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Featured Room: La Romance De Paris

By Care

While our chatters are the heart and soul of roleplay, rooms are what give their characters a place to become incarnate. Managing rooms can be a difficult but ultimately rewarding task, and each leader has taken their own road to the “top”. In this issue, Care draws us back in time to the romance of Victorian Paris.

This quarter, we had the pleasure of sitting down with Howl (previously known as Snapped|Bones), owner of La Romance De Paris. The room is set between the years of 1880 and 1910 within Paris, France. Let’s see her take on the world that she helped bring to life.

I already knew your name, but you are going by Howl now, correct? And with that change, I noticed the pretty new entry page you have created. Can you tell me a little about how you came up with the concept of the room?

I did change the page. With people coming in the room thinking it was something it wasn’t, I felt it helped to keep the confusion to a minimum. It wasn’t so much that they didn’t understand as that they didn’t want to read the boards to get the information. So in an attempt to meet all parties in the middle, I made the new entry page. It’s worked wonders.

As for how I came up with the concept, is it bad that I am a massive historical romance junkie? I mean, from Harlequin to Avon and everything in between, I’ve read them all, some even multiple times. I’ve always loved the more historical themed ones because there was more glamour about it. Things were less complicated. You had to work for your love rather than text for a booty call. Love was still seen as something that was seen as important, versus something that could be done without. It was love over lust. Men were chivalrous and kind. They still believed a lady was a lady, regardless. I also loved that in the simplicity of the style of living, there was a bigger connection to the world around them – a connection to nature, which allows people to actually imagine the world around them, versus four walls and a computer. So it was with these thoughts in mind that I created La Romance De Paris.

A romance junkie, eh? Well, that doesn’t surprise me a bit. Thinking about the room, was it hard for you to make the leap from being a Transilient Room (which for those of you who may not already know, are experiments that are easily purchased for 30 days – a shameless plug, there!). How was it switching from a Transilient Room to a Permanent Room?

LOL! It’s not shameless. I actually think the Transilient Rooms are amazing. It’s a great way to test your idea without making a full commitment. I love the option, because it let me get the idea out of my head and into action. It was the best way to get feedback, to see if I would get people who would want to play in there, or if it would Hindenburg on me. As for the transition? Not hard at all! To be honest, I love the fact that ReVo has this awesomely efficient way of stream lining things. They don’t make you jump hoops and brownnose to get your idea out. The staff is always prompt and dead on point, and the support is just the best. I would say that the only hard part is the same that every Room Owner faces – once it goes from Transilient to Full, it’s no longer the new toy in the sand box, so there’s more work keeping people aware of it and what’s going on inside of it.

So tell me, besides time period and setting, what do you see as setting your room apart from some of the others that are on the whochat? I know that might be hard, but it isn’t the only 1880s type of room, as we do have The Silver Horn, too.

Well, the Silver Horn (with Joy) is set in the historical Midwest of America, when silver and gold mining was in its boom. It was those actions that helped colonize most of the United States as we know it. The world out there was rough, rugged, unrefined. People died all the time from dysentery, the flu, poisonous sources of water, lack of water in desert areas, and mining in general. Coal mining is still one of the most dangerous professions we have even to today. The difference is night and day. In Europe, civilization had been on the up and up for some time. Even the great plague which decimated it in the 1600s didn’t stop the elegance and thirst for beauty that all Europeans share. Paris in and of herself is to this day the home of fashion, glamour, and all things couture. It was so even in the 1880s. Paris also had a better standard of living, cleaner environments, better health care, and a greater life expectancy. People could live in comfort – even the poor had soup kitchens and work houses which gave them board for labor. Plus, I will admit I tweaked a few things historically and brought some luxuries from two decades ahead of the era. There is indoor running water, both hot and cold, proper sewage disposal, and the cure for TB, which was not realized until the late 1930s. So true, it’s not 100% historically accurate, but the tweaks that are present do not diminish nor remove the glamour or beauty of the era of France, especially of Paris.

The roleplay you have going on, what kind of scenes could a person walk into and observe within La Romance De Paris? Anything good and juicy? Or is it more the standard everyday living back in that time frame?

Oh anything but! You might walk in on a murder scene, you might walk in on one of my many random little story tellings that I like to do, such as the street fair or the Worlds’ Fair that I will be doing some time this month. The room is open post too so you could very well walk in on the middle of a sex scene, which I can understand for some people it’s not quite as um – Fun? But this is an adult site with adults on it so I don’t feel like limiting my players to private scenes which can sometimes accidentally not be private when the pd acts up. We also have a lot of spy business, poisonings, underhanded dealings, horrible family drama with some nasty skeletons in the closets! We have a few cases of incest, murder most foul, and women being stolen to be shipped off to China as concubines. Really? Any and every day is different. It all depends on what myself and my players get into!

That’s kind of funny as I believe the same thing; why hide behind private whispers when we are an adult site? Anyway, back on topic. What is one of your favorite things about the style of roleplay done in La Romance de Paris? Is there something that sticks out to you?

Hmm. To be fair? Our style of RP is very varied. We have everything from soft sweet romance to twisted love affairs, from murdering of whores on the street to the murder for the sake of bodies to study to advance man’s knowledge of the body. I would honestly prefer to say what makes us stick out more is our variety of RP. (Seriously, we can do any kind of RP a person would want to do – within the site rules, naturally.)

What makes us stand out? Is our support. We all believe in ReVo and we believe in treating everyone fairly. We don’t clique up in the way that we won’t RP with someone who comes in, we won’t ignore someone because we don’t like who they hang out with, and we don’t give two pins about your post size so long as content is there. It’s the fact every one of us will create new chars, NPC or otherwise, to interact with someone; to help further their story line, their character development, or to help them work an idea out in their head. IC and OOC, we are one of the most supportive rooms. We believe in maturity and respect for everyone, and we follow that out to the letter, 100% of the time.

Interesting, as we are all here for a variety of reasons but that’s a good first one. As we all know I love and adore ReVo to no end, and I try to make it work. Okay, stepping away from that a moment, tell me – do you have a favorite character in the room? One that just catches your eye and holds it, not just with roleplay but even avatar wise?

-laughs- That one is hard! I have a few favorites but those are personal reasons, RP reasons, as I have two very different but amazing lines going with both of them. But if there was one I had to pick, just one? It would be Mason Maybrick. Avatar, character style, writing? All of it. The guy is a sick puppy, the French Ripper, and I adore that sort of twist. It’s why I love La Romance De Paris. We have a mix of everything. I can also attest that the player behind him is fantastic and is always coming up with awesome new characters and story branches both in the room and on the board since not all of us have RT calm enough to RP on the regular. It’s fantastic! But, if we were to go personal for just a moment? It would be Adrien Chevalier. You ever get that RP that becomes your ‘happy place’? You know where at the end of a super shitty day, you know the second you get to rp with that person, your day’s just better? It’s like that. But those are my choices!

I like those kind of characters, and that last roleplay is something that I tend to love, too. I have seen a few things going on lately and I know that La Romance De Paris has been a host to two events, since opening. I know the first one wasn’t as popular, but you did have people that showed up and played within that night. Could you explain to the readers what the two events were and how you feel they went and if you would do it again?

Well the first one actually ended up having Murphy come and bugger it good! My DJ’s power was gone, so there was no play out going on the radio, no other DJ was able to step up since so many of them had the same issue, and of course we had a bit if a hiccup getting the word out in time too. But it was awesome because if you can overcome that sort of stuff and still host? You can handle anything! The first event was a Masqued Ball, which had lots of prizes donated by some amazing people, but sadly with the small turn out many of them were just saved up. The second was the street fair that some people had a grand bit of fun with. Every event I make has an entire section of pulldowns devoted to it, and I think that sets it apart from anyone else, and any other rooms. I take the time to write each of the pulldowns by hand, and more than that, I also make sure that the pds are self sufficient. We use the dice a lot in our room because it not only keeps things fair, but fun, especially the way we use them. Every pulldown has a list of choices and the dice roll for them, so all a person has to do is roll and the outcome is right there for them, so they can respond to it. This means they don’t have to wait for a Story Teller to get around them, or wait for someone else to be in the room. You can solo or jump in whenever you want to. It’s so much more fun this way, because no one misses out, no one has to wait for their turn. We also list a lot of information on the boards, such as pictures of some of the main draws or events, which give people a better idea of what they will be seeing in the room.

Are you planning any events our readers should be aware of? Anything juicy coming out of the
creative minds of you and your staff?

Oh, but we are always plotting! That’s the danger! We are looking at hosting in our room the Worlds’ Fair, The Olympics (I’m leaning for winter as it gives us more time to work on such a vast undertaking as that would be); Halloween is going to be amazing! We are going to have a surprise turn of events and not have zombies or the like. That’s a little cliche. We’re going to do worse. A pack of rabid animals will be set loose during a huge outdoor party and the idea is to survive the night! And if the animals aren’t bad enough? A bite from them gives you rabies and you have to go mad and attack your fellow man! What’s worse is that the people who infected these animals are on their way out too. They’re a cult that worships death for the sake of death, and because of that, they will be seeking to slaughter anyone. Survival will depend on both
how clever you are and how the dice treat you!

After that we have the Harvest, which will be an event in the vineyards where a bunch of people will get together and enter the harvest and romance will be in the air! Then, a massive Thanksgiving ball dedicated to families and the like. Christmas will be another large ball and a huge outing in the snow, with picnics in igloos and all sorts of fun things like that.

Sounds like you guys have a lot planned. That’s exciting. Now to take us off that topic and to roleplay a moment. Have you ever seen a roleplay that made you go “What the Fuck?” within the room yet?

Hmmm. Now that one is a toughie! I think one of the ones happened by the same character, Mason
Maybrick, when I came into the room and walked in on a murder scene. It was early-ish in the morning and I literally when hoo leee sheet wat da fuk? It was wild because it was just out of the blue! A murder of a whore, Ripper style, and it was awesome! It was one of those where it was so fucked up you couldn’t help but applaud it. One of those train wrecks, you know?

Those train wreck type of scenes are so freaking awesome. So, expanding a bit on the topic of the roleplay within the room, Have you had a scene yet where you just laughed your freaking ass off at it?

-faceplants- Yes. This was between Adrien and Bella. And it was, uh – God, trying to get through this without cracking up is hard.

What was the scene about?

So, Bella is, or was, totally innocent. She had no idea about sex, where babies came from, or anything of that sort. So Adrien and Bella had what we call foreplay, and she sat up in bed and looked at him, completely serious, and asked when she should start to look for the stork. Adrien looked completely baffled as she explained that perhaps she might not see a stork as they weren’t married, and only ‘good women’ got storks. The bad women had to get their babies from the cabbage patch, and those were called brothelsprouts. She said she wasn’t fond of them at all, but she would start to look through the cabbage patches in the area to find their baby. Now, Adrien is a doctor, and trying to explain what sex was and where babies came from to a woman who was one-hundred percent innocent outside of heavy petting had him utterly fumbling all over the place as he tried to figure out what she was talking about before it clicked.

That’s kind of funny. No wonder you couldn’t hold it in. Well, I think that about wraps up this interview. Is there anything you would want the readers to know or you want to say to them?

Yeah. Don’t be afraid to step out of your boxes. Comfortable RP is good and fine, but it also gets stagnant faster than a puddle of piss. Give something else a chance, a change, because RP is an adventure. Go off the beaten path, toss the compass, and have remember – Not all who wander are lost.

Keep The Music Alive 2016

By Care

While most people have probably listened to a few online music services, not everyone knows the ins and outs of managing a site-hosted radio station. While some such stations are effectively “pirate radio,” operating without licensing or approval, ReVo has made an ongoing committment to broadcasting legally, both for the protection of its staff and deejays and the continued enjoyment of its listeners. Recent changes to licensing agreements made it necessary for the Edge to reach out to its fanbase in a new way. In this issue, Care takes a closer look at what’s been going on backstage.

If you were on Roleplay Evolution back in June, you were probably aware of our Keep the Music Alive event. If not, let me tell you a bit about it.

Roleplay Evolution has its own radio online radio station called The Edge. From the inception of Roleplay Evolution, the cost of the station has been falling on Qristal. “Why would she cover it on her own?”, you might ask. Well, why does anyone do anything? Ultimately, it was both because she could, and because it was a demand that she wanted to fulfill.

In June of 2016, a licensing agreement that allowed online radio stations to operate both legally and at a lower cost than “real world” radio came to an end. With the terms of that agreement no longer in effect, the cost of hosting online radio increased significantly. All online radio stations were affected by this change, not just The Edge, and some were put out of business altogether as they could no longer afford the required fees. There were petitions to get the cost back down, but as of this month, there has been no reply to these petitions.

Addiction and Qristal asked for ideas that could help cover the rising costs of The Edge not because they didn’t want to keep it, but because the increase was so substantial and unexpected. I don’t personally know how much the jump was, as I didn’t want to press Qristal or Addiction to find out. However, when it came to thinking up ideas for ways to keep the station and cover the increased fees, the deejays were on top of it. Ultimately, Qristal and Addiction put out the feelers for items for a silent auction.

It took some planning and I don’t actually know everything that went on to pull it together, but I do know that I and my nephew, Zackary, were two of the people that donated. Why did we donate? Let me put it to you in a way that could be understood by, and the words of, a thirteen year old that was willing to help: “Aunt Care, if it means something to you, and if it means as much to others as you, then I would like to help.” Yes, folks, my nephew is a bit of a wise one. He has spent hours at my home with me, and has listened to The Edge radio when I’ve had it on. My niece and most of my nephews have sat and heard me, or others, while we were on air. My niece was my introduction to my Throwback Thursdays. So I asked around, and most of the others that donated felt the same way as my nephew.

The auction received donations from Hippolyta, Charity, Psychobarbie, Stabz, Ravage, Jenna, mouth, Yoko, Rutger and his mom, myself and my nephew, and ReVo itself. Bidding went on for about two weeks, and on June 15th, the auction was closed. Once the winners were announced, then the final tally of how the auction did was revealed by Qristal. The bids received on all donations helped pay for the radio station for six months. This gave our lovely Qristal and Addiction a huge help in keeping our music alive!

The auction was a success and the music still lives, and that shows that Roleplay Evolution chatters and players are more then just a little willing to help out and go all out for their home. Thank you to everyone that helped “Keep The Music Alive”.

Grafica Challenge 2016

By Care

For the past three years, I have been hosting graphics challenges of one type or another. Since Laramie had to give up Grafica and it became a site run room, me and Dark have been taking care of it. Two years ago, I decided to do a month-long challenge that is hosted by Grafica, where I supply the prizes and we have fun with graphics.

So now every year in September, Grafica hosts its annual challenge. Every other day, challenges are posted in Grafica’s section of the ReVo message board. This year was no different. Starting on September 1st, I posted the first challenge, and it continued on until September 29th. At that time, the last challenge was posted and the designers had until October 1st to get their submissions in.

This year we had a turn out that was pretty awesome – nothing compared to the first year, but that’s to be expected, as it seems there’s an overall decline in both chatters and designers. The first year I ran this, we had ten designers in the challenge and only four finished. In 2015, we had nine designers, with only one, Hippolyta, finishing the challenges. This year, though, we had the best turn out yet, with fifteen initial participants. Four of those participants finished on time, and we also had an additional participant that completed all the challenges, though they didn’t make the October 1st deadline.
This year’s challenge winners were Jenna, Joy Naomi, malice, Rutger, and Aelurus.

The challenges this year were slightly different from the previous years. I wanted to try something new and I think it made for a good turn out. Some of the challenges this year were ReVo-related holiday graphics, fantasy genre avatars, horror/scary avatars, room-related banners, and Facebook cover images, just to name a few. This year, we also had to switch up the prizes as I honestly didn’t expect four people to finish the challenge – I was taking a look at last year’s numbers and based my expecttaions on that. So this year, I had a “Pick Your Prize” option for finishing the challenges. You can find the full list of prizes on the board. There were a few good ones picked! Ten paid resources, ten exclusive resources, a six-month membership, and a three-month membership were ultimately chosen.

The challenges will return next September, and remember, you don’t have to be a great designer to participate – just have fun with it!

Featured Character: Keifer Jeffries

By Care

ReVolutionary Theory is the magazine that’s all about you – whether you’re a chatter, a player, or even a character! For this issue, Care examines the circuitry of Keifer Jeffries.

It’s time again for the quarterly periodical, and that means a new character interview. This time, we are sitting down with Kara and her character, Keifer Jefferies. Kara and Keifer can be found in the Creative Dimensions section of the whochat, in the room The Aftermath: New Vegas, which is based around the video game Fallout. We’ll take a few moments to learn a little about the out of character person before we go into the character.

So we will start off with some OOC stuff.

Kara: sounds good to me

Ok, so first off, how long have you been roleplaying?

Kara: Oh, geez. Hmmm. Probably close to 15 years now, I think.

How did you come up with Keifer Jefferies?

Kara: At the time, I knew of the series, I knew the basics of it, but not enough to where I could make a character worth playing there. So I had jokingly said I was going to use Nebula, from the movie, as a character, and then pieces started just slowly fitting into place. The character began taking shape as a bridge between the different games.

Well, that answers a bit of the second question I had – you weren’t a big fan of the games, to really fall into place?

Kara: It wasn’t even that, really. It’s funny, I actually own all the modern games. It’s just that I hadn’t really played them up to that point to feel confident enough to make a character in that world. So when I don’t feel comfortable making a character, I tend to go fringe.

Tell our readers a little about the world that Keifer is in before we switch to her for the rest of the interview.

Kara: It’s a post apocalyptic world, the result of a great war between all nuclear capable nations, but the main parties were the US, China, and the USSR. It’s set roughly 200 years after the war, and the world is still soaked in radiation fallout. We have to deal with mutated creatures, mutated humans, bandits, robots, and just the world in general. The remaining population is still trying to rebuild, trying to get back to some form of normalcy, but of course that’s hard with all that’s stacked against it.

Thank you for that, Kara. Now, if you don’t mind me asking, is Keifer ready for a little fun in this interview? -laughs-

Kara: I don’t think she is ever really ready!

-laughs- Okay, well, here we go!

Keifer, it’s great for you to take some time out of your day to do this for us. Tell me a bit about yourself?

Keifer: Hmm, well, that is a bit of an odd story, really. I was actually born before the war. I was a scientist who had been contracted to work at Big Mountain Research and Development Center – or as it’s referred to now, Big MT or the Big Empty.

Oh, really? Do you remember anything about the war, then? It would be interesting to tell our readers a bit about that, if we could.

Keifer: I do remember some of it. We had already been working for a little while at the time and weren’t really focused on what was going on. There had been tension for some time between the different countries, over typical things, but the war itself only lasted a matter of hours. That’s kind of when things shifted a bit in the Big MT as far as what was being worked on.

So the actual war only lasted a few hours? That’s interesting. So, what did you do after the war? How did you handle the changes?

Keifer: Well, after the war, the focus shifted to survival. We knew the nukes had dropped and there was mass hysteria, so we needed to find a way to survive the fallout. I was scared, obviously, because how could you not be when it comes to war on a global scale?

And how long as it been since the war? How long have you been in this new world?

Keifer: Ummm. I think it’s been about 208 years since the war, if my math is correct. I may be off by a year or 2. I myself have been in this new world maybe a year. It’s hard to keep track of days and months sometimes.

How is that possible? I thought you said you were born before the war.

Keifer: Well, that is where things get a little foggy, unfortunately.

Oh, so, you don’t remember? Does that mean you just woke up, then, from a sleep of some sort?

Keifer: Well, back when I said things shifted to be about survival, that meant experimentation. As we were locked down for the most part, you didn’t necessarily always have a choice. I remember being volunteered, and I remember flashes here and there. It’s like trying to repair a shattered mirror – there are splintered cracks all throughout, and that’s what it’s like for me. I get these splinters of a memory. I remember mostly being in cryo stasis between experiments, but for how long, I couldn’t tell you.

And now? Are you still in this experimentation station, or – ?

Keifer: No, thankfully, I am not. Through some involvement from someone or something, the entire station became exposed. I am not quite sure of the details. I do not even really recall how I escaped. I think there was probably a failure in the cryo pod and I thawed and found my way out. The first memory I really have is coming across the New Vegas strip.

New Vegas – that is what is left of Las Vegas in your time? So what year is it exactly?

Keifer: Yes, unfortunately, it’s pretty much all that’s left. It is still mostly functional as far as casinos and such go. It’s still at heart the same, it seems. As for the year, I have been told somewhere around 2285.

Wow, that’s a long time ahead of where we, the readers, are at. How are your days now? What’s a typical day for you?

Keifer: Well, that’s kind of hard to say, really. Most of my time, I spend just wandering from town to town. Most places are somewhat accommodating, but at there are also those who quite clearly aren’t because of how I look.

And how do you look, Keifer?

Keifer: Well, there is the blue skin, the bald head; there are the cybernetic implants, the all black eyes, and of course, my entire right arm was removed and replaced with a metal one. I am still curious what happened there myself.

Oh, so that creates a problem for you? Are there others like you in this new world?

Keifer: In a way there are, yes, but as far as I am aware, there is no other person close to being exactly like me out there.

Interesting. Well, it’s just about that time, so is there anything you would like our readers to know about you? Or your world?

Keifer: Well, I hate to use the cliché, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” because that has been beaten to death, but we are mostly good people trying to recreate a good world for people to live in once again.

Thank you for your time! Hope to see you around sometime!

Clash of the Artists

By Care

While ReVo’s mission is primarily to provide for role-play and role-players, we know that there’s more to it than just the game. In addition to writers, our community of creative minds includes coders, fact masters, and graphic designers. In this issue, we’re spotlighting the latter with Care’s coverage of the first Clash of the Artists.

In April, a great new event took place in Grafica. For five Saturdays, starting April 9th and going all the way to May 13th, we held live battles within the room.

This event was the brain child of myself, Demonatrix, and dapet. It started from a night on Skype voice where I was thinking I wanted to do something fun for Grafica – originally the room of Laramie, Grafica was left in the hands of Dark and myself. Now, however, it is site-run, though still under my care.

The plan was to do something different then what has been seen before. That’s when I went to Demonatrix and dapet saying that we should do something like Red Queen of Digital Circus Designs did, but make it our own. After much time spent talking about it, setting it up, and coming up with a name, Clash of the Artists was born.

“What is the Clash of the Artists?”, you may ask. Well, in case you missed it this year, it is a live challenge avatar battle. What that means is that on every Saturday for the duration of the event, watchers and players gathered in Grafica, where our designers threw out challenges. Once a challenge was accepted, we had the participants roll the dice. One was for the model they were to use, and the next two were for the elements and overall theme that had to be used within their pieces of work.

We had a total list of ninety different models, even though we only used thirty at a time. In addition, we had twenty elements and twenty themes that could be drawn. For example, some of the battles rolled were:

Model: Charlie Hunnam
Theme: Apocalyptic
Elements: Decaying Buildings, Destroyed Vehicles

Model: Phoebe Tonkin
Elements: Knives
Theme: Apocalyptic

Model: Vin Diesel
Elements: Mountains
Theme: Supernatural

Model: Katheryn Winnick
Theme: Movie Poster
Elements: Must contain pieces of Lost or Bitten

The battles were tough. Particpants had three hours to get in as many challenges as they could within that night. Then we put the finished pieces up for a blind board vote to decide who the winner of each challenge was. Though we started with numerous designers including Addiction, charity, Covet, Demonatrix, dinni, geenky, Hippolyta, Jenna, Kaliko, kitten{Mutt}, Rutger, Xams, Caedam, CD, Edfeil, fatal, Gabby, Heather Renee, Kuro, harlot, Mizery, Qristal, Echo, and ck, eventually, it was narrowed down to four.

In the end, there was only one. Our grand winner, with a total of ten wins from all four nights, was Xams! Her prize was Grafica’s Clash of the Artists Bling, which she will have until next year, when we crown a new winner of the Clash of the Artists.

Though there were plenty of bumps and bruises along the way, we will be back next year with another Clash of the Artists, so stay tuned!

Featured Room: DC Noir

By Care

While our chatters are the heart and soul of roleplay, rooms are what give their characters a place to become incarnate. Managing rooms can be a difficult but ultimately rewarding task, and each leader has taken their own road to the “top”. In this issue, Care parts the shadows around DC Noir.

This quarter we have the pleasure of sitting down with Christian, owner of DC Noir, Sex Arcade, and Marvel United. However, for this article, we are only featuring his DC Comics room, DC Noir. DC Noir is one of those rooms that started on another site and moved to Roleplay Evolution. They have been a real staple of the Fantasy Envisioned realm since opening. They are always busy and if you don’t see them in one room, they are in another. So lets get started!

Thank you, Christian, for taking a moment to get with me about this article. Tell the readers exactly how you came up with the idea for DC Noir, besides it being a DC room?

Thank you, Care, it’s a pleasure. As for DC Noir, well, that started as a joint effort from lots of different people. I was sitting in another Marvel RP room on another site, paying attention to a public conversation between two other players – one happens to be our very own CK from DC Noir, and both were wishing there was a DC option for RP rooms. So that sort of sprung the idea in my mind. It was on a site which for years did not permit another comic room so it was a bit touch and go at first.

What kind of storylines sets DC Noir apart from the other comic book rooms?

Well, first off, sole DC rooms have always been rare. I can think of two or three others and most of them are no longer open. What DC Noir does with stories is we sort of branch out. We have a centered Batman centered RP, then we have a focus on the Green Lanterns in space and the Teen Titans. We’ve seen all manners of characters and some darker, horror type stories due to the nature of DC and magic and the supernatural. You can really do anything in DC, whereas Marvel’s universe is more focused on bright, full-color superheroes. DC has diversity at its best. We do slow burn stories, that build and build until we reach a perfect opportunity for a climax.

Can you tell us what the difference is between Marvel and DC? I know many people don’t understand that there is a slight difference, as it may be, for the comics, thus the roleplay too.

Just as I touched on above, the difference is the diversity. Marvel’s universe in any form is more centered around classic superheroes. Now, that’s not to say DC doesn’t cater to this – they are home to some of the first superheroes in the genre – but DC’s universe is more team oriented. Marvel has teams, too, but those teams have more often than not been segregated: You have Avengers and you have X-Men, you have street level and mutants and cosmic levels, and sometimes it’s hard to have those various types intermingle. DC is more user friendly – it affords for all types to interlock, be it under the banner of the Justice League or the Justice Society or perhaps even the Teen Titans. Batman characters and Superman characters can interact and it’s not far fetched. We can have Batman on Themyscira or Green Lantern in Gotham, and it can make sense without reaching! Also, the magic and occult aspect of DC is amazing with the works of Constantine and Zatanna, DC Vertigo, and other properties like Preacher and Sandman. The limits are imaginary.

What is the favorite style of play done within DC Noir?

We’re free form. I would have to say free form. People toss dice into the mix to settle disputes here and there but we’re basically a free form room. I hope that’s what you meant by ‘style of play’ [laughs]

Are there any ideas or plans for any events for DC Noir? Like we see many rooms hosting like trivia nights and paint nights? Anything of that nature, or is it all just storyline based events?

I like to keep my rooms grounded in story line based events. I’ve been known to have a trivia night or two. I’m not a fan of AV auctions or paint nights, basically because I don’t make avatars, so it’s not my bag. If gennifairy wanted to use the rooms to host one of those things, I guess I would have to allow it. [laughs] Seriously, though, I like the idea of rooms that generate activity from their merits and not one shot promotions – not that there is anything wrong with auctions, paint nights, and even trivia nights. They certainly have their place. I’ve just never seen people return to rooms based on those things after said event is over. We have some ideas in the works for DC, especially now that the comics have mirrored an idea I ran with a few years ago. We’re going to revisit that story and expand upon it.

What is one of the funniest storylines you can recall that has been in play in DC Noir?

One of the funniest DC Noir RPs – [thinks on this a bit] Two spring to mind. I love when I get to play Bruce Wayne as opposed to Batman. The reasons to use Wayne are very seldom in the room. One night I had players show up because thre was a Wayne Foundation event. As many might know, it’s no secret gennifairy and I ship Batman and Wonder Woman as a couple. Well Diana (Wonder Woman) shows up to the function with Steve Trevor; who is the government liaison between the Justice League and the United States government. Well, Bruce’s little green monster of jealousy came out to play, and it was just hilarious to have the two try to out do one another. The second was more recent. I was able to play Penguin for a night to help our Catwoman forward a story. It was a different character from the type I usually play, and fun. Catwoman and Poison Ivy robbed him blind!

Have there ever been a moment within the room, within stories, that you and your players have gone “What the Fuck”?

I can’t say that I have. Nothing really surprises me anymore. However, I can say that sometimes my one liners with John Constantine can be a room stopper. Although, all things aside, recently we had a player play a created character from an alternate future timeline. The kicker was she ends up being the daughter of Starfire and Superboy. That was a bit of a shocker in the room as Superboy and Starfire have just hooked up together and now they are shown the could-be possible fruits of that union. Long ago, we once had a Superman whose players would do some really ridiculous things that would make us all stop and think, “What the hell did I just read?”

Have there been any steamy storylines in DC Noir or is that all saved for when you go up to the Sex Arcade?

[laughs] The Sex Arcade always comes up in conversation, people really like that room. I can’t speak for others as I’m not privy to their private moments. I know our Superman and Lois Lane are starting their relationship but Superman’s player can be a bit goofy with not realizing Lois wants him. Kru-El, another Kryptonian has been keeping company with Catwoman, and I think the room is pulling for those two hooking up. [waves a hand] You know how RP romance goes but for myself, I love superheroes and I love my sex. My Batman and gennifairy’s Wonder Woman have a really underlined D/s relationship in DC Noir. If you pay attention and read between the lines, it’s there. Of course it drops when they have to be heroes and go beat up the bad guys, but it’s always there. John Constantine and Zatanna have a more playful romance as opposed to their Sex Arcade romps. However, Superboy and Starfire have a pretty steamy thing going on in DC Noir – not as explicit as their Sex Arcade adventures, but still hot none the less. We’ve kicked around having some stories from the Sex Arcade cross over into the other rooms. The Sex Arcade is still cooling. It can really become anything and be used as a stepping stone if that’s your sort of RP bag.

Tell us something you would like the readers to know about DC Noir?

I want readers to be aware of a few things. First, we don’t use character sheets, claiming a character is easy! Second, you don’t need a long understanding of DC history to play. If you watch the TV shows or follow the movies or some of the cartoons like the old Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, you’re good to go! The one thing I constantly hear is Comic RP is like this incomprehensible form of RP, and it’s really not. It’s fun, interactive fan fiction at its best!

And any last words for the readers?

Yeah, some last words. If you’ve seen Batman vs Superman, watch the Flash and Arrow or Legends of Tomorrow; if you go and see Suicide Squad in August; and if you like these things and want to experience them or give your hand to them, come and check us out! DC Noir is it’s own universe. It’s not the comics, it’s the not the cartoons, TV, or even the movies. It’s become it’s own monster and we would like you to come be a part of this!

And with that I have to say, I’ve learned a bit more about DC Noir that I did not know before. I don’t know about you, but part of me wants to go to DC Noir and try the roleplay there. I bet you would make a good superhero or a rather bad, bad guy.

Featured Character: Miriam Jekyl

By Care

ReVolutionary Theory is the magazine that’s all about you – whether you’re a chatter, a player, or even a character! For this issue, Care digs into the den of Miriam Jekyl.

This quarter we are taking a look at the Supernatural side of things. I was able to sit down with Kuro, the typist and creator of Miriam Jekyl, who is a rather old wererat. If you don’t know the world of Laurell K. Hamilton or free forming it, then you are missing out, as LKH is one of the best Supernatural worlds out there. This character is played within the room THE CONDEMNED. I sat down with Kuro first, learned a little about the typist and finally sat down with the character herself, which I have to say was a rather interesting interview.

So let’s start off with something simple – how long have you been roleplaying?

Kuro: In total, it’s been a little over 15 years, but chat based has been roughly 13,

How long have you been role-playing the character?

Kuro: On and off for about 5 years.

Tell us a little bit about your inspiration when you were creating Miriam Jekyl?

Kuro: The original reason was that I needed a leader character that fit for London around the late 1800s. I always enjoyed the Rats in the books (and I’m a rat in the Chinese Zodiac), so it seemed a logical choice. From there it was just drawing on the movies/books that dealt with the era.

As the author of Miriam Jekyl, has there ever been a moment where the character surprised you so much that you went “What the fuck”?

Kuro: Not to that point, although it’s gotten close. She’s meant to be a no-nonsense defender of her Rodere, but there’s been a time where writing her ended up going in the route of helping someone who’s not a rat. No full WTF moments yet though.

What advice would you give to someone that is wanting to start a character within the world that Miriam lives in?

Kuro: Have fun and avoid strange people in dark alleyways. I’m horrible with advice. lol

Now we will take a moment and do the interview portion for the character herself. Yes, folks, characters are beings within our minds, and this is something that I have always found fascinating.

Hello, Miriam Jekyl. Thank you for agreeing to this interview today. Tell me a little about yourself?

Miriam: Very well. My name is Miriam. I was born several centuries ago in a well-off family. My father’s stupidity led my circumstances to become far less but did result in me becoming a Rat. As a Rat, I once ruled London from the underground. I was the Lady of the Night, Queen of the Rats, and I was willing to do anything to protect mine. I even made deals with the -shudders- undead. Nasty things, the undead; they smell foul and they drop bits everywhere. These days, I just deal with the circumstances that brought me to this damn island.

Can you tell us how old you are? If not, then about when you were born?

Miriam: To be truthful, I’m not sure how old I am exactly. I was roughly thirty when I was stuck in the vampire’s thrall. So that’s about a hundred and fifty. Easier to talk about when my childhood was. Electric light had just started being popular among the rich. I remember my father having it installed. Of course, I also remember the Jack the Ripper murders. I was around ten, maybe twelve, when all that happened.

Oh wow, you are very old then. Tell the readers a little bit about what you are, for someone that doesn’t know what being a “rat” means?

Miriam: What that means is that I’m awesome. In all seriousness, becoming a rat saved my life. I probably would have been another floater in the Thames if it was not for becoming one. What a Rat is, is that I’m a lycanthrope. Infected since I was a teen. I can change into the form of a rat but think closer to the size of an average dog, maybe a little bigger. I can pass on being a rat to others by passing bodily fluids – that’s if they survive the initial method of infection, that is.

Tell us a little about where you live now. I know you said you used to be in London, but what about now?

Miriam: Right now I live in The Underground, a dance club I managed to procure under questionable circumstances. It’s just one of many places on this blasted island. Not sure what this place is actually called, but blasted island works well. It’s like the island of misfit toys, except for things like me.

You live on some island somewhere? Isn’t that a little odd? Do you think you will ever get off this island to come back to the States or other normal countries?

Miriam: It is. I only came here cause of a blasted rumor. As of right now, it looks like I’m here for the long haul, but I’m hoping to one day get back to England. Hell, I’d just be satisfied to get to the mainland. But it’s like that song says, you can check out any time you want, but you can never ever leave.

So, you are saying you can’t ever leave that island? So you have nowhere to go, but around an island? Is it a big island?

Miriam: At the moment, I can’t. I’m not far enough up the asses of the right people. The government has taken to shooting down any unauthorized planes, even blowing up fishing boats with “suspicious” cargo. It’s a decent sized one. There’s a large city and some forest, some hills trying to pass themselves off as mountains. Still, it’s too small for the amount of things that are here.

There are other types of things on that island with you? Like besides other rats, as you said earlier?

Miriam: There are. I’ve been running into more and more every day. Seems people got it in their heads to send us all here. There’s rats, wolves, even some vampires roaming about. Luckily, they mostly leave me to myself.

That’s interesting, and yet no one knows where this island is located? So what about you, what do you hope to do while upon this island?

Miriam: I think they know, I just think they don’t care. Well, I came here because I thought there was a vampire here, but it seems that was just a rumor. Now I’m just trying to get enough money to bribe my way off this hunk of rock.

With the little you told us about yourself, lets dive into that a little bit more. Do you have any hopes or fears? Something that will get you through this time stuck on this island?

Miriam: Well hope is mostly for pansies. I do have the goal of getting revenge on the people who tricked me into coming here but that’s about it. Fears – yeah, I got a few. I’m honestly bat shit terrified of fire, almost died in large fires twice and zombies – god. Why do people find those things so damn fascinating? What’s gonna get me through time on this island is money. That and focusing on that revenge idea. Revenge is a hell of a thing to keep a person alive.

I think, that’s all the questions I had, is there anything you want to tell our readers?

Miriam: All I can say is, don’t send anyone you actually care about here. Even for a tourist visit. It’s all horse shit and they’ll probably get eaten.