Hello, and welcome to the first installment of something I call "You Be The Judge" (with thanks for the suggestion to Tigerbunny).
But first off... I just submitted an 11th hour request to run a one-shot I call Second Act at the annual Endgame Miniconvention in Oakland, which is a rather fun all-day gaming event.
And now, onto the show.
When I post a You Be The Judge entry, I'll be posting an Interlude, either from the VN or from actual play of the Tabletop game, and I'd like readers to Judge it's mechanical effect on those character's relationships. Then articulate why.
I'm curious as to how many different answers there'll be, and how much debate over one man's Intimacy Building being another's Trauma Relief.
I'll keep my opinions of it to myself until after 10 readers render Judgement or a week passes, whichever comes first.
This one is snippet of a very early Interlude from the Visual Novel, along with the decisions you could have made. (Incidentally, if it's from the VN it's from the viewpoint of it's take on Josh Preston - a passionate if introspective Eager Young Soldier.)
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One moment I was watching the two have a picnic, and the next I was suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun. The tall guy in the overalls had pointed a revolver at me - I realized I was in pretty deep shit when I saw it was a .38 longbarrel - Those things are NASTY - and he actually knew how to use it from his two-handed grip and the stance.
The little blond girl just stared at him, as shocked as I was. Drawing a gun without a warning... you just didn't do it. It was asking for return fire.
Not that this helped me when I was on my own.
"Get away from her," the tall boy snarled. "Sara, get behind me."
The blond - Sara - didn't think much of the idea. "Derk, he's not going to hurt us!" she said.
"You don't know that," 'Derk' said.
"Would it help if I said I was hungry and I smelled your ham?" I said, hands out, palms up. Heard somewhere that putting your palms up helps calm people down.
It didn't work that well. Derk's eyes narrowed and he cocked the hammer of his pistol. "Not really, no," he said with a slight smirk. "Nice try, though."
"Derek Smith," the blond said, rolling her eyes almost into her brain, "if he meant to hurt me, he could have drawn a gun and shot me while he was still looking at us." She folded her arms. "Right?"
For a second, Derk - Derek's - eyes flickered towards Sara. "There are many ways to hurt someone, Sara."
"I swear to god I didn't mean either of you any harm," I said, hoping that I sounded as sincere as I felt.
He curled his nose. "Do you?" he said.
I blinked, then I saw the crucifix... no, two crosses around his neck. I closed my eyes and tried to remember the official words for it. "En el nombre del Padre, el Hijo y el Espíritu Santo," I said, crossing myself. "I mean you no harm."
He stepped back a little, his eyes shooting open in surprise. More importantly, his arm dropped to his side. "...I see," he said. "You'll forgive me if I have trouble trusting a stranger, though."
"Oh, for... fine, I'll prove he's not going to hurt us." Sara walked up to me and stared me in the eyes.
She had very, very blue eyes.
"Um," was all I could say.
"Have you killed anyone?" she said quietly.
I blinked. "What?"
"Have. You." She punctuated the 'you' with a finger jab. "Killed anyone."
I had an immediate flashback of a dead girl crumpled over my old blanket.
[ ] ...Yeah.
[ ] ...Please don't ask me that.
[X] I wish I didn't have to... but yes.
I let my head hang. "I wish I didn't have to..." I sighed.
"But you did." Sara was still staring at me, her arms folded, clutching her purple sweater so tight her hands were white. Or maybe it was the cold.
"Yes," I said.
"Why?"
I thought about it. "It was her or me. It was stupid..."
"But you couldn't help it?"
I snorted. "Maybe before I got charged, but fuck that afterward."
Sara nodded. She smiled... sort of. Somehow I got the idea that there was more than a little sad frown there, too.
She turned to Derek. "If you're a good person, Derk, then he is too."
----
You be the judge. For Sara and Josh... was that Intimacy Building (from 2), Trust Building (from 4), or Trauma Relief?
9 comments:
I say Trust Building. They didn't touch, sing, or share work or food, though Josh did WANT ham. It's not Trauma Relief, because we're not seeing this as JOSH's problem, so much as Derek's. Plus, Sara is saying that Josh is as good a person as Derek, therefore, Trust Building.
I'd call it Trauma Relief, if the rel in question has to be Josh/Sara - while the first bit isn't about Josh's problem, the actual conversation with Sara is.
Of course, I'd also call it Trust Building with Derek, but I'm guessing from the given options, that's not a choice :).
Without knowing the prior context of the relationship between Josh and Sara, it's hard to say whether this interlude "defines, redefines or reaffirms the core of their relationship," but I'm going to go with Intimacy Building, since it meets the threshold for 3 (personal conversation) and doesn't seem to be about the existing relationship at all.
Suffice to say it's a trick question; the mechanical effect is Intimacy Building with Sara and Derek.
But it does heavily shade what Sara thinks of Josh, which is why I ask... and it makes future results along a certain line easier.
Also, this is the first time Sara and Josh have met. Josh and Derek, come to that.
I'd also call Trauma Relief for Josh. The first part may not go with it that well, but the conversation with Sara kinda feels like it's the important part here.
Trust Building.
Jedko, could you tell me your reasons why?
Well, at any rate:
The mechanical result of this Interlude in the game engine is, as I mentioned, Intimacy Building - between Derek and Sara. This is the first real heated argument they've had since she became a Pilot. And with good reason...
That being said, it's result on the Joshua - Sara storyline (which is mostly what the player cares about) is Trust Building. And here's why I think so.
Answering that you didn't like to do it, but that you did because you needed to, makes Sara instantly recognize that (this version of) Joshua is an idealist, but not a fool; he recognizes that the bad things he does are necessary, and he hopes for a world where they aren't.
Just like Sara herself does.
It's also the single best way of starting on the Sara path, just so you know.
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