Thread: Zero Frame Startup

Interests, Scenarios and Themes General Interests At the moment, I am looking for a MxF roleplaying experience with a preference for playing the male character. Granted, I am accommodating and have no problem doubling up or playing secondary characters. All in the spirit of cooperation, collaboration and compromise. As for scenarios that will always interest me, I am always interested in exploring the relationships of normal, everyday people. They can exist in a setting that his just as normal--and boring for some of you--as they themselves appear to be, or we can open reality up to interpretation. Exaggerating and expanding upon everyday reality can be a lot of fun, whether that means top loading the setting and world with strange events or simply making the circle of characters we have at our disposal eccentric even by the standards of eccentrics. There is nothing more fun for me than a world that can best be described as like our own world, but with X, as it is my expectation that we will make that world interesting together. All Hail the New Media Video games, popular fiction, streaming-on-demand, anime and whatever NPR tells us is good. All of this and more serves as kindling for our imaginations and allows us to craft wonderful experiences for ourselves and those we choose to bring into our little worlds. If you have a favorite series, a show that you've burned through over the course of a weekend, or just happen to really like all things involving wizards, I'm more than happy to hear about them and to help you create an experience that does your interest justice. I have my own pet interests and I can detail some of the ones that interest me the most in brief below. That said, there's no harm in asking and the worst thing I can say is I'm not familiar, but let's see what we can do. Themes and Motifs I often find my favorite things to explore come up time and again whenever I sit down to write, daydream or roleplay. Coming-of-age stories are a classic, as are my aforementioned affinity for taking everyday circumstances and making them more than what they appear to be at first glance. I also enjoy a good tug-of-war between two characters, seeing them butt heads, refuse to cooperate with each other for no reason other than spite and ultimately resolve their differences in some way. I have a bias against darker themes and elements, primarily because I myself find little interest in playing in a static, dumpster fire of a setting where all character development is dialed squarely on the gut punch your characters until they understand that bad things just happen to people setting. Granted, dark themes are interesting when they are used well--just like all of the cliche tripe that I endorse and enjoy. In fact, chronicling a character's spiral into personal oblivion is very interesting when handled with even a middling level of interest in the subject beyond how it gets one off for the barest effort on your part. So, with that being said, I trend towards elements that have a touch of heroic or personal triumph, narratives that are packed to the gills with folksy character archetypes, light-hearted and even comedic story arcs, and definitely a healthy dollop of melodrama for good measure. It doesn't mean I won't consider ideas that involve darker elements, as I like to consider everything that comes to my inbox, I am simply offering a degree of transparency concerning my own hang-ups. Starter Concepts I'll list a few starting concepts and ideas here, along with a brief summary for those who either have short attention spans or trouble with the English language but a strong desire to roleplay. Arranged Marriage Just what it says on the tin. Two characters who are brought together without their input along with a whole mess of meddling family and friends. Our characters have been promised to one another, an arrangement made between friends looking to secure their futures for both themselves as well as their children. Our characters know of one another and have met many times previous to this, but they were not necessarily aware of an arranged marriage until very recently. In fact, our story starts at the moment where they are told of this and are given some time to get to know one another--and also to figure out for themselves how they will conduct themselves going forward. Their families are an interesting bunch, and while their immediate family obviously places their full support behind this, their relatives opinions vary from individual to individual. Some may scheme to bring our characters closer together, while others might want to test their compatibility or simply think that the concept of an arranged marriage is outdated. Our character will have many opportunities to get to know one another, with their families allowing them to meet up with one another freely, or even granting them use of a small house or apartment of their own--perhaps a place that was significant to their own friendship in the past. How do they explain this to their peers in class, or really anyone? They know one another, but now they are expected to eventually marry, have children and build lives together because that is what is expected. Even crazier, despite what they might say or do, there are little moments where they become lovestruck in spite of themselves--seeing little things in one another that allow them moments of clarity in the whirlwind of activity and scheming from both their friends and family. Gambler's Luck A scenario where our characters attempt to find a way off of an island paradise that is more prison than vacation destination There is an island paradise that is sought out only by those who are in the right--or wrong--places. It has been carefully maintained to preserve the natural beauty of the island itself, while developing a thriving economy based around tourism and some light industry, providing needed services and goods to other communities only a short journey by boat or plane away. Our characters may find themselves washing up on the shore, with hazy memories of their arrival and no recollection of their purpose. A short time into their stay on the island, they find that they cannot leave the island of their own free will. They are free to enjoy the pleasures the island can offer to them, but this also counts against what can be best described as their debt--an abstract figure that is applied to many of the island's visitors to represent what is owed in payment for their stay. There are ways to work off one's debt, though some of the methods are not what one would describe as safe or even legal in most parts of the world. However, there is at least one way to earn one's keep on the island that promises not only to purchase a return ticket home, but may even allow the right sort of person to buy the whole operation outright. Or at least, threaten to ruin everything that has been done to make the island what it is today. Working the games of the casino promises great payouts, and while many visitors indulge for a few nights and go on their merry way, others have become indebted far in excess of what they would have normally payed for their stay and now linger as a second form of entertainment for the island's visitors. Good Girl Meets Not-so-Good Boy A detailed take on a familiar match of a young man with some issues and someone who lives a more socially acceptable lifestyle. A classic for sure, where a girl everyone wants to know associates with a boy most people stay away from if they know what's good for them. My character would be that young man, someone who doesn't really see the value in trying to impress people whom he sees as part of a group that sees what they wish to see. It doesn't help that he stubbornly refuses to explain himself even when he can justify his actions, and it really isn't great when he does something that doesn't have a valid excuse at all. He is someone who has that sort of look, one that intimidates those who are familiar with the stories and rumors surrounding him, and simply puts those who don't know the rumors on their guard. While he isn't a chronic absentee from school, he does not have the best academic record and even most teachers have given up on improving his standing compared to his peers. When your character reaches out to him, either as someone just trying to brighten his day, or perhaps seeing something in him that runs counter to the rumors, he is initially suspicious. However, he doesn't reject your character and over time comes to see some of her good qualities as well--even if he thinks she's a bit of a meddler for fussing over him. He still has a hard time making the right choices, too given to acting on his impulses and what he assumes are the ulterior motives of others, and that can strain their relationship. After all, he has to learn how to control himself sometime, otherwise he'll always be a trouble maker on the fast track to a life of zero prospects. As for what makes your character think differently of my character, if could be memories from when they were younger--when he was a much nicer and happier person. It could also be catching him breaking up a scuffle between children and mediating their problem in a manner unlike his persona when he is in class or among peers. This War of Ours A fantasy war story where our characters are caught in the middle of a conflict between nations. Mercenaries, royal dignitaries, knights, sorcerers and everyone else all need a few things in life to make things work. A way to feed themselves, a roof over their heads, and a nation to call home when things go from good-to-bad-to-worse. Our characters are two such people who become thrown into the maelstrom as theirnation is brought low by two other rival kingdoms. Granted, our own kingdom wasn't a shining paragon of right values, right teaching and right methods. In fact, this can almost be described as a net positive, as these two other kingdoms both manage their own internal affairs quite well. However, seeing how the common people feel about this partitioning of their nation, and how both of these other nations appear to be gearing up for an even larger conflict, our characters have some tough choices to make. Will we sell our services to the highest bidders? Seek out any remaining relatives of the king who might serve as a better leader than what we had? Perhaps our characters will just do what all of the other refugees are doing and head for the other nations that aren't trying to divide up the best parts of their country for themselves? Maybe our characters could do a better job of it than all of them? More to come