GotWala

Hmm, I suppose it's about time I posted something here for what I look like. Might as well share my "advanced hairline" with the forum, haha. And another one for fun:

If I had to pick just one trait between my determined resolve, my aptitude at teaching, or my empathetic skills, I'd probably put all of these positive traits of mine into one single concept: Love and Understanding of Humanity. The people I share this existence with fascinate and enlighten me more than any text book or thesis ever could. As such, I've become somewhat of a tender and caring individual who loves most everyone unconditionally upon first meeting or knowing of them. I see every person as a wellspring of potential that could be brought beyond the limits of our preconceived boundaries if nurtured and honed with care and confidence. And while I understand that not everyone I meet will or should succeed at achieving what they most desire, I can't help but want to aid them in their pursuit of happiness like a benevolent mentor. I admire the greatness of humanity and want to see just how far our collective evolution will take us.

Hmm, well I have two things that fit the bill: In the Navy, there are collectible coins called "Challenge Coins", which used to have quite a lot of significance but have since just sort of turned into knock-knacks and/or another thing to hold a form of shallow superiority with, haha. I have a few, most of which have been gifted by my father, but I only really care about the first one I got from him, being a simple coin with an anchor on one side and The Sailor's Creed on the other. I have it in my pocket wherever I go since I've enlisted. The second item, I carry on me every time I go into any kind of wilderness, being my grandfather's old deer knife. This knife has apparently been passed down at least several generations of "Arnolds", and while that claim may be a tad exaggerated, the blade itself is rather aged and works terribly despite how much my grandfather tried to maintain it before giving it to me (In fact, you can still see the stains and smell the deer innards). Regardless of the practical use the dull, bent blade has, I still keep it on me whenever I'm roughing it as a good luck charm.

Wow, it's really quite a treat to be able to read through all of these different plans and paths... Hmm, if I had anything to add to all of this collectively, it'd be this: Expectations and desires are more than achievable if properly tempered with realism. That is not to say that even the most fantastic of dreams cannot become realities. Realistic goals should never mean to take the wind from your sails or limit your success. What you may feel is not realistic due to things such as time, money, or power are not truly so when you have the greatest form of energy achievable in this existence: motivation. So long as you can believe in your abilities or in your potential to achieve greater and grander things, no force on this planet can truly stop you. There might be larger heights and more obtrusive obstacles as you push forward, but these tests and challenges are what hones our being and makes us worthy of our power. So all in all, work towards your goals and work hard. We all share the struggle of achieving our dreams, and we've all seen those before us reach their destination. We have that potential to do the same, if not more.

Hmm, I wouldn't terribly mind putting forth my ambitions and aspirations for you all, haha. Currently, I'm fulfilling my contract to the US Navy in order to earn a "second chance" at the life I had previously squandered using the various benefits and payments the government has to offer someone like me. I have no real passion for my current work, although I try not to let it hold me down and/or hold me back from making fond memories with the interesting people from different walks of life I meet in the service. But I digress, this is going to be my means to an end that will be the equivalent of a 6 year "purgatory" in order to rejoin the rest of society again, haha. As for after this part of my life, I'm not entirely sure what path I would choose when I begin again. I initially desired to be a school teacher and was extremely passionate about that profession since I was in elementary school, but I've since grown more dissatisfied with my own feelings towards such a job. I'm finding more and more lately that I've been changing a quite a lot, and whether for better or for worse, I feel like I don't necessarily "deserve" to guide the next generation. While some might say my experience in falling to the bottom and climbing my way back up could be "inspiring", it's hardened me since my teen years and made me less patient and loving... The lack of those characteristics makes not a good teacher, haha. I have two options I've been juggling for a while now, one being a bit more realistic than the other. The realistic path would be to go into investigative work (I.E. the FBI) and attempt to change the world for the better. I've been told I have somewhat of a knack for inquiry and investigation, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say I might be good at such a job. As for the more fantastic option, I would attempt learning about Biotechnology or genetic therapy. If I could grasp the concepts of such advanced sciences, I might be able to ride the next wave of technological and human evolution. Needless to say, if I succeeded at truly revolutionizing the field, the world would most certainly change quite a bit! If such an event were to occur, I'd like to create a "think tank" of equally (if not far more) skilled individuals to form a foundation with the goal of bettering humanity. One can only dream, haha. As for relationships, I've been working towards being more reliable to speak to amongst my family members since I've started down my current path. I was always neglectful of family and giving them the time of day always seemed to slip my mind... However, I've come to realize how important the people we form bonds with can be and have since attempted to keep them informed as much as possible. As for anything more intimate, I've given it some thought for some time now, and I think I might be more open towards the idea. During high school, I had a penchant for... "Apathetic Polygamy". Like a true disenfranchised youth, I had no faith in a real, loving relationship between children, which made me do many things to the feelings of others I'm not very proud of today. However, things have changed for me dramatically in that respect, and I've sworn never to do such terrible things to someone's heart ever again. So all in all, I would definitely treat a relationship with a lot more respect now, but I'm worried about my general self-absorbed aloofness getting in the way, haha. Ahh, it's always oddly refreshing to speak about these types of things! That, or I just thoroughly enjoy talking about myself far too much, haha!

Well, I'm somewhat late to this and it seems like alot more people than I expected have a genuine interest in the great passtime of Dungeons & Dragons, haha. I'd be fine with using any system to organize the group, preferrably with some combination of Voice Chat and/or Roll20. As for my availability, I'd only be able to be a part of short-ish games (1-3 months) or take part in the same game but with reasons such as "My character died and this is a new one!" or "I got separated or predisposed for some reason!" which would get ridiculous if done too often, haha. Oh, and my time zone is Pacific Daylight Time. I look forward to seeing this get off the ground, and would be happy to offer any advice/shoot the breeze about any campaigns that are going on, assuming I'm not participating, haha!

Hey there, man! It's been some time indeed, haha! Glad to see that the nautical life is doing some good things for the both of us! Gotta say, living somewhere like Japan for your job sounds pretty exotic. Glad you got a duty station that you can love. And ET, huh? I've got quite a few friends in the submarine force who are comms guys and your job definitely sounds intriguing! I myself just listen to dolphins and merchants all day and try to not crash the boat, haha. I'm a decent bit jealous of the fact that you'll definitely see more the world than I will, but Washington has been a pretty rad place so far in it's own right. As someone who hasn't seen much of my own country but quite a few "foreign lands", the entire experience has been somewhat eye opening and rewarding, haha. So hey, I've got a few questions for you shipmate, haha: 1. Do you plan to be a career sailor or just ride out the first contract? 2. What's your average work day amount to? 3. I understand that the restrictions placed on us "E-Trash" in Japan are somewhat harsh. Is this true and what are they exactly, if so? 4. It sounds like you're having a blast, and that makes me truly happy. Though our experiences in this life differ quite a bit, how "changed" do you feel from the whole thing? Anyways, that's just my few queries, haha. It's great talking to you again, that's for sure!

Haha, guess I was born in one of the Dog years! Not only that, but the sign actually fits me to a tee. Assuming I am that likeable, that is, haha!

Well, I have a slight alternative to make alot of the upkeep, admin, rolls, etc. less of a headache and allow them to retain total integrity: Basically, host the Interest Check and OOC here and have a link for the IC to a site like Roll20. It'd provide a grid with map tools, a place to store sheets, info, lore, bios, etc. and the built-in dice rollers show the results before everyone in the chat log. It may seem like it's "defeating the purpose" a bit to move off this site for the RP, but it'd more be like Reborn would act as the basis and discussion area for the RP while Roll20 would be the area where the RP is actually played out. Perhaps the biggest difficulty with this way would be "assembling" the participants in the action to all be around at the same time... This would also mean that no one could really just "spectate" and read through the RP as it goes, assuming that's something you think about, haha. Overall, I like the idea of using a system to adjudicate the more abstract parts of the RP but it'd incredibly difficult to maintain on Reborn without the appropriate modifications. I'll try to think of a better "solution" than the one I've put here, in the meantime.

Ahh, a challenger approaches! Man, I'm on the edge of my seat for this RP, haha. Whether I'm in or not, I'm more than looking forward to how this story plays out. If it's anything like last time, it'll make for a truly interesting experience!

Hmm, I guess I want someone I can believe in. Not only that, but they have to believe in me as well. I don't want a crutch and I don't want to be one, but it'd be great to know that someone, somewhere always believed you could. Someone with a will strong enough to carry them through life and motivate me to come with them. Mostly, I just think it'd be nice to have someone I deserve. Gah, I'm not really that good at this kind of thing, haha. Always too esoteric and lose my focus when I think about this stuff. Most likely, I don't even know what the hell I want, haha! As for those who posted, I commend your bravery to be forward about something that could be somewhat personal. It takes guts, despite the anonyminity of the internet to lay yourself bare like this, haha.

Name: Richard Albert Goddard Age: 26 Gender: Male Generation: Gen 2 Power: "Staying Power" - Basically, whenever Richard does something that physically applies force, he can focus on that action to continue to apply that force. This is displayed via "astral projections" of a lime-green color that are semi-opaque and take the shape of the object applying the force and the force applied. Examples include using himself to boost up to a higher place by first doing the action of boosting something up, focusing on it, and then using his own projection to get the boost he needs. The drawback to this is that this ability expends energy at a fraction of the energy initially used to start, but continuously so long as he maintains the force. Thus, the overall strain on his body can get fatiguing if he has too many projections at once. As for the actions of movement, the projections loop at the same speed that they were initially executed in so long as Richard maintains them. Sub-powers: As for sub-powers, Richard has slightly more resilient body towards fatigue since his own power conditions his body for it's use. Secondly, Richard has a heightened sense of focus, meaning he can focus on what's immediately apparent to him as well as his maintenance on his projections. Character summary: Richard is the product of two Altered parents who applied a lot of their time towards using their abilities to defend the people of Deiville. Acting as part of the justice system, they sought to make Deiville a safe land from the actions of the unjust, continuing to do the work of Jadis despite their banishment for being Altered. Richard grew up rather well off, spending his childhood in the family villa practicing painting and being homeschooled in advanced subjects. Around the time his abilities had begun to develop, Richard was scared of his power and his inability to understand or control it, always crying for help from his parents to sooth his worries. Around the time he was 15, his life drastically changed when his father transformed into a monstrosity and rampaged through their villa. Distraught and paralyzed with fear, Richard watched as his changed father and mother fought each other, tearing apart their home piece by piece. Desperate to stop them, Richard placed the force of his right arm in the way of his mother in a bid to protect her, which bought her time are the cost of Richard's veins bursting in his arm due to the sheer power he was trying to stop. His screams of pain managed to give the creature that was his father pause just long enough for his mother to deal a finishing blow at the cost of her own life. In a near catatonic state, Richard barely recognized his mother's last words as the police arrived to control the situation. This event would lead Richard to become fearful and hateful of the Altered "gift", devoting his life towards serving justice to the changed ones or those Altered who acted unjustly. He must discover the truth behind the curse of the Altered in order to bring salvation to the afflicted people of Deiville and save them from his parents fate. Determined and predatory, Richard will stop at nothing to achieve what he sets his mind to. Appearance: 6'4" and 201 lbs, Richard cuts an imposing figure that has been trained and conditioned through his ability and his work. His frame is further accentuated by his defined muscles and rigid posture, maintaining peak fitness and athleticism. Richard has light blonde hair cut in a Caesar style with a darker set of sideburns which end perfectly squared mid-ear and a dark, well defined goatee. His square jaw and shape visage accentuate his predatory, piercing green eyes and his permanently stern expression. Somewhat pale due to his amount of time indoors, Richard's most defining feature on his skin is a large, spreading scar from his right shoulder down to his wrist that follows the path of his veins. As for clothing, Richard tends to wear boots, trousers, sleeveless turtlenecks, blouses, and undershirts. Extra: Has very little feeling in his right arm and lacks some motor functions with it due to nerve damage. Was placed in a boarding school with his parents inheritance and has since been alone aside from his job. This job, being that of a bodyguard and general heavy for the Development district. Overall, he acts as a contracted government safety officer. Phew, all done! I look forward to the events that are soon to transpire, haha.

Huh, sounds neat! I've got somewhat of an idea on what direction I want to go with my contribution, though most of it will have to wait until the ball gets rolling, huh?

Well I'll be, haha! I'd more than love to be apart of another RP run by you, Dobby! I look forward to this "reboot" of sorts you have planned. Hmm, well I suppose I'll have to wait and see for whether I decide on a revival of Richard or try something new. Mostly just depends on the context and world I'm given to work with, haha.

While I personally would prefer the simple format for the sake of expedience, I'm entirely fine with filling out an expose on my character if it means helping the GM understand my role and style. It would definitely be something reserved for those RPs that are meant to have experienced players, which isn't inherently wrong to be honest. After all, there are always other RPs and people who wish to join them, right? This could be an interesting requirement for character creation, however I wouldn't want it to be mandatory for all material, which I doubt was what you wanted either. Overall, if someone included this as a requirement to their RP, I wouldn't terribly mind! Haha, I might actually do this for GMs of future RPs I take part in, just to make their jobs slightly easier.

Hmm... The first character I remember making... Well, as a bit exposition to this, my brother and his two friends Kosta and John would RP (At our age, "Make Believe", haha) Super Smash Bros. Eventually, it went from just them pretending to be Smash characters to them making up their own OC's which included the likes of "The Mystic Swordsman" who was capable of using all forms of magic except with 100% more swords involved (My Brother's OC), "The Adamantium Hybrid Dragon" who was a dragon made of adamantium that had the powers of all the D&D dragons Kosta vaguely remembered from thumbing through his Step-Dad's D&D book stash (Obviously Kosta's OC), and "The Time Guy" who had the powers of what a 10-year-old considered time relevant (John's OC). These three made up a triumvirate of Mary-Suedom which would later birth a multiverse of random characters we'd basically have fight each other, playground "Nuh-uh, I had a shield!" style. Anyways, The three of them had this thing going and I was always annoyingly close to my older brother, so naturally I wanted to hang out with them and play their game! The three of them (This is when I first met Kosta and John as well) "tested" me by having me make a character to fight their best guys (The Mystic Swordsman, The Adamantium Hybrid Dragon, and The Time Guy). Being 7, I immediately went for the coolest character I could think of at the time, being Cidalfus Orlandeau from Final Fantasy Tactics! Odd, I know, but I wasn't exactly creatively flexing and I watched my brother play the game and saw how OP Orlandeau was. Needless to say, they told me that wasn't fair since I didn't make him up myself (Guess 10-year-olds cared about plagiarism, haha). I left them and went home to try and think of a cool, unique character to beat them with and came up empty every time. It had to be something cool and not like their guys at all in order for me to be happy. Thus, the Wala was born. I made a hand puppet (Y'know the one with your index and pinky finger as ears and your thumb, ring, and middle fingers forming a mouth? Yeh, that one.) that I saw someone make at school and called it a Wala. It had literally no features aside from being a hand puppet and for some reason I figured that'd be good enough to face off against the three gods of childish imagination. My strategy was to make slapstick humor with it and come up with things on the fly. Having shown up once again to face them, I presented the Wala! John and Kosta chuckled a bit and my brother smiled with a strange sense of inspiration. He proclaimed that I'd made not a character, but a race! To which, John and Kosta began asking me what it could do. After several hours of talking about how Walas are all technophiles that despise magic, believe in "progress"over practicality, Apparently have only one bone in their body called the "Brainual Cavity" and cartilage that looked like the bones in a human hand and forearm, no organs, manipulate objects psionically as if they have hands but have such a lack of self awareness that they don't realize they don't have hands (That same lack of self awareness prevents them from dying since they have no organs), and have the personalities of American political caricatures. Phew, that was quite a lot of words to say basically this: I made a ridiculous race with the help of my brother and my two best friends that has gone on in history as being our inside joke that has most outlived its welcome, haha! Oh, and I guess that's where I got my namesake from for the forum.

Hey now, what are friends for right? I'm just glad I could catch up after being gone for so long, haha! Oh, and pleased to make your acquaintance, Rose! I will look forward to seeing more of your "Dream" while I'm busy "meaning worlds", haha.

Haha, well I'm glad I've been so well received and re-received! Here's to our future time spent!

You want some feedback, huh? Well, I suppose I can try to give a bit, haha! After reading through your story once more and catching up on the latest chapters, I'm proud to say that it remains one of the best stories I've ever been invested in! As for specifics, I still find your ability to describe the ephemeral and abstract scapes of dream sequences to be astounding. No detail goes unspoken as you project your creative mind into your work. Your characters are real and believable; each one being relatable and interesting for the reader to observe on their journey. If I have to throw in some negatives, they'd be as follows: Your habit of "text-walling" is still alive and well, I see, haha! Just try to be more conscious about how it might look to the reader when you expel forth your prose. Gramattical and spelling errors are there, but hardly worth mentioning seeing as you have no editor and they aren't conscious faults. The meeting with the goddess Aelia and her servant was solid, however the quickness at which the intensity of our MC's conversation with the goddess rose was somewhat off to me. Perhaps it'd feel more natural if you provided more "filler" or general "brick-laying" to establish an emotional basis. This observation goes for your dialogue with new characters in general, but I mostly observed it with the goddess' meeting. I'm happy to enjoy the privilege of reading your work, and continue to support you in this endeavor! Let it be known that even in my absence, I thought of how fortunate I was to read such inspiring work and thought about it often, haha.

... This topic is one that I hold very near and dear to me. I think I should give my long-winded two cents while I'm in the area, haha. Since I was a small child, I was told time and time again that I was very intelligent and that I was destined for great things by family, friends, teachers, and other authority figures in my life. I grew up curious and precocious, demanding answers for why things had to be and what it was I wanted in life. My ambitions always started with grandiose daydreams of what the future had in store; my head was always stuck in the clouds of what I wanted to be. The problem was, I fell into a pattern of opposition early on in life which continued until I was 19. I refused to work, since I thought it beneath me. I abhorred following directions, dictates, and orders since they "held down my free spirit". Every time the call to action was spurred in my life; every time an opportunity came right to my feet I ignored it. I was too prideful for help or guidance and too slothful to work hard despite it being the only option I ever left myself. I found my life spiralling into nothingness as my potential slipped away as the cold, hard reality of life took it's place. As it would happen, no one ever gets anywhere in their goals with apathy, and I couldn't fathom this fact, this TRUTH of life. All of my decisions, or more appropriately lack there of, led me to an abysmal "existence" of couch-hopping, ramen noodles, minimum wage, alcohol, and "various goods and services sold by reputable street vendors". For the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to fill the void since I failed to understand my reality: I WAS the void. Eventually, one crisp, fall morning at 4:06 AM, I awoke from my stupor covered in the vomit of the previous night. I slipped on bottles of drink and slammed my head on the wood table nearby the all-too-small, pleather loveseat I slept on. Picking myself up and holding my head, I gazed at the mountain of empty dishes filled with the meager rations I'd feasted on for the past 2 months; the smell causing my nausea which was already formed of my hungover condition to flare up. I hobbled to the bathroom and emptied my stomach and used toilet paper to contain the blood trickle from my recently injured skull. Looking in the mirror, I saw a jobless wreck with long, greasy, scraggly hair that had been unwashed for a month wearing a stained t-shirt and "give up on life" pants which had gone god knows how many days unwashed. Gazing into my own bloodshot, grey, lifeless eyes and seeing my thick, course, dark brown beard, I came to this conclusion: I was nowhere and I've done nothing. I felt so disgusted, so angry at the visage of this shadow of being, that the gears began turning in my head towards what actions I had to take to fix my life. Running through options over and over in my head, I chose one that would bring me from the depths of my self-induced purgatory and grant me absolution. Using the US Navy for a second chance and a way to change for the better, I would finally act on my latent ambitions and carve out the destiny I desired! No more running and excuses! No more wasting the world around me! This would be the first thing I will ever start and finish that I voluntarily signed up for! Happiness and fulfillment is something I will earn! I say this all not to desire pity or to demand praise, but to put forth the perspective of one who has suffered from their obstinate grasp on apathy. Your dreams and desires are entirely your own to make a reality. To want is not enough when we must grasp and ascend to acquire the future we envision. Ambition and effort are one and the same, for our world does not give simply by virtue of being! You are the captain of your vessel and owner of your soul! A ship does not sail without a strong, motivated hand to guide it through the seas of destiny! Phew, that was a doozy! I very much hope that my words, however small they are in your world, will at least give you all thought about what it is you want and how you plan to obtain it. Try not to let my pretentiousness steer you away, haha!

Hello everyone! Apologies in advance since I believe this technically counts as a "Necropost", but I felt like making a new topic here would be kinda silly, haha. It's been a pretty long time since I've been on here... I think about a year? Which is pretty regrettable, to say the least! I figured I'd sort of announce my return to Reborn and give a brief (Or at least, my definition of brief, haha...) synopsis of what I've been up to for the past while and a half, haha. First off, I got to partake in the glorious experience that is "Basic Training" in Great Lakes, IL. It was a trying experience, not due to difficulty in the tasks of the day, but from the mild existential crises I would have while pondering the choices I made in life leading up to this point, haha. 8 weeks of doing what I'm told and nothing more went by surprisingly quickly and I was able to "honor" my family legacy by being awarded for folding t-shirts correctly and making my bed, haha. Overall, it was definitely a positive, and I say this with the utmost truth, a positive experience for me which did a great deal towards generally motivating me to action! After that, I flew to Groton, CT where I spent the next 8 months learning about submarines and about my job and skillset as a Sonar Technician! I assumed I wouldn't really "cherish" the memories of time spent with the other sailors due to the nature of our job, but I can't honestly forget any of the experiences we shared as fellow students of the Navy. Having passed the various trials and schools with flying colors, I can proudly say that my new skillset translates to the civilian world through minor trigonometry, sound theory, and the ability to identify the Kama Sutra of dolphins by sound and sound alone, haha! Anyways, I can't stress enough just how much my time has changed me for the better, despite having yet to even experience "The Real Navy". Now stationed in Bangor, WA, I will continue the rest of my contract as a rated Sonar Technician aiding in deterrent patrols for the next 4 years. While I'll be around more often than my other submariner brethren, I will also disappear again abruptly and without much warning! Though I suppose it won't be much different than what I've already done, haha. As for why I disappeared, I had honestly assumed that I'd never have time for this place again and didn't want to drag people down with my memory (Narcissistically assuming I had much of an impact, haha!). However, I've learned that any relationship and the memories made from them is worth holding on to; no matter how fleeting! The experiences we share with one another help us grow as people from the subtlest of perspective changes to complete reevaluations of our own condition. I want to make more memories with as many people as I can, in hopes of truly learning about this wonderful life! I hope your all willing to put up with this nosy, self-absorbed, sappy, fool for just a bit longer, haha!

I would consider this a selfish choice on my part, but I would prefer option 1. Simply because I will be MIA for about 8 weeks come January 20th, haha.