Promises in the Dark: a Reality Show (slots open, need more men!)

Started by Top Cat, June 10, 2014, 04:11:22 PM

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Top Cat

Pat Benatar - "Promises In The Dark"

Never again, isn't that what you said
You've been through this before
You swore, this time, you'd think with your head
No one would ever have you again
And if takin' was gonna get done, you'd decide where and when

Just when you think you got it down
Your heart securely tied and bound
They whisper promises in the dark

Armed and ready, you fought love battles in the night
But too many opponents made you weary of the fight
Blinded by passion, you foolishly let someone in
All the warnings went off in your head, still you had to give in

Just when you think you got it down
Resistance nowhere to be found
They whisper promises in the dark

But promises you know what they're for
It sounds so convincing, but you heard it before
'Cause talk is cheap and you gotta be sure
And so you put up your guard
And you try to be hard but your heart says try again

You desperately search for a way to conquer the fear
No line of attack has been planned to fight back the tears
Where brave and restless dreams are both won and lost
On the edge is where it seems it's well worth the cost

Just when you think you got it down
Your heart in pieces on the ground
They whisper promises in the dark

Sex on camera is such a popular theme for so-called "Reality Shows." From Real World to Big Brother, from Temptation Island to The Bachelor and so many more, it's become a mainstream pastime to the studios.

Now a new one is being offered. Instead of taking the predictable stereotypical people - the Troublemaker, the Angel, the Brat, the Slut - the studio is trying something different. Instead of having perfectly great-figure late-teens and early twenty-somethings who were all too eager to get wild with the other participants, this time they decided to make it different. Darker, for sure, and possibly more sensual.

Promises In The Dark is that show. Applicants have to be mid-twenties through mid-thirties, and only people who have had bitter, traumatic separations or divorces are accepted. People who have been abused, had their "Significant Other" cheat on them, or worse. The directors don't want the abusers, the cheaters, the thieves, and the amoral punks - those people don't deserve the same sort of second chance, as far as the directors are concerned.

However, just because the accepted applicants are all the "good guys and girls" of their old relationships, that doesn't mean that they will be here. The studio is going to play tricks and traps, games and goals, and try to get them to betray each other in one way or another.

Who can win? Will there be any winners at all, with love conquering all? Or will it be a frozen wasteland, with everyone even more callous and distrustful than they started?

You decide...

- - - - -

This will be a free-form RPG with 8 to 12 players/characters, evenly divided between Male and Female. Although the emotional knifes of the characters are designed to keep it from being a wham-bam-every-which-way sex-fest right from the start, it may end up being quite kinky over time; it will be created in the Bondage Small Groups forum, and hopefully we can work our way into the Big Groups area.

Scheduling/Speed: Since this is a game where all of the characters are essentially involved with each other to a certain degree, we need to make sure that relative time is consistent. That means that you don't do a three-hour travel-and-exposition* in the same time when a couple of other players are getting frisky. This game will be expecting a general posting speed of two to three posts per week. There are two exceptions to this: If you're having a conversation with another character (or having some wild sex), post as many posts as it requires; and the first week, which is going to likely have a LOT of character interaction, the expectation is suspended. Also note that this is a guideline. Try to keep the other posters in mind, but if you need a fourth and fifth post in a reasonable in-game time frame, do it. Don't stress about having already posted your three for a week.

In Character/Out of Character knowledge: Please try to keep a reasonable awareness of what your character knows, separate from what you as a player know. If two characters sneak off into the jacuzzi to explore each other's bodies while everyone else is having dinner, there's no reasonable expectation that your character knows what they're doing. Keep in mind what your character knows, and don't react to the events that they don't know.*

Code (Character sheet:) Select

Character name: ________

Age: ________

Gender and Sex: ________

Basic personality: ________

What happened to turn you off relationships? ___________________________________

What are your strong points (pick three)? _______________________________
These are things that you do well, enjoy doing, etc.
What are your weak points (pick two)? ________________________________
These are things that piss you off, make you upset, etc.

A picture or detailed description of my appearance ____


* Both of these were violated in one post in my last game. While a couple of characters had snuck off to a bedroom to try some D/s play, another ran out of the building, Parkoured his way across town to the jail, carried on a detailed conversation with his thuggie brother, Parkoured back across town, stopping to pick up a very loud stereo system, which he placed right next to the window of the room of the still-halfway-through-sex pair. All in one post. Don't be that guy. ;)
O/O / Story Seeds
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I am present in Elliquiy's Discord channel. If you want to chat about a story idea, feel free to DM me there.

Greytrail


Keldia

Color me very intrigued. Here's me planting my flag (on a phone so can't do much else). Quite the interesting concept I look forward to seeing developed further!
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KurganofPrussia



Sounds very interesting.  I would be down for this.

Seeing myself as a too-nice oafish guy who married "the woman of his dreams" in the early 20's to find out that when she got more successful with her career, she traded up to a new husband, kicking him to the curb.

Is that what you are going for??

Greytrail

Quote from: KurganofPrussia on June 11, 2014, 09:25:06 AM

Sounds very interesting.  I would be down for this.

Seeing myself as a too-nice oafish guy who married "the woman of his dreams" in the early 20's to find out that when she got more successful with her career, she traded up to a new husband, kicking him to the curb.

Is that what you are going for??
Yeah, that's exactly the basic platform for a character we're looking for. An excellent start!

Top Cat

Something else to think about: how your character behaved AFTER the betrayal and break-up is just as important as the betrayal itself. Did your character withdraw from others, becoming a wallflower, a recluse, or even a hermit? Did they carry on life as normal, without sex? Or perhaps they became one-night wonders, who found people of the opposite sex to play with, but never called for a second date?

There are many possibilities here.
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If I am more than a week behind on a story post, please feel free to PM me about it.
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Top Cat

Added the YouTube video of the song in the OP (spoilered inside the spoiler), for those who aren't familiar with Pat Benatar's awesome song that's being used as the inspiration for this game... or those who just want to hear it.

We've got 1 and 1 so far, people. Do you want to let them win by default?  :P

Oh, and for a little more fun, here's a sample of one possible origin:
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Keaira

You colored me interested awhile back. Definitely up for this!!

I'm playing with a few ideas for my character, but I'll give you a general idea soon.
Behind every angel stands a devil.                    Scattered Angel A/A updated 8/12/16
Oh's and No's

Top Cat

Okay, we're at two ladies, one dude. Need at least two more women and three more men to convert this from an Interest Check into a full open/requests game.
O/O / Story Seeds
Current posting speed: Slow to moderate. Most threads should get a response within 24 hours, with occasional dips as RL makes demands.
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Ron Don Volante

My character and plot repository

Feel free to PM me if you'd like to chat about my or your characters, plots, your work or anything that interests you.

AndyZ

Showing some interest in this, may go for a female character if that's allowed.

Edit: One thing I should ask: how dark do you want this?
It's all good, and it's all in fun.  Now get in the pit and try to love someone.

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Top Cat

@ wisdomcube and AndyZ: I have no problems with you guys playing female characters here, provided there isn't a conflict with other female players wanting to play female characters. Of courst, it's entirely possible that we could get some ladies who wanted to play the guys, here.  >:)

As for "how dark" - if you're talking about your back-story, you can make it as dark as you like, provided that it doesn't make your character completely devoid of any interest in the opposite gender. The crews are going to be screening and blocking emotional psychopaths. ;)

Similarly, severe events during the "show" are going to be monitored closely, so there's not going to be any cutting off another character's penis, here... Bobbitt-ladies are not going to get very far. ;)
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AndyZ

Heh, much darker than I was thinking.  I imagined stuff like attempted suicide and maybe some self-mutilation.
It's all good, and it's all in fun.  Now get in the pit and try to love someone.

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If I've owed you a post for at least a week, poke me.

Top Cat

Attempted suicide, fine. Self-mutilation, lightly okay. If she'd be disturbing for most people to look at, the crews would screen her out.
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Torterrable

I feel like it might be time for me to try another foray into group roleplaying.

I'm interested. Thinking of a character vaguely Infinite Jest-esque. A previously small-time successful lawyer has been hit with an odd revenge by a drug-user criminal, which will not be described unless needed. Needless to say, however, this revenge was rather...unique, and has triggered a crippling phobia in his wife, which lead to their marriage degrading. The wife turned to drugs, turned to mystics, a variety of things that could have rendered her legally insane, to cope with her phobia. She singlehandedly ruined their marriage, their finances, everything... He divorced her too late and split the little that was left with her, her lawyers sharking most of it away.

Top Cat

That makes four ladies and two gentlemen... still need two more men to kick this off. =^_^=
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Ethoxyethane

I may be interested in the role of a dominant male.

How dark do you intend this role play on getting?

Update:  By that I meant, how dark as far as the traps in the game?

Top Cat

Yes, Lacking, you playing a male character is just fine. The game is going to be "hollywood dark" - there's going to be some deliberate backstabbing "traps" - or the opportunity for the characters to lose points by refusing to backstab, that sort of thing. Not really dire, but certainly manipulative.
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Top Cat

We're at 4 women, 3 men - I'd like to see one more male character before we turn this into a full-fledged game invite. If we don't have a solid starting set by... let's say Wednesday, then I'm going to shelve this and try something else, and open this up again in a few months.
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Top Cat

Last bump...

If we don't get one more player/character by tomorrow night, I'll relaunch Porn Scholarship (another group game that I ran before, but got nuked by dropouts and trollish disruption) for another attempt. Those of you who have been here will certainly be welcome to join. I won't be running it quite the same, though - the true nature of the scholarship's funding won't be obvious during IC sign-ups, this time around! ;)
O/O / Story Seeds
Current posting speed: Slow to moderate. Most threads should get a response within 24 hours, with occasional dips as RL makes demands.
If I am more than a week behind on a story post, please feel free to PM me about it.
I am present in Elliquiy's Discord channel. If you want to chat about a story idea, feel free to DM me there.

AndyZ

It's all good, and it's all in fun.  Now get in the pit and try to love someone.

Ons/Offs   -  My schedule and A/As   -    My Avatars

If I've owed you a post for at least a week, poke me.

Top Cat

Quote from: AndyZ on June 17, 2014, 03:34:49 PM
Would it help if I dropped to make things even?
Not really, no. I want a minimum of 4 per side, to keep it from being too unstable or limited. With 3 and 3, some of the planned scenarios become very restricted.

I do appreciate the generous offer, though. =^_^=
O/O / Story Seeds
Current posting speed: Slow to moderate. Most threads should get a response within 24 hours, with occasional dips as RL makes demands.
If I am more than a week behind on a story post, please feel free to PM me about it.
I am present in Elliquiy's Discord channel. If you want to chat about a story idea, feel free to DM me there.

Keaira

Behind every angel stands a devil.                    Scattered Angel A/A updated 8/12/16
Oh's and No's

Greytrail

Quote from: Keaira on June 17, 2014, 06:58:22 PM
*pokes the many people of E* Don't make me beg. QQ
If there's is not our final player, this will get rebooted perhaps in fall. It's a good idea and needs exploring. Curse you, slow days of summer!

Top Cat

*nods* What Greytrail said. If we can't get an eighth player, we're not going to abandon this, we're just going to shelve it for a few months and try again later. I'll give you all notice (unless you tell me not to) when we try to launch it again.
O/O / Story Seeds
Current posting speed: Slow to moderate. Most threads should get a response within 24 hours, with occasional dips as RL makes demands.
If I am more than a week behind on a story post, please feel free to PM me about it.
I am present in Elliquiy's Discord channel. If you want to chat about a story idea, feel free to DM me there.