Sokka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theideaguy) wrote2014-09-15 10:29 pm
theideaguy) wrote2014-09-15 10:29 pm
Plan D | [Action/Text]
[Action]
[Ever since the event ended, Sokka has not been in the best of moods. The university shift has messed with his head in some pretty violent ways, and the current shift isn't treating him much better. While he certainly struggled with coping with university classes and the whole thought of being in school again (which, to be honest, there wasn't much of a school to be had i the Southern Water Tribe before the war ended), it's girl issues that have got him down... and namely the sneaking sense that somehow he's betrayed or jilted Suki, his girlfriend from back home who isn't here. All because, for some reason, the recent Shift made him fall head over heels (actually, that's an understatement) for Asami.
Not to mention the fact that he's seeing ghosts of Suki (and even Yue) practically everywhere in Luceti, there's no real safe haven. But the least safe haven is House 56... because everyone he knows—Asami included—are all there. And even if it wasn't his fault (a lot of people have been saying they've been acting weird), well... it certainly doesn't help that some of his dreams aren't of Suki.
So Sokka is spending A LOT of time not at home. For the most part, he will be at the Smithy, Seventh Heaven (no, he's not eating at home right now), the village square, or at the beach. If you run into him, you might notice he's not his usualloud extroverted self and definitely has three shades of guilt written across his face.]
[Action / Smithy / Locked to Leon and Jane Foster]
[One of the primary projects Sokka has been working on in his spare time is figuring out how Poké Balls work. He remembers quite well that Crystal broke one a long time ago, and thanks to Ash and Jane Foster, he's come up with a plan to try to actually create Poké Balls so that, maybe... just maybe... he can understand them enough to fix them. Not that he's told Crystal any of this, mind, but it's a project of passion for the time being trying to reverse engineer technology.
Granted, he's not gotten far yet. However, if someone were to invade upon the inner sanctums of the forge, one might find Sokka in the finishing touches of molding and assembling two metallic half-spheres together, complete with a clasp and a release button. It's not a functional ball by any means; though there's clearly an effort to try to somehow power it inside (there's some wires sticking out of it for good measure). There's also a couple of obviously failed attempts to create two perfect half-spheres. At least his latest creation resembles the real thing.]
[Action / House 56]
[Because Sokka is beating himself up on the inside, he's avoiding confronting the problem, and that means sneaking in and out of the house at a couple of odd hours. The door to his room is locked, and generally he isn't doing lunch or dinner at Avatar House like he usually does. Instead, there's a series of tied together sheets sticking out of his window during the daytime hours.
It's not that Sokka doesn't want to talk to anyone there.It's just that Sokka doesn't want to talk to anyone there. It's that Sokka would prefer to reason it out himself before confronting the situation, but honestly... given how tired he looks, given how little sleep he's been getting, maybe it's a good idea for a few good friends to actually talk with him. Were someone going to be mean and remove the makeshift ladder to his room, he's going to go up the slide and have to pick the lock to his room, and that's... going to take a small bit of time.]
[Text / Locked against Asami]
So hypothetically, let's say that someone has a girlfriend waiting for them back home. And that that girlfriend isn't here in Luceti. And hypothetically, let's also say that, well, maybe due to forces completely beyond your control, like maybe during a shift, that person happened to get into a rather... deep relationship with someone else.
So then (hypothetically mind!), is that considered cheating?
Even more so, is it considered cheating if that person is still having dreams about that new relationship? That they weren't responsible for?
Oh yeah, and this person is also seeing ghosts or spirits of both this current and his former girlfriends everywhere here. Wherever he goes. As he's going to work, as he's eating lunch, at the beach. When he wakes up they're in his bed. Sometimes it seems like they want him to follow them, but then they turn around a corner and disappear.
I'm going insane.
It's driving this person insane. Hypothetically.
[Good save, Sokka. I'm sure they're not going to figure it out.]
EDIT: [Action / House 56 (a day or two later) / locked to Asami]
[After doing a lot of thinking and a lot of talking, Sokka has at least come to a few decisions about where things were. He still didn't entirely know where he felt, and he especially didn't where Asami was after it was all said and done with, but he did know deep down that he had to resolve this whole thing with her, partially for his own sake (and also so that he didn't feel like he had to keep sneaking through the house to avoid awkward meet-ups).
And so finally, instead of climbing up through the window, he comes into the front door and... hoping that he's lucky to catch her at home, knocks on Asami's door. While during the shift he practically could come in uninvited, he wasn't going to do that here.]
Hey, Asami, you in?
[Ever since the event ended, Sokka has not been in the best of moods. The university shift has messed with his head in some pretty violent ways, and the current shift isn't treating him much better. While he certainly struggled with coping with university classes and the whole thought of being in school again (which, to be honest, there wasn't much of a school to be had i the Southern Water Tribe before the war ended), it's girl issues that have got him down... and namely the sneaking sense that somehow he's betrayed or jilted Suki, his girlfriend from back home who isn't here. All because, for some reason, the recent Shift made him fall head over heels (actually, that's an understatement) for Asami.
Not to mention the fact that he's seeing ghosts of Suki (and even Yue) practically everywhere in Luceti, there's no real safe haven. But the least safe haven is House 56... because everyone he knows—Asami included—are all there. And even if it wasn't his fault (a lot of people have been saying they've been acting weird), well... it certainly doesn't help that some of his dreams aren't of Suki.
So Sokka is spending A LOT of time not at home. For the most part, he will be at the Smithy, Seventh Heaven (no, he's not eating at home right now), the village square, or at the beach. If you run into him, you might notice he's not his usual
[Action / Smithy / Locked to Leon and Jane Foster]
[One of the primary projects Sokka has been working on in his spare time is figuring out how Poké Balls work. He remembers quite well that Crystal broke one a long time ago, and thanks to Ash and Jane Foster, he's come up with a plan to try to actually create Poké Balls so that, maybe... just maybe... he can understand them enough to fix them. Not that he's told Crystal any of this, mind, but it's a project of passion for the time being trying to reverse engineer technology.
Granted, he's not gotten far yet. However, if someone were to invade upon the inner sanctums of the forge, one might find Sokka in the finishing touches of molding and assembling two metallic half-spheres together, complete with a clasp and a release button. It's not a functional ball by any means; though there's clearly an effort to try to somehow power it inside (there's some wires sticking out of it for good measure). There's also a couple of obviously failed attempts to create two perfect half-spheres. At least his latest creation resembles the real thing.]
[Action / House 56]
[Because Sokka is beating himself up on the inside, he's avoiding confronting the problem, and that means sneaking in and out of the house at a couple of odd hours. The door to his room is locked, and generally he isn't doing lunch or dinner at Avatar House like he usually does. Instead, there's a series of tied together sheets sticking out of his window during the daytime hours.
It's not that Sokka doesn't want to talk to anyone there.
[Text / Locked against Asami]
So hypothetically, let's say that someone has a girlfriend waiting for them back home. And that that girlfriend isn't here in Luceti. And hypothetically, let's also say that, well, maybe due to forces completely beyond your control, like maybe during a shift, that person happened to get into a rather... deep relationship with someone else.
So then (hypothetically mind!), is that considered cheating?
Even more so, is it considered cheating if that person is still having dreams about that new relationship? That they weren't responsible for?
Oh yeah, and this person is also seeing ghosts or spirits of both this current and his former girlfriends everywhere here. Wherever he goes. As he's going to work, as he's eating lunch, at the beach. When he wakes up they're in his bed. Sometimes it seems like they want him to follow them, but then they turn around a corner and disappear.
It's driving this person insane. Hypothetically.
[Good save, Sokka. I'm sure they're not going to figure it out.]
EDIT: [Action / House 56 (a day or two later) / locked to Asami]
[After doing a lot of thinking and a lot of talking, Sokka has at least come to a few decisions about where things were. He still didn't entirely know where he felt, and he especially didn't where Asami was after it was all said and done with, but he did know deep down that he had to resolve this whole thing with her, partially for his own sake (and also so that he didn't feel like he had to keep sneaking through the house to avoid awkward meet-ups).
And so finally, instead of climbing up through the window, he comes into the front door and... hoping that he's lucky to catch her at home, knocks on Asami's door. While during the shift he practically could come in uninvited, he wasn't going to do that here.]
Hey, Asami, you in?
[smithy action]
But that doesn't mean that he doesn't have time to drop in to the smithy. While his role in the smithy has diminished since becoming a teacher, he still goes in to take stock of supplies in the back so that the tinkerers had stuff to work with.
In any case, it's as he's dropping off a box of bolts and screws in a particular corner of the forge that he notices Sokka -- and, perhaps more notably, the object he's working on.]
A Poké ball?
[Action]
He spins around when Leon mentions the sphere, and his eyes flit from Leon to the Ball and then back to him.]
Actually, yeah. It... doesn't work obviously, but I've finally figured out how to make the shape of them.
[Action]
Huh. Did one of the trainers ask you to do some research on them, too?
[Action]
Yes and no, you might say. The idea in part was mine, but one of the other trainers liked the idea, so he let me borrow this as a starting point.
[Sokka opens a drawer and pulls out a half-sphere that is the lower half of an actual Poké Ball.]
Seem one of the trainers broke one of her Poké Balls, and since their creatures seem to be a big thing to them, I mentioned that I'd be willing to look into seeing if it could be fixed. Hence... artificial and, as of yet, unfunctional Poké Balls.
[Pause. Light bulb.]
Wait, did you say "too"?
[Action]
When Sokka inquires right back, he laughs.]
Yeah. One of the trainers came to me asking to do some research on how they're constructed, just in case the ones he has somehow break. 'Guess it's a more common problem than I thought.
[Action]
Hard to say, but it also seems that this world is... admittedly a little rougher than what they're used to. They solve all their disputes by making animals fight instead of just getting up in each other's face and slugging each other. I'm still trying to figure out if that's admirable or just incredibly silly.
[He gives Leon a shrug, completely bemused.]
Anyway, I borrowed a broken one from Ash, but it was only good enough to give me the shape. He didn't want me to tear it apart, so the how behind it is still kind of a mystery... other than I'm guessing it needs some sort of power source to hold it. I've been doing a lot of research on it at the library, buuuut it's taking a long while to grasp. My world doesn't quite have electricity yet, aaaaand I'm not exactly the magic-waving guy. [He waves his hands through the air as if to simulate that, for punctuation.]
Right now I've just got the shell.
[Action]
[As Sokka talks again, he muses over what Red had told him about the Poké balls and what he had been provided.]
A power source capable of doing what a Poké ball can do is pretty remarkable, even for my world's level of technology. Something that small that can convert solid matter into concentrated energy isn't something I can imagine readily accomplish without symbology or alchemy.
[Action]
Is that really what those kids are encouraged to go out and do? That Ash kid can't be more than... 9? 10? Something? At least Katara and I were slightly older when we took off on Aang's bison.
Yeah, there's certainly not anything like it from Avatar World either. I mean, some people can bend lightning, which I guess is power of a sort, buuuut... that's ultimately the sticking point working on this. I think I could churn out a number of these replicas, but...
[Action]
It comes down to the power source. [He catches on to what Sokka's saying with the way he trails off, and he nods once in agreement.] I could create something similar that functions off of symbology, but that's not exactly helpful when you're looking for something comparable to your own world's technology.
[He frowns slightly, looking down at his satchel as he remembers what Red had given him earlier. His vocal silence is replaced by the shuffling of things in his bag as he looks around to produce another ball, which he holds out to Sokka.]
I was told they can even improve on effectiveness and such. Somehow. That's called an ultra ball.
[He shrugs. He's a scientist, not an outright engineer.]
[Action]
[The more Sokka gets into this, the more he realizes that this certainly is troublesome. Granted, while Sokka has wholesale come up with ideas and inventions before, most of his finest work either admittedly incorporated the magical bending as part of it—which naturally meant that it involved a person in the loop—or taking existing ideas and remixing them into something else. This deal is admittedly a little out of his deep end.
[Especially when Leon brings out a "better" version of a Poké Ball. Sokka takes it and takes a good look at it from every angle, even pushing the button to look at it from the inside.]
It doesn't really look any different from the ones Ash had... well, except for the paint job. Heh, maybe it's a better ball because they got some famous artist to paint it, and the magical voodoo is in the paint!
[Sokka grins rather facetiously at that before settling back into his thoughtful mode.]
[Action]
If it was something like that, I'd have it figured out in a snap; someone who doesn't know much about Symbology might call it "magical voodoo art."
[But in the end, he shrugs a bit and crosses his arms to watch Sokka with the ball.]
Whatever the case, hopefully something can be figured out before one of the trainers seriously need a built replacement.
[Action]
I am going to have to take a closer look at your "magical voodoo art," one of these days. [There's a mischievous grin on Sokka's face as he starts to wonder what crazy sorts of things he could possibly make with Leon's help. Not that he knew what Symbology was, but Sokka's imagination is nothing except vivid.]
And yeah, hopefully so. Most of them are kids, and... if they get called into the draft, they'll need their Pokémon with 'em. Maybe one or more of them knows something that might help.
[Maybe? He didn't really expect any 10 year olds to be masters of physics or anything, but their world was pretty strange as it was.]
[Action]
[Gold, his friend Silver, Red, Crystal, and possibly others he hadn't met. Masaomi and Raven also had Pokémon, to boot.
He's glad to have mentioned Symbology when Sokka follows through with commenting on it.]
Did no one tell you? The large teleporter that warps over to the beach was a collaboration between me and the other you who was here before.
[Action]
[Even Ikki had been one as well, and she had gladly shown off her animal friend when he was taking care of her during the draft.
[But Leon's comment was certainly a surprise. And Sokka's face shows it. Eyes bug out a bit and words just don't come to his face. He'd used that teleporter without thinking anything of it, and now...]
I—WE built the teleporters!?
[Action]
That set of teleporters, like I said. You built the structures, I made them capable of teleporting people with Symbology.
[He grins.]
You came up with a name too, even if it didn't stick. 'Can't remember it at the moment, though.
[Read: He pushed it out of mind because it was kinda ridiculous.]
[Action] for what it's worth, even *I* didn't know this!
[But all things considered, that one little fact is able to put more confidence into Sokka than anything else possibly could. He is pretty good about using other people's skills to create some pretty unique inventions.]
Well... I do have a knack for naming things, you know; I'm sure it was a great name, whatever it was.
But... that does make me curious if we could use someone's knowledge of energy or magic to simulate the innards of Poké Balls. I mean, they don't have to work exactly; they just have to work close enough that it's still able to do the fundamental things they do.
[Action] it's not the most straightforward of stories!
If that's what needs to be done, I could definitely do that with some studying of the matter-to-energy conversion. [He was able to use Symbology with some technology to get a submersible to work, so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility for him.]
But I think the trainers would trust something built more to the schematics of their own world. Their Poké balls seem to work okay here without too much fuss.
no subject
Besides, if Ash is honest when he says that someone from his world could make Poké Balls out of a piece of fruit, [Dear spirits, why are you even repeating this story Sokka? He's shaking his head even as he says it,] anything that we manage to slap together probably couldn't be too bad?
Though we probably wouldn't want to experiment on one of theirs, you're probably right.