Most Malapert and Disobedient

Of anyone in Aather, Jill has the most control, or leeway, with Eureka. If Jill told Eureka to do something, then she would do it without questions which is the highest form of intimacy that Eureka can get right now . . . Unfortunately, there isn't a like or dislike in there, but Jill does present situations at a level that Eureka can handle. People will often ask Eureka questions that she has no fundamental or basic understanding of, whereas Jill will cut through that and give Eureka something that she can understand, be it instructions or representing a situation differently. So, yes . . . She is very important to Eureka!

Jill, how long have you been working with Obsidian . . . ?

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Just for this battle, actually! Josh suggested it, and was going to introduce them, but then Obsidian was with Amethyst for the Risk game. So Jill passed on the idea and Obsidian said yes and off they went to practice /o/ well, actually, practice happened the next morning, but. Yes. And then ASS KICKING happened!

What was Eureka doing during the battle?

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Huhuhu, not that I'm overprotective of my dragon or anything . . . They were a cute pair. ♥

Well, I said that was between you and Eclipse to decide, because she would do whatever they would say for her to do. I mean, she could help with the fight, but that would have caused a very big ripple in her . . . But, yes, that's up to you!

What would Jill have wanted Eureka to do during the fight?!

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HAHA whoops >.>; things that got lost in my brain while I was trying to organize things.

Jill would have told her to stay inside and stick with Haruki and Cerulean and take care of each other, probably! Unless Eclipse said something else.

What does Eureka think about Amethyst so far?

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He might have told her she should ask how she could help at the Great Hall? but otherwise yes, inside and safe somewhere.

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. . . Pffthahaha, Eureka's caretakers, ladies and gentlemen. She stayed inside with Amethyst! Problem solved!

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Eureka considers Amethyst more important than anyone else right now, but she hasn't noticed anything about them as a collective group. She isn't very good at paying attention to member of a group unless they push themselves into her field of vision, so she can find them when she looks but she doesn't seek many of them out. (They did not tell her to . . . ) What will probably be important for Eureka is the fact that Amethyst is a very quiet but present team, so when she becomes more aware of them as a collective whole, rather than being told to, she will find a lot of comfort in that atmosphere.

I will stop reversing . . . But Jill's Amethyst feelings!

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Amethyst is Jill's priority in Aather. (She considers Edmund to be her King and so he is also a priority, but he seems pretty unsure about all that and anyway she really doubts he's going to give her any orders that conflict with "take care of Amethyst," so. That's mildly complicating, but it still works out to Amethyst being her priority.)

I would say that Jill has decided to support Amethyst as a unit because she has to live with them and play in games with them, except Jill sorts through things pretty emotionally a lot of the time. She's sensible, but her decision-making is usually emotionally rather than rationally based. So it's not like she thought that through, she just automatically does it because it feels right. It's also easy for her because she really cares about everyone on Amethyst right now, so when new people come in she just automatically tries to fold them into that idea without really examining why.

Jill has gone from feeling like the baby on Amethyst to feeling confident that she can help take care of them over the course of her time in Aather. Right now she kind of sees herself in a middle sibling role without... really having any clear ideas about family structures. She feels like she can contribute and look after herself without really having to be in charge of anything.

SotU for a character of your choice?

Edited Date: 2013-07-16 12:11 am (UTC)

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Eureka, Serah, Vincent . . . Gosh, I really haven't dug in deeply with any of them recently, so this is a bit of a tough question! I am going to pass . . .

How does Jill feel after getting some combat experience in Aather? I know she fights in canon, but—!

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She feels good about it! She doesn't actually like combat, and she always gets nerves beforehand, but she's had enough experience both in Aather and in memories by now that she is pretty confident she can handle herself; that even if she's freaking out and even if she starts crying she won't lose control and can keep fighting and not panic on the battlefield. And even though she doesn't like it, she'll always volunteer, because it's so much more direct and satisfying than something like the games, and she can actually see what everyone is up against, even if it's terrifying.

Do you have any plans for Eureka, or memories you're excited to get back?

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Goodness, let's see . . . My thought with apping her to Aather is to see what happens when she creates her own persona in a more supportive environment versus the almost lone struggle that she went through in canon up until the end. Eureka is always Eureka, but what hurdles and achievements she hits first are determined by the people around her. I plurked about it, but loneliness was not what she nailed on first in canon! Still, it is her first lynch pin in Aather which is already just going to set off a different path . . .

Umm, as far as memories go, I am not pining for any particular one, because they are all rather interesting and fun and a great way to review canon . . . I have not played with sequel memories, so I will enjoy Eureka getting to dabble with that and being like, "I had a child." There is also a very interesting stretch in canon where everyone pushes down her desire to act for herself, which will probably pan out completely differently in Aather. I want to see how that will go a lot, ugu. ♥

I also super want her to start flying once she grabs hold of that concept, and I want to play with her body and biological intricacies, because she is a treasure trove of nuances there that are ready to be dabbled with when the memories don't quite match with her abilities. So, yes, lots of hopes and dreams!!

Jill and Mau's love lives, go!

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Mau doesn't have one. He sort of wishes he did, a little, sometimes, but he really hasn't.

Jill... is flirting with a pigeon... but sort of is really oblivious to her own feelings even though they're astoundingly obvious.

I play children okay. They're very grown up in a lot of ways but. Romance really isn't one of them.

What's the most surprising CR you've made with Vincent and Serah?

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itsjustafayz

first impressions for Jill and Comet? '3'

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Jill thought Comet seemed pretty cool! A+ would talk to again. She'd like to be friends, she wants more friends who are girls but it is her lot in life to be surrounded by dumb boys.

Also, Jill just got back knife fighting, so she's actually been looking for Comet o/ WE SHOULD THREAD.

Reverse?

From:

itsjustafayz

Comet thinks Jill seems pretty cool, too, so she wants to hang out with her more. Initially she only talked to her to ask about the knife skills thing, but during that conversation she had this moment of "oh... she's actually cool!" Comet wants more friends who are girls, too, since she mostly hangs out with Ruby's little boys right now.

YES /o/ I went on hiatus for a week and then there was plot stuff but now that things are calmed down somewhat, we totally should. o7

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Jill on Eclipse!

&/or Jill as a DC superhero

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Eclipse is probably the first arriving Amethyst that Jill felt like she clicked with immediately. He was quick on the uptake, she likes his sense of humor and determination and courage, and he treats her with respect. She definitely considers him a good friend already, and is really comfortable with him. His reaction to her story about a time she lied to protect people earned him a lot of trust points, too.

Right now she's kind of worried about him, given his, er, busy last few days. He seems like someone who's really good at getting stuff done and kind of terrible at taking care of himself, so she's sort of... prepared to be exasperated... but also prepared to make sure he gets basic eating and sleeping needs met because what else do you do for a friend. She'll just keep an eye out and see if he needs reminding.

BUT YES overall he's someone she finds really easy to be around. I mean it's Jill Pole okay, it is her lot in life to be friends with brave boys who are logical and sometimes pedantic and occasionally deeply worrying or a pain in the ass.

REVERSE and then I'll do Jill as a DC superhero.

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Okay this may get rambly if I have to tie this back my take on batkid psychology in general.

Basically, Tim without memories is defined by several things that would still lead to his becoming Robin if he was in the DCU: a need to help other people, a sense of *obligation* to help -- if he's capable of it, then he *has* to do it, no choice -- and a willingness to sublimate his identity into the job at hand. He compartmentalizes, he over-identifies, which is why despite knowing his real name, he's thinking of himself as Eclipse right now - Eclipse is the name that means Amethyst & Aather & saving the world, and since that's what he has to do, that's who he is. The job is the person and the person is the job.

That's probably more detail than I needed, but: like a duckling (or other small bird), Eclipse imprinted and imprinted hard on his team. He was primed to be friends with them by his own mindset. And Jill & Eureka are the ones he bonded to most quickly.

With Jill, it's partly because she's easily been the most social, but he's had CR with other social people that's lead to him being more wary and less open. I think it's mostly that he saw a kindred spirit -- someone determined and self-sacrificing and concerned for how they could be their best. The stubbornness helps, too. I know some of that makes it sound impersonal, in a general way -- a team thing, a colleague thing, a mission thing -- but for Tim, there's nothing closer to his heart than the sense of *what has to be done.* It's the same instinct that cements his relationships with Batman & Nightwing & Spoiler (and later Batgirl) in canon.

Right now, if there was trouble, or a quest, or a task that had to be done -- Jill is the person he would turn to instinctively, who he'd trust to be there with him with the same spirit, getting the job done. He trusts not just her but her intentions (and that's where the level of comfort comes in - Tim has an obsessive need to understand things, all the things, all the times, and things that baffle him tend to make him flinch -- but because he trusts her to do well and mean well, he doesn't feel that need as strongly with regard to her.

Hopefully that makes some kind of sense.

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It does make sense! It's a fun relationship I am having fun with it |D

JILL AS A SUPERHERO, huh? Okay this is going to take a little lead up.

Once there were four children. Their names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, and one summer holiday they were chosen and granted super powers by a lion-like spirit from a higher plane: Peter got super strength; Susan got enhanced vision, hearing and coordination; Edmund got invisibility; and Lucy got healing. There was some messy backstory, but eventually they became a really close-knit family team of heroes, a fact they hid from everybody except the old professor they were staying with that summer -- he didn't have any super powers of his own, but he happened to be an expert on beings from higher planes, and ended up becoming their mentor in terms of how they could best use their powers.

The kids kept going to school and superheroing in their spare time, until a couple of years later when this dragon shows up and starts terrorizing their town. The Pevensies (or, as they are known in costume, the Stag, the Rabbit, Foxboy and Kit) head off to stop it, and eventually figure out that it is actually their really obnoxious cousin Eustace, who has been transformed by a less benevolent being from the same higher plane as the one who gave them their powers. SO they figure out how to untransform him but he is left with dragonish powers, but after his ordeal he is much less obnoxious and joins their team.

Eustace being so much less obnoxious (and more inclined to help other people) gets him a lot of notice at school even though nobody suspects he's actually Firedrake, the new superhero in town. Mostly it gets him more enemies, but it also gets him a friend, Jill Pole, who eventually does notice there is something weird going on with him and confronts him about it. He trusts her, so he decides to tell her the truth. She doesn't have any superpowers, but she ends up helping out anyway, and getting sort of reluctantly adopted into the team as a sidekick.

She keeps training (especially with Susan, who teaches her archery) and becoming more and more involved in missions, but she doesn't really have a code name or costume, she just... does stuff... and knows the family and struggles along and ends up helping a lot sort of by accident. She's a really good guide, so that helps.

Tragically, Susan/the Rabbit gets killed off (probably unnecessarily horribly because you said DC superhero). At this point, the lion spirit thing shows up again and gives the Rabbit's power to Jill and tells her to take up her mantle, which she does.

OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, haha

How is Tim settling in to Aather generally?

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I will come back and answer this question in a bit but I WOULD READ THE HELL OUT OF THIS COMIC BOOK

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I think he's doing very well in Aather, generally. He's totally embraced the role & mission of a hero and the concept of his team, he's questing, he's getting caught up on everything as quick as he can and doublechecking his facts... but he's still being very Tim Drake about it; which means he really doesn't have a concept of his own limits yet. The fact that everything was so intense and fast-paced gearing up for the battle won't help that -- I suspect that's the pace he's going to keep maintaining, as continually as he can. Until someone forcibly sits on him, I expect he'll be overdoing... well, everything. As long as he can think of useful things to quest for he may have one open quest more or less continually - but maybe not, since he'll only quest for things he thinks are important enough?

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glorious

How does Mau feel about plot?

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Mau feels really good about how everything went! Everyone came togetherrrr and then we got to decide what to do after and almost everyone agreed and had good ideas about how to handle things. HE IS STOKED also exhausted.

He came into the plot being kind of like WELP about everything, because there was so much disgruntlement and such low morale about having to fight, but he really thought that they wouldn't lose. He was aware that things could go terribly, he just didn't believe they would, because of a) the metaphor he already told Selenia about being something he really does think applies in a practical sense in Aather, b) because our fighters are amazing, and c) because losing to the Darkness... does not happen. On some level it just wasn't a thing he could consider as an outcome. He thought it might be messier than it was, though!

But yeah he's just really proud of what everyone accomplished and is making plans about what to try outside of the Walls -- but first is going to sleep for a week.

What about Selenia?

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glorious

Selenia was truly expecting things to GO TERRIBLY. Many of the people who stepped up to take command were not people with military experience, and also the timing of the announcement was just...terribly, terribly off. Face-exploding parasites are just terrible for morale in general really, and low morale can very easily result in certain defeat. And he pretty much just fought, not because he believed they had a chance of winning (without seriously heavy causalities if they're lucky), but it was because it was that or die without fighting so may as well pretend I have some pride while everyone dies horribly. And that was his attitude pretty much through all the lead-up.

AND THEN THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. AT ALL. In fact, not a single person died even a little! Even after it was a 1000-to-1 fight, which all sense and logic means that they weren't getting out at least a little killed but they...they pulled through. So that was a moment where 'defy the odds' actually worked out exceedingly well and he's still reeling a little from it...Aather: 1; Van's Pessimism: 0.

He's also still kind of uncertain about how he should feel now that the Darkness looks like it's capable of fear, and also uncertain about the fact that he hasn't heard anyone else bring it up. Or accused him of being a murderer for it yet. But the hope seed he planted became a flower and that made him feel...slightly better about that.

I got no good questions now. Relationship for Mau and Selenia?

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Mau loves Selenia. He said so, because he wanted Selenia to know! He's proud of him, he's proud of how he's trying to figure out what's right and becoming more self-aware. For Mau, their relationship has stabilized a lot... he feels like he can present new and difficult ideas and Selenia will listen and not automatically get defensive. He still also really wants to try and listen to Selenia, but things between them feel more equal and less like Mau trying to avoid power struggles constantly than ever before. It makes him happy.

Reverse?

From:

glorious

Haha, MAU SAYING HE LOVED HIM RIGHT BEFORE THE BATTLE GAVE SELENIA A HEART-ATTACK. Because they were words he didn't hear in a while and hearing them right then carried an air of "What if this is our last chance to say them?" and then he went "oh god Mau expects us to die, we're doomed." But he is really glad Mau voiced it when he did, because it was a good reminder for why they were fighting in the first place.

BUT ASIDE FROM THAT. He does love Mau and while he has had issues his 'Sapphire identity' in the past, Mau is one of the biggest reasons he's glad to be on Sapphire instead of any other team. Mau listens and even though he doesn't always understand, Selenia is aware that the attempt is there and better appreciates it now. He trusts Mau and feels he could go to him and speak honestly abut whatever's on his mind; but he also recognizes that Mau is busy doing leader things whenever something's happening in Aather (which is always) and making him his ~~mom~~ therapist was probably part of what caused the strain in their relationship the first place so he tries to refrain from overloading him. (Especially if it's about Hod, since "island home destruction" probably is a sad topic to make Mau listen to when he had to make the choice to wait on going back home so he could finish the fight here.)

...He's also still kind of absurdly happy (in a sense) that he got to talk to grumpy crab Mau, because Mau being openly grumpy in his general direction means that he no longer feels the need to step around and be careful around Selenia. And that felt like a sign that they were on more equal footing than they had been in a very long time. PROGRESS.

Of all the AND NOW YOU'RE RANDOMLY AN ANIMAL/DEAGED/WHATEVER events Mau's gone through, what has been his favorite and least favorite? (And for Jill too if she applies.)

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LEAST FAVORITE was when Mal turned him into a rabbit, because nobody likes being turned into a rabbit mid-conversation as punishment for trying to find things out through conversation! It was very annoying. Even more annoying than being a hermit crab, which also sucked.

Favorite was far and away being a tiger. He got to hunt a haunch with his face. Eeeeeven if he deeply regretted that decision the next morning when he turned human again sob.

Jill has only been a pigeon! She enjoyed it. Because flying, but also because reasons.

Do you have plans for either of your characters for the deage game coming up?

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glorious

This will be Estelle's first deage so I just plan to toss her in at around 9~10ish and see what happens, though I imagine she will probably be doing fun bitty things with Jr. for the event. For Selenia, I plan to take off another decade this time and make him 6~ish, and Jiora and I plan to have Brill attempt being THE BEST BIG SISTER at him for cute role-reversals. Beyond that, it's pretty much "UNLEASH TINIES UPON AATHER" and let them tiny away!

Jill's favorite game so far!

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Um, um... probably the titles game! IT WAS SUPER FUN and she got to define herself how she wanted and Amethyst won for helping others and yes. It was just a game where she came in pretty unhappy and walked away feeling good about herself and the world.

She also really liked Risk because she and Obsidian WON ENGLAND!!!1! and she got to team up with Obsidian and watch Tim at work being strategical and it was great.

How is Estelle doing with Team/Knight relations?

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glorious

MUCH BETTER NOW! There was a Gerda game where she was paired with Peridot and the issue of 'believing' in someone came up in the survey. She had issues with Kaoru before due to a trauma game and was expecting to be more or less told to sit down...and instead he did his best with the compliment task (and as a host club member, his best was damn good) and apologized for how he behaved then. And she's also had a lot of other team members come up and apologize for making her feel dismissed and also it feels like teams are working a bit harder to make her feel like she's being listened to and that her contributions were worth recognizing.

So while EVERY KNIGHT DIED BY PARASITES AND IT WAS AWFUL is still...a thing she remembers and is aware of, it feels like all the problems she had with teams before are being recognized and slowly dealt with, so things have been steadily improving. She's still worries that it won't last and the next bad game will be terrible for knights all over again, she at least has some faith people will...try not to bus them too hard again.

How do your team characters feel about the Team/Knight dichotomy?

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Jill isn't really aware of their being a division between the Teams and Knights. Partly... I think this is just because she's friends with Edmund and Mithos and Lloyd... and partly it's just because she doesn't even really process there being a division between teams in murdergames. She just has this permanent and unexamined "we're all in this together" view, and when people act outside of that paradigm in her presence she's shocked and dismayed every single time.

She does think the knights get kind of a sad deal in terms of not having other people around to support them as closely as teams do, and not getting food perks anymore... she knows she wouldn't want to be a knight! But she would be pretty stoked to have her own room. JILL OPINIONS sob.

Mau is aware of various people's views on the Team/Knight dichotomy, but he p. much thinks the real difference is down to persona magic and individual experience. He really disapproves of ganging up on knights/not taking their opinions into account or considering their feelings/etc in games, because that kind of behavior qualifies as not treating knights as real people, and that's anathema to him. But he also doesn't think there is any real reason for it to happen ever... nobody is forced to behave that way.

So basically he sees the dichotomy as necessary in terms of ~magic roles~ but really dumb and totally unnecessary jackassery and did I mention dumb in terms of people reinforcing it with their behavior and life choices.

If you had unlimited time and energy, who else would you play in Aather?

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glorious

I still really want to play Cross Marian but I am refraining because I'm pretty sure I'll have to start looking at who to drop where when school starts up, and I have a feeling he could get more involved than I'd have energy for since Estelle and Van are both high-involvement types in Aather.

I ALSO kind of sort of maybe a little want to play Saga from A Little Snow Fairy Sugar sob sob. Think a younger version of Apple who works at a coffee shop and wants to be a pianist and is awesome and helps people out and never stops moving ever. But she fits the toppy Sapphire lady mold so well in my mind that I can't really see her on another team (though I'm sure she could do well on most of them). So she's a 'maybe if I ever drop Selenia which is unlikely so nothing but tears' app thought.

I also thought about sending in an email when the mods were looking for Little Red Riding Hood since I had some ideas for her domain (primarily involving trust) and story, but I also highly doubt I'd have the energy for a plot-important Personae. And also everytime I think about apping a Personae I go "But then I wouldn't be able to play with them" and that makes me sad. (The fact that I can develop and play out all sorts of CR with NPCs is like, my favorite thing about Aather.)

This is a good question. Who else would you play in Aather if you had a time-turner device and a lifetime supply of Red Bull?

From:

artificialcommand

Any updates on any of them?

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Not really! Generally, I think Jill's feelings of closeness and dere for Haruki are increasing slowly and steadily all the time, but there's nothing really brand new. But basically it's just ♥ on both sides!

What about from your side?

(PS we should get a thread with Haruki and Jill after Plot happened)

From:

artificialcommand

WE SHOULD I will make sure to get on that /o/ He will need to fuss over her at the very least, ARE YOU OKAY YOU'RE NOT HURT RIGHT

I think it's about the same back; Jill aging up and going through so many things at once made him...hmm, treat her more like an adult rather than trying to contantly protect her, even if he still worries about her! But just increasingly dere every time they talk.

Do you have anything specific planned for your characters? Certain arcs, things you want to happen to them, etc? (if it is spoilers for the NPCs then you need not say but I AM CURIOUS)

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mercedes_sphere

Jill's relationship with Mercedes?

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