--- In hpmush-logs@yahoogroups.com, "echidna006" <echidna006@y...>
wrote:
OOC Seminar: Feature Characters
Date: September 12, 2002
Synopsis: Sort of a Q&A session about Feature Apps, as well as a
general request for more submissions.


You say "So, I suppose we shall get started. The process that we
outline is also available as a news file under 'news char features'
and all its subentries. I figured I'd kind of describe what happens
when we get an application and after that point. A warning: If I
start frothing it's not because I'm rabid, but because Family Affair
is so utterly horrible. :)"

Cassie has arrived.

Cassie says "All right, everyone?"

Cassie smiles shyly.

Milton patpats Cassie. "We're just starting now." :)

Cassie I was watching.. Tengu helped me get here.

Cassie says "Err.. keep getting those two mixed up.."

Parvati giggles at Echidna and waves at Cassie.

Cassie waves back with a silly grin.

Cassie sits in a beanbag chair (promptly sinking to the floor) and
listens attentively.

You say "No doubt y'all have noticed that we have some very major FC
roles that are currently unoccupied. We know that we have great
players here, although a lot of them don't seem interested in apping
an FC. So that makes us wonder 'why not'? Maybe it seems
intimidating, but Tengu and I are here to tell you that we're
actually /very nice/ when we respond to the applications. :) We
want to cast somebody in the role you've applied for at least as much
if not more than /you/ want to be cast yourself."

Ginny needs lots of brothers.

Parvati wants a best friend.

Sirius needs a godson. :)

Ruby says "Parvati could also use a twin sister, to boot."

Parvati nods. "Right. Her too." :)

Cassie chuckles at Sirius.

Cho needs a boyfriend!

Ginny needs Cho's boyfriend!

Dobby needs more socks!

Cho laughs.

Tengu snickers.

Cassie laughs.

Parvati grins.

Ruby says "Not to mention we could use a Ron & a Hermione."

Cassie says "....... Do many people RP characters outside of their
gender here?"

Milton raises a hand.

You say "So, mostly we wanted to say, "Please apply! We won't bite!"
The worst we'd probably do is request a revision, but that's nothing
more than what we'd do for any given OC application. It's not a
critique or meant as mean, it's just part of the fine-tuning process.
Aside from getting on my hands and knees and begging, please consider
this an open invitation to submit away."

Tengu says "I'd say most players do. At least half of them,
Cassie. :)"

Echidna thinks over half her chars are guys, though she herself
isn't. :)

Ginny says "A lot of people play across genders, Cassie.. as long as
you can play the character, it doesn't matter what your RL gender is."

You say "Does anyone have any questions about the application
process?"

Cassie smiles and for a moment has a vision of defeating Voldemort and
marrying... well.. someone all in shadow.. then waking up from that
dream at the crack of dawn for Quidditch practice...

Cassie shrugs, "Eh.. nice dream.. but a bit too much for now..."

Cassie says "And.. err.. I have no questions.."

Cassie blushes red.

Tengu says "Here's the HP trailer, guys. :)"

Tengu says "If you want to talk about it, join Spoilers. :)"

Echidna stops talking for a little bit.

Draco says "I'll toss out a question, for folks to ponder after the
trailer: How much is too much for an application? Are you looking for
a page or two, in most cases? How much detail do you want, etc. --
That's always my biggest problem with any application: I write a
novel. ;)"

Cassie takes a box of pocky and searches the web...

You say "It depends on the character. Rather than just a listing of
the events in the book, we'd like to see your insights into how the
character developed as a result of those events. Since we've
progressed beyond the span of the books here, you'll also have to
describe anything that's happened to the character here, too. For
some people this will be longer than others. We /do/ like to know
that you know what happened in a book, but at least I'm more
concerned with seeing that you understand the character."

Tengu says "You should strive to be complete. You don't need to
redescribe all the events in the books, but you should be as detailed
as you can otherwise. Consider your OC +application. Your background
should be at /least/ that long. And your other answers should
probably be nearly as long."

Tengu says "And you should do research first. When I applied for a
feature, I went through every book for /every/ reference to that
character. Naturally this is easier if your char only appears in one
or two books. ;) And also read any relevant logs if your feature has
had a player before."

Ruby says "So people interested in playing "The Trio" would want to
check logs and chronology on the website to see what happened last
year."

Cassie nods.

Tengu says "Right. In that case, you don't need to read every log.
You can read the summaries and certain logs that seem important or
interesting. AFter you get the part, you'll want to read the rest
though."

Parvati notes that reading logs is not a chore - it's usually highly
entertaining :)

Tengu says "You can kidna skim them too. :) There are times I read
logs and only read one or two particular character's poses. :)"

Milton nodsnods at Parvati. :)

Cassie says "I was reading some of them.. they're interesting."

Tengu says "Those of you who haven't applied for a feature, can I ask
why you haven't? What reservatiosn do you have about it? And maybe
the FCs here can tell you if they find those things to be a real
problem or not."

Tengu says "You can page it to me or Echidna if you don't want to say
it out loud. :)"

Milton will be brave and take a chance of saying it out loud. :)

Draco's player doesn't bite. Honest. Draco, on the other hand... ;)

Parvati sits there and tries to look harmless. :)

Ruby notes that sometimes, people feel that they don't have a lot of
time to play an FC. But then, certain of the more supporting parts
(or the 'extras' -- people who are only mentioned in the books by
name and not much more) might not require as much time committment.

Tengu says "Are you waiting for me to say 'go ahead', Milton, or are
you typing? :)"

Pansy has arrived.

Milton grins as Ruby steals most of what he was going to
mention. :) "Also, for more supporting roles, you may have trouble
really coming up with motivations for that character. Example of,
say, Peeves. We all know he's malicious, but /why/ does he go out of
his way to annoy students and staff alike?" :)

Ruby blushes. "Sorry!"

Milton grins at Tengu. "Started typing before you said anything." :)

Milton patpats Ruby. "S'okay." :)

Tengu says "Peeves is almost a special case by himself. :) If you
prefer to leave his origins vague, that's fine with me personally. As
long as you get the rest of his character down. Rowling's promised to
get more into what makes a ghost, and hopefully also the difference
between ghosts and poltergeists."

You say "There are also roles like Quidditch Players and Prefects
that exist in name only, that people could apply for and don't seem
to be doing. They're even easier because you don't have to seek to
understand a rather under-developed character's motivations... you
get to create them. :)"

Tengu says "As for time, I'll note that we drastically lowered the
time requirements that were listed in the news. We believed the old
ones were unrealistic for anyone with like.. school or a job. :)"

Echidna nodnods at Tengu. "They were insane. 4 hours a day?! Now it's
15 hours a week."

Tengu says "We're also in need of teachers. Especially ones in non-
Eastern timezones."

You say "Which is almost cut in half."

Tengu says "Right. And that can be 2 7.5 hour rp sessions, or 5 3-hour
sessions. And that /does/ include time spent writing IC mail to
friends and relatives. :)"

Echidna bets everyone here is probably on at least 15 hours a week.
*nudge* Cameos only need 10, too. :)

Tengu says "We're also not going to sit down and count your hours. :)"

Tengu says "If you submit logs frequently, we're going to see that
you're active."

Tengu says "Did anyone have any other reservations? Or I can hazard
guesses.. :)"

Milton shakes his head. "I think that covers my things." :)

Ruby says "Some people might be nervous about the application."

Parvati was terrified of the interview before she applied.

You say "But weren't we nice? Would you mind sharing what the
interview/aud was like, Parvati?"

Tengu says "I see we have a lack of non-fCs in the room. Not to pick
on you, Milton. :)"

Cassie says "IC or OOC interview?"

Milton grins, and shrinks from sight. ;)

Tengu says "It's an OOC interview with an IC audition. But the
interview part is generally pretty short. Just us asking for
clarification on a point or something. And the applicant can ask
questions too."

Parvati can do that. "First: Echidna's right. Everyone was really
nice. I had major internet issues the week of my interview and ended
up trying to reschedule half a dozen times, so by the time I finally
made it in I was a very nervous little girl. :) All that happens is a
brief discussion of your application to see if anyone has anything
they want to discuss, and then you get to rp as the character. In my
case, the admin-types posed as Prof. Trelawney and I got to react as
Parvati. It's actually really fun."

Cassie nods and smiles a bit.

Parvati eyes that discussion sentence and decides she needs sleep.

Cassie says "Don't overdo it if you can help it.. in the long run it
does awful things.."

Cassie says "The staying up part at least.."

Cassie pouts.. wonders if everyone notices her tendency to skip the
meat of her sentences..

Ginny says "And don't worry if you forget something in your app. Do
your best, but I forgot something fairly obvious (Hermione's
relationship with Ginny), and I was just asked what it should be in
the interview. I felt like a goofball for missing Hermione completely
in my app, but I still eventually got the character."

You say "We do try very hard to choose a scene that works well with
the character. If you're applying for Dean Thomas, for example, we
might have you doing something with Seamus. Kind of a natural
pairing. We wouldn't stick Dean Thomas in a room with Flitwick and
expect them to have lots of things to talk about."

Cho had one of the first auditions, and was called upon to play Cho
the nice girl and help out a student who was having trouble. :)

Cassie says "Ah. :)"

Tengu says "Maybe the FCs could tell us what made them decide to
apply. :)"

Tengu says "And all you FCs should bug the OCs on the game to apply
for an FC. :) And maybe apply for a second one yourselves."

Draco grins. I had an emitted Snape in my audition, along with Harry
and Ron. Something about a patch of ice. I even got to cage points by
pointing it out when they didn't, ICly.

Cassie chuckles.

Draco says "Here's a question for you about that for folks who are
FCs already: You can do two FCs, correct? 2 cameo, or 1 star, 1
cameo. Not 2 stars?"

Draco says "And I'd also be happy to share why I applied for
Draco. ;)"

Parvati doesn't play Parvati as much as she should, so a second is
out :) But I'll explain why I applied.

Cassie says "He's fun? ;)"

Draco says "That's the first reason, Cassie. ;)"

Cho already has 2 :)

Dobby will explain why Dobby's Dobby as well. :)

Cassie laughs. ^o^

You say "Right, Draco. (about stars/cameos)"

Tengu says "Not 2 Stars, right. There are times where we might
reconsider and change someone from Star to Cameo. For instance,
George and Fred graduated, so they're no longer in the thick of
things. So they've been switched to CAmeo."

Cassie says "It might make sense for someone to do both George and
Fred at least.."

Tengu says "And go ahead and explain. :) You can both go at once.
Faster that way. :)"

Cassie nods and listens patiently.

Draco says "Mainly, I applied for Draco because I love the character.
I love creating mischief. I love being snide. -- All In Character, of
course. ;) These are all things that I usually can't do with
characters. Draco's an excellent outlet for that. I've had tremendous
fun as him on the game. There are good days, where I feel like
I 'hit' him just right, and days when I feel like I was 'off'. But
there's never a day that I don't enjoy it. And to me, that's the
biggest reason to apply for a feature: because you enjoy that sort of
RP. As a teacher, a student, a ghost, you name it."

Cassie says ".. Is the position for muggle-baiting goons still
available?"

Cassie grins evilly.

You say "Yes. To see a listing of available FCs, type +fc/search
any=open"

Draco says "Oh yeah! I'd love the goon squad to be filled out. :)"

Parvati says "I considered applying for an FC first off because I was
vastly impressed with the FCs I'd already met and rped with, and
thought that it would be an interesting challenge. And I applied for
Parvati in particular because she's one of my favorite characters in
the book, and she's not mentioned much so I have lots of freedom in
playing her. And same as Draco, there are on days and off days."

Parvati actually started to fill out the application for Lavender,
but couldn't get a good sense of the character. :)

Dobby says "Dobby's just a great character to begin with, and I love
him to death. That, and much Dr. Pepper made me write out the
application one night and send it off. I think if you're not attuned
to the character, he/she won't come off right. Also since
Dobby's /not/ human, he's got his own view of the world and how it
works, and it's refreshing to play a side of myself I've never
explored before. And that's fun."

Cho can certainly identify with those comments. "I chose Cho because
she always seemed like such an intriguing character, though we don't
learn much about her. Pretty, nice, intelligent, athletic. I liked
all those things, but what /really/ struck me was the mention of her
at the leaving feast in GoF. I'll avoid specifics for those who
haven't read the 4th book, but it made a definite impression.

Cassie tries to read all this... O_O ".. Is everone done yet?"

Ginny says "I applied for Ginny because, to me, she's an interesting
character. She's fairly prominent in the books, but that wasn't my
reasoning. She's fun and cheerful, but clearly has a deeper side, as
well. Also, to be honest, having the instant family to RP with was
fun. Although we need the rest of my brothers, last school year Ginny
was involved with several pranks with the twins, which was neat. She
also has her serious side, though, and I was interested in exploring
her personality."

Ginny is getting tired and babbling in circles, sorry.

Cassie says "I agree with you, Cho.. and Dobby.. the end of the 4th
book.. and that you need a feel for a character to start them up. :)
Bravo on doing so btw. :)"

Sirius says "I didn't actually empathize much with Sirius when I was
reading the books. I liked Lupin far more. But after being nudged a
few times, I went through and reread the Sirius bits. And.. I found I
liked him after all. Though he's much different from most of my other
characters. More.. un-thinking, impulsive. And I don't like dogs. :)"

Cassie smiles.

Cho doesn't like dogs either, but she thought Sirius was nice. :)

Cassie says "I thought that I could see Sirius in either role.. as a
framed man on the run or a serial murderer out for more blood."

Sirius says "Naw, not serial. Just Peter. :)"

Milton grins. "And a lousy killer you are, since he's still alive." ;)

Cassie looks at Milton with a 'not-funny' face, "Well.. if someone I
thought of as a friend murdered one of my best friends, I'd want to
kill him too.."

Ginny apologizes for skipping out early, but my asthma is kicking up,
so I'm off to bed.

Cassie says "Take care, Ginny."

Parvati hugs Ginny. "Feel better."

Ginny hugs and toddles off.

You say "Anyone else have any questions or comments that they'd like
to voice?"

Dobby raises his hand.

Cassie gives Dobby a shrunken bright orange glove over that hand and
grins.

Milton nibbles on some pocky.

You say "Dobby?"

Dobby grins, marveling at the glove. But, it's not a sock. ;) "Say
I've got an OC in the same house as the FC I'd like to app for is.
Does the one alt per house rule still apply?"

You say "The 'news policy alts' file says, "No more than 1 student
character per House /except in certain admin-approved
circumstances'." :) We've done it for other people and can do it
again..."

Dobby ahs. "Gotcha." :)

Tengu says "We prefer to do it if the characters are a few grade
levels apart. Different genders doesn't hurt either. That way you
don't have to bring both to the same events or rp them together."

Cassie smiles excitedly.

Cassie looks at the clock and frowns.

Cassie says "Have to go already.. time really flew.."

Parvati has to go, too. I'm about to be booted by my ISP.

Echidna thinks we're about finished anyways. Any parting comments
from anyone?

Cassie says "Thanks to everyone for sharing those thoughts with me..
it was a lot of fun to talk with you guys. :) Take care! ^_^"

Parvati says "Nope. Thanks for the seminar :)"

Milton grins. "I'll add one on different grade levels."

Ruby says "That way, you get to hit all the classes."

Echidna jumps up in the air and shakes around some pom-poms.
"Gooooooooooooooooooooooooo apply for an FC! Yay!"

Milton nods at Ruby. "Plus, it becomes /very/ difficult to properly
RP the two of them, if they should have class together. With 2 OCs it
presses the line. I like having them, but I've learned to have
students /far/ apart in years next time." :)

Ruby has had the experience on rare occasions of having 2 or more
alts in the same room. I dislike it greatly.

Tengu says "So everyone go apply for another character. :) And
recruit new people."

Ruby skips off. :)

Cho follows suit. "Thanks! Anyone who gives it a try and/or who has
more specific questions is willing to page me about them. Goodnight."

Draco scoots as well. :)

Milton likewise departs, and considers doing up an app. :)
--- End forwarded message ---