Let's help each other built our characters and worlds with: The Interdimensional Chatroom

[BRG2003]

I saw this game in other writing forums and since I couldn't find something like it here I thought about starting it. The basic premise is a bit like roleplaying gaming: we take the role of a character/group of characters of one of our stories who suddenly find themselves in an undefined space. They interact, discovering and revealing things about each other and their origin world. This way we can help our world and character building. Maybe someone asks your character a question about their world you hadn't thought very well about and that makes you realize you should flesh it out. Or maybe you already have figured it and want to show a cool fact about your setting. In another occasion, somebody else's character may react in a way you didn't expect and that forces you to think about how your own would respond to this new situation. Or allow you to demostrate how unique a personality said character has.

A few rules before starting:
-This is NOT a criticism threat, so please refrain from asking or giving feedback.
-Remember to ask as well as answer. It's about everyone's setting and characters, not just your own.
-If you think one of your characters would be rude or agressive towards someone else's, show it, but be careful. Don't overdue it and definitely don't use it as a thinly-veiled attack on the other person's work.
-If you want to change characters then let some time pass before posting again with the new characters. They can be from the same story or a completely different one.
-I'm doing this in the Fantasy/Sci-fi forums because they're the ones I frequent. If you find this idea interesting, then you're free to open your own Chatroom in the other genre subforums.
-Remember to have fun!
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A group of curious looking people walk in. They include a slightly tanned woman with brown hair and eyes behind glasses, a man with long, brown hair and skin and an eyepatch, another man, this one fair skinned with raven black hair and red eyes, a dark skinned woman with an undercut dyed pale pink on the left and antennae and another woman with green eyes, a deep tan and a headscarf covering her hair.

Woman wearing a headscarf: Uhhh... where are we now?

Man with red eyes: Captain?

Woman with glasses: ...I don't know

Woman with undercut: W-what? But you always know something about where we are! Like what path do we need to take next or how to come back... Nothing?

The woman adressed as captain shakes her head

Man with long hair and eyepatch: (smiles) I like this place.

Man with red tie and vest: Good for you, Wéilái, but I disagree. I think I heard voices coming from somewhere?

Woman with undercut: I think I do too, Tzaaid. I should go talk to them. Maybe we could get a job.

Tzaaid: Wait, Mel! What if they're dangerous?

Mel: Then you'll just have to watch my back, right? Don't worry, Zid. Ahem. Hello there? We have only good intentions coming here.

 

[Siwyenbast]

Aw, sweet! I loved doing text roleplaying as a kid. Hope you don't mind if I keep the character in the first person past style that she's in.

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I blinked. The last thing I remembered was joking with Ami about something contract-y before going to bed for the night. Now, I was...wherever this was, a blank dusky plane with hazy outlines of what could be couches, and the vague feeling of having possibly annoyed the sylph on my team. Looking down, I see that I'm geared up for patrol, and a quick feeling of my head tells me that I also have my dampener clip on.

"Hey Binara," I say out into the space, "I'm sorry if I pissed you off. So, uh, could you please let me go back home? I'll have to feed my cat eventually."

Silence. The Keeper of the Multiversial Hall must've been super pissed or not around.

Great, just fucking great.

I maneuvered the portable Psydisk I was standing on around the haze of a couch, trying to find an exit. Instead, I heard murmuring echoing off in the distance.

I squinted, trying to spot them in the dim lighting, but no dice. I quickly felt my costume cat ear clips' shape on the top of my head to see if I was screwed even more than being possibly teleported to a blank dimension.

Ah, good. Triangles mean lights.

<Lights on, pink, fifty percent,> I thought at the ears and the transmitter did what it was programmed to do.

I swept the area visually again, this time with my ear clips serving as a flashlight.

Something off to my left reflected pink just inside of shouting distance.

I looked back and spotted a small group of people. One of them was wearing glasses.

Oops, shining a light in someone's face was not a good first impression.

"Hey," I said both vocally and telepathically, hoping that they understood English, "what in the hell is t-this place?" I waved, trying to flag them down while not shining my ear lights in their eyes. I really hoped that they wouldn't start shooting. I'd had enough of that for one week already.

 

[Ashigara]

I saw this game in other writing forums and since I couldn't find something like it here I thought about starting it. The basic premise is a bit like roleplaying gaming: we take the role of a character/group of characters of one of our stories who suddenly find themselves in an undefined space. They interact, discovering and revealing things about each other and their origin world. This way we can help our world and character building. Maybe someone asks your character a question about their world you hadn't thought very well about and that makes you realize you should flesh it out. Or maybe you already have figured it and want to show a cool fact about your setting. In another occasion, somebody else's character may react in a way you didn't expect and that forces you to think about how your own would respond to this new situation. Or allow you to demostrate how unique a personality said character has.

Um, so to clarify,

1) What do you mean when you say 'undefined space'? Is it an established universe in another work?

2) Is this meant to be one post, or several posts?

3) When another poster here asks your character about their universe, does it take the form of an in-universe person asking?

4) What if my characters are reticent and the secretive types?

 

[BRG2003]

Um, so to clarify,

1) What do you mean when you say 'undefined space'? Is it an established universe in another work?

2) Is this meant to be one post, or several posts?

3) When another poster here asks your character about their universe, does it take the form of an in-universe person asking?

4) What if my characters are reticent and the secretive types?

1: I meant is simply not something to focus on and its just there to facilitate exchanges between the characters. Need water because your story is about merfolk? There is. Does your species need something other than oxigen to survive? Somehow they can here along human characters.

2 Several posts, as many as you want, as long as they're about the interactions between your characters and someone/s else's.

3 Yep!

4 You can always find ways around that, like having them accompanied by a less secretive character. But you're writing them, so it's up to you how they interact with the rest of the chatroom.

 

[BRG2003]

Aw, sweet! I loved doing text roleplaying as a kid. Hope you don't mind if I keep the character in the first person past style that she's in.

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I blinked. The last thing I remembered was joking with Ami about something contract-y before going to bed for the night. Now, I was...wherever this was, a blank dusky plane with hazy outlines of what could be couches, and the vague feeling of having possibly annoyed the sylph on my team. Looking down, I see that I'm geared up for patrol, and a quick feeling of my head tells me that I also have my dampener clip on.

"Hey Binara," I say out into the space, "I'm sorry if I pissed you off. So, uh, could you please let me go back home? I'll have to feed my cat eventually."

Silence. The Keeper of the Multiversial Hall must've been super pissed or not around.

Great, just fucking great.

I maneuvered the portable Psydisk I was standing on around the haze of a couch, trying to find an exit. Instead, I heard murmuring echoing off in the distance.

I squinted, trying to spot them in the dim lighting, but no dice. I quickly felt my costume cat ear clips' shape on the top of my head to see if I was screwed even more than being possibly teleported to a blank dimension.

Ah, good. Triangles mean lights.

<Lights on, pink, fifty percent,> I thought at the ears and the transmitter did what it was programmed to do.

I swept the area visually again, this time with my ear clips serving as a flashlight.

Something off to my left reflected pink just inside of shouting distance.

I looked back and spotted a small group of people. One of them was wearing glasses.

Oops, shining a light in someone's face was not a good first impression.

"Hey," I said both vocally and telepathically, hoping that they understood English, "what in the hell is t-this place?" I waved, trying to flag them down while not shining my ear lights in their eyes. I really hoped that they wouldn't start shooting. I'd had enough of that for one week already.

Mel: Hi! We don't know either. Maybe we just discovered a never seen before part of the Rodwen Isles!

Woman with headscarf: C'mon, Mel, we were nowhere near the three isles with uncharted territories, and I don't remember any transportation spells being casts by any of us. Hey, you! Need some goods from the wilderness, some materials, a nasty monster slayed? We have good offers!

Mel: (giggling) Nice try, Jamie!

Captain: (to Jamie) Leave the marketing to Mel, okay?

Wéilái: You... what are those strange devices? They look like... machines?

 

[CMBright]

Two bipedal mice ride into the strange space, reining in the squirrels they are riding as they take in the hominids. Each is wearing a tiny scale mail tunic and armed with miniature weapons. After frantic grooming of the faces and domed heads and riding the squirrels out and back, the chocolate mouse begins cautiously exploring, spear tipped with amber glass in hand, while the white mouse stays close, bow strung and tiny dart sized arrows close at hand in a quiver.

 

[Siwyenbast]

Mel: Hi! We don't know either. Maybe we just discovered a never seen before part of the Rodwen Isles!

Woman with headscarf: C'mon, Mel, we were nowhere near the three isles with uncharted territories, and I don't remember any transportation spells being casts by any of us. Hey, you! Need some goods from the wilderness, some materials, a nasty monster slayed? We have good offers!

Mel: (giggling) Nice try, Jamie!

Captain: (to Jamie) Leave the marketing to Mel, okay?

Wéilái: You... what are those strange devices? They look like... machines?

I titled my head. They probably aren't from here either. I slowly edged closer, cautious in case they decided to go for guns, but still wanting to not have to yell.

"You mean what I'm wearing, or what I'm standing on?" I said. "In either case they're both gadgets. My costume black cat ear clips light up and serve as flashlights to help me navigate around at night. What I'm standing on is the Psydisk. I can't fly unaided, so it helps me get around on patrol quicker. I control both of them via telepathy, though the disk has some body motion as well."

I looked down to my overweight self and noticed a speck of dust on my royal blue sleeveless cheongsam blouse. I brushed it off before turning the ear lights down to thirty percent. I espied a pair of medieval Rescue Rangers off to my right.

"Hey, don't get under the purple light of my disk. It's not safe for smaller folk when I'm as close to the ground as I am. A friend of mine busted his finger once on it." I sent a small cautionary wave of emotion to the Rangers along with my words, in case they didn't understand English.

Looking back to the humanoids I shook my head. "Ever since I met Edfu, I have to let anyone that small have a heads up. And I don't really have use for those things you mentioned. I don't carry my wallet with me either on patrol."

I sighed. I remembered that I was getting too direct again. Cm'on Em, you know better when masking.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be forceful. My call sign's Bastendet, but everyone from the news to my super-team likes to call me Psycat. Says it's easier to pronounce. So, uh... who are ya'll and what world are ya from? That includes you too, Squeakies."

 

[Ashigara]

1: I meant is simply not something to focus on and its just there to facilitate exchanges between the characters. Need water because your story is about merfolk? There is. Does your species need something other than oxigen to survive? Somehow they can here along human characters.

2 Several posts, as many as you want, as long as they're about the interactions between your characters and someone/s else's.

3 Yep!

4 You can always find ways around that, like having them accompanied by a less secretive character. But you're writing them, so it's up to you how they interact with the rest of the chatroom.

Curious.

1) Can one's characters enter another a conversation in a three-way, or is this limited to two universes?

2) What about spoilers? Can, or rather, should we spoil our characters' progress for the sake of interaction? Perhaps my endgame character is more suited for this, but who her status in a later arc may be spoiled. And that might not be nice towards people.

 

[CMBright]

I titled my head. They probably aren't from here either. I slowly edged closer, cautious in case they decided to go for guns, but still wanting to not have to yell.

"You mean what I'm wearing, or what I'm standing on?" I said. "In either case they're both gadgets. My costume black cat ear clips light up and serve as flashlights to help me navigate around at night. What I'm standing on is the Psydisk. I can't fly unaided, so it helps me get around on patrol quicker. I control both of them via telepathy, though the disk has some body motion as well."

I looked down to my overweight self and noticed a speck of dust on my royal blue sleeveless cheongsam blouse. I brushed it off before turning the ear lights down to thirty percent. I espied a pair of medieval Rescue Rangers off to my right.

"Hey, don't get under the purple light of my disk. It's not safe for smaller folk when I'm as close to the ground as I am. A friend of mine busted his finger once on it." I sent a small cautionary wave of emotion to the Rangers along with my words, in case they didn't understand English.

Looking back to the humanoids I shook my head. "Ever since I met Edfu, I have to let anyone that small have a heads up. And I don't really have use for those things you mentioned. I don't carry my wallet with me either on patrol."

I sighed. I remembered that I was getting too direct again. Cm'on Em, you know better when masking.

"Sorry, didn't mean to be forceful. My call sign's Bastendet, but everyone from the news to my super-team likes to call me Psycat. Says it's easier to pronounce. So, uh... who are ya'll and what world are ya from? That includes you too, Squeakies."

The chocolate furred one eyes the height of the disk. A practiced turn and jump, and squirrel and rider are on the purple disk. A roll of paper, an inch long and half that around is pulled out of a saddlebag, along with a very small pen. Mutters of "e'er" and an uncanny imitation of a guinea pig can be heard.

Closer, patches of chocolate roan and a patch of white fur can be seen as the individual sets the spear down and writes はるです、あなたわ. It morphs to 'My name is Haru, who are you?' in the translation magic of the space. A point with a nose at the white one, another line written morphs into 'That is Tora. We are from Away.'

Both appear ready to dart at any hint of danger.

 

[CMBright]

Curious.

1) Can one's characters enter another a conversation in a three-way, or is this limited to two universes?

2) What about spoilers? Can, or rather, should we spoil our characters' progress for the sake of interaction? Perhaps my endgame character is more suited for this, but who her status in a later arc may be spoiled. And that might not be nice towards people.

1. Are there any rules saying they can't?

2. I figure this is non-cannon. Also, this site is more for writers than readers. Unless one participating in this thread is a beta reader for a story with these characters, I doubt anything will be spoiled for readers. Others might feel differently.

 

[BRG2003]

1 Any number of characters can interact with one another

2 It's up to you how far into their development you want your character/s to be when they enter the chatroom. Since the objetive is to help develop them I'd recommend having them at the very start of their journey. But if along the plot they have a drastic change of personality, you may want to have them at at that point to get a handle of how to write them now that they've become someone else.

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Wéilái: Interesting. (he walks near Psycat, and the two mice) I've heard of a place where different dimensions connect. Given the translation spells in place and the differences between us, this might be it.

Mel: We're not so different, look at them! (She points to Haru and Tora) They're small Beastfolk, just like my dad!

Captain: Don't point at people like that, it's rude.

Mel: Oops! Sorry!

Tzaiad: You, people! (Points at everyone in the room even harder) Have you got time to hear about the Teachings Of Titania?

Jamie: Oh, boy, here we go again...

Captain: Tzaiad, no.

 

[BRG2003]

1 Any number of characters can interact with one another

2 It's up to you how far into their development you want your character/s to be when they enter the chatroom. Since the objetive is to help develop them I'd recommend having them at the very start of their journey. But if along the plot they have a drastic change of personality, you may want to have them at at that point to get a handle of how to write them now that they've become someone else.

//////////

Wéilái: Interesting. (he walks near Psycat, and the two mice) I've heard of a place where different dimensions connect. Given the translation spells in place and the differences between us, this might be it.

Mel: We're not so different, look at them! (She points to Haru and Tora) They're small Beastfolk, just like my dad!

Captain: Don't point at people like that, it's rude.

Mel: Oops! Sorry!

Tzaiad: You, people! (Points at everyone in the room even harder) Have you got time to hear about the Teachings Of Titania?

Jamie: Oh, boy, here we go again...

Captain: Tzaiad, no.

 

[Siwyenbast]

The chocolate furred one eyes the height of the disk. A practiced turn and jump, and squirrel and rider are on the purple disk. A roll of paper, an inch long and half that around is pulled out of a saddlebag, along with a very small pen. Mutters of "e'er" and an uncanny imitation of a guinea pig can be heard.

Closer, patches of chocolate roan and a patch of white fur can be seen as the individual sets the spear down and writes はるです、あなたわ. It morphs to 'My name is Haru, who are you?' in the translation magic of the space. A point with a nose at the white one, another line written morphs into 'That is Tora. We are from Away.'

Both appear ready to dart at any hint of danger.

((To be clear, the purple part is the purple light that's shining under the disk. It looks like how a flashlight does when close to a surface. The rest of the circular disk is steel, brass, and nonslip black coating. It's about the size of a manhole cover in diameter. The brass is shaped into ankhs around the perimeter, and it looks a bit like a gear with teeth jutting up with how many there are. I really want to give a better description to Bastendet/Psycat, but that would break first person style.))

I squinted at the text, trying to make it out. Dang it, if only my Marcus modified patrol glasses were ready...

"Again, I'm Bastendet," I said after bending over at the waist to see the text. "But it's good to meet both of you. I'm not the type to hurt people unnecessarily. In fact, where I come from, I'm considered a superhero. That is, a human that has powers and uses them to help protect the people."

I stand up straight and nod. "The way I've heard Binara, the sylph on my super-team, tell it, they're a little on the rarer side. Considering that she's the one that freaking manages the multiverse for the Netjeru--one of the many collections of gods my world has, and the ones that I worship--I tend to trust her on stuff like this."

I look back at the one who was asking about some teachings with a confused look. What did they call 'em? Tzaiad? "I'm fairly certain that whoever that is isn't a trial boss in a video game or from a Shakespeare play, so co-could I have some background info on them first? I don't know anything about your worlds and vice versa," I said.

 

[CMBright]

Haru nods, a single swift dip and rise of her mouse-like nose.

Before, I was born Before. My first offspring were born Before. White walls, hard white floors, soft white ceilings. Transparent walled nests that were secured by giants. I found a way out. When I realized I'd never have more than stolen moments in the blackness of the dark times with my offspring, I decided to find a path Away.

Haru's shoulders rise and fall.

Away was very strange to us. Water fell from the ceiling, just drops, but so many drops, over so much area. Periods of killing heat. Periods of killing cold. Chaos of stuff we learned were called plants in so many different kinds, grass, shrubs, trees. We tamed twitch tails to ride, learned to make plate coverings to protect ourselves. The ceiling was so high. But the floor was very good to dig nests when we stopped for rest.

Away was dangerous. We walked, but we kept finding evidence of the giants. In some places, they were still there. In others, there were not even scent trails left. We raided food from the giants or learned what to eat from the wild ones. I figured out how to make sharp edges from rock and that glass is even better for sharp edges, like the end of my hunting stick.

Then we encountered Hanako. A small giant. I learned writing words and some listening words from her. Listening words still tend to run together and make as much sense as bird babble to me. There were normal giants there as well. She lived with them and with other small giants.

More than we had ever seen. Before, there was the dominant male, three subordinate males and the giant who cared for the nests. Oh, and a female who examined and poked us, but we rarely saw her.

Haru's shoulders rise and fall again.

Does that answer your question? Away is away from giants. Only it isn't away from them because we learned to live with them. One group of them. Is your world different?