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  <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2025-10-13:4246296</id>
  <title>Clustered</title>
  <subtitle>A Sense8 Inspired AU Sandbox</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>Get Clustered - A Sense8 AU Sandbox</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2026-03-29T17:15:13Z</updated>
  <dw:journal username="getclustered" type="community"/>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2025-10-13:4246296:343</id>
    <author>
      <name>Wɪʟʟ "someone give that damp man a nap" Gʀᴀʜᴀᴍ</name>
    </author>
    <dw:poster user="cognitivus"/>
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    <title>ABOUT;</title>
    <published>2025-10-13T09:36:06Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-29T17:15:13Z</updated>
    <category term="info"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Posted by: &lt;span lj:user='cognitivus' style='white-space: nowrap;' class='ljuser'&gt;&lt;a href='https://cognitivus.dreamwidth.org/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='https://cognitivus.dreamwidth.org/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;cognitivus&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;u&gt;OOC Logistics&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What is this, exactly? A game&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nope!  This is a GPSL+ roguelite deckbuilding game- just kidding. It's more or less a sandbox with a little plot. There is no  AC, and it isn't moderated so much as enthusiastically organized. My  goal is for the overarching plot and mechanics to be a collaboration  between everybody that's involved, so everyone gets to have input on  story beats that appeal to them. In addition, this method means that I  won't burn out trying to craft &amp;quot;events&amp;quot; and entire metaplot things  myself the way I would if I were actually trying to mod a game. I'm  mostly just planning to help streamline things, and make some discerning  judgment calls to make sure things stay on-theme and engaging and  somewhat make sense.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;Who is invited&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Right  now, anyone is invited, and can invite anyone they personally know if there's somebody they want to bring in. If the number gets too big I might change this.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What should I do to get involved once I decide to join&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Whatever you want, I'm not your dad. Just kidding, here's a loose suggestion:&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;Post  to the EMP meme with the character(s) you're interested in bringing to  the cluster and chat it out with folks to see which ones  compliment/contrast others, which have overlapping themes you wanna  touch on, etc.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Once you decide, post to the 'request to join' page with the relevant journal(s).&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Once you're approved, comment on the OOC Plotting Post. This is an  ongoing place where you can list out what threads you're interested in  playing during the current month, and collaborate with everyone else in  the cluster to plan it as much or as little as you'd like!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Make a  top-level in the IC Inbox post, to help make things easier for the rest  of us to shamelessly stalk in one central location.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Write a  top-level to the current month's general fucking-around post, or make  your own post, or tag into other people, do the thing!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Optional:  join the discord server if you wanna communicate with everybody more  easily &amp;mdash; or don't, if you're discord-shy, it's cool.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What warnings should I be on the lookout for&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;As  a whole, this sandbox will contain explicit sex at times. It is not a  requirement to play this, but the intimacy of sex among a cluster, which  transcends both sexuality and personal dynamic, is a big component of  Sense8. Players and characters can engage with this as much or as little  as they're comfortable with.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Aside from that, there will be violence, traumatic histories, mentions of suicide, and probably a murder-villain.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Threadjacking  is more than just a given, it's practically a necessity. We can start  out by communicating this in advance but honestly I hope we all get to a  comfort level that lets everyone feel confident slipping a tag cameo or  two into others' threads spontaneously, seeing as the cluster is always  connected and there is no real privacy among them. Just be cool and  considerate about it, and if someone threadjacks something you're not  comfortable with, be willing to let them know! Communication is key!&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;For individual character warnings, check the &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;OOC Plotting Post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What if I want to change characters&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Follow  your heart. We can either retcon them or we can implement a mechanic of  some kind to explain it, like 'when a sensate dies the cluster replaces  them with another sibling', or we can make them an offshoot of cluster  parents, who birth other sensates and pass on some of their  memories/feelings/thoughts for the replacement character to experience,  so characters are never Truly left behind, and you get to retain some  CR.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;Will there be events&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Sort of! My  idea right now is for us to chat about an overarching metaplot, maybe  slip in a few surprises Tabletop D&amp;amp;D style for you guys because I  can't resist, and then maybe making a once a month general 'this is  what's going on' log post you guys can tag on directly. It'll have some  highlights about noteworthy events or themes outside of whatever  canon-adjacent ones you're currently playing out together. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What's the status of privacy on the community&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The  EMP meme will be set to public so you can post to it with a bunch of  journals. Any posts containing sex should be set to members only. Other  posts, be it monthly logs or personal logs, can be set to whatever you  guys feel comfortable with.&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;h2&gt;&lt;u&gt;IC Logistics&lt;/u&gt;&lt;/h2&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What is the premise&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We're  repurposing the overarching concept of Sense8, but reworking some of  the mechanics to better suit our needs. In essence, characters will  slowly begin to experience their first, earliest ventures into waking up  as Sensates. They will begin to slowly meet the other members of their  cluster, and eventually learn to take over for one another, experience  one another's memories, share each other's dreams at times, general  psychological fuckery like that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;But how active should I actually be&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As  active as you want, man. This is just a fancy GPSL, it's meant to be  low-effort, low-commitment, low-stress, no expectation. If you go an  entire month without having the energy to tag, fine &amp;mdash; just give a shout  if you have any multi-person threads going that should carry on without  you or if there's something important you want to handwave. It's  literally so chill, dude. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the flip side, conversely, please  do not feel left behind or overwhelmed if you notice a few people  following their dopamine trail and boomeranging 500 comments. It just be  like that sometimes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;How do mechanics differ from the show&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p style="margin-left: 40px;"&gt;&lt;u&gt;Location&lt;/u&gt;:  Most of the characters are all in separate universes, to begin with.  One or two are welcome to originate from the same place if the canon  setting is similar enough (ie vanilla 21st century basic bitch earth)  and you're feeling froggy. Otherwise, unless they're from the same canon, universes will be distinctly separate at first.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;Time&lt;/u&gt;: Being in  different universes means that time may pass at different rates for  everyone. Six weeks to one character could be a decade later for another  character. Mechanically, this is so everyone can play out AU versions  of canon plot points they want to rewrite with Sensate Stuff without  being restricted to the same 1:1 timescale as their thread partners.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;Powers&lt;/u&gt;:  characters with superpower type shit can channel it through whoever  they're sensating into at the time. I will leave it up to ya'll how that  manifests, how hard it is to accomplish, whether it's something  everyone has learn like a skill that must be practiced or what. Just do  whatever's the most fun for you!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;Can I play a second character&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If we have enough interest and participation, we can have multiple clusters! I'm totally cool with it. As a general practice it's probably a good idea to have your characters be in separate clusters to avoid having to write against yourself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;What's the deal with NPCs and canon relationships&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Supported  and encouraged! I'm willing to NPC canonmates for anybody whose canon I  am familiar with, and I hope other people are also willing to do the same.  This can be as big and frequent or as rare and infrequent as you want.  Thread an entire relationship arc with Cluster-Blorbo and their non-cluster Will-They-Won't-They Best Friend, this is only good news for us, because  it means we all get to weigh in on it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Love in all forms is an  extremely important theme in Sense8. The cluster will never break up a  canon ship, if anything they're likely to begin loving that person as  much as their canon-mate does. Cluster orgies also aren't considered  cheating; in a transcendental way, it's not eight separate people, it's  one person with seven other selves. Clusters transcend labels and  definitions and barriers; there can be members of the cluster with  absolutely no sexual interest in another member personally, but by the  nature of cluster intimacy, that's irrelevant. Sexuality is also largely irrelevant.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;In other words, you can bring the NPCs to the orgy. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;Are the characters ever going to actually meet in the same place&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Yeah!  I have loose plans to work out with ya'll involving a &amp;quot;part two&amp;quot; of  this whole thing, where they get dragged to a jamjar style universe  (setting tbd) with perhaps the thought being it's a world specifically  pulling in sensate clusters for Some Reason. We can work more of that  out later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;u&gt;&lt;b&gt;Who is the villain? Is there more than one villain&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/u&gt;&lt;b&gt;?&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Depends  on which characters we get! I was thinking of repurposing canon  antagonists for this, possibly ones who are doing a similar  cluster-thing to connect to other canon characters' antagonists. Unless  we come up with something better, possibly Chuck (the asshole Christian  God from Supernatural) with maybe a sprinkling of Hannibal or something.&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=getclustered&amp;ditemid=343" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
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