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ft_directory) wrote2001-02-02 02:37 pm
ft_directory) wrote2001-02-02 02:37 pm
Entry tags:
Recurring FH Events: Fandom High 20-Year Reunion
Fandom High 20-Year Reunions aren't necessarily held every year, but when they are, here's what goes down:
On the scheduled weekend, usually on Friday, all alumni and expatriate characters will be invited back to Fandom Island for a general reunion event. (Alumni and expats can visit the island anytime; this time, they'll have received a formal invitation.)
They won't know anything weird's going to happen (though it's Fandom, so they might suspect), and they'll have Friday to hang around and catch up with old friends as their normal selves.
After everyone goes to bed that night, though, Fandom magic sets in. When they wake up on Saturday morning, those characters whose players choose to have them affected will wake up as their 20-years older self, back in Fandom for a reunion that's supposed to be happening 20 years in Fandom Island's future as well.
So the future characters will know they're coming back for a reunion, but won't know that it's going to be on the Fandom Island of today, where they'll meet some friends who haven't aged at all, some friends from their own post-Fandom timeline, and some friends who are also 20 years older, but wow, was their 20 years different from mine.
Who can be affected?
Everyone. Townies, teachers, students, expats and alumni!
Do I have to?
Nope! You're welcome to have your character stay their current age with their current memories, whether they're an on-island character or came back for the present-day reunion.
Where can characters be affected?
Only on the island. This event won't stretch out its effect to those who don't return.
So where is my character's younger self, exactly?
Kind of hanging out inside the older body, recording, but not conscious of being anyone but their older self. They don't get displaced to somewhere else.
What do they remember when they wake up as themselves again?
That's up to the player. Handwavy Fandom magic is handwavy, so that recorded memory of the weekend could be crystal clear, a little murky, or as vague as you'd like it to be.
What are the rules for the possible futures these characters come from?
These are futures that might never happen, so you can go pretty much any direction you like! Your character doesn't have to come from the same potential future you used the last time this event came around (though they can), and they don't have to come from the same potential future as other characters during this event.
One caveat: your future character can be from any AU, but it has to have diverged from Fandom as it is today. No backgrounds where Fandom has been ruled by trolls since 2006; everything up to going to sleep on Friday night happened the same for everyone.
What can I make up about other characters' futures?
This is where we get into the RP etiquette area. It's still Jokers Wild in terms of what events you want to have happened, but you need to work out those events with the players of those characters -- even if their reunion character isn't coming from that future. (Within reason - it's fine to say "I shut myself off from everybody in Fandom and haven't seen any of you for 20 years" and other such things that are mostly about your own character.)
Nobody from the future should show up for the reunion saying "Hey, Bob, what are your thoughts on world domination? Because where I come from, you're known as Grandmaster Roberto. You've wiped out half the population of the planet, enslaved the other half, and made eating hot dogs with Chicago-style relish a crime punishable by instant execution," unless they've got Bob's player's buy-in to that. That player might be all-aboard, or they might think it's completely out of character because Bob adores neon green sweet-pickles.
That's an extreme example, but the same goes for more mundane stuff like "In my future, you cheated on me" or "My kids call you Uncle Bob." If you and the other player enjoy improv-style playing and want to give each other carte-blanche, or set specific limitations from the start, great, go for it. But if you don't know whether they'd approve, ask first.
What about mentioning things from possible futures to other characters once everyone's back to normal?
Same deal: ask first. Even if that future information was revealed by their character. No one has the right to mod your character into not remembering something they experienced, but under the general rule of "Don't be a jerk," it's a kindness to check whether they want you to tell them -- or other people -- about it.
What if somebody does one of those things up there that they're not supposed to do, like makes up something about my character without checking with me, or tells my character their future when I didn't want them to know?
This is true for almost everything in RP, and you're likely to see it repeated for a lot of plots: the counterpart to Don't Be a Jerk is Do Be a Grown-Up. If someone does something that upsets you or messes with your plans for your character, talk to them about it. Don't assume they were deliberately being rude; they may have thought they had your approval, or they may have thought it was such a general thing that you wouldn't care, or they may just have forgotten they hadn't already asked. All of these things happen.
All of these can also be fixed if you catch them soon enough, which usually depends on the whole "talk to people" thing. No one minds if you and the other player take back a couple of pings to correct a conversation, or tap someone else on the shoulder and say "Hey, that thing my character just said was a misunderstanding on my part; could your character unhear it, please?"
If, at the end of the day, a piece of information makes the Radio broadcast or otherwise spreads too far and you can't un-do it, try to remember that it's just one plot about one possible future that doesn't have to be your character's future, and that people are human and make mistakes. Holding a grudge about a game is seldom worth losing a friend, or even just the fun of playing with someone in that game.
On the scheduled weekend, usually on Friday, all alumni and expatriate characters will be invited back to Fandom Island for a general reunion event. (Alumni and expats can visit the island anytime; this time, they'll have received a formal invitation.)
They won't know anything weird's going to happen (though it's Fandom, so they might suspect), and they'll have Friday to hang around and catch up with old friends as their normal selves.
After everyone goes to bed that night, though, Fandom magic sets in. When they wake up on Saturday morning, those characters whose players choose to have them affected will wake up as their 20-years older self, back in Fandom for a reunion that's supposed to be happening 20 years in Fandom Island's future as well.
So the future characters will know they're coming back for a reunion, but won't know that it's going to be on the Fandom Island of today, where they'll meet some friends who haven't aged at all, some friends from their own post-Fandom timeline, and some friends who are also 20 years older, but wow, was their 20 years different from mine.
Who can be affected?
Everyone. Townies, teachers, students, expats and alumni!
Do I have to?
Nope! You're welcome to have your character stay their current age with their current memories, whether they're an on-island character or came back for the present-day reunion.
Where can characters be affected?
Only on the island. This event won't stretch out its effect to those who don't return.
So where is my character's younger self, exactly?
Kind of hanging out inside the older body, recording, but not conscious of being anyone but their older self. They don't get displaced to somewhere else.
What do they remember when they wake up as themselves again?
That's up to the player. Handwavy Fandom magic is handwavy, so that recorded memory of the weekend could be crystal clear, a little murky, or as vague as you'd like it to be.
What are the rules for the possible futures these characters come from?
These are futures that might never happen, so you can go pretty much any direction you like! Your character doesn't have to come from the same potential future you used the last time this event came around (though they can), and they don't have to come from the same potential future as other characters during this event.
One caveat: your future character can be from any AU, but it has to have diverged from Fandom as it is today. No backgrounds where Fandom has been ruled by trolls since 2006; everything up to going to sleep on Friday night happened the same for everyone.
What can I make up about other characters' futures?
This is where we get into the RP etiquette area. It's still Jokers Wild in terms of what events you want to have happened, but you need to work out those events with the players of those characters -- even if their reunion character isn't coming from that future. (Within reason - it's fine to say "I shut myself off from everybody in Fandom and haven't seen any of you for 20 years" and other such things that are mostly about your own character.)
Nobody from the future should show up for the reunion saying "Hey, Bob, what are your thoughts on world domination? Because where I come from, you're known as Grandmaster Roberto. You've wiped out half the population of the planet, enslaved the other half, and made eating hot dogs with Chicago-style relish a crime punishable by instant execution," unless they've got Bob's player's buy-in to that. That player might be all-aboard, or they might think it's completely out of character because Bob adores neon green sweet-pickles.
That's an extreme example, but the same goes for more mundane stuff like "In my future, you cheated on me" or "My kids call you Uncle Bob." If you and the other player enjoy improv-style playing and want to give each other carte-blanche, or set specific limitations from the start, great, go for it. But if you don't know whether they'd approve, ask first.
What about mentioning things from possible futures to other characters once everyone's back to normal?
Same deal: ask first. Even if that future information was revealed by their character. No one has the right to mod your character into not remembering something they experienced, but under the general rule of "Don't be a jerk," it's a kindness to check whether they want you to tell them -- or other people -- about it.
What if somebody does one of those things up there that they're not supposed to do, like makes up something about my character without checking with me, or tells my character their future when I didn't want them to know?
This is true for almost everything in RP, and you're likely to see it repeated for a lot of plots: the counterpart to Don't Be a Jerk is Do Be a Grown-Up. If someone does something that upsets you or messes with your plans for your character, talk to them about it. Don't assume they were deliberately being rude; they may have thought they had your approval, or they may have thought it was such a general thing that you wouldn't care, or they may just have forgotten they hadn't already asked. All of these things happen.
All of these can also be fixed if you catch them soon enough, which usually depends on the whole "talk to people" thing. No one minds if you and the other player take back a couple of pings to correct a conversation, or tap someone else on the shoulder and say "Hey, that thing my character just said was a misunderstanding on my part; could your character unhear it, please?"
If, at the end of the day, a piece of information makes the Radio broadcast or otherwise spreads too far and you can't un-do it, try to remember that it's just one plot about one possible future that doesn't have to be your character's future, and that people are human and make mistakes. Holding a grudge about a game is seldom worth losing a friend, or even just the fun of playing with someone in that game.