Skyrates Roleplay

This article concerns itself with the roleplay in Skyrates, an free to play MMORPG. The roleplay forums are rather dedicated, and many of the things that go on in roleplay end up accepted into canon.

This work provides examples of:
"Pistol: Whatever you gotta do mate... you know your stuff but I've fixed/built more than a few things in much worse conditions... you ever repaired a tractor in a hail storm, or fixed your planes feul intake in a jungle?
 * Ace Custom: Any pilot worth their salt is probably going to have a tricked-out version of a stock plane. Some of these stray really far from their base models. Armada Kingfishers have an uncanny habit of turning into C-130s, for example...
 * Ace Pilot: Considering that this is a flight related game set in a flight related world, yeah, there are plenty.
 * Action Girl: Dana Carter
 * Action Survivor: Hau Long, though he's quickly taking levels in badass
 * A God Am I: Blake Spencer, in the Unobtainium Project.
 * Airborne Aircraft Carrier: Some of the more affluent of the characters own these. For example, the Black Pearl and The Big Figure, both Zeppelins (Not blimps), both capable of carrying a fleet of ships.
 * Even if they can't support a fleet of planes, some of the larger airship-type craft might carry at least one 'escape plane' (you don't want to be on an airship when it's going to hit the water) or a recon craft of some kind, much like the seaplanes launched from American and Japanese ships in the Pacific Theater of World War Two.
 * The Alcoholic:
 * Waiwaera
 * Ellington
 * Aeson Strafe
 * Aldin Forseth
 * Natalie Forrester.
 * Alternate Character Interpretation: Are some of the characters misguided souls, pushed to bad deeds by societal pressure, or simply evil people who would have taken that path anyways?
 * Always Chaotic Evil: Pirates
 * Always Save the Girl: Erika, rescued by Chakide.
 * Arch Enemy: Blake to Rubrum, or so the latter would think. The former probably has 5 or so more
 * Ascended Extra: Erika is  on her way to becoming a more regular character.
 * Babies Make Everything Better: Violet and Daryn have brought quite a lot of joy.
 * Badass: A dime a dozen. Chances are somebody's done something badass at some point. Includes all subtypes (longcoats, labcoats, etcetera).
 * Badass Grandpa: Admiral Fuseli.
 * Badass Pacifist: Hau fit this up until his brawl with Chakide
 * Pregnant Badass: Zhana Hirst
 * Badass Crew: Take any of the raiding parties during the Unobtainium Project finale, and you've got one.
 * Badass Bookworm: Rubrum
 * Big Badass Wolf: Retired Sky Pirate Captain Isaac "Isengrim" Ingram.
 * Four Star Badass: Markus Jarnharn.
 * In fact, there are so many that it'd be best to just sum it up as a World of Badass
 * Berserk Button: Do not hurt Kaylee in front of Waiwaera. Really, just don't.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: Many of the "pacifist" characters are known to show a surprising level of badassery when provoked.
 * Bodyguard Crush: Kaylee and Waiwaera
 * The Casanova: We've a few:
 * Talon was this, getting about 10 women at once. This however, backfired when they all dumped him at the same time.
 * Hyashi
 * Ivan Hirst
 * Blake Spencer does have signs of this
 * Catch Phrase:
 * Hau Long: "There are some things bigger than ___."
 * Rudolf Fahrenheit: "Coooool."
 * Character Alignment: Considering the amount of characters, the sections have been moved to the bottom.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: The Azure League is often treated as this, not entirely without cause.
 * Corrupt Corporate Executive: George Stallengrant, whose job as a realtor, while not quite corrupt (yet), can be a bit unscrupulous.
 * A much better example would be Xethos Borgenwelch.
 * Courier: Lena Draw, most of Vincent's characters.
 * Crazy Awesome: Captain Remy!
 * Dark and Troubled Past: A dime a dozen, much like badasses.
 * Darker and Edgier: holycraptheUnobtainiumProjectfinaleHOLYCRAPTHEUNOBTAINIUMPROJECTFINALE
 * Death of the Hypotenuse:  is arguably this.
 * Determinator / Made of Iron: Most pilots/characters in general, but especially members of the Armada.
 * Deus Ex Machina:
 * Diesel Punk: Darker or more gritty portrayals of the setting may lean towards this at times.
 * Does Not Like Shoes: Generally very subtly applied. Not nearly as common as general furry-influenced genres.
 * The Dog Bites Back: Hau destroys the engines on The Big Figure, after being coerced into working for Blake.
 * The Dragon: Chakide von Gunari to Blake Spencer
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him: . Quite effective, actually.
 * Drowning My Sorrows: Aeson does this.
 * Drunken Master: Waiwaera
 * Elite Mook: Any named non-PC enemy character. May end up becoming a full character, possibly with a Heel Face Turn around the same time.
 * The End of the World As We Know It: The Unobtainium project, in which
 * Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Blake has shown considerable levels of compassion towards Maya.
 * Exact Eaves Dropping: Of course, why else would you roleplay it?
 * Expy: Many characters are admittedly based off of others.
 * Extended Disarming: Some characters upon entering the R&P tavern. Kept just this side of realistic in some cases.
 * Shrike Leonheart.
 * Failure Is the Only Option: Does anybody really expect the bomb to go off?
 * Fanon: A lot of material is not really expelled as being non-canon, but very little of it is officially accepted into the official Skyrates canon.
 * First Girl Wins: Kaylee Stallengrant vs Lena Draw with Waiwaera.
 * Five Man Band / Five Bad Band: Slivoh's crew, depending on the situation, can be either. Or both.
 * The Hero / The Big Bad: Slivoh
 * The Lancer / The Dragon: Lilah
 * The Smart Guy / The Evil Genius: Dragan
 * The Big Guy / The Brute: Malcolm
 * The Chick / The Dark Chick: Kat
 * From a Certain Point of View: Blake's method of misguiding the general public
 * Furry Fandom: Toes the line for obvious reasons.
 * Hannibal Lecture: The villains among the community are fond of these
 * Happily Married: Zhana and Talyn
 * Heroes Prefer Swords: Rubrum and Rudolf.
 * Heroic BSOD: Plenty.
 * Rubrum Veritas, when  Quickly turns into a Roaring Rampage of Revenge though.
 * Rudolf, when
 * Aeson Strafe, when  his best friend since childhood, is Killed Off for Real
 * Heroic Bystander: Hau Long.
 * Hidden Depths: Since everybody has only a few characters to work on, most of them have some depth to them.
 * Huge Guy Tiny Girl:
 * Aldin 6'8" and Lena 5'1"
 * Maya 5'2" and Blake 6'7"
 * Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: due to the stigma against killing another's character
 * Incredibly Lame Pun: The community is fond of these. Can develop into a full blown Hurricane of Puns if you're not careful.
 * One of the characters is named "Hau Long." The name is such easy bait for these jokes.
 * Inn Between the Worlds / Good Guy Bar / Local Hangout: Whilst not strictly between 'worlds', The Rotor & Prop is exactly where it needs to be, when it needs to be, all as the plot demands. Villainous types are usually tolerated as long as they behave themselves/don't brag about what they've done/aren't beyond the Moral Event Horizon yet, and it's where a lot of casual interaction takes place.
 * Intoxication Ensues: Two notable instances both stem from Rubrum dosing other characters, as well as himself once.
 * Its All My Fault: Kaylee Stallengrant is quick to blame herself when things go wrong.
 * Karma Houdini: Xethos gets away after
 * Also, Blake (the person) has said that Blake (the character) has gotten off pretty easy, considering what he'd done.
 * Knight Templar: Blake Spencer.
 * Lampshade Hanging: Some of us being tropers (me), certain characters are known to do so.
 * Large Ham: Once again, many, many characters. Notably, Blake Spencer.
 * Lethal Chef: Mote
 * Loads and Loads of Characters: Considering that it's an rp forum, it's to be expected. In fact, there is a spreadsheet dedicated to keeping track of these characters here: Dramatis Personæ
 * Love Triangle:
 * Of a sort - Herley Danika is engaged to Artemus Delphus. Artemus is also engaged to Maya Muldrake. The key part is that he loves the both equally, so...polygamy.
 * Ludicrous Gibs: The hallways of the big Figure were painted red.
 * MacGyvering: Artemus Delphus, when face with a boast about Terrance "Pistol" Hick's mechanical feats, gets into an argument as to who can out Mac Gyver who:

Artemus: Yeah....I've fixed my sister's Nova with nothin' but a hammer, three bands of rubber, a top hat, some brass, and a bottle of Lengish Red in the middle of Grottopolis all while trying to make a trade to Uurwerk within the next 6 hours....what's your point?

Pistol: That's more like it, but instead of having a my story top yours war I was just pointing out that 'soundproof' might be a bit errr hopefull.... oh and did I ever tell you about the time that I fixed my havoc in flight, between luz and Tehras, with a towers shots resounding around me with only a pair of plyers, my teeth, a piece of leather, and some chewing gum?

Artemus: For shame....What's real skill is trying to fix a scout ballon, midflight between here and Echo because the engine exploded. I had to build a new engine with naught but two friends, the brass horn of a victrolla, and a sophisticated looking picture of Fuseli.

Pistol: Thats lil' stuff, I once used naught more than a coffee cup, a quarter, 2 lemons, and a dartboard fashioned in the shape of volstoy to build a glider that took me clear from midgard to Islo..."

""Can't be that bad. You're here to guide me through it." All together now, 1, 2, 3, 'awwwwww'."
 * And it went on.
 * Made of Iron: Blake Spencer has survived... well, a whole lot.
 * Mad Botanist: Manik Depra-seeve, who uses his skills to create coffee.
 * Some of the members of the League are almost certainly mad scientists of some flavour. See below.
 * Mad Mathematician: Rubrum Veritas when he loses his grip on reality enough; sometimes helpful, sometimes... not so helpful.
 * Marital Pacifist: Zhana Hirst
 * Martial Pacifist: Maya
 * Men Are the Expendable Gender: Not quite so prevalent as one would think, but there are a few examples.
 * The mooks that died on The Big Figure were men
 * An NPC that is murdered by the mob for Emotional Torque is a woman
 * A man is murdered for "making a sandwich" and it is simply let go, even though plent of people knew who had done it.
 * Male characters that hurt eachother are forgiven. When a female is hurt, cue the Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
 * etc.
 * Somewhat justified in that this is set around the 50's.
 * Meta Guy: George can fall into this during the lighter roleplays.
 * Mexican Standoff: Guns are rarely used to kill, more to point and look threatening, occasionally to wound. Naturally, a lot of these happen.
 * Mind Rape: Xethos to Aeson
 * Mooks: Because at some point, somebody's gotta die, and if it ain't a player character, then it's gonna be a mook.
 * Moral Event Horizon: Arguably, Xethos's murder of
 * Also, Blake's murder of dozens of scientists.
 * Mood Whiplash: The next thing roleplayed after the pause in the Unobtainium Project's finale was between a one-tusked elephant and comic relief character.
 * Never Found the Body: Voyager Islo, Rachel Fuana.
 * No One Should Survive That: Lets face it,  was pretty lucky.
 * Not That Kind of Doctor: On at least one occasion, Dr. Nikolai Evans.
 * Not What It Looks Like: On occasion. Often involving Lena Draw lately.
 * Oh Crap: After Blake
 * Only Mostly Dead: Rachel Fuana, Morgan Bantex.
 * Perfectly Cromulent Word: Fuboom.
 * Poor Communication Kills: Xethos Borgenwelch believes that Flint and Aeson had intentionally killed his family, and is now trying to kill them. However, the death of his family was due to a misunderstanding, and not intentional... yeah.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Mote.
 * Put Them All Out of My Misery: Blake Spencer.
 * Red Shirt: Plenty, and I mean PLENTY are killed during the Unobtainium Project finale. On both sides.
 * Refuge in Audacity: Pirates hiding on the R&P skylet so that other pirates won't find them!
 * Retcon: Due to the fact that mistakes are made, some things are taken back with the simple term "Conned". It is moderately stigmatized.
 * Unob Project: Morgan lives. Victory of the majority over the player, who did not intend to change the fact that he was killed off for real.
 * Rachel Fuana's explanation scene, in which she ended up dying anyhow because of communication errors amongst the players.
 * Right Man in The Wrong Place: Hau Long, during the Unobtainium Project.
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: villianous example, Xethos Borgenwelch.
 * Rubrum gets one against Blake
 * Blake gets one against everybody.
 * Sanity Slippage: Blake Spencer.
 * Saving the World: The previously mentioned "Unobtainium Project."
 * Separated At Birth: Naes and Lena Draw, with their parents involved in Cidadian crime, where Lena was shipped off to a relation.
 * Shipping: Hoo, boy.
 * Ship Tease: Plenty of it, half of it unintentional.
 * Shoot Out the Lock: A variant on this is used by Hau. He shoots a control panel to lock himself and three other people in a room together, thereby forcing them to work with him.
 * Shout Out: Certain characters are named after other famous figures, most notably, one "Jay Gatzby." One League "officer" intentionally shares a first name with a certain Miss Starshine.
 * Also a common theme of plane naming.
 * A combat medic named Jenkins. First name Leroy.
 * To say nothing of George, a rabbit.
 * The Sixth Ranger: Rudolf, joining Dana, Morgan and Rubrum right before the invasion.
 * The Smart Guy: Among others-
 * Rubrum Veritas
 * Hau Long
 * Morgan Bantex
 * Speech Impediment: S-S-S-S-Seamus M-Mac Leod
 * Squick: Possum Grease.
 * Status Quo Is God: While there are certainly changes made, it's frowned upon to kill off any characters.
 * Less frowned upon and more that very few people are actually willing to off their characters for good. Sometimes they get Put On a Bus, but very rarely is anyone Killed Off for Real. If they Never Found the Body, good bets the character may yet return.
 * Stepford Smiler: Kaylee Stallengrant.
 * These Questions Three: On entrance to the Rotor and Prop tavern, new folks are asked three questions before they can order or spend the night.
 * "Who are you?"
 * "Where did you come from?"
 * "Where are you going?"
 * Sure Why Not: Half of the plot is created this way.
 * Tastes Like Diabetes: Lampshaded in this passage.

"Maya: Tell me, Blake; how long do I have?
 * Tear Jerker: Strictly opinion, but, this exchange

Blake: ...You could have years, if you choose. The offer is still there. But, other than that... six, seven hours. Nine tops.

Maya: Well, then. A third'f a day, it is, Spencer. I wish you a hundred years of good life. Y'might as well take mine."

"Blake: But... it was perfect... It.... was PERFECT!!"
 * Sympathy for The Devil: Maya for Blake
 * And lets face it, most of us for Blake.
 * The Teetotaler: Maya.
 * Thicker Than Water: Naes is willing to put himself in harms way to save Wai (Who he barely knows), just because his sister (Who also he barely knows) is set on doing so. "Family is Everything"
 * Tokyo Is the Center of The Universe: The R&P, where the main roleplay is staged.
 * Too Dumb to Live: Anybody who shows up and openly proclaims themselves a pirate at the R&P.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Dana Carter, during the Unobtainium Project, biting off part of Blake's nose.
 * Trademark Favorite Food: Rubrum Veritas and root beer.
 * And noodles.
 * Lena Draw and chai.
 * Two Fisted Tales: The lighter, crazier antics of certain adventurer-pilots would surely qualify, Captain Remy especially.
 * Unsuspectingly Soused: A extended plot involving Lena, Waiwaira and Kaylee began via this trope, with Lena being given a F*** the World. This later evolved into a Mistaken for Cheating situation.
 * Unresolved Sexual Tension: ...
 * Unwitting Pawn: George Stallengrant, to both Xethos AND Blake at once.
 * Utopia Justifies the Means: The Unobtainium Project.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Blake Spencer, as his plan starts to crumble around him.

"Symbolic? You bet your ass."
 * Villains Never Lie: Blake Spencer has yet to lie about his project.
 * Was It All a Lie: Blake to Nesseun
 * What Do You Mean It's Not Symbolic?: This marvelous quote:


 * What Happened to The Mouse?: Since characters are tied to people in real life, and some of them have to leave, understandable.
 * Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys: Rudolf could make Q jealous with all of his gadgetry.
 * Why Don't You Just Shoot Him: Due to Status Quo Is God, happens a lot.
 * Woobie Destroyer of Worlds: Blake Spencer.
 * Your Mileage May Vary: On just how awesome/not-awesome/CrazyAwesome/stupid a lot of things are.

Character Alignment:

 * Chaotic Evil:
 * Ivan Hirst
 * Blake Spencer
 * Slivoh Sherman
 * Chaotic Neutral:
 * Waiwaera
 * Dana Carter
 * Chaotic Good:
 * Hyashi
 * Grey Mortand
 * Otto Odell


 * Neutral Evil:
 * Xethos Borgenwelch
 * Neutral Neutral:
 * Most of the Mooks on TBF are this.
 * Neutral Good:
 * Kaylee Stallengrant
 * Rudolf Fahrenheit
 * Rubrum Veritas
 * Burrito Loco
 * Naes Draw
 * Jon-Michael Plont


 * Lawful Evil:
 * Lawful Neutral:
 * George Stallengrant
 * Artemus Delphus
 * Lawful Good:
 * Hau Long
 * Maya