Dracoplot 2017

I'm starting this blogpost off by issuing the following statement: I am keeping the self-deprecation to a minimum. If I seem negative, it's because I think things could have gone better and I'm tailoring my '18 plans to correct the issues I felt I had this year. That being said...

I'm not terribly happy with how the plots in general went even if I liked individual events.

We'll start with Zeldotenplot. My favorite event with Zeldotenplot was the Viking Tomb Raid. When I originally conceived of a plot centered around Zeldoten, I originally wanted something with mystery and adventure and NOT something so serious as what it ended up being.

Not sure how I let THAT happen. Probably enjoyed the idea of exploring DeMonde's background too much.

Probably my biggest mistake was letting the Brawl derail the plot so suddenly and harshly. I'd prepared scenarios for Zeldoten winning and Zeldoten dying, but I didn't think Nibbles would be so absolutely destroyed.

Why did I let the sidekick's death do so much damage? Because it felt so in-character for Zeldoten to despair over the loss of her best friend that she built to be her best friend. The mostly-unexplored background of Zeldoten is full of crabs and loneliness and crime and one of the things I am really happy to have gotten to do this year was explore some of her background.

Zeldoten's parents were actually originally planned for shortly after the Brawl, but...eh...went off the rails.

And, yes, I really would've ended Zeldotenplot then and there if it weren't for my tendency to read a lot of Pathfinder stuff I doubt I'll ever get a chance to use. Ryoko could've gone to have a showdown with Barubary, but otherwise I would've ended it all there.

Although it almost didn't happen and it was mostly improvised, I enjoyed doing the Bank Heist event and getting to shoehorn in more of my Pathfinder characters. Kobber the Tengu sorcerer was, of course, named for the Kobbers and was my original Pathfinder Society character. John Ambrose was a human gunslinger I made for Del's Infinicon game. Sven and Ole are from a campaign I'm currently a part of about Vikings. Several other Pathfinder characters were considered for a different sort of Zeldotenplot that I didn't feel good doing; they would've been cops from Zeldoten's world who went to Kuwahawi to arrest her only to get stonewalled trying to get an extradition agreement signed, culminating in a final battle between Coppers and Kobbers, and - sorry, JRM - nobody would be happy with a fight nobody wanted.

So the final event of Zeldotenplot had a few possible endings I'd planned. Zeldoten wins a second Brawl, gets trapped by Barubary, and DeMonde gets absorbed by Irys rescuing her. Zeldoten loses the Brawl and Barubary contacts DeMonde to let her know he has Diamond Dust she can use to revive her. Irys typically died in every scenario I'd planned. Then Nibbles died, I let the plot get derailed, and needed a scapegoat.

Enter Clownpiece, whose own backstory got hinted at a few times over the season before Barubary came out and said it. I'd been entertaining plans of her being an evil, willing spy for King Ghidorah, who would want to use Hecatia's power as Goddess of Hell for evil. I told this to Chao and he more-or-less said "Hecatia turning against herself and then having Clownpiece betray her would break her." Plus, nobody who hasn't seen Rebirth of Mothra 3 would get why King Ghidorah has an evil fairy. So Clownpiece got to be the Irys power supply with a tragic backstory and plenty of manipulation.

I've thoroughly enjoyed doing things with Zeldoten this year though and look forward to doing things with her in the off-season and next year.

On to the Parseeplot. I'd hinted at the end of Season 6 that Parsee was retiring, but I'd always intended to bring her to Kuwahawi somehow. Parseeplot was originally planned to be a lot bigger, but I frankly just never got around to doing enough build up for it. There was the Las Vegas fight that brought her over and the finale, but I'd originally planned to use the Deadly Six a lot more, as shown by my entering one of their members in my yearly "Newbie open challenge" that year. They'll get their chance to do stuff next year, probably.

While Parseeplot may have been shorter than I'd intended, I enjoyed doing both of the events. There were fun people still in Las Vegas who might not have cameoed otherwise.

Even though they all showed up in Kuwahawi for at least a short while.

And the second event of Parseeplot got to feature one of my favorite things: callbacks to previously unexplained stuff. Like Hyde the Hydra being that weird cloaked guy from Season 3, Suzie the Cool Spy got to be the girl Parsee hit with doors and stuff all the time in Season 5. I also got to do more Kamen Rider stuff, which is always a plus.

Another thing I really enjoyed was Parsee getting to do exciting adventure capitalist stuff, like taking over Azure Sea (thank you, Chao) and getting to field her own army against invading armies (thank you, Cornwind) and doing the other sorts of things you might expect a huge businesslady to do. Turning Azure Sea into Par Sea allows me to keep carrying on the legacy I started with Dra Co back in Season 1 with fresh faces and objectives. Anna, Commander Fox, and some other Par Sea employees will carry on the tradition of heavily-armed businesses supporting silly Kobber ventures.

I'll be honest: Parsee was going to retire for real this time, wiling away her time in Las Vegas. She was out of stories for the time being and needed a rest; she'd cameo around the Brawl or if the need arose. Then Harpy said Cian would be semi-active in Gonzyplot and I said to myself "This girl just spend four or five months living alone again. She wouldn't pass on a chance for a beach vacation with her family after not seeing them for so long." She may not show up in the bar every day to sass the newbies or tease the old folks, but she'll be there in the background and for as much of Gonzyplot as I can manage.

Finally, I'm happy to retire Yamame. She was a fun character and I enjoyed RPing her going on adventures and developing her from being a thug to being a professional baker and an unofficial Sugar Mage. She got what she wanted out of Kobbering: action, adventure, delicious bugs, and Gloria. She was fun to have around though and anywhere Gloria goes her spider won't be far behind.

Oh, and I'm sorry Rapping Scottie Dog didn't do much of anything. NOBODY RAPPED THOUGH.