Darien Cadell

I tend to go with the flow, unless I have an OOC reason to break character, like needing to leave the keyboard or being busy in-game. But my characters aren't generally willing to do things that I as a player am not (er, in the IC sense, my characters do all sorts of things I would never do IRL). That helps. I've only had a couple of skeezy approaches and being the horrible person Qhora is, they all left disgusted and angry, probably OOC as well because kind of person blah blah blah. Oops. Sorry not sorry. But if I were playing a more acquiescent character, they'd have lines of their own that they'd draw. They might initially agree to go for a chocobo ride with a stranger, then balk when the person touched them, or suggested they go somewhere no longer in a public space, or got flirty. Now if I got metagamed or godmoded, so that my perfectly sweet character apparently couldn't run away upon sudden realization of bad touch, that's when I usually fight fire with fire and as much power as they think they have over me, I'd just take back from them. Actually, she greased herself in butter before going for the chocobo ride and has now disappeared over the horizon. But most reasonable players are willing to let a character react, I think. They might dislike it, but I have a hard time picturing them trying to nail your character's feet to the floor. If your character would freeze and let someone do anything they want to them, that should be something you as a player are prepared for (through playing it out or OOC arranged fade to black or whatever). Otherwise, have the character bow out respectfully IC or request a delay or some space IC or run away screaming IC or some other contingency plan that's appropriate for both character and player. The 'conveniently timed interruption by a friend' is a contingency plan I used relatively frequently back when I played more vulnerable characters.

There's something to be said for expectations. I'm not saying keep them low. I'm saying don't have them at all. Just pack them up and leave them at home. Don't expect anything from anyone, except what you yourself bring to the table, and you can't possibly be disappointed. Then any even tiny thing that happens is a plus and nothing is a negative. That's not really possible in reality. Everyone has hopes for things. But keeping expectations out of the search for connections as much as possible, whether being or helping someone new, should help maintain a positive attitude and let it seem less like a chore. If you're working hard at it and expecting responses, especially certain types of or qualities of responses, you're going to be disappointed on any bad day, or series of bad days. If you're enjoying your attempts to make connections and not expecting anything beyond what you put out there, the capacity for a positive outcome increases exponentially.

She didn't initially have any, but I've tripped on some. Ray from In Bruges Mai from Avatar: The Last Airbender Ai Enma from Hell Girl Kyubey from Madoka Magica Jin from Samurai Champloo

Nah, that's a very good point. And the fact that I completely forgot about the trollspace just goes to show how out of touch I am. I've seen very publicly advertised RP events go forward in other places at other times, but it'd take a very special person or group to be both willing and able to deal with that particular unavoidable side-effect, and I for one am definitely not that special.

Men, smiles, fruit salad, ice, and metal blades! I'm sure Visa counts as a stock photo watermark on some level. [video=youtube]https://youtu.be/lTmvSiMxxec

Wait. What? Elezen feed? I got the context, but out of it is making me laugh. Yes sir. I think regular, very very open events that do this kind of thing ^ might catch people who don't RP, don't know what the RPC is, and never would have even thought twice about it, but who are wandering around bored, have their interest piqued, and end up here, neck deep in fruit salad. That's making connections. As for maintaining them? I can't really speak to that. I've been very, very bad at it. Thank you, real life. And once I lose them, I'm even worse at retrieving them. Que sera. However, I find consolation in my character's out-of-game existence, and thus her capability of roleplaying with others should the opportunity arise, even if it never actually does.

I'm not an FC leader or officer anymore, so I wasn't going to throw my pennies in the bucket, but now that it's just a blahblah thread, here's what I think: What this guy just said, though I will repeat it with less strength and more waffle. I'm not sure what there is to communicate about that would benefit from instant feedback rather than a thought-out thread of forum posts, especially since everyone who's going to be communicating is from the forum? That being said, if the people who signed up for it do want the event, then the more power to them! It just... holds little interest for me to the point of a "Why?" eyebrow raise. If it's going to be streamed, closed doors aren't really an issue. I assume the doors are only closed in an attempt to limit the sheer number of participants. However, if this were an IC free company summit, I think that would be hilariously awesome. Still not an officer myself, so would not apply, but there's room for a lot of interesting there. There'd be some companies who would never go to such a thing based on their IC nature, but if there are enough of them that would, maybe they could be a shadow government, or at least think of themselves as such. A wildly entertaining shadow government, buahaha! Or it could go up in drama flames. Who knows. My real point was that as an outsider, I'm not sure what the benefit is of cramming everyone into a room to talk, rather than letting them wander in and out of various forum threads. But then, I'm not sure what the benefit is of that in real life, either, because I'm an antisocial wallflower, so it could just be a personality thing.

http://peoplewithcatears.tumblr.com/ I'M HELPING. http://meowtfit.tumblr.com/ Real life picture!

Everything she does is a secret thing because no one is around. Okay, most things. She sees dead people. Actually, talks to herself, but thinks she sees dead people. Close enough.

*takes off running and yells back* What did I do?!?!?! Haha, not you. The OP. Senhi'to. That guy... I've known him so many years now. Although you might have done something, too. What exactly did you do? *narrows eyes* HEY! The question is, what did YOU do?! *crosses arms menacingly (somehow)* ALL of the things.

*takes off running and yells back* What did I do?!?!?! Haha, not you. The OP. Senhi'to. That guy... I've known him so many years now. Although you might have done something, too. What exactly did you do? *narrows eyes*

YOU! Let's see how long you last this time. *cracks knuckles* Also... master race.

[video=youtube] [video=youtube] French doesn't really count as foreign here, either. They did this one in English, but I prefer the Franglais version. [video=youtube]

He's black! Ish?

[video=youtube]

I prefer to limit how much I know about mechs in general. *capitalism intensifies*

Mm, you know that scene in In Bruges? Where Ray shoots the priest and the little boy who was praying for forgiveness for being sad ends up collateral damage? Yep, that's the one. I won't link it, because it's unpleasant at best and nightmare fuel at worst, but that's the level at which Qhora's messed up. Not as many racist midgets in her life, though that could change. Here, you can have the trailer instead. It's pretty close. They've got a lot in common generally. She'd hate Bruges, too. But Qhora's life's much less unintentionally hilarious so far. [video=youtube]

I found these while looking at Berrod's... er, well, Berrod. But if description is a problem, maybe these will help? Tip of My Tongue - Find that word that you've been thinking about all day but just can't seem to remember OneLook Reverse Dictionary Not fussing, though, is of course the best approach. Long or short, it's all in the name of fun.

/raises hand Would love to get in on this. Will keep an eye out when I'm at the keyboard and pop into the site.

*picture of a massive fish flopping with an arm, leg, and tail poking out one side underneath it* YEEEEAAAAAH FISHIIIIIIIING!!!!!!1111one! Seriously. How did I catch a 19 foot long carp out of an ankle deep puddle?

Always: 1x dodo feather Rare: Housing furniture item that does nothing but looks like a scorched dagger stabbed into a book. I expect to see rooms full of useless dagger-stabbed books. Or maybe instead, just a Wind-Up Edda Vincents saying "You get nothing!"

When I've played more heavy-handed villains, I've always said from the outset that as a villain, my entire purpose was to lose. I had to look like I was about to have the upper hand, then have it taken away from me, in order to define the hero as the hero and my character as the villain. My character winning player-to-player encounters with "hero" types twisted the order of things and weirded me out. It just wasn't right. Now because it was an MMO, it ended up getting all convoluted and weird but originally, the intent was always to be the "loser," as it were. Granted, that character was also the "I'll get you next time, Gadget!" type who was always ready to concoct another scheme with a semblance of seriousness, but me as player always setting him up for the fail. He never died, and never lost permanently, but constant losing was part of his joie de vivre. Qhora fits more into the "more evil than a villain" category. She's the hero of her own little tale, but she very much sees how broken she is in everyone else's reflections, so she calls herself the bad guy without having that loss-seeking behavior my more archetypal characters had. There's such a rainbow of villainous options available. No reason to be restrictive.

I've played multiple anti-social grumps, some of whom ended up infamous for anti-social grumpery, which is an odd contradiction, antisocial celebrity. I think I managed that last mostly by doing forum posts (not that I've done that in FFXIV), so people who'd never had to stand my scowling still knew who I was. Then I'd show up at a party, and people would reach out to me rather than me having to break my own shell, and I'd have multiple opportunities to say how much my character didn't want to be there, and yes, leaning against this stuffed ostrich is the best spot in the room, thank you very much. As an anti-social grump, I've found "solo" roleplay to be the best way for me to still feel like I'm playing. By that, I mean writing. I can not go to RP events for months on end and still feel like I have a character that could RP with others should the opportunity arise. While I sometimes felt like why didn't I just make a social character goddamnit, the times that I have made social characters often backfired, so with the next character I inevitably go back to my corner. One thing that I've used time and again as a sort of excuse to get the character out and about is an interest in gossip/blackmail, usually easy since I tend to play manipulative bastards. It doesn't have to be a real interest. Just an imagined reason that my character knows even if I don't yet. "I need info on someone at this gathering, or someone who might show up at this place, or someone who might be known by someone who might frequent this shindig, so I'm going to put up with this lunacy until I get some juicy tidbits." That places my character at the party, so to speak, and forces me to pay attention to everything going on, to see if I can build something out of it. Most of the time I can't, but the exercise is successful nonetheless. I learn something about other characters. I might even force myself to ask other people questions to help my not-actually-existing blackmail plot along, or eavesdrop with such obviousness that someone eventually asks why I'm staring. Don't forget to have a nice bag full of antisocial grumpery emotes ready to pull out at a moment's notice. You might not be participating in the conversation, but you can still fold your arms and frown frequently enough that someone might notice you're there. When I'm doing that, I'm actually usually playing by myself, per se, following my character's reactions without interacting. (What's the point if you're not interacting? Who made that rule? I can interact with myself just fine.) If someone does respond, it's a bonus, not a requirement. I still feel like I've accomplished something, even if I mosey on my way without saying a word to anyone.