Log: Hope, Sue and Topaz
Jul. 17th, 2014 05:46 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsSue tries to teach Hope chess using a chess set Topaz enchanted with life...what could go wrong?
"Hey, hold on there."
Topaz grabbed one of the white pawns as it tried to hop off the board. "Buggers move fast considerin' they don't have legs," she muttered as she placed it back on the space it had abandoned. Still, she was pretty happy with the fact that this spell seemed to be working out. She'd never tried to animate anything before.
Sue leaned forward to give the board and uncertain look as she took in all the pieces running around over the chequered surface. "So we're just supposed to tell them what to do?" she asked reaching out to poke one of the knights before hastily withdrawing her finger as the now animated horse snapped around trying to locate the offending poker fixating on a nearby pawn thanks to the absence of the offending digit.
"I think we need to them to stand in their places first." Hope commented dryly, watching the chaos milling around on the board. She picked up the queen and watched with a raised eyebrow and the figure waved a tiny arm at her, then hit her finger. "The queen goes on the fourth square from the left, right?" At Sue's nod, she put the piece down firmly, adding a strict: "And stay there!"
The corners of Sue's mouth quirked up as she watched Hope arguing with her queen, this was going to be a lot of fun she decided as she exchanged a glance with Topaz but she was going to try something a little bit different. Slipping her chair back she reached forward and tapped the White King and Queen on their shoulders. "Your majesties," she said dipping into a curtsy, "If I could beg a favor, could you marshal your troops for combat against your foes?" The blonde looked up at the other girls with a laugh as the royal chess pieces started bullying the rest of the white pieces into line. "Much easier than trying to wrangle them all myself," she confided with a wink.
Topaz rolled her eyes, but she was laughing. "Yeah clearly they don't like to be touched, so just say the piece and where you want it go, and if I've done this right - which considerin' how active they are I'd say I did - they should move to the place you want them to go. So if you say pawn to A five, the pawn at A four will move to A five." In theory, at least. The young witch would gladly admit that she was making this up as she went along.
Hope grinned herself and watched for a moment as the King and Queen continued marshaling their pawns in place. Catching sight of the white bishop who seemed to be idly scratching his head, she dug in her mind for the correct form of address and asked: "Your Excellency, may I ask you to move from C8 to F5, please? Only for a moment."
The little figure stopped scratching his head and waved a tiny fist at her, tittering something not quite understandable at her, but finally did as she said. He only stayed there a moment before hopping back to his own place, glaring at Hope still. She raised an eyebrow at Topaz and joked: "Do you suppose I should have kissed his ring?"
"I think he might just be confused because they were takin' marchin' orders from Sue before," Topaz said as she eyed the board. Or it was possible that she had made them too smart. "Either that or I've created entirely too self-aware chess pieces."
"See everyone is worried about the machines taking over, but it's the self aware chess pieces that we need to worry about." Sue quipped, "I mean they're already an army and they're small enough to get everywhere." she noted stroking the mane of one of her knights, "So, how much do you know about chess then, Hope?"
"I know the pieces and I know the basics of how each piece moves, but no idea how to turn that into playing a game, to be honest." hope explained as she seized another piece who tried to hop of the board, this time a black pawn. "Topaz, is there by any chance a pause or freeze mode perhaps?"
"They're supposed to be still when they're not playin'," Topaz muttered as she leaned down so she was eye to eye with the chess pieces. "Oi, knock it off all of you." They all turned to the new voice, and after a moment they froze. "Good chess pieces," she said approvingly, straightening up again.
"Awww, but what's the point of living chess pieces if they're not all over he place an trying to get out?" Sue asked with an grin as she turned to survey Hope over the chess board, "Ok, if you know the basics then that's a pretty good start, all we really need to do is let you see how it all strings together." As she spoke Sue reached over and tapped her king's pawn on the head, "Excuse me, if you could move up two please."
"Pawn moves one forward, except for in their starting move, when can they can move two, right?" Hope eyed her own row of pawns, hovering a finger about them in doubts. "So how does one figure out with which of the eight to start?"
"That really depends," Sue replied an animated expression on her face, "most chess players just memorize different kinds of openings and counter openings. But the idea is to gain control over as much of the board as possible." She gestured towards the board, "You can see the board as three areas, the left, the right and the center, this early in the game you don't really know what's going to happen but if you can control the center then you're in a good position to respond to anything. So you wanna choose moves that will leave you in the best position to exploit any tactical advantages. Are you with me so far?"
"I think so." Hope studies the board for a bit as she hesitated over which pawn to direct first. "Basically the larger goal is maintain control in the middle of the board, while all the openings and counters are opening tactics to that goals? You know any books about this?" She directed her last question to Topaz.
"I think I've seen a few in the library, but I never read them," Topaz admitted. "My dad always said it's somethin' you learn by practicin', not readin' theories." She shrugged.
"Uh huh." Hope finally leaned forward and touched one of her pawns. "Could you move forward two, please?" Almost immediately the pawn turned to look over his shoulder and it started tittering at her, waving a tiny first. Hope glared at the pawn. "Just do as you are told, please."
"Practice helps," Sue agreed as she tapped one of her knights on it's head indicating that it was it's turn to move, "But knowing the theories helps you to put the strategic level of the game in perspective," the blonde looked down at the board with a smile as her knight slipped into position tossing it's head in disdain at the behavior of the black pawns, "I gotta admit Topaz, these are awesome, they've all got their own personalities."
"A little too much of a personality," Topaz muttered she watched Hope's pawn twittering away at her. "I don't think they like you very much Hope. Sorry about that."
"I seem to remember Harry's set being somewhat obstinate at the start." Hope injected some optimism in her voice. "Now what..." She nudged another pawn forward, which he did grudgingly.
"I wasn't aiming for actual Harry Potter-type chess pieces though. I just wanted 'em to move." She jumped as one of Sue's pawns hopped forward suddenly, pouncing on Hope's and pinning it down. "Well. They're certainly eager."
"Umm, so I never really watched the films, but did Harry's pieces do that?" Sue asked as her other knight sailed over the board landing square on the heads of one of Hope's pawns hopping up and down on the fallen piece's head a few times for good measure before it flicked the pawn off the board. "I don't know about you, but that seems a little brutal for a kids movie."
"Hey! What in the world?!?!?!" Hope almost jumped back as pandemonium broke out across the board, various pieces assailing each other. "Sue, I think one is running past you there."
Sue dived onto the floor her hand outstretched grabbing a pair of chess pieces as a forcefield flared up protecting the girl as she slid along the floor and came to a rest against the wall. "Where do you two think you're going?" she asked the white queen and knight in her hands, "You shouldn't be chasing a fleeing enemy... It's un sportsman like," she told them seriously before looking up at her friends with a wry grin, "It says a lot that I'm talking to living chess pieces and think that that's perfectly normal."
"Oh hell!" Topaz hissed as she dove for one of the black knights, but the little piece was fast; it disappeared under the fridge. "Oh shut it," she snapped at it as she heard it twittering away - laughing at her. She reached under the fridge to try and grab it...
"Ow!"
And instantly yanked her hand back out when she felt a sharp pain. "Bugger stabbed me!" It hadn't even broken the skin, of course - it was more just the shock of the fact that a chess piece was trying to kill her.
"And here we have a few more of the little critters." Hope dove to the side, just barely managing to grab two of the pieces making for the window, open to the sunny weather outside. Holding the twittering pieces up to her eyes, she continued: "Look like a White Bishop and a Black Knight to me. I wonder what those are doing together... Though I am afraid the other managed to... get out..."
Sue glanced at the open door before turning to her friends, "It's ok, they're only little, it's not like they can get far or cause much damage" she began before the crash of falling ceramics made a lie of her worlds. The blonde glance at the door then at the chess pieces she was still holding, "or not."
Topaz just stared at the door in disbelief. There were chess pieces - living chess pieces loose in the mansion. And it was her fault.
She looked at Sue and Hope. "If anyone asks, Billy did it."
"Hey, hold on there."
Topaz grabbed one of the white pawns as it tried to hop off the board. "Buggers move fast considerin' they don't have legs," she muttered as she placed it back on the space it had abandoned. Still, she was pretty happy with the fact that this spell seemed to be working out. She'd never tried to animate anything before.
Sue leaned forward to give the board and uncertain look as she took in all the pieces running around over the chequered surface. "So we're just supposed to tell them what to do?" she asked reaching out to poke one of the knights before hastily withdrawing her finger as the now animated horse snapped around trying to locate the offending poker fixating on a nearby pawn thanks to the absence of the offending digit.
"I think we need to them to stand in their places first." Hope commented dryly, watching the chaos milling around on the board. She picked up the queen and watched with a raised eyebrow and the figure waved a tiny arm at her, then hit her finger. "The queen goes on the fourth square from the left, right?" At Sue's nod, she put the piece down firmly, adding a strict: "And stay there!"
The corners of Sue's mouth quirked up as she watched Hope arguing with her queen, this was going to be a lot of fun she decided as she exchanged a glance with Topaz but she was going to try something a little bit different. Slipping her chair back she reached forward and tapped the White King and Queen on their shoulders. "Your majesties," she said dipping into a curtsy, "If I could beg a favor, could you marshal your troops for combat against your foes?" The blonde looked up at the other girls with a laugh as the royal chess pieces started bullying the rest of the white pieces into line. "Much easier than trying to wrangle them all myself," she confided with a wink.
Topaz rolled her eyes, but she was laughing. "Yeah clearly they don't like to be touched, so just say the piece and where you want it go, and if I've done this right - which considerin' how active they are I'd say I did - they should move to the place you want them to go. So if you say pawn to A five, the pawn at A four will move to A five." In theory, at least. The young witch would gladly admit that she was making this up as she went along.
Hope grinned herself and watched for a moment as the King and Queen continued marshaling their pawns in place. Catching sight of the white bishop who seemed to be idly scratching his head, she dug in her mind for the correct form of address and asked: "Your Excellency, may I ask you to move from C8 to F5, please? Only for a moment."
The little figure stopped scratching his head and waved a tiny fist at her, tittering something not quite understandable at her, but finally did as she said. He only stayed there a moment before hopping back to his own place, glaring at Hope still. She raised an eyebrow at Topaz and joked: "Do you suppose I should have kissed his ring?"
"I think he might just be confused because they were takin' marchin' orders from Sue before," Topaz said as she eyed the board. Or it was possible that she had made them too smart. "Either that or I've created entirely too self-aware chess pieces."
"See everyone is worried about the machines taking over, but it's the self aware chess pieces that we need to worry about." Sue quipped, "I mean they're already an army and they're small enough to get everywhere." she noted stroking the mane of one of her knights, "So, how much do you know about chess then, Hope?"
"I know the pieces and I know the basics of how each piece moves, but no idea how to turn that into playing a game, to be honest." hope explained as she seized another piece who tried to hop of the board, this time a black pawn. "Topaz, is there by any chance a pause or freeze mode perhaps?"
"They're supposed to be still when they're not playin'," Topaz muttered as she leaned down so she was eye to eye with the chess pieces. "Oi, knock it off all of you." They all turned to the new voice, and after a moment they froze. "Good chess pieces," she said approvingly, straightening up again.
"Awww, but what's the point of living chess pieces if they're not all over he place an trying to get out?" Sue asked with an grin as she turned to survey Hope over the chess board, "Ok, if you know the basics then that's a pretty good start, all we really need to do is let you see how it all strings together." As she spoke Sue reached over and tapped her king's pawn on the head, "Excuse me, if you could move up two please."
"Pawn moves one forward, except for in their starting move, when can they can move two, right?" Hope eyed her own row of pawns, hovering a finger about them in doubts. "So how does one figure out with which of the eight to start?"
"That really depends," Sue replied an animated expression on her face, "most chess players just memorize different kinds of openings and counter openings. But the idea is to gain control over as much of the board as possible." She gestured towards the board, "You can see the board as three areas, the left, the right and the center, this early in the game you don't really know what's going to happen but if you can control the center then you're in a good position to respond to anything. So you wanna choose moves that will leave you in the best position to exploit any tactical advantages. Are you with me so far?"
"I think so." Hope studies the board for a bit as she hesitated over which pawn to direct first. "Basically the larger goal is maintain control in the middle of the board, while all the openings and counters are opening tactics to that goals? You know any books about this?" She directed her last question to Topaz.
"I think I've seen a few in the library, but I never read them," Topaz admitted. "My dad always said it's somethin' you learn by practicin', not readin' theories." She shrugged.
"Uh huh." Hope finally leaned forward and touched one of her pawns. "Could you move forward two, please?" Almost immediately the pawn turned to look over his shoulder and it started tittering at her, waving a tiny first. Hope glared at the pawn. "Just do as you are told, please."
"Practice helps," Sue agreed as she tapped one of her knights on it's head indicating that it was it's turn to move, "But knowing the theories helps you to put the strategic level of the game in perspective," the blonde looked down at the board with a smile as her knight slipped into position tossing it's head in disdain at the behavior of the black pawns, "I gotta admit Topaz, these are awesome, they've all got their own personalities."
"A little too much of a personality," Topaz muttered she watched Hope's pawn twittering away at her. "I don't think they like you very much Hope. Sorry about that."
"I seem to remember Harry's set being somewhat obstinate at the start." Hope injected some optimism in her voice. "Now what..." She nudged another pawn forward, which he did grudgingly.
"I wasn't aiming for actual Harry Potter-type chess pieces though. I just wanted 'em to move." She jumped as one of Sue's pawns hopped forward suddenly, pouncing on Hope's and pinning it down. "Well. They're certainly eager."
"Umm, so I never really watched the films, but did Harry's pieces do that?" Sue asked as her other knight sailed over the board landing square on the heads of one of Hope's pawns hopping up and down on the fallen piece's head a few times for good measure before it flicked the pawn off the board. "I don't know about you, but that seems a little brutal for a kids movie."
"Hey! What in the world?!?!?!" Hope almost jumped back as pandemonium broke out across the board, various pieces assailing each other. "Sue, I think one is running past you there."
Sue dived onto the floor her hand outstretched grabbing a pair of chess pieces as a forcefield flared up protecting the girl as she slid along the floor and came to a rest against the wall. "Where do you two think you're going?" she asked the white queen and knight in her hands, "You shouldn't be chasing a fleeing enemy... It's un sportsman like," she told them seriously before looking up at her friends with a wry grin, "It says a lot that I'm talking to living chess pieces and think that that's perfectly normal."
"Oh hell!" Topaz hissed as she dove for one of the black knights, but the little piece was fast; it disappeared under the fridge. "Oh shut it," she snapped at it as she heard it twittering away - laughing at her. She reached under the fridge to try and grab it...
"Ow!"
And instantly yanked her hand back out when she felt a sharp pain. "Bugger stabbed me!" It hadn't even broken the skin, of course - it was more just the shock of the fact that a chess piece was trying to kill her.
"And here we have a few more of the little critters." Hope dove to the side, just barely managing to grab two of the pieces making for the window, open to the sunny weather outside. Holding the twittering pieces up to her eyes, she continued: "Look like a White Bishop and a Black Knight to me. I wonder what those are doing together... Though I am afraid the other managed to... get out..."
Sue glanced at the open door before turning to her friends, "It's ok, they're only little, it's not like they can get far or cause much damage" she began before the crash of falling ceramics made a lie of her worlds. The blonde glance at the door then at the chess pieces she was still holding, "or not."
Topaz just stared at the door in disbelief. There were chess pieces - living chess pieces loose in the mansion. And it was her fault.
She looked at Sue and Hope. "If anyone asks, Billy did it."
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no subject
Date: 2014-07-17 05:01 pm (UTC)...
Okay, so I don't know if this was intentional but once upon a time, Amanda was briefly the Black Knight - or could have been - and Manuel spent time as the White Bishop.
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Date: 2014-07-17 07:24 pm (UTC)