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Post by Wyndi on Oct 2, 2015 2:58:59 GMT
re: Pokémon
I've never finished a roleplay before either! Which is why I know exactly what pitfalls to avoid. lol
So yes, we do need a bit of a push and an end goal. I'm going to insist on scrapping the "certain trade" idea, though, because I'm not even remotely comfortable taking a stab at that issue.
I'm actually wondering how you'd feel about the E4 OCs getting kidnapped by a bunch of the kids they'd pretty much crushed in battle, though. The kidnapping starts off pretty innocent, all scare tactics and "not so condescending now, are you?" but slowly escalating due to a gradual mob mentality. I mean, here's the thing: Trainers are as young as ten in the Pokémon world, and children at that age (and well into their older teens) don't exactly have the best judgment or coping methods. I refuse to believe that every losing Trainer in a battle has just graciously accepted their defeat and moved on with their life, especially when that battle might have been their end goal for years. And to be humiliated with a one-hit K.O.? Definitely some potential for some unhealthy revenge-seeking there.
I skimmed Pauline's profile (will do a more thorough reading tomorrow night). The occult/Pokémon combination is a little strange to me (because wouldn't someone living in the Pokémon universe just attribute all occult happenings to Ghost/Psychic Pokémon, thus rendering them...not occult?), but interesting. I also hope you aren't expecting a history of a similar length for my OC, because...it's not going to happen. otl
re: HP
While I like both ideas too, I honestly don't have time to keep up with more than one. I work full-time and I'm generally pretty exhausted during the week (as you might've noticed by how infrequently I've been responding this week versus during the weekend). So if we can choose one idea to stick with, we can focus our creativity on it and really get down to hammering out a plot. And if we grow bored with our choice, then we have the other to fall back on!
I'm fine with dropping DN, especially since it's been years since I even thought about it.
re: TMI I'd argue there's a huge difference between one's general artistic impression of someone, and being able to notice their (likely) well concealed shifts in behavior. Getting the impression that someone is "animated" versus "blurry" doesn't require attention to detail; it's a judgment, a sense of a person's personality. I can feed you similar clichés about my friends, tell you how I'd write them and set them apart from one another - but that doesn't mean I hold them under a magnifying lens, and it certainly doesn't mean I can read every last inch of their thoughts from one tiny behavior. And even if I oould, I would definitely not claim to understand the roots of all those thoughts, how every drop of their nature and nurture has brought them to that singular point in time.
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Post by Kurutto on Oct 4, 2015 20:00:26 GMT
I am never happy with the formatting of these headers... Either way I feel like I am writing blocks of text, haha.
PokémonA push and an end goal sounds good to me, and I respect your desire to scrap that particular idea.
Are you suggesting that a band of kids would be kidnapping Elite Four members do inact revenge of some sort on them? I am not so sure about this. What kind of revenge are we talking about? What would the kids be doing with these adults? Are we scrapping the nefarious organization idea? How could kids go about kidnapping adults, given that their Pokémon are weaker and they, themselves, are weaker? Are there going to be adults helping them out, or maybe they've come up with an elaborate plan to overtake these Elite Four members?
What do you think about the ideas I had proposed the post before yours? Sorry about all these questions, haha.
That's a good point with Pauline. I've essentially built up this profile for her as if she was in the regular world. You're right, Pauline is probably assuming that there are forces even beyond Pokémon control? Like for real ghost Pokémon? (Like, ghosts that are actually dead)? That is a bit of a problem and worth addressing. I'll have to think on it. What do you suggest?
I am not sure how to respond to that comment, I'm sorry to say... I mean, yes, I do expect my partner to put in just as much effort. It'd be a shame if I wrote down a lot about a character and a lot in a role-play post and my partner not so much. You meant to say that it would be too much for you because you're busy? It's hard for me to read your tone, there, given the wording and all... I'm sorry about that. :/
Harry PotterI can appreciate that, definitely! Don't sweat it. Based on our discussions so far, is there anything that you are particularly interested in?
The Mortal InstrumentsI would argue that they are the same thing in this instance because Clary was observing someone's behavior and describing these observations in very artsy-like ways.
I can understand, though, that no one is going to know a person through observation alone, but one can easily infer things about a person. If Clary's POV described a character's behavior, then we as readers can infer something about them. Knowing is not the same thing as inferring, essentially, and being able to infer things and draw our own conclusions is a great thing to do. It shows the we are actively reading and that the author is doing a good job of engaging us.
It's a stylistic preference, I suppose. It would be cool if Clary's "artistic" perspective reached past Alec/Jace towards other characters, but that's just me. She was able to infer that Alec was excited by Jace and trying to flirt with him. It would be awesome she could also drop hints that suggest whatever for the other characters. Of course, we could assume that these werewolves are a bit disturbed from all the leader switching, but being able to read hints dropped by Clary would be even better.
So, I wouldn't mind not being told directly by Clary that these werewolves are disturbed. The fun is in inference, and I feel that that section in the book could have been stronger in that instance.
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Post by Wyndi on Oct 5, 2015 5:07:23 GMT
lol, if there were more fonts to choose from or if the background were a more neutral color...I have a feeling I'd be spending hours formatting all my posts perfectly. But alas. :'(
re: Pokémon
I was imagining high-school bully-type violence that would gradually escalate as the E4 members tried to escape or continued to enrage their captors somehow. This would not be part of the nefarious org idea, although we could certainly incorporate it with ease: a few org members could pop up halfway through and thank the kids for doing all the grunt work of actually capturing the E4 OCs, however unintentional it was. As for kids overtaking a pair of E4 members? Any Pokémon that knows Sleep Powder is basically a chloroform machine. But if we want to incorporate the nefarious org idea, we could always have a few members plant the Pokémon by giving it/them to the kids and suggesting the whole kidnapping idea in the first place.
re: your other ideas - Sorry, I totally skipped over those! I think I was so alarmed by the trade idea that I forgot about them. Anyway, if we go with the nefarious org idea (plus or minus the kids as decoy antagonists), then we can definitely use your second idea as motive:
Probably the information bit. Maybe the E4 members really are privy to some highly desirable intelligence (by virtue of being high rollers in Pokémon society) and they don't even know it.
re: Pauline - Well, Pokémon ghosts do exist in canon (e.g. Lavender Town and Mt. Pyre), so she's not...wholly off? I guess?
re: writing amount - ...Okay, I guess I wasn't being explicit enough. I was speaking specifically about the length of the history section in an OC's profile. You obviously wrote a lot - that's great that there's so much going on in Pauline's life, and that you know every little event that happened to her. But that's never been my style for two reasons: 1) I feel that an OC's history and personality should largely be uncovered within the roleplay itself. I don't want to play with someone else's OC if I already know everything about them, right down to the first time they ate a whole jar of pickles - there's no mystery there. 2) The majority of my OCs' pasts are the biographical equivalent of a journal entry that reads, "I woke up. I turned off my alarm clock. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth...." No one wants to read that, no matter how much I think the world really needs to know about my OCs' flossing habits.
tl;dr - I don't enjoy writing in excruciating detail about my OCs' pasts, and even if I did, there wouldn't be much to say anyway. But you do not have to worry about post length, since I usually try to match my partner's. You can take a look at some of the other roleplays I've been in on this board for a sense of my style/length.
re: HP
Let's keep the Muggle-born anti-Voldy org in reserve, and focus on the Pokémon one for now. Thanks for understanding.
re: TMI
Oh yeah, I forgot Clary noticed Alec's sexuality and totally sprung the whole "dude is ur bro gay" conversation on Isabelle. It seemed so sudden to me because I couldn't remember her bringing up any mention or thought of that before that talk. A point to Clary and her observational prowess then.
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Post by Wyndi on Oct 5, 2015 5:11:41 GMT
Oh, I guess I should mention that the OC I'll be bringing in is the lovely Zara! Here's her default profile, if you'd like to see what she's like in IRL settings. I'm not sure what specialty she'd have in the E4 just yet: I'd like her to have a Leafeon, but she's not really a Grass-type Trainer.
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Post by Kurutto on Oct 6, 2015 0:03:13 GMT
Too true, lmao. If only...PokémonI am feeling strongly about a nefarious organization seeking to extract information from the Elite Four. You do have a point, too--they are bound to be privy to things most other people wouldn't be privy to! I am just confused as to why a nefarious organization would need to send kids to do their work? Why use a decoy? To gain the Elite Four members' trust? Wouldn't an official from the group coming to invite them to a higher place be enticing, though? It would entice at least Pauline, haha.So are you suggesting that with the kids, it would be easier for the Elite Four members to let their guards down? Are they going to go straight to overwhelming them, or coax them out like I suggested before? Pauline-- Well, there is evidence of a spirit world, as evidenced at those two places you mentioned, as well as in the anime.Writing amount-- Haha, I don't know every little event in her life--just what I found would be important in directing her to the life she has now. Thanks, though! 1) You have a point, there. I am notoriously bad at keeping character secrets from people because I love talking about my characters. I am also simply more accustomed to writing longer profiles. But I thought you wanted to know everything from the get-go, considering you mentioned wanting to find a midpoint and end goal right away? 2) Of course no one wants to read that... But if you have anything important/pivotal/substantial about your character that makes them important to your story or theme, I would suggest making it apparent in writing. But thanks for the reassurance about your post length! That definitely helps. I've more often than not role-played with people who liked to spit one-liners/single paragraphs at me, and it wasn't fun. I appreciate your effort! Harry PotterThat's fine! We should definitely save the idea, though. It's too amazing to pass up. ZaraAs for Zara, I'd like to see how you'd transfer her into the Pokémon World! And for Leafeon, you could always have Leafeon be an at-home Pokémon, or base the type specialty on a kind of move it can use, like what I did with my character. Try skimming through a list of all the moves Leafeon can learn and see which type strikes your fancy.
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Post by Wyndi on Oct 8, 2015 5:06:10 GMT
quick wip dump for zara's profile; reply coming...soon-ish! ZARA BLAIR FLEMINGgender female age twenty-two birthday February 5 sexuality grey-panromantic pansexual place of origin Aquacorde Town, Kalos profession Kalosian Elite Four (Ghost-type specialist) APPEARANCEhair auburn, slightly wavy, and chin-length eyes light brown height 5’7 1/2” [171.45 cm] build willowy clothing style Inspired by men’s formal wear: tailored blazers, crisp button-ups, leather oxfords, and spotless pea coats. Rarely wears jewelry, but owns a few subtle pieces in 14k gold. Prefers black, dark grey, and rich autumnal colors. PERSONALITY▪ classy, poised, composed, honorable, progressive, fair, self-driven, private, eloquent, proactive, open-minded, courteous, intuitive ▪ Polished conversationalist and genuine listener. ▪ Easy to get to know, but difficult to get to know well. ▪ Skilled at concealing her thoughts and feelings, even when they run deep. interests traveling, international politics, activism, men’s fashion, playing the clarinet HISTORYBorn into a middle-class family. Parents were avid travelers who worked hard to instill openmindedness, independence, and adaptability in their daughter. During the school year, they took Zara to local museums and historical or cultural landmarks; during summer and holiday breaks, the three of them traveled to other countries, staying in hostels and (once Zara was old enough) occasionally volunteering. While Zara loved learning about the different cultures of the places she visited, she eventually developed a stronger interest in international politics and relations. Took up Pokémon battling in her late teens. At first, it was little more fleeting diversion from schoolwork, but as weeks passed, no one, least of all Zara herself, could deny that she had a natural aptitude for Training. While she had no intention of forging a career from it, for the time being, being a Trainer made sense: it would grant her more opportunities to travel, and past a certain point, it was relatively lucrative. Zara spent two years learning and battling her way through Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh before finally returning to Kalos. Found her way into the ranks of the Kalosian Elite Four a year ago. Currently studying international policy and development at the local university during the evening. Planning to step down from the Elite Four in a few weeks to devote herself to schoolwork full-time. POKÉMONPhylla | Leafeon | ♀ Zara's starter. Not used in E4 battles. Getting on in years, but still doing relatively well. Sen | Chandelure | ♀ Thorne | Mismagius | ♀ Ywen | Dusknoir | ♀ Pepita | Pumpkaboo | ♂ OTHERmbti type INFJ alignment neutral good / lawful good music▪ "Mother of Dragons" - Ramin Djawadi (Game of Thrones Season 2 OST)
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Post by Wyndi on Oct 10, 2015 4:57:55 GMT
ALL RIGHT. Let's see if I can churn out a coherent reply before I pass out.
re: Pokémon
Yep, the children would be a decoy, both before and (for a short while) after Pauline and Zara's capture. The E4 battle dozens of young challenges every week - they hardly have their guard up all the time. As for why not an official invitation, while it might lure Pauline, Zara would intensively research the group before so much as stepping foot in their territory. So kids are the least suspicious way to go. We can even decide what the group will do with the kids after their role ends: will the organization let the kids go free after what they've just participated in? Or will the organization do the careful thing and tie up the loose ends?
Also, I think having the kids coax out P&Z would be best? We talked a little bit about why that'd be more feasible in our most recent posts. Plus, imagine - Pauline and Zara taken out by a simple dusting of powder from an Oddish....
re: 1) - Having a sense of plot conflict and resolution doesn't require knowing everything about each other's OCs? In fact, not laying out how our OCs will react and interact might cause some spontaneous changes in the game plan, which is always fun.
re: 2) - lol, I thought that was a given....I said I'm sparse with my OCs' histories; I never said anything about leaving them completely blank.
re: Zara - So...after all our ghost talk...Zara somehow became a Ghost-type specialist. lmao
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Post by Kurutto on Oct 13, 2015 2:08:19 GMT
Haha, I like Zara's sense of style. xD I also enjoy the descriptive adjectives you chose for her personality.
As for her history, however, I am not sure how her current standing with the Elite Four would work. I take it (as instanced with Pauline) that being an Elite Four member is a full-time job. Who would take on the challengers while Zara is at school? If you want to keep it how it is, I would suggest making Zara a night-time student who works with the Elite Four during the day.
Haha, that is funny how she became a ghost-type specialist! Pauline would be attracted to that, for sure. She'd be asking a lot of questions!
That definitely makes sense... They aren't likely to expect an ambush if they receive kid challengers every day. As for the organization's decisions... Yikes! They might end up disposing of the kids... Poor NPCs! It'd be fun to make new characters for the ambushing kids as we go along, though. Haha, and the Oddish would be quite humiliating! xD
How would they get captured at once, though? Maybe we could have one of our characters visiting the other as they take on the kid challengers. Or, we could have Pauline square off against one kid and then your character square off against the other and both of them use their respective Oddishes to knock the two of them out at once--just in the two different Elite Four rooms. Does that make sense?
Though I feel like having Zara and Pauline interact in one room would be best for their relationship/character development. Then again, though, that would mean that one of the girls wasn't doing her job! Should we, then, just go with the first option I proposed the prior paragraph?
--
Of course not... But development is good for both pre-roleplay as well as during the role-play. Writing all I did for Pauline allowed me to get a better feel of the character, and maybe it would be interesting to see her develop from that point to another point. If you see her background, you can understand what's going on in her life and see how that would influence her role in the role-play. I don't feel bad at all for writing so much.
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Post by Wyndi on Oct 26, 2015 3:10:51 GMT
re: Zara
ugh YES I love Zara's style too! If I could look even half as sharp as her, my life would be complete. (Instead, I dress like a very cold little old lady. /sighs/ )
Hm, okay, I'll do that then. I wasn't sure how the whole E4/school balance would work either when I was writing the post, which is why I left it vague for the time being. I'll edit in that change...soon....
re: plotting!
Yes! There'll be a lot of fun potential with all the NPCs running around. Plot twist: the Oddish ends up saving the day! TRUE BUFF HERO ODDISH.
That might work, but wouldn't the other two E4 members notice sooner or later? I thought it might be better if the kids amubushed them from a distance while Pauline and Zara were on a lunch break or a walk. So in other words, the two of them wouldn't even know they were being attacked until it was too late.
But if we want to stick with them being in the E4 rooms, hey, there's no rule that E4 members can't visit each other during their breaks. Gotta stick to those labor laws, after all.
re: writing
UGH I'M EXPLAINING THIS ALL WRONG. You shouldn't feel bad about writing so much! In fact, if anything, it should be the opposite! I just meant that I personally don't need to know everything (or even a great deal, really) about someone's OC before I jump into the pool with them, so to speak. That sounded less dirty in my head. Um.
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Post by Kurutto on Nov 1, 2015 21:37:59 GMT
Ahaha, you can change that, Wyndi! Just buy some of what Zara would wear, right? You might not look exactly like her, but you'd certainly look sharper. xD
Awesome! I just checked back and you didn't add in anything, so I'm just reminding you here. That way, our characters' places in the Elite Four would be more consistent.
Definitely!! Something tells me that TRUE BUFF HERO ODDISH should be a thing!
For them to be on lunch break does make the most sense! However, I feel like having a battle would allow us to see into these kids' motivations and/or frustrations, if this malicious organization is using them because of them. We could do both? Have a battle occur, and then have the kid(s) return while Pauline and Zara are on lunch break.
Ah, alright! That makes sense. I appreciate your sentiment and I understand that you might not need so much information. But more information can be an added plus, though, of course. xD And that pool analogy is perfect. xDD
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Post by Wyndi on Nov 12, 2015 3:43:27 GMT
/crawls out of the shadows/ I'M STILL HERE, I PROMISE.
But Zara has expensive taste! Like, Brook Brothers expensive. ;n; One day, maybe...though not with my current career path. lol
Thanks for reminding me! I'll go make the edit after I post this post.
please support the heroic endeavours of Buff Hero Oddish omg "WHY WERE OUR PLANS FOILED BY A PLANT"
Yeah, I agree - the kids can battle and lose first, leading to the organization taking advantage of them and equipping them with ChloroformMachine!Oddish. Then the kids can come back and ambush Pauline and Zara during the lunch break.
I'm excited that the roleplays on this site are slowly becoming active again - I hope we can start soon!
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Post by Kurutto on Nov 14, 2015 21:01:29 GMT
You're all good, Wyndi! You can't help but be busy. Oh, what career path are you taking? Based on what I want to do, too, I doubt I'm going to get much money, either... But oh well. Honestly, whether or not you are enjoying life is what should be the main priority. What's the point in having a good job if you're incredibly dissatisfied with yourself or your life? Thanks!! This must be done, no ifs, ands, or buts about it! A PLANT! A FIRST STAGE PLANT, NO LESS!Sounds about right! Do you want to start working on these secondary characters (I recommend 1-2 for each of us) now, or are there other plot details that need our attention? Haha, yes! I appreciate this enthusiasm.
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Post by Wyndi on Nov 16, 2015 0:39:45 GMT
I'm looking into careers in nonprofit management. Right now I'm working at an organization that provides services for (mostly Chinese) immigrants, but since I majored in environmental studies back in college, I'm hoping to switch over to the environmental field after a few years of gaining experience. Working for only nonprofits would be ideal, but realistically, I might have to step into the for-profit world for a few years to pay off student loans - and to avoid burnout. (I currently clock > 45 hours per week at work, and then continue working from home after I leave.)
What are you thinking about doing, by the way?
"BUT - BUT SIR...THE ODDISH HAS MUSCLES" (oddish flexes in the background)
I think we can start working on characters for the ~big bad organization~. It always takes me a while to develop someone anyways. As for leftover plot points, I know we established motives for the band of characters we're going to use (prying knowledge out of the E4), but did we ever give the organization some sort of purpose? Or are they all just General Bad Guys?
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Post by Kurutto on Nov 22, 2015 17:49:27 GMT
Ohh, environmental! I'm taking an AP Environmental course in high school, now. What specific aspect of it are you interested in? I know a couple kids in my class are interested in the water aspect, I believe, in regards to populations and the fight for water. And I bet some more are into endangered species, or in pollution, etc. It's an awesomely diverse study.
And I admire your desire to do non-for-profit. Perhaps you could find a way to integrate profit /and/ non-for-profit in your schedule?
I'm thinking about being the editor of something. A magazine, maybe? Of novels, even better. I could intern at a publishing company in the future, perhaps. All I know is that the only things I really enjoy doing in school are writing and editing essays.
"Good GOD, sir, have you been feeding it too much protein?"
The organization should, without a doubt, have some sort of purpose other than being "bad" or "greedy." It's always annoying to make antagonists one-dimensional. We could look back in the thread and see what we said before? About getting information from the two Elite Four girls, perhaps? Maybe they found that the Elite Four did something wrong.
As for me, I think I know what character I'm going to use for the ambushing kids. I have a little girl. Mabel, who injured her leg somehow due to a hate crime (because she is a transgender middle schooler who decided to present as female on the first day of school). I am not sure how, exactly, her leg is injured, but I do know that she has to go to rehab to learn to use it again and she has a bit of a limp. Could you give me some ideas? :'D
Anyways, so her parents are aware that there was a hate crime going on, but want to shield their daughter from it. So there's this classic sneaking around going on here, and Mabel accidentally overhears her parents discussing the hate crime with her doctor/specialist/??. Mabel is a tad horrified to learn this, but this motivates her all the more to get out there and perhaps rise above it? Or see for herself whether or not most people would reject her in this world.
So Mabel, sick of being cooped up in this rehab program but also sick of harboring this knowledge to herself, tries to suavely persuade her mother to let her go on her Pokemon adventure, with the mother's Machoke acting as her body guard/assistant if the going for her leg, etc, gets tough. The mother relents because she is hesitant to hurt her daughter's feelings by warning her against the hate crimers in the world (sounds counterproductive… But do you know what I mean?). Perhaps the mother knows that she knows?
And that's how she found herself challenging the Elite Four, I suppose. I just need to know exactly what kind of "accident" would injure her leg as it did. If you could help me on that, that would be great!
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Post by Wyndi on Dec 14, 2015 1:40:11 GMT
Okay, I...don't really know how to start this. I'm tremendously sorry for dropping the ball on this (again!) and pretty much disappearing off the face of RShed for the past few weeks. To be honest, I don't know if it's going to get much better going forward (I'm working through most of the winter holiday break to avoid going home, and then things will pick back up right after the New Year), which in turn is starting to make me lose interest in our plot.
At this point, I'd understand if you wanted to step out too, or at least put our plans on the back burner until I can prioritize them again. I'm really sorry for bringing this up after we sank a few months into plotting, but you deserve an rp partner who's not a total flake. Let me know your thoughts, and we'll go from there - thank you for putting up with me!
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