Self insertion?

Yeah, in that the character's thoughts mirror my own.

And I think it was interesting how you did all that, the explanation of his religion helped as well but what I believe Ed is is some sort of knight to the rescue-esque guy. You know the ones, it just seems like he thinks of himself in a superior way at points, forever trying to protect and encourage the delicate damsel in distress.

He does, and he's apparently self-aware about it. He's never had a girlfriend like Sofie before, so this is all very new to him. While I believe it's true that women are, broadly speaking, physically weaker than men, it's a mistake to view them as inferior. Rather, women are equal to men, but with a different set of abilities. I don't think it's misogynistic to want to protect women, any more than it's wrong for a soldier to protect an engineer. Just because they have equal value and equal usefulness doesn't mean they're equally good at any given job.

In our characters' case, Sofie is probably stronger in a physical sense. Ed was raised in the peaceful Crescent civilization, and as such has very little experience fighting people. His strength is more in political acumen, from having to navigate the corporate web of interpersonal relationships. Sofie, on the other hand, grew up in Terran civilization, and had to fight for her very existence. She could probably crush Ed like a bug. But from what we've seen of her, sometimes her caution leads her to interpersonal disaster. If she and Ed partnered up, they'd complement each other perfectly. But more importantly, they both have a strong moral compass. Sofie broke down at the thought of hurting Ed. Ed broke down at the thought of hurting Sofie. They both care about treating people right. They have commonality where it counts.

So the problem, I believe, it not that Ed wants to protect Sofie. Wanting to protect people is an admirable thing, and I think it's a shame that our culture denigrates that. The problem is that he doesn't yet trust her as an equal. Sofie doesn't always need his protection, and in fact Ed needs Sofie's protection too. His heart can be just as vulnerable as hers. They should both be devoting themselves to protecting each other. Once they work out how, exactly, they're supposed to do that, they'll begin to shine as partners.

Granted, Ed is a very in depth character but I just haven’t gotten a grasp on who he really is yet. He’s a gentleman like guy right so why did he think those thoughts first? I honestly don’t know if I’m taking everything out of proportion right now but I’d love to get to know the character better is all I’m saying.

The question is less "who is Ed" than it is "who does Ed want to be." He thought those thoughts because he's a normal, red-blooded male. Being touched by a girl you like almost always spawns those thoughts. But Ed does not want to be the sort of man who acts on those thoughts. He wants to be a gentleman, the sort of person Sofie can trust. And a trustworthy gentleman does not sexually flirt with a girl, however much he may want to. You could look at it as a moment of weakness, but I prefer to see it as a display of his strength. Remember, Ed is not your normal fantasy protagonist in that he actually still has both his parents. He had a normal childhood. Both of his parents are good and decent people, and they raised him likewise. He still has dirty, intrusive thoughts, but they don't affect him as much thanks to his upbringing.

Gonna be studying this guide on romance before proceeding.

@Thinslayer

Thank you for your reply! It helped a lot, and again I'm sorry for not understanding better.

I'll give it a quick read as well! Thank you for linking it, it genuinely seems to be a very informative piece.

An additional question: Could you give me more information on Terran, Crescent, Confederates etc.

My reply will come by soon, It's just the next few days for me will be very busy in terms of new assignments getting handed to me and everything :)

Terran Empire

Once upon a time, there were two factions: The United States, and the United Nations. Neither faction was friendly to freedom. The United States was a communist power, using economic control and racial warfare to bring the republic to its knees and replace it with a tyrannical dictatorship. The Race Purges of 2070 eliminated light-skinned people in the country along with much of the opposition to the change in government. On the other side of the world, a certain oppressive religion (which shall remain unnamed) infiltrated the highest positions in government throughout Europe and East Asia, and used their power to institute their cruel and misogynistic values throughout the world. The United Nations soon reflected these changes. Both the United States and the United Nations went at each other's throats, but eventually arrived at a mutual agreement that, about fifty years later, formed the basis for the united Terran Empire.

Terran civilization is best described as hell on earth. Women have no rights; they're basically slaves to men. If any part of their bodies is exposed, it is cut off. If they are raped, they are executed. If they speak unbidden, their tongues or vocal cords are ripped out. Forsaking the religion for either gender warrants the death penalty. Even when you're not treading carefully to avoid breaking the religious rules, life is still brutally hard. The government has established a hierarchy of victimization - the more "oppressed" you are, the more benefits you get. Ordinary men and women are at the bottom of the totem pole. Food, healthcare, housing, water, electricity, and everything you can think of is rationed out based on 1) how much the authorities perceive you need it and 2) your oppression profile. It is encouraged to pillage and plunder as much as you can to redistribute the wealth, and if you're sufficiently "oppressed," you could even get away with murder. Among Terrans, the rule is truly survival of the fittest. Too many people benefit from this system for internal change to be feasible, so unless natural law or an external force stops them, the wanton disregard for human life is bound to continue.

Crescent Empire

Life is considerably more promising in the Crescent Empire. Broadly speaking, its people are morally conscious and fiercely independent, although that changes somewhat as you get closer to the capital, Crescent Prime. On an average Imperial world, you're free to do pretty much whatever the heck you want, provided you don't infringe on someone else's rights. If you do, local law enforcement is swift and just. On some of the fringe worlds, where law enforcement is sparse, things can get a little violent, but the right to self-defense usually keeps things in check, for the most part. The "frontier life" is wildly popular to Crescent citizens bored with their entertainment-centered life in the capital, so many worlds are deliberately left low-tech. An independent council of seven immortal men and women oversees the terraforming and development of these worlds. While the Immortal Council isn't technically part of the government, they nonetheless hold tremendous sway over the empire. Life is generally quite peaceful and prosperous on worlds developed by the Council.

On Crescent Prime, things have taken a turn for the worse. Over the last few decades, the government has added tighter and tighter controls on nutrition, until it became the most complicated and heavily regulated industry on the planet. You have to visit a nutritionist before you can buy food, and even then, the nutritionist gets to decide what food you can buy. Government interest in preserving the family unit has also waned a good deal, so divorce and promiscuity have spiked in the capital world. Worse, with the advent of extremely advanced technology, the need for labor has declined to the point where entertainment is now the chief goal of capital citizens, leading to an unprecedented uptick in corruption. Thankfully, the outer worlds, being much less advanced, haven't reached that point of corruption yet, and there is a major movement on Crescent Prime to turn things around, so things are looking up despite their bleak appearance.

Confederation

The Confederates are an odd bunch. Outlaws from both the Crescent and Terran empires made their homes in this remote region of space, and as their populations expanded over time, they came to form their own factions and governments. Law enforcement ranges from non-existent to downright tyrannical, but the common theme among nearly all of them is instability and violence. Several decades ago, the Terran Empire attempted a war of galactic conquest (to mirror the Crescent's wildly successful galactic conquest war a few centuries earlier), and the independent factions banded together under the banner of Confederation to repel them. Bonds forged in the flames of war brought people together, and while states eventually split up and returned to their own governance, the people never forgot the bonds they shared in the war. So despite the rampancy of independent factions, the people think of themselves as Confederates. They're not a bad people, broadly speaking, but visitors are advised to always watch their backs.

The Spacefarer's Life

Once you buckle into your shuttle and enter the black of space, the environment changes tremendously - for the better. The Crescent military, having nothing better to do these days, is assigned law enforcement duties as Space Police, and they're remarkably good at it. Rather than fearing the police, most people rather feel safe and protected when the police are around, thanks to the military's relentless drive toward higher principles. Even without the police around, the average spacefarer is generous and well-armed; if someone rips you off, you could probably hail down a passerby with a distress signal and find someone willing to be your ally. Thus, space travel within the Empire is generally safe and profitable.

The same can't be said as you draw closer to the Terran Empire. The Terran spacefarer is in much the same situation as a Confederate - you're free to do whatever you want, but without (uncorrupted) law enforcement around, you'd better watch your back. The slipshod quality of Terran starships makes planetary reentry almost impossible, so unless you're one of the government elites with a quality vessel, most of your life will be spent on space stations. You could try escaping to the Crescent Empire, but the Terran space force does a much better job of protecting their border than they do enforcing the law, making escape a much riskier proposition than just trying to live your life behind the border. The Terran Empire has often tried to regulate the frontiers of space, but with very little success.

If you have any major qualms with this lore, on any point, I can absolutely change it up. It's just my current working sci-fi model of this universe.

The Race Purges of 2070 eliminated light-skinned people in the country along with much of the opposition to the change in government. On the other side of the world, a certain oppressive religion (which shall remain unnamed) infiltrated the highest positions in government throughout Europe and East Asia, and used their power to institute their cruel and misogynistic values throughout the world.

Does this apply to the Crescent and Confederate as well? Does it also mean that people in the Terran Empire are all of one skin color?

Other than that, thank you so much for your explanation. It's helped me greatly in defining Sofie's characteristics and place in the world a bit more.

Note: Was looking through the character sheet again...could you perhaps provide a real person picture (I guess that's what you call those) of Ed? I normally do better with visualizing the character if they're depicted in real life form :) If that's not possible then it's absolutely no problem! I feel like I'm asking a lot from you!

The Crescents are descended from Hispanic/African American refugees and Chinese settlers, so the majority of Crescents have a carmel skin tone, although light skin isn't entirely uncommon. As for the Terrans, statistically speaking, the majority are light-skinned asians of Chinese origin, with the darker-skinned Indians following close behind. Europeans didn't undergo any race purges, per se; they were simply overrun with immigrants from the Middle East. The majority of Europeans are still light-skinned, albeit very different now culturally. The biggest demographic changes were in the Americas, where light-skinned people were all but eliminated.

I'll locate a more realistic image for Ed for you soon, sure.

I considered making Ed dark-skinned like the rest of his nation, but considering that his mother is a light-skinned homonculus (long story) and his father is canonically light-skinned, Ed is bound to be likewise.

I'm thinking this is what Ed would look like.

@Thinslayer

Sorry for the fuss but where is America in all of this? Are they the Terran or...
Man, sorry if my questions are pretty dumb ones...I've been watching the Office too much and it's had the capacity to render me completely useless.

And thank you! That did help with Ed's image. He still has red eyes, right?

Unfortunately, America is Terran, and is currently a major villainous power within the Terran Empire. However, the Crescents were inspired by the old American example and modeled their constitution after the United States constitution, in order that "government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the universe." The Crescents are, effectively, the new "Americans."

@Thinslayer

ARGH! Just reread my post again after finishing up some work and now I've realized how bad it is. Excuse the weird wording and blatant telling instead of showing.

@Thinslayer

Hey Thins, I hope I’m not disturbing you or anything. Please don’t take this as a “hurry up and write” kind of message, I was just a bit worried and wondering if you were okay, I hope that you’re just having a good break but if anything is else is going on...well, I just wanted to check that all is good and there’s nothing major :)

Dagnabbit! I forgot it was my turn. I'll take care of that soon.

I'm doing okay. My brain has been in Minecraft mode for the last few weeks. What are your plans for the Arcane Adventures RP?

@Thinslayer

No problem! And gosh I’m so sorry, I forgot about that. Maybe I won’t be joining after all, if that’s okay? I severely misjudged my availability. I’m so sorry to be a bother...

@Thinslayer

Uh... Thins, not to hurry you or anything but it's been like 3 weeks? Again, take your time but if you have writer's block or anything please feel free to hash it out with me.

I know, I'm sorry, 3 weeks is CRAZY long. I hit a serious writing slump and just couldn't find it in me to write any words at all. It was worse than writer's block, I think. It wasn't just this RP; I've been slacking on all my RPs. It got so bad, I didn't even want to look at RolePlayerGuild for a while. I started getting my moxie back a few days ago and started work on preparations for the upcoming scene. I'll show you what I've got so far.

And yes, there was a bit of writer's block too on top of the slump, but I've climbed out of it with the introduction of a brand new major NPC character. She actually required the creation of a whole new planet, which I'm currently building lore for.

You may recognize the reference image from a popular anime series.

Let me introduce you to Astora Weslake.

This Crescent-born firebrand is the object of Krakticus Quinn's affections. She hails from Cronica, an important and advanced Crescent colony whose primary exports are geo-engineering equipment and livestreams of martial arts competitions. Unlike similar worlds with their level of technological advancement, the primary aim of the citizens is not entertainment, but philosophy, much like the ancient Greeks. Some of the most animated debates in the galaxy are held on Cronica.

Astora's the type to speak before she thinks, and it's won her a lot of enemies and admirers alike. She's not particularly religious, unlike many Crescents, and tends toward more agnostic and pragmatic leanings. Bubbly, flirtatious, and somewhat tomboyish, Astora is bound to be one of the many allies we'll be recruiting on our journey.

Development of both Cronica and Astora isn't complete, so the above is liable to change before it's ready for story use. Like, for starters, "bubbly, flirtatious, and tomboyish" is super cliche, so it's a stand-in for my mental image of her while I work on the nuances.

Your thoughts?

I think it’s awesome! Maybe she could be a tad aggressive as well? A very defensive person? As a character flaw more I guess. And it’s honestly fine, it happens to me definitely a lot of the time. Woah, i think my words are all jumbled up. I’m honestly just hurrying you on this because I’d like this as a distraction. I’m not feeling exactly too well and it seems like I’m taking it out on you by hurrying you up. Please do take your time! I appreciate all the thought you put into this.

Need a distraction, eh? Challenge accepted!

*cracks knuckles*

Time to write. >:)

While I work on the lore of Krakticus Quinn, it's time for your daily distraction! :D


It all started about 20 years ago. Back then, I often played with my sister Brenda. We occasionally played with Legos, and enjoyed Star Wars. One day, mom pointed out that the Force was basically a god, and being Christians, playing with pagan gods was repulsive to us. So we created brand new lore, with Zeranians and a Force-like replacement called the Arts, in which the theory was you could remotely manupulate your environment through electromagmetism. The Zeranian empire initially controlled three worlds in its solar system: Zerania, Zeron, and Zervitia. We added Zer and Rosa later on. While the denizens of those worlds were technically of the same nationality, they had radically different cultures and mindsets, making a fertile environment for political drama. The Terran Federation was an NPC empire friendly to the Zeranians at the time. The main antagonist was Ogel, the same villain from the Lego Alpha Team series.

For difficult reasons I won't go into, Brenda left the home a few years after we became adults, allowing me and my other sister, the 8-years-younger Alice, to grow closer. When I and Alice took over the Lego story, we ditched the Arts and created brand new characters. I soon noticed that we always had this ancient empire with ruins and high technology, and they piqued my interest. Who were they, and what happened to them? They obviously controlled the whole galaxy at one point, and making them evil was too cliche. Thus the Crescent Empire was born in my mind. I ceded control of Zerania to Alice and took over the Crescents, now no longer in ruins, but a living, breathing civilization. They eventually annexed the Zeranians into the empire anyway, though. Ogel, too, got a new faction: Rebellion Against Government Establishment, or RAGE, an anarchist rebellion dedicated to bringing down all forms of organized government. Rebellions are always seen as good in the media, like Star Wars, so it bent the tropes somewhat.

As our Lego roleplaying days drew to a close, so did the Crescent Empire itself. Our story ended with them fighting a climactic battle for their homeworld against RAGE, which they ultimately lost. The empire was wiped out of the galaxy, leaving behind the ruins seen in the present.

These childhood stories form the basis of the lore for The Faraway Land.

@Thinslayer

Thank you so much for the story Thins. It was very interesting how you came up with what you did and helped a lot in distracting me from the horrible day I'm having. Every little bit helps...I'm just trying to hang in here.