good luck to your dad on his path to downton abbey BNFdom

[rpanonyoda]

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CHARACTER ADVICE

[rpanonyoda]

nyx ulric | ffxv: kingsglaive

[(Anonymous)]

reposting from last post.

i'm more looking for other people's interpretations of him to round out his character beyond the... snapshot, i guess, that we see in the last days of insomnia's fall while everything's going to hell in a handbasket. what do people think he's like on a more day-to-day basis? i'd also love some advice on balancing out his cocky attitude on the battlefield and with his fellow glaives with his good obedient soldier routine with drautos and regis.

Re: nyx ulric | ffxv: kingsglaive

[(Anonymous)]

I'd say think on his relationship with Crowe and Libertus outside of the Kingsglaive to get some kind of an idea the most. I mean Libertus and Nyx both came from the same place in Galahd, there are pictures of them along with Nyx's sister in the scene where Nyx is in his room so he obviously holds his friends and his memories as an important thing. They all have a very brotherly sisterly camaraderie going on and I think that would extend to everyone else around Nyx as well. He seems to get along with a lot of people naturally and seems to just joke around even with the assholes, such as when he gets put on guard duty.

Hopefully that makes sense. Too much coffee today.

Re: CHARACTER ADVICE

[(Anonymous)]

I hope this is the right thread for this, but I'm having a problem that's bothering me and I'm not sure how to fix it.

I'm going to be apping into a new game this month with a friend playing a character where 90% of my knowledge for her is from the wiki and watching my friend play the 3rd game in the series she's from. I haven't yet personally played the game series she's from, but I'll be able to at least play the first game in her series in March--but that'll be after I've already apped into this game and been in it for a few weeks. I don't plan on watching anything from the first game due to wanting to remain a little unspoiled for myself.

Given these conditions, what would be the suggested best way to play her until I'm able to get first-hand experience on the other games she's in? The version of her I'm apping is the one from the 3rd game, but knowing at least the first one is kind of crucial to her backstory.

Re: CHARACTER ADVICE

[(Anonymous)]

You should wait.

March isn't far off and since it's absolutely crucial to her backstory to have first game knowledge, then you need to have that knowledge before attempting to play her.

Re: CHARACTER ADVICE

[(Anonymous)]

I do have the basic knowledge though. Because I've read her wiki article at least three times and her wiki article is extremely detailed and even gives a play-by-play of events that happened to her in the first game + the backstory.

But for me there's a big difference between knowing something because I read it and knowing something because I saw it happen in-context with my own eyes. So I guess what I mean is that on a technical level I know her backstory and I could explain it if needed, but I don't know ALL the ins and outs of it and won't until I play the first game in March.

Original Character advice

[(Anonymous)]

So this is my first time planning an OC since I'm still a DWRP newbie, so I got a few questions in mind:

1. First off, can I use my art as a PB for my characters? I can draw and color them digitally.

2. I'm a newbie to creating the OC's world, so can I use the world used in my original stories or do I have to make up a new one?

3. My character has some brainwashing powers, so should I nerf it down or create a permission page for him?

Re: Original Character advice

[(Anonymous)]

1. Yes, you can use your art. It's encouraged.

2. Go ahead with using his 'native' world.

3. Make a permissions page or at least note it in his info. If you plan on playing on memes I think it'd be good to note it in the body of your post or link to his info.

Joseph Joestar | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[(Anonymous)]

Any advice would help; I'm playing him from part three, and I'm just planning to use him in memes at the moment, but a big thing that I'm concerned with is how he'd react to characters from other parts. How he'd see his past self, what sort of things would he say (or not say) to people like Caesar or Lisa Lisa, how he'd react to Josuke (considering that, by that point, Josuke would have been born, but Joseph wouldn't know it), and things like that.

Maybe that's covered in games like Eyes of Heaven, but I don't have the option to play that game. Still, like I said, I'll take any advice in general - he's a new muse for me, and while I'd like to try him out, it seems intimidating to jump into a fanbase that's this passionate.

Re: Joseph Joestar | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[(Anonymous)]

There's Youtube videos and I'd definitely watch or skim a few of them. I don't think you need to watch the entire storyline, but there's things like Old Joseph yelling at Young Joseph as well as Caesar available that'll answer some of your questions.

Re: Joseph Joestar | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[(Anonymous)]

It's up to you whether you handwave this or not, but Joseph is an old guy with some pretty outdated ideas, especially about women. Like, his interactions with Jolyne in the PS3 game are all like 'oh, what kind of woman fights like this' and stuff.

Depending on how you play it it could be either really offensive or a fun starting point for CR. So like... I guess I'm saying, try not to cross the line but don't totally ignore it either.

Character Squatting

[(Anonymous)]

What do you consider character squatting? Is it something you'd bring up with that person because it might effect your character or bring it up to mods? I think games need to be a little stricter on character squatting. People who only do the minimum comments for AC or people who never finish threads but talk about rp all the time on plurk or app in 100 games but never finish plots with people and leave people hanging.

Re: Character Squatting

[(Anonymous)]

Man, this is always a hard one. It's hard for games to be strict about character squatting, because the line for what is and what isn't character squatting can sometimes be vague. Usually the definition of squatting is "Someone who barely scrapes by with AC putting in the minimum amount of effort and takes as many hiatuses are allowed by the game." Since this often doesn't break any actual hard and fast game rules, it can be hard to crack down on. And what's considered character squatting in a really fast game might be considered really active in a slow game.

So as far as defining it, I think the easiest thing to judge on is the player's activity in comparison with others in the same game. Do they tag considerably less than what is considered the average for the game? ("Considerably" being the key word here.)

Do they continuously struggle to make activity or phone their activity in, in a setting where the majority of players seem to have no trouble making AC? (If the majority of the game is struggling to make activity, that's another matter entirely.)

Do they start threads only at the end of the month to get AC and then drop them as soon as they've passed activity?

Do they have an incredibly low rate of threads that ever amount to anything, or trouble finishing or getting to the important bits?

Do they regularly handwave important interaction?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have a character squatter on your hands.

As for bringing it up, it's a really difficult/delicate situation and personally I'd approach it on a case-by-case basis. Mods in general usually ask players to try to resolve matters on their own first before involving them, but if you don't know the person well, or if you know that they're someone who'd react badly, approaching them privately may go... badly.

If you know them well and/or you feel like they're chill, by all means approach them in person. I would probably say something like, "Hey, I notice that we've been struggling a lot to finish threads lately between (their character) and (your character). It's getting to the point where I don't know what's going on with (xyz) because of (abc). Is there anything I can do to help?"

Of course, the problem with this approach is that if they don't improve and then you take it to the mods later, you could end up with a huge blowout on your hands where the person guesses it was you who took it to the mods and gets resentful.

So if you don't think that's a viable approach, I'd just compile your evidence and send it to the mods quietly without making a huge fuss. (Of course, it does depend on your mod team. Some are strict about activity and will appreciate it being brought to their attention or will already know, others may not care or see you as a problem player for complaining about it. Choose your battles wisely depending on the mod team you have.)

Either way, I'd just write like you're bringing it to their attention and you have some concerns. They may not do anything about it, but if they receive multiple complaints from others, or if they've observed the behaviour in question for themselves, they may take the player aside for a chat. Who knows.

Either way, my condolences, anon. Character squatting is frustrating to deal with and honestly in my experience rarely does it ever end well. But I wish you good luck.

Inquisitor Lavellan | Dragon Age: Inquisition

[(Anonymous)]

Any tips for someone who is new to playing the canon? I've gone through two play-throughs of each game and feel like I know the setting well enough, but I'd like to know if there are any tips from people who have played with Inquisitors on what worked for you and what didn't work for you, especially since they're more or less subject to players choices to an extent.

TIA!

Doctors and similar characters

[(Anonymous)]

I'm interested in picking up Maria Torres from Trauma Team, who's a first responder. How much about EMS training do you think I need to look up? Or how little can I get away with? This is for a game not a meme, so I'm not comfortable with 100% BSing my way through it.

Re: Doctors and similar characters

[(Anonymous)]

well firstly, depending on the game, it's not even going to come up that often. maybe more in a survivalist or horror game of some kind, but in most others it really honestly won't.

second, just using reliable medical resources is fine. no one's going to call you on sounding like you're quoting wikipedia.

all this comes from my own experience playing a medical expert.

Re: Doctors and similar characters

[(Anonymous)]

Most actual doctors just use webMD and wikipedia. It's scary, right? But true.

But yeah like above anon says, it's unlikely to come up in anything except really extreme horror games.

Also, remember that most other muns don't have detailed EMS knowledge. You'll be fine if you just know the very basics, and if you end up needing to know more you can just look it up as and when you need it.

shiro (voltron)

[(Anonymous)]

hopefully this is okay to ask? i'm really new to playing main characters and main characters from a non purely written media. but i really wanna take up this character and jump into the pool!

what are common pitfalls that shiro players fall into? is there any generalised advice or suggestions that you would give to someone playing/looking to play this character?

Re: shiro (voltron)

[(Anonymous)]

One problem a bunch of Shiro's fall into is playing the "space dad" trope into the ground. It's becoming annoying now. People level off bits of his personality traits and just go the dad route. It's fine once in a while because Shiro does care about everyone, but all the time is too excessive.

Something else to keep in mind is that Shiro actually has a range of emotions. We see that his patience does have an end and he can get mad and yell about something. He does worry a lot and retreats into himself a lot, but he gets happy and angry alongside his sadness.

Also, please don't push your ship preferences on people. This holds true to whether you ship Shiro with whomever you're threading with or if you ship some paladin/paladin ship. Basically, don't assume anything. Which, you'd think isn't worthy of a mention, but with this fandom it happens.

Re: shiro (voltron)

[(Anonymous)]

ime what shiros have trouble balancing is his compassionate side with his responsible side. too involved and you go into dad mode (which doesn't bother me personally but seems like it bothered a lot of people). too plot focused and you fall down the rabbithole of making him the leader/protagonist, which is definitely annoying to tag when shiro's almost the one who's most focused on voltron as a team. i read him as leading because he was semi-pushed into that role, the others simply don't want to deal with that yet. he's responsible but he's not a hero.

the biggest pitfall i've found for shiros is that they're boring. they put no hooks into their tags and they expect me to bring the conflict and punchlines even if they tag me. this may somewhat be because shiro's easy to get along with as a character but that's rp 101. find some quirks and what you like about him and play to those strengths.

and don't worry about ships at all.

Re: shiro (voltron)

[(Anonymous)]

don't forget that shiro has been through some shit. he's not an endless fount of support, patience, and calm understanding. there's a limit to his patience. he's traumatized by what happened to him in the galra prison. he's got demons of his own to work out. he's not comfortable with his galra arm.

as the other anon said, he's not a shounen hero. he accepts leadership roles because he has to. he doesn't seek them out but he won't hide from them either. he will prioritize other people's problems over his own and he doesn't like bringing up his trauma to others, but he is not team dad. please don't fall into the pitfall of making him a one note overplayed space dad joke. nothing turns me off of tagging with shiros faster than that.

like the other anon said, don't push ships, either with shiro or by having him talk about a secondary one, in your tags.

Re: shiro (voltron)

[(Anonymous)]

I'll throw this in there. I don't have a problem with 'space dad' but I think that's because I think of that as short-hand for a larger mix of traits. I've seen some Shiros pretty vocally opposed to that aspect of him and I think you should find your own level of comfort but for me - Shiro is a caretaker and a protector and he does tend to 'mentor' 'big brother' 'dad' the younger paladins but its not overbearing. He's the only one of the team that's seen action 'on the field' so to speak and he knows they're learning as they go. One of his responsibilities is to help them develop and grow that way. For instance, the space snowball fight? What does he do? Goes into training mode right off the bat because its not a dangerous situation and goes into 'remember your training, find a shelter' even though he could easily just herd them back down to the airlock and into the ship (he also does the 'all right, calm down - oh, you're in for it now!' so he's not at all above pulling a 'dad' one moment and jumping in to play with them a second(and snowball to the head) later). He's aware that they're learning on the run and he's doing his best to mentor them along while being supportive and meeting them where they are. It's a big part of his personality. He feels very responsible for taking care of any team in his charge. Right off the bat, he's the first one that realizes the Galra ship on Kerberos is trouble and he doesn't just tell the others to run, he takes their arms to get them moving. He's proactive over reactive when he can be. He's already prepping Keith to take his place if he falls. He wants his team prepared for what's ahead of them and that means making sure he does all he can to see that they're ready.

I'll agree, Shiro's a leader because he's the best for the job not because he wants it. I think his VA said he'd be Hufflepuff if he were Hogwarts and I'm eh, on Harry Potter categorization but I think this is good. He does what needs to be done because he has to and because it keeps the others from having to take the hits. He's not there for the glory or the praise or the recognition. I think his ability to guard/guide his team a big part of how he sees himself ('I lost my team once, I'm not going to lose it again'). Leadership as a guide, not as a ruler. He's supportive, he's encouraging and he trusts his team to do what they need to do. There are plenty of times he sends one or more of them off on their own to do dangerous things and he has faith in them that they can pull it off. He doesn't have to micromanage. He uses their strengths and then lets them run with it. He also listens to them when they talk or disagree, he lets everyone have their say. And whether he takes it or not, he explains why he's making the decision he's making (ie. whether to trust the coordinates in his arm, Lance disagreeing about who should go check out the BoM base). He's got a lot of charisma and sincerity and people want to follow that. He expects to be followed but he also respects that his position isn't any more special than anyone else's.

Lastly I'll add, just to let your mind poke at it and what it means to the way you want to write him, look at the way he deals with a fight. Shiro is a crack job at figuring out an opponents moves and weakness and coming up with strategy - but if you pay attention, when he's caught flat footed, his first answer is always to charge right in. Sendak? Charge him. Haggar in the hanger? Charge her and keep charging her instead of dodging and hiding behind things. Zarkon of all beings on the astral plane? Charge him. And keep charging him. Shiro's a smart fighter and if he's got time he likes to come up with a plan of attack but if he doesn't have time, he relies on speed and force and durability. Apply that to the rest of his personality. Because as calm and controlled as he usually is, that 'attack/take action' response is still there and its where his gut will go if he doesn't have time to think. We mostly only see it in his fighting in the show but its something to keep in mind as well because it could make for some very interesting threads.

And for shipping? I wasn't aware people were having problems with Shiros pushing ships but I've been out of the loop for a bit. I would say this. Please, please, please just list what you ship and what you don't ship in an easy to find permissions post or something? Being honest about it isn't going to get you wanked on or lose you rp partners. It's just going to make it easier on everyone else to know, going in, where you stand on things and what angles they should or shouldn't hit in their writing. Leaving things unknown means everyone has to do that awkward 'do you ship it?' verbal dance at some point and its just easier to be upfront.

I could probably write a book more and these are just my personal observations so take them as you will and make your Shiro your own but if you've got any specific questions maybe asking them here or in the canon thread above would help you get some different ideas to toss around as well. I've found the DW section of the fandom to be very chill and helpful and really open to long running discussions about all kinds of things. Welcome to the crew!

[(Anonymous)]

+1 on everything here, but also wanted to add: he's early twenties with a military-type background. He knows he has trauma/ptsd and probably has some general knowledge of what it is.

He's also not likely to be naively stupid about sex or sexuality.

Re: shiro (voltron)

[(Anonymous)]

this is late and i'm late but what the heck. the above responses are pretty on spot for the majority of shiro, but something else not mentioned here is he's as much of a goofy human as the rest of them.

back when season 1 aired, josh said he voiced shiro "as their peer", not as a leader, or a mentor, or a dad/adult. when they're joking around about the laser sounds, yeah shiro tries to redirect them, but he also stops for a second to make his own laser noises. he joined in that asteroid-snowball fight, the food fight.

basically, he knows when to be serious and coral the paladins into what they need to be doing. he definitely has near-infinite patience and he's seen some shit. but he's not that much older than them and he has fun with them too. seeing people talk and play shiro as the Dad And Only The Dad Ever put me off playing outside of psls, so I wish you the best luck anon!

Yuya Sakaki (yugioh Arc V)

[(Anonymous)]

Playing from the sub, I'm mostly looking for advice with speech patten but I'll take any suggestions!