( there's a slight delay, if only because they didn't think to time their night terrors. pretty dumb, ngl. )
No. God no. Not a chance. I clock teenagers for thinking the wrong thing without hearing their thoughts, I can't afford more insight on why people deserve to get clocked.
(Have not punched anyone, FYI. Tell Holly that bracelet is really working out.)
[ it's been long enough that she figured he must have been asleep, so when her phone screen lights up from its spot on her bedside table, she doesn't check it at first. it's just- she can't think of any other notifications that would be worth pulling herself out of the weird exhausted-but-not-sleeping daze that sometimes managed to lead to actually falling asleep, at this point?? so why not just leave it until morning?
..but she's too curious not to.
and those 12 seconds spent not responding right away were instead spent on mentally checking herself once she noticed the way she was smiling as she squinted at the backlit screen and willed her eyes to adjust to the light a little faster. sigh. ]
I can't say I totally blame you. There's a lot that could go wrong with it, for sure. Especially lately? When we've already seen too much of people's true colors in this town. But I would absolutely take the offer, in a heartbeat.
What if you could control it? Like being able to turn it on and off, only hear them when you want to. Still no?
( he was asleep! see, Nancy can't say he doesn't sleep, now. he at least got... 43 more minutes than she did. )
I think I'd go nuts. I already can guess what shitheads are thinking, sometimes, it's already bad without confirmation it's as bad as I think. You and El could be kickass supergirls together though, huh? That could be kinda cool.
( for Eleven especially. Steve thinks Eleven could really use somebody that really got it, and none of them could ever hope to. )
Nah. No. I don't think so. That whole Spider-man shit, I don't trust me with that. Flying though. Holy hell, in a heartbeat. So goddamn cliche, but I'd take that one for sure.
I'm sure it wouldn't be all bad. Some people might surprise you? But... maybe some people wouldn't, you're right. But I would use it for a mix of both, I think. To see the good truths, and the bad truths. Sort of a journalist's dream, really. I'd use it for stories, mostly, if it means helping someone in a way I wouldn't be able to without that certainty.
Wow, I didn't even think of that. It makes me want to double down on my answer, though. Sometimes I wish she had someone to talk to about that stuff, you know? Someone that understood.
[ she can't read minds, nope, she just happens to feel the same way. must protect el hopper. ]
Flying, really? Hmmm. I can see that. I imagine it would have to be paired with super strength, at the very least. Or healing. Probably both.
[ is she capable of not being a nerd about this? no. even if it was initially a very low key "what if?" question? also no. ]
It would be really dangerous otherwise, that's all.
They'd surprise you, but wouldn't it mess you up? What even good people can think about, sometimes? It'd be hard. I think it'd be hard. If anyone had to get saddled with it though, I think you could handle it.
( Steve trusts Nancy a lot, thinks that she has it in her to make ugly scary choices. and hey nobody is perfect, Nancy might not always make the best call, but any time she slips she thinks and she learns and she gets better. that's the sort of person you'd want to have terrifying superpowers, isn't it? )
You're already kinda a mind reader, because honestly I was just thinking that. ...My mind might be pretty easy to read, even without superpowers.
That's not how this game works, Nance, you just get the one superpower. Fine, teleporting then. I don't even have to fly, just poof I'm there. Better?
I think one of the biggest things I've learned over the last couple of years, it's that.. good people are very capable of doing bad things, and bad people sometimes truly believe they have good intentions? So It's almost a net loss. Or gain. Both? I wouldn't say I've gotten used to it, but it's gotten easier, I guess? To not let it sink in too deep. Even though it is hard sometimes.
[ walls. so many emotional walls just- all over the place. walls and barricades and like, moats full of alligators with a hunger for anything that might make her heart hurt. yeah. that's healthy, probably. ]
You? No way, you are so not easy to read. That would be like trying to say that you're predictable, and there's nothing about you that's predictable, Steve Harrington.
[ is it possible that she's just had blinders on when it came to certain things about steve? maybe!! did fighting side by side with him through this insane battle against vecna make her want to take those blinders off in a big way? ALSO maybe!! ]
Oh! I see. I didn't realize you were in charge of the rules of the game that I initiated. But I can work with that. Just one power.
Definitely better. Teleporting avoids most of the risks of flying. Not all of them, but most of them. It's a shame you picked a character class that can't learn that skill... Princess Victoria can teleport.😋
[ she almost says "you already 'poof, i'm there!', without any special abilities.", but that's opening a can of worms, she's pretty sure. just for herself, really, but still. listing off all the times steve's been exactly where he was needed to protect her everyone when she they got in way over her their heads... probably not a thing to bring up in casual, later-than-4am, superpower related conversation. ]
Really, you don't think I'm predictable. If there was a betting pool on what dumb thing I'm gonna do next is, you'd make a killing. Watch out for Robin, though, she might have you beat.
( Steve feels predictable. and the ways he's not predictable aren't really something he's proud of. maybe predictable would have been going off to college on some sport scholarship to party and drink too much another 4 years straight, only in a different state. that's a bad unpredictable. still, he's predictable in wanting to herd people he likes away from danger, predictable in wanting to be there if they insist on running head first into it anyway. predictable about being the pestering mom friend, predictable in his day and his routine and how he spends his time and getting the same double cheeseburger with extra pickles whenever he goes to Rocco's.
he doesn't think predictable is bad. especially when there's so much bullshit in their lives that is the opposite of predictable. someone that makes sense in a town full of crazy, maybe that's a good thing. )
Well, if we can have eight superpowers then the choice matters less. If you can only have one, then clearly you picked it for a reason.
Well, good for Princess Victoria. Maybe she could just teleport my warrior to in front of the party where the danger is, so he can tank hits she can't take, instead of just showing off. ( WOW. He'S ALMOST taLkING D&D. NANCY, ARE U PROUD??? granted he's talking shit also, BUT SHE SHOULD STILL BE PROUD!! )
Well, it depends! Maybe there are some things I'd be able to predict, sure. But you're not predictable in every way, all the time. Just like how you're not always easy to read. That's all I meant.
[ she's been told the same, more than once. it's sort of just... one of those things. it's not like she goes out of her way to be unreadable, it's that people don't always know what to expect. that's not her fault. and she knows steve isn't going out of his way to be easily read, or not easily read, either. although- he is so much more open than she remembers him ever being. enough so that she actually envies it, more than a little bit. because there really is just... no bullshit with him anymore. no mask. there's a level of honesty there that almost intimidating, in a way. because her? lately? ..before vecna's first attack, at least? sometimes she's never felt more full of it. which, ah, is something she's still trying to figure out. why that is. she's working on it.
so, it just-! it felt important to note, that's all. that maybe he's not predictable, or all that easy to read sometimes. and not just in an attempt to make herself feel better about feeling pleasantly blindsided by things he's done or said, more than a couple times recently. it has nothing to do with that at all. ]
Technically, I never even said you could pick something other than mind reading. The game started with a 'yes or no' question. You're the one that took the game off script by introducing an alternative. Because I'm not sure mind reading would even really be my first pick. I was more curious about whether or not you would take the offer.
[ .... yo she actually is pretty proud!! ]
Who says she can't do both? Your warrior would be in incredibly capable hands, maybe she just wants to make sure he knows it. And obviously showing off is the best way to do so.
If you say so, Nance. I'll take it, being ol' reliable all the time sounds pretty boring. You gotta spice of life it sometimes.
( right, isn't that how that saying goes??? something something spice of life. yeah! Steve feels a little dull in practice, easy to understand and easy to forget. that there's still a little spice in him is hopeful, and of all people Wildcard Nancy Wheeler should know whether someone is a little on the unspicy side. )
Well it was more interesting to think about alternatives. More to talk about. Since it's 4am and neither of us are sleeping, I didn't think you'd mind.
And that's the best way, huh? Showboating? ( Steve really can't read Princess Victoria on this, since he's a total showoff in high stakes situations. but look... no he's got nothing, oops )
[ it's! close enough. and maybe eventually nancy will stop being like "whoa" every time steve does or says something she couldn't imagine him saying a couple years ago, but she's not there yet. but no, she can't imagine the steve she knew back then even thinking for a second something about him could be considered boring. old reliable. he is reliable, and she doesn't think there's anything wrong with that either, but that's not really a 4am conversation topic ]
I don't mind, I'm just saying. We've already broken from the formula by introducing other options, I think picking more than one is fair play, too. If we wanted to. Like... Maybe I want invisibility to go with my mind reading. Who says I can't?
You tell me, Mr. Who-Needs-a-Landing-Pad-When-I-Can-Just-Casually-Flip-My-Way-Through-This-Reverse-Gravity-Portal. Is it?
Fine, fine. It's a slippery slope, though. If you have two superpowers, why not three? Why not a handful? And then you don't have to really know which one you want, because you can pick them all. You know?
( in the interest of this being a concise hypothetical, Steve feels they should stick to superpowers most wanted!!! but fine, she can have two. and if she has two... )
Why invisibility to go with your mind reading, though? Why not, like... I don't know, like, a sixth sense that leads you to what you're looking for, or something.
( there's... well, there's two obvious responses, here. backtracking. insisting that he wasn't showing off. laughing about it and moving on. or... just maybe, he can get away with owning it. which is a lot more intentional and dangerous than making an excuse and trying to brush it under the rug. it would be smarter, and safer, for the newly rekindled friendship here, to let it go. he probably should. right?
except, Steve has a bad precedent for this. like settling in a beach chair and fishing the cigarette from behind his ear, eyebrows towards his hairline as he called out the obvious. you're not? because while shotgunning a beer isn't really an impressive skill, Nancy was still looking at him like she'd like to eat him alive, chase his father's imported beer off the back of his tongue.
he'll play it a little more subtle than that, maybe. but that look she'd given him through the portal wasn't exactly unimpressed, now was it. )
I think you'd have to tell me, actually. ( because if he was trying to show off to make her confident she was safe on his watch, she'd be the one to know if it worked or not, now wouldn't she? )
It's a matter of having some restraint, that's all. To me, two or even three seems totally fair, if one supports the other. Like flight, and strength. That's just practical.
Like... some sort of tracking? Internal compass? No, no. Mind reading would help me find clues, pieces of the puzzle. Invisibility would, too. But why would I want a power that connects the dots for me, too? That's the fun part.
[ hup! well. looks like someone suddenly decided he wanted to try spice of life-ing it. she wasn't expecting that. not that it's a bad thing, like, at all, it just has her smiling at her phone in a way that isn't like, totally and completely platonic with a capital P, that's all. ]
I think I might have misspoke when I said that showing off is the "best" way, maybe, but it's definitely the most fun way to get the point across, when they have the skills to back it up. ( And Victoria totally has the skills to back it up, I'm just saying. )
[ she could leave it there. ..she should leave it there. that's a thing she should definitely do. ]
Plus, it's not the worst feeling in the world. Someone going out of their way to show off a little bit for you? I mean it's totally cheesy, but it's also pretty flattering, and reassuring, too. So I think it's really just a bonus, under those circumstances.
You kinda have that compass already, anyway. Without the scary mind powers, you can just. Figure out where you need to look next.
( which is admirable. Nancy doesn't even need superpowers to find her way. when the world isn't actively ending, Steve often feels like he's spinning out. directionless. Nancy always seems to know which way faces forward, somehow. maybe she's not always ready to head in that direction, but she knows where it is.
maybe that's why she's the one that set him on the path he is now. crawling forward. maybe one of these days he'll stop crawling, be brave enough to walk. maybe even run. )
Totally cheesy, but flattering, fun, and reassuring. So yeah I would say showing off is at least worth a shot, then. If you have the skills to back it up, obviously. Yeah.
Gotta say, it's cute that Princess Victoria, a princess with teleporting powers and the battle tenacity to take and dish out damage, is trying to impress some lame warrior that mostly is just there to hit things.
( are they... are they flirting through d&d chars right now? this is disgusting )
Not always. I mean... Sometimes, maybe. But sometimes it's just meticulous planning and a penchant for obstinacy. But I like the way you put it better.
[ she's pretty sure there would be less room for disappointment if most things in life were as lucky as her occasional shot in the dark. no, she has plans. and those plans have backup plans, but they hardly matter, because the plan- that's what's important. and you'd think after dealing with the insanity of the upside down over the last few years, she'd learn to be more flexible, more forgiving of herself when those plans have to change, but, ah. nope. which... might be why she's still holding onto the entire emerson plan, as written. even if part of that plan doesn't.. want to be part of that plan anymore, and she knows it, but maybe if she pretends she doesn't, eventually he'll remember why those plans felt so right to begin with and change his mind. and maybe she'll remember, too.
... not the time, 4am brain.
but it is the time to talk nerdy with steve harrington, apparently. his last message makes her laugh, at least, because it's a little bit ridiculous and- charming, what the hell, so it's the kind of laugh that makes her cover her mouth after, then perk up an ear to make sure she didn't wake anybody up. but... nothing. phew. and yeah it's honestly just a shame that nancy doesn't know how to like, be chill, ever, apparently, because-]
It's not cute! It's it just makes total sense. First of all, maybe he thinks he's "just there to hit things", but she knows there's more to him than that. He protects the party when they need it most, no matter what. That's not lame at all. And she's definitely noticed that he gets even stronger during a fight when he's got someone by his side. So... Maybe she just likes giving him the occasional reminder that he's put his faith in the right person. Inspiration points. Or something. And if that happens to impress him, that's just... a coincidence.
The fact that he's maxed out on charm doesn't hurt, either.
( wow from stealth flirting via D&D characters to... stealth complimenting via D&D characters?? is he reading into this or is Nancy doing that thing she has gotten into recently where she manages to make his obvious shortcomings sound not so bad after all. it's weird how Nancy can manage that, considering when his father takes a crack at it, it always just sounds bad. )
It feel little lame, compared to the battle bard and the warlock and whatever the hell an Artificer is. He's a guy that knows what he's good at, and dishing out damage and taking a few hits helps while everybody else argues about what cool thing they're gonna do next turn. Do they always do that, by the way. They talk about doing stuff more than they ever do stuff. It's like hours of talking about something that doesn't even happen.
( wait they were D&D flirting shit he popped off on the party's communication issues instead )
I didn't know you could use charm stats on your own teammates. That's cool. I'm sure he is impressed. Considering her status and abilities, she still notices him enough to show off a little. That's gotta get to him. Right in the warm-and-fuzzies.
Edited (it wouldnt let me pick an icon i did what i had to do ) Date: 2022-08-25 02:16 am (UTC)
Well, all I'll say is that if the princess finds out that her warrior thinks he's lame, even just a little lame? She's going to make it her personal mission to convince him otherwise. And she's pretty persistent with that sort of thing. Relentless, even.
Ugh, yes, that's exactly what they end up doing. All talk, no action. It's... insane. They're insane. And you would think that over the years they would learn how to streamline the whole process, right? But no. Quite the opposite actually. Last time they played in our basement ( which feels like a lifetime ago, shit ) it took Lucas 4 hours - literally 4 hours - to decide if he wanted to use Evasion, or Uncanny Dodge. And they're basically the same thing!
Anyway. Yes. It's always like that.
[ and because nancy is apparently in full nerd mode at the moment, she doesn't really think before typing out her next response- ]
Oh, no, they actually can't. It's really just role play when it's between party members. So, you could roll for Charisma, but it doesn't actually influence how it effects the other character, the same way it would against an NPC. So. I was just trying to be [ ... what, flirty? shut up. funny? no. ] clever.
But right in the warm-and-fuzzies, huh? That's sweet. She would be really happy to hear that. Although she would definitely make sure he knew that things like status and abilities have never mattered all that much to her. ...Well, status doesn't, for sure. But abilities do matter a little bit when you're in the line of work that they are.
Well, if the princess commands it, I guess the guy has gotta get his act together. A very valued warrior, that the team definitely needs.
( plus, Dustin would never let it die, if Princess Victoria started trying to boost up Martin (not after Marty McFly, not at ALL) the Warrior's confidence. Steve does not need Robin and a fourteen year old joining their efforts to convince him he still has a shot with Nancy. )
Why don't they take a vote? Why does it take a two hour discussion to decide on anything? Is that normal? We could get more done if they didn't bicker so much. I want to let them figure it out but I also want something to goddamn happen already.
( Steve has notice his Stern Dad Voice can be effective in getting the Party to just decide on something. but somehow it feels a little bad to break out his serious tone on a game that doesn't have any stakes to it. )
Oh. Okay. Got it. Have to use my natural charm when convincing my teammates. I can handle that, no problem.
( remember his ( snap snap snap baddaboom ) charm? apparently it counts for D&D too, Nancy. )
Completely. Abilities are important, if you don't want to die. He's at least good on that front. He hits things pretty good. I'll figure out something else he can do eventually.
Exactly! And when in doubt, just remember that the Princess is always right.
[ is there some part of her that fully believes that? ..yes, actually, okay? it's not something she's proud of, or even all that actively aware of, but there really is a tiny part of her that has so much faith in her intuition and judgement of things, it actually goes a little berserk when someone would think to question or doubt her. but she's not really like that, once you toss in the rest of the inner-workings of her brain. and the only hint that it even exists is a very specific type of way her brow crinkles, for just a split second.
but with something like this, like... if they weren't talking about their characters, and definitely if they weren't texting about it, she'd be all stubborn insistence about it, after a certain point. so. probably good that they're texting.
anyway, his frustration over how the party handles the obstacles that get in the way in their adventure is amusing, but also really damn relatable. ]
Tell me about it. Unfortunately it does seem pretty common, judging by the fact that Hellfire used to run late more often than not. Which was always so much fun on the nights when I agreed to pick the boys up after.
Your character could always step up and take lead if you wanted him to, you know. He's a party member just the same as anybody else. Point out the priorities, get them to focus. You've already done it a couple times, why not just stick to it?
[ embrace the dad voice, harrington. it works. not that nancy has any personal stake in whether or not steve uses said dad voice. she doesn't have any kind of opinions on it, and it certainly doesn't do anything for her or anything. ]
Or you could always skip the bullshit and roll for Initiative so you can jump right into the fight. They can't waste time bickering if the fight starts without them. You know I'd have your back.
The princess is always right, huh? I'll remember that. ( because that would not raise any alarms, if his warrior just did whatever Nancy suggested. Steve has already shown his Nancy Wheeler apologist side publicly, people expect it now. ) Besides, if somebody like that believes that much in you, kinda hard to argue there's nothing there.
( that's not too real and on the nose and only relates to D&D characters. absolutely. )
You think? ( Steve doesn't want to impose on how the kids have fun, because they get to have fun so rarely and seeing them be normal kids is probably worth being annoyed for two hours by their indecisiveness. but they also like making progress in a session, so... maybe it wouldn't hurt to give them a gentle nudge.
a stern, guiding, and slightly demanding gentle nudge. )
I'll give it a try. Saying "screw it" and hitting something is sort of a warrior thing to do anyway.
[ she really needs to stop saying that, she's pretty sure, although it's not like her "but really" tone can be heard through text. ( even though she's pretty sure she knows exactly what that "huh?" sounded like, which makes her read back what she said, and- ah. mhm. good. this is fine. ) but maybe her "exactly" is just a very confident "exactly". she's glad he sees it her way, obviously, and she's definitely only talking about their d&d characters. ]
Yes! I do, I really do. Because
This might take me a minute, hang on.
[ it does, in fact, take about a minute before her next message comes through. somebody take texting away from nancy, she doesn't know how to do it right. ]
I was pretty reluctant to actually play at first, even though I'd already helped out a few times at that point, because it took me a while to.. get over it, I guess? First it was that it felt a little ridiculous, because it is a little ridiculous.
But then it was because I convinced myself that oh, they're going to be so weird because my character is new and theirs have been in the same party together for years, so they're not even going to listen to what I say, and I'm a princess, so if I try to come up with a plan, Mike is just going to get annoyed and tell me I'm trying to boss them around, and the list went on and on. But anyway, once I stopped worry about it so much and played along, they were all just really excited to have a new character in their story. I wasn't Mike's bossy big sister, I was a princess and a mage who wanted to join their party because I was looking for adventure, which meant that I not only had a few useful royal connections, but also a whole set of new spells they didn't have access to before.
I guess what I'm trying to say is... It's a whole different world for them, where there's no Hawkins or any of the insanity that comes with it, and their characters are their way of getting to be a part of that world. That's always been the reason why they play. So as long as you're in that world with them? You can do anything, whatever you want, and it doesn't matter if their characters love it or hate it, the boys are going to be completely hyped up and laughing about it as soon as the session is over.
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3:38am
Date: 2022-08-07 05:45 am (UTC)4:21
Date: 2022-08-08 03:02 am (UTC)No. God no. Not a chance. I clock teenagers for thinking the wrong thing without hearing their thoughts, I can't afford more insight on why people deserve to get clocked.
(Have not punched anyone, FYI. Tell Holly that bracelet is really working out.)
no subject
Date: 2022-08-08 04:40 am (UTC)..but she's too curious not to.
and those 12 seconds spent not responding right away were instead spent on mentally checking herself once she noticed the way she was smiling as she squinted at the backlit screen and willed her eyes to adjust to the light a little faster. sigh. ]
I can't say I totally blame you. There's a lot that could go wrong with it, for sure.
Especially lately? When we've already seen too much of people's true colors in this town.
But I would absolutely take the offer, in a heartbeat.
What if you could control it? Like being able to turn it on and off, only hear them when you want to. Still no?
no subject
Date: 2022-08-08 05:15 am (UTC)I think I'd go nuts. I already can guess what shitheads are thinking, sometimes, it's already bad without confirmation it's as bad as I think.
You and El could be kickass supergirls together though, huh? That could be kinda cool.
( for Eleven especially. Steve thinks Eleven could really use somebody that really got it, and none of them could ever hope to. )
Nah. No. I don't think so. That whole Spider-man shit, I don't trust me with that.
Flying though. Holy hell, in a heartbeat. So goddamn cliche, but I'd take that one for sure.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-08 05:49 am (UTC)But I would use it for a mix of both, I think. To see the good truths, and the bad truths.
Sort of a journalist's dream, really. I'd use it for stories, mostly, if it means helping someone in a way I wouldn't be able to without that certainty.
Wow, I didn't even think of that. It makes me want to double down on my answer, though. Sometimes I wish she had someone to talk to about that stuff, you know? Someone that understood.
[ she can't read minds, nope, she just happens to feel the same way. must protect el hopper. ]
Flying, really? Hmmm.
I can see that.
I imagine it would have to be paired with super strength, at the very least. Or healing. Probably both.
[ is she capable of not being a nerd about this? no. even if it was initially a very low key "what if?" question? also no. ]
It would be really dangerous otherwise, that's all.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-08 07:42 am (UTC)If anyone had to get saddled with it though, I think you could handle it.
( Steve trusts Nancy a lot, thinks that she has it in her to make ugly scary choices. and hey nobody is perfect, Nancy might not always make the best call, but any time she slips she thinks and she learns and she gets better. that's the sort of person you'd want to have terrifying superpowers, isn't it? )
You're already kinda a mind reader, because honestly I was just thinking that.
...My mind might be pretty easy to read, even without superpowers.
That's not how this game works, Nance, you just get the one superpower. Fine, teleporting then. I don't even have to fly, just poof I'm there. Better?
no subject
Date: 2022-08-09 07:46 am (UTC)It's almost a net loss. Or gain. Both?
I wouldn't say I've gotten used to it, but it's gotten easier, I guess? To not let it
sink in too deep. Even though it is hard sometimes.
[ walls. so many emotional walls just- all over the place. walls and barricades and like, moats full of alligators with a hunger for anything that might make her heart hurt. yeah. that's healthy, probably. ]
You? No way, you are so not easy to read. That would be like trying to say that you're predictable, and there's nothing about you that's predictable, Steve Harrington.
[ is it possible that she's just had blinders on when it came to certain things about steve? maybe!! did fighting side by side with him through this insane battle against vecna make her want to take those blinders off in a big way? ALSO maybe!! ]
Oh! I see. I didn't realize you were in charge of the rules of the game that I initiated. But I can work with that. Just one power.
Definitely better. Teleporting avoids most of the risks of flying. Not all of them, but most of them.
It's a shame you picked a character class that can't learn that skill...
Princess Victoria can teleport.😋
[ she almost says "you already 'poof, i'm there!', without any special abilities.", but that's opening a can of worms, she's pretty sure. just for herself, really, but still. listing off all the times steve's been exactly where he was needed to protect
hereveryone whenshethey got in way overhertheir heads... probably not a thing to bring up in casual, later-than-4am, superpower related conversation. ]no subject
Date: 2022-08-14 02:48 am (UTC)Watch out for Robin, though, she might have you beat.
( Steve feels predictable. and the ways he's not predictable aren't really something he's proud of. maybe predictable would have been going off to college on some sport scholarship to party and drink too much another 4 years straight, only in a different state. that's a bad unpredictable. still, he's predictable in wanting to herd people he likes away from danger, predictable in wanting to be there if they insist on running head first into it anyway. predictable about being the pestering mom friend, predictable in his day and his routine and how he spends his time and getting the same double cheeseburger with extra pickles whenever he goes to Rocco's.
he doesn't think predictable is bad. especially when there's so much bullshit in their lives that is the opposite of predictable. someone that makes sense in a town full of crazy, maybe that's a good thing. )
Well, if we can have eight superpowers then the choice matters less. If you can only have one, then clearly you picked it for a reason.
Well, good for Princess Victoria. Maybe she could just teleport my warrior to in front of the party where the danger is, so he can tank hits she can't take, instead of just showing off. ( WOW. He'S ALMOST taLkING D&D. NANCY, ARE U PROUD??? granted he's talking shit also, BUT SHE SHOULD STILL BE PROUD!! )
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Date: 2022-08-14 03:45 am (UTC)[ she's been told the same, more than once. it's sort of just... one of those things. it's not like she goes out of her way to be unreadable, it's that people don't always know what to expect. that's not her fault. and she knows steve isn't going out of his way to be easily read, or not easily read, either. although- he is so much more open than she remembers him ever being. enough so that she actually envies it, more than a little bit. because there really is just... no bullshit with him anymore. no mask. there's a level of honesty there that almost intimidating, in a way. because her? lately? ..before vecna's first attack, at least? sometimes she's never felt more full of it. which, ah, is something she's still trying to figure out. why that is. she's working on it.
so, it just-! it felt important to note, that's all. that maybe he's not predictable, or all that easy to read sometimes. and not just in an attempt to make herself feel better about feeling
pleasantlyblindsided by things he's done or said, more than a couple times recently. it has nothing to do with that at all. ]Technically, I never even said you could pick something other than mind reading. The game started with a 'yes or no' question. You're the one that took the game off script by introducing an alternative.
Because I'm not sure mind reading would even really be my first pick.
I was more curious about whether or not you would take the offer.
[ .... yo she actually is pretty proud!! ]
Who says she can't do both? Your warrior would be in incredibly capable hands, maybe she just
wants to make sure he knows it.
And obviously showing off is the best way to do so.
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Date: 2022-08-17 02:08 am (UTC)( right, isn't that how that saying goes??? something something spice of life. yeah! Steve feels a little dull in practice, easy to understand and easy to forget. that there's still a little spice in him is hopeful, and of all people Wildcard Nancy Wheeler should know whether someone is a little on the unspicy side. )
Well it was more interesting to think about alternatives. More to talk about. Since it's 4am and neither of us are sleeping, I didn't think you'd mind.
And that's the best way, huh? Showboating? ( Steve really can't read Princess Victoria on this, since he's a total showoff in high stakes situations. but look... no he's got nothing, oops )
no subject
Date: 2022-08-17 02:36 am (UTC)I don't mind, I'm just saying. We've already broken from the formula by introducing other options, I think picking more than one is fair play, too. If we wanted to.
Like... Maybe I want invisibility to go with my mind reading. Who says I can't?
You tell me, Mr. Who-Needs-a-Landing-Pad-When-I-Can-Just-Casually-Flip-My-Way-Through-This-Reverse-Gravity-Portal.
Is it?
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Date: 2022-08-17 02:49 am (UTC)( in the interest of this being a concise hypothetical, Steve feels they should stick to superpowers most wanted!!! but fine, she can have two. and if she has two... )
Why invisibility to go with your mind reading, though? Why not, like... I don't know, like, a sixth sense that leads you to what you're looking for, or something.
( there's... well, there's two obvious responses, here. backtracking. insisting that he wasn't showing off. laughing about it and moving on. or... just maybe, he can get away with owning it. which is a lot more intentional and dangerous than making an excuse and trying to brush it under the rug. it would be smarter, and safer, for the newly rekindled friendship here, to let it go. he probably should. right?
except, Steve has a bad precedent for this. like settling in a beach chair and fishing the cigarette from behind his ear, eyebrows towards his hairline as he called out the obvious. you're not? because while shotgunning a beer isn't really an impressive skill, Nancy was still looking at him like she'd like to eat him alive, chase his father's imported beer off the back of his tongue.
he'll play it a little more subtle than that, maybe. but that look she'd given him through the portal wasn't exactly unimpressed, now was it. )
I think you'd have to tell me, actually. ( because if he was trying to show off to make her confident she was safe on his watch, she'd be the one to know if it worked or not, now wouldn't she? )
no subject
Date: 2022-08-17 03:40 am (UTC)Like flight, and strength. That's just practical.
Like... some sort of tracking? Internal compass?
No, no. Mind reading would help me find clues, pieces of the puzzle. Invisibility would, too.
But why would I want a power that connects the dots for me, too? That's the fun part.
[ hup! well. looks like someone suddenly decided he wanted to try spice of life-ing it. she wasn't expecting that. not that it's a bad thing, like, at all, it just has her smiling at her phone in a way that isn't like, totally and completely platonic with a capital P, that's all. ]
I think
I might have misspoke when I said that showing off is the "best" way, maybe, but it's definitely the most fun way to get the point across, when they have the skills to back it up.
( And Victoria totally has the skills to back it up, I'm just saying. )
[ she could leave it there. ..she should leave it there. that's a thing she should definitely do. ]
Plus, it's not the worst feeling in the world. Someone going out of their way to show off a little bit for you?
I mean it's totally cheesy, but it's also pretty flattering, and reassuring, too.
So I think it's really just a bonus, under those circumstances.
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Date: 2022-08-17 04:30 am (UTC)( which is admirable. Nancy doesn't even need superpowers to find her way. when the world isn't actively ending, Steve often feels like he's spinning out. directionless. Nancy always seems to know which way faces forward, somehow. maybe she's not always ready to head in that direction, but she knows where it is.
maybe that's why she's the one that set him on the path he is now. crawling forward. maybe one of these days he'll stop crawling, be brave enough to walk. maybe even run. )
Totally cheesy, but flattering, fun, and reassuring.
So yeah I would say showing off is at least worth a shot, then.
If you have the skills to back it up, obviously. Yeah.
Gotta say, it's cute that Princess Victoria, a princess with teleporting powers and the battle tenacity to take and dish out damage, is trying to impress some lame warrior that mostly is just there to hit things.
( are they... are they flirting through d&d chars right now? this is disgusting )
no subject
Date: 2022-08-17 05:18 am (UTC)But sometimes it's just meticulous planning and a penchant for obstinacy.
But I like the way you put it better.
[ she's pretty sure there would be less room for disappointment if most things in life were as lucky as her occasional shot in the dark. no, she has plans. and those plans have backup plans, but they hardly matter, because the plan- that's what's important. and you'd think after dealing with the insanity of the upside down over the last few years, she'd learn to be more flexible, more forgiving of herself when those plans have to change, but, ah. nope. which... might be why she's still holding onto the entire emerson plan, as written. even if part of that plan doesn't.. want to be part of that plan anymore, and she knows it, but maybe if she pretends she doesn't, eventually he'll remember why those plans felt so right to begin with and change his mind. and maybe she'll remember, too.
... not the time, 4am brain.
but it is the time to talk nerdy with steve harrington, apparently. his last message makes her laugh, at least, because it's a little bit ridiculous and- charming, what the hell, so it's the kind of laugh that makes her cover her mouth after, then perk up an ear to make sure she didn't wake anybody up. but... nothing. phew. and yeah it's honestly just a shame that nancy doesn't know how to like, be chill, ever, apparently, because-]
It's not cute! It's
it just makes total sense.
First of all, maybe he thinks he's "just there to hit things", but she knows there's more to him than that. He protects the party when they need it most, no matter what. That's not lame at all.
And she's definitely noticed that he gets even stronger during a fight when he's got someone by his side. So... Maybe she just likes giving him the occasional reminder that he's put his faith in the right person.
Inspiration points. Or something.
And if that happens to impress him, that's just... a coincidence.
The fact that he's maxed out on charm doesn't hurt, either.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-25 02:15 am (UTC)It feel little lame, compared to the battle bard and the warlock and whatever the hell an Artificer is.
He's a guy that knows what he's good at, and dishing out damage and taking a few hits helps while everybody else argues about what cool thing they're gonna do next turn.
Do they always do that, by the way.
They talk about doing stuff more than they ever do stuff.
It's like hours of talking about something that doesn't even happen.
( wait they were D&D flirting shit he popped off on the party's communication issues instead )
I didn't know you could use charm stats on your own teammates. That's cool.
I'm sure he is impressed. Considering her status and abilities, she still notices him enough to show off a little. That's gotta get to him. Right in the warm-and-fuzzies.
no subject
Date: 2022-08-25 03:56 am (UTC)And she's pretty persistent with that sort of thing. Relentless, even.
Ugh, yes, that's exactly what they end up doing. All talk, no action. It's... insane. They're insane.
And you would think that over the years they would learn how to streamline the whole process, right? But no. Quite the opposite actually.
Last time they played in our basement ( which feels like a lifetime ago, shit ) it took Lucas 4 hours - literally 4 hours - to decide if he wanted to use Evasion, or Uncanny Dodge.
And they're basically the same thing!
Anyway. Yes.
It's always like that.
[ and because nancy is apparently in full nerd mode at the moment, she doesn't really think before typing out her next response- ]
Oh, no, they actually can't. It's really just role play when it's between party members. So, you could roll for Charisma, but it doesn't actually influence how it effects the other character, the same way it would against an NPC.
So.
I was just trying to be [ ... what, flirty? shut up. funny? no. ] clever.
But right in the warm-and-fuzzies, huh? That's sweet. She would be really happy to hear that.
Although she would definitely make sure he knew that things like status and abilities have never mattered all that much to her.
...Well, status doesn't, for sure. But abilities do matter a little bit when you're in the line of work that they are.
no subject
Date: 2022-09-05 08:32 pm (UTC)( plus, Dustin would never let it die, if Princess Victoria started trying to boost up Martin (not after Marty McFly, not at ALL) the Warrior's confidence. Steve does not need Robin and a fourteen year old joining their efforts to convince him he still has a shot with Nancy. )
Why don't they take a vote? Why does it take a two hour discussion to decide on anything? Is that normal?
We could get more done if they didn't bicker so much.
I want to let them figure it out but I also want something to goddamn happen already.
( Steve has notice his Stern Dad Voice can be effective in getting the Party to just decide on something. but somehow it feels a little bad to break out his serious tone on a game that doesn't have any stakes to it. )
Oh. Okay. Got it. Have to use my natural charm when convincing my teammates. I can handle that, no problem.
( remember his ( snap snap snap baddaboom ) charm? apparently it counts for D&D too, Nancy. )
Completely. Abilities are important, if you don't want to die.
He's at least good on that front. He hits things pretty good. I'll figure out something else he can do eventually.
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Date: 2022-09-05 09:33 pm (UTC)[ is there some part of her that fully believes that? ..yes, actually, okay? it's not something she's proud of, or even all that actively aware of, but there really is a tiny part of her that has so much faith in her intuition and judgement of things, it actually goes a little berserk when someone would think to question or doubt her. but she's not really like that, once you toss in the rest of the inner-workings of her brain. and the only hint that it even exists is a very specific type of way her brow crinkles, for just a split second.
but with something like this, like... if they weren't talking about their characters, and definitely if they weren't texting about it, she'd be all stubborn insistence about it, after a certain point. so. probably good that they're texting.
anyway, his frustration over how the party handles the obstacles that get in the way in their adventure is amusing, but also really damn relatable. ]
Tell me about it.
Unfortunately it does seem pretty common, judging by the fact that Hellfire used to run late more often than not. Which was always so much fun on the nights when I agreed to pick the boys up after.
Your character could always step up and take lead if you wanted him to, you know. He's a party member just the same as anybody else. Point out the priorities, get them to focus. You've already done it a couple times, why not just stick to it?
[ embrace the dad voice, harrington. it works. not that nancy has any personal stake in whether or not steve uses said dad voice. she doesn't have any kind of opinions on it, and it certainly doesn't do anything for her or anything. ]
Or you could always skip the bullshit and roll for Initiative so you can jump right into the fight. They can't waste time bickering if the fight starts without them.
You know I'd have your back.
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Date: 2022-09-06 12:01 am (UTC)( that's not too real and on the nose and only relates to D&D characters. absolutely. )
You think? ( Steve doesn't want to impose on how the kids have fun, because they get to have fun so rarely and seeing them be normal kids is probably worth being annoyed for two hours by their indecisiveness. but they also like making progress in a session, so... maybe it wouldn't hurt to give them a gentle nudge.
a stern, guiding, and slightly demanding gentle nudge. )
I'll give it a try.
Saying "screw it" and hitting something is sort of a warrior thing to do anyway.
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Date: 2022-09-06 04:09 am (UTC)[ she really needs to stop saying that, she's pretty sure, although it's not like her "but really" tone can be heard through text. ( even though she's pretty sure she knows exactly what that "huh?" sounded like, which makes her read back what she said, and- ah. mhm. good. this is fine. ) but maybe her "exactly" is just a very confident "exactly". she's glad he sees it her way, obviously, and she's definitely only talking about their d&d characters. ]
Yes! I do, I really do. Because
This might take me a minute, hang on.
[ it does, in fact, take about a minute before her next message comes through. somebody take texting away from nancy, she doesn't know how to do it right. ]
I was pretty reluctant to actually play at first, even though I'd already helped out a few times at that point, because it took me a while to.. get over it, I guess? First it was that it felt a little ridiculous, because it is a little ridiculous.
But then it was because I convinced myself that oh, they're going to be so weird because my character is new and theirs have been in the same party together for years, so they're not even going to listen to what I say, and I'm a princess, so if I try to come up with a plan, Mike is just going to get annoyed and tell me I'm trying to boss them around, and the list went on and on.
But anyway, once I stopped worry about it so much and played along, they were all just really excited to have a new character in their story. I wasn't Mike's bossy big sister, I was a princess and a mage who wanted to join their party because I was looking for adventure, which meant that I not only had a few useful royal connections, but also a whole set of new spells they didn't have access to before.
I guess what I'm trying to say is... It's a whole different world for them, where there's no Hawkins or any of the insanity that comes with it, and their characters are their way of getting to be a part of that world. That's always been the reason why they play. So as long as you're in that world with them? You can do anything, whatever you want, and it doesn't matter if their characters love it or hate it, the boys are going to be completely hyped up and laughing about it as soon as the session is over.
So... go for it. Definiely.