Journal Thinking about Dating Sim RPs and Magic School RPs

[bastion]

Most recent entries start here! Currently thinking about: Dating Sim RPs and Magic School Scenarios.

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I realized I don't actually enjoy keeping a personal journal thread because I just use it to publicly vent, which never ends satisfying. So instead, why not try journaling about the creative stuff I'm working on? I get real hyped over my characters, projects, and stuff I'm participating in at times with no one to really talk to about it so maybe this will be a nice way to channel that excitement. Plus, it'll be a journal I actually want to reread, instead of one I write in and avoid.

You're welcome to engage with me in this thread, although if you want to talk about your own creative pursuits I have a thread specifically for talking about creative stuff with other people over here.

 

[bastion]

I'm taking part in a Heart the City Beneath game, in a homebrew setting. In this game I play Giggles McGhee a human that is also an outer god. It's a rather strange situation, but the important thing to know about for this entry is that because of it Giggles has always been strange and an outcast in her home settlement. They were literally born laughing, and did stop until they started being able to focus and process the information around then. At which point they became completely silent and just stared at people to learn, for several years before beginning to be able to interact and the nonstop laughter returning. (She started as a silly thing for narrating a character in Widermyth and then developed into more than just a constantly laughing person.)

So in the most recent session, one of Giggles party members, Lain, magically altered the mind a newly developing being. Both Lain and the being are claypeople, a rare occurrence in the world where a life comes into existence made of a wire frame with a lava core and clay body. They watch others and model themselves after them, slowly becoming more sentient or animal depending on what they happened to mimic. The new clayperson Lain altered had been modeling themself after the local lizardfolk-esque race, known as shallids, until the people it was following were killed by a predator known as the Plesiospider. At that point it began to mimic the Plesiospider, which in turn made it become a threat to the local populace.

Lain felt the best way to help the new clayperson was to force it return to acting as a shallid. She had attempted to talk to it, but it was too underdeveloped to understand and just kept fleeing, before getting in a scuffle with Lain when she was seperated from the other party member currently helping her with handling the new clayperson. (Meanwhile Giggles and the remaining party member were hunting down the Plesiospider so it would no longer be a threat to the locals, and the new clayperson would not have it to model after.)

By the time of the scuffle, Lain wasn't exactly at her best, but she's also not the most morally good person. One of her story beats was to experiment on a living being, which she succeeded in during this story segment. She knocked the clayperson's Plesiospider parts off until it only had the shallid base remaining. During this time Lain had been assisted by the Weaver God, who'd taken an interest in her and she'd become fascinated with them in turn during an earlier event. When the clayperson no longer had the Plesiospider parts it stopped resisting, having difficultly processing what to do at that point. Or maybe it was just bound too tightly to resist.

At this point, the Weaver God offered to help Lain reeducate the clayperson, which she instantly took them up on. The Weaver opened a portal to their realm and Lain dragged the clayperson in. With the help of the Weaver (mostly in the form of providing her with body mass, given Lain had loss her clay during the chase and reverted to her "true form" wire-frame) Lain opened up the clayperson and accessed their core, altering their mind directly.

The party member, Cordia, who'd been chasing the clayperson with Lain had been seperated due to an injury, but say Lain go through the portal. It was able to open the seam of the closed portal and enter, finding Lain doing her very dubious surgery. After talking with Lain a bit, and being at a loss as to what to do, Cordia used her empathic ability to momentarily view things from the mind of the clayperson. She experienced it's pain and confusion first hand. She snapped back to her body, ready to fight Lain, but the Weaver threw out of the portal and sealed it so tight she could not reopen it.

When Giggles and the final party member, Sludge, found Cordia she was on the ground, weakly trying to get the portal back open. Giggles rushed over to find out what was wrong, with Sludge taking a moment to notice the situation. Cordia explained what happened in as short and clear signs as she could (she's deaf and often signs.) Giggles was horrified, wanting to believe it wasn't as bad as it sounded, but Cordia's distress made it hard not to believe Lain was doing something horrible.

During this exchange, Sludge was investigating the portal seam. Sludge is bound to multiple gods, including the Weaver God, and recognized the magic, but didn't quite know what it meant. Giggles turned to Sludge, demanding some explanation, which was not met with much response since Sludge doesn't react well to being yelled at. Giggles and Sludge have gotten in a physical fight in the past due to poor communication, so Giggles forced themself to calm down and talk to Sludge, slowly explaining what Cordia had shared and asking if Sludge could open the portal.

When the answer was just Sludge repeating the question to herself, Giggles deciding to try testing if they could interact with the seam. They were able to, but trying to force it open didn't work. Sludge reminded Giggles to communicate, and they had a bit of a back and forth about the situation. Sludge saw nothing wrong with Lain altering the clayperson's mind, since they are seeking to control the gods they are bound to. This was a pretty horrific revelation for Giggles, that she had to tuck away to deal with later. Eventually, with Cordia emphasizing the clayperson is essentially just a baby, Giggles can't talk any longer and states she's going to open the portal and talk to Lain.

This time Giggles keeps her calm and picks the seam apart like she would the seam on clothing, using their knowledge as a tailor's kid for this. It works, and the portal opens. Before Lain can notice and have any cool lines (sorry Lain's player!) Giggles shouts that t hey need to talk.

There's an emotional discussion then, mostly between Lain and Giggles, with Cordia contributing a bit. Sludge is just having pretend tea with the Weaver because he doesn't agree with the attempt to stop Lain and is mad Giggles didn't take more time to talk things out to his satisfaction. (Ugh, these two babies and their difficulty communicating! So good!) Giggles is crying basically the entire time, beseeching Lain to understand that forcing someone to change like this is wrong, because if its not then it would have better if Giggles parents had the option to do the same to them (doesn't actually say that last part.) Giggles has not been laughing at all during this, which is bizarre given she literally laughs in her sleeps, but she's focused to a degree she hasn't been since she was a child.

Eventually, Lain spitefully agrees to stop and let the other two take over. Giggles watches as Lain closes up the clayperson, Lain making pointed remarks the whole time.

Lain: I haven't removed the murder tendencies, should I leave those in?
Giggles: No one ever removed my murder tendencies, Lain.
Lain Thinking: Yes, well, maybe your parents should have found a way to channel those better.
Irony: That's literally what happened, Giggles was taught to be a hunter and the protector of her home. Her murder tendencies are literally why she's able to keep the party safe.

Giggles carries the young clayperson out of the portal and sets them down a safe distance away. The only reaction to this is the clayperson stuttering out a "sorry" before going still once more. Giggles hugs them, crying harder and telling them its okay. Her laughter is returning as that absolute focus fades, a weak, broken laugh.

Lain and Sludge are being pretty spiteful during all of this, lingering in the distance, with Lain making petty remarks occasionally. When Giggles tries to tell them to pull the Plesiospider so she and Cordia can focus on the clayperson, Sludge is immediately angry and refuses. Giggles stops herself from even trying to explain, just taking on it all. She makes Cordia a splint since Lain is being passive-aggressive about offering to make a cast, then puts the young clayperson on her back while dragging the Plesiospider's body. All while exhausted and poisoned from fighting the damned spider earlier.

When they leave the forest, the clayperson reacts, climbing off Giggles' back and walking on their own. They have difficult walking now, but they're managing. Giggles is keeping them close.

When they reach town, Giggles seperates from the party to go back with the local clayperson, Merloise, and the new clayperson. Giggles decides that they will leave the group for a bit, if only just until the group finishes the current job and comes back through the village. She needs time to process what happened and sort out how she feels, and she's anxious about leaving the new clayperson after what happened.

So now Giggles is officially split from the party, helping raise a new clayperson, while they go take care of things without the claws of the group. I'll probably write about a few more important moments later, but this is already very long.

 

[bastion]

Ah...., that first entry is so long and I wanna revise it and maybe make it into multiple entries for easier consumption, but t hat's not really what this is about, is it? Maybe I'll revisit it in some way at a different time, I don't know...

Aaaaanyway, now I'm all hyped over ideas for Giggles potential future if she never rejoins the party, because of course I am. That would mean I'd need to make a new character for the campaign, but it could be really satisfying for her story

Giggles is going to be staying in Great Stay with Merloise and the clayby (why I didn't call the new clayperson that in the post above is beyond me, it's what I've called it since the beginning.) The current plan is Giggles will stay only as long as it takes the rest of the party to finish traveling to the next settlement, secure some starshield for their hometown, and then return. That will probably take a week minimum, probably longer considering they have travel there and back, plus handle negotiations and likely do an adventure while there. They do have trade goods from their home, Agria, but it's just a baskets worth that's probably more about setting up a trade deal than the actual exchange? Plus, the whole clayby thing was intended to be a sidequest, so most likely something juicy will happen while making this starshield deal.

So Giggles is gonna be sticking around long enough to talk with the clayby and at the very least do their damnable best at some therapy for it. They're rather emotionally competent so odds are good they can help it work through what happened a little in the time the party is away. Which I can't help but melt over while I picture, because it's mostly just gonna be a lot of art therapy for both working through thoughts and emotions, but also helping with motor controls, as well as just a lot of slowly figuring out what the clayby is comfortable with.

One example is Giggles is very much a physically affectionate person, the type to climb into people's laps and cuddle at every chance. However, after patting the clayby's head she quickly remembers that some people are uncomfortable with touch and asks if it's okay with that. What proceeds is a slow discussion gently testing physical boundaries by first touching it's hand then arm then shoulder and each time asking if it is okay with that touch. The result is the clayby is not comfortable with being touched anywhere near the torso due to the trauma of having their chest opened to access their core, but they are fine with their limbs and head being touched.

Giggles will also be doing a lot of sharing of their own experiences, showing their sketch book for it and talking about the stuff they've been through to help teach them. A big thing Giggles emphasizes is that it's okay to learn slowly and take your time, and it's also okay to change over time, using herself as an example. (Including physically, by showing a sketch of when she looked fully human in comparison to how now she has coral growths and massive claws.) She's gonna emphasize that although the clayby is modeling after shallids right now, it doesn't need to stay a shallid forever. It's good to learn from the people around you, but if this isn't what feels right for you, it's okay to change and become something else.

During all of this, Giggles will also be helping the hunting parties in Great Stay, because wouldn't want to rely on them for food. Plus, she can help with construction and other things as well. It will just be hella good for her, honestly.

If Giggles doesn't return to the party, she's likely to leave Great Stay after a month or so, once the clayby has developed enough to communicate clearly and settled safely into village life. I think this whole experience is going to make her want to find other claybies still in the process of learning and help them. She'll start traveling from settlement to settlement, helping out while checking for rumors of anything that sounds like a newly formed clayperson. If there is one, she'll locate them and slowly make contact before bringing them back to the village (assuming Giggles thinks the village would treat the clayby well, if not, they'll travel together until they find a good one.) Giggles will find people willing to teach the clayby and be its family, stay long enough to be sure it's being accepted into the community, and then move on to locate the next one.

This will very much be about Giggles finding a purpose beyond being a hunter and protecting through violence. She can help others with her unrelenting kindness and empathy, and claypeople definitely need it considering they come into the world with no guidance.

Gah! I'm just so in love with this thought! Even if Giggles does return to the party, this is definitely gonna be something she's thinking about and starting to move towards in the future.

 

[bastion]

The basics: Giggles is a ~30 year old intersex human who uses she/they pronouns and works as basically a monster hunter. They are also a primordial god, but their human body and mind limits their ability to be this.

Giggles is a bit of a strange character, largely because they weren't intended to be a character. They started off as a silly thing made in Wildmyth that I voice, and had decided the character would be constantly laughing. I was feeling in a way at the time, so that was cathartic and actually something I could pull off, but in an actual campaign with people other than just my significant other I quickly made it a thing that was mentioned but not acted out to avoid it being unpleasant. Aaaaanyway, I fell in love with this silly concept and started giving them a story and making them my own. I decided although Giggles was completely human, they also were the child of a primordial god.

So what the heck does that even mean? Well, first of all, when I saw primordial god I don't mean a being that is worshiped or religious. It is more an intrinsic aspect of the universe, that exists because that aspect of the universe exists. Its a concept and force of nature more than anything else. In this case, the primordial god in question is The Waters that erode substance while giving it new shape. That's a loose approximation of the name, and shows what it rules over. Erosion doesn't rule over all water, erosion, or changing shape, but specifically water that is eroding and changing the shape of things. It's represented by the abyss of the ocean although it can exist in all water that erodes and changes shapes of substance; the ocean is just ancient and primal like itself and therefore is the most fitting representation for a human-mind to process it as.

Now primordial gods reproduce in abstract ways. Most likely, each primordial god is able to reproduce in unique ways, and possibly even different ways each time. In the case of Erosion, it was only able to reproduce this time by finding a vessel that could be its offspring. It's one of those weird things where Giggles was always going to be a primordial god and the child of Erosion, but couldn't be that until Erosion placed a seed of itself into Giggles developing body. Giggles is still human, but also a primordial god. This is mainly represented by Giggles having a completely human body, but godly power. However, Giggles subconsciously suppressed the god-power as a child in their attempt to be accepted and seen as a normal human like those around her.

Having god-essence inside a human body tends to mess things up. Physically, Giggles body looks a bit oxygen deprived (noticeable in the fingers and toes) and moves a bit strangely. As a child, Giggles tended to have difficultly moving her body due to it being stiff, and when she did it was usually rather jerky. It also affects the mind, most noticeably in how Giggles emotes. Giggles was born laughing instead of crying and never quite stopped, except for a period of time when they were intensely focused. Giggles also experiences the perception of time strangely, processing the past, present, and future all at once, to a degree. After decades of living like this, Giggles has mostly learned to live with these disabilities, but they do still cause some problems. Mostly the time processing resulting in confusion at times. Giggles is able to move their body with ease now, although to an uncanny degree at times, moving faster and in jerky ways still.

So growing up, Giggles had a very difficult time. They were born in a very isolated and close-minded community that saw a constantly laughing child with eyes like a deep abyss and an almost dead looking appearance as a bad omen. They might have been able to brush it off, but Giggles god-power was at its strongest during this time, creating a field of protection as large as the village that resulted in some ominous things. This was mostly stuff like finding tons of dead animals around the area (all of which carried disease or were eating their food stores, but the villagers didn't know this.) There was also an incident of a man found turned to an unknown stone (oceans don't actually exist on this world, Erosion drifted here from elsewhere.) The man seemed to be heading towards Giggles home, so it was blamed on her. (It was in fact the result of her god-power, as the man was coming to kill her because he blamed Giggles for his own daughter's death. The daughter's death was in fact just a result of sickness that was brought by those animals killed by Giggles' power.) Worse yet, Giggles' parents actually knew Giggles had caused his death, because they recognized the stone. They would never share this, nor would they ever speak of the incident that led to them learning of it.

You see, when Giggles was born laughing, the family was disturbed. Giggles' grandmother was sure the child was cursed and urged the parents to abandon the baby far from the village. They hesitated a little, but they feared this strange child as well and so, they took the baby out into the desert to leave Giggles to the mercy of Solas (the fucked up sun of this world). However, they made it maybe twenty minutes before their guilt and regret grew too strong and the parents rushed back to Giggles. There they found their baby surrounded by that strange stone, some protecting her from the harsh sun. That wasn't the terrifying part though, it was the beasts impaled on and turned to that same stone. Giggles' parents were now terrified of their child, but felt if they left her a second time, they'd suffer the same fate as those predators. The fear subsided a bit as they made the journey home, and over the years their love for Giggles outweighed that fear, but it never went away.

(Giggles' grandmother ended up returning to her family in the neighboring village after a fight when the parents returned, since she tried to make the parents leave with Giggles, to which Giggles' grandfather refused and told her he would see her gone before he'd give up his family.)

There is more I could talk about, but I think that's enough for today. Needless to say, this baby has been through a lot of shit.

 

[bastion]

Alright, time for more Giggles backstory because I can't stop myself.

So Giggles was a weird child. As a baby she was always laughing, even while fast asleep or greatly distressed. As she became aware of her surroundings, this laughter suddenly stopped. It took longer than most children for Giggles to really notice the people around them and whatnot, but once they did, Giggles focused entirely on their surroundings. They went completely silent and still, barely even breathing. Sometimes they would actually not breathe for periods of time, until their body forced them to, because they were so focused. Initially, Giggles just laid there watching their family, but with time they were taught to walk. They skipped crawling entirely.

This became a problem for the village, because none of the homes really had doors, just curtains at most. This meant Giggles could wander wherever they were drawn to, always silent when they did. So now they village had to deal with this silent child just suddenly popping up around the houses and such, observing them with her bottomless gaze, barely even breathing and blinking. It was eerie, and when everyone in the village already saw Giggles as a bad omen, it just lead to things getting bad fast. People would scream at Giggles and sometimes even get violent. They never intentionally outright attacked Giggles, only due to fear of some repercussion, but they would throw things and sometimes they would hit Giggles.

Usually Giggles family would already be looking for her and hear the commotion, running in to scoop her up and carry her home. They'd tend to any injuries and explain why people were upset. Giggles family really didn't understand her behavior, but they were patient and always explained things to her. They would talk as they worked and did chores, explaining everything they did in hopes it would help Giggles learn. They'd also explain their emotions whenever they felt them, often exaggerating expressions to help Giggles learn to emote. It was partly driven by wanting Giggles to be normal, but that doesn't mean the patient and kindness they utilized didn't count.

Eventually Giggles started understanding enough to begin interacting and that intense focus relaxed while the laughter returned. The village maybe preferred this, but it didn't mean they treated her any better. Giggles started to be conscious of how much of an outsider she was, so she started hanging out at the outskirts of the village. Giggles met the village protector and hunter at this time, a retired cleaver, who was possibly the only person to actually see Giggles as a person, even moreso than her family. He became her mentor, teaching her to use a skinning knife for defense, and later on how to use a bow to hunt. Unfortunately five years later, when Giggles was fifteen, he declared he could feel himself dying and entrusted the protection of the village to Giggles before walking off into the depths of the tunnels.

Giggles protected the village for over a decade, living with their disdain and mistrust. There was one person who was outwardly verbally abusive towards Giggles, alsways telling her she was creepy and disgusting, that she should hide her face, and things like this. This was Jerry, a guy a few years younger than Giggles. Their animosity towards each other reached a head one night when both were drinking. Jerry was once again making comments about Giggles looks and behavior, and as Giggles often did, they threatened to remove Jerry's face if he kept it up, even pulling out their skinning knife. He kept pushing it and Giggles leapt on him, literally removing his face.

Giggles was banished from the village immediately, barely given an hour to pack and leave. Their family didn't say goodbye.

They took Jerry's face with them.

But hey, things worked out in t he end. Giggles' wandered for a while until finding a newly established settlement named Agria, one that wasn't just accepting, but welcoming. It quickly became home.

 

[bastion]

So I've been turning around in my head the concept for a dating sim roleplay. I've actually posted about it in the roleplay discussion forums, but might as well dust this journal off to compile my thoughts.

So I have a  ton of characters and I love shipping, which has led to me wanting to make romance games featuring them. I can never think of the plot though, plus the amount of dynamic narrative I'd want would take a ton of work, so a much more feasible approach would be a 1-on-1 rp where I play the love interests and my partner is the protagonists.

Now I just need to figure out the cast of characters and plots I'd want to offer, because roleplay may be collaborative, but for something like this to work, I'll need to be thoroughly inspired.

I know I want El, since how can I not offer my giant flirty twink with family baggage? Also Therai because massive himbo dad with his adorable mayhem-making adopted son. Therai would be best in modern fantasy since otherwise he's traveling... Actually, the same is true of El. They're also intended to be connected through their grandmothers.

Hmm, okay. Other characters I have for modern fantasy would be Jasper (human, but can see through glamours), his friend Cameron (wood nymph), and a new addition to his friends, Koda (dog shifter). They're a great wholesome friend group that could have some potential for nice interpersonal storylines to discover.

That's certainly enough to fill out a cast, but do I have any women or enbies though...? Hmm, none are coming to mind currently.

As for the overarching plot, I'm thinking it'd be set in my Outré Apartments where the supernatural and related humans live. MC has just moved in and is getting to know the neighbors and slowly find out about their stories. There would be small crises other than personal ones, like a pest infestation, to also create interaction, along with events like parties.

 

[bastion]

I know want to try my hands at running a magic school group roleplay to offer something that's far removed from the fandom template and very much my own take on it. I've been turning around the concept in my head, just letting it sit for now since I haven't had the chance to start prepping for it let alone get a group going right now.

So what do I have figured out?
This is a world permeated with magic where everyone is about to do a basic charm. It's normal to create a spark of fire with the snap of your fingers or such, although much else requires advanced study.

The school will be more of a vocational school / university, where people go to study to advance their magical education specifically. Most students are adults although some may be in their teens as long as they finished their primary education and would be at the point that they would pursue an apprenticeship. There are plenty of students who are middle-aged as well as a result since some people pursue learning advanced magic at a later age.

The school is relatively small, maybe one hundred students at a time. Studying advanced magic isn't a common pursuit and even less so when it's in a generalized study like it is in this place. This school's purpose is not to create specialized magic users like healers or enchanters, but those capable of understanding the workings of magic who can potentially create new spells and refine existing ones to be safer.

On the matter of magic, it's a rather chaotic force that is able to be harnessed only through essentially the right equations. Technically you could call upon magic to do anything at any time, but if you don't carefully define the parameters then you could create a hurricane when you meant to create a small breeze. There's also always a price for magic and it's crucial to be able to define what that price is, otherwise you might be giving up your liver to create a mote of light.

Spells are at their most simple a way of telling magic what to do. The thing about them though, is they are incredibly specific. It's how you can trust they will always do what you want for the price you are willing to offer. There's a spell to animate a broom and make sweep a room until the floor is clear dirt, with the set price of a live daisy being destroyed. It cannot be used to animate a mop, cast without a living daisy, and will not do more than sweep a single room (although it is able to sweep a room of any size, which is quite exciting!)

Classes at this school do not involve lectures or reading textbooks. It's all very hands-on learning. This is because 1) there's no reason a magic school needs to have a classroom structure based on western education and 2) it will allow class scenes to be used to create group events. I figure it'll be stuff like foraging for ingredients, practicing spells, discussing spell theory, and the like. I imagine even stuff like discussing "schoolwork" should make for an interesting interaction since it'll be a way to delve into everyone's thoughts on the magic and why they're studying it.

The school will be a bit isolated, since it's a place where advanced magic takes place. It's best to do that away from settlements in case there's a magical mishap. There is a nearby town that the characters are able to visit of course, but they need to take transportation to get there within an hour or spend half a day walking. (I don't know if they math checks out.) I figure this can also open up plot opportunities relating to the isolation, like a big storm cutting them off.


Hmm... I think that's all I have for now.