Best posts made by Auspice

Good Omens.

This post is the result of a brief spiel between myself and @surreality over in 'Random Bitching.' So here's my initial thoughts on the topic. Feel free to add in.

And I'm going to just go ahead and try to say: if someone comes in with a question, try to be nice. I know this is MSB, but this isn't in the Hog Pit and I'd like to keep it that way.

To start us out, here's some articles on the topic of writing sex. I have tried to avoid the tl;dr articles. I have tried to avoid the ones by authors who abuse a thesaurus. YMMV here. You may enjoy 'throbbing manhoods' and 'pearl of womanhoods' and describing women as food. I don't and I've found the most engaging TS (whether as a participant or relayed to me later) doesn't, either.

Also, I went through nearly three dozen articles to find these. Most of them were garbage. You're welcome.

Articles by professionals:

1. http://www.utne.com/arts/how-to-write-a-sex-scene.aspx
   In my mind, this might be one of the best articles. Ever. Period. It's informative and has the sort of tongue-in-cheek humor I love. Seriously, anyone who wants to write sex (be it for TS, a novel, or their long-imagined Kirk/Scotty slashfic) should read this article. (BTW, for handy reference per his last point: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Song+of+Songs+1)

2. http://emmadarwin.typepad.com/thisitchofwriting/2014/08/ten-top-tips-ahem-for-writing-sex-scenes.html
   Her first point contains my philosophy for TS. Will it affect the story or not? Some of the best TS I've had recently involved discussion, during the act on how to take down another PC. Sure, it was TS, but there was also plot involved. Your best TS scenes will almost, without fail, be the ones that involve a point in story (either overall or for your character themselves). She also makes another good point: you don't have to write everything. A single, well-written pose or two can contain most of the ol' in-and-out itself.

3. http://www.randysusanmeyers.com/blog/2013/04/writing-and-reading-sex-scenes-good-bad-ugly/
   I include this primarily about the point that it's easier (or the outcome is better) to write about 'bad' sex. Not 'Oh man he totally couldn't find the clitoris' bad, but 'The character is damaging themselves emotionally in some way.' This is why the romantic, sappy, 'they're so in love' TS scenes get so dull. It's the same thing. Everyone can imagine it. There's nothing engaging in those poses, nothing to latch onto and use moving forward. I can do so much more with 'Oh man, Sal is totally sleeping with him so he'll buy her drugs,' than 'Oh, it's just another Friday night for happy couple Bob and Sue.'

Articles by fanfic writers / roleplayers:

1. http://poshhelpers.tumblr.com/post/41724164666/how-to-smut-for-virgins-getting-started-when-i
   Overall, this is skim worthy. However, the author included some great questions to ask yourself about your character's approach to the 'scene.' I've got some people out there who I've TS'd with on different characters. And some of those people, well... once the TS begins, their PC disappears. This kills a 'mood' more than anything else, sometimes. Don't forget your character when you're TSing. If anything, TS is the time to delve even further into their psyche.

2. https://aron-kristina.dreamwidth.org/9755.html
   This is a very, very technical article about writing about sex between two women. However, it links out to educational stuff. I have seen men write great lesbian sex and I've had women ask me OOCly beforehand for any advice. So I share this because I am sure there's someone out there who could use the intel.

3. http://thorhelps.tumblr.com/post/39030227340/how-to-write-lesbian-smut
   Another article on writing lesbian sex. This one is more about the fun part of things rather than the technical.

Misc. links:

1. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SoYouWantTo/WriteASexScene
   I share this just because I know some of you are tvtropes addicts. But it's not a bad read, either. Especially if you want to know more details about the tropes you should be avoiding.

2. http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/how-to-write-good-sex-scenes
   Yes, this is meant as a joke, but I swear some people out there use this as their Guide to Writing TS.

3. https://twitter.com/Lit_Review
   Not an article, but these are the people behind the 'Bad Sex in Fiction' award and will often post excerpts/nominees. Example: “Now he realised that he was inside her, ejaculating toward her uterus” (from Haruki Murakami’s “1Q84”) and "at the end she began to gasp 'oh dear, oh my dear, oh my dear dear god, oh sugar!'" (from Stephen King’s “11.22.63”).

I know, there's no articles on writing gay (between two male characters) sex. This is for two reasons: no good ones came up in my search and I've never been particularly good at it (I'm bisexual IRL and physically attracted to women). Someone else can chime in with tips for gay sex, if they'd like.

I signed the paperwork for new job today.

I start 9am next Monday. Casual dress (thank God no more uniform for me!).

It's a short contract (vs a permanent position). But that's all I need. I'm also working on my alternate teaching certification courses and I hope, by the time this job is done, I can have a teaching position lined up.

...in the meantime I'm just gonna be back to super busy like I was when doing my degree.

On a new game, I began RPing with someone and got 'this person is cool and meshes well with my style' vibes off of them. They're quickly becoming one of my favorite people to RP with or even just hang out and OOCly shoot the shit.

I've been MU*ing for over 18 years and generally within the same general types of game, so meeting someone new is pretty rare. Even better when it's someone you jive with so well.

OneNote is Microsoft's best product.

It's glorious for an obsessive organizer like me.

@Ghost said in What do you WANT to play most?:

"We will now discuss what the Ferengi refer to as oo-mox, which is spelled Oh-Oh-"
OH OH DONT STOP.

The class erupts in laughter. The Vulcan sighs.

Reminded me of: http://beka-tiddalik.tumblr.com/post/150425828285/roachpatrol-deadcatwithaflamethrower

Quote:
during orientation at a human college, vulcans are presented with a list of swear words.

“what is the word ‘fuck’ for,” the innocent young vulcans want to know. “surely there are more logical intensity modifiers.”

“yeah, you’d think so,” say the weary, jaded vulcan professors. “you’d really fucking think so.”

there is a phrase in vulcan for ‘the particular moment you understand what the word ‘fuck’ is for’.

When I interviewed for my job originally, they were interviewing for 2 positions. The one I got the position for and another (also tech writer) for another tool. I knew that one would be a month-ish behind the other, but I've heard nothing. I've actually been tempted to ask my boss about it because hey maybe that person could be good for collab and support and...

My boss just asked if I could make time this week (thankfully I can; my test environment is being taken down for a few days :P) to attend some meetings for and review the demo of the other tool and give her an estimate of how big a project it'd be.

...then told me that at the moment, she's considering just extending my contract so I can work on it, too.

I love this job.
I love this company.
And I've been kinda-sorta-panicking over what I'd do when the contract is up in January.

So I feel awesome that she has this level of confidence in me (a little of the 'imposter syndrome' just slipped away) and that I might maybe get to keep working here a bit longer.

I've actually been considering a Magicians game since before the show. Read the books, loved them, and realized it'd be great for a MU*.

I'm not quite ready to dive in head first because I'm still dealing with those damn migraines (neuro on the 10th!), but there does seem to be a stirring of interest.

Few notes:

• I plan to use FS3 (AresMUSH if Faraday ends up ready by the time I'm ready); primarily because I've already plotted out how it would be structured, sheet-wise.
• It will be set modern-day, 1:1
• Characters will be students (or professors/lecturers), can app in at any of the 4 years, but after a PC graduates... the bit is either retired, or can apply to become a professor, guest lecturer, etc.
• Hedgewitches will likely only be NPCs / temporary plot PCs. Their structure (of safehouses, etc.) is too loose to use for PCs without severely altering their purpose/theme.
• This means other than plots, all RP will be around Brakebills.
• I intend to really play on the darker, more intense themes of the books.

If this seems like something you'd be interested in, let me know. I'm primarily seeking a coder, someone who can prettify a wiki, and folks who are willing to help flesh out theme files, policy, etc., and ST after opening. I don't need a big Staff and the wiki role can be temporary, but I just know that I am absolutely terrible with them.

@Ganymede said in Course Corrections:

@Seamus said in Course Corrections:

The one where the offender is present? If it is an option, maybe that might be the best thing for her and the game.

My responses were to @Ghost's comments, and it appears that it was a past experience on a Battlestar Galactica game.

The person in question is a large part of why I get sort of bristly when the 'omg don't call wrongfun comes up,' because I've dealt with her on other games in which she would blatantly ignore theme to insert her own, even to the detriment of others.

5th World? Scifi, wildly advanced society? She RP'd as a medieval noblewoman who had no comprehension of technology whatsoever. Like, 'could not use a basic touchscreen device,' 'could only ride a horse' even though those things made no sense and the behavior could absolutely derail a scene.

There are times, yes, wrongfun can be called. But there are times when someone can ruin an entire scene by trying to warp everyone to what they want and I am totally allowed to put my foot down.

so to balance the 'ugh presentations' in the other thread:

I wore my Destiny 2 hoodie the other day and a coworker recognized it, so we chatted about the game some (tho I haven't played after hitting some burnout last spring).

Today I was the first one to a meeting, dialed in, was working away at my presentation. He walked in and began chatting at me all excited about an exotic he got last night.

We didn't notice when someone called in to the conference line until the "Uhhhh, guys?"

I think he's excited/happy to have someone to chat about Destiny with at work and it's kinda nice (for me) to have someone to talk to about non-work things. Helps me feel a little more integrated.

@the-tree-of-woe said in X-Men Game:

The thing about Deadpool is whoever's playing him needs to TURN IT THE FUCK OFF WHEN HE'S OOC.

And they never do. They think it's fun, or funny, or clever... and they never turn it off.

It's because of the type of people drawn to him. Those that could play him don't, for reasons @Wolfs explains. Everyone else wants the attention and 'cool' factor of being Deadpool.

Which one can argue for most characters. But it's that 'not turning it off OOC' that's annoying. Tho it's annoying regardless of the character, tbh. I saw those logs in the UH thread where Logan was talking and jesus fuck dude we do not need the 'accent' in OOC/on channels.

Does anyone else remember, about 10-15 years ago, how Staff could be hands-off and players would entertain themselves? And it wasn't all BarRP? People ran plots for themselves, for their friends, etc...

that is my goal with whatever game I put together. And a large part of why I want FS3 is it's super approachable. I've seen people who have never run things go from being really nervous at the start of their scene to 'Oh this is easy!' and running half a dozen more.

@insomniac7809 said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

At this point, I think we need to consider Halloween occupied territory; I saw Christmas trees going up at the mall where I work by October 29.

There has been a war on Halloween for a long time.
WE NEED TO RECLAIM IT.
START PUTTING UP YOUR SPOOPY DECOR ON JANUARY 1ST PEOPLE!

I just feel like it'd white wash everything if there were no dice.

'I kill everyone in one force power. I win!'

This is, as @Wizz mentioned, already an issue on comic games. Between someone being the absolute best and winning the day in a single pose....and people never losing or even getting hurt....

Those things are pretty much required in a SW game. You lose sometimes. You get hurt (and lose hands!) sometimes.

These games draw people who have that need to always win and I fear it'd be worse if a 'sheet' was just a few barebones concepts. It opens the door to everyone being the best in the universe.

You'd have players who would play realistically at first....but in the face of those who are all powerful and impossible to defeat, they'd 'power up' to be on a level. On a comic game where FCs are practically gods already this is more manageable (and full traits systems do put in some limitations), but on a SW game where the uberpowerful should be rare? Ehhh.

I get the want to make full use of the web portal. As someone who uses it extensively and encourages others to do so I absolutely do but. I think it'd hurt story and rp in the long run to have no stats or dice.

@ZombieGenesis said in Legends of the Old Republic - In Progress Star Wars Game:

No FCs will be allowed. We are going to be an OC only game.

This is a very very good thing.

I may be a minority but forcing me to walk the grid discourages me from rp. I know for a fact I'd rp on Arx more if I could tel / meetme.

But getting lost constantly is frustrating and feeling like I'm barging through scenes on my way elsewhere is insanely anxiety inducing and stopping to pose through makes other people wait on me which is also anxiety inducing and

When I give people pros/cons for Arx, 'the grid is insanely confusing and almost impossible to navigate and you can't meetme/tel' is near the top of the list. 'directions'.doesn't always work and I hate how often people are like 'ok to get to this place use directions for this other thing and then go through these other five rooms.

I just want to RP. Not spend twenty minutes just getting to the scene location.