Zhavi

Documentaries! Good idea. I will most definitely be checking out Gangland, thanks for the tip! Also netflix, watching stuff at work makes tedious stuff go by so much faster.

A grin was Lalataru's first response. Zhi got to her feet, clutching the notebook a little tighter as she looked down upon the shorter man. "Fair winds, Master Lolotaru," she replied. She was fidgety, looking at him and then away, sideways or down at her feet. Her posture was a careful work of art; her indrawn shoulders and lowered head brandished 'don't look at me!' even before one could look at her ears or tail. She was not one well used to honest conversations. Abruptly, she bent and proffered the notebook to Lalataru. "I done as ye asked, sir. But. . . I couldn't find th'man again. I-I'll keep a lookout, fer true!" The matter of the notebook had been the uppermost sour note in the past two days for Zhi. In between her fruitless attempts to gather more information that would benefit her own tenuous position, she'd found herself stone-sober as she labored over the damn thing, drawing runes and trying to make sense of why it was even necessary. She didn't know what 'latent skill' meant, but she hoped for her own sake she harbored something, because she couldn't allow the farce to end. She always could beg for general education, she supposed, or to become an assistant. Anything to further the cause.

Yeah, I honestly used to be a lot looser about research and stuff -- and then I started rping with this sarcastic mofo with a need for things to make sense. Every idea went through the grinder of his mind, with such questions as "How does that even work?", "Does that really make sense?" , "Why would they do that?", and one of my favorites, "Are we doing that? We're not doing that." (loosely paraphrased) He's bossy and brutally honest, but I really do feel like my writing has improved by going along with him. . .even when he shreds my ego into pieces. Still have a tendency to propose off the wall ideas to him that he takes all of .03 seconds to shoot down, but I've really learned quite a bit, and I feel like hte resulting rp feels fuller, I guess? I get more fulfillment out of it. And now I also do more research! Spent a few weeks researching the origination of the mafia for one rp, and Spanish court systems in the 15th-16th centuries for another. Still doing a lot of research into medieval trade (particularly around the mediterranean, because hte mediterranean is love) -- there is a lot of really, really cool stuff. Sounds like you've still got more time into it then I do, but hey, if you've got any fabulous links to stuff please do share. And, well, if you have ideas about brutal criminal stuff for Final Fantasy and don't mind forum rp, I'd be totally down. It should be known I love putting my characters through a lot. I believe in character growth through adversity. Armi has been stabbed by the enemy (4 times since the games launch), shot, kidnapped, almost killed my her friend, possessed by a voidsent, had limbs broken, been beat up, fought Garleans regularly, lost to Garleans reguarly, killed people in war, etc etc. I enjoy that kind of RP as well. I enjoy, also putting my character through those situations. with that as well. It's not just "This happened, oh well time to go to a bar." Character growth through adversity! Yes!! Perfect way of putting it. As for the former, I misspoke a bit, I think. While I am not the type to enjoy method acting, my point was more that it's not necessary for me to employ it, but I still have fulfilling and enjoyable rp without it. What I was trying to clear up is that it is still possible to have good rp without feeling exactly what your character is feeling -- even if it doesn't work for one person, it can still work for the other and vice versa (though, I still have my bias and that won't go away any time soon -- I was traumatized by the earliest rp I was in, haha). Yeah, I do expect that everything people say is their opinion and they're not stating it as the end all be all of truth, but when I read something as "I don't see how that could ever be fun" my immediate response -- if it's fun for me -- is to try to explain how it's fun for me. Likewise if I say something along the lines of "I don't see how (whatever)" I'd hope that if someone has a different way of looking at things they'd speak up. I like getting a peek inside how other people's minds work. Even if, at the end of the day, I'm still like "I don't get it, I could never feel that way" at the very least I've learned something new about someone else/the way others think, and that sort of thing is invaluable to me.

Well, I dunno, the only way people resolve differences of opinions is to talk about them. Key is figuring out when it's just a matter of people thinking in different ways (...all experiences get recycled back into writing. all of them). But, for my part, most of my responses are me trying to figure out if I'm understanding points right, and trying to clear up if certain things said are said seriously or as hyperbole (me making assumptions about tone and intent always turns out badly). Oh so many times have I tried explaining ideas only to spend an extra half hour to hour clearing up misunderstandings... Still though, I think it's a fun thread. Differences of opinions, disagreements, moments of bewilderment and all.

You might have to set up your account with the device thingy. I'm not really sure where all the stuff is for it (I haven't played around with their website much, things have changed since I set up my account back in 2010, that or I've forgotten everything), but if it's not letting you in first thing is to see if you can recover username/password. If your email is registered with them then you should be able to get the information sent, if not then just register. Hopefully someone who is more learned than I will come along and offer other pointers, but for right now that's your best immediate option with what limited knowledge I have. oh, and here's the account management page: https://secure.square-enix.com/account/app/svc/Login?cont=account&request=mogstation

I dunno, man, I picked Balmung because at the time there was the Limsa initiative thing to get more rp going in the city, and I thought to myself 'this is awesome!' so I went, and I've since gotten in touch with so many awesome rpers, and I see so many awesome rpers doing stuff. But, you know, if I'd gone to Gilgamesh I'm sure I'd be finding the same thing. Find something (event, whatever) going on in either server that you like and go for it! But to me, asking people to recommend you a server is a crap shoot. Peoples' definitions of what make a server great are bound to vary from yours in some way, and in the end generally it's who you're rping with that will make or break your enjoyment -- not a recommendation that is likely to change over time as people come and go. I remember waaaay back when I rped on Ravenholdt in WoW. If I went to the forums I'd see people advertising for Moonguard or Wyrmrest or whatever, but I never felt like I was missing out because I was having fun with the people on Ravenholdt. (of the rp servers I've been on, it was a couple rp-pvp events on Ravenholdt that I remember most clearly, had so much fun) If you still can't decide, time to roll a die!

Right, you already said you rolled on Balmung. Huuuurrrr, don't mind me. Anyways, looking forward to it.

Hehe, yeah, there is something special about smaller scale characters. In recent years I've started to go more for the smaller character roles, myself; there's something so satisfying about pitting characters against more normal stuff (or, er, at least not world/city/whatever ending), or even just having them get swept up in whatever else is going on. I think it was Robin Hobb who said something about how when she read Lord of the Rings she wanted to write a character like Sam -- not the main character or the hero, but the guy outside the spotlight. Aaaand, that was how the Farseer books began! I think. But I remember when I read that as a teenager I became entranced with the idea. I even have a fifty-something widow whose children left her for the big city -- she's been heaps of fun to play. Of course, I can't write a more "normal" character without putting them in weird situations, but eh, that's my bag. Aaaanyways, if you roll on Balmung and happen to drop by Limsa, I have a scruffy runner/information dealer with dreams of gaining influence over the city who could definitely say mean things to your character about his dream to buy a home. ;D

The terrible part of me kinda wishes you played on Balmung so I could find you and mock-drama rp at you. Juuust because. Though I guess that's probably not a nice way to act towards strangers. Still though, temptation. But on a serious note, I'm not sure if by justice you mean violent justice or like interaction within the law's system. Because the latter is so much fun. Of course, I don't know, do you like verbal smack downs as much as physical ones? One thing I've always enjoyed was the game of insult-without-being-obvious-about-it, especially when there's a snippy old woman involved (gosh I love snippy old women, as long as they're not facing their wrath towards me). Political rps can be fun in the same way. Smack talk for daaaaays.

Eyyyy, someone else who used to play on MUDs! Man those things were addicting. I rather like your character concept -- goal is to buy a house? What a stable guy. It would be a shame if something were to happen to him. Teeheehee. *cough* Pie is lovely. Apple pie with cheddar cheese. . .now I want some.

Whole essays, huh? Sounds like fun. Forum rpers get <3s. Welcome to the RPC where people are kind and awesome, don't be afraid to poke players whose characters you find interesting! Also, what's flirtatious within reason? Does that mean she pulls away right as things start to get good? (I kid, I kid!) (work just ended, bad humor all around!)

Just pointing out that I can write emotion without needing to feel it at the time of the writing. Case in point: your character breaks a bone. You are able to write the pain without experiencing it firsthand as it's happening. It's the same with any emotion -- you know what it's like, you've observed how other people deal with the same emotion, you alter it to fit the character. I can get that not everyone wants to rp that way (to each their own) but why are so many people insisting that without actively experiencing the emotions as they're happening for the character the rp becomes bad? I admit to a sense of puzzlement. I can understand what the character feels and desires without needing to feel it at that moment myself, without losing out on my sense of enjoyment and immersion. (sometimes I even have a sense of unholy glee when putting my characters through awkward/embarrassing situations. heh heh heh)

Hiiiii, welcome! I'm a liar. But I did really like how despite the characters on the screen taking turns, both of them were tapping away at buttons and stuff like both were playing at the same time. Good stuff. What server did you roll on?

Hee, I'm fairly opposite to that. I nearly always go for the serious realism aspect (though, admittedly, with situations and setups that you normally wouldn't find irl). . .one of the people I rp with regularly had to strongarm me into doing a comedic take on mercenaries. He went so left field. . .made an anthropomorphic rhino man who talks like mike tyson and wears a monocle that, we determined, gets destroyed in new and fun ways on every job. But, eh, that's why I tend to sympathize more than empathize with characters. I haven't experienced many of the things the characters have (nor do I want to, ever, considering the crap I tend to put characters through), but darn if I just don't feel sorry for that rhino every time he is forced to interact with my character. >: )

Zhi was slack-jawed as she watched Lalataru go, the notepad clutched tight in one hand. The expression was not constructed. She'd been thoroughly flummoxed by the man, by her mistakes, by the fact that he'd just handed her some work to do, and that she might fail that work through no lack of effort on her own. The triumph of success and the bitterness of defeat: her quickly beating heart would not wholly make up for the sour taste in her mouth. She was left standing on the bridge, alone, as he disappeared from view. Only the ancient stone of the city, the water and the stars were there for company, and they left her to her struggles. She stood there for a long time: a silhouette in the darkness, outlined by the moon's faint light. ___________ Someone knocked. Zhi looked up from her idle pursuit of repeatedly-stab-the-table-in-frustration, and then around at the small space she presently lay claim to. Bed, table, two chairs, door, explosion of poorly maintained clothing used for various disguises for various jobs, leftover food, mouse slowly creeping towards leftover food. She frowned at the mouse. "What," she said, too pissy to inflect the word as a question. "'Sme." The door made a rattling noise, almost as if it would fall to pieces should someone lean on it. "Unbar th'door." The mouse fled. Zhi nearly took off after it. Killing it would be stress relief. She stared at where it'd disappeared, fighting the instinct and the urge; how much dignity did she even have left at this point? She opened her mouth and inhaled, dragging air over the glands in the roof of her mouth. It smelled tasty. "Zhio?" She got up and let Brindle into the room. He looked around and whistled, a cocky grin plastered on his face as he looked back at her. Without even acknowledging him, she resumed her seat at the table, and returned to scarring its imperfect surface with her knife. The silence became oppressive. Brindle awkwardly took the seat opposite her, and folded his arms on the table. His eyes grew wide as he watched her, but he knew better than to speak. Finally, she exploded. "That self-ruttin' dog set me up!" "That why ye bit it?" His smile was as innocent as her glare was venomous. "Shut it, scrag. Lalataru?" "Jes some drab what works at th'Gate. Oo set ye up?" "Galleon," Zhi growled the name. Small chunks of wood splintered off from the table as she worked her knife back and forth. "Right craven bastard he is, too, hirin' me on an' then -- ye know what he did? I was thinkin' on it, thinkin' how I missed me step, an' it came from him! He gave me the blimmin' crumb what set me on th'trail." Brindle considered this. "'Ow ye know it was a-purpose?" "Hear nothin' 'bout that book Lalataru carries?" "Not solid." Zhi slapped the table with her free hand. "Right so, an' yet this bastard wants it? Not for no reason he don't, not fer what he's payin'." "Ain't his fault y'didn't check thrice." It was the truth in Brindle's words that made Zhi bristle. She started stabbing the table again, the thunks of metal hitting wood forming a counter-rhythm to her words. "Lalataru wants th'name o' me source." "So?" "Thinkin' might be time t'cut loose." Brindle stared at her for a tense few seconds, then he broke down into giggles. "Even th'mighty Zhio takes a turn at bein' craven, is't?" "I aint craven." "Yeah? Prove it." ___________ Zhi lived for challenge. That was truth. Zhi lived to stay living. Also truth. At the point the two truths met was where she often found herself, hanging out over the edge and staring death down. That was how she lived. But there was something about Lalataru, about her employer Galleon, about the mess of a job that felt twisted. Something was off between the three, something she couldn't pinpoint, and that took her off course more than she cared to admit. Though she'd set Brindle out on his ear the night before after grilling him for all pertinent information, his words had stuck between her ears. Piss on what people said, but he had set her a challenge. He'd given her something to prove. He was just a dumb kid with a flapping tongue what didn't know when to stop, but he'd made his point. She'd been about to back off from a challenge. A challenge that stood to make her a lot of money. Greed and her stupid sense of pride won out. She tracked down the woman she'd gotten the information on Lalataru from (short hair, petite, not anything like what she'd told Lalataru). At first she pressed the woman for more information on Lalataru, and was laughed at: "I give you word that the mite has a rotten past chummy with rats for a handful of gil, and you think you can afford the rest?" As it turned out, she couldn't. Though, truthfully, Zhi couldn't tell if the woman even knew more, or was just putting her on. "Ye know Galleon, then?" Zhi was grinning at the woman for all she was worth, her fangs on prominent display. "Don't you just have the most interestin' names on the tip of your tongue. Careful you don't bite it off, dovey." "He tell ya I was comin'?" "As it happens, I'll be shippin' out tomorrow. Give your dear little friend my regards, hm?" "Oh, really? Huh. 'Cause I thinks yer in it deep wi'Galleon, an' holdin' out on me. Whatsit, got his cock so far down yer throat y'can't talk?" The woman laughed at her, again. The sound was too big for her small frame. Zhi weathered it, beaming at the woman like they were close friends sharing some stupid joke. "We all have our errands to run, don't we? Best stick to it lest your attempts at cleverness see you caught out." The conversation went nowhere from there, and Zhi was finally forced to admit defeat. The whole situation baffled her. Something was going on, something that had to do with Lalataru and that book of his, something that her employer and his rutting lapdog didn't want her to know. It made her uneasy. If there was more to the situation then she had been let in on, fine -- but it was seeming more and more like she was some throwaway piece in the game being played. Get the book, she'd been told. You'll probably have to get on Lolotaru's good side; it's not something easily snatched from him. You'll need information on him for that, so if you go to the lower decks. . . She'd been lead along like a puppy on a string, and it pissed her off. She'd followed the information and hadn't given it a second thought. Why? What was with the runaround? Did they want Lalataru chasing phantoms? No, Zhi didn't like the rutting mess at all. _________ Two days had passed before Zhi shadowed the entrance to the Arcanists' Guild again, notebook in hand and clothing unchanged since he'd last seen her. She was curled up in the corner again, watching people walk by as she waited for Lalataru.

Wait a bit and the servers should become available. I saw someone else mention that it might depend on the time you try -- I know for me I just waited a day (forget the times I did so) and it had opened up.

Yeah, Ul'dah is brimming with all sorts of crooked shenanigans -- but I'd wanted to play a character strictly based in one city, and Limsa Lominsa was the city that spoke to me (I have a thing for port cities). Heheh, reaping what I've sown I guess! Still though, there is a lot about the rp in Ul'dah that is really quite something, and probably one day I'll make an alt to try to engage with it, but for now it's all about Zhavi and her entanglement in Limsa's underbelly. :3

"Uh. . .all but a few of me letters?" Zhi offered up a sickly smile.

You guys are so awesome! PMs are underway.

Ooh, well, both of those sound interesting. Do you have wikis of them I could look at? Even if the first isn't quite as no holds as the other, prostitution is one area that draws Zhi in, so it might still work out nicely! Thank you much for your response.

Belated welcome! If your character wasn't in Ul'dah I totally woulda pmed you. I love asshole characters, the dialogue is so much fun. And you do pbp! Maybe I'll run into you in game some day.

D: I'm not a creature that lacks the ability to empathize! I think the key here is that different people have different things that they enjoy about any given hobby. For me, rp is generally all about the story: I have a sense of accomplishment when things reach a conclusion, I feel like I am part of the story, and I am in it for when other players write something that elicits and emotional response in me -- such as when one of my rp partners once killed the dog of her character so that the character could escape death. All of us who were in that thread had a moment of "Noooo, not the dog, why the dog?!" -- it was a beautiful, heartwrenching scene. And what Tiergan and Ignacious said. Emotion is there, it just might not be the same way that you experience it. Feeling some sympathy towards a character and feeling their exact emotions are two different things.

Ahh, beg pardon, I didn't mean the characters themselves, but the sort of tone -- that sense that people are willing and able to do any number of terrible things in the name of survival and furthering their own goals. (Glokta was my favorite out of those, too) I do enjoy playing and interacting with non-heroic characters though, I will admit; one of my favorite types to play is the washed-up has been. However, they aren't altogether necessary. The amoral bit is mostly what I want to hit upon -- not just "willing to break the law" but "no holds barred, don't care who gets hurt". Thank you so much for contacting the players for me!!

Soo, though I have come across many characters, I haven't yet found a morally bankrupt businessman-woman/thug/thief/pirate/whatever in Limsa Lominsa who would be able to hire Zhi/work with her and whose player might appreciate dark humor and grimdark sorts of situations (if you've read Joe Abercrombie. . .not quite as dark due to the setting, but definitely hitting the edge). While there are a many characters in Limsa Lominsa who operate on the underside of the law, I haven't seen any who are explicitly amoral/cruel/whatever you wanna call it. It's possible I might have overlooked a character or two, too. So, please, if you know of a character who fits this description or have one (and are open to me dumping a bunch of ideas on you), please reply here or send me a pm. Please note that this applies to Balmung unless the player is willing to rp exclusively on the forums. Also, the character must operate to some extent in Limsa Lominsa due to Zhi never leaving Limsa's general vicinity. Thanks! <3

Uncomfortable. Zhi's emotions kept swinging from extreme to extreme, laced with irony and a waffling sense of bemusement. She'd nodded along to his requests, forcing enthusiasm that she'd only ever shown sarcastically, but found herself pausing when he asked her to speak of herself. The line between Joz and Zhavi blurred as she answered. "Mebbe, I ain't real familiar wi'magic, sir, so I can't say wi'any know-how. I can't read much, jes' real simple stuff, know most o'me alphabet, but I ain't done much aside from doodlin' in the dirt. Weren't no need fer it." Her tail slowed and her eyes slid away from Lalataru: enthusiasm replaced with regret.