[center][h1]Dreaming Together With You[/h1]
[h3][i]Applications Closed[/i][/h3]
Hello. Welcome to my experiment. I've never done an anime-style RP before, but the inspiration struck me and here we are. The roleplay will be about a group of people who inadvertently travel into another world together and how their actions and lives in that other world impact their day-to-day existences in their home town on Earth. As such, this roleplay will be featuring Slice of Life elements as well as the more traditional Adventure, Exploration, Magic, and Action highlights of a Fantasy game.

My background in anime is as a casual consumer and regular convention attendee. My background in Fantasy comes from classical and gothic literature and, frankly, I have a penchant for gritty, dark, and realism as qualifiers; as such, this experiment in 'anime' will be a labor of growing pains and broaching the realm of the uncomfortable and unfamiliar. What this means is that you will encounter strange creatures, unfamiliar situations, the occasional puzzle or riddle, and circumstances that will have lasting consequences for the world(s) your characters inhabit.

The game will feature a Prologue Segment; this segment will focus on the characters as teenagers when they first discover this ability to travel to the 'other world', the initial introduction of the 'other world', and essentially be an organic means of introducing elements that would otherwise have just been prompts on a character sheet so that these things can develop on screen. All of this is important to me as a DM because I want the roleplay to focus on the bonds of the characters and their supporting cast, and I feel that if people are willing to put in the legwork for a prologue segment like this that it will strengthen the characterization and themes moving forward. The prologue segment will conclude with the characters returning home and segue into a Time Skip to when the roleplay will begin properly. Over the Time Skip, the events of the prologue will become memory, dream, myth, imagination; the roleplay proper will begin with an event bringing the player characters, now adults whose bond over their shared imaginary adventure has kept them in touch with each other, back together with a reawakening of the Dream...

Below will be a brief interest-blurb of the two key locations of the roleplay.
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[img]https://i73.servimg.com/u/f73/16/77/80/76/sin_jo10.jpg[/img]
[i]Art by Sin Jong Hun[/i]
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[h2]The Small Village of New Hope[/h2]
[i]"New Hope. Nestled between two mountains, at the junction of two rivers, where the beautiful Lake Chartreuse basks in the golden rays of the sun... At least, that's what this brochure says. Truth is, this place is about as 'quaint' and 'small-town' as you could ever expect. The history of this place is long- but quiet and boring despite how well documented it is. Family lines can be traced back to the founding families of New Hope, and a stubborn sort of pride persists in its people. Myself included, to be honest. Everyone tries to leave at one point or another, and a few manage to stay away... But most come back, seeking the quiet of this place. As the brochure says; 'Welcome to New Hope, where all your dreams come true'."
-"Hickory" Earhart, local Librarian.[/i]

New Hope is the Player Characters' home town and the setting of our roleplay on Earth. This small village houses a population of three hundred. This is always in a gentle state of flux as people come and go, and travelers pass through, but it's a quirk of the town's history that the population has more or less always stayed the same. The landmarks of the area are the Mountains Bilica and Hoar [The former being the lesser of the two mounts], the Lake Chartreuse, the adjoining rivers [Bilica: River Fontaine, Hoar: Swallow River; "The Swallow"], and the nearby forest called "Weeping Sam" after a local myth. The mountains and the river coming down Mount Bilica are named after three of the Founding Families of New Hope.

The village contains a schoolhouse, a grocer, two restaurants, a gathering hall for communal vote, a local shrine to the old gods of the Founding Families up on Mount Bilica, a small library, and a small communal dock on Lake Chartreuse. Everyone in town has stories of hidden places or forgotten hideouts or mysterious buildings up on the mountains or in the Weeping Sam, but the townsfolk are generally settled in to their routines of farming and toil and many of these adventures of the elders have become local myth or forgotten entirely.

[hider=The Story of Weeping Sam]
[i]Prompted by Aegidius Aurelius, using an AI Writing Generator, edited heavily by me.[/i]
"I think, now, you’re old enough to know. 

Weeping Sam was once called the Shaded Grove in simpler times. Everybody knew to avoid the Grove because the town, only recently pioneered, did not have enough manpower to tame the meadows yet. The handful of children our settlers had knew better than to go beyond the fences, to explore on their own. However, Sam was curious — curious of what lies beyond the sunlit grass and painted posts that protected them. The imagination of the young one ran wild! 

Sam told tall tales of whispers in the wind and promises of precious trinkets in the shadows of the trees. During the Foundation Festival, Sam had snuck away from the bustle and merriment abound in the village green. Sam’s sister Lily had been adamant that rules were meant to be followed, but as you surely know, all grand tales are not told within safety. With the troublemaker sneaking off, Lily dared not imagine how angry their parents would be if Sam were to get hurt. 

The two went off together into the brush and shade — one to find adventure, the other praying nobody would know. Both of them, however, were unprepared for the untamed wild. The forest invited them in but would quietly obscure the path from where they came. Sam found a myriad of neat trinkets, but Lily grew worried as the evening sun nestled between Bilica and Hoar. Coming upon a clearing, Sam saw an emerald-green tree with a luster to match. The tree glowed with a surreal shine. Ethereal enticement drew the both of them further with even Lily intrigued by the discovery. The verdant facet further with even Lily intrigued by the discovery. The verdant facet pulled them closer and closer until Sam reached out to touch it.

[b]A flash![/b]

The child was consumed by a light within an instant. Lily, baffled and reeling, hit the ground and realized she could no longer see. She cried out for Sam, but all she could hear was a distant weeping. Blinded by their hubris, the girl slowly crawled along the ground in terror towards the sobbing of Sam. After following the sound for hours, in the midst of the night, she breached the brushline back into the meadow beyond. Her vision returned within minutes, but Sam was nowhere to be found. The young girl described this story to her family and the town mounted a rescue effort, but nothing came from their endless search.

After months of trying and winter rolling in, the toughest decision
was made to drop the search for Sam. But even now, the crying of a distant child can be heard by those who put their ear to the ground."
-As told by "Hickory" Earhart, Librarian of New Hope, during the Summer Fest.
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[img]https://i73.servimg.com/u/f73/16/77/80/76/landsc10.jpg[/img]
[i]Art by Asur Misoa[/i]
[h2]The Dreamlands - Yo'Bikur[/h2]
[i]"Yo'Bikur is the home of the Bikura. It is not unusual for strange beings to appear in the deep wilds of our home, drawn in by Yo'Bikur's silent beckoning. Our history is colored by such visits! The Great Songs of the Elder Voices tell of many a Hero- and many a conqueror- to visit our lands. The Power of Yo'Bikur is an allure, drawing those who visit her back again and again for better or worse. Such is the way of things. Such they shall always be."
-The Princess Rulania, The Song of the Bikura volume 1[/i]

Yo'Bikur, [i]The Dreamlands[/i], will be the 'other world' that our roleplay takes part in. Information will be sparse for now, and be revealed as the roleplay takes places. It will be a Medieval themed fantasy land featuring magic, beasts, adventures, mysteries, myths, and danger. In their initial trip to this land as teenagers, the characters will begin awakening to the mystical properties of the Dreamlands organically and in this way the character sheets will grow and become 'complete' after the Prologue. Once the Time Skip occurs and the prologue is complete, travel between The Dreamlands and Earth will be generally sandbox for the Player Characters with the exception of key story beats requiring the full cast in one location or the other. Will your characters try to achieve a balance, fear the Dream and the strange powers they gain there, or lose themselves in this other world?

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[h3]Character Information and Rules[/h3]
-Follow Guild Guidelines.

-I'm here for a good time, not anything else. Posting is required, but communication is king; I will hold no particular timeline so long as people are having a good time. Dedication and commitment trump posting speed.

-I will arbitrate conflicts between characters if they arise. Conflicts between players shouldn't arise if we're all communicating properly, so try to keep it civil or I'll have to make some very easy decisions.

-I hold to an oldschool roleplaying mentality. 'Collaborations' aren't really necessary here, let's all just roleplay and let things happen in the open. If you need NPCs in your scenes, feel free to handle that among yourselves; as notable ones are created or pop up, I'll keep tabs on them and document things as necessary on my end. I don't need to be hands-on and GM every little detail, this is partially a slice of life and sandbox game while in New Hope; if you want to write a scene with a tourist or traveler coming into town, feel free to do so- I encourage creativity and characterization! Feel free to request my attention to storytell an NPC or guide a scene, of course, but I am trying to give people a little freedom to avoid being tied down waiting on me to post.

-Contrary to the above, once we get the ball rolling and the characters begin to get involved with the world of Yo'Bikur, I will generally need to hands-on storytell those scenes until we reach a certain point as a community where the rules and cultures of the world are understood by all. Once we reach that point, the reins will be relaxed. I will be focusing on handling story hooks, plot relevant scenes, and otherwise impactful and dramatic moments as a storyteller.

[i]Character Requirements[/i]

For the Prologue, characters must be aged 13-18. This is to work within the intended confines of a planned Time Skip, which will be approximately 10 years. Due to the small town nature of the roleplay, this means that all of your characters will know each other; I encourage you all to communicate and establish relationships together, as well as with the noteworthy NPCs in the town.

Note on Backstory; brevity is acceptable here, as in a meta sense I am looking for halfway complete characters here. We are taking a snapshot of a character in their teenage years and playing out a formative, dramatic, series of events that will alter their futures and lives on Earth irrevocably. As such, I do not need intense sheets or exceptional details; I am more interested in organic characters with clear arcs of growth and the roots of characterization at this stage. Once we end the Prologue, that is when the sheets will be updated and improved to accommodate.

Note on Aesthetics: Do whatever you want, I don't care. Use any formatting or tricks that you want to pretty it up, or keep it simple- my only request is please use Hiders. I can't explain it, but they soothe my aching grey matter.

[hider=Character Sheet]
Name

Age

Gender|Sex|Identity

Personality Description

Physical Description

Backstory

Notable Connection
[i]This can be to an NPC or another player, but your character needs to have a strong bond to someone; feel free to create your own entity here and describe their role in New Hope.[/i]

[b]Respond to these prompts in character[/b]
[i]You're in class and the Fire Alarm goes off. Everyone begins to panic.[/i]

[i]You've made plans to go to the festival and are running late, but may make it in time to see the fireworks with your friends. On your way, you see a stranger with a flat tire on the side of the road.[/i]

[i]You fall asleep in class and begin to dream; you're atop a ruined tower and a massive dragon circles overhead. You reach for...[/i]

[i]The world is so boring; you wish you had a super power. What do you wish for?[/i]

[i]You are suddenly reminded that tomorrow is the Midterm Exam.[/i]
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