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Reno
Moon
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2016
- Location
- Eastern USA
What I look for in a partner: TL;DR edition
I'll be elaborating on these below, but a concise summary is always a good thing!
Long Version
Writer/Character sex
For the most part, my characters will be male in M/F pairings, because that's where my comfort zone lies. Writing with an established partner with whom I've gotten comfortable enough to experiment, I can usually be persuaded to try writing a female character for an M/F or F/F pairing. It's unlikely I'll ever be interested in an M/M pairing; that's just not my scene. I may be convinced to write M/F/M, depending on the story.
I'm generally ambivalent on the subject of face-claims/character images, save that, if they're used, I ask that they fit the tone of the story (e.g. Using an image of "Naga The Serpent" for a character is likely to put me in a particularly humorous mindset in our story). Since my characters are usually "made to order", I will often invite my partner to suggest an image for the character they'd like to play opposite.
I don't care, in the slightest, what sex my writing partner is.
Where I Play
I much prefer Forum-based RP. I'm less fond of RP via PM, as I frequently enjoy going back to re-read my RP threads, because managing PMs adds another layer of distraction to the workflow, and because it's much easier to miss a post. With established partners, I may be willing to write off-site (such as google docs).
IMs are right out - my work and sleep schedules are too erratic for me to commit to writing an ongoing story in real-time, and Discord's design gets in my way more than it helps.
Plotting and Pacing
While I understand and appreciate the appeal of letting a story "grow organically," at least minimal plotting and planning is vital to make sure both/all partners are on the same page. Otherwise, you risk your great story turning into something like this glorious old internet legend:
Post Length & Frequency
I don't have any hard minimum or maximums on positing length, but historically, my stories which average more than about 400 words/post have stalled out very early on, and own posts tend to flow much more freely in that 4-600 sweet-spot, but also felt the most promising, so I'm still flexible. As to posting frequency, I'd like to keep to a minimum of 1 post/week to keep the story fresh in mind. After a week with no response and no word from my partner, I'll send a PM to make sure things are still on track. After two weeks of silence, I'll consider the story abandoned. (If my partner expresses a preference to not receive "Check-in" type PMs, it will, naturally, be respected; I will consider the story abandoned at the end of the first week).
I understand that meatspace has that pesky habit of getting in the way, what with jobs and families and all of those other pesky things that make being an adult so annoying, but I feel that the consideration of a quick PM isn't too much to ask for if one's RP-Haunting Time is cut off or they're not enjoying the story and want to call it off.
I can promise the same courtesy.
The Bullet Points
Story/Style elements
Sex/Relationship Elements
This isn't an exhaustive list, so please ask if you want to know about something you don't see. You'll find I'm normally pretty flexible.
I'll be elaborating on these below, but a concise summary is always a good thing!
- Be willing to write the female character in an M/F pairing
- Forum-Based RP preferred, PM-based possible
- Actively participate in plotting and moving the plot along.
- Be willing to share the responsibility for secondary characters
- Check out my O/Os below (both "Story/Style" and "Relationship/Sex" lists)
- At least 1 post/week. I'll generally match my partner's pace and style, but pacing trumps length
- I'm frequently willing to write the same idea with multiple partners, since I'm only half of the story's DNA. If you're interested in something that says I've already got an active story, don't let that stop you!
Long Version
Writer/Character sex
For the most part, my characters will be male in M/F pairings, because that's where my comfort zone lies. Writing with an established partner with whom I've gotten comfortable enough to experiment, I can usually be persuaded to try writing a female character for an M/F or F/F pairing. It's unlikely I'll ever be interested in an M/M pairing; that's just not my scene. I may be convinced to write M/F/M, depending on the story.
I'm generally ambivalent on the subject of face-claims/character images, save that, if they're used, I ask that they fit the tone of the story (e.g. Using an image of "Naga The Serpent" for a character is likely to put me in a particularly humorous mindset in our story). Since my characters are usually "made to order", I will often invite my partner to suggest an image for the character they'd like to play opposite.
I don't care, in the slightest, what sex my writing partner is.
Where I Play
I much prefer Forum-based RP. I'm less fond of RP via PM, as I frequently enjoy going back to re-read my RP threads, because managing PMs adds another layer of distraction to the workflow, and because it's much easier to miss a post. With established partners, I may be willing to write off-site (such as google docs).
IMs are right out - my work and sleep schedules are too erratic for me to commit to writing an ongoing story in real-time, and Discord's design gets in my way more than it helps.
Plotting and Pacing
While I understand and appreciate the appeal of letting a story "grow organically," at least minimal plotting and planning is vital to make sure both/all partners are on the same page. Otherwise, you risk your great story turning into something like this glorious old internet legend:
At first, Laurie couldn’t decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the question.
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. “A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,” he said into his transgalactic communicator. “Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far…” But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship’s cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. “Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel,” Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth — when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. “Why must one lose one’s innocence to become a woman?” she pondered wistfully.
Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu’udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu’udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. “We can’t allow this! I’m going to veto that treaty! Let’s blow ’em out of the sky!”
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
Yeah? Well, you’re a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. “A.S. Harris to Geostation 17,” he said into his transgalactic communicator. “Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far…” But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship’s cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.
He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. “Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel,” Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth — when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. “Why must one lose one’s innocence to become a woman?” she pondered wistfully.
Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu’udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu’udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. “We can’t allow this! I’m going to veto that treaty! Let’s blow ’em out of the sky!”
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
Yeah? Well, you’re a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
Post Length & Frequency
I don't have any hard minimum or maximums on positing length, but historically, my stories which average more than about 400 words/post have stalled out very early on, and own posts tend to flow much more freely in that 4-600 sweet-spot, but also felt the most promising, so I'm still flexible. As to posting frequency, I'd like to keep to a minimum of 1 post/week to keep the story fresh in mind. After a week with no response and no word from my partner, I'll send a PM to make sure things are still on track. After two weeks of silence, I'll consider the story abandoned. (If my partner expresses a preference to not receive "Check-in" type PMs, it will, naturally, be respected; I will consider the story abandoned at the end of the first week).
I understand that meatspace has that pesky habit of getting in the way, what with jobs and families and all of those other pesky things that make being an adult so annoying, but I feel that the consideration of a quick PM isn't too much to ask for if one's RP-Haunting Time is cut off or they're not enjoying the story and want to call it off.
I can promise the same courtesy.
The Bullet Points
Story/Style elements
- Story-Driven
- Smut-Driven
- Humor/Comedy - Not every story needs to be grave and somber. I always love a bit of lighthearted fun with a partner who knows how to have a good time. (NB: Doesn't include "romantic comedy" where the entire conflict of the story could be completely resolved by two idiots speaking to each other like adults for fifteen seconds.)
- Romanticism - The triumph of good over evil, true (but dynamic) heroes and heroines striving against overwhelming odds, hard-won happy endings; there's just something refreshing and satisfying about the Death Star blowing up, the ragtag band of POWs stymieing the enemy war effort from right under their noses in the prison camp, The One Ring falling into Mt. Doom, and the forces of the Underworld being driven from Hyrule. I'll always jump at the chance for one of these.
- Fantasy (High or Low)
- Science Fiction/Space Opera
- Action/Adventure
- Historic/Pseudo-Historic
- "Rule of Cool" / "Rule of Sexy" ("The limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief for a given element is directly proportional to its awesomeness/sexiness")
- Babylon 5 fandom - This never seems to get any love, which is a shame.
- Mystery/Detective/Thriller - I love reading this genre, but I've always found it tricky to pull off a good mystery when the writers and the audience are the same people.
- Urban Fantasy - Another favorite genre of mine when it's good, but very easy to do badly.
- Horror - The exception to "Dark/Gritty/Grim", but it would have to be pretty compelling.
- "Slice of Life" - (recently promoted from "I'll pass") - without some "out of the ordinary" events to carry the weight of the plot, these sorts of stories don't have much longevity. However, since I acknowledge that they can be enjoyable and cathartic from time to time, I've decided to take them out of the dungeon and consider them for an occasional short-term or one-shot story.
- Dark/Gritty/Grim - I know these sorts of settings and tone are in vogue now, and quite popular for RPs, but they honestly just don't work for me. Used strategically, they can add gravitas and dramatic tension to a story, but as a constant, looming specter, they usually just either depress me or kill my emotional investment. If the good guys never put anything in the "W" column and I end up thinking "I wonder who he's going to kill off in this chapter," it's not enjoyable for me.
- "Antihero"/Evil Main Characters - Outside of comedic settings (I love me some Deadpool, and I'm not too proud to admit it), playing a dirtbag main character has a similar result to the "dark stories" above. It's not conducive to a roleplay if I end it early by killing off my character because I can't stand him. (Flawed heroes, scoundrels with a heart of gold, redemption stories, etc.. are another matter entirely, and are entirely welcome!)
Sex/Relationship Elements
This isn't an exhaustive list, so please ask if you want to know about something you don't see. You'll find I'm normally pretty flexible.
- M/F
- Age 30+ (My character)
- Romance
- Oral
- Anal
- Rough sex
- Spanking (ass and elsewhere)
- Bondage
- Dubcon
- Lingerie
- Hair-pulling
- Sex toys
- Dirty Talk
- F/F
- M/F/M
- Age 18-24 (My Character)
- NonCon
- D/s: Master/slave
- D/s: Master/pet, Mentor/student, Master/servant
- Taboo
- Ragefuck/Hatefuck
- Humiliation
- Angels/Demons
- Anthro/Furry
- Vampires/Werewolves
- Tentacle Monsters
- M/M, M/Futa
- Underage Characters
- Incest (Mother/Son)
- Abusive relationship (of/by my character)
- Pregnancy (Exception: May be used in a "happy ending" epilogue)/Risk of Pregnancy
- Vore
- Piss/Scat/Vomit
- Bestiality
- Adultery/Infidelity (by/with my character)
- Cannibalism
- Necrophilia
- Unrealistic/Hentai anatomy