I had to think on this question for a while before I felt ready to answer it. I have been gracing Twitter with my antics and giving all a peek into my existence for just over a year now. Many, many things have happened in that time. Many that I am fond of, many that I am not so fond of, but many are memorable to me. In the end, I could not choose between two as "most memorable," so I'll share them both.
The first would be the turning of my newborn, @NolanFerrior. It was something that involved a lot of thought and discussion, between Nolan and myself, between @pamiravenscroft and myself, between myself and @RomanLucious, and I even sought the opinions and feelings of some of Nolan's closest friends... @LaceyStripped and @AbigaleDawson.
Weeks were spent debating if I could or should sever the bond between Pam and Nolan in such a way, and a great deal of uncertainty hung over the event since Nolan was a Werepanther during his human life. I had never turned one of the two-natured before and wasn't completely certain he could transition to a vampire, but it was a chance Nolan was willing to take.
The night Nolan chose to die, the two of us along with some of his closest friends and associates gathered for his final breaths and said goodbyes to the human who would never walk the earth again. It was a difficult event, but one that will probably haunt those present for as long as they exist.
The second would have to be Dracula Night. Every year, Fangtasia holds a celebration in honor of @PrinceVladTepes's birth and this year was no exception to that rule. It is a well known fact that I am quite a fan of the Dark Prince and this year, I was certain the Master would grace my establishment with his presence, putting me in an even better mood than I normally have on the occasion.
I spent the evening in a whirlwind. I kissed each and every one of my guests, from @BarmaidSookie to @NiftyJenny to @TeacherHalleigh to @AlyxConway to @RomanLucious. I don't particularly like to talk about that last one. There was expensive blood for my vampire guests, unlimited drinks for my human guests, entertainment for all, and, of course, the Prince.
But possibly what was most significant was a mutiny that occurred on that particular night. My queen at the time, Sophie-Anne Leclerq, had attempted to set me up for a crime I hadn't commit and had been caught doing so. I had shown my Queen only unwavering loyalty, but it hadn't been enough. She wanted to see my Deputy and myself ended... and quite frankly, I couldn't allow for such a thing to happen.
I enlisted the help of Texas (@Stan_Davis) and California (@QueenBlackwood). I had always been close to Gabrielle and respected Stan a great deal. After learning what Sophie-Anne had intended to do to me, they agreed to help me end the Queen of Louisiana. When she arrived to Fangtasia's Dracula Night party with her child, Andre, Stan and Gabrielle ended the pair of them while Roman and I stood guard at the door. Louisiana became a territory of theirs, and Roman and I were the first to pledge our loyalty, which hasn't wavered to this day.
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twitter. Show all posts
Friday, October 22, 2010
What is your most memorable twitter experience?
Saturday, July 3, 2010
It Doesn't Make Your Crap Stink Less
Today is a sad day in the world of Twitter True Blood. The retirement of @SookieBonTemps and @LafayetteTB was entirely a surprise to me, as it was to many within the RP community that has grown and flourished on Twitter. I can only applaud both their work, work no one who RP's on Twitter can claim not to have been inspired by. The reason we have found an RP home and outlet on Twitter can be credited to them and their dedication to taking on characters we all know and love and bringing them to a world of 140 character limitations. They did so before it was popular, they did so without expecting anything in return. Their massive following, the recognition, and the support they EARNED throughout their time was the reward for their efforts, and I commend them and respect them infinitely for what they accomplished.
With this unexpected retirement, it's not a surprise the community at large is reeling, searching desperately for answers and explanations for what's happening. Fingers are being pointed, the past is being dredged up, and matters surrounding me have been pulled up to the surface and questioned. To be honest, I don't like it. I keep my personal, out-of-character drama to myself. The events and things being pulled up involve things that happened months ago, but since many people outside the situation are speaking of it and throwing around their theories, I feel it's only right to speak for myself.
A few months ago, I was approached by @Sookie_BT about playing the Eric to her Sookie in a group called TrueBlood On Twitter. At the time, she had an Eric, and I had a Sookie (@BarmaidSookie). It's no secret I am very involved in the @YieldtoMe group, especially since I'm technically it's founder, though I never initially planned on bringing it to Twitter. The person who plays @BarmaidSookie is my girlfriend, but she plays numerous characters on Twitter within my group. Sookie is a demanding character, one that takes up a lot of Tweeting time to be done properly, and we decided if she gave up playing @BarmaidSookie, that she could have a lot more time to focus on her other characters.
I spoke to other members of my group before finally getting back to @Sookie_BT. I made it clear I was an all-or-nothing deal. I would willingly replace her Eric and join her group if my partners came with me. I play a more canon Eric than one based on Alan Ball's creation. I didn't want to give up my Maker, my original-character children, my bonds, my daytime person, etc. I had spent months (half a year or more) building my character's story on Twitter with the rest of the YTM cast who had become friends both in and out of character. I was unwilling to trash that and them for a new group (one that was honestly just starting). Sookie understood and agreed to all my requests, and thus, @SheriffNorthman and the rest of my YTM crew became a part of True Blood on Twitter.
Shortly into things, I knew this would not be something that worked for very long because it wasn't me. I am more than willing to shoulder my blame in this whole fiasco. While I enjoyed a great deal of what we did while I was a part of the group, I was told during the True Blood season, entire segments of True Blood would be Tweeted as sketches. That is NOT me. I RP to press myself creatively, not to recite another's work. The "Twittersode" performed while I was a member of the group involving the Magister punishing Bill for negligence with Jessica was written by me. THAT is why I Tweet... to write my own stuff, to take a character I love and give him his own life (or unlife as the case may be).
Let me be clear, I'm not criticizing anyone. It just wasn't and isn't my thing, and I started to wonder if I had made a wise decision joining the group. Long before I left, I spoke frequently to @RomanLucious (who was playing the group's Bill at the time) and @BiancaNorthman (also @BarmaidSookie) questioning whether or not our style really fit in with the group we had taken on. I knew the main @SookieBonTemps cast had a tendency to do the True Blood episodes on Thursdays (though I only followed Lafayette and Pam of that group at the time). I worried we would be stepping on toes or fighting for the same audience. It was a strange predicament for a guy who's written his own, original material for as long as he's RP'ed to be in. I think my discomfort leaked into my Tweeting. I enjoyed what I was doing less as I worried about what the new season of True Blood would hold and who I would piss off by doing it.
Things only became worse for me personally as I was regularly told by the other, original members of the group that "HBO was watching us." I said it the fateful night I quit and still say it today. I don't care about RP'ing for "fame." I'm not RP'ing for HBO, nor am I RP'ing to have more followers than X character. I'm not looking for Facebook fame, it doesn't matter to me. I want my RP to be fun, something my friends and I can enjoy. Every follower I have, I am flattered by. If anyone else wants to read what I produce on a nightly basis, I'm honored, but I don't do it for anyone but me. The same was true for the other members of YTM. The fit wasn't good.
I was hospitalized after a pancreatic infection. It was a very, very scary event for me and my family, terrifying actually. I wasn't anywhere near Twitter while this was going on, obviously. I was barely conscious through much of it, but while I was gone, there was an implosion of both YTM and True Blood on Twitter. The Pam that is "mine," from YTM, @pamiravenscroft, was, in a way (intentionally or unintentionally, I won't get into) replaced for another. Anyone who knows me at all knows my Pam and I have a lengthy history. She's RP'ed with me for as long as I've RP'ed, six long years, and is a dear friend in and out of character. Pam was upset, she began RP'ing with @SookieYTM since she had essentially been cut out of my story.
When I was released from the hospital, I was asked to make my severance from Pam official. After much debate, I decided to quit. With @RomanLucious' blessing and full support, I quit for Bill as well. When it came to choosing between "HBO watching me" and my time-trusted friends, the choice was easy to make. We were already a poor fit, it was a final nail in the coffin (and I swear, that's not a vampire pun). I would rather RP nightly with a dozen people I consider both in character and out of character friends than have a hundred strangers applauding me for doing someone else's work. I will make that choice every single time. I didn't "fire" anyone from YTM either. No one was kicked out. I simply left the additional group I had joined (as did Kaleb).
After I left, I did a lot of thinking. I started following the main, @SookieBonTemps crew, to show I wasn't in any kind of competition. The whole time before, that's what I felt I was in, like I was competing for followers, for attention, for glory the very idea of is really ridiculous. Though I doubt any even realized I followed them or cared, I felt it was something I had to do. I hated the idea that something we all loved could be any kind of competition. The Twitterverse was and is big enough for us all, and I didn't like feeling like I had taken part in anything that implied otherwise. The feeling may very well have all been in my head, but it was how I felt.
I don't have an ounce of contempt for the TrueBlood on Twitter group, not toward a single one of them. When Eric and Bill were recast after our departure, I was not bothered. After all, I quit. What they do is just not what I do and for me to have continued doing it would have felt phony and wrong... TO ME. When I left, I wished them the best of luck, and I meant that. I still wish them luck. I regret that other Twitter groups out there were disrupted after I quit, but I had nothing to do with that. I wasn't replaced without my consent, I wasn't a victim, nor was I victimized. I don't know if all other members of YTM would claim the same, but that is where I stand. I've never mentioned any of the above before because I don't feel wronged, and actually dislike that I'm being labeled as having been wronged. If anything, I feel I wronged others and made an effort immediately following to correct that.
I hope the drama because of the sudden retirement of others quickly dies down, and that my own name is taken out of it. While I appreciate that there are others out there offering support, I'm not the one who should be supported. I'm not upset, I wasn't upset then, or I probably would have addressed it. I don't hold anything against @Sookie_BT or other members of her group who were there at the time I was. I really don't need anyone starting to say that I do.
Please remember, Twitter is a big place and there is enough room for all of us. Originality isn't a disease, there is no such thing as Twitter fame, and even if there was, it doesn't make your crap stink less. RP how you want, with who you want, so it makes you happy. When we turn this all into a competition of characters and websites, when we steal from one another, when we reward or condemn those who don't deserve it, we're only really ruining it for ourselves.
With this unexpected retirement, it's not a surprise the community at large is reeling, searching desperately for answers and explanations for what's happening. Fingers are being pointed, the past is being dredged up, and matters surrounding me have been pulled up to the surface and questioned. To be honest, I don't like it. I keep my personal, out-of-character drama to myself. The events and things being pulled up involve things that happened months ago, but since many people outside the situation are speaking of it and throwing around their theories, I feel it's only right to speak for myself.
A few months ago, I was approached by @Sookie_BT about playing the Eric to her Sookie in a group called TrueBlood On Twitter. At the time, she had an Eric, and I had a Sookie (@BarmaidSookie). It's no secret I am very involved in the @YieldtoMe group, especially since I'm technically it's founder, though I never initially planned on bringing it to Twitter. The person who plays @BarmaidSookie is my girlfriend, but she plays numerous characters on Twitter within my group. Sookie is a demanding character, one that takes up a lot of Tweeting time to be done properly, and we decided if she gave up playing @BarmaidSookie, that she could have a lot more time to focus on her other characters.
I spoke to other members of my group before finally getting back to @Sookie_BT. I made it clear I was an all-or-nothing deal. I would willingly replace her Eric and join her group if my partners came with me. I play a more canon Eric than one based on Alan Ball's creation. I didn't want to give up my Maker, my original-character children, my bonds, my daytime person, etc. I had spent months (half a year or more) building my character's story on Twitter with the rest of the YTM cast who had become friends both in and out of character. I was unwilling to trash that and them for a new group (one that was honestly just starting). Sookie understood and agreed to all my requests, and thus, @SheriffNorthman and the rest of my YTM crew became a part of True Blood on Twitter.
Shortly into things, I knew this would not be something that worked for very long because it wasn't me. I am more than willing to shoulder my blame in this whole fiasco. While I enjoyed a great deal of what we did while I was a part of the group, I was told during the True Blood season, entire segments of True Blood would be Tweeted as sketches. That is NOT me. I RP to press myself creatively, not to recite another's work. The "Twittersode" performed while I was a member of the group involving the Magister punishing Bill for negligence with Jessica was written by me. THAT is why I Tweet... to write my own stuff, to take a character I love and give him his own life (or unlife as the case may be).
Let me be clear, I'm not criticizing anyone. It just wasn't and isn't my thing, and I started to wonder if I had made a wise decision joining the group. Long before I left, I spoke frequently to @RomanLucious (who was playing the group's Bill at the time) and @BiancaNorthman (also @BarmaidSookie) questioning whether or not our style really fit in with the group we had taken on. I knew the main @SookieBonTemps cast had a tendency to do the True Blood episodes on Thursdays (though I only followed Lafayette and Pam of that group at the time). I worried we would be stepping on toes or fighting for the same audience. It was a strange predicament for a guy who's written his own, original material for as long as he's RP'ed to be in. I think my discomfort leaked into my Tweeting. I enjoyed what I was doing less as I worried about what the new season of True Blood would hold and who I would piss off by doing it.
Things only became worse for me personally as I was regularly told by the other, original members of the group that "HBO was watching us." I said it the fateful night I quit and still say it today. I don't care about RP'ing for "fame." I'm not RP'ing for HBO, nor am I RP'ing to have more followers than X character. I'm not looking for Facebook fame, it doesn't matter to me. I want my RP to be fun, something my friends and I can enjoy. Every follower I have, I am flattered by. If anyone else wants to read what I produce on a nightly basis, I'm honored, but I don't do it for anyone but me. The same was true for the other members of YTM. The fit wasn't good.
I was hospitalized after a pancreatic infection. It was a very, very scary event for me and my family, terrifying actually. I wasn't anywhere near Twitter while this was going on, obviously. I was barely conscious through much of it, but while I was gone, there was an implosion of both YTM and True Blood on Twitter. The Pam that is "mine," from YTM, @pamiravenscroft, was, in a way (intentionally or unintentionally, I won't get into) replaced for another. Anyone who knows me at all knows my Pam and I have a lengthy history. She's RP'ed with me for as long as I've RP'ed, six long years, and is a dear friend in and out of character. Pam was upset, she began RP'ing with @SookieYTM since she had essentially been cut out of my story.
When I was released from the hospital, I was asked to make my severance from Pam official. After much debate, I decided to quit. With @RomanLucious' blessing and full support, I quit for Bill as well. When it came to choosing between "HBO watching me" and my time-trusted friends, the choice was easy to make. We were already a poor fit, it was a final nail in the coffin (and I swear, that's not a vampire pun). I would rather RP nightly with a dozen people I consider both in character and out of character friends than have a hundred strangers applauding me for doing someone else's work. I will make that choice every single time. I didn't "fire" anyone from YTM either. No one was kicked out. I simply left the additional group I had joined (as did Kaleb).
After I left, I did a lot of thinking. I started following the main, @SookieBonTemps crew, to show I wasn't in any kind of competition. The whole time before, that's what I felt I was in, like I was competing for followers, for attention, for glory the very idea of is really ridiculous. Though I doubt any even realized I followed them or cared, I felt it was something I had to do. I hated the idea that something we all loved could be any kind of competition. The Twitterverse was and is big enough for us all, and I didn't like feeling like I had taken part in anything that implied otherwise. The feeling may very well have all been in my head, but it was how I felt.
I don't have an ounce of contempt for the TrueBlood on Twitter group, not toward a single one of them. When Eric and Bill were recast after our departure, I was not bothered. After all, I quit. What they do is just not what I do and for me to have continued doing it would have felt phony and wrong... TO ME. When I left, I wished them the best of luck, and I meant that. I still wish them luck. I regret that other Twitter groups out there were disrupted after I quit, but I had nothing to do with that. I wasn't replaced without my consent, I wasn't a victim, nor was I victimized. I don't know if all other members of YTM would claim the same, but that is where I stand. I've never mentioned any of the above before because I don't feel wronged, and actually dislike that I'm being labeled as having been wronged. If anything, I feel I wronged others and made an effort immediately following to correct that.
I hope the drama because of the sudden retirement of others quickly dies down, and that my own name is taken out of it. While I appreciate that there are others out there offering support, I'm not the one who should be supported. I'm not upset, I wasn't upset then, or I probably would have addressed it. I don't hold anything against @Sookie_BT or other members of her group who were there at the time I was. I really don't need anyone starting to say that I do.
Please remember, Twitter is a big place and there is enough room for all of us. Originality isn't a disease, there is no such thing as Twitter fame, and even if there was, it doesn't make your crap stink less. RP how you want, with who you want, so it makes you happy. When we turn this all into a competition of characters and websites, when we steal from one another, when we reward or condemn those who don't deserve it, we're only really ruining it for ourselves.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
From the Human in @SheriffNorthman's Head
I do my best never to go out of character during my RP'ing (roleplaying for those clueless on the lingo) on Twitter. In fact, I take great care in making certain that Eric only rises once the sun is set wherever he may be at any point in time and safely tucked away for the day by the time the sun rises. I keep personal tweets out of the stream as often as possible, and keep all of my out of character notes, plotting, and real-life Tweets on my personal account (@DamnTrees), so I never take away from the story me and my fellow RP'ers are telling. I have nothing but respect for the character that is Eric Northman. I've been fascinated with him and by him since first reading the Southern Vampire Mysteries two years ago. I've been RP'ing as him ever since then, first, on various message boards, before finally coming to Twitter in October of 2009.
I've been RP'ing in general for over five years now. I started while an undergraduate in college, and did it all through graduate school. I've since entered the real world, and find RP'ing to be my one creative outlet in my world otherwise full of facts, figures, and left-brained thinking. Many of my closest friends, family, and colleagues are completely unaware of my nightly writing addiction, though I'm not remotely ashamed of it in any way. RP'ing is simply my escape, my chance to get away from the issues and the negatives of the "real world" and to just enjoy myself. I hope that as I write and find my fun in doing so, others are able to find some kind of enjoyment in it as well, but at the end of the day, I do it because I love to do it. Whether anyone ever reads a single thing I say or not doesn't truly matter. I'm telling my story and enjoying doing so every step of the way.
I realize not everyone who reads this blog post is going to like what I have to say. I realize that some people may very well cease to follow me. I realize that some people may very well block me. I realize that some people may leave rather harsh comments after this post. I realize that I may be trashed in the Twitter stream by others, directly or through vague yet pointed comments. That's okay. If any of the above happens, I will not point it out. I will not delete negative thoughts. I will not start a stream war. I won't tell all my friends and have them fight a battle for me. That's just really not my style, never has been, and never will be. I'm putting my thoughts out here for the world, and completely respect that others may not agree with them, or may be offended by them. I respect your right to feel however you may choose to feel.
Especially because this post is ultimately about just that. Respect.
I really don't think there's enough of it out there, which in a lot of ways simply baffles me. The internet is an amazing thing, bringing together people of all ages, races, genders, sexual preferences, religions, backgrounds, upbringings, political beliefs, etc. The list goes on and on. I'm 25 years old, the only son of a Pentecostal pastor and a psychologist. I'm a business consultant, a recent college graduate, an uncle, a brother, a boyfriend to an amazing girl, born and raised in Wisconsin, and do you know what? None of that matters the moment I open up my laptop and get online. When I get on Twitter, I get to be a thousand year old Viking with a penchant for battle and big-breasted telepaths, and I love it. I team up with other people, each who have their own real lives and crazy existences they check at the door the moment they log in, and we have ourselves one hell of a time.
Lately though, I can't say we've been having the fun we've all been set on, however, and no one thinks that's more unfortunate than me. I'm not going to speak for anyone but myself in this though, and haven't run this post by anyone else. This is purely me... my feelings and thoughts, and I hope no one else is held responsible for them.
I don't know if it's the anonymity of being online that leaves people believing their entitled to be hypocritical, cruel, disrespectful, and downright mean to one another, but I see it happening more and more, and I don't think it's possible to find anything more sad. Behind every character out there is a real person, a person who's anxious to escape from whatever situation they're in, and no one has the right to take that away from them. In this day and age, I would hope people would know that wars of words are no better than wars fought with guns and bombs. They're not more civilized, they're not intellectual. Do not kid yourself and believe that if you trash someone else by wrapping your insults in colorful vernacular that it's somehow more respectable, profound, or mature than another using juvenile school yard insults. It's not. And no one is fooled.
Fighting online, for whatever reason, isn't the "in thing" to do. Trying to make mutual acquaintances pick sides isn't behaving like an adult. Lumping in others with one you have a problem with is not mature. Doing any of the above may get you attention, it may have people frantically DM'ing one another or rushing to their messenger services to hear the latest gossip, and you know what? You may have the spotlight for thirty seconds, but it will be for all the wrong reasons. If you're here to RP, let your writing and what you do IN CHARACTER speak for itself. If you have to resort to anything else, you're not as good or as special as you think you are.
If you don't respect your writing enough to let it stand on it's own, don't expect others to respect your writing. If you don't respect other authors (even authors writing in 140 characters at a time), don't expect others to respect you. If all you do is criticize and find fault in those around you, don't expect to be lifted onto a pedestal yourself.
Everyone has the right to RP what they want, when they want to, with who they want. If you don't like someone's storyline, don't read it. If you don't like someone's character, don't follow them. If you don't like someone in general, don't work with them. Don't talk about them, don't talk to them. Don't trash them in the stream, directly or indirectly. Don't offer your opinion on anything or everything they say or do. Just move forward with your own things. Focus on what you have going on. If you don't have anything going on, work on changing that. Don't wait for or expect someone to change it for you. If you don't care about your own RP enough to grab it by the horns and run with it, why should anyone else care about it?
No one but you is responsible for your own RP. If you point fingers and blame others, you're really only kidding yourself. And if you're viewed by others as someone who insults the very people you want to work with, why would anyone (blamed or blameless) want to expose themselves to the risks of more negativity?
I don't need nor want that. I don't know many who would.
There really is no need to invent drama. If someone is ranting in the stream about unnamed persons, it doesn't have to be about you. It doesn't have to be a personal insult. It doesn't have to be the start of a war or another shot fired in an ongoing battle. If someone sends you inappropriate Formspring questions, you can delete them. You can require everyone to leave an identity on them. You are not required to say you're getting nasty questions, nor are you required to answer them. It's not being a bigger person to give attention in any way to the juvenile situation. It's just stooping to that level.
If you're RP'ing for some kind of "internet fame" or glory, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons, and pretty much kidding yourself. Since joining Twitter, I have found dozens of RP'ers out there I admire the writing and work of. I am well aware of the fact that I am far from the first Eric Northman on Twitter. In fact, I'm well aware of the fact that I'm not even close. I don't tend to speak to other Eric's out there, if only because it's incredibly awkward for me since we're all playing the same character, but I respect what they do and their right to do it, and none do I respect more than the original. The mobbing the original receives and manages every time he logs on, I can't even fathom. Frankly, I don't want to fathom it, because just the thought of it is pretty overwhelming. I do my best to reply to my mentions. In fact, most nights (unless working on a plot), I don't get the opportunity to leave them. If I don't reply to someone, I really do feel badly, and if I've ever neglected to respond to something someone has said directly to me via a mention, I really am sorry.
The thing is, I'm not trying to be that Eric Northman, nor am I trying to be any other Eric out there but my version of him. My @SheriffNorthman is mostly loyal to the book with a very little TrueBlood thrown in there (ex. his Maker is @AppiusOcella, but he really has a thing for flip flops and sometimes track suits), and beyond that, he's mine. He has his own bonds (with original characters), more children then just Pam (something mentioned in the books, though they're never named nor introduced), an original second... the list goes on and on. I don't want to RP an episode of TrueBlood, I'm not going to try. That's HBO's work, not mine, and if you're expecting it from me, you've got the wrong Eric on your hands. Every night, I do original plots and character development, to make my character even more my own. I'm not in competition with any other RP'er, I'm definitely not in competition with any other Eric, and more than anything, I don't want to be. I'm here for the FUN of it (I'm the Eric that stuffs his progeny in trunks and dealt with camel toe in Egypt, after all), I respect others having their own fun with it, and wish more did.
It's actually really tough to be compared to other RP'ers. I wish everyone, regardless of who's Eric/Sookie/Lafayette/Bill/Jason/Sam/random character flag they're waving would take into consideration their words, both positive and negative before saying them. It goes back to the idea that there are real people sitting behind these screens, real people who are entitled to have their fun however they may like. Respect their right to be there, just as you are there, just as everyone else is. Twitter is a big world, and no matter the drive, none of us is going to get famous doing this, so I've decided I'm going to start unfollowing people who feel the need to belittle others in order to lift another up, and I'd encourage others to do the same. There's too much negativity in the world already. Making our escapes hostile and competitive does no one any good, not even the one being praised.
Being nice really isn't overrated. There's a shortage of nice people in the world. Don't let them become an extinct population entirely.
And when it comes to people who aren't nice, or who you can never see eye to eye with, the block button is an amazing feature on Twitter. In a single click, you can be rid of the negativity and the problem and never have to deal with it again. Use it. Once you use it, don't sit on their page and refresh frequently to see if they've said anything new about you. Don't have others who may still be following them report everything to you, and if others try, simply tell them you're done with that. You don't need to inform the world that you've blocked someone, nor do anything else that could be equated to throwing gasoline on an already burning fire. Be the adult and walk away from the situation. Don't expect others to referee for you. This isn't a play ground and no one is being paid to babysit.
If all you want to do is rant in your stream and be negative, especially if it is out of character, I'm going to unfollow you. I am committed to taking back the fun in my RP. I have some great storylines going on, with great RP'ers, there are many more I want to work with, and so many more ideas in my head, but it seems I seldom have the time when I'm left to wade through the piles of complete and total bullshit.
And if you've read the above and actually agree with what I have to say, don't be afraid to DM or mention me on Twitter, email me (SheriffNorthman [at] gmail [dot] com), or get a hold of me in some way, because chances are, I'd love to work with you.
With all of that out of the way, this will be the first and (hopefully) last out of character post you will ever read here. With this weight off my shoulders, it's back to being the Viking Sheriff I want to be, and not a moment too soon.
I've been RP'ing in general for over five years now. I started while an undergraduate in college, and did it all through graduate school. I've since entered the real world, and find RP'ing to be my one creative outlet in my world otherwise full of facts, figures, and left-brained thinking. Many of my closest friends, family, and colleagues are completely unaware of my nightly writing addiction, though I'm not remotely ashamed of it in any way. RP'ing is simply my escape, my chance to get away from the issues and the negatives of the "real world" and to just enjoy myself. I hope that as I write and find my fun in doing so, others are able to find some kind of enjoyment in it as well, but at the end of the day, I do it because I love to do it. Whether anyone ever reads a single thing I say or not doesn't truly matter. I'm telling my story and enjoying doing so every step of the way.
I realize not everyone who reads this blog post is going to like what I have to say. I realize that some people may very well cease to follow me. I realize that some people may very well block me. I realize that some people may leave rather harsh comments after this post. I realize that I may be trashed in the Twitter stream by others, directly or through vague yet pointed comments. That's okay. If any of the above happens, I will not point it out. I will not delete negative thoughts. I will not start a stream war. I won't tell all my friends and have them fight a battle for me. That's just really not my style, never has been, and never will be. I'm putting my thoughts out here for the world, and completely respect that others may not agree with them, or may be offended by them. I respect your right to feel however you may choose to feel.
Especially because this post is ultimately about just that. Respect.
I really don't think there's enough of it out there, which in a lot of ways simply baffles me. The internet is an amazing thing, bringing together people of all ages, races, genders, sexual preferences, religions, backgrounds, upbringings, political beliefs, etc. The list goes on and on. I'm 25 years old, the only son of a Pentecostal pastor and a psychologist. I'm a business consultant, a recent college graduate, an uncle, a brother, a boyfriend to an amazing girl, born and raised in Wisconsin, and do you know what? None of that matters the moment I open up my laptop and get online. When I get on Twitter, I get to be a thousand year old Viking with a penchant for battle and big-breasted telepaths, and I love it. I team up with other people, each who have their own real lives and crazy existences they check at the door the moment they log in, and we have ourselves one hell of a time.
Lately though, I can't say we've been having the fun we've all been set on, however, and no one thinks that's more unfortunate than me. I'm not going to speak for anyone but myself in this though, and haven't run this post by anyone else. This is purely me... my feelings and thoughts, and I hope no one else is held responsible for them.
I don't know if it's the anonymity of being online that leaves people believing their entitled to be hypocritical, cruel, disrespectful, and downright mean to one another, but I see it happening more and more, and I don't think it's possible to find anything more sad. Behind every character out there is a real person, a person who's anxious to escape from whatever situation they're in, and no one has the right to take that away from them. In this day and age, I would hope people would know that wars of words are no better than wars fought with guns and bombs. They're not more civilized, they're not intellectual. Do not kid yourself and believe that if you trash someone else by wrapping your insults in colorful vernacular that it's somehow more respectable, profound, or mature than another using juvenile school yard insults. It's not. And no one is fooled.
Fighting online, for whatever reason, isn't the "in thing" to do. Trying to make mutual acquaintances pick sides isn't behaving like an adult. Lumping in others with one you have a problem with is not mature. Doing any of the above may get you attention, it may have people frantically DM'ing one another or rushing to their messenger services to hear the latest gossip, and you know what? You may have the spotlight for thirty seconds, but it will be for all the wrong reasons. If you're here to RP, let your writing and what you do IN CHARACTER speak for itself. If you have to resort to anything else, you're not as good or as special as you think you are.
If you don't respect your writing enough to let it stand on it's own, don't expect others to respect your writing. If you don't respect other authors (even authors writing in 140 characters at a time), don't expect others to respect you. If all you do is criticize and find fault in those around you, don't expect to be lifted onto a pedestal yourself.
Everyone has the right to RP what they want, when they want to, with who they want. If you don't like someone's storyline, don't read it. If you don't like someone's character, don't follow them. If you don't like someone in general, don't work with them. Don't talk about them, don't talk to them. Don't trash them in the stream, directly or indirectly. Don't offer your opinion on anything or everything they say or do. Just move forward with your own things. Focus on what you have going on. If you don't have anything going on, work on changing that. Don't wait for or expect someone to change it for you. If you don't care about your own RP enough to grab it by the horns and run with it, why should anyone else care about it?
No one but you is responsible for your own RP. If you point fingers and blame others, you're really only kidding yourself. And if you're viewed by others as someone who insults the very people you want to work with, why would anyone (blamed or blameless) want to expose themselves to the risks of more negativity?
I don't need nor want that. I don't know many who would.
There really is no need to invent drama. If someone is ranting in the stream about unnamed persons, it doesn't have to be about you. It doesn't have to be a personal insult. It doesn't have to be the start of a war or another shot fired in an ongoing battle. If someone sends you inappropriate Formspring questions, you can delete them. You can require everyone to leave an identity on them. You are not required to say you're getting nasty questions, nor are you required to answer them. It's not being a bigger person to give attention in any way to the juvenile situation. It's just stooping to that level.
If you're RP'ing for some kind of "internet fame" or glory, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons, and pretty much kidding yourself. Since joining Twitter, I have found dozens of RP'ers out there I admire the writing and work of. I am well aware of the fact that I am far from the first Eric Northman on Twitter. In fact, I'm well aware of the fact that I'm not even close. I don't tend to speak to other Eric's out there, if only because it's incredibly awkward for me since we're all playing the same character, but I respect what they do and their right to do it, and none do I respect more than the original. The mobbing the original receives and manages every time he logs on, I can't even fathom. Frankly, I don't want to fathom it, because just the thought of it is pretty overwhelming. I do my best to reply to my mentions. In fact, most nights (unless working on a plot), I don't get the opportunity to leave them. If I don't reply to someone, I really do feel badly, and if I've ever neglected to respond to something someone has said directly to me via a mention, I really am sorry.
The thing is, I'm not trying to be that Eric Northman, nor am I trying to be any other Eric out there but my version of him. My @SheriffNorthman is mostly loyal to the book with a very little TrueBlood thrown in there (ex. his Maker is @AppiusOcella, but he really has a thing for flip flops and sometimes track suits), and beyond that, he's mine. He has his own bonds (with original characters), more children then just Pam (something mentioned in the books, though they're never named nor introduced), an original second... the list goes on and on. I don't want to RP an episode of TrueBlood, I'm not going to try. That's HBO's work, not mine, and if you're expecting it from me, you've got the wrong Eric on your hands. Every night, I do original plots and character development, to make my character even more my own. I'm not in competition with any other RP'er, I'm definitely not in competition with any other Eric, and more than anything, I don't want to be. I'm here for the FUN of it (I'm the Eric that stuffs his progeny in trunks and dealt with camel toe in Egypt, after all), I respect others having their own fun with it, and wish more did.
It's actually really tough to be compared to other RP'ers. I wish everyone, regardless of who's Eric/Sookie/Lafayette/Bill/Jason/Sam/random character flag they're waving would take into consideration their words, both positive and negative before saying them. It goes back to the idea that there are real people sitting behind these screens, real people who are entitled to have their fun however they may like. Respect their right to be there, just as you are there, just as everyone else is. Twitter is a big world, and no matter the drive, none of us is going to get famous doing this, so I've decided I'm going to start unfollowing people who feel the need to belittle others in order to lift another up, and I'd encourage others to do the same. There's too much negativity in the world already. Making our escapes hostile and competitive does no one any good, not even the one being praised.
Being nice really isn't overrated. There's a shortage of nice people in the world. Don't let them become an extinct population entirely.
And when it comes to people who aren't nice, or who you can never see eye to eye with, the block button is an amazing feature on Twitter. In a single click, you can be rid of the negativity and the problem and never have to deal with it again. Use it. Once you use it, don't sit on their page and refresh frequently to see if they've said anything new about you. Don't have others who may still be following them report everything to you, and if others try, simply tell them you're done with that. You don't need to inform the world that you've blocked someone, nor do anything else that could be equated to throwing gasoline on an already burning fire. Be the adult and walk away from the situation. Don't expect others to referee for you. This isn't a play ground and no one is being paid to babysit.
If all you want to do is rant in your stream and be negative, especially if it is out of character, I'm going to unfollow you. I am committed to taking back the fun in my RP. I have some great storylines going on, with great RP'ers, there are many more I want to work with, and so many more ideas in my head, but it seems I seldom have the time when I'm left to wade through the piles of complete and total bullshit.
And if you've read the above and actually agree with what I have to say, don't be afraid to DM or mention me on Twitter, email me (SheriffNorthman [at] gmail [dot] com), or get a hold of me in some way, because chances are, I'd love to work with you.
With all of that out of the way, this will be the first and (hopefully) last out of character post you will ever read here. With this weight off my shoulders, it's back to being the Viking Sheriff I want to be, and not a moment too soon.
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