Pardon my ignorance from possibly missing something mentioned somewhere at sometime that i just happened to miss due to my absense that seems to continuously interrupt my posting and existance on this ver' board at times, but have there been any discussions in relation to who/what's wearing the Big Bad pants this season?
Also: when is mid season ending exactly? because i heard the 31st, yet that seems awful near for something that's currently moving so ver' slow and having to travel through the christmas rush, of which the conclusion of would pretty much be the end of the mids... apparently.... i don't know :oops: stop looking at me like i'm strange and have two heads or someth... oh wait... i do :P :P hehe
anywho-dillys, i'm hoping some form of what i was trying to say was conveyed... if not, i apologise sincerely. but if so ^_^ i give you the almighty...:
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Ugh, don't remind me. I had a comeback post ready and waiting but my brother, the fucking genius he is, messed up our computer again and had Dell reformat it. It works again, but the dumbass whiped out all of my documents and songs :cry: :cry: :cry:
So... I should get working on that.
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I agree the end of December is WAY too soon to try and wrap Midseason up by, especially since we've only covered the first couple of weeks in-game :? Obviously at the moment we're being held up because we can't move forward until we get the wedding and the musical out of the way, but with how slow we're moving I wouldn't be surprised if it took us until the new year to get so far.
Once that's done I'm sure we'll move alot faster. My own story line for the midseason doesn't really rely on many other PC's so even though I have alot to cover I'll be able to zoom off on my own. I'm sure that is going to be the same for lots of other players too.
Still, I think we're probably looking at starting Season Five around the end of February or March. Two or three months might sound like a lot but it's obvious just how quickly time passes, and I don't know about anyone else but I still don't feel ready to dive into another season just yet. I'm only just recovering my creativity from the last burn out :oops:
Finally, I don't know what talk there has been about the Season Five BB outside the forums. I mentioned a while ago that I'd be tying up the Ministry of Magic storyline (finally) I'm sure it has the potential to at least be part of the season Big Bad if not the BB itself. The story I'm working on will include an apocalyptic event and right now I'm willing to make it as small or large as needed to fit in with everything else - I don't want to give too much away at the moment 'cos it's supposed to be a surprise! :twisted:
Anyway, those are my thoughts and general ramblings for now, I'm sure there'll be more to come. :D
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I'm keen on the give me a couple of months to wrap up the emotional mess I've created for my poor character idea, just so you all know. For the wedding, I'm waiting mostly for Heather, who is waiting for Matt and Shaun ( I think). Then, if no one has anything else, I can rush right through the torturous nuptials and get on with ruining Daye's life some more.
As for the BB, I'm game for whatever you all have in mind. I've a minor sub plot or two brewing, but not sure when either will come to fruition. And I'm BBed out for the immediate future.
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Well Louisa, you know I'm up for your plot. Even if you DID tell me to forget about some of the ideas I gave you for it. Which I haven't, btw. :twisted:
I have a plot of mine brewing (note to self: write over break!), but it's not really BB material. Especially since the ending of the plot is some 50 years hence, and what we see in-game is a small segment which involves one of the characters. :)
but yeah, at the moment though for time at least, we should probably wait to start until the end of Feb or March. Some of us have exams comming up in the next two months as well, so we may want to start at a time when we'll be a little less testy.
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Well, Matt and Shaun have finished their collab now, and Matt's posted the collab he and I did as well, so you can go for it on the wedding now, Kris. :) Dave and I did a collab that occurs at the start of the reception that we'll need to slot in there, so try not to put up too many all at once. :wink:
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oh sweet merciful crap. i foresee a sudden flooding of posts after this wedding 8O *zips raincoat right up under nose* mrmph mph mmr
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Okay...I've just had an idea...for the Big Bad.
Let me qualify this by saying, this one will in no way revolve around my character. If you all like it, it will require other people to take the ball and run with it.
Okay...obviously...before you say...I am borrowing from a well known source or two here, but just let me tell you a little story.
In the ancient land of Sumeria, in a small village, lived a powerful young woman who could commune with the lands unseen. She was revered as a person of great depths, but she was inquisitive and had a deep thirst for knowledge. She discovered, through study and meditation, worlds other than this one, and communed with consciousnesses wholly alien from those of man. This woman, who's true name is lost to us, came to regard these entities as far superior to her own people. She longed for their knowledge and power to be her own. And finally, one such creature made her a generous offer. She could join with it, in the way of man to woman, and from their union she would become the mother of a new, different race, a combination of the best of both of theirs. The woman readily agreed.
Unfortunately, here our tale takes a tragic turn. The people of her village, her friends, neighbors, and family, did not have the depth of understanding that our heroine possessed. Upon finding her impregnated by this alien entity, that they considered to be a 'demon', the people were disgusted, terrified, and infuriated. They rose up against her and killed her for her transgression, destroying in the process the child she carried within her. The 'demon' who had fathered the child was enraged. It sought to punish the people. So, the demon infused the body and mind of the woman with a part of it's essence, and Eriskagal, the Mother of the Vampires, was born.
Eriskagal discovered she had powers far beyond those of normal man, but she also had a deep hunger for blood to sustain her unliving flesh. The people who had killed her were terrorstruck at her return and thought that it meant she was a god. Eriskagal did nothing to disabuse them of that idea. She accepted their worship and along the way discovered she could pass on her gifts to any she chose. Eriskagal was selective in creating her 'children' and made sure to establish strict rules for their conduct.
The 'children' of Eriskagal eventually went out and found their own ancient people to become followers. Thus, the practice of worshipping gods through blood sacrifice grew throughout the world, and the vampires were safe and content.
Everything went on swimmingly, until some meddlesome deities known only as the Powers That Be, decided to intervene. They endowed a human girl with power and strength and set her up to destroy Eriskagal and her beloved offspring. That girl was the very first Vampire Slayer.
Obviously, the "Vampire Slayer" was a worrisome thing to Eriskagal. And even more obviously, she was a very intelligent creature. Eriskagal figured out that to keep her children, and more importantly, herelf, safe, there would have to be some changes made. Eriskagal contacted all her progeny and they agreed to take on a much lower profile. In other words, tbey went into hiding. Perhaps this chafed a bit, going from being gods to hiding in the shadows but we do what we can to survive. In some cases, the worship continued in secret for a while. But the world slowly moved on.
Eriskagal and the other vampires hid, and became legend more than fact. Time moved forward, and despite the Slayers and others arrayed against them, the vampires survived through the centuries. There were many notable things that happened to and with them, but those are parts of other stories. Our narrative picks up just a year or so ago, with a group of four particular vampires.
The Brotherhood, Valerian, Dathan, Nicholas, and Krispin, came together in Los Angeles with one goal in mind, power. They set in motion a plan to use the Slayer to take control of everything. Needless to say, this upset Eriskagal when she got word of it. She prepared to find them and personally take care of the Brotherhood, but they were thwarted. Eriskagal was content once again.
A certain lovely young vampire of the acquaintance of many of this games' players is about to catch the goddess' notice once again. Thus will she have a purpose for heading our way and thus can she become the next Big Bad for our little game. Eriskagal's purpose is two fold, to protect the race of vampires, and to punish whenever possible those who harm her offspring.
So...what do you all think?
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Oh...by the way...I don't want to drive this baby. But if any or all of you have ideas to adapt it, that's cool. That's why I'm suggesting it here, to bring it to light and let everyone else run with it.
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i like it and pheaps i might actuley come off the shelf and start posting again :roll:
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I like it as well,since this is a season-plot I can actually get involved in :D .
And forgive my ignorance, but which vamp?
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So we have backstory; but what, exactly, is she going to be doing here in LA?
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I think that would be me. *grin* Or Jade, rather... She's kinda disappeared off the LABN radar since her run in with Kieran sometime in March 2007 but she's still lurking around. I just have to figure out how to get her back into the game. I'll get around to writing as soon as my work schedule allows me to... *sheepish grin*
By the way, Kris, I love what you've proposed. My main concern, however, is how big a role Jade's expected to play in S5. I'll be writing whenever I can. But realistically, that's not going to be much and I don't want my time constraints to mess around with the plot.
Of course, there's another option. Some of the older players like Heather, and Robin have a pretty good grasp of what Jade's likely to do in most situations, so they could stand in and write for me whenever I'm unable to do so. I'm ok going with whatever they decide to write for her, should it come down to that.
:)
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I thought the vampire was supposed to be Parasol :?
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Hahaha... Really? Oops... :oops: I have no idea.
Kris, wanna clarify?
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Valerian? That was my thought.
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no...i'd rather not say just yet...though if either of the people involved in the ms story leading to it want to...
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Ok, please don't take this the long way, but if you can't tell us the details, why even bother bringing it up? You can't do a collaborative writing project and *not* give your fellow writers all of the relevant facts. Witness Pelor's return and the confusion over that when that happens.
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before the season starts...the midseason plot for this person will be established and everyone would understand, but as i stated when i put the idea up...this one isn't really about my character
i'm hoping the two people i've talked to about it will run with the idea and that everyone can get involved with them...
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Yeah, that's kind of a good question.
I'm asuming she's gonna go after the White-Hats and try to kill them, but besides that how's she gonna probably try to destroy the world?
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The idea I was kicking around with some people was that she comes to try and stop the vampire I mentioned before she garners too much attention and gets them all wiped out. Along the way, she probably decides that the WH are a big enough threat to her 'children' to warrant some personal attention. But, again, it's just an idea...more a germ of an idea actually...so, what do you all want to see her do...what goals do you think she should be working towards?
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That's a pretty open question that Kris doesn't have the answer for. See her earlier comments about not driving this plotline. If you've got something for Erishkegal to do when she hits LA aand After she deals with the WH's and Parasol then feel free to add them at this point we have the seed of an idea not the whole plant.
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Or as a little plot-twist how aboot this:
Her many aeons of existence has taken it's part on Ereshkigal's sanity (in other words, she's completly insane) and she after walking among her children once agains decides that they are the biggest threat to themselves.
Since she sees them as both weak and flawed and after the Brotherhoods plans she decides that they are unable to even keep up the veil anymore.
So,she decides to start anew. She's gonna spare her worthiest children and destroy the rest and then she's gonna use L.A. as a spawning ground for the new generation, whom she deems to be superior to her earlier children (which, is completly false but she in her insanity is convinced otherwise).
Or something similar I dunno.
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I guess what nobody has mentioned is that this falls outside of Joss Whedon's canon of the origins of vampires.
That having been said, I am not really in the mood for another baby-related prophecy/threat. After Mother Mariah/Maia and Delancre's facination with Maia and the death of Emma I've had enough of babies and mothers.
Matt and Jamie (I think) proposed a breakdown of the "great divide" between the living and the dead becasue of the NPC Vince that would lead to lost or crossed-over souls returning to their bodies. This would be a local phenomenon that unless stemmed would spread around the world.
Jamie mentioned something with the Harbingers and the ressurection of their leader Dukal.
Nick has Werewolf stuff that might be useable as well.
I also plan to introduce an old favorite Big Bad from the Jossverse back into the game. I think it is time. Unfortunately it isn't time to reveal who...
So as creative an idea as this is. I, personally, think we can be even more original.
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I actually liked this idea though, having re-read the background stuff I do have a different concern that this is another super vamp story much like the Brotherhood which, lets face it, was only the season before last. I have to say the mother/child thing doesn't bother me because I don't feel it was really a central theme to the Delancre story, but that's just me.
I also just want to reiterate that I'm planning a storyline where the hellmouth will be opened and a certain amount of hellish demons will be spewed into LA. Part of my story will be that the hellmouth has shifted after the implosion from Sunnydale to Los Angeles. Again, as I've said before this doesn't have to be a gigantic apocalyptic event - and I have means for dealing with it if no one else wants in. But I thought I'd mention it again cos it strikes me that the whole 'mystical convergance' thing could have an impact or be a direct cause of some other event happening.
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Hmmmm. It is, of course, part of an idea that I had - I'd been toying with ideas in my head for the metaphysics of Hellmouths, and had spoken of them to Louisa some to give her the explanation if she wanted to move it.
The thought is that a 'Hellmouth', while a poetic name, isn't descriptive. The thought is that mystical energy flows through the world constantly, maybe kind of like weather patterns. Just one thing: you have places where currents of energy cross. Wierd Things(tm) tend to happen in these areas. Sunnydale was one such area.
Of course, this doesn't mean that currents don't move. If you do something drastic to the system - say, implosion of one of these collision zones - the end result is rather big, especially with the currents of energy. You alter the flow of the currents, and they colide in some smaller spots, then (eventually) the mystical energy system settles, perhaps with a convergence together.
One note, about Joss' Canon: reading the backstory of the vampire in question, who is essentially the first vampire, it seems accurate. Joss didn't give us lots of detail, to my knowledge; so we get to fill it out. 'tis what fan authors do.
Anyway, as fun an idea as the villain is, she's not a story. So, here's a possible story, with complex metaphysics in mind: convergences happen. They can be smaller or larger. It also means that if you want to get lots and lots of mystical energy somewhere, you have a simple way to do so. Which, even if it takes centuries, can be worth it.
We have a Hellmouth - a convergence - trying to form somewhere in LA. It occurs to me that a being of sufficient age, knowledge, and power could very easily tap into that and then.... I don't know. There's lots of possibilities. A new implosion? Absorb the power? Try to become one with the mystical current of the world?
(To keep up my reputation for evil: the stoics had this notion of the world-soul, and a concious, rational universe. Imagine a vampire merging with/turning the world-soul)
The thing is is that with this character, we're going to have to have a very, very, very good reason to want to risk our necks to face her. We're talking about someone who would quite literally be the oldest vampire alive. Old enough that we don't have an exact date. This is a vampire who has probably forgotten more powerfull rituals than Giles had on record, and who predates not only the Watchers, but also the Slayer.
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That sounds alot like the mid-season plot me and Matt is working with (which I made a topic for quite a while ago) and the reason why that couldn't be a plot for a season is because, there's really no Big Bad in it.
That could work out with a little thing I had in mind.....
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That's something I think could make things very interesting, actually. A season without a specific "Big Bad." I really wouldn't mind not having a Big Bad and either using your thing or Louisa's Hellmouth idea as a way to do things (note: I am planning, for her plot, to write something involving everyone's favourite Not-So-Ancient-Evil.... just for fun ;)).
We don't need a central villain so much as a focus; a central villain just provides a specific, visible focus. The prospect of the focus being this occurence - the re-alignment of mystical energies brought about several years ago in Sunnydale - could be one such possibility. We'd have to be prepared to deal with more demons and powers going haywire, and Steve feeling slightly more evil than normal.
Lou's Rather Long Explanation...
Brace yourself, this was supposed to be a short note and it turned out just a tad longer than I meant :oops: - embrace the power of caffeine! :twisted:
The idea I had with the Hellmouth was that, although there wouldn’t be a specific Big Bad involved the mystic energy would perhaps attract other nasties to the LA area – or maybe someone would see fit to try and utilise this potentially disastrous event for their own ends…
Though I hadn’t intended it to be the season BB I’ve thought of a few ideas that could get other people involved if they wanted to. My original thought was that in the run up to the main event there would be smaller 'pockets' of the Hellmouth opening up throughout the city, sort of like temporal gaps in the dimensional planes or what have you that allow certain nasties a small doorway into our world. That way there would be some very horrible demons, creatures etc lurking around LA spreading their badness etc.
I think it’ll probably help everyone understand what I’m wanting to do with this on a personal basis if I explain where the Ministry of Magic comes in to all this. Basically the Ministry know all about this event, like Majestic they are an agency that seeks to monitor supernatural occurrences and take preventative measures to stop such disasters effecting the public at large. But whereas Majestic rely on gathering intelligence through the kind of methods used by central intelligence agencies the Ministry is more archaic, relying on seers and prophets and ancient tomes that foretell such events. It’s only in recent years that their forays into science have updated some of their more arcane methods for dealing with such situations.
In relation to the Hellmouth, the Ministry have dedicated much of their time over the past few years into following it’s path and deciphering ancient texts to predict it’s re-emergence. Therefore they already KNOW the Hellmouth is ready to open again and have begun to put measures in place to ‘deal with it.’
Their agenda is really very simple – to contain any overflow from this event and to eventually stop it from taking place. The one thing I want to stress is that unlike the Watchers or any other Big Bad that’s been on the scene their aims are rather more altruistic. They don’t wish to kill any one who opposes them, or brainwash them into becoming their loyal servants – and the phrase ‘rule the world’ doesn’t come into their vocabulary. ;) They don’t want to create a new world order because the way things are suit them very well indeed. They have lots of power and influence already and manage to maintain their anonymity.
The point is that they operate on secrecy which is why they won’t make their presence known unless absolutely necessary. They won’t seek to impede on anyone’s territory or alter the way they live their lives – their ultimate goal is to succeed and retreat back into the shadows as easily and painless as possible.
Though I’ve no specific design on how I want this whole thing to end (except where my own characters are involved) I’m not seeking to destroy the Ministry as an organisation in anyway - in my mind their organisational structure is too vast and far reaching to be broken and they are ultimately on the side of good.
Saying that I’m not opposed to having them taken down a peg or two. One idea I DID have was that most of their LA operatives could be slaughtered by some of the Hellmouth nasties so that the task of saving LA falls to the White Hats again – but like I said I’ve not made definite choices I’m very happy for other people if they wanted to be involved to offer solutions etc. And obviously the number of people involved would determine how large or small the whole affair will be.
Anyway, I think that pretty much outlines my basic plot details for the season – where the Ministry is involved I do have an idea of where I want to go but the overall story I’ve tried to leave open. Once again, I’m not setting this whole thing up as the season BB though I’m quite happy if people want to run with it and expand it into something bigger, or take elements of it – that’s up the individuals. I’m also very happy to just explore this on my own (apart from what Adam has planned which we’ve talked about). Basically I’ve been setting this story up since Season Three so regardless of what else takes place in Season Five, I HAVE to put this puppy to bed now, it’s important for my sanity :D.
I’m quite sure that it probably WON’T be as complex as the last season, though I have some complex character plots which I don’t think I need to reveal now since it doesn’t really impact the overall story. There’s the possibility that if this was the BB it would mean a shorter season or at least reduce the need to have a large extension on the end – I don’t know whether that would be considered a good thing or not right now ;)
PHEW! Anyway, I’ve said MORE than enough – that’ll teach me to drink three cups of expresso in the afternoon.
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Wait, we did?
Oh, yes. That. I remember now. Ummm...err...I'll be on Sunday to discuss/organise time to finish this off (i've got bucket loads of work to do on sunday so can't collab then)...or just leave a note in my absence thread :P
As for BB, no BB would certainly be...different. Call me traditional, though, but I like an enemy to fight against...though saying that no BB would definately make for an interesting season...ehh, I'm game either way.
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Looking at all the various proposals so far, I have to say I'm leaning towards the idea of the "nonBB" Big Bad.
I feel we've really done the ultra-powerful vampire thing to death with the Brotherhood. Having yet another ancient vampire wanting to gather power to herself, saving only other vampires who are "worthy" etc, etc, is pretty much just a repeat of Season Three, just replacing four pretty awesome vampires with one extremely awesome vampire.
And it'd make a nice change to have something to deal with that's not a specific group or individual. We tried something of the ilk with Season Two's Evil Entity (which couldn't really be fought directly) but it failed to properly get off the ground. Maybe with a couple of solid seasons under our belt now it's time to try again.
There are already some juicy possibilities with the whole Hellmouth thing - it ties in VERY nicely with some bits that have already had their seeds posted on the board.
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Okay, I hate to do this, but I am going to let a cat out of the bag. I am doing it because the conversation has gotten SO near to the topic that if I don't spill it then it is likely to veer off and I will lose my converence.
Cups and Pentacles are looking for a "place of cosmic desolation and convergence" but they haven't YET found it. John and I KNOW where it is, but we have not gotten the story that far along (hear me John?) If we have a Hellmouth opening up then that would be ideal.
They would claim it as their own personal space. And that's all I have to say right now without revealing too much.
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Question: Would it be too much of a spoiler too ask what Cups and Pentacles really are? That has been nagging me a bit for a while.
Also, like I mentioned in a post before ,I got an antagonist myself that I was gonna introduce with the whole Eye of St. Vigeous- thing, that would be veeerrrry interested in seizing the power for it's own gain.....
So I'm in favour of it.
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;) They are Real Estate Agents.
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I think we are better able to perhaps deal with a less purpose driven purpose (does that make any sense at all?) than we were with the EE. We've grown as writers and as a community, often discovering ways to interweave our characters and their lives. That said, I'm all for whatever everyone else decides for the season and I'll try very hard to work my way into it. I know I was sorely guilty of failing when we did this last time.
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As Kris said, i'm game with whatever you choose to do. We are a really creative bunch and i guess we can manage anything (*crosses fingers*).
I think that what you are proposing, a no-BB season, doesnt mean that there's not something we can unite and fight off together, or as together as we did last season, since it wouldnt be a 'season' otherwise.
That said, do you remember we had talked about that Bloody Mary and Iemanjá duality as possible season material? I think the thread is there somewhere. Just a reminder, because it's been a while since we discussed that.
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Found it!! The Blue Lady/Bloody Mary :D
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I was waiting for someone to mention that :D
When I was on vacation WAY BACK in July, I had came up with an entire plot for that (yes, I was THAT bored). If anyone is willing, I'll post it here :)
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Go for it Meghan. That's what this forum is for, after all - discussion of any and all possible Big Bads for the upcoming season.
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Well, whatever the plot we use, IF we use this idea, we'll need a connection with the children's world to work it out. Unfortunately we only have one child left in the game, and Maia has been used a little too much i think.
I'm thinking of what Niko said here:
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Alright, here I go. And may I remind you, all of this is reworkable :D :
The first beginnings of "Bloody Mary" began back in Scandinavia nearly 500 years before, with a woman named Maria. She was a widow, and only had one child, a daughter named Klara.
She was a very organized and quick thinking woman, known for never thinking things through. Maria was a very beautiful woman, but extremely narcissistic. When she wasn't doing the household chores, she was fixing herself up in the small cottage she shared with her young daughter.
But, as the years passed, she noticed her beauty was fading, causing her great ailment. Alas, one day, she noticed that Klara, now ten years old, was beginning to bloom. Angered, she ran from her cottage, and shouted "I will give my soul to whom ever gives me eternal youth a beauty!"
Her cry was answered. Maria was approached by the Devil, who offered her her desired wish in exchange for her soul. She quickly agreed, and in return, the Devil told her a ritual to restore her beauty and to give her eternal youth: she was to sacrifice her daughter in the name of the Devil.
The next night, Maria knocked out her young daughter, who woke up in the middle of a large pentagram, drawn in the middle of their floor in chicken's blood. After mere minutes of chanting, the ritual took place. Before her eyes, Maria saw the youth of young Klara drain from her face and into herself.
Once she regained her beauty, Maria was ready to slaughter her daughter, when Klara murmured at the last moment "Lord, please help me." Before Maria could slash Klara's heart, an entity cloaked in blue entered the home, and picked up the withered Klara. Instantly, her face returned to its original form.
Before it left, it raised its hand, the entity striked a powerful force at Maria, sending her out of the mortal realm, but not into Hell. Instead, Maria was trapped in a realm reserved for ghosts, bloodied and scarred.
Furious and upset, Maria begged for the Devil's assistance. He appeared before her, but was wary to give his help out. She pleaded for another chance, which the Devil reluctantly gave-- on one condition. Maria was to travel around, collecting the souls of homeless/wandering children under ten years old until she found the Chosen Child, a child that will allow her to reenter the mortal plane.
However, there is a loophole; the child can also be used against Maria, with the ability to send her to Hell, where the Devil will give her no more chances.
So, for the past 500 years, Maria has traveled around the world and back, stealing the souls of young children without a stable home, searching for the soul to bring her back into the mortal realm. Those who escaped have named her "Bloody Mary", for her gruesome appearence.
Over the years, she has used local youths (ie. teenagers) to do her bidding, slaughtering children and bringing her souls in her name. To prove their loyalty, they are tatooed with a symbol shown below:
Cut to present day LA: In a city full of misdirected teenagers and vulnerable children, it is the perfect preying ground for Bloody Mary. She has currently reformed another cult of loyal teenagers, led by sixteen year old Suzie Auperlee.
Chosen for All American looks and her weak will, Suzie is the sort of "head priest" of the cult, and directs out orders given by Mary. She is able to see the sacrificing commited by the followers as it occurs. They bring Suzie the souls of the murdered children in Orbs of Thessula, to which Suzie gives Mary.
There is, however, a small problem. When giving a blood oath in Mary's name, Suzie had stumbled on her words, and it had also allowed the gift of seeing the sacrifices to be seen by Suzie's eleven year old brother, Jeremy, who is currently staying at Church of the Sacred Heart's orphanage (ran by Father Michael and several nuns). The boy is suffering from a kidney disease, and is required to stay there for a weekly dialysis (sp?).
So... that's a rough draft of what I have so far. Feel free to shred it and reconstruct it :D
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Okay, I like the idea of Bloody Mary as a BB, or something to do with the BB at least, a lot. And I like what Mehgan's done with her, too. The only concern I have, and its probably a minor concern really, is that there isn't enough to do with her to last for an entire season. Way I see it, with the pattern that usually occurs it'll be something like this:
usual season intro with little reference to BB
just before midway into the season, the char's start learning about something going on with the children on LA streets
from there they build up learning more about what's going on
maybe about midway or just after they learn exactly what's going on and look for a way to put a stop to it
Ehh...is that really enough for an entire season for all our char's to get involved with? I mean, will there be much going on? Admittedly it will leave a lot of space and time for char development, but isn't that what midseason is mostly for?
Interaction with a few street kids, perhaps a couple of run-ins with Bloody Mary herself, maybe with the Blue Lady too, a little bit of research here and there, speading the word amonst WH...would that be enough, or am I just being pessimisstic? After all, the idea's just been proposed, so there is still all the details still to work out 'n stuff, but hopefully you get where I'm going with this...
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I see what you mean, yes. It may be a little scarse for a whole season, unless we get to link it with something else, as we did Shaun's virus with Kris' Delancre plot last season.
Maybe the transference of the Hellmouth to LA could have prompted Bloody Mary to work in the area?
Something Meghan didnt mention, that i found very interesting when we started discussing this topic, is the connection between the Blue Lady and the South American deity Iemanjá (of course i'm parcial here, since Iemanjá is very alive in my country). Given the amount of Latin population in LA it could very well link to those myths that havent been used in the game. The whole Bloody Mary story could very well be placed somewhere in South or Central America too, in fact that reference to chicken blood and pentagrams is very similar to Macumba rituals.
Anyway, it's good midseason material. :D
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Searching the Web I found some very interesting versions of Bloody Mary or La Llorona (she who weeps in Spanish). Here's one of them:
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Actually LA is very much alive with South American culture owing to the large Hispanic population there.
I have not been back to re-read the original post but weren't there two ladies? Bloody Mary and the Blue Lady. I remember as a kid that we had our own sort of "scary story" underground.
Black Agnes (who lived in the woods and came in the night to steal naughty kids) and Ginny Greenteeth (who lived under the porch and took teeth from kids who didn't brushtheir teeth) and The Charcoal Man (who lived in the woods and came after kids who played with matches).
Let me propose a larger (and more ambitious) storyline.
The Hellmouth is coming to LA. Its arrival is heralded by an increase in the supernatural activity of the area. It manifests itself in the worst kind of problems...not the Big Bads that appear everywhere but the little annoying kinds of evils that pollute the world.
Wife-beaters are changed into horrible monsters. Creatures under the bed turn out to be real. Homeless children go missing. Ghosts and Goblins appear for real. The fears of an already insecure city are becoming real. Aging actresses become youth-sucking succubi.
The Hellmouth feeds on the fear of those that live around it. It amplifies and focusses those fears into the ambient evil around it. Evil strenghtens as the mundane population wallows in its own insecurity.
For an agency that deals in fighting evil we could not be in a better position. Except that we aren't prepared for the phone to ring several times a day with job after job to deal with what are (realtively) minor evils.
But there is a theme. The Hellmouth is in its infantcy as well, so it is only manifesting the fears of children. And the focus of this fear is our "Bloody Mary" legend. She is the recipient of the power being floated out from the Hellmouth (this time).
We cannot close the Hellmouth (It will stay open...not a lot we can do about that...its like trying to stop Earthquakes in LA) but we can Identify and stop the current sources of the evil flowing from the Hellmouth.
SO the season would progress like this: The WH start to get calls...lots of them. We handle each call as it comes in - A monster under the bed. A hag under the porch. A burnt man haunting a youth camp. A scarred janitor with knives for fingers living in a furnace.
Each threat takes a post (two at most) to deal with. We do this until we start to see the pattern.
The pattern (youth-related fears manifested) is manifested most strongly in the form of Bloody Mary who is working her way through the (sizeable) homeless teen population of LA. This might come to our attention through the intervention of any of our "emo" kids.
So we scramble at the last minute to find and eliminate Bloody Mary, which we discover isn't really possible (the fears of the children keep bringing her back)...we might even have to eliminate her more than once.
So we realize that every fear has something that holds it at bay. Using our knowledge of the Hellmouth we use the fears of the evil itself to create a Blue Lady (or empower an existing one - Iemanjá for instance) to be a counter to the fear.
Its not so much a case of defeating the evil this time...as much as balancing it.
How does this sound?
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Now, we can't close the Hellmouth (unless we want another crater in the middle of LA :wink: ) but, cant we move it? Transfer it to some other place with less population, or even no population at all? Move it back to Sunnydale? I'm not very good with these metaphysical convergences, but from what I understood it could be done, why, it's been done already, right?
I was also researching about Santería, Yoruba, Umbanda (however you want to call the religion that slaves brought from Africa and has the deity Iemanjá in their pantheon) and I found some interesting facts, including the enormous amount of people who worship it in the States:
Now, why do I bring this to consideration? Well, first because in the article we read about Bloody Mary, the Blue Lady was the natural enemy to the ghost, and the children summoned her to protect them. The article links the Blue Lady with the deity Iemanjá, as we already stated, and Iemanjá is one of the deities in Santería (actually they call their deities Orishas or Orixas, so I'll use that term from now on).
With so many people worshiping the Orishas in the States, and possibly in LA, they must have some strength, right?
Another interesting fact about Santería is that there is another Orisha called Eleggua. Eleggua is the Orisha of Crossroads, and as such he could have power over Hellmouths, and besides, he's depicted as a child, which could be very interesting. With the Hellmouth having moved to LA, it'd be logical that he'd taken residence in LA too. Maybe he could help moving the Hellmouth to, lets say, the desert?
Of course, everything Dave said it's still applicable in this idea. So is what Lou is planning and Adam's metaphysics (in case I understood it), and the Cups and Pentacles plot too, I guess. Since the LA Hellmouth is only just opening it'll be easier to balance/move/eventually close. It gives us a 'focus' without a real Big Bad, which is what most of us were leaning to.
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Dave,
Especially with that last part, sounds exactly like the path that Nik is going down (more into balance than defeat of evil). :)
Ally,
It might be possible to move it again, but I don't think that's something we want to do. You have to do something really, really drastic to the system is my thought. The only reason the current alignement is going on is because of the fact that you have a Hellmouth which just imploded.
Moving it from LA - when it's just beginning to converge again - would take less energy but still be highly destructive. We're talking destroying a good chunk of the city more than likely.
The point being that with my thought, a 'Hellmouth' isn't something you want to close or destroy willy-nilly - it's part of the natural system of magic in the world. So we don't really need to move it so much as balance out the thing that comes; help it settle, so to speak.
Or I'm not thinking right as the sinuses continue to pount.
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My initial thoughts were that the Ministry would plan to close the Hellmouth by harnessing the power of the various evils that escape and are subsequently destroyed. For example everytime they kill one of the hell beasts they'd collect and store that creature's energy thereby using the power of the hellmouth to close itself.
Of course I can still use this idea even if no one likes it, there's no reason why this HAS to be the way to solve the problem and it could be good to have a failed attempt under our belts. In fact this could even make matters worse if things were to backfire.
As for all the other ideas here I think I need some time to process them all. :D I agree there may not be enough material to make the Bloody Mary story the focus for the entire season but it could certainly be a central subplot to the whole thing.
BTW - if the White Hats are receiving calls about all these phenomenon does that mean they're becoming a commercial enterprise or are they just concerned phonecalls from disinterested parties? I was just under the impression that the WH's were a little more secretive.
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Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!! :D :D :D
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"Calls" was not so much a literal reference to a phone call as much as the response to a need.
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Tee hee, okay, just checking in case I'd missed a beat.