October 2009 Vignette

Dr Archeville · October 8, 2009

We wear the mask that grins and lies,

It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,Ã¢â‚¬â€

This debt we pay to human guile;

With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,

And mouth with myriad subtleties.

Why should the world be over-wise,

In counting all our tears and sighs?

Nay, let them only see us, while

We wear the mask.

We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries

To thee from tortured souls arise.

We sing, but oh the clay is vile

Beneath our feet, and long the mile;

But let the world dream otherwise,

We wear the mask!

"We Wear The Mask," by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)

FC:PbP is offering the community another "vignette" opportunity. If you'd like to read about our New Years Vignette exercise look here and here; info on our July 4th vignette can be found here, the Bloody Valentine/Friday the 13th one here, and the June Song vignette here. If you weren't around in those days (or even if you were), keep reading to find out more!

Superheroes and supervillains are identified by their distinct costumes. For some, the costumes -- such as battlesuits or magical garments -- are the true source of their astounding powers. For others, the outfit has no intrinsic powers, but it's the symbolism in it and in the person who wears it that give it a kind of power. Costumes with masks can be even more iconic, due to the mystery associated with it.

But we all wear masks, in one form or another. In fact, we all wear several masks in the course of a day -- you put on one face when dealing with your spouse in the morning, another when dealing with a supervisor at work, yet another when relaxing with friends. Most all of these masks contain elements of the real you, but only the ones you want certain groups to see. Changing your posture, your walk, your tone of voice and manner of speech, can all be used to alter your identity -- to a degree -- without masks or makeup.

What masks do your characters wear, and why? This is obviously most easily applied to those with a Secret ID, or those with a distinct costume, but even those without one have some masks they wear.

Who: Any player who is interested, for one or both of their characters.

What: Write a one (1) page (single spaced) vignette about your character's costume/mask, or about the 'masks' they wear when interacting with others. Why do they wear what they wear? Was it something they made, or was it handed to them? Is it meant to evoke certain images (of animals, or a certain profession, or an ideal)? Is it worn to conceal your identity so villains cannot target your loved ones for retribution? Or to conceal yourself from some past misdeed for which you're striving to atone? Even if you don't wear a true costume or mask, is there anything about yourself that you hide from others?

When: The deadline for submissions will be Saturday, October 31st by 11:59 PM EST (GMT -5). The vignettes themselves can take place at any time.

Where: Anywhere. When you submit your vignette, please make a note clearly indicating in which forum it should be posted, as well as when it would be happening.

Why: To enhance our community, to flex your writing muscles, to think more deeply about your character, and to earn a bonus PP for your character for the month of October.

How: Once your story is finished and proofed, PM it to one of the Refs (AvengerAssembled, Ecalsneerg, Geez3r, MBCE, Sandman XI, or myself). When all the stories are in, one of our staff members will post them to the appropriate forums (which is why we need you to be sure to tell us where it should go!), and provide links to them in this thread. DO NOT post them in a forum yourself, otherwise it will not be counted for this exercise.

Post here with questions.

quotemyname · October 8, 2009

Why: To enhance our community, to flex your writing muscles, to think more deeply about your character, and to earn a bonus PP for your character for the month of June.

Should be month of October

I actually do have a question, though. Does it have to be in song/poem form, like the last one? or can it just be like a lament of the situation, etc....?

Dr Archeville · October 8, 2009

Should be month of October

.... SILENCE!

I actually do have a question, though. Does it have to be in song/poem form, like the last one? or can it just be like a lament of the situation, etc....?

Whatever format you wish. Could be a flashback to when you first put on the costume, how you felt when doing so, or to when you first decided to be a superhero. It could also be about your superhero name, which is a kind of mask.

ex3lev3n · October 9, 2009

Can the story be delivered by someone else who isn't the character? Someone who interacts with both the hero's civilian and costumed personae?

Dr Archeville · October 9, 2009

Hrrmmm... can you explain that a bit more?

ex3lev3n · October 9, 2009

yeah, sorry, that was really vague =] So Razorwing lived in an orphanage half of his life. Sister Mary Francis was a street-level hero during the Iron Age along with RW's father, James, though she turned to God after all that nonsense, and was head of said orphanage after she hung up her gear and took her vows. When RW returns, he makes sure to look after the orphanage to keep it clean from crime and the such. Sister Mary Francis takes note of Razorwing when he fights some thugs trying to break into the church/orphanage (or something along those lines) and mistakes him for James (his father). The next day, she spots Kristian Gerber, missing for nearly seven years, making a donation to the church, and puts all the pieces together: Kris is the new Razorwing. It'll be from her point of view and will show how much of a different person RW is from Kris (posture, composure, confidence, etc.) is that cool?