[OOC] Primality

[Animal]

Dang, are all the elements taken already?

[Crimson Flame]

Dang, are all the elements taken already?

@Animal

We have two Water people. Nothing is actually taken. :)

[Aeolian]

Dang, are all the elements taken already?

@Animal

Plus you can do some non-conventional specialized natural elements too, I think, like sand, mercury, fungi, blue flames, mud, ice, metal, flowers, lava, magma, crystal, mist, bubbles, I don't know if it's been confirmed but maybe even some kind of animal based magic like insects, birds, animals in general etc., so in theory, there should be plenty of options. But even overlaps are okay anyways.

[BurningCold]

@Aeolian @Animal The way I also interpreted it for myself was that while Marko might have a general attunement like "Fire", it will exhibit differently than others with the same attunement. Marko can start fires and may have the ability to generate explosions, but its possible someone else can manipulate raw flame by shaping and controlling it or something to that level.

I'd even say that someone could be attuned to Earth but only manifest that ability as crystals, or be attuned to Plants but has special focus on flowers.

At the end of the day characterization is going to be a lot more important than the chosen element, which I think is big and flashy but not necessarily what's going to make each character special on its own

[Aeolian]

<Snipped quote by Aeolian>

Really cool choice to make Hugo a victim of parentification as a way to keep a similar "vibe" of being a bit distant and detached, but still getting that shift from antagonistic to more of a positive force

@BurningCold

That is exactly what I was going for. Thank you :) He's 100% a victim of parentification. Because of that experience, I want to play him as some combination of being instinctively motherly/maternal, slightly manipulative but not in a devious way, calm, wistful, mature, and stubborn. So, we'll see how I pull it off LOL

@Aeolian @Animal The way I also interpreted it for myself was that while Marko might have a general attunement like "Fire", it will exhibit differently than others with the same attunement. Marko can start fires and may have the ability to generate explosions, but its possible someone else can manipulate raw flame by shaping and controlling it or something to that level.

I'd even say that someone could be attuned to Earth but only manifest that ability as crystals, or be attuned to Plants but has special focus on flowers.

At the end of the day characterization is going to be a lot more important than the chosen element, which I think is big and flashy but not necessarily what's going to make each character special on its own

@BurningCold

This was my take as well. Even characters with the same element will or at least, should have a specialized, unique way that they use the element, that way, every character can have their own magical bit unique to them. But I agree, characterization is key for ensuring a diverse, but functional cast.

[Framing A Moose]

Hey y’all! Been thinking about joining up with you guys - have a potential character concept in mind who I like, so I’ll likely end up working on her a bit tonight. Is there/will there be a Discord server or anything for OOC discussion?

[Chrys]

@AWildSquirtle @Ti
Paige could totally be convinced to join in the shenanigans of weekly lawnmower races if she ended up befriending the group.

@Aeolian
Hehe I can totally see Paige sarcastically calling Hugo, "Daahhling."

[Ti]

@Aeolian
Hehe I can totally see Paige sarcastically calling Hugo, "Daahhling."

@Chrys

Now imagining Asterion from Baldur's Gate 3 saying it.

There was that habit in school where people sometimes called others by their surname, so everyone going around simply referring to him as Darling.

[Aeolian]

A beta sheet, for inspection. I started writing and the words didn't stop...

Mary Tarbell, New Transfer!

Mary Tarbell

---

^{Plant ◼ September 17th ( 18 ) ◼ Female}

_{"Life ain't fair. But you can MAKE it fair!"}

A P P E A R A N C E:

---

Mary stands just shy of 5'5 which irks her to no end, though her grandma swears she still had plenty of growth left in her "Judging by yer great-aunts." Her hair is a messy blend of brown and red, barely kept in check when she braids it. Her hands have seen more than their share of farming accidents with small scars from finding her way around farm equipment running up and down her forearms. When not forced into a school uniform, she prefers to wear baggy cotton shirts, jeans, or overalls. While Mary often draws henna on her arms, she was finally able to get her first tattoo of a lavender plant in Albany with her savings- something her grandma still smacks her upside the head for doing.

B I O G R A P H Y:

---

Mary Tarbell was born to Joseph and Alice Tarbell at 12:58 AM on September 17th, the day the family apple crop was due to be picked. Her mother often said she got right up 8 hours later and went to join her husband and the other farmhands to bring the crop in, with newborn Mary wrapped around her waist the whole time and she barely felt an ache in her body the whole time.

Mary called bullshit on this story by the time she turned 12, but her mom still tells it every chance she gets if anyone hasn't heard it.

Raised on a rural farm in upstate New York, Mary wasn't particularly well off, but she did have a family that cared about her, a roof over her head, and a grandma who was whip fast with a spoon to her knuckles if Mary ever came back from school with anything less than a B in any subject. Granny Tarbell was also the one to make sure that Mary kept her head just high enough to dream, but low enough not to get lost in the clouds. The Tarbell farm had been in the family hands for generations, since the founding of the nation, and it was expected that she'd carry on its tradition if her parents didn't or couldn't give her a sibling. Granny Tarbell's idea of dreaming bigger for Mary meant buying a few more fields and settling down with one of those nice boys from school.

Of course, tell any teenager that their life path has been chosen for them since their birth and you should expect a rebellion to ensue. Mary didn't (and still doesn't fully) know what she wanted to do with her life, but becoming another Tarbell farmer bringing in Apples from the orchard one season, cabbages from the fields another, and a few dozen eggs a week wasn't her idea of a storybook future. She did feel something stir within her every time she picked up a pencil and drew lines on paper, though. Her art teachers regularly pointed out that she showed more talent than most of her classmates, and there were summer programs that could be arranged for her- but the farm always had need of her. Mary started to protest and ask to attend any of these summer retreats when she made it through her freshman year. The shouting match went on for almost ten minutes before granny laid down the law and broke it up. For a while, her parents decided to let things lie and her mother even made a small peace offering by setting up a new flower garden for her on the front lawn when she noticed Mary was taking to drawing some of the wildflowers near the school bus stop in the margins of her notebooks.

Mary wasn't thrilled- her mother seemed to get the wrong message from snooping in her school books, but she let it slide and decided if she couldn't work with her parents to figure out this strange and exciting feeling, she would pursue her passion with the help of her school's guidance counselor. When a letter of acceptance to Corning Community College's early enrollment art program came in the mail, that was when the simmering conflict boiled over. What started as a calm chat about changing her major to agriculture, or even double majoring and selling "her arts" at the farmers market as a peace offering quickly exploded from the kitchen to the front lawn. The normally go-along-to-get-along Mary had had enough of her parents' dictates and stood her ground. She would graduate from High School. She would attend early enrollment classes over the summer. And she would go to a college- any college- to learn how to draw, paint, sculpt- to harness this feeling and create.

The neighbors were the ones to call 9-1-1 and get an ambulance to the property. Mary had two-dozen 1.5 inch rose thorns removed from her legs, her powers having manifested in the flower garden her mother had planted. Per state regulations, and with a little payback for providing fresh produce to the school at a reduced rate as recurring suppliers for close to two-hundred years, Mary Tarbell was enrolled in the Merryweather Institute after being discharged from the hospital.

P E R S O N A L I T Y:

---

Mary holds a can-do attitude forefront in her mind. Farming is not easy or profitable (as her dad was always quick to remind her), which meant she would have to at least work through her problems with other farm hands when they weren't handling heavy machinery. Mary developed the skill to look for unorthodox, cheap, but effective solutions to problems in front of her.

But do not, under any circumstances, make decisions for her. Mary doesn't trust anyone- adults or other teenagers- to alter the course of her life in any way.

A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:

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Driver's license ("So what if it's for a tractor, I can still drive us all downtown for a night of fun and the cops can't do shit!") Animal ken ("You ever teach a barn cat how to hunt rats and not the escaped chicken?"). Uncontrolled plant growth ability ("I don't want to talk about it right now.")

C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:

---

Mary is a bit of a writing experiment for me in the world of YA. I don't normally write teenage characters, so feel free to make suggestions for posts that might make her seem more realistic a character. I would also be interested in romantic sub-plots.

@AWildSquirtle

@AWildSquirtle You didn't ask me to do this, but I really just thought your character was so cool, so I made some AI art of her just for the fun of it! lol Cheers!

Mary Tarbell Aesthetics

[Little Bird]

Will look more deeply into this when I'm not in a moving vehicle. But I'm interested.

[AWildSquirtle]

@AWildSquirtle @Ti
Paige could totally be convinced to join in the shenanigans of weekly lawnmower races if she ended up befriending the group.

@Chrys

One of us! ONE OF US!

[Carlyle]

Going to use this as an organizational post so things aren't lost in the sauce. Did not expect this to be so popular, so if I've missed any questions or whatever please feel free to remind/ask me again. I'll try going over the OOC to see if I missed anything.

COMPLETED SHEETS:

roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585223 - @AWildSquirtle
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585244 - @sovlereign
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585289 - @Aeolian
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585340 - @BurningCold
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585371 - @Ti
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585535 - @Scribe of Thoth
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585513 - @Chrys
roleplayerguild.com/posts/5585675 - @Crimson Flame

INTERESTED PARTIES WITHOUT A SHEET:

@Remram
@Silver Carrot
@Crusader Lord
@Expendable
@Little Bird
@Framing A Moose
@Animal
@Alleypup18
@Dragonfly 9
@MrSkimobile

[BurningCold]

So many potential Primality party people

[Silver Carrot]

It's my last day of workfor the week tomorrow so I'll finish my sheet then or Friday

[Chrys]

<Snipped quote by AWildSquirtle>

@AWildSquirtle You didn't ask me to do this, but I really just thought your character was so cool, so I made some AI art of her just for the fun of it! lol Cheers!

Mary Tarbell Aesthetics

@Aeolian

Where did you make it? They look so good and I would love to make some for Paige 😁

[Animal]

<Snipped quote by Animal>

We have two Water people. Nothing is actually taken. :)

@Crimson Flame

Ah, I thought we were limited to a selection. That makes sense.

<Snipped quote by Animal>

Plus you can do some non-conventional specialized natural elements too, I think, like sand, mercury, fungi, blue flames, mud, ice, metal, flowers, lava, magma, crystal, mist, bubbles, I don't know if it's been confirmed but maybe even some kind of animal based magic like insects, birds, animals in general etc., so in theory, there should be plenty of options. But even overlaps are okay anyways.

@Aeolian

You had me at salt.

[Aeolian]

<Snipped quote by Crimson Flame>

Ah, I thought we were limited to a selection. That makes sense.

<Snipped quote by Aeolian>

You had me at salt.

@Animal

Salt? I didn't mention Salt! lol

[Aeolian]

<Snipped quote by Aeolian>

Where did you make it? They look so good and I would love to make some for Paige 😁

@Chrys

Midjourney :) I'll see what I can make for her!

[Carlyle]

So many potential Primality party people

@BurningCold

Yeah, it's a lot of people. As I said, I hadn't expected it to be that popular, lol. It'll be a lot to read up on especially if we get any more interested parties as I figured a week was enough for a deadline.