The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
I think you forgot a Mathematician's Answer pothole there. 
I'm not sure how that trope applies when a yes or no question is asked. ![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
Edit: Oh, I see. I don't think Specular was actually asking "which one is she programmed to follow the orders of," I think he was asking if she was programmed to follow either of their orders at all.
edited 8th Jun '13 4:23:36 PM by Eamil
Relativistic physicist
This came out today.
» by sarsparilla
A chance encounter between old friends; a realization that life doesn't always go according to plans. Is it too late to make new ones? Co-authored by Durandall.
Rated: Fiction K+ - English - Friendship/Drama - Kyon & Sasaki - Chapters: 3 - Words: 30,729 - Follows: 1 - Published: 06-10-13 - Status: Complete
edited 10th Jun '13 1:37:17 PM by Muphrid
Author of The Second Coming (NGE) and The Coin (Haruhi).
Just for the record, I was very, very tempted to write a post that only read "Yes".
Back to the point, Eamil got it right. Now my question would be whether Yuki attenuated Ryouko's restrictions after the Resonance Cascade chapters. IIRC, Yuki invoked "good child" mode a few day after that (during the curry dinner scene, I think) but that was pretty much it.
In the near future of the story, for some reason I think it will be Broken Masquerade!Sasaki who will push the issue and get Ryouko un-chibified, perhaps because her newcomer's perspective could make her remark on how unfair is that Kuyou can change modes at will while Ryouko is stuck in her small form 24/7.
*tilts head* Wait a minute, if one combines both elements... No. Must… Resist… Snippet-ity Impulse…
(BTW, I'm assuming that someone with Sasaki's academic prowess wouldn't mind a little bit of Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness when she is talking with Ryouko or Yuki. They are humanoid interfaces after all)
| *Sasaki walks into room, runs into Ryouko in her normal form for the first time* | ||
| Sasaki | : | Asakura-san? |
| Ryouko | : | *turns around, smiles* Welcome back, Sasaki-san! Did you forget something? |
| Sasaki | : | Not, I just— That's not important right now. I suppose I can say it's nice to meet you, again! |
| Ryouko | : | Likewise! I usually relied more on direct spatial information than visual approximations in chibi mode, so we could call it a first meeting for the two of us! |
| Sasaki | : | That makes sense. Your smaller form probably doesn't offer a good vantage point. |
| Ryouko | : | Sometimes it does. Especially when I stand on Kyon-kun's head or shoulder or ride around in his coat pockets! |
| Sasaki | : | *imagines scenes*... Are there any pictures of you two I can see? |
| Ryouko | : | Well, Suzumiya-san likes to take a lot of pictures, but it's unlikely because I was generally invisible to electronic means. Michikyuu-san drew a remarkably accurate sketch of us once, though. |
| Sasaki | : | I will ask her then! *observes Ryouko more carefully from head to feet* Kyon surely neglected to mention anything about your appearance. |
| Ryouko | : | *winces almost imperceptibly* That would be correct. Probably he doesn't harbour a good impression of me in this form. |
| Sasaki | : | That's not wh— *shakes head* I mean, is that "incident" he doesn't want to talk about that bad? |
| Ryouko | : | *nods* However, Suzumiya-san is convinced it's more the influence of Kyon-kun's emotional memory than any real resentment at this point. She suggested that we should interact more with me in this form to help him to "get it over with at long last." |
| Sasaki | : | It's been proved that Kyon is not one to hold a grudge for long. By the way, if I remember correctly you were one of their classmates at first, right? How was your relationship with them around that time? |
| Ryouko | : | As far as I could tell, nothing noteworthy from their point of view. Suzumiya-san always refused to make even a nodding acquaintance with me and Kyon-kun was... |
| Sasaki | : | What? |
| Ryouko | : | An unhandled exception. My configuration was designed to excel at social monitoring and engineering, to be a well-liked and amicable individual with the potential of becoming an influential node in several kinds of social environments if required, and whereas I was a resounding success it that sense with the subset of people Kyon-kun belongs to, his regard of me was atypically lackluster. |
| Sasaki | : | Which subset is that? |
| Ryouko | : | Heterosexual high school male. |
| Sasaki | : | Oh! That's... er... D-Don't you think both things could be related? I mean, if Su— Haruhi didn't like you, perhaps Kyon simply didn't want to upset her by being friends with you. |
| Ryouko | : | I don't think so. His behavior remained unchanged no matter what I tried, which admittedly wasn't much because I wasn't often authorized to do more in his case. Now I think about it, your hypothesis occurred to me at the time and I decided to test it. |
| Sasaki | : | Test it? That's interesting. How did you proceed? |
| Ryouko | : | I took a sample of eight boys, all of them casual acquaintances who were in a romantic relationship with a female student from Kitago with varying degrees of commitment. All but two were noticeably more friendly if I talked with them in locations away from school, exceptions which I chalked up to one having a notoriously jealous girlfriend and the other being the one I labeled as the "most committed" of the sample. Three of them approached me without having to speak to them first and one of the others was… particularly unsubtle in his advances after very little prompting. |
| Sasaki | : | Sorry for stating the obvious, but that must have been unpleasant. |
| Ryouko | : | Within parameters. Nevertheless I ran some simulations and I calculated that his girlfriend would do better without him so I decided to record the scene and render it as a video clip taken by a cellphone camera of average quality, which I anonymously sent to his girlfriend's best friend by email. |
| Sasaki | : | *raises eyebrows* Really? What happened next? |
| Ryouko | : | As expected, she broke up with him hours later. Unfortunately I forgot to take propagation into account and, even if nobody directly said anything to me, my circle of acquaintances in our class became protective and I had some troubles to move around alone after that. |
| Sasaki | : | ... To be honest, I'm experiencing a little of… ambivalence from your story. |
| Ryouko | : | I don't blame you. Now I think that my soc— human understanding at the time, albeit effective, was intrinsically faulty. Among many other misconceptions, I assumed that a sufficiently correct identification of patterns would be an adequate replacement for empathy and large quantities of observations provided by the IDSE would allow me to make up for my limited experience... |
| Sasaki | : | *winces* Well, I... I had... *shakes head* Let me tell you this: It's a very human thing to make mistakes. People can come to think they are smart enough, that they have all figured out or that a sufficiently analyzed and deconstructed need will go away. It will not. And this is just one example of how a person a little more intelligent than the rest can mess things up. So what? Did the little humanoid interface seriously think that life will fail to provide her with a challenge that can, and most likely will, make her trip? Just make sure you don't get too far to make up for your mistakes and everything will be alright! |
| Ryouko | : | ......... |
| Sasaki | : | *blushes madly* I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to… p-patronize or lecture you. It's… I-It's just that your… kind of… I— |
| Ryouko | : | *laughs* It's OK. I don't mind so it should not bother you. |
| Sasaki | : | Right! Let's just forget the last minute ever happened! |
| Ryouko | : | I will not! |
| Sasaki | : | *failing attempt at a baleful stare* Continuing with our conversation... er... I have noticed that the interactions between you and Kyon are at least genial now, am I right? |
| Ryouko | : | Yes. I'm quite surprised how quickly he got used to my presence. I suspected that my harmless configuration and our hierarchical relationship reassured him that I wasn't a threat, but now I think that even without these restrictions, such outcome could have come about if I had given genuine signs of trustworthiness from the beginning. |
| Sasaki | : | I see. Just a question, what do you mean with "hierarchical relationship"? Is it about Kyon's status as the user of the device you are linked to? What was its name again? Sky—? |
| Ryouko | : | Skynet. Well, it's partially related to that. After my disconnection from the IDSE, Nagato-san bestowed Kyon-kun with a high level of authority over my actions. In broad terms, I can't fail to comply with any unambiguous commanding statement coming from him. |
| Sasaki | : | *frowns* Wait a minute. Such orders are limited to the operation of Skynet and his other tools, right? |
| Ryouko | : | They are not, but in practice Kyon-kun seldom uses an imperative form with me for anything other than that. |
| Sasaki | : | *wides eyes* Seldom? *observes Ryouko carefully again* S-So, are there exceptions? |
| Ryouko | : | Enabling or disabling "good child" mode. Sasaki-san, are you alright? I detect sudden signs of stress and anxiety in your biometry. |
| Sasaki | : | *sighs* I'm OK now. Asakura-san, don't you think it would be better if you and Nagato-san… revoke such prerogatives? |
| Ryouko | : | Why? |
| Sasaki | : | Let's say I don't like the idea of Kyon with that much control over a beau— over yourself. |
| Ryouko | : | It's not a problem for me and it has its tactical benefits. |
| Sasaki | : | Not a—?! I-I mean, what tactical benefits? |
| Ryouko | : | There are several. For example, after turning chibi mode into an optional setting, Nagato-san installed several upgrades of my old combat packages and a few new ones. She also made it so it's very obvious for another entity like us or for someone with access to the Combine's technology that he's the one who can deploy— |
| Sasaki | : | —that much firepower so they won't ignore him and hopefully he will be able to deter further fighting. Big Stick ideology? |
| Ryouko | : | With a little of Sun Tzu! |
| Sasaki | : | How is advertising one's strengths like that consistent with "all warfare is based on deception"? |
| Ryouko | : | *winks* Nobody said they can glean everything Chuou and I can bring to bear! |
I tried to write a more comedic ficlet and I somehow I got that. I better stop here before it grows even bigger. *invokes Escape Battle Technique and leaves a note:*
Wait a minute, if Sarsparilla and Durandall co-authored a fic, how is that I didn't get a notice from soulriders.org? *checks* I made a mistake with the migration from Google Reader....
More importantly (for me at the very least) Brian also wrote a continuation of Outcast! which I won't be able to read until tomorrow 
Edit: Typos.
edited 12th Jun '13 3:46:44 PM by Specular
My K:BDH Recursive Fanfiction
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
You got a few spelling errors, but otherwise it was a highly enjoyable read.
Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I'm happy (and surprised!) you like it. To be honest, I decided to post that not-quite-as-planned Imagine Spot mostly because it was the best way to stop writing it (that and the Heads or Tails? trope). About the typos, please PM 'em and I'll edit them out.
Random idea.
What would you said about creating one recap page per Story Arc? In that way we could incorporate the information from Filraen's timeline into the site and further subdivide the main page.
BTW, is there a template or proper editing rules for recap pages?
My K:BDH Recursive Fanfiction
I don't mind. 
I found very interesting how you showed Sasaki being so comfortable with Asakura being an humanoid interface to be able to tease/joke about it.
Kyon: Big Damn Hero: timeline & trailer
@Silver:
Good character exploration writing. I like your thoughts on both perspectives. I personally wouldn't expect Ryouko to be use quite so much science-speak, but that's mostly taste and interpretation. It's an enjoyable read.
I have two reasons/excuses for that: One, situational speaking patterns. I considered that, under the hypothesis of Ryouko and Sasaki being closer friends, the latter would appreciate if the former lays off the Layman's Terms with her when they are alone as a token of respect for her intelligence. Secondly, I needed a way to convey a way of thinking somewhat removed from common sense but still undeniable correct and a too-technical speech sounded like the way to go about that. My take on Melancholy!Ryouko (as distinct from her Disappearance or later versions) is that she was, above all, an inhumanly rational entity and someone too focused on her own effective assessments to (need to) look beyond them.
@Filraen:
I got the idea that Sasaki and Ryouko could become good friends after noticing the simple pattern that the girls in the SOS Brigade seems to get along the best with the one who is the closest to them in personality: Haruhi/Tsuruya, Yuki/Kuyou, Mikuru/Kanae. The rest came from wondering how such a friendship could work.
BTW, is there a proper trope for people who become friends because of their similarities? Birds of a Feather?
Random Imagine Spot.
| Setting: Yanagimoto, Taniguchi, Mikuru and "Shutaro" go to a dinner double date at a restaurant. | ||
| *Mikuru and Yanagimoto excuse themselves for a few minutes, "Shutaro" and Taniguchi are now alone at the private booth* | ||
| "Shutaro" | : | *notices an uncharacteristic quiet and pensive Taniguchi* Something in your mind? |
| Taniguchi | : | ... |
| "Shutaro" | : | *waves hand* Are you al—? |
| Taniguchi | : | Can I ask you a few questions? |
| "Shutaro" | : | *raises eyebrow* Sure, go ahead. |
| Taniguchi | : | The other day when we first met, you and Asahina-san were walking around downtown together. Is that right? |
| "Shutaro" | : | Well, yes. We went to watch a movie that day. |
| Taniguchi | : | That's a lie. |
| "Shutaro" | : | Eh? |
| Taniguchi | : | Allow me to explain. Just after we parted ways, Yanagimoto-hime called me from the Karaoke Box so we could met there after they finish their alloted time. I remember I could listen someone… er… singing in the background and now I realized that person was Asahina-san. |
| "Shutaro" | : | O_O |
| Taniguchi | : | So, what's going on, man? How can she be in two places, both separated by a thirty-minutes train trip by the way, at the same time? |
| "Shutaro" | : | Well... *thinks quickly* That was Mikuru-chan's sister, Asahina Michiru-san. I was helping her with something that day. |
| Taniguchi | : | *raises eyebrow* Then, why didn't Asahina-san say a word about her having a sister? During dinner she told us several things about Kyon's little sister but nothing about her own twin. Don't you think is weird? |
| "Shutaro" | : | That's... because there are some... family problems between them I can't freely speak of. |
| Taniguchi | : | Those "family problems" have something to do with the fact you called Michiru-san by Mikuru-san's name or the fact she was wearing Kitago's uniform? |
| "Shutaro" | : | !!! Er... yes. As I said, there are family matters— |
| Taniguchi | : | *sighs* Stop right there, dude. After so much weirdness around Suzumiya I think I can tell what really going on. |
| "Shutaro" | : | You... do? |
| Taniguchi | : | It's pretty obvious when you think about. Asahina-san was very obviously pining after Kyon for a year and then suddenly fell for his slightly less snarky double, no offence, who happens to know the twin sister she never speaks about? Tell me, do you want to say it or prefer to hear it from me? |
| "Shutaro" | : | *discretely goes for Altair in a silent stun-mode, points it at Taniguchi under the table* Shoot away. |
| Taniguchi | : | You are two-timing them. |
| "Shutaro" | : | Eh? |
| Taniguchi | : | To be precise, you and that other girl are cheating on her. You and Michiru-san probably were going out for a while now. |
| "Shutaro" | : | What |
| Taniguchi | : | After Kyon got out of the picture because of his engagement with Tsuruya-sempai, you played the Replacement Love Interest card with Asahina-san when she was most vulnerable. Oh, and Michiru-san is in the loop, otherwise she would have not disguised herself as her sister so that anyone who knew her and saw you two together would think that she was Asahina-san! |
| "Shutaro" | : | What?! |
| Taniguchi | : | So, do you like to play Asahina-san for a fool? |
| "Shutaro" | : | *angry* I would never— |
| Taniguchi | : | Then, what? Do you two believe in the One True Threesome? Are you planning to reveal the whole thing to her after she gets so hooked up to you that she will accept? Dude, I never in my life expected to witness something so immoral, so disgusting, so crafty and so... freaking... Awesome |
| "Shutaro" | : | Wait... What? What th—? |
| Taniguchi | : | *not listening* Just dating someone like Asahina-san would rate pretty high in my book but no, you just have to go out with two S-rank girls. And not only that, you somehow convinced one of them to help you to date the other. |
| "Shutaro" | : | *massaging his forehead* Taniguchi, wait! You got it all wrong. The truth is... |
| Taniguchi | : | *still not listening* ...and last but not least, they are twins. You are someone who is seriously aiming for the Twin Threesome Fantasy... |
| "Shutaro" | : | *Face Palm* |
| Taniguchi | : | ... After learning all this, I don't know if I should beat you or myself to a pulp. However the article 80 of The Code is clear on this matter... |
| "Shutaro" | : | ... "The Code"? Is there a Code? |
| Taniguchi | : | ... I shall assist you in whatever way you may require. Just promise me you will STAY FAR AWAY from Yanagimoto-hime. That's the way of the Bros after all! Do we have a deal? |
| Yanagimoto | : | *suddenly* What kind of deal are you talking about? Wait. Why Shutaro-kun is hitting his head against the table? *frowns* What did you just do, Tani-baka? |
| *Mikuru enters the room with a platter in her hands* | ||
| Mikuru | : | Sorry for the wait, but look at this Shutaro-kun! The chef let me help out with our desserts and— Are you OK K—Shutaro-kun?! You have a growing haematoma on your face! We should place a cold compress ov— |
| "Shutaro" | : | I-I'm fine Mikuru-chan, really. |
| Mikuru | : | *frowns* That won't do! Taniguchi-san, Yanagimoto-san, would it be much of a bother if we end our dinner now? I need to take Shutaro-kun to my apartment so I can treat his injury. |
| Taniguchi | : | *turns to "Shutaro" with wide eyes and mouths a silent* (DUDE!) |
| Yanagimoto | : | It's not a problem. *elbows Taniguchi* Right? |
| Taniguchi | : | Not at all. We missed dessert though... |
| Mikuru | : | Don't worry about it! We can just ask for them as a takeaway. |
| "Shutaro" | : | *stands up* Yeah I'll go and... settle the bill for now. |
| Taniguchi | : | Thanks a lot! You are my hero, Shutaro! |
| "Shutaro" | : | I am not! |
Spoiler Title: Your Approval Fills Me with Shame
Disclaimer: I blame that pic for this.
Edit: some minor changes.
edited 14th Jun '13 8:15:33 AM by Specular
My K:BDH Recursive Fanfiction
Why do I need a title again?
This... I must go and tell Durandall about this, kitsu... (runs off to go find him...)
I have returned, and my vacation in the void was so boring...I'm between laughing and asking myself how Taniguchi missed "Shutaro" having the same voice than Kyon.
edited 13th Jun '13 6:58:19 AM by Filraen
Kyon: Big Damn Hero: timeline & trailer
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
Face Palm just doesn't cut it for this level of Wrong Genre Savvy.
I assume there's voice-changing tech involved.
Person
Oh, lord! Way too funny. Completely believable, in a skew-wise way.
Reading the latest Imagine Spot half a day or so after writing it, I realized that I gave Taniguchi a shining moment of insightfulness... and then I took it away from him most viciously. Does that make me a bad person?
BTW, I want to make a little addition to the snippet but for that I need to make a good estimation of Mikuru's rank in Taniguchi's grading system for girls. From what I can remember:
| Haruhi | A+ (manga) |
| Kanae | A- |
| Kuyou | ? |
| Kyouko | ? |
| Mikuru | ? |
| Miyoko | ? |
| Ryouko | AA+ |
| Sakanaka | ? |
| Sasaki | ? |
| Tsuruya | ? |
| Yanagimoto | B+ |
| Yuki | A- |
My current guess is "AA+".
Don't forget: A Kyon's Face Palm™ ranks higher than a Double Face Palm from almost any other character.
I assume there's voice-changing tech involved.
That's what I assumed too, but speech patterns could still be recognizable. I think that the simplest way to deal with the latter is to tell Taniguchi that Kyon and "Shutaro" grew up and spent a lot of time together.
My K:BDH Recursive Fanfiction I think Mikuru should rank no worse than Ryouko.
*Walks back in as if he hasn't vanished for several months*
Oh god, those ImagineSpots!
I seriously need to re-read BDH now that I have a lot of free time.
*checks Github quickly*
Oh... Did the VN die right when I left or something?
edited 14th Jun '13 12:52:10 AM by Zfish9
An Amazingly Apathetic Adolescent
@Specular
Nah. He's one of those two guys. No one'll notice.
Mikuru would probably rank very high on Tanaguchi's scale
@Zfish strolling out of nowhere
...
Should I lurk more?
edited 14th Jun '13 3:15:44 AM by TheRustyBullet
Welcome to Whose Fanfic Is It Anyways? Where the plots are made up and the canon doesn't matter!
If anything, I should. My last post was... 32 pages ago? In November?
...Yeah, I might want to catch up a bit.
Why do I need a title again?
:VN's don't die, silly. They simply sleep until the right times arise for their continuation, kitsu.
Re: Mikuru's rank.
I think I will rank Mikuru higher than Ryouko in Taniguchi's scale because of the Buxom Is Better trope.
Related but still random Imagine Spot.
I just got hit with this when I wondered what the chibis could be doing at the time:
The Stinger
While "Shutaro" seemed distracted testing the collisional properties of his own skull, a small conversation between two small entities took place on a table a few steps behind him and next to plate of cookies. It started as it frequently did, with a sudden question from the black-haired chibi to her blue-haired counterpart.
"What is a 'Twin Threesome Fantasy'?"
Ryouko instantly ran a search on the publicly-editable database where she suspected the term could be found and relayed a concise impression of the results.
"It's a common, usually male, fantasy where three individuals engage in what you call an 'entanglement', with the additional condition that two of them must be twin siblings."
After one of her slow and deliberate blinks, Kuyou requested further clarification. "Do sufficiently close time-divergent versions of the same person qualify as 'twins'?"
"I would think so, but predetermination dictates that the Elder self must ensure that the Gemini goes exactly as he or she remembers it and it's required to keep careful track of every time-divergent object present, making the practice remarkable risky but not entirely unfeasible."
Kuyou directed her attention to the person under the visual/auditive data manipulations that he used as a disguise and asked what Ryouko predicted she would.
"Would he be interested?"
"It's possible according to Kyon-kun previous experiences but it's a moot question as none of the girls with whom he would potentially try that sort of thing have a twin sister and he would most likely avoid unnecessary risks of a Temporal Paradox."
Another moment of silence ensured and the presence of the small agent of the Sky Canopy Dominion vanished from Ryouko's senses, only to reappear with modifications.
""A physical or this pseudo-physical simultaneous materialization is not excessively more difficult,"" the two completely identical instances of Kuyou in her chibi form spoke to Ryouko in perfect synchronization, ""however I never considered it necessary as it should only provide redundant sensory information.""
"Oh! That's interesting." Ryouko said appreciatively. "I don't have the resources or the permits to attempt multithreading like that and while I can see how an equivalent of such technique could be useful for me, I fail to realize why you are bringing this up."
Her pet project of designing a set of tools suitable for Magical Radiant Nonoko would certainly benefit if she personally could stand in for the O.S. without neglecting similar duties for Kyon, to say nothing of spending a lot more time together with the girl.
""Close entanglement with him easily overwhelm my capacity to handle the memetic surge, which preclude me from making precious observations."" Both constructs spoke, then pausing and blinking at the same time. ""I theorize that if I sustain another avatar and both participate, I will be able to better experience our time together or at least observe more of it.""
Ryouko personally thought that Kuyou was just too excitable and such a thing would fix itself with time, but saying so now could dissuade her friend from a course of action that promised the opportunity of learning an useful trick from her. A policy that Yuki already proved as successful.
"Parallel observation with human senses sounds like a good idea!" Ryouko encouraged the chibis "But we need to work on a few things first!"
""What do you mean?""
"That! Speaking in unison will get old very fast. Try to avoid it." the former IDSE interface asserted, striking a (quite cute) lecturing pose.
Kuyou(s) tilted her head(s) and asked "Is this acceptable?"/"How about this?"
"Nope! Saying different things at once will just confuse people."
"Would this..." the chibi at the left said and immediately the one at the right added "... be better?"
"Yes, but with moderation. Kyon-kun might find it off-putting before getting used."
"I see." the twin at the leftmost commented and both of them nodded. "I will try to avoid fragmenting sentences." the other finished.
"Also. You don't need to do the same action at the same time with your interfaces. Think of them as a team instead! Think synergically!"
""Oh!"" both of them voiced, but they quickly corrected themselves and while the one at the left politely bowed in gratitude to Ryouko, the one at the right clapped her hands to both.
"Good!" Ryouko praised them with her arms crossed and a satisfied expression on her face.
And so, there was a time when Kyon was in for quite a surprise when he woke up one morning in his bed, but that is another story.
Random note for the VN: Adobe is giving away free copies of Photoshop and the rest of the Creative Suite 2.
edited 14th Jun '13 8:50:05 AM by Filraen
Kyon: Big Damn Hero: timeline & trailer
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
<Manly Tears> Someone recommend Specular for being Durandall's assistant writer!
Nice, although I already have C3, It came with working on the VN.
Why do I need a title again?
: There is no need to worry about that, Marq. I do my best to make sure that Durandall knows about these omakes, kitsu.
Besides, these musings are things that could be interesting to think on, kitsu.
I have returned, and my vacation in the void was so boring...
Yes.