Poem: "Board Vision"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of conversation with lynnoconnacht. It also fills the "partnership" square in my 9-1-14 card for the genprompt_bingo  fest.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.  This poem belongs to the Antimatter & Stalwart Stan thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.


"Board Vision"

 

Stan tagged along behind Lawrence,
feeling out of place but determined
to try his hand at the chess club,
because it mattered to Lawrence
and that made Stan curious.

Lawrence led him to one of the activity rooms
alongside the library reserved for student groups,
already full of a dozen teens from various years.

Mr. Marshall was taking attendance,
and his eyebrows went up when he saw
the two of them come in.  "Hello, Lawrence,"
he said.  "Stan, I wasn't expecting to see
you here; what a pleasant surprise."

"I, uh, Lawrence invited me,"
Stan said to the science teacher.

"All right, that's it for now," said Mr. Marshall.
"Lawrence, keep a lid on things and
I'll check back here at closing."

"Your supervisor doesn't stay?"
Stan whispered to Lawrence.

"It's not required, so no," said Lawrence.
"Actually we made a deal.  Mr. Marshall
wanted another person for the science team
and I wanted a chess club, but we're both busy.
So I joined his team as long as I don't have to
come to the extra practice sessions, while
he agreed to sponsor my club as long
as I do all the real work of running it."

"That's a good arrangement," Stan said.

Lawrence made quick introductions
around the room, because not all the kids
were in the same classes with Stan.

Some of the freshmen started whining
about Stan and how boring it was
to get stuck playing a novice.

"What's the rule about bringing a friend
to chess club?" Lawrence asked.

"You bring 'em, you play 'em,"
several of the older members chorused.

"So I'll set up some things for people to do,
and then I'll work with Stan," Lawrence said.
"If anyone else wants to play him, just ask,
and remember that it's polite to accept a game
if someone invites you to play with them."

Lawrence bustled around distributing equipment
and setting up the first round of matches.

It was strange to watch the players and
realize that they really did act more
like acquaintances than friends. 

They didn't behave the same way
as Stan's troop of Activity Scouts did.
They were civil enough to each other, but
they scarcely touched except to shake hands.
They didn't jostle each other playfully, nor
did they chatter about their current projects. 
Some fidgeted with restless energy while others
sat still as statues, but all focused on the game.

"Okay, your turn," Lawrence said,
finally sitting down with Stan.
He was alight with energy in a way
that Stan had rarely seen before.
"These are the pieces and the basic rules ..."

Stan listened as Lawrence explained;
he had played before, but not much,
and felt grateful for the refresher.
Besides, Lawrence tended to describe
everything better than other people.

Then Lawrence cleared the board
except for the two rows of pawns.
"What's this supposed to be?"
Stan asked with a frown.

"It's a minigame," Lawrence said.
"Those teach specific chess skills.
This is Pawn Parade, and it helps you
get used to playing the pawns.  The goal
is to get as many as you can to the far side."

"Now it makes more sense,"
Stan said, moving his first pawn.

He lost, of course, because Lawrence
had far more experience -- but Stan
felt that he learned a lot in the process.

"Watch the other players for a minute,"
Lawrence said, then went to set up
some kind of chess puzzle for another boy.

Chatura Pai was between games,
and Stan knew her from Home Economics.
"Hi," he said to her.  "I liked your curry recipe."

Chatura gave him a sidelong look
that made Stan wonder if he had
broken some rule that wasn't
on the cardboard list that Lawrence
had propped on the center table.

"Thanks, I guess," she said,
and grabbed the nearest boy --
a quiet, focused brunet named Wyatt --
to partner in her next game.

Lawrence came back and set up
the board with queens, kings,
and rooks in addition to the pawns.
"This is Queen-Rook Checkmate,"
he said.  "Try to take the king."

This proved more challenging, though
not as confusing as a whole game.

Stan could see how adding pieces
a few at a time made it easier
to learn their interactions.
Something about it tugged at him
the whole time he played.

Some of the other students
started watching him,
and he wondered why.

This time when Lawrence left
to go arrange some new matches,
one of the freshmen bounced up
and said, "Wanna play?  I'm no good,
but I like playing just for fun.
Han usually plays me but
he's got a gym meet today."
Arnold, that was his name.

"Sure," said Stan.  "I'm just learning,
but the more we play, the better we'll get."

Arnold stuck out his hand,
they shook over the chess board,
and then set up the pieces in a new pattern.
"This is Last Man Standing," he said. 
"It's a fork game."

Stan flinched.

Arnold didn't notice, though,
and the game was interesting to play.
Stan didn't see any particular connection
between it and people who hated superpowers.

Stan lost himself in the contemplation
of different options as the pieces moved.
When Arnold finally beat him, they
shook hands again and the kid said,
"Thanks for the game.  It was fun."

"Any time," Stan said easily.
He could already imagine himself
coming back to this club, now and then.
"So what else do you like besides chess?"

"I dunno," Arnold said with a graceless shrug.

Lawrence returned with a book in hand.
"Let's do some chess puzzles," he said.
"Stan, I'll start you on three-piece problems.
Arnold, you can try one a little more complex."

"Puzzles?" Stan asked, leaning forward.

"The board starts with a specific pattern,
and you have to meet the goal to win,"
Lawrence said, laying out two kings
and a queen.  "Checkmate in one move."

It took Stan a minute to see how,
and then he made the move.

Meanwhile Lawrence had arranged
Arnold's puzzle with a lot more pieces.

When Stan finished, Lawrence reached over
and tweaked the pieces into a new configuration.
"Checkmate in two moves," he said.

Now Stan had the hang of it,
so it didn't take him much longer.
Arnold finished his too.

Lawrence reset the boards for them.
"Checkmate in five moves or less,"
he said to Stan.

Stan looked at the board,
struggled to visualize the moves,
and looked at the list of rules that said,
You touch it, you move it.  You let go, you're done.
Then he looked at Lawrence and asked,
"Can I have some scratch paper?"

"You can," Lawrence said slowly,
"but that's a bad habit to get into.
Chess is best played in your head,
although Chatura and I are the only ones
good enough to play without looking, so far."

"Why is it better that way?" Stan wondered.

"It's about strategy," Lawrence said.
"Think of it as battle practice -- after all,
chess was inspired by military history.
In a fight, there's no time for scratch paper."

"Okay, now I get it," Stan said.
He rested his chin in his hand
and studied the board, thinking hard
as he made his way through the possibilities.

Then the answer popped into his head,
the way he could sometimes guess
what people would do in a fight,
and he swept through the moves.

"You're ready for more of a challenge,"
Lawrence declared.  "Try an assessment puzzle.
Look at the pieces on the board and figure out
what they're doing."  He laid out the pattern.
"White to move and mate in two moves."

This was a lot more complicated,
with a handful of pawns plus two rooks
for each of the kings.  Stan frowned
as he tried to work out what to do.

Then he remembered Lawrence's hint
about seeing what the pieces were doing.
There was a funny little twist  inside his head
and suddenly it made sense, as if the pieces
all had little labels and arrows like the notes
on a blackboard for football plays.

Stan sat up straighter and showed the solution,
briskly tapping the pieces across the squares.

"Hey!  He's got board vision already,"
Arnold piped.  "That's pretty quick."

Lawrence smirked and said,
"Now you see why I invited him."

"What's board vision?" Stan asked.

"It means you can see the potential
in the static position of the pieces,"
Lawrence explained.  "Tactical vision
is about spotting safety issues.
Strategic vision is planning moves."

Stan thought about that, then said,
"I'm good at seeing what's in front of me."

"Ready to try a full game?"
Lawrence asked him.

"Sure," said Stan, collecting pieces
to set up the white side of the board.

Stan played with deliberation,
planning his strategy in advance.

Lawrence was a formidable partner.
He made each move in moments,
and spent most of his time studying
a second game that he was playing
against Chatura on the other side.
He won both games anyway.

"Well played," Stan said as they
shook hands, because he had heard
other players saying that.

"Are you okay?" Lawence murmured.

Stan became aware that his head
felt like it was stuffed with steel wool,
full of a scratchy ache between his ears.
"I've been better," he admitted,
rubbing his eyes with both hands.

"Chess headache," Chatura said.
"You should lie down," Arnold advised.
"But stretch before you do that," Wyatt added.
"And cover your eyes," said Lawrence.

Something about the quick patter
seemed familiar to Stan, and
he realized that they sounded like
Lawrence rattling off concussion replies.

It wasn't that any of them were experienced
with first aid, but rather that they had
seen this particular complaint often enough
to have memorized the responses.
That meant their advice would probably work.

Arnold was already tossing people's backpacks
and jackets off the couch at the end of the room.

"There's a list," Wyatt said, handing a page
to Stan and already turning away.

"Thanks," Stan said, and Wyatt blinked at him
before delving back into his game.
The page showed neck and shoulder stretches.
Stan tried a few of them to work out the kinks
from leaning over the table to play chess.

"Couch's clear," Arnold announced,
then went back to his puzzle.

Stan stretched out on the couch
and stuffed his jacket under his head.

"Here, put this over your face and it'll help,"
Lawrence said, offering him a wet paper towel.

Stan followed the suggestion.
It left him in his own niche of darkness,
only able to track the action in the room
by listening to the quiet click of chess pieces
on the boards and voices murmuring "Check,"
"Checkmate," and "Good game."

He felt a little lonely.
Nobody stayed with him
to keep him company or
make sure he was okay.
He wasn't used to the idea of
ignoring someone who didn't feel well.

Suddenly it hit him: they weren't doing it
to be thoughtless or rude.  They were
doing it because it's what they  preferred,
dealing with a problem without fussing over it.

It was weird, but Stan could live with it.
His body would bounce back
in a few minutes anyway.

Across the room he could hear
Chatura challenging Lawrence
to a speed match, and someone
kibbitzing on Arnold's latest puzzle.

They were nice kids, really,
just a bit disconnected.
Stan could see the tenuous links
between them, fine as spider silk,
that simply needed more attention
to build into solid relationships.

Soon enough, the headache faded,
so Stan was able to sit up and toss the towel.

Arnold popped up beside him.
"Are you better now?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Stan said.
He glanced at his vidwatch.  "I think
I'll sit out the rest of the time, though.
There's not a whole lot left today."

"Too much chess can make your brain tired,"
Arnold said.  "Happens to most people sometimes."

"It's a cool game," Stan said.  "I like a lot
of strategy games -- Struggle of Empires and
Shadows Over Camelot are some of my
other favorites.  Do you play anything else?"

"I like Trivial Pursuit," Arnold said.
"It relies a lot on random luck,
but you have to know stuff to win."

"Not my best game," Stan admitted.
"I don't mind playing along if other people
want to, but I almost always lose."

"Why's he keep going off topic?"
Wyatt whispered to Lawrence.

"He just does that," Lawrence said.
"You get used to it.  As long as
the background chatter doesn't
distract anyone from a game, it's okay."

"He's weird," Wyatt said.

"So're you, deal with it," Lawrence said.
A timer on his vidwatch chimed.
"Okay, that's it for today.  Wrap up
and hand in your paperwork."

"What paperwork?" Stan asked.

"Don't worry, I did yours this time
so that you could focus on the game,"
Lawrence said, showing him a sheet.
It recorded what activities he'd done,
how long things took, and who won
the games (everybody except Stan).

"So it's like ... a badge worksheet,"
Stan said slowly, tracing the lines.

"I guess you could see it that way,"
Lawrence agreed, packing up materials
that various club members brought to him.
They had the boards and pieces
all put away in minutes.

Mr. Marshall came back into the room
to recheck the attendance and
sign off on the paperwork.

"Thanks for coming, everyone,
and I'll see you next time," Lawrence said.
Stan noticed that he stood by the door
as the other students filed out,
patting them on the back in a final count.

As they walked toward the bus,
comfortable in their partnership,
Stan said to Lawrence,
"You make a good leader."

"You're just saying that,"
Lawrence demurred.

Stan let him get away with the deflection,
but added, "I like your friends too."

"They're just members of the chess club,
Stan, we're not really friends,"
Lawrence said, shaking his head.

"Yes you are," Stan said. 
"You just don't know it yet."

* * *

Notes:

Bruce Marshall -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and wavy brown hair with a short beard.  He wears large geeky glasses.  He favors ties with geometric or scientific designs.  Mr. Marshall teaches high school science in Omaha, Nebraska.  He also sponsors the science team and the chess club.  He has a good eye for which students can handle more responsibility or need extra help.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Science Teacher, Good (+2) Dexterity, Good (+2) Negotiation, Good (+2) Patience
Poor (-2) Overworked and Underpaid

Chatura Pai -- She has tinted skin, black eyes, and long wavy black hair.  She is in the chess club with Lawrence.  Chatura is uninterested in dating, but her parents want to hire a matchmaker to find her a good husband, and she's amenable to that.
Qualities: Good (+2) Chess Player, Good (+2) Dexterity, Good (+2) Dutiful, Good (+2) Student, Good (+2) Zardozi Embroidery

Arnold Hamilton -- He has pinkish-fair skin, deep blue eyes, and floppy dark blond hair.  He is restless and whimsical.  He plays chess for fun; it's a way to be around other people.  Arnold is an only child and doesn't have many opportunities to make friends.  He really likes Stanley Wood.
Qualities: Good (+2) Carefree, Good (+2) Smart
Poor (-2) Lonely

Wyatt Dunn -- He has olive skin, brown eyes, and brown hair.  He is quiet and determined.  Wyatt plays chess to win.  He has a sharp competitive edge, likes to beat people, and isn't always careful about sportsmanship. 
Qualities: Good (+2) Concentration, Good (+2) Stealth
Poor (-2) Sports 

Han Gordon -- He has short black hair, brown eyes, and golden skin.  He is a friendly acquaintance of Lawrence in the chess club.  While not very personable, he shares Lawrence's determination to make the club work and he's good at the same kind of logical solutions to social challenges.  He's dependable for playing the younger and less-skilled members so they get practice.  Han is also a gymnast.
Qualities: Good (+2) Chess Player, Good (+2) Limber, Good (+2) Student
Poor (-2) Prickly

* * *

Board Vision -- The ability to look at a chess board and quickly see what all the pieces are doing (statically). For example, seeing that a bishop on a1 is attacking h8. In Rapid Chess Improvement Michael de la Maza calls this "Chess Vision."
-- Chess Terms

Chess is a popular strategy game that you can learn.  Understand how to teach chess, including to people who aren't nerds.  Notice that Stan is not a nerd but is  a talented strategist who just needs a little boost to figure out how this game connects with the abilities he already has.  Minigames offer a fun, easy way to learn basic principles of chess before trying the whole game at once.

Chess problems or puzzles are small arrangements of chess pieces meant to be solved a particular way.  Here are some sorted by difficulty.

Fork -- A double attack, usually by a Knight or Pawn (thus forming a pattern like a “fork” in the road).
-- Chess Terms

Fork -- a bigot prejudiced against people with superpowers, usually not distinguishing between superheroes, supervillains, blue plates who use their powers in more ordinary professions, or crickets who hide their powers.  They often hate supernaries too, on the premise of guilt-by-association. 
-- Terramagne superpower slang

Running a chess club requires managing its function according to chess etiquette, some of which is very different from the etiquette of other clubs or subcultures.  Since Lawrence really wanted a chess club, but knew diddly about people skills, he did it mechanically: he looked up guidelines for how to run a chess club and followed those by rote.  When he found challenges particular to his group, or things that didn't work, he amended the rules to account for that.  So it's not much on social interaction, but it's a perfectly functional club for young people to come play chess in. 

Football notation uses geometric shapes and letters to illustrate football plays showing players, positions, and moves.  Here are some instructions for drawing a playbook.  This is one of many mental maps that people make to visualize concepts.  Stan is relating something new to something he already knows.

Tactical Vision -- The ability to spot basic safety issues (motifs like pins, double attacks, removal of the guard, and Counting) when first analyzing a position.
-- Chess Terms

Headaches can come from thinking hard.   Common headache types include tension and eyestrain.  They are often nicknamed for context, so you'll hear things like "chess headache" or "test headache."  Thinking hard, leaning over a table, and peering at game pieces can combine to cause a chess headache.  There are general palliatives steps and simple muscle stretches to relieve headaches.

Strategy games require methodical thinking to win.  Struggle of Empires and Shadows Over Camelot feature strategy.  Trivial Pursuit relies more on luck and knowledge, with minimal strategic thought.

Friendless Background is a common trope associated with nerds.  Some kids just need a little help to make friends, and there are many reasons why a teen may have few or no friends.  Technology can be one culprit that interferes in how children make friends.  There are tips on how to be friendly and make new friends.  Stan knows much more about this friend business than the regular members of the chess club.  However, there are different types of friendship from casual to deep; Stan and Lawrence are coming from very different angles in terms of seeing those and recognizing how relationships work.

Comments

[stardreamer]

*giggle* I can play chess (though I'm woefully out of practice), and have studied it enough to know the jargon. Poor Stan, getting caught by an unfamiliar usage of "fork"!

Complaining about having to play with novices is something I think of as being a trait of those who are only a few steps above novice themselves. In contradancing, it's often the best and most experienced dancers who will seek out new people and ask them to dance, partly to be friendly and partly because it's much easier to learn from someone who already knows how to dance well. Similarly, it's probably easier for Stan to learn from Lawrence, who is a lot better than he is, than it would be for him to play the low-level players.

Okay, he's got the idea that the chess players don't hang around and coddle someone who's having to take a rest. Now will he connect that to the way Lawrence acted when he was sick? Can he flip it around in his head and see that the way he was acting made Lawrence as uncomfortable as the way the chess-club members acting made him until he figured it out?

"He's weird," Wyatt said.
"So're you, deal with it," Lawrence said.

*snerk* That sounds like my circle of friends.

And Stan is right that Lawrence can be a good leader, he just hasn't learned to generalize it to other things yet. Which means that leadership is something they have in common, and a bonding point... once Stan can convince Lawrence that yes, he really is leading the chess club. Hmmm, I wonder if Lawrence thinks that he can only do that by virtue of Mr. Marshall's reflected authority? But if he didn't have the skills, the other kids would roll right over him.

Does Lawrence play any sort of RPG games? Talking about it in terms of stats might make more sense to him if he does.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> *giggle* I can play chess (though I'm woefully out of practice), and have studied it enough to know the jargon. Poor Stan, getting caught by an unfamiliar usage of "fork"! <<

I don't know much of the vocabulary off the top of my head but recognize it when I see it, so I just had to play with that one.

>> Complaining about having to play with novices is something I think of as being a trait of those who are only a few steps above novice themselves. <<

That's one set of them. Another is hardcore chessplayers who play to WIN and are focused on their personal improvement rather than anyone else's. They aren't necessarily bad people but they can be very self-centered. The University High School chess team only had a few of those because most were better socialized nerds. But everyone else's team had a lot more (and they still got their asses handed to them, Uni's the terror of the nation). Lawrence's club has a few of each, hence some of the rules and some of his own habits. One thing he realized early on was that if he wanted people to join and stay, he had to make sure everyone actually got to play. It actually works, too.

>> In contradancing, it's often the best and most experienced dancers who will seek out new people and ask them to dance, partly to be friendly and partly because it's much easier to learn from someone who already knows how to dance well. <<

Yes, that makes sense.

>> Similarly, it's probably easier for Stan to learn from Lawrence, who is a lot better than he is, than it would be for him to play the low-level players. <<

True. Stan will probably like Han too, when they meet, because Han along with Lawrence is diligent about playing less-skilled members. So too will Stan be, once he develops enough skill to pass up the casual members. He won't quit playing Arnold just because Stan starts winning and could challenge better players.

>> Okay, he's got the idea that the chess players don't hang around and coddle someone who's having to take a rest. Now will he connect that to the way Lawrence acted when he was sick? Can he flip it around in his head and see that the way he was acting made Lawrence as uncomfortable as the way the chess-club members acting made him until he figured it out? <<

Yes. Maybe not immediately, or all at once, but Stan definitely has the thread of that idea. The next time he mashes Lawrence with too much coddling, that memory should ping up and help Stan back down sooner.

>> "He's weird," Wyatt said.
"So're you, deal with it," Lawrence said.

*snerk* That sounds like my circle of friends. <<

LOL It's something we used to say to each other in high school, and sometimes still use.

>> And Stan is right that Lawrence can be a good leader, he just hasn't learned to generalize it to other things yet. Which means that leadership is something they have in common, and a bonding point... once Stan can convince Lawrence that yes, he really is leading the chess club. <<

They have different leadership styles and skills. Lawrence has no trouble acknowledging himself as the captain of the chess club or asserting his authority therein. Where he balks is the difference between "I lead a club" and "I am a leader." Action vs. trait. Lawrence also does not have Stan's more nuanced grasp that there are different types of leadership -- Stan has seen more -- but even Stan doesn't have a fully mature understanding of leadership yet.

>> Hmmm, I wonder if Lawrence thinks that he can only do that by virtue of Mr. Marshall's reflected authority? <<

No, it's more that Lawrence sees it as leadership by default. Somebody has to do it or there won't be a club. He wants a club, so he's doing the work of leading it. That doesn't necessarily mean the person in charge is effective or admirable. Lawrence is getting what he wants out of the club, so he's not taking a close look at the fact that doing an effective job in fact makes him some kind of a leader -- at least in that context, if not as a permanent personality trait.

>> But if he didn't have the skills, the other kids would roll right over him. <<

Absolutely. In fact it's his usual social status that contributes to seeing himself as someone who can't hold rank, even when he is. The bullies have left him with a raging case of imposter syndrome in that regard.

>> Does Lawrence play any sort of RPG games? Talking about it in terms of stats might make more sense to him if he does. <<

I don't know for sure. Almost certainly Lawrence and Stan play video games; most young people do, and Lawrence is a nerd. Tabletop games require having people to play with so that's more of a tossup whether he's ever found other nerds to play with. If so, it's probably been short-term opportunities rather than long-term, but would at least lay the groundwork.

*chuckle* Which of course makes me think...

Lawrence = mage
Stan = paladin
Stephanie = cleric
Sloane = thief

That would be a riot.

[stardreamer]

That's one set of them. Another is hardcore chessplayers who play to WIN and are focused on their personal improvement rather than anyone else's. They aren't necessarily bad people but they can be very self-centered.

Right, the showoffs. I forgot about them; we get them in contradance too, but very rarely. I think there may be more of them on the coasts, where there's a lot more dancing available. Around here, we need every dancer we can get!

One thing he realized early on was that if he wanted people to join and stay, he had to make sure everyone actually got to play. It actually works, too.

I went to my high school's chess club once. Nobody would play me, or even talk to me, and I never went back. Looking back, I'm fairly sure that it was more about sexism than chess snobbery -- they didn't want girl cooties in their boys' club. I'm glad to see that Chatura is one of the best players; are there any other girls in the club?

True. Stan will probably like Han too, when they meet, because Han along with Lawrence is diligent about playing less-skilled members. So too will Stan be, once he develops enough skill to pass up the casual members. He won't quit playing Arnold just because Stan starts winning and could challenge better players.

And Arnold will get better, whether he actively focuses on it or not, by playing stronger players. At one of my jobs, my boss was a pretty good chess player and we used to play at lunch, and for a while there I got pretty damn decent, but that was a long time ago. I beat him a few times, too!

No, it's more that Lawrence sees it as leadership by default. Somebody has to do it or there won't be a club. He wants a club, so he's doing the work of leading it. That doesn't necessarily mean the person in charge is effective or admirable. Lawrence is getting what he wants out of the club, so he's not taking a close look at the fact that doing an effective job in fact makes him some kind of a leader -- at least in that context, if not as a permanent personality trait.

That's kind of what I meant about not generalizing it out.

In fact it's his usual social status that contributes to seeing himself as someone who can't hold rank, even when he is. The bullies have left him with a raging case of imposter syndrome in that regard.

Yeah, that makes sense. He feels like he can do this one specific thing, but only because everyone else lets him?

Almost certainly Lawrence and Stan play video games; most young people do, and Lawrence is a nerd. Tabletop games require having people to play with so that's more of a tossup whether he's ever found other nerds to play with. If so, it's probably been short-term opportunities rather than long-term, but would at least lay the groundwork.

Do either of them play MMORPGs? I think those have the same kind of stats, and it's often easier for an outcast to find other people to play with online.

*chuckle* Which of course makes me think...

Lawrence = mage
Stan = paladin
Stephanie = cleric
Sloane = thief

That would be a riot.

OMG, plot-bunny! Stephanie's about the right age for some of her friends to be discovering tabletop RPGs; what if she gets into one she likes and then brings some of her family in to play too? The GM would have to have a strong enough personality to balance Stan, but given that, I can see it working out really well.

Of course Stan is a paladin! I've been thinking of him that way for quite a while now. He's one of the most Lawful Good characters you have, and some of his own maturing process is going to involve gaining more of a sense of nuance.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Right, the showoffs. I forgot about them; we get them in contradance too, but very rarely. I think there may be more of them on the coasts, where there's a lot more dancing available. Around here, we need every dancer we can get! <<

The showoffs are one subset of that, who are in it for fame and attention, and can be damned annoying. They are common. Another is the hardcore chessmasters, who are in it for the achievement and for whom fame is an unfortunate side effect of success. They're not as common, but they're not really rare either -- plenty of chess teams have one. At Uni there were a good handful of kids like that, and the other kids kind of tried to buffer around their indifference to social dynamics.

>> I went to my high school's chess club once. Nobody would play me, or even talk to me, and I never went back. Looking back, I'm fairly sure that it was more about sexism than chess snobbery -- they didn't want girl cooties in their boys' club. <<

Bummer. I was one of two girls in the model rocketry club in junior high, but it was never a problem.

>> I'm glad to see that Chatura is one of the best players; are there any other girls in the club? <<

I think there's one other, yes. Lawrence does not care about any other traits than chess interest in the context of chess club. You want to play, you come and play. Shutting anyone out is soundly discouraged.

>> Do either of them play MMORPGs? I think those have the same kind of stats, and it's often easier for an outcast to find other people to play with online. <<

Found it!

CrackWar is a multiplayer online game similar to Warcraft, whose theme involves interdimensional rifts. Stan and Lawrence play it.

>> OMG, plot-bunny! Stephanie's about the right age for some of her friends to be discovering tabletop RPGs; what if she gets into one she likes and then brings some of her family in to play too? The GM would have to have a strong enough personality to balance Stan, but given that, I can see it working out really well. <<

I have an idea for this, notes jotted down. Feel free to prompt for it in Tuesday's fishbowl; it would fit the theme of "winning without defeating anyone."

>> Of course Stan is a paladin! I've been thinking of him that way for quite a while now. He's one of the most Lawful Good characters you have, <<

Yes he is. He's one of my Unsullied Heroes. I like to keep the whole spectrum in play. It goes from people like Stan and Captain Valor to Haboob and the Mandible.

>> and some of his own maturing process is going to involve gaining more of a sense of nuance. <<

Which is another thing that roleplaying does very well in the hands of an astute gamemaster.

The Terramagne FRPGs evolved from a pirate game called Krakens & Kaverns, by the way, which has its roots in our world's Tunnels and Trolls and "How much damage does a panzerfaust do to a troll, Hans?" as it does in Dungeons & Dragons.

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Different cultures, introvert and extrovert..

[mdlbear]

Sooth. Stan's kind of a fish out of water here. Fortunately he seems to have the sensitivity and social skills to handle it; a lot of extroverts don't.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> Sooth. Stan's kind of a fish out of water here. Fortunately he seems to have the sensitivity and social skills to handle it; a lot of extroverts don't. <<

He has people-skills in general. That means he adapts well to new groups and can figure out local custom by observation. I wanted to show some of the things that Lawrence is good at, like research and logic and organization, and what happens when you drop in someone with different skills.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That's one divide. Another is logical and emotional. Chess is a very cerebral game. It tends to attract people who live in their heads. Not all chess players are like that, but a majority of them are.

Re: Yes...

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I get that. I dunno what he'd be on the Myers-briggs thing.. but he leads with his heart. He's your universe version of Steve Rogers.

And Lawrence is SOOOOooo not that. Quite the opposite, except where they overlap like Venn diagrams.

Still, it's kinda interesting to see the emotive Extrovert who's pretty much the sociological norm, being the fish out of water for a change. But it's also cool that he adapts. Shows what coping skills can get you.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> Yeah, I get that. I dunno what he'd be on the Myers-briggs thing.. but he leads with his heart. He's your universe version of Steve Rogers. <<

Yay, you pegged him! Yes, Stan is one of my Unsullied Heroes. So of course I paired him with a guy who's kind of a stinker. But you'll see why they're such a good match when you meet Stan's sisters.

>> And Lawrence is SOOOOooo not that. Quite the opposite, except where they overlap like Venn diagrams. <<

Yes, exactly. They each need the contrast. This is what happens when opposites attract, day and night ... while they're still young enough to adapt, and at least one of them has the frigging social skills NOT to turn this into a lifelong hatebang. Which is a story I've been wanting to write since junior high when the farmboys started being clueless and wretched when they fell in love with each other and refused to admit it.

>> Still, it's kinda interesting to see the emotive Extrovert who's pretty much the sociological norm, being the fish out of water for a change. <<

I'm glad you enjoyed that! I want them to be balanced, never one of them having the whole upper hand. So they each have their own areas of expertise.

>> But it's also cool that he adapts. Shows what coping skills can get you. <<

It's not just coping skills for tolerating discomfort. It's observation and learning skills that allow Stan to analyze the difference between this social group and others in his experience, then figure out how to use what he already knows to work with this situation -- rather than trying to force other people to do everything his way.

Re: Yes...

[siliconshaman.livejournal.com]

Looking forward to hearing about Stan's sisters...
and yeah I misspoke I guess, or rather have a variant definition of coping skills. Coping with being immersed in a different culture is when you successfully adapt and assimilate. Observation & learning get grouped under that.

and Lawrence is many things, but stinker is not one of them. Ok, he acts out his problems, or did anyway.. but at heart he's not bad. Pretty sure he'd recoil if he saw what a truly evil super-villain was like. One who not only knows [s]he's evil, but owns it!

Actually... that might be an interesting prompt sometime. The rookies get a look at the big league players.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> Looking forward to hearing about Stan's sisters... <<

See "What We Call Chaos."

>> and yeah I misspoke I guess, or rather have a variant definition of coping skills. Coping with being immersed in a different culture is when you successfully adapt and assimilate. Observation & learning get grouped under that. <<

We might consider there to be a broad category of "ways to handle a challenging situation" within which "observation skills," "learning and problem-solving skills" and "tolerance skills" are subsets of related techniques.

>> and Lawrence is many things, but stinker is not one of them. <<

I tend to think of "stinker" as someone who can be aggravating but still likable or even lovable. Lawrence is pesky when he's agitating for attention, and can be really harsh when he doesn't have the energy or experience to be polite. But we adore him anyway, because he can also be really sweet.

>> Ok, he acts out his problems, or did anyway.. but at heart he's not bad.<<

These two things are equally true.

Yes, Lawrence still acts out, just not in all the same ways. He's not going to shake a habit years in the making after a few months. It's just less intense now because it's easier for Lawrence to get Stan's attention. (Lawrence hasn't learned yet that all he actually needs to do is say, "Stan, I need you to spend time with me.")

>> Pretty sure he'd recoil if he saw what a truly evil super-villain was like. One who not only knows [s]he's evil, but owns it! <<

So far, Lawrence has proven amenable to low and mid-range supervillains of the organized sort in Boss White's gang. In particular, Shiv is what I think of as petty evil: he's not a very good person, he revels in being a bad boy, he outright enjoys hurting people, yet he's not a genocidal maniac and he is capable of forming a certain sort of friendship based on utilitarian advantage and casual fondness. Lawrence liked him a lot until Shiv stabbed Stan and Lawrence chucked Shiv into a pile of bricks.

I have in mind someone to replace Shiv in the gang, and frankly Barf-o-Whirl is kind of a cunt. She is the type of person who thinks that rubber-crutch jokes are hilarious.

Contrast that with someone genuinely evil like Haboob or the Mandible (nobody misses him). Lawrence wouldn't tolerate them at all. He is actually effective enough to stand up against some of the big boys, based on versatility of talent -- it's the stamina and experience that he doesn't have yet.

Even someone like Brad or other people who think they're heroes but do ruinous collateral damage would offend Lawrence's sensibilities. As a supervillain he caused nuisance problems, but he didn't significantly injure anyone on purpose. (Part of that was luck.) The bullies who beat him up would have a higher evil score for liking to hurt people. We might say that Lawrence has at least a rudimentary sense of "appropriate force." In fact Stan and Lawrence are going to be indirectly cleaning up after Brad's fiasco in the park; there's a poem I want to write about them addressing public opinion of the authorities after that, because Terramagne folks do not just go "Well, fuck" and then flip the channel.

>> Actually... that might be an interesting prompt sometime. The rookies get a look at the big league players. <<

I did that with Damask at SPOON. I could do it with Antimatter & Stalwart Stan, sure.

[paantha.livejournal.com]

Again, lovely to see Lawrence somewhat more in his element. And kudos to Stan for trying so hard both at the chess and at interacting with people who are so different.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> Again, lovely to see Lawrence somewhat more in his element. <<

I'm glad you enjoyed this.

>> And kudos to Stan for trying so hard both at the chess and at interacting with people who are so different. <<

Sooth. His social skills are high enough that he can adapt to just about any group, but when it's this far out of his previous experience, it takes some work to get going.

[eller]

That's a great poem! I liked the characters - I'll have to read more from that series. I was surprised by the chess club and the players, though: my experience with chess club culture significantly differs. XD Either way, it was great to read about someone gaining board vision (very fast)! :D

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> That's a great poem! I liked the characters - I'll have to read more from that series. <<

Find more of their poems here. Not a lot are about chess, but you should be able to see the influence in Lawrence's personality.

>> I was surprised by the chess club and the players, though: my experience with chess club culture significantly differs. XD <<

While I am not a chess maven, I am a nerd, and most of my friends are nerds. I have observed and heard about different groups of chess players, and while each club has its own style, there seem to be some clusters:

* Cutthroat clubs that are all about the competition. They don't even pretend to be friends, and some of them make mean girls look like pussycats.

* Clubs that formed around chess but are as much about hanging out as they are learning the game. They are friends who play chess, and they may or may not bother with competition.

* Educational clubs that formed as a way to teach math and/or logic. These are usually run by a teacher who loves chess. High on learning and mentoring, variable on how close friendships are if any. They usually compete, but it's often for the experience rather than trying to make a big deal over advancing status.

* Nerd clubs that either formed around chess, or formed to give nerds a chance to congregate and chess is how they decided to pass the time. They are more often quirky than conventionally friendly, because nerds don't always socialize the same as other folks. They usually compete, but what they get out of it can vary and is sometimes peculiar.

At Uni High, people sat on the floor in the halls and played chess. By this I mean you'd have to step around half a dozen games from one end to the other, on most floors, not counting the games in the library and the actual chess club that met after school. I don't think our sport teams ever won anything, but our chess team was the terror of the nation. People would come home from playing other schools and talk about the other players.

So Lawrence's chess club is a combination of things I've observed or heard, selected for what fits that particular setting. You'd probably like Terramagne -- many of the parks have game tables with a chess/checkers board or other layouts. They also have introvert parties, and folks often bring out board games, puzzles, etc. there.

What is your experience of chess club culture? More input is always useful.

>> Either way, it was great to read about someone gaining board vision (very fast)! :D <<

Stan is a superhero, that gives him an ulterior advantage. Also, he already knew how to strategize visually and mentally, so it was more a matter of making the leap from football to chess than learning a whole new skill from scratch. Most people take longer, and only a few folks in Lawrence's club are really great at it.