Dialektike: The Choose-Our-Own-Adventure [Open; No Sign-Ups]

[The Grim Reaper]

In Dialektike, I act as the Narrator. My posts will each end with one or more questions about the world we are writing. Your role is to discuss what the answers should be. Discussions must be public to be considered, either in this thread or in TRR's #roleplay Discord channel.

When I have decided to continue moving on, I will read the discussion, and design the final canon around your discussion. The more consensus there is, the truer it becomes - if you are able to get many people to agree on specific details, the further you may stray from answering the specific questions. I will then narrate the canon, and to follow it, more questions. All that is left for you to answer is the following;

What name or title does our main character use to describe themselves,
what do they see in the mirror across from them as they wake up,
and what clothes are strewn across the floor?

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Part 1: Waking Up
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Part 2: Eye Wide Shut
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Part 3: Out of the Fire

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[Manson]

Our main character humbly refers to herself as Catherine, the simple but beautiful name her mother gave her. Upon waking up, Catherine saw a strange woman across from her in the mirror. She wonders how such a plain and oafish looking woman could've gotten past her royal guards. She spots a heap of dirty, cheap women's clothes on the floor. They smell horrendous.

[Nakari]

He calls himself Catherine, sometimes, but usually he goes with Marco. As he sits up, in the mirror, he sees his eyes all dark, his hair even more a mess than usual, and the shirt that he always wears to bed dipping open at the front, exposing the tattoo on his chest.

There is a heap of cheap women's clothing on the floor, but they don't smell too bad, mostly of perfume. Something floral. He should really tidy those up before they get spotted or creased.

[Deadeye Jack]

I'll just focus on the tattoo part. The tattoo should be a mythical allusion. Non animal. Maybe some type of a flower or a tree.

[Manson]

Marco sits up in the bed yawning. Catherine is his drag name. He got back from a show very late last night. The tattoo is fresh, almost as if he got it last night. "Oh my God," he says. "I need to stop drinking."

[Deadeye Jack]

Marco sits up in the bed yawning. Catherine is his drag name. He got back from a show very late last night. The tattoo is fresh, almost as if he got it last night. "Oh my God," he says. "I need to stop drinking."

I believe the way this works is we discuss how we want to answer Grim's question and he incorporates that into the story

[Manson]

Marco sits up in the bed yawning. Catherine is his drag name. He got back from a show very late last night. The tattoo is fresh, almost as if he got it last night. "Oh my God," he says. "I need to stop drinking."

I believe the way this works is we discuss how we want to answer Grim's question and he incorporates that into the story

I'm aware, just role-playing it.

[frattastan]

I like Catherine/Marco, and Nak's post.

The tattoo is fresh, almost as if he got it last night. "Oh my God," he says. "I need to stop drinking."

I like this part.

I'll just focus on the tattoo part. The tattoo should be a mythical allusion.

The tattoo is an open eye. It looks mysterious and kind of unsettling.

[Manson]

I like Catherine/Marco, and Nak's post.

The tattoo is fresh, almost as if he got it last night. "Oh my God," he says. "I need to stop drinking."

I like this part.

I'll just focus on the tattoo part. The tattoo should be a mythical allusion.

The tattoo is an open eye. It looks mysterious and kind of unsettling.

The eye appears to have a single bloody tear coming out of it.

[Sarah]

I like the drunk tattoo and the mythical eye. Not so sure about the blood. I like Marco/Catherine.

Maybe the clothes on the floor should be a mix of mens and womens, as if he couldn't decide which personality he wanted to go out drinking in last night?

[Xanderstralia]

I like the drunk tattoo and the mythical eye. Not so sure about the blood. I like Marco/Catherine.

Maybe the clothes on the floor should be a mix of mens and womens, as if he couldn't decide which personality he wanted to go out drinking in last night?

I was thinking the exact same thing

[Nakari]

I like the drunk tattoo and the mythical eye. Not so sure about the blood. I like Marco/Catherine.

Maybe the clothes on the floor should be a mix of mens and womens, as if he couldn't decide which personality he wanted to go out drinking in last night?

I like this.

[Manson]

I like the drunk tattoo and the mythical eye. Not so sure about the blood. I like Marco/Catherine.

Maybe the clothes on the floor should be a mix of mens and womens, as if he couldn't decide which personality he wanted to go out drinking in last night?

I like this.

Me too! This is shaping up very nicely.

[The Grim Reaper]

Part 1: Waking Up

Marco fluttered his groggy eyes, a loose piece of dried mascara gumming up a pair of eyelashes. Jesus, how drunk did he get? He spit something onto the floor, taking care to avoid the clothes strewn here and there - a false eyelash. Squinting at the mirror in front of him, every blink sounded like a rhythmic thud, and his own voice resounded in his head, repeating every word he thought in dissonant, overlapping intonations. Flashes of memory ran through his mind like distant barking commands. One of those words was "tattoo".

"Aww, fuck."

Marco reached over to the bedframe, pulling himself out of his bedsheets and into the mess of assorted, mixed-gender clothes on the floor. His unbuttoned bedshirt was a reminder of normalcy - even drunk, both Marco and Catherine found it comforting to have something to come back to, everything else in their lives being so fluid. Resting his butt on the floor, he twisted towards the mirror, craning his neck to get a good look at his tattoo past the fog of his hangover.

There, on his chest, was a surrealistic open eye. It seemed to almost pulsate; although he suspected this was primarily the alcohol. A tear formed across the bottom eyelid, showcasing a shocking amount of detail as the subtle waves of the tear reflected splashes of colour from elsewhere in the tattoo. He vaguely remembered some sort of daringly meaningful allusions hidden in the lines of the tattoo; whilst he could not remember them in detail, he was nevertheless convinced that they existed, carrying with them the smoke and scents of tradition and mystique.

Marco reached over for the closest article of clothing, a brutally thin studded corset of black leather with a biblically proportioned amount of underbust support. It was the most expensive thing on the floor at the moment, and it was absolutely essential to Marco that it and its veritable cloud of Carolina Herrera eau de parfum were carefully secreted away into a closet. For that matter, between it and the eau de parfum clinging to it, there was a reasonable chance that it was the most expensive thing in the building.

Catherine the Great, she called herself. To be extremely specific, her drag queen name was Catty Jeje when she was with new company; the latter word being a borrowing of the honorific in Chinese for a paternal grandfather. But when she was with her 'subjects', she was not just a queen, but an Empress. The team mom, in a sense, this was her House in more ways than one - the local scene was her brainchild, from conception to birth, and everyone appreciated that it was a difficult labour. On this family, she had built her Empire, as humble as it was devoted. And this palace was no longer just her home, but the home of a dynasty.

A distinctly feminine voice issued from behind her, in a neutral, authoritative tone. "About time you woke up, Jeje."

Marco's eyes were assailed by the harsh sunlight, as the neutral, authoritative tone drew back the curtains.

Who does the neutral, authoritative tone belong to,
what is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning,
and what is the 'palace', the building that Catherine lives in?

[Manson]

Who does the neutral, authoritative tone belong to?

The neutral authoritative tone belongs to Marco's drag mother, Kevin. (One of you can come up with Kevin's drag name.)

What is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning?

A grafitti-coated brick wall. Marco lives in a very ghetto neighborhood.

What is the 'palace', the building that Catherine lives in?

A dusty apartment complex. Marco/Catherine lives with Kevin, his/her roommate and drag mother.

[Nakari]

What is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning?

A grafitti-coated brick wall. Marco lives in a very ghetto neighborhood.

The graffiti is very beautiful art. As part of Marco's little community she's being growing up here, some people have been reclaiming the walls of the streets, covering them with bright and gorgeous art pieces.

(But perhaps, newly sprayed on, rudely interrupting a rainbow landscape, is a small tag in black - a stylised eye?)

[Manson]

What is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning?

A grafitti-coated brick wall. Marco lives in a very ghetto neighborhood.

The graffiti is very beautiful art. As part of Marco's little community she's being growing up here, some people have been reclaiming the walls of the streets, covering them with bright and gorgeous art pieces.

(But perhaps, newly sprayed on, rudely interrupting a rainbow landscape, is a small tag in black - a stylised eye?)

Yesss!!!

[frattastan]

What is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning?

The tower block next to his. Originally it was a drab yellow, but over the years the paint fell apart and left large chunks of the concrete exposed to the mould. The windows' shutters on that side are kept closed most of the time for the sake of privacy, but the inhabitants don't seem to realise the inconsistency between doing that and being uncomfortably loud in their private life.
Down in the alley between the two buildings fat and brown rats run from under the trash bins and disappear in the cracks in the pavement.
The road is littered with broken glass and various objects (mostly plastic) that fell from the windows and no-one ever bothered to recover.

(But you can have the graffito too)

and what is the 'palace', the building that Catherine lives in?

The ironic nickname for their residential building. Owned by a town-famous slumlord, whose presence is best felt in the form of thugs (uniformed or not) evicting insolvent tenants. Perennially waiting for some municipal funds to do renovations - the cheapest possible ones.

[frattastan]

Who does the neutral, authoritative tone belong to,

His sister. Champion of upward social mobility. Married rich. Always thinks of herself as "wise beyond her years" and "living life to the fullest".
Her favourite day of the week is Monday. Keeps a copy of Catherine's apartment key after helping her a few times, and has the habit of making unannounced visits. Loyal to her brother but still kind of annoying.

[Nequedum]

I like MM/Kari's graffiti idea, Grim/Fratt's 'palace' apartment block idea and Fratt's sister idea. Those are my votes.

[Manson]

The graffitied eye has a phone number near it. Marco considers calling it...

It'd be fun to include that.

It would make sense because Marco is curious about his tattoo.

[frattastan]

Too easy! I think there are better ways to move the story forward in that direction if one wants. She could stumble upon the symbol or people who know it in unrelated places, while running errands. She could try to trace back what she did the previous night. It could remain unexplained and only serve as a symbol of something or someone that appears in the story, or represent a common thread that runs through it. etc.

But it's something that I'd like to decide later, depending on what happens next too.

[Sarah]

I like MM/Kari's graffiti idea, Grim/Fratt's 'palace' apartment block idea and Fratt's sister idea. Those are my votes.

Who does the neutral, authoritative tone belong to,

His sister. Champion of upward social mobility. Married rich. Always thinks of herself as "wise beyond her years" and "living life to the fullest".
Her favourite day of the week is Monday. Keeps a copy of Catherine's apartment key after helping her a few times, and has the habit of making unannounced visits. Loyal to her brother but still kind of annoying.

Seconded. I really love the sister part.

I also agree that the small tag graffiti eye part is too easy.

[mcmasterdonia]

Who does the neutral, authoritative tone belong to,

The neutral, authoritative tone belongs to Lucille, a retired prostitute. Too old and unwanted to sell her body, she resides in the building and is compensated for her task as a watcher. Her unjudging eyes watch over others as they consume illicit drugs to numb the pain of their mundane existence. For others she provides a venue, where two adults find romance in each other's arms, without fear of punishment from the religious authorities. A death or incident in the building would bring unwanted attention to what transpires there. Lucille ensures that what goes on is unknown to the outside world.

what is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning,

Beyond the curtain lies an old cemetery. It is neatly housed on three sides by other tall buildings, some abandoned, some still in use. Together they shield the cemetery from the elements. To the front of the cemetery is a street. This runs by Marco's apartment and outside his window. Due to the protection offered from the elements, the cemetery houses a significant homeless population; an eclectic mix of veterans, drug addicts, mental patients, and kids who have been thrown out of home. It appears dangerous, and it is, but only to outsiders. Those that reside there are untrusting of authorities and defensive of their own.

and what is the 'palace', the building that Catherine lives in?

The palace is an abandoned condemned apartment building. Condemned by the City Council several years ago, it lie abandoned for a couple of years before its current residents moved in. It now serves as a kind of refuge of ill-repute for down on their luck drag queens, as a crack house, and as a bordello for the degenerates that call the city home, and feel no guilt in exploiting the vulnerable and forgotten.

[Harmoneia]

Who does the neutral, authoritative tone belong to,

The neutral, authoritative tone belongs to Lucille, a retired prostitute. Too old and unwanted to sell her body, she resides in the building and is compensated for her task as a watcher. Her unjudging eyes watch over others as they consume illicit drugs to numb the pain of their mundane existence. For others she provides a venue, where two adults find romance in each other's arms, without fear of punishment from the religious authorities. A death or incident in the building would bring unwanted attention to what transpires there. Lucille ensures that what goes on is unknown to the outside world.

what is the view that Marco wakes up to beyond the curtains every morning,

Beyond the curtain lies an old cemetery. It is neatly housed on three sides by other tall buildings, some abandoned, some still in use. Together they shield the cemetery from the elements. To the front of the cemetery is a street. This runs by Marco's apartment and outside his window. Due to the protection offered from the elements, the cemetery houses a significant homeless population; an eclectic mix of veterans, drug addicts, mental patients, and kids who have been thrown out of home. It appears dangerous, and it is, but only to outsiders. Those that reside there are untrusting of authorities and defensive of their own.

and what is the 'palace', the building that Catherine lives in?

The palace is an abandoned condemned apartment building. Condemned by the City Council several years ago, it lie abandoned for a couple of years before its current residents moved in. It now serves as a kind of refuge of ill-repute for down on their luck drag queens, as a crack house, and as a bordello for the degenerates that call the city home, and feel no guilt in exploiting the vulnerable and forgotten.

I like this.It fits within the dark backdrop of the initial opening. I would like Lucille to not just be a prositute but a madame, a procurer. Back then she was a prostitute but now she is a pimp who knows the trade like the back of her hands.


besides, the palace should be a brothel - but not creeky, more flashy lights though dingy. It makes more sense to call it a "palace" if it has a flashy facade and yet a carries the plight of several women.


Agree fully with the Marco part though.