MxF The Lamb And The Prodigal Son's Return (Bioshock)

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MxF The Lamb And The Prodigal Son's Return (Bioshock)

Zanten

Duke
Local time
Today 5:06 PM
Messages
537
Age
35
Location
Newfoundland
For my maiden voyage into these untested waters I am seeking, appropriately enough, a maiden. ...lawl. Before I get into too much detail, I should note a few qualities I'm seeking in prospective partners interested in this role, just to help you decide if this particular roleplay is right for you!

-Please have a familiarity with Bioshock Infinite and more specifically the character of Elizabeth. Folks who've played the game would be appreciated, fans of the game would be adored. Knowledge of the original Bioshock would also help us start off on the same page, as at least in the beginning the story would take place in Rapture, but if you haven't played it in ages or never got around to the earlier games, we could probably find a way to ease you into its setting.

-Please be literate, and comfortable cranking out at least a couple paragraphs per post, ideally three on average and probably more when setting up a scene. Obviously exact post length would vary depending on circumstances, quieter or less eventful stretches might see post lengths drop a bit, but at no point would it really be acceptable to get two or three sentences for a reply. I just wouldn't have enough to work with.

-A love for brainstorming and an interest in eventually moving the story beyond the walls of Rapture! I obviously have a number of ideas and possibilities for how this might develop, but what I adore is having someone to bounce things off of, work out mutually enjoyable plots and stories, etc. I don't have a start-to-finish roadmap already laid out, and I'll be relying a lot on a partner to help me work out where things go.

-Be okay with a very slow burn with regards to romance and such. Veeeeery slow burn. As in it could be many, many posts before romance or sexual attraction even become a notable element.

Okay, so now that all that's out of the way...


What Do I Want, Anyway?

What I'm seeking is a long-term roleplay with romance, (probable sexual content as a result of said romance,) violent adventure and plot in more or less equal measure, pairing Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite, with Jack from the original Bioshock. To clarify given even the game is a bit vague about his name, Jack was the silent protagonist for the game, and I'd be portraying him as the 'good ending' version. I'll get into his character details further down.

More detailed plot points are something I'd like to work out with a prospective partner depending on their own interests, desired flavor of narrative, etc, but as at least a starting point, the pair would first cross paths in the city of Rapture at some point during the first game's timeline. Obviously Burial at Sea, for reasons that would be spoiler-y to disclose and that I therefore won't state here, couldn't be followed beat-by-beat in Elizabeth's case, so during brainstorming we could either modify it in a fashion that makes it fit properly, or toss it aside and come up with our own reason the reality-hopping young woman would be in this underwater warzone. In Jack's case there would likely also need to be some tweaks here and there, for reasons I would get into during the brainstorming period. (He wouldn't be mute, for one. =P )

This of course raises the question some of you might be asking;


Why Jack?
Why not Booker, or Tenenbaum, or one of the Lutece's, or literally any character that actually had a voice outside pained grunts and the occasional scream? Why did I go with a blank slate, silent protagonist whose only real defining characteristics are his wrist tattoo and his awesome sweater?

A lot of this admittedly has to do with the inherent personality, motivations and thought processes I've imprinted on Jack's very blank slate when I've played the game, but even looking at his objective history, I found there are some interesting parallels between him and Elizabeth. The Lamb of Columbia was abducted, (well, bought from,) her father, and spent nearly her entire life sealed in a tower, raised for a singular purpose and given little choice with regards to leading the sort of life she wanted for herself.

Jack was taken from his mother and raised (well, grown in an accelerated fashion,) to act as Frank Fontaine's ace in the hole. He was turned into an assassin who could bring down the man who had fathered him, with his free will and right to choose his own path an illusion broken by a casual 'Would You Kindly?' Both, ultimately, broke from the chains that bound them, and got to live a life of their own choosing.

The Jack I envision is a man who has been bred and engineered with little opportunity to grow, implanted with memories and an identity not his own, and (at least the way I played him,) is dancing that fine line between being at his core a good man, yet also a hyper-violent mass murderer who would tear through veritable crowds of crazed splicers at the drop of a hat. It doesn't help that he's currently stuck in Rapture, a city where being a hyper-violent mass murderer is actually kind of a prerequisite for surviving in the first place.

Contrary to his complete lack of speech in the game, he wouldn't be a mute outright, but one who sort of needs to be prodded to speak, to carry a conversation. His experiences are so few, his genuine memories so scattered, there simply isn't a whole lot to what makes him... well, him. If asked why he risks his life fighting the Big Daddies just to rescue the Little Sisters, he'd shrug and say because they need the help. For him, that's enough.

He isn't yet a good man, or even necessarily a real man, but the seed for it is there, just waiting to sprout if he gets a chance to experience... well, anything.

And that's why I think Elizabeth's a fine pairing for him. Elizabeth's eyes were always locked on that next horizon, with thoughts of seeing the world, Paris, as many sights and experiences as she could gobble up, and invariably her enthusiasm seemed to sweep along whoever was in arm's reach, namely a crotchety Booker. While she'd obviously have been subdued somewhat by the revelations at the end of Infinite, it'd be that energy, that zest for life and for discovery, that would drag Jack along, and force him to experience things he'd never have sought out on his own. He may follow, initially, solely trying to protect her as she's flitting about having an adventure. (I've given some consideration to dampening her reality-hopping powers to a degree, mostly to keep them from just insta-solving a situation or bouncing around time and space like a pinball, but that's open to discussion.) But as they spend more time together, both inside and beyond Rapture's walls, he talks more, laughs more, and ultimately she not only makes him a better person, she helps make him a person; it's then that they start to get closer.

This is all pretty rough, of course, and there's lots of details still to be fleshed out, such as what circumstances bring them together in the first place. And as I said before, this is the kind of story, and these are the kind of characters, I'd enjoy seeing develop beyond the boundaries of Rapture, incorporating storylines and directions that have little-to-nothing to do with the original source material. If I think of any more meat for these bones, I'll update the thread, but I totally encourage anyone interested to message me to help with the brainstorming!! =D
 
Musing on possible story structure paths, I'd been thinking of a good starting point for such a roleplay, and was wondering if maybe the best way would be to actually start before Elizabeth even encounters Jack in the first place. By which I mean that rather than playing Jack at first, I'd take on a bit of a GM-esque role, and the scene would start off with an adjustment to the ending of Burial At Sea, one where Elizabeth doesn't end up getting killed by that vicious wrench-blow suffered at the hands of Atlas. Whether it's due to the interference of a Little Sister, or just Atlas being too exuberant over his success to make sure he finished the job properly, she winds up badly hurt and unconscious, but alive, eventually awakening after an uncertain amount of time has passed to find herself alone and still restrained, but seemingly forgotten.

Whether due to editing it out, or amnesia from the headblow, she doesn't have those glimpses into how everything would turn out, Jack's involvement, etc, etc, and at first the immediate concern is survival. She's hungry, thirsty, and badly hurt, seemingly with no means of escape. And it's then that a Little Sister arrives, only this one lacks the glowing eyes and mutated properties they normally have; in fact, she's one of Tenenbaum's rescued children, and was sent to aid Elizabeth. But the reasons for this aren't simply out the goodness of the woman's heart; much like Atlas, Tenanbaum also needs information, specifically more information about exactly what Atlas' rumored Ace In The Hole is, because that Ace is even now stirring up a lot of shit throughout Rapture. She needs Elizabeth to get into Atlas' little hideout while he's off tending to other matters, steal Suchong's encoded chemical compounds and notes back, and bring them across Rapture to Tenenbaum's hideout. She is intentionally vague about what's going on, in part because she isn't sure precisely what IS going on, but she believes the information contains the key, and while she speaks a little of what is happening elsewhere in the city, she tries to keep Elizabeth focused on getting that information to her.

So this segment would actually go on for a fair while, and the thing about it is that it would be taking place during the first half of the original Bioshock. So even as Elizabeth is retrieving the information, and trying to sneak her way across the city to get to Tenenbaum, Jack is elsewhere in the city progressing through all the districts and events from the game. As time goes on, Elizabeth starts to come across his handiwork; brutally murdered splicers, even a deceased Big Daddy or two, signs of a veritable warzone. She might even come within sight of Jack at one point, but Tenenbaum- who knows that for whatever reason Jack is following all of Atlas' instructions- warns her to keep out of sight as he passes by, since Atlas may very well have Jack kill her otherwise. All the while trying to work her way through the city's security, splicers and other hazards to reach sanctuary.

I could go on further, as I would have kind of a roadmap in mind on how Elizabeth and Jack would, eventually, cross paths, but not sure if you'd want all that stuff spelled out and spoiled for you right off the bat. Suffice to say, by the time this 'prologue' ends, she and Jack would be working together, even if reluctantly so, to deal with the threat that Fontaine poses to Rapture, and naturally things could continue to develop from there.
 
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