Don't you feel well?

Sat, 02 Dec 2006 05:35:09 GMT

Just another day at Epstein Books. People are shopping, people are reading, and Pete's at his usual chair watching them all. No one can guess how closely he's watching them--or reading them, in his way.

A more detailed version of the previous meme.

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 22:33:01 GMT

(Click here to post your own answers for this meme.)

✓ I miss somebody right now.	✓ I don't watch much TV these days.	✓ I own lots of books.
✓ I wear glasses or contact lenses.	× I love to play video games.	× I've tried marijuana.
× I've watched porn movies.	× I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship. (I tend to date people who wind up being the psycho-ex.)	× I believe honesty is usually the best policy.
✓ I curse sometimes.	× I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.	× I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.

* * * * *

× I have broken someone's bones.	× I have a secret that I am ashamed to reveal. (Not ashamed. I just don't want to reveal it.)	× I hate the rain.
× I'm paranoid at times.	× I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.	× I need/want money right now.
× I love sushi.	× I talk really, really fast.	× I have fresh breath in the morning.
× I have long hair.	× I have lost money in Las Vegas.	✓ I have at least one sibling.
✓ I was born in a country outside of the U.S.	× I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.	× I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.
× I like the way that I look.	✓ I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months.	✓ I am usually pessimistic.
× I have a lot of mood swings.	× I think prostitution should be legalized.	✓ I slept with a roommate.
✓ I have a hidden talent.	× I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.	× I have a lot of friends.
✓ I have pecked someone of the same sex.	× I enjoy talking on the phone.	× I practically live in sweatpants or PJ pants.
× I love to shop and/or window shop.	× I'm obsessed with my Xanga or Livejournal.	× I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
× I have a mobile phone.	✓ I have passed out drunk in the past 6 months.	✓ I've rejected someone before.
✓ I currently like/love someone. (Old habits die hard.)	✓ I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.	× I want to have children in the future.
× I have changed a diaper before.	× I've called the cops on a friend before.	× I'm not allergic to anything.
× I have a lot to learn.	× I am shy around the opposite sex.	× I'm online 24/7, even as an away message.
× I have at least 5 away messages saved.	✓ I have tried alcohol or drugs before. (...so?)	× I have made a move on a friend's significant other or crush in the past.
× I own the "South Park" movie.	× I have avoided assignments at work/school to be on Xanga or Livejournal.	× I enjoy some country music.
× I would die for my best friends.	× I'm obsessive, and often a perfectionist.	× I have used my sexuality to advance my career.
× I think Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.	× I have dated a close friend's ex.	× I am happy at this moment.
× I'm obsessed with guys. (What's there to be obsessed about? Men and women both have their pitfalls, and I've realized they aren't worth obsessing over.)	× Democrat.	× Republican.
× I don't even know what I am.	× I am punk rockish.	✓ I go for older guys/girls, not younger. (Older guys, for some reason.)
× I study for tests most of the time.	× I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I've ever met.	× I can work on a car.
× I love my job(s).	× I am comfortable with who I am right now.	× I have more than just my ears pierced.
× I walk barefoot wherever I can.	× I have jumped off a bridge.	✓ I love sea turtles.
× I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup.	× I plan on achieving a major goal/dream. (Tried that, didn't work.)	× I am proficient on a musical instrument.
✓ I hate office jobs.	× I went to college out of state.	× I am adopted.
× I am a pyro.	× I have thrown up from crying too much.	✓ I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved.
✓ I fall for the worst people.	× I adore bright colours.	× I usually like covers better than originals.
× I hate chain theme restaurants like Applebees and TGIFridays.	× I can pick up things with my toes.	× I can't whistle.
✓ I have ridden/owned a horse.	× I still have every journal I've ever written in.	× I talk in my sleep.
× I've often thought that I was born in the wrong century.	✓ I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.	× I wear a toe ring.
× I have a tattoo.	✓ I can't stand at LEAST one person that I work with.	✓ I am a caffeine junkie.
× I am completely tree-huggy spiritual, and I'm not ashamed at all.	× If I knew I would get away with it, I would commit at least one murder.	× I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical, the better.
× I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner.	× I'm an artist.	× I am ambidextrous.
× I sleep with so many stuffed animals, I can hardly fit on my bed.	× If it weren't for having to see other people naked, I'd live in a nudist colony.	× I have terrible teeth.
× I hate my toes.	× I did this meme even though I wasn't tagged by the person who took it before me.	× I have more friends on the internet than in real life.
✓ I have lived in either three different states or countries.	× I am extremely flexible.	× I love hugs more than kisses.
× I want to own my own business. (I own my own business.)	× I smoke. (I quit.)	× I spend way too much time on the computer than on anything else.
✓ Nobody has ever said I'm normal.	× Sad movies, games, and the like can cause a trickle of tears every now and then.	× I am proficient in the use of many types of firearms and combat weapons.
× I like the way women look in stylized men's suits.	× I don't like it when people are unpleased or seem unpleased with me.	× I have been described as a dreamer or likely to have my head up in the clouds.
× I have played strip poker with someone else before.	× I have had emotional problems for which I have sought professional help.	× I believe in ghosts and the paranormal.
✓ I can't stand being alone.	× I have at least one obsession at any given time.	× I weigh myself, pee/poo, and then weigh myself again.
× I consistently spend way too much money on obsessions-of-the-moment.	✓ I'm a judgmental asshole.	× I'm a HUGE drama-queen.
✓ I have travelled on more than one continent.	× I sometimes wish my father would just disappear. (He's dead.)	× I need people to tell me I'm good at something in order to feel that I am.
× I am a Libertarian.	✓ I can speak more than one language.	✓ I can fall asleep even if the whole room is as noisy as it can be. (Not by choice.)
✓ I would rather read than watch TV.	× I like reading fact more than fiction. (50/50)	× I have pulled an all-nighter on an assignment I was given a month to do.
× I have no piercings.	× I have spent the night in a train station or other public place.	× I have been so upset over my physical gender that I cried.
× I once spent Christmas completely alone because there was a miscommunication on which parent was supposed to have me that night.	× There have been times when I have wondered "Why was I born?" and may/may not have cried over it.	✓ I like most animals better than most people.
× I own a collection of retro games consoles.	× The thought of physical exercise makes me shiver.	× I have hit someone with a dead fish. (NEVER)
× I am compulsively honest.	× I was born with a congenital birth defect that has never been repaired.	× I have danced topless in front of dozens of complete strangers. (I'm a guy, so if I danced topless, nobody would care. Unless I was drunk.)
× I have gone from wishing I was a girl to revelling in being a boy to feeling like a girl again in the span of five minutes, and not cared a whit for my actual sex.	✓ I am unashamedly bisexual, and have different motivations for my desires for different genders.	× I sometimes won't sleep a whole night or eat a whole day because I forget to. (I forget to eat sometimes.)
× I find it impossible to get to sleep without some kind of music on.	× I dislike milk.	× I obsessively wash my hands.
× I always carry something significant around with me.	× Sometimes I'd rather wear a wig in day-to-day life than use my own hair.	× I've pushed myself to become more self-aware and thereby more aware of others.
✓ Even though I live on my own I still cry sometimes because I miss my mother.	× I hand wrote all the HTML tags in this document.	× I've liked something which a majority of people claimed was either bad or weird.
× I have been clinically dead for a brief period of time.	× Instead of feeling sympathy/empathy with people and their problems, I simply become annoyed. (Depends on the situtation.)	× I participate/have participated in auto drag races and won.
✓ I do not 'get' most comedy acts. (And I try not to, because cataplexy is a real riot.)	× I don't think strippers are money-greedy or slutty for dancing.	× I don't like to chew gum.
× I am obsessed with history/historical things and can't wait for someone to build a time machine so I can be the first to use it.	× I can never remember for the life of me where I parked the car.	× I had the TEEN ANGST thing going for at least 2-3 years.
× I wish people would be more empathic and honest with each other. (How about with me?)	× I play Dungeons and Dragons weekly.	× I love to sing.
× I want to live in my mother's basement when I grow up.	× I have a custom-built computer.	× I want to create a certain someone's babies, even though there's a 0% possiblity of ever achieving it.
× I would be in a relationship with one of my pets if they were human. (...ew.)	× I've gone skinny-dipping.	× I've performed in three plays.
× I enjoy burritos.	× I'm Irish and loving it.	× I have a thing for redheads.
× I am a twin!	× Most of the times, I'd rather do something intellectual instead of doing something generically 'fun'.	× Once I set out to finish something, I always stay at it until it is completed before I move on to something else.
× I wish there were a way to erase past mistakes.	✓ I sleep more than 12 hours a day. (And it's completely by choice, yeah.)	× I wish I could be prouder of what I've accomplished, but it's never enough.
✓ I need more time to myself.	× I wish I was more open-minded.	× I hope that I go really prematurely grey. (........................................................................................................................................................................................................)
× I download songs from the internet.	× I've just reenacted chapter 58 of Death Note with my best friend.	✓ I say random things to freak people out. (...in their heads...)
× I'm still a little mad about the ending of Death Note.	× I love playing Truth or Dare.	× I love listening to slow music, but I hate singing to it.
× Music helps me remember that I am not alone.	× Playing my favorite sport makes me temporarily forget my problems.	✓ I think this survey is particularly long.
× I prefer my LJ friends to my real-life ones.	× I can only hate someone that I love.	✓ I've ordered an extra two shots of espresso to an Americano at Starbucks. (This is significant why?)

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:46:20 GMT

* I miss somebody right now.
* I don't watch much TV these days.
* I own lots of books. (I own a bookstore.)
* I wear glasses or contact lenses. (To read.)
* I love to play video games.
* I've tried marijuana.
* I've watched porn movies.
* I have been the psycho-ex in a past relationship. (I really wanted to be in my last relationship, but I took the high road and left.)
* I believe honesty is usually always the best policy.
* I curse sometimes.
* I have changed a lot mentally over the last year. (Try the last two.)
* I carry my knife/razor everywhere with me.
* I have broken someone's bones. Actually, teeth.
* I have a secret.
* I hate the rain.
* I'm paranoid at times.
* I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
* I need/want money right now.
* I love sushi.
* I talk really, really fast.
* I have fresh breath in the morning.
* I have long hair.
* I have lost money in Las Vegas.
* I have at least one sibling.
* I was born in a country outside of the U.S.
* I have worn fake hair/fingernails/eyelashes in the past.
* I couldn't survive without Caller I.D.
* I like the way that I look.
* I have lied to a good friend in the last 6 months.
* I am usually pessimistic.
* I have a lot of mood swings.
* I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mother.
* I have a cell phone.
* I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
* I'm not allergic to anything.
* I have a lot to learn.
* I am shy around the opposite sex.
* I have tried alcohol. (I'm an adult. Alcohol's not a forbidden drug for someone who's in their 30's.)
* I'm obsessive-compulsive.
* I have used my sexuality to advance my career.
* Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.
* I am happy at this moment.
* Republican/Democrat. (Try Green Party.)
* I study for tests most of the time.
* I tie my shoelaces differently from anyone I've ever met.
* I can work on a car.
* I love my job(s).
* I am comfortable with who I am right now.
* I have more than just my ears pierced.
* I walk barefoot wherever I can.
* I have jumped off a bridge.
* I love sea turtles.
* I spend ridiculous amounts of money on makeup.
* I plan on achieving a major goal/dream. (I tried that and it didn't work.)
* I am proficient on a musical instrument.
* I hate office jobs.
* I went to college out of state.
* I am adopted.
* I am a pyro.
* I have thrown up from crying too much.
* I have been intentionally hurt by people that I loved.
* I fall for the worst people.
* I adore bright colors.
* I usually like covers better than originals.
* I hate chain theme restaurants.
* I can pick up things with my toes.
* I can't whistle.
* I have ridden a horse.
* I still have every journal I've ever written in.
* I talk in my sleep.
* I've often thought that I was born in the wrong century.
* I try to forget things by drowning them out with loads of distractions.
* I wear a toe ring.
* I have a tattoo.
* I can't stand at LEAST one person that I work with.
* I am a caffeine junkie. (For the taste, really.)
* I am completely tree-huggy spiritual, and I'm not ashamed at all.
* If I knew I would get away with it, I would commit at least one random act of violence.
* I will collect anything, and the more nonsensical, the better.
* I enjoy a nice glass of wine with dinner.
* I'm an artist.
* I am ambidextrous.
* I sleep with so many stuffed animals, I can hardly fit on my bed.
* If it weren't for having to see other people naked, I'd live in a nudist colony.
* I have terrible teeth.
* I hate my toes.
* I have more friends on the internet than in real life.
* I have lived in either three different states or countries.
* I am extremely flexible.
* I love hugs more than kisses.
* I want to own my own business. (I own my own business.)
* I spend way too much time on the computer than on anything else.
* Nobody has ever said I'm normal.
* Sad movies, games, and the like can cause a trickle of tears every now and then.
* I am proficient in the use of many types firearms and combat weapons.
* I like the way women look in stylized men's suits.
* I don't like it when people are unpleased or seem unpleased with me.
* I have been described as a dreamer or likely to have my head up in the clouds.
* I have played strip poker with someone else before.
* I have had emotional problems for which I have sought professional help.
* I believe in ghosts and the paranormal.
* I can't stand being alone. (But it's a neccessary evil.)
* I have at least one obsession at any given time.
* I consistently spend way too much money on obsessions-of-the-moment.
* I'm a judgmental asshole. (Especially if you're stupid! :D)
* I have traveled on more than one continent.
* I sometimes wish my father would just disappear. (He's dead so I don't have to worry about that.)
* I need people to tell me I'm good at something in order to feel that I am.
* I am a Libertarian.
* I can speak more than one language.
* I can fall asleep even if the whole room is as noisy as it can be. (Not by choice.)
* I would rather read than watch TV.
* I like reading fact more than fiction. (50/50)
* I have pulled an all-nighter on an assignment I was given a month to do.
* I have no piercings.
* I have spent the night in a train station or other public place.
* I've been married and am now divorced.
* There have been times when I have wondered "Why was I born?"
* I like most animals better than most people.
* I own a collection of retro games consoles.
* The thought of physical exercise makes me shiver.
* I have hit someone with a dead fish. (NEVER)
* I read erotic stories.
* I am compulsively honest.
* I have danced topless in front of dozens of complete strangers. (...wtf? This quiz is clearly marketed to women because nobody would *care* if I danced topless.)
* I have gone from wishing I was a boy to revelling in being a girl to feeling like a boy again in the span of five minutes, and not cared a whit for my actual sex.
* I am unashamedly bisexual, and have different motivations for my desires for different genders.
* I sometimes won't sleep a whole night or eat a whole day because I forget to. (Eating, yes.)
* I find it impossible to get to sleep without some kind of music on.
* I obsessively wash my hands.
* I always carry something significant around with me.
* Sometimes I'd rather wear a wig in day-to-day life than use my own hair. (A wig would look awful on me...so would a toupe...)
* I've pushed myself to become more self-aware and thereby more aware of others.
* Even though I live on my own I still cry sometimes because I miss my mother.
* I hand wrote all the HTML tags in this document. (~~No, my player is using Seamagic and is therefore cheating, though she did hand write the HTML for this strike-through!~~)
* I've liked something which a majority of people claimed was either bad or weird.
* I have been clinically dead for a brief period of time.
* Instead of feeling sympathy/empathy with people and their problems, I simply become annoyed. (It really, really depends on the situtation.)
* I am a virgin. (lol)
* I participate/have participated in auto drag races and won.
* I do not 'get' most comedy acts. (And I try not to. It usually ends bad.)
* I don't think strippers are money-greedy or slutty for dancing.
* I don't like to chew gum.
* I am obsessed with history/historical things and can't wait for someone to build a time machine so I can be the first to use it.
* I can never remember for the life of me where I parked the car.
* I wish people would be more empathic and honest with each other.
* I love to sing.
* I want to live in my mother's basement when I grow up.
* I have a custom-built computer.
* I've gone skinny-dipping.
* I enjoy burritos.
* I am a twin!
* Most times, I'd rather do something intellectual instead of doing something generically 'fun'.
* Once I set out to finish something, I always stay at it until it is completed before I move on to something else.
* I wish there were a way to erase past mistakes.
* I sleep more than 12 hours a day. When I can. (Not really a choice...)
* I own a car.
* I have frequent, chronic bouts of insomnia.
* I have experienced hypnopompic paralysis. (It's really fun! You should try having one some time. Cataplexy is also a riot!)
* I will go to virtually any sporting event, even sports I don't like, just to be at a game.
* I was ALMOST a twin.
* I have seen Broadway musicals.

So what up with Pete?

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 08:11:18 GMT

Because Pete's backstory has grown into a blob of complexity that could be adapted into at least three screenplays, I will be revising Peter's backstory to make a final, definitive character sheet. I'm trying to avoid massive retcons, especially those that will effect past threads between your character and mine. The issue you might have to worry about is whether Peter and Keith have accents, because I am a loser who is obsessing over how her characters sound (Lindsay sounds a lot like Charlotte Gainsbourg, for the curious--which I'm sure are very few ;) ).

And...that's all for now. :)

Sat, 28 Oct 2006 18:07:39 GMT

Brightly lit, so muted yellow and orange, plush chairs facing across an oval table, bright lights obscuring the audience that might not be the re. A woman with blonde hair and a million watt smile crosses the stage and waves in the direction of applause. “Good morning, good morning,” she says, “How is everyone today?”

An indistinct noise.

“Today we have a very special guest! You might not have seen him in quite some time. I do know you’ve all missed him. Please welcome to our studio again Mr. Peter Epstein!”

He felt like he was everywhere, in the audience, on the stage, the omniscient eye of the set. He emerges and waves at the lights or the audience. The identity of the mass beyond the stage shifts with every turn of the mind. The host is obscured by the light as he shakes her hand. He takes a seat, looks at her, looks at the audience, looks at the lights.

“So tell us, Peter, where have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been everywhere. I’ve been to places you can’t even imagine.” He taps his forehead. “In here.”

“But not always in there.”

What made him a regular convert as opposed to one who abused his power?

“I know my limits.”

“Peter, some say you’ve been taking these journeys to avoid facing the real world. Are you really such a coward?”

“I’m not a coward. I’ve been writing a book. And I can’t help this…taking all of these…these ‘journeys’ because that is a flaw—“

“Inherent in your body chemistry. But you show such flagrant disregard for it, anyway. You don’t take your medications, you’re a drunk and hopelessly addicted to caffeine…”

“But I’ve been writing a book! Wouldn’t you consider that progress?”

“Oh God,” says the host, her British accent becoming more pronounced, “compared to all of your other flaws? The cowardice you display in so many of your actions? Drowning yourself in the bottle to mute the pains of reality, drowning yourself in espresso to mute the reality of your condition, drowning yourself in sleep to completely cut yourself off from the real world all together? Who cares if you’ve written a damn stupid book about me, anyway?”

“I am not a coward! I am not a coward. I’m not. Everything that’s marred my life for the past three years have all been marked by you. You know I almost felt completely good about myself when we were together? Then you went ahead and ruined it, because I didn’t need self-esteem at all. And now I have none, while you’re still out there making money and music videos and wasting your hard-earned education on gratuitous ass shots while making people feel like shit because they’d rather use their education on more productive things that just so happen to require them to go out of the country for a while. What difference does it make if my job took me to Spain and yours to Los Angeles?”

“You couldn’t stay awake for your job, that’s the difference.”

“You think I have control over this!”

“If you were really interested in anything, you’d certainly stay awake for it. I know you’re trying your hardest to stay awake at the bookstore, but sooner or later you’ll fuck that up, too. You’re extremely talented at that sort of thing, Petey, you really are.”

“This is a very unfriendly interview and I’m going to walk away from it now.” Except he can’t move a muscle. The host…Lindsay…whoever…laughs.

”That’s so typical of you, Peter. When the going gets rough Peter Epstein gets going.”

“Shut up, Lindsay! Please. Just stop…stop abusing me in my dreams...”

“Will someone wake him up? We don’t need anymore false accusations on my show.”

He feels a hand on his shoulder, and turns in the bed, staring at the nothing that pulled him aside. It’s 8:15 on Saturday morning. The store opens at 10. He has better things to do than stay in bed, dreaming of his inadequacies.

Writing Laura: Procrastination

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 04:57:57 GMT

Well, there he was, staring at the blank page again. Occasionally he would stand and procrastinate, reading a page here, a line there, and throwing a glance towards the cabinet he tried not to touch. He had a feeling tonight would be a sleepless one.

Peter closed his eyes, pushed the book he’d been reading aside, and tried to conjure words. There was no shortage of material to write from; he knew Laura’s story extensively. She was in her late 30’s, blonde, possibly Australian. She couldn’t be from Britain. That would be too obvious.

Laura was an aspiring actress who had made a mistake and chose not to repeat it. She buries herself in auditions and roles that bring her no closer to stardom. She swings from partner to partner, dogmatically refusing love. Unafraid of manipulation, Laura uses her friends to give her a taste of the stardom that will never be hers, basking in the glow of her famous friends and smugly accepting her role as a celebrity confidant.

Now enter the problem: Laura, nonchalant when it comes to sex, finds herself irresistibly attracted to a quiet teacher who breezes into her life as she waits for her latte in a coffee house. She lets him slip away, but sees him again and again after that—and then they begin to talk.

He’s smart, funny, and attractive. Hone in on the attractive. Devastatingly attractive. So attractive he should be in the movies, not working some job where his beauty goes unnoticed. Laura has a rare moment of insecurity when she thinks this man isn’t attracted to her, but she’s surprised to learn he’s quite interested in her as more than a conversational partner. He asks her out on a date, Laura accepts, and the two dine and talk and dine and talk and dine and talk and Pete’s run into a brick wall. A writer’s block, you might say.

He knows her ex-husband will show up to throw a wedge in the budding relationship. He knows Laura and her new flame will wind up together in the end, and that Laura will begin to question her meaningless life and pursue something with more substance. He knows the story will be cheesy and unsubstantial until the rewrite. He just has to get it out first. All he has now is a blank page.

Pete stands up and walks to the kitchen. He wants to make tea. He reaches for a bag full of loose leaf tea and prepares a pot, eyes darting back to the cabinet. He pours a cup, stirs in a bit of sugar, and stares at the cabinet. What about Laura? What about her date?

Fuck it.

He almost slams the cup onto the counter and walks to the cabinet, pulling out a bottle of brandy and a glass shoved in among the various bottles. The intent was the pour the brandy into the tea, but he couldn’t resist an extra glass. He poured the brandy into the glass then down his throat in two smooth, consecutive moves.

So often had he done this that he was used to feeling disappointed in himself for caving, disappointed in the drink that never made him feel better, and disappointed that the inevitable, or the dreadfully possible, would go on until he fell asleep. An endless night of drink after drink, watching as the bottle drained into emptiness. Maybe he could control himself tonight. Maybe he could focus on Laura’s story, as he desperately wanted to. She was a catharsis for an old wound that filled the bottles beneath the cabinet.

But maybe he couldn’t control himself. It had happened before, and no amount of horror of the night before would stop him from doing it again. He’d been scared off of drugs easily enough, but alcohol was something he could slip into his routine and have none be the wiser. The only things that stopped him from indulging more was an occasional moral victory and his unpredictable sleeping patters.

And he had a feeling tonight was going to be a sleepless night.

Supapowaz!

Fri, 22 Sep 2006 20:10:09 GMT

What he’s got, and what he can do:
Pete is empathetic and telepathic. He can read the emotions and minds of other people. He also has control over the emotions and the mind, which means he has considerable power over other people. He will not use the extremes of his power over your character (i.e., warping people’s perceptions of themselves and the world so they believe they are a dog and the world is a giant lollipop) unless you and I have discussed this.

The basics of what he will do, no matter who he’s talking to, is read their thoughts and gather basic information about the person. If your character is feeling upset, he’ll make them feel better. Your character won’t know anything about this, just that they’re feeling better. He can read people who are in his immediate vicinity—i.e., in the same building, on the same city block, in the same room, etc. So, if your character is in Los Angeles, Pete won’t hold any telepathic conversations with him or her because he can’t.

Now about that warping perceptions thing:
Yes, he can do the whole enchilada, at great expense to himself. “Great expense” here means if the boy doesn’t zonk himself into a coma, he’ll wind up with some pretty nasty migraines. He knows what he can do, for certain, but how to do the extreme end of it without hurting himself is still a ways down the line. What he can do, without hurting himself…much…is plant suggestions in someone’s mind, such as the impulse to act on a thought, though this at best gives him a slight headache depending on the intensity of the action.

Shoplifting at Epstein and Pete:
Pete can’t run at 100% all the time. He will be tired, or napping, or suffering from a bad headache. He may be out of the building on business. These are the only windows for shoplifting. All other times, if Pete is in the store and alert enough, he will detect any and all shoplifters and stop them to the best of his ability. If that means approaching and talking to them, while manipulating them to feel guilt and think they should return the books, he will do that. If that means manipulating from the comfort of his chair in the café, without approaching the shoplifter at all, he will do that.

Please, if your character is going to shoplift contact me first. Pete doesn’t have to catch your character, but you still need to clear this with me so we’re both agreed on what will happen.

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 04:02:56 GMT

Teeeest.

Ignore meeeee.