Well, it's NOT!

[in_the_blue]

Well, it's probably more some rants on roleplay. Hey! I haven't had one of these in a long time!

On every RP board I've ever played on, there have been two huge rushes, one or the other of which almost everybody falls into. The first is the rush to True Love, and the second is the rush to pregnancy. But G., you might say, you're guilty as charged! Look at you! You have 3 characters in relationships and 2 with pregnancies!

Okay, I say, fair enough. Let's examine that using my characters as an example. Let's start with dogstar_academy, because it's a good place to start. I started Sirius at an old Hogwarts-based board back before... well, put it this way: I've been playing him so long, he was alive and well in canon when I started. Then, I invited sff_corgi to play with me, and she started with the understanding that her character and Sirius had a background and that her character still had a thing for him (correct me if I'm wrong, C, but that's how I remember it). They came to play together not really with the express purpose of being a couple, but of having known one another and had an unspoken thing in the past. It took a while, but he did fall for her. Of course, he had to ask her to marry him six times before she said yes, and they were actually a couple for a year and a half before they got married. And... no kids. Medeni doesn't want kids, so no kids. Just dogs. So I thnk their relationship has progressed at a pretty normal pace, all things considered. No "oh my God, Medeni, I knew you!" and waking up to her the next morning.

I just retired Charlie Weasley from there and yeah, he and Tonks are married. I have to say that Jane (Tonks's player) wanted her to get pregnant but Charlie vetoed it. She tried again; I vetoed again. It didn't feel like it was in his nature. It took them a year or so before they got hitched, too. Things progress as they're supposed to, I think. Now, though, he's retired.

And Mary Frances... she's never even had a boyfriend. Crushes, sure, but never a relationship. She's only just 17 anyway, and about to be retired too.

On milliways_bar when I brought in Spike, it was with the intention that he wasn't going to get involved. With any woman (or man because, canonically, straight, deal with it). Ever. Even though, canonically again, the one love of his life was dead and he was in essence free to move on; I just didn't see it that way. Then the bastard went upstairs with some blonde chick from another canon and decided he liked it. Two years later, she's 9 months pregnant... but ouch, not by him. It's part of Beth's canon; all we had to do was manipulate time to make it work. Did he want kids? Shit, folks, this is Spike Spiegel we're talking about: of course he didn't want kids. But it wasn't something that destroyed their relationship, although pieces of it have come closer than anything else. That's... well, we knew it would be a hard situation. They both have so many doubts and fears about it. He did kinda sorta ask Beth to marry him when they found out, but fortunately she's a pragmatic Capricorn and said something along the lines of how fucking stupid are you, we're from different worlds and that was that. Besides, they're pretty committed to each other. I think they don't need marriage. And really, who knows what will happen after that baby arrives? Not us. We don't script it all out in advance, but that goes for me with all my RP characters. I like letting them surprise me, rather than me forcefitting something on them.

When I adopted Bill, his original player wanted him to be gay. Canonically he's not, so I didn't want to play him that way. I took him over from her with that understanding, and that was fine with her or I wouldn't have done it. In Milliways canon, it had already been established that he and Fleur had split, so... yeah! He was bitter, and I had to retrofit a bunch of backstory that suited me as to why he was there and all that stuff. It took a long time for him to realize he still liked Fleur. I mean, face it (and no offense, Heather): Milliways Fleur is a slut. I had to look inside and see if he was forgiving enough to let things happen, and when they did, they were totally unexpected. In Millicanon they'd been engaged before and broken it off; getting engaged a second time was only done after some careful consideration (actually it's true!). And then... well, Fleur kind of didn't do her pregnancy prevention spellwork on purpose, and she did that without telling Bill. But Bill being who he is wasn't about to tell her to "fix" it. So their timeline... about a year and a half.

My other characters -- Gren, Howl -- aren't in relationships. Gren might like to be, but he isn't. Great as he is, he's enormously complex. Howl simply can't be, not at this point in his canon.

So I ask others: why the rush to One True Romance? Why the rush to add pregnancy and infants to roleplay situations? Have people thought it through, or do they just get swept up in the romance of the moment, of not having to be really accountable, not having to really bear the responsibililty? When people roleplay having babies, especially, have they thought through the ramifications? What it will do to their characters' relationship? What it means to be sleepless for nights on end? To share the responsibilities? To feed and bathe an infant? I can say without even getting a chip on my shoulder that I've thought this out a lot, at least so far as Spike goes. This was a canonically-inspired event for Beth; Paige and I both knew that neither of us had it in us to ignore what happens to Beth in canon. So we adapt, and we make it as honest as we can for the characters. We might not get it a hundred percent right, but damn if we're not thinking about how it might go. At least it's on our minds. At least it wasn't one of those "hey, everyone else is doing it, why don't we?"

I guess the other thing I always wonder is if pregnancies (and relationships) in roleplay aren't some odd kind of perverse fantasy fulfillment for things people aren't having in real life. That's a more disturbing trend, I think.

And those are my thoughts on it. I'd love to hear yours, especially if your opinion varies.

Your Element Is Air

You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world. And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly. Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life. You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful. You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person. With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that!

What's Your Element?

Comments

[jessanndi.livejournal.com]

I would imagine the age and social background of the character's owner would have an influence. It's all part of the happy ever after story that we are all looking for.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I find it entirely fascinating. I play with a lot of real youngsters -- high school, college -- and I wonder sometimes if it isn't a tryout for later in life. Of course, I'm olderthanyou, so when I was that age I didn't roleplay. I just wrote it out in fiction.

I like the interactivity of roleplay, but some of the trends perplex me. Honestly, I think some of it is that people see other people doing things, so they want to try those things out too. It's less a case of hive mentality than "oh, that seems like it might be fun" or "maybe that'd be a good challenge." I'm not bothered by it. I'm just all kinds of curious.

[annadigsplants.livejournal.com]

Well, Anna is 45, was married for 18 years with no children, and has always wanted a child. She has no current prospects for getting one, but would jump at it given the chance.

And it's not some unfulfilled wish on my part, considering I had 4 by the time I was 27. I know what the ramifications are.

But for Anna, that longing for motherhood is part of who she is. Whether it will ever be fulfilled or not? That's another story. But I think if it's part of who the character is, then that's how it plays.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Heh. Poor Anna. Or not: she's complex and yet so simple, it's an interesting characterization. I'll be curious to see what happens with her. I think the key thing you've said here is if it's part of who the character is, then that's how it plays. That's so true.

[arasnaem.livejournal.com]

I think anything that involves more than just your own character in any significant way should actually be considered by 4 people. The two characters, you, and your partner-in-crime. There should be extensive discussions between the puppetmasters, if you will, about how things will shake down, and timeline, and all that jazz. When you know your fellow co-conspirator very well (I've known one of mine for almost a decade, and the other one I talk to on a daily basis), you can tell when the suggestion of a certain story line makes them uncomfortable, or if they suggest one purely as a joke.

Speaking for my character who was actually created as backstory for another character, our current story line really came out of nowhere. What had originally looked like a temporary thing has suddenly become more permanent. This shift was discussed extensively with the other puppet master, and all points are agreed upon before getting written in. Characters can surprise you with they request be written in.

Speaking for my other character, he arrived onstage with a broken heart and many wounds. He fought, kicking and screaming most of the way, the relationship he's currently in. In some respects, he's still struggling against it. In other respects, he wants to rush headlong into things. It's a fine line to walk, keeping both of us on an even keel in terms of a healthy relationship, but we're trying.

In short (or long, rather), I think that if you stay true to the characters, yourself, and your partner-in-crime, it should be ok. Just try not to project yourself, or what you want, onto the characters. (If I'd done that, Neville and Kate would be married by now! :P)

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Characters can surprise you with they request be written in.

Oh, tell me about it! Heh! Those stubborn sons of bitches! They have minds of their own! One thing I love about RP is that I never know what direction characters will take. For instance, with the summer plot on D*, I only had vague ideas of how it was going to go. I didn't write any of the speeches beyond the first ahead of time; I couldn't. I wanted to wait and see what had happened so none of it sounded contrived. I fully expected something big to happen, but for Sirius the something big ended up being the Karen subplot, where she was taken away from him. That totally blindsided me because, you know, Sirius likes to think he has everything planned out in advance and that one he didn't even see coming. So that was very, very cool.

Might I say I love it when the unexpected happens? I'm not pointing fingers at anything with this little rant. I'm just expressing curiosity. I think we have one of the best RP boards out there, in terms of quality of players, and I adore it. I think everyone's doing a wonderful job with their characters. Wonderful. It's a pleasure to check the board every five minutes day and see what the collective minds are coming up with. And I'm really glad you and Gov joined us.

[arasnaem.livejournal.com]

We're happy to be aboard as well. I didn't think you were pointing fingers, just wanted to chip in my two Knuts on the matter, as you usually say things are open for discussion. I'm not usually much of a debater, but decided this was worth speaking up.

*giggles* Only every 5 minutes? I'm in shock...you should refresh more often that that, at least lately.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

On my old computer, my F5 key was totally worn away.

I'm such a geek.

[wickedtrue.livejournal.com]

*giggles*

None taken what so ever! She is a whore. She's a funny whore, but still a whore. People seem to over look that for some reason because she is funny.

I'm happy with how their relationship progressed. It was a surprise! And it just evolved. That and I always love playing with you, so I always had fun. :D It all works out for the best, it really does.

That's what I think, anyway.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

At Millicon, my inner Bill was taking notes: hmm, she never told me about that one. Didn't know about that one either. Oh, and him too? And... her? Fleur, who didn't you sleep with? Anything else you want to tell me?

It was a riot.

And yes, it does work out for the best. I mean, not to be all Spike and cool loner with a gun and all that, but it's true: whatever happens happens. We can't always make them perform on demand, so to speak. Things I've thought would happen haven't, and things I never expected have.

[prplhez8.livejournal.com]

*pulls on big girl panties*

I would like to think that we know each other well enough to have complete candor with one another, so I feel compelled to weigh in. Even though I've got no character that is currently preggers.

It goes back to the post you made on the last order about relationships and whatnot. *shrugs* Didn't look for it, it happened anyways. But like I've said before, if left to Sara and I, Kate and Neville would be currently in wedded bliss. But that would be completely unfair and untrue to our characters. You know their stories, so I'll not repeat them. We do not, for one second, want to push them. They've been through a batch of shit and are fledgling. Adding a baby to that mix would be pure insanity. And anyway, isn't everyone always going on about how its not the destination but the journey itself?

Now on the other hand: Established relationships (ie. Spike/Beth). I've enjoyed watching them go through Beth's pregnancy and all the ... stuff that goes along with a real and honest pregnancy and relationship. It honestly gives me a great example and something to shoot for if Kate ever finds herself in that position. Which comes back to the reality of the situation of the relationship of Neville and Kate's. *shrugs* We're just trying to keep it real.

I guess what I'm rambling on and saying is, I agree. RP shouldn't fill a void of what you're missing in RL. I joined your board to play with you and write and meet some of the kick ass people you were always yakking about and write with them too. I got a helluva alot more than that out of my end of the bargain.

So, for what it's worth, that's my two cents.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Or your two Knuts. (No pun intended.)

I'm not saying that everyone should write like me (heaven forbid) or be like Spike, Mr. Keep-it-all-inside. He's a boiling cauldron of emotion inside, and outside he's all... "huh." But that's him canonically, and for me, it's all about letting characters react in as much of a canonical way as I can fathom given the AU-ness of roleplay. It's malleable and always changing, and there's no way a roleplay board can stick only to canon. That's already been written, and you might as well just read the books at that point. The love-and-pregnancy thing has been kind of an epidemic other places beyond ours, and that's why I'm curious about that. I think we're dashedly well-behaved.

Unless you want to blame the tequila.

(And here I thought you joined my RP board so you could learn all of Madam Pomfrey's untold secrets of Hogwarts.) Heh. Juuuuuust kidding you.

[h311ybean]

Rush 1: Check. Rush 2: Er...

As far as Hex and Maeve are concerned, I did sort of rush them into No. 1 because they got together in fanfic and I wanted to have them get together in RP, too. However, I'm in no rush towards No. 2 (at least in RP) because I can easily write that in fanfic or have my Hex and Maeve Sims act it out. In general, I try not to get ahead of myself but I still get tempted :D

Peter, on the other hand, was supposed to be a single guy. Entering into a relationship with Blanche just happened. IIRC he was a bit surprised by it at first :D but he seems quite happy. He isn't in any rush towards No. 2 though!

I suppose the Hex-and-Maeve thing is a little bit like fantasy fulfillment because I'm playing out this scenario wherein the attraction between the parties involved is mutual, but playing on Dogstar is also an exercise to get to know my characters better, improve my writing from their points of view, and of course socialize with others online :)

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

You know, don't you, that this isn't pointing fingers. (People always think I'm doing that, and I'm not, just being opinionated in my own journal.) I know that Hex and Maeve have a fanfic background and to deny that would be silly. Clearly, I'm not against either the relationship thing or the pregnancy thing, and I find Blanche and Peter as entirely adorable as Hex and Maeve.

[enelya-oronar.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed reading this thread. I am not a RPG'er but I do appreciate and envy the time and creativity involved. I have read a few RPGs that friends have linked to me - and I gotta tell you, sex is everywhere. In all of them - some are worse then others. I suspect a vast number of RPG'ers enjoy smut and do use the RPG as an outlet for their desires.

You re-emphasized the need to keep your characters in canon. But all I could think was in canon, if I recall correctly, in the last part of the series, uummm Spike had an issue - didn't he?

*intentionally vague to avoid spoiling anyone reading*

Sorry, its canon. I did not write it.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Everyone who reads here is spoiled, now that you've watched the series. I'm not sure what issue you're talking about, except maybe the whole END OF EVERYTHING one. Go on, spill the beans. I'm keen for it.

[enelya-oronar.livejournal.com]

Um, yeah, that would be the one. You know - when Spike appears to completely die? kinda hard to be true to his canon character when the canon character is not breathing! Would you agree?

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Not if you don't bring him in from after canon is complete.

I'm walking a fine line with him. I brought him in after he killed Vicious but before he made it all the way down the steps.

Wiggle room. Even Watanabe-san said something like "Spike sleeps a lot, so maybe he's just sleeping." Of course, I think he was just being evasive. I think over is over, but I'm not playing him from that point in canon. Just like when I played Vicious, it was from before his bird sacrificed himself to cause a distraction. So... it's all a question of which point in canon you're playing from.

With Spike, there are so many theories. So many. That's a whole other discussion, though.

[agonistes]

The only character of mine who's in a relationship at the moment is Kaylee. I think canon would have gotten there, had there been more of it -- and Serenity bore that out, last September. Maybe not as far as we've taken it, but -- it's a possibility, in Whedon's work. He's done it in other places. (Thinking particularly of Xander and Anya.) And Batya and I aren't discussing "okay, this is when we want them to have an anklebiter"; any of that's been spur of the moment.

None of my other characters have had a relationship quite like this. Roland canonically had other, more pressing priorities (like saving the multiverse), and Cooper...has no business being in a relationship, whether or not he knows it. (Looking at the end of season two? Oh yes I am.) And it just doesn't fit with the arc I'm trying to do.

I like dealing with the logistical issues of the lives of my characters. I know a lot of people don't. On a general level, I think it has something to do with the relationship between escapism and the desire for stability -- people RP because it's something different than what's every day, and they want stability. And we're told a lot in American culture that once you have marriage and a kid, you're in for life. Doesn't matter if the statistics don't back that up.

Speaking generally, I don't think it's perverse, in most cases. Wish fulfillment, yeah. But not perverse. I also think it might be a difference in perspective -- I RP to tell a story, and it seems like you do the same thing. Other people do it as escapism, which means they're going to have different priorities than realism.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I think I like to do a little storytelling, yeah. One thing that was so hard for me when I played Cooper is that he was the only one from Twin Peaks, and you know that at first glance he can seemingly be such a twit; I think a lot of people who were unfamiliar with his canon misinterpreted that in him. You've got entire story arcs to tell with him, which is great. And I didn't play him enough to really establish many relationships for him.

But really, that's pretty much it: I like the storytelling. I don't care who complains that I write too much or my posts are too long or there's too much internalization. That's my character. That's what Spike is like. Almost all of his posts could be distilled down into a handful of spoken words (mostly like "huh?" or "yeah?"), but that doesn't do his complex nature any service at all. So I write the way the character demands to be written, and that's kind of all there is to it as far as I'm concerned.

I've seen RP boards that had specifications on the minimum number of lines allowed in a post. I'm not a fan of that. Sometimes, one-line posts are perfect. Sometimes they're not. I don't usually choose to play in many threads of the one-line variety, because I feel like it forces me to do all the work. But other peoples' mileage may vary. Of course, Paige and I also have done a stylistic thing with threads consisting of posts of just one word per post, and they tell their own story. That's an exercise we do from time to time for fun.

Look. I'm rambling! I do that sometimes.

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

[tangent] I ROFL at your icon. :D [/tangent]

[further tangent] Will be divebombing ATL at the end of September. You gonna be around? [/ft]

[vivien]

I was rather surprised how quickly Tom and Door fell for each other. I mean, I was swept off my feet along with them! It was unexpected and wow, so much fun. We matched them up quickly because we didn't think the game would go much longer past that first summer.

Heh.

But we (Lynette and I, and now Lynne and I) are deadset against Tom and Door having babies yet, because Door is still only 19. Besides that, they have "children" even though Door and Ingress are sisters first.

So even though they got "hitched" quick, they won't have the babies for a while. :-P Which I find funny, since I can't have my own. You'd think I'd be all about writing about the having of babies. But no, I am just not about that.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm always surprised when characters fall for each other, honestly. I don't think I've ever gone into a roleplay game with any character intending for that to happen. I always think it's kind of a riot at Milliways that Gren, who's gay canonically, can't buy himself a date, what with all the guys there. He's not looking per se, but it amuses me no end.

That's neither here nor there.

I think Beth and Spike are the longest-standing unmarried couple at Milliways. I'm kind of proud of that.

But relationships aside, one thing I love so much about Tom is how multidimensional you've made him. He's not just about the relationship with Door; he's about the relationships he has with everyone and man, is he sweeter than anything with Ingress. He's very intriguing, and I have to say I was skeptical at first. But yeah, he gets my thumbs up, for what that's worth.

[vivien]

*blushes* Thanks! Your thumbs up means a heck of a lot to me!

Considering I was going to play him as a penny dreadful villain who was sexually amniguous when I first brought him in, he's become just... really interesting. I never intended him to be the fatherly type, but man, it fits his Horcrux incarnate self. :-P

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

That's a good short form of it. Medeni started out with going to flirt with him outrageously, then to general amusement, when Sirius came back with all his... Siriusness, she turned into a wallflower. Heh. Worked out pretty well, though.

She doesn't want to have kids because, for one - Sirius is quite enough to deal with, even when he's better. She agrees with his reasons, and probably doesn't want to be tied down to/with someone so helpless and (let's face it) inconvenient for so long. She's used to a different kind of life. The puppies are 'portable'.

If Sirius reallyreally wanted his own genetic inheritance, she could probably ('could'? 'probably'? bwahahaha. it's sirius, c'mon) be swayed; but I think they're both perfectly happy adopting everyone who comes over their threshhold instead.

In the case of a lot of the RP'ers, it might be they're mistaking 'we're having a baby' for another kind of committment announcement; or leverage; or comedy. It's like they're watching too much network TV - correction, too much TV made before 'Survivor' became the template for most of prime time instead of, oh, storytelling. It's a matter of ignorance/lack of experience rather than stupidity -- I don't think there's anyone at Milliways who could be flat-out characterised as 'stupid', there isn't room for it there.

Except maybe Link from Zelda.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I really don't think Sirius is father material. I could stretch to play him that way, but he knows he's not exactly stable. He already marvels that Medeni can stand him when he's depressed, or, hell, even when he's on a good tangent. There's also that whole wanted dead or alive thing hanging over him, and like he said to her wayyyy back on the first Hogwarts board, what's he going to do, tell the kids to pack up their dolls because the Dementors are on their way?

No, I think he has quite enough on his plate. It was Tonks, if I'm not mistaken, who did the whole "Sirius wants kids, Medeni doesn't" thing. I don't think he's ever said to Medeni that he really really wants kids, other than as some idle sort of "what if some day things were different and this was possible" musing. He's just selfish enough not to want to have to share his cariad, though. In his life -- the way I play him, at least -- he hasn't had a lot of love and affection. He wasn't some Hogwarts Adonis. As JKR said, he was too busy being a big rebel to settle down. And now he's pretty crazy, even though he hides it well.

But he really needs the stability Medeni provides. Like it or not, he's entirely reliant on her. I have the sneaking suspicion she secretly likes that.



Look! You get the Sirius icon. :D

[sff-corgi.livejournal.com]

Oh, :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: and :nod:. They're happy with each other, quite preoccupied. The gloss ain't wearin' off that anytime soon.

And yes, she likes being needed, it's bluidy gratifying.

I still love that shot of him. ^_^

[zahdi.livejournal.com]

they're mistaking 'we're having a baby' for another kind of committment announcement; or leverage; or comedy... It's a matter of ignorance/lack of experience rather than stupidity -

That hits the nail on the head for me. It's a little tiring *sighs... but doesn't dwell on it, for chance of extreme cynicism coming to say hi*. In any case, I agree.

-- Zahdi

[hooper-x.livejournal.com]

Pft.

Shipwreck just wanted extra-dimensional poontang.

-hx

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Brother, do I miss you and your honesty some days.

So were B&B there for the same thing, or just for the hard stuff?

[hooper-x.livejournal.com]

That was more of a deconstructionist thing, seeing just how ridiculous and offensive I could get before people got pissed off and refused to play along.

-hx, also, I legitimately fucking love B&B.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

Heh. It'd be like having... oh, the South Park kids there or something. B&B are better characters, though. My daughter's just about old enough for the show now.

You ever think of coming back, or are you just way past done?

[hooper-x.livejournal.com]

I occccccccccasionally flirt with the idea, but I really don't have the time to fuck with it.

-hx, I pretty much ran Deadpool's character arc and then was burnt the fuck out.

Re: And for you, an essay...

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad I started this discussion, because everyone's answers are really fascinating me. I mentioned up there somewhere that all roleplay is inherently AU (not just the bar at the end of the universe thing), because canon's been done and any deviation from that at all is automatically AU simply because it didn't happen in canon. My goal for my own play is to keep my character's reactions and actions as close to my interpretation of their personality as possible given the constraints of the situations being non-canon.

There are things that happen that make me want to slap the players repeatedly, but most of those fall into the realm of players casting aside canon completely and without what seems like good or fair cause. I've heard things like who cares about what happens in canon, they're your character now and you can do whatever you want with them. That, to me, kind of defeats the whole purpose of playing someone else's character. I take issue with people who do that consistently.

I do wonder about the trends, though. It's nothing specific to Milliways; it feels kind of like a roleplay epidemic. I could be totally wrong: it wouldn't be the first time and it won't be the last. And while I could talk roleplay issues for days, I won't do that to you right now.

Re: And for you, an essay...

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

See, this is where we agree to disagree. I think if you're going to play a character, you play that character whether the game is canon-based or plot-based or not. But that's just my opinion. My other board is a canon-based, plotline-driven board. It's still AU because (repeats self) all roleplay is by its very nature AU. But I will rip people a new one (or threaten to do it) if they have their canon character behaving like they're not a canon character without decent cause and careful attention to the detail that brought about the change.

That's just my take on that issue.

I haven't run into marriage being the end with any of my characters, so I guess I'm lucky if that's another rampant thing. I've gotten bored with characters (married or single), but I suspect that's something different and there's no inherent relationship between the two things. And... I think that every season is open season at Milliways for marriage and pregnancy. What bugs me more (at Milliways) than people getting bored with their characters' marriages and either ending them or stopping playing is when people who've never manipulated time for their characters before suddenly do that to move along a pregnancy. I could really start listing all the things I've seen that bug me, but it's not that important. It's just a difference in RP style, and that's fine. It's a big board and I can be choosy about who I want to play with because, as so many people have told me, I'm just that intimidating. (I beg to disagree: even when I roleplay with myself, I've never found myself intimidating.)

But really, if someone tells me they play (for example) Batman, I'm going to expect that their character fights crime and drives the Batmobile and has that cool retractable wire rope in his belt and saw his parents murdered when he was a child and is Bruce Wayne, filthy rich playboy, underneath... not Bruce Banner, not Kitty Pryde, not Jack Sparrow. At least stay true to that much. Don't take a character and throw away everything that makes them who they are, because then a player might as well bring in an original character instead. For some peoople, that might be a better option.

[parke-matru.livejournal.com]

*nodnod* Totally understood. Snow was pregnant when she came in, and I admit my line of thinking was more "I want to app a kickass character who just happens to be pregnant right now" than anything else. And when Bigby showed up . . . well, canon has shown that I actually had her move slower than Willingham did, so I feel no need to defend my choice.

Petunia is still married, but appreciated the odd compliment she recieved while in the bar. No relationship or offspring planned for her.

Agatha has no intention of going for either one. Canon's leaning toward her hooking up with Gil, but she's focused on establishing her own life right now.

And my other pups are either nonhuman or under the age of ten, so they don't even need to be mentioned. . .

But yeah, they are annoying trends and do need to be thought through very carefully.

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Fables (I know, I know), but I always appreciated Snow's no-nonsense approach to things. I was surprised you took her out, actually. Did you decide it was just time?

[parke-matru.livejournal.com]

No problem, it happens.

That, among other reasons . . . I didn't really feel as welcome in the game as I did before. I'm going to stop now because every time I say a word further Josie comes over and calls me a total bitch for deigning to complain.

[ashavah]

Chiming in nice and late now that the assignment's done and I'm able to spare the time for a proper response. Well, actually, I fear what you're going to get is a ramble, so my apologies in advance for that. And I also think this mays ound a little defensive, but it's not. I know you're not pointing fingers, I'm just writing from my own experiences here.

As you know, I'm in an odd situation in terms of RP romance. The only character I could think of for the community when you invited me to join was an OC from one of my fics, and I had her future well enough planned to know that she had a very long-term relationship. It's a part of who she is, and I couldn't change that. When I joined Dogstar I had no real plans for what I was going to do with Xandra and Claude ... I certainly didn't anticipate Claude joining the RP! But when we went to the USA, that all changed. I knew he'd have to go to one of the speeches, and he decided to take Xandra on a romantic getaway and propose ... it feels and seems like jumping in to true love when I think about it in terms of how long I've been playing, but in terms of the characters, it's actually very slow, eleven years from when they first started going out. I think it works for them, though, even though probably for most people it wouldn't. Claude needs a bit of a boot in the behind to make him wake up to himself at times, and he's - rather stupidly - just never really thought that he needed to propose, because he and Xandra understand where they stand with each other so well. Not to mention that for both of them, their work for the Order has always come first, and he thought their life was just too unsettled for marriage to work. But separation from Xandra gave him that boot in the behind, and he realised that understanding each other or not, and war or not, he should have made a formal commitment to the future he wants with her. Their engagement will probably be quite long, too, depending of course on what happens plotwise with the RP.

And as for pregnancy ... heh. No need to worry about that from my point of view. Xandra has more than enough trouble looking after Claude without having a kid as well. ;-)

So, because of the way that it's playing out in my own RPing, I don't know that I'm necessarily particularly qualified to say anything about the rush to true love or children. I think it probably is to a degree wish-fulfilment on the part of some people. Maybe one could accuse me of that with my characters, and to an extent maybe it is. But for me, it's really about the characters and what works for them. I'm not going to rush a character into True Love and Babies for the sake of my own gratification ... I'd do it if and only if the character wanted it and it seemed right for them.

Phew. We've reached the end of my miniature essay.

Thanks for posting this. I love the wya your RP essays make me think about my own playing, and how I can make it better.

:-)

Yours,

JK

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

There's no way that what Claude and Xandra have could be construed as rushing into something simply because everyone else is doing it. Now see, I would never play two halves of a couple. I don't think I could do it; it's hard enough for me to keep track of the half I do play. I also think that those who come in with OCs from their own fiction (fanfic or other) have a different agenda, let's say, than some players at some other games. That's just my suspicion, though.

I certainly don't consider myself to be the be-all and end-all of roleplay. There are as many styles as there are players and characters wanting to be played, and who am I to say someone does it right or does it wrong. I've just been doing it long enough to notice certain trends that like to repeat themselves.

[ashavah]

I would agree that people coming in with their existing OCs have different agendas. For me it's about expanding and getting to know my characters better, rather than any real exploration or development of pre-existing canon characters. It's also absolutely all about the writing and characterisation, but I know that could be said of many players, regardless of the sort of character they play.

Playing both halves of a couple is an interesting situation. It's harder than I thought it would be, but I like it a lot. It makes it easier to portray how well they understand each other and their shared history. I think it works well for them because they have such a long history together, but wouldn't necessarily if they didn't. :-)