Week 7: Family Reunion (11/17/13)

[Clara Oswald]

Cameron: "QUICK! MORGAN IS ABOUT TO GO BANANAS!"

Blaze: "Trust me....I had time to think while I was unconscious...."

Alison and Cameron finally meet their sister.

This week's playing threads are:

Family Portrait
The Morning After

Some possible jumping off points for discussion (feel free to answer some or none of these):

• How has being the one sibling to know the truth affected Erika?
• Why does Morgan hate Cameron so much?
• Aren't The Six a little too trusting?
• If the Six had worked together, could they have defeated Kelly King here?
• Who was your favorite character in this group of threads?
• What was your favorite thing about this group of threads?
• What did you learn by re-reading that you didn't remember?

Feel free to add your own comments and pose questions to the others. Discuss!

 

[Prophet]

How has being the one sibling to know the truth affected Erika?

You know...quite honestly.. I hate all of this. I wish I had the chance to go back and tighten everything up and deal with the backstory more effectively. I feel like everybody in these threads feel rush, and there is a lack of organization that just makes me cringe. It was my first time leading a story and it was incredibly difficult.

I also don't feel like I fleshed out Erika OR Kelly enough.

But for Erika.. I don't know I feel like she was essentially at her core, an incredibly good person. She didn't mind being the 'martyr' for her family. She genuinely wanted to protect them from her Mother. I think she really felt utterly abandoned by her sister, and then to be the one to have to face her mother, moments after her father was killed.. I think it really messed with her. In a few hours, she lost her entire family. And knowing that MysTech would be after her brother, she cast the spell to protect her siblings from EACH OTHER...knowing that if they were ever to reconnect, it might be to their detriment.. I think originally her intentions are pure.. and to be honest, I really liked Erika's power set. She wasn't a Water Elemental persay but she sure reads like one eh? :haha: I just remember wanting her to have water abilities and a great healing ability.

Again.. Had Farrah and I written the interaction between Erika and Alison NOW? It would be hands down a very good read, but looking at it now.. It just doesn't do justice to the situation for me... :-/

Why does Morgan hate Cameron so much?

You know at that TIME? I often asked myself the same question. Honestly, I feel, and i'm gonna be honest here lol, that Morgan herself just didn't trust men, and since Cameron WAS kind of a sleeze and because he wasn't so easily 'pacified' by her bitchiness like I am sure many people were...she just kind of hated him. And when she hated him...he decided to hate her right back. I never understood where the true ROOT of their hatred of one another came from, but I think Morgan was also borderline losing it here... this is right before The Inferno and this was Morgan at her absolute WORST.

Aren't The Six a little too trusting?

I think that was the point of Kelly King. Her illusion was so real because of the spell that it caused people to be off guard where they normally wouldn't be.. Couple this with the fact that Kelly came in at a time when tensions between the group were at an all time high? it's a recipe for disaster lol... Rachel becomes almost a bargainning chip, a way for Cam/Haleigh to take control of the team, and I think that kind of enrages Morgan and Alison.

If the Six had worked together, could they have defeated Kelly King here?

Nah.. Kelly wouldn't have revealed herself then. She would have kept the illusion up, waited for the right moment and escaped, probably leading The Six to her "dead body" as Rachel and then haunt their dreams and get them to flat out murder each other or something. Haha. :haha:

Who was your favorite character in this group of threads?

I actually really liked Delilah..but I always liked Delilah. I thought the way that she deactivated the Laser Grid was pretty kick ass!

What was your favorite thing about this group of threads?

I think just getting to know more about Cameron and Alison's life together was interesting. Erika is kind of like this glue that can stick them together.. and it's not often we get to learn ANYTHING about Alison's past because she doesn't talk about it in the way that Cameron does.

What did you learn by re-reading that you didn't remember?

Quite honestly.. Blaze drove me absolutely fucking bananas in the last SIX threads. She was wildly out of control, completely doing a 180 in her opinion of Rachel in like two seconds flat, the constant attempts to go kill Morgan.. It was stupid and I hated it, and I had forgotten all about it... until now :haha:

 

[Clara Oswald]

You know...quite honestly.. I hate all of this. I wish I had the chance to go back and tighten everything up and deal with the backstory more effectively. I feel like everybody in these threads feel rush, and there is a lack of organization that just makes me cringe. It was my first time leading a story and it was incredibly difficult.

I think you are more critical of yourself because it was YOU running it. I liked the backstory - and the conflict it created. If you had just gone the easy way, with them all hugging as hearts and unicorns flew around them, that would have been boring. The thing I noticed about Erika in these threads is that she was very formal in the way she spoke, and it was almost like she was the oldest sister. She was more grown up than the others, more sure of her powers. And I did like that she was more “traditional” (or probably Charmed-like lol) in her use of powers. I think Erika and Kelly would be incredibly fun characters to play 

Don’t forget these were new characters – it’s really hard to have a perfectly fleshed out & backstoried character in their first thread.

Honestly, I feel, and i'm gonna be honest here lol, that Morgan herself just didn't trust men,

I actually remember that being a central thing about Morgan before Nicolas. It used to be a much bigger deal that Morgan didn’t like men. I had forgotten.

The weird thing about Morgan’s hate on everyone, and their hate of everyone else, is that it didn’t seem weird at the time but going back now, it’s like, what’s up with that?

Quite honestly.. Blaze drove me absolutely fucking bananas in the last SIX threads. She was wildly out of control, completely doing a 180 in her opinion of Rachel in like two seconds flat, the constant attempts to go kill Morgan.. It was stupid and I hated it, and I had forgotten all about it... until now

Something I hadn’t remembered or maybe realized was that Blaze was supposed to be able to read emotions and was played to be very swayed by her own. So in some ways, which I don’t think I realized the first time around, Blaze’s emotional roller coaster fits her personality/character.

But the thing about Blaze is that she had every power under the sun it seemed, and that made her hard to follow sometimes.

 

[Prophet]

I think you are more critical of yourself because it was YOU running it. I liked the backstory - and the conflict it created. If you had just gone the easy way, with them all hugging as hearts and unicorns flew around them, that would have been boring. The thing I noticed about Erika in these threads is that she was very formal in the way she spoke, and it was almost like she was the oldest sister. She was more grown up than the others, more sure of her powers. And I did like that she was more “traditional” (or probably Charmed-like lol) in her use of powers. I think Erika and Kelly would be incredibly fun characters to play 

Don’t forget these were new characters – it’s really hard to have a perfectly fleshed out & backstoried character in their first thread.

Agreed, and maybe I am being a little hard on myself...Eh, I guess when I compare it to say Morgan's family where she has Karen and Blaze, the characters and the family overall feel really fleshed out and deep. Granted these characters had already been in existence for quite some time in the Valiant RPG so there is that..

I think my biggest regret here is that I wish I wouldn't have brought Kelly and Erika in the way that I did. The backstory is okay I guess, but overall with Erika's character, knowing what had happened to her later on, I feel like I just fumbled the ball. It was definitely a risk making a character later on BETRAY Ororo and attack Cameron and all of that...and I'm not necessarily sure it was the RIGHT decision...but I think it was a good one for drama. But later on, we learn that Erika was incredibly and deeply jealous of the bond that Alison and Cameron shared with each other...and she wasn't included. Everything she had done and they didn't give her much of a chance...well Cameron DID, but Alison didn't. And with all the bad blood between Alison and Erika, and having Cameron feel CLOSER to Erika than Alison..It just drove Erika absolutely crazy and into the arms of Malice.

I dunno..I always think though that biggest regrets in terms of what the characters COULD have been has always been Erika and Kelly. Hopefully at some point, I'll be able to do something that honors their "bloodline" so to speak lol.

Something I hadn’t remembered or maybe realized was that Blaze was supposed to be able to read emotions and was played to be very swayed by her own. So in some ways, which I don’t think I realized the first time around, Blaze’s emotional roller coaster fits her personality/character.

But the thing about Blaze is that she had every power under the sun it seemed, and that made her hard to follow sometimes.

I agree that her emotions were always far more dramatic than the others, but sometimes she came off nearly bipolar and manic. These emotional changes weren't just like her being swayed by them...but absolutely taken over by them. I mean...your sister risks her life and the lives of five others to save you from MysTech and right after you hate her, you can' trust her and then you set off to go and try and KILL her?

Actually! Looking back I feel like BLAZE was more of the person that pushed Morgan over the edge to absolute insanity right before the Inferno than Haleigh and Cameron lol. I just think the character at the time was suffering from the "Look at ME" Syndrome, and it made Blaze basically inneffective.

 

[Karma]

CF is correct that Morgan's hatred of men was central to her character. This was also a feature of her in VALIANT. She was constantly dismissed & UNDERESTIMATED by Splat & the other male character (i forget his name) along with the team leader, Volt. Destrell was the only male on the team who respected her & realized her power & he was also the only one who came to her rescue the very FIRST time she was attacked by Black.

But by the time she STARTED to soften (this is after Blaze & She discover they were sisters), Black attacked again & in addition to nearly losing her arm in her battle against him, she lost her sister & she lost more than a LITTLE hold on her sanity. I carried THAT over into the Six.

As the backstory of Mystech unfolded, it was clear to see why Morgan hated men so much. Her father abused & terrorized her, her mother & her sister. By the time she managed to return to some level of functionality (thanks to Karen, Alison & Delilah off panel) the IDEA of a man like Cameron being in her presence was more than she could bare.

I dont think there was anything WRONG w/ the way Brandon played Cameron, if that's truly how he saw the character :nod: but a character like that colliding w/ a character like Morgan was BOUND to have an unhappy ending (The Inferno)


Alison- a character who was meant to be a one-off & ended up evolving as the need demanded her to, as a precog, was completely unprepared to have her family DROP OUT OF THE SKY pretty much as the Six began to form. I think she does share a significant portion of the blame for Erika's own unraveling.

Alison LEFT her family at 14. It was shown that she protected Cameron from Kelly's abuse, since her powers manifested at an early age & as a precog, she was more aware than her siblings of the danger her mother posed. That's no kind of childhood to have & eventually she LEFT. Leaving Cameron & Erika at the mercy of Kelly.

It's a sad family history, the King/Marble family & Brandon, I know you've been critical of yourself & the handling of this particular storyline, but honestly, you did the best you could :nod: ALL of us have been able teo look back & see (&/or CRINGE lol) @ how we handled certain things back then in these earlier stories...but really this story here showed more than a glimpse of the King/Marble family history.

It's easily to just think of The Victory/Victoria family or even the Kelly family as being the ultimate victims of Mystech, but I dare say that the King/Marble family might be the ULTIMATE victims of Mystech's machinations.

Alison, Cameron & Erika each manifested their coping strategy in extreme ways. Alison became dark, cold & homicidal; Cameron became amoral, opportunistic & shallow; Erika became a people pleaser & pollyanna-esque in her quest to be a savior.

As Cameron was the baby....ALISON or ERIKA bore the greater burden of responsibility, but Alison was simply UNWILLING to meet Erika half way. That was IN LINE w/ her character, but really...it was quite detrimental & she could have made a key difference in Erika's life @ that time, preventing her from rushing into the waiting open arms of Malice.

 

[Karma]

I honestly blame myself for the wild fluxuations in Morgan & Blaze's relationship leading up to the Inferno. OOC, I didnt do enough, SOON enough to reign in the inconsistency w/ which Foxfire was being portrayed & instead, I had Morgan respond to it as it unfolded. Morgan & Blaze were a STRONG sisterhood in Valiant & they became the most popular characters w/ the readers on the board! They started OUT that way in the Six up to the time Morgan & the others went to rescue her from the Citadle. Heather did a great job reprising Blaze at that time.

But things just kind of went off track as we progressed & I wasn't doing enough to reign it in. Part of that was b/c...I didn't want to be seen as "THAT BITCH" that everyone accussed me of being in MOE when I ran a tight ship. <<sigh>>

But at the same time, I dont think Foxfire can be blamed for Morgan's descent into what would become the Inferno. Her seeming betrayal of Morgan could be cited as a TIPPING POINT or the straw that broke the camels back, but even in the Kelly King story, Blaze WILDLY vacillated from having a sense that something WAS terribly wrong w/ her sister to "I hate that bitch!" & so one minute she was on her game, the next she was being a two faced mess.


CF is right that Foxfire had some empathic accents to her power set. THIS was a carry over from Valiant as well, but again, it was something that was starting to be misused & mishandled. Had i taken a HARDER LINE about it, I might have been able to help avoid some other problems later.

The Kelly King storyline saw the WORST of the worst aspects of all the Six coming to the surface, BUT I could argue that as Morgan was descending into the depths of madness that lit the match of the Inferno, she was unconsciously dragging the others with her which is why CONFLICT was so rampant during this story.