Benzaiten

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@Prisk I really like how you wrote your relations. And the bit about Melanie is really cute ^^

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@nodogs If you need a different type of relationship for Jack, I can always change Mel's sheet to what you need.

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MELANIE CAVILL █ act one: way down we go Cavill Farm ▸ Ritman High [Football Field] Interacting with @Prisk, @Gisk, @The Man Emperor, @Salsa Verde ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Melanie's hands were deep in the guts of her father's old truck that had broken down more often than not these past few years. Her fingers reached for a pair of slip joined plieres she had placed close by as she bent down to reach into the engine. Half the day had passed since Melanie started fixing things on the farm today. Her father was very capable of doing most of these jobs but he had grown older and his hands had started to shake and hurt more frequently. Melanie worried about what would become of the farm if her parents couldn't keep up with it anymore. During the three days she had been here already she had fixed up the chicken pen, mowned the lawn, groomed the horses every day, redone some of the wooden fencing around the paddock, took a look at the old tractor and fixed it up, repaired some shelves in the barn, and took care of walking the two family dogs. Though her parents were capable of doing all these things, the work on the farm was too much and things got left undone. Of course, they had hired help but even so the days were short and their energy grew thinner. Mel pulled herself up and out from under the hood of the truck with a heavy sigh. She blew some hair out of her face and wiped over her cheek with the back of her hand for good measure, smearing some black residue onto her skin in the process. As her eyes fixated on the engine, her mind began calculating problem and solution possibilities and their costs when ... vvhhhrrt. Her head spun around to the brightly lit screen of her vibrating smartphone she had tossed aside onto the grass. The screen read 34 new messages. "Oh shit." Mel teared the gloves off her hands and tossed them to the ground before swiftly bending down and picking the phone up. A quick glance at the time assured her she was late for the reunion. She pocketed the phone and closed the truck's hood. With hurried steps she made her way up to the house while trying to clean her hands with a ragged old dishcloth. With her elbow she open the back door of the house and walked straight through to the front where the kitchen was. She threw the dirty dishcloth onto the kitchen counter and began to rinse her hands under the running water at the sink. From the adjacent dining room, which had no wall separating it from the kitchen, her parents sat in their respective seats working on whatever crossword puzzle they had found in the papers this time. Her mother looked up. "Don't tell me you're not going." "Did you fix it?", her father interjected. Inspecting her hands, Mel found that she had gotten them clean of the little dirt the gloves had put on them while working on the truck. Grateful that she didn't need to worry about appearance, she turned to her parents once she stopped the running water. "I will have to disassemble the engine and then evaluate the condition of the internal components to identify the source of the problem. And then maybe I could fix it. Or..." She stepped around the table and placed a kiss on her father's cheek. "You could ask a mechanic. You know, since I am an engineer, Dad. I am not a mechanic." "16-year-old Mel would have scoffed at me had I ever dared insinuate a mechanic could fix my old truck rather than she could." He gave her a playfully stern look. Melanie smiled at him. "Oh no, not with the shoes again, Melanie", her mother said as she realized the dirt the girl had pulled in. "And I would still scoff at you, if I had the time to fix it. I think it's time to bring the old chump to a mechanic and trade it in. It's past its years. I could possibly fix it up but the cost might not be worth it and I won't be around to keep tabs on it." "Isn't that just the challenge you like?", he teased her. "Hm", she smiled. "I am not around that much anymore, Dad. If you won't fix it up the way it needs, I don't think it's worth the energy." Her father scoffed at her just like Melanie had done when she was a teenager. "Please tell me you're still going, Melanie", her mother brought the topic back up. Melanie rounded the table to plant a kiss on her mother's cheek. "I am leaving right now." "Good. Maybe you can reunite with some of your old friends. Or make new ones." "I have friends, Mom." "That one girl in Australia?" "Yes, in fact." "Good luck, Engineer!", her father proclaimed. "Now go, you're late." "I love you", she said as she grabbed her jacket from the hallway. "Don't stay up, I mean it." "Oh Mel, your face!", her mother called out but Melanie didn't hear it. She walked out of the front door and into the cold air to make her way to her truck. Once sat inside, she started the engine and took a look at those missed messages. She had silenced the group chat almost immediately after joining it. The constant pinging and vibrating of her phone had driven her insane. The notification that had alerted her to those other missed texts was actually a rather unimportant one. Just an e-mail reminding her of some online event for a game she recently checked out. She would unsubscribe from that later. Melanie put her phone away again and started to drive her old truck down the street. Luckily it was but a fifteen-minute drive from her parents' home to her old high school. After an uneventful ride, Mel parked her truck, jumped out, and locked the door before she began to round the building. The text messages in that overwhelming group chat had told her to slip through the fence as the school grounds were locked. What evn am I doing here? Once more she wondered why she had let her parents talk her into going. But she was already here, so she found the hole in the fence and slipped through it. The text messages had further indicated that Melanie would have to meet some people she wasn't sure she was ready to see again. How would it be to see Meir again? And Sara? She wondered if they had kept in touch with each other, they seemed so close back then. And of course, Dante would be there. She only hoped seeing her former best friend again would feel like so many people online described it - you pick up right where you left off. Though she much rather expected it to be awkward instead. Melanie was never one who easily navigated emotions, especially those of others. As Mel made her way over to the football field, she could start making out some silhouettes. With a deep breath, she let her mind wander to the nervous spot in her chest for one moment only. The person she was most anxious about seeing again was Natalie Miller. She wasn't even sure why. Perhaps because Natalie's actions had always confused her the most and she was unsure what to make of them, still to this day. Or maybe because she was scared Natalie would look at her with barely any recognition, having almost forgotten about the interactions they had shared. Does it matter? You won't see them again, just like you didn't see them again after high school. As she finally got close enough to be in earshot, Mel put on a soft smile. She could make out the unmistakable form of Natalie, the only person Mel had seen as a grown-up. Well, seen on social media. But she also easily recognized Meir. He had definitely changed but it was unmistakably Meir. He had grown a beard, lost some weight, and seemed all in all in good health and spirit to Melanie's eye. Good for him. As she closed the last gap to join the group, Mel gave Meir a hearty smile before addressing the group. "Hi. Am I a little late? Or a little early?", she asked, wholeheartedly unaware of the spot of grease smeared across her cheek from earlier. Melanie let her eyes wander to see if she could spot anyone else further away from the group but it seemed they were the only five people here so far. Or she had totally missed a change of plans and was entirely too late. ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

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@Laertes For sure. I would mark him down as best friends then for their high school times. Do you want them to have kept contact regardless of gaming or that it all just fizzled out after high school? I personally would find it nice for Mel to have at least one person she somehow managed to stay in contact with after school.

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@Laertes True, she would probably find his over-enthusiastic approach offputting. But maybe that is exactly what she needs to form a friendship. Cause she tends to disappear into her solitude hole sometimes and forgets that keeping up with friends is a thing you do. So if Dante took care of that initial "hey let's be friends" part, maybe they formed a sort of bond.

I see that Dante is into computer stuff, would he by any chance also be into gaming? Cause if so, I can see Mel and him having the kind of mutual friendship where they meet up once in a while to game and otherwise would meet up online to co-op. She's not a hardcore gamer, given that she didn't have the time with all her tinkering and studying, but she would whip out her PlayStation or Nintendo console at least 3 times week. You can find her playing all sorts of things, examples include Genshin Impact, Life Is Strange, Horizon Zero Dawn (an absolute favorite of hers), Elden Ring, but also things like Hollow Knight, Zelda, Pokemon, and Undertale. She has a wide variety of things she enjoys in that regard but her favorites always seem to be some sort of RPGs. If you think Dante would be a gamer, then I can see them having been friends throughout high school and Dante would probably be the one person Melanie has had contact with the longest after high school, simply because they were gaming together and if they'd played in some online game together, she would ping him when they were both online and co-op.

So their relationship could very well be best friends if they'd stayed in contact. Though I am basing this entire friendship around them both gaming right now. But it would fit Melanie perfectly to have a best friend away in San Fran while she's in Manchester.

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I wrote down Melanie's relations to other characters using your sheet, @Aeolian. Hope that's okay.

If anything doesn't ring true for you, just let me know. I'm open to suggestions. I also haven't any clue what Melanie and Dante's relationship would have looked like. I could use some suggestions here, @Laertes.

So far Mel's sheet is missing "best friend" and "partnership" in terms of labels. I am okay with this but if anyone has ideas to claim those labels, feel free to share them with me. She doesn't necessarily need to have had either with PCs though.

Relationships

MELANIE CAVILL

"The universe is indifferent. It doesn't care about our stupid little plans or our fragile little hearts."

M E L A N I E . C A V I L L
"The Tinkerer"
Melanie's relationship to herself is mostly positive. She has no crippling insecurities and rarely feels the need to overcompensate for something, although her focus on always keeping busy and achieving the next thing might be interpreted as such. She has always had a deep love for tinkering and building things and has to this day kept that hobby as her main free time activity. Alongside tinkering, she finds D&D and gaming relaxing, both things that keep her mind thinking and running instead of shutting it down. Slowing down her thoughts seems to be something she is incapable of. Melanie has a healthy sense of self and pride. She doesn't feel the need to compete often as she doesn't strive for external validation. She finds a lot of safety in the fact that she had always known who she is and what she likes. This leads to her being rather slow to accept confusing feelings. The idea of indulging in romantic or deep connection is frequently being pushed back into a corner of her mind. If such thoughts occur, she tends to overindulge in her tinkering to an extent of losing sleep. If something scares her, it is loss of control. And what quicker way to lose control of oneself than to engage in romantic behavior?

⚜ Acquaintances || ☯ Neutral || ☮ Friends || ♫ Best Friends || ♥ Crush || ⚤ Boyfriend/Girlfriend || ☠ Disliked

☮ M E I R . A M O S . M A G G I D ☮ @Salsa Verde
Meir was a friend to Melanie. Their shared interst in academics meant they understood each other's passions on a different level than others could. Though he was closer to Sara, Meir and Mel got along just fine and would hang out occasionally. This continued when they both got accepted into MIT. They started to lose contact gradually when they stopped sharing classes with each other and eventually it fizzled out after graduating from MIT. Mel knows he is a teacher at MIT and Meir knows Mel is an engineer. But since she moved to Manchester after graduation, they both didn't manage to uphold communication.

⚜ ☯ W I L L I A M . B I S H O P ☯ ⚜ @Gisk
Melanie didn't really know William Bishop. She knew what everyone knew about him: He was a musician and he performed in front of the school sometimes. That was it. He did attend one session of Dungeons and Dragons during High School. And he was a pretty decent player, Mel would have been okay with him coming back but he never did. Does that make him an acquaintance? Mel didn't really think about him after graduating from Ritman High. She doesn't even know he made it in the music industry.

☮ S A R A . Z H O U ☮ @banjoanjo
Sara and Meir being as close as they were meant that Mel automatically got to know Sara through her friendship with Meir. They formed somewhat of a friend group, the three of them, hanging out on occassion, though Sara and Meir always had a closer bond to each other than to Mel. They shared an academic passion and thrive that lead to them naturally becoming friends. Melanie admired the way Sara went at a problem and got it done! Just pure efficiency. From Melanie's perspective, Sara seemed to have a foot in every extra-curricular known to mankind at one point. She may have asked Melanie to join the science decathlon once or twice - God knows she has the wits for it - but Mel wasn't one to join any school clubs, the D&D club being that rare exception. After High School, contact fizzled out as neither of them was very good at keeping in contact when there was no regular activity they shared.

⚜ ☯ J A C K . D A N I E L . W I L K E R S O N ☯ ⚜ @nodogs
Melanie had multiple run-ins with Jack during their High School days. Mostly this was when Mel came out of her solitude cave and joined some of the sporty types in a game of soccer or basketball or whatever else they were playing that season. She never joined any team, but she would play ball with them occasionally and it just so happened that sometimes Jack could be found hanging around, too. During those rare moments they circled the same people, Jack and Mel would not share many words. Some teachers would nudge Melanie to help Jack with school work, probably in an attempt to get Jack to care more, but the one time Melanie gave in and actually offered to meet up for something like tutoring, Jack declined. And Mel never asked again. Though she never shook the feeling that there was much more lying under that brooding surface than what Jack showed. After High School, Mel only saw Jack once more. During one of Melanie's family visits to Delton, she drove past Ms. Sullivan’s house and saw Jack cleaning windows.

⚜ O L E A N D E R . O K O N E D O ⚜@Aeolian
Melanie always thought Oleandar was a rather cute individual and she could see a lot of potential in him. He seemed like someone really good to cuddle with, watch movies with and do all those friendship and romantic things Mel never experienced during High School. In that way, she kind of envied him a little. But naturally, she didn't let herself think about that. And Oleander always seemed a little too insecure to really embrace the things that made him wonderful to be around. Due to Melanie not really being able to manage those emotions and just being prone to solitude, they never became the friends they probably could have been if she just put some more effort into it. Oleander turned out to be the person that hugged Melanie most, outside of her closest friends and family. And she enjoyed that. In an attempt to do something to initiate a friendship, she asked Oleander to join the D&D club once but it was declined. It probably would have been better to ask him to the movies but Melanie wasn't that emotionally smart back then.

☯ M A R C O . V A L E N S I ☯ @udonoodles
Melanie didn't know Marco but she knew his music. On occassion, she would get keys to unoccupied classrooms so she could work on her subjects in peace. One of those rooms was right next to the music room. Melanie always enjoyed hearing Marco play, it was a welcome background sound for when she studied. But at some point, Marco started to show up to the music room less often until he finally stopped coming altogether. Mel never talked to Marco and the only reason she could put a face to the music was that Marco had performed in front of school regularly. She vaguely knows that he had some health stuff going on but that is the extent of it.

☯ D A N T E . I B A R R A ☯ @Laertes
TBA

?? ♥ ☮ ⚜ N A T A L I E . M I L L E R ⚜ ☮ ♥ ?? @Prisk
There is always that one person during High School, isn't there? For Melanie that was Natalie Miller. It started out as a convience agreement. Melanie disliked group projects, she needed all the work to be up to her standards and couldn't handle dealing with other students when it came to her academic success. Natalie disliked doing schoolwork and didn't care as much for her academic standing. They soon formed a lose convinience-based "friendship" where they would partner up for group projects so Melanie could do the work and just give Natalie the required information to seem plausible in front of the teachers. Whenever teachers thought Natalie used, paid, or even blackmailed Mel, they both backed up the same story. It was really beneficial to both sides. Though there was this little thing where Natalie's "friends" (why did she hang out with them!?) would occasionally get bored of their usual targets and find Melanie an interesting torture subject. It never lasted long though and the more benefits Natalie got out of their acquaintance ("friendship"?), the more those plastics left Melanie alone. They went on to get along quite well, at least whenever those other "friends" weren't around. During the years, some sort of physical attraction developed. It all found its climax when the two of them had a fling right before the end of High School. After High School, Melanie would google Natalie's name and browse her Instagram once or twice a year out of curiosity where Natalie was at but other than that, Melanie didn't think about her too often.

☯ S A M U E L . S A B I S T O N ☯ @Rockette
Melanie can't say she ever knew Samuel. He sat at the back of class, never bothered her directly and they didn't really run in the same circles. She knew he was a pained individual with troubling emotions by the way he presented himself and seemed to not care. Those who didn't care in loud silence always had something going on. So she stayed away from him. Emotions really weren't her thing, be it those openly displayed or those deeply buried and burned.

☠ T R Y S T A N . K I E L . Z A R A G O Z A . S A L A Z A R ☠ @The Man Emperor
There was something about this person that Melanie disliked, though she couldn't quite place it. At first, she just thought it was another smart kid who would be at the end of the plastic's mercy and then go on to make something of himself after school. But Melanie noticed that something was different about this boy. Not only did he seem to assemble a group around himself - which was fine; people stuck together in high school for protection, she knew this much - but he seemed to have a keen understanding of the intricate web of social relations that Mel had only ever seen displayed by those who abused that knowledge to bully others. Though she never talked to Trystan, she heard things said about him. Pairing those things with her gut feeling, Melanie stayed away from him. She would still be wary of him upon meeting him again.

OBLIVION

@Salsa Verde Quick question, how late is it IC and when is the demolition supposed to happen?

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@Gisk I agree, I don't see Mel and Billy really mingling. She would have seen him perform for the school like most people. And she would remember that one session he was in if he attended D&D club once.

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@Prisk That sounds good. Mel wouldn't have thought anything of the fling other than they had that attraction and went with it once and that was that. But Natalie would have stayed in her mind nonetheless. Melanie would have probably only written essays for Natalie and no one else because she kind of liked her in a way and it didn't bother her. She also wouldn't have had time to do it for more people or on a very regular basis cause she was always busy tinkering and studying.

I think Melanie would consider doing it again (meaning with Natalie). Which puts us at an interesting starting point for them IC. She wouldn't admit it, even to herself, at this point, but I can see Mel being rather quick to fall back into that feeling from back then, whatever spur-in-the-moment heat it was. Depending on how things play out IC, she might backtrack then and realize she has played that up in her head quite a bit.

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@Prisk Dope. Should we discuss how they reacted after that fling? And for the grade thing, well Mel is a liiiiittttleee bit controlling when it comes to her work - which back then included her grades of course. So she would have happily done all the work herself to ensure it's up to her standards and she wouldn't have judged Natalie for "taking advantage" of her cause this way she didn't have to deal with someone messing up her grade through some stupid group project. So it would have made a lot of sense for Melanie to be fine with doing group projects with Natalie. Though she would insist on meeting up at least 2-3 times before handing in the work to bring Natalie up to date on what the project was about, what she had to present and how to, etc. So Mel would have actually ensured Natalie got away with it just fine in front of teachers and Natalie would never have had to worry about Mel snitching or letting her look "dumb" in front of class cause Mel didn't care about those things.

And though Mel had high academic standards for herself, she never held others to it. So she really didn't care if people decided to cheat in school, including paying others to write essays for them. She was entirely neutral on that front. She didn't have a "moral standard" attached to that academic passion, there was no feeling of superiority over those who cheated or who weren't as enthusiastic about their grades as her. She didn't even care for any academic recognition outside of her own grades.

Edit: As for after graduation, I'd say that Melanie probably had times where she looked up Nat's name and checked her social media. Mel wouldn't really be on social media herself, just occasionally have that sudden "I wonder what she's doing now" once in a while. She wouldn't admit this though. (Though maybe she accidentally left a like somewhere and Natalie noticed, who knows...)