TFF Royalty

[LocoColt04]

Our old buddy sneaky contacted me regarding the RPJam! tournament. Three teams are already lined up and things look like they may actually go down smoothly this year, which would be excellent. It's been years since the last functional Jam.

I, for one, do NOT have the time for this. The intended start time is January.

I suggested he get in touch with Merlin and Andro in regards to putting a team together for TFF. I'm just letting you guys know in here since I know these are the writers you trust the most and work with more often than anyone else. I bet we could even pull Spike or Scribe back for a Jam, if they have the time for it. I don't know any of the details yet, but it will probably be a team size of 5-8, as it has been in the past.

[Andromeda]

Welcome back, Dragonheart. It is good to see that you returned safely. I think we got Merlin posted while you were away, but other than that not much. But I am working on making the attempt to post tonight still. I sort of get distracted tonight. So I did not manage the two things that I was trying to do tonight. I guess that happens, but happens a little too often. Either way, I'm going to be trying to get it done. If it isn't, it'll probably be nearly complete that I'll be able to finish it quickly for early evening tomorrow after work. I need to have some sort of post up before Shadow decides to make his intrusion, right? ^^;

And so Sneaky is doing his Jam again huh? He is just the organizer right? He does not actually take part in that. It'd be a little weird if he did seeing as he has become a member here as of recent. Well a member that posts and not just tries to get us for Jam. But I am pretty sure we've been down this road before, though the last time Jam occurred I did not have anything to do with it. At that time I am pretty sure I was still a relative unknown. I don't know about Jam, has it ever managed to get off the ground?

Well I'll wait to hear something from Sneaky, but I'd imagine that he'll end up sending his request to Merlin. Either way, a wait and see approach is going to be better with Jam, I think. These things like to fizzle out as quickly as they get started. I know from experience. >.>

And the subject of Silverhand, Merlin. Yes, I'm aware that he is on some level aware of Eris' power and abilities. That was pretty apparent in your post. The man does have a keen eye if nothing else, but a keen eye is simple one part of him. Either way, I will figure out something I'd imagine. I won't control the conversation completely, but I'll put in a little just to not make it drag out too long. You can feel free to do the same. It won't be much, but it'll be enough.

[Merlin]

I don't think TFFers are up to the level required to actually win the RPJam... not with the type of requirements they used to look for anyway. The posts that usually won each day were ones with obscene amounts of detail to the point where it was overkill. It was more about how many synonyms you knew than anything, IMHO. Of course, those fools actually thought it was amazing writing, where if they had bothered to look up any of the words, they would have noticed how lame it was. I can't think of an example so I just made this up, but seriously, they wrote shit like this and won:

"The sky was pitch black, the lands obscured by ominous shadows from dark clouds that blanketed the heavens. The very plants seemed daunted by the gloom of night, their withered, crinkled, tattered leaves stretching outward for some glimpse of light. "

Sure, I used a lot of fancy descriptions... but can you count how many ways I described the fact that it was night? Is this really necessary? Is THIS good writing? No it isn't. Its dark... AND? They would literally go on for paragraphs about nothing.

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In any case, I really don't have time to spend on it anyway. I'm swamped with work and college.

[LocoColt04]

We placed second in that Jam that was run back in the summer of 2003. That wasn't too shabby, and though the winning team blew us out of the water (for the retarded reason listed above, but I think the rules were changed a couple years ago), I think we're all better writers now than we were four years ago. It's worth a shot at the very least, right?

Of course, it all depends on how much time you guys have to devote to the cause.

[Merlin]

Ah yes, the one day my post didn't win because my sex scene wasn't perverted enough for them. Seriously.

Is there like a website or something? I want to see the competition's website before I agree to disagree. O.o

[Xeim]

Well, this club hasn't seen much activity lately. I'm still around, but I currently have nothing to comment on. No one's posting in DC, and I don't have enough time at the moment to whip out something for the inner RP. I'd still really like to get DC up from the dead, but it looks like that's not going to be easy... o_O

As for jam, I really doubt I could keep up. Plus, competitive RPing is a little much for me when I've only been RPing for like...less than a year. Hah.

So, uhm, I probably won't be joining in...

[Victoria]

I think DC is mostly waiting on me. But as you already know, that's third on my priority list.
And yea, it'll be a while for DC to come back. It has to be fairly active with you and me for others to join in. At least that's what Merlin said a while back. At least for his participation anyway.

[DragonHeart]

It looks like MA is moving away from Haven for awhile, so I think I'll have Farore bow out temporarily. At this point she's a secondary character, so I think right now I'd just be adding clutter if I posted. She'll probably need about a week (RP time) to recover, so I would be rather limited in what I can post anyways.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

Well in some fashions I guess it is moving away from Haven. But you go with the flow of the story at the time. It is sort of funny that we only just arrived, but that is way things goes. Though I don't really think that your character is a secondary character. She is important to the town and with what is happening I would think it would place her in the center. Not to mention that you just now found Eris only for her to be considering leaving.

As for DC, I got so distracted by the things that were happening that I lost track of it. I had to go get myself caught up on what was going on realizing that I could post in it again. I would imagine that Xeim is waiting for you to post Shadow. But that does not mean that I cannot keep posting since I am doing individual work at the moment. Though we are going to end up meeting online I would imagine.

[Merlin]

Why is it moving away from Haven? One of my characters was taken to the main building where DH's character is, two of my characters haven't even gotten to the town yet, and another two are currently doing god-knows-what inside the town. On top of all that, Jay/Shadow/Toph (or whatever... XD) has yet to even move his characters from their location to meet up with Andro's character... so I'm lost as to how you two came to that conclusion.

In other news, I'm working on 3 final projects for college. I'm hoping to post tomorrow between classes.

[Victoria]

I read your posts and I don't think I read anything where any of your characters were going to DH's HQ building. And my characters have moved, you know that. I just didn't specify that they got there yet. (I was hoping it'd be implied, obviously.) So don't say that they haven't gone anywhere. I mean, in the RP real time, it's obvious they haven't frozen in place. So logically, come on, they should have been there for the whole ordeal, but apparently it's my "job" to move them there. It doesn't take much effort to make like one sentence saying they were there at least. -_-;

Anyway... I'm with DH in thinking that my characters are secondary in this RP. >_>;
But there's an obvious argument that it's my fault. It partially is, I guess. Since it's my job to move my characters... yet you took it upon yourself to control Andro's character. XD

Although I'm sure that was just a miscommunication. =P

I think DH meant was that the main plot was moving away from Haven. At least I think so, anyway. I might pull a Merlin and make like 10 characters or something, just so I have something to do. But then I get to thinking that I should just make my own story if I'm going through all that trouble. o_O;

[Andromeda]

Actually, there is a character of his that he had moved out. He does not say specifically who it is, but I think it is implied that it is Gwinnyn that was carried away since Alastora and Sizuru are accounted for and the nurse was in poor condition to say the least. I remembered that, but I went back to re-read and confirmed it.

Though it is in part your fault that you feel that your character is secondary. However, you were waiting on someone to post. So in that time we continued to post. It is not as though it is completely your fault, but we aren't here to place blame. I'm just simply stating that since you were waiting it gave you the impression that you became a secondary character. While Merlin and myself have posted fairly highly so it feels like we end up being the center of attention. Though in all things said, I'm the only character that has really crossed paths with anyone. That is not actually my doing though, people just seem to find me somehow.

However, there is the now current situation where several characters are all in the same area. Which finally allows for more than two character interaction, but multiple characters or at least several people affecting a scene rather than two people or one. If anything we are bringing more focus into the city rather than seemly marking it off as a passing locale in the story. Eris has been directed to leave the city or face a possible death, but what she actually does will end up being shaped by the people she ends up talking to. You could tie her up and drag her back to Farore to knock some common sense into her. Or you could end up alienating her and she disappears into the night. The possibilities are endless.

[Merlin]

Honestly, I haven't moved them there because I wasn't sure when you were going to post, Jay. If I move them there and make them a part of the story line and you don't post for some time, I have to somehow write them out of the situation or make them do something which is beyond my knowledge of your characters. I don't want to do that, since it is infringing on your creativity and direction. It would be rather rude of me to do so.

I know enough about Eris to reasonably assume what she might do or say based off of everything Andro has posted so far. As for your characters Jay, I know one casts lightning, teleports when she sneezes, and tried to train Eris for a short time. The other is some sort of fighter with elemental abilities in her hands. I have no idea what their emotional state is or what their personalities are like. I'm not going to control your characters without knowing with pretty good certainty how they would actually react. Would they run up to Silverhand and attack him immediately or would they come up casually and butt into the conversation? I simply don't have enough information to write it accurately.

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What Andro was refering to was the following:

“Look, this one doesn’t seem to be injured as bad!” The villagers knew it was wrong to pick and choose, but they also knew that there was little they could do for the serious injuries the other two individuals had suffered without a doctor. They feared not even a doctor could possibly repair their misshapen forms. Two of the villagers carefully lifted up the young lady from the debris and headed off towards the center of town. They knew not what to do in a situation like this, but they hoped that their knowledgeable leader Farore could aid them in their time of need.

I was trying to tie in DH's character at that point, so there would be more character interactions. No go on that one I suppose? >.>

I don't consider anyone's character secondary. Its an interactive RP... why would your main character(s) be secondary? My case is different. I have some that are main and some that are secondary. Also, they change from primary to secondary or vice versa on my own volition. There is always at least one character up front in the storyline at any given time. I can help your characters along, but in the end, its up to each of you to make your character stand out and do something with their lives. I can't do that for you. All right? Ok!

[DragonHeart]

From what I read, all the villagers involved were killed shortly after that particular line.

To be honest I'm getting lost with all these extra characters popping up out of nowhere. Besides, like I mentioned before, Farore used all her energy up earlier, so she's out of the picture until she recovers. She's not young anymore, after all.

At this point I'd only be able to write from the POV of either Jareth or Kaida if I wanted to bring her back, which I don't particularly feel like doing. Or some other random character. I feel that with the number of extra characters we have running around it'll just end up being too messy.

~DragonHeart~

[Merlin]

Two of the villagers carefully lifted up the young lady from the debris and headed off towards the center of town.
...
The remaining villagers pondered what they should do.

I'm sorry, I thought that was pretty clear. >.>


-------
With all due respect, both of you are doing your darnedest to make your characters secondary. Its not like Andro and I are leaving you out in the middle of nowhere. I'd love to interact with your characters, but neither one of you are making it very easy to do so. You've got to work with us. My PM box is always open if you want to work out ideas, etc.

Dragonheart: You deliberately put your main(only? ) character out of commission for 1-week RP time. You being a writer should know that such an action is equivallent to writing yourself out of the main plotline. Its self-induced rank reduction. I don't know about everyone else, but I figured she was simply sleeping for the night and would be back in the morning. That seemed rather logical to me. Either that or when Gwinnyn arrives, your people inform you of the situation(weren't they supposed to? ) and your character would interact with her to some extent, keeping you in the main plotline.

Toph Bei Fong: At least one of your characters is supposed to be Eris' friend and even came to town with her. One would assume that your character would wish to talk to her at some point, and logically the current location at the hospital is a perfect opportunity for her to do so. Currently your character is "moving" there and yes should be there by now. That being said, you should post something to that point and pull your characters into the fray. You could have done so at any point. If they were there, I'd talk to them. Since they aren't, I can't very well talk to them...

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I'm not running the show here... I'm throwing in opportunities for character interaction. Whether you choose to take those opportunities is up to you. I can't write your characters for you... XD

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Also of note: If you wish to discuss interactions with me, just contact me. That is what Andro and I did. Works wonders. >.>

[Victoria]

I think what DH is saying, has nothing to do with your plot. I think it's because of the sheer amount of characters you have that pop out of nowhere. Well.. they literally did pop out of nowhere, so I don't blame people for thinking "What the? o_O"

But anyway... I suppose I need to make a habit of getting into my characters' personalities so people can see how they are and such, but at the same time I don't really do that.

Cause if I were, and were to delve into it deeply, it would get boring to the point where people would skip or skim and say "shut up already, i don't care." >_>;

That's how I honestly feel sometimes about Andro's character depth. It goes so deep and takes up so much space it gets tedious and boring to read. ><; No offense.

So that's why I don't really do that. The only mental stuff I do is monologue.

[Merlin]

The only character that "popped out of nowhere" was Doctor Silverhand. That plotline is still ongoing, so yeah... obviously its a bit vague.

• Doctor Silverhand has some connection to Tyrbane based on the same last name. Other than that, not much is known about him to this point.
• Falaris is already an established character. She arrived during the mountain scenes while trying to track down her subordinates. After sustaining near-fatal wounds from the hands of Tyrbane, she is now back on the scene. How she managed to survive the ordeal is a mystery which has not yet been revealed. Also, not much is known about her other than Sizuru and Alastora weren't too fond of her. She's a secondary character and also a bad-guy so obviously her background isn't as fleshed-out. She's pretty much a NPC character, nothing more.
• Sizuru was established from the get-go. If you don't know her by now, please review...
• Sarah was established from the get-go. Although her actual name was just revealed, her history has been detailed quite thoroughly to this point. If you aren't sure, just review my posts. She will no longer be used(for obvious reasons) except in conversation about her.
• Alastora is Gwinnyn's actual sister. Not much is known about her other than she was shipped off to Jumin and is now missing.
• Gwinnyn is Tyrbane's fiance. She's currently in a depression-induced coma-like state at the capitol of Haven.
• Tyrbane has been explained in detail up to this point. He and his sister Yuuna are currently lost in the country trying desperately to find Haven.
• Shadow was only used to introduce Tyrbane and Yuuna to the country. He was no more than a NPC.

While I might have six main characters I use, most of them have been documented quite well to this point. Those that have not are because they aren't part of the current arc for whatever reason. Its not like all of them are present right now. Its like Naruto or Bleach. There may be a lot of characters, but only some of them are active at any given point in the plot.

I'm sorry if that seems confusing. Its not meant to be. I can post bios for them if you wish. XD

EDIT: I didn't realize I had 9 characters. It kinda got bloated but uh... I like them all. /cry

[DragonHeart]

That's exactly the problem I've been having. We have a huge number of characters and multiple sideplots, but no real main plot. It isn't really even one story as much as several coinciding ones. The loss of coherency makes it extremely difficult to make any advancements. At this point it's mostly yours and Andro's RP; I just don't feel like my character even really has a place in it anymore.

I suppose you could say I'm jealous, but it's not the case. I don't mind playing a secondary character when the situation calls for it. The problem comes when I try to initiate an event on my own. I can't. All I'm doing is reacting to what happens and it does sort of bother me that I'm unable to contribute anything of my own.

I'm just venting at this point, though. I had several ideas that I was excited about, but I can't use any of them now so I'm a bit bitter about it.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

You realize that you are as much in control of the story as anyone else. When you went over and grabbed up Eris I figured that you had a plan in mind. Well Merlin did something you just have to make adjustments to that plan of yours. I'm the only one here that is not trying to make plans, as I've been told in the past that it ends like I'm writing my own novel. So I've handed the majority of the story and plot over to everyone, which is where it really should be anyway. I should not be holding the plot in my hands. I could always direct it if I wanted, but I want allow it to progress naturally.

Does Merlin have his own story going on? Yes, he has quite the epic side story going on right now. I doubt that he is going to disagree with you that he has a plot for his characters outlined. I would hope that you all have a plot outlined for each of your characters. Is that going to create a number of dividing stories right now? Yes, but many of the characters are just now starting to meet for the first time. I'm of the thought as I believe Merlin is as well that it is strange for all of the characters to meet each other within the first five posts of a RP. They are going to be divided doing their own things until something throws people together, usually the smallest things. If it is not something small then it is to fight a common enemy.

Where does the RP stand right? The continent is in turmoil, but is not facing some dire threat. That will change eventually with time I would imagine. The Kingdoms of Kithur and Jumin are at war with fighting only increasing along new borders thanks to Eris' light show a week or so ago. The tensions are increasing for another full scale war along the main borders of Kithur and Jumin, which until then had been isolated to the war in the north. The recovering kingdoms in the south are facing a religious war or crusade on the magic user population as the threats are only increasing. The Holy Kingdom of Pilner's religious rule to exterminate the magic users only continues to expand infecting the nearby kingdom of Cormenyr. All the while Lothua sits calmly in the middle of the conflicts playing a heavily armed Switerland of the continent.

Where does that place us? Well a lot of the characters are lacking any sort of purpose or direction that would push them towards doing something heroic or heavily plot driven. They have their own agendas and Eris is a lost girl, but hey, I made her that way. Do you want to go play the peace maker and end the fighting? Do you want to save the magic users from religious zealots and free them from oppression? Or something else, what you can make up as you go along.

If you want a main plot I can give you a main plot. I think everyone here knows if I wanted this RP to have a single minded direction it could have one and would have had one from the beginning. If you don't like the hands-on or hands-off approach where does that leave us. Well if you want a story I can certain bring one down over your ears in an instant, but that would mean me taking the driver's seat to push it in that direction.

Do you want me to take the driver's seat is the question? Once you go down that path don't come complaining to me that it sounds like I'm writing a novel when I'm posting twenty pages. I don't make it in my intention to take hold of a RP so that no one else can do anything, but several of you certainly seem to hold that opinion of me. So remember what you're asking before you start wanting something that you may end up regretting.

Right now if anything, I think Merlin is doing the best the job in the RP. He is being proactive about making something happen. Dragonheart you had something going for a moment, but then the vacation sort of halted that and when you returned well Merlin showed up. If you have things in mind Dragonheart you should follow them. Just because Merlin showed up doesn't mean you should be halting your own ideas. You just need to adapt and make the necessary changes if they are impacted by what Merlin has done. In the RPs of old flexibility was most important as things could change if someone decided to do something different from what you were planning. You did not yell at them for doing that, you just made alterations to your plans or made new ideas if they became impossible to achieve.

So make your decisions and I'll go with what the majority are interested in. You want me to apply direction I will, you want it to stay the way it is then I won't touch anything and the RP continues as it has been.

[DragonHeart]

Well it's like I said, I was mostly venting at that point. I tend not to say anything until it gets to the point where I get aggravated and cranky. I just can't seem to keep up with you two is what it comes down to. So instead of dragging everything down, I'm offering to put Farore in the background until a more favorable situation comes up.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

You can't keep up with the two of us? Are you referring a story level or an activity level? If it is activity we are not that busy, but I guess if you have a lot going on then I could understand. If it is a story thing, then you are as capable as anyone else here, you wouldn't be here if you weren't.

Eris is going to end up hanging around for a while longer, but unless someone stops her she probably end up disappearing. Though Eris a pretty weak character, she is easily influenced and inexperienced. As long as you make a convincing case she'll end up seeing your side. But Eris is going to need some sort of guiding hand or else she is going to end up going down a hard and rough path. Though Eris going down such a path would be good character building, if it was not for her mental issues that carry all of her baggage.

[DragonHeart]

Mainly an activity level right now. It's the holiday season and as you can imagine, my store is getting slammed. It's a very high stress time of the year for me, especially since we have several new employees who are...less than competent. So I end up doing the work of three people. That makes me tired and nowhere near as accommodating as I usually am.

However, I would really appreciate it if you guys would leave the rest of us some openings to actually do something useful. You're getting too far ahead of everyone else, I think.

I'll read over the last few posts again and think it over. I can't think of anything I can do with Farore right now without interrupting you and Merlin. I personally find it rude to butt in on someone else's interactions, so I'll probably just wait until Eris is alone before coming back in.

~DragonHeart~

[Andromeda]

Well I'm pretty sure that one of Merlin's characters is going your way or at the very least someone will end up telling you about the person that they found in that explosion. The state at which the woman is in is another story, but it is something important and something that you can work with. And depending on what happens with Eris I might send her your way or I will end up sending that errand boy that was with Eris to you. We'll see what happens, Eris will go with the flow as it is the easiest, so I don't know where she will end up when Merlin and Shadow have had their way with her.

But I also have another character running around on the outside who is a secondary character that you could run across at some point. He is tailing Eris, though given that Eris' trail is cold he is running from one magic incident to the next. However, I can't move him quickly as time has slowed down and he has already spent up the days he has been allowed without going into the future relative to main characters in Haven. I may be able to work out another couple days, I'll have to review the posts some. But either way, he is an option as well as the trail of magic will eventually lead him to Haven.

[Merlin]

Um... anyways... I'm back from doing projects. I still have to study for a final on Friday... but its not as bad as the past 2 weeks in which I had no life whatsoever. All I was doing was working on projects, classwork, and going to work. O.o

DH: I was really expecting someone to interupt the conversation between Dr. Silverhand and Eris. I mean, the dude is basically sitting there brainwashing her and neither you nor Jay are doing anything to stop it. It was a very good point for someone to come in. I mean, this is an RP right? Your chars are friends with Eris right?

In other news, since nobody took the obvious role of saving Eris from the evil plotting of Dr. Silverhand, I suppose I'll have my chars do it. O.o

[Victoria]

Well I couldn't do anything to stop it because apparently my characters were frozen in time. *cough* >_>;

But I digress. I'll be doing the same thing as DH. My characters are totally pointless existences now.

[Andromeda]

Your characters weren't frozen in time, quit trying to use that as an excuse. You needed it actually move them into the situation. Merlin made an explosion in the city, but he did not make the assumption that Eris was going to appear there. I had to do that myself and then he could interact with me. If you aren't around you can't be interacted with. We aren't going to move your characters for you, that is your job to do.

The only reason you seem to think that your characters are pointless is that you haven't posted in a while. You have not anything with them, you've just let others continue to post. I had asked for a moment to interact with Merlin before you were going to come by, but as you told you a while ago in an IM, that moment had passed.

[Merlin]

Around and around we go. I didn't make Eris go there... Andro posted saying she showed up there. It was kinda obvious one of my characters would bump into her, eh? Its a simple matter of probability.

As for yours, they could've changed their mind and went off to some lesbian bar or something... I have no idea. You never wrote what happened next. The only reason your characters got wrote out of that part is because you never wrote them in in the first place. You've had like over a month to write a single paragraph saying they showed up. That's nobody's fault but yours... I mean, in the past few posts we've only progressed a matter of minutes. I'm still waiting to see them try to beat Dr. Silverhand's ass... You could post right this moment and it would fit just fine. So... what are you waiting for?


EDIT: In other news, if I see nothing happening soon in that particular arc, I'll just have to save her myself I guess. Dr. Silverhand is not supposed to be a long-term character.

[Andromeda]

Alright, sounds good Merlin. We'll see if someone comes to save Eris from her own mind. However, either way it works out for it me. Having trust issues on top of mental ones will only make playing with Eris that much more enjoyable. So no matter what does happens a certain amount of damage has already been done. We'll just have to see how much a few silk words have over Eris.

[Victoria]

Fine, fine. I'll write a post. =p
Edit: I edited my post at the end, stating that they got there >>;;;
Now to continue the revelation in a new post.

[Merlin]

Ok. I'm tired of waiting... I'd like to see this RP active again if at all possible. Once I get some sleep I'm going to start writing my post and move the story along. There's no sense in me trying to force you to write... I want you to participate because you like the story and wish to add your own personal touches and soul into it, not because someone told you to.

Once you actually feel like being a part of the group, let me know and I'll be more than happy to work with you on ideas on character interactions. Until then, I'm moving on.