Kyler was last playing in Kyler in a New City, which was filled with superheroes and supervillains. He got a job, got in a few scraps with some villains, and is now trying to enroll in school.
My last comment there was:
Actually, Saka has to get to work. She told them she would be late, because she needed to help you register for school, but she figures you'll be all right getting home from here (she does ask, but it's pretty obvious to both of you that her presence with you is not protector so much as partner). So if it's all right with you, she'll catch a bus to work and let you get home on your own.Pick up from there.--M. J. Young
--M. J. Young
We had a live game last night. I got home fine, trained more, ate some food, slept, trained some more -- wow, sounds really interesting, right?
Mariska left to go to work and left her gun home and got involved in a convenience store robbery, so I had to go and kill one of the robbers, the other one tried to shoot me and missed a lot, then he threw his gun to me so I caught it and told him to go turn himself in to the police outside, which he did. Then I went to the school to take my placement tests.
I took the tests and landed in 5th grade science, history (no idea how I landed in 5th grade history in a world I've been in for less than a year), and math, and landed in 11th grade English, and tested proficiency beyond the fourth year in all foreign languages that the high school teaches. Got some paperwork and asked if I could fill it out myself, they told me to talk to the principal who already went home for the day.
I went home, then went on the internet and looked up the principal's phone number and address. I walked to his house and to make a long story short got sent away from his house by his wife. Which is what I'm going to do now; fall impact avoidance roll off the roof and go back home.
When I get home I'm going to fill out the paperwork, then train, then alert rest, and tomorrow I'll be going to school.
Ky
When you arrive at school, the principle meets with you to welcome you. He explains your scores (which is when you learn what you've already reported) and that you will be in Miss Haas' fifth grade class for most of your studies, but will have special tutoring in English because you are so far advanced of the other students. Also, some of the students are taking introductory Spanish, for which you are too advanced. You are scheduled for a study hall during that period, but if you wish to take an elective that can be arranged. There is a rather limited number of elective classes, including band, the audio-visual club, and reading lab.
The reason you did well in history is that apart from the fact that there is this one completely unfamiliar city on the eastern seaboard of the United States in the middle of nowhere, the rest of the world is not significantly different from that in which you were born. Northgate has a small place in history, but it has not greatly impacted the course of human events otherwise, and neither have the handful of superheroes scattered elsewhere. In actual practice, the heroes and villains tend to cancel each other, and the rest of the world deals with its problems.
You are taken to meet Miss Haas, who welcomes you to the class, introduces you as Kyler to the other students, and asks whether you would rather have the open desk in the front corner by the window to her left or the one in the center of the back row.
--M. J. Young
First off, he's the princiPAL. Cause he's my pal. I don't play any instruments, so band is pretty much right out.. I know how to use a computer, but a-v club isn't my thing, either... I could take reading lab, but all I'd do is the same thing I'd do in study hall.... so study hall is great.
I'll turn in the papers that I signed myself to the teacher.
I'll take the desk in the front corner by the window without even a moment's hesitation. Only the ugly, out of shape kids get made fun of for being a teacher's pet, and I'm fixing to make good grades cool again.
Ky
Actually, he really is the principle, because he's the only one you need to worry about. (oooooh!)
Uh--yeah, I know that; it's a typo. Of course, the title comes from being First Teacher, but now people in the field say it's a terrible thing for a good teacher to be promoted to a bad administrator. On the other hand, it's a good thing for a terrible tenured teacher to get that promotion, if it gets him out of the classroom....
Miss Haas asks if you could put your things in the back of the room by the coat rack, so they won't be in the way. The desk has ample room for books, papers, writing implements, and similar equipment, and is yours for the duration of the year, so you can put your things in it. There may be classes held in other classrooms, but you should keep your books here and not disturb the books and papers in someone else's desk. Bookbags, coats, boots, and other items brought to school that are not part of class studies should be in the back at the coatrack.
--M. J. Young
Uh huh. I didn't really bring anything bulky with my except for my stick, and I'll hold that in my left hand all day if I have to.
Ky
Miss Haas suggests that holding it all day might not be such a good plan, and she does not want anyone to trip over it; she suggests that you could lean it against the wall in the front corner (which would be about ten feet from you) or lie it on the floor along the side wall under the windows (about five feet away) if you want to have it close to you. Since you are in the front corner, no one would be between you and the stick unless someone is walking to the front of the class or something.
--M. J. Young
She seems like a nice lady, good at compromising -- and she's not wearing a ring on her finger, is she? I'll lay it on the floor along the side wall under the windows.
Ky
There is nothing to suggest that Miss Haas is married, nor presently engaged. She would think she is too old for you, probably. She looks a few years older than Mariska looks, but probably not so old as your mom (was when you last saw her).
Class runs smoothly. At lunch time some of your companions leave, some have lunchboxes or paper bags, and a few get meals brought from a cafeteria somewhere. You remember that one of the papers you had to complete was an application for free lunches based on income, which must be what they are getting. Miss Haas observes that you don't have lunch and asks if you live close enough that you were planning to go home for lunch; you would have to be back in an hour, immediately following recess, but if you arrived earlier you would join your classmates on the playground out back. Since this is your first day, you'll have to get someone to show you the boundaries; there is a section of the playground which is for children through third grade only during recess. She does have an extra carton of milk, if you would like that, although she is concerned that you should eat something.
--M. J. Young
This is Kyler posting from John I's compy. I'll fill you in on live game details to catch up, and we'll take it from there.
I drank the carton of milk and told her I'd be fine. I made a note to remind myself to pack a lunch from now on. During recess we played kickball. I was a freaking beeeast, nearly decapitating a fellow classmate with a well aimed ball-kick. Well, I could have. But I settled for kicking a home run instead. Less paperwork involved. I dazzled the outfield with my leet kickball moves, and even worked a great jump into an uber-impressive catch for the out, which would have been a home run if I hadn't been such a freaking ninja. Recess ended, having been thoroughly Pwnd! by yours truly.
After recess ended, the day finished normally. I went home and trained. Alert rest.
That's where I'm at.
Ky
The back of my mind says you started school on Monday, so unless that's a mistake, I'm betting you go back to school on Tuesday.
Mariska of course has work. You leave a bit before she does but get home first. She will ask how your day went; hers was more of the same, really, although it is interesting working in research at Daedalus Corp.
You remember that you were going to pack lunch.
--M. J. Young
Hey Kyler, good to see you back.
I have just sent Kyler a copy of this thread. He will be playing by e-mail, but I will be posting our conversations here so I can find them.
--M. J. Young
I'll pack a quick lunch for myself and get to school. I'm bringing my stick, of course, and i won't check my bag this time. You never know when something bad will happen and you'll need to have your lajatang at hand. I'll try to do whatever homework i didn't finish in study hall on the way to school... From now on i should really remember to do it at home. Any problems? I am the new kid, after all, even if i am incredibly cute and/or scary
Actually, right now you're pretty popular. You're picked first for most of the sports, thanks to your showing in kickball. You've always got that stick with you when you're not sitting at your desk. The girls think you're dreamy, but of course they only talk about that with each other and try not to be caught looking at you, turning away and giggling in that embarrassed way that elementary school girls sometimes do.
You focus on your schoolwork, and for the first week everything runs smoothly, at least.
--M. J. Young
Kyler wrote:
well its a little bit difficult for them not to be caught looking at me with my panoramic awareness prowess on top of my scary intuition. at recess I'll keep to myself and wait for someone to come to me if they want me to play rather than go out to them when they play sports... In the meantime i will generally work out on playground equipment and keep sharp with the stick. On my off time I'll finish whatever homework i haven't done and practice my various martial art skills and keep my hygiene up to par. I'll be on the lookout for any girls who get particularly good marks on classwork, preferably those of which who are at least mildly pleasing to look at and don't seem interested in me whether because they are too serious about their studies or because they think i'm out of their league
They don't know you have panoramic awareness. They assume that if you're not looking at them, you don't know they're looking at you.
The girls tend to do well in English and Language Arts. They do not do as well as the boys in science or math, and in history things are pretty equal. You do not take language arts classes with them, and are as good as any of them in the other subjects.
You frequently get invited to play with the boys, whenever there is athletic equipment available for an organized team sport. You are not usually asked to play individual sports like foursquare, because they don't seem able to beat you.
--M. J. Young
Okay, I'm glad that I can completely destroy all of these ten year olds in the physical pursuits, but I already knew that much. During my study hall periods and three times a week during recess I'm going to spend the time studying science and math (which in my opinion will be generally more useful than history throughout my very long lifespan), and in my time out of school I will devote myself to my physical training once my homework is done. It is a little bit disappointing to me that I have so little time for martial arts these days, but it was my own decision that my non-physical traits do need to be brought out of deficit. The other two days I will spend socializing with my peer group and enjoying the good feeling that comes along with acceptance as well as their jealousy.
I'll never forget my roots, though, and I will make it known that I do not associate myself with bullies whenever the chance arises. If I am with a group of children and one within the group starts to bully or make fun of another child at his or her expense, I will verbally nip it in the bud as harshly as possible. If it's going on outside of the group I will politely excuse myself and go put a stop to it. If I am by myself and bear witness to it I will put myself into the situation. I don't intend to make any threats or to embarrass anyone. I just intend to let my peer group know that we are all in this together and none of us will be ostracised for any reason.
What is the arrangement for my English/Language Arts class? I'm under the assumption that I won't be with my fifth grade peers, since I scored well into high school. I'm assuming that I'll have a tutor who comes to the school for me, since I doubt that elementary school students attend in the same building as high school students, and I equally doubt it would make logistic sense for me to be provided transportation there by myself. I would prefer to be tutored with other students on my level, or at least in an advanced fifth grade class, rather than being by myself with a teacher. I will do whatever the administration can arrange for me.
I will make sure that I ask Mariska how her day was and that I pay a genuine interest in her response. She's providing for our main source of income, and I want to make sure she'll be going to the next world with me, whenever that may be. The others are the others; Mariska is going to be with me no matter what happens with them or to either one of us for a very long time to come. If she's not comfortable or happy with the situation we may be in, I'd like to know about it.
Ky
One of the teachers at the school has responsibility for your English tutoring. There are no other students here at your level, and arrangements have been made for your guided independent study to count as college credit courses. The first half of the year will be focused on composition, how to write and properly cite a formal paper but also writing in other formats such as fiction and informal non-fiction. The second half of the year is the literature course, in which you will read a dozen books (several of which you've already read), and examine their place in the history of English and American literature.
Your efforts to quell bullies seems to be relatively effective, as even when you are not around those in your group are known to comment, "Better hope Kyler doesn't hear about this," which usually causes the bullies to back off pretty quickly. You haven't actually fought another kid yet, but no one wants to be the first.
Your studies also are helpful in your math and science education, and your teachers commend you on this application. You get high grades in those subjects because of it.
Mariska enjoys working for Daedalus, and the things she is learning from the research department. It's not spy work, but it's good, and part of what the company does is support some of the superheroes who utilize technology. She says not to tell anyone, but Icarus' abilities are all from Daedalus tech gadgets, although he's pretty sure his father Daedalus himself uses psionics almost exclusively. She also takes an interest in your school situation, and particularly your effort to stop the bullies.
--M. J. Young
Well, no one should have to be bullied. We all have enough problems without making more for other people.
If any kids do try to fight me, it's going to be style Chao En Lai (sp, been a long time since I saw my character sheet), Foot Sweep with the bo stick, and then thrust the butt end of the stick down to an inch away from their throat. "Now, are you really sure we want to do this?"
And that about sums it up. Training, school, studying, etc.
Ky
You finish out the marking period without incident, although you do scowl at a few bullies and they generally take the hint without pushing it.
You've gotten top grades in Math and Science, above average in History, and your English is not following the standard marking period structure but it's noted on your report card that you are doing well with it.
--M. J. Young
I like what I'm hearing, go on
You are rather popular with the girls, who all want to talk with you; but you are also popular with the boys, who are not at all jealous because at their age they think that girls wanting to talk with you is a curse. (Hey, maybe most guys are like that at any age, but that's a different question.)
The next marking period runs fairly smoothly, with similar grades to the previous, and you finish your session in composition. You are probably the only kid in your grade to know Chicago Manual of Style formatting, and it has improved your history grade as the teacher is impressed by your well-organized and presented papers.
I'm a bit confused concerning what grade you were in; the extended interruption in play didn't help, and it occurs to me that your 1@6 ed lev could reflect uneven educational training (you got language training in Why Spy, for example). I could track it down, but thought if you remembered that would save me some time. Thanks.
Christmas comes a few days after the end of the second marking period. Did you want to cover anything else in this time?
--M. J. Young
This quote from the beginning of the thread took the long way around to get to me, but it answers my questions pretty well:
I took the tests and landed in 5th grade science, history (no idea how I landed in 5th grade history in a world I've been in for less than a year), and math, and landed in 11th grade English, and tested proficiency beyond the fourth year in all foreign languages that the high school teaches....
When you arrive at school, the principle meets with you to welcome you. He explains your scores (which is when you learn what you've already reported) and that you will be in Miss Haas' fifth grade class for most of your studies, but will have special tutoring in English because you are so far advanced of the other students. Also, some of the students are taking introductory Spanish, for which you are too advanced. You are scheduled for a study hall during that period.
I apparently bumped the English up a bit, but I'm not uncomfortable with that.
--M. J. Young
Yeah, I'd like to try and cozy up with one of the girls who seems rather athletic as well as intelligent. It occurs to me that if I'll want her to take me seriously as we get older, I'd better make my presence known now. In a few more years, chances are they're all going to think that I'm absolutely adorable and none of them are going to want to take me seriously.
How are the grades seperated in this district? I'm interested in knowing whether next year I'll be heading to a new school or whether I'm already attending a school where older kids are present. Either way, I won't stand for any bullying or fighting that I see.
For Christmas I'd like to buy Mariska a nice, warm jacket, and if there is a girl that I meet during this time who fits the bill, I'll buy her a cotton/wool scarf. If I can't find one made of cotton and wool, just cotton will do. Just wool will not do, it's too scratchy in my opinion.
Ky
(PS Sorry if there are a lot of typographical errors. Typing with an interested one year old in your lap can be somewhat difficult. I tried to catch them all, but I may have missed a few.)
Always good to train up the next generation of gamers, and if there were any typos I didn't see them either.
More athletic or more intelligent? There seems to be some disparity there, that the smarter girls don't get so involved in physical activities while the really physically active girls put less time into intellectual pursuits. It's difficult to know whether that's a matter of preference, or to what degree they play to their strengths or against their weaknesses, but at the moment no smart and athletic girl stands out. (It's a bit different with boys, who do have the occasional kid like you who shines both athletically and academically.)
Do you have a preference concerning how grades are divided? The basic parameter is that you are in fifth grade in an "elementary school", which I take it starts with kindergarten and runs through either fifth or sixth grade, after which you will probably move to a school that covers three grades (middle school is 6-8, junior high is 7-9, sometimes with 6) or possibly to a high school covering six (7-12). Obviously your preference goes against the GE roll to see whether you get something like what you want.
--M. J. Young
Alright... in that case we'll go for more athletic. I think I'm more likely to find a girl who is both smart and athletic if I look amongst the athletic girls; it seems like a smaller group to search through.
I would prefer if my next grade started in a new school and if there were a high school after that. I have a lot of fun shocking people who don't realize how dangerous I am and judge me solely by my appearance.
Ky
Your present school continues through eighth grade, and then you go to a four-year high school. Sorry. (Hey, there were a lot of worse things that GE roll could have impacted.)
You do find a girl--we'll call her Kat, short for Katrina--who is athletic but still pretty good scholastically. She's not the prettiest girl around, but none of the boys will call her ugly because they're afraid she'll beat them up if they do (and in past years she has done so). Anyway, most girls look a bit awkward in fifth grade, particularly those who are more athletic, and her freckles are a feature that some would call cute if they weren't looking for a reason to dislike her. She's better than several of the boys at quite a few sports, and complains that they don't let her play (but then, not only do they prefer to distance themselves from girls, they also don't want to be shown up by one). She's not really as much of a "let me sit next to you and talk" sort, a bit hyperactive and always trying to do something while she talks.
--M. J. Young
(Yeah, wow, a 29 ge roll. Gosh. That was a near brush with death.)
Fantastic, Kat sounds like a perfect follower so far. Now in order to further groom her into the perfect killing machine that I will require I just have to try to get her interested in learning martial arts and teach her a little bit of Chao En Lai (as I recall it was a fast aggressive style, so it should be right up her alley, as long as she has the attention span to listen for a couple minutes). If she takes the bait then I'll use the 2 days that I had been focusing on socializing to train her in relation to her interest level, being somewhat pushy about it only for one day of the week, taking days from my studying time to train her if she is so interested as that. Other than that, I'll stick to her like glue for school hours and try to find out what she's interested in -- a bit of mind reading should be just the trick I'm looking for, so I'll try that a few times a day (between 5 and 6 if you need a round number) and play it off as if we just share similar interests. As a matter of fact, as a showing of my goodwill and friendship, I'll do my best to get the boys to involve Kat in our reindeer games -- "If she doesn't play, neither do I."
Ky
Edit: That 29 GE roll wasn't as bad as all that. I'll extend my policing of the school to cover any kind of violence that I witness between the elder students attending as well. They'll probably be more likely to have problems like those, with their higher hormone and stress levels and class loads. Most importantly though, I want to be certain that Katrina understands that I've taken a particular shine to her.
There is a complication in your plan to teach Katrina Chow En Lai: it's a weapon-dependent style, so you can't teach it to her without simultaneously teaching her the use of a weapon, and you probably will have trouble teaching her the use of a weapon on the school grounds, even given that they've allowed you to keep your security blanket at hand.
--M. J. Young
There is a complication in your plan to teach Katrina Chow En Lai: it's a weapon-dependent style, so you can't teach it to her without simultaneously teaching her the use of a weapon, and you probably will have trouble teaching her the use of a weapon on the school grounds, even given that they've allowed you to keep your security blanket at hand.
--M. J. Young
Well, that's a hitch. And I suppose there are no trees around the playground, either, so making a makeshift bo stick not likely. That's fine, though, Gazuntite is weapon-utilizing if I remember correctly, so I'll teach her that instead. It's still fast, but it's fast-defensive. I doubt if she'll mind too much, and if she does show interest in learning a more aggressive style, I can always offer to meet her outside of school.
Ky
Your recollection of Gazuntite (which it suddenly comes to me is the rival style to Ah Tsu) is weapon-utilizing. I note that you have skill in training martial arts, and a 2@7 SAL in the style; I am concerned, though, about whether a fifth grade girl has acrobatics skills, or whether you intend to use your (somewhat lower) teaching skill to teach some of your acrobatics skills as a way of building her up for the martial arts, or to jump directly to the style.
For reference, these are your 6@ skills:
1@5 Balance Beam Walk Forward/Backward 6@1 Bod Home
1@5 Balance Beam Jump, run, staying on 6@4 Bod Home
1@2 Bicycle Bunny Hops 6@4 Bod Home
1@1 Bicycle Wheely 6@4 Bod Home
1@1 Tightrope Walking 6@4 Bod Dark Honor Empire ?
1@1 Flips 6@7 Bod Dark Honor Empire ?
--M. J. Young
I'm a little concerned about trying to teach her some of my acrobatic skills, since I'm not really very good at them. I'll ask if she has any acrobatic skill at all, and if she doesn't already, we'll just nix it and go right to the martial arts, hoping for the best. I do think it's pretty likely that she would have some minor acrobatic skill as she's somewhat athletic; even if she only had a 1@1 skill at turning cartwheels or something of the sort.
If the school has a balance beam, I could try to get her to walk on it; that's relatively simple. If not, I'm not going to put her in danger by taking her on the roof or anything.
Ky
Kat (who is now listed alongside Baron and Mariska on your supporting characters spreadsheet) doesn't have any acrobatics background beyond being pretty good (for her grade) at multiple hurdles. She does pick up the basics of the style in your first lesson, however.
--M. J. Young
I like what I'm hearing, please continue.
Ky
Um--continue with what?
The M. J. Young Net site is down at the moment--long story, complicated, being fixed--but you can access all its pages as Multiverser.org pages, and so you can reach the details that are specific to Gazuntite here if you're looking to teacher her exactly what a sensei in this style would teach. On the other hand, you can customize it with whatever maneuvers you know if you'd rather. I'm sure I can get you a current copy of your character sheet easily enough. Did I bring one last time I came?
--M. J. Young
Oh -- sorry. I do intend to teach her the basics of the style for some time before I try to teach her the Leaping Kick. So, I'll wait at least two months on the training regimen I described of "use the 2 days that I had been focusing on socializing to train her in relation to her interest level, being somewhat pushy about it only for one day of the week, taking days from my studying time to train her if she is so interested as that. Other than that, I'll stick to her like glue for school hours and try to find out what she's interested in -- a bit of mind reading should be just the trick I'm looking for, so I'll try that a few times a day (between 5 and 6 if you need a round number) and play it off as if we just share similar interests." Then I'll see if she's ready to pick up the Leaping Kick.
I have no character sheet here, no.
Ky
Color me foolish. I printed a stack of papers to bring with me when I came yesterday, and they included your character sheet and a copy of the Gazuntite web page--and then I ran out of the house without grabbing them. I'll probably bring them up on Monday, assuming that's when we come and that you have a place for them and I don't forget again.
I am assuming that you are assuming that Kat will practice outside of your time with her, and thus that you are training her and guiding her practice to improve her ability. I think that's a likely assessment of Kat's personality (if nothing else, she can threaten to beat up boys with it when they give her trouble). Confirm this?
As an aside, have you considered whether any of your adult contacts might have a solution to your perpetual youth? (Of course, you might not view that as a problem.)
--M. J. Young