(no subject)

[leftbehindagain]

[As much as Naoki's wanted to say some of this since... well, since halfway through the mess in Misericordia, he decided to hold off and gather his thoughts first. As bad as that was for him and Kanji, it was worse for other people, and from what he's gathered the other jaunt wasn't exactly a picnic either. And then there was the party, and making that many drinks is more attention-consuming than you might think - and, well, no point in dumping that on people in the same moment as Armin-san's list of the departed. But he doesn't want this to wait until after the next jaunt.

It may not make a whole lot of sense to the new people, but hey, they can get explanations along the way.]

Okay. Now that we've all had a little time to decompress, I have a couple things I want to get on the table.

We need to start pooling information about where we've been, considering how often lately it's turned out to be where at least some of us are going. I know there's not much to be done about Moebius or anything that came before it, but... if we'd had more than half-panicked half-information halfway through everything in Misericordia, we might've been able to save some of our group a world of hurt. I'm not looking to cast blame for what's already happened, I'm looking to improve our chances going forward. [Alcuin and Ambrose tried, and it's not their fault things happened as they did.]

Whenever we can be prepared, there's no reason we shouldn't be. I'm sure some of us have been keeping private records, but we need something everyone can get to. If we can keep a log of the basics of these places - the nuts and bolts, maybe a note of what Trumps showed up if any - it'll help keep us out of a little trouble, anyway. I don't know the best way to do something like this, but I think we need at least one physical copy, since not everyone can work backwards on the network. Probably multiple copies of it, to cover for split groups and infiltrating and all that. A computer that people could Interface the information from might work, but that runs into the same storage issues, not to mention needing a computer for it in the first place.

Helena-san's trying to write up Purgatory as a story. We settled on trying that one because I know the most about it of anything I've been here for but she hadn't. Depending on how well that goes, she'll probably want to talk to people about some of the others, and either way I think we'll have a starting point.

If anyone's willing to help, donate notes, offer a place to keep everything, whatever - I'll take any help I can get with this thing. It's a resource we need, especially if the split-group situation keeps happening.

Another thing that came up in Misericordia before everything went to hell was the idea of trying to run a Sift on a familiar face. This one I'm mostly leaving to everyone who kept Sift - I bet the parameters would be tricky, from what Naoto's said about it before, but establishing a good set would give everyone a chance to try it, next time we run into one of them. All I can really offer on that end is my Assistance, if I'm there and myself when the chance comes.

Comments

[papacerberus]

[Lupa usually just listens along and rarely comments, but there's a personal connection there.]

What is Sift, exactly, and what would it accomplish? Also, unless he disappears between now and the next jaunt, he should be present, but he may not infiltrate again.

[thornsofmalkav]

Wait, Vilmos/Wiktor is a Traveler? Since when?

[papacerberus]

I believe he wishes as much distance as possible from his other lives. I would not have recognized him here in liminal if Grisha had not known Vilmos so

[There is a bit of a pause, and when he finally continues a hint of a question, like he's not sure it's the right word.]

intimately? They knew each others' secrets.

[thornsofmalkav]

... okay, so were they dating or just best friends for life?

[Thorne, asking the important questions.]

[papacerberus]

I am… not sure? They left Nova Venezia together, and Grisha liked it when Vilmos was happy.

[Lupa honestly doesn’t know the answer. That’s a set of feelings he hasn’t figured out yet.]

[thornsofmalkav]

Did he ever want to kiss Vilmos?

[This is something very important for her to know for some reason.]

[papacerberus]

I do not remember him ever wanting to kiss anyone at all. He did want to write poetry about Vilmos’s smile.

[Lupa is just slightly bemused by that fact. On some level, he understands that poetry is pleasing the way song is, but he doesn’t quite get it all the way, much less with that particular topic.]

He didn’t because he wasn’t skilled at poetry.

[thornsofmalkav]

[Oh noooooooo. She ships it. She ships it hard.]

Poetry's hard, dude. I don't blame him for being psyched out about it.

[papacerberus]

[Lupa has no idea what shipping is, or even really that the relationship could be coded romantic. It just…was.]

It is, I think. I remember my other lives reading it from time to time, but it was very different for each of them.

[thornsofmalkav]

My last Infiltration was very fond of it. I mean, I like it too, but she was super fucking fond.

[papacerberus]

That would be… [There’s a pause as Lupa sorts through what he remembers from Grisha’s information gathering] Chouko in Nova Venezia?

I have never read poetry as myself. If I am ever myself on a jaunt, maybe I should try to find some.

[thornsofmalkav]

Yep. That's what she called herself, yeah. And I could see if I have any here? Poetry, I mean.

[papacerberus]

If you have some, I would like to read it. Maybe it will help me understand.

[leftbehindagain]

Sift was one of the faction skills on the Grid, but not one I ever had - Naoto kept it, though. It lets you look for patterns in things.

[papacerberus]

That could be a useful skill. Is it what her shadow used on us during the battle?

I am still confused on what kind of pattern could be discovered by doing this to a Traveler. What would we be looking for, exactly?

[leftbehindagain]

Something very like it, yeah.

Well, the familiar faces aren't Travelers as such. They only turn up on jaunts and they're always infiltrating - remember Mina from Questing Country? She's one of them. She was in Misericordia, actually, part of what brought the idea up to begin with. But other than that, we don't know much about them, and it's not like we can ask.

[papacerberus]

So you would be looking for a pattern in what places they appear? Or the persons they become?

[leftbehindagain]

More the latter, I think. But the parameters are better sorted out by the people who can actually use them - I can give the Sift a boost, if I'm myself when it goes down, but that's about it.

[papacerberus]

I understand. Who besides Naoto do you know has this skill? Can it and the skill to boost it be taught like Interface can?

[leftbehindagain]

...I don't know who all kept it. One of Ambrose-san or Alcuin-san, since Ambrose-san was the one interested in trying it in Misericordia. I doubt they're the only ones, but we don't exactly have lists of these things.

I could definitely teach you Assist, though.

[papacerberus]

I like the sound of it. Is it useful for other applications besides just boosting Sift?

[Even if the use is limited, Lupa imagines that Gale would be very interested in learning Sift, and the idea of being able to help him with it is a pleasing one.]

[leftbehindagain]

It's the most effective on other Grid skills, but it can boost other things too. Not as well, though.

Naoto created it, actually. Or, well, her overlay did.

[papacerberus]

Then it will be very useful and I am honored to learn something she created.

[leftbehindagain]

Just let me know when.

[papacerberus]

Any time you would like to do it. There is very little I have planned to do, and improving myself is always a worthy effort.