The Beautiful Girl and the History Class

[Chief Ragusa]

Only crushed for a week, Melody must be losing her touch.

Poor Yves, he did not live to see his victory. Isense Louis II will have a higher diplomacy rating (greater than 0 would notbe difficult).

I am still firmly of the opinion that Nick should slip Melody a note. If that does not work, he could always ask Caveman to stalk her.

[J. Passepartout]

Ding dong the king is dead!

I would have advised against retaining a former adversary as a vassal, as a mistake in Machiavellian terms.

[JimboIX]

Perhaps Melody's in mourning herself. We'll have to hope so for Nick's sake. Yves died just in the nick of time, good. Hopefully Louis II takes more after his grandfather. With any luck, now most of the vassals will return to the fold.

[Fulcrumvale]

Speaking of Melody: we still don't know why she's not at some super-duper insanely expensive school. And now we probably never will, unless Melody actually starts talking again.

[LeonTrotsky]

Good job Yves died when he did; maybe there's always some good luck when you need it.

[Jestor]

Chief Ragusa: On the other hand, you could argue that Nick being crushed at all is a testament to Melody's ability. As for the note or stalking idea, maybe.

Yes, Louis II will have a diplomacy rating greater than 0

J. Passepartout: I figured Morengay worded that in a confusing manner. What he meant was that the Governor of Genoa wasn't forced to hand over the title, but because he has no land, it's more an honorific than anything else and no he's not a vassal (and I haven't seen the create Duke of Genoa option in the screen yet)

JimboIX: From my memory of last time I played, there's two vassals that still need to re-join, but it'll take a while as the regency council's rep is pretty bad right now. I'm certainly hoping Louis II will take after his grandfather. What a great, great king. It's a tough name to live up to at any rate.

As for Melody, only time will tell.

Fulcrumvale: Why, you're right! I thought Melody included it in her letter, but apparently she left it out. Maybe we'll find out some day, though.

Oh, by the way, guys, concerning Nick's last name:

I can't become pretty Mrs. Duncan on Sycamore Street with the two kids and the dog, living a common life.

So it -was- mentioned earlier.

[Jestor]

LeonTrotsky: Good luck, indeed! Which is actually pretty rare in my AARs, if you look at previous ones. This one, however, has been pretty full of good luck, to make up for all the prior runs of bad luck.

And my apologies for not including this in the earlier batch of feedback posts.. I was excited about Nick's last name.

[Chief Ragusa]

Crushed implies an ability to think. Nick was in a zombie-like state, kinda like a frat party at the end of semester.

[Adaml83]

Crushed implies an ability to think. Nick was in a zombie-like state, kinda like a frat party at the end of semester.

And then the shattered beer bottles afterwards... *shudder* How I never got a flat tire from driving in the parking lot I don't know.

Back on topic: I think Melody was in mourning when Nick took her to the pizza place when she realized what he meant to her. Maybe that was a test, but I'm not sure on that. But it seemed that they were getting closer up until that point.

Now I think she's in robot mode hoping she can just get through this without some sort of reminder.

[Jestor]

Chief Ragusa: How I love those end of semester parties. The ones in May are going to be off the hook because I'll be graduating.

Adaml83: Neither of the fraternities I've been a part of (de-pledged one before initiation because I was transferring campuses and there was no chapter on my new campus) have had the beer bottles in the parking lot thing. ...They do drink a ton of beer, though.

Interesting theory on Melody, by the way. I hadn't realized that such seemed to be the turning point. It's something worth thinking about.

The 28th draws closer and closer, guys. The next week and a half are going to be a whirlwind of activity, but I'll do my best to get an update in before I go.

I may also experiment with moving my saved game over to my new laptop (picked up a budget Acer one today that still kicks the tar out of my old one and I absolutely -love- the Acer brand) so I can try and update periodically when I'm in Granada, but there's no promises there, either.

[Adaml83]

I don't know maybe it was an Alabama thing. Then again it's also hard to tell how much is from the apartments and how much the row of frats. The partying wasn't bad unless they were loud enough to keep you awake, didn't really matter for my last semester when I ended up being moved across the street. That semester I got a flat tire in that parking lot.

Well it'll only be a major turning point if they stay broken up. If Nick can somehow get back with her, it's possible since I suspect Nick's changed more than both of them suspect, then that day will be slightly less important.

Depending on how much free time you have, this might be one of the better times to get the relationship updates up and running unless you get CK and the saved game over to the laptop. Either way Grenada's more important than us.

[Jestor]

I don't know maybe it was an Alabama thing. Then again it's also hard to tell how much is from the apartments and how much the row of frats. The partying wasn't bad unless they were loud enough to keep you awake, didn't really matter for my last semester when I ended up being moved across the street. That semester I got a flat tire in that parking lot.

Ahh, that explains a fair amount I think. Greek life is *huge* down South with majorly large chapters.

Well it'll only be a major turning point if they stay broken up. If Nick can somehow get back with her, it's possible since I suspect Nick's changed more than both of them suspect, then that day will be slightly less important.

Depending on how much free time you have, this might be one of the better times to get the relationship updates up and running unless you get CK and the saved game over to the laptop. Either way Grenada's more important than us.

You bring up an interesting point with the phrase broken up. Would you and other readers consider them as having been together in the relationship kind of way or was it just a friends with benefits situation?

[Jestor]

I received an email from Prof Morengay today with our midterm exam question.

"Hello students!

In the interest of saving as much time for lecture as possible, I'm distributing your midterm exam question via email. It will be a take-home exam and answers will be due next Friday at the start of class.

Your exam question is:

What individual or event do you feel most contributed to the meteoric rise of the de Semurs from minor Counts of Chalon to an Adriatic powerhouse as the Kings of Italy-Croatia?

Write a five-page paper in which you defend your choice. Cite two sources, one of which may be either lecture notes or your textbook, but not both. Note: Wikipedia is not allowed! The best papers will also acknowledge other possiblities and explain why those events or persons should not be regarded as the best and your choice should.

Good luck!

Prof. Morengay"

That's a tough question. It's one I'll have to think about... At least it'll take my mind off of Melody for a bit, especially since I have a couple other midterms coming in this next week too.

OOC Note: You, the readers, can feel free to tackle this question too, since you're technically Nick's classmates!

[Chief Ragusa]

They went out on a series of dates. There was the inkling of a relationship, which Melody's "note" has nixed, at least for the time being.

Nick's notes don't strike me a being all that good for a question like this. The obvious answer is Louis the Great. The Great is usually a fair indication of the individual's impact. Nick does not do any analysis in his notes. He'll have to research by reading the textbook and seeing why Wiki is not suitable. I imagine half the class will use Wiki, even though Morengay has dismissed it as a source.

[JimboIX]

I'd say Nick and Melody were on the precipice of a relationship, Melody balked before it actually got there- not friends with benefits quite, but they were a long ways off from calling each other honey. I think they were in need of a "Define The Relationship" chat, but Melody defined it before they got there, because she was afraid of what it was-and clearly had feelings for Nick that went beyond anything platonic or physical. Now for the final.

To me, the answer is clearly Louis I. While he comes on to the scene when the Semurs have already come quite a long way, his primary contribution is injecting their grasp on the their possessions with an aura of permanence. Notably,even after his death and his son's disastrous rule, deposition, while considered, would have resulted in merely the placement of another de Semur on the throne. A king so great and so gifted gave the dynasty an air of legitimacy and endurance which it desperately needed at the time.

[Adaml83]

I was tempted to put broken up in quotes as they weren't in a full blown relationship but as the others said they were one slip away from going that direction.


I'll hold off for now in deciding which one was the best. Hugues brought the family from nobodies to somebodies and gave Louis I a great foundation, Louis I made them a powerhouse earning him the title 'Great', and Yves despite everything against him managed to keep the kingdom together.

[Chief Ragusa]

Don't forget the battles won at seemingly impossible odds by their great general. Their astute marriages added territories. The conflict between the Jmenez and Premyslids families spurred the growth of the de Semurs.

I think Nick would go for Yves. The man just never knew when to quit.Let us face facts, Yves was unsuited for ruling and yet met everything adversity hurled at him with interest and even died at the most opportune time for the kingdom.

[Specialist290]

I'm going to be going out on a limb a little with my answer here, but I'm going to suggest that the key to the rise of the de Semur dynasty lies not with the de Semurs themselves, but rather with the von Franken line. The earliest acquisitions of the Counts of Chalon (Forez, Ferrara, kingship of Italy) were all made at the expense of a collapsing Holy Roman Empire; had the Emperors been stronger, it is very likely that the de Semur line would simply have remained minor French nobility, or at least would have taken a very different (and probably much longer) road to power. While it certainly took quite a bit of initiative on the part of Count Hughes and King Louis I to exploit the opportunities available for advancement, these opportunities would not have existed in the first place if the von Franken Emperors been able to maintain a much firmer grasp on their Imperial authority.

EDIT: Incidentally...

For his efforts in creating an intriguing, addictive, and overall pretty-darn-good AAR, I hereby bestow upon Jestor one of my very own Red Special Cookies. ●

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[GhostWriter]

Jestor: ...That's a tough question. ... At least it'll take my mind off of Melody for a bit, especially since I have a couple other midterms coming in this next week too.

well, at least we don't have to worry about them working together on the midterm exam...

Jestor: ...May 30th, 1129, King Yves I was found dead in his bed.

ahhh. Yves I finally picked a good time to die ! ! even in death, he won ! !

awesome updates ! !

[ForzaA]

I must admit I did check wikipedia...
but it seems the prof is VERY strict in his "no wikipedia", even going so far as to delete any articles relating to the de Semur rule of Italy

...Guess I WILL have to go through the lecture notes then