Second to None RP: Justified

I gotta confess - I'm a little let down. I know that Drakz being on the opposite side of the card is a tall order to fill (been there a handful of times myself), but I know that that alone is usually enough to pull some of the very best out of someone, especially now, being as entrenched as you are.

Suffice it to say, by your own admission, this isn't your very best.

Dream sequences are a tough egg to crack for me. I've done or two myself, but I've always found them to be very rigidly hit or miss, and this one, for me, was a miss. I think I got the general theme you were kinda going for, but I thought it all took a backseat to a bit of intentional absurdity (as you'd previewed the flame thrower well in advance). I get that that can all be attributed to the dreamscape, but it just did so little for me, that on the back of a very weirdly written bit of narrative dialogue from the ghost of Trace Demon, the sum of all these pieces just sort of fell flat in terms of the path from idea to final execution.

Conversely, I'm not sure what it is about the scene with Daphne that you didn't like, but I thought that was one of your stronger assets here. The relationship between her and Frank is one of the hallmarks of the story you've been weaving for some time now, and this played off, I think, as well as any other that you've done in that arena (and you'll recall me being somewhat sour on that whole avenue when you first turned down that road).

I think the big split here for me is where you tried something new (ish. Everyone's done dreams/therapy/etc.) and where you traipsed down with the familiar. For such a tall order, I'd have personally stuck to the tried and true, where your strengths lie proven and ready to be executed. There's nothing wrong, in essence, with high risk/high reward, but when you're up against someone as consistent as Drakz, risk can be a steep, slippery slope.

Finally, for me, the monologue here felt very strange. I can't quite pinpoint it, but the tone felt...primitive, if that's the right word - almost in line with some of your earlier works, which some would call character consistency, but it feels such a far cry from how far you've come that it's almost weird to see that shining through. There were some digs at Drakz that left me scratching my head. It could just be me, but the notion that Drakz was somehow lesser in the absence of Kyzer and Brennan seems kind of convoluted, given how high he ascended for how long. That coming off the back of a sort of piecemeal history of Drakz encounters over the years made the whole thing seem more plodding than punctual.

I'm coming off harsh, which isn't my intent, and I'm willing to buy any number of reasons why this may not be up to snuff, but this all kinda feels like a big step back, and I think you'd hold it against me if I just blew smoke and said anything otherwise.

And last but not least, Frank Lynn! I'm proud to say that I've read everyone's RPs for this show, truly.

On the topic of your RP, I don't think it's as bad as your playing it out to be. It's really hard to go up against someone at Drakz's caliber, but this is a great effort nonetheless. I did feel the different take on a Frank Lynn RP was odd and the onomatopoeia/dream sequence shtick didn't hit quite home. Otherwise, everything else hits the points on what it needed to hit. The monologue, which I think may have been your weakest part of this RP, is easily fixable and no doubt, with your experience on your shoulder, you can pull off a better RP next time. You said yourself you weren't happy with this, which is 50/50 since it's either self-deprecation or actual iffy writing.

Overall, this was a good effort against the odds. Just read your RPs back in your head and see if it makes sense in a real time setting. I'm guilty of not doing that in my latest RP, but try and do that for future reference. It'll come off as natural, straightforward, and great. Keep working at it, I know whatever's next will be better.

For all the complaining you did about not being able to finish this the way you wanted during our talks on FB, you knocked it out of the park. Maybe not as much as previously done, but this is still a fully contending piece for sure.

We spoke briefly about your monologue at the end, and I kind of want to counter what Bren said and side with you. Not to brown nose, but rather I get your point. Bren said it's weird to consider Drakz the proverbial third wheel when he was so dominant after the Epoch collapsed. However, I agree with your mind games statement. Drakz has a kryptonite, and it's his former Epoch members. Kyzer nearly killed him after the tag title win. Brennan ended his crazy winning streak. And then, even though the ending was written to be scripted since I wrote the Elimination Chamber match, while Drakz won by Kyzer interference...yet again it was one of the other Epoch members standing tall at the end of the show because of the post match attack by Kyzer. Drakz couldn't stand after that. Perhaps Drakz will go down as the most dominant WFWF champ ever...but when it comes to the Epoch, he's the weak link because he can't catch a break when the fellow former members get involved.

Good piece friend.

Here's the thing. You're at the level now where no matter how great a piece you put out, you're not happy with it because you feel like you could have done better, even if you couldn't. It happens to mostly all of us. Unfortunately, you're gonna be stuck like that, again, like the most of us.