Reincarnation across the Ages | FULL

[Lady Sabine]

Hey there! I'm Sabine, and after watching Cloud Atlas (again) and then immediately having the song "He Lives in You" from The Lion King II come on shuffle, I've decided that I absolutely must do a RP based in at least some small part around reincarnation as a theme. Don't worry if you've never seen either movie; this is absolutely in no way a fandom.

Basically, the idea is that there is a group of souls (tentatively thinking six of them). Their dynamics and relationships in one life directly influence what will happen in the next, especially in terms of redemption and love and cruelty. We would play them in a whole series of lives to show how interconnected they are, where the choices made in one RP would determine some of their traits in the next.
They would not be truly aware of being reincarnated, though they might have some strange dreams or memories that aren't quite their own. Mostly it would affect things that aren't quite physical or mental- personality traits, for example. If Soul A double-crossed Soul B in their first life, B might become very distrustful in its next life while A might become more ruthless (if it worked out) or guilty (if it backfired).

Anyway, I would need a nice, tight-knit group for this. We would be having a good deal of OOC commentary, and I would really love it if responses were daily. We might need to work out the specifics together, but the basic idea of what I'm expecting is

• Talent. Your writing should be good; length is irrelevant. Your characters should be well-rounded. You should be able to wield a plot without needing too much urging or begging.
• Flexibility. I'm a big fantasy fan; not every scenario will have to be fantasy-based but some definitely will, and there might be sci-fi, steampunk, or period-esque segments. You should be able to play both males and females of varied cultures and sexualities.
• Speed. Daily replies preferred, though I understand if you're busy on weekends or have practice until late every Tuesday and Thursday. I might put a word count cap to make sure the RP stayed fast-paced and active.
• Friendliness. This will probably involve a lot of OOC and general chatter, so if we could all get along and take the time out of our days to say hi, that would be great.

Anyway, if you're interested just leave a post below. ^^ Feel free to include the genres you're willing to play along with the sexes and sexualities that you prefer. Ideally there will be five people in addition to myself, but I might go for three or four.

 

[Mehuh]

I am very interested in this (and LOVED that movie). The only thing I have is that I wonder if I qualify for your standards to be one of your partners.

I am open to any genre. Although I am a fantasy lover, I am willing to do Modern, Slice of Life, etc.
As for Sex, I usually do female, but am willing to try Male.

If you are willing to let me be a part of this, I would be more than happy to join.

 

[Lady Sabine]

I loved it too! The makeup was incredible. O.O I mean, Halle Berry as the creepy Asian doctor?! I didn't quite believe it at first.

My standards really aren't that high, though. ^^ I don't think most RPers should have any trouble keeping up. I think we'll probably be fine.

 

[Mehuh]

I KNOW! I think I had to go back quite a few times to make sure it was real. Actually, when it showed all the characters they played, my husband and I literally yelled "WHAT?" at some of them. Would have... whoever wrote that and came up with it was brilliant. Heck, the team who pulled it off were brilliant!

Oh, good. Then count me in!

 

[ze_kraken]

Count me in, as usual.

 

[Lady Sabine]

Alrighty, you two. ^^ Glad to have you aboard.

I've been considering the benefits of having loose character archetypes and relationships arranged among the souls. For example: the optimistic humanist (sees the best in people, wants to cooperate, and enjoys groups) is always the love interest of the pessimistic misanthrope (prefers to stick it alone, sees people more as tools, doesn't trust easily).
Do you guys think this would be a good idea or should we let things be totally organic?

 

[ze_kraken]

So by 'the soul survives' we're saying that it's essentially memories being transferred to a new body or vague flashes of previous existences? That influences it the most, I would think.

 

[Lady Sabine]

Essentially. I won't set hard and fast rules for how much sticks every time, but most memories, skills, talents, etc. will be lost or at least deeply buried, but personality traits, instincts, and their connection to others will remain constant.
So if an archer and a knight hate each other in one life, then both die, the archer's soul won't remember being an archer or how to use a bow, but they might have vivid dreams of archery (or even brief memories), have some sort of "muscle memory" when it comes to drawing a bow, and an irrational dislike for the reincarnated knight even though neither one will understand it.

 

[ze_kraken]

Then I see no reason why that wouldn't be the case, maybe the 'first' generation is the organic character relationship foundation and they change in later reincarnations?

 

[Lady Sabine]

That might work out best. Let the archetypes sort of define themselves.

 

[ze_kraken]

Because while I think the archer would always have that burrowed hatred/dislike of knights, what happens when knights are no longer there? It would be a slow (understatement) change between generations, because the world can't help but change.

 

[Mehuh]

I agree. If the world changes, so will a person.

 

[Lady Sabine]

Because while I think the archer would always have that burrowed hatred/dislike of knights, what happens when knights are no longer there? It would be a slow (understatement) change between generations, because the world can't help but change.

Well, the soul of the archer may or may not have any real effect on their opinion of knights, but whoever the knight's soul was would recognize the archer's soul. That would create some tension, changing the group dynamics from incarnation to incarnation. For example, in Cloud Atlas, Character A and B are lovers. A commits suicide but B lives to a ripe old age. Late in B's life, he meets a young woman who carries A's soul and they hit it off in only a few minutes, trusting each other instinctively without any real reason to.

Then, when the world changes around them, their past ideas will come back to be reformed and reapplied by future generations. For example, A writes a movie glorifying his escape from an old folks' home and the importance of human dignity. Centuries later he is reincarnated as a slave girl and watches the film, their soul connecting to the ideas and bringing up lives of experience, allowing A to form a thesis on human rights that brings down the institution of slavery in her own time.

Pretty much the idea is that the relationship and ideologies that define one life are passed on to the next, where they are changed by experiences and interactions there, and then passed on to the next generation.

 

[ze_kraken]

So it's more happenstance will happen to bring in the influence of previous lifetimes in order to keep the soul about the same, if perhaps the issues are not the same?

 

[Lady Sabine]

I think it's more that the soul is bound to certain issues, ideas, and items. So even though it seems like coincidence, it is in no small way inevitable- fated. A must always become involved in a human rights issue and unveil some great truth. A also reads the same books, watches the same films, and composes/listens to the same music. Every life is tied to every other.
So, for example, if that knight used the sword to kill the archer in a misunderstanding, the next generation would see the archer's soul distrustful of the knight. That same sword would appear again, perhaps on display in a museum, and the archer-reincarnate would find it and its story inspiration to write a thesis on the futility of war. The knight-reincarnate, also antagonistic toward the archer, would fight to keep the piece from being published and might be fated to repeat the murder of the past.
After all, this isn't about realism so much as metaphor. Everything has meaning. >:D There are no coincidences in the writing world.

 

[ze_kraken]

NO! I'M ON SUMMER BREAK!

Anyways, I get it now. Loosely based off past deeds, so maybe the knight this time uses a gun/knife instead of sword, but A still murdered B over what might be the same situation in a different time period?

 

[Lady Sabine]

NO! I'M ON SUMMER BREAK!

Anyways, I get it now. Loosely based off past deeds, so maybe the knight this time uses a gun/knife instead of sword, but A still murdered B over what might be the same situation in a different time period?

Precisely. At first it might be something small: the knight follows the order of the king, while the archer is looking to overthrow the king due to personal reasons. Fast forward to steampunk times: now the archer, fueled by an ingrained dislike of monarchy, joins up with a group looking for democracy and peacefully protests the monarchy. The knight, now a constable, senses a great danger from the archer because last time they ran into each other the archer tried to kill the king. The constable arrests the archer, who resists and is accidentally killed in the scuffle. Modern times and the archer is now an anarchist looking to overthrow all forms of government because he now hates law and order in general, but the knight-constable is a fascist who believes in a homogenized police state because he is now thoroughly committed to the idea of supporting autocracy.
Just like that, in a few incarnations, ideologies can be formed and change the course of the world.

 

[ze_kraken]

Whew. Thought I'd have to watch Cloud Atlas to understand this - nothing against the movie, it'd just be another to the pile I've said "Not now" to.

 

[Lady Sabine]

Haha, it's definitely worth watching, but it won't be required reading for this RP. ^^

Then certain items might come back time and time again, perhaps in different forms. Like a character rides a grey horse in their first incarnation, then in the second incarnation finds a silver horse brooch, drives a mustang in the third, makes a metal horse sculpture in the fourth, and then in the fifth rides a grey horse and remembers what inspired him in all four previous incarnations, leading to a thesis of sorts.

 

[Hikadu]

I'll do it! I'll do it! lol, just HMU if you need an extra body. :)