1. Toma and the Rainbow Shell

[ZeaLitY]

How'd the jailbreak scene going? Like a joint writing or what? I've got Gaspar ready in my mind to write.

Oh, and --

I like Chrono Trigger.

WHO KNEW

[chronotriggerfreak]

That would be Dorino; I used it as a Porre military base in my second Backer post. The history I implied was that because of the Rainbow Shell, Dorino didn't fall off the face of the earth, but was eventually annexed by Porre, giving them possession of the Rainbow Shell and enabling Backer's existence. For now, I don't think we have to do many other alterations to the timeline from this event; remember that it was supposed to be minor.

This would actually fit with my ideas for Garg: Porre, either because Garg gains more popularity than Toma or just because of some innate military aspirations, eventually confronts their political "enemies," and this results in at least the annexation of Dorino. Whether the Rainbow Shell is gained in this process or not is not up to me, but I personally think that the Kingdom wouldn't leave such a precious thing in a city as it is invaded.

[Dunsparce]

Next, I've been thinking of how we can do everyone's characters and keep it fresh and free. For instance:

Gaspar doesn't know where the changes originate immediately, instead locating particularly big points of change in time and dispatching heroes there. For Toma:

2329 A.D.

Gryph and Backer sent to investigate political matters preventing the reestablishment of Chronopolis (Backer keeps Gryph in sane line )

1003 A.D.

Juan and Sigma are sent to explore rumors of wild, prismatic Element use in El Nido; Juan knows El Nido like his backyard, while Sigma is a contigency for the use of these prismatic devices against the two.

607 A.D.

Alt-Glenn and Jack Nova sent to search strange phenomena around the mountains; Glenn because he knows the time period, and Jack because he's a superior outdoorsman and they'll be traveling in Denadoro.

Such a model would give everyone a chance to develop chemistry between characters and write their own scenes. Eventually we might all converge back to one central point of issue for resolving subplots, but in the meantime we can have everyone dealing with things in their assigned time periods. As you can see, different characters might hit up different areas due to skills in those places.

What about Jai? It feels like I'm being completely ignored because I don't want to release any important info on Jai's character or motivations. Or is it that I don't post much? (For your information, I check this site every weekday. It's just that I don't post much) Or is it that he hasn't entered the story yet at that point? No has told me what I can do for the time being. I feel like a sitting duck right now, waiting for who knows what reason.

[chronotriggerfreak]

Make yourself a part. For example, in an average day of Jai's life, what would he be doing? Write an introductory portion in the (gasp!) Introduction thread that would show this sort of thing, so we can get used to his character. Or even write a portion describing some extraordinary day to get things rolling and show us how he handles under pressure.

Plus, quite frankly, I could care less about what you want to keep secret. If you want to do that, you keep it secret in-character only. We shouldn't bother keeping plans from each other out-of-character, because all it does is to create a mess. If you think we can better make plans for Jai's future if we knew certain things, then you ought to tell at least Zeality or Symmetry, if not just post it flat-out. Really, we're not your final audience.

[ZeaLitY]

In preparation for the Gaspar scene, I need questions that your heroes will ask him. That way I can formulate answers and such; also, having heroes converse with each other in between answers is fine. This'll be a large, joint effort. Examples include "What is this place," "Why are we here," "Who are these people," "Why is Project ZEAL doing this," "Who the hell are you," etc.

[Leebot]

Let's see... Sigma will probably be too overwhelmed to speak out.

Backer, on the other hand, will probably be the only one who came to the End of Time of his own will, and coupled with the knowledge he'll glean from the Frozen Flame, he won't need to ask much besides "What do you need me to do?" He might also be interested in learning what exactly ZEAL's done that justifies his action.

A little elaboration on Backer's origins: He's something of a non-entity who wasn't supposed to exist in this dimension. Originally, his body was supposed to die in that experiment. However, a deity-like being (think an alternate dimension's FATE) intervened and exploited the circumstances to sculp a hero (explaining why his psyche seems computer-like). I plan to continue his story after this fic and reveal more, but that's about all that'll come into play in this fic. One possible extension of this could be Gaspar not expecting him to arrive (I'm not sure exactly how Gaspar's looking for heroes, but he might inconveniently miss Backer, who fortunately turns up on his own.). Or, maybe Gaspar noticed him, but didn't summon him as he would turn up on his own (bringing along Hunter and Amy).

Anyway, I plan to cover up through his arrival at the End of Time in my next scene.

[Radical_Dreamer]

Argus would probably want to know what happened to the Zeal of the Keystone timeline, of any other significant historical events that might be of some use or that ZEAL might try to exploit, and what he can do to help.

[V_Translanka]

Gil, having already been to the EoT prior, will mainly want to know when the whole ZEAL situation will end and what exactly the end-result will be...If such isn't already explained through conversing w/Argus. He will want to stay as far out of the entire situation as possible (the same for Marcy & Elle, who are also in the EoT). Mainly, he will want to wait the whole situation out until the end.

Kaeru, having been in the EoT (w/Marcy & Elle) will want to know what happened to his dimension and if it would be possible to go back (Elle might also wonder this). Since he won't, he'll want to help take ZEAL down for their atrocities against the Chrono Multiverse.

Hunter & Amy may wonder specifically about the Frozen Flame, whatever's decided happens to it in the end...Amy will be somewhat excited...Hunter cautious, a little confused, and really, I want a scene where he goes to the healing bucket and drinks some of the elixer, commenting on it possibly being somewhat alcoholic in flavour (just an idea) Amy would also benifit from a dose of the healing bucket (her hand's been f***ed up a bit).

I think the bucket might be a common spot for some of the travelers after either long battles or strenuous trips in getting to the EoT...

[ZeaLitY]

Alright, this is good so far. I've also been thinking about the evaluation of the heroes capacities; before sending them on missions, Gaspar would like to know to an exact degree their abilities and limitations. Notwithstanding, Spekkio will have to confer magic on a few of them or open up the floodgates for that ability completely, so we may throw in a few training regimens. One such would be physical fighting, without magic; this would come in handy against the fragile citizens of ZEAL. Physical strength, endurance, etc. could also be tested, as well as magic prowess in certain areas. This can also be comedic, as Spekkio isn't one to let the time pass by dully.

[Symmetry]

Just an idea.

Since we have a little variety in the degrees of talent between the characters, it might be interesting if Spekkio's form is slightly different to certain people. (He's supposed to mirror one's inner strength, right?) For example, Sigma might see Spekkio as a Kilwawa and Backer might see him as one of his other forms.

[V_Translanka]

Actually, isn't Spekkio seen as the most powerful person in the party...or wait, isn't it the least powerful? Like even if Crono & Lucca were Lvl ** and they had Magus at Lvl 95 he wouldn't be the Pink Nu, he'd be the Masamune thingy, right?

[Dunsparce]

(First, I've been absent due to people hogging the computers at the Library where I get on the net. I'm very sorry for not having a working modem at this moment)

Jai would probibly listen to the queations and answer pateintly before speaking up in wantong to know what part he plays in the affairs of man (even though he secretly would love to be one himself, for personal reasons that hopefully will be explained in the future)

[Symmetry]

Actually, isn't Spekkio seen as the most powerful person in the party...or wait, isn't it the least powerful? Like even if Crono & Lucca were Lvl ** and they had Magus at Lvl 95 he wouldn't be the Pink Nu, he'd be the Masamune thingy, right?

Well, the game can only display one image of Spekkio at a time. I still think it would be a neat little tidbit for him to appear differently to different people, so take the idea or leave it as you so desire.

[Symmetry]

I realize this past week the forums were down and its been a holiday, so the lack of posts recently doesn't surprise me. However, I'm still curious as how writing is preceeding on everyone's part.

The holidays are hectic for everyone, but I'd like for everyone to have gathered at the End of Time (who needs to) and for the big Gaspar scene to have taken place by the end of the year. I think this is a pretty reasonable goal for a month, no?

That means the party will actually have "begun" the Toma Subplot. Think we can accomplish this much?

[Leebot]

Well, as far as I know, Sigma and Backer won't be seeing any new chapters until the End of Time. I believe only the following episodes need to be continued before we can start at the End of Time:

-Claado's Gryph and Serian
-The Toma incident