The Knights Next Door

[King Aragorn of Gondor]

Nym stopped on the way up the stairs, "Oh, before I forget, there was this girl about my age hanging around, I think she was a Radient."  With that, Nym turned, made her way to the room, and without even looking around, collapsed into bed.

[I think I am here.]

6 hours ago, Sorana said:

“It is." He admired her work. "You can draw really well." Slowly he unfurled his body, some of the motions slightly off and in the end he simply reshaped himself standing next to her. "Do you want to take a picture. Then you can have Rob hang it on your wall." He suggested and felt for Shana. She could take the picture for them, and then maybe he could hang one on their wall as well.

"They need us." Mahad agreed and smiled at her. "Without us, they were like helpless children, but when we are there, they grow up, beautiful and strong. Robert can be lucky to have you." Gently he touched his nose to her arm. "I like you."

Cup smiled widely and felt herself glow.

“I like you too,” she said, bopping Mahad on the nose. “I thought you were scary first, but I don’t think you are now. You are a cute dragon, who can paint and make Shana happy.” She looked back at the painting, the drawing they had made in the dirt. It would be blown away soon, by the wind.

“We should take a picture,” she agreed. “But how?”

—-

Rob watched from the couch as Cup left with Mahad, and then stood and watched again when Sheln appeared in the Physical Realm of the backyard, along with Cassie and Leona apprehending them. Good job, to both of them. A Voidbringer as powerful as Sheln would have been tough to defeat. Even without the mysterious plant, their lightning was powerful, and scary.

Watching as they carried him away Rob saw something drop from Sheln’s pocket, oblivious to all three of them. Stepping out into the backyard Rib walked towards it.

“Hey guys, you dropped so...” Rob trailed off as he realised they’d left further into the house. That was unfortunate. Well, at least Rob could hold onto it, give it to Cassie or Leona when he saw them next. It was a sphere, not dissimilar to a stormlight sphere. But it was black, pure black. A different black, even, to the voidlight the voidbringers used. It was darker, somehow. More menacing.

Pocketing the sphere Rob walked to his room. Maybe he could analysis it more there.

[+Sorana]

3 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

Cup smiled widely and felt herself glow.

“I like you too,” she said, bopping Mahad on the nose. “I thought you were scary first, but I don’t think you are now. You are a cute dragon, who can paint and make Shana happy.” She looked back at the painting, the drawing they had made in the dirt. It would be blown away soon, by the wind.

“We should take a picture,” she agreed. “But how?”

"We ask Shana." He told her proudly and rushed off. Shana was calling for Ben, when he found her in the hallway and he flew around her head, then back towards the exit. She turned her head and sighed. "Did you find another coin." Mahad laughed and settled on her shoulder. "Me and Cup made a painting. Can you take a picture and send it to Rob so that he can hang it on his wall for Cup to see?"

He asked and his Radiant laughed, then stepped outside. Shana knelt down next to the painting and smiled at Cup. "Hello Cup." She greeted his friend and took out her phone, took a quick picture, and then another one when he looked at her in a cute way. And then a third when he spread his wings. Satisfied that one good picture of their drawing had to be there Mahad touched his nose to her cheek.

"Now send it to Rob." he insisted and she laughed again, knelt down and held her phone in a way both he and Cup could see it. She selected Rob and then send him the picture. "Happy the two of you? Do you need anything else?"

[I think I am here.]

1 minute ago, Sorana said:

“Now send it to Rob." he insisted and she laughed again, knelt down and held her phone in a way both he and Cup could see it. She selected Rob and then send him the picture. "Happy the two of you? Do you need anything else?"

“H-hi Shana,” Cup said, waved. Shana was so big, scary. Everyone was scary. Except for Robert. And Mahad. Mahad was cool. And Robert was Robert. But Shana was nice as well, taking a picture of their painting.

“Thank you,” Cup said, wondered if she needed anything else.

“Do you know where George is?” She asked. “I think Robert left him on the floor when the Voidbringers attacked.”

[+Sorana]

Just now, I think I am here. said:

“H-hi Shana,” Cup said, waved. Shana was so big, scary. Everyone was scary. Except for Robert. And Mahad. Mahad was cool. And Robert was Robert. But Shana was nice as well, taking a picture of their painting.

“Thank you,” Cup said, wondered if she needed anything else.

“Do you know where George is?” She asked. “I think Robert left him on the floor when the Voidbringers attacked.”

"I can go and check for George. Do you want me to bring him to your room?" Shana stood up, hoped that no spren decided to search for bird's egg at night and walked inside. Their living room was empty, and it felt even larger than usual. So many lived here that the room rarely was empty, most of the time someone would be here. She started to bend down looked for George and finally found the coin on the ground and picked it up, waited for Cup to tell her, where to take it.

Mahad had followed her eagerly, sat down on her hand and was talking quickly. "She's my friend. Cup is my friend." He told her happily not caring if Cup heard him or not.

[AonEne]

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I wish I could talk to Shana, give her tips on how to stop OCD hand-washing  

I’m gonna say Cassie works at the school library. 

“Wait, another Radiant showed up?” Cassie asked, but Nym had already headed off to bed. With a sigh, Cassie bid Leona good night - tacking on another compliment of the cake at the end - and started up the stairs. They could deal with a new kid in the morning. Maybe she could look for them while everyone else was at school, after she got off work. 

Reaching for her door, she was reminded of how she’d reached for James’s only last night, and wrenched the knob a bit too hard. She shut it quietly behind her, then surveyed her room. Jamie would’ve found her own place to sleep by now, so she was alone in it. Everything was clean and tidy, nothing that really stood out. Nothing adventurous. Cassie closed her eyes for a long moment, then opened them again. She needed sleep. 

She changed quickly into pajamas, then switched off the light and slipped into bed, wrapping a blanket around herself. Then she lay there, trying to sleep, but unable to. Her adrenaline had worn off, but something just didn’t feel right, and she couldn’t rest. 

It came to her. With a slow sigh, she got back up, padded across the room, and turned on a little lamp. It wasn’t exactly spherical, and the glow wasn’t the same, but it was better. She returned to her bed, stared at the light for a minute, then closed her eyes and drifted miserably away with the help of a lamp that could never be as good as her spren. 

[xinoehp512]

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Oh, right, the spam filter.  Let's try this again.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

If they aren’t in the discussion, how are they supposed to compromise? 

If they don’t want to be in the discussion, then they don’t have to. Not everyone wants to bother having discussions like these. Some people may simply want to vote and then move on. 

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If they don’t explain the reason for their objections, how are we supposed to reach a compromise with them?

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

Don’t ask me.  I only used it because it was there. 

That was a hypothetical question... 

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I think you mean rhetorical. Anyways, in my opinion, generally speaking, rhetorical questions do not elicit a response because the answer is meant to be implicit. I honestly don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t switch to a thread for discussion.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

Suggest new options?  You can’t add options to the poll while it’s running. 

You don’t need to, because you can make a new poll when it’s done. 

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But it’s part of the current poll…? In theory, once the poll is done, a decision should be reached, yes?

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

But not always. And not always the best compromise that could be suggested. 

Not every poll needs a compromise. Take the one about the year, for example. And that is your opinion. 

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There are a finite and definite number of options for the year, which makes it perfect for header polling.

I know I, at least, could not possibly anticipate what people will accept or object to. Nor could I think of every idea people might come up with.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

That is what the nature of the poll seems to suggest and even encourage. But… maybe that isn’t it. Maybe people don’t post their reasoning because they feel like discussion is over at that point, and reasonings would be out of place.

I hope that’s it. Because the alternative is that the majority of people are intractably opposed to me, my creations, and my perspective– rendering compromise impossible. 

I sincerely hope that everyone is choosing what they do because they want it to happen. 

Xino, just because people are opposed to some of your ideas doesn’t mean they’re opposed to you. And compromise means you don’t always fully get your way. You’re coming across to me as someone who is not willing to accept that all your ideas might not be implemented. 

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I am fine with my ideas not being implemented. It does seem like I am having more difficulty finding approval now than before, but that might just be me.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

Ideally, doing polls this way will mean you don’t have to come up with them at all. 

Someone always has to come up with the poll. Someone has to decide what the options are and how they’re worded. 

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Ideally, everyone decides and agrees on that together.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

I’m a little disappointed to hear such negative feedback, but hopefully an agreement can still be made. If my clarifications leave you still disillusioned with my proposal, could you perhaps tell us what ideas you have in regards to the resolution of this issue? 

I don’t know how you’re classifying that as negative when I am trying to be excessively positive during this whole thing ,

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I was referring to content, not tone.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

but regardless, my point continues to be that there is no issue with the polls we use now. I have had other people echo this opinion, and I honestly think you might be the only one who has a problem with the header polls. You are the only person to ever voice a complaint in my memory. That is why we are not changing the way we take votes. 

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So you think that the issue lies elsewhere?

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

But if people aren’t keeping up with the thread they’d still miss it, wouldn’t they? 

If people aren’t keeping up with the thread, then that’s entirely their own fault. If they’re inactive then it wouldn’t make much sense for them to be voting anyway.

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But… but…

On 11/6/2019 at 0:45 PM, AonEne said:

there would be people who ignored it because it didn’t directly pertain to them (some people only react when tagged)

Oh, never mind.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

You think that there does not exist a possible idea that at least one person would not have an intractable objection against? 

Of course not, it’s possible that there are concepts everyone can agree upon. I’m saying that not every question will be like that, because that has been proven with this roleplay’s history so far (and the history of every other roleplay I’ve ever been in). 

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I just want to avoid another situation like the one that happened in the PM (where people suddenly objected to the tone of the plot) or with Sha-theoxis (where people suddenly objected to an element of the worldbuilding).

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

Which is exactly my point. If we are going to have an overarching plot, we should have more than one person contributing to it. 

We do. 

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What would you consider the overarching plot to be?

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

On 11/8/2019 at 8:57 PM, xinoehp512 said:

Before the institution of the polls, worldbuilding was whatever was generally agreed upon, correct? What I was defending at the time were things that I believe were generally agreed upon. Was it not the case that they were? 

I don’t currently have the time to scour early pages, but I’d like to bring up two things. One opinion that has been expressed is that you have been taking things as canon without explicit approval from the majority, or that some didn’t understand what your worldbuilding was.

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I have been assuming that if no one raises any objections to a piece of worldbuilding, it becomes canon.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:10 PM, AonEne said:

Also, that worldbuilding is malleable. 

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Things that aren’t important are malleable, which is why I don’t complain when you change those.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:35 PM, Wyndlerunner said:

I agree with Ene here honestly. I'd wager that a majority of these debates are only an issue because of what I perceive as inflexibility in the worldbuilding. Now, having a solid, rigid, worldbuilding might be useful in Tabletop RPGs like D&D, where a single Dungeon Master comes up with a basic plot outline and knows from beginning to end; however, such is not the case in this less structured RP.

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I’m afraid I don’t quite grasp what you mean by inflexible worldbuilding. Perhaps you could provide an example?

On 11/9/2019 at 9:35 PM, Wyndlerunner said:

We have no Dungeon Master- I do not think only one person should be in charge of our plot; to do so would be futile, and goes against the strengths of RP'ing in this particular format. 

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Agreed.

On 11/9/2019 at 9:35 PM, Wyndlerunner said:

In fact, I'd wager that nobody here really knows how this is all going to end, and that's not necessarily a bad thing; however, the plot also needs to have room to grow and shape itself over time. Inflexible worldbuilding is making it impossible for the plot to naturally shape itself in the way that the majority of the members here are moving towards. 

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Again, could you give me an example of what you mean?

On 11/9/2019 at 9:35 PM, Wyndlerunner said:

Now, to be quite frank, all of this endless debate, primarily due to a general inflexibility in some of the worldbuilding, is having a negative impact on my ability to enjoy this RP, and I think it's fairly obvious that it's negatively impacting others as well. 

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I also prefer writing to debating. However, I feel it’s important this issue is resolved before we go further; otherwise it will just come up again.

On 11/10/2019 at 9:59 AM, Sorana said:

I'd like to say something regarding this ongoing worldbuilding discussion as well.

First things first. Xino I greatly respect your skill at worldbuilding. You manage to create something beautiful and complex out of nothing, and I am every time impressed by how easy you do that.

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Thanks! I’m not really making it from nothing, though. I couldn’t have done anything without what you all gave me to start with.

On 11/10/2019 at 9:59 AM, Sorana said:

Secondly, I do, too have some issues with the current situation. As this is a freeform rp, I enjoy that everybody is able, or should be able to contribute ideas to the setting, to the plot. All of us steer it together, and if we want to spend four ooc weeks preparing a party, then let's do it. No matter what we decided on so far, it always ended up in cool scenes, where those that wanted to, had a chance to contribute and to receive some cool rp. I know that not everything is always completely earnest, especially the scenes with the spren are small and easy and fun to write, at least for me, and yet despite their lightheartedness, even with the spren is some kind of character interaction.

That is only possible because of all of you, and it's one of the reasons this rp is still going, with new people joining and so many of us enjoying our time here. Thank you, all of you for that. It's an honor to rp with you.

Back to topic. If there is one thing, that really irks me when it comes to rps, then it's the discussion of rules. I know that it is neccessary sometimes, but it really can spoil a whole setting for me. At the moment this is what I see happening. We have endless discussions about small, little points that in the end, add nothing to the ongoing situations. (I know, that sometimes, more often than not they do, but, just allow me  the room to be a little inaccurate here.)

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I also feel like our discussions so far have not touched closely enough the deeper issues at play here. I feel confident, however, that if we see this discussion all the way through to the end then we will be able to confront these deeper issues.

On 11/10/2019 at 9:59 AM, Sorana said:

What I'd like to have is an easy, flexible worldbuilding, that we make up, as we go on. Then we can create details the moment we need them, based on what we have so far, based on the direction this rp is going. I feel like we trap ourselves with a worldbuilding that is so complex, I personally have trouble to remember every single detail, and, now we're back to the rules discussion, I don't care about every single detail. I am sorry if that is offending, but what I'd like to have is something I can sum up in bullent points, something that I can easily remember over the course of months, without having to read through things from april to remember a little detail and without the need to spend hours to think about any possible effect this worldbuilding might have on the world. 

When someone has an idea, that adds to a certain situation we didn't rp so far, then I'd like to add to the worldbuilding easily, without the need to discuss for pages, why the idea concerning a new situation suddenly contradicts our current worldbuilding.

Last but not least an example of what I mean: Problem: We need stormlight for our surges, but there is no stormlight on earth. Solution: KR generate stormlight which is stowed in gems.
--> Easy worldbuilding, memorable and if we need to add something about cakecasting we do it easily

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Valid points! Listing the important things about a particular piece of worldbuilding in bullet form seems like a good way to ensure that everyone understands it.

 

[WrathofaShardKitten]

It was easy for Evelyn to find her paper of designs. Still on the table in her room, where she’d left it. She drew the aon she’d designed, one of the ones meant to counter pain, in the center of the room and felt an immediate easing of the pain in her back. She breathed a silent sigh or relief and began working on the other idea she’d had, looking for something about the right size and shape to use in the bracelet. It was the same thing she’d been working on before the wedding, though she’d gotten a bit sidetracked with helping make the food. Evelyn still couldn’t find anything that fit the description she’d created, though she did find some clay she could mold into the right shape.

It only took a few minutes to create the right shape and to copy over the aon Evelyn had chosen earlier, but it was strangely soothing to create. It took her mind away from what had happened, allowing her to do what she loved. She was humming softly and had a slight smile on her face by the time she finished the last curves and lines of the aon. Checking over the aon once more, she couldn’t find anything she’d missed.

Satisfied, Evelyn changed the clay to glass and began work on the other elements of her bracelet. Which was basically just using some fancy string to tie it onto her wrist. It didn’t take long for Evelyn to thread the string through the holes she’d made and tie it on her wrist, and then she was ready. She dismissed the aon she’d drawn in the center of her room.

Heat. Heat on her wrist, coming from the bracelet. The faint smile from earlier vanished. Evelyn grabbed the aon from her wrist, yanking it off and hurling it against the wall. Too late.

Burning. Heat. The same horrid prickling sensation. Red light. The voidbringers’ scream. They all came rushing back, stealing with it the calm she’d felt mere moments before.

She was once again curled into a ball, hands rubbing up and down her arms, trying to force away the visions her mind presented her. “Go away,” she whispered it over and over again. It was a long time before she could hear it over the phantom screams in her ears.

[AonEne]

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44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

If they don’t explain the reason for their objections, how are we supposed to reach a compromise with them? 

But it’s part of the current poll…?  In theory, once the poll is done, a decision should be reached, yes? 

There are a finite and definite number of options for the year, which makes it perfect for header polling.

I know I, at least, could not possibly anticipate what people will accept or object to. Nor could I think of every idea people might come up with.

As I said before, nobody else has a problem with the way the polls are working. Therefore I will not be engaging in any more discussion along these lines, as it has no purpose. I’m not here to dig into the pedantry of polls, I’m here to RP. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I think you mean rhetorical.  

Ah, my bad. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

Anyways, in my opinion, generally speaking, rhetorical questions do not elicit a response because the answer is meant to be implicit. I honestly don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t switch to a thread for discussion. 

We use the PM so as to not clutter up the thread with endless discussions and stuff like that. Unless Sorana, as the creator of the PM, specifically wishes us to do it differently - and iirc she’s said the same thing I just did - we will not be changing this, as again, nobody else has brought up complaints. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I am fine with my ideas not being implemented. It does seem like I am having more difficulty finding approval now than before, but that might just be me. 

We have different people roleplaying now. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

Ideally, everyone decides and agrees on that together. 

There shouldn’t be a need to argue over every word in the questions. One person can look at the discussions going on, take the relevant information from them, and pose it as options. Boom. Done. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I was referring to content, not tone. 

What about my content was negative? 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

So you think that the issue lies elsewhere? 

I think that the only real issue we have is that these discussions aren’t going anywhere. That may be because there is nowhere for them to go. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

1 hour ago, AonEne said:

there would be people who ignored it because it didn’t directly pertain to them (some people only react when tagged)

1 hour ago, AonEne said:

If people aren’t keeping up with the thread, then that’s entirely their own fault. If they’re inactive then it wouldn’t make much sense for them to be voting anyway. 

Oh, never mind.  

I never said I approved of that style of RPing, only that some people use it. I won’t fault them for it, but if they aren’t keeping track of OOC events, then that is their fault; however, they don’t have to vote if they don’t want to or can’t find the time. It would be best if we had as many votes as possible, to gauge what people want, but nobody is obligated to do so. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I just want to avoid another situation like the one that happened in the PM (where people suddenly objected to the tone of the plot) or with Sha-theoxis (where people suddenly objected to an element of the worldbuilding). 

Xino, this isn’t sudden. There have been complaints for months now. And regardless of what anyone wants, people will vote for what they vote for. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

What would you consider the overarching plot to be? 

Teenagers doing teenager things with magical powers and the emotions that come with sometimes fighting evil. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I have been assuming that if no one raises any objections to a piece of worldbuilding, it becomes canon 

It would be safest to stop assuming that. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

Things that aren’t important are malleable, which is why I don’t complain when you change those. 

Literally everything is malleable. That doesn’t mean we should want to change it, not at all, but anything can be changed. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I’m afraid I don’t quite grasp what you mean by inflexible worldbuilding. Perhaps you could provide an example? 

Like your aversion to changing worldbuilding - inflexible. 

44 minutes ago, xinoehp512 said:

I also prefer writing to debating. However, I feel it’s important this issue is resolved before we go further; otherwise it will just come up again. 

I also feel like our discussions so far have not touched closely enough the deeper issues at play here. I feel confident, however, that if we see this discussion all the way through to the end then we will be able to confront these deeper issues. 

Xino, I don’t think any of the rest of us want to continue these lines of discussion. To the rest of us, there is nothing else to address. This discussion should already be at its end. We’re all tired of it. 

 

[Lunamor]

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ENE QUIT MAKING ME CRY ABOUT JOY GAHHHHH

Ben jerked awake at the sound of Shana’s voice calling his name. He had fallen asleep while researching the black sword, and the word document he had been taking notes in had a steady stream of “ggggggggggggggg...”. He must’ve fallen asleep on the keyboard. Again.

So far all he had typed was “Known information: Sword is black, leaks black smoke, silver sheath, destroys enemies completely, came from Nightwatcher”. There was almost nothing in the data bases on this thing. All he could find was a basic physical description and the fact that it was mentioned even though the Nightwatcher had just recently given it to James. That meant that it had at least been in existence sometime before James had gotten it, unless there was some sort of Investiture constantly updating the data base that he didn’t know about.

He ran a hand through his hair, which had somehow gotten even messier, and stood up. Glint had gone off to who knows where, probably distracted by a dime or something. He liked silver coins best. Walking to his door, he opened it and peeked outside. There wasn’t anyone there. Had he just been woken up by a dream, then? He wandered downstairs, to check on Shana and make sure she was doing ok. She had seemed pretty off earlier.

He found her in the living room, holding a coin. It was probably one that the spren had found. He waved, and started over. He was so distracted with thinking about the black sword that he didn’t notice the blood on Shana’s shoulder until he was next to her. He quickly placed a hand near where the blood ended and checked her for other injures. She had abrasions all over her body but especially on her hands, and bruises on her back and arm. He immediately inhaled stormlight and healed everything at once. 

“What happened?”

He asked, concerned. The bruises and cut could have been from sparring, but he had no clue where the abrasions had come from.

@Sorana

Edited November 19, 2019 by Lunamor

[King Aragorn of Gondor]

Nym dreamed.

She was in utter blackness, then she heard it.

gunshots.

She looked around and all she could see was the bodies.  Twelve in total, Nym didn't need to count.  She knew exactly who they were.  

They were her family.

Murdered all because people wanted money.

She screamed.

Nym woke up, bathed in a cool sweat, trembling.  Her eyes were wild and fearful.  She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep the rest of the night.  And so, Nym lay there, shaking.  She wanted to cry, why couldn't she cry?  Her grief was beyond tears.  Still shaking, she got up, and stumbled down the stairs, went outside, and, with knees up to her chest, sat.k. Nym thought, for all her talk of nightmares and facing them with Evelyn, she was the biggest hypocrite.  Come on, she thought, you are a Windrunner, a Radiant, you aren't supposed to be this way.  She had been out here for a while, it was one, she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep at all, so she sat and listened, looking at the stars.  She started singing the Impossible Dream after a while, thinking on how utterly close the song came to her life.  "This is my quest, to follow the stars, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far." 

=============================

Lopen at this point of time, had sat quietly with Nym, he knew she preffered not to talk, he knew she needed to, even if it angered her.  So, he left.  Looking for someone who could help Nym who was awake, and unoccupied.

 

Edited November 22, 2019 by Aragorn

[xinoehp512]

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

If they don’t explain the reason for their objections, how are we supposed to reach a compromise with them? 

But it’s part of the current poll…?  In theory, once the poll is done, a decision should be reached, yes? 

There are a finite and definite number of options for the year, which makes it perfect for header polling.

I know I, at least, could not possibly anticipate what people will accept or object to. Nor could I think of every idea people might come up with.

As I said before, nobody else has a problem with the way the polls are working. Therefore I will not be engaging in any more discussion along these lines, as it has no purpose. I’m not here to dig into the pedantry of polls, I’m here to RP. 

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But it does have a purpose; preventing future arguments.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I think you mean rhetorical.  

Ah, my bad. 

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

Anyways, in my opinion, generally speaking, rhetorical questions do not elicit a response because the answer is meant to be implicit. I honestly don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t switch to a thread for discussion. 

We use the PM so as to not clutter up the thread with endless discussions and stuff like that. Unless Sorana, as the creator of the PM, specifically wishes us to do it differently - and iirc she’s said the same thing I just did - we will not be changing this, as again, nobody else has brought up complaints. 

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Not this thread– a new one.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I am fine with my ideas not being implemented. It does seem like I am having more difficulty finding approval now than before, but that might just be me. 

We have different people roleplaying now. 

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But a lot of people are the same, and it’s not like the newcomers are the ones objecting.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

Ideally, everyone decides and agrees on that together. 

There shouldn’t be a need to argue over every word in the questions. One person can look at the discussions going on, take the relevant information from them, and pose it as options. Boom. Done. 

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But what if they miss something, or do it too soon?

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I was referring to content, not tone. 

What about my content was negative? 

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The fact that you were telling me what was wrong with it…?

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

So you think that the issue lies elsewhere? 

I think that the only real issue we have is that these discussions aren’t going anywhere. That may be because there is nowhere for them to go. 

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They’re going somewhere. The whole point of these discussions is to figure out what the root causes of distress on this thread are, and to see if they can be fixed.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

9 hours ago, AonEne said:

there would be people who ignored it because it didn’t directly pertain to them (some people only react when tagged)

9 hours ago, AonEne said:

If people aren’t keeping up with the thread, then that’s entirely their own fault. If they’re inactive then it wouldn’t make much sense for them to be voting anyway. 

Oh, never mind.  

I never said I approved of that style of RPing, only that some people use it. I won’t fault them for it, but if they aren’t keeping track of OOC events, then that is their fault; however, they don’t have to vote if they don’t want to or can’t find the time. It would be best if we had as many votes as possible, to gauge what people want, but nobody is obligated to do so. 

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I just want to avoid another situation like the one that happened in the PM (where people suddenly objected to the tone of the plot) or with Sha-theoxis (where people suddenly objected to an element of the worldbuilding). 

Xino, this isn’t sudden. There have been complaints for months now. And regardless of what anyone wants, people will vote for what they vote for. 

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It’s been months now. Both were pretty sudden while they were happening.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

What would you consider the overarching plot to be? 

Teenagers doing teenager things with magical powers and the emotions that come with sometimes fighting evil. 

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That’s overarching, yeah, but not a plot. It’s a description of the many mini-plots.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I have been assuming that if no one raises any objections to a piece of worldbuilding, it becomes canon 

It would be safest to stop assuming that. 

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What else am I supposed to do to ensure something is canon?

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

Things that aren’t important are malleable, which is why I don’t complain when you change those. 

Literally everything is malleable. That doesn’t mean we should want to change it, not at all, but anything can be changed. 

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Exactly! Just because you can change everything doesn’t mean that you should.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I’m afraid I don’t quite grasp what you mean by inflexible worldbuilding. Perhaps you could provide an example? 

Like your aversion to changing worldbuilding - inflexible. 

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This isn’t TLT. Worldbuilding needs to be somewhat rigid.

7 hours ago, AonEne said:

8 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I also prefer writing to debating. However, I feel it’s important this issue is resolved before we go further; otherwise it will just come up again. 

I also feel like our discussions so far have not touched closely enough the deeper issues at play here. I feel confident, however, that if we see this discussion all the way through to the end then we will be able to confront these deeper issues. 

Xino, I don’t think any of the rest of us want to continue these lines of discussion. To the rest of us, there is nothing else to address. This discussion should already be at its end. We’re all tired of it. 

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If we cut off the discussion now, it’ll just pop back up again later. We need to resolve it now, while we have the opportunity.

 

[Merlin]

Sahar was utterly exhausted. She'd woken up at two in the morning last night because of a few over-boozed creeps across the street, and had been wandering around until Spool had led her into this mess. Sahar sighed, stood up, and nearly tipped over. "Fine. I'll crash somewhere tonight, and do... something... tomorrow."

Sahar stumbled about for a bit, trying to avoid being seen, and collapsed onto a couch, dreaming about still being a kid in Egypt.

[Lunar Blessing]

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The whole point of this entire debate has been this: people want everyone to be able to take part and agree with the world building and to have things be implemented by majority and no time by one person deciding. That’s what I’ve gathered, can we please just RP now? I have been avoiding this because I don’t want to read this debate.

@AonEne @xinoehp512

Edited November 20, 2019 by Blessing of Potency

[Eluvianii]

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The thing is, as far as I've seen we all want to be able to change worldbuilding in case of need and we all seem to see no problem with the polls. I know it bothers you but I think this is a situation which you should adapt to instead of adapting it to you, because by the nature of this RP, setting rules and worldbuilding in stone would mean more arguments and less enjoyment for the rest of players and not the other way around.

@xinoehp512

[AonEne]

2 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

Not this thread– a new one. 

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I don’t see the difference between having a PM for planning and having a thread for it. People will still only read it if they want to.

Plus, despite TKND being one of the bigger active roleplays around - possibly the biggest that doesn’t have its own subforum - I’m not totally sure it warrants a thread specifically for planning. It seems like it’d be haughty? Yeah, now that I’ve typed it out, that doesn’t make a ton of sense. Eh, probably just the bad depression voices talking, ignore me  

Not quoting anything else because it basically all has to do with what Eluvii and the best person in my life  said. By the way, I highly encourage everyone to give their opinions on this. It’s something that affects all of us. 

@everyone 

[+Sorana]

15 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

I also prefer writing to debating. However, I feel it’s important this issue is resolved before we go further; otherwise it will just come up again.

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So in short, this debate is having a real negative impact on my time here and in this thread. If we go on like this, I don't know if I will stay around, because these OOC debates annoy me endlessly. This is the last thing, I will say on the topic, because I've grown tired of it and I need a break of it for now and I notice myself growing irritated. I still wish that we resolve this in good faith, so I'll try to explain my perspektive in plain words. My words only reflect my own personal perspective, so it can be different for other people here. I know I'm very to the point here, I don't want to offend anybody, but I don't want to talk around the hot broth anymore as well.

The topic didn't come up suddenly, the discomfort with the current situation slowly built up over the time. People suggested ideas around their characters, or worldbuilding elements and were (and it feels like every single time) dejected with "no, that doesn't work, because our current worldbuilding has an element, we never used so far, that blocks this".

This needs to end, and in my opinion it needs to end now. It's not about polls or votes, it's about people wanting to contribute, without being blocked by something that never affected our rp so far. Honestly I read through the long worldbuilding posts, was impressed and then forgot 90% because it wasn't affecting the rp going on. And it's exactly this part of the worldbuilding that is causes all these problems, the huge part, that nearly everybody forgets/ discards, because it's complicated and because nobody uses it.

It's not about changing canon everybody uses daily, like that Radiants generate Stormlight. There is no reason to, and I don't think anybody will want to. It's for example about adapting the location of a perpendicularity nobody ever mentionen IC so far. In my opinion our worldbuilding needs to be flexible enough that we can change things like that - or the other way round, I wouldn't even define them before we need it.

We all agree that the bullet point list is a good idea, so let's get that one done. I made a proposal and it took a lot of time, so I'd be happy over feedback from everybody in the pm. That one is what we'll work with and if someone has something to add, then we will check the list, see if it fits, and if yes, we can discuss about the new idea and add it, or add it partially or don't add it at all.

======================================

9 hours ago, Lunamor said:

He found her in the living room, holding a coin. It was probably one that the spren had found. He waved, and started over. He was so distracted with thinking about the black sword that he didn’t notice the blood on Shana’s shoulder until he was next to her. He quickly placed a hand near where the blood ended and checked her for other injures. She had abrasions all over her body but especially on her hands, and bruises on her back and arm. He immediately inhaled stormlight and healed everything at once. 

“What happened?”

He asked, concerned. The bruises and cut could have been from sparring, but he had no clue where the abrasions had come from.

Shana smiled at him, wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "The new girl, Nym. She's a good fighter." She told him and then sighed. "I killed again." She said quietly as if that would explain the rest, and maybe it did.

"We've got so many new ones who joined us today and I don't know what to do with them. I mean they could be spies, or maybe they aren't. Still, we can't just allow everybody in here and do nothing. We can't just smile and open our door and say, hey here's a room, feel free to sleep there and here's the key." She took a deep breath. "I don't want to finger-point, but we can't just invite strangers, I don't even know how many arrived today. We should at least walk them around, have them meet everybody, so that we know who is here. I mean, if there's an emergency I wouldn't even know who to check for afterwards, because there might be someone here I never met, because someone just invited them in."

Falling silent she shook her head. "I feel awful." She whispered. "The rest is just smaller things."

Edited November 20, 2019 by Sorana

[Wyndlerunner]

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I agree with what has been said before by eloquent voices like Po, Sora, Eluvianii, and Ene. This situation didn't just pop out of nowhere, it was like a blocked pipe. Water just slowly but surely built up, and now the pipe has burst from the pressure. I'll also echo Sora's sentiments: These OOC debates are an incredibly major detriment to my enjoyment of this RP, and if they keep up, I simply don't know if I can stay. But I certainly don't want to leave- because at the heart of it, I do TKND because it's fun. Not for some grand plot, or revolutionary world-building. I do it because it is a fun way to exercise my creative writing skills, and get to enjoy the work of other writers. I think RP's are meant to be fun, and this one quite literally spawned from a joke thread. 

I'll also say this: Just because we have used certain elements of world-building in the past does not render them immutable and set in stone. Far from it, in fact. I know your writer self may cringe at the thought of inconsistencies within a plot, but it is what it is. You have to be willing to adapt, and accept that maybe your ideas won't be used. That's a basic principle of collaboration, from RP's on the internet, to group projects in a school setting, to large team projects in the business world. You have to find the solution that works for the most people, and work with what you have. And the fact of the matter is, I don't think your attitude regarding world-building is going with that philosophy. And as seen by the posts above, I'd put money on other people feeling similarly. I feel like you may be having difficulty separating our opinions about your worldbuilding with our opinions about you- You become defensive when we criticize it, or ask to change it. And, as a writer, I've had to deal with this as well. Early on in my life, I had a tendency to take criticisms of my work, as personal criticisms. I became defensive, and attempted to justify my works, even when they did need to be changed. I swear to you, that this is not a personal attack, it is not an invalidation of your self. We are asking to make the world-building more malleable and be able to modify it as we find necessary.

@xinoehp512

[I think I am here.]

“Um, in the room would be good...”

Cup said, trailed off as Shana became occupied with Ben. That was one thing interesting about people. How some of them were in relationships. Cup couldn’t imagine anything like it. Not being scared of someone was one thing, but to be in a relationship? All of that trust, without even a soul bond? It needed more trust than Cup even knew existed.

“They are cute,” she said to Mahad, gestured to Ben and Shana.

—-

The sphere gave off glow. A small glow, and weird in its colour, but still a glow. As night encroached Rob placed it on the floor next to his mattress-bed, next to his sketching book. Was it safe to have something so close to his head? Rob shrugged, he had handled worse before, and he could ask the smarter ones what it was in the morning. It certainly was very pretty for something that had come from the Voidbringers.

Where was Cup? Probably playing with friends, she had said. That was nice. Cup needed friends, apart from Rob.

[AonEne]

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Sorana and Wyn said it well. I'm with them. 

 

[+Sorana]

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I'll with my rp post for Luna to reply, but here is the bullet point list. Please take a look at it, and if you have questions, I'll gladly add you to our OOC pm for plot planning and worldbuilding.

I hope that from now on, we can keep these background discussions more or less out of the IC thread.

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• Sha'Theoxis:
  • The Unmade stops people from realizing what we do. Smaller strange issues get glossed over, but if you really force someone to see what we are doing, then they will understand that something is off.
  • This knowledge can fade over the time again, if no additional reminder is set.
  • Sha'Theoxis is able to lure a Radiant into breaking their oaths.
  • Sha'Theoxis is a dangerous enemy, able to injure and kill an invested person in their dreams
  • Bondsmiths are partially able to influence dreams induces by Sha'Theoxis, by moving invested beings around, therefore offering the chance to fight back together
• Violett crystals:
  • These crystals can power Voidbringers, make them stronger.
  • They have the ability to influence mortals in a way that is beneficial for the Voidbringers.
  • They are like seeds, extending roots into the ground.
  • It is possible to destroy them, if several Radiants work together (stop them from growing more roots, shatter them.)
  • What happens if such a seed has the time to blossom is unknown/ undecided.
• Our house:
  • Backyard: large Pool, enough space to spar outside, a special huge tree with branches reaching one of the windows in the 1st floor
  • Basement: Huge training room, storage, Doc's inventing room
  • Groundfloor: kitchen, dining room, living room, a few other smaller rooms with couches, TVs, ...
  • 1st floor: several bathrooms, rooms for each inhabitant of the house (the room in the corner that can be reached by climbing up the tree has been claimed by Shana)
  • Garage: several cars and motorcycles
• Voidbringer:
  • Human that bonded a Voidspren
  • first sign of their corruption are red eyes
  • further signs of corruption have to be decided upon
• Investiture:
  • Investiure is spread out around the planet
  • Our characters know (atm) only about Elantrians, Allomancy, Ferucemy and of course Radiancy
  • Radiants generate a small of amount of Stormlight naturally, which is saved in crystals
    • AonDor originated in Russia 
    • Forgery originated in China, Bloodsealing in Japan 
    • ChayShan originated in India 
    • The Metallic Arts originated in Europe, then spread to North America 
    • Egypt/Saudi Arabia and the surrounding countries have Awakening and Returned 
    • Aviar (specifically, the parasites, and any other Drominad magic should it be discovered) are in the Polynesian islands
    • Australia has Ashynite disease magic
    • Australia also has the Silverlight Academy (located in Perth)
    • The Sahara and Gobi deserts have sand mastery 
    • Surgebinding is native to the American continents 
    • Yolish Lightweaving is in Southern Africa 
    • Aethers come from South America (Brazil) 

 

[Lunamor]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:29 PM, Sorana said:

Shana smiled at him, wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his shoulder. "The new girl, Nym. She's a good fighter." She told him and then sighed. "I killed again." She said quietly as if that would explain the rest, and maybe it did.

"We've got so many new ones who joined us today and I don't know what to do with them. I mean they could be spies, or maybe they aren't. Still, we can't just allow everybody in here and do nothing. We can't just smile and open our door and say, hey here's a room, feel free to sleep there and here's the key." She took a deep breath. "I don't want to finger-point, but we can't just invite strangers, I don't even know how many arrived today. We should at least walk them around, have them meet everybody, so that we know who is here. I mean, if there's an emergency I wouldn't even know who to check for afterwards, because there might be someone here I never met, because someone just invited them in."

Falling silent she shook her head. "I feel awful." She whispered. "The rest is just smaller things."

Ben wrapped his arms around Shana. One of her explanations for her injures had been that she had killed again. Had the abrasions been self inflicted? If they were, that would be a really bad sign.  

”Yeah, the amount of people moving in recently has been really weird. Maybe tomorrow we can at least get them oriented somewhat. We can get Doc to organize a meeting.”

He paused.

”Shana, if you ever need someone to talk to or someone who’ll just shut up and listen, I’m here. For anything.”

[+Sorana]

11 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Ben wrapped his arms around Shana. One of her explanations for her injures had been that she had killed again. Had the abrasions been self inflicted? If they were, that would be a really bad sign.  

”Yeah, the amount of people moving in recently has been really weird. Maybe tomorrow we can at least get them oriented somewhat. We can get Doc to organize a meeting.”

He paused.

”Shana, if you ever need someone to talk to or someone who’ll just shut up and listen, I’m here. For anything.”

She nodded, slowly stepped away from him. "Thank you." She said quietly. "Let's talk once I brought the coin to Rob? I don't want to sleep yet and we'll get a test back tomorrow, so I don't really want to wake up tomorrow as well." Unhappily she shook her head and then sighed. "Okay coin first. And maybe I could sleep on the matress again?"

She waved at Cup and Mahad and then walked upstairs, knocked at Rob's door. "Rob? I've got something for you for Cup. Are you still awake?"

@I think I am here.

[I think I am here.]

7 hours ago, Sorana said:

She waved at Cup and Mahad and then walked upstairs, knocked at Rob's door. "Rob? I've got something for you for Cup. Are you still awake?"

Rob sat up at the knock. Shana, Switching the lights on he opened the door, grateful for something happening. It had been hard to sleep tonight, and insomnia was never fun.

“Hi,” he said looked at Cup walking from behind Shana and extended his hand, watched her climb up happily, began whispering something to him about Mahad being nice.

“Yeah, still awake,” he said to Shana. “Couldn’t sleep. Found this,” he held up the black sphere.

Stepping back he opened the door wider. “You have something for me? Sorry about the mess, by the way,” he gestured to his room, perfectly neat as usual except for his sketchbook, laying beside his mattress instead of on it’s proper place on the table.

[+Sorana]

6 minutes ago, I think I am here. said:

Stepping back he opened the door wider. “You have something for me? Sorry about the mess, by the way,” he gestured to his room, perfectly neat as usual except for his sketchbook, laying beside his mattress instead of on it’s proper place on the table.

Shana handed him the coin and added. "I sent you a picture. Our spren painted. The coin is Cup's." She sighed, shook her head. "I'm not sure about sleeping either." looking over her shoulder for Ben leaned against his doorframe. "What is it? I've never seen something like that before." Maybe Ben would know. He was smart, he knew things and he knew how to create.

She looked at the sphere to avoid looking at his face, unsure what to tell him, how to ask if he still was her friend. If he wanted her to leave to make room for Ashlyn. It was so complicated and somehow she wished that things were back to easy. Back to having each others back and that was it. Nothing more. She was the problem, her fear to loose him, to loose them all nearly chocking her. Instead she stared at the black marble like thing, hoped that her eyes wouldn't give her away.