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.
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Date: 2006-09-02 04:54 pm (UTC)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