I felt like I might as well, seeing as well-knowner like Elendra did it and I'm sort of a lurker here in the non Sky-Stone based Spam community.
Doivid said
"what drew you to rping?"
Laziness and escapism, what else?
I had been trying to write stories for a while, but getting the motivation to write past the first chapter was a killer. Still is. I've honestly never written anything other than prologues, first chapters, and a couple paragraphs of the second for any of the books I've been trying to write. Because I loved writing, and having a partner made it so much easier, roleplaying seemed like an ideal push to get me back on track.
Of course, four or five years later, I'm still in the same situation.
On the other hand, roleplays allowed me to work more on developing characters with their own personality. It's easier to create a believable reaction for a character when you are actually reacting at the same time, I find. You really have to know what you're doing if you're building it all up yourself. So roleplaying allowed me to better harness my various characters, and put them in a variety of genres I'm not typically familiar with. At the same time, it allowed me to participate in stories, and as an avid reader, I loved watching these tales unfold, even if none ever came into fruition.
Doivid said
"where'd you get your username from?"
Holmishire was the name of a village for the first "serious" writing project I gave myself. (The only one before that starred an orphaned lightning wizard kid with a bunch of other misfit kids. I plan on deconstructing it and all my childhood imagination later.) Its affiliations with writing were largely why I used it here, instead of my more traditional account names—PureLife, the Minotaur, and the Vhamotaur. It the became my primary username, because the only people who actually refer to me by a username are Guildies, and many of them have become good friends.
I considered switching it to Holmi, but I prefer nicknames to remain just that—nicknames. Otherwise, it removes some of the charm.
Doivid said
"what about Spam appeals to you?"
I came to Spam because of Blorbs. I stayed because of the community.
Dumb as it may seem, throughout my childhood, I kept making
really good friends and losing them as soon as they moved away. It was always my fault. I couldn't maintain a friendship without constant connection, and once they were out of my school, I forgot to care, no matter how much I wished I didn't. Then, as I got older, it got worse. Why? Because I stopped being able to make
new friends. I went through a strongly recluse period, and came out with a very different, very meek personality. Everyone at school likes me, and when I let out my true colours, I get extra popular, but the only people who actually remain my friends were the ones I made just before or during my recluse period. Since then, any attempts I make at making friends ends up just being promoted acquaintances. I like them, I like talking to them, but not so often as to reasonably hang out with them.
So now, as I slowly drift away from the only friends that matter, and I remain incapable of making meaningful new ones, I latched on more and more to the Spam community. Because no matter what school I go to, what job I get, where I live, how busy I am, they'll always be just a click away. Maintaining isn't hard with these guys, so if I lose all my friends in real life, at least I'll have the comfort of friends on the internet.
The community here has meant a lot to me in the past couple years, and in part, has encouraged me to open myself up even more outside of it. While I hope to keep my few remaining friends outside the Guild, I have no fear of losing all of you, and that makes me feel like I belong somewhere, and I don't need to be forever doomed to being a recluse like I once was.
Doivid said
"what are your other interests besides roleplaying/writing?"
I like drawing. (I still need to finish those Spammer drawings, got busier than expected with my horrible sleeping schedule.)
I also like worldbuilding and designing characters. Each story I make for my future endeavours has a "focus" or two. These focuses are
the most important things for the success of the story, ad
need to be finalized before production can begin. For example,
Fairytale Fantasy? Function focus—designing the magic system—and political motivations.
All-out Fantasy? Function focus—designing the magic system.
Fireworks? Function focus—designing the species.
Distortion? Character focus and plot. And so on. Each of these worlds I create, in direct relation with their focuses, are tests for me. Ways for me to learn genre and style, so that each is extensively unique. If I get bored with one, I can switch to working on another for a while. I have dozens set up in these worldbuilding tests.
I'm a casual gamer. Also a casual reader. I like walking, too, especially speed-walking.
Doivid said
But don't just stop there, anticipate other questions in the same vein as those. The more you put into it, the more progress i'm sure well make here.
um
maybe later