XenoCyanide

The Faraway Land

@Cuccoruler

I got that swagger, son! Hahaha. That's great.

The Faraway Land

@Rekaigan

I'm on a horse because old guy. And because Xen isn't walking miles through the desert. That's just silly.

The Faraway Land

@Cuccoruler

If I were to do that, I'd need to actually make a presentation post... And I don't have the motivation to do that right now haha. Nor do I want to track down different resources for writing. I'm sure there is already several guides on the forums to help improve your writing.

The Faraway Land

Agreed. I'm not asking for work that could be published or anything. I realize not everyone has the same background in writing as I do or as others do. We're all here to have fun.

That being said, one tip that I can give to others to help them in writing is this:

Picture the scene in your head like a movie. You're the director, or, at least, the director of your character. When you are reading someone's post, read a paragraph, close your eyes, and act it out in your head. Then read the next paragraph. Rinse repeat.

When writing your own post, before you start writing, have an idea of how your character would respond to the actions of others. Think about how the NPCs would react to what you're doing or what you are saying. It doesn't have to be super long to be engaging. Here is an example.

The barbarian swings his axe but the rogue ducked at the last moment, the axe slamming into the wooden post becoming lodged.

Although this explains exactly what is happening, its lackluster. It can also be explained this way:

The barbarian cleaves at the man with both hands, sending the double-headed axe at the rogue's head. Fortunately for the rogue, he ducked just in time, the axe passing overhead. The immense power behind the swing caused the axe to become lodged into a wooden post just to the rogue's right, sending splinters showering over the room.

It's a bit longer, but it engages you. You can visually see in detail. You can deduce that the barbarian is incredibly strong. You can almost audibly hear the slamming of the axe into the post. The power of the swing is further inferred with the splintering of the wood.

You can add further detail to describe his muscles tightening under the swing or give the barbarian an audible roar as he strikes. You can add NPC reaction to this, having some people flinch or run for cover as the strike frightens them. You can have people knocking tables, chairs, bottles over. If this is outside, you can have people exit shops to see what the ruckus is all about or guards running to stop the altercation.

The world is your oyster! So to speak, anyway, haha.

[Closed 1x1] The Touched

Location: The Pale Dress

---

That was two powers he witnessed from her. The ability to cloak herself to her surroundings and slow the vibrations of matter, freezing things over. Very interesting. Kyle rarely did things out of character or in the heat of the moment. Yes, he was attempting to gain intelligence from the woman, which she freely gave after the fact, but he also discovered her innate talents. It was a risky endeavor, as she could have proved to have a much more dangerous ability. He remembered a teenage boy he dealt with some years ago. Brian, he believed his name was. A quadriplegic rendered useless in a state-of-the-art wheelchair but soon his powers began to the manifest. They ranged from inhibiting psychosomatic hallucinations in his victims to completely taking over their nervous systems. A string of random suicides lead Kyle to Chicago where he resided. They all had one common denominator among them and it was this boy. From nurses to doctors to insurance professionals. Those that screwed him or his family over soon met a tragic end.

When the ice coated his left hand, he recoiled back, clutching it to his chest as he took a step backwards. He looked at Anastasia and holstered his pistol into his waist band, turning his back toward her. His hand began to heat up, his internal body temperature rising as he pushed the heat to the affected area. His knuckles cracked as he flexed his fingers, the ice melting almost as quickly as it had appeared. After the woman ended her rant, his voice softly carried through the empty store, "Keep in mind who the predator in the room is. Make yourself useful and look for any signs of the Resistance."

The Resistance was a group of Touched that found each other a few years ago. It was in response to the establishment of the H.B.C.T.U., or, the Human Biological Counter-Terrorism Unit. This was the organization tasked with the research, tracking, and extermination of the Touched. At first it started out with good intentions. Those that would use their powers for evil were hunted with extreme prejudice but then a bill was passed in the federal government. Due to the increasing presence of the Touched, fear and panic was rampant. Akin to how Nazi propaganda during World War II, there were those in government that sculpted problems and pushed these fears across the public. The Afflicted Persons bill passed and the War on Terror took a turn for the worst. Prisons could not be built in time to house these individuals and a green light was given to the systematic murder of thousands. Kyle was part of the HBCTU. Or, rather, was...

His ran across a wall, his finger tapping occasionally to see if there was a false wall. In one instance it felt hollow, but such a thing wasn't possible. This wall was against the brick structure of the building. Of course, he has seen weird things in the past several years. "Here..." He began looking around the wall for anything. What he found was something interesting. Near the floor behind a shelving unit, he noticed small runic patterns burnt into the wood itself. As his finger passed over them, they shimmered in an amber color. Suddenly, the wall faded from existence and revealed a circular staircase leading into darkness. He leaned over the side and peered into the abyss, his hand reaching for his weapon. Holding it to his side, he looked around for the woman.

[Closed 1x1] The Touched

@oWhiteDiamondo

Writing up a post right now. Sorry, it's been interesting lately. Also, somehow I became unsubscribed from here. :| Anyway, inbound.

The Faraway Land

I'd like to draw attention to something that I've noticed happening lately, though I'm not sure if @Thinslayer has objection to it, but I may as well put it out into the open.

The quality of posts I've been noticing has been diminishing, devolving into nothing more than a few sentences and that is all. This is in the casual section of the RP forums, and as such, I would love to see some world building in our posts. I'm not calling anyone out, as many of us are guilty of it, but giving your posts some meat really engages your readers. I'd rather wait a little longer for a post that brings the world to life than spam back and forth with a sentence of dialogue or two, or a post that doesn't really say much. It leaves others scrambling for substance. Interaction between characters is important, but just as important is the world around them. It shapes the characters in many different ways, and adding tid-bits of history of your character in your post can truly make him/her stand out and be an engaging character.

I may be alone in this, and if so, that is fine, continue as normal. This is just my two cents worth.

The Faraway Land

@rush99999

Goddamn it. Meant to say map. I'll edit accordingly.

Something Wicked This Way Comes [IC]

Can't wait!



Time to get silly!

Something Wicked This Way Comes [IC]

@Venku

I find it makes it more visceral of an experience. War and bloodshed isn't pretty. Combat and CQC (close quarters combat) is brutal and vicious. People tend to forget that since not a lot of writers or film producers include such raw detail. It isn't supposed to be idealized like many in this country, anyway, do.