A limousine speeds down a broken concrete road, its occupants oblivious to the moody picture of the countryside painted around them. Inside, a man dressed in a red business suit is busy talking to someone on the phone.
"Already? Those were not the terms of our deal. You know that much, Pardes. I wouldn't have expected you, of all people, to break your word." The man listens to someone speak on the other side on the line, then raises his voice. "Yes, yes, yes, as if I care about being courteous and polite at the moment." His voice is cold and harsh. "We will discuss this matter in more detail in person, but remember this: you've known my wrath, Pardes. Do not test me like you would Turing and Hallscroft." He then cuts the communication and slumps down on his seat. "What a day this is turning out to be..." He mumbles. "Don't you think so, U?".
Fade to black.
[Meta Theme 1, Come and See The Show:
[Welcome to Fool's Overture, a mix of Choose Your Own Adventure and jRPG! Having filled up a whole topic, it is time to continue the story of the Fool who has just dived into the supernatural world, and the allies he has found. For those who missed the first topic but are interested in the idea of a long, involved CYOA, here's the story:
Yesterday, a young man ventured into the home of a tarotist, looking for a reading at the behest of a friend. Though slightly skeptical about the whole fortune-telling schtick, he followed her instructions, and received a most ominous lecture, foretelling strife and hard decisions in his future. He then left the house and continued with his daily routine...or would have, had a powerful gust of wind pushed him in front of a speeding subway train. A discorporate entity intervened, however, and infused the wind with more power, saving the youth, but only briefly, as a strange monster, called a Dullahan, appeared and attempted to strike him down. With no other choices, the youth made a pact with the discorporate voice, which granted him with a water spirit and magical powers. After a grueling battle, the youth triumphed, but collapsed, exhausted by the ordeal. It was then that a man in a red coat, who was known as Mr. Lotwyver, entered the scene and helped the boy to a hospital. There, the youth confessed to the existence of his powers, and was extracted from the building by Lotwyver, who gave him a card with an address, telling him to pay him a visit the next day. Then, the youth and his spirit, known as an Empathic Sprite, returned to his home and went to sleep.
The next day, the youth discovered that the card's address led to a large skyscraper, owned by Hallscroft, Turing, and Lotwyver. Inside, Mr. Lotwyver made the young man an offer to join his organization, specialized in hunting down rogue practitioners and bringing newly awakened talents into the fold. As the youth was hesitant, Mr. Lotwyver took him to meet the people who did the field work, his Knights: Godric the scholar, Henrietta the painter, and Fallon the forger and policeman. After perusing Godric's library, the youth decided to accept the offer, and engaged in some friendly sparring with Henrietta to test his mettle, before creating a Forge Item with Fallon. The Forge Item, a powerful tool attached to his personality, was an umbrella named Stormscraper. At the same time, the youth decided that his Sprite, who had remained nameless so far, was to be known as Lluvia. Following Mr. Lotwyver's insistent suggestions, the youth then decided to go to school and not skip on it two days in a row.]
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/59835001
[At school, a new student had transferred into the class, a young girl named Karenina Blumenthal. Much to the youth's surprise, he had seen Karenina before, in one of Henrietta's paintings. Before he head much of a chance to talk to her, however, the school was assaulted by a horde of strange plant beings. Joining forces with Karenina, the youth and Lluvia carved a path through them, finally coming across a Shade that had detached itself from its master. The Shade taunted them, then unleashed a massive machine-flower hybrid upon them. Currently, the group is locked in a desperate battle with it!
Take Context Actions (Search for information within the Hunter's Libram)
"LOOK OUT!" Nina pushes you to the side, as another explosion rocks the building, shattering the walls and warping the lockers into hot, molten metal. Her shove sends you flying down the hallway, and you can see the flower launch an artillery shell. It heads for Nina and explodes inches away from her...
...But when the dust settles you see Lluvia fall down to the ground, her body having formed a protective cocoon around Nina, who seems to be shocked, but unharmed. You have very little time to take all of this in, however, as the floor collapses below you three. You hear Nina shriek in surprise, and manage to grab on to an edge of the floor as it gives way, before falling down on your own volition. The third floor is absolutely thrashed, most of the classrooms reduced to rubble, but the flower's roots do not seem capable of attacking you. Seizing the brief lull in the combat, you grab your Hunter's Libram and feverishly peruse its contents, looking for any information on this beast that could help you defeat it. An entry catches your eye.
"Flame Flower
Capable of devastating fire magicks, and unleashing storms of bolts. If you come across one, FIND COVER. Not even the greatest Hunter could beat this cursed flower. Avoid its worst attacks, then strike it down while it absorbs energy to use them once more!
-Hunter John Medmenham, AD 1568, London."
[Lluvia's HP reduced to 0!] [Nina's HP remaining: 48/60]
Ally Team
Name: Main Character Element: Water HP: 52/75 MP: 1/34
Name: Lluvia Element: Water HP: 0/60 MP: 23/50 Status: DEAD!
Name: Nina Element: Fire HP: 48/60 MP: 20/20
Enemy Team
Name: Assault Battleflower Element: Fire HP: 400/400 MP: 29/50
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/59835001
If Lluvia doesn't become undead later, I just might quit from depression.
So then, Flower just attacked, so now we need mp. By what we've seen before, I think we're relatively safe to focus with MC, and go all out with Nina. Fulminant Flare?
-- "I can already feel my Dumey Lust kicking in."-MistBiomeZ
This reminds me, edited the status line a little to clarify. Your move now!
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
Reserving my strategy comments for the post-fight scenes. Curious about how you guys will turn this around.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
What I would guess is that in three turns she goes into a state that can be revived by item or skill. Seeing as how we don't have that, she would remain at threshold state and be critically injured until we can heal her after the fight. That's what I'm guessing at least.
-- "I can already feel my Dumey Lust kicking in."-MistBiomeZ
One of you made a close but not quite correct guess, and that is all I'm saying on this matter.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
But after... that, I think I'm going to ban myself from voting for at least a few rounds
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
Alright, since nobody's submitted an order so far, I'm gonna go with the closest thing we go, AKA Focus + Fulminant Flare. Update later today when I don't feel like vomiting all over my keyboard due to a stomach bug.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Having plucked what little information you've had time to search for from the libram, you stand up and prepare to fight...only for something to fall next to you from above, slowly. Something fluid, and reflective...
You knees feel weak as you stare down at Lluvia's broken frame. She's not strirring. She's not doing anything. You've seen this once before, and time hasn't made the pain you feel inside your chest any easier to bear. She's gone. She's gone...
...You feel someone tapping you on the shoulder. Nina looks at you, tears welling up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She says, her voice barely higher than a whisper. "I'm sorry...she tried to protect me, and now...now..." She's unable to finish what she's trying to say, and instead the tears begin to fall down her face. You stare at Lluvia's frame once more.
This...this thing. This flower did this to her. You barely had a two days to get to know Lluvia, but she always did as you asked of her, and protected you. You feel something begin to boil inside you, hot and furious and deranged. This monster is going to pay. It's going to cry for mercy once you're done with it. You barely notice it, but hundreds of grey lines are drawn into your body as you look down upon your dead Sprite's frame.
A noise snaps you out of your reverie. Turning around, you see the monster smash through the walls, and into the hallways. The flower looks down at you, and you feel your hands tighten around your Stormscraper. You raise it up and prepare to strike, but are beaten by a massive heat beam that flies toward you...
...Before being split in two by a smaller, brighter white beam, which hits the flower dead on, causing it to thrash around wildly. You're forced to block one of the two split beams, which is still hot enough to cause your clothes to combust, canceling your attack. At the same time, you see Nina sidestep the other beam, which crashes against the wall and turns the hallway into a blazing inferno. You find it hard to breath...it's so hot in here.
Ally Team
Name: Main Character Element: Water HP: 12/75 MP: 29/34 Status: SOS-Empower v1
Name: Assault Battleflower Element: Fire HP: 366/400 MP: 24/50
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Late night bump since it looks like people missed the update.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
I'm tempted to just blitzkrieg... I'm not sure how we can win this without healing.
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
We don't happen to have contact information for any of the other knights, do we?
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
For this turn, I think we should gather whatever we can of Lluvia while Nina covers. Then we run like hell.
That is, assuming there is anything we can grab.
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
Needs more orders IMO. Remember to format them so I don't have to guess!
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
MC: Gather Lluvia's remains and see if we can't find a way to contact HQ Nina: Cover MC while using HR.
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
You can't fight this monster alone and with Lluvia gone. You need to regroup and call the Knights. As much as you hate to admit it, this job is too big for you. You can't leave Lluvia behind, though...there must be something you can do to bring her back. You kneel, and try to pick her up, but it's impossible: the water slips through your fingers, and the heat is starting to turn it to vapor.
"We can't stay here! If we don't get out, she'll have died in vain!" Nina says, shaking you by the shoulder. You see another heat beam headed for you, but Nina steps in and spins around, redirecting the beam back at the flower. You watch the last few traces of Lluvia evaporate before getting up. You'll have time to grieve later, but for now, you have to find a way to survive Nina is right. You look around, trying to find an exit through the blurry, heat-hazed air. More and more beams set everything ablaze, but you finally find the door. You gesture for Nina to follow, and break into a run. It's on the other side of the room, but maybe you can make it. You hear that diabolical whirring start up again...
...And everything...
...turns...
...to black.
You open your eyes, and find yourself in the middle of an elevated stage, illuminated by a spotlight. Nina stands beside you, but her school clothes have been replaced with a frilly, elaborate pink dress that leaves her shoulders exposed. You look down and see the room you're in is covered in shadow, and that you are now wearing a sober, but spectacularly well-tailored tuxedo.
"What happened to the school? How did we get here?" Nina asks, looking around. She begins to pace around the stage, and you hear her high heels come down on the wooden boards of the stage at regular intervals.
"And what happened to us? We were fighting for our lives back then, and...and what happened to our clothes?" Her face says it all, what with her befuddled, slightly fearful expression.
You hear a switch flip, and another spotlight lights up, far away, illuminating a young woman. She's dressed like a queen, her dress even more elaborate than Nina's and black in color, but instead of earrings to adorn her ears, a pair of black and red dice hang from them. She smiles at you.
"Welcome, welcome. I've been waiting for you for quite some time." Her voice is rich, yet youthful, full of energy but tempered with experienced. "You put up a lot of excuses to avoid paying me a visit, but in the end it was inevitable, really. Wasn't it?" She says, winking at you.
33) "And now, we finally meet, face to face. You must be thinking about so many things...where you are now, who I am, who are you. Why don't you ask and clear some of your doubts?" A) Free Choice. [Please Specify]
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Whoops, I totally forgot to mention it. My post-fight debriefing since I feel like the first lost battle ever warrants it:
-The biggest mistake you guys made was keeping the Blood Link up after you saw how incredibly punishing the Hellflower Missile was. Not only did Lluvia get hit by 1.5 times that attack since Blood Link blocks everything, but all that damage got amplified by 25%, so it was more like 1.875 times the damage. You had to dedicate Lluvia to healbotting every single turn to make that strategy work, and failing to do so cost you her healing permanently. Remember to dismiss Blood Link when dealing with powerful AoEs! -This was less a mistake and more of a choice: given the opening move of buffing Nina's basics, Double Trouble would have been tremendously helpful. A Destroy boosted Double Trouble proc would have dealt 250% damage - an absolutely brutal amount, really. It was a longshot, but the potential for double critical double hits would have been outrageously good - that's 625% damage in a single round! -Context Actions were criminally underused. I am not exaggerating when I say they are your most powerful tool in your arsenal. The more specific and creative your Contexts are, the easier a fight will get - it's possible to beat every single fight without taking a single point of damage or expending one MP with appropriate Contexts. Bad contexts can make a fight much harder, too, but in general I will take the most favorable interpretation of your Contexts. If the game is out to kill you, the GM is not. Remember this. -Fulminant Flare needs more love. Yes, it costs a TON of MP, but, and this is important, *it stacks with Command: Destroy*. This means you can deal 2.2 STR damage with a basic hit. With a crit, Fulminant Flare is pretty much a god-killer, though I wouldn't rely on those anyway. Point is, if you need burst damage, it is the best attack in your arsenal outside of a fully boosted Turn The Tides or a Relentless Resolve that chains multiple boosts, and it has the major, major advantage of being reliable, unlike those two.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Remember to dismiss Blood Link when dealing with powerful AoEs!
Didn't even realize we could dismiss it.
Otherwise, all good to know. Especially that our emphasis should probably be Context stuff. Can you tell us what Context would have gotten us a perfect victory in this last battle, just as an example?
-- (Maniac64 at work) [Browncoat] ~Board 570901~ All the proteins, vitamins, and carbs of your grandma's best turkey dinner, plus 15% alcohol.
On every Hellflower Missile turn, I would have ordered global "hit the deck" actions. Getting behind cover would have resulted in waging a battle with the Battleflower across the school, with it demolishing it piece by piece with each missile until it was dead or the school was reduced to rubble. At other points, you could have cut open water tubes to hit the Battleflower and its Pods with an AoE attack, collapsed the ground beneath it to reduce its HP, and so on and so forth.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Going to offer a second vote for asking re: Lluvia.
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
Sorry guys, no update today because sleep deprivation and writing the plot for a sprawling, colossal campaign amounted to a minor hitch in the update schedule. Stuff to come tomorrow when I'm not basically braindead.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
"The same fate that you've chanced into has befelled your little sprite." The girl says, as she lifts a hand. A blue flame appears on it, but doesn't burn her.
"Death is such an ugly word, isn't it? It's so loaded with false meanings..." She walks off the stage and through the air without falling, the spotlight highlighting the black stone floor below her as it follows her. She then lifts the hand with the flame up to her lips. "I prefer to call what has happened to you being...deshelled." She blows her breath, and the flame flickers out. Beside you, Nina audibly gulps.
"Isn't this a liberating experience? To be free of all the pain your body has accumulated over your short mortal life. To have all the time in the world, and then some. To meet the most interesting people you'll ever find." She points a finger at herself, daintily, and gives you a winning smile.
"I'm so lonely, sometimes. So many pass me by, but they're too angry and confused to even talk with. Will you keep me company for a little while?" She asks, extending a hand toward you, and opening her eyes to look younger and more innocent. "Will you dance with me?" She pleads.
34) How will you reply to the young lady's offer? A) "Very well. I can't dance on air, though." B) "Maybe a little later. Could you answer a few more questions first?" C) "Never. I don't want anything to do with you, Death!"
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
My only hesitation is that I don't want to tick off Nina... but I think I'm more afraid of ticking off Death >_>
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
I really want to find a fourth option, but I can't think of a good one.
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
B just seems a good compromise between caution and indulgence, and she doesn't even get to talk much, so she'll probably not be SUPER offended if we don't cave immediately.
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~Tommeri Uranius Bombaldi the Fourth, esq. (aka not Krakenprophet)
Yes; but if Greek mythology has taught me anything, it's that in man v. god, man loses every. single. time.
Even not doing exactly what a god asks is inherently risky. That's why I want a fourth option--one that declines without being off-putting--but... yeah.
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Oh, a big machine with flashy lights. A big machine like that has me written all over it. Well, okay, it doesn't. But give me time... and a crayon --11th Doctor
I would like to phrase it a bit more nicely than the option presented, though. Something more along the lines of a "would you mind if we chatted a bit first?"
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~Tommeri Uranius Bombaldi the Fourth, esq. (aka not Krakenprophet)
The girl smiles, mischievously. "That will not be an issue. In this realm..." She waves her hand...
"...What matters isn't physics..." ...And the stage below you disappears...
"...But imagination." Leaving you floating in the air. A small portion remains for Nina to stand on, however. The girl in black extends a hand toward you and her expression becomes exaggeratedly haughty.
"Dance with me." Her voice is entrancing, but it also carries an unearthly tone of command, which nearly compels you to obey. You step forward through the air, and take her hand. A new spotlight lights up, and centers on you two as you slowly glide through the air, while a haunting piece plays. The girl in black lets you lead, only gently correcting you when you make the occasional mistake. You have never danced to such a slow, somber piece before, but somehow it comes naturally to you.
(Misc Theme 2, In the Court of the Black Queen:
The piece soon finishes and the girl in black steps away from you, two black spots on her pearly white cheeks as she beams at you.
"Ahh, it's been so long since I've done something like this. Thanks a lot, my dear." She looks around. "This is very uncomfortable, though, isn't it? All this moody blackness and supernatural spookyness. Let's fix it." She snaps her fingers and you gently descend to the ground. As you do so, the girl's outfit changes in color from black to gold, as do her dice, the spots of color on her cheeks, and eventually the room itself, revealing a vast hall with hundreds of tall windows on each side. She lands on a white and golden chair, and moments later a table covered by a white cloth appears, then two chairs on your side of it. You hear the sound of high heel shoes touching down upon the floor and turn around to see Nina descend from the stage, confused but making a brave effort not to let it show through a mask of elegant indifference. She arrives to the table and takes a seat next to you. The girl in black (or rather, the girl in gold now) plays with one of her dice earrings for a moment, before clasping her gloved hands together and looking at you two.
"Alright then, let's get down to business. Thanks for humoring me, but even eternal time can be wasted, and you might not have that much to begin with. Before I sidetracked our conversation, we only had time for a single question." In spite of her serious words, the girl's tone is casual and conversational.
35) "Do you have anything else you wish to ask?" A) Free Choice.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
This choice locked early, but for the record you can always present alternate options, even if there's no Other option. So if you feel like saying something else you can, assuming the voting goes your way.
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513
Tom Bombadil posted... oh great we're in the Golden Land this will certainly not end horribly
Black dress to gold dress. Not black dress with gold highlights! :P
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Currently playing: League of Legends, Chrono Cross. Current Projects: Fool's Overture, CYOA: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/60143513