Morose

🧚🏻‍♀️ The Walking Dead - Year 6 Part 1

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Beatrice Decker

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Location: Quarantine (Conference)
Skills: Hand-to-Hand Combat, Stamina

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Beatrice stared for a slight moment as Thalia took off her shirt, considering what her end of the bet would be. "Alright, but we might need to define people at some point," she quipped. There were a few ideas bouncing around in her head as to what she would want from Thalia if she were to win, but Beatrice wasn't going to just go out and say that. Instead, something more harmless and amusing came to mind. "If I win, every time someone enters or leaves the room for the rest of the week, you have to do five seconds of jazz hands," Beatrice wagered. She stretched her neck slightly, before deciding there was little point in just waiting around for Thalia to start the match. It was time to just get straight to it.

She had set the O's aside and moved forward, managing to get a hand on Thalia. Her intention was to flip her and pin her to the mat, similar to what she had done to Hunter the other day. Everything was going according to plan, her technique was fine - that was, until halfway through the flip her arms gave out. At least the stakes on this spar weren't too high and she knew it was far from over, just from a botched move. The point of this really was to kill time and get her energy out anyways. And if her skin ended up pressed up against Thalia's? Well... she wouldn't complain. Though she wouldn't admit to anything more than that.

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Jack Newnan

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Location: Quarantine (W: Conference Room)
Skills: N/A

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Jack didn't complain at all as Tatiana positioned his hands - it was probably for the best. Knowing him, he'd go way too low or way too high and somehow, his hands would end up tied into a knot. He had the dancing skills of a drunk flying pig. As he slow danced with his wife gently, Jack couldn't help but smile as Tatiana put her head on his chest and told him that she loved him. It had been a while since she had said those words aloud, but he didn't think that meant she had fallen out of love with him or anything. She had been shy and skittish when they first met. Then she had become fearless. And now, she was a phoenix - life was all about change, Tatiana never really was going to stay the exact same no matter the circumstances. "I love ya too," he said with a grin.

He had been about to make a joke that he loved her more than coffee, only for his nostrils to be assaulted as Wayne ran over with Jamie. Thank goodness they were somewhere that Jack would be able to take his time changing the kid - that was one of the best perks of the settlement they were in. He could do proper diaper care without worrying about the undead coming after him, attracted by the poo scented to-go burrito Jamie had made himself into. "Yeah, my turn," he said with a chuckle, pulling away from Tatiana and taking the stinky little guy. "Ya know who ya remind me of when ya stink like that, Jamie?" he asked his son, not expecting an answer. "That's right - the Yankees!"

He gave Tatiana a quick smile. "Back in a sec," he said, not looking forward to cleaning Jamie but hey, someone had to do it and Jack wanted to give Tatiana a break.

Current Mood in One Gif

>When everything stops working and you get your grad student, and have to convince them it wasn't your fault the atmosphere in the glovebox is shit...

Username Context

@BlueSky44 was writing a fanfiction series about the first class at Hogwarts. She asked for my ideas for names and I, being the very cheesy person I am, suggested Happy Hufflepuff, Darren Gryffindor, and Morose Slytherin for some characters. I didn't want to use my previous online handles - Wisteria22 and Theta Holmes - so I just went with Morose, since it wasn't taken, was easy to remember, and would allow me to mess with my bestie :P

RPGN // Issue No.2 - July 2019

Alright, for this week's discussion it's actually something that I do think about a lot, so here goes nothing!

When it comes to getting that first core group of roleplayers, it has a lot to do with your GMing style. There will be some roleplayers who mesh well with you, some who can tolerate you, and some that will find just about everything you do to be infuriating - and that's perfectly fine! There's a roleplayer for every GM out there, so as long as you are upfront and honest about how you're going to GM, you will end up with roleplayers who can thrive with your unique style in the end. But if you try to be something you're not - i.e. if I tried to be a super super laid back and easy going GM - then it won't work out. You'll end up frustrated and your players will too, so be yourself. You'll make friends and if you host more than one roleplay, odds are if they like the concept, they'll show up for the next one as well.

Once you have your player base, I find that there are three ideas to keep in mind: challenge, encourage, and correct. I'll elaborate a little bit on each of these:

Challenge - It's super easy as a GM to go 'well, I've got this awesome group, now I can just coast.' Hell, I'm a lazy person by nature so I totally get that urge. However, if you aren't challenging your roleplayers to grow as players and writers, then they aren't going to enjoy things. It's like if you let them easily overcome every obstacle - no one wants to read a story like that! So maybe for you, the answer is to come up with more complex problems as the storyline goes on and maybe allow your roleplayers to take a little more control. In my the Gifted RP, I actually am letting roleplayers portray the villains in the story and it's been amazing so far. It certainly has challenged them and I know it's challenging me as a GM.

Encourage - I do drop likes on posts, especially if I know someone is having a rough patch in real life or on the guild, as I know seeing a notification that I got a like or something puts a little spring in my step. I'll make comments in our discord chat saying things like "omg Max [the character] is a dumpster fire but damn it, he gives me life. Loved the post!!" I try my best to encourage other people to do things as well. If a post makes you feel, say something! It encourages everyone to keep on writing, as well as lets you know when you've done something well.

Now, I've also developed a system of well.... blatant bribery at times. Blue and I will give out rewards for noticing little easter eggs or posting quickly, such as reroll cards (if they ask for a dice roll and don't like the result, we'll reroll it for them) or extension cards (to give them more time to post). I've recently been making trading cards of all of the active characters and I've been giving them out to people as roleplays reach milestones (i.e. 100, 200, 300, 400 posts and arc completions). I'm working on developing a game that can be played with the cards, but people love collecting the cards of their own characters and it definitely encourages them. Here's one of the cards based on Blue's character, Angstrom, in the Uncanny X-Factor:

Correct - This isn't the fun one. You have to apply the rules to your longstanding members just as harshly as you would for a newcomer. Everyone has to be treated equally and even if they've been playing with you for a while, people will make mistakes. It's your job as the GM to make sure that no one is above the rules - not even yourself - as otherwise, it's easy for a culture of favoritism to spawn.

Okay, and now onto enticing newcomers to join - honestly, it has a lot to do with the culture of your roleplay. If it's a longstanding roleplay, people are going to be intimidated about joining. Blue and I discussed this in our guide which was helpfully linked in this issue of RPGN. Beyond what we discussed in the guide, I think that it is important to have opportunities for new players. If all of the slots and roles in your story are filled, then why would someone want to join? No one wants to join a roleplay if there just isn't room for them. You need to make sure that roles are open and the newcomers are made to feel welcome, ensuring that you value their contributions and don't just see them as a number. I think a lot of times, people look at recruiting as just boosting the numbers in the roleplay - and they forget to look at the fact that you are essentially trying to bring in a new cast member (to use the analogy of a show). If they can't throw wrenches into the plot or end up just as important as the original characters, if not potentially even more so, then why should they bother? Why shouldn't they just wait for the next RP interest check to come around that's pitching a similar idea?

X-Men: Cosmic Crusades 👽

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Guin Stark

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Location: The Palace - New York City, New York (Outfit)
Skills: Investigation, Deduction, Electronics and Computers, Problem Solving

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"Morning, Sleeping Beauties," Guin greeted, as Carolina came to along with Miranda. She was relieved to hear that Miranda was alright. She was rather close with the Queen and the insinuations that Miranda somehow could have been behind all of this still bothered her, even if people had largely recanted them. People had pretty much ignored the fact that she made psionic shields for them and she huffed a bit, wondering why she even bothered. She looked at Miranda for a moment and whispered telepathically into her mind, "I'm glad you're okay."

"Later, losers," she then said to the rest, leaving the infirmary. It wasn't too hard to give her guards the slip and she went to the tiny Palace lab. It was nothing compared to the technology they had at Stark Tower, but she knew that Lorna used it often enough that it had some worthwhile equipment. She also didn't need her grandfather's help with this - she knew exactly what sort of tests she wanted to run. As she entered the lab, she locked the door behind her. She went over to the machines, retasking a few instruments, breaking into databases, and hijacking a Stark satellite briefly. "Okay, what do you got for me?" she mumbled to herself, as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

The results were conclusive - there had been a huge energy spike within the past six hours. As she refined the location, it seemed to have been centered at New York. She bit her lip slightly, staring at the computer screen for a moment. "Shit," was all she could say, pushing her hair out of her face. She didn't even know how to think about the moral implications here. It was seeming more likely that Allison was right that reality had changed and it had happened recently, too - but she still wasn't sure that meant they needed to change things back to the way they were.

They needed to stop someone from doing something like this again, though. It was way too much power for one individual to have. And that was mostly why she was reluctant to change things back - wouldn't they be doing the same thing they were trying to stop? "I could walk away from this right now, just stop..." she mumbled, but she then resumed working. If she was able to get an energy signature, maybe she could figure out how this was done - and then, figure out who did it.

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Casper Theriot

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Location: LeBeau Casino - New Orleans, Louisiana
Skills: Mediumship

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"Je suis desolé," Casper apologized to Bobbi. He felt a little bad - he hadn't meant for anyone to get concerned over him. Usually, most people were just sort of used to how he was and they dismissed him, even if things really were wrong. It wasn't like his father had ever cared in his life about his wellbeing and while his mother had tried, she wasn't the best mother in the world. She'd leave them behind and go with the Brotherhood for what felt like months at a time. He was always jealous that Jack had a father that wasn't tied up in the Professor X Magneto drama. He perked up a bit as Anastasia mentioned taking a break for snacks.

"Oooh, I'd love some tea!" he chimed in. He waved off his brother's concerns. "Je vais bien!" he insisted. Honestly, the earmuffs were really helping and keeping the ghosts at bay. The ginger ghost seemed to have gone quiet and Ben was more or less just listening at the moment, meaning that Casper's mind was as clear as it could ever really get. However, Ben did walk over to Mary's ghost and give her a hug. "It's hard just watching," he said sympathetically. "When you wake up... Go out and live your life, will you?"

Casper's brother did seem to be telling the truth about the kid actually being his. "Huh... Mazel tov," he said simply, not really sure what to think about his brother having actually fathered a child. Sure, it wasn't out of the realm of possibility - he knew that Jack liked to sleep around and did so often - but it was a little weird to think about. His brother lived on coffee, doughnuts, and alcohol - did he feed the same things to the little kid? Or did he skip the alcohol and double up on the coffee?

"Casper, you're not Jewish..." Ben reminded him.

"So? Anyone can say Mazel tov!"

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Dominika Novikova and Runa Blake

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Location: Outside the Quinjet - Sydney, Australia -> Human Resistance HQ - New York
Skills: Eldritch Magic, Dimensional Energy Perception

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Once everyone had gotten through the portal, Runa moved through it herself and closed it. Sweat was pouring down her face and her arms were trembling from the extended effort. Some practitioners at higher skill levels could open a portal and just leave it, but Runa was limited by the skill level she had achieved in this false, human life. She was just a novice, beginning to study eldritch magic and hardly able to keep a portal open that long. She hadn't answered the agent about releasing James, but the magic should wear off on its own and she didn't have the strength to reverse it at the moment.

Novikova rolled her eyes slightly as Wolverine was recognized for being a member of the X-Men, but they weren't recognized as being actual agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. - not just in this reality but in the real one, too. That was one thing that did suck about being an agent. While everyone thanked the Avengers, made posters of the Fantastic Four, and got autographs from the X-Men, they never really cared about S.H.I.E.L.D. They were more likely to be yelled at than applauded. Her own efforts to save her friend from the Quantum Realm had cost her so much, nearly ruining her career - she wasn't praised for saving lives. "I have a name," she told the man a bit sharply at first. "Also, Abercrombie - like hell are we just going to let you die."

She then nodded as Lance explained her powers, a bit annoyed that he answered for her but she was going to let him do that just once. Next time, she'd snap at him for it. "I can't see the past - it's like what he said. I can see your other lives. If I see enough of them, I get a good idea of what sort of person you most likely are." It helped her identity the occasional HYDRA operative in the past. "Your headache should pass with time, most likely..." But given that Barton had ignored Tinley and he used to work with them, Novikova decided to restore his memories first. It'd help get everyone on the same page. She repeated the process she had done before with him, before doing the same thing with Niah in an attempt to get their entire team back together.

Meanwhile, Runa was so exhausted from all of the magic and thankfully, her cousin dragged a chair over for her. She collapsed into the chair and her eyes closed against her will, as she promptly fell unconscious. It had been such a huge drain on her energy that now that she had stopped, she wasn't going to be able to do much for a little while. At least she hadn't fainted while standing up - she was perfectly safe in the chair.

The Gifted - Concluded

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@Nallore@FantasyChic@BlueSky44@Achronum@Trainerblue192@KazAlkemi@Framing A Moose

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Washington D.C.: September 9th, 2020 - 7:10 PM

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Shaw had most likely left the building by now, as it had been a while since he went down to the cellar and he had mentioned something about meeting an associate of his shortly. An eerie hush had fallen over the penthouse, broken up only ever so slightly by the wicked trio's conversations. The balcony doors opened seemingly of their own accord, though it was really the White Queen's telekinetic powers. "Don't worry, we didn't hear anything, dears," Emma said with a slight smirk.

Reeva glanced at the trio, her gaze remaining on them unflinchingly for a moment. Her mutation was something similar to a sonic scream - only rather than blasting people backwards, it made them incapable of moving, unable to use their powers to resist. Killing them was relatively easy after that. "I have a reservation - I'll see you all tomorrow," Reeva said, her heels clicking audibly on the floor as she walked to the elevator and vanished from sight. Emma, meanwhile, fixed herself a drink and sat down on the couch.

"Oh, don't mind me," she said simply.

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Casper shook his head in protest. "I'm only bored when I'm sober!" he complained. The signal in the tunnels was horrible, so the text messages weren't delivered to his phone. He wouldn't get them until they went up to the surface, so he was unaware of the potential date and possible drug purchase. But then, like a dog sensing a squirrel nearby, Casper completely forgot that he was complaining about being bored to his brother. He had heard something coming down one of the tunnels.

"Casper, don't wander off!" Ben scolded.

"I heard something!" he insisted. He exited the main area of the Morlock society and turned around, seeing what looked like a solid wall. The illusion kept people from just stumbling upon the Morlocks. He waited for a few minutes, wondering for a moment if he had imagined the sound, when he heard a metallic thud again. Ben heard it as well and his eyes widened slightly. "What the fuck?"

"What the fuck is right!" Casper said, running towards the noise.

Meanwhile, Sunshine just couldn't find it in herself to relax. She wanted so badly to be apart of a group again, to have something like a family, to maybe even be able to go to sleep without worrying about being hurt because of who she was... But her mind was screaming at her to run, to not let Erg press that brand up against her face. She could feel the heat coming off of the metal as he brought it closer to her and all she could think about was the pain she was about to experience. "STOP!" Sunshine screamed, finding her voice.

Erg pulled the brand away. "I thought you wished to be a Morlock, little one," he said, a bit confused.

She sniffled slightly. "I-I do..."

"Then you need to take the mark - and shun all ties to the surface world," Erg reminded her sternly. His eyes flickered over towards Jack with that last part. Blink shook her head slightly. She stood by Erg's side, but she didn't agree with him on everything he did. If it was up to her, kids would be allowed to stay with the Morlocks and choose to take the brand once they were eighteen.

"I know that!" Sunshine snapped, her hands shaking a bit. "...I just need some water, okay? I'm thirsty," she then added quickly, trying to stall. She knew that the Morlocks were her best option, but the brand scared her more than a shot scared a little kid.

"Sure kid, let's go get some water," Blink said, motioning for Sunshine to follow along with her.

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The Mutant Underground Washington D.C. Station...

Colossus thought for a moment, before he smiled slightly. Now, a smile ordinarily is a harmless thing, but when Piotr smiles and it's time for training? It's a sure fire sign that whatever he had in store, it's going to be brutal. A thought then occurred to him and he glanced at Negasonic. "Go fetch Feedback - she could use training," he said.

"Ugh, fine..." Negasonic muttered, searching the Underground until she found Waverly. "Hey Radiohead, Colossus wants you for training."

Once everyone was assembled, Colossus went up to the third floor with them. There was a large, open room with a few pillars in the way, but it would work for their purposes. He took a rope and used it to make a line on the northern side of the room. On the southern side, he tied a bell to one of the pillars. "On line," he ordered, wanting them to stand on the rope. "You ring bell, training is over for day," he said. That was simple enough, right? They just had to get past Colossus and ring the bell - easy...

Negasonic smirked, playing on her phone and taking a seat against the wall. She was going to enjoy watching this.

On Route to the Hellfire Club Headquarters...

Veil chuckled a bit as her friend offered to teach her how to drive. "That was one skill Xavier never taught us - well, he didn't really teach us any life skills to be honest. It was more important that we could quote Shakespeare and take a derivative." She didn't hate her time at Xavier's school, but the standards had been high. Everything was to prepare them to become world leaders, to become adored journalists and professors - to be shining examples of what mutants could be. For some, this was great. But for those who wanted to do anything less prominent? The school didn't cater to them.

"Thanks, Tome," she said with a smile, taking the scrunchie. As soon as she tried to put it around her hair however, it snapped and she sighed slightly. "My hair can't be tamed," Veil joked.

Havok raised an eyebrow at Max. "I'm spoken for," he said, looking a little bit angry as he got into the car and took the shotgun seat without even asking other people. Veil sighed slightly, looking at Tome sympathetically. "He's in a rough relationship with Magneto's daughter," she explained. Romance and all was a bit of a touchy subject for the hula hooping mutant.

"If you could just give us the address first, directions will be fine," Veil said, getting into the back of the car. Tome and Glimpse would have to ride in the back with her, which was probably going to be for the best. Veil wasn't too concerned about Glimpse leading them into a trap, as she could make their car invisible and surrounded with a force field should things go awry. "As for your questions - like my name suggests, I can make myself and other objects invisible. I can move things around with my mind and make force fields, too. Aaaand my secret weapon - my hair. It's a beast."

The Gifted - Concluded

@Framing A Moose Perfect! Move her on over. I'm not going to require you to do relations for her at this time, since we talked about you wanting her to be pretty new to the Mutant Underground. I'm going to bring her in on today's update - Colossus is going to have Negasonic go and grab her for a group training session!

The Gifted - Concluded

@Framing A Moose Okay, so her age is still off. If she was born in 1996, she would be 24 ish. If you want her to be 19, she would need to be born in 2001. Once that is fixed, you can move her over. I sent you the Discord invite code already and I am sending you the link to our back up forum now

The Gifted - Concluded

@Framing A Moose Got a moment before a meeting, so here is my feedback! I'm loving her, btw ^^

• Her age is off - the current date is September 2020, so if she was born in 1998 in February, she would be 22 years old.
• For the tattoos going down her arm, I'm getting that she has a lot so just list 2-3 of them that catch the eye and that should be fine
• With her fear of People, I recommend being more specific here (i.e. Human Supremacists, Gun Owners, Purifiers...) since otherwise, that means she will be afraid of well, everyone (unless that's what you are going for!)

The Gifted - Concluded

@Framing A Moose I’ll give her a look over after work today or on a break