The One Chosen (WIP; updated 19/01/2024)

It’s interesting you suggest that, because, well…

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t take advantage of having the author’s ear, but I’ve mentioned this previously, and while the four houses are going to be based off the Western version of elements, there may be something eventually coming up that is related to that :innocent:

(Sorry if I’m not supposed to be a leak-teaser :innocent:)

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Oh nooooo! :scream:

But yes, the fact that other cultures have more (and different) elements is certainly something that will be brought up.

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Aw man, it was too good to be true.

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is the Mc still expected to beat the evil even though they aren’t the chosen one?

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Lol I can I go home now it’s not my job.

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well if got pick out of now were force in to fight demon lord my plan get fu… out even if going be hunt down

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And demeaning uniforms? Really what is it with Brithish school uniforms? At least look to Japan for the guys uniforms…though the female uniforms there…
Sheesh! :face_vomiting: How fast and loose can we play with the school dress code as the “chosen one”?
More generally a lot of us guys get to be office drones restricted to boring work clothes for most of the rest of our lives, so why crimp teenager’s style like that? Let them live it up a little I say.

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How about an option to pine away for the demon lord? :innocent:

Huh, I don’t think Tom’s actually said what these uniforms would be like yet… :open_mouth:

Though I like how the British ones look more than the Japanese ones, myself… :sweat_smile:

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Well, you’ll have to see… :smirk:

Yeah! :grinning:

Actually, I was wondering whether people wanted some degree of customisation with the uniform. :thinking: Something like skirt/shorts/trousers seems obvious, but would people like more in-depth customisation? And what kinds of things? I have no idea how fashion works… :sweat_smile:

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I think it depends on how strict the dress code is and how much you think is necessary. Options to choose whether our shirts are tucked or untucked, blazers done up or left open, ties left loose, etc etc and the addition of watches and jewellery would be simple enough, I think. To save on multiple page breaks for relatively small choices you could have the lot on one page and have the player pick and choose what they like!

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The old style Japanese school uniforms for highschool boys were at least derived from actual naval uniforms, not boring businesswear like most other school uniforms. Like I said plenty of time for kids to be office drones with boring work wear for the rest of their lives. No need to start in school. Plus even by the standards of work/office wear most school uniforms are atrocious and of often very unflattering cuts and colours.

Costumization naturally happens everywhere that has uniforms, but particularly schools as teenagers more than most people are drawn to probe at the edges.

I’d rather discard both. I hardly ever wear a neck strangler at work anymore and so does an increasingly large part of the white collar working population. Unless England is very different I don’t get the point of sticking kids with a useless accessory that needs a tie clip to not be a health hazard when having an active teenage lifestyle. Or even being an office worker. I’ve seen interns not wear tie clips and get their tie caught in the copier twice now. :unamused:

If it is a “soft” uniform, like much of the business world that merely specifies formal-ish clothes and restricts the colours, I’d see if we can get away with buying a suit in a cut that actually works for the mc’s figure, ditching the tie entirely and adding something like a silk shirt in a subdued colour.
Not very teenager-ish as that’s basically how I dress for the office…but I’d still take it over a tacky, unflattering shabby business-wear inspired boys uniform any day.

The only use of watches today, for those not into aviation or extreme sports is as status symbols among the elite and that’s an arena the mc, even with that couple thousand pounds advance isn’t going to be able to compete in. They’d be better off investing in a nice set of cuff-links and a tie clip for the few formal occasions where the tie is still inescapable. Enough of the young crowd don’t wear watches these days and those that do are more likely to be rich and into them as status symbols and expensive collector’s items, again it’s useless to try and compete with that crowd on a budget, even a relatively generous one.
Rings, earrings and other piercings are up to personal taste (and wealth) and depend on how strict that dress code really is. At the firm where I work “subtle” earrings are the only piercings tolerated for all genders (and they can’t really restrict the ones you can’t see, obviously…but since the mc is only 15 or so here best not to go there quite yet. :sweat_smile: )

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I actually wear a digital watch regularly just because I find it subtler and easier than taking my phone out of my pocket whenever I want to check the time. And I know folks who wear watches that were gifts or heirlooms and have sentimental value. I’m not sure how much work @ParrotWatcher wants to put into the outfit customization, or how much it’s going to come around again, but I think if he wanted something people would react to, the option for a watch and why the MC is wearing would be a lot more notable than a tucked or untucked shirt, which I personally think would be fine left up to the player without in text acknowledgement

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I was just thinking that maybe with the advent of the “smart” watch it may yet make a return to the wrists of ordinary people, we’ll see. I guess I should have included hipsters with “smart” watches in my earlier rumination as I think I actually saw one or two today.
Doesn’t seem like this mc has much with sentimental value however and for me my earlier point still stands that it is no use competing with the rich kids when trying to use it as a (bling-y) status symbol.

Also a lot more expensive potentially and we don’t have a sentimental value heirloom. So I think my mc will pass on the watch for now unless that monetary advance is going to be really, really huge.

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I guess I was thinking stuff more like skirt/shorts/trousers (which is currently the only customisation I have), or maybe sleeve length and the like. Things that would actually change the uniform, not just you not wearing it right (which would probably just be left up to the player’s imagination, as @HomingPidgeon suggests).

Tie or ribbon? :innocent:

I actually have one of each, but I almost never wear the latter… :sweat_smile:


EDIT: Forgot to mention: I also want to give people the choice for the types of clothes people might want to wear when out of uniform. :thinking: I was thinking that that might work as a single choice just for specific styles, but if anyone has any other ideas, please let me know. :slight_smile:

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Instead of letting us fully customize a uniform, maybe let us pick the accessories?

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Like an overcoat and shades so we can fake it till we make it.:sunglasses:

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Like with @Snoe 's game “Freak amidst the neon lights?”
That one had good style selections, so I’d definitely be okay with something like that.

Neither, mc is a fairly young teenager. I actually meant to discard both the tie and the blazer. :wink:

Oh, hey @ParrotWatcher with the kind of rough life the mc had until now any chance we can decide to have taken up unhealthy, but comforting, adult vices like drinking and particularly smoking by now?

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Given the divergence between the hidden magic world and the mundane world, might there be some outfit options that are a bit different from what we’d be used to anyway? :thinking: I mean, it sounded like we were encountering people who were dressed a bit differently… maybe there’d be a bit of an available range? (Though I realize that makes the uniforms less, well, uniform.)

I do imagine some of the changeable things would vary anyway, like with weather/season, or even just mood, or whether you’re lounging around after class, or actually in class, etc… :thinking:

Sounded like jewelry might be a bit more prominent? :thinking: Also, how does the dress code feel about stuff like dyed hair? :thinking: (As my elementary school certainly didn’t have uniforms, but did prohibit… well, actually, it prohibited dyed hare, which I’m sure the Easter bunny found rather disappointing… :rabbit2:)

You try out all the outfits on sims until you find ones you think look cute? :thinking: Or is that just me…? :sweat_smile:

See, I actually find neckties really attractive :sweat_smile: I guess there’s no accounting for taste? :man_shrugging:t2:

My aunt has a smart watch, and I don’t think she’d be considered a hipster by any means :thinking:

This being a magical setting, though, what about magical accessories? :smile::sparkles:
(Is that part of why there’s so much jewelry being worn? :thinking:)

I don’t remember either… :astonished: Is the digital one new or am I just that unobservant? :disappointed_relieved:

Huh, I wonder how much access the MC would’ve had to those lately… :sweat_smile:

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The homeless population seems to have access to a surprising amount of those. Granted not usually of the best quality, but it is there. Besides, if my mc is nicking sandwiches he can probably nick some smokes too. Booze is more debatable as my mc knows he needs to keep his wits about him at all times. I can definitely see my mc having picked up smoking as a habit before (possibly as young as 9-10 years old, like some Indonesian kids), maybe that’s why he was accused of the house fire?

The old-fashioned ones have their moments (but then the old-fashioned lords had servants to help dress them for a reason). The modern ones are good as rope or a belt, in an emergency and that’s about all they’re good for, imho. You also absolutely need a tie clip, decent ones are fairly expensive however. It is also not the thing a young teenager should have to worry about, imho. Plenty time to get acquainted with business and formal wear as a working adult I say.

Great, more things we need to steal just to blend in. :unamused: Unfortunately stealing jewellery isn’t like stealing food, booze, smokes or petty cash as jewellery is pretty easily identifiable and you need a good fence to move it for a fraction of its value. So it is best left to more mature criminals with the right connections.

The latter, probably. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: I think the only watch I have is my late great-grandfather’s and that one pretty much only goes with a three-piece suit or steampunk costume, seeing as how it is of the pocket variety.
The watch as a status symbol however is not one most people, including myself, can really afford to get into.

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I’m not usually a fan of the “this unremarkable person turns out to the the Chosen One foretold by a prophecy” trope. It’s usually a cheap way do have the character who is unremarkable be special and victorious against something greater than themselves. And a the end, it feels empty because the Chosen One didn’t earn it, it was all destiny.

But I have a good idea of what’s under that spoiler (I read the first spoiled comment before reading the “There’s just one problem” summary). I’m intrigued on how you’re going to handle it.

My one issue (and I know it’s a small thing but it’s been bugging me) is Mr. Birton.

Mr. Birton

I completely that he’s supposed to come off as a monster and it was working for me right up until the part with the dog and then with the social worker. The MC gets punished if they don’t allow the dog to bite them and it’s implied that the dog bites them quite frequently. This raised so many questions:

Does Mr. Birton treat the wounds? Dog bites tear flesh, so does the MC get stitches? Are the wounds being cleaned so they don’t get infected? This seems strange for a sociopath like Mr. Birton. If he doesn’t treat the wounds, then the MC would be very sick and probably dying from the (I presume) dozens of nasty dog bites.

And then there’s the social worker’s visit. Why was the social worker there? Did someone call them in or is it a regular check-up for foster children? The social worker scolded the MC for not being grateful enough to Mr. Birton. This implied the MC complained about their treatment. What exactly did the MC report to the social worker? Why did the social worker dismiss it? Most social workers take the job because the genuinely want to help people, they certainly don’t get paid very much. Did they not notice the dog bites? Was the dog aggressive during the visit? Did Mr. Birton bribe them?

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