The General Replay

At first there was nothing. Cold and void and space and everything.

Technically that’s not really nothing. There were a few stars in the sky, but whether or not there was a sky was arguable. There was black and maybe even night reaching out into the endless, forever beyond. It was silent as the grave and as it had been for an age so long that it simply stopped having meaning altogether.

Not on a particular day, as neither day nor days existed, but instead at an arbitrary time in the middle of nothing, something different and meaningful began to weave its way into the nothing and the space and the cold. The cold became warm and the nothing became light.

Hot, incredible light like a searing sun simply took hold in the middle of the void. It grew and shone and kept going until it seemed like it could go no more.

And when the light was calm, it had left in its wake something else entirely.

There was rock and warmth and grass and a million others things. There wasn’t much of it, but it was far less nothing than there had been just a moment before. Most of all, there were people.

Doors opened and streets flooded with panic and confusion. A tiny world torn from its rightful place floated aimlessly in the midnight pitch. And before long, there was light once more and island after island filled in the gaps as though pieces of a patchwork blanket.

What remained was an uncountable number of places sewn together by an invisible hand. Or maybe an incomprehensible accident. Chunks of rock and everything that came with it, all tiled against each other.

A land of infinite measure.

---

The General Roleplay is dead. Long live the General Roleplay.

What it is and always has been is a playground and a sandbox, so this isn’t going to change. It’s a place for you to bring in characters you’ve been thinking of trying out and practise roleplaying in a completely open environment.

How open, you ask? Go anywhere, do anything.

I mean, sure, don’t godmod or do anything batantly indecent. And if you’re gonna introduce a powerful character, consider whether that character’s power is appropriate when compared to everyone else’s.

This doesn’t mean you can’t have powerful characters; it just means you have to play them respectfully. Avoid using that power against characters that are disproportionately less powerful.

If your character is near omnipotent, interactions may end up being one-sided or adversely affect the current state of many interactions, which would ultimately be detrimental for everyone. So please take care when using these kinds of characters. If enough complaints are voiced, the thread admins may have to intervene. That's Aliucon, Dimitri, Xeno, and myself.

This is a casual roleplay, but it allows for both casual and serious ideas. That’s the point of a sandbox – you and your fellow roleplayers have the freedom to do whatever you want. Explore worlds, go fishing, fend off murderous children. The world’s your oyster.

New characters are encouraged as this roleplay has no connection to any similarly-named GRPs. No need to come up with an application, just start writing.

You start off on a rocky landscape under bleak daylight, a world composed of many different pieces of other worlds.

Or you don’t. I’m not your dad.

Marcus: “First.”

Vince: "Second."

Marcus: “Last.”

And so, the end of an era came to pass. Our-

???: “Oh, would you two knock it off?”

Standing before the two…well, well under the Zoroark, given the height difference, was a Grovyle of dark complexion and almost watermelon-esque coloration, sporting a red jacket and yellow scarf combo. His leafy hair blows in the wind of this rocky outcropping, as he looks over his…currently two other compatriots here.




Connor Gonzales
- Age: 19
- Height: 3’01”
- Born: September 13th
- Job Description: Dashing Rogue
- Was voted ‘Most Likely to Die For You’ 3 years in a row.

Connor: “Really, the last thing I need is a verbal back-and-forth of…whatever Last Poster shenanigans you’re trying, ESPECIALLY considering this…unfamiliar terrain. Where even am I…?”

*…He does eye the pink-haired Zoroark before him a bit more, what with his pastel-colored jacket and monochrome pants…perhaps, the two are familiar?”

Marcus: “I think I have no idea!”

Marcus needs no introduction, but fuck it



Marcus Netallic
- Age: 22
- Height: 5’01”
- Born: December 4th
- Job Description: Best Boy
- Has had the most dads (roughly 4.)

Connor: “…You think?”

Marcus: “I dunno! Vibes feel kinda familiar, but that’s it.”

Little did the three of them know, that something unbelievable were about to happen…

It is a bright, sunny day, just past noon. Palm trees and other plants rustle as a gentle breeze rolls through. The salty scent of the sea mixes pleasantly with that of the soil and plants native to this area. In the distance, local animals chirp, whoop and howl alongside the distant sounds of crashing waves. It is in this scene that we find a boy walking along the wilderness. His head is down, looking at a bright-red, square camera in his hands. Ever since setting out on new adventures he's made a new hobby of making mementos out of the pictures he takes on his travels. It's a nice reminder of where he's come from, and what he's been through. Though, he only wishes he could find someone like Carlov again, so for certain things, he'd have neat figurines instead of still images. But this is enough for now.

As he walks he trips on a tree root and it is in that moment that things change. Why is it dark all of a sudden? And why have the plants and palm trees been replaced by rocks?? And why are they moving down???

"Ah."

He looks up. Or, rather, he looks at what is technically down, some rocky terrain racing towards him. It takes Link a couple of seconds to realize that he is high up, and that he's about to become a green pancake. "Aaaaaaahhhh!!"

There had been a crackling sound, she was sure of it. It had been akin to a floor tile splitting open, or a jewel being pressed against with overwhelming force until it was torn in two. Yet, as Butterscotch looked out into the open, all she found was a new landscape which she couldn't believe was so near her cottage.

Which, incidentally, she had totally lost track of. Even though it couldn't have been more than a minute since she left and checked, now she was somewhere else entirely. Weirdness like this was why she really needed Toffee around, although she'd never admit it to that cat's smug little face.



"Surely I can't have gone TOO far! Let's spy over there!"

To one side, she had to do little but take a few steps when she overheard two creatures talking. One seemed even fluffier in shape and fur than Toffee, too much to be even remotely human- while the other seemed like a plant-like being speaking a good amount of stuff that seemed vaguely sensible. And was that a- yellow rodent with sunglasses?


"Uuuh, n-nevermind, let's try the other direction...!"

She was not a coward, no. This was a tactical retreat- done as fast as possible, in the opposite direction from the poor Pokémon. Entirely open to them noticing.

Weirdly, she felt she had started running at night, but in a brief moment, the sky was so much clearer where she ended up. Clear of all the darkness and stars, and yet it had some things over the other area: noise, for one. A scream of sorts.
Also someone was falling rapidly.


"Wah...!"

Instinctively, the witch raised her hands, first towards the green-clad hero in free-fall, but realized she couldn't follow the movement. After some panicked hesitation, she shifted her focus towards the floor.


"H-Hang on, I got this! Ah, how did that go again...?? Ah, wait, this works! Maybe!!"

There was a yellow bolt of energy, and before the witch now laid an enormous... cake. Black forest cake, in fact, somehow mounting up to two distinct layers which together towered at 10 feet and much larger width, also topped with comically big cherries.
She had hoped something like this would have soften the landing- if she even cast it in the right place. It was a panic cast, after all.

Indeed, things were only starting to get weirder and weirder around these already weird parts, and as the air was punctuated with these newcomer’s falling screens…well, what was a fluffy boy supposed to do but point, and ask:

Marcus: “…Hey, uh. Connor?”

Connor: “Yes?”

Marcus: “Isn’t that Toon Link, from Smash Bros.?”

Connor: “…”

"Alright, here we go again. Better start walking, I guess."

With a stretch and a sigh, the youth in crimson got up unceremoniously from the irregular chunk of rock he happened to be sat atop.

There was nothing but darkened land and fissures as far as the eye could see. The landscape was hard, stony, and mostly flat with the exception of the odd geological curiosity.

The only light came from the pale sun in the sky. He had thought that it was a moon at first, but not quite.

Actually, now that he was on the move, he noticed that there was more light coming out of the ground. Huge veins of what could really only be something magical in nature gave off a strange glow.

After some time, the Knight noticed something on the horizon. It was dark, but there was definitely some sort of shape coming up in front of him, getting closer and closer by the second.

It was cake.



"..."

Link fell, scrambling with his pictobox and his inventory, trying to reach for his Deku Leaf. Of course, he's in a panic, he's falling fast, and he has one hand on another item. Doesn't help that it's dark either, so there's a struggle there. His hand manages to grab his Deku Leaf, and he cheers. The relief is short lived, however, as when he checks, the ground is far closer than it was before. And it's glowing now??

"Gyyaaaaahhh-- Oomf!!"

Cakes are spongy and soft, sure, but still not the best way to break a fall. He flattens the section of the cake he lands on, face down, his arms raised above him and holding the Deku Leaf and the pictobox. He's got to take care of his priced belongings, after all! At least he's alive, and maybe will walk out of this just a bit bruised. Admittedly, far from the worst this he's experienced.

"Oooghh... thank youuu..." hey says, his voice muffled by the squished cake pressed against his face. There's a pause, followed by the sound of chewing. "Mmnnf... yuhmmeh cahhk."

The crash still seemed intense, and Butterscotch found herself wiping some frosting, which had flown out after the landing, out of her hat. She approached hesitantly until she heard a voice. They were alive, whoever they were.

"Ah, thank goodness it's OK--"

She was in the middle of saying that when she realized another pair of eyes on her cake- and since she was not too far from her own cake, she cleared her throat and rebuilt her poise.


"I mean, of course you're OK! This is such a simple spell for a witch like me, after all! Why, I could make many more this same size, or bigger, and they'd be both delicious and able to catch a bunch of little flying... green... um..."

The natural question of what or who they were sparked in her mind. Unable to answer it herself, she had to give up the pretense quicker than she'd have liked, and looked from the mass of cake where Link was, to the Knight by the side.


"Come to think of it, you guys don't look anything like the people back in town. ... Not that I got a good look at one, in the middle of all that sweetness."

The Onion Knight strode forward until he was close enough to see what had happened. The splatter had only gone so far, but it was enough to tell the sad story of Butterscotch's cake.

He had the strangest feeling as he came across it, as though something was out of place. Not out of place in the usual way, but as though he were in the middle of an ocean on a small wooden rowing boat. But he set aside that nagging voice in the back of his head for the time being and decided to just say the first thing that came to him.



"You know, I know a lot of spells," the Knight said, "but I don't know that one. Kinda feels like I've been robbed."

Of course, our smol intrepid knight wasn’t the only one who felt a little out of their depth here…It was only natural that the two other Pokemon present would walk forward, the shock of seeing one of Nintendo’s finest mascots IRL only exceeded by…

…Well, okay, Connor doesn’t look too surprised. What, is Food Magic just not a foreign concept to him?

Because it is to Marcus.

And it takes him a lot of restraint to not just ask for a cake then and there.


Connor: “…I’ll reserve asking what you mean by ‘people at town’ and ‘Sweetness’, but given the…literal dropping of people from the sky, I assume this isn’t anywhere any of us is familiar with. Which is…alarming, to say the least.”


Marcus: “Holy shit! Link can talk??”

Connor: “…It’s honestly a miracle you’ve managed to keep your composure this long. I’d say introductions are in order, just so we’re all on the same page here…”

Sable-Xeno wrote:Indeed, things were only starting to get weirder and weirder around these already weird parts, and as the air was punctuated with these newcomer’s falling screens…well, what was a fluffy boy supposed to do but point, and ask:

Marcus: “…Hey, uh. Connor?”

Connor: “Yes?”

Marcus: “Isn’t that Toon Link, from Smash Bros.?”

Connor: “…”

Vince: "...I thought his name was Zelda?"


Vincent Ainsley
- Age: 19?
- Height: 1’03”
- Born: As Yet Undetermined
- Job Description: Cool Dude
- He claims to be street-smart, but he actually means he's never been to school.

Vince: "I mean, the game is called 'The Legend of Zelda'..."

Sable-Xeno wrote:Of course, our smol intrepid knight wasn’t the only one who felt a little out of their depth here…It was only natural that the two other Pokemon present would walk forward[.]

Vince: "H-Hey, wait up!"

Brought out of his unnecessary pondering on the unreliability of video game titles by the realization that he's being left behind, the electric rodent hurries to catch up with the two much longer-legged 'mon.

The witch took a moment to realize the Knight had said something that- wait, that was a compliment, wasn't it? Or maybe it wasn't, and he was just expressing something. But to uphold her image, she HAD to take it as a compliment.



"It's amazing, isn't it?! There's no sweet I can't conjure, and nothing tastes more lovingly sweet than my confections! Disregard anyone you hear saying the contrary, my young friend- I have competitors here and there, you know, and--"

Though she was saying that, if Link had ever had hand-made cake before, he might notice that, though sweet, the summoned cake she made wasn't amazing or anything- it was fine, but nothing top-class.
Regardless, it might feel like the witch sure liked the sound of her own voice, and might continue her tirade, but the appearance of the Pokémon she'd escaped earlier gave her a fright.



"WAH! Uh oh, n-not again...!"

Her observation from earlier did do something, however. The Grovyle might still be a creature she never saw before, but he was at least talking sensibly. It was the deciding factor on her not fleeing then and there.



"R-Right, I was, of course, thinking similarly! These surroundings are nothing like the ones I found myself in just before- and it's NOT like I, the great witch Butterscotch, could ever get lost at random! T-That'd just be... s-silly and unlike me!"



"But what about who you guys are? Whenever I see hybrids of humans, they look more... human than animal. Maybe you're not human at all...?"

Aliucon wrote:

"But what about who you guys are? Whenever I see hybrids of humans, they look more... human than animal. Maybe you're not human at all...?"

Connor: “Well, simply put, we’re not. Both of us, and this…other Pikachu here, we’re beings called Pokemon. There are other beings closer to yourself where we’re from, too, but…well, hard to say that’ll matter much, would it, Miss Butterscotch?”

Connor: “…I can’t even say I’m even unfamiliar with the concept of other worlds. Where we’re from, the Space-Time Continuum has grown rather thin, so things like people popping in and out of one reality to another…is something I’ve seen happen. But…I hadn’t even considered the possibility that I’d be sent somewhere else, too…”


Marcus: “Like a real-life Isekai…oh. But I guess that’s kind of extremely bad, isn’t it…?”

Connor: “…Extremely. As for introductions, my name is Connor Gonzales. And this here is Marcus Netallic, someone I’ve decided to take on as a pupil…to teach him a few things.”

Marcus: “Mostly the crossbow.”


Connor: “Yes, well…I’d rather not have a repeat of the Mushroom incident with mere rocks on-hand…”

"This thing's so tall, I kinda feel bad," the young man said aloud to no-one in particular. "You could feed a small kingdom for a week with something liike this. Train a bunch of mages up and that'd just about solve world hunger and poverty."

But when the boy thought about the world, he found that what came to mind at first was not the Flooded Continent, but a dozen other familiar places. He saw an image of the light of a bright yellow crystal, felt warmth on his face in Cornelia, and mourned the looks of his friends as he said goodbye over and over again.



(Huh. I don't have amnesia. For the first time in a dozen cycles, I remember everything. It's like I've been asleep all these years and suddenly they're all clear in my mind. So what's changed?)

The Onion Knight did not have time for a mental breakdown, so he decided to do it later.

He pulled himself back to reality - whatever reality this happened to be, at least - and looked Butterscotch in her Worther's Original eyes. In those shiny orbs he recognised something that made him uncomfortable. A need for validation and acceptance, comnbined with the suggestion that maybe this was the first bit of praise she'd had in a while. Was she imprinting on him?

Aliucon wrote:


"It's amazing, isn't it?! There's no sweet I can't conjure, and nothing tastes more lovingly sweet than my confections! Disregard anyone you hear saying the contrary, my young friend- I have competitors here and there, you know, and--"

"I've never heard of you."

That ought to do it for sure.



"Also, if you're not from here, where are you from?" the Knight pushed, arching his brow. "I don't think I've ever met someone so... different. Not until I met that talking plant just now, I mean."

The question was kind of pointless. He knew what had happened. Well, not knew exactly but the outline of the situation seemed clear. Once again, the boy had been pulled unceremoniously from his own place in the world, snatched up either to fight someone else's battle or fuilfill someone else's plan. Or it could have been a milion other things, really, but it didn't matter. The point was that...

... Marisa's face was millimetres from Butterscotch's own.



"Why do you look like that?!"

She pressed her already warm forehead directly against the other girl, mad wisps of hair obscuring her face slightly, and there was a telltale sound of gritted teeth to boot.

"Is this some kind of prank? Some sick joke where you think you can be me!? Huh?!?"

While everyone was busy talking, the young hero Link got out of the cake. He made sure his belongings were alright, put them up, and did his best to get the smooshed cake off of his tunic. He got as much as he could, though unfortunately it was now stained all over. Dang it, and he had just washed it too...

He snuck in another mouthful of cake as he looks at his surroundings. Sure, not the best around, but for a pirate sailing the high seas who came from a humble island, cake was a rare treat. He chews thoughtfully as he ponders what sort of adventure he found himself in this time. His thoughts are interrupted by the loud outburst of another witch in the area. He hadn't realized there were that many people here before. Well, might as well start this journey off.

He reaches into his inventory and pulls out his pictobox, walks a bit to get everyone in shot, then takes the photo, making a loud click.

Reverie wrote:

"Also, if you're not from here, where are you from?" the Knight pushed, arching his brow. "I don't think I've ever met someone so... different. Not until I met that talking plant just now, I mean."

…Well, offended wouldn’t really be the right word for how Connor felt about that comment. Hell, he never really took into account how much his own biology balanced between Fauna and Flora…and honestly, he was still a little too on high-alert to even consider joking about it.


Connor: “Talking…plant? Been called worse, I suppose-”

And cue ensuing Marisa. Honestly, Marcus would make another scathing reference if it weren’t for the sound of the Pictobox going off, the sound of which causing Marcus to turn around and pose.


Marcus: “Ah, hold on, I wasn’t at my most photogenic!”

Sable-Xeno wrote:

Connor: “…I can’t even say I’m even unfamiliar with the concept of other worlds. Where we’re from, the Space-Time Continuum has grown rather thin, so things like people popping in and out of one reality to another…is something I’ve seen happen. But…I hadn’t even considered the possibility that I’d be sent somewhere else, too…”


Marcus: “Like a real-life Isekai…oh. But I guess that’s kind of extremely bad, isn’t it…?”

Connor: “…Extremely. As for introductions, my name is Connor Gonzales. And this here is Marcus Netallic, someone I’ve decided to take on as a pupil…to teach him a few things.”

Marcus: “Mostly the crossbow.”


Connor: “Yes, well…I’d rather not have a repeat of the Mushroom incident with mere rocks on-hand…”

Vince: "Vincent Ainsley, completely unaffiliated. Call me Vince for short."

Vaguely uninterested in getting in the middle of the rest of the too-full conversation, the pikachu turns his attention for the moment to the cake. He's poor enough he doesn't get the chance to have it terribly often, so giving it a taste is way more interesting than the odd knight-looking guy debating how it was made.


Vince: "Hey this is real good. Don't know about the overconfident advertising but the sweets don't lie."

...There's no telling how comforting this might be to Butterscotch, coming from a talking rat.

ToonBlade wrote:He reaches into his inventory and pulls out his pictobox, walks a bit to get everyone in shot, then takes the photo, making a loud click.

Sable-Xeno wrote:
Marcus: “Ah, hold on, I wasn’t at my most photogenic!”

Vince spots Link pulling out the pictobox out of the corner of his eye just before the click goes off, so the picture snapped ends up including a startled electric rodent half-looking at the camera with cake crumbs all over his face. He hurriedly wipes the excess dessert off his fur, cheeks sparking with embarrassment.


Vince: "H-Hey, yeah, no fair, give a 'mon a warning first!"

Sable-Xeno wrote:

Sable-Xeno wrote:
Marcus: “Ah, hold on, I wasn’t at my most photogenic!”

DimitriBarronmore wrote:

Vince: "H-Hey, yeah, no fair, give a 'mon a warning first!"

Link lowers his pictobox and looks into it, checking the latest photo for his collection. Everyone in-shot, looking natural, full of energy and life. Perfect!

He hears some complains and looks up. After a pause, he tilts his head, giving them a cheeky, precious grin. "Sorry."

It was another day for Chell, the ex-test subject of Aperture Science, on her own, looking for anything to make sense. The world was in shambles, and all she had was her trust Companion Cube that she managed to find straps so she can have them upon her back. She hasn't found anyone as of yet, it's only been about a week. Scavenging to survive, in a small rural village that was empty. save for weird alien creatures and bodies; sometimes combined! But all dead.

But on this one day, while heading out to leave the rural countryside village, she heard what sounded like a portal opening, and then suddenly she fell into.. wherever she may be at now. She manages to roll and land on her feet, the landing sticking and not hurting thanks to her boots. She looks around and her eyes widened to see....weird animals, a small child clad in green and pointed ears, and...people in weird clothing. She blankly stares at them, unsure of how she got here, why, and who these people are.

...She thinks she should've begged GLaDOS to stay in the labs somehow.

ToonBlade wrote:Link lowers his pictobox and looks into it, checking the latest photo for his collection. Everyone in-shot, looking natural, full of energy and life. Perfect!

He hears some complains and looks up. After a pause, he tilts his head, giving them a cheeky, precious grin. "Sorry."

The Zoroark holds his hands up, gesturing wildly.


Marcus: “No, no! Don’t worry about it, really! Long as I look good…”

…Also sensing maybe a lul in the conversation, at least disregarding these two Witches coming face-to-face, Marcus decides on sneaking a bite of that cake, as well.

Marcus: ”…Damn, this is pretty good…!”

What’s Connor to do but simply pinch the bridge of his nose, in the middle of all this chaos…? And of course he looks up to find yet another vaguely familiar face rear their head from worlds beyond, and he can’t help but sigh at the whole affair.


Connor: “Another…? Okay, still no idea what’s going on here, but whatever’s going on here is DEFINITELY no accident.”


Connor: “…Well, it can’t be helped at this point. Welcome to…wherever we are.”






…Meanwhile, quite a ways away from on-high…



Observing the chaotic scene from the vantage point of a large rock, a small, shadowy figure looked on. Well…okay, no. Shadowy is no way to describe this over-saturated &$*@er, with his backwards-ass cap and vintage, tubular aura.

He crosses his arms, tilting his cap back.


“…Totally rad. Things are goin’ just as they fo-rizzle. Which means it’s high time I ditch this popsicle stand and start kickin’ off to Coolsville…”

The figure jumps in the air, kicking up a tiny skateboard as he gains U N R E A L   A I R and skates off into the distance…

Connor: “Well, simply put, we’re not. Both of us, and this…other Pikachu here, we’re beings called Pokemon. There are other beings closer to yourself where we’re from, too, but…well, hard to say that’ll matter much, would it, Miss Butterscotch?”

"Huh? A-Ah, yes, I suppose! Pokémon... can't say I heard of it, but sounds kind of catchy? So it probably exists. Ah, Connor, do you mean to say this Marcus is sort of like your familiar, then?"

Settling into casual conversation with "equals" was not Butterscotch's strong suit, but she would be willing to try- were it not two things. First, the dig onto her reputation:

"I've never heard of you."

It made her shudder.



"So cold! M-Maybe m-my name's not SUPER out there, as it deserves to be, but it's gonna be!"

The second, much more prominent thing, was the arrival of a certain ordinary witch. Unannounced, and so close that she could feel her breath. Butterscotch yelped, pulling her hat down in front of her face as a pathetic means of defense, and just spied from under them seconds later when her heart didn't feel like it was going to beat out of her chest.



"A-A witch- I-I-I mean, a-ANOTHER witch! Here!? Now? How!? Pleasedonthurtme--"

Sudden as it was, there was no hiding that this ordinary witch had nothing ordinary about her power. It was enough for Butterscotch to be unable to reply to anything else.
Marisa, in her own time, could possibly find it trivial to notice that the other witch was already using magic for... something, most likely on herself. Whatever spell it was, it required some amount of concentration, yet to be broken despite her outburst.

Link looks up to see a figure performs just about the coolest shit he's ever seen in his life. This is then followed by a lady with a weird metal thing on her back walking out of a weird, glowy circle in the wall. Well, the situation was unusual before, and it's getting all the more unusual now.

He looks around, sneaks another mouthful of cake, then walks up to get a better look (and better photos) of the talking creatures nearby. He approaches the fluffy pink one, takes a photo of it, then lowers his pictobox.

"Excush me," he says in between a bite of cake. "Can you tehll me where I ahm?"

ToonBlade wrote:"Excush me," he says in between a bite of cake. "Can you tehll me where I ahm?"

Marcus, in all the haste he can, poses to the Link of Toon with the best Peace sign his clawed hands can manage, a wink that almost seems to manifes5 actual stars around his eyes. For a split second, of course, before he goes for another mouthful of cake.


Marcus: “Ah’ve no idea where we ah at ahl!”

…A gulp, swallow, before he turns back towards Butterscotch with mild irritation, apparently not taking well to being called a familiar as much Connor, a talking plant.

Marcus: “And for the record, I’m my own guy! I’ve just been trying to pick up the odd skill here or there, is all…”

Meanwhile, Connor continued to gaze at this newcomer and other young knight expectantly. Neither had yet to introduce themselves, after all, though he had the nagging feeling one of them may simply end up failing to…