Hey honey, I'm going to start by saying that I enjoy playing with you. You're fun to play with and a sweet person, and I really don't want to hurt your feelings for saying this, but I feel it needs to be said.
I'm not sure what the reasons are. I could psychoanalyze or whatever, but I've started noticing a rather disturbing pattern in your characterization that I'm not sure you're aware of. It seems like you are injecting a lot of yourself into your characters and that it's compromising your characterization and headcanon.
The first example I've seen are several things Issei has done - associating himself with characters that I just don't know if he would associate with, in the face of all logic and objective fact. It seems like your desire to have certain CR with friends of yours, or to get Issei laid, or just to be liked is causing you to push Issei to do things that just don't make sense. I'm watching Fate/Stay Night right now, and while admittedly I haven't finished yet, I don't really see why a monk would go bar hopping with a guy who is actively involved in planning genocide.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that a character can change a lot over time, that he could be exposed to things over the course of his time in the community that would cause him to do things that he wouldn't normally do. Like get over hangups or spend time with characters who he would have thought of as evil once. But it just seems like Issei's forgiving nature is being relied on too much. I ask you to really think about how much of what you have Issei do has to do with his nature, and how much is because you want to be liked as a person.
The second example I want to bring up is this. I don't know Resident Evil like you do, I know, but I don't think there's any canon justification for making Sherry a cutter. It's a hell of a thing to spring on someone, and you of all people should know that it's possibly triggery OOCly as well. Without any canon reason to believe that Sherry might be depressed, suicidal, or into cutting, and considering the problems that you've been having lately, all it looks like is that you're trying to inject yourself into your characters.
I know that reading this is difficult, and I personally don't like to crit people's characterization because I know that interpretation can cause some really wild variances. But I just ask you to really think about the choices you're having your characters make and consider your real motivations for making those choices. To breach characterization to smooth the way for a kind of CR you want to play out just makes things awkward for everyone, and since you play some really minor characters with few canon mates and lots of headcanon, I think you need to be extra careful.
I wish you all the best, Mini. I hope that some of this is helpful to you.
Okay, first of all, thank you for telling me this.
This one's the easy one for me to answer: I didn't mean for Sherry's one incident to be interpreted that way. It was purely an attention-getting stunt, she was young and she knew being injured would draw her parents' attention. It doesn't have the motivation of any of the actual cutters I've known at all. Honestly, until this very moment I saw no connection whatsoever. Derp.
As for Issei, that's a bit harder. I do have precedent to draw on: he deeply loves his 'older brother' Kuzuki, who frankly is an emotionless man who can't have been much more than a blank plate until Caster showed up to make him ~feel~. And yet Issei ascribes all kinds of positive qualities to someone who you'd have to stretch a bit to find those qualities in. He's lived with Kuzuki for three years, he should know.
When Issei went barhopping with Birkin, it was almost a year ago, and as I recall it was on the heels of Issei and Birkin having much in common on the love relationship front when Issei was throwing a screaming fit about that. It's very easy to ignore someone's worse qualities when you want comfort, particularly when you have a tendency to see good in people that isn't exactly there.
Once again, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll keep an eye on what I do with Issei in the future.
I know the examples I brought up were a while back, but I only just started watching the canon and it struck me as I watched Issei just how different he was from what I had expected from your portrayal. And I remembered that it had felt odd at the time, as well, but because I didn't know Issei I figured that was just the kind of character he was.
Anyway, I don't want to harp on it or anything, but I just figured it was worth talking to you about.
Heya Mini, I’ve just noticed that recently you haven’t been doing so well mentally, so I wanted to give you some advice that I hope you’ll take to heart because I’m really worried about you.
You always plurk saying how depressed you are and how you're nearly in tears, and every single time you reach tag nirvana, you make a new post and practically have a mental breakdown because you can't stand not RPing for ten minutes and when people don’t tag you, you have a practical mental breakdown.
You’re going away to college and I am honestly scared for how you're going to manage to deal with it. You skip school all the time because you're too depressed to go and spend the whole day tagging. You have your entire life devoted to RP and fic-writing and when those two things upset you, your life goes into turmoil because you usually use RP to cheer yourself up.
I really think that you should take a break from RP for a while, put yourself on hiatus, drop if you have to, keep yourself away from LJ and plurk and writing fic. It would make you do other things rather than relying on RP all the time and I think it would do you a world of good if you had a life offline as you get over your depression so you have something else to fall back on other than RP and fic so that you don't go off the deep end any time any little thing goes wrong. I'm worried you're going to find out too late in life that you’ve completely wasted your life on the computer.
I really enjoy the way you play, but I’m so scared for you Mini. I am concerned that you are overdoing it and it is actually affecting your mental health. I’m seriously worried that you’re addicted to this and can’t see the bigger picture and I really believe that you need some time away to heal. ♥
I'd protest that I have a tutor and that I hate people who skip school for no reason if I thought it would make any difference. I'd complain that I don't have a mental breakdown if I thought you would believe me.
The problem with abandoning what my life basically consists of is... well, it should be obvious. I have one friend that I can see. One who I don't even really like all that much. Turning off Plurk would mean having only my parents to talk to day after day. I don't know if I could handle that. As for getting a life offline, when everything stresses me out except, idk, Apples to Apples, it's hard to find something new to do that I'll enjoy. I can't make new friends like this; no one wans to be friends with someone they don't know who's at their worst.
You will probably get what you want in a month or two: residential's in the paperwork. I just wish it wouldn't happen.
We've actually just been riding this weird epic doublebrainwave thing all day.
And I'd agree with you because god knows I've been there, but being online isn't helping your stress levels either. LJRP isn't for the weak of heart. It's really not. I'm scared to death it's going to drive you completely bonkers because of how obsessive you are about it. And when I'm at home all I have to do is talk to my parents and watch TV day after day for months and months and months. It's annoying, and it sucks, but it's doable. Especially if it might honestly be what's best for you in the long run.
For the record, this isn't what I want. What I want is for you to get to a better place mentally and I just honestly don't think RP is helping you with that.
I don't know. It was hard to say on a day like yesterday (I had outstanding tags, I made a post anyway and didn't freak out over them, people replied and I had fun replying) that LJRP was hurting me. If I can just have days like that... But I can't really control enough to make every day a good day, so you may well be right.
I suck at going in depth with these things but I just want to let you know that you are a joy to tag with. It's a real pleasure to speak with you IC and OOCly; You're sweet and friendly and funny and eager and welcoming and you are one of the best roleplayers I have ever had the privilege of play with.
Hi! I wanted to crit you on the recent Wesker plot while it's still fresh in your mind, and not when Game HMD comes around. But I think there's a few things going off with Issei, and there's some opportunities for some really intense characterization that I think you might be missing. I'll state for the record that I haven't seen or played Fate/Stay Night, but I have started watching Fate/Zero and I'm familiar with F/SN via tvtropes.
But the point is this: I don't think playing Issei as both a noble, righteous monk *and* a person who calls out hits (even nonlethal ones) on Wesker for a thing he only *might* do at the same time is possible. Considering Kotomine Kirei in canon, and how he started as a priest and then slowly lost his grip on morality in the pursuit of what he finds fun, I do think there are places you can go with Issei's recent slides in morality (see: calling upon the devil, even hyperbolically, or continuing to hang out with clearly dangerous people). I just don't think you're willing to go to those places, because Issei's had a lot of points in the past where he's had moral lapses but nothing much has come from them.
I'm not trying to create an 'either/or' scenario here. I just think it comes off as hypocritical at best to continue to portray Issei as a very devout monk while he engages in very, very morally dubious behaviors, so I think one of those two portrayals needs to give. There's honestly so much plotting that can be done with his current moral outlook, especially considering that he's currently functioning as Lancer's Master. And I think that if you're unwilling to explore this avenue of characterization, which is perfectly fair, then you probably should try to avoid these kinds of plots in the future, as they typically end with retcons or ignoring the implications.
ETA: Also, forgive me if I missed this, as I can't find the posts pertaining to Lancer being saved from his death, but wouldn't Issei being his Master imply that he's now a combatant in the Holy Grail War going on in Lancer's timeline?
First of all, you're right on all points except for the very last one. (That would not be the case, as Issei has been avoiding all contact with that timeline now that Lancer's been rescued from it, and it is currently a nonissue.)
Even Issei is aware that he's had major moral lapses, and it's something he's struggling with and openly considering giving up his monkhood for, but it's not something I really know how to play very well. So it's definitely something I'll want to slide back on in the future.
And that's good, too! I think if you let negative consequences build up, you might have an easier time playing it, if that makes any sense? That way it's easer to see that he's slipping, if things go poorly for him or other people start calling him out! That's just an idea, though.
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no subject
I'm not sure what the reasons are. I could psychoanalyze or whatever, but I've started noticing a rather disturbing pattern in your characterization that I'm not sure you're aware of. It seems like you are injecting a lot of yourself into your characters and that it's compromising your characterization and headcanon.
The first example I've seen are several things Issei has done - associating himself with characters that I just don't know if he would associate with, in the face of all logic and objective fact. It seems like your desire to have certain CR with friends of yours, or to get Issei laid, or just to be liked is causing you to push Issei to do things that just don't make sense. I'm watching Fate/Stay Night right now, and while admittedly I haven't finished yet, I don't really see why a monk would go bar hopping with a guy who is actively involved in planning genocide.
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that a character can change a lot over time, that he could be exposed to things over the course of his time in the community that would cause him to do things that he wouldn't normally do. Like get over hangups or spend time with characters who he would have thought of as evil once. But it just seems like Issei's forgiving nature is being relied on too much. I ask you to really think about how much of what you have Issei do has to do with his nature, and how much is because you want to be liked as a person.
The second example I want to bring up is this. I don't know Resident Evil like you do, I know, but I don't think there's any canon justification for making Sherry a cutter. It's a hell of a thing to spring on someone, and you of all people should know that it's possibly triggery OOCly as well. Without any canon reason to believe that Sherry might be depressed, suicidal, or into cutting, and considering the problems that you've been having lately, all it looks like is that you're trying to inject yourself into your characters.
I know that reading this is difficult, and I personally don't like to crit people's characterization because I know that interpretation can cause some really wild variances. But I just ask you to really think about the choices you're having your characters make and consider your real motivations for making those choices. To breach characterization to smooth the way for a kind of CR you want to play out just makes things awkward for everyone, and since you play some really minor characters with few canon mates and lots of headcanon, I think you need to be extra careful.
I wish you all the best, Mini. I hope that some of this is helpful to you.
no subject
This one's the easy one for me to answer: I didn't mean for Sherry's one incident to be interpreted that way. It was purely an attention-getting stunt, she was young and she knew being injured would draw her parents' attention. It doesn't have the motivation of any of the actual cutters I've known at all. Honestly, until this very moment I saw no connection whatsoever. Derp.
As for Issei, that's a bit harder. I do have precedent to draw on: he deeply loves his 'older brother' Kuzuki, who frankly is an emotionless man who can't have been much more than a blank plate until Caster showed up to make him ~feel~. And yet Issei ascribes all kinds of positive qualities to someone who you'd have to stretch a bit to find those qualities in. He's lived with Kuzuki for three years, he should know.
When Issei went barhopping with Birkin, it was almost a year ago, and as I recall it was on the heels of Issei and Birkin having much in common on the love relationship front when Issei was throwing a screaming fit about that. It's very easy to ignore someone's worse qualities when you want comfort, particularly when you have a tendency to see good in people that isn't exactly there.
Once again, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I'll keep an eye on what I do with Issei in the future.
no subject
I know the examples I brought up were a while back, but I only just started watching the canon and it struck me as I watched Issei just how different he was from what I had expected from your portrayal. And I remembered that it had felt odd at the time, as well, but because I didn't know Issei I figured that was just the kind of character he was.
Anyway, I don't want to harp on it or anything, but I just figured it was worth talking to you about.
no subject
You always plurk saying how depressed you are and how you're nearly in tears, and every single time you reach tag nirvana, you make a new post and practically have a mental breakdown because you can't stand not RPing for ten minutes and when people don’t tag you, you have a practical mental breakdown.
You’re going away to college and I am honestly scared for how you're going to manage to deal with it. You skip school all the time because you're too depressed to go and spend the whole day tagging. You have your entire life devoted to RP and fic-writing and when those two things upset you, your life goes into turmoil because you usually use RP to cheer yourself up.
I really think that you should take a break from RP for a while, put yourself on hiatus, drop if you have to, keep yourself away from LJ and plurk and writing fic. It would make you do other things rather than relying on RP all the time and I think it would do you a world of good if you had a life offline as you get over your depression so you have something else to fall back on other than RP and fic so that you don't go off the deep end any time any little thing goes wrong. I'm worried you're going to find out too late in life that you’ve completely wasted your life on the computer.
I really enjoy the way you play, but I’m so scared for you Mini. I am concerned that you are overdoing it and it is actually affecting your mental health. I’m seriously worried that you’re addicted to this and can’t see the bigger picture and I really believe that you need some time away to heal. ♥
no subject
I'd protest that I have a tutor and that I hate people who skip school for no reason if I thought it would make any difference. I'd complain that I don't have a mental breakdown if I thought you would believe me.
The problem with abandoning what my life basically consists of is... well, it should be obvious. I have one friend that I can see. One who I don't even really like all that much. Turning off Plurk would mean having only my parents to talk to day after day. I don't know if I could handle that. As for getting a life offline, when everything stresses me out except, idk, Apples to Apples, it's hard to find something new to do that I'll enjoy. I can't make new friends like this; no one wans to be friends with someone they don't know who's at their worst.
You will probably get what you want in a month or two: residential's in the paperwork. I just wish it wouldn't happen.
Thank you for saying this.
no subject
And I'd agree with you because god knows I've been there, but being online isn't helping your stress levels either. LJRP isn't for the weak of heart. It's really not. I'm scared to death it's going to drive you completely bonkers because of how obsessive you are about it. And when I'm at home all I have to do is talk to my parents and watch TV day after day for months and months and months. It's annoying, and it sucks, but it's doable. Especially if it might honestly be what's best for you in the long run.
For the record, this isn't what I want. What I want is for you to get to a better place mentally and I just honestly don't think RP is helping you with that.
no subject
no subject
(Anonymous) 2011-12-19 02:25 am (UTC)(link)no subject
no subject
But the point is this: I don't think playing Issei as both a noble, righteous monk *and* a person who calls out hits (even nonlethal ones) on Wesker for a thing he only *might* do at the same time is possible. Considering Kotomine Kirei in canon, and how he started as a priest and then slowly lost his grip on morality in the pursuit of what he finds fun, I do think there are places you can go with Issei's recent slides in morality (see: calling upon the devil, even hyperbolically, or continuing to hang out with clearly dangerous people). I just don't think you're willing to go to those places, because Issei's had a lot of points in the past where he's had moral lapses but nothing much has come from them.
I'm not trying to create an 'either/or' scenario here. I just think it comes off as hypocritical at best to continue to portray Issei as a very devout monk while he engages in very, very morally dubious behaviors, so I think one of those two portrayals needs to give. There's honestly so much plotting that can be done with his current moral outlook, especially considering that he's currently functioning as Lancer's Master. And I think that if you're unwilling to explore this avenue of characterization, which is perfectly fair, then you probably should try to avoid these kinds of plots in the future, as they typically end with retcons or ignoring the implications.
ETA: Also, forgive me if I missed this, as I can't find the posts pertaining to Lancer being saved from his death, but wouldn't Issei being his Master imply that he's now a combatant in the Holy Grail War going on in Lancer's timeline?
no subject
Even Issei is aware that he's had major moral lapses, and it's something he's struggling with and openly considering giving up his monkhood for, but it's not something I really know how to play very well. So it's definitely something I'll want to slide back on in the future.
different account woop
And that's good, too! I think if you let negative consequences build up, you might have an easier time playing it, if that makes any sense? That way it's easer to see that he's slipping, if things go poorly for him or other people start calling him out! That's just an idea, though.
no subject