Vote count as of 7/15/2016:
Photo, Ditzy, and Ringo: 3
Rainbooms: 3
Trixie, Vinyl, and Octavia: 7
I take a second to look at all three tables. I can always talk to the Rainbooms later, what with having their numbers and all, so no need to spend the daily allotment of socializing time on them. Photo's table might be a laugh, but if they're anything like Sonata, they might just be laughing at me, and I probably shouldn't smack anyone right now, let alone pour their food trays down their pants. Trixie, Vinyl, and Octavia might get on my nerves too, but... They kinda seem the least get-on-nervy, I guess. Civil conversation. That's my first stop.
"Hey," I say when I reach their table, which makes Octavia jump, "mind if I sit here?"
I can't read Vinyl's eyes through those shades, but she's not really smiling or frowning when she looks over her shoulder at me. Sitting across from her, Octavia is much more transparent, but her frightened stare is fading by the second, going more toward confusion. Next to Octavia, Trixie gives me a wide-eyed look at first, then wipes it right off her face, replacing it with nonchalant haughtiness.
"Trixie doesn't mind if no one else does."
Octavia shakes her head when I look at her, Vinyl smiles a little and pats the seat next to her. Adagio might have been right; not a hateful bone in her body. Then again, maybe I'd be pretty relaxed too if I could just pop in to claim a win I hadn't earned. I try to push those thoughts away as I sit down. At least being next to her will make it easier to not look at her.
"Sssso," starts Octavia, "we've, um... never met, I think? In person, I mean. I'm Octavia Melody, pleased to make your acquaintance."
The slight shake in her voice is the only dent in her otherwise perfectly formal greeting. I'm kinda grateful for it, because I never know just how to talk to ultra hoity-toity types. "Aria Blaze."
"Right, and this is Vi-" Her jaw goes slack and her face pales as she points to Vinyl, who I guess she remembers as having been involved in more or less destroying my life that one time. Not that it was a great life, I'll admit that now, but she still seems scared that this might make things awkward or something. Glad it's not just me.
Vinyl, still just smiling, gives me a little wave, which I take to mean the Battle was nothing personal. It really wasn't, which is my best guess for why I wave back at her in the same way. It's a weird thing to do when you're sitting right next to someone, but staying calm is surprisingly easy, like she's infecting me with her sheer chill-ness. Adagio and Sonata must be surprised too, judging by their expressions as they float around to where I can see them, but they give me approving looks for not making a scene.
Maybe it's so easy because I remember the snake-woman incident, and I'm aware now that even having total control over magically-enslaved, long-term thralls just to worship us might not have been as great as it sounded, even if we'd won the Battle?
She still totally cheated us, though. Whatever that's worth by now.
"And of course you remember the Great and Powerful Trixie," Little Lady Houdini cuts in with a haughty smirk, "whom, by the way, you are wise to choose as a companion for your time at CHS!"
"Uh, yea," I say noncommittally, "and, since you probably remember me too, I'm just gonna say, uh, s-sorry about what happened last time." I get nothing but confused looks for this. Even Vinyl kinda sends the vibe that she's raising an eyebrow at me, whether she actually heard what I said or not. "I mean, you know, how my sisters and I kinda brainwashed the school, then manipulated you into-"
"Oh, that!" Trixie scratches her chin while visibly searching her memory. "I forgot that even happened." Part of me is insulted, but she keeps going. "Got other stuff going on, y'know? Anyway, don't worry abou-err, Fear not," she says boldly, remembering her Stage Magician shtick, "The Great and Powerful Trixie is very forgiving!"
Before I say anything, Octavia gives her a little smirk. "Truly? Because I could have sworn you told me all about a life-long vendetta you'd sworn against Rainbow Dash for, what was it? Not buying some guitar before you could?"
"It was twelve, thousand, dollars," Trixie growled through gnashing teeth, "and that is not her only slight against Trixie! To start, that shred-off was a farce, because as is the case in most of their conflicts, the Rainbooms only ever prevail through use of magic! Magic that does not belong to them, at that, but the careless Princess Twilight, whose presence is what started this crisis-on-a-regular-basis thing in the first place!"
The way Octavia rolls her eyes says she's heard this one a few times before. I must have a bewildered look on my face, because she starts explaining. "Trixie is under the impression that Twilight's magic is the sole reason those girls rose to any kind of prominence."
"It is the only reason! None of them mattered any more than anyone else before Twilight showed up with the exception of Sunset, and even she was a mere mortal bitch-face. Ever since, they've reveled in their status as The Amazing Heroes (which, thankfully, doesn't actually amount to a whole lot) when they don't really do anything but stand around while someone else (usually the first Twilight, but last time it was Sunset) gets the magic going for them, and Rainbow in particular has no right to act so full of herself!"
There's a short pause before Octavia deadpans. "She's not jealous at all."
"I'M NOT JEALOUS AT ALL!! Why should Trixie care if all that power and Hero prestige went to someone else by sheer virtue of having buddied up with the weird new girl?! More annoying still is that all their talk of 'the magic of friendship' is total bullshit too, because no matter what they say, it's always exclusively their group that deals with the threats! It's like no one else has ever made friends around here, like the concept only carries any kind of weight when they do it, and even when she helped them stop the three of you," Trixie snapped her fingers while quickly pointing at Vinyl, "when's the last time they even spoke with Vinyl here?!"
Just the tiniest bit perturbed, I glance at Vinyl, who gives no meaningful input on the situation. An inquisitive look at Adagio reveals a perplexed face.
"This did not come up when I spoke with them, but her feelings on the matter are interesting... Do you think anyone else feels the same?"
I make the mental note to investigate that later, but for now, I wanna make sure my apology is getting across. "And, on that note, sorry we messed up your school and tricked you in particular into doing our dirty work."
Chuckling, Trixie gives me a smirk and dramatically drapes an arm over her head. "Oh, yes, Trixie was simply heart-broken to have been woefully misled into committing such heinous acts as dropping a bunch of smug, puffed-up fakes, who STOLE Trixie's spot in the finals, down a pit. Woe indeed!"
I wince. "Um... that wasn't their fault."
She blinks twice. "Beg your pardon?"
"The Battle of the Bands? That was a farce, because with a little tugging on Luna and Celestia's strings, nobody ended up anywhere Adagio didn't want them-" I look at Vinyl, "-'cept maybe for you."
Shrugging, she gives me an apologetic little grin. As if she's done something wrong by accidentally interfering with the evil plan. I'm honestly trying to stay mad at this point, but damn!
I look back at Trixie. "So, the Rainbooms didn't 'steal' their place in that fake, hollow contest, we gave it to them, then got you to steal it from them."
Octavia watches in surprise as Trixie stays silent for about a minute. "...Really?"
"...Yep."
"...Oh. But, does that mean you three also arranged for Rainbow Dash to cheat me with her magic in that shred-off?"
"No."
"Sing a little song about how the school had changed and we were different now, only for it to be a ruse to get the whole school to cheer for her in the stupid Friendship Games?"
"We weren't even in town at the time."
"Summon a giant hentai monster so she could fight it in front of everyone?"
"A what now?"
Sonata beams. "It's in the folder, I'll show you when we get home!"
I choose not to hear that as Trixie scratches her head. "Hm... Trixie still hates Rainbow Dash and dislikes the Rainbooms as a whole, but... perhaps some measure of her hatred for the whole group, not counting that other Twilight, was misplaced."
I, a siren, once a career instigator of hatred and malice, have just reduced someone's dislike of someone else. Yay friendship? Octavia seems even more surprised about this than I am, staring at Trixie in shock before slowly turning to me.
"In five minutes, you've done more to convince her to drop that silly grudge than I have since I've known her. You really are a lot nicer without the other two around." I barely have time to clench my jaw before her eyes go wide and she slaps both hands to her mouth, then quickly muffle-talks through them. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean- I mean, I know it was just a few d-days ago, but-"
She quickly starts to cry through her rambling, I'm sitting there looking at my 'dead' sisters as they float behind her, and none of us really know how to react to this. Trixie looks immensely uncomfortable too, but Vinyl just gives me a sad little 'I Hope You'll Be Okay' smile. Then Sonata asks a question.
"How does everyone know we're dead, anyway? Like, we don't show up to school, so we must be pushin' up daisies?"
Adagio lights up with glee, grabbing Sonata by the shoulders. "You once wondered why we kept you around? Moments like this are a strong contributor!" She turns to me with a big smile. "Ask how everyone knows what happened to us, it'll give us more information and perhaps defuse this atmosphere at the same time!"
"Uh, hey," I say to cut off Octavia's nervous cry-babble, "first off... It's okay."
In addition to my new acquaintances, I think even a few people from other tables are staring at me as Octavia pulls herself together, like I've just broken some rule of reality and they're waiting to see what eldritch horror claws its way through the rift first. In their defense, what Trixie said a minute ago almost makes that sound feasible.
I elaborate as calmly as possible. "You don't have to walk on eggshells about it; I know my sisters are dead." Kind of. "Thing is; that's not the only bad thing that's ever happened to us. The three of us lived... interesting lives, let's say. Some stuff happened to us, but no matter what it was, we knew that we had to keep moving, or that'd be it. That's what I'm doing now, because it's what they'd have wanted me to do." I try not to look directly at them as they smile and nod affirmatively, instead focusing my attention on the visibly relieved girls around me. "And second; how does everyone know what happened, anyway?" And then they're uncomfortable again, but if everyone else knows, don't I have a right to? "Did the Rainbooms make a guess about when they found me and blab to everyone in school, or what?"
Octavia and Trixie share a quick, nervous glance and the latter gives me a sheepish little smile.
"You guys never heard, then?" I only answer with a raised eyebrow, which she takes as the cue to keep going. "Well, um... It's a very simple matter... Octavia, you tell her."
Her head whipping in Trixie's direction, Octavia glares at the blue back-stabber. "I believe the oratory skills of the Great and Powerful Trixie are more called for than my own, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh, oh dear," Trixie says while making unconvincing coughing sounds, "T-Trixie appears to be coming down with a terrible throat infection!"
"Then we are in good fortune that Trixie has the strength of character to power through this difficult time, aren't we?"
Her mouth hangs open for just a little longer than is dignified. "...Fine." She looks at me. "Okay, so... There's kind of this blog that maybe a few people around CHS look at some times. It's about the three of you."
"...Uh-huh," I say while the rage starts to bubble up, "and when you say 'a few'...?"
"Like half the school?"
"How long's it been going?"
"Since you came back."
Adagio looks annoyed too. "The Rainbooms didn't mention this..."
"...Okay," I pick up through lightly-clenched teeth, "so... what, someone was just, spying on us? Who runs this thing?"
"Your next-door neighbor," Octavia answers quickly and quietly when Trixie hesitates, "the walls of your apartment are very thin, it seems."
Before I can reply to that, Vinyl taps me on the shoulder and shows me her phone, where she slowly scrolls through a list of posts, most made hours apart.
I've been hearing a lot of cartoon sound-effects, so I guess Sonata has control of the remote. It sounds like she's inviting 'Dagi' to watch with her, but I didn't hear a reply.
Door just slammed, so I guess Aria is home. Yep, Dagi is scolding her again. Maybe it'll stick THIS time, huh, viewers?
Aria and Sonata are having another lover's spat, so I guess it's around dinner time. For some reason, I never hear them going at it, even when Dagi isn't around.
Geez, Louise, I think that Dagi's hairdryer woke me up! It's too early in the morning for this and she runs that damn thing for like twenty minutes! I TIMED IT!!!
Things have been quiet, so I'm guessing Sonata is at work right now.
I don't hear everything from Dagi's monologues, but sure talks about Sunset Shimmer a lot. No idea if she's up to something, viewers, but I'll keep you posted.
I'm hearing a soft, but manly voice delicately assuring a feisty young woman that while her family may never understand, he'll always be there for her. Given that this was followed by sounds of crying and piano music rather than groans, pants, and saxophones, I'm pretty sure this is romance, not porn.
The kicker? I know for a fact that Sonata and Dagi aren't home right now.
OMG, I have no idea what's going on, but I just got home and they're talking about magic and monsters and Dagi keeps telling the other two to roll for things! They're talking about 'doing this' with 'those other girls' too! Are there more Dazzlings somewhere?! I don't know but i am FREAKING OUT!!!!
Okay, um... Two hours later, I'm pretty sure they aren't doing anything magical over there. Dagi giving a short speech about being 'ready when they play this game with the Rainbooms' gave me a clearer idea of what they were doing. False alarm. Sorry.
It's Tuesday, and from the way Aria is complaining, it was a good one for Sonata. Eeeew.
I don't know if my head is warming up from anger or embarrassment, but a few particular entries get my attention.
Something happened, something seriously bad happened, I heard them scream, there was noise and the walls shaking and I heard them scream! It's quiet now, I don't hear any of them talking, but Dagi was being all serious about something, yelled that she wasn't taking any chances (which I guess they did!!), the three of them started singing, then there were these weird noises, Sonata screamed, more noises, then more screaming, then a BIG noise, then quiet. I'm too scared to go over there, but if anyone is reading this, PLEASE GET HELP!!
...I REALLY don't think they're just playing a game this time, guys!!
The next one was posted about forty minutes later.
Okay, I think the Rainbooms showed up and took care of it. They were talking all quiet and I heard the words 'Let's get her out of here,' and they left. Dead silence. I dared peek out my window to see two of them carrying Aria, loading her into a car, and driving away. They aren't carrying Sonata or Dagi, and I don't see them walking with the Rainbooms. So, either they're abandoning those two, or...
I think... I think that whatever they were doing, the other two didn't make it.
So that's it. Our next-door neighbor has been spying on us. Listening in. And posting what they hear for half the school (And, y'know, the whole internet) to see. Given that EVERYONE apparently knows, I guess either more people tuned in for that update or it spread around by word of mouth, but I'm hit with a slightly chilling realization: The eavesdropper might have heard me tell Lemon about the ghosts, too.
Nobody has said a word about it, but with the layout of the building, there's only one door I might need to get through to make sure. While I'm thinking about whether I want to try to pick the lock (how hard can it be?) or just kick the damn thing open (I guess I would try to see if it was unlocked first...), I notice the other girls at the table giving me worried looks. I probably look a little mad right now.
"We can deal with our neighbor later," Adagio says somewhat urgently into my ear, "but for now, please, try not to think about it and just... I don't know, make small-talk with these girls." I can see it on her face when she remembers not being in charge anymore. "Err, if you want to, I mean?"
That last part draws a snort of amusement out of me, which makes it a lot easier to smile and not look like I want to tear someone's eyes out as much as I do right now. "Okay, so... thanks for showing me that."
Vinyl nods, Octavia sits very, very still, and Trixie makes a neutral face. "Sure. Any time."
There's an awkward pause. I shrug. "So, what were we talkin' about before?"
Trixie smiles. "How much the Rainbooms suck?"
Octavia raises an eyebrow. "Letting go of senseless grudges?"
"Trixie's grudges are perfectly sensible!"
Rolling her eyes, Octavia turns to me. "So, where exactly did the three of you go until just a few weeks ago? After you disappeared overnight, almost everyone was sure we'd never see you again."
Sonata grins. "Say we ran away to the circus!"
"Uh..." I glance at Adagio, who answers almost immediately.
"All of the Rainbooms know that we fled to the city and saw us as the snake-creature, so it won't do you any favors to be caught in a lie if they feel like fact-checking. I don't think we have anything to lose from letting them know this anyway."
"We ran off to the city, laid low for a while, then turned into a snake-lady. The Rainbooms heard about it, came over, and convinced us to cut it out and come back here." They stare at me. "...Do you want the long version?" The way they nod twice in unison makes me chuckle. "Okay, uh... It started with this book I found over the internet..."
---
I leave certain details out of the story, but I think they get the main idea of what went down. When lunch ends, Trixie smiles as we're all getting up. "By the way, Trixie approves of your new attire, very stylish!"
I clamp down on the impulse to make more of that comment than it is, and instead settle for a 'thanks,' but before I say it, she adds another observation.
"The gem even kind of looks like your old one!"
For a split second, Octavia stares just below my neck with wide-eyed horror, but it almost immediately melts into confusion, then relief. "Oh... That is a convincing replica. I suppose they didn't have any in red?"
"Nope."
I feel insanely, embarrassingly proud of myself for going along with the freebie without missing a beat. It's the little things in life. I want to make a monument to my own smoothness or something about it, but that would kind of give me away.
She gives me a sympathetic little smile. "Well, it looks lovely on you anyway. Will you be joining us tomorrow?"
Still feeling pretty amazing, I shrug as I turn and walk away. "Maybe."
As I'm walking toward my next class, Adagio (who had to wrangle Sonata away from ghost-drooling over food she'd never be able to eat) floats beside me. "Fluid lie, well done there, but acting aloof probably won't endear them to you."
"Yea, yea," I mutter at my (technically her) boots. I think I've got a class or two with Trixie and I know I have one with Octavia, so as long as I don't go Cold Shoulder at them for no reason, I think I'll have some pretty solid friendships soon. Then Sonata has to go and ruin my good mood.
"So... What're we gonna do about our nosy neighbor?"
---
The wait feels longer than usual, but school eventually ends without incident (apart from a few funny looks) and I head straight home, stopping outside our apartment. The door just down the walkway is where the eavesdropping blogger lives. I think Sonata knows what I'm thinking.
"Sooo... What're ya gonna do?"
"Stay out here for a minute, for one thing," I mutter, pretty sure it won't be heard if I keep talking while facing away from the apartment.
"I meant like, what are you gonna do with whoever lives in there?"
I clench a fist. "Kick their ass, of course! Or at least tell 'em off for spying on us and telling the whole world about it. Pretty sure I'd be within my rights for at least shouting at them a little."
"Right," Adagio says with an eye-roll, "there couldn't possibly be any consequences if you just explain it the right way."
"Glad we're on the same page," I say while strolling toward the door, but I stop when she quickly floats in front of me, not amused.
"Aria! Use your head; what do you think would happen if it got out that this person had been beaten or bullied in any way? You could resort to threats, violence, and threats of violence, or you could take this chance to seize the moral high ground."
I blink, lost. "What?"
She makes that evil grin again. "Think about it; if you were to knock on their door, calmly inform them that we didn't know we'd been troubling them with our noise (which happens to be true!), that things will certainly be quieter now that it's just you, and politely ask that the blog be closed, you'll have dealt with the problem while doing nothing wrong."
I raise a doubting eyebrow. "And if they don't yield to a 'pretty please'?"
"Then they would be knowingly acting against your wishes in keeping it going, for which you would be justified in escalating matters." She thoughtfully taps her chin for a moment. "I'm not sure if there's some kind of authority you could go to, just hearing people speak isn't illegal, but we can cross that bridge when we get to it."
I'm not exactly sold on playing nice with this eavesdropping scumbag, but before I can argue against it, Sonata chimes in.
"Ooh, I've got an idea! What if you pretend you still don't know about it, go home (it's like five steps away), and just make a bunch'a crazy noises? Look up kooky sound-banks on the internet and play 'em at max volume, run around the house screaming "MILKSHAKES, MILKSHAKES, MILKSHAKES," or something, just give 'em tons to report on! If you keep up the crazy, everyone'll just think the blogger is making it up for attention, they'll lose their credibility, and no one will believe anything they write about us! Or, just you, in this case!"
Adagio looks conflicted. "Hilarious as that might be, it's just as likely that everyone will assume Aria really has lost her mind, and even if it works for now, there's no telling if the posts would continue again at some later date. As she's still keeping two noteworthy secrets (our existence and having her magic back), it's better to be sure this stops now, before something is compromised."
"Oh, I can stop it alright," I say with a raised fist, but Adagio still looks annoyed about that suggestion. "What, like it wouldn't work?"
She sighs. "Yes, you brute, I'm sure it would work, but even if they don't go crying to their viewers, half the school, mind, someone will find out how you deal with interpersonal conflicts sooner or later, even if you don't do anything they can call the police for."
I shrug in exasperation. "So I'll go easy! No blood, no bruises, nothing broken except maybe their dignity, okay?"
"Not as 'okay' as just talking to them. Perhaps it won't be as satisfying, but it can only save us trouble in the long run."
"So can some noisy clown shoes," offers Sonata, "and maybe a sci-fi adventure soundboard!"
I take a long breath through my nose.
Whoever this person is, getting them to see things my way could be done quick and easy, even if I have to shout through their door to do it. They could have just walked over and asked us to keep it down, or made some kind of noise complaint, but instead they've been listening in on me and my (now mostly dead) sisters, then reporting it for all to see for two weeks. How am I not within my rights to give them an earful for it?
But, talking things out can't possibly get me in trouble, right? I kept totally cool around Vinyl today, so maybe I can do this too. But, what's to stop them from laughing in my face, slamming the door, and going to tell their online buddies all about it?
...Do I even wanna think about Sonata's method? I'm sure I could make all sorts of crazy sounds, maybe even act out my own little space opera. It might even be fun, but if people really trust this blog, I might end up being That Crazy Space-Girl With Clown Shoes And The Saxophone That Farts Christmas Songs or something like that forever.
How do I wanna deal with this?
Option 1 - Confront the neighbour
This was a tricky choice, as all 3 approaches had merit. I discounted Sonata's because while she raises a point about discrediting the blogger, at the same time, these 3 have done some weird stuff before. I think people would be confused as heck and freaked out, but likely assume that Aria was in fact behaving oddly, rather then the blogger lying.
Being polite and taking the high road is also a really good choice, however it isn't a choice that Aria would likely take. Everyone who knows her, knows her as the more angry and likely to get violent of the 3 sirens, and after learning something as privacy breaching as the news she and her sisters were continuously spied on, I think it would likely look weirder if she didn't have an angry response. She might hold herself back from taking outright illegal action, but taking the friendly road rather then the shouting angry road just seems too out of character for her to not draw attention.
2-Confront neighbor politely. Asides from all three Dazzlings becoming nicer persons than they believe they are (let alone ever dreaded to be) and the blogger looking like they've been rather shocked and possibly feeling guilty, there's a very psychopathic reason to (pretend to) play nice: They could easily be a student/staff from either CHS or Crystal Heart .
(And Sonata's plan is actually rather sound, should Aria be willing to wait until she has built up more friendships/acquaintances and plot with them).
Confront neighbor politely.
Confront neighbor politely. Least chance of trouble in the grand scheme of things.
2-Confront neighbor politely. smartest choice, believable (if it seems out of character, she could just say that she's grieving), AND it leaves the option of being more *direct* if being polite doesn't work.
Confront the neighbor politely. Aria wants to mainly lay low, right? This would probably help that. Plus, Aria could always throw in some thinly-veiled threats or something heavily sarcastic. Sonata....I don't think her idea would work well, as entertaining as it would be.
This is sorta what I thought when I saw that short. They were competing like normal until Rainbow Dash activates magic and autowins. Then Trixie is portrayed like she's in the wrong, somehow...
I also have come back to the idea several times about how it's weird that Twilight is the chosen one, who became an alicorn even... but dint of being the best friend? She's supposed to be the greatest friend source in thousands of years, and she gets rewarded with phenomenal cosmic power/immortality (or just wings, which is nice but not immortality or anything.)
... As far as Rainbooms and too many interests it is a mite bit jarring.
Everyone's voting the same way! Makes me wanna vote against the grain...
But i also wanna pnish the eavesdropper, and discover who it is.
Which taking the moral high ground does. Rub their bad behavior in their face.
7443784
It is most fortunate that I've learned not to worry when that happens, as the number of votes for each option paints Aria's personality a little more no matter what the distribution is.
I'm gonna vote 2, nothing good could come out of 1, and while 3 would be hilarious, I don't think it would have the effect Sonata would want.
2 - Confront politely. It never hurts to ask first, and if things don't work out, she can say she tried when things inevitably escalate.
Eyeswirl, come on you cheater, not revealing blogger's identity is cheating.
The chapter was amazing, btw. Digging this version of Trixie and Octavia a lot.
I'm throwing a point into option 3, because world needs laughter.
7444329
It occurred to me that Adagio and Sonata could have floated through the walls to get a look at the blogger and report back to Aria (who happens to be too annoyed to think clearly enough to ask them to do that), but I hoped to keep their identity from influencing the reader's decision.
As for Adagio and Sonata themselves, you can say they don't do it because neither of them want Aria getting aggressive if it looks like Aria could easily beat up the blogger anyway.
7444329 Seconded on all points.
7446160
Sunset was usually the DM, and didn't have the heart to tell Fluttershy she couldn't be 'good.'
7446163
*minor tangent*
Actually, its the Lawful part that gets to me. so long as ive played D&D and PF, neutrality is what druids do- that is to say you can be one while being neutral good, anything on the standard neutral axis, and neutral evil. Druids gotta always be in balance with something i guess. welp, theres an idea for another chaotic neutral i need to work on. to go right next to my affable chaotic evil project. (not everything is about the stabbing all the time as either alignment. like when lead ups are involved. Chaos is Order unrecognized by certain minds. or something. also boxes.)
but it IS DM fiat for even that, Sunset's choice, really. but a druid wandering with a paladins standard alignment. hrm. well, to that end i always got annoyed that monks had to be lawful. but NO BAD WANDERIN' EYE, NOALIGNMENTSTALKSRIGHTHERE.
*on topic now*
so far this story is on quite the angle, and put me in on odd place overall, though definitely wanting to see more. i can i see where the participation comes into play now. well. i best cast my vote. Considering these circumstances as to how the information spread (really, talk about making a visit in ones ear. i think)...
#2. do it politely. mostly because if whoever our little mystery snooper is winds up being..shall we say uncooperative and doesn't cut this out... we can play bigger ball on higher ground. bonus to hit optional!
Option 1. I would not blame Aria for doing so - "being in mourning" and then finding out that someone has been monitoring her and her sisters' activities and posting them online for everyone see. Something like this merits "Aggressive Negotiation."
Honestly im very suprised there isn't an option for confronting them indignantly, there should be a point between beat them up and politely ask them to stop. Reading that blog, its a really fucked up thing to make and confronting them about how messed up it is to run a creepy voyeur blog on your neighbour seems a better way, as well as being a bit closer to arias temperment.
7449967
Option 1 is confronting them indignantly, there is no 'beat them up' option. The sirens discussed how she probably couldn't get away with outright beating someone senseless just before the end of the chapter, but yelling at them (and maybe minor forms of getting physical) are fair game. That was what Aria meant when she said she'd go easy, sorry if it wasn't clear enough.
Should I count you as another vote for Option 1?
7449984
Then yes, definitely. Its completely reasonable to be pissed if someone is writing creepy shit and spying on you. It would seem far stranger if aria DIDN'T get mad, as that goes completely against her character. If anyone gets uppity about her being furious with that person then they have no real backing to call her out on it.
Option 3. Ideally Aria would be able to keep quiet that she knew about the blog, and use it to dispell whatever misinformation would work to her advantage. But given that it was in the middle of the cafeteria, and the others at her table might talk, it couldn't be reliably used like that, and would make her seem two-faced and manipulative if it came out.
So option 3, troll them to Hell.
Of the three choices presented, I'd have to say #2, talking to the neighbor politely.
There are two reasons why someone would be spying on the Dazzlings: either some form of voyeurism (harmless or not), or the person was legitimately worried about the Dazzlings starting something up again. It's probably the latter; no one seems to be creeped out by the blog, even though the idea might have occurred to some students that the person spying on the Dazzlings now might be doing the same to the girls' locker room next week. That in turn means that whoever this is must have a good reputation with the student body, or they would have been talked to by now (or said student body is incredibly stupid and/or vindictive).
As for the choices, doing anything remotely aggressive to people in social situations immediately backfires on you. This is a person who was able to spy on the Dazzlings without them knowing it for quite a while; if Aria gets this person angry, they could easily cause her all sorts of problems long before she knows about it. Unless she's willing to literally bury this person, being aggressive isn't going to work for more than the few seconds of the actual confrontation.
Being weird won't really work, either. Either people will figure Aria has truly lost her mind, or the spy will figure out that she's just messing with them and decide to take revenge on Aria's reputation. (After all, the blogger can put up anything they want, and it would take forever to sort out what was fake and what was real.)
So politely confronting the blogger would be best. Aria needs to be careful even then, because whoever this is could easily throw the whole "Well, considering what you've done, someone needed to watch you three..." argument in her face. She can gain a little bit of moral ground, but not much considering her past actions; it's the student body's judgement that's important right now, and overall they've shown which side they'd take in a conflict.
That said, I can just see Aria wanting to pound this person's face in, with Adagio constantly having to remind her to rein herself in. The blogger has no intention of stopping, either out of a sense of moral righteousness or smug superiority and nothing gets resolved. It would cause a lot of drama, since Aria would be angry with Adagio for a time and would realize that the only way to deal with the problem is to get the rest of CHS to not see her as a threat and turn them against the blogger.
And isn't manipulating people what the Dazzlings/Sirens are good at...? >:)
Huh, OK.
Man, I had my fingers crossed for Option 4: Sonata and Adagio ghost into the neighbors house to collect information so Aria can start a counter blog with all of his or her embarrassing secrets!
That being said, I'm happy with the option that was chosen!
Finally got to this via random browsing. More willing to vote now that it's years late. ...I'd have gone with a longer-term variant of Sonata's idea, most significantly changing it to involve more people. As much as the broad cast of characters really does want advance warning about the Dazzlings, the blogger has made the mistake of being too entertaining to start with. By this point, at least some of the readers are more interested in whether Aria or Sonata was on top last night or how the blogger is misinterpreting things (from their own perspectives, not ours) than fearful. And as of today there are three CHS students who know Aria knows, and while they aren't going to start a newsletter they have no drive to keep that entirely to themselves.
So build on that. Be seen buying the sound effects discs, and focus more on kittens "singing" and clown shoes than the Halloween stuff. Keep the fashion change up. Invite people over and offhandedly work bits of this into the background of the visit and entrances and exits from the domicile. Make it casually known to a slowly growing number of people that you've chosen to keep the blog interesting despite the absence of family drama. Solicit ideas. Don't bother with either a confrontation or seriously trying to hurt the blogger's reputation. Stay low-key enough for long enough and the blogger quietly ceases to be an actual threat - possibly remaining somebody who can get help there if you're incapacitated - without your having to be seen as a threat. Whether the blogger remains an annoyance or ultimately ends up as a friend or actual enemy is questionable, but short of simply ignoring the matter entirely this leaves the largest number of options open.