Morgan's Emails

[Rick Healey]

We expected you to look at who they were here, not who they were. People do change.

Cats don't, though

Except, of course, when they want to.

Which basically means never (why would a cat need to change? )

Need to? Oh, a cat never needs to. But a cat may want to, if for no other reason but to amuse themselves.

[H22]

Going back to something a tiny bit more on-topic, was giving only some the Quixote echo always in the plan? Or were you just bored of the in-character abuse, and decided that, (as my old grandmother used to say ) 'Politeness has its own reward'? Or dd you just choose some random people?

[Dana]

We chose the people who were on Morgan's nice list, basically.

[Connor Fallon]

I still think her reasons for doing so make sense.

I just wish some of them had been online. Derp.

[WackyMeetsPractical]

We chose the people who were on Morgan's nice list, basically.

And how exactly was that decided? I believe I've been very kind with the witch in my letters (with the exception of one, but I did apologize for it). I kind of expected to be on the nice list, yet received no letter. Though I did figure that that one letter would be enough to disqualify me. But had it hadn't, I totally was online during that whole mess. That could've fixed the whole issue. Just sayin'.

[Pixelmage]

Hum... I know it's not a direct reply. But Dana actually talked about it here: viewtopic.php?f=30&t=891#p36985
As I was directly involved in that, and actually made things worse. But laconic, they picked without looking at who was on at the time and turns out no one was, which devolved into a series of perfectly awful timing.

[Dryunya]

Yeah, I think Dana hit the nail on the head with "We were just expecting less seething hatred." I'm biased, of course, but I feel the cabal made legitimate points, that often didn't make any ripples at all because people had already decided how they felt.

The major problem between me and the Cabal is that I actually started from a neutral position, but it took them too long to make a move. Waaay too long.
I started the invitation thread right after the WTFhax, and at this point their only misdeeds were threatening Joe and Joan and WTFhaxxorz. Quite a lot, but I started with an open mind. The lack of reaction turned me away, and by the time Morgana started emailing us, I changed my mind. They also hired a prosecutor for Pan, which was the Moral Event Horizon for me.

And, considering that the villains were known for their deceptions, it was damn hard to make me change my mind afterwards. Even the actions had all the potential to be misinterpreted, and so they were.

[Scarab]

I certainly didn't WANT to hate the Cabal at any point. At the very least I tried to be CIVIL to them. I had zero trust for Moriarty, was doubtful about the Phantom (they were the only two who's texts I was especially familiar with and I'd always found them both really dodgy) but Morgan and Don Juan? I didn't know them. How could I judge them? Especially considering the countless ways in which Morgan alone has been reimagined,

My general initial reaction was frustration at how they chose to open a dialogue: all those threatening messages to Joe were probably the WORST possible idea they could have come up with, Moriarty made it worse by encouraging the whole process, and then they hacked the website, (plus they were pretty firm on the everyone having to stay thing, which was kinda unfair to ficitonals who wanted to go back) and... frankly, it all just struck me as a crazy big mistake. By the time they realised just how much they'd messed things up it was too late, Joe was terrified and on the run and just would not listen to them, and Mister A had us convinced that his way was the only solution that would save our world.

The whole 'they were villains in their story, thats hard to get over' thing wasn't such an issue for me, either, because I always considered them to be thinking, self aware beings. It didn't matter to me what they were so much as what they became and I believe everyone can change and everyone deserves a chance at redemption. But in the end, my personal feelings about the Cabal took a backseat to the fact that the world was apparantly at threat. If that had NOT been a factor, I think a number of us might have made different desicions to those we did. I'm not sure what drove every persos' desicions here: fear, distrust, or just plain logic, but in the end it's the Cabal who were fighting a losing battle. Perhaps it stil lwould've been a losing battle if they HADN'T started out the way they did. I guess we'll never know. I just think it's all horribly sad, really I wish redemption didn't so often have to equal death. It's not my favourite trope.

And then they helped save the world. It's funny how things work out.

[Rick Healey]

For the characterization of the Cabal, I went back to the original source material to push the Cabal towards certain routes.

Moriarty... admittedly, he was probably the one that people consistently viewed across the board. He really was the worst of the lot, which pretty much everyone saw immediately. That said, he did truly love Morgan, which is the tragedy of his refictionalization - he felt truly betrayed by the one he loved. That said, he was so selfish, he never saw that he betrayed her first.

Erik was a complex case. He doesn't like doing nasty deeds, but he's remarkably capable of justifying their accomplishment to himself. In theory, he has the potential to be the nicest of the four. That said, considering that he has no qualms about utilizing his experience as a professional torturer and assassin on anyone, he also has the potential to be the cruelest. He also has much reason to be thankful that I wasn't involved in his early development - since I read "Le Fantôme de l’Opera" in French class, I would have pushed for him to appear much more grotesque, whereas his physical depiction was much more indebted to the musical.

Morgan was probably the character with the most misconceptions. Keep in mind that, in her own canon, she was at the mercy of someone who could legitimately be called an usurper, and she was somehow the villain despite being the one wronged first (though yes, Disproportionate Retribution was definitely in play). The tragedy of her original story was that there was reason to support and pity both sides - and she, the most Genre Savvy of the lot, saw that. She did do desperate acts at times to keep from being returned to that horrible fate, but it was purely survival instinct out of her. If she had been approached differently, she would have been an incredible asset.

Don Juan... I wish more had been done with him. I read several versions of his story (including, naturally, the Molière version), and his was perhaps the most ideological argument for staying. Moriarty wanted to be free of villain-based guaranteed failure. Erik wanted a chance to succeed, and the modern era gave him much more chance than his own. Morgan wanted to be free of her unfair fate. But Don Juan? He opposed any suggestion that there was a higher authority that he had to answer to. While in his own story, that was God, but once he got out, he realized that it was his author that was truly the authority he chafed at. Being in this world was truly to be let loose from the shackles of fate. If things had been a bit calmer on the player side, it might've been interesting to see him get into philosophical debates with players.

By the way, I'm fully aware of the irony of "freeing" Don Juan from the author's whims by being another author that dictated his actions. Good thing for me that he's dead. I think.