forgottentales_ooc | Workshop #5: April 2020

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-workshop

Workshop #5: April 2020

Workshop #5: April 2020—

§ instructions.

Welcome to Forgotten Tales storybook character essence workshop! Here players can come together and discuss what storybook characters they are considering for their character's essence, their new potential abilities, and even ask for help if you can't think of anything on your own.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Workshop participation is required for Registration as this basically takes the place of the traditional application form, as well as posting to the Test Drive. You don't have to post together at the same time (you can do one first and then the other), but they are needed eventually.
Participation in the Workshop does not guarantee a spot on either Claims or Registration, but you will need it to keep a Claim so there's no harm in trying early. Feel free to look over previous Workshops.
Make sure to check the Character Roster and Essence List to see if your choices are not already taken.
The character and essence don't necessarily have to perfectly match, and all characters will inherit characteristics and themes from that particular storybook character. You are free to be creative and take elements from related works and variations (like Disney), but try to keep it central to the original version. Refer to the Character section of the Game Info as a refresher on how essences and their abilities work.
Storybook characters can be from any work of literary fiction such as fairy tales, folklore, fables, nursery rhymes, classics, plays, mythos, legends, etc. They can be well-known or obscure, and origins must pre-date the 1950s.
Because the game currently doesn't allow duplicate essences, list your top preference and any others you're considering, but also be open for other suggestions. And if you see someone else list one you are considering, list it, anyway! Anyone could change their mind. Just don't be salty or badger anyone about their choice, otherwise it's an automatic boot out the door. The goal is to try to not only match the best essence to the character, but also one that people can have fun with.
Although you can only register one character, you can workshop multiple in case you are having difficulties in deciding who to pick.
Public Registration will open May 3, but anyone with an invite and current players can register at any time. Claims will open April 26.

If you have any further questions about this or anything in general, comment to the Mod Thread.

§ form.

If you're ready, just fill out the following form and discuss away! One character per comment.

Player: Player ID w/ contact
Character: Character looking to bring in
Canon: (and canon point)
Age: (of the character)
Bio Blurb: Instead of a full written history, please link a wiki page AND provide a 1-2 paragraph summary of the character's backstory. If no wiki page is available, that's okay; you're free to link a write-up if you have one or feel like making one. The summary is more of an "at a glance" to help those not familiar to get a basic idea of who the character is and what they were doing in their canon. If it helps, pretend you're writing a blurb for a CR Meme. What key important things about your character's history would you want to point out to others?

Personality Blurb: You are free to link to anything pre-written such as an app for another game, but for our purposes you must include a 1-2 paragraph blurb highlighting the main elements of the character's personality. If it helps, pick out up to 5 vices and 5 virtues that you'd associate with them and just toss in a few sentences about it. Again, you can pretend you're writing a blurb for a CR Meme.

Preferred Essence(s): Have one or a couple already in mind? List them here! Include reasons why you are thinking about that particular essence and how you would work it with the character.
Looking For: Open to other ideas? What kind of storybook character would you be interested in? Things you're not interested in should also be mentioned.

Appearance: Any notable features both for the character in general and any appearance or style changes you may be considering to match their essence.

Abilities: Whether you have an essence in mind or not, talk about what kind of abilities you're hoping to recreate or gain while in game. Any weapons that are going to be regained or explored? What abilities or weapons are lost? Skills?

Quirks: Are you interested in gaining any quirks of the storybook character? Or do you already have one already in mind? Need suggestions from your list? A reminder that the current limit is one.

Goal: What do you hope to do while in game? This could range from just having fun with the setting to exploring new aspects of the character because of the setting.
Extra: Anything else you'd like to ask or talk about. Can be about the essences or just general ideas of what you'd like to hopefully play out.
Questions: Any other questions you might have.

Post away and go buzz about everyone else!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Does Odette pose in the movie? It’s been forever since I’ve seen it.

Odette.... exists.

The studio wanted to sip on that disney nectar so bad, but I want a swan adjusting glasses or having a think emoji face. I want to work out a very Rei swan, because he'd fight to be cool as a swan despite internally honk-screaming.

Hahaha okay that’s fair. Too bad there aren’t many other swan movies that you could maybe modify :/a

Naah, the original ballet has a wealth of things to take from, and I can stick with a night, water and bird theme for any growth in the future, I think!

Idk how I forgot about the ballet ahaha but that works!

Yepper! Thanks for all the feedback, by the way.

Of course, no problem!

Right-- let's see.

So to give you a basic idea of the game mechanics; after every successful campaign, we can add 2 new abilities to our character, and make an 'upgrade' of our choice to our each of our pre-existing ones.

So starting with 2-3 basic abilites but keeping in mind new ones to add on later is a good idea.

One thing you could add on is Ballet itself; giving Rei the ability to dance as gracefully as swan, because we can draw not only on skills from the stories themselves, but popular conciousness/takes on the stories

(like for example Dojima being able to fire off sword lasers from excalibur, or me offering Lae to have Dojima's excalibur swapped out for Soul Eater excalibur at her discretion BD)

So you could argue to give him a 'black swan' ability eventually, tho you'd need to ask the mods for that I think.

Edited (rei NOT RIN REI) 2020-06-09 16:23 (UTC)

You're welcome! Let him be a ~~horrible goose~~ beautiful swan at people.

h o n k

Right! I brushed up on the flow of things and wasn't sure where to start, but this helps a lot, thank you.

So what I should look into is a basic set and write down some potential upgrades and new additions. I had an awesome suggestion handed to me while out on errands: What if he dances and it's piddly because he needs to 'build respect' with the water he conjures, kickin' it slightly Moana-style in that it is somewhat alive?

Then he'd be kicking himself for not listening to Haru more when it comes to his water fetish... and as he helps complete campaigns the water sort of starts tolerating him more and more and maybe gains an icy flair? MORE BEAUTY....!!

Black swan? I'm not familiar.

Lol, still fun to leave it up to decisions.

Hmm... well, there is the Swan = Cucco... summon all the cuccos when in danger. You could also include something involving dance since Swan Lake is a ballet performance.

FLY my pretties, FLY...!

hahaha maybe down the line he can just straight up BIRD UP on people.

Omg if that did happen, it'd be amazing...

Yeah, that's exactly it.

And oooh, that's a good idea; Fuuka has a similar 'need to gain respect from the element they're using/bending', her being wind.

And oh, it was a psychological thriller back in 2010 about Swan Lake and dopplegangers.

here's the link with the plot and such.

The idea is that the ballet dancer for the Swan Princess and the 'black swan' who tricks the Prince are the same, though character wise they're different people so I dunno if it would apply. I'm mostly just spit balling ideas!

I appreciate any and all spitballing! I read the synopsis the other day and it sounds wild. I need to check it out and see if it inspires anything from me.

Player: Amanda |

Mossflowered
Character: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen aka Baron
Canon: The Cat Returns ; post movie
Age: Unknown, earliest known origin is Germany circa WW2? (I’ll need to watch Whispers of the Heart again lol)
Bio Blurb: If you ever find yourself troubled by something mysterious or a problem that is hard to solve, there’s a place you can go where you’ll always find help. You just need to look for it.

The Baron is a dashing and dapper cat figurine, created by someone who put all their heart into it and thus granting him a soul. The artisan was also the one who gave him his title of Baron. He runs the Cat Bureau, a place that resides in a refuge for creations. He’s known as being quite noisy, always butting into other people’s business generally because he was asked to help them. As is the case of one such teenage girl named Haru who saved a cat prince and now the kingdom wants her to marry him! She’s told to visit the Bureau as they can help her. A fun little adventure ensues that ends with Haru back home and possibly crushing on the Baron as well lol Watch the movie here if you’re interested, it’s barely an hour and 15 minutes and very wholesome. Made by Studio Ghibli and the Baron himself is voiced by Cary Elwes aka The Dread Pirate Roberts.

Personality Blurb: Baron is polite, dapper, makes good tea for his guests, and simply wants to help others. He can sometimes be a little manipulative (getting Muta to babysit Haru after the cat refused) and doesn’t always want to admit when he made a mistake (“this is no time for finger pointing”). He can be a bit of a soft flirt, calling Haru fetching shortly after meeting her. He is always on the side of good and enjoys sticking his nose in other people’s business if it means helping others and going on an adventure to boot. He also offers great advice. Always believe in yourself. Do this and no matter where you are you will have nothing to fear.

Preferred Essence(s): Sherlock Holmes or something similar!
Looking For: He’s an investigative type but also wanting to help, I’d like something if that nature if Sherlock doesn’t work out.

Appearance: Well, he’s normally a small figuring who barely reaches a Japanese girls knees so either making him normal height to everyone else? Otherwise nothing would change as he dresses similar to the time period of Sherlock anyway

Abilities: Hmmm... this is the tricky part! Better deductive skills, knowing forensic science (of that era?), observation skills, etc I suppose? I mean, Baron was already a smart cookie but I’m also down for other options/essences to flesh this out better.

Quirks: Nah, he’s quirky enough on his own but I’ll add something if I think of anything else.

Goal: I needed something quirky like this and my goal is to have fun with it.
Extra:

Questions: Nah

Edited 2020-06-11 14:48 (UTC)

Hmmmm Sherlock might be interesting, but honestly Doyle's Sherlock wasn't quite so dapper, not to mention not many of our current events are investigation based, so his powers might not come into play very often.

For something more fitting his personality and with a more tangible power set, I think you might want to look at two classes of characters: Helpers/Guides, like the Gray Wolf essence Eustace has, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother, or <a=https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm136.html>Iron Hans from the titular tale; or trickster heroes, like Odysseus and Hermes or the Valiant Little Tailor. I could also see characters like Zorro or Hans-my-Hedgehog being good matches for him. I might have more suggestions in the morning, but hopefully these are some good ideas to toss around.

Player: Dante |

teenysanguini
Character: Asriel Dreemurr
Canon: Undertale, post-Pacifist route
Age: 10
Bio Blurb: (Wiki.) Asriel is the monster prince of the Underground, the son of Toriel and Asgore, and sibling figure to the first human who fell into the Underground, named Chara. Asriel and Chara come up with a plan to free all monsters from the Underground, which involves Chara giving up their SOUL so that Asriel can absorb it, so that Asriel can pass through the barrier and collect more souls to break it. Unfortunately, humans attack and kill Asriel before he has a chance to do so.

Asriel is resurrected as Flowey the Flower, a soulless husk of the former prince. who wants to use the human SOULs for his own sinister plans. He's defeated by Frisk, and Asriel uses the SOULs to break the barrier instead.

Personality Blurb: Asriel is a kind, caring child. He's very trusting, and kind of a pushover and a crybaby. He looks up to his adopted sibling, Chara. After Asriel's death and revival, he gains a harsher "kill or be killed" view of the world, and is unable to feel any love or compassion. He sees the world he lives in as a "game", and even after he's able to feel love again, he has a more cynical world view.

Preferred Essence(s): Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk
Looking For: Any other fairy tales or folklore that involve siblings, flowers... goats? I'm open to anything!

Appearance: Asriel resembles a anthropomorphic goat. He has long ears, a long snout, two fangs, and all white fur.

Abilities: In canon, Asriel has the ability to absorb human souls, and use fire magic.

For his essence, I was thinking about Asriel having control over vines, being able to use a magical harp that can soothe anything that hears it.

Quirks: None that I can think of.

Goal: I want Asriel to work through some of his previous trauma.

Edited 2020-07-02 03:11 (UTC)

Player: Mary |

toonish
Character: Kamala Khan
Canon: Marvel Comics, just before the Magnificent Ms. Marvel run
Age: 18
Bio Blurb: (optional: Wiki.)

Kamala is a Pakistani-American born in Jersey City, and up until she was sixteen, her life was pretty average. Her life was different than those of some of her classmates, sure - different holidays, different diet, and sometimes different rules from her parents - but Kamala was ultimately just a nerdy teenager who was borderline obsessed with the superheroes of world, especially the Avengers. She had her family - a father, a mother, and an older brother - and two best friends - Bruno and Nakia. The problem for Kamala was that those certain differences from some of the other kids made her feel out of place, and sparked something of a rebellious phase. She had snuck out to a party on the night Terrigen Mists spread over Jersey City, which awakened her powers via her Inhuman ancestry.

Becoming Ms. Marvel involved a lot of trial and error. Mistakes were made and she had her doubts, but from almost the very start, the odds were high - Bruno's brother was involved with what seemed like some kind of cult; the sinister plan of a villain called The Inventor. Kamala took up the superhero job to save Jersey City's youth from being manipulated and used as human batteries, and from there, things continued to grow. She got guidance on her path from various sources, and Ms. Marvel became a hero in her own right, and a force to be reckoned with.

Personality Blurb:
Kamala is a hero, even when not actively being Ms. Marvel. That is to say, helping others feels right to her, and she wants to save everyone she can, including those who have been mean to her (Zoe) or have made huge mistakes (Vic) - if it's the right thing to do, Kamala's going to do it. That said, she also understands that morality isn't always black and white; that these things can be complicated... Which makes deciding what is the right thing to do a little tricky. Still, it's what she always strives for, even if that means going against authority and preconceived notions of what's the right thing.

Kamala has a generally eager and bright personality, with a bit of a sassy side. However, especially over the past two-plus years of being Ms. Marvel (though also before then), she also struggles with self-doubt and issues with her sense of identity. She's playful, friendly, and charismatic, but she also thinks deeply about things, is quite intelligent, and has a certain level of wisdom and maturity beyond her years, even if that part can be hard to see at times.

Also, Kamala is a fangirl, through and through. She writes fanfiction about the Avengers, plays "World of Battlecraft", quotes Star Wars and animated movies - the whole nine yards. And this aspect of her personality is actually crucial to her character, especially the superhero aspect, because it often has her so excited to use and learn about her powers.

Preferred Essence(s): Issun-boshi from The Inch-High Samurai
Looking For: Expanded/future power ideas for this Essence

Appearance: Wiki Gallery

Abilities:
Canon: Kamala is a polymorph - specifically, she can shift her form not only to look like other people, but to change the shape and - most notably - size of her body, and individual body parts. It's worth noting that EMPs are a weakness to this ability; they hinder her ability to stretch etc. She also has an extremely high healing rate, including from things like a gunshot wound, but this requires she be in her normal physical form. It also takes up a great deal of her energy. Kamala has a faint yellow glow when using these powers.

Essence: The ability to shrink down as small as 1.2 inches tall, a sword, a hammer that she can use both as a weapon and to increase her size to up to 12 feet tall (it's 6 feet in the story, but Issun-boshi starts out at 1.2 inches), and the knowledge to use a boat or other water-based vessel. Eventually, she might be able to use the hammer to summon other items? Most likely healing food - the story mentions food and treasure, but I'm not sure how to approach treasure so much.

Quirks: None

Goal: Kamala's a more action-oriented, heroic type compared to my other two here! I think that would be a fun sort to have in the game! Plus I just love her and never got to play her in a game from a more experienced-with-heroism, more mature canon point.

Extra: While I've read all of the Ms. Marvel run, I haven't gone into all of Kamala's additional appearance in Champions, etc - but I'm working on that and should be set or at least better off by the time I app her. (Probably after the Wonderland Campaign!)
Questions: None

Edited 2020-07-04 21:46 (UTC)

Player: Meowzy |

Meowzy
Character: Sherlock Holmes
Canon: Dai Gyakuten Saiban | Post-DGS2
Age: 34
Bio Blurb: History page full of spoilers.

Personality ~~Blurb~~ tl;dr: Sherlock, the way he's presented in Dai Gyakuten Saiban, is a prime example of 'mad genius'. The sort of person who's brilliant, but misunderstood because he's so incredibly eccentric.

He's a very gifted inventor with a whole bunch of gadgets to his name. (Though, Iris Watson did help him develop a lot of them.) Furthermore, his 'rapid-fire reasoning' is what enables him to solve any case. He can make split-second deductions based on even the most minor of details. However, his genius comes with a drawback. To say he's scatterbrained would be an understatement. He has very selective memory issues, to the point where he forgets most cases about a day after he's solved them. He explains at one point that he believes the brain can only hold so much information. However, it's not just memory issues. He'll get so swept up in moments that he'll make the most idiotic of mistakes. This carelessness doesn't just show in every day life, it shows in his reasoning too. Once Sherlock makes one wrong deduction, he starts down a sort of 'side path' that strays from the truth and keeps building upon that one mistake, until the end result is completely different from what it should be. It's a game mechanic of sorts, which was admitted even by the director; “For this game, it was already planned that it would be about 'correcting the wrong deductions of the great detective.' So I'm terribly sorry, but Dai Gyakuten Saiban's Holmes was destined to never say anything correct.”

And even aside from all that, he's also very childish. There's no limit to his enormous level of manchild. He becomes upset when people aren't paying attention to him, has to have a ten-year old watch over his money for him (and then attempts to trick said ten-year old into revealing her secret hiding spot by screaming “FIRE”), continuously pops up in the oddest places, hides in closets just to see if it'll fit, wears a priceless diadem on his head just for the fun of it... Honestly, I could go on for hours. Not to mention, he's arrogant. He's perfectly aware that he's famous and goes around brandishing his title like a sword. Every so often, he'll quote something that he supposedly said in one of his older adventures, only to admit that it's very possible he never said it at all.

Here we come to the more sober side, because yes, there really is one. He does take his deductions very seriously. (“A Great Detective's existence has no worth without a mystery. They are a sorrowful bunch of living things.”) Not even serious injuries will stop his search for the truth, as case 5 of the first game proves. He believes in people who most others would consider shady, he tries his best to keep his friends safe... And he's a father figure! He raised Iris Watson from a very young age and would do anything for her. Really, he looks after a lot of orphans and exchange students away from home.

Then there's one more aspect of his personality, which is likely another drawback from being a 'mad genius'. That is, the moodswings. Good lord, the moodswings. Occasionally, Sherlock becomes depressed to the point where he's basically saying that he's considering suicide, for the most trivial of reasons. And once that reason is 'solved', he'll go right back to being his usual peppy self. What a goon!

Preferred Essence(s): The Pied Piper.
Looking For: I did consider the 'mad genius' character for a while, like Dr. Frankenstein or the Mad Hatter or something like that. But I just wasn't quite sold on those Essences. The Pied Piper really appeals to me in how he's both somewhat obscure, merciless and has a lot of potential.

Appearance: So this is the usual Holmes attire and I was thinking about adding a bard-like cloak. A very terrible, multicolored (pied) one. No changes to his hat, though, because that is too much of a Holmes trademark to mess with.

Abilities:
He'll have a magical flute and I can see this going one of two ways:
A) He can use it to summon and control most rodents. So rats, mice, squirrels, guinea pigs... Porcupines are actually also rodents! (Hedgehogs are not. Rabbits are also not rodents.) Interestingly, perhaps because they're considered 'flying rats', he will also be able to control pigeons.
B) He can use it to summon and control rats, bats, cats and gnats. (He may joke that he can also use it on brats, but the truth is that he can't actually control children because that is terrifying and way too overpowered. Also does not work on vampires who have transformed into bats.)

How this works with his usual instrument of a violin is something I still need to figure out. It was suggested he could transform his violin into the flute whenever he needs it, but I'm not sure I'm sold on that idea. Since the Pied Piper is something of a bard, I could see Holmes having a violin and a flute. The violin wouldn't have any powers and be useless on missions, so he'd leave it behind then anyway.

Quirks:
- Thinks he can talk to rats. He can't actually talk to rats, but he'll still have conversations with them as if he can hear their replies and they can understand him in turn.
- Petty revenge schemes. That is, if he feels wronged by someone, he will absolutely strike back without fail every single time.
- A constant need to take on odd jobs to make money. This is something he technically already does in canon, but it's because he has a 10 year-old to support. Here, he'll want to make money just for the sake of making money.

Goal: SHENANIGANS. No other goal is needed.

Extra: N/A
Questions: N/A

You only start off with one quirk, but I will laugh if Holmes gets the revenge streak.

Then we have two idiot savants who will seek out revenge.

Ooh, right, the limit is one! I'll have to think about which one I want off the bat. The moneymaking thing is canon to some degree, so it's not really necessary to have as a quirk, so... Hmmm... Dual revenge really would be hilarious.

Just imagine, two bros sharing a braincell that's stuck in revenge mode.

The talking to rats thing is also funny, but also has potential to become an actual power later on. Suddenly, the delusion becomes reality.

Player: Leo |

Leicon
Character: Alice Liddell
Canon: American McGee's Alice/Alice: Madness Returns; post A:MR
Age: 19
Bio Blurb: (optional: Wiki.) CW: mental health, child abuse/extortion/sexual abuse

Personality Blurb: Alice, despite much of what she has lived through, is a kind and compassionate individual. Clever, creative, and quick witted with an inclination towards a very enduring curiosity. All of this has led her towards helping those in need, even drawing sympathy from her when encountering those who have met with some tragedy in their lives. Very, very willing to protect others within her ability.

She has a joy of reading, puzzles, and clings to some things most think childish for anyone her age.

She's also reckless, rash, even if her temper hasn't gotten the best of her. Stubborn and ready to follow through with whatever her mind has been set to in order to prove something. Easily angered when talked down to, or if someone says something she disagrees with or even hates, and will act physically violent if she feels threatened or wronged in some manner.

She isn't a terribly happy individual, rarely smiling and has something of a dark sense of humor. Alice is no where in the state she'd been in before mentally, but isn't completely free of her depression or other instabilities; they no longer rule her, however.

Preferred Essence(s): Dorothy Gale
Looking For: I'll consider other Essences and help with abilities or even a quirk that'd work for Dorothy.

Appearance: How she sees herself at her most confident and comfortable in her own skin. There'd be a few tweaks here and there to more fit the Essence of Dorothy, such as a pair of silver "slippers" that may or may not get a "ruby mode" depending.
Abilities:
Toto- A sweet little dog that acts as a companion. During a time of danger dear little Toto will be able to transform in to a more battle ready form in order to help her in battle for a limited amount of time. He'd only be able to transform again after some time of rest, and until then will remain as a sweet little Scottie dog. One day will upgrade in to something fearsome.

Silver Slippers- clicking the heels of her shoes grants her a limited amount of magic to be used; think a moment of levitation if there's something out of her reach. Small things at first. If "ruby mode" is kept, there would be a limited amount of more offensive spells. The shoes were magic after all.

Emerald City Blade- A sharp knife that appears to be made of emerald with some gold accents. Something Alice could easily wield and fight with. She's experienced with wielding sword-like knives and the like, and would give her something that she will readily use against her foes.

Tin Man Axe- An axe with a silver blade, can also be used as a weapon or for chopping through wood.

Cowardly Lion Shield- A shield that is large enough for her to hide behind, or use while wielding either the Emerald City Blade or Tin Man's Axe. Possible able to reflect weaker attacks back at her foes, and will grow stronger depending on upgrades.

Scarecrow Gun- Exactly what it sounds like— no, I wouldn't mind some help with this one.

I just really like the idea of weaponry based off of the characters that accompany Dorothy and are basically her closest friends during her time in OZ. Them still being with her in a way just makes sense.

She'll also have a basket that can store these weapons and that she can pull them out of. Toto is also capable of riding along in it, like the good boy he is.

Perhaps with the thought of her own canon in mind, giving her the ability to double jump by creating a mini-twister beneath her, propelling her further, along with the ability to glide for short distances to reach slightly higher or further paths.

Quirks: I have no ideas here, help.

Goal: It could be interesting to have her fall in to a world filled with stories given her nature and love of books. She'd readily explore and help due to the call for aide, even if be a little skeptic of things at first.
Extra: N/A
Questions: N/A

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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Workshop #5: April 2020

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Baron Humbert von Gikkingen | The Cat Returns

Late with Starbucks

Asriel Dreemurr | Undertale

Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel | Marvel Comics

Sherlock Holmes | Dai Gyakuten Saiban

Re: Sherlock Holmes | Dai Gyakuten Saiban

Re: Sherlock Holmes | Dai Gyakuten Saiban

Re: Sherlock Holmes | Dai Gyakuten Saiban

Alice Liddell | American McGee's Alice/Alice: Madness Returns