Millicent Wyndham, 1823

@Lady Amalthea



I have so many questions now. O.O

-Reads latest Thanash collab-
...Well, that was fast.

I don't think so.

I've gone from meeting on a blind date to madly in love in half the time. When things work, time isn't a factor. I wish people would stop thinking it is. If things are wrong, they will always be wrong. If they are right, they are right from the start.

@Morose

Sorry, I'm not in the position to influence nor relate details of the grand design, if I ever was at all. But, remember the Rule of Thumb here:

I don't think so.

I've gone from meeting on a blind date to madly in love in half the time. When things work, time isn't a factor. I wish people would stop thinking it is. If things are wrong, they will always be wrong. If they are right, they are right from the start.

Eh, maybe I'm too young and inexperienced to know these things.

I just kind of felt like in an environment like this, it might take longer to trust people, even if said person is a distanced sibling of someone you know.

Also, that was almost 30 paragraphs of stuff that basically involves no one else (in that no one's character is likely to hear about it, ever, and no one changes locarions in a way that affects anyone). I spent about 2 hours reading that. Initially i saw the point of the "read everything" rule, but if we get more of this im going to get ticked off.

I don't think you shouldn't write stuff like this, or that it doesn't add to the story in some aay, but it's not very respectful of people's schedules (and reading comprehension) to mandate that this not be skimmed.

I don't think so.

I've gone from meeting on a blind date to madly in love in half the time. When things work, time isn't a factor. I wish people would stop thinking it is. If things are wrong, they will always be wrong. If they are right, they are right from the start.

Eh, maybe I'm too young and inexperienced to know these things.

I just kind of felt like in an environment like this, it might take longer to trust people, even if said person is a distanced sibling of someone you know.

Also, that was almost 30 paragraphs of stuff that basically involves no one else (in that no one's character is likely to hear about it, ever, and no one changes locarions in a way that affects anyone). I spent about 2 hours reading that. Initially i saw the point of the "read everything" rule, but if we get more of this im going to get ticked off.

I don't think you shouldn't write stuff like this, nor did i claim that it doesn't add to the story in some aay, but it's not very respectful of people's schedules (and reading comprehension) to mandate that this not be skimmed.

P.S sorry if i sound like an asshole

@Oliver Yeah, you are. And saying sorry if you know you are being one doesn't absolve you.

Part of Rp is actually developing characters. Collabs are between two or more writers, so it affects them directly. Will these events become common knowledge further in the rp - maybe, maybe not. But it is showing the actual development and moving them forward, instead of just going "oh one day we meet, time skip, now we are in love" or even worse "I'm here, time skip, still here and nothings changed."

I read "place holder" posts constantly from people who are adding nothing to anyone's story, not even their own. It's part of Rp. You read everything, whether you like the post or not, and you don't sell your own writing short just because it irks someone.

Deal with it, or go.

@Oliver

You're absolutely correct. The collabs (which we are encouraged to do) certainly don't add the same kind of information to the storyline as Ciel's incessant status of being violently ill to the exclusion of all other activities.

Were one to read the posts, one may notice that (particularly for Ash) this is a character building moment. Don't get me wrong, his gradual alteration from being an well balanced guy to hearing voices and shutting people out almost entirely to having an emotional breakthrough (while retaining personal ethic) isn't quite as involved as Ciel suddenly having an onset of nausea, but I'll take what tiny accolades I can get for my efforts.

So far as it affecting no one? Any character with relation to Ash might notice something different about him, IF he happens to take an action contrary to his usual routine. If one doesn't metagame, it leads to character development of their own. If you want to keep your guy in a glass bubble of dead weight and stagnation, go right ahead. He will be treated accordingly by the other characters in play as he is presently: With a mix of annoyance and pity.

Please try to expand your scope with this. It's why we're here. God forbid we might actually create something and have a little fun while we're at it.

I enjoy collabs, and love the way they can bring out character development, relationships and well, your skill as a writer. Honestly, I've had collabs be very long, from meeting someone, to figuring out, hey, these two characters click, lets see how this goes. Yes, you get carried away, yes, it doesn't necessarily involve everyone else, but the point is, its development, and it actually is disrespectful to not read it.

I read everything. Why? Because I can get all fan girl-y over it and squeal and such at adorable moments or have an insight into others characters.

That being said, its time for me to go read the latest posts and post myself ^.^

@Caits God, I need a love up vote for that! Glad I'm not the only one that gets fan girly on people's collabs, lol

They're just so good, its a different writing style for collabs the it is for stand alone posts. And its always fascinating to see what people do with them. Some of my collabs, I go back and read several times. Even now, with a roleplay that didn't last, i go back and read the collabs between my character and anothers, because it's just so good!

@Oliver

You're absolutely correct. The collabs (which we are encouraged to do) certainly don't add the same kind of information to the storyline as Ciel's incessant status of being violently ill to the exclusion of all other activities.

Were one to read the posts, one may notice that (particularly for Ash) this is a character building moment. Don't get me wrong, his gradual alteration from being an well balanced guy to hearing voices and shutting people out almost entirely to having an emotional breakthrough (while retaining personal ethic) isn't quite as involved as Ciel suddenly having an onset of nausea, but I'll take what tiny accolades I can get for my efforts.

So far as it affecting no one? Any character with relation to Ash might notice something different about him, IF he happens to take an action contrary to his usual routine. If one doesn't metagame, it leads to character development of their own. If you want to keep your guy in a glass bubble of dead weight and stagnation, go right ahead. He will be treated accordingly by the other characters in play as he is presently: With a mix of annoyance and pity.

Please try to expand your scope with this. It's why we're here. God forbid we might actually create something and have a little fun while we're at it.

Okay, so about the first part: I do what I'm prompted to. I work with what I'm given. Ì mean, so far my character has been active in only 2 days of gameplay. On the first, the kid was starving to death. On the second mhe got bunnied offscreen with the excuse of a medical appointment, so I went with that. Believe me, if I had known that it would come up so frequently, i would have made a healthier character (i thought it would only be an issue occasionally, and added it because I felt that he needed another flaw). I wholeheartedly believe that the sick thing is not my fault. And believe me, I'm not happy with it. I'm as annoyed as you are, but unless you want me to retcon the flaw out of existence, we are stuck. Sorry.

And like I said, i DON'T think that the collab was pointless. I just think it probably wasn't necessarily needed that it be read thoroughly. That said, i did read it before I complained.

All i meant was that I don't always have time to read 30 paragraph romance subplots.

@Oliver Yeah, you are. And saying sorry if you know you are being one doesn't absolve you.

Part of Rp is actually developing characters. Collabs are between two or more writers, so it affects them directly. Will these events become common knowledge further in the rp - maybe, maybe not. But it is showing the actual development and moving them forward, instead of just going "oh one day we meet, time skip, now we are in love" or even worse "I'm here, time skip, still here and nothings changed."

I read "place holder" posts constantly from people who are adding nothing to anyone's story, not even their own. It's part of Rp. You read everything, whether you like the post or not, and you don't sell your own writing short just because it irks someone.

Deal with it, or go.

I wasn't saying that I wasn't going to deal with it, for the love of all that is good and sacred.
I raised a complaint only because I have a limited capability to comprehend very long texts without breaking them into small sections, and I really hate having to do that for something that doesn't mean anything to the small part of the srory I'm a part of.
For the record, I like this RP. I'm a little frustrated with my character because I didn't think things through very well, but that's on me. I don't really want to make an issue, and to be honest i don't know what I was looking for when i complained.
To be honest, i regret it a little.
I just wasn't in the mood to stress out more about a game than about real life.

@Oliver Your character has been given plenty but the sickness it the only thing that ever comes up. Even with his design he shouldn't be that sick so often. He's been on meds since he arrived in Newnan and yet has just as much illness as when he arrived.

Yes, it is your fault if your character doesn't progress. It's up to you as an rper to progress the character. Not mine, not anyone else's. Yours. People keep trying to talk to him, he gives short answers and the posts keep being the same thing - He's sick. That's on you.

And why the complaints now? Ravi and Gavin have nothing to do with Newnan, Ryan and Chloe talking to each other, nothing to do with your character. Zoie and Richard didn't when everyone arrived in Newnan. Those are there for those rpers to push their characters forward. Without posting back and forth every day.

And you got bunnied off screen because you were gone, that was done as a favor to keep you in the rp while you dealt with private matters. And when you came back you weren't even sure if you were gonna post. We weren't gonna keep having a character on screen that wasn't going to be posted. It's as simple as that.

And yes, it is needed to read. It's part of Rp. Read first, then post. Doesn't matter if it never has anything to do with you character. Everyone reads your post even though they aren't responding to it, and they know what it will be - he's sick. But you don't hear them complaining. Cause that's your thing, you posted, they read it.

@Oliver Your character has been given plenty but the sickness it the only thing that ever comes up. Even with his design he shouldn't be that sick so often. He's been on meds since he arrived in Newnan and yet has just as much illness as when he arrived.

Yes, it is your fault if your character doesn't progress. It's up to you as an rper to progress the character. Not mine, not anyone else's. Yours. People keep trying to talk to him, he gives short answers and the posts keep being the same thing - He's sick. That's on you.

And why the complaints now? Ravi and Gavin have nothing to do with Newnan, Ryan and Chloe talking to each other, nothing to do with your character. Zoie and Richard didn't when everyone arrived in Newnan. Those are there for those rpers to push their characters forward. Without posting back and forth every day.

And you got bunnied off screen because you were gone, that was done as a favor to keep you in the rp while you dealt with private matters. And when you came back you weren't even sure if you were gonna post. We weren't gonna keep having a character on screen that wasn't going to be posted. It's as simple as that.

And yes, it is needed to read. It's part of Rp. Read first, then post. Doesn't matter if it never has anything to do with you character. Everyone reads your post even though they aren't responding to it, and they know what it will be - he's sick. But you don't hear them complaining. Cause that's your thing, you posted, they read it.

You really think I'm enjoying this, don't you? Believe me, I'm bored to tears with my own posts. I was actually syper excited for the day to be over so things could progress.
Progress doesn't happen in 2 days of game time. I had no idea that it would be this slow (and that's not a problem in and of itself, it just means that the amount of things that can happen over a whole 5 months of real time isn't much, unless you're rushing things to a weird and unrealistic degree)
I also misjudged the age range of the forums in general. A lot of you are about twice my age, or more. I wasn't expecting that.
And yeah. I'm dealing with stuff. You know that. I'm trying to work with what I have, and yeah, most of the problems are either directly or indirectly my fault.
But back to the original point, I have a problem with reading long texts quickly. 1-6 paragraphs is fine, 10 is pushing it, 15 and I'm staring at it for an hour. I had NO idea rp posts could even be that long.
So yeah.make of that what you will

The thing is, yes, it technical was only two post RP time, but actually, it was more. It was eight months. Timeskips don't just wipe out that time. You write, you reflect briefly on the development that should have occurred during that time.

At least, that is what I think.

Of course, I might be biased. I have learned to read a 15 page research paper in ten minutes, and have been an avid reader my whole life.

I love collabs myself personally, mostly because I get cravings for specific characters. I do this with my TV shows and my books, where if I'm craving a character or a set-up, I'll binge it. I'll go back and read every post by that character--for example, if I'm on a Great Bazhooli kick, I go and read all the Great Bazhooli posts. The best posts for a craving? Collabs. The character interaction seems so much more genuine to me, since you're able to have a smoother and more natural dialogue flow. Plus, you get to come up with insanely cute ship names. Like Gavi? Love that.

Collabs naturally worry me because, in my experience, they have led to the downfall of RPs (due to people waiting for others, thus not being able to post, thus not progressing, this people losing interest and leaving, etc.) but with the due date on posts with these RPs that isn't a problem, plus Lady A has rules about collabs and offers extensions should things happen (like your collab partner not updating with enough time).

In terms of reading everything. I can't say I haven't been guilty of skim reading most posts (though I've been very good lately!). Part of that isn't because I'm thinking "if this doesn't involve my character, I don't wanna read it" but more because I am excited about posting and don't want to run through everything. But, ya gotta do it if you wanna know what's going on. You'd be surprised what information you get from reading through other's posts. Plus, we got some skilled writers here. It's impressive, really.

There have been a number of collaborative writing efforts that have not come under @Oliver's unkind notice. Let's go ahead and address the elephant in the room.

The collab between Ash and Thana was one that began as being purely professional (and even a touch antisocial) to one that got very personal over the course of a number of hours. I'm not sorry to say that this was absolutely not planned, evolving naturally over the course of the past couple of weeks of writing. Their personalities mesh, and there were a series of unprompted responses that geared the conversation and resulting actions therefrom toward one of mutual affection, based upon the psychology of the characters and their history. Being more blunt, Ash has had one hell of a year, and Thana was the only person that even bothered to ask how he was feeling. Add to that the common frame of professional reference, the possibility that neither one of them may be alive the next day, the peach moonshine and the firelight, there's no wonder that things are getting awfully personal in Captain Holloway's Love Bungalow.

But that's really the problem, isn't it? To begin with, it was a series of long collab posts, but those were okay. Or at least not complained about openly, though I have gotten some good feedback from the chat room. The problem, such as it isn't, only occurred when the subject matter got a little too PG for some tastes, prompting an unrelated bash in the OOC. And the issue of post length didn't come out until after Lady A responded, insisting that the speed with which events progressed in the IC was not unrealistic. Then it became the focus. I call bullshit.

Now, addressing the issue of character illness, being sick isn't the end-all-be-all of this situation. It's why we developed jobs for each of the characters. Everyone has a primary and secondary job in Newnan. If nothing else, it gives you something to post about. If you're a Lead, you get some leeway to organize and delegate authority over others. If you're not a Lead, you get with whomever is playing the Lead of your particular area and work something out. If you don't like your jobs, ask for a transfer and cite why. The worst that can happen is they'll say no.

Considering the mystery illness is likely not some manner of heretofore undiagnosed form of sphincter pox, take the initiative, get Ciel on some Kaopectate, and contribute something to the vast and squishy world in which we've got multiple imaginary people residing. And if it's getting to be a bit too much detail and/or distance with the Ash/Thana collab, I'd love to hear it from someone else.

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@Morose
Thank you for mentioning The Great Bazhooli as one of the things you occasionally look up, even if it's a "for instance". I feel that he died well before his story could be told. Of course in hindsight, he was too watered down. The TWD Great Bazhooli was Americanized and descended of several Great Bazhoolis who were each forged in interesting times over the generations. The Zombie Apocalypse was supposed to resharpen the bloodline by forcing him to live up to his ancestors' ideals. This is why I'm looking forward to the Soulless Regency Great Bazhooli. He will be so much more ...Bazhooli... than his contemporary descendant.