Hello, and thank you for taking a look at my first ever roleplayerguild post! I've actually been doing this hobby for a long time, everywhere from iwaku, to rpol (back in the day), to RuneScape (way back in the day), but as communities go quiet and prospects dry up, the herd roves on to greener pastures. I'm still looking for my writing soulmate. Could that be you?
I'm 29 years old, Central Standard Time, currently unemployed but searching. So while replies might be punctual/consistent at first, you can expect they'll slow down in the foreseeable future while real life picks back up.
There's no accounting for style, but in pertinence to more objective measures, I'm a Literate to Advanced-level writer. English native speaker; understandings of grammar, spelling, and devices are almost perfect if not entirely so.
I'm ghost and hiatus-friendly as long as you communicate. Life happens! I just don't want to be wringing my hands wondering whether you're still interested; whether I should curb my enthusiasm for what we'd written together.
In fact, I'm really easy to communicate with in general. Not having fun in the story? I want to fix that! We can compromise, draw up new lines in the sand, ramp up the action or the romance or whatever it is that you find lacking. I'm sooooo tired of stories getting nowhere because one little detail wasn't exactly to someone's liking, they felt too intimidated to speak up, so they immediately gave up and skipped. I'm looking for something long-term, and emotional and artistic maturity are a must for any two people who intend on lasting as writing partners. Let's communicate. Please?
Also, even though I'm proposing several plot ideas in this check, and even though I've done a ton of worldbuilding for this setting, including a fully realized map, cultures, pantheons, etc., please don't take that to mean I'm not interested in your ideas as well. I want to hear what plots or character dynamics you have in mind! I want to hear all about that archaeological dig in Syria that inspired an original culture/society/people for your character! I want to know everything about your writing's influences: fiction, nonfiction, real-life history, previous rps, whatever. Basically, besides long-term rp partners, I hope we can be friends, too.
I think I intend to play a female character, but who knows? Maybe the prompt we settle on will inspire me to get my practice in.
And I think that's all there is to say about me, but shoot a PM or leave a comment here in the thread if you have any questions!
As for you, my writing partner to be...
First of all, sorry, but you need to be a legal adult in your country. (Which can be anywhere, by the way...native English speaker? ESL? I don't mind mistakes on your end, even if I, myself, am always striving to push my craft.) Not because smut will be a primary purpose to this game, or even necessarily happen at all depending on the story, but because there will probably be depictions of many of the horrific things that people did to each other in the recent past, and still do to each other today. This isn't to gratify some sick voyeurism on either of our ends, but to create a feeling of historicity. Obviously we will not be writing true historical fiction, as this is a fantasy game; but historicity is the abstract sense of authenticity behind a culture, zeitgeist, or event; in other words, crafting these so they feel like they plausibly could have happened in the real world. Basically, you must be an adult so that you will be more emotionally and artistically prepared for a mature story. Not "mature" in the juvenile ESRB sense (just violence, swearing, and boobies, basically), but in the Cormac McCarthy sense; of exploring and experiencing true human depravities through a sociological, anthropological, pseudo-historical lens. (Did you know it would've really sucked to be born in a time with no modern medicine, political checks & balances, or basic human rights?) Yes, this includes systemic slavery; warfare; disease, famine, and other quasi-natural disasters; (implied, not explicit) sexual violence; and probably more. Frankly, I'm far enough along in my writing that a sterilized, idealistic, History Channel depiction of the distant past only feels naïve to me now.
Second, you don't have to be an avid history scholar, amateur or otherwise, to keep up with this game. It's a fictional fantasy setting, after all. Even if your experience ends at a Total War campaign or a favorite Sabaton album, you know enough to be able to engage with me. But you should've read enough, and written enough, and are far enough along in this hobby that you understand the rudiments of narrative pacing, character development, story arcs, themes, and so forth, and can apply these things to our game. This, infinitely more than post length, is what defines an "Advanced" writer to me. Frankly, if you can fit three paragraphs' meaning into just three or four lines of text, you're more valuable to me than the partner who pumps out half a book per post. Brevity is the soul of wit, after all.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't need to know everything about this subject to reach out. Just enthusiasm for low-ish fantasy, and for the fascinating, horrible, beautiful world which can inspire it!
But what I need most from you is agency. You'll push the plot along with me; you and I'll advance a dialogue through its beginning, middle, and end; you'll view every scene as its own microscopic story, where progress, whether external or internal, tangible or emotional, always results in change. We'll start our characters' relationship at a natural place and see where it goes, choosing platonic/familial love, romantic love, or enmity as we see fit. But whatever the case, I'm not looking for a sidekick or a henchman. Both of us are the protagonists; both of us shape the journey.
Other than that, let's get creative! There's no one archetype that I must receive from you in order to engage with you or the story you wish to tell. You can play the hero of myth and legend, perfect save for his single hamartia, or the scummy, self-serving pirate/slaver/mercenary/conqueror. You can be the typical fantasy protagonist (strong, clever, capable of violence) or a skinny, sniveling scholar. You can be a shaggy barbarian, you can be a perfumed urbanite. I can't wait to see your imagination in motion!
Before I get into the plot ideas I'm bringing to the table, a quick word on the nature of the setting we'd be working with: "The Shackled Sea," a subtropical inland sea looped on all sides by various cultures, settlements, and factions (which we can discuss and tweak once interest has been expressed), obviously Mediterranean-inspired. Of course, it being a fictional setting, there's no real time period to adhere to when drawing our influences. But between the political situation and the technological/theocratic ideas present, if I had to draw a rough analogy, I would put us somewhere around 600 BC in the real world. It's a time of old empires crumbling away to dust, and new ones taking their place, larger and more intimidating than ever the world has yet seen. Of woad-painted barbarians beating against the tall doors of ancient cities. Of fearing coastal roads for the slaver-ships, rowing the shallows in search of fresh bodies for the brothels and meat markets. Of some of the first monotheisms rising from the ashes of the tutelary pantheons they've subsumed...
Our magic system is vaguely, vaguely drawn from the Glorantha rulebooks. As such, everyone knows a small degree of mundane magics to simplify everyday inconveniences, but those who would seek to rule the earth or rule the seas must join a cult, dedicate herself to a god, and do that god's will on earth. Rising through the ranks of a mystery cult, she is taught the rarer magics not made available to common laymembers, and maybe the god Himself will begin visiting her in strange, dreamlike visions, as well...
Finally, I avoided as many Greco-Roman influences as possible with this setting because quite frankly, it's rare enough that anyone in a given rp community wants fantasy which isn't the typical fakey-fake-medieval/Renaissance fare, and those few who do want something earlier always want their legionnaires and their hoplites. It's sooooo boring, and besides, there was an entire ancient world to draw from, learn about, and gush over! So getting to know me a little and learning more about the Shackled Sea, you will quickly notice that while there are cultures and happenings vaguely inspired by the Bactrians, by the Scythians, the Numidians, the Liburnians, the Celtiberians, by the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians and more (and then, of course, slathered over with original fantasy elements), you will find no analogue for the Roman Republic/Empire, nor the Greek city-states. This is by design, as I hope I'm not the only fantasy writer who's wanted something different from this genre for forever.
And with that aside, here are, finally, some brief overviews of some plots I'm bringing to the negotiations!
At the moment none of these plots have a preference in terms of which role I'd like to play. I'm down for either.
I'll bump this thread with any more plots which get added. And like I said earlier, I'm looking forward to hearing your own ideas as well.
And, well, that's it. I hope to hear from you soon!—with interest, definitely, but just to test the waters or ask questions is also cool. If we're up to each other's standards, and go into each other's ideas with open minds, I think we could write something not just fun, but compelling, intellectual, and beautiful. =) Valē!
