Zhavi

Zhi squinted at some point past Flit. "Ain't rememberin' his name. But I got someone in mind who might point us in th'right way. Heard o' Keto'to?"

I definitely agree. The current thread name puts a bit of a negative spin on it, rather than offer a potential for suggestions on how to spice up your RP with more racial antics. After the little back and forth with Kage has me tempted to put little ear-twitches into Chachan's emotes when he's curious about something, for example. I think it'd be cute. "Hey, my Chocobo just had her chicks. Wanna see?" *ear twitch* This is a test to see who jumps on to point out that chocobos are all male in Eorzea, right? DID I WIN? AM I A WINNER? sometimes you are a great big silly.

When I want more of something (and I'm not finding it hard to rp like I am at the moment), I work to create a space where that sort of thing can flourish. There's obviously interest -- otherwise you wouldn't see so many attempts at starting tribal groups -- the issue for a lot of it is that creating something from scratch is incredibly painfully hard, and getting your core group of people set up can make or break attempts. Not to mention that managing people (sometimes especially rpers) is frustrating enough on its own. You have to work your own ideas without prohibiting people from adding and adapting as the rp moves forward. So if I was him, I'd dredge through the wiki, I'd send pms to new players who seemed like they might fit, I'd talk to other players I knew who I thought I might convince to make an alt -- even if short term -- to help get things moving. Rp is as frustrating as it is fun. But the setting is dumb. It's not set up for rp. It is dumb, and it's silly to be upset that other people are having fun with something you don't have fun with. And I say this as someone who gets frustrated when other people are having fun with something I don't have fun with and I want them to do what I find fun. Hey, I'm human too. All the same, it's important to realize that actively hoping other people aren't able to do those things is getting to the point where you need to take a giant step back and look at how you can accomplish the things you want to do -- without feeling disheartened because your thing isn't the popular thing. And I know that feeling, because finding the sort of Limsa rp that I wanted to rp was really quite painful at times. (and yes, at times I would look across to Ul'dah, metaphorical tears in my eyes, and lament the lack of interest in Limsa. But I never hoped they wouldn't be able to continue their rp, you know?)

Solitaire narrowed his eyes. "Short dark hair? Scar across here?" He drew his finger sideways over his nose. "Dark eyes? This high?" He approximated Kink's height with an uplifted hand, and shrugged. "Thing is, gadder, only one bitch in all o' lowtown I know what has a tail like that. Either ye can pay fer what I know'r keep pokin' 'round th'mud hopin' ye find yer pearl." The roe's tension slipped across the table and took up residence in Solitaire's shoulders.

to me it's no different than the movements we have as humans. Am I gonna emote every single finger twitch and head turn, and blink, and swallow, and shift? No. People fidget, have tics, etc. I use them when I want to draw attention to something, or if I see a character is either very adept at reading body language or is paying extra attention to my character. Otherwise, I give just enough to show what my character is doing, and leave the rest to the other player's imagination. Too many details clutter up the writing, imo.

Pish posh, roleplaying is built, dare I say thrives on these sorts of things. It allows for more freedom, yar. Agreed. But then it doesn't make sense to say 'you shouldn't do that because it goes against established cultural norms' when the established cultural norms are more shallow than a raindrop and really probably doesn't make that much sense when you peel back the outer layers. RAH RAH RABBLE RABBLE EVERYONE REBEL!

because these species were developed to be flavor and not as in depth setting that others could use to reproduce for the purpose of in depth characterization. As many nice things as rpers get in this game, actual realistic culture/behavior is definitely not one of them. So the only thing to do to truly separate from the other human split offs is the little flavor bits of biology. Zhavi I love you but I think something got cut off or my brain is dying. So there... isn't really? Realistic, not reality Cultural development and behavioral norms are very shallow in this game. No reason for them to not be, because they're flavor. But it still irritates me. In short, every species in this game is mostly derived from various human cultures, and therefore there's no reason to limit yourself to any "lore" regarding culture so long as you make it make sense with the character's backstory, because there's almost none of it to begin with. The only big differences are the biological ones, and most of those aren't in depth enough to really drive cultural behavior. At least in my opinion. My grumpy opinion. : x

because these species were developed to be flavor and not as in depth setting that others could use to reproduce for the purpose of in depth characterization. As many nice things as rpers get in this game, actual realistic culture/behavior is definitely not one of them. So the only thing to do to truly separate from the other human split offs is the little flavor bits of biology.

with c'kayah. Should see some of the remaining mongolian markers for claims about feats of archery prowess. some are here. The most I got from those videos that I adapted to another character I have who was a pastoral nomad was the whole holding multiple arrows in the draw hand. But, I dunno, I mean, Mongolians (and other Eurasian steppes cultures who preceded them) carried multiple weapons to battle. They had a longrange bow, a shortrange bow, and at least one melee weapon to be used on horseback. But one of the coolest things they did, imo, was they could shoot behind them as they were retreating. And the ease with which he does that weird little half draw tells me the draw weight on that bow is kinda laughable (you want armor piercing? more draw weight is gonna give you the force you need). You wanna see a culture that still practices archery with some seriousness? Check out the Mongolian Nadaam. Those are some badass archers. Also recurve composite bow best bow. /swoon

The problem isn't going against the "norm" of the culture. It's that developers of most fantasy settings make laughable excuses of cultures that define a whole species. I mean, christ, we're still learning about various human cultures ! The western world is still actively seeking out and discovering new facets of people that we hadn't previously documented or known about! And yet the majority of non-human fantasy species are nothing more than an insert of poorly adapted human trait that defines the 'theme' of various fantasy species, and dictates how most of a species is supposed to act in a cultural sense? Uh huh. Yup. Excuse me while I ignore it in favor of adapting a richer background with less stereotype and ignorance. [note: not saying people who choose to go with it and enrich it are in any way less -- kudos to them. What I'm saying is penalizing those who choose to go a different route is really rather silly in a big way -- especially because there is absolutely no indication of species defining behaviors beyond a few cosmetic things. Every. Single. Intelligent. Species. in this game acts like humans in a major way with a few minor props tossed in.] /extraranty

You know what irritates me about fantasy? The lack of attention to detail of culture. It's one thing if you have a single isolated group of a species that is the only group of that species, but to say 'all dwarves love drinking beer and mining' or 'all miqo'te of this particular subspecies are tribal' or ... hell, anything that goes 'the vast majority of this species acts this way' is supremely, supremely annoying to me. I mean, yes, we all have a tendency to be ethnocentric, but to present things as the rule rather than a part of the rule. . . it leads to debates like this. biology does not equal culture. And we have a wider range of species than humans that shows us this! Animals too have their own subcultures, particularly when looking at certain types of apes or even other animals like ravens. Groups will adapt to their surroundings and pick up tool uses that others don't, as well as methods of communicating with each other and how they interact with other species -- they adapt to their surroundings and learn from each other. If you want biology to be a bigger indicator of behavior, then developers need to dig deeper than 'hurr durr this group looks different and is haughty'. Otherwise, yeah, every single damn group is going to have similar characteristics because they're all going to be various types of (horrendously shallow) human behavior. The biggest difference is that rather than being dynamic devs are taking the lazy route and going 'well this one is like an exaggerated version of this human trait, and this one is like an exaggerated version of this human trait' etc. So, yup, to me so long as the history of the character makes sense for the behavior (ie, did not grow up in the stupid little microcosm the devs determined to be how all of the species miraculously developed culturally), of course you're going to see some hyurs with tails. My cat grew up in the city, and you bet your ass she acts like it. And at that point? Yeah, the only thing that truly separates her from the other species is the undeniable biological differences: good senses, a hatred of the sun, and legs suited for climbing and running. /rant

I um, felt like I should come here and explain a bit because, well, yeah. You know. My intentions to be an active member of the community keep getting sideswiped (and it's not just here -- every bit of creative activity I do, every community I am in, I've hit a wall on). I have moved twice in the past five months, first one due to a breakup, the second due to a massive argument with my parents (as they were kind enough to let me stay with them after the breakup while I was flailing about stressed to hell because I needed to move and the semester was starting in a week) that pretty much ended with 'we think you're morally bankrupt and being corrupted by sin and the devil, but we promise we still love you!' which sorta felt like a 'fuck you, but don't act like we're the bad guys.' The argument and second move is why I disappeared again. It's not that I'm not interested, it's not that I have a block, it's that most days that creative well inside of me is just dead. The major things I thought I had settled in life, namely wife to my ex and mother to our future children, has been tipped on its side and now I'm mostly just keeping afloat and trying to find a new normal. My parents being completely disgusted with me has not helped in the emotional stability department. It's not that I want pity or anything, but just, I'm not randomly disappearing because I'm fickle. Presumably eventually I'll hit my stride again and be overflowing with ideas and words, but at the moment it's just hard, particularly because these aren't things I can predict or plan around, and they hit me in a way that makes me want to crawl into a small hole rather than communicate, because I'm already hurting and fear further rejection. So I mean, if you want my advice for this sort of situation, regardless of it being me: depends on the communication you've had with the person. I will always advocate moving the rp forward. If it's easier to set the rp to the side, do that. If it's easier to come up with a reason for the absence of a particular character and move it forward, do that. I always believe that when someone disappears, if a chunk of time passes and/or you know they won't be back any times soon, to me that's sorta giving up the right to complain about what happens while being gone. In that train of thought, I'll always support choices made in my absence. Buuuut um, yeah I suppose we should work out what you would like to do over chat, as I'm likely going to be massively slow for several more months. Cheers, guys, and thanks for the kind words. <3

Something the roegadyn said made the smile on Solitaire's face falter, though it never quite slipped away entirely. "Information'll cost ye. Help'll cost ye more. Five hunnerd gil fer what I know o' the bitch, an' another two hunnerd fer places she's like as not t'be." The smile turned sly, and edged: the cat teasing the dog, flirting with injury for some unknown promise of self gain.

Zhi's nostrils flared. She stared him down -- eyes narrowed and lips pressing tight together -- before she muttered "useless," to herself under her breath. Louder, she asked: "Ye drunk?"

This sorta. . .is this a super organized sort of LS where everyone has to go along with plots that the officers cook up, or was this more in terms of keeping people on task in the LS and cracking down on drama/blowups/what have you?

I took it to mean Very Not Good Things Happening in a Possibly Explicit Manner. Because, in that vein, I have sorta shied away from the very not nice I've rped in other places; the fact that the TOS makes that a little more difficult and people tend to shade more towards . . . using those sort of scenes/activities as embellishment rather than as a focus has always made me feel it would make most players more uncomfortable than was worth it. But hey, if there's anyone willing to dive into the deep dark, I'm quite happy to participate.

"Oh?" There was a sneer in the way Solitaire's mouth twisted up; he'd a chip on his shoulder half as big again as the roe sat in front of him, and it showed in his swagger. "Who says I'm lookin' fer her? 'M no more'n a runner, Tyrbsyn. 'M lookin' fer money, an' I sniffed it all th'way back t'yer . . . self." The lack of a title on that sally was deliberate, and made unsubtle by the way Solitaire looked Tyrbsyn up and down. No, subtlety and the hyur did not often cross paths in any meaningful way. "I'm thinkin' there's somethin' on yer mind, an' I'm thinkin' there might be way fer me t' . . . ease ye along. Am I wastin' me time?" His tone was hard. He wasn't about to stick around if Tyrbsyn was going to string him along with his nervous foolishness. Man looked half gadabout, and that was either a means to get more money then any job might warrant, or a signal to clear the hells out before his stupidity became infectious. How Tyrbsyn answered would determine whether or not Solitaire stuck around.

Zhi rolled her eyes and spat between them. "Either her, or one o' me lesser known contacts. Either way it's fire." His words made her decision, made so carefully over the past bell, much less certain. She knew full well Winters had no love of her, and she could even understand why, but the lure of Thatcher's soft hand at dealing was hard to deny. If it wasn't for Winters. . .she had confidence she could handle Thatcher, given enough time to be clever. He wouldn't be so likely to let things lie, and she could just imagine what would happen if he decided to go in for a quiet tip-off. She licked her lips. "There's a man I met, while back. A killer. Far as I could tell he was part o' some network, an' one I ain't too familiar-like wi'. Thinkin' o' trackin' his lot down an' seein' what shakes loose." She looked at Flit, eyes serious, not asking for his opinion but still looking for it anyway.

I play a very not nice character who doesn't really get along well with others (a result of which is that I have kept her out of FCs or groups). I don't really consider her to be a villain, though; while she can be antagonistic, usually she's just trying to survive by doing whatever is necessary. Her morality is pretty bleak, as to her being "good" is just a shortcut to getting your throat slit sooner rather than later. While I'm not really doing a whole lot of rp in game atm, I'm down for threads in the forum. I greatly, greatly enjoy doing rp that could be deemed pretty messed up. I generally have kept it pretty sparse so far, but if you're willing to go down the rabbit hole I'll gladly go skipping down it with you.

Driving gloves because damn does that steering wheel get cold once the temps hit -20F! (I lose all of my gloves, eventually. It just happens) Necklace Earrings Bracelet lots of scarves stun gun B&N gift card Ever since my niece was born we mostly put most of the gift efforts towards her. She's pretty much spoiled rotten, as she's the only grandchild in my immediate family. One of her favorite gifts was a pretend cash register (she's 4), and so I pulled on my long ago retail experience to play cashier for her as she picked up objects from around the house to purchase. My reward was big eyes and a quiet "whoa" when I gave her the full customer service experience. Kids can be so much fun.

Give me a second to look through the old Cutscenes with Lady Yugiri and I will see if I can give you a general idea. <3 you are brilliant, thank you. Have a rep.

Do we have any idea about height sizes yet? I kinda skipped the middle of the thread, if it was already mentioned. It's more entertaining that way. (apologies if it was mentioned)

Zhi is essentially a warped and twisted teenager who has had some bad experiences and thinks she knows everything. She doesn't believe in love. To her it's a matter of those who use others and those who are used; everything can be traced back to selfishness, and that means that either people are idiots playing pretend with each other, or someone will be taken advantage of. It's sorta been a pattern in her life, and after her second puppy love was pretty brutally ended, she's in no rush to even play with love as a means of getting what she wants. Better to avoid even a pretense of interaction with it, and sneer at those who believe in it. I pity her; she's damaged goods through and through.

Zhi gave Flit a look like he'd just gone and pissed on her boots. Her tail lashed side-to-side behind her. "What rat gone an' bit yer tail, then? Ye'll do no such, an' ye can go take a dip in th' harbor if ye so much as think o' liftin' a blade while yer dealin' fer me coz ye got some fly in yer ear." Her mouth twisted up in a sneer, baring a fang at him. The reprimand was second nature; her mind was elsewhere. "What's Thatcher's movements, o' late? What's she gettin' to?" Suspicion colored her tone.

The city was ill-fitting. Zhi moved away from Melodia, her limbs leaden and hesitant. It looked familiar enough, as she circled its spires and skulked over its rooftops, but it didn't feel right. It wasn't the same. Somehow, in her absence, something had changed, something important, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what. Well, the price on her head didn't help. The fact that most of her contacts were avoiding her didn't help, either. Truth was, she saw no reason for Thatcher to help her. She had wanted Flit out of her hair for a little while, so she could think without his expecting little eyes pinned on her. She knew what she had to do, really. Had known. Yet, she'd been independent for so long that the thought of it made her retch. The city had never really been hers. It owned her. It always had. She was still in a bad mood by the time she circled around to find Flit, ready to tell him who they were going to visit and cringing internally at its necessity. All the same, she did things in a certain order, so as she dropped down beside him the one word that passed her lips was "talk."