Let There Be Life
Someone Said "Let There Be Life..."
Before we could take Night Hawk public our team had decided that we needed an ideal board as a premier feature. I took on the duty of searching for that site and it was not easy. I thought there were a lot of great boards out there to choose from and I’d be able to find the ideal site in no time. Well, a couple hours later after weeding through some sub-standard sites, some dead/offline sites and some inactive ones I was about to give up. Then I happened across an advertisement that caught my attention.
The precise portion of that ad which lured me in stated this: L.T.B.L. Was born out of a need for a change, to breathe a bit of originality into that tired old script of one supernatural species versus the other…
That was brilliant! Just the fresh dose of realism we at Night Hawk were craving. And so I immediately checked out the site and what I found was surprising. A lot of us have gotten excited when we see an advertisement or synopsis of a board that sounds great but then we check the board and it looks uninspired. But this was not the case with Let There Be Life.
This site truly embraces a dark atmosphere from the first glimpse at the shadowy dark skin and the simple yet amazingly eye-catching banner that tells you without hesitation where you are. I was thinking as I looked through the site, “Here’s a place that’s taking a tried-and-true formula and giving it a true to life visceral vision.” Sites like this seem to be rare but they do exist and Life is a prime example of what happens when someone takes a stab into the vein of realism, dropping the romantic approach to what should be a horrifying nightmare.
I got the impression that this was a very literate site for mature writers who want to play a more life-like role in a supernatural environment. I would go as far as saying it is an R-rated RPG designed for older players and concerns very detailed rules and plots. But I wasn’t content at just looking at the site and writing this article. What I needed to do for our Night Hawk audience is get deeper into the mind behind this creation.
So I contacted the site owner, Lexxibeth. I explained to her that this site was the ideal type of RPG that we here at Night Hawk are interested in featuring for our premier. Our audience needs to know that there are still some people out there with original ideas who are not falling back on the same ol’, same ol’.
To get the real answers and not just my own take on the site I asked Lexxibeth some very important questions concerning the site. And the answers I got in return were more concise than anything I could relate to you in my own words.
WHAT IS THE IDEA BEHIND “LIFE”?
LEXXIBETH:
It would be most accurate to say that “Life” is a story of stories.. It sort of mirrors my own ideology of the world. Stories within stories and stories that beget other stories. There are countless plots and tales that all interweave. The Photographer who meets his real life Muse. The orphaned son wanting to do his parents proud. A scooter shop owner that doesn’t know he’s looking for Mrs. Right. Sibling betrayals. Break-ups, make ups and fake-ups.
There’s all the old power struggles in there, “my side versus your side and mind you don’t step on that flesh-bag”, but when has that ever been the full story?
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE “LIFE”?
LEXXIBETH:
For LTBL, I think the main driving force was a love for mythologies. Character creation {biographies in particular} whilst it’s a labor of love at times it is probably my favorite part of the process. With LIFE there were whole clans and factions to get into the history of and I got to indulge in something I had always longed for but had never seen. {See: Wornswords, the resident Pagan Shifter/Earth Sentinel clan.}
WHAT WILL THIS SITE OFFER THAT OTHER SIMILAR SITES DO NOT?
LEXXIBETH:
The main problem, as I’ve always seen it, is that the blood suckers are the bad guys, the hairy ones are the guardians and the airy fairies and humans play the ones in the middle or just playing oblivious. We’ve tried to get rid of those fences with LTBL so everyone’s pretty much just running amok and needn’t ever even glance at the “Site Wide”. You can be the Seer that abuses his mind control. You can be the Shifter that doesn’t shift or the Siren that can’t draw blood without a knife. Be beautiful, defective, arrogant, insane, there’s a story you can be playing. Your own story.. whilst now and then stumbling into somebody else’s.
THIS SITE IS OBVIOUSLY OF A MATURE NATURE AND HAS ELEMENTS OF HORROR, CAN YOU EXPLAIN TO ME EXACTLY WHAT THAT MEANS?
LEXXIBETH:
It means that you ought not to walk along the beach front on your own — any time of the day — and our Hunters won’t always let you die right away. Shifting shape, whether you’re Shifter or Siren, isn’t a beautiful metamorphosis with an easy result. LTBL has sharp, rusty corners that hurt.
We love the school of thought that says everyone has the capacity to take a life. Hell, it’s our mission to prove it.
WHAT KINDS OF THINGS AND PLOTS HAVE YOUR PLAYERS ALREADY DONE?
LEXXIBETH:
We’re practically newborns, in forum terms. We opened last October but we’ve got all sorts going on and loads more waiting in the wings. When we’re talking Canon plots, there’s a murder ‘mystery’ going on right now that involves almost all of the major factions along with a bunch of rogues. There’s a Siren contaminating the blood banks and sitting back to watch the chaos. A bunch of “for the love of science!” Hunters running riot. Our resident Big Evil is one Mr. Lynch who hasn’t killed anyone, that we know of, but has designs on ripping down most of Bournemouth. Clubs are opening, debts are racking up, humans are being ensnared.
Our players themselves run from the lethargic drug dealer on the run from love and finding out that moving things with her mind isn’t so unique. To the slightly less tame dj with cannibalistic tendencies.
IF “LET THERE BE LIFE” HAD A SOUNDTRACK WHAT WOULD BE THE INTRO SONG?
LEXXIBETH:
Remy Zero’s “Gramarye” was always first choice. It has that haunted feel that builds to a powerful crescendo. It’s beautiful, magical, but even if you can’t quite make out the words you still get that feeling that it’s not about anything pleasant.
((I took a listen to this song and it is pretty much as Lexibeth describes it, everyone should look it up and give it a listen)
When I asked Lexxibeth to give me some blurbs about the site she gave me one that had me smiling and somewhat disturbed, both are good things!
GIVE ME A BLURB FOR “LET THERE BE LIFE”?
“Let There Be Life is like a box of chocolates.. with mutilated fingers and bits of jigsaw puzzles.”
And so there you have it people. I don’t think I could possibly say anything else about this site other than it looks like it’s going to be a wild and disturbing ride!
So go visit Lexxibeth in Bournemouth, and leave all your prior notions about the supernatural on the sidewalk.
Speaking as an actual member of the site (even though I’m still a young’un), I must confess freely that this is a site worth joining for its amazing originality. It’s truly a place for rp-ers of more preternatural tastes wanting not the same banal stereotypes for the creatures they’ve come to love and even those with overactive imaginations will find that their minds might even implode from the possibilities awaiting them on LTBL.
When I first encountered site via numerous ad on other sites I have/had joined, I must say I was not only curiously suspicious, but hopeful as well that I might find that one site I would be totally loyal to and would fight for.
My first attraction was the visually stunning layout of the site created by the many talented Lexxibeth. Its darkness met with an inner Venus which enthralled me. But what really had me falling more and more was the characters. Both canon and original alike had me in their sway and there was no I could escape it–even if I wanted too, which I doubt I’d do.
I believe I will be staying with LTBL and its motley crew of fleshies and beasties for quite some time. And I highly recommend it for anyone with the passion for writing if not just creating to come on over and check it out. I promise you will not be disappointed.