[BitPR²] OOCVI: We have a space base now!

[Kuroimaken]

Mkay. I'm gonna try to keep things as concise as I can then.

Fifty years before the start of the game, all Menos disappeared. No rhyme or reason, they just did. The cause is pretty much unknown at this point (somebody feel free to correct me as I'm kinda fuzzy on that). Then Soul Society suffered what would be best described as a bioterrorist attack, which became known as the Scarlet Garden Incident. In the process, the Kenpachi was slain, along with a few hundred Shinigami and civillians. Vice-Captain Kiba was appointed as Acting Captain for the Combat Division.

Few weeks after that, a delegation from Las Noches dropped by right outside Seireitei's walls and announced its intent for a peace treaty, allowing Soul Society two weeks' time to consider. During this time, both Kiba and the head of the Shinigami Science Institute, Yasunobu Sawada, assaulted the Primera Espada, Jehoel Yurius, out of fear of treachery on the part of Las Noches and reasons somewhat unknown, respectively. One Hishikawa Setsurou, a MIA Shinigami initially with Recon Division, was appointed as a liaison to hammer the specifics of the deal directly (more like work out the logistics. Between Sawada's treachery, whom at the time was discovered to be manipulating a number of Shinigami for some obscure, religious purpose, and Kiba's presumed defection, Soul Society couldn't face Las Noches in all-out war even if it WANTED to).

Meanwhile, a group of teenagers in the Mortal World were dealing with the growing pains of spiritually-empowered adolescence, even as a sinister religious cult slowly festered in the background. During a Hollow attack, one of the teens, a boy by the name of Tetsuhiko Naito, turned out to have Hollow powers within him. The group managed to subdue him, but it wasn't until Jehoel intervened that he managed to regain control over his inner Hollow. At the time, Naito was taken to the hidden, underground sanctuary of the Kuzunoha clan - a bloodline descended from the legendary sorcerer Abe-no-Seimei and tasked with the protection of the citinzery of Japan from generally supernatural threats called ayakashi since his time. Jehoel took this particular opportunity to invite the collective human organizations of mediums into the fold of the then-officialized Las Noches-Soul Society treaty - which meant, among other things, a pact of direct cooperation with the Quincies and Kuzunoha alike.

Unfortunately, this was destined to not be a smooth transition. Sawada's treasonous acts had provoked a significant upheaval within the Gotei. In addition to that, the former Commander-General of the Gotei, Izanami-no-Mikoto, had been acting quite lunatic for a while then. For a number of reasons, among others secrecy on the part of Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the first Commander-General, the collective military power of Soul Society had been unable to prevent the steady but certain liberation of the Court of the First Hollow King, which had been imprisoned for centuries. When they investigated the issue, they could only find one more cell - that of his wife, Reene Lucaster. But there was a catch. Only Izanami knew how, or even had access to said prison. When sent to check on the status of that cell and to interrogate the prisoner, she freed Lucaster. This would result in the Cult of the First Hollow King (the organization that had been springing the Court from its cells in the first place) openly assaulting Soul Society proper to recover their Queen, an attack that left mercilessly few casualties, but hospitalized both Vice-Commander Ishinomori Koutarou as he desperately attempted to prevent them from reaching their goal, and one Hirako Masaru, a leader of the Combat Division's Guerrilla squadron whom fought Izanami as she descended into a fit of mad whimsy.

Trouble was brewing on the Mortal World as well.

Tetsuhiko Naito discovered, through a series of flashbacks and investigation, that he was actually the product of an experiment meant to produce the perfect Shinigami killing machine, a Quincy-Hollow hybrid that he unwittingly became, calling itself Alpha-1. She turned on his friends, whom managed to barely fend her off.

A radical faction of the Quincy, the Zerreißen Himmel, plotted to annihilate all Shinigami for the near-complete genocide of their lineage hundreds of years prior. Acting independently at the time, the Moto family assaulted the main household of the Akiyama family, destroying their home, murdering dozens and assassinating Akiyama Kaede, their matriarch - all the while pinning the blame on Charles Anderson, scion of the Anderson branch of Quincies from Australia. With the aid of his friends, Charles managed to escape back to Australia - but when he returned to his apartment in search of evidence he knew would clear his name, he was nearly killed by Alpha-1, if not for the timely intervention of Jehoel Yurius.

And then the Cult managed to free their King, Erscheinung Von Geister. The efforts of a search team led by Vice-Commander Ishinomori proved, sadly, fruitless - by the time they found and searched his cell, Von Geister already had full control over his own prison, having waited in it merely to bait Shinigami inside.

This loss caused Koutarou to withdraw into depression and sequester himself for training to parts unknown while the rest of the Gotei searched all over for the Cult of the Hollow King. Others gradually strengthened themselves as well, including Masaru, whom achieved Bankai and took up the mantle of acting Captain of the Combat Division (albeit at the cost of sealing one Kobayashi Momoka, a former convict and Kidou researcher, together with Izanami), and Setsurou, whom graduated from being the de facto yet officially not Captain of Internal Security to his current and real post. Thus far his Division has proved no less or more capable than it would initially seem, in spite of their Captain's apparent incompetence and his reinstatement of the Onmitsukidou.

Three months passed.

The Cult ended up revealing itself as it grew in presence and power in the city of Ikari. The exact location of their headquarters wound up costing the life of a Gotei officer by the name of Michael Harada. Koutarou returned from training in time to discover his superior officer had been summoned to the realm of the Spirit King, and that action against the Cult was required. With the aid of a nationwide action by the Kuzunoha, the Gotei stormed the Cult's holdings. This proved a pyrrhic victory at best. Even though they managed to dislodge the Cult, wither their numbers and kill one of the members of the King's Court in combat, several soldiers in the Combat Division fell prey to a biological attack preempted by the King's daughter, Felicia. Not only that, but Von Geister managed to dislodge Soul Society proper from the plane it rested on, intent on crashing it into Earth. The prompt action of the Captain of the recently-born Engineering Division, Koutetsu Hideki, and Kobayashi Momoka, only recently (and some would say miraculously) returned from her sacrificial prison, prevented Von Geister's plan from succeeding in full - although damaged, with some of its landmass resting upon eastern Russia at present, Soul Society now rests in space, directly opposite to Earth's orbit around the sun.

In the meantime, Charles "Chuck" Anderson has returned from his escape into Australia, intent on bringing his friend Naito back to his former self. Kamogawa Shinji, the 45th heir to the title of Kuzunoha Shiki and grandmaster of the Kuzunoha clan, came up with a plan to draw out Alpha-1 (then aligned with Der Zerreißen Himmel) and obtain information from their members at the same time, utilizing a defector of the Moto clan by the name of Moto Yoshiro and his yandere companion (and also responsible for the murder of Akiyama Kaede) Shizuka Misaki and faking their capture during an attempt on Akiyama Yuina's life, a crippled survivor of the Akiyamas. The plan worked, to a degree, although the battle to recover Naito proved long and violent and Chuck's uncle, Margrave Anderson, whom had accompanied his nephew back into Japan as backup, was captured in the ensuing battle.

... That's the gist of it anyway. Pretty sure I forgot a couple of important facts along the way, and/or mixed up the timeline a bit, but it's basically all there.

[Razade]

Mkay. I'm gonna try to keep things as concise as I can then.

Fifty years before the start of the game, all Menos disappeared. No rhyme or reason, they just did. The cause is pretty much unknown at this point (somebody feel free to correct me as I'm kinda fuzzy on that). Then Soul Society suffered what would be best described as a bioterrorist attack, which became known as the Scarlet Garden Incident. In the process, the Kenpachi was slain, along with a few hundred Shinigami and civillians. Vice-Captain Kiba was appointed as Acting Captain for the Combat Division.

Few weeks after that, a delegation from Las Noches dropped by right outside Seireitei's walls and announced its intent for a peace treaty, allowing Soul Society two weeks' time to consider. During this time, both Kiba and the head of the Shinigami Science Institute, Yasunobu Sawada, assaulted the Primera Espada, Jehoel Yurius, out of fear of treachery on the part of Las Noches and reasons somewhat unknown, respectively. One Hishikawa Setsurou, a MIA Shinigami initially with Recon Division, was appointed as a liaison to hammer the specifics of the deal directly (more like work out the logistics. Between Sawada's treachery, whom at the time was discovered to be manipulating a number of Shinigami for some obscure, religious purpose, and Kiba's presumed defection, Soul Society couldn't face Las Noches in all-out war even if it WANTED to).

Meanwhile, a group of teenagers in the Mortal World were dealing with the growing pains of spiritually-empowered adolescence, even as a sinister religious cult slowly festered in the background. During a Hollow attack, one of the teens, a boy by the name of Tetsuhiko Naito, turned out to have Hollow powers within him. The group managed to subdue him, but it wasn't until Jehoel intervened that he managed to regain control over his inner Hollow. At the time, Naito was taken to the hidden, underground sanctuary of the Kuzunoha clan - a bloodline descended from the legendary sorcerer Abe-no-Seimei and tasked with the protection of the citinzery of Japan from generally supernatural threats called ayakashi since his time. Jehoel took this particular opportunity to invite the collective human organizations of mediums into the fold of the then-officialized Las Noches-Soul Society treaty - which meant, among other things, a pact of direct cooperation with the Quincies and Kuzunoha alike.

Unfortunately, this was destined to not be a smooth transition. Sawada's treasonous acts had provoked a significant upheaval within the Gotei. In addition to that, the former Commander-General of the Gotei, Izanami-no-Mikoto, had been acting quite lunatic for a while then. For a number of reasons, among others secrecy on the part of Izanagi-no-Mikoto, the first Commander-General, the collective military power of Soul Society had been unable to prevent the steady but certain liberation of the Court of the First Hollow King, which had been imprisoned for centuries. When they investigated the issue, they could only find one more cell - that of his wife, Reene Lucaster. But there was a catch. Only Izanami knew how, or even had access to said prison. When sent to check on the status of that cell and to interrogate the prisoner, she freed Lucaster. This would result in the Cult of the First Hollow King (the organization that had been springing the Court from its cells in the first place) openly assaulting Soul Society proper to recover their Queen, an attack that left mercilessly few casualties, but hospitalized both Vice-Commander Ishinomori Koutarou as he desperately attempted to prevent them from reaching their goal, and one Hirako Masaru, a leader of the Combat Division's Guerrilla squadron whom fought Izanami as she descended into a fit of mad whimsy.

Trouble was brewing on the Mortal World as well.

Tetsuhiko Naito discovered, through a series of flashbacks and investigation, that he was actually the product of an experiment meant to produce the perfect Shinigami killing machine, a Quincy-Hollow hybrid that he unwittingly became, calling itself Alpha-1. She turned on his friends, whom managed to barely fend her off.

A radical faction of the Quincy, the Zerreißen Himmel, plotted to annihilate all Shinigami for the near-complete genocide of their lineage hundreds of years prior. Acting independently at the time, the Moto family assaulted the main household of the Akiyama family, destroying their home, murdering dozens and assassinating Akiyama Kaede, their matriarch - all the while pinning the blame on Charles Anderson, scion of the Anderson branch of Quincies from Australia. With the aid of his friends, Charles managed to escape back to Australia - but when he returned to his apartment in search of evidence he knew would clear his name, he was nearly killed by Alpha-1, if not for the timely intervention of Jehoel Yurius.

And then the Cult managed to free their King, Erscheinung Von Geister. The efforts of a search team led by Vice-Commander Ishinomori proved, sadly, fruitless - by the time they found and searched his cell, Von Geister already had full control over his own prison, having waited in it merely to bait Shinigami inside.

This loss caused Koutarou to withdraw into depression and sequester himself for training to parts unknown while the rest of the Gotei searched all over for the Cult of the Hollow King. Others gradually strengthened themselves as well, including Masaru, whom achieved Bankai and took up the mantle of acting Captain of the Combat Division (albeit at the cost of sealing one Kobayashi Momoka, a former convict and Kidou researcher, together with Izanami), and Setsurou, whom graduated from being the de facto yet officially not Captain of Internal Security to his current and real post. Thus far his Division has proved no less or more capable than it would initially seem, in spite of their Captain's apparent incompetence and his reinstatement of the Onmitsukidou.

Three months passed.

The Cult ended up revealing itself as it grew in presence and power in the city of Ikari. The exact location of their headquarters wound up costing the life of a Gotei officer by the name of Michael Harada. Koutarou returned from training in time to discover his superior officer had been summoned to the realm of the Spirit King, and that action against the Cult was required. With the aid of a nationwide action by the Kuzunoha, the Gotei stormed the Cult's holdings. This proved a pyrrhic victory at best. Even though they managed to dislodge the Cult, wither their numbers and kill one of the members of the King's Court in combat, several soldiers in the Combat Division fell prey to a biological attack preempted by the King's daughter, Felicia. Not only that, but Von Geister managed to dislodge Soul Society proper from the plane it rested on, intent on crashing it into Earth. The prompt action of the Captain of the recently-born Engineering Division, Koutetsu Hideki, and Kobayashi Momoka, only recently (and some would say miraculously) returned from her sacrificial prison, prevented Von Geister's plan from succeeding in full - although damaged, with some of its landmass resting upon eastern Russia at present, Soul Society now rests in space, directly opposite to Earth's orbit around the sun.

In the meantime, Charles "Chuck" Anderson has returned from his escape into Australia, intent on bringing his friend Naito back to his former self. Kamogawa Shinji, the 45th heir to the title of Kuzunoha Shiki and grandmaster of the Kuzunoha clan, came up with a plan to draw out Alpha-1 (then aligned with Der Zerreißen Himmel) and obtain information from their members at the same time, utilizing a defector of the Moto clan by the name of Moto Yoshiro and his yandere companion (and also responsible for the murder of Akiyama Kaede) Shizuka Misaki and faking their capture during an attempt on Akiyama Yuina's life, a crippled survivor of the Akiyamas. The plan worked, to a degree, although the battle to recover Naito proved long and violent and Chuck's uncle, Margrave Anderson, whom had accompanied his nephew back into Japan as backup, was captured in the ensuing battle.

... That's the gist of it anyway. Pretty sure I forgot a couple of important facts along the way, and/or mixed up the timeline a bit, but it's basically all there.

Uh that's quite a lot yeah. Maybe it'd be best for me to wait and see if a less divergent Bleach Freeform game comes along. Thanks for the effort however, that's a lot of stuff to go through.

[strawberryman]

Bah. The first game was the closest to the 'original formula' we've had, and still diverged a lot, and was great for it.

The second game didn't finish, unfortunately. But it had some potential.

This game is certainly a lot more political than the source material, and I don't personally consider that a bad thing.

[KnightDisciple]

All due respect, but canon gave us this guy. I don't mind being fairly "divergent" at this point.

[Razade]

Bah. The first game was the closest to the 'original formula' we've had, and still diverged a lot, and was great for it.

The second game didn't finish, unfortunately. But it had some potential.

This game is certainly a lot more political than the source material, and I don't personally consider that a bad thing.

Oh it's not that I am against divergence. If we just played it straight like real Bleach that'd be terrible. But Soul Society almost being crashed down into Earth and becoming a planet and Quincy/Arrancar and Anciet Buried Evils (which makes me just think of H.P Lovecraft) seems a bit far flung from just being divergent. It also speaks to a power level on par/beyond what the actual series has. Displacing an entire plane of existence sounds like that "End Game" you guys are saying the game isn't at. The fact it isn't that makes me worry just what kind of characters are running around since none of them on Frozen Feet's thread seem capable of doing anything like that. The world, from that write up, certainly feels very fleshed out and thought up but that may not be for the best since it leaves me wondering where exactly a fresh face would fit in?

All due respect, but canon gave us this guy. I don't mind being fairly "divergent" at this point.

Oh man don't fire shots at Sternritter L. All he wants is to be loved.

[Kuroimaken]

It's too bad he doesn't deserve it.

And fresh faces have plenty of space to fit in as cannon fodder.

[strawberryman]

We always need fresh faces. Maybe not more complex ingredients in the pot, but honestly, we are down to me, Frozen, KD, Kuroimaken, Draken, Dorizzit, AnimeKid, Mahonri Violist and Horngeek. Theoretically Terry and Tebryn, but looking unlikely they'll be involved anymore. Just looking at the size of this list was an exercise in depression.

I'll admit I was the one who pulled Draken and a few others in on the Lovecraft-style nonsense. It tickled me, really.

And also, displacing Soul Society took IC months (hell, possibly years, with use of the Dangai Time Compression Rate) of preparation. So it wasn't just an IC out of nowhere event. OOC... yeah, some of us played it close to the chest, but. It wasn't just some guy tearing it out of space with a rope.

[Kuroimaken]

Although it certainly FELT like it came out of nowhere because of said playing close to the chest... We kinda had a big debate about it back then.

But yeah. Little detail I forgot to mention was Von Geister being imprisoned in the Dangai. Which in retrospect was poorly-thought out on Izanagi's part. I don't think he actually expected Geister to wither and die there. The only real upshot would be that a prison in the Dangai would be pretty damn hard to stumble into, but then again, you kinda have to wonder why he didn't build ALL of them in the Dangai. That could've ultimately prevented the Court getting loose at all.

[5a Violista]

I noticed that absolutely none of my characters were mentioned in that preview. Makes sense, though; they're all pretty much minor characters.

It also speaks to a power level on par/beyond what the actual series has.

Razade, you don't actually have to worry about the high power level of what it sounds like. That's actually probably the best part of free-form: perceived power level doesn't really matter at all that much. None of my characters are ancient beings or super-powerful characters or even have bankai (or the equivalent...) (unless you count my Espada character, the strongest character I have, but still - she is, by definition, the weakest of the Espada and probably is on par with a vice captain, maybe. I don't know. I don't really understand how power levels work in Bleach. Also, now that I think about it, I probably also have one of the weakest characters in play who hasn't died yet.)

But, anyway, the point is: Your character doesn't need to be superpowered. Because it's freeform and not a dice-rolling whatevs, stats have nothing to do with anything. Only creativity and fun and story have to do with things, and every other player is perfectly accommodating to whatever you'll have in mind. (As a side note: things that have been perceived as too powerful and dominating have been vetoed. So the power level isn't actually nearly as high as you'd think.)

[Draken]

The chief error you got in your timeline there is that he was still locked in when Koutarou went to his cell. He had control of the atrium but the door was shut.

It is why he attacked Koutarou's entourage, really. To try and get them droned in order to use them to open the gate.

That said, perhaps the chief idea in locking Von Geister away was that killing him might be more trouble than its worth. And not because he found a way to let his family respawn.

----

And there were tons of stuff omitted. Jehoel's murder of the original leader of Las Noches was omitted. The original villain who was responsible for the woes of the teens was omitted (aborted plotline). Everything relating to Michael was completely omitted. Omissions everywhere.

[Razade]

And there were tons of stuff omitted. Jehoel's murder of the original leader of Las Noches was omitted. The original villain who was responsible for the woes of the teens was omitted (aborted plotline). Everything relating to Michael was completely omitted. Omissions everywhere.

Is there a way to get these omissions added if they're so vast? Couldn't hurt really I suppose.

[Draken]

Erm.

I dunno, there is honestly a ton of things. I just added the ones that don't directly relate to the plotlines already mentioned?

Every character has his or her own plotline which meshes with those of several others around them but do not touch many, many more plotlines. Some are more troubled than others, some are just plain goofy. Some unknowingly span the mythologies of characters they are unlikely to meet any time soon. It is all a very fancy read, I would say, but hardly needed to play the game, not anymore than you need to be fully cognizant of the byzantine extent of Forgotten Realms' historical and geopolitical bluh bluh to play a campaign there.

[Kuroimaken]

The chief error you got in your timeline there is that he was still locked in when Koutarou went to his cell. He had control of the atrium but the door was shut.

It is why he attacked Koutarou's entourage, really. To try and get them droned in order to use them to open the gate.

That said, perhaps the chief idea in locking Von Geister away was that killing him might be more trouble than its worth. And not because he found a way to let his family respawn.

----

And there were tons of stuff omitted. Jehoel's murder of the original leader of Las Noches was omitted. The original villain who was responsible for the woes of the teens was omitted (aborted plotline). Everything relating to Michael was completely omitted. Omissions everywhere.

Mikael wasn't mentioned because his recent run-in with Jehoel and his insistence on taking Hasunaga's class for a potentially deadly trip notwithstanding, he hasn't made any waves. And yeah... a lot of stuff was glossed over, like Hideki's recent brouhaha with Masaru over a comment he made about nobles that wouldn't sit well with just about any one of them if made public. Or Masaru's efforts in repurposing the Combat Division as a peacekeeping force in the Rukon in the time between the treaty and the assault on the Cult.

Which reminds me, KD. Are Masaru and Setsurou gonna have words about that or what?

[Razade]

Mikael wasn't mentioned because his recent run-in with Jehoel and his insistence on taking Hasunaga's class for a potentially deadly trip notwithstanding, he hasn't made any waves. And yeah... a lot of stuff was glossed over, like Hideki's recent brouhaha with Masaru over a comment he made about nobles that wouldn't sit well with just about any one of them if made public. Or Masaru's efforts in repurposing the Combat Division as a peacekeeping force in the Rukon in the time between the treaty and the assault on the Cult.

Which reminds me, KD. Are Masaru and Setsurou gonna have words about that or what?

Oh that's an interesting wrinkle. Would there be a place for some kind of criminal elements trying to take advantage of Soul Society's attempts to get further into the Rukon? Like the Yonko from One Piece?

[strawberryman]

I am toying with those things quite a bit, and could always use co-conspirators.

[KnightDisciple]

Mikael wasn't mentioned because his recent run-in with Jehoel and his insistence on taking Hasunaga's class for a potentially deadly trip notwithstanding, he hasn't made any waves. And yeah... a lot of stuff was glossed over, like Hideki's recent brouhaha with Masaru over a comment he made about nobles that wouldn't sit well with just about any one of them if made public. Or Masaru's efforts in repurposing the Combat Division as a peacekeeping force in the Rukon in the time between the treaty and the assault on the Cult.

Which reminds me, KD. Are Masaru and Setsurou gonna have words about that or what?

Sorry, yeah, brain being pulled in like a dozen directions these days.

[Dorizzit]

(unless you count my Espada character, the strongest character I have, but still - she is, by definition, the weakest of the Espada and probably is on par with a vice captain, maybe. I don't know. I don't really understand how power levels work in Bleach. Also, now that I think about it, I probably also have one of the weakest characters in play who hasn't died yet.)

As a side note, even if we didn't finish that episode thread, Jehoel wouldn't have finished with Valentina until she was thoroughly Captain level.

[Kuroimaken]

C'mon guys, hurry up back to the Kuzunoha compound so I can offer more drama and exposition to all of yas.

[Frozen_Feet]

Is Naito trying to become the Token Evil Teammate in addition to being the Token Intersex Minority?

[Kuroimaken]

Speaking of, let me know if you want the plot twist to come to your aid getting out of the quarry, or if you want it to happen later.

I'm good with whichever.

[Frozen_Feet]

I'm indifferent to it. KD and Dorizzit can decide.

[KnightDisciple]

If D-shizzle wants the Plot Device to show up I'm cool with that, but I was mainly doing this as a "holding action", with the intent to withdraw within a couple of posts.

EDIT: Also screw you Facist Quincies Chuck knows Gun-Fu.

[Dorizzit]

Is Naito trying to become the Token Evil Teammate in addition to being the Token Intersex Minority?

No, but Naito might be going little bit grimdark for the moment.

If D-shizzle wants the Plot Device to show up I'm cool with that, but I was mainly doing this as a "holding action", with the intent to withdraw within a couple of posts.

In absence of knowledge of this plot device, I'll decline.

[Kuroimaken]

Fair enough.

[strawberryman]

This might seem out of nowhere for people. Before I get this out of the way...

Disclaimer: I am not quitting or going on hiatus.

There. Just making that clear before I get into speech mode.

On a lark, I have spent much of the past few days just reading the first Bleach in the Playground. I don't know how many people still remember this, but this game evolved from a casual discussion in the media forum. To think that such a simple premise (What is your zanpaktou?) could inspire such a great emotional roller coaster in a small group of people is quite a thought. A full 6 people (including myself) out of the 9 regulars I listed earlier are from that game. Three were there from the beginning. There were many others who joined and shaped quite an amazing thing indeed, to no offense to anyone not involved. Don't get me wrong, as much as I look on those days with nostalgia, it was not perfect. We all made mistakes. Sometimes things were volatile or vitriolic between us, or the game stalled or bogged down. But let me get to the crux of the matter here.

To my great regret, that long-lasting story did not last into an ending. By that time, with interest in a new game, Reborn, the predecessor to this game, things were picking up there and may have inadvertently stolen some steam from that plot. Still not meaning to shame everybody involved, I mean I was one of the people who eventually pushed into the idea of a reboot and for lack of involvement in the end of that wonderful first game, I pulled my support of the old game. Things got heated in the OOC, and things were said and done that I'm not exactly proud of.

But onto Reborn we went. We tried to be more strict; we didn't want the same unapproachable power curve we had by the end of the first game. We wanted everything to be more structured. In that, I will admit we somewhat doomed ourselves. We were a bit too rigid, we wanted things too controlled. Granted, there is something to be said about not wanting everything out of order, the first game was not completely so (but ye gods, the hybrids) but it was... very high-powered. Nonetheless, things once again crawled to a halt. And once again to my regret, I left. Looking back on it now... it may seem silly, but there are actually very few things I regret more. There was potential there. It breaks my heart that I didn't finish the stories I began.

And for that, to those involved, I heartily apologize. I had my reasons for leaving, but I also could have buckled in and tried a bit harder to move things along. Because that is what really keeps cooperative games together. Devotion. It doesn't have to be a lot, everybody has a life after all. But in the face of slowdowns and boredom, it is making that push through the mire. Because I have seen what the frankly amazing writers in these games have done. I have cried. Tears of joy, sorrow, and all manner of emotions. Maybe I am just that invested! And you know what, I'm okay with that. I think I can still have a life (one day) and have that feeling.

But to the matter at hand... I have resolved myself to a promise upon seeing that last IC post in the last Seireitei thread of the first Bleach in the Playground. I have resolved myself upon thinking of that lost potential in the Reborn storyline. I have resolved myself because deep down, I still love these games. Unfortunately I still find it likely that this will be my last roleplay involvement in the Bleach setting. Maybe I could be wrong, but only time will tell. Nonetheless, for that fact, and for the "fallen" games before this, I am resolved.

I will do everything in my power, as uncertain as I am to the future endgame of this game's plot, to make sure this will be a game that does not stall out. That it is not left without an ending. That I, and perhaps others, are not one day reminiscing regretfully on what could have been.

But... I cannot do so alone. This is a cooperative storytelling experience. I am hardly making a call to arms to be so wholeheartedly devoted to this cause that other aspects of your life fall to ruin, I myself have an absurd amount of time on my hands and will not delude myself into thinking others are blessed with such a gift. But... I ask of you, who still enjoy the experiences in this game, who have enjoyed the experiences past, to hold on to that, and when things are slow or rough, try to push forward. Unarguably, life will sometimes get in the way, and I will personally do my best to be patient when that happens.

What I am trying to say is, as far down the road as it may be, let's pursue that ending, happy, sad, bittersweet, defeatist, or whatever we decide upon. Let's finish this story. Even if our involvement may not be direct with our favored characters. Let's try and ask around, move outside our comfort zone and try to get more people in on this wonderful thing. Let's not get too bogged down on what seems balanced or argue upon power levels, because what matters is the story. The story is what brings us all together. And it can be an absolutely amazing, awe-inspiring, tear-inducing thing.

TLDR; Let's work together and make this an kickass RP, everybody!

[Kuroimaken]

I'll keep it short and sweet.

You have my wholehearted support on this matter, and as long as there's someone, ANYONE left to RP with in this thing, so will I.

[Dorizzit]

I concur. I will admit that my presence in the game is consistently spotty due to a number of RL concerns, but I certainly agree with the sentiment. I will do everything in my power to make sure that this game survives.

[strawberryman]

Anyway, moving on! I am talking with Draken about finishing the Koutetsu house assault, but may take up Setsurou appearing to apprehend Kishi. Apologies to Imp, but, this has gone on quite a while.

[Kuroimaken]

That's fine.

How flamboyant an entrance do you guys want?

[strawberryman]

I have no preference! But probably best after Draken's next post.

Spoiler

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Kishi will be surrendering, and telling their group to retreat. Setsurou can catch a few or all of them, there's probably a dozen on this particular attack.