Topic: Bones Role Play--let the fun begin!

Hey everybody. A group of us were chatting in IM last night and we decided to start a Bones Role Play here on the ABY. The reason I'm starting the thread now is we have several of the parts already cast, but we need to cast Hodgins and Zach. If you're interested, you can email me or just post a reply here. Here's some guidelines to help you decide if this might be for you:

1. You have to be able to get on the ABY at least once a day. Sickness is a valid excuse, but if you can post a quick note to let us know, that would be great so we aren't left hanging. If you are going on vacation, let us know and I will find a temp to take your role.

2. Since both H & Z are squints, it is helpful, but not essential, that you have some squinty aptitude. What I think is more important is that you UNDERSTAND the character and the cadence of their dialogue and how they respond to the other characters.

3. If spelling and/or grammar are a challenge for you, it might be best if you don't participate. We are looking for ppl who are pretty good writers. Sorry if that sounds mean, but speaking from experience, it makes a huge difference.

I won't be holding auditions, so basically I will pick whoever responds first. Oh, before I forget, here are the cast members that are already chosen:

Booth: redrider
Brennan: luli
Cam: puppet
Angela: sany

I'd like to get started by next weekend.

RULES*

-Posts that aren't part of the story--including reviews--must be encased in double parenthesis to differentiate from the story posts. Like this: ((Great job, guys. I'm loving this story!))

-ABSOLUTELY no writing speech or actions for a casted character that is not your own. For example; If you're playing Bob, you shouldn't do this in your post:
<Bob looked around, seeing Bill for the first time. Bill jumped in the air and did a somersault.
"Hi" Said Bob.
"I'm a monkey!" Yelled Bill...>
Understand? No writing actions or lines for other characters that aren't community characters.

-Community Characters are characters that are not played by any one person. Make sure you keep up with recent posts so you don't accidently include a community character that someone else used in another locale.

-Make sure you keep up with reading posts so you know where the other characters are. You can't talk to a character that isn't there. This is also crucial in keeping up with the case so we have a coherent progression of the evidence.

-Please write in PAST TENSE only. If you aren't sure whether your post is in the right tense, email it to me and I will help you.

The RP Admin (that's me) has the right to order posts changed, writers resign, and assign smaller roles with or without community vote. I have creative control (for the most part) over the plot of the Role Play. Participants and spectators are welcome to ask or make recommendations for changes/add-ons to the plot.

The most important thing though, is to have fun. Please try to be online every day at least once to check posts. If you are unable to you may lose your role.

If you plan to be away for an extended period of time (over one day), we ask that you post an announcement--in double parenthesis-- stating such AND send an email to RedRider. You can do this through my profile.

So, please; have fun, be online often as possible, and adhere to the RP rules and guidelines.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Booth walked into Brennan's office with something less than his usual verve. "Hey, Bones," he said in a curiously subdued voice.

"Booth," Brennan said, looking up from the file she was studying. She was about to ask whether there was a new case when she noticed his subdued attitude. "Is something wrong?" she asked as she set the file aside and gave him, her complete attention.

He sighed, putting his hands in his pockets. "Yeah," he said sadly. "Demolition crew found the remains of a child out at that old housing development on the south edge of Arlington."

Brennan nodded sadly and turned to shut down her computer before getting up and walking towards him. "What do you have so far?" She asked gently. She knew how hard cases involving children were for Booth - how hard they were for everyone. She had a feeling the next few days were going to be long and very emotional.

"They were clearing those old houses for demolition and they found the remains inside the kitchen cabinet of one of them. That house has been abandoned for at least six months. No telling how long the body's been there." His shoulders were rounded and there was deep sadness in his eyes when he finally looked at her. "Shit, I hate cases like this."

Zach peeked through the magnifying glass as he stared at an old World War II skeleton from limbo. There were hundreds of bones like these lying around the Jefforsonian that needed to be indentified, but Zach still liked the thrill of a new case. They hadn't had a case in a while, so he and Dr. Brennan had identified over 20 of these long lost soldiers in the last couple of weeks. Earlier he saw Agent Booth walk into Dr. Brennan's office. *Maybe we'll get lucky this time*thought Zach. He apperantly really wanted a new case because he didn't even believe in luck.

"I know you do, Booth," she said softly as she squeezed his shoulder. She still wasn't very good at comforting others, but it had become almost second nature to comfort Booth on those rare instances when he needed it. "We all do. But the only thing we can do now, is find out who did this and bring him to justice."

"I know, Bones. I just don't understand how anyone can do something like that to a child." He sighed. "Well, grab your kit and let's go."

"Of course you can't understand, Booth," Bones said as she moved to pick up her kit. "That's because you're incapable of such an act. I think only someone who's really sick can do that to a child. And healthy, normal adults could never understand such a person's acts. Frankly," she added as she put down the kit and exchanged her lab coat for her winter coat. "I'm glad we can't understand them. That means, that despite everything, we're sane."

"Sane, maybe. And at least one of us is normal," Booth said, trying to lighten the mood. Heading for the door, he gave her a glimmer of a smile.

"Ummm," Brennan said as she walked next to him out of her office. "You're right, at least one of us is normal," she paused and turned to look at him with with a smile of her own. "And that'd be me," she told him with a wink. After having turned the tables on him, she turned around and walked away laughing.

Booth stared after her with his mouth hanging open, then smiled and shook his head, moving to follow her. "Good one, Bones," he said as he caught up to her. "But hey, normal is boring anyway."

"You're right," Brennan agreed as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Normal is boring. I much rather the unusual and interesting, even when I don't completely understand it. I find that it is very much worth my time to try and comprehend it."

"Not everything has to be analyzed, Bones. Have you ever let things just...be?"

"Have I ever let things be?" she repeated thoughtfully. "Well," she answered after a few moments of consideration. "It's not in my nature, you know, but I am capable, if the occasion calls for it, to let things . . . just be."

Booth got in the SUV and started it up. "I'd like to see that sometime," he said with a half smile. He was still dreading whatever was waiting for them, but somehow bickering with Bones was taking his mind off it, at least for a little while. "Doesn't it get exhausting sometimes?"

"Huh?" She asked distractedly as she secured her seat belt. "Does what get exhausting sometime?" she asked as she turned to look at him.

Booth smirked at her as he put the car in reverse. "You know, always analyzing things. Have you ever tried just being in the moment and letting things happen, without dissecting the whys and hows?"

"Well," she started to answer as she shifted to look out the windshield. "Yes, I supposed it can be exhausting from time to time," she said in a contemplative tone. "But," she added with a shrug after a few moments pause, "it's who I am. It's . . . difficult to turn my brain off and not analyze things. I can do it," she repeated firmly. "But it's not something that happens often," she admitted softly.

Cam heard the commotion outside her office and she wandered out to see what it was all about. She heard Booth muttering something about Dr. Brennan's kit, and hoped that meant there was a new case. Upon entering the platform, she saw Zach staring into space. "So, Zacharoni, do we have a new case?"

"Yeah, I can imagine that is really hard for you. I, on the other hand, have no problem resisting the urge to analyze everything. I count on my instincts to get me through. They haven't failed me yet."

"Well," she said with a shrug and a small grin. "You know what they say - there's always a first time for everything."

Booth shot a frown her way. "Hey, none of that now. You have to admit that following my 'gut' has led to some major progress in working cases. Sometimes science just doesn't get it done."