One Poll to end them all...

[Moechi_Vill]

... and in the darkness bind them, where the Miko-feelings lie.

Per polling tradition I have learnt not to vote before a number of votes have come in, in order not to lend weight to my preferred credence. The issue at hand is... did, does and/or potentially would/does/will Roy had/has/will have : the oppertunity to have made Miko a better person had he resorted to generally positive reinforcement instead of generally negative reinforcement.

[RMS Oceanic]

I don't think so. He may not have picked the best course of action, but even if he did, I doubt it would have mattered. Miko was in a state of shock, and if I were a betting man, I'd bet on the scenario that as soon as she snapped out of it, she'd have drawn the same conclusion she did and attack Roy and/or Belkar.

Roy/Belkar was not the best combination of OotS members to be there. If we wanted to give Miko the best chance of redemption, then a Elan/Durkon combination might have brought her to her senses. Might.

[Moechi_Vill]

Perhaps in the past when he had apologized to her?

[RMS Oceanic]

Yeah, but we're not in the past. We're in the present, where Miko has an unshakable bias against the OotS that she lets cloud her judgement. I say Roy and Belkar are the worst two because Belkar constantly antagonised her, almost to the point where she fell, but for the grace of Shojo, while Roy hit her "below the belt" with his "you're-a-holier-than-thou-self-righteous-jerk" speech. As a lawful good cleric, she may have listened to Durkon, while Elan has a habit of randomly pointing out what needs to be said. This isn't stoneclad, though.

[Moechi_Vill]

But the poll refers also to the past.

[RMS Oceanic]

Ah, you mean if he was consitently polite from the word go? Your poll didn't make that clear.

Maybe, but I still think he'd have sided with Belkar during the trial, and since he would never be polite to Miko, that would be enough to antagonise Miko and Roy's relationship, though she might regret that it had come to that.

Conclusion: Maybe, but it's not a dead cert.

[kabbor]

Well, he was polite to start with: it didn't get him very far.
And in the end: He was probably 4:1 against turning Miko around if he tried it: by attacking he lost that chance, but it wasn't a good one to begin with.

[Alfryd]

Roy was generally reasonably decent toward Miko during their early encounters, it was just a string of bad luck that caused their falling-out so early. In the long run however, it is questionable whether the rest of the OotS would have put with Miko long enough for her to pick up some decent social skills en route to Azure City.

[Moechi_Vill]

'Reasonably Decent' / Nice = constant mating ouvertoures

?

[Demented]

She would have changed him before he changed her. He ain't nearly lawful enough.

[Alfryd]

Reasonably Decent' / Nice = constant mating ouvertoures
?Alright, I'll give you that. But he was open, friendly, as supportive as he could be, and scrupulously fair toward her. (Possibly even slightly unfair in her favour.)

She would have changed him before he changed her. He ain't nearly lawful enough.I do think that Miko was *trying* to fit in toward the end of her spell with the party, but under the circumstances it was too little, too late.

[Ashbless]

She would have changed him before he changed her. He ain't nearly lawful enough.

Don't all women try to change their men? :smallsmile:

Actually, I'd like to say that I think RMS Oceanic early posts in the thread are spot on in their analysis.

[Alfryd]

Actually, I'd like to say that I think RMS Oceanic early posts in the thread are spot on in their analysis.
Agreed, actually.

[Applehat]

Needs Thog Option.

[Alfryd]

Thog has had quite enough poll options for one night. Off to bed with him.

[Iranon]

Whose bed though? People will be fighting over him all over the place until he has another accident.

Actually, I think anyone could have improved Miko's outlook. She opened up to Roy practically the minute he appeared to behave in a halfway decent manner towards her.
It's pretty much established that she was friendless or close to it, and many of her actions can be interpreted as an attempt to be kind (she does have the social skills of a rock face. Unfailing politeness doesn't make this any easier.)

Would it take more than you can expect from total strangers whom you arrest for a charge that turns out to be mostly trumped up? Definitely. But it would have been more than possible.

[Alfryd]

Would it take more than you can expect from total strangers whom you arrest for a charge that turns out to be mostly trumped up? Definitely. But it would have been more than possible.Very true. The problem was, many of her *statements and gestures* could also be considered abrasive, overweening and presumptuous of her. Unfailing politeness didn't make *that* any easier.

[Bosswald]

Psychotic breaks don't fix themselves in under a minute. Talking nicely to someone having one isn't going to make it go any quicker.

[mikeejimbo]

I think you shouldn't blame other people for the faults of one. You can't say "It's not my fault, people were mean to me." At least, not in my country.

[Alfryd]

Talking nicely to someone having one isn't going to make it go any quicker.That's not neccesarily the case. Like Oceanic mentioned, the mere presence of Roy and Belkar was probably going to mean Miko would jump to conclusions, but they might at least have tried to explain what they were actually doing there, rather than bitching about her lack of a sex life, which, really, was below the belt. No pun intended.
Oh, alright, it was slightly intended.

I think you shouldn't blame other people for the faults of one. You can't say "It's not my fault, people were mean to me." At least, not in my country.
No-one's blaming Roy for what miko did. But what you're entitled to do and what would actually be most beneficial for the common welfare are very different things, as Miko's conduct might make abundantly clear.