#socket answers

Julian is a golden retriever of a man, insofar as he is a people-pleaser who loves to hear he's done well. However, he tends to deflect praise a little, he gets bashful. Like, you can tell he's happy, because he's smiling ear to ear, but he's also insisting it was the least he could do, really and (if he was not alone in doing the thing he was praised for) redirecting the spotlight eagerly to someone else who truly does deserve to be commended, I mean, they did an absolutely splendid job.

As for criticism, this varies strongly by who delivers it and what it's about. By default he accepts criticism gracefully, usually apologetically - and then ruminates on it for far too long after the fact, analysing his error and chastising himself for his thoughtlessness. If he truly feels the criticism was unearned, he usually stammers out some attempt at correction, but his protests tend to be quite timid.

Criticism from someone Julian actively does not like brings out his snippy side, though! There's usually a pause, a sigh as he tries to contain his patience, then (in tones either Carefully Measured or in Exasperated Retort) something starting with an emphatic, "Listen-" or, "Well. I'll have you know that-".

The old party Fighter was frequently derisive of Julian's verbosity, inefficiency, lack of ambition, and general lack of the skills he personally associated with the word 'wizard' - say, the ability to cast Mage Hand. This ruffled Julian's feathers terribly and really got under his skin, and I don't think he's so far ever spoken to anyone else quite as sharply as he did when Himo suggested he was short-sighted for not having an interest in farming Maximilian.

“Well, before I could even do such a thing, Himo, firstly I would have to discern how to replicate him. And after that, divine what can be learned from him about magibotanical beings as a whole. You’re being so…” he sighs, exasperated, “just so simplistic.”

41. how do you keep notes for this character, if at all?

I don't have in-character notes specifically for Julian (which is shocking, I know) but I do record our sessions and also have a veritable fucking tome of a campaign chronicle that functions as Julian notes, I suppose! It just also happens to function as a complete narrative recap of everything that's happened. (I keep considering sharing it in instalments on here but it really is So Fucking Long that I doubt anyone would want to read it!)

Our DM got me - well, got Julian a gorgeous personalised leatherbound book for my birthday a few years back. I have often considered using it for jotting down IC notes-to-self, his observations of Maximilian's growth, etc, but I've had terrible New Book Paralysis about it. Here's what it looks like, though. :3

61. is there an in-game moment of theirs you think about and just laugh?

Oh, it's got to be the ridiculous Kolton's Dagger Accidental Innuendo Spiral, I think. Let me explain. It's a long one but it has me grinning whenever I remember it.

Okay, so, as we know, Julian is very easily embarrassed, and once thrown off-kilter in an interaction he struggles terribly to recover his footing.

(As a small example of this: Our Fighter insisted on calling the elven Mayor of Hare Ear Fjord "Cadence" instead of his name (Caidith). To Julian's mortification he then did the same, completely unintentionally. Then, panicking, fumbled his hasty correction into "Caileth" (which would be like someone calling him "Juliet"), and then, by now visibly pink in the face, finally arrived at Caidith's name. This happened twice. (The second time he was quicker to catch himself, so it was more of a "Caden- Cail- *gathers his breath* Caidith. So sorry. Terribly sorry.")

SO WITH THAT FOR CONTEXT.)

So, our newest party member, Kolton, had a dagger that seemed very familiar to the rest of us but none of us could put our finger on why. (Every single INT check was garbage, but it previously belonged to the aforementioned Fighter.) Heather went to ask Julian about it, to see if he had any insight, and when he didn't Julian pondered if Kolton might permit him to Identify it if he asked.

To this, Heather waggles her eyebrows and goes, "Y'gonna ask t' see Kolton's dagger, are you? Steady on, Julian! You've only known him a few hours!" and from here everything spiraled out of control.

So Julian, pink to the tips of his ears, bats her arm with the back of his hand, and to spare his embarrassment declares that on that note he's going to go and check on Maximilian, and Heather - who has seen her chance for mischief because it's way too easy - calls after him, "That what y'call it these days?" She then decides to summon Kolton on his behalf by hollering, at the top of her voice, "EY KOLTON, JULIAN WANTS T'SEE YER DAGGER ;)"

Naturally, this does not set Julian up well. Kolton, to his credit, graciously does not acknowledge any double entendre on Heather's part. A true gentleman. However Julian has been pre-flustered and has succumbed entirely to his chronic case of Foot In Mouth Disease. On receipt of the dagger, he chirps (far too chirpily) that he'll be 'in his corner' and will 'be back in ten minutes' - at this, Heather guffaws.

Ten minutes later he comes back none the wiser to the dagger's origins but educated on its enchantment - it's a Dagger of Returning! :D And perhaps Julian might have recovered at this point, but no. As he explains to Kolton, he decides to explain the attuning process thus:

"You'll have to spend a little time with it first - things like this require you to, ah, 'get to know' the weapon in question."

(And Heather, in her hammock across the way, audibly snorts. He colours.)

"I am so sorry, my phrasing is just atrocious today. That's the long and the short of it, anyway- HEATHER." (At this point she is fully shuddering with a full on fit of the giggles.) "It's a very nice dagger that you have here, that's all I'm trying to say!"

Now, technically that's the end of the Kolton's Dagger Spiral, but it immediately flows into the other Heather-Julian interaction that has me hooting whenever I relisten to it:

At this point Julian flees the conversation abruptly and tries to decompress/compose himself by noodling with his Sending spell. Tucked away in his corner of the crew quarters, Julian finally cracks the code on the last few theorems of it all, and, now that he can, gives his sister a call to finally let her know that he's okay and not to worry. Olivia is aghast to hear he's in a whole other country - CORRAN?! Mother and Father have been putting up missing posters, Julian! They're going to be furious.

Being timeblind as hell and also unconsciously procrastinating on going home (because that would mean ultimately returning to the Academy halls), Julian had not really processed that to his family, he had....simply not come back from his most recent expedition, and was now over a week late. So that hits him, and he immediately flies to Heather's side, grabs her arm, and whispers, with grave urgency,

"Heather, I am in so much trouble."

What Heather has witnessed, for her part, is her good pal Julian get real fuckin' flustered around that big lad with the sword and the shaved sides, then run off to his corner, huddle there muttering to himself awhile, and then run back to her in a flap. Her passive insight makes it clear to her that he's genuinely stressed now, he's not just being a big blushing goofball. This requires seriousness.

"It's o-kay, Julian," she says, slowly like she's settling a spooked animal, clapping a big hand on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring rub. "Yer okay."

"It's not!" he cries, "My parents are going to be furious!"

There's a beat. Heather's eyebrows raise in surprise. "Do they not know?" Said eyebrows descend into a thoughtful frown, she tilts her head. "Have y'not....like, told them?"

-

And the whole table fell apart laughing as Julian scrambled to clarify, and I'm smiling writing it up again even now. What a fucking dork. And what a joy Heather is in every scene.

They’re a party of a rogue, warlock, ranger and paladin! The paladin, Arturo, is the newest addition, having only stumbled into the others on the very evening they ended up transported to Barovia.