Reopening Old Wounds

During our time together as ZFRP, there have been quite a few moments that have ruffled the feathers of the main group of RPers. We are all heavily invested in the RP and characters we have created here together, so sometimes when controversial issues come up, there is much outcry and even rebellion against them. Lately, we have chosen to gloss over some of our more difficult times, choosing instead to move on and let the past be in the past, but I believe there was an issue we never fully addressed.

The concept of Retcons have always been a big pet peeve of mine, especially when the retcon is put in place simply because the content "didn't sit well" with public opinion. I am sure by now most of you already know the incident I shall be addressing, as it was clear back then just how controversial it was by its almost complete removal from our collective canon. We are still recovering from the incident, but I don't think it can be put to rest until its been properly addressed and walked through.

After the post that initiated the incident, it was clear by the actions of the other users on the forum just how intrusive they thought it to be. I am, of course, referring to that moment when we had all our characters gathered together to watch a show and another character just showed up to derail the affair with something that distracted from the performance and the character interaction. It was glossed over for the most part, people choosing instead to act as if it never happened. Particularly guilty were Gooper and M Sheep, who continued to RP in a manner that almost seemed to spite the user's contribution. Only a small lip service was paid to the event by Gooper while everyone else was content to ignore it ever happening. The character who committed the act also seemed to almost disappear from RP after that, as if they too were part of this unspoken retcon.

I am, of course, referring to that pivotal moment in Year 2: Pit's performance of Othello. At the concession stand, the character Devil Ed placed down a gold bar to pay for everyone's food, yet only Widow Maker seemed to acknowledge it at all, and even then it was dismissively hidden behind the antics of Celestia and Father Squid in badgering the concession stand for its predatory prices. Clearly, paying with the gold was an overstep on his part and limited the potential of RP during that moment, but for us all to brush it aside so callously because of this is the antithesis to RP itself. Not everything that happens is supposed to go as planned, and Devil Ed paying with the gold could have opened new opportunists for interesting RP events and character interactions.

Clearly Devil Ed came from wealth, and he could have easily paid of debts that characters later accrued. This would allow our group to participate in more expensive activities and the tough issue of collateral damage that underlines the unspoken side effects of awesome battles could be waved away. Even more interesting would have been to explore how Devil Ed got such wealth. Perhaps he was more of a Devil then he seemed, and who knows where Devil Ed had gone with that thread had we acknowledged his generous use of wealth. Instead, we chose to focus on the haggling of two separate characters. Who knows what they would be like had they instead follow Ed's plot thread instead of making one of their own? I suspect RP itself might look entirely different if we had gone forward with allowing Ed to pay for our snacks at the theater.

Now, you have listened to my main rant, but an even larger retcon lies underneath it all. The whole affair of paying for snacks was manufactured in direct confrontation with the events the GM (Steel Komodo) described!

"Snacks are freely available as the ushers come round with them"

This was explicitly stated right before the intermission where this disorganized mess of continuity occurred. Although I am not privy to the minds of my fellow RPers, the post was short and succinct, with one of the only pieces of information presented being the gratis nature of the concessions. This WHOLE AFFAIR never had to happen, and it instead weaved a twisted mess of continuity that we are still trying to sort out.

I am sorry if bringing this up has angered anyone. I know it was a sore spot for many of us, and even after trying to sort it out, I believe I might have only made it worse. How can we marry these three threads together into one consistent event in our history? How can we do so without hurting the world-building of Steel Komodo or the character development of Ed, Celestia, and Father Squid? There are no easy answers, but hopefully by reopening this old wound, I can inspire some serious discussions between us where we can finally find out the truth behind what happened between acts of Pit's performance of Othello.