Juliana yawned and stood up to stretch her legs. "Morning already?" she wondered aloud. "How can it be morning already?"
'Cuz Stone Cold J. Random IF Poster said so.She looked down the beach a short distance, where Anthadd appeared to be camped out.
She failed to notice him all night, in her entranced reverie. But at least you don't see Anthadd flipping out about it."Hey Anth, can you believe we've been sitting here so long?" she called to him.
Anthadd looked up from where he was seated on the sand. "Not really," he responded. "Time seems to fly when one looks at the stars, it appears to me." (Juliana looked at him a little funny, almost as if his words didn't seem as formal as Anthadd usually was when he spoke. It was almost as if this was all just one big IF, and someone else was writing Anthadd's dialogue in her own post...)
LOL @ self-reference. That's awesome. She basically wrote my annotation for me. I was going to write something like: PSI is trying her darnedest to emulate Anthadd's style, with only middling success."Yes, I agree with you there, Anth," Juliana responded, nodding slightly. "The stars are so gorgeous here at night, and the sky was so clear! I felt as though I could see forever."
You could see forever? Was Chris there? He'd like to know.She paused for a moment, turning to Anthadd once more. "Anth, have you felt at all...I dunno, homesick, since you've been here?"
Anthadd looked at her very seriously. "Do you want to go home, Juliana?" he asked, almost as if he knew that homesickness was starting to eat away at her. "Is that what you've been thinking about?"
No, she's been thinking about how goddamned boring endless violence is, and how she's out like a fat kid in a dodgeball game if that's what the Gathering comes down to. Unless she can cobble together a small but militant band of anti-militants to forge their own plotline.Juliana shut her eyes lightly.
She does that lot. Instances of Juliana shutting her eyes heavily are as rare as Meteotites."I don't know what to do anymore," she confessed. "It's almost as though I feel like I belong here, on Eagleland Island, with all of you, but at the same time, I know that I belong in Massachusetts with my family and friends and everyone and everything I know. Do you understand?"
You should come up with some kind of compromise, like living in Massachusetts and using your computer to visit Eagleland Island occasionally.Anthadd nodded slowly. "If you want to go home, truthfully, then you shouldn't be afraid to. It should be your decision, though, and no one else's. Perhaps you ought to think this one through and make a careful decision?"
PSI gave up on trying to write in Anthaddspeak. A wise choice.Juliana smiled. "I think I'll take you up on that advice, Anth," she said happily. "Thanks for being here, and for listening to me."
"My pleasure," Anthadd said, and with that, he watched Juliana walk back towards the hotel.
Chris! Your cue! Don't blow it this time!
Post #317, by Chris
Yes! Excellent! Go for it!Chris looked at his watch. He had been sitting at the table for an hour now. He started to think that maybe it was a stupid idea to be waiting for Juliana, when she walked into the lobby.
This post was 9 minutes behind PSI's, and on the short side for a Chris post. You just know he flew through this thing as fast as he could, before someone else beat him to the punch. Let's see if there are typos.
It might have been a stupid idea anyway. Depends on how you play it."Funny, I didn't see you out on the beach while I was out on my rock." he said.
Great opening line! That'll set her at ease!"Your rock?" Juliana asked, a little puzzled, since she had been asleep the entire time that Chris was out thinking.
No. No, she hadn't been. Her post directly above yours, that you're responding to, made that clear."Come, sit down." Chris motioned.
When Juliana sat down, Chris started talking about how he didn't know whether he'd stay on the island or go home.
You know, these guys--and Chris/PSI/Anth represent the more refined members of the IF forum--are really wringing a lot of angst out of this whole 'should I keep writing in this story or leave it to its doom and leave?' angle. I'm almost starting to side with the 12 year olds and the violence here.At least they're trying to amuse themselves; PSI, who wanted this thread to be fun, stopped having fun a long time ago, along with Chris and Anth, who just freaking got here."On the one hand, this place is practically paradise. No work, no school, everything I need is provided for me. And with all of you here, I'm having such a great time. But, when all or most of you are gone, I don't know how I'll manage. All alone here, with nothing to due, it would drive me crazy.
True, the hypers are dragging the thing down a path PSI never wanted, and that's angsting her out; but it's also true that 71% of IF writing is blazing your own path, and it's up to her (them) to inject into the story whatever brand of fun they find most satisfying. Apparently, right now that happens to be wringing their hands over whether to 'go home' or not.
Yes, that would be an appropriate time to leave. But the topic you're discussing is leaving now. Which even you seem to understand makes no sense."I know that at least some people are staying until the end of summer, and I'll probably stay at least that long. But, I want to know, what are you going to do?"
The problem here is none of these people is coming up with any good ideas for what to do. So they just keep trading posts, hoping someone else does it for them. Chris: You really blew a chance here, yet again. If you wanted to impress her, you should have decided on something to do. She'd surely have come along, since her only other options are join the hypers or quit the thread.
But--and take notes here, guys--Chris's sulking has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. He can't even see any outcome except 'she loves me not' right now, which soon enough gets so bad that it looks like he wants to fail.
Post #318, by PSI322
Juliana hesitated.
Yeah... I act surprised."I think I'll be staying until the end of the summer, Chris," she responded. "I've been feeling a little homesick lately, but I think I can hold out that long. I love being here. This place is so beautiful, and the people are amazing, after all!"
Did you notice how these guys keep going back and forth, often in the same paragraph, between 'this place is torture!' and 'this place is awesome!'?She paused for a moment, and a certain sadness crept into her voice. "However, I do miss my hometown, and my family, and everyone else that I left behind when I decided to come here. I know that there are some people who are contemplating staying here forever, and all I can say is, if you really want to, then go for it. Just remember to think it all through...a good friend told me to think it through and make it my own decision, and that's what I intend to do, Chris. You should do the same."
Hey, cool, Anthadd made PSI's good friends list! Chris is on it, too, though he's too asleep at the switch/full of self-pity to notice right now.Chris just stared at her. "Wow, that was a mouthful, huh?" he commented, and they both laughed. "So you're staying until summer's over?"
Juliana nodded. "I'll be departing the last week of August, if all goes according to plan," she replied. "So are you sure of what you want to do? Are you staying here permanently, or departing with the rest of us?"
I'm pretty sure no one has ever suggested anyone is going to stay here permanently. The topic keeps shifting around here.
Post #319, by Chris
"I think I'll stay here for the rest of the summer with you. When it gets closer to time, I'll make my descion then.
Typo! Everyone take a drink. This is pretty much the shortest Chris post ever, and it's 17 minutes behind the above post; he was really in a hurry to get this post in before, say, SuperSpeedy's dumbass Porygon barges in and attacks them with Hydro Pump or something.In the meantime, I've still got at least six weeks here. How would you like to go see my little rock?"
"Uh...sure. Let's go." she replied.
'Uh...' would have been the first sound out of my mouth in that spot, too.They left the hotel lobby and strolled down to the beach together. Chris brought a pair of towels for them to sit on.
Protip: A towel does not really make a rock feel any less hard.They got to the rock and sat down, and start discussing all sorts of things.
I hope PSI realizes that Chris has just laid his heart out to her. I mean, he's sharing his rock with her. Be gentle, PSI!
Post #320, by Mog116
[Mog, are you going to stay here forever, or go home?] Pikachu Asked as they entered Twoson.
Hey, some of the kiddies are reading the Stoic Club's posts. Mog wants in on this action."I think I'll stay. My mom owns the Island, and sense I know about an actual town, I'll probably stay here." Mog said. Suddenly, a phone rang. Mog picked his Cell-Phone out of the duffel bag and answered it.
"Hello? Oh Hi Mom. WHAT!!! He's moving? Where? Oh you told kupop and kupek (There my friends) about Onett? AND THEIR WHAT!?!?!? MOVING HERE!!!!!! TO TWOSON!!!!!!!?????? No I'm not sad. I'm happy. Yeah. Uh-huh. Sure. Ok. Bye." Mog hung up the phone. Then he turned to Pikachu and Jenny. "Yeah. My best friends are moving here, so I think I'll stay." "What about you, jenny/Pikachu? That Rhymes!"
Um... yeah. I'm glad that's settled!
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