Soo... I have had this idea for a while that I wanted to run by you. It's really your domain since it's about how Alexi's house works. I hope you like it, but I'm up for any changes or corrections or anything if you don't.

In my mind, Alexi has more slaves than the house really needs or wants, even for a manor and grounds of that size. Even if many slaves only work half-time or something, it's just a lot. I get the impression that he's not really buying slaves because he needs them, but as a way to protect them from other masters and give them a safe place to live.

So, of course, Joseph works on giving them jobs that they want and will enjoy, and stuff. But I wonder... what if a group of slaves decided that they wanted to spend some of their working hours on some kind of project, like a greenhouse or even building a car or coding a game or something? I think it would be cool if he let them do stuff like that. Since there is so much excess, he could let them learn what they want to learn and, within reason, work on what they want to work on. I'm having trouble explaining it at the moment, but I just thought the idea of Alexi's house really being just this safe haven and burgeoning creative "hackerspace"-ish area for slaves sounded really cool.

Joseph would be in charge of making sure the necessities got done of course, and perhaps he and Alexi originally came up with the idea behind Tristan's back, in the last couple of years when he was too insane to notice or care what his slaves were doing so long as the house was clean, his orders were followed, and his meals were delivered.

So, does that work, or am I doing too much projecting my idealism?

I like the idea, let's go with that. Since Alexi's major business is slavery devices, it's a give in, as he has thought and said before, that he does have other businesses. While much of the activity you speak of would be recreation, I can see the slaves occasionally coming up with things for, say, his toy industry, and his agriculture industry.

Well, recreation isn't always just recreational. They would be learning skills while doing this stuff. If I go and write an android game app, then yeah... maybe I did it for fun, but I also learned how to code in Android, which is basically Java with a few more libraries and some minor differences. So, they are learning job skills that they could use once Alexi frees them, or that might help him now. There's more to running a business than just the product, of course.

So anyway, I'm glad we are agreed on that... Now, I'm ALMOST envious of Alexi's slaves lol. :-P Except for the whole... actually still being slaves part...

Oh, and I was really impressed with your story on the history of cigars and tobacco... that was a really well-done world-expanding piece. I know it's just a small detail, but I love small details like that. :-)

I'm glad you like it. I hate smoking myself, however it is one of the best ways, at least in my mind, to define a character in any story. Since I don't like it, i give it to people I do not like, and normally make them rather uncaring when it comes to how the people around them react to it :P I added int he part about cigarettes and the elimination of them, along with the fact that Mois and Alexi don't smoke, again mostly because I personally hate the habit :P Since I'm "Playing" them, it would not do for me to try and pretend to know what liking the activity is like.

I hate the habit and I don't do it, but I know enough people who do that I think of it as a poor stress relief. Smoking is a crutch for a lot of people, to calm nerves, deal with stress and depression. I just calm my nerves with other vices, so I can hardly fault them for it.

Gidian did accurately come across as a disgusting windbag. The bits about "The least I can do is grace you with my presence" and the werewolf definitely worked towards that. :-) I felt pretty bad for Alexi having to deal with him, especially when trying to keep Erik's emotions in check. Erik has no patience for people like that. Honestly though, if Alexi is having this much trouble after just one dose, I'm worried about him after several.

I worry for him too, and I also know a lot of smokers. My mother would have been smoking in the delivery room if it was allowed. :P Okay, she wasn't that bad, but she didn't stop smoking until three months before I was born, and picked it up right afterwards, and still to this day smokes. So does my father, and most of my other relatives. My Uncle Don smokes cigars. I find cigars and pipe tobacco less repugnant than cigarettes, in fact I love the smell of some tobaccos, but cigarettes always stink, make me cough and such. I calm my nerves by writing, and other harmless things that are not bad for my body, so I can fault people for doing something that they know is bad for them :P

I eat too much mostly... that's my vice that replaces smoking or drugs. It's probably just as bad for me, but most others would be worse. I could try alcohol, but that's more expensive. Cigarettes would kill my throat, and I considered pot for a while until I smelled it... and that was the end of that.

Besides that, I write, though that sometimes stresses me out as well. And I read and watch shows and play video games. Arguably, all of that's bad for me because I'm not exercising enough.

You must know that not everyone is as good at developing the right habits and best coping mechanisms. Don't fault people too much.

But enough about that. It's far too close to real life for me.

If Erik can handle his own emotions and still lead hundreds of refugees while rarely punching anyone (and never anyone who doesn't deserve it), then Alexi can surely learn to handle the echoes of such emotions.

*Nods* He will endeavor to do so :P

I remember you had some plans for the auction? How far would you like for me to write for you to put in your plot elements?

Well, the base of the plan is a seller, who recognizes Joseph, and also knows Alexi's taste, will want to show a very untamed slave(Haven't picked the race yet, but if you want a hand in that, I am open to suggestions. I only ask that it at least has a mostly human form, even if it's natural form is not humanoid, like Elaria.) so any point before actually meeting the slave works. I have a few ideas for the slave myself, if you would like to hear them, I can list them here if you like :P

Im fine with whatever. Maybe some kind of woodland spirit with a natural form of plantlife? Just a random 4 am idea though.

Feel free to tell me what you have in mind, or if you prefer to wait, that's fine too.

I'll take it up to when he's looking at the merchandise in the pre-show, prior to the actual auction.

I was thinking something nature based as well. I see it being a bit vicious, so I was thinking we could give a random name to a race that has the qualities we want. I see it climbing walls like a gecko, and naturally longer canines than a human, with a set of translucent wings it can use to camouflage itself. Putting in your suggestion, we could have it be able to disappear into plant life? Wild hair, bright eyes. . .Green or blue. I can see this also catering to Alexi's unique tastes, as in, this creature is very very rare, the only one not owned right now, and because of it's capabilities the only way to keep it is in a room completely lacking anything to hide in or against. I see the only other. . .Say, three, in existence, would spend their entire lives only for display in cages of stone, with one wall as glass so it could be shown off. What do you think?

Sounds good, and definitely something like what Alexi would be interested in, from what I've seen. :-)

I leave in less than 24 hours for DragonCon, so I probably won't be able to post until after I get back. I'll try to sneak something in, but I have a lot of stuff to do before I go.

Oh! Do you want to do Alexi's conversation with Erik and Joseph's time at the auction at the same time? Probably would mean very long posts, but I've gotten used to that in this one.

Yesh, that would work for me. Sorry for trying to pull such long posts out of you. I recall as we started RPing together how you asked me not to ask too much of you, and I am sorry if that is what I am doing now.

No... it's fine. I've gotten used to the long posts. I like being challenged, but I just don't want to be judged harshly if I'm not up to par.

And now that I know my characters, it's a lot easier. Unlike you, I don't really spawn a character knowing everything about him/her. It's more like I meet/create them and then develop and learn about them as the story goes. Since we've been at this a while, I probably know my characters almost as well as you know yours now.

That being said, no promises on my ability to actually post today... Without boring you with the details, I still have coursework and such to do before I leave, as the rest of this week has been a nightmare of getting into the right courses when the adviser had nothing in the system regarding my transfer credits.

You have been doing fine. Better in fact :P *Sigh* I wish, just once, I could do that. . . .Learn about my character. The closest I get is when I'm actually writing, and I realize that I didn't put any thought into the character's habits or history, so I didn't see what I wrote about them coming. It's not that I forgot, I simply. . . .Had it pushed to the side for so long that I hadn't looked at it in a while, so it would almost feel new, if it didn't feel so natural. . . . Like how Mois was not affected by their father's madness, and how Alexi is almost double so. I tend to feel it all anew when the two of them are together, and Mois begins mourning for his brother. . . . I too meet my characters, however rather than the casual greeting you get in the real world with people, it's like they walk up, shake my hand, and for an instant I am them, their lives permanently ingrained into me as if I'd lived it. It's useful, but knowing everything can get old :P

No problem, RL comes first, and as I have said many times, I am patient. I'm thinking of calling the race the Vallah, in honor of Valhalla, the warrior's heaven, as a testament to it's indomitable spirit. What do you think?

I don't know if I ever get to the point that I actually "am" the character... except in the very midst of writing some posts. Overall though, it's closer to something like the bonding potion, though perhaps a later dose. Part of the reason I like such dramatic stories is that I actually will feel an echo of the fear or anger that my character is feeling, and that makes things more fun to write. In that instant, I am the disgraced but proud rebel leader, or the guilt-ridden slave, or the cocky adventurer... but then I come down from it and remember just how lame I am in comparison.

I like that, Vallah. It does sound like Joseph is going to have difficulty getting this one home, though. :-)

I see it having to be knocked out for the trip. I am sure Alexi has suitable accommodations in the basement for him in the basement until he can either talk the lad down, or use a clever control device.

Sounds even more difficult than Erik... that should be fun to see and to play. :-)

Quite possibly. . . . *Evil smirk*