It's more like there's a hierarchy I didn't follow. If I can't contact poster-Jay directly, I'm supposed to I guess email Visionary, and KS, and you first - but by then, the story is either going to be axed or moot, since everyone who will read it has seen the plot already.





By the time I wrote the story of mine, I didn't have his email address, plus I figured by the time I email everyone else to find it I could already have written and posted the story. Since the new apartment wasn't absolutely central to the story I figured it was worth the risk.





I try to make character changes semi-permanent if possible. Meaning they don't reset when the story is over, but they aren't impossible or difficult to ignore or undo if needed.





I really thought deeply about which characters might be interested in which ones. I took a gamble with Chiaki once because it was amusing that two such opposite people might try their luck (plus she has that exotic quality that he seems to like).

Liu Xi, that was designed to be a very one-way infatuation starting out. She started out being very needy, but learned quickly, and isn't so much anymore.

And Lara is always the kind of person who's unexpected. She's very friendly, almost a little flirty, but she's also a die-hard romantic most of the time. She really does believe that Hatman has issues with commitment - she likes being friends with him, but will always keep him at arm's length, so to speak.





He has to be extra careful for another reason: If he's put in the hospital, a certain very-protective-of-her-friends Samurai friend of his might decide to stroll through his new neighborhood and do some street cleaning. Afterward, the ER in the same hospital will become very crowded. Most likely if he's determined to do this himself, he knows he has to avoid that kind of injury.





What I mean is, if he really wants to do something himself, he won't seek help to make things *easier*. Not till he runs into trouble, or a dead end.





Another possibility is Vicky Cameron back in Paradopolis. GMY is out of her jurisdiction, but if she has evidence and a very curious investigation into Velma Klein, a little jurisdictional problem isn't going to stop her from making an arrest. I'm sure that will be embarrassing enough. And she'll curse at and insult anyone who tries to stop her.