Special Preview: Eustace & Hitomi and the Case of the Empty Promises

MAIDENSTEAD'S OWN EUSTACE DELMONT IS ON THE CASE OF THE EMPTY 'PROMISES'
from Maidenstead Monitor. October 22, 2000.
"How will he juggle the possibly strangest case of his career with his upcoming wedding?"

 

Maidenstead, AL. Sunday, October 21, 2000. 2pm.
Maidenstead Art Center, 2nd Floor. Alphy Clark's Clothing Shop.

10 days before the wedding of Hitomi Meyer and Eustace Delmont.

"Hey, Alphy, give me a cigarette. I promise not to strangle you."

"Nah uh, girl. You know better. By the way, have you told him, yet?"

Hitomi sighs deeply. From the waist down, she is in the bottom half of a very beautiful wedding dress designed by Alphy himself. Above the waist, Hitomi is nude and exposed to the world at large. Well, not so much the world at large but a small curtained off section of the Maidenstead Textile Mill — repurposed into the Maidenstead Art Center, a hipster mall full of more artists and craftsfolk than you would think possibly fit in Maidenstead. Still, the old Mill windows overlooking the bay are quite large.

Since moving to Maidenstead four years ago, she has put on twenty pounds and no longer looks like a half-starved stray dog. Still, it might be nice if more of that weight had stuck to the breasts and less to the stomach and hips. Not like Eustace has ever complained. He is always showering her with love and attention and making her feel like the most special partner in the world. She gets the sense that he would find her absolutely sexy even if she was old and hairy and wrinkled. A woman can still want to bring her full game to the table, though.

She wishes either Daphne or Julia were here. Daphne would make a huge deal about how breath-takingly beautiful Hitomi was. Julia, who has been a great step-mom and very helpful with the wedding plans, would be full of hugs and encouragements and more sassy southern stories about how Hitomi's dad — the Pastor Maurice Meyer — had nearly screwed up on his own wedding day. Julia, mind, would probably pat Hitomi's belly and say those are just good baby brains so win some, lose some.

Alphy is Alphonse Carter. Raymond's adopted brother. He's a short, super-sweet man originally from the Haiti who came over as a baby back in the early 80s. Had a natural talent in clothing designs that Raymond and his entire adopted family have encouraged. Alphy has decided to redesign the top to Hitomi's dress to have Japanese wedding attire elements in it despite her protesting that she has never been to Japan and has only recently started learning any of the language. This was inspired by an upcoming honeymoon in Tokyo and the possibility of meeting some of her distant kin.

Morgan pushes through the curtains into Alphy's shop and lets out a little squeak upon seeing Hitomi's state of half-dress.

"Morgan, for God's sake. You've seen me naked. We've had sex, remember? Sorry, Alphy."

Alphy waves it off with a laugh. He takes after his big brother with making unflustered a life style.

Morgan, on the other hand, continues to blush. Morgan Yost, now. Since marrying Patrick two years ago, the pair have averaged out in interesting ways. Morgan lost 50 pounds. He gained it. Patrick toned down half of his bitchiness, she worked on nurturing hers. The two have gone into business together — the art center is their collective brainchild — and have a young baby at home under the constant care of Tanya Carter, Morgan's recently retired mom after a accident made work-life balance better suited to spoiling a grandbaby.

Morgan has turned her people-skills and new found business acumen into taking Maid of Honor duties very seriously. No longer Hitomi's constant side-kick, she still takes Hitomi's happiness seriously at times like these. Especially with the new one on the way. Only now with memos and spreadsheets and calendars.

Morgan reads off a list of notes for Hitomi's attention . "Elly and Milton want to take you out to dinner tonight. Their treat. Something super fancy and...," pointing to Hitomi's mid-section, "super healthy. Eustace is free to join but you are to be the star of the show and so they are fine if, and I quote, 'the dumb-ass finds something else to do so they can gossip,' end-quote. Alphy, no, you are not invited though Milton sends love."

"Ok," responds Hitomi, acknowledging. Eustace's younger sibling has been through some changes as of late. Not only have they hit a growth spurt to now be the taller of the two Delmont siblings, a healthy-thin 6'5, but after a couple of years of contemplation began taking testosterone boosters this past year and starting a weight-lifting routine to try bulking up some. The overall effect is to give them the start of some nice muscles, a small scraggly beard, and curlier hair. Overall they are like Eustace from an alternate universe. Alphy and Milton have been dating while Milton figures out if they are a they, a he, or a she on temporary vacation and Alphy is fine with any of those outcomes. Alphy says he loves beards and curly hair. He and Hitomi have that in common.

Elly on the other hand has stayed majority single since the split with Jenny. She wears her hair shorter now and has had a handful of fairly productive, and productively short, romps with a few men and women. Currently dating a wonderful doctor named Trini Rojas. Elly and Milton still live in Aunt Elvis's old apartment though the income from a rapidly growing Moment Labs are leading both to look into getting a house together and keeping up their beautiful little found family. Milton has teamed up with Trini to start trying to tone down Elly's greatly increased smoking habit since the stuff around the Rambler and her confession to Eustace.

Speaking of smoking...

"Hey, Morgan, give me one of your cigarettes. I promise to not choke Alphy."

"Please, bitch. Alphy would choke me. Besides, Patrick and I are trying out a hookahs these days and cutting back on the Malboros. Lots of fun flavors. Last night was pomegranate honey. It is relaxing. Have you told him, yet?"

Hitomi stomps a foot and irritably says, "Next!"

"Okey dokeyyy. Daphne and Frank got delayed leaving Australia due to weather. They are now on their way to Oxford to get your mom but it will be Thursday before they arrive."

"That's fine. I...could use a moment before seeing Mom, again." Hitomi and her mother, Tomoko Sato, are on good terms but as Hitomi has not only integrated into Maidenstead society but become something of a pillar to it, it makes a connection to her old life a bit strange. Hitomi is now the general manager of Ralph's and Hitomi's Electronics and the boss of the town's relatively modern internet service. While Eustace is a town superstar, Hitomi has tended to handle a lot of the social engagements on his behalf. Beloved girlfriend and ambassador to the Eustace experience. Hitomi is also not sure about meeting her mom's third boyfriend — this one a professor — in as many years. She fully supports her mom's return to "the scene" but her mom's type seems to be mostly really stuffy, boring guys who go on long winded playful rants about whether poverty is a moral failing and on whose behalf while laughing through their nose.

"Next?"

"Amy would like to meet with you and Eustace tomorrow to talk about the honeymoon details and to make sure everything, in her words, is absolutely sexy and fabulous."

"Hmmm...," semi-growls Hitomi. Amy and Eustace are good friends and very supportive of each other and Amy is the one paying for the whole honeymoon package to Japan with very few expenses spared as her far-too-lavish wedding gift. It is just that Amy — now Amy Trịnh after "divorcing" her still imprisoned dad and taking her mom's Vietnamese maiden name — remains a particular thorn in Hitomi's side. For instance, Hitomi found out about the name change after a very drunk Amy showed up at their apartment to cry in Eustace's arms.

Amy dropped the bombshell that some old family records claimed Roman wasn't her biological dad. Then she fell asleep. On Hitomi's side of the bed. Eustace, like a man who knew when a boundary might exist, took the couch and Hitomi had to spend the night realizing how great an even booze-soaked Amy smelled.

Hitomi was really not the jealous type but while Amy was a force of good these past four years, Amy is also just a plain out immaculate force of nature. She has already tripled her piece of the Patel fortune even with the heavy investments in charity. And Amy has the sort of lips that even straight women — which Hitomi has come to terms with being a bit far from — couldn't help but wonder about.

Hitomi had a nightmare just a couple of nights ago that due to a clerical error she got left behind filling out Eustace's press-releases while he and Amy went off on that sexy and fabulous honeymoon. The doctor has assured Hitomi that anxiety, and a sense of needing to nest, were perfectly normal and healthy for a person in her condition. Also horniness. In spades.

"Hitomi? Amy?"

"Uh, just tell her to come over to the apartment. Eustace has been wanting to try a new tofu scramble on someone."

Remember the yoga. Remember the breathing. She really needed to have a talk with Eustace. About bonus wedding gifts despite precautions. Julia says God finds a way to bless a home when the home is ready and Julia and Maurice have an entire garage full of baby stuff picked out and waiting until Hitomi tells the one person in Maidenstead who needs to know. It's not like the rest of the town hasn't figured it out by now. Somehow Mr. Genius Detective has stood alone in buying every story about why the ash-trays went because you shouldn't smoke around pets — and you shouldn't — and why Hitomi is quitting in solidarity with her dad who quit last year due to health issues (which she isn't, but now kind of wishes she had). Hell, Eustace is off on a new vegetarian kick to show his support. Took up cooking and got pretty good at it.

Sorry, baby, she thinks, but God has blessed you with the dumbest smart dad in the universe. Now, if only God could bless her home with a baby-safe, pet-safe cigarette, Hitomi might could handle some of this. Maybe some fried liver. She really could eat some fried liver.

Hitomi's phone starts ringing as Alphy is wrapping the first layer of her new wedding dress top around her. "Morgan, babe, can you? It's probably Eu. Don't say anything about any thing."

"It's probably me? OH! Yeah, sure, on it. Hey Euss...Raymond? How is it going? Oh, he's what? With who? Oh, the FBI guy? What happened? Sure. I'll Hitomi know that you three'll be tied up for a few hours. At least." Morgan hangs up and turns to Hitomi. "Chief Clark says that Special Agent Blum requested Eustace's help specifically. Apparently some rich person tourist boat with a fair number of important people on board for a three week tour showed up two weeks early drifting aimlessly in the Bay. It has The 'Weird' all over it, Raymond says. They are also borrowing Libby."

"As long as the idiot has this wrapped in ten days so he can show up for his own wedding, I am fine with it. It gives me time to prepare a speech about how we are taking a honeymoon for three."

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DOUG'S COMMENTARY

The "Eustace from an alternate universe" is a joke about the fact that Eustace in The GLOW has been psychically linked to Jani Blum for so long he has becoming thinner and a lot more muscular (essentially, when Jani got the need to workout, Eustace had the same urge, and Jani was very fit).

The Maidenstead Art Center is just a flat out rip off of Huntsville, AL's Lowe Mill Art Center.

I had an idea back during the Rambler to say that Daphne and Frank moved to Australia before their divorce. I don't think I ever wrote it down but I kept it here.

Milton was a couple of ideas in one. Back in the "Rambler" arc, there were a few non-specific hints that Jenny was a transfem lesbian. I have a broad policy to not delve into gender struggle, just gender joy. That kind of falls apart when even in a very supportive society, which Maidenstead is, there are still going to be bits of the struggle. I wanted to explore some of these details in honor of my friends, and my partner, who have dealt with the gender-identity experience. It likely won't get more detailed than that. The reason Milton got picked was because I was trying to think of a name of the character that wasn't the cute teenager nickname and Milton just rolled up in my head. So it goes.

Alphonse is a direct reference to the weird "Alphonse Balph" name for the OG notes though he is own sweet character and most likely not a 19th-century magus. Alphy also was added because I somehow wrote a story in Lower Alabama with a single black character: Vern. That was dumb of me. Wanted to bring it back and I like to keep up the tradition of the story being centered around adopted families, found families, immigrants, and changes.

Not much to add at this point. I started thinking about doing a bunch of little rolls and then went "screw it" and set myself up with lots of background drama and changes while keeping several of the core characters, just moving out of their early-20s into mid- and late-20s and facing a post-1990s world. 1996 was more optimistic than 2000 in a lot of ways.

The mystery will be about a luxury tour ship that returned early with every person missing on board. The name of the ship is The World Promises. Much in the way "The Rambler's Inn" was about travelers and people out of place coming together to find a place to stay, "The Empty Promises," will building on the double meaning of dealing with the way we build up these ideals and ideas about ourselves and our loved ones and have to face that things don't always work out as intended. With the caveat that no matter what happens, Eustace and Hitomi are going to come out of it stronger, married, and as new parents. Just FYI, their first kid is named Gaz. How do I know this? Because Gaz Delmont is one of Alex the Dumbass's crew.

The current plan is to cut the slice of life scenes, outside of bursts like this, to around half or one-third what they were in "...and the Case of the Rambler's Inn" with the mystery part requiring more active rolls. The early chapters will focus on Hitomi on the more slice of life side with Eustace more in the active mystery side. This feels a bit gendered and it is but in the Rambler arc we had Hitomi being good at talking to people and being talked at while Eustace tended to be good at listening and then running off to do his own thing. This arc will explore the stresses him becoming an increasingly known solver of mysteries while the only relationship he has ever really cared about is hitting some bumpy patches he is missing. That whole trope. Eventually, Hitomi is going to become directly involved in the mystery and become Eustace's main partner (for a while, the implication is that she is semi-retired from it in 2027 while he is still not).

It will also explore several other "young couple" stresses like dealing with the wedding, dealing with being pregnant (and not knowing how to tell their partner), dealing with new careers and growing up, quitting smoking, and Amy Trịnh (formerly Amy Patel) as a force of confusion in the relationship.

Besides that, a few other shifts should add some nice queer-friendly fun even as the mystery gets darker and weirder than last time. Elly has come out a bit on the other side and is getting into a healthier, stronger lesbian relationship. A few other characters related to the Art Center will bring up "the bohemians".

Even outside of the queerness, there are things like a slightly bitchier Morgan Yost who is still Hitomi's biggest fan and a growing too old to work Ralph Harley who sees Hitomi has his proper heir. Slightly more conflicting thing that should give enough of a running pad to leap.

Eustace will have a gun now. Jani will be back. GURPS Mysteries will be in place. GURPS Horror will likely be in play since this will be a transition from Eustace-the-nerd-who-detects to Eustace-the-detective-who-monster-slays (he's still not that great at it). Something like Jani as a 150-point character, Eustace as 100-point, Hitomi as either 75-point, but those are subject to change.

CREDITS

Eustace & Hitomi and the Case of the Empty Promises will be played with GURPS Lite, GURPS Mysteries, and GURPS Horro along other resources as useful. It will continue to use Mythic as its oracle.

Other sources are still up in the air but likely will include several of the hold hits like Cesar Capacle's Random Realities, various Dicegeek's Books of Random Tables, and Zach Best's Universal NPC Emulator. I will also likely bring in a few new tricks like Dixit cards and maybe some other fun sources.

ART CREDIT AND EXPLANATION

In the past 4 years, the Maidenstead Monitor will have gone "full" color. For the first picture we have an by Peter H from Pixabay. This time around I am leaving it in color but desaturating it by around 30% give or take, dropping it to 24-colors, and then using the newsprint filter again, by CMYK. As before, I am first downsizing it and then upsizing it for the complete effect.

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