A Comedy of Circumstances - OOC Natter Thread

[Alter Ego]

Since things are starting to get chatty and I'd prefer to keep the main thread relatively clean. From hereon out, all OOC banter, questions, etc. concerning this RP goes here, so go crazy, but please still stick to the general topic of the RP and things relating to it.

This RP and you; discuss, natter, announce; it's up to you. XD

Currently approved:

Technocrat
Enakai "Kai" Faron (Meneur d'enfer)
May F. Summers (Scarlet Weather)
Thomas Feynman (Cirrus)

Utopianist
Isaac Williams (Kularian)
Ariel Roy (Akustar)
Sharon Lee (Sambul)

Agent
Theresa "Theta" Aegisfield (Alter Ego)
Dominic Ontiveiros (Diegoyayi)
Carman Tell (Mira)
Solomon Gunnar (Timeless Paradox)

Freelancer
Frederick "Flamer" Jacobs (Sweet_Dreams)
Nicholas "Nico" Holguin (TowerWinder)
Julian Swift (Neko64)
Tyriel McHubbard (dream's-epilogue)


The Black Book of Extra Setting Notes

Because we all know there's more where those came from. For the sake of avoiding confusion over the terms and concepts I'm going to be slinging about in the progress of the RP, this part will be updated with new information and trivia on the setting as we go along. When in doubt about how something or the other works, check back here first.

Systems of Rank


Agents

The Domestic Security Agency, Circumstances, is officially in cooperation with the army's ground forces. As such, all employees of the agency have an honorary rank within the ground forces. The ranks of members of the agency and their corresponding army ranks are as follows:

Commandant
Honorary Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

The highest peacetime rank within the agency short of that held by the president. A commandant is in charge of all other agency operatives within their own region as well as maintaining their battle readiness and the order of their responsibility area. Consequently, there are only three Commandants within the agency at any given time.

Overseer
Honorary Rank: Major

Overseers are to handlers much what handlers are to agents. They are responsible for handling the day-to-day order giving within units as well as keeping handlers in line and in shape. Each Overseer is responsible for the defense and internal security of their own area within a region, with a large number of handlers and thus even more agents working beneath them.

Handler
Honorary rank: Captain

A group which also contains a number of loyal agents who have been forced to retire from field duty due to age or injury as well as particularly distinguished field agents. Handlers are the immediate supervisors of field agents and are responsible for their training, supervision, and any disciplinary actions, as well as delivering their orders. A beginning handler is usually given charge of a group of two to five prospective agents, though more experienced ones have been known to hold responsibility over up to thirty.

Field Agent
Honorary Rank: 2nd Lieutenant/Lieutenant (based on seniority and overall field experience)

See the faction description on this one. Your average agency footsoldier.


Utopianists

Though obviously not a military organization, Utopianists follow a strictly regimented hierarchy within their ranks, as dictated by their ethos.

Archmandrite

The highest authority within the church. The Archmandrite is said to in direct contact with the divine and serves as the medium between the congregation and the deities, as well as the official figurehead and policymaker of the Utopianist church. His primary responsibilities are rulings of doctrine and the representation of the church and its interests. He is also responsible for chairing and assembling the debates of the high council, the annual gathering of all Mandrites and consequently the highest decision making authority within the church.

Mandrite

A senior member of the clergy. A Mandrite is in charge of a smaller branch of the main Utopianist church, usually spanning a number of churches within likeminded communities in any given region. The Mandrite's primary responsibilities are maintaining logistics of supplies and aid between churches and communities, ensuring continued funding and maintenance of the churches under their care, and both supervising and caring for the well being of the faithful under their care. The Mandrites also form the higher council together with the Archmandrite.

Prelate

The head of a single church within the Utopianist faith. A prelate is primarily responsible for the well being and function of their own church and the congregation that belongs to it. They are also responsible for calling in the monthly meetings of the low council, which is responsible for making the day-to-day decisions of the church as well as coming up with suggestions and inquiries for the high council. A prelate is usually the highest authority figure an ordinary member of the congregation has dealings with, but they are directly subservient to mandrites and entrusted with carrying out the details of decisions made by the high council.

Acolyte

A more distinguished member of the church, typically one with aspirations for a higher position. Acolytes perform much the same duties as Neophytes, but they are also responsible for parts of a church's lower administration and qualified to perform spiritual duties such as sermons, burials and weddings. Many also travel far and wide as missionaries, spreading the word of the church along with their good deeds. Acolytes also participate in the low council meetings.

Neophyte

A regular member of the Utopianist church. Neophytes are either new converts or members of the church who have no wish to advance within the hierarchy. Their service is mostly in the form of simple tasks, including menial labor, cooking, charity work and seeking new converts, though they are not qualified to perform the more important spiritual duties.

[King!]

Will this RP be free-form or chaptered? Sorry if it sys it somewhere in the rules already, and regardless, I'll go work on my SU right now.

[Neko64]

Crap, so I see you already started accepting profiles, Alter. xD; I hope I get mine done soon. Unfortunately I am going to be out all day, so I don't know when I'll have it done by..

This isn't to rush you, and I know it says in the rules that I shouldn't be asking this, but you're not gonna start it any time soon, are you? Do you have a general idea? I'm obviously not rushing you to start it, I just wanted to make sure I'm not dragging this out for too long, you know?

[Alter Ego]

Originally Posted by King!

Will this RP be free-form or chaptered? Sorry if it sys it somewhere in the rules already, and regardless, I'll go work on my SU right now. ;)

Well, as my little debating stint in the Bad Habits thread probably made clear, chaptered is not proper RPing to my mind, so long story short: this is freeform, not chapters. Chapters are for fanfiction. u_u

Originally Posted by Neko64

Crap, so I see you already started accepting profiles, Alter. xD; I hope I get mine done soon. Unfortunately I am going to be out all day, so I don't know when I'll have it done by..

This isn't to rush you, and I know it says in the rules that I shouldn't be asking this, but you're not gonna start it any time soon, are you? Do you have a general idea? I'm obviously not rushing you to start it, I just wanted to make sure I'm not dragging this out for too long, you know?

Well, soon and soon. Tentatively I'll be waiting a week or so, maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less. It depends on how things develop, really, but there should be no pressing worries about that yet.

[Mira]

*stares*
Uh-oh... My character's a lot like Alter Ego's... I'll just finish it and edit as needed :3

[_Diego//]

My, how could I have missed that! I'm terribly ashamed :A I'll edit immediatly!
Alright, it has been edited. Sorry about that, dunno where my mind was at. I eliminated any entrance of 'Poké Ball' in my bio and tried to supply a semi-logical explanation as of where his Pokémon are and how would they get there :A

[Alter Ego]

Originally Posted by Mira

*stares*
Uh-oh... My character's a lot like Alter Ego's... I'll just finish it and edit as needed :3

Oh dear, and here I thought that making a scarfaced, eyepatch-wearing creepy-cheery agent would be a surefire way to avoid hitting the same chord as anyone else. XD

Well, after hearing that, I'm all the more interested in seeing what you came up with. Looking forward to the profile then.

Originally Posted by Diegoyayi

My, how could I have missed that! I'm terribly ashamed :A I'll edit immediatly!
Alright, it has been edited. Sorry about that, dunno where my mind was at. I eliminated any entrance of 'Poké Ball' in my bio and tried to supply a semi-logical explanation as of where his Pokémon are and how would they get there :A

Well, it's obvious from the rest of it that you focused and worked hard on this profile, so I can see how a small - if important - detail could slip your mind in the process. It's all better now and you passed the rest with flying colors, so all's well that ends well. ;D


In other news, our lineup seems a bit agent-heavy at the moment, so if anyone out there is still trying to decide whether to make go with agent or another faction, I would prefer seeing the other faction picked. None of the factions are 'full' of course, but I'd prefer to keep them as even as possible. ^^

[Mira]

Oh... I was talking about the description (figure, hair length, eye color (which I changed :3)). Other than that, they're mostly opposites o.o'
Oh yeah, there's a little thing about my character's age that I'd like to talk about after I submit my SU... But I'm pretty sure it won't go over well as is.
I'll work on it ;3

[Vigilante]

T.T I had two sign-ups in the work, in case one faction had too many I was gonna go with the other, but then I lost them both... I really need to get in the habit of saving my work occasionally.
....
....
There was a power outage.

Well, guess I got to start again.

[_Diego//]

... Absolutely. :D
xD
Anyways, I'm glad I'm in (:

Ooh, Meneur, I feel your pain. Countless times has it happened to me. :A
Hurrah for Word's Auto-Save.

[Vigilante]

Sadly, I wasn't using word, I don't own it. D:

Bah, I don't even feel like writing.

[King!]

Okay, this'll be my first freeform, so I hope it goes well.

I am upnorth for a week, so I'll TRY working on my SU, but no promises.

I'm thinking of being an...um, Utopianist? lol, I forget.

[Sweet_Dreams]

All the other accepted sign-ups are, well... long. I'll try my best to keep up.

This is gonna be my first time rping with a either a male or easygoing character, so I'm looking forward to this. Gods, I'm in awe of how much effort you've put into creating the rp, AE. I have neither the patience nor the will.

[Vigilante]

Wooohoo I finally re-wrote mine. Now, I shall sleep.

[Alter Ego]

Originally Posted by Mira

Oh... I was talking about the description (figure, hair length, eye color (which I changed :3)). Other than that, they're mostly opposites o.o'
Oh yeah, there's a little thing about my character's age that I'd like to talk about after I submit my SU... But I'm pretty sure it won't go over well as is.
I'll work on it ;3

Opposites are a freaky coincidence of themselves too. Should be fun. XD

Originally Posted by King!

Okay, this'll be my first freeform, so I hope it goes well.

I am upnorth for a week, so I'll TRY working on my SU, but no promises.

I'm thinking of being an...um, Utopianist? lol, I forget.

Hoho, well, Utopianists have been in short supply thus far, so I certainly wouldn't mind seeing more. Gone for a whole week though? That...may be a problem. RP may have started by then. :\

Eh, we'll see what we can see. Poor dear, never having experienced the FREEDOM.

*brick'd*

Originally Posted by Sweet_Dreams

All the other accepted sign-ups are, well... long. I'll try my best to keep up.

This is gonna be my first time rping with a either a male or easygoing character, so I'm looking forward to this. Gods, I'm in awe of how much effort you've put into creating the rp, AE. I have neither the patience nor the will.

Pssh, yours was no dwarf either. You should do fine.

And thank you. I had plenty of time to brood on this, so it just kind of...expanded in all directions from the original idea. I don't really host often, so when I do go for one, I tend to go all the way. 8D

Hopefully the RP won't disappoint.


In other news, if there are any takers for Utopianist out there, would they please step forward? I have one promise of a fresh technocrat, but beyond that, it's been very heavily clustered on Freelancer and Agent, and I'd like to have at least two people on each side.

Also, I am now calling in an official cutoff date for sign-ups.

This RP will begin on Monday the 10th of August. That's 10.08.09, my first post for that morning. Before writing my entry post, I will take one last look at the remaining pending profiles and give my verdict on them, so further prospective joiners please have your profiles ready by that date, preferably Sunday evening if you want to be on the safe side.

[Vigilante]

Okay, done and done. I changed the barricade bit.

[Neko64]

Ok Alter, I changed around my profile a bit. I'm sorry it's just a few sentences changed around; if you need me to change it more just tell me. Other than that, you said the rest was good, so I didn't wanna change it around too much. I hope it's acceptable. :)

[King!]

Cool, that's next Monday, and I get home Saturday, so...oh, wait. I just realized...nevermind.

And yeah, I'll SU as a Utopanianist.

[TowerWinder]

Woo! So glad to be accepted! Thank you very much Alter Ego. For a while I was afraid Nico might not be the kind of character you'd be looking for, but it looks like it worked out.

Now I have one question for you if you wouldn't mind answering it. Seeing as my character has political aspirations, could you fill me on some of the details of the current government and how it works? Just wanna be informed.

[Mira]

So many people I haven't yet RPed with, and yet some familiar faces.
This is gonna be great :3

[_Diego//]

I'm anxious. :3
:cer_boogie:

[Kularian]

10th of August, eh? Sweet.

I'm pretty much just lurking until then. Isaac is ready to go and smite some heathens. : D

[Sweet_Dreams]

Hmm? But your Monday's probably around my Tuesday. Well, I'll try to post as early as possible.

There does seem to be an overcrowding of males though. Does this always happen? I've never noticed.

[TowerWinder]

Haha, I can't wait. This is going to be fun... =D
And it looks like we might possibly have another female joining us soon.
Maybe
I'm not a good enough judge of sign-ups to tell, ha.

[Vigilante]

This has been bugging me... how do you pronounce Utopianist?