How's my driving? (Or lack thereof?)
So, uh, typical HMD post here. I think I have all the settings right (anonymous posting on, IP logging off, screening on)...
I'm really new to Luceti, and I've never done any kind of roleplay like this before. AND I'm using an OC. So any kind of constructive criticism is totally appreciated.
I'm really new to Luceti, and I've never done any kind of roleplay like this before. AND I'm using an OC. So any kind of constructive criticism is totally appreciated.
First off - I do want to clarify that I understand that social awkwardness and autism aren't the same thing (even though I did an absolutely pathetic job of showing this awareness) - though in Robert's case, they feed into each other. His particular brand of autistic spectrum disorder is probably closer to Asperger's, and that's something I should have made much clearer - this is entirely my fault for not clarifying, and I can certainly see why you'd be upset about that.
Second part - yes, I should have mentioned this in his app - and indeed, I should've made sure I was going to include this as a trait before I did anything with him. That... is a major failure on my part, too, and I'm really sorry that I did that. I know that it's way too late to apologize for that, but... I am aware that that's a problem. I'll admit that I didn't think that through well enough at all.
The "special snowflake" thing - not intentional, but it definitely looks like it now.
As for him believing he could overcome any degree of autistic spectrum disorder - the idea is that it was supposed to be something entirely preposterous, something that would make it blatantly obvious to anybody with any knowledge that he was affected by an experiment. I suppose it was my way of trying to explain why he wouldn't have cognitive dissonance with his own memories, and yet wouldn't also immediately realize there was an experiment. But... you're right. It was pretty pathetic, in retrospect. I don't really know if there's anything I can do at this point other than give myself a good swift kick.
I'm truly sorry if I offended you with my own inability to communicate... anything, really. Though it likely doesn't help your opinion of me (and I can't really blame you), I didn't mean to give off the impression of being a total ignorant ass.
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Unfortunately, a lot of people don't know that much about autism to grasp that. It's not the kind of thing people would immediately associate as being preposterous: "Hey, it's a disorder of some kind, so people probably get over it all the time with therapy!" is what some people may have just assumed, with the only strangeness being how suddenly he "got over" it.
If anything, I saw no reason why autism had to even be mentioned during the event. He went from a shy guy to a social butterfly; it's the Malnosso's effects, there doesn't need to be actual logic tied to it. The Malnosso used a shift to alter his personality; they didn't do anything to cure him. I can maybe see Robert ICly believing that to be what happened, but most of your mentions of it that I saw were in the OOC brackets, hence my concern.
I might just be rambling here by now, since it's kind of late, but one of my main concerns is how this character trait of his seemed to come out of nowhere for this event. Prior to the events OOC announcement, I saw no mention of him having autism. During this event, it was pretty much mentioned in every post.
Now, as for it not being in your app, I get that sometimes things get left out of apps. That's all fine and cool, it happens. But my main issue is that, as I said, autism is a developmental disorder, but your app contradicts any sort of issues dealing with early childhood development. I know not every case is "by the textbook" but it makes it seem like you just picked and chose what symptoms would suit your character in order to fit him within the spectrum.
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I guess I mentioned it purely because of the fact he was going to behave neurotypically, because I felt playing him as a social butterfly while simultaneously having him with the inability to perceive social cues very well would be prohibitively difficult. Which... it might not have been and I just made a bad decision.
... After the experiment ended - and even sometime before, though the stuff that was supposed to occur at that time never happened yet - Robert was going to realize that what he was saying was completely preposterous. He's... already kind of got that feeling that what he's going on about makes no sense. But again, you're right, I did not explain that well. If I even explained it at all.
And no, you're absolutely right to say this. I haven't mentioned it before - I even forgot to include it in the app, yes - and this might be because I'm not sure if he even really fits an "official" Asperger's diagnosis. He's... similar, at least, and a few people I know (including a mun who has it) peg him as Asperger's, but I'm honestly not sure, and I'm ignorant enough to say that I probably don't know enough to be certain, though he is at least tending in that direction. (Is that enough to say he has it, though? Possibly not.)
Again, this... is mostly a failure on my part to think anything through properly. And, quite frankly, I completely understand why you're upset at me. I'd be upset at me too, if I was a third-person individual not knowing what I was thinking when I wrote the stuff I did.
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I'm glad someone else brought this up, because I was also uncomfortable with your use of autism in the event but didn't feel qualified to say something about it.
If you plan on continuing to include an autism spectrum disorder in Robert's character, I would strongly encourage you to speak with the mods about it first. Ideally, I would like to see you reapp as someone might for a canon update, because I'd like to see some written proof that you've thought through this decision and have integrated it into the rest of Robert's history and personality. It seems extremely disingenuous to me to say "Whoops, I forgot it, but it's here now!" when it's a major trait that you did not app for.
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And I will definitely, at the very least, speak to the mods about this. You're probably right in that I should reapp/canon-update him, though; I'll see what the mods say in that regard.
I hope I've made myself look a little less like a prat by outlining my thought process, but again, you're still completely justified in being upset. I definitely won't do something as stupid as this again in the future.
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"Masamune 3:02 pm
Hmm. I think reapping would be a little much. Lots of times characters in continuous canons will have some new aspect of them revealed or explained and they don't have to canon update to account for that.
But since he's an OC and your app is the only source of information on him, it couldn't hurt to update the app, but post it in your journal."
He also said:
"Masamune 3:05 pm
Aye. Just feel free to elaborate on as much of his canon and personality as you want in his information. The only thing to remember is just, you know, don't do anything that conflicts with the character you originally apped."
Because it was a matter of forgetting to include information, this isn't a conflict, and therefore it seems that it's all right in the eyes of at least one of the mods.
If you want me to upload the chat log in its entirety somewhere as proof, or anything like that, I will, but this is pasted verbatim from it.
Again, I'm sorry for any offense I caused, and I hope this goes some way towards resolving the conflict. In future, I'm going to think a lot more about how I use terms like "autism" - as well as other (dissimilar or similar) terms and group names - before I do anything involving them, so I don't repeat these mistakes.
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