Return of the Douche
Remember this?
http://bad-rpers-suck.livejournal.com/8294474.html#cutid1
Basically, his great returned turned out to be that he made one post, someone replied, and he never answered. He seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth again.
That is, until last night, when he showed up in the cbox, talking about how he needed to get "ammunity" from Queen. We're not quite sure what this means. One theory is he confused "amnesty" and "immunity". Another is that he in fact has "ammo immunity" which is why it would "take an army" to take him down.
Unfortunately, I was not in the cbox myself at the time, and did not return from hanging out with my sister in time to catch him and tell him myself that
1. No, Queen would not give him immunity (or whatever it is of that nature he's asking for). She gave him his life. That's more than enough in her book considering what he pulled, and in this canon, downright merciful. Also, immunity from what? The only people she has authority over is the Pride (werelion group), aka the very people he is a threat to, so no, she's NOT going to tell them 'hey, this guy has immunity from us'. Why would she? She would (and she later did) tell the weaker members not to attack him because, given how over-powered he is, they would be hurt, but that's not the same thing.
2. If he means trying to talk to OTHER leaders in the city about getting immunity from Queen and the Pride, I don't see that working either. I don't play the other leaders, and can't speak definitely for their players, but I don't think you *can* grant immunity from other groups. I mean, it'd be like Spain granting you immunity from France. Now, in theory, they could offer you protection, but why would another group give shelter to a dangerous, over-powered, and unstable rogue AND risk pissing off the lions in the process? I don't see what they'd get out of it, it sounds like a raw deal to me.
But alas, as I said, I did not return in time to tell him all this. I did, however, return to see the coming-back post that he made. Much lolz were had by myself and other players at the cliche attempt at badassery in in; as one player put it "...there should be a bingo card." He is now missing an eye, it seems, and I really wonder how. I hope he doesn't try to say Queen and the Pride did it. Not that they wouldn't, it's just, he was attacked and chased out to Buffalo while they were all in their lions forms. Supernaturals in this universe have serious Wolverine-style healing abilities, the only permanent injuries they can get are from fire or silver. And gouging out his eye with a silver knife and then burning the socket, which is what it would take to make it so his eye wouldn't grow back, are not things that I think that the werelions could have done without THUMBS. Plus it was raining at the time. So I dunno how he got like that, but it wasn't Queen's kitties!
One very fabulous member, Discord, also was sideyeying Duchelord's new portrayal not as the 'over-cocky king of everything pseudo-badass' he was before, but now being written as a 'scarred hardass old man' sort of character, or at least that's what That Guy seems to be attempting. The reason for Discord's sideye is because Discord had only just the night before or so put up an application for an Alpha male lion who is indeed a scarred hardass old man type (and actually done well to boot). Now I don't know if That Guy decided to make Douchelord's change from the attack just happen to result in him becoming very like a new and much better character here, but I *do* find his return at just this moment to be very suspicious in that it is all too convenient.
You see, in order to prevent there being too many of one type of character, we have caps on the number of species (only so many snakes, only so many wolves, etc.) and on the power levels (only so many alpha tigers, only so many novice witches, etc.) As it was, alpha lions were completely filled, including one of the slots being taken by the utterly-absent-until-now Douchelord, leaving no room for Discord to app his new alpha lion guy, Robert. However, an activity check had just come up. The activity check is exactly what it sounds like--players check in and say that their character is active. If they do not, that character is going to be filed into the inactive archives, and one more slot in their designated group will open up. In this case, Discord reasonably figured that since That Guy would not be showing up to claim Douchelord as active, and that as soon as this activity check thread closed, an alpha lion spot would be available for Robert to take. Thus he put up his WIP app for Robert so he could add to it at his leisure as the activity check went on, hoping that it would all be written out and ready for approval by the time the check ended and the slot had opened.
And then That Guy comes back with his alpha douchelion, ensuring that his slot can not be taken by the much more deserving character Robert and the much more active (and courteous) player Discord. Now, ordinarily, I would think this was just hella bad luck, except that I happen to know that one of the admins is friends with That Guy. IRL friends, I believe. So it is entirely possible that said admin told That Guy, "Oh, hey, an activity check is coming up, if you don't want Douchelord to become inactive, you should come back and post that he is, especially since all the alpha lion slots are full and if someone apps a new one after Douchelord will be active, he's not going to be able to get it back."
Of course, I don't think he should be able to get it back anyway. And it has nothing to do with anything personal against That Guy or how bad his character is. I'd feel the same if he were a nice person with a terrific character. No, I feel this way because it simply isn't FAIR. Discord is a far more active player, That Guy shouldn't just be able to vanish for months and then come back and just SAY he's active now and get to keep his prized Alpha lion slot when Discord was just about to get it. That's not cool. That's not cool at all. If need be, I plan to argue my patoot off to the admins about how ROBERT DESERVES TO BE LET IN if they try to say oh no the slots are filled now.
My favorite part was when I saw he had posted to the activity check. You're supposed to post using this template:
Your name:
What characters do you play?:
Are all of your characters active (see requirements above)?:
Are you dropping any characters? If yes, who?:
He posted with it...but left out the third question. His looked like
Your name: That Guy
What characters do you play?: Douchelord
Are you dropping any characters? If yes, who?: No
I LOL'D. Dude, some players lie on that part, but he must have known there was no way that was going to work even on our admins so he just omitted it. Oh my word. Priceless.
It got better, though. This morning, I got this PM from him:
So, I was thinking. Douchelord is going to come back a little different than when he left. He is going to be working for "someone" and one of the things he is going to want to do is be the rex (term for male werelion leader)) of the pride. So I was wondering if we could have a thread where he and she (I guess he means Queen here)
talk. I would like to talk to King (male ruler of the werelions, player isn't around a lot and thus neither is he) about having a sort of rivalry going on between the two of us...
I think my favorite part is the dramatic ellipsis at the end. It's like he's trying to add in an automatic DUN DUN DUN in my mental narrative as I read. Also ooooh shadowy someone in scare quotes, ooooh! Yeah, I'm sure he wants to be Rex, he (and you) probably have all kinds of delusions of grandeur for him, but it ain't happening. You know, I welcome adversaries, I welcome someone that Queen doesn't like trying to make a bid for Rex, I am all about drama and things not going for smoothly for characters, and I am even alright with Queen LOSING...but that's when I'm playing with people who I can count on not to metagame, over-power their characters, take winning as a given that should just be handed to them because their characters are THE BEST, and have some sense of realism. That Guy has none of these traits, so I refuse to even entertain the possibility of such a thing working out because I have learned that I cannot give him an inch (normally I am MUCH more flexible than this, I promise!) or he takes it a mile and then some, as evident by my frankness in this PM I sent back to him:
He can want to be Rex, but there's no way it will happen. He would have to kill Queen, because she'd never give her approval, and if he did kill Queen, he would probably also have to kill King (because I doubt he would let Queen's killer live) and all the other lions too because I don't see them accepting some rogue as their new leader, especially one that just waltzed in and took over and killed one that's been ruling them very well for the last six years. So he'd be the Rex of nothing. So it's fine if he wants it, he's your character, you can decide his desires, just know that it's going to basically be a futile delusion for him, not something he has any plausible chance at.
Which also means I'm not sure how he could be a rival for King? Since having a 'rivalry' with someone usually implies that you're roughly equals at whatever you're competing at, and as I just explained, they're not really going to be 'equals' at competing for Rex. They wouldn't even technically be competing, since King is *already* Rex. But if you mean you want Douchelord to be enemies with him on the basis that he wants his status, then that's something you should take up with his player, though I appreciate you letting me know since it is relevant to Queen, as I'd think King would tell her about it. As a warning, King's player is not around too often and thus neither is King himself, so it may be hard to get an active thread going with him.
As for a thread with Queen and Douchelord talking...no, I'm afraid not. She's not going to talk to him, she's going to flay him on-sight. He was granted his life when he was chased off to Buffalo, so him setting paw back in Manhattan to her is basically a forfeit of said life. Plus, to be honest, I'm not sure I want to dive into threading/plotting with you just yet. The last time that you returned, you made one post and then vanished. I realize this may not have been your fault, may have been IRL stuff or computer problems, but all the same I would like to be sure that this isn't going to re-occur anytime soon before I start any further serious plots with you. This isn't meant to be insulting or snobbish, it's just that I have a lot of threads going on and so if I'm going to spread my energy further into plotting something, I want to be sure that it will actually happen. So how about if you're still around and posting actively after a week or two, we talk again?
Then I sent this out to the other werelions, not out of spite because this is the IC reaction that Queen would sensibly have.
Hello! As an active lion, your character is soon going to find out from Queen that the dangerous rogue Douchelord, who was banished by the Pride to the outskirts of Buffalo, has returned to the borough of Manhattan, which she herself is soon going to discover from the mouth of a weresnake who encountered him within the city limits.
Once she does, she will inform all the Pride lions that Douchelord is to be considered both a hostile entity and a target of the Pride, and is not to be engaged with, only avoided or attacked. If your lion is an Omega or Beta, they are not to approach him; instead, they are to flee and to contact Queen/King ASAP with info on his wherabouts. Alphas may attack him, but only if they are in groups of two or more. While it is of course up to you whether your character chooses to obey these guidelines, do keep in mind that this is considered a serious Pride matter and that these regulations are being put in place for the safety of the lions as a group, so disobedience is going to be taken very gravely.
Since having a meeting thread just for Queen to say this to everyone would probably take longer than it's worth, how about we just basically say that a meeting was had and that these rules were established?
Please PM me back to say that you've read this, are ok with the meeting having happened and your character having been there, etc. Further plot with Douchelord will occur if he sticks around, so do keep an eye on your inbox for updates.
Thanks!
Then as soon as I log in to send this to the other lions, I see I have a new PM from Douchelord!
She still wants to kill him on sight hmm? I would have thought his injuries would have been payment enough but alas, she is a hardass then. Welp, we'll have to see what I can in a few weeks to make Queen "reconsider"
There is so much I don't like about this. The quotation marks mainly make me think bad things are coming from this case of terminal stupid but also? OF COURSE SHE'S A HARDASS YOU DERP. I...just...what...HOW IS THIS A SURPRISE?! She runs the werelions, did it all by herself for six years, still effectively does it all by herself because our Rex is basically just a figurehead due to his player being so off-and-on (which I admittedly like just because it makes it easier for me to have her make decisions without having to consult everything with him) and running a preternatural group isn't like running a book club. The politics within the group and with other groups outside it are canonically very FIERCE, and while I know that everyone is getting along freakishly well at our board (which is why I'm glad for the possible political rift coming--Queen may like peace, but I want some IC drama and taking sides and stuff!) THEY'RE STILL *MONSTERS*. THEY ARE WEREBEASTS AND VAMPIRES. Just for context, with werewolves, it is common custom for a new leader, when he wins the challenge fight against the old one, to not only kill the old one, but to EAT him. Queen's not mean and she's not cruel, but she knows how to play ball, and yes that means being a hardass. Though to be honest, I don't think her 'still' having a kill-on-sight policy with him is in fact a display of particular hardassery on her part, just in my opinion--I mean, you banish a guy who has hurt your group members and given you every right to kill him, and he COMES BACK then I think slaughter-time is par for the course. Getting "banished and will be killed if you return" isn't something that just stops after a few months.
And *what* injuries? Anything they could have done to him in lion form would be healed over. Queen isn't gonna buy it when you say his missing eye is her fault, dudebro.
As I headdesk over this to another player, they cleverly suggest
Queen does, indeed, "reconsider". Allows him back. And leads him into a trap. Where her oh so friendly allies are waiting.
And as it happens...this is a very plausible idea. Because the last time that he 'returned', the player of a very powerful Master vampire offered the aid of his character and his werewolf servant, which Queen would be up for considering since said Master is a Rogue and thus not aligned with the local vampire group, of whom she is currently suspicious of due to doings of their leader (which may result in epic political rift, or so me and others hope <3) and I'm betting the offer still stands. And two other players are respectively both in the process of applying for the leaders of the weresnakes and the wereswans (which technically we don't have as a playable species right now, but we will be getting them this month) and they told me that both their leaders are going to want Douchelord to get the hell out of the city too. Snake Leader does not trust ANY rogue and doesn't want them around regardless of species, and a rogue lion is going to be a danger to the regular swans in Central park (which is lion territory and where Douchelord was sighted by the weresnake that is going to tell Queen he's back) which the wereswans use as a fabulous little lulzy army (some wereanimals can control their respective species, and have you ever seen swans attack? they're ferocious!) and because wereswans are in general used to being seen as prey by predatory werebeasts and thus don't want an unregulated raging asshole of one roaming around. Last I checked, actually, the swan-leader-in-the-making is considering the possibility of designing a bomb with silver shrapnel.
And this, kids, is why playing a character isn't about having the most power at the board (I actually only gave Queen the bare minimum she needed to be an Alpha and leader) but about playing someone intelligent who knows how to network and take care of business like a boss. A mob boss.
So now, I just have all the lions on the alert until the snake and swan leaders get in, then we'll see if he's still around and spring the trap. And he might have the wererats mad at him too by this point, because he just jumped into a thread with their leader...and the leader of the wereleopards I think. My guess is he's either trying to make a point of what a badass he is by going toe to toe with every leader he can find, or maybe he's attempting to network right back at Queen. Guess I'll find out. I'm not at all stressed or angry like last time though. Because the last two times I was dealing with him, it was just me on my lonesome, trying to work things out with a massive Stu who just wanted to WIN EVERYTHING and trying to be fair about it myself (even when he wasn't) and organizing everything on my own with getting the banishment thread set up (contacting lions who would be in on it, the wolves who wanted to be, the leopards whose territory he might wind up in) that he posted in all of two times before vanishing (right when he was about to get his ass handed to him on-screen, conveniently) but this time...it's different. People *know* now that his character is ridiculously overpowered and digs his own grave without realizing it. People *realize* now what an idiot That Guy is OOCly. There are players who actively *want* to take him down, and whose characters ICly would have reason.
I almost feel sorry for him, because gameplay of any sort is going to be almost impossible for him outside of just sheer losing, because people *know* he's a jackass now and ICly there are a lot of character with utterly legitimate grudges against his character AND who have allies that are willing to help them satisfy said grudges. But you know what? He did it all himself. No one trolled him, no one tricked him, nothing. It's entirely his own doing. He wanted to make a character who was incredibly dangerous due to having ridiculous powers combined with poorly-played mental illness, unregulated by any leader, and a complete asshole who pisses off everyone he shouldn't? Well, you got it, mister, and now you deal with the consequences of your character being a pariah that everyone can't wait to gang up on and beat down. What did you THINK was going to happen? I mean, seriously? So no, I don't feel sorry for him when I consider that. His best bet in my opinion would be to retire Douchelord and make someone new....except then doubtlessly all this would repeat. On the other hand, at least there would be lulz!
Stay tuned! If he sticks around for real this time, I'm pretty sure we're in for a saga of posts here on the subject!
http://bad-rpers-suck.livejournal.com/8294474.html#cutid1
Basically, his great returned turned out to be that he made one post, someone replied, and he never answered. He seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth again.
That is, until last night, when he showed up in the cbox, talking about how he needed to get "ammunity" from Queen. We're not quite sure what this means. One theory is he confused "amnesty" and "immunity". Another is that he in fact has "ammo immunity" which is why it would "take an army" to take him down.
Unfortunately, I was not in the cbox myself at the time, and did not return from hanging out with my sister in time to catch him and tell him myself that
1. No, Queen would not give him immunity (or whatever it is of that nature he's asking for). She gave him his life. That's more than enough in her book considering what he pulled, and in this canon, downright merciful. Also, immunity from what? The only people she has authority over is the Pride (werelion group), aka the very people he is a threat to, so no, she's NOT going to tell them 'hey, this guy has immunity from us'. Why would she? She would (and she later did) tell the weaker members not to attack him because, given how over-powered he is, they would be hurt, but that's not the same thing.
2. If he means trying to talk to OTHER leaders in the city about getting immunity from Queen and the Pride, I don't see that working either. I don't play the other leaders, and can't speak definitely for their players, but I don't think you *can* grant immunity from other groups. I mean, it'd be like Spain granting you immunity from France. Now, in theory, they could offer you protection, but why would another group give shelter to a dangerous, over-powered, and unstable rogue AND risk pissing off the lions in the process? I don't see what they'd get out of it, it sounds like a raw deal to me.
But alas, as I said, I did not return in time to tell him all this. I did, however, return to see the coming-back post that he made. Much lolz were had by myself and other players at the cliche attempt at badassery in in; as one player put it "...there should be a bingo card." He is now missing an eye, it seems, and I really wonder how. I hope he doesn't try to say Queen and the Pride did it. Not that they wouldn't, it's just, he was attacked and chased out to Buffalo while they were all in their lions forms. Supernaturals in this universe have serious Wolverine-style healing abilities, the only permanent injuries they can get are from fire or silver. And gouging out his eye with a silver knife and then burning the socket, which is what it would take to make it so his eye wouldn't grow back, are not things that I think that the werelions could have done without THUMBS. Plus it was raining at the time. So I dunno how he got like that, but it wasn't Queen's kitties!
One very fabulous member, Discord, also was sideyeying Duchelord's new portrayal not as the 'over-cocky king of everything pseudo-badass' he was before, but now being written as a 'scarred hardass old man' sort of character, or at least that's what That Guy seems to be attempting. The reason for Discord's sideye is because Discord had only just the night before or so put up an application for an Alpha male lion who is indeed a scarred hardass old man type (and actually done well to boot). Now I don't know if That Guy decided to make Douchelord's change from the attack just happen to result in him becoming very like a new and much better character here, but I *do* find his return at just this moment to be very suspicious in that it is all too convenient.
You see, in order to prevent there being too many of one type of character, we have caps on the number of species (only so many snakes, only so many wolves, etc.) and on the power levels (only so many alpha tigers, only so many novice witches, etc.) As it was, alpha lions were completely filled, including one of the slots being taken by the utterly-absent-until-now Douchelord, leaving no room for Discord to app his new alpha lion guy, Robert. However, an activity check had just come up. The activity check is exactly what it sounds like--players check in and say that their character is active. If they do not, that character is going to be filed into the inactive archives, and one more slot in their designated group will open up. In this case, Discord reasonably figured that since That Guy would not be showing up to claim Douchelord as active, and that as soon as this activity check thread closed, an alpha lion spot would be available for Robert to take. Thus he put up his WIP app for Robert so he could add to it at his leisure as the activity check went on, hoping that it would all be written out and ready for approval by the time the check ended and the slot had opened.
And then That Guy comes back with his alpha douchelion, ensuring that his slot can not be taken by the much more deserving character Robert and the much more active (and courteous) player Discord. Now, ordinarily, I would think this was just hella bad luck, except that I happen to know that one of the admins is friends with That Guy. IRL friends, I believe. So it is entirely possible that said admin told That Guy, "Oh, hey, an activity check is coming up, if you don't want Douchelord to become inactive, you should come back and post that he is, especially since all the alpha lion slots are full and if someone apps a new one after Douchelord will be active, he's not going to be able to get it back."
Of course, I don't think he should be able to get it back anyway. And it has nothing to do with anything personal against That Guy or how bad his character is. I'd feel the same if he were a nice person with a terrific character. No, I feel this way because it simply isn't FAIR. Discord is a far more active player, That Guy shouldn't just be able to vanish for months and then come back and just SAY he's active now and get to keep his prized Alpha lion slot when Discord was just about to get it. That's not cool. That's not cool at all. If need be, I plan to argue my patoot off to the admins about how ROBERT DESERVES TO BE LET IN if they try to say oh no the slots are filled now.
My favorite part was when I saw he had posted to the activity check. You're supposed to post using this template:
Your name:
What characters do you play?:
Are all of your characters active (see requirements above)?:
Are you dropping any characters? If yes, who?:
He posted with it...but left out the third question. His looked like
Your name: That Guy
What characters do you play?: Douchelord
Are you dropping any characters? If yes, who?: No
I LOL'D. Dude, some players lie on that part, but he must have known there was no way that was going to work even on our admins so he just omitted it. Oh my word. Priceless.
It got better, though. This morning, I got this PM from him:
So, I was thinking. Douchelord is going to come back a little different than when he left. He is going to be working for "someone" and one of the things he is going to want to do is be the rex (term for male werelion leader)) of the pride. So I was wondering if we could have a thread where he and she (I guess he means Queen here)
talk. I would like to talk to King (male ruler of the werelions, player isn't around a lot and thus neither is he) about having a sort of rivalry going on between the two of us...
I think my favorite part is the dramatic ellipsis at the end. It's like he's trying to add in an automatic DUN DUN DUN in my mental narrative as I read. Also ooooh shadowy someone in scare quotes, ooooh! Yeah, I'm sure he wants to be Rex, he (and you) probably have all kinds of delusions of grandeur for him, but it ain't happening. You know, I welcome adversaries, I welcome someone that Queen doesn't like trying to make a bid for Rex, I am all about drama and things not going for smoothly for characters, and I am even alright with Queen LOSING...but that's when I'm playing with people who I can count on not to metagame, over-power their characters, take winning as a given that should just be handed to them because their characters are THE BEST, and have some sense of realism. That Guy has none of these traits, so I refuse to even entertain the possibility of such a thing working out because I have learned that I cannot give him an inch (normally I am MUCH more flexible than this, I promise!) or he takes it a mile and then some, as evident by my frankness in this PM I sent back to him:
He can want to be Rex, but there's no way it will happen. He would have to kill Queen, because she'd never give her approval, and if he did kill Queen, he would probably also have to kill King (because I doubt he would let Queen's killer live) and all the other lions too because I don't see them accepting some rogue as their new leader, especially one that just waltzed in and took over and killed one that's been ruling them very well for the last six years. So he'd be the Rex of nothing. So it's fine if he wants it, he's your character, you can decide his desires, just know that it's going to basically be a futile delusion for him, not something he has any plausible chance at.
Which also means I'm not sure how he could be a rival for King? Since having a 'rivalry' with someone usually implies that you're roughly equals at whatever you're competing at, and as I just explained, they're not really going to be 'equals' at competing for Rex. They wouldn't even technically be competing, since King is *already* Rex. But if you mean you want Douchelord to be enemies with him on the basis that he wants his status, then that's something you should take up with his player, though I appreciate you letting me know since it is relevant to Queen, as I'd think King would tell her about it. As a warning, King's player is not around too often and thus neither is King himself, so it may be hard to get an active thread going with him.
As for a thread with Queen and Douchelord talking...no, I'm afraid not. She's not going to talk to him, she's going to flay him on-sight. He was granted his life when he was chased off to Buffalo, so him setting paw back in Manhattan to her is basically a forfeit of said life. Plus, to be honest, I'm not sure I want to dive into threading/plotting with you just yet. The last time that you returned, you made one post and then vanished. I realize this may not have been your fault, may have been IRL stuff or computer problems, but all the same I would like to be sure that this isn't going to re-occur anytime soon before I start any further serious plots with you. This isn't meant to be insulting or snobbish, it's just that I have a lot of threads going on and so if I'm going to spread my energy further into plotting something, I want to be sure that it will actually happen. So how about if you're still around and posting actively after a week or two, we talk again?
Then I sent this out to the other werelions, not out of spite because this is the IC reaction that Queen would sensibly have.
Hello! As an active lion, your character is soon going to find out from Queen that the dangerous rogue Douchelord, who was banished by the Pride to the outskirts of Buffalo, has returned to the borough of Manhattan, which she herself is soon going to discover from the mouth of a weresnake who encountered him within the city limits.
Once she does, she will inform all the Pride lions that Douchelord is to be considered both a hostile entity and a target of the Pride, and is not to be engaged with, only avoided or attacked. If your lion is an Omega or Beta, they are not to approach him; instead, they are to flee and to contact Queen/King ASAP with info on his wherabouts. Alphas may attack him, but only if they are in groups of two or more. While it is of course up to you whether your character chooses to obey these guidelines, do keep in mind that this is considered a serious Pride matter and that these regulations are being put in place for the safety of the lions as a group, so disobedience is going to be taken very gravely.
Since having a meeting thread just for Queen to say this to everyone would probably take longer than it's worth, how about we just basically say that a meeting was had and that these rules were established?
Please PM me back to say that you've read this, are ok with the meeting having happened and your character having been there, etc. Further plot with Douchelord will occur if he sticks around, so do keep an eye on your inbox for updates.
Thanks!
Then as soon as I log in to send this to the other lions, I see I have a new PM from Douchelord!
She still wants to kill him on sight hmm? I would have thought his injuries would have been payment enough but alas, she is a hardass then. Welp, we'll have to see what I can in a few weeks to make Queen "reconsider"
There is so much I don't like about this. The quotation marks mainly make me think bad things are coming from this case of terminal stupid but also? OF COURSE SHE'S A HARDASS YOU DERP. I...just...what...HOW IS THIS A SURPRISE?! She runs the werelions, did it all by herself for six years, still effectively does it all by herself because our Rex is basically just a figurehead due to his player being so off-and-on (which I admittedly like just because it makes it easier for me to have her make decisions without having to consult everything with him) and running a preternatural group isn't like running a book club. The politics within the group and with other groups outside it are canonically very FIERCE, and while I know that everyone is getting along freakishly well at our board (which is why I'm glad for the possible political rift coming--Queen may like peace, but I want some IC drama and taking sides and stuff!) THEY'RE STILL *MONSTERS*. THEY ARE WEREBEASTS AND VAMPIRES. Just for context, with werewolves, it is common custom for a new leader, when he wins the challenge fight against the old one, to not only kill the old one, but to EAT him. Queen's not mean and she's not cruel, but she knows how to play ball, and yes that means being a hardass. Though to be honest, I don't think her 'still' having a kill-on-sight policy with him is in fact a display of particular hardassery on her part, just in my opinion--I mean, you banish a guy who has hurt your group members and given you every right to kill him, and he COMES BACK then I think slaughter-time is par for the course. Getting "banished and will be killed if you return" isn't something that just stops after a few months.
And *what* injuries? Anything they could have done to him in lion form would be healed over. Queen isn't gonna buy it when you say his missing eye is her fault, dudebro.
As I headdesk over this to another player, they cleverly suggest
Queen does, indeed, "reconsider". Allows him back. And leads him into a trap. Where her oh so friendly allies are waiting.
And as it happens...this is a very plausible idea. Because the last time that he 'returned', the player of a very powerful Master vampire offered the aid of his character and his werewolf servant, which Queen would be up for considering since said Master is a Rogue and thus not aligned with the local vampire group, of whom she is currently suspicious of due to doings of their leader (which may result in epic political rift, or so me and others hope <3) and I'm betting the offer still stands. And two other players are respectively both in the process of applying for the leaders of the weresnakes and the wereswans (which technically we don't have as a playable species right now, but we will be getting them this month) and they told me that both their leaders are going to want Douchelord to get the hell out of the city too. Snake Leader does not trust ANY rogue and doesn't want them around regardless of species, and a rogue lion is going to be a danger to the regular swans in Central park (which is lion territory and where Douchelord was sighted by the weresnake that is going to tell Queen he's back) which the wereswans use as a fabulous little lulzy army (some wereanimals can control their respective species, and have you ever seen swans attack? they're ferocious!) and because wereswans are in general used to being seen as prey by predatory werebeasts and thus don't want an unregulated raging asshole of one roaming around. Last I checked, actually, the swan-leader-in-the-making is considering the possibility of designing a bomb with silver shrapnel.
And this, kids, is why playing a character isn't about having the most power at the board (I actually only gave Queen the bare minimum she needed to be an Alpha and leader) but about playing someone intelligent who knows how to network and take care of business like a boss. A mob boss.
So now, I just have all the lions on the alert until the snake and swan leaders get in, then we'll see if he's still around and spring the trap. And he might have the wererats mad at him too by this point, because he just jumped into a thread with their leader...and the leader of the wereleopards I think. My guess is he's either trying to make a point of what a badass he is by going toe to toe with every leader he can find, or maybe he's attempting to network right back at Queen. Guess I'll find out. I'm not at all stressed or angry like last time though. Because the last two times I was dealing with him, it was just me on my lonesome, trying to work things out with a massive Stu who just wanted to WIN EVERYTHING and trying to be fair about it myself (even when he wasn't) and organizing everything on my own with getting the banishment thread set up (contacting lions who would be in on it, the wolves who wanted to be, the leopards whose territory he might wind up in) that he posted in all of two times before vanishing (right when he was about to get his ass handed to him on-screen, conveniently) but this time...it's different. People *know* now that his character is ridiculously overpowered and digs his own grave without realizing it. People *realize* now what an idiot That Guy is OOCly. There are players who actively *want* to take him down, and whose characters ICly would have reason.
I almost feel sorry for him, because gameplay of any sort is going to be almost impossible for him outside of just sheer losing, because people *know* he's a jackass now and ICly there are a lot of character with utterly legitimate grudges against his character AND who have allies that are willing to help them satisfy said grudges. But you know what? He did it all himself. No one trolled him, no one tricked him, nothing. It's entirely his own doing. He wanted to make a character who was incredibly dangerous due to having ridiculous powers combined with poorly-played mental illness, unregulated by any leader, and a complete asshole who pisses off everyone he shouldn't? Well, you got it, mister, and now you deal with the consequences of your character being a pariah that everyone can't wait to gang up on and beat down. What did you THINK was going to happen? I mean, seriously? So no, I don't feel sorry for him when I consider that. His best bet in my opinion would be to retire Douchelord and make someone new....except then doubtlessly all this would repeat. On the other hand, at least there would be lulz!
Stay tuned! If he sticks around for real this time, I'm pretty sure we're in for a saga of posts here on the subject!