



It's probably because treave is a busy man, but your point stands. Did we even have any offscreen interactions with Vladimir, treave?

Perhaps Liz will die no matter what once we turned down doggie. Perhaps she'll stably hang on just fine for 10 years. We don't know, so I won't vote based on any guess there. But yes, while not 0 or 100, it's about priorities, and the rationale for BC, for example, is not immediately apparent to me, except as a case of wanting to have all the cakes.

I don't think it's unreasonable for a young boy to 'move on,' as it were. What can Wrinkly realistically expect to do to help Liz? He already turned down the Hound's offer, and he doesn't have anything resembling a medical education. Further, he finished his work at the KMI, Liz herself told him to move on with his life multiple times and there's your case for accepting the Academy invitation.

 

[Grimgravy]

Don't forget Liz dreamed of joining the Hunters too. And she pushed us to get out of the house and DO something. The red faction made us a boring librarian. Now people want us to clean bedpans and push wheelchairs rather than pursue our shared dream of the Hunter's Society? I am disappoint and I'm confident Liz is disappoint too.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

What's a hero? Is he someone who tries to help his friends or someone who abandons them so that he can have a supposedly easier time joining a monster hunting club later on?

You can talk about cleaning bedpans or whatever in an effort to help our friend being a bad thing, but I think the guy who decided to raise a child he found in the woods virtually on his own would have no problem doing it.

I wasn't keen on being a nanny for our elf baby here early on, but I like the direction our character has gone in and I'd like him to continue being the soft-hearted badass he clearly is.

 

[hello friend]

Should have stayed with Sophie tbh. I'm sure Liz won't approve of us staying close to her by working at the hospital, but that's the character Wrinkly has demonstrated up to this point: A loyal, goodhearted dude who will do what's necessary even if it costs him. Getting work at the hospital is the appropriate thing to do in the context of his previous actions, regardless of what Liz's opinion of it might be. It's also a little pathetic, but hey - why not?

 

[Tigranes]

When in doubt, back to the update! What would we actually do in each of these options?

A:

Ulyanov had a great plan in mind for both the Tower and the world, and he was currently looking for talent to achieve that plan.

We'd be talent hunting. Sounds like a nice way to get around, meet new people, and see more of the city, so that seems to be the clear positive.

B:

Graduation from this school would help the chances of you being accepted into the Association, as it taught a variety of subjects and skills relevant to that profession.

Obviously, this invitation is something we'd be hard pressed to get otherwise. So we can expect a more elite education here that isn't available to any riffraff off the streets.

C:

You would be expected to apprentice as an orderly there.

Unlike A & B, there's nobody that actually is looking out for us here to teach us or give us interesting work. So I doubt we'd get to do something fun - we're not booksmart for medicine nayway. I expect the best we can hope for is to spot something irregular in the hospital, e.g. regarding Liz, and get involved.

Frankly, if we're purely in it to beef up Wrinkly's skills and resources, B is probably the way to go. And C is a very clear choice to give a lot of that up for some vague hope of helping Liz, though that's sort of how we also decided to end up here.

 

[CappenVarra]

1B is such an obviously superior choice for long-term character development, of course you guys will find a way not to vote for it

can't do the sensible thing, no sir, that would be un-codexian

what a damn bunch of hipsters

 

[Kz3r0]

1B is such an obviously superior choice for long-term character development, of course you guys will find a way not to vote for it

Munchkinism is a disease.
What’s the point of role playing if we always chose the obvious superior choice?

 

[Kz3r0]

On the last day of your work, you were approached by Plekhanov's friend, a certain Vladimir Ulyanov. Impressed by your steadfast work ethic, he offered you continued employment as his aide. You would no longer be working for the Institute, but directly under him. Ulyanov had a great plan in mind for both the Tower and the world, and he was currently looking for talent to achieve that plan.

Guys, let’s not think like bio/bethards, there’s no reason for Lenin to make a measly librarian part of his grand plans, unless he knows of the doggie, in this case we will receive other offers of recruiting.

 

[CappenVarra]

1B is such an obviously superior choice for long-term character development, of course you guys will find a way not to vote for it

Munchkinism is a disease.
What’s the point of role playing if we always chose the obvious superior choice?

sure, i actually agree

but when given a choice between communism, XP boost, or love (and to paraphrase DE, love and communism get you killed) i have to resort to logic (not my first choice, usually)

perhaps the real friendships are the skill points we gained along the way?

 

[CappenVarra]

also, remember this:

You dream of exploring the world. Your curiosity and desire for adventure has been sparked by your recent escapade, and you would like to know more about, well, everything.

in a high-magic anime universe, codex choices based on the above:
- get better at housework
- catalogue political pamphlets
- (pending) change linen in a hospital

we got to the big city because it offers much better adventure opportunities than ye olde quainte village of bumfuck by the river

also, to get away from Sophie's malign influence, and to help out Liz as much as we can as an untrained 12yo friend

if we avoid drudgery and mundane (in before the wisdom of tending your own garden), we have supernatural forces at work, and political intrigue

i thought we chose the hunter background to play a non-political down-to-earth character (that still gets to make an impact through kicking supernatural ass and uncovering secrets of the tower) for once?

that means someone who does not get attached to every powerful butterfly (a.k.a. baltikiosis: see Rasputin - love Rasputin let's join him; see Tlali - love Tlali let's join her; see Demon Prince of Dog Eat Dog - love doggy let's join him; see Lenin - love Lenin let's join him...), but takes care of Rain (our first and most important attachment) and tries to make his own way in the world

the Hunters and Tlali are so far our best bet, and we still have a good shot at getting there - plus elite education (do you have any idea how valuable this is given the time and place?)

if we can help Liz without making our whole character about her (and avoid Sophie without making our whole character about her either), that's pretty nice

but sacrificing long-term prospects because of touchy-feely-hippie i'll stand close to you - that's not a high WIS option

you can sit by a girl's bedside and scrub hospital floors when you're 12, or 20, or 67; you can only attend an elite high-school when you're 12 (or whatever)

which of the options aligns with Wrinkly's goal of "you would like to know more about, well, everything"?

how is scrubbing hospital floors a good option, except that it aligns with an unspoken agenda of "let's do as mundane things as possible, that's so ironic in an anime universe"?

also, skill points: sweet precious skill points, yummy lovely skill points - skill points can turn us into someone who can maybe actually help Liz, provide for Rain, and do many other great things

being a janitor can only turn us into a smelly dude who scrubs floors until he dies, remembering all those roads not taken

 

[treave]

Did we even have any offscreen interactions with Vladimir, treave?

Nothing particularly personal or interesting. It is as written: he's just impressed by your work ethic, that's all.

 

[Kz3r0]

I will elaborate further on my decision to go to the hospital, I still believe Liz is a vampire and I want to support her, henceforth I assume that her parents know about that and she is sent to the hospital because deaths there will be uncospicuous, I also assume that she doesn’t want us around for that exact reason.