Ceremony of NP and SS

Even when SL didnt help we have now 2 new Sisters!

ZS's Ceremony

Welcome Sister 413!

A Ceremont after 1 year and 2 Months! Yay!

A Sunday Morning at the racks

Pictures of Graham M. Simons talk

Here are some Pictures of the talk by author Graham M. Simons

Aviation History Talk

Get behind the scenes insights of two Hollywood movies.

-The digitally remastered version of the 1943 Memphis Belle: A story of a flying Fortress

and

-The Cold Blue, a feature Length documentary with recently found lost footage from the original Memphis Belle movie.

Hear about finding the original camera footage as shot in 1943 by Oscar winning Hollywood Director William Wyler.
Aviation Historian Graham M Simons was directly involved in it's discovery back in 2002,
and the long process of getting Hollywood into bringing it back to the screen in all it's 4k glory.
Hear about the 78 minute movie made from the unseen material
Hear about the level of detail and historical accuracy that went into the productions

This event starts at noon SLT (12PM SLT) Sunday the 22nd at the Latexia Theater

Big X-Mas Party with HUGOs

Its the end of the year, X-mas is upon us and we have a big awesome evening for you.
HUGOs Design comes to us with free Giftcards and a chance to win a big 1000L$ giftcard in the "Best in Latex" contest.
Music is ensured by our very own Master of wrongly pushed buttons, DJ Soulman Handsome.
Come all to us on the 23rd December at 11am SLT to Latexia to have a awesome evening to celebrate the merryness of the season.

Full House in Latexia

A house full of Latex Drones Cyborgs and Robots

Red Party In Latexia!

Red Party In Latexia!

Laughter in the dungeon...

See the funny side of whips, crops and chains.
They say the dungeon is a serious place... sometimes, circumstances tend to disagree.
Meet Lara Boyle, seasoned Pro Domme who tells you stories of things go hilarious in the dungeon.
Only in Latexia, April the 9th at 11am SLT.

8PM Central European time

7PM UK Time

11am Pacific Standart Time

Link to the event

transcript of the Background story lecture

Disclaimer: While i have over 28 years of role playing experience, i do not claim superior knowledge. This lecture was an attempt to share my experience with others, it should not seen as "word of god". You will probably find flaws in my reasoning and that's fully OK with me.

Also: this will be a huge wall of text... grab a cup of tea before reading

[11:04] Kiriko Kiama: We begin with the "What is a charackter Background"..
[11:04] Kiriko Kiama: Short answer: It is what happened to you before you entered the stage...
[11:04] Kiriko Kiama: Longer answer.. everyone has a character background. even in real life... everything that happened before "NOW" is your background...
[11:05] Kiriko Kiama: In a roleplaying world, you do not happen to "suddenly pop up"... at least you should not...
[11:06] Kiriko Kiama: When you enter, you had a life before... you where born (or otherwise came into existence.. given the unlimited possibility's of roleplay)
[11:08] Kiriko Kiama: you where born... had a childhood, matured... and then somehow came into the active roleplaying situation
[11:08] Kiriko Kiama: the timespan between birth and active participation within the roleplaying world is your character background....
[11:10] Kiriko Kiama: we come to the "why" of character backgrounds...
[11:10] Kiriko Kiama: Why do we need something like this?
[11:11] Kiriko Kiama: A charackter background has several reasons to exist. first, it helps the player of the character to understand its role... it gives him, or her.. a past...
[11:12] Kiriko Kiama: giving some "breath of life" to the character..
[11:13] Kiriko Kiama: without it, if you just "appear" suddenly on a scene..  you might lack certain motivations.. certain goals..  any orientation...
[11:14] Kiriko Kiama: To give you character some life is important and realy helps.
[11:14] Kiriko Kiama: The second reason is to assist the "narrative voice"...
[11:15] Kiriko Kiama: In roleplaying terms, it is called the "Game Master", short GM, the Narrator.. and and and...  those are people who control the surrounding of a roleplay situation..
[11:16] Kiriko Kiama: They give the "World" its own dynamic... they allow interaction of the players with the world...
[11:17] Kiriko Kiama: If the "narrative voice" has acess to the background of a character, it can allow the background story of a character to influence the world around him
[11:18] Kiriko Kiama: Suddenly, a "old friend" from childhood appears..  your family is into trouble... or you learn of something from your hometown...
[11:19] Kiriko Kiama: believe me, the narrator of a roleplay is very happy to get acess to your background story, it helps him alot
[11:21] Kiriko Kiama: a minor third would be the possible way to synergy with other characters... how about if two players are suddenly brother&sister.. and have a common shared background?
[11:22] Kiriko Kiama: or they just come from the same hometown... are past rivals... etc
[11:22] Kiriko Kiama: In short, to answer the "why" is... it makes the roleplay more alive
[11:23] Kiriko Kiama: and now.. we come to the "how" and i see many many people struggling with that.. while others are throwing out background stories like its nobodys business...
[11:25] Kiriko Kiama: Some people, and i say that without any bad intend cannot write a background story if their life depends on it... they get blocked as soon as they start the first word.. its sad.. they are not wired for it... it happens.. they might struggle, with help, through it... but it leaves them exhausted and takes ages
[11:26] Kiriko Kiama: Some other people, i must humbly count myself to that part, have more character backgrounds written down than they played them...
[11:27] Kiriko Kiama: Some write short summary's.. other write novels...
[11:28] Kiriko Kiama: the "how to" portion of this lecture is hopefully helping those who struggle a bit.. and might give others some insight...
[11:28] Kiriko Kiama: What do you need to build a character background?
[11:29] Kiriko Kiama: Like a house.. it first needs a foundation... where will you find that?
[11:30] Kiriko Kiama: The roleplaying world itself is the ground, the foundation
[11:30] Kiriko Kiama: Most roleplaying worlds have a large background themselve, and often they are freely avaiable.
[11:31] Kiriko Kiama: To use the foundation, you need to at least study the background of the world itself a bit
[11:31] Kiriko Kiama: You need to get an orientation, what is happening, where is it happening, why is it happening..
[11:32] Kiriko Kiama: once you have a bearing on this foundation, you can continue
[11:32] Kiriko Kiama: what do you need next?
[11:33] Celine: the walls
[11:33] Kiriko Kiama: you are standing on an established ground, you know your surroundings...
[11:33] Kiriko Kiama: now... you need a concept... well.. you could call it in the metaphor a wall, indeed
[11:33] Kiriko Kiama: actualy.. thanks celine.. that fits right in
[11:34] Kiriko Kiama: The concept are the walls that stand on the foundation...
[11:34] Kiriko Kiama: it gives you certain borders to operate on
[11:35] Kiriko Kiama: where... on the foundation.. do you want to build those walls?  What do you want them to be...
[11:36] Kiriko Kiama: or in the roleplaying world: From where in the roleplaying world do you want to come from? What kind of person do you want to be? Are you the daughter of a fisherman in a small town near a river? Or a child of the capital city?
[11:38] Kiriko Kiama: Are your interests how to life in the wilds... or how to get your next meal on the table...
[11:39] Kiriko Kiama: there are unlimited possibility's for concepts and what works for one, does not work for others
[11:39] Kiriko Kiama: you need to find something that makes you comfortable
[11:40] Kiriko Kiama: finding a concept that fits you.. and the foundation, is sometimes a bit complicated... you might ask the narrator of  the roleplay as well, some concepts.. simply dont fit...
[11:41] Kiriko Kiama: but as soon as you have the concept, the walls of this "house", you managed a big step to your character background
[11:42] Kiriko Kiama: what comes next is to build the interior of the house.. and fill it up
[11:43] Kiriko Kiama: as soon as you have the concept, you have a rough direction where to move to...
[11:44] Kiriko Kiama: simply said.. start from the beginning.. try to use your imagination to build a path from birth till you enter the roleplaying world actively
[11:46] Kiriko Kiama: this again can be tricky.. but i would encourage those with less experience, or simply some lack of certain talents for such things, to go easy.. you do not need to be "the special star" from birth.. the "legend to come"...
[11:47] Kiriko Kiama: actualy.. staying near to the ground is also a good tip for most experienced background writers...
[11:47] Kiriko Kiama: the KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) principle apply s
[11:48] Kiriko Kiama: as said.. start from the beginning... who are the parents... what was your childhood.. your teenage years... and move on..
[11:48] Ríona iníon an Bandia: question ?
[11:49] Kiriko Kiama: (please as said, in IM, i try to work it in if possible)
[11:51] Kiriko Kiama: If you filled up the interior.. and i would suggest to not clutter it full of every detail, like the color of the bowtie of your teddybear...
[11:51] Kiriko Kiama: we can move forward to close the whole thing up.. give it a roof...
[11:53] Kiriko Kiama: how does the character look like.. has he or she certain mannerisms... flaws... and how did he suddenly end up in the active roleplay... on the last part, the narrator of the roleplaying world will be very happy to assist you most of the time...
[11:55] Kiriko Kiama: to short answer the question of Riona.. who shall read the whole stuff.. i actualy answered that in the beginning of the lecture with the "why" portion...   mostly YOU... and the narrating voice... you, for knowing your own character... and the narrator to incorporate you into the world... others around you do not need to know your background
[11:56] Ríona iníon an Bandia: what you suggest you write here.... it will take ages
[11:56] Kiriko Kiama: we come to the last part now..
[11:56] Kiriko Kiama: which again will partialy answer riona
[11:56] Kiriko Kiama: how shall i write this?
[11:57] Kiriko Kiama: as mentioned before.. it actualy does not need to be super detailed...  you can leave breathing room.. something to grow later...
[11:59] Kiriko Kiama: You can write this in a third person way... "kiri was born at... on a summer day some x years ago..."...
[12:00] Kiriko Kiama: you can write this in first person... "As i was born some xx years ago..."
[12:01] Celine: cool
[12:01] Kiriko Kiama: you can even write this as "personnel file: "Name: Kiriko Kiama Age: 545, Gender: Female, Race: Elf..."
[12:02] Kiriko Kiama: again.. what floats your boat... feel free to run amok..
[12:02] Kiriko Kiama: BUT...
[12:02] Kiriko Kiama: and this is one important thing...
[12:03] Kiriko Kiama: Stay on the foundation... dont step over it, unless the narrating voice of the roleplay gives you its blessing todo so
[12:04] Kiriko Kiama: Fascinatingly.. with the blessing of the narrating voice of the roleplay, you actualy can enhance and improve the foundation yourself.. you suddenly add to it..
[12:05] Kiriko Kiama: about  the size of your background story... hey, if your life before you entered the stage was rather... benign... it can be actualy a very short one...
[12:05] Kiriko Kiama: and there is no problem with that..
[12:06] Kiriko Kiama: not everybody was send out into the wilderness at the age of 10 to survive for a week alone... nope.. your life was pretty much "help with the farm and shut up!"
[12:07] Kiriko Kiama: On the other hand.. yes.. background stories can... get... LONG...  and very detailed...
[12:07] Kiriko Kiama: you had a very very "interesting life" before you even started..
[12:08] Kiriko Kiama: Find whatever floats your boat.. and simply run with it...
[12:09] Kiriko Kiama: After you wrote your background story, it is advisable to give it to the narrator of the roleplay.. let him take a look at it.. and dont take it personaly if he points out "uh... that kinda does not fit..."
[12:10] Kiriko Kiama: yeah.. sometimes it can be a pain in the ass if you wrote a few hundred pages
[12:11] Kiriko Kiama: The question came up "how can it not fit if its my story"
[12:11] Kiriko Kiama: Lets take a look into a world that probably everyone knows.. if not.. i must humbly excuse...
[12:12] Kiriko Kiama: Middle Earth.. from Tolkien... you want to start a roleplay there... all is set up...
[12:13] Kiriko Kiama: and i go here to the extreme exaggeration: Your character background says "I am Darth Vaders and Saurons adopted Son!"...
[12:13] Kiriko Kiama: THAT
[12:13] Kiriko Kiama: DONT
[12:13] Kiriko Kiama: FIT!!
[12:14] M30: Hmm SAuron was female?
[12:14] Kiriko Kiama: On a lesser level... being a half hobbit half elf is also pretty unheard of..  and i also dont see an orc picking flowers in Elronds garden...
[12:15] Kiriko Kiama: I think he was pretty much above male and female. being a essentialy a halfgod.. put thats not the point
[12:15] M13M13 has entered communication range
[12:15] Ríona iníon an Bandia: ahhhhhh YOU THINK !
[12:16] Ríona iníon an Bandia: now you done the same... you assumed sister
[12:16] Kiriko Kiama: Fun fact... as the narrator has full control over the world.. he cannot only assume whatever the narrator wants...  he can make it a given fact!
[12:17] Kiriko Kiama: Essentialy is: the narrating voice has allways the last word on your character background...
[12:18] Dani Desire' flüstert: sounds like Domme
[12:18] Kiriko Kiama: The narrative voice is that.. and more...
[12:19] Kiriko Kiama: The narrative voice in a roleplay is the laws of nature.. and it can bend those laws as it wishes...
[12:19] Kiriko Kiama: But it should not do this without thinking of the consequences... action -> reaction applys