✿ RUBY

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourself in a musty rectangular room floored with tatami. The room is not large, but luckily fits your team without seeming too claustrophobic. It seems to have been set up as a sort of study. There is a low desk against one wall, covered in stacks of paper cards and writing utensils. Near the desk are, of course, cushions for everyone to sit on. A circular latticed window is set into the wall perpendicular to the desk. Bright moonlight filters through, enough to provide illumination for your task. If you look through the window, you can just barely make out the shapes of a shadowy garden beyond and below… you must be at least on the second floor.

The other end of the room is dominated by a large apothecary's chest. There are many, many drawers, but none of them open save for the fourteen in the middle that have been painted with team colors. A hand-lettered sign has been placed on top of the chest: "Please turn in your stories here."

Comments

Round One

[dramatispersonae]

(Game instructions are here!)

Please discuss these answers with your team and submit using the textarea. You can choose the same team more than once in the team selection. Answers are due at 5PST

Where does your character live?
What is your character's backstory?
What do they do every day?
How does this make them feel?
What are three things that would make their life worse?
What are three things that would make their life better?

Choose 1-3 teams whose lives you would like to improve.
Choose 1 team that you think has a good idea of how to make someone miserable.
Choose 1 team to take some of their sadness on yourselves.

[your team]'s character lives [____] When they were a child, they [____]. Now that they are older, every day, they [____]. This makes them feel [____]. Three things that would make their life worse: <li> <li> <li> Three things that would make their life better: <li> <li> <li> <b>Team Selections:</b> Improve their lives (1-3): Good at making someone miserable (1): Take their sadness (1):

Discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: Discussion

[fallingfree]

Another game of stories...

Re: Discussion

[wildnight]

More stories.

Re: Discussion

[badnewsboy]

[throws up his arms]

Stories!

Re: Discussion

[pchaaair]

Man, we tell a lot of stories here.

Except, I don't think we've ever had to give them the worst life possible.

Re: Discussion

[twiceburnt]

...Storytelling?

Submission

[dramatispersonae]

Re: Submission

[badnewsboy]

Ruby's character lives in a beautiful house by the sea. Pie is plentiful! Bacon roams wild and is easily consumed! It's a perfect world of beauty, fairness and comfort. Yet they're alone, and even the pie and bacon cannot make them less so. Their life is eternal! So it's just despair upon despair every day forever! When they were a child, their lives were beautiful, but then they had everything they've known and love torn from them and destroyed. However, nothing of what they have would've been gained if such did not occur. Instead, the loss of their loved ones allowed the world to continue, without it would have fallen apart. Now that they are older, every day, they fall into an unfathomable, unbreakable despair. This makes them feel never ending hopelessness. They know that if the feeling ever leaves, as does the remainder of what the world offers. Nothing helps, bacon doesn't help, pie doesn't help, small comforts and friendships don't help. It's a pit that one will never see the light, even as it shines above them.

Three things that would make their life worse:

Friendship

Love

A well-dressed fellow with maritime expertise in an impressive suit

Three things that would make their life better:

Kittens in bowties

UNEXPECTED EXPLOSIONS!!!

A storyteller able to break the confines of the story, allowing the story to become harsh reality.

Team Selections:
Improve their lives (1-3): Tiger's Eye, Carnelian, Turquoise
Good at making someone miserable (1): Heliodor
Take their sadness (1): Emerald

Round Two

[dramatispersonae]

Please discuss these answers with your team and submit using the textarea. You can choose the same team more than once in the team selection. [Answers are due at 6PM PST]

What is the worst feeling in the world?
What is the best feeling to have?
What is the worst thing to lose?
What is the best thing to find?

Choose 1-2 teams whose life you would like to improve.
Choose 1 team that you think has a good idea of how to make someone miserable.
Choose 1 team to take some of their sadness on yourselves.
Choose 1 team and come up with a creative way to terrorize them with kindness.

<b>Worst feeling:</b> <b>Best feeling:</b> <b>Worst thing to lose:</b> <b>Best thing to find:</b> <b>Team Selections:</b> Improve their life (2): Good at making someone miserable (1): Take their sadness (1): Creative happiness (1): . . . what do you want to do to them?:

Discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Re: Discussion

[fallingfree]

[murmuring] Losing those you care for and knowing that it was your fault...

Re: Discussion

[badnewsboy]

Losing a well-earned mug of hot chocolate is certainly a terrible feeling.

Re: Discussion

[badnewsboy]

The best feeling in the world is when you help someone! Make their life a little bit better without inevitable complications!

Re: Discussion

[twiceburnt]

The worst thing to lose... Perhaps the reason for which you direct your life? Be it a person, a principle, or anything else.

Re: Discussion

[badnewsboy]

[waving his arms]

The best thing to gain is the power of friendship!

Re: Discussion

[badnewsboy]

Ah, you know what would make anyone happy? A fancy hat.

Submission

[dramatispersonae]

Re: Submission

[badnewsboy]

Worst feeling: Losing the people you love and knowing that it's all your fault.
Best feeling: Helping someone and making their life better despite the inevitable complications that may follow.
Worst thing to lose: The direction of your life once you've learned that everything you strove for was a terrible lie.
Best thing to find: The best thing to find is the power of friendship! But behold! It was there all along!

Team Selections:
Improve their life (2): Heliodor, Emerald
Good at making someone miserable (1): Tiger's Eye
Take their sadness (1): Sapphire
Creative happiness (1): Peridot
. . . what do you want to do to them?: Give them a fancy hat with an impressive feather.

Round Three

[dramatispersonae]

Ruby's character lives in a beautiful house by the sea. Pie is plentiful! Bacon roams wild and is easily consumed! It's a perfect world of beauty, fairness and comfort. Yet they're alone, and even the pie and bacon cannot make them less so. Their life is eternal! So it's just despair upon despair every day forever! When they were a child, their lives were beautiful, but then they had everything they've known and love torn from them and destroyed. However, nothing of what they have would've been gained if such did not occur. Instead, the loss of their loved ones allowed the world to continue, without it would have fallen apart. Now that they are older, every day, they fall into an unfathomable, unbreakable despair. This makes them feel never ending hopelessness. They know that if the feeling ever leaves, as does the remainder of what the world offers. Nothing helps, bacon doesn't help, pie doesn't help, small comforts and friendships don't help. It's a pit that one will never see the light, even as it shines above them.

One day, things change quite suddenly . . .! Write a paragraph (or more) of their story to include all of the following elements:

No friends

Their home being destroyed by monsters

Someone coming to save them from the room

Acceptance

Eating cow with rice

You MUST use all of these suggestions, and you cannot ADD any additional events (though you can be creative with how you use them).

The teams that played against you in Round 1 were Jasper, Citrine, Carnelian, Tiger's Eye, Heliodor, Emerald, Iolite.

Discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Submission

[dramatispersonae]

Final Round

[dramatispersonae]

Ruby's character lives in a beautiful house by the sea. Pie is plentiful! Bacon roams wild and is easily consumed! It's a perfect world of beauty, fairness and comfort. Yet they're alone, and even the pie and bacon cannot make them less so. Their life is eternal! So it's just despair upon despair every day forever! When they were a child, their lives were beautiful, but then they had everything they've known and love torn from them and destroyed. However, nothing of what they have would've been gained if such did not occur. Instead, the loss of their loved ones allowed the world to continue, without it would have fallen apart. Now that they are older, every day, they fall into an unfathomable, unbreakable despair. This makes them feel never ending hopelessness. They know that if the feeling ever leaves, as does the remainder of what the world offers. Nothing helps, bacon doesn't help, pie doesn't help, small comforts and friendships don't help. It's a pit that one will never see the light, even as it shines above them.

One day, things change quite suddenly . . .!

Having no friends wasn't giving them the proper amount of crippling despair. In order to keep the world as sickeningly sad as possible, over eating cow with rice they thought up their own imaginary friend with impressive facial hair. Alas! When the pie monsters destroyed the house by the sea (the bacon didn't come to help at all), the imaginary friend with impressive facial hair tried to save them from their the room. Through the extended act of acceptance that was given by their own hearts (as the imaginary friend and their impressive facial hair was part of them) their terrible feelings were alleviated, and the world was promptly destroyed as is what happens when there's acceptance.

The lone mustache floats to the ground. (SYMBOLISM.)

All is lost.

But the story doesn't end here. A friendly team, Emerald, wishes to help cheer your character up with the following story element:

"We're going to sing for them, because Slick wanted it. And send them wheat, and statues of soldiers with short skirts, and raise all their battleships from the bottom of the ocean. Oh, and what's an Emerald thing to do for them? We'll give them alcohol, I guess, since that's our name thing." - Sheryl Nome!!

Continue the story by writing a paragraph (or more) including the gift of kindness, as well as the following elements:

The feeling of devestating loss

The helplessness that comes with self-loathing

Being in love

The reassurance of not being alone

Friendship in someone!

You MUST use all of these suggestions, and you cannot ADD any additional events (though you can be creative with how you use them).

THEN:
Write a happy ending.
Write a bad end.
Which do you prefer, and why?

After you're done, you may proceed to endgame.

<b>Story:</b> <b>Happy Ending:</b> <b>Bad end:</b> <b>Which do you prefer, and why?</b>

Discussion

[dramatispersonae]

Submission

[dramatispersonae]