Matou Shinji and the Price of Victory (HP/FSN CYOA)

[Malorius]

I have waxed poetics about "more than human" notion being detrimental to Shinji's mindset a dozen of pages ago in this very thread. The result was... Less than satisfactory. Hopefully, we won't double down on it just because it sounds good (and it does sound good, admittedly).

[x] That she is in fact, the only human on the team, and has to work harder to keep up

While SL's write in is directed to mitigating Tohsaka's cognitive dissonance and feeling of alienation, we still need to adress the issue she has been struggling for this whole year: that she is not special here. She is not top dog, and that has been hurting her pride much more than ideas of "humans" and "monsters". Those were just convenient concepts she was hiding behind to evade the issue at hand.

So I choose to strike in the heart of the problem, as I see it: no, Rin, you are not good enough. But you can be.

[Dracueri]

[x]That she is in fact, the only human on the team, and has to work harder to keep up
[x]Yes, it would help

[Malgos]

[X] Every practitioner of witchcraft is part not human somewhere in the bloodline, but his experience on the island has amplified that portion of him beyond the normal level.


[X] Yes, it would help

I'm also for these two.

[Skull Leader]

Mal, I can see your point on making Rin realize that she is not special, but you are ignoring I think a big big issue. Thanks to Rin's experience with the inhuman nature of Emilia's shapechanging, Shinji recent mood swings with her making her lose respect for Shinji (such as the Miyuki moment) and most important of them all, the inhuman nature of Souirtsulli and the events Rin has with her, I think Rin is not going to take that answer of you are the only HUMAN on the team to work harder.

No Rin will take that as she is the only Human on the team and thus should never trust ANYONE else, that she will be surrounded by people conspiring against her and that now even Shinji is lost to her. That not going to make her work with the team, that is only going to make things worse. We have to explain Shinji to her, either now or later. This answer of Rin you are the only human is just crazy to me that people think that would motivate her.

It might motivate her but it will not motivate her like you want but kick her into gear that her entire team is hostile monsters.

[alfheimwanderer]

Looks like we have a 3 way tie.

[croixdefeu]

[x] That he will tell her the story once they are done with this first job (Hermione Mission).

Yeah, given the series of events happening to rin recently, she's likely to take the news terribly. Perhaps if we tell her after the mission, she'll have the opportunity to have more positive interactions with our teammates and shinji before we break the news to her. I don't think telling her the whole truth now is a great idea when for the past few weeks she's been forced through lots of humiliation and punishment for things she didn't think was her fault. doing that would just make her think shinji has become an inhuman monster and that's why he's doing all this to her, I think.

And I don't think telling her she's the only human would motivate her to work with the team, it'll only cause fiction to between her and the others, making it much harder to conduct the mission, even if say it motivates her to work harder. Either truth options are preferable to this one, I think.

[X] Yes, it would help

[skulkidcachi90]

Change my vote to.
[X] Every practitioner of witchcraft is part not human somewhere in the bloodline, but his experience on the island has amplified that portion of him beyond the normal level

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 114: [X] Every practitioner of witchcraft is part not human somewhere in the bloodline, but his experience on the island has amplified that portion of him beyond the normal level.

Choice 115: [x] Yes, it would help

---

I've noted, in the last month or two, some discontent over how Tohsaka has been portrayed. Some of you seem to want her to be portrayed as an unadulterated genius, a master of magecraft who is exceptionally capable with every one of her arts - despite the fact that 1) she is several years younger than when we saw her in FSN, 2) she has had her development derailed (intentionally and unintentionally, with Shinji unhealthily enjoying her reverence of him), 3) that she is a genius compared to Shirou in his canon state, yes, but perhaps not compared to Shinji when he is actually in his element (and not playing at being a magus).

This is a Tohsaka that hasn't fully concentrated on unlocking her family's crafts, who has grown to resent Touko and Waver and many others at the Association, who was 13 when she left home and given a ton of flak thrown at her for her habits (and for simply being Asian). This is a Rin who is very much still going through puberty and doesn't have years of developing her identity as a magus and a Second Owner, who grew to idolize the example of Matou Shinji, the hero/knight who slew wyverns and earned uncountable riches, as opposed to her father - and now is seeing the flaws of her idol up close (or the person she thinks is her idol, not realizing that Matou Shinji - as he was - died on the isle of Thule, and that the being who uses his name is not quite the same as the one from before).

But who knows, perhaps I am portraying her unfairly. Perhaps I am making poor decisions for Tohsaka Rin beyond what she would do.

And so, I offer you, good readers, a vote.

During the mission to come, I offer you as much control over Rin as you enjoy over Shinji. The ability to choose her schedule to an extent, the ability to choose who to interact with or what to do in her free time - all of it.

The question is, do you want it?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

This vote will be open for 72 hours.

[Skull Leader]

[X] No.

If I was better mood I might labor to explain why this is a bad idea. A really really bad idea.

[Daiki]

[x] No.

Don't feel like we would do her a service, honestly.

I get that the GM might get annoyed though, so maybe we should tone down the complaints and focus on what could improve her portrayal / decision-making when we are in disagreement.

Appreciate the gesture Alf, but that's too risky to give us free rein over her entire actions.

[skulkidcachi90]

[ ] Yes

[croixdefeu]

[X] No

Honestly, I don't really care that much about whether it'll go badly or not. Which route is more optimal. Its just hat, to me, yes feels a bit like a shortcut. Instead of actually trying to nudge rin into a less destructive mindset we're just outright determining her actions to an extent. I understand that whatever decisions we're making are still going to be filtered through her, but it's not as if in irl we can invisibly nudge other's choices, no? I'll rather stay with shinji as our only protagonist, and influence her, or not, that way. sure things might be less satisfactory since we won't have the knowledge that we tried our best, used every mechanic possible, but I'll rather do it this way.

And I just want to apologise, Alf, if I have been complaining too much about rin. It's not very productive, and I wasn't really complaining about the inaccuracy of her portrayal so much as just the fact that she's quite frustrating to deal with.

[Dracueri]

[x]No

[busterman221]

[X] Yes

[Malorius]

Picking your battles is one of the most important things an adult must learn to be successful.

Never ever.

[x] Yes

Since I was (one of the) most vocal in criticism, I'll choose to accept this offer. I believe that Alf will be harsh if this choice wins, and the results will likely be unsatisfactory, since Rin's skills don't inspire confidence in her performance, and we are not that good at making judgment. More than that, the choices we will likely face will be both hard and irritating, because, well, teenage girl in the middle of crisis. But I dislike the implications of the "No" even more. Like, none at all seems to consider this anything but a trap option, which will ruin the experience for us from meta perspective. Just choosing "No" will be a sign of (at least, for me) a lack of trust towards Alf on this matter. An acceptance that our QM intends to punish us for our perceived transgressions. Something that is... Quite common among GMs, actually.

Uh. Surely, Alf is above that? Maybe?

Well, maybe it's not that much of a show of trust, a moral stand or something as hypocritical - inspiring, I mean, inspiring - as that. Maybe it's just my love for the Hard Mode speaking.

Or maybe, just maybe, my desire to see Rin's character get some justice overcomes my desire for pleasant game experience. After all, however that story goes, it will burn brightly.

[alfheimwanderer]

Right. Vote closed. No, it is.

[Malorius]

Well, what's done is done. Let's see where we go from here.

[alfheimwanderer]

Choice 116: A Mission question then, related to the last mission post. Mafalda is not entirely satisfied with Nines' response to her question of regarding "the one who let the cowards get away."

"Someone with his own circumstances, huh?" the girl muttered. "Bet the high and mighty Champion never lost anything important in his life, seeing as how he seemed to have so much just...handed to him."

"...handed to him?" Shinji echoed, and if his voice was a bit harder than usual, well, there was a reason for it. "What do you mean?"

"I've read about him. Born into a long lineage of practitioners - already a master of the eastern arts by the time he came to Hogwarts. Best friend of the Boy-Who-Lived, like the shadow to Potter's light. Instructed by Slughorn, mentored by the greatest adventurer of Britain. And yet, he was never there when people needed him."

"What do you mean?"

"He wasn't at the Cup, was he? Or rather - he was, but in the company of a pretty girl from Japan. Just as he sided with Delacour because she was pretty. I wonder what the Ministry offered him that he let them escape and decided to fight this once. A kiss from their metamorphmagus? A shag, maybe?"

How does Shinji respond?

[ ] "You know nothing of m--his circumstances!"
[ ] That she should not judge, as she was not there
[ ] That from what he knew, Matou Shinji always tried to the right thing - that beautiful young women tended to be involved was merely a coincidence
[ ] Invite "Lumi" to answer the question
[ ] (write-in)

[Skull Leader]

[X] That she has been reading what the media wants her to believe, without thinking for herself. As she has not met the man, nor experience the events first hand or even talked to people that did, she should not be so quick to judge.

A similar answer to the second answer but I wanted to expand it. Really this girl is not critically thinking and is only listening to the bias media like it is speaking the gospel. Maybe she is right, but she does not have enough sources to confirm her conclusion. The other answers seem to ring hollow to me. Denying that beautiful women had NO factor in Shinji's choice is a hard to believe lie.

[Malorius]

[X] That she has been reading what the media wants her to believe, without thinking for herself. As she has not met the man, nor experience the events first hand or even talked to people that did, she should not be so quick to judge.

Ah, children, "the flowers of life", as we call them around here. Who knows, maybe if Shinji keeps teaching them, he will learn these lessons himself.

Right, "Matou"-totally-not - biased -"Shinji"?