MU Soapbox

    • Register
    • Login
    • Search
    • Categories
    • Recent
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Users
    • Groups
    • Muxify
    • Mustard
    1. Home
    2. Auspice
    3. Posts
    • Profile
    • Following 1
    • Followers 5
    • Topics 136
    • Posts 7782
    • Best 3465
    • Controversial 1
    • Groups 4

    Posts made by Auspice

    • RE: Pretendy Fun Time Games

      Funny enough, I just sidebar'd a bit in another thread about how much I hate how often 'my fun' is used these days. And 9 times out of 10 (in my own personal experience), it's used to excuse really shitty behavior. Sure, it's your fun, but this is a shared environment, yo. You don't go to a fancy restaurant and begin shouting your entire conversation (at least I hope not) because hey, other people.

      The biggest reminder I always have, on a personal scale, of a 'my fun' person was someone who would mentally calculate out her char's future path... including how other characters are involved. Except she'd never tell those people. So when Bob would end up dating Suzie, she'd flip out at both Bob and Suzie OOCly because 'THAT'S NOT WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN' and go off and tell everyone else how Bob and Suzie ruined her fun because Bob was supposed to date HER... except she never told him any of this and just made assumptions.

      My fun is all well and good... until it's negatively affecting other people. At which point: just write some damn fanfic. 😉

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: The 100: The Mush

      I remember a time when games would heavily advise against playing wallflower/overly shy PCs because it would make it difficult to be involved. Sure, there's 'your fun' (though I am so sick of that phrase because so often it's used as a defense for being a problem OOCly), but MU*s are made to be cooperative.

      I wonder if this game were packed with wallflowers who never interacted with anyone other than their BFFs, if Staff would be pushing to do anything they could to fix it. There's just something about people playing assholes that gets people super defensive about it.

      I'm also seeing a lot of 'Well, in the show, it's common for people to behave this way...' Maybe this is just a bad setting for a MU. Maybe folks should write fanfic instead and play games that encourage being cooperative (you can still be a dick, while being totally inclusive; there's a PC that does that extremely well on a game I'm on right now).

      posted in Adver-tis-ments
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Auspice's Playlist

      @Apos said in Auspice's Playlist:

      Not sure if you were the same Tanya I played Kadikos with, but if you were, I thought you did really well with the character.

      If you were the one who later contacted me, happy that they finally actually got to be a couple? Then yes, I was. I really enjoyed playing them until the classic Firan fuckery got in the way.

      @Saulot said in Auspice's Playlist:

      I enjoyed storytelling for you and yours. It's a shame I never got to run stuff for a hob bestiary though.

      Yeah, sadly, a few things fell flat. I think for me, personally, Fallcoast was just too big a game. I felt lost all the time.

      posted in A Shout in the Dark
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Auspice's Playlist

      @ThatOneDude said in Auspice's Playlist:

      Nice! We've played together before and it was a blast. Hope to see you around!

      This is a much better reaction than I was fearing. 😉 (rounds of 'Oh, you're THAT person.' :D)

      posted in A Shout in the Dark
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Pixel's Playlist

      This reminds me that I forgot Crystal MUSH / Crystal Dreams on my list.. 😄

      posted in A Shout in the Dark
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • Auspice's Playlist

      I'll try this, except after twenty odd, I'm lucky to remember the games let alone the characters. Ugh. I'll try. Let's see. Mostly the longer-run chars will be remembered, I'm sure.

      ***too many over the past two decades***

      click to show

      Harper's Tale: Tadiera, D'rani (various I forget)
      Star Stones: Tad'ra, Scylla (various I forget)
      WNOHGB: Silt (first time I played; tried twice since reboot and forget the names)
      XET: Rwylann, Wanda, Kip
      X-Men rEvolution: Rogue, Intrigue (OC)
      SerenityMUSH: Fallon
      Ennersea: Diuyne, then Cyrenoe and Symphony (Staff) on E2
      WiandWi: Eibhlin (original), Jocunda (original), smattering of others
      5th World: Cyrielle, Rozlyn
      Steel and Stone: Laryssa
      Firan: Tanya (not the original nor the last)
      BSOrion: Skyler, Epiphany, Dreyer
      BSDeimos: Fallon, Kingsley
      Fallcoast: Denali, Thorne
      Knights of the Round: Aldreda, Drustan
      CrystalDreams: Teallan
      CrystalMUSH: Ameeko, Bob
      Dystopia: Elizabeth
      Arx: Lou (First player)
      Tenebrae: Astraea
      Mortal Coil: Seong, Victoria
      Fate's Harvest: Iris, Sidonie, Morgan
      Threads of Pern: M'kel (may begin playing again), Annika
      Fires of Hope: Skye Corliss, Jyn Los
      Reno 2.0: Delaney, Sierra, Zelda, Audrey, Laura, Tressym (Staff)
      Fallen World: Intrigue
      The 8th Sea: Scylla (staff ), Gabriel, Karaya
      Fear & Loathing: Astrid
      Battlestar: Unification: Astraea, Charlie, Yelena
      Gods & Monsters: Zatanna, Caitlin Snow (Killer Frost), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch)
      Valorous Domain: Garden
      HorrorMU: The Hunter
      Heroes & Villains: Zatanna
      The Stack: Ada
      Sometimes a Great Notion: R'riss, Trentas
      Ithir: Nalaea Reymar, Yvette Monstald
      Titanic Two-Tone Tales: Batgirl, Zatanna
      NOLA: Selah
      Heroes Assemble: Dani Moonstar, Zatanna

      Current-
      StargateMUSH: Auspice (Staff), Pagan
      Arx: Ephrath, Teagan
      The Network: Antonina
      Euphoria: Genesis

      posted in A Shout in the Dark
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      I just read this and I think I should leave it here:
      http://astolat.tumblr.com/post/144069870158/badscienceshenanigans-0hcicero

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      I used to just go the RP route and hope for the best path... and went years without ever having any IC relationships. Which, I don't RP for the sake of RP'd relationships, but sometimes it'd be nice to have them.

      Few years back, I saw the potential for a great relationship between my PC and someone else's. Swallowed the fear, paged and let them know essentially, 'Hey, I think our characters could be great together.' Said person is now one of my best friends and favorite people to RP with.

      I do use my tendency to no engage regularly in TS as a sort of litmus test. I'll be up front: 'Hey, I rarely TS unless it has some impact on the story.' If they bail right then and there, I know they weren't in it for he reasons that I am (good story and char dev).

      Also, I mean, morning after scenes are almost always far superior to the TS scene itself. 😉

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      I try to focus on IC chemistry, but there's certain people I play with where our characters frequently have that chemistry just due to the types of characters we play.

      The last time I actually had someone 'new' with chemistry, they turned out to be the alt of a friend. Amusing, but it was a moment of 'Damn! I thought I'd found someone new to add to my list of great RPers!'

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      I'm glad to see he discussions this thread is sparking. I can't @reply everyone, so... My things:

      • Total agreement on the 'you' being kinda squicky. I had a scene recently where the instant everyone else left and it was just my (female) char and a male char, he switched to the 'you' posing. It makes me feel weird.
      • I can generally handle people just out for TS / sappy-romance and leave them in their own little world. It's when, as referenced, that they stop putting any effort into their poses as soon as <gender they're interested in> isn't present that drives me up a wall.
      • I'm bummed that KD turned out so terribly for me when I tried playing there (close to 2 years ago). My char was not available for the sexytiems, so a lot of people just stopped playing with me and then I ended up with a stalker (before I knew how disturbing the person was, I'd given them my RPSkype name and I use the same UN generally for wikis). It sounds like a lot of people, lately, have had some great times there. Happy for them, but alas.
      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      @surreality said in Tips on Güd TS:

      this

      Oh, I wholeheartedly agree on avoiding likes/kinks for the sake of kinks (unless you're on Shang, then kink away my ducklings). But discussing likes/dislikes in the regards of the approach are good. And they can be likes/dislikes in... differing themes.

      For example:
      'Likes' as in: 'I enjoy humor and realism and blunt, hard words like cunt or cock.'
      'Dislikes' as in: 'I know my character is into BDSM, but if we could avoid anything where she's actually tied up, please? That makes me really uncomfortable and I'm not comfortable roleplaying it.'

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      I love that while I was typing up my last post, @Cobaltasaurus was making a similar point.

      Communication, people! It totally rocks. You're about to RP one of the most intimate, visceral (that's my word of the week, I swear; I keep using it) acts that humans can engage in. Don't be afraid to chat about it. Have fun with it.

      Also, I've never read erotica before because I've always rolled my eyes at the stuff I have seen. http://jennytrout.com/ is the only person I've come close to considering reading. So if y'all have some tips on GOOD smut, gimme some book titles. 😉

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      Something else to consider is communication. Much like you might discuss what you are/aren't into with an RL partner, consider doing so with your RP partner.

      I am all about realism and schism in my IC relationships. I am known to enjoy 'torturing' my characters. I put them in bad situations. I let them fuck up. So when it comes to IC relationships and TS, I often do the same.

      It might be something as small as my character doesn't 'get off' during sex. Or something as major as them getting way too drunk while depressed and sleeping with someone else.

      The last time I did the latter, I was up front OOCly with all parties involved. I made sure there was an OOC understanding that it was for plot and RP fodder, that anyone could throw down the red flag, and I was up to talking over it at any time. It turned out to be some amazing RP in the end and no one had hurt feelings (OOCly).

      But imagine if you want the IC dramz, but your RP partner doesn't? Some people do RP for the wish fulfillment and there's nothing wrong with that. Your fun is your fun (unless it involves being a dick to someone else on an OOC level). A lot of the issues I've seen arise from IC relationships and TS are people not being on the same page.

      Just like the current US election... We're all in this together. But unlike the current US election, we can sit down and have honest, candid conversations that find a solution for every one. Yes, that solution might be 'Maybe we shouldn't allow our characters to be in a relationship. I want grit and drama, you want happy family,' but isn't that so much better to know up front than to encounter difficult, upsetting OOC drama?

      Disclaimer: I took a couple norcos a bit ago for some hip pain, so I apologize if any parts of this don't make sense.

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      0_1463700140265_Screen Shot 2016-05-19 at 4.22.12 PM.png

      #goals

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: What are you playing...?

      I kinda sorta poke my head in on a Geist char on Fallcoast.
      Gonna be on Rogue once it opens (er, kinda am now, I'm a bad Staffer okay).

      I want something "new," but I dunno what. Or maybe something old, like 'Firefly before it was weird Steampunk-y pirates all over the place.'

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      Oh, one thing I forgot...

      For those that are not biologically female, but play female characters:
      Losing one's virginity does not always hurt. For one thing, the hymen (the perceived source of pain) can be lost in childhood for many reasons. Horseback riding being a big one. The actual source of pain in many virginity loss situations is actually due to lack of proper lubrication (which can be an issue no matter what stage of life a woman is in).

      Young folks (teenagers, yo) are rarely going to know or think about this... which is why losing virginity can often be attributed to pain.

      So, if you're playing a female character and her partner gets her well-aroused beforehand? She's much less likely to feel pain, even if she's a virgin. It might be uncomfortable and strange still, but painful? Not so much.

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Tips on Güd TS

      Now! On to some of my own personal tips. These are specifically in the arena of mutual (hurr hurr) roleplay. The articles above are great for writing sex in general, but what about when someone is on the other side of the keyboard?

      Firstly, the advice to not be overly descriptive persists. I once had a guy page me (our characters were not in a relationship and we had never OOCly discussed such things) to inform me that he had rolled dice to dictate his character's dick size and the dice had 'decided' that his dick was the length and girth of two soda cans stacked on each other.

      Shall we break down the 'NO's here?

      1. Unsolicited sexual advances suck IRL and they suck online. There's flirting and there's just being outright crass. Being crass is not going to lead to anything.

      2. No real (ETA: by real I mean 'realistic and not the type portrayed in porn') woman is going to be turned on by that. Nor interested beyond the clinical 'this should be a museum piece' aspect. That size of a penis is horrifying and I cross my legs just thinking about it.

      3. There is never, ever a need to describe a character's genitalia in explicit detail. Women don't go on long diatribes on comparing the size of their breasts to canteloupe and how their areola are the size of half-dollars and the hue of pink roses while their nipples are pert like erasers (wink wink to the folks that read the first article linked above).

      Vague is good. Vague is good because it lets the reader fill things in. I once had someone describe that character descriptions should be like a woman's skirt: long enough to cover everything, short enough to be interesting (aka leave something to the imagination). Use the same concept in your TS. Imply, be concise, be accurate, but don't be overly/overtly descriptive. Allow your partner to build the scene in their mind without being bogged down by details.

      Secondly, don't take forever. This is more directed towards people who play male characters. They've done studies and found that the 'sweet spot' for the actual intercourse part of sex is around the five-to-six minute mark. Pop culture may have some of you going 'Is that it?!', but as a woman: that's perfect. Too much longer and you start to get bored or worry about friction. The number of women who can achieve orgasm from vaginal stimulation alone are very, very few. And the number that can do so every time is even smaller. That's not to say it isn't fun and a fulfilling part of the whole process, but the biologically male get a whole lot more out of it (I have been the awkward third wheel in an argument between a gay couple in which one got fed up with always being bottom).

      Think about those combat scenes that just drag out for hours. Or that feeling when it looks like yet another night of RPing socially in the bar. After a while, you start to wonder how many times you can pose the same sort of thing. This goes for TS scenes, too. I can only pose squirming and moaning and raking nails down a back so many times before I'm cooking dinner between poses. And no, I'm not kidding. I have most definitely cooked dinner while TSing before.

      Some of my best TS has been over in a handful of rounds. The action was well-written, summarized, and the focus on the characters and not the dirty act of it. When I play a male character, I try to keep things concise and involve the woman, too.

      Which leads into point three. Seriously, stop ignoring the woman. Don't get to the 'prize' and just forget about the rest of her. Not only is it going to totally ruin the 'oh we're so happily in love' aspect, but it means she has even less to pose to. And no, spending a single pose in going down on her doesn't count. Describe how your character grabs her hair. The way their hands smooth over her breast or hip. The way your character arches their back and positions themselves to reach her clit. We all hate when we have nothing to 'work with' for our own poses, so keep that in mind. Yes, even when you have just one hand on your keyboard.

      You can make things so much richer by making sure your partner has the opportunity to be fully engaged. This means, too, if you're pleasuring yourself IRL... Wrap up the TS once you 'finish.' The other person can tell, I promise. If it goes from vividly-written scenes of lust to bland play-by-play, we know.

      These are just a few of my personal thoughts. I welcome others to chime in. Like I said in the first post, try to keep things relatively chill. I know this is MSB, but man if we can make people better TSers by giving genuine answers to their questions, won't the world be a better place? 😄

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • Tips on Güd TS

      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.

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Rick Sanchez' Banning

      Thank god. If only because I was tired of people giving into his terrible attempts to troll. But what he said to surreality was way over the fucking line.

      posted in Announcements
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • RE: Web-Based Ticketing Software

      I've used waffle.io as an independent source of 'jobs' while getting a game setup. Not sure if they have SQL support. It largely ties into github.

      posted in Mildly Constructive
      Auspice
      Auspice
    • 1
    • 2
    • 386
    • 387
    • 388
    • 389
    • 390
    • 389 / 390