The RPG Duelling League
RPG Debate => RPGDL Discussion => Topic started by: AndrewRogue on March 16, 2009, 06:56:33 AM
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A happy ending. That’s all anyone ever wants. It means something different to everyone, but, in the end, that’s what everyone aims for. The smile of their kids, the warmth of their lover, the cold satisfaction of revenge… it all boils down to being someone’s happy ending.
That’s the dream, no matter how you slice it.
***
The sun beat gently on the three of them as they lay, stretched out grass. The warm breeze was refreshing, the feel of it washing away all memories of the world that lay so far beneath them. Together, the three of them had risked everything to find this place.
This was supposed to be their paradise.
Lin’s ears perked up as she head Ryu shift, repositioning himself on the dew-laden grass. “Hey, Lin…”
The worren rolled onto her side. “Yeah?” She was surprised to see Ryu fidget, casting his gaze towards the ground. “Something wrong?”
“Promise me you’ll look after Nina?”
Lin blinked and, in that instant, paradise was gone. The sky melted away, leaving behind the beige ceiling of Lin’s room. There was no warm breeze, just the stale chill and monotonous hum of a decrepit air conditioner. The soft, wet grass turned out to be nothing more than her stiff and uncomfortable mattress.
Nina - she must have crawled into bed with her at some point during the night – cooed softly, her tiny hand clutching Lin’s side.
Of course. It was just a dream.
She’d lost count of how many times she’d had it since they had been taken, stolen from the paradise that they had earned. Denied the companionship they both desired. Forced into this endless hell, the promise of a miraculous reunion stretching further and further from their grasp. And there was nothing they could do but brace themselves and fight on. Fight to erase the pain. Fight to keep the hope of that reunion alive.
A soft sigh escaped from her as she closed her eyes once more, wishing that sleep would come easy again. She knew it wouldn’t, but it did no good to dwell on the futility of it. She had to be strong.
She wouldn’t abandon Nina.
She wouldn’t give Them the satisfaction of knowing her pain.
She wouldn’t degrade herself or do disservice to Ryu by giving up now.
Pulling the thin blanket up higher to try and help keep the tiny girl beside her. “You’ll do great tomorrow, Nina. I know it.”
Whether she really believed it or not, Lin wasn’t sure. Winning was the only way to keep their dreams in sight. There wasn’t even proof that it would matter, but it at least provided the sweet illusion of progress.
As the darkness of sleep once more began to overtake Lin, she prayed silently for dreams of a better time and a better place.
A place far away from the accursed arena and the ones who stole her happy ending.
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This is a really interesting take on the otherwise lighthearted "Backstage Omake" meta that the league normally undergoes. It's almost potentially too grim- "retired" comrades being ripped out of existence, deceased comrades being held in a state of temporary life that they know will fade the moment they "go home". Intriguing.
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It also clashes with the general tone of BoF5, which is namely a pretty happy story in spite of the extremely grim setting. Enjoyable read though. Dystopian DL, eh?
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Duelers aren't resurrected, the DL just makes another copy from that timeline and throws them in again, making the shadow versions of themselves literally engaged in a fight for their lives - something of which doublechamping is the only escape from.
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Duelers aren't resurrected, the DL just makes another copy from that timeline and throws them in again, making the shadow versions of themselves literally engaged in a fight for their lives - something of which doublechamping is the only escape from.
You have given a significant amount of extremely depressing thought to this. XD
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Sucks to be a Godlike then?
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Mad Fnorder: If by significant you mean ten seconds and application of other dystopian style themes. >_>
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It's just another pebble in the mountain of negative continuity (http://"http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NegativeContinuity") that is the DL's universe.
(Fnorder's is particularly out there even by standards, though. The ability to revive a dead person - not an unconscious one, a dead one - is reasonably common among the ranked roster of games, but who in the DL has the power Fnorder described?)
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Monkey: I think Fnorder was simply making a logical leap from the alternate-canon I wrote here. The DL exists in an alternate world, and the duelists are all individuals taken from their worlds. Therefore, dead duelists have been resurrected by the forces that be in the DL. To that end, if someone can have the promise of return dangled in front of them as a motivator, then being deaded again obviously exists as a threat. Add in that they theoretically couldn't be returned to their world (since they are dead there), and it becomes a pretty dark world.
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I mixed up names and meant to lambaste Taishyr's theory, not Fnorder's. Apologies.
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Ah. Fair enough. M'bad >_>
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The crack of the carbonated gases escaping from the bottle broke the deafening silence in the empty arena. The taste wasn’t quite what Yuri was hoping for, but, at the moment, it would suffice.
Looking out over the seemingly endless rows of empty seats, Yuri couldn’t help but think of what his years here had brought him. A lot of fighters in the arena seemed pretty disgruntled, and he could understand that.
Sitting around bitching about wouldn’t do anything though.
The endless seats, the open floor of the arena and the cavernous bowels of the place that made up their quarters… the harmonixer couldn’t deny that it was all just an elaborate cage to try and keep the duelists pent up. That didn’t mean they weren’t in the position to try and make the best of it.
He’d met so many fighters in the arena who just seemed lost here. He’d also met a lot of assholes who seemed to get off on taking advantage of exploiting their depression. He couldn’t stand either. The former needed a kick in the ass to straighten their heads, and the latter needed to get stomped until they straightened out. People needed to realize that they weren’t powerless here.
At some level, he couldn’t help but admit he enjoyed it. No more threat of looming war. All the psychopathic assholes were well within his reach, where he could shove a boot up their ass and tell them off if they stepped out of line. He could fight for fun. He could trash talk. He got to posture in front of a crowd and, backstage, he got to help people out. He got…
“Yuri…”
He got another chance. “Alice! You’re up late!”
She smiled softly as she sat in a seat next to him, nodding. “I woke up and you were gone. I came to see if you were here. You always seem to be.”
He laughed awkwardly, the sound filling the silent arena. Even after all his time here, he still felt a bit like an awkward kid in front of her. “Have I gotten that predictable?”
“Yeah, you really have,” she answered, a twinge of amusement coloring her voice.
“Guess I’ll have to shake it up a bit. Otherwise they’re gong to take my badass card.” Tossing the half empty bottle aside, he stood swiftly, surprising Alice as he scooped her up. “Come on!”
“Y-Yuri…”
His happiness and his memories… they were his.
He was never going to let them go.
“Let’s go!”
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I liked this entry, Andrew. For all the doom and gloom of the first one, it's nice to note that even under your interp, some people get lucky.
As far as DL backstory goes, in the back of my mind I kind of thought it would be sort of like the ending of Convergence. A couple of groups of PCs got together and made a Sigil-like city, coupling CT/EB style time travel with PS's cloning to create full copies of all our duellers. (The inexact science could help explain some of our larger deviations from canon *coughChisatocough*) New ranks could be considered recruits to the collective for what they could provide or just new first contacts (SO3 would be most notable due to the potential world-creating they'd be able to manage). Their "real" worlds are moving along and they aren't really part of them anymore, so they have copies for when they want to visit. Morte sticks around because one city of doors is as good as another for him.
Though I was always more concerned with the current state of flux...
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At some level, he couldn’t help but admit he enjoyed it. No more threat of looming war. All the psychopathic assholes were well within his reach, where he could shove a boot up their ass and tell them off if they stepped out of line. He could fight for fun. He could trash talk. He got to posture in front of a crowd and, backstage, he got to help people out. He got…
“Yuri…”
This entry was a nice surprise... I almost cried. Really sweet but understated. Good character choice.
I personally always imagined the DL was more of a 'come and go as you please' pocket dimension where the tournament was held. I imagine the ones who were brought to the DL just before unfortunate accidents tended not to 'go' too much. And regulars like Chisato probably enjoy it there more than others. I have this image of Ramus using the economy-less dimension to basically form the ultimate monopoly for the residents of the dimension. Maybe other merchant duelists like Taloon and Tia have set up shop as well to form a working mini-community? Or maybe the duelists bring faceless NPCs along to handle all the little things? Of course, under this interpretation, I have just unintentionally created a system of NPC slavery that will crumble under some future 'equal rights' revolution when the Hero-personality PCs realize how the NPCs are being exploited...
Dammit, the DL is just naturally dystopian no matter how I try to imagine it...
-Djinn
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You are so depressing ;_;
I imagine the DL is an orgy of crazy fun of all sorts, with everyone from FFT being used as a punching bag/joke.
Mmm...Maria/Natalia...mmm....
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I personally always imagined the DL was more of a 'come and go as you please' pocket dimension where the tournament was held.
Same here. The main thing that causes me to kneejerk this way is the countless number of writeups that feature duelers casually moving between the DL and the individual worlds of RPGs - usually their own, but sometimes those of other people.
There's also the question of who'd run this kidnapping scheme and get away with it. The top powers in the DL, however you define the term, are for the most part rivals, and in most exceptional cases, outright enemies. No way could these people hold their shit together well enough to keep doing something like this. Someone would foil the setup, be it due to moral outrage, butthurt over a match outcome, or just for shits and giggles.
But ultimately, I'm arguing about the farce that is DL canon, where your theory could, in fact, somehow coexist with all the factors I just brought up. That's just how shit works here.
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I viewed it as more of an extended vacation- Characters are aware of how their stories "ended", and of the game-nature of things, but now that THAT's all over with (That being their respective plots) they can kick back, battle for personal glory, meet some new people, and get drunk with alarming regularity (Considering how often alcohol is a writeup element).
You know what might be an interesting scene? Lulu from Suiko3 tagging along with Hugo, while Hugo struggles to communicate how much he's changed from when Lulu "knew him".
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In the beginning, it was coincidence that three particular random events occurred simultaneously in three very different worlds. Lucca Ashtear was unveiling her newest transportation device at the Millenium Fair. Lilka Eleniak was preparing a Teleport Gem for her next destination on Filgaia. And at a celebration party somewhere, Viki sneezed.
The resulting dimensional rift in the time-space continuum brought all three to a small pocket dimension uninhabited by sentient life. Surprised and distraught, the three young women set to work trying to open a portal to their individual homes.
The brilliant mind of Lucca Ashtear led them through the scientific rigor of testing various devices powered by both physical and magical forces. Lilka, though still an apprentice mage, had studied enough to break down the normal processes of magical teleportation and dimensional travel. Viki, eager to help, was in charge of making tea.
After a few attempts at dimensional travel that had only succeeded in transporting items like trees, bicycles, and an abandoned space station to the pocket dimension, the group finally created a stable portal. And to their fortune, the first thing to come falling unceremoniously out of the portal was the revered Lenneth Valkyrie, who was on her way to a time-shifted Midgard in pursuit of a vagrant time-travelling deviant. Some reports of this incident recall that Viki had once again sneezed.
With the help of an all-powerful Creation Goddess who was in hurry, the group began to open multiple portals to all kinds of different realities. While some were not so friendly, quite a few of dimension-displaced victims were quite adventurous. Exploration of the small pocket dimension began. As more and more ammenities became easy to attain, some of ever-expanding group began to grow attached to the world.
Indeed, after returning to their home dimensions for some much-needed world-saving, each of the original founders ended up coming back to the pocket dimension's tranquil atmosphere. A vacation spot of sorts for some, a chance for entrepeneurship for others. It wasn't long before the more battle-minded visitors set up a tournament, using the pocket dimension's multiple portals to invite champions from all across the multi-verse. It ended up being quite a profitable spectator sport.
To this day, Lucca and Lilka (and by honorable mention, Viki) remain the go-to experts on DL Portal Management, though with the enormous amount of technological and magical experts visiting the realm, the system is hardly ever in need of repairs. Many scientists throughout the multi-verse have hailed the DL's engineering department as a bastion of education, and applauded the use of the DL's profits from its Sporting division to fund their research efforts.
Dr. Ashtear proudly stated in a recent interview, "The only thing the organization spends more on than the Transport Research department is the DL Medical division... And when you consider the amount of casualities and creative methods of destroying eachother the Duelists have devised, the focus on White Magic and Cloning technology really becomes a bigger priority."
-Except from "History of the DL" Documentary, Part one
This is kind of how I imagine the DL... A little bit more light-hearted than most, maybe?
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My own thoughts are that the DL's 'powers' are us who run the show and keep things stable. It's pretty much otherwise left to the inmates to run things, which fits in how people gain and lose respect. It's how a minor PC like Edge can become such a powerhouse. I also like how much writeups became a reflection on canon and help trigger success and vice versa.
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I picture the retired duellers living in some sort of paradise resort.
and Paulette wondering why Kharg isnt there yet. :P Bebedora didnt respond when she showed up last month. :p
Imoen: Hey I even upgraded, so why do I go to the retirement home?
Orgodemir: I never even got a chance so stop complaining!
Paulette: Orgodemir was ranked?
Dario: Imoen, I champed! I got sent here too!
Imoen: Well you champed the same season as Menardi!
Ulala: MAYA! where are you!
Lena: Alanna is the only one that likes us!
Thea: I made some tea everyone. Lets all enjoy this bright sunny day.
Paulette: Thea, every day is bright and sunny here at the retirement home!
Orgodemir: At least you all dont have boot marks on your butt from when it was called BOOTING!
See, retired duelers need love too! (except Morte has love still since he is still in BTS)
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I picture the retired duellers living in some sort of paradise resort.
and Paulette wondering why Kharg isnt there yet. :P Bebedora didnt respond when she showed up last month. :p
Lena: Alanna is the only one that likes us!
Thea: I made some tea everyone. Lets all enjoy this bright sunny day.
See, retired duelers need love too! (except Morte has love still since he is still in BTS)
Haha, this is cute. You should write a bonus about "The DL Retirement Home Brawl!"
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Necron probably wins that one. Him or Meis.
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Orgodemier'd be my bet there. We haven't kicked out too many strong godlikes though. Guido's possible as well.
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Eh, Necron gets an ATB bar for every opponent, right? So in a free for all... yeah. >_>
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For some reason, I felt Andrew plauyed too much Dissidia.... Of course, which is a good thing.
And Yaku, Necron has at least 2 ATB bar.
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The crack of a hammer rang throughout the abandoned wing, a repetitious burst of thunder in the empty and forgotten stretch of the arena’s living quarters. Were this taking place in any other part of the labyrinthine extent of the arena, the perpetrator would no doubt be silenced in a swift and harsh manner.
Here though, he was free to pound as long as he saw fit.
Wiping the sweat from his brow, the young Thomas set the tool aside for a moment, stepping back to observe the fruits of his labors. This was one of his biggest undertakings since he’d been taken and, considering his relative lack of experience, he had to admit a certain amount of pride.
The plant boxes he’d constructed and worked so hard to maintain, while achieving the effect he’d wanted, could hardly be considered complicated or ambitious endeavors. He’d at least had some experience with gardening at Budehuc, and the construction of a wooden box was easy enough after the first several failures.
This though. This was something else entirely.
A sudden yawn overtook the young man, surprising him. Looking at the dull, flickering digital construct on the wall, it wasn’t a surprise. Apparently both lunch and dinner had come and passed since he’d started today.
He laughed uncomfortable, a tired smile spreading over his countenance. Oh well. It wasn’t like he hadn’t missed his fair share of meals back at the castle, trying to hold things together there. He had to admit though, at the moment, he would have almost preferred the mental fatigue. It was surprising how easy everyone back home had made this sort of thing look.
Setting the hammer down alongside his other tools, he lay back, closing his eyes. He still had work he wanted to finish, but a short rest wouldn’t hurt. Ignoring the grumbling of his stomach, as well as the lingering disquiet of the silence around him, his consciousness slowly faded…
***
“Where could he have gone?” Cecile asked herself, walking up and down the deserted halls of the most distant corners of the arena. Thomas had missed both lunch and dinner with the rest of the group and, despite Juan’s half-hearted assurances, she couldn’t help but worry. Even if they were no longer at Budehuc, she still wanted to keep their “castle” safe.
Turning a corner, she started to reconsider her decision to explore this part of the arena – he might have gone off to train with Geddoe or Chris – when something at the end of the hall caught her attention. Her eyes opened wide as she approached, surprised to find something like this all the way down here.
She started to ask herself who could have done something like this, before another sight caught the question in her throat.
The worry and concern gave way to soft smile as she turned on her heel and jogged back down the hall, quietly as she could manage.
***
Thomas rubbed his eyes, stretching as he woke. From the feel of things, he must have done a little more than just nap. Still, he didn’t really feel like waking up yet, turning over and pulling the blankets a bit closer to him…
The young man’s eyes snapped open in surprise as he pushed the blanket back. He certainly didn’t recall having that when he had fallen asleep.
“Good morning, Thomas!” The cheery and enthusiastic voice of Cecile, although not expected, was certainly not unwelcome. It certainly beat a lot of the awakenings he’d gotten in the past. The girl was seated comfortably on his construct, a couple of water bottles and various packaged pastries sitting beside her. The smile of someone who’d spent their entire life waking up at dawn – and enjoying it! – was plastered across her face. “Did you sleep well?”
“I… I suppose, yeah,” he admittedly sheepishly, suddenly feeling a keen sense of embarrassment creeping into his awareness.
“Hungry? Its not home-cooked but, for you, that might be a bit better.”
He could definitely feel a flush striving desperately to prevail over his features, but he pushed it down. His experience as the master of the castle had at least given him the resilience to not get too embarrassed over minor things. “A little bit,” he finally admitted, taking one of the packaged items.
Silence reigned over the two for a long moment as Thomas fumbled with the wrapper, trying to think of a way to explain himself.
The girl finally broke the silence as she looked back over the construct. “I think it is really awesome looking.”
A weak laugh escaped from Thomas as he finally managed to open the package. “I guess. I really think its sort of listing to the left though. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to… well… not sit on it yet.”
Ignoring the warning, the girl pressed on, “So why’re you building a stage?”
Thomas had to work not to laugh. “I’ve just been thinking about home a lot lately. And I remembered how many people came to see Nadir’s shows… even the really awful ones. It always helped take everyone’s minds off of everything. So I thought maybe we could put one of these back areas to work. We don’t even need good actors, we just need people willing to get up there.”
“How long have been you working on it?”
“I’ve…” Thomas fell silent for a moment, thinking. “I don’t actually know. I’ve been coming here more often lately. Maybe a couple weeks?” Thomas patted the smooth planks that made up the floor of the stage. “A long time, either way. I’m starting to think construction is harder than managing a township.”
Fiddling with her own snack, Cecile shrugged, quieting slightly. “Well. To be fair, you had a lot of help with the other. You’ve been doing this all by yourself.”
“Yeah.” Thomas could sense a certain unmistakable air of disappointment around the girl and felt a twinge of guilt. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask any of you to help. I just… I wanted it to be a surprise. It wasn’t just for us. There are a lot of people who need something like this.” Looking at his friend, Thomas realized that there had been something he’d never considered. The support she’d always offered, the unquestioning aid… “Cecile?”
“Hm?”
He shifted, sitting – cautiously – on the stage. “Since you’re here, and the surprise has already been spoiled, do you think you might want to stay and help me finish?” He looked a bit sheepish as he continued, “Even if we can’t have everyone here… well, I think I obviously need some help.”
Cecile smiled. “I’d love to, Thomas.”
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And thus ends a small triplet of stories that I wrote because I just got random inspiration and ran with it. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result, although there are some individual flubs that I'm a little bummed about. But hey, that's the nature of churning out a piece and posting it with minimal proofreading/revision.
This all started late one night, right around the last booting/ranking topic. I started considering the DL as a fictive entity once more. At some point, I got crossed on the subject of happy endings, and started wondering what it meant to a cast to have people voted or not ranked and how that reflected. And it just came to me like a bolt of lightning. The DL was a place where happy endings were denied. People reached the end of their story and are yanked out to continue fighting here.
BoFV was the logical piece for such a POV, given that it had three main cast members, and the most central one wasn't ranked. Furthermore, the beauty of the ending really demanded it end there. A continuation seems like a drag no matter how I shake it. It also vaguely inspired the idea that the arena is a labyrinthine underground complex. Hotel rooms always struck me as something with the potential t be highly uncomfortable (and have some elements that annoy), thus the idea of the dorm looking like a cheap one.
From there, it naturally occurred to me that, obviously, the DL situation wasn't quite that grim for everyone. Some people got some quite good things out of it (see the second piece. Yuri gets Alice and his memories back, since, knowing how it works, Bad End is default in the Shadow Heart series) and some people... well... their situation only changes a little, leaving them to make of it what they will (third piece).
I think my biggest disappointment is the final piece, since I had a really great groove in mind, but took a couple day break after starting it and lost my groove. It probably needs the biggest revision out of all of them, but hey, that's the nature of the beast.
Which brings me to the next question!
Would people like to see more of this? Obviously it is relatively different from the general tone and perception of the DL, but the response here was fairly positive. Of course, that could be just the fact that this was a random set of pieces in the middle of nowhere, but hey. I need a throwaway project to work on, so... Yeah. Would people be interested in seeing more work in this vein, probably related to the goings-on during the week?
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I hate fanfiction with burn-blazing passion, but I always love a good read.
As contradicting as it might seem, I do encourage you to post more.
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I know I've not posted before, but I know next-to-nothing of BoF and SH. Regardless, I have to say that I've really enjoyed reading these - it just adds to the whole DL atmosphere & the idea behind the DL.
As for the last one, having read the S3 manga, I can comment at least slightly, and I absolutely love it. XD Thomas' character is pretty much perfect (can't comment on Cecile, who gets a minimal role in the manga), and the idea behind it is just absolutely ideal for the situation. Plus, it could be used well in the DL matches - an acting match between Kuja and Ghaleon needs to happen at some point.
I'd definitely love to see more of this sort of thing, although I can't say I'd like to see them too often - perhaps once a season, if that? I think that if they were written too often, it'd detract from the quality behind it - you said this was inspiration, and that's always gonna be better than something you've forced yourself to write for the sake of having to write something.
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I really liked the interaction between Cecile and Thomas in your latest piece. The build-up to that conversation dragged a bit, but I enjoyed reading Thomas' thoughts. It all stays very true-to-character and continues to fill in little bits of information about the setting - your view of the DL 'world'.
I'd like to see more.
The Behind the Scenes aspect is interesting, but if you were to continue it, I know I'd become increasingly anxious about how an actual match would play out in your version of DL reality. It seems like it would be too dark for how I usually view the DL.
Also, I want to see your take on a Boss/Villain living in this weird dystopian DL.
Overall though, I don't think this is something that would make a long series. I'd like to see a few more short pieces that flesh out your world, but the DL concept as a whole doesn't have a central plot. It doesn't want one.
But I really enjoyed what you've written so far. They are like added flavor/color to what you could have simply written as 'I view the DL as a place where...'
They are Kool-Aid. But not Grape Kool-Aid, because that stuff sucks.
-Djinn
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Hm. I'd like to see more, but don't force it. Write as you're inspired, and don't write if you aren't, and I'll be here to read it when you write it.
I'll second the interest in seeing a villain's point of view, whether it be a sympathetic villain or freaking Kefka.
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In the beginning, it was coincidence that three particular random events occurred simultaneously in three very different worlds. Lucca Ashtear was unveiling her newest transportation device at the Millenium Fair. Lilka Eleniak was preparing a Teleport Gem for her next destination on Filgaia. And at a celebration party somewhere, Viki sneezed.
The resulting dimensional rift in the time-space continuum brought all three to a small pocket dimension uninhabited by sentient life. Surprised and distraught, the three young women set to work trying to open a portal to their individual homes.
The brilliant mind of Lucca Ashtear led them through the scientific rigor of testing various devices powered by both physical and magical forces. Lilka, though still an apprentice mage, had studied enough to break down the normal processes of magical teleportation and dimensional travel. Viki, eager to help, was in charge of making tea.
After a few attempts at dimensional travel that had only succeeded in transporting items like trees, bicycles, and an abandoned space station to the pocket dimension, the group finally created a stable portal. And to their fortune, the first thing to come falling unceremoniously out of the portal was the revered Lenneth Valkyrie, who was on her way to a time-shifted Midgard in pursuit of a vagrant time-travelling deviant. Some reports of this incident recall that Viki had once again sneezed.
With the help of an all-powerful Creation Goddess who was in hurry, the group began to open multiple portals to all kinds of different realities. While some were not so friendly, quite a few of dimension-displaced victims were quite adventurous. Exploration of the small pocket dimension began. As more and more ammenities became easy to attain, some of ever-expanding group began to grow attached to the world.
Indeed, after returning to their home dimensions for some much-needed world-saving, each of the original founders ended up coming back to the pocket dimension's tranquil atmosphere. A vacation spot of sorts for some, a chance for entrepeneurship for others. It wasn't long before the more battle-minded visitors set up a tournament, using the pocket dimension's multiple portals to invite champions from all across the multi-verse. It ended up being quite a profitable spectator sport.
To this day, Lucca and Lilka (and by honorable mention, Viki) remain the go-to experts on DL Portal Management, though with the enormous amount of technological and magical experts visiting the realm, the system is hardly ever in need of repairs. Many scientists throughout the multi-verse have hailed the DL's engineering department as a bastion of education, and applauded the use of the DL's profits from its Sporting division to fund their research efforts.
Dr. Ashtear proudly stated in a recent interview, "The only thing the organization spends more on than the Transport Research department is the DL Medical division... And when you consider the amount of casualities and creative methods of destroying eachother the Duelists have devised, the focus on White Magic and Cloning technology really becomes a bigger priority."
-Except from "History of the DL" Documentary, Part one
This is kind of how I imagine the DL... A little bit more light-hearted than most, maybe?
This sort of reminds me of Chaos Wars. :P Why don't you post this on the fanfic section?