(Untitled)

[officialbizness]

Yeah, let's have somebody actually make it in this time, okay? XD

Remember:
- NON-PLAYERS CANNOT VOTE. Please don't make me have to check.
- READ THE CANON BIT.

Now VOTE.

Comments

Mah, I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but here's my thoughts on it

[notspecialatall]

I'm trying to figure out how I should go about it if I reapply (how to make a character funny to people who don't know the character.)

As far as I've seen, there are four types of fandom humor, which appeal to different people. I'll * the ones that appeal to me.

--OOC Character in OOC situation. This is like those fanfics that end with Weeping Uke Vegeta (from DragonBall Z) getting eaten by a toilet. I don't like this brand. *However, there is one exception in which it can work: when the writer/player takes an IC trait or set of traits and skillfully exaggerates it to the point of OOC-ness. This is what Asuka Shinn's player seems to be doing in this RP, and so far, it works for me.

--OOC character in IC situation. This is like Tohru cussing someone who has been bothering her out. While it can be funny in moderate doses (it doesn't work if the character is completely OOC), it takes skill to be able to develop a character to the point where such an action doesn't produce "..." reactions. *It can be well done in parody, however.

--*IC character in OOC situation. This is what the camp seems to be going for. For this, pick a character whose reactions you know very well and ask yourself, "How would this character react to zombies?" This is like Phibrizzo in his app: he tries to control them, and is miffed when the attempts fails.

--*IC character in IC situation. This only works if you know the character and the series well, and thus would probably not work well for multi-fandom RPS. This is when a character, confronted with a situation, acts so much like themselves that you laugh in delight. Actually, that's a good description of any humor involving IC characters. It's easier if the character has a very strong, quirky personality to play off of.

Again, I'm sorry if this is overstepping my bounds, but I've been thinking about this for a long time.

Re: Mah, I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but here's my thoughts on it

[at_anon]

No, I definitely agree with you, and it's neat to see it written out. I think along the same lines, but never really bothered to write it all out. In this case, though, I meant that it's more my tendency to use things that fans of a SERIES will find funny, but not those who don't know the series, which is necessary given this forum.

Re: Mah, I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but here's my thoughts on it

[notspecialatall]

Ah, I see. It can be difficult to "cross over," so to speak, but I'm sure you'll do fine. You are, after all, one of the Oldy Moldy Ones.

[at_anon]

It's funny that I'm not actually applying as Cthulhu. ...though I considered it.

[notspecialatall]

If we ever allow counselors, you should. Sadly, I don't think anyone will believe Cthulu is a teenager, no matter how much he spends at Hot Topic.

[at_anon]

Hey, Cthulhu says that his dedication to cheap emo and punk stuff like TOTALLY makes him a teenager, even if he's a little tentacle-y around the edges.

[notspecialatall]

Come to think of it, admitting a Cthulu is like condemning Axl to immediate and incurable insanity, isn't it?

[officialbizness]

In other news, the mod so wholeheartedly supports Cthulu because hey, do we really know if he's a teen or not?

i like how i make random exceptions lol

Re: Mah, I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but here's my thoughts on it

[officialbizness]

I am so putting this in the userinfo. <3 :D

Re: Mah, I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but here's my thoughts on it

[notspecialatall]

...AUGH! :::head explodes from sudden blush:::

Re: Mah, I hate sounding like a know-it-all, but here's my thoughts on it

[notspecialatall]

--RE: the whole "who's gay?" thing: I agree completely. It's a strange phenomenon, but in pretty much every fandom I've encountered, the emphasis is always on romantic relationships, even in series where FRIENDSHIP or ADVENTURE or GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE is supposedly the focus. I think it may be because it's easier to work with a simple pretext such as "Sasuke is gay as a jaybird" rather than "Orihime and Ichigo are stuck in an underground laboratory." It required less planning, and it's easier to make one-liners.

--RE: Tohru: :::ATOMIC BLUSH::: Thank you!

--RE: Choosing a character: I also agree. I dunno, looking at fanfiction and some of these applications, I can see that a lot of people find it easier to write a "normal" person; that is, one who doesn't have strange neurotic reactions to things. If the character is "standing alone," without any other characters from his/her fandom around, I think it's best to pick a neurotic character, whose normal reactions to situations produce humor in and of themselves. Tohru, Orihime, Phibrizzo, Dib, L, and Evil King Stan are the characters that pop into my mind when I say this--they're just so weird, and act so differently from your average person, that while some may find them more difficult to work with, they will produce humor just by being themselves, without exagerration. In my opinion, the characters with the strongest neuroses often make for the best humor.

Also effective are pairs of characters who play off each other well, such as Ichigo and Orihime, Satoshi and Daisuke, etc. However, sometimes these characters have trouble standing alone--that is, a lot of their humor is produced by their interactions with their better other half, or by the rest of the cast. This also goes for "straight man" types like Hana-chan. Pair-types may be a poor choice for application, just because they may not be too effective without a "ping" to their "pong." Not that they can't shine on their own, just that is take more skill to make it funny. I like the suggestion someone made (was it you?) about there being an option to RP a little with an existing character first, emphasizing by contrast.

However, there's also definitely a market for "normals," but they may be the hardest of all. How do you play a character with standard reactions to things and make it funny? Ron Stoppable is a good example of how it can work. He exaggerated the whiny aspect of his reaction without sending it over the top. It's like "Reaction Plus: now with 50% more humor!"

...Damn, I need to stop. I sound like a frickin' English teacher, and I'm nowhere near qualified. In summary: I agree, and found that a stimulating statement.

Super brief two cents.

[officialbizness]

For the "ping-pong" bit, I agree. Without a Naruto to play off of, my Sasuke has nothing to really fall back on. In retrospect, he was a poor character choice on my part.

But, well, I'd die if anyone else played him. C'est la vie.

How the hell did I make him work in the OMG rp?

Re: Super brief two cents.

[solderini]

Sasuke isn't necessarily a bad choice. His tragical angst is emphasized when he's around Naruto, but he can also stand on his own. He is snarly and unhappy, and he can take that out on everyone not just his snuggly-wuggly Naruto.

Well, part of it was that you had a great Naruto (and Orochimaru, though he had less of an impact, I think). Another part was that traumatizing Sasuke was everyone's favorite pasttime.

Re: Super brief two cents.

[officialbizness]

MY BABY IS SO VICTIMIZED like he didn't deserve it.

Super brief OOC two cents.

[the_one_king]

It's odd; we've had 4 Naruto applications so far and none have gotten in (or has one?). I'm tempted to apply but the possibility that I might also fail scares me I already have an excitable, egotistical character. But I do hope we get a Naruto... I would love to heckle him.

"I'll be hokage!" "Well I'll be king!" "Hokages are so much cooler than kings!" "Oh no you didn't!" etc.