Entry tags:

player: event, plotting

EVENT INFO: Day 213 (right comm this time)

Player event: Feelings Roulette AKA Emotion Potion AKA DGM-science ruins lives

As people may be aware, Bak and Komui from the D.Gray-Man canon are scientist-magicians responsible for all sorts of unbelievable things. They don't just make robots that crave coffee and rampage, they also turn people into zombies! (Some longer term dome residents may remember Komui from such events as the great snow-in, the happiness event, and the kitty-ears extravaganza.)

After the kissing event made Bak break out in hives repeatedly, he was determined to get it off his mind -- and certain other people's. Unfortunately, Komui messed with his formula and what was supposed to get rid of heavy feelings now does just the opposite, and whoops! Bak's accidentally letting it loose into the dome.


How will this event affect my character if I choose to participate?
Essentially, the potion affects your character by causing them to have strong emotions towards others. Which emotions? Well, that's up to you! Maybe the potion enhances feelings your character had been denying for someone else. Maybe what they're feeling toward this other person is the complete opposite of how they usually feel! The point is that whatever they're feeling, whether it's their normal range of emotions or completely abnormal, the intensity is turned WAY up.

But this isn't a one-trick pony where your character will necessarily love every person they come across... or hate everyone, either! While emotions may be heightened today, they can also react abnormally according to people's specific body chemistry. Maybe it's someone's perfume or the scent of their shampoo or just their natural musk, but emotions can be brought out in unlikely places with unlikely people. You could develop an irrational, but undeniable dislike or love or concern for a person you just met. Maybe they suddenly hate their BFF for no explicable reason, or start hero-worshipping that person they weren't too fond of, or fall madly in love with that person they never even met!

I need ideas! What sort of feelings might my character experience?
Well of course anything on the spectrum is fair game, the more creative the better! But for the sake of a list, here's a few to get you started. This list is by no means all-inclusive, and you are free to do whatever you like!

Friendship/trust, dislike or hatred, jealousy, hero-worship or awe, obsession (in whatever way you like), paternal or familial bond, resentment, irritation or annoyance, romantic love, pity (or a strong need to take care of someone), intense curiosity or fascination, rivalry or competition, extreme eagerness to please, paranoia or fear, nervousness or insecurity, indifference or nonchalance.

What about ICness? Doesn't this mess with that?
To some extent, possibly. Your character may experience feelings they might normally not or they might have strong feelings for someone who normally they would not feel those things for. HOWEVER! This event does not mean your character will act completely off the wall. If they are effected with severe dislike for someone and it is IC for them to avoid people they don't like, they will not suddenly be compelled to attack them. If it is perfectly IC for them to attack people they hate, on the other hand, that is how they will act... although, as always, please be respectful of other players' wishes and communicate OOCly so everyone is comfortable with what takes place.

The event does not change your character's level of self-control as far as their actions. They act however you think they would normally act toward someone for whom they feel that way. For example, Lacus is not going to go on a murderous rampage no matter how intensely she dislikes someone, but she might give them stinkeye and a hearty lecture. Tyki, on the other hand, might try to murder someone he hates (with OOC discussion having taken place, of course)!

Can my character experience more than one emotion toward one specific other character for the event?
If you want to be especially chaotic and have your character experience more than one strong emotion for a specific other character, or even more than one at the same time, go for it! For example, your character could at once experience extreme like and extreme jealousy for the same person. Or they could hate them one minute and the next, be desperately clinging to them and begging them not to leave. It's all up to you!

Will my character know something is off with their emotions?
They might or they might not. It depends on how far they are from normal, how self aware your character is, and how strongly you have them affected. It could be a case of your character's mind filling in the gaps and rationalizing that how they are feeling makes perfect sense. But even if they know something is off, it doesn't mean they can get the feelings themselves under control or change them. They might be able to stop themselves from doing something if it would normally be especially repugnant to them, but it should be a challenge at least.

What about inanimate objects or other non-player character things?
The potion was specifically designed to impact feelings toward other people, however with all the intense feelings going around, it's feasible that your character could react oddly to other things. For example, maybe they suddenly loathe reading or have a sudden affection for spinach. Or maybe they lust after the Wardens. However, because the potion was designed to impact interpersonal relations, reactions to activities or inanimate objects will be generally less intense than feelings toward people.

Are there any limitations?
Following the OOC rules and being respectful of other players' wishes is the primary thing. Breaking of IC rules will need to be reported as usual; your characters will not feel compelled to break rules any more than they usually are. There was a precedent at the previous dome in which a similar event effected characters ability to control their impulses, where the Warden at the time gave people a pass for breaking IC rules because they couldn't help it. While you are ICly welcome to make this argument to the Wardens, it is safest to assume that breaking IC rules will lead to your character being punished as usual.

This is a canon event, meaning characters WILL remember it, and everything they did, the following day. Don't put your character into anything you're not willing to potentially play out the consequences of! IC action = IC consequences, always. We want people to be creative, explore new CR and faucets of their character that might not be ordinarily easy to access, but this is not an excuse to be game-breaking.

How long does it all last?
Just for Day 213. Once "night" falls, the effects will become weaker and weaker, and by the daypost for day 214 all characters will be completely back to normal. Albeit possibly embarrassed or upset over how they might have behaved!

DNW! Where's my out if I don't want to participate?
The great thing about science-magic is that it reacts very differently to different people. If you don't want your character to be effected, then your character's specific chemistry prevents them from being impacted. Simple as that! They will, however, probably notice other people acting weird. If you post for day 213 and don't want event-effected characters tagging, just add an OOC note to be safe.

Will my character be allowed to yell at Bak and Komui for this?
There will be a post signaling the start of the event and also serving as a mingle in which Bak will publicly implicate himself and Komui, so your character is free to react to them however they like, during or after the event (although during the effects of the event, they might not be their normal indignant self about it)! ICA=ICC and we've accepted that some characters might be miffed about their free will and relationships being mucked with. However, please contact Lena or Parsnip OOCly if you want to do anything more extreme than yelling and complaining.

Questions? Comments? Bitches, wishes, wants? Ask away!

Feel free to use this post for plotting! We envisioned that this event would let us access different sides of our characters and explore new sides to our CR. (For example, Lena wants to explore Lacus being extremely jealous, since that's not something Lacus usually feels.) Also, we thought this event could be an excuse to tag new people whom you may have never threaded with, for insular or not very social characters to maybe kick-start some new CR. So if there's a specific thing(s) you want to explore with your character, feel free to indicate that and see who's interested in playing it out with you!