[BitPR²] OOCVII: Kidnapping aunts for fun & profit

[Rater202]

Okay, I know I said I was leaving but I've been having intrusive thoughts about this for days.

I am starting school soon, I need to be able to focus.

Which means I need to finish what I started.

So I'm going to write an ending to Sarah's storyline.

Specifically: The Hell Verse establishes that if you're strong enough to break the chains, you're strong enough to force the gates open.

During the time skip, Sarah will force the gate open and walk out.

The gate will automatically close behind her, and unless Frozen miraculously decides to return the "piece of the broken Rukon is holding the gate slightly ajar" thing will have no bearing on any of this and can be ignored. Sarah will actively keep anyone else from getting out with her.

Shin-Tan will sense this and come to investigate.

They will fight.

Sarah Will Win.

Sarah will be transcended as I described above.

Sarah will return to Las Noches, re-unite with Svetlana, and then will most likily be retired from play. In all likelihood, I'll leave the game for real after that since I've utterly failed to get any of my characters involved in the main plot, up to and including this storyline, every other time I tried it.

This Will Not In Any Way Affect Kuroimaken's planned Endgame, nor will it infringe upon it, or draw on story elements that he has stated his intent to exclude from the game.

It Will Not In Any Way Result in There being a High Level Character who needs to be Delt With, as Sarah will still be Weaker than most of the characters who are still in play, despite Kuroimaken's concerns about her rapidly getting to Vasto Lorde Level, and regardless will be unwilling to use most of that power and in all likelihood will not even be in play afterward.

As the conclusion will be entirely self-contained, it can be ignored if one so chooses.

I put up with a lot of stuff trying to tell Sarah's story after I joined this game way back when up to and including being essentially railroaded into an unwinnable fight that crushed all of my original plans for her. I just want to give her story a proper ending at this point. That was more or less the only reason I came back in the first place but well, once I'd worked out a way to do it...

I need to do this for my own peace of mind.

To reiterate: This will be entirely self-contained and will not affect anything else unless you want it to.

[Kuroimaken]

You have been told exactly what will happen.

I have not changed my mind.

Do what you will.

[Rater202]

You have been told exactly what will happen.

Making a completely unnecessary retcon to remove my characters from existence? *scrubbed*

Why does your planned endgame take precedence over my character arc? They're utterly unrelated in any conceivable way other than your suggestion which boils down to my character having no agency whatsoever and waiting for a chance to be literally handed a happy ending while my antagonist fails to be an antagonist and then doesn't even succeed in her goals because someone else gets to it first.

I tried literally everything to try and reconcile my storyline with what I knew of your plans before you made the ultimatum to give up my story or be retconned out of existence so you could do a storyline that my story doesn't affect in any conceivable way.

This is Freeform. There's no GMs here. You don't have the right to make such an ultimatum anymore than I have to right to declare that Koutatou suddenly gets crushed to death by an elephant.

I mean, if Knight Disciple started a story that you didn't like would you threaten him with a Deus ex Machina that removes his characters from existence if he didn't abandon it?

Dorizzit?

You called me unreasonable and wanting to do things my way. But I'm not the one threatening to remove someone else's characters from existence for doing something that doesn't affect my characters or stories in any conceivable way.

[Kuroimaken]

*scrubbed*

[Rater202]

You realize that you're threatening to Godmod me to preserve a storyline that my characters and their arc don't affect in any conceivable way, right?

I'm not the one being unreasonable here.

[Rater202]

Kuroimaken, humor me for a second.

What would have happened if Shin-Tan had gone after the artifact that the fox spirit pointed her too?

The character in question suggested that it would have gotten Sarah out of Hell, but since you seem downright opposed to Sarah getting out of Hell I have to ask what would have actually happened.

[Kuroimaken]

The Sesshouseki you mean?

Well, the original idea at the time was that the artifact would be able to "purge" the "sin" out of Sarah's soul by establishing a connection with it. In order to do so, it would need a direct line to her, i.e. the Gates would have to be open at some point. The process would require considerable energy to be spent, which in all likelihood would need Shin-Tan's sacrifice AND would weaken Sarah considerably. It would also erase or at least temporarily block her memories of the events leading up to and including her time in Hell, depending on how much she rejects or accepts said memories. The end result would be a "free" Sarah, no longer bound by her condemnation but retaining her powers (if not at the level they are nominally at right now).

The artifact in question is sentient, which means if Shin-Tan did not play ball or tried to order it around, it would kick her in the shins and disappear just for kicks, making her go after it again (it would not be in the same place this time).

[Rater202]

So your alternative to a storyline that was meant to bring people together for the end game, complete my characters narrative arc, and fix the massive power discrepancy was a side-quest that would be impossible to complete until after the endgame and would make my character weaker than she was going in(increasing the power discrepancy) and sending her character arc backward.

[Kuroimaken]

No, my alternative to your storyline was not giving Shin-Tan Quincy Jesus powers, keeping Sarah from falling into Hell again without her having to become a creature that cannot be touched, approached or spoken to (in other words, completely alone), as well as potentially trauma-free, while simultaneously punishing Shin-Tan for all the **** she got up to, including sending Sarah to Hell.

But that was then, this is now.

Will be posting the endgame opening tomorrow. Was going to do it tonight, but uni really shorted out my brain.

[Rater202]

No, my alternative to your storyline was not giving Shin-Tan Quincy Jesus powers, keeping Sarah from falling into Hell again without her having to become a creature that cannot be touched, approached or spoken to (in other words, completely alone), as well as potentially trauma-free, while simultaneously punishing Shin-Tan for all the **** she got up to, including sending Sarah to Hell.

But that was then, this is now.

Will be posting the endgame opening tomorrow. Was going to do it tonight, but uni really shorted out my brain.

In other words, you wanted a storyline where absolutely nothing changed except that the weakest character in the game would get even weaker and permanently lose the ability to get stronger because the core of her spiritual power would cease to exist. Since Sarah's narrative is about becoming a being who can't live in the mortal world, this would make it permanently impossible to complete her intended character arc.

It would also have been impossible to complete before the game ended because you seem irrationally opposed to Sarah ever getting out of Hell or the Gate of Hell being opened again prior to the conclusion of your endgame.

It's only mortals who are harmed by the energy of a transcendent being, so Sarah wouldn't have been lone, and Shin-tan's punishment would be the fact that Sarah will never call on or commune with her unless it's absolutely necessary.

[Kuroimaken]

Alright, that's the kickoff for the endgame. Presumably sometime soon the Ghost-King will do something unconscionable worthy of a final battle.

[Rater202]

There. Self-contained conclusion to Sarah's character arc.

For the record: Sarah did not get noticeably stronger from Arrancarification.

All of their special powers and 9/10s of her power are sealed away. Sarah is soft locked at genetic fullbring, generic hollow/Arrancar, and 1/10 of the power of a New-born Vasto Lorde.

She is unlikely to fight.

Unless someone wants to play out Sarah giving the piece of Red Joker that Shin-Tan took from the Sin Rostra to the human kids or something, this is more or less her retirement.

As it is self-contained and does not affect Kuroimaken's planned endgame, there is no reason to carry out the threat to "deus ex machina her out of existence."

[Kuroimaken]

I see you finally picked an alternative.

Sad to see which one it was.

[Rater202]

Kuroi.

I tried to resolve this peacefully because I thought we were friends.

I spent months planning a storyline.

I bent over backward, scrapping over half of what I had planned, to try and reconcile my plans with yours, only for you to say that I needed to do everything "my way" when your only alternatives were to ignore m storyline completely and do absolutely nothing.

I finally gave the storyline an entirely self-contained conclusion that didn't affect you, your characters, or your precious endgame whatsoever.

This was completely unnecessary.

*scrubbed*

[Razade]

I pop in every now and then to see if this game has actually concluded. It'd honestly warm my heart to know that it had. Every time I come in I find Kuroi doing what he's always done. At this point coming in and checking to see how this all ended, and what ideas of mine were carried to the end doesn't seem likely. Frozen's gone and with it the only player who actually cared to make sure that all the players come and gone got actual representation as the story concluded. It's a real shame, I really liked Wan and I think that storyline could have been cool if certain players hadn't concluded that the game was done because they wanted their characters to have a victory lap.

[Kuroimaken]

*scrubbed*

[Rater202]

KD, Dorizzit, can I get either of your opinions on this?

[Kuroimaken]

Don't bother. This kind of drama is what phased Strawberryman out.
*scrubbed*

[flat_footed]

The Fullmetal Mod: Locked for review.

[flat_footed]

The Fullmetal Mod: Posts should always address the game and the characters, not the player. Assuming the Forum Rules can be followed, please feel free to continue with this game.

[Kuroimaken]

Well, now that this whole debacle is behind us...

You guys told me you were up for just posting a summary of what happens at the end given that the game was on hold. I had asked you to hold off on that to think on some stuff, and I figured since the game was on hold, posting on the actual IC thread might have brought you guys some trouble. It turns out that it wouldn't, but at any rate, now the game is no longer on lockdown.

We now have the option to continue and bring the game to its conclusion or we can post summaries. I think it's easy to tell which one I'd prefer, but that's not just up to me. I need everyone on board.

So, yeah. I'd like to hear from you guys what you'd like to do at this point.

[KnightDisciple]

Give me another day or two and I'll try to work up some bullet points.

[KnightDisciple]

Well, now that this whole debacle is behind us...

You guys told me you were up for just posting a summary of what happens at the end given that the game was on hold. I had asked you to hold off on that to think on some stuff, and I figured since the game was on hold, posting on the actual IC thread might have brought you guys some trouble. It turns out that it wouldn't, but at any rate, now the game is no longer on lockdown.

We now have the option to continue and bring the game to its conclusion or we can post summaries. I think it's easy to tell which one I'd prefer, but that's not just up to me. I need everyone on board.

So, yeah. I'd like to hear from you guys what you'd like to do at this point.

Alright, let's see...

-I'd like Masaru to get one last fight, maybe helping against Von Geister in a 2-on-1 or 3-on-1 fight, utilizing his Bankai and Koutarou's extra Transformation Belt one last time.
-Turiel takes on Oscar. May or may not be a mutual kill depending on what sort of shenangians he has. Or he takes on a handful of the Knights?
-Chuck sticks with the other Kids....so I dunno if they end up in that fight or not. I/he would be content for him to stick to guarding the mortal world. Maybe someone tries to attack the Sanctuary?
-Masamune goes back to the Royal Realm, unless the various Sin Rostra try a final charge there or something.
-Thomas dies in the final battle, doesn't need a super-epic win or anything. Maybe he's the first one Koutarou super-purifies to get rid of the White Plague? and demonstrate its effectiveness?

[Kuroimaken]

No Sin Rostra left, Sagarosso nommed them all.

We're kinda light on the villains side. Even if we assumed VG replenished Knight ranks, we got no one to play them. At one point, I discussed with strawbs the possibility of the kids squaring off against the Knights while Koutarou took on VG and the Shinigami engaged VG's army. (Part of the point behind the Katsuo plot was to give them one last chance to level up before the big fight.)

I had at one point considered that perhaps whatever plan VG had for creating his ideal world for his children might require more of Soul Society than the chunks he managed to recover back in Siberia. So that'd give them reason for attacking Soul Society in a more direct manner.

As for my own characters...

-Koutarou faces VG, it's pretty much in the cards already.
-Setsurou would try to help coordinate the hot mess that would be this battle. Mostly his role in the final battle revolves around Momoka.
-Shinji gets to do one last stupid thing for the sake of his friends. Also, we get to officially figure out who Bai is. (I say officially because I'm sure everyone else has figured it out already.)
-Ryouma will be happy smacking massive quantities of Hollows around.
-Hasunaga would hang back as a kind of last line of defense. Plus battle commentary.

I'm thinking that we could get the Quincy prisoners moved elsewhere (someone finally decided what to do with them!) and abducted in transit to shore up the ranks of the bad guys. Though I can't remember if any of the actually powerful ones survived the Las Noches assault.

[Kuroimaken]

*lightly nudges Dorizzit*