Character / NPC power of attorney thingamajig

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Okay, ideas in me brain.

Some of you might not do this, but I know a few folks have been writing in the dialogue and actions of other characters to a minor degree. Rather than waiting for somebody to come back in a day or two to post "I agree" more or less, we write that in ourselves. It's been really great and makes things efficient, and I think its something other folks ought to try out.

So why make a thread for this?

I was thinking about more to the tune of if we want to license someone to cameo our characters as NPC's. Rather than inserting ourselves into an organized posting order if we're basically serving as a plot effect in a friend's thread, we could essentially give a power of attorney to a person to use that character as an NPC or plot device.

Say, for example, Loki wants to reference Cirr's activities on the wheel for a story arc where he's teaching padawans in the midst of a Novgorod visit. So hey asks me and I post here saying "I give Abarai Loki permission to NPC Cirrsseeto Raurrssaatta in thread ______". Now Loki can proxy-write Cirr for the scope that I have allowed.

This also would help for time constraints and other shenanigans. Rather than the messy act of signing off characters if you suddenly are working double shifts or your small tropical island you post on sinks, you can pass temporary license to someone to NPC that character. So if I'm posting as Anbira and slaughtering a legion of stormtroopers with Tionne and I have to take a trip to Boston suddenly and can't post for a week, she can ghost-write Anbira taking a couple of swings to move things along.

Now, what is this not for?

If you're doing a thread where you are directly advancing your character or contributing to someone else's, you probably want to handle that sort of thing personally and ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL >D Our characters are deeply personal for the most part, and those moments aren't in every thread but you know which ones they are.

Also, if you give POA to someone to NPC a character, make sure its someone you trust. I am not saying that if Jenny let me ghost write Vega that I'd throw him out a window on Coruscant, because lets be honest we're mature enough and we're all friends and that shit won't fly. What I mean by trust is that make sure you feel comfortable with the person you give permission to write in your stead, in the sense that you feel that person "gets" your character.

Thoughts on this? Obviously this is an exception to the norm and not the rule, but I think that if we have folks post here or in another thread designed for it when they are assigning this treatment to a character that it can help us have even more fun.

[Morgan Evanar]

This is a good idea. It could go bad but we can always request someone else edit if they fumble.

[Razielle Alastor]

Agreed, this is a good idea, again providing you have faith in the person you are designating to NPC your character. I've actually done this a few times, and it's worked just fine. :)

[Halajiin Rabeak]

I'd be up for this, though I have no idea if anyone will be up for the insanity that is writing Hal.

Even I don't know what he's going to do/say/think, most of the time. =P

[Droo]

I've no problem if people want to do this, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable volunteering my characters for it, or assuming control of someone else's character, either. Keeping my character busy in the background is absolutely fine, I'd quite happily advocate that if it helps lend a scene texture, but when it comes to more direct interaction then it's a no go for me. Especially when it comes to dialogue.

For me, personally, it's invaisive and I don't like it. I would like to think I'm innocent of doing this to other people's characters, but we can all make mistakes. Of course, for me it's not a trust issue, just a comfort zone thing. It's great if you guys feel confident and comfortable enough to try your hand at each other's characters from time to time, but I'm afraid it's not a confidence I share.

[Emelie Shadowstar]

I like this idea. I'd have reservations about certain characters (just because I'M still feeling them out so I wouldn't trust someone else to "get" them just yet) but if it helped move a thread along and was just a minor bit of dialogue or action that would have happened anyway...then yeah, it makes good sense :)

I like the fact that you've got it down that we have to give out written permission. Should keep people from being too crazy ;)

[Zeke]

I don't think I could handle this. It's probably because when I started here, god-mode combat posts were more prevalent and letting anyone write your own character in their post would likely mean your character appearing cowardly, or being put at a significant disadvantage (if not outright beaten in one post). Even now, I don't like the little actions people post...the nodding along, or starting a pre-planned action for me, because I'm still paranoid. :lol But anyone else who feels they could do this should.

EDIT: What Droo said. >.>

[Captain Untouchable]

Honestly, I'm not a fan of where this is heading.

Posting "I agree" type responses and "Anbira taking a couple of swings to move things along" stuff is one thing. Hell, they're practically the same thing: they're little details that fit in with the narrative you're writing, and as long as the other writer is cool with you doing it, that's fine. I don't see that power of attorney is necessary for that.

The idea of full-on NPCing characters makes me uncomfortable though. It isn't that I don't trust you guys to write stuff: I'm just uncomfortable with how impatient it seems. You have to go to Boston unexpectedly for a week? That's fine, I'll just exercise a little patience and wait for you to get back. I'm certainly not going to expect you to let me take control of your character, just because you're not posting often enough for my liking.

I think there's been a bit too much nagging on Fans recently. This is a game, something we do for fun... pressuring people to post turns it into a chore, and that isn't fun at all.

[Morgan Evanar]

I think we're just trying to find a way to balance keeping a thread moving and keeping all participants stay interested and not stepping on someone's toes. There are some people with certain characters I would have no problem letting them NPC me for 3 or four posts.

I understand your reservations, Jace, but I see no reason to not do this since it is strictly up to the character writer and it would be highly visible.

[Ben Merasska]

I'm kinda on the fence between Droo and Charley on this. Some people truly get Ben; and honestly, if it's funny Ben would probably say it, so I wouldn't have a problem with someone writing him into something and even putting words into his mouth.

I don't think anyone knows what Ben was really like before Yavin, though I have written some stuff that has indicated it. But the big stuff for Ben is actually almost separate from a lot of the stuff going on at the boards; Alderaan-That-Was, The Wind that Bends the Reeds, and Dude Where's My Speeder are all somewhat independent stories.

Puttting it shortly, big stuff for a character like Ben is something of a hard thing to write into any thread.

Others though, like Tell Cho, or Rossos Atrapes, are ones I wouldn't feel very comfortable having others write, mainly because I edit the crap out of their posts before I post them. Sometimes they can go in a completely opposite direction from the "first draft" (I've done this with Ben as well, but mainly only for threads that are intensely introspective and telling of his character.)

But I'd be amenable, if (as per Charley's idea) the actions and even speech were vetted by us (the character's writer) for almost any of my characters. I've done this before, and now I feel kind of embarrassed, because I never thought much of it.

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

I can see not being comfortable with it in terms of your own character and that's fine. It's not anything I would ever want mandatory. It's something I think that folks should be able to document in that special case when they have a mutual understanding over it.

As far as RP schedules and such, again its more of a personal feel. If its a lynchpin character involved in a thing then yeah I'd have an issue there. If it's somebody along for the ride and they were cool with it and I was cool with it, I'd think about it.

Definitely don't want this to be a common thing though. It's just that it would be a nice bit in the arsenal if we ever needed it. Nothing binding unless both parties agree and such and such, so if its not your cup of tea you'd never have to sweat it at all really.

[Dasquian Belargic]

There are characters I'd be fine with other people writing, and some I wouldn't.

Personally there aren't many of anyone else's characters that I would feel comfortable writing as outside of a few short lines, but I cant see that being a problem.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I'm planning on writing Dark Fury IX and fan fictioning y'all.

Props to everyone who knows what Dark Fury is.

[Atreyu]

I'm planning on writing Dark Fury IX and fan fictioning y'all.

Props to everyone who knows what Dark Fury is.
Mr Turbogeek killed off my character in an installment without even asking. :lol

[Morgan Evanar]

That's a very Mark thing to do.

(also I edited some of it :x )

[Dasquian Belargic]

I don't think I got even just a cameo in Dark Fury. I was (am?) too much of an RP peon :lol

[Bette Davis]

I don't think I was ever in any of it. But then, I never read a whole installment of it. ^_^;

[Cirrsseeto Quez]

Wow, Dark Fury. That takes me back. Daaaamn.

[Tear]

I always thought Estelle, Morgan and Kazaar did this sort of thing quite well. They manage each others characters just enough to keep narrative trotting along without being too intrusive about it. They know each others character well enough to pull the puppet strings for a minor action here or a piece of dialogue there.

This obviously isn't the case for everyone and it doesn't look like Charley is saying otherwise. The above example is one where the three involved seem to hold a level of trust and mutual respect which helps in their expectations when another party takes the reigns.

I think being up front about it is the way to go though. If you don't like the idea then don't partake. If you don't mind, lay out the ground rules of acceptable use. Easy peezy.