this is what we know: there is intelligent life out there, closer than we ever imagined. there is intelligent life within arm’s reach, and the proof is undeniable.
right now, you are hurtling towards it, flying in that direction at near-relativistic speed. we are capable of answering that call. you and fifteen others have chosen to put your lives on the line to follow the signal, to make contact. but only now, just now, have you started to wonder: should we have? a character-driven scifi skeleton rp
I’ve just finished sending out activity check messages to anyone who has been inactive for over a week -- please reply to me or post on your blog by Monday evening if you still want to be a part of the group. I am more than happy to provide a hiatus for anyone who needs one, as I know it’s a busy time of year, just let me know by Monday!
congratulations, Dani! you have been accepted as Eli Ka'aukai (fc: Taika Waititi)! I loved how much this interpretation of Ka'aukai’s skeleton surprised me; it took a bit of adjustment to see how much sense the personality you’ve given him makes for the character but after reading all the way through your app I was really interesting in seeing how Eli will interact with the rest of the crew. I loved your mockblog as well, and I’m a total sucker for a good mockblog. one piece of your application that really stuck with me was:
The definition of 'deadpan’ with the right amount of resting bitch face. He’s there, he’s listening, but his features hardly give away where his opinion stands. Even the crew is having a good time, telling jokes, he’s the one not laughing. They’ve also given up on the space puns on him. He refuses to see it as a bad thing, though— he’s professional, that’s all. Focused. “You didn’t have to tell me you were an engineer,” a partner once told him. “Your face says it.” And even if Eli didn’t know what that meant exactly, he knew they were right.
be sure to check out the welcome page and submit your blog in the next 24 hours. welcome aboard the Argo!
while light-speed delay means that communications from Earth have grown scarce and arrive with increasing delays – meaning that messages the crew is receiving these days were recorded fairly soon after they left Earth, four years ago – the crew does receive messages from their friends and family back home.
each crew member was asked to provide a list of family members and friends authorized to send them messages through mission control for the duration of the mission, and when mission control sends communication bundles to the ship, any messages from the crew’s family and friends are a part of those bundles. those messages anchor them to Earth – sometimes, they’re a pleasant reminder of home, other times a bittersweet reminder of the things they’ve given up to be here.
write about your character receiving a message from the people they left behind back on Earth.
apologies for being scarce on the main for a few days-- I was out of town, but I am back now and will be doing acceptances tonight at 10pm GMT/5pm EST for the app currently in my inbox and any applications I get between now and then. I will also be conducting an activity check this Saturday, so if you haven’t been active in the last week or so, you’ve got a chance to jump back into things or contact me for a hiatus if need be.
as always, let me know if you have any questions--
Few noticed it; only the transport tunnels were affected, and with the crew going about their daily routines only those unlucky enough to be traveling from room to room witnessed the brief outage, throwing the metal tunnels into darkness for just a second, just a heartbeat, before the stark LEDs returned to their normal brightness.
Generators were checked, wiring was examined. Nothing was found.
And then it happened again. For about thirty seconds, the computer screens in the control room went black, the programs freezing up, and when they came back up, one of the telemetry reports from the ship’s outer sensors was returned corrupted, its data unreadable.
Generators were checked, wiring was examined. Nothing was found.
On Earth, one power fluctuation was nothing to worry about; two was a fixable problem, an arrow in the sky pointing towards some larger thing in need of attention. In space, one bad power fluctuation could mean a complete system failure, and two could mean death. The fragility of it all was thrown into stark relief, and the pattern wasn’t stopping.
Is it too early to be worried? Is it too naive, too suspicious or superstitious to read into things? To consider this some kind of tampering? Some kind of warning?
IN CHARACTER:
beginning at exactly 13:35 on mission day 1433, and continuing at regular intervals of roughly 437 minutes from that point on, brief power fluctuations of varying intensity began plaguing the Argo
effects of the fluctuations have included: lights flickering, minor computer system brownouts, navigational system errors, corrupted telemetry reports, and communication shutdowns. nothing immediately dangerous or life-threatening has occurred, but the accumulation of inconveniences could potentially become dangerous in conjunction with one another if systems aren’t restored between the power fluctuations
for safety and to ensure that minor systems are the only things being affected, the engines, servers, and crucial life support generators must be checked between each fluctuation to ensure all are in proper working order and have not been disrupted by the brownouts. those crew members on maintenance and life support duties will rotate system checks between fluctuations
the 437 minute pattern was noticed at around 18:00 on mission day 1434; no other patterns in the fluctuations or their intensities has yet been observed
OUT OF CHARACTER:
this is an ongoing event, and will continue to affect all characters and threads until otherwise noted
currently, threads may be started from mission day 1433 to the end of the current cycle
fluctuations themselves may be incorporated into threads as timing allows, and their aftermath can be incorporated into threads taking place past 13:35 on mission day 1433 as desired
fluctuations have, thus far, occurred at the following times:
mission day 1433, 13:35 (flickering of light fixtures in transport tunnels)
mission day 1433, 21:12 (corrupted telemetry report, control room computer brownout)
mission day 1434, 04:49 (communication shutdown between control room and rest of ship)
mission day 1434, 12:18 (airlock hatch malfunction, navigational system error)
mission day 1434, 19:55 (flickering of light fixtures in outer ring)
mission day 1435, 03:23 (airlock hatch malfunction, corrupted telemetry report)
mission day 1435, 11:00 (thirty second long shutdown of the primary ventilation systems)
mission day 1435, 18:37 (flickering of light fixtures in outer ring)
if you need the status of a power fluctuation after 18:37 on mission day 1435, message the main; otherwise, periodic fluctuation updates will be posted through the cycle
she’s a teeny bit on the young side, but as long as you take that into consideration while writing her bio (or age her up a few years, which I think would be just fine as well) I think she’d work wonderfully for Turner!
Hey, I was wondering when you'll be accepting next? I want to make sure to get my app in on time :)
I’ll be setting the next acceptance date as soon as someone sends me a new app to review! however, due to some real-life obligations the earliest I’ll be accepting next is next week on Thursday the 16th, so if you get it in by then you should be just fine!
there will be a cycle update posted this evening -- you are more than welcome to continue threads taking place during the current cycle after tonight, but the update should allow for some new material for threads and to push the plot forward and closer to Proxima B~
a new event will be posting on Sunday, 12 November so you should aim to wrap up threads by then so that you’ll be able to jump right into the event
I will be conducting our first activity check tonight as well; messages will be sent out to anyone who hasn’t been active in over seven days, and those players will have 48 hours to resume activity or message the main to discuss activity
for anyone still hoping to apply, there are currently three open characters -- Castellano, Ka'aukai, and Turner. I would love to have them around, and will set our next acceptance date as soon as I receive an application for any of them!
as always, let me know if you have any questions--
while necessities – uniforms, basic toiletries, a laptop or tablet to access the ship’s systems and personal video logs, and anything necessary for work – were provided to the crew of the Argo as a part of the ship’s basic equipment, every crew member was also allotted a certain amount of space, both physical and digital, for personal effects.
for physical items, each crew member was allotted one (1) plastic box, 2″ x 2″ x 2″, to weigh no more than 10kg, in which they could put any physical personal effects they wanted for the mission (keepsakes, accessories, non-uniform clothing, etc).
for digital materials like music, video, photographs, or ebooks, each crew member was allotted one (1) terabyte of data on a dedicated hard drive to be stored with the ship’s primary servers, which can be accessed from any computer terminal or personal laptop on the ship.
this week’s character development task is to explore what your character brought on the Argo with them, both physical and digital. this can be done any way you’d like – as a graphic, a self-para, a list, or any other way you would like to present it.
jacobvanloon
janainaart
titsay
izzy806
origamiaround
theartofmadeline
snowghoul