Sorry it took me so long to respond to the last few days of comments. Lots of family holiday activities/crap going on.
@Kingston, I like your idea and I might want to implement it to confirm to the NPCs that the MC is pretty shrewd. It would make for a more complicated battle scene with eight characters swarming around but I’m still considering it! And I like how you broke down the tactics with the different characters on offense/defense/utility. You gave this a lot of thought I really appreciate that!
@Alexa_Nicolaou, I’m sorry you felt snubbed by Crook but it was intentional on my part. I’ve been afraid of making the NPCs too compliant to the MC, so I wanted to make sure at least a few present a challenge. I’d put Stoic in that category too, and really Origami or Stunner can be like that too if you screw with them in the beginning. I don’t want all the NPCs to just bow to the whims of the MC. They all have their own motivations, which are quite hard for me to juggle! But I promise another Crook social scene will be featured in Part I that may (maybe) shed a little light on his behavior.
@Pqfire09, I don’t want anyone in the story, even Hedonist, to be depicted in a totally 1-dimensional way. I mean, the man’s a professor at Savior. He has to have some good qualities, right? And you think Uni’s up to no good??? Hmmm 
Oh no! What if you’re right and there’s a traitor in the students’ midst!
@Sylfaen, yes you broke down the Daisydell elementary presentation pretty well. I’ve taught in elementary school before and I know what an effective presentation looks like, trust me! And you want revenge on Hedonist?? Hmm I wonder if that will be a possibility down the line? 
@HitenMitsurugi, geez you’re the second person in the past few days to doubt Uni’s sincerity! What did she ever do to warrant such treatment??
@Reaper_General, for now, the personas don’t have much impact on how NPCs react to you, but it can affect how the media views or even the general public views you.
@Blackbeard, I find the “charming” one the hardest to write, because I can’t really make it “flirty” since that would rely on the underlying gender/sexual orientation choices. So instead I end up writing “charming” options that are admittedly “douchey”. I’m not sure if I want to change that or not. Some people may want an annoying character.
@Zanite, If a reader really wanted to create a psychological reason for the persona of their MC, I think your explanation would be as good as any, especially considering that the MC would likely feel self-conscious about being surrounded by Zeniths.
@Razgriz, my wife steadfastly refuses to shoot Origami when she playtests, even though she knows she can smooth things over with Origami later at the bookstore, so you aren’t alone in not wanting to harm the loveable paper girl.
@Rebelgirl, thanks for delurking. Or would it be unlurking? Hmm Anyway,
- That’s a good question! However, I don’t recall that Rycliffe actually showed anyone the image he was claiming to have discovered.
- That sounds like a bug. You should always get both study scenes regardless of the order you pick the two, and they should be one right after the other. I probably have a bad “goto” somewhere.
I thought the tease with Crook would ensure that people came back to read the Beta! I can’t give away the farm you know!
And I love the pic! She has a very “I’m up to no good” look on her face, so she’s very DG. Is she someone famous?
Whew! Okay! I hope I didn’t miss anyone’s comment. I’m very tired and ready to go to bed. I hope everyone had a safe and festive New Year celebration. I’m looking forward to boring old January with the promise of getting this story finished soon.
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(gotta love crook 
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