Elysia

WHAT IS A JOB? ...Avis would be a freelance copywriter / editor. Perhaps a really shitty creative writing teacher. She might be able to keep a job in Corporate Communications too, for a while.

I sometimes fancy that Avis is Ichihara Yuuko in ten years' time. Or a hundred. You never know with these weird witch-types. https://40.media.tumblr.com/a0bf0a0b278b9860f03113aef26f8d0c/tumblr_nc9zrt2K471r1fsuko2_1280.jpg[/img]

Hello! I've actually been toying with an idea like this for some time, and I'm glad you're starting it. My character would probably enjoy such tours, and might even be willing to be a tour guide for areas she's actually familiar with. I think such tours could take one of two strands - 1) lore, 2) oral history (i.e. guides would most likely be centred around the city-states). The latter could even take the form of a pre-Calamity memorial tour, as a means of heritage preservation? The best tour guides are, IMO, those with strong personalities and who imbue much of their commentary with personal anecdotes, so I think this could also provide some nice storytelling and interaction between guides and participants as the former take people around their childhood homes. Whatever the case, I think guided tours are a great idea, and schedule / timezone permitting, I'd love to be in on this.

Solidarity in shyness! I... know how you feel. My characters are based in Limsa (for now) but they would love to meet yours. I'll be dropping you a PM.

Short answer: no. I go to bed late every day because I detest sleeping right after having finished work, and wake up before 6 to head out into the world. (This isn't exactly always RP's fault, considering my timezone.) So it's 5 hours on weekdays, 6 if I'm lucky... and then, on weekends, I rise early too for either 1) morning runs or 2) FFXIV. I wouldn't be able to meet fellow Eorzeans on Balmung otherwise! Sleep debt keeps piling up. Maybe I'll regret this... eventually... Until then, I'll persist in believing I'm still young enough for awesome hours-long RP.

Hi there! I completely understand how you feel. I experience some form of performance anxiety in every post - here or in-game, and in my job, too, where I regularly have to 'perform' to a bunch of teens in the classroom everyday. So I know what pressure is. Especially since we might be perfectionists. I am terribly self-conscious - and nervousness makes it even harder to think on my feet - this fear, I think, has led me to avoid rp-ing in crowded places. Which has inevitably lost me quite a bit of rp opportunity. (And I'm working on that.) I also often have major "l'esprit de l'escalier " moments - ESPECIALLY if my character was created to be A Certain Way and absolutely did not deliver. I am one of those who actually tend towards paragraphing because it helps me to get into my character more, and also because it's good writing practice. I agree with Edvyn, though, that quantity is NOT quality; this also means that when you regularly construct paragraphs within the span of five minutes, the practice actually helps you get better at knowing how to avoid purple prose when you put the pen to the paper in other contexts. That said, I've also learnt to 'sync' with the other player. I appreciate BOTH quick, plain dialogue RP and taking time to work with words because it see them both as invaluable instruction. (for the latter, it also definitely helps to have a buddy who doesn't mind you taking ten minutes to churn out replies. My point: whatever works for you, and with whom, and when ) And finally, I don't think we Go To Shit all the time. This is writing we're talking about. There're some days where we produce gems and others when everything we type is just clumsy. We need to let it go when the latter happens. The problem with RP in-game is that there's no editing - but it's definitely good training. That perspective has helped me to really enjoy the process and I really do hope you do, too!

Hello! :3 Nonovi sounds wonderful. I have a dubiously scholarly character, Avis Inkwood, who is interested in conjury and is currently sort of learning from someone who sort of knows it. She'll be in the Shroud again to retrieve a lost item, to wander, and to try Conjury out more! (She also grew up in Ul'dah and now wants nothing to do it with it... potential old connection there?) I... also have a conniving Keeper alt who's been reluctantly assimilated into the Gridanian lifestyle... She'd secretly love to be part of the Mujuuk gang, but it's not practical, so she's left to 'seek her fortune' though she returns now and then to see her tribe. She is currently stuck at Limsa Lominsa though (too low level, and not fully in action yet - but it will happen). Unfortunately, I have weird schedules because of my timezone, but if any of this sounds good to you, we could PM and arrange a meetup.

Oh gosh I just saw this. :cry: I HAVE BEEN WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE, RANDOM FOOD ITEM. And I'm the one who's sorry, 9 out of 10 times I've had to reject RP requests because I couldn't stay online long enough. Yes please, Avis needs to poke Kurt and order Ramona around! And yes Clio, Kurt and I are in the same timezone. :3 When the holidays arrive I will be around more. I'm actually having term break in a couple of days!

...I would honestly love to run into Steel and Gran Chachanji again. And Clio & Erik ICly, we only met OOCly. Really, EVERYONE HERE is wonderful and I would not-so-secretly love to RP with all of you. *SLAIN BY SHYNESS* *also belongs to worst timezone ever*

I thought something like this might be created someday! It is an amazing idea and I actually have a (hypothetical) alt, a fledgling schemer, that would actively get herself involved in such Business. But there is (still) the issue of me being unable to exist in-game regularly even on my main... ... I am so, so tempted though. But I will contact you if it ever happens. :3

That makes a lot of sense, and in fact Avis herself is a little like that too. She idealizes herself as progressive and "enlightened" especially because she's mixed around with the underclass quite a bit, but she may not be completely aware of her privilege. It hasn't shown up strongly in any of the IC interactions she's had yet but it's there. I am also open to PMing for all sorts of plotting and planning - also because my schedule this week looks a little unfriendly. :c

Avis closed the door behind her and, shaking off her slippers, headed immediately for her table where she'd deposited the letter before retrieving the towel. A little scowl was directed at the monstrosity of papers that greeted her anew, but that expression soon turned to a low chuckle as she sat herself and read Xavarian's writing. It was quite clearly a good substitute for his somnolent company - none of his previous letters betrayed the same scattered nature. The elaborate symbol that he'd signed the letter off with had her intrigued, and she spent a few minutes turning the paper at angles and copying it on a fresh sheet before she figured it out. Then she reread the letter again, leisurely this time, leaning back in the flimsy-looking but otherwise sturdy chair with her bare feet on the table, soles skimming the surface of some of Jigumundo's more important documents. (If he ever knew...) His mention of the 'map' had given her an idea, too, and quickly she straightened and righted herself, pulling yet another sheet of paper from the slowly dwindling stack Xavarian had provided. Quill scratched across paper for a few excited lines before it came to an inevitable pause. For the next few moments Avis had a lengthy mental tussle with herself. The work could not be ignored a day or two more - but another part of her persistently piped up with excuses for executing the plan. Should not one strike when the iron was hot, especially if that metal was inspiration itself? Finally, though, she steeled herself to take the (questionably) wider choice. Besides, if her instincts proved correct, she would have more than one good reason for venturing into Lower La Noscea again. She retrieved the address that the Professor had given and gave it another once-over before settling her quill, once again, to a far less exciting task. Work first. Then play. [align=center]***[/align] A full two days passed before Avis's return. She was considerably worn out by this time from solitary, lilybell-picking romps around on the La Noscean highlands - one of which had actually involved chasing down a number of crucial pages scattered by the strong sea winds. How had she allowed herself to be persuaded (by her own whimsy, no less) that completing a final report before a favored sea view, without the wonders and ingenuity of tabular support, was an intelligent decision? Well, at least that was one personal experiment ticked off the list. After all that, there'd been the rather shocking state in which she'd found her employer when she paid his favorite establishment in the Mist a surprise visit. So it was with a rather preoccupied air that Avis, now freshly unloaded of reports, wild flowers and gift, approached Xavarian's door. She lingered there for a few moments without doing anything at all, considering. It was afternoon. Too early for duskwight-pestering, too early for sleep - despite her tiredness. There were things to be done yet, questions to be asked. She bent and slid the three simply-folded pages under his door, and the mild worry apparent on her features sent her right back out the Inn. She could only hope that the letter enthralled him sufficiently, that they actually posed at least a little bit of a challenge for him.

Hey there! Avis also actually likes all of those things and is a romantic idealist too, and was born into a rich family - the fact of its wealth and snobbery, however, is something she despises. So she and Isilrael could have an interesting dynamic there. (She also needs more female friends.) I also have time commitment and timezone problems (*is in GMT+8*) - which could be both helpful and unfortunate in this case. But feel free to look me up in-game on RP peak hours on weekends!

I think Fantasyland always provides a platform for creation of characters that subvert, play with or even flout gender conventions. This is not to say that Eorzean society isn't gendered in the least (it is, terribly so). My point is that players shouldn't feel anxious (even though I've personally been guilty of it) about playing characters of a different gender because it's entirely possible to create lore-adherent, compelling, convincing characters that don't necessarily conform to gender codes. That said, I'm also a female playing a female, because I've always been interested in fictional representations of women in fantasy. So while we could use more male characters, I think RPers should just play what they're most comfortable with - or what they'd like to genuinely experiment with.

YES. I also remember running my own Geocities site which was actually nothing more than a fanlisting dump. :roll: I started when I was 11 or 12, I think, wandering into a forum RP site called Fyre Myst. When that one died, I moved on to an affiliated forum, Runes of Desire. Then it was nothing for a while until I discovered the darkside of LiveJournal communities and fandom - I RPed anime and Disney characters. /facepalm This is the reason why longwinded forum RP is still the RP medium I am most comfortable with.

OMG GMT+8 HI. My character is Avis Inkwood. I'll see you in a bit. *POKES KURT TOO*

...Is anyone as excited as I am for the new album? XgeKHTcufLY

P-Poems we like? ...There're too many... BUT. Hopping onto the spoken word poetry bandwagon is far easier, so. In my opinion, Andrea Gibson can do no wrong: vptC-9Nx52c Also, have Moriarty reading Pablo Neruda, or Helena Bonham Carter being entirely herself with "Warning" by Jenny Joseph. I am done... for now.

^ I love that song too. Avis doesn't sing all that well but she would sound like Suzanne Vega. -I_7M_JeSoc

I DON'T WANT to turn off my brain ever. There is so much that can be done. Supposedly clocking less than 6hs of sleep in the long run will shorten your lifespan or something but. But. :cry: I already turn in one or even two hours later than most of my co-workers. Kurt, please. I am envious. I can't do this, ever, because my job demands that I be a fully-functional human being by 5.45am EVERYDAY. Same timezone, different problems...

This sounds a little like sleep paralysis. I've had a horrible Inception-esque episode in which I realized I was having a nightmare, attempted to pull myself out of it, "woke up" three times in "my room" still facing the Thing, whatever it was, before I finally woke up for real on the fourth try. ...Sorry if I've successfully weirded everyone out. *slinks away*

!! I had to deal with insomnia a number of years ago. It began suddenly when I was preparing for my college entrance exams - I wasn't consciously feeling any anxiety, but the sleeplessness happened, and it took months for that to run its course. Saw a doctor, then a psychiatrist, tried sleeping pills for all of two days before I realized they wouldn't work for long. I still have nasty 'relapses' every now and then. Probability of an attack is 90% if I have a flight to catch in the morning. :dazed: The worst of this is the fact that when it happens, my body makes me wake up at the same time ANYWAY, so there have been days where I'm clocking 2? 3? hours of sleep in 48 hours. Remedies: ... none. I also have a terrible habit when insomnia strikes, which involves tossing and turning until hours have passed. (DON'T DO THIS, PEOPLE. GO GAME OR SOMETHING.) I've actually found that the best method is prevention, and the most effective one for me is to keep regular hours. If I stay up past, say, 2 or 3AM, the chances of me not being able to fall asleep at all are significantly higher. Anyway I hope you're able to get to sleep soon, Clio: D:

:moogle: Once I'm done with my crapload of work I'll pop back in and let you climb all over / annoy Avis again.

Avis is ALWAYS looking for travel buddies. She'd also jump on any good excuse / reason to travel far, especially if a companion is involved - she knows her 'hit-and-run' a.k.a. kiting method of managing enemies isn't going to be sustainable in particularly dangerous areas. She also likes taverns and has become even nerdier lately, so the two can probably also meet somewhere to drink up a storm and throw carefully managed snark and trivia at each other. (The company also sounds awesome.) I think I've seen you around on the Tavern linkshell... you can poke me whenever :3

I approve of this thread. I love children and I think Eorzea could use a lot more younger player characters running around. :3 Avis, on the other hand, has virtually no maternal instinct whatsoever. She is determined to never have any children, because of how free-spirited she is - it would simply not be convenient to have a vulnerable being latch onto her and take up a huge amount of her time and resources. She's also not particularly interested in children themselves anyway, curiously enough; one would expect her to, considering the extent to which she romanticizes her own childhood. She strongly dislikes brats and the kind of emotional manipulation she thinks they perform on people. Unless the kid in question happened to be exceptionally bright and asked all the right questions. :roll: