Question Shine 2-My Fair 'Shine

Valentine wrote: With Jadis and all of the other girls he is going to be polite and proper, until they show their sliminess.

Katssun wrote:

Valentine wrote: With Jadis and all of the other girls he is going to be polite and proper, until they show their sliminess.

Why would Jadis be included in that bucket? I thought Shine and Sheba reached a very complete understanding of each other pretty quickly. They're not boy and girl so much as business acquaintances.

They both have a gray moral code of "If'n what yer up to ain't harming another feller, yer all right in my books!"

They both understood that mutual distrust is the closest thing to actual trust from their respective backgrounds, and professionalism and knowledge of a particular tradecraft is meant to be respected. I'd even go so far to say that Jadis and Shine already have a better professional relationship than a lot of Ayla and many of his own contacts. Ayla is this black box to many of his investments, while Jadis and Shine both understand exactly where the other is coming from in their arrangement. They both understand the risks and why each has taken steps to protect themselves.

Ametros wrote: I wonder how long it'll take for there to be an "incident" and for Shine to be taken to Kane or admin for a chat - even if they don't have proof, the suspicion will certainly be there.

null0trooper wrote:

Ametros wrote: I wonder how long it'll take for there to be an "incident" and for Shine to be taken to Kane or admin for a chat - even if they don't have proof, the suspicion will certainly be there.

Not too long. There's that incident in "No Place Like Poe" when Danny Franks managed to get plowed.

Saturday, September 22, 2007 - Late Morning
[...]
drunk as a skunk

Malady wrote: OH! Right! There's No Place Like Poe (Part 6) :

Saturday, September 22, 2007 - Late Morning
[...]
drunk as a skunk

"My Fair Shine Part 1" ends on "Tuesday, September 11 - Afternoon"

So, how many parts to get through about 11 days? Maybe 2, or 1? "There's No Place Like Poe (Part 6)" got through 9 days... But maybe that's an outlier...

----

I wonder what reprecussions of that chat will be, on 'Shine, Prison Bitch, Jadis, Alexis, Heather, etc...

null0trooper wrote:

Ametros wrote: I wonder how long it'll take for there to be an "incident" and for Shine to be taken to Kane or admin for a chat - even if they don't have proof, the suspicion will certainly be there.

Not too long. There's that incident in "No Place Like Poe" when Danny Franks managed to get plowed.

Katssun wrote:

Valentine wrote: With Jadis and all of the other girls he is going to be polite and proper, until they show their sliminess.

Why would Jadis be included in that bucket? I thought Shine and Sheba reached a very complete understanding of each other pretty quickly. They're not boy and girl so much as business acquaintances.

They both have a gray moral code of "If'n what yer up to ain't harming another feller, yer all right in my books!"

They both understood that mutual distrust is the closest thing to actual trust from their respective backgrounds, and professionalism and knowledge of a particular tradecraft is meant to be respected. I'd even go so far to say that Jadis and Shine already have a better professional relationship than a lot of Ayla and many of his own contacts. Ayla is this black box to many of his investments, while Jadis and Shine both understand exactly where the other is coming from in their arrangement. They both understand the risks and why each has taken steps to protect themselves.

JG wrote: company gunnery sergeant. Units don't get a sergeant-major until you're talking about battalions on up. The ranks aren't active. They are used because they have been earned, and the staff of Whateley respect the service that the ones holding the rank went through.

MM2ss wrote: So, like JG pointed out, once you are no longer on active service the ranks are honorary in nature and reflect your past service/accomplishments. As JG also notes, just because you had more stripes, it doesn't put you in charge, because there is a positional authority system in place (people are assigned to certain duties and thus, receive the authority needed to carry out those duties).

Katssun wrote: 'Shine doesn't need a deal with Ayla. On campus, he's already working with Jadis. Outside of campus, he has the legit business already.

Off campus for exemplars of legal age? Well, the Imp has already enjoyed a sample and is very familiar with a number of bars and "distribution" networks.

Not everything has to go through Phase!

Edit:
In fact, a better fit would be to make a deal with Vamp. That would annoy Ayla even more, since his arrangements would finally have some competition. But off campus, that might be too much risk to Alex at this point in the timeline.

Anne wrote: I expect that in his heart Bobby Earl is a business man. He is going to hear about Ayla, possibly from Lanie, ergo, at some point Ayla becomes aware of his devisor booze. Ayla approaches him or his corporate sponsors off campus to arrange a separate shell company at least that can handle stuff made to affect mutants. As far as Alex goes, she has a long way to go until she has the contacts to do anything like that. The only other person who might have the contacts, skills and personal connection is Jadis.

Anne wrote: Bobby Earl was certainly handling his own business until he got approached by the distillery to go 'legit'. Given his interactions with Jadis, I'd say yeah he wants to experiment in ways that wouldn't be approved by his 'class schedule'. Is he an artist? Maybe, more than anything at this point he is actually a very skilled forger. He hasn't been shown to have made anything that wasn't essentially a copy of something that already exists by a different means. He likes building his devises, that is without a doubt, and probably will always be his focus, that is how to create devises that make alcohol that is impossible without them. No he doesn't need Ayla, he can probably get his contacts to do what he wants when he decides to do exemplar booze.
Jerry Mendez is a friend? Please, he is the ultimate user. He only provides the value of making sure that 'Shine can do what he wants without getting caught. Sure he is better than dealing with Trews, and may prove to be a valuable resource. Since we haven't seen his end of what happened with Danny, we have no clue how that will work out, since we also really haven't seen Danny's perspective on it, only Kayda catching the the aftereffects.
Given their interaction so far, if he continues to do business with Jadis, I can see her being his first truly close friend on campus. But oddly enough that probably is apt to bring him into the orbit of Tansy, Lanie, Wyatt and Ayla.

Jerry Mendez didn’t even flinch. “If I go to jail, it’s damn sure not going to be over some overstacked teenager. I ain’t gonna do shit to my kids, Carson. Especially not after I saw just how berserk Hijacker went after Lamplicker zapped the Parkour Hooligans.”

“Your kids?”

“My kids, the moment one of my marines took responsibility for their health and well-being.”

“Third Platoon. You report to Delarose, and you will give me regular updates on Third’s activities directly so I can be sure they are not stepping over the line.”

“Keep the Buddy-Fucker Brigade in line. Got it.” Bitch knew his purpose. You didn’t send a wolf to watch the sheep. You sent the wolf to keep the coyotes in line.

“The only reason you are here, Mendez, is because General Pearson assures me that your so-called shitbird act is an act. She says you’re smart enough to make yourself look dumber than you actually are.”

“Lies, all of it. I’m the very model of a modern Marine Clusterfuck.”

“Indeed. Do prove her right, that the only reason you were in the penal battalion was on a technicality. I don’t have the time or patience for slow learners on my watch. I have enough of them already.”

Bitch nodded. “Got it. Does this mean I can quit pretending to be a dumbass with the rest of these monkeys?” It was notable that six pairs of eyes, one across the room were all locked onto Bitch like they were re-evaluating him intently.

E. E. Nalley wrote: I think you'll find, of the two Nalley siblings, despite her obsession with rules to the contrary, it is Stephen that is a bit more above board than his sister. The key words being 'a bit'...

peter wrote: do sort of wonder how so many kids born after 1990 are so familiar with the Beverly Hillbillies which went off the air twenty years earlier. There is syndication of course but I'm surprised 'cool' kids would be watching that.

peter wrote: do sort of wonder how so many kids born after 1990 are so familiar with the Beverly Hillbillies which went off the air twenty years earlier. There is syndication of course but I'm surprised 'cool' kids would be watching that.

E. E. Nalley wrote:

peter wrote: do sort of wonder how so many kids born after 1990 are so familiar with the Beverly Hillbillies which went off the air twenty years earlier. There is syndication of course but I'm surprised 'cool' kids would be watching that.

You've forgotten The Beverly Hillbillies Movie which came out in 1993 was on dvd by 95 and would have been a staple 'harmless family movie' for the kids to watch growing up, in many cases might have led to finding the original show if it became a favorite of the child. Don't feel too bad, it was a pretty forgettable movie...

Dpragan wrote: I thought of a way that Ayla can do legitimate business with Shine, he is always looking for a decent "Non-Alcoholic" drink to serve at the Golden Kids Meetings. and if it gets his shoe in the door for other deals with Shine's distributor, well that's just extra. he might also be able to give him sage advice.

calliedelnoire wrote: I got to ask.. it’s Shine 2.. So there is a Shine 1 out there?

Katssun wrote: I haven't finished yet, but my hot take:

Warning: Spoiler! [ Click to expand ] [ Click to hide ]

1) I feel kinda stupid for not getting the My Fair Lady title reference until the second segment...

2) The Don segments made me shudder, especially with the references to Sky. I idly hope he's somehow able to identify The Witch from her mannerisms (who else would know her better?) and she finds him so "inconvenient" that he washes up in the lake.

Malady wrote:
Wondering how Shine's dance with Heather's gonna go...

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Amelie Vitesse (her family does run a distillery, after all, and unlike for many Devisors, her power isn't an issue since his stills generally don't involve a lot of electronics), but it could be someone completely out of the blue such as Wunderkind, Psydoe, or Palantir (who is a freshman this year, remember).

(As an aside, why do I have this unpleasant chill at the thought that Overload might decide to court Amelie?)

Schol-R-LEA wrote: Amelie Vitesse (her family does run a distillery, after all, and unlike for many Devisors, her power isn't an issue since his stills generally don't involve a lot of electronics), but it could be someone completely out of the blue such as Wunderkind, Psydoe, or Palantir (who is a freshman this year, remember).

(As an aside, why do I have this unpleasant chill at the thought that Overload might decide to court Amelie?)

A few girls were outside waiting, glaring at each other in turn, and then their attention turned to the door. There was an almost-instantaneous scramble as Amelie, then Peggy, and then two other Freshmen girls shoved their way, trying to get to Danica's side and push Miki and the others away.

"'E is my boyfriend!" Amelie's voice screeched angrily above the others as she clawed her way to Danica's side. "Leave 'im alone!"

Schol-R-LEA wrote: /me sets down a potted Epileptic Tree seedling

The Last Girl Standing is going to be... someone who isn't even in the running yet.

Schol-R-LEA wrote: (As an aside, why do I have this unpleasant chill at the thought that Overload might decide to court Amelie?)

Dreamer wrote: The Don is a fool, thinking he can track TWFKAH and find out her plans. *eyes bulge out in rage* How dare he think of messing with Kayda! Thinking these things are his right, he has learned nothing.

null0trooper wrote:

Schol-R-LEA wrote: (As an aside, why do I have this unpleasant chill at the thought that Overload might decide to court Amelie?)

I'm thinking he's much more interested in what Bobby Earl has to offer.

Sir Lee wrote: Going off in a tangent for a bit... I didn't remember that Alyss' granddaughter's powers are of the gas-generating sort. Which raises a point... is she Miasma's dream girl?

elrodw wrote: I'm going to have to consider what to do about part 3. Not sure I feel like continuing this one any more. The response seems to indicate that my gut-feeling is correct.

Katssun wrote: I want to make this clear.

It's not disappointing. It's simply the middle. As readers, we're just waiting to see where you take it.

null0trooper wrote: I think it might help to see JB and the gold-diggers developed more as characters. Whether that would fit within this story, I don't know.

Katssun wrote: Will Heather and Alexis be working 'Shine for all he's worth, because he doesn't catch on? Or will he be turning them around, like the referenced title?

elrodw wrote: Two minutes after leveling off and reducing power, things got very non-routine. Inside the port engine, inside a badly-stressed turbine blade that was due for a thorough inspection, the change in engine load caused the blade to flex a miniscule amount, but that flexure was enough to cause a small, developing fatigue crack to widen slightly, and then to catastrophically spread throughout the precision blade. Propelled by incredible centrifugal force, the wrecked turbine blade flew outward, wedging itself momentarily between a row of rotating blades and the adjacent row of stationary blades. More of the turbine's blades sheared or deformed from the incredible forces inside the turbine core, and the uneven stress on the engine core grew almost instantaneously, until major parts of the entire turbine core exploded outward. The streamlined engine nacelle was pierced and shredded by the disintegrating engine. Worse, some of the debris cloud went upward into the wing, shredding the thin aluminum skin and anything near it, including ripping into but not severing the wing's main spar.

Sir Lee wrote: I'll say this about 'Shine: he may not be very sophisticated in the big-city-slicker ways, but he's not stupid. So far, he has two cute girls throwing themselves at him, which is hardly unpleasant, got some tutoring on the ways of society behavior, and he's out -- what? The price of dinner, which is peanuts to him?

Shine 2: My Fair Shine (Part 2) wrote: The boy shrugged. "Yeah. She said she won a drawing for dinner at that fancy dining room."

Jadis snorted a laugh in disbelief. "Is that what she told you?"

"Yup."

Jadis shook her head. "She owes a lot of people favors. She paid a lot to get that reservation."

Kettlekorn wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: I'll say this about 'Shine: he may not be very sophisticated in the big-city-slicker ways, but he's not stupid. So far, he has two cute girls throwing themselves at him, which is hardly unpleasant, got some tutoring on the ways of society behavior, and he's out -- what? The price of dinner, which is peanuts to him?

Not even that much, which is what I was getting at earlier. Shine did not pay for that fancy dinner.

Shine 2: My Fair Shine (Part 2) wrote: The boy shrugged. "Yeah. She said she won a drawing for dinner at that fancy dining room."

Jadis snorted a laugh in disbelief. "Is that what she told you?"

"Yup."

Jadis shook her head. "She owes a lot of people favors. She paid a lot to get that reservation."

IIRC, the only things Shine has spent money on so far are his suit and his haircut, neither of which directly benefit these two. If anything, all these improvements they're making with him are going to increase the competition from other girls. They'd have been better off leaving him unrefined.

a less-well-trafficked area of the rabbit warren, a section that was supposedly used mostly by faculty and staff for long-term storage of those odds and ends that were too valuable to throw out, but so rarely used that they got tucked in this out-of-the-way area.

"They call him Jukebox. He's got a perfect memory for music …."

mhalpern wrote: Bobby doesn't realize, gold diggers are his new revenuers.

joreymay wrote: Someone remind me... how did The Don end up still in school after recovering from his injuries (after his fall from grace and its aftermath)?

Sir Lee wrote: I'm not checking right now, but I'm pretty sure that Kodiak had a role in the cover-up, and Tansy might have been involved too. Which is something they might have a problem explaining to Lainie if she ever figures it out...

The Secret of the Forger's List Part Three wrote:
“You did what you could, Kody…”

“I did what I could when I thought I was safe,” he whispered. “You don’t know what that bastard Sebastiano did to them, Elaine. There were videotapes…Really sick shit. I should have stopped him. It’s all my fault.”

“Wait, wait!” she protested. “There are tapes? You’ve got his slimy ass! When Carson sees…”

“Carson won’t see,” he growled. “And you, my dear, won’t breathe a word of this.”

“But…!”

“Franklin Delarose is the most straight up guy on campus, baby, but some of the guys that work for him are slime. Once Carson sees the tapes, what happens to them? They go into the evidence locker, right?” She nodded slowly. “Then they make the rounds around campus, Elaine. And any chance Cav and Sky have of some kind of normal life at Whateley when they get out of ARC is gone. I won’t allow that. If anybody deserves some peace it’s those two. Besides, I didn’t say there are tapes I said there were tapes.”

“You destroyed…!”

“He’ll get his, Elaine. Count on it,” he threatened softly.

She thought about this for a long moment and smiled at him side long. “You never cease to surprise me, Mister Cody.”

He smirked as he lifted his glass in toast to her. “Nice to know I can do something right. God knows I have no idea how I’ll look my Mother in the eye after all this.”

“Oh, Ah’m sure you’ll manage.”

mhalpern wrote: On the Shine x Jadis ship, not being familiar with beverages, what's a good iced beverage to call it?

joreymay wrote: Someone remind me... how did The Don end up still in school after recovering from his injuries (after his fall from grace and its aftermath)?

There's an Angel in Dickinson Cottage Pt 2 wrote: "Exactly," Carson said gravely. "We can't assume that Hekate and The Don were his only assets in Whateley. And until we figure out what the other ones are, we NEED Don Sebastiano here in school, where we can keep an eye on him. We need to find out who Hekate's Mentor is, how he can operate here on school grounds, and what his exact intentions are. Because from the three meager examples that we've seen of his work, we know that his general intentions are of the absolute worst sort."

mhalpern wrote: On the Shine x Jadis ship, not being familiar with beverages, what's a good iced beverage to call it?

null0trooper wrote:

mhalpern wrote: On the Shine x Jadis ship, not being familiar with beverages, what's a good iced beverage to call it?

Old Fashioned
Tennessee Buck
Dark 'n' Stormy

Considering their varying backgrounds, you could skip the ice and order a Boilermaker or Depth Charge.

mhalpern wrote: On the Shine x Jadis ship, not being familiar with beverages, what's a good iced beverage to call it?

Malady wrote: but Chloe... We know a very mysterious little.

Then, there's Jadis, but less of a connection there... But that doesn't mean the possibility isn't there...

Malady wrote: If Staci and Traci not as bimbo-ish as they appear... Hmm...

Malady wrote: EDIT: Surprise Squirrel! Yay! Aww! So caring! ... Also, 'Shine for backup BF incase Hazmat is Nimbus.

Dreamer wrote: Alexis says she is helping him prepare for formal meals as she thinks will happen on the trip, *eye roll* And having to hold the fork in his left hand and knife in the right, what about right-handed people?

"It's considered to be finer manners in many parts of Europe." She smiled demurely. "And I figured you would want to be seen as a refined businessman and not just a backwoods hayseed …."

Only a girl he likes could get away with such a statement. And yup, seems poor Bobby Earl is right-handed and having trouble eating the way Alexis suggested.

Dreamer wrote: Bobby already told her he would have to work through the night to get his work down, it is like Alexis cares more for appearances than if he has his devises finished before the trip.

Dreamer wrote: Jadis gives good advice, hope it helps Bobby Earl.

"We're mutants, Bobby Earl," Jadis interrupted. "This is a very hostile world for mutants, so we have to stick together. What that means is that high-school romances at Whateley are over twenty times as likely to last into adulthood and marriage as those in a normal high school.

Kristin Darken wrote: Most Americans don't train for manipulation/finesse in their off hand and showing any grace with a knife in your left hand is unlikely. And bound to end up bloody.

Anne wrote: I must have had an odd family, or maybe it was growing up with two southpaws as parents, I learned to use a knife in my right hand and a fork in my left. Which is odd because a knife is generally set on your left side when the table is set.

Sir Lee wrote: In the context of the story, it does not surprise me that Alexis --who strikes me as a nouveau riche -- would obsess with fork-holding technique. Someone truly familiar with European manners, such as Jadis or Adalie, would tell him to not worry too much about it, and concentrate on avoiding the things that really mark one as uncouth. Which are for the most part just standard table manners.

Kettlekorn wrote: So it seems to me that clumsy fork use would be more likely to result in injury or embarrassment than clumsy knife use.

Katssun wrote: Alexis and Heather deserved it, were no less manipulative, but I was kind of cheering the Don on as he worked almost effortlessly. It says he was using a psychic nudge here and there, but he's so good at reading people that he probably didn't even need to. Each little round of lies was the setup for the next, feeding on their insecurities and greed. It was kind of a marvel to watch.

A few more minutes of subtle psychological pressure had Alexis convinced of a course of action that she knew would knock Heather out of the running, and it'd only cost her a few dollars for information the Don said he could get through his network, data which would be devastating to Heather.

"And you shall have it, my dear," the Don said smoothly. "For a small fee, I can arrange to have a very thorough investigation into her family, her childhood, her friends, and so on. Facts she won't be able to deny, surprises of what you know that'll keep her confused."
Heather looked warily at the Don. "How much?"
The Don smiled wickedly. "For you, my dear, I think I can dig up a lot of juicy tidbits for about fifty dollars."

Katssun wrote: I also liked seeing the different side to Monkeywrench. He's goofy and fun with his friends, but he's certainly not the type a non-tech track student wants to cross. He looks out for the tunnel crew. The Don thinks he's smarter than everyone, but he got the message loud and clear. And he's a freshman still in his first month during this story! Was he inducted into the Worn Wrench already?

Sir Lee wrote: Also, the twin bimbos were really creepy. One wonders how much their behavior results from his mindfucking...

Katssun wrote: In Part 2 where they show up, they really do seem to be that ditzy. They're much more confident here.

elrodw wrote:

Sir Lee wrote: Also, the twin bimbos were really creepy. One wonders how much their behavior results from his mindfucking...

Katssun wrote: In Part 2 where they show up, they really do seem to be that ditzy. They're much more confident here.

Is being ditzy an act, or are they truly bimbos? Are they manipulated by the Don, or is it possible that there's a lot more to the pair and that they're actually using the Don? Why do they seem so much in sync - is it because they have an almost complete mind link? Do they share one mind? If they have a mind link, are the extra-susceptible to the Don's influence, or far less so?

elrodw wrote: Between 2006 and Fall 2007, it is likely that Dev/Gad types find they need to get their fellows read-in quickly to minimize potential bullying.

Fifty dollars? Simple to explain. He makes money, sets up the girls to trust him by keeping the price low, and also keeps his eye on the prize - befriending 'Shine. If the price is too high and they don't take his offer, he loses a tool to make the cat-fight really nasty and possibly misses the one chance to have the girls 'out' each other's sinister motives. Calculated move by a smarmy, street-smart slimeball of a character.

Don't get all sympathetic toward Donny-boy. He's up to his manipulation games in full force and deserves zero sympathy.

mhalpern wrote:

elrodw wrote: Between 2006 and Fall 2007, it is likely that Dev/Gad types find they need to get their fellows read-in quickly to minimize potential bullying.

Fifty dollars? Simple to explain. He makes money, sets up the girls to trust him by keeping the price low, and also keeps his eye on the prize - befriending 'Shine. If the price is too high and they don't take his offer, he loses a tool to make the cat-fight really nasty and possibly misses the one chance to have the girls 'out' each other's sinister motives. Calculated move by a smarmy, street-smart slimeball of a character.

Don't get all sympathetic toward Donny-boy. He's up to his manipulation games in full force and deserves zero sympathy.

I also suspect that long term Heather and Alexis themselves are also targets for Don. As Jadis pointed out, they are mutants, in a world unfriendly to mutants. And now you have two reasonably good looking mutants whom have screwed their chances at landing easy money.

Malady wrote: Maybe the Don will stay unpunished until Hekate's Master is caught, then Mrs. Potter can give Mrs. Carson the OK to punish him?

Malady wrote: I need to refresh on 'Shine's combat abilities... Any holdouts, and MA...