Me and RPing

So as I start to investigate DA as a medium for potential RP, I figure I should do THAT journal entry. You know, THAT one. The one where I describe my experience and, for lack of a better word, proclivities with RPing.

Firstly, I have been RPing in various settings, forms, and mediums for my entire life. Almost literally. I first played D&D when I was nine. That was 24 years ago. ...wow, I just realized how long it's been. In many ways, RPing has shaped my life. It is still what I attribute any skill I might have in writing to, and it remains my favorite pasttime. In any case, while I did play a lot of D&D, I much preferred RPing in a freeform setting, particularly chatrooms. I'm not sure how RPing on DA will compare, but I'm willing to give it a shot. 

Nextly, I am a writer (and a writing teacher) by training and, at times, by trade. What that means is that you should expect at least description and proper sentences. In return, I expect at least an effort to be made on my partner's part. I know not everyone is a professional writer, not everyone has the time or the desire to write a novel. I am 110% fine with that. Lately my writing has been going downhill, it would be hypocritical of me to judge other people. I care more about content than delivery. However, I would at least like to see coherence in my partners and, particularly given the potential slow nature of RP on DA, I'd like to see a bit of time put in on description. Now, I know this all sounds super judgmental, but really, I am not judgmental at all. I am a writing teacher, but you would be surprised at how little I care about grammar. If I can understand what you're writing, I am totally fine. I am a descriptive grammarian. If you don't know what that means, it basically means that I like to describe grammar as it is, rather than tell people how it should be. I love people who bend and even break the rules to make things more engaging. TLDR for this paragraph: put some effort into your posts, some description, some meat, and we'll be fine. I would also like to add this: if you are propositioning me for RP, remember that your first message to me is meant to impress me. I really am not a judgmental guy, but I can tell if your attempt to solicit RP is lazy. And if you're being lazy as a first impression, I won't have a lot of faith for what will follow.

As for content, I have a few things I really like, and tops of that list is transgender. Wait and read what I mean by transgender before you jump to message me or immediately close this window, please. When I say transgender, I mean actual transformation from one gender to the next. I have nothing against real life transgender people, men who feel like they are women trapped in a man's body, people who dress as women, people who get The Surgery; more power to them. But I am talking about a total transformation from male to female or female to male (generally the former, but often both). It can be magical, it can be science, it can be completely unexplained, I don't really care (in fact, I love new ideas on how the transformation occurred). I generally prefer to be the one transformed (er, my characters), but I can perhaps be persuaded otherwise. Now, naturally this sort of material lends itself to 18+ mature RP, and I am 100% cool with that sort of thing (I like context, though, not just mindless cyb0ring), but I also like slice-of-lifey stuff from time to time. In fact, one of my favorite aspects of TG isn't necessarily the sexy stuff, but just getting to see how characters live everyday situations as the opposite sex. The guy that wakes up in the morning as a girl and has to go to school, make new friends, even fall in love. Relatedly, I actually prefer hedero relationships wherever possible. I know this is weird, both because it's hard to imagine an ostensibly-straight dude turning into a girl and falling for another dude and because usually guys into TG RP are all about the lesbian sex, but I actually prefer my male-turned-females to be romanced by a guy. I'm open to the other thing, but I prefer the romance to be straight. As for other fetishes, I'm a bit too white bread to really enjoy most of them. By all means run them past me, nothing to lose by making suggestions, but I reserve the right to reject an RP from the start. Better to not start one than to break it off halfway through. I apologize if this puts anyone out, or if it seems like I'm willing to take but not give, but I think it's best with things like this to find people who share the same interests rather than people who are willing to force themselves to do so.

If I reject your RP proposal for any reason, please do not be offended. It isn't that I don't like you personally (or, in the case of aforementioned fetish incompatibility, that I find you to be repugnant or anything). I just choose to be picky so that everyone will have fun rather than any party, myself or you, being forced into an awkward "I don't enjoy this anymore but I don't know how to end it politely" situations. It just seems easier this way.

While I am open to many other concepts (by all means, try and run them by me), I would like to try and work this theme into any RP I do. I don't get to RP TG stuff nearly enough, so I'd like to get it wherever I can. If you can swing with that, then we definitely have a lot to talk about ^_^. I am also amenable to TF themes, though mostly just the whole furry/anthro thing. I prefer pure human-to-human TG, but spicing it up a bit with transformations into other things isn't necessarily a bad thing. Like I said before, run your ideas by me if you want to try something out. Worst thing I'll do is give you (what I hope to be) a polite refusal.

Setting-wise, I am into almost anything. I'm a bit burned out by fantasy, particularly traditional fantasy, but if the premise is intriguing enough, I can be persuaded to do almost anything. Some of my favorite settings are modern, superhero/comic book settings, "hidden world" mythological settings, etc. I like to have the seemingly-ordinary world play foundation for something fantastical. However, I am game for almost anything as long as the premise is interesting to me. If it's not, I may suggest changes or simply suggest something different altogether. Don't be offended if I shoot down an idea. I am notoriously fickle (that would be a sweet rapper name) and I go through sometimes very swift phases of interest. One day I might be interested in a fast-paced space pirate setting, the next I might be interested in a black-and-white noir setting filled with intrigue and sex. The next minute I might want to be a superhero. I do tend to stick with what I start (though if you're like me and like to switch a lot, we could potentially get along really well :-P), but just know that starting the RP may take some negotiation. As for fanRP, or settings that already exist (Pokemon, Bleach, Soul Eater, whatever): I'm totally open to using preexisting canon with one caveat: there has to be a way to work in original characters. I do not like RPing someone else's characters. I'm not opposed to meeting preexisting characters, but I want to be someone I design myself.

One final note, I tend to prefer to be the player, the one who reacts rather than the one who controls and directs. I can GM if it's required to make something work, I even enjoy it from time to time, but I just prefer to focus on my own character and reacting to the world around me.

Anyways, now that I've made myself sound super undesireable as an RP partner ('-_-) I would just like to close by saying that if you want someone who is going to take the RP very seriously, someone who is willing to put in effort to craft characters, worlds, and even each individual post, then I would love to work with you. I may seem very pretentious and elitist, but I really am not. All I care about is people making an effort, putting in as much proportionally as I do. I don't expect you to be William Shakespeare. I just want you to be as into it as I am.