returnjourneymemes | FEBRUARY PLOTTING MEME

FEBRUARY PLOTTING MEME

Welcome to the Return Journey's first plotting meme!

In plotting memes, we share what we're doing next, our dream storylines, and any gentle workshopping on tricky subjects or character choices — essentially a CR Meme with an optional smidge of How's My Driving.

These memes are not mandatory, but they are highly encouraged because it's a place to plan CR and communicate your character arc in a way that can get others involved with yours. They're meant to be low pressure and high yield. When in doubt, ask questions!

Every month, we offer a few different prompts or character-building questions. These are entirely optional; you can absolutely just fill in the base form if you want.

Monthly Prompts

This month we're asking questions themed around consequences.

Think about the thing that your character desires most — if they failed to fulfill that desire, what would the consequence be? Does it change how they pursue their desire? Is it entirely personal, or beyond them, impacting others?

What consequences does your character need to grow? Consequences are crucial to telling a character arc for both inmates and wardens. Without them, there can't be stakes or tension, and without stakes or tension, there's no impetus to grow. What's a kick in the teeth your character needs? What are they robbing themselves of when they try to avoid these consequences?

How do consequences affect your character externally and internally? How do they react? What kinds of consequences are intolerable or tolerable, necessary or unnecessary?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Character: Waver Velvet, the former and current Lord El-Melloi II
Canon: Fate/Zero & The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II
Status: Warden

Info: The biggest nerd from any universe ever. Waver is a walking encyclopedia of all things magic and the occult, but he's not very good at actually casting magic. Spends most of his time face down in his comm reading books all day while blowing his stipend on the warden longue liquor cabinet. Halfway decent at maintaining a professional, academic and aloof facade, while being a hot-headed softie on the inside. Currently the temp warden to Volk.

Plotting: I talked about it on Plurk, but Waver is interested in setting up a nice little alchemical lab here so they can do tests on stuff they have, and things they pick up in the future. His goal is to help make healing potions/etc. so we don't have to solely rely on the autodoc and technology. He'll eventually speak with the Navarch to see how he can best acquire his (handwavey) list of equipment and materials. Unfortunately leaving this sort of stuff out in the open is dangerous, so he'll be setting it up in his quarters. But any warden and maaaybe some inmates who want to check it out and get a magic lesson or five are welcome.

Goals: Waver has like -9000 self esteem points on a good day, and his failure out at port really stung. He's going to be throwing himself hard into this alchemy project to prove he can be useful to the wardens as a whole. I would love for him to have to talk to Travis, Rhys, or Jack sometime soon, since he's busy pouting about that whole ordeal and he needs to be confronted with the fact that it's not going away.

I would love him to get more CR with non-magicky types, warden or inmate. A recent conversation with Volk drove home the fact that because he's been so long 100% steeped in mage culture for well over a decade, that he has no idea how to interact with people outside of it anymore.

But I want all CR! Cuz he absolutely wants to talk to magicky types from all these other worlds, too, he's so interested and enthusiastic about it. People more people drag him out of his quarters for some uuh fresh air equivalent. Anyone who can manage to drag any backstory out of him would be a dream, but it's gonna be tough. Malekith got a little bit out of him due to the simple slip of the tongue, whoops.

Etc:

Think about the thing that your character desires most — if they failed to fulfill that desire, what would the consequence be? Does it change how they pursue their desire? Is it entirely personal, or beyond them, impacting others?

Outside of the things he asked for in return for being a warden - Iskandar, his debts repaid, freedom from the El-Melloi family - Waver wants to be powerful and respected on his own terms. He wants to work for this place in mage society and get by on his talents and skills, not on his family lineage or wealth (neither of which he has). Stumbling into the situation he's in now as the Lord of the El-Melloi family doesn't count for him. He didn't earn it, and the title is more of a burden to him than a help. He's still looked down on by the other noble mages, who watch him teach his classes and solve their mysteries with mocking amusement. And yet, while he knows he can't ever really climb that ladder, while he'll never get anywhere in mage society, he still works as ten times as hard as any other mage. There's always a chance, and he has to continue living those ideals ingrained in him by Iskandar. Otherwise, if he didn't, he'd have nothing.