How's My Driving | July 2013

[ironwood]

Three months have already passed since the last HMD? You betcha! This means that it's time to kick off the fourth quarterly gamewide HMD here in Tu Shanshu! Things are getting structured a little differently this time, so read on for details.

How's My Driving?
While each and every character must have an HMD page available, we offer a gamewide HMD once every calendar quarter. This is an opportunity to get together and discuss IC interpretations and portrayals in a respectful, beneficial fashion. In a nutshell, it's a chance to see how we're doing in the grand scheme of things.

There are a few ground rules to cover off before we can start:

• Participation in the quarterly HMD is 100% optional.
  
• Be respectful, anon or not. It's a lot easier to give and receive crit if all parties are making it a discussion of it rather than an argument.
  
• IP logging is off and anonymous commenting is on. You can offer crit signed-in if you like, but the option's there.
  
• New! We ask that each concrit provided consist of one positive and one constructive bit of feedback. Bring up something that you like about that player, and in the same comment provide something that you feel they could work on. This is to help round out the feedback and provide a better experience all around.
  

That's it, that's all!

And, to make things easier, here's a handy-dandy codeset:

<big><b><i>Player Name</i></b></big> <i>Character Name:</i> <i>Canon:</i> <i>User Name:</i> <I>Focus:</i> Optional. Do you have particular concerns about your portrayal that you'd like to be the focus of crit? You can link any threads you'd like a second opinion on here. If you're looking for structural feedback, or would prefer things like grammar not be mentioned, put it here.

Comments

[lostundercover]

♥: As mentioned on plurk, I love your language/word choice. I also like that you really seem to go out of your way to tag around! That's much appreciated.

°: As mentioned, the talking in circles thing sometimes. THAT'S ALL.

[lostundercover]

♥: You are an utter delight to play with and I really enjoy every interaction we have, even with Damian. But mostly Bucky. You play very interesting characters and develop CR in a way that feels very natural.

°: I'm a slow tagger, so it's a little hypocritical, but I would love to see you taking on a little less in order to tag a little more/quicker. I'm greedy to play with you and get bummed when I don't get to do so very often.

[lostundercover]

♥: I really appreciate you tagging around and your willingness to just jump right into whatever. I apologize for my slowness with things!

°: I'm sorry that I haven't written with you enough to leave anything constructive!

[lostundercover]

→ The Archive is a character that I've been watching and trying to find an excuse to play with, but haven't quite been able to yet. I'm not sure if that's a result of being unapproachable or running in different circles. Hopefully we can remedy it either way.

→ I think you can't throw her into too much science! I think there are tons of characters doing science stuff right now through a lot of different venues and having her be actively involved in that is not only not stepping on others' CR, it's a great way to culminate your own!

→ As someone who considers themselves a slow tagger and is still constantly told that others are much slower, I think you're probably okay. I don't know your speed specifically, but I think this game has all types and it's fine as long as you're finishing your threads and not ignoring your CR.

Sorry I can't give more!

[lostundercover]

♥: I really love that you've been extremely open to developing CR and tagging around. You're a fun player to play with!

°: In our very limited interactions with Toro and Johnny, I'll admit that I got the impression that Toro was more obnoxious teenager than adult? But that might just be Johnny. He has a tendency to bring that out in people.

[lostundercover]

♥: Although we haven't had too many threads together, I've enjoyed them all. Rogue's voice seemed consistent and appropriate to the character when she was talking to Johnny, if that helps any.

°: It's not really crit, but I'd really like to see more of Jason. Hayley will hopefully be bothering him soon.

[trainwrecked]

<3 right back! I love playing with you, too, always!

And so noted. To be fair, right now my slowness comes a lot from not being able to dedicate time to RP at work, as I'd gotten used to doing, and then being exhausted, and more RL stuff happening, but, yes. Taking on less and wrapping up ongoing older stuff are things I will be working on to improve my activeness. Thank you! :) (Not hypocritical at all, I have been horribad.)

[lostundercover]

♥: I love Victor. I'll admit that sometimes I get a little skeptical of random comic characters, but I think you've done extremely well with him. He has a distinct voice and personality (coming from someone canon blind to that character specifically) and is fun to have some lighter chats with. I really enjoy his and Johnny's CR.

°: If you're a little burned out with him, maybe you could try putting him in situations outside of his comfort zone more? He seems like a fairly consistent character, which can be a great thing at times, but can also be really draining when those types of characters get in a negative swing. Hopefully pushing him out of his comfort zone could distract him from his moods and help develop new CR at the same time.

[flamingshortshorts]

Thank you! I've definitely had fun with our CR, so I'm glad you are, too. ♥

Toro can definitely come across as an obnoxious teenager when he wants to, part of the problem with growing up in a team where they still treat you like are one even when you're 25. He doesn't age normally so people still see him as a teenager. But I noticed I may have been playing that up a little too much so I'll definitely try to cut that back and bring out his more mature and focused side.

Although Johnny does bring out his bratty side because he keeps hearing how how he's the real Torch and no one really knows who he and Jim are. I think he's gotten a bit beyond that in their most recent thread though, so it shouldn't be as much of an issue in the future.

[lostundercover]

♥: I really love the many nuances and layers that you play Bruce with. He's a complete character and that's impressive. Your writing is fantastic in general and I really enjoy all of Bruce's introspection. Raimei is a great divergence from Bruce and is just really fun. She definitely has a distinct personality. Her voice is definitely different from Bruce's, though I don't feel that I've threaded with her enough to call it distinct yet.

°: STOP THINKING SO MUCH IN BED. We had this chat on plurk already.

[lostundercover]

♥: Your writing is wonderful and you're a delight to play with.

°: Sometimes I worry that you have so much CR with Kyle that you might have a hard time keeping up with all of it.

[lostundercover]

♥: Everything forever. I really appreciate your willingness to jump into things and our limited CR has been fun so far.

°: I just want to see more of your guys in bed. No real legit crit here.

[lostundercover]

♥: You know I adore writing with you. You have a gift for word choice and construction of description and ideas that is extremely rare and a delight to interact with. You are always open to plotting. I haven't threaded with Henry as much, but I know that Una is an extremely realistic and nuanced character to the point of being a fully fleshed out person. I believe that your inadequacies are primarily a result of overthinking things and that you are a far better player (not writer, but player) than you give yourself credit for. Because I know you know you're a good writer.

°: As has been suggested, I would consider trying to be more proactive in your plotting. Waiting for things to come to you is awesome when you're busy, but eventually it always stagnates and then it's important to put in the work (and it is work sometimes). Another thing that might help, to steal a page from Chel's playbook, is putting your characters in situations that are uncomfortable for them, to really explore more of their depths (which I know you love) and to encourage new CR.

Costigan+Mal=4lyfe♥

[lostundercover]

Unfortunately I have no crit for you.

So, uh, I guess just keep on keepin' on in bed.

That's the best I got.

[lostundercover]

♥: Perhaps it's because of our existing CR, but I feel that you generally do a good job of getting Clark out there. You're one who tends to make a lot of open posts with information that most people can respond to, which is one of the things I love most when trying to build new CR with someone. Also, I had no idea you weren't American until you mentioned living in Spain; your English and slang, etc, are all great in my experience!

°: As mentioned on plurk, just trying to clarify Clark vs Superman.

[epigrammatical]

Thanks for the feedback (and also for commenting so I can't keep editing the top comment, haha). The "uncomfortable situations" thing is a good idea; I haven't been doing that nearly as much as I usually do lately, and now that I look over most of my stuff, it's clear to me that both Harry and Una are way too much within their comfort zones right now. So I'll see what I can do to fix that.

(Harry's headed toward a canon update, which will shake him up a lot. What I do next with Una will depend on how the Malicant plot shakes out, I think.)

[lostundercover]

♥: Okay, we both know I'm completely biased, but I think your Lincoln is fantastic. I, personally, felt his intro was completely in character and I didn't find it boring at all. I was actually a little impressed with how well you handled apping a new character during such a major plot/event.

°: ... I don't think I've threaded with you enough to have crit to give yet? I'm sorry.

[lostundercover]

♥: Unfortunately, I'm canon blind with Dinah, but she definitely has a distinct voice, etc. In our extremely limited interactions, I've been having fun (with Johnny/Dinah) and haven't noticed any format issues or anything at all. You seem to have the style/format down.

°: I don't feel that we've threaded enough for me to offer any crit. Sorry!

[lostundercover]

In rereading my initial comment, allow me to clarify that I didn't mean to suggest that you don't work for your CR. You're definitely one to always play with everyone and the like and I didn't mean to insinuate otherwise; I was trying to use my own experiences to relate in how sometimes it's possible to get too comfortable and forget to step it up a little.

I hope the canon update helps and I really look forward to seeing where you progress with these two! Please don't hesitate to let me know if there's any way I can help (like ratting out Henry to Evandau, haha).

[una_persson]

It's cool; no offence taken. By "comfort zone" I mostly meant that I haven't been going out of my way to make them miserable. XD (I think I've been more successful with Henry in this regard insofar as most of his relationships are fraught in one way or another?) And I've been distracted this last month by RL stuff, so. Yeah.

(And Henry should be ratted out eventually. Lemme think about how I want to handle that. It'd probably have to happen after his canon update, but hey, that would be a good way to heap Pelion upon Ossa for him.)

[lostundercover]

Got it. And being distracted is understandable! ♥

(Sounds good.)

[constants]

NO YOU'RE A SAINT THANK YOU FOR THIS!

I would love to remedy this! I legit just realized that I was shamefully bad at tagging new CR (versus being tagged by new CR in open posts and logs) this month, so that might be part of the problem. Fail, self. But yes, I would love to tag with you! She's not doing aaaanything until powers are back, but after that ends let's figure something out. ♥

Thanks for that feed back! That's good to hear on both plot involvement and activity.

[angermanaging]

THANK YOU BB. I put a lot of thought into choosing Raimei as my second character to intentionally serve as a balance to Bruce (she's his opposite in so many ways), but sometimes switching between them does give me, like, mood whiplash, haha. I'm glad they're differentiated for you! I don't think I'm comfortable enough with her yet for her to have a solid "voice" but we'll get there. o/

I FAIL AT NOT THINKING no I really do appreciate the input and as I said before, it's been super helpful already. Sometimes you just need someone to come along and drag you out of your head. XD

[constants]

THIS IS A GOOD SUGGESTION AND I WILL EMPLOY IT. I'm bad at talking to people I don't know so I'll have to get over that some, but you have a good point and I will try to judiciously use this strategy. So I don't, you know, overuse it and ruin her.

[angermanaging]

Haha yeah, you definitely would have to be selective about employing it. Cage match for the privilege of awkward Archive CR?!!

Seriously though, I feel like 60% of effective, enjoyable RP is relentlessly putting yourself out there. That's what's worked for me. o/