| bookshop @ 2003-04-15 00:25:00 |
(no title)
Mood: didactic :)
Wheeeeeeee!
Look, everybody! A Mod Post! :D :D :D really it's not that Modly.
Announcement:
Nraged has something like 222 posts and well over 3,000 comments already. THREE THOUSAND.
DAMN! *pops virtual champagne bottle* Go us!
Encouragement:
As I stated in this comment, NA is an H/D roleplay and has been from the get-go. I think sometimes the massive squeeing over the H/D interaction can get quite daunting, not just for J_H and PS but for all the NA players; but one thing NrAged has done, one thing we're all immensely thankful to each of you for, is to make the main, supporting, and minor character players aware of just how much all of our efforts are appreciated. It makes it easier for us to feel like we matter and you're not just all showing up for the Harry/Draco action. So please, feel free to continue to express your enthusiasm for all that goes on here. I mean, honestly, ya'll (HAHAHA, I said ya'll, i haven't said ya'll in years ) are the best--we give you nothing but massive angst on top of more angst and so you spend a week going crazy over purple beans and duels and Terry Boot. You guys always encourage us. Thank you so much for that.
A Few Musings/Advice on Speculation, Etc.
Something somebody said on Joy's post earlier that made me want to articulate something i've been thinking about over these past frenzied weeks. One wonderful thing I've always loved about NA is that it allows us to put on our detective caps. We have all been trained, as fanfic readers, to hunt for subtext, to mine for clues as to plot and character dynamics and development. NA puts us to the test in that regard, and I personally love that it does. However, there are a couple of vital differences between NA and fanfic, and sometimes I feel like we get a little sidetracked because we bring our expectations of fanfic to the RPG arena.
The biggest thing is that while, yes, the players do structure and plan out their plot in advance, they aren't writing their stories as authors. When they write their journal entries, they are writing them in-character; they aren't writing them from an authorial narrative. You're probably familiar with authors *cough* Cassie *cough* who deliberately leave things vague in order to keep their readers in suspense or leave possible meanings open to interpretation. That happens a lot in NA, of course--but it happens because of the fact that we're working with a journal format, and not a straightforward story-telling format. There is no narrator except the actual character commenting on or writing any given entry. There are no clues for the audience except what's contained in the subtext. It's not exactly accurate to feel that a player would be deliberately saying something, or not saying something, to throw us, the readers, off; instead, what might happen is that the character feels it necessary to deceive himself or herself, or to hide something from another character or group of characters.
In such cases, I think we can usually derive things from the text that tell us who's the focus of the deception, if there is any. I think instead though we usually start with the tactics we're used to using--we think about what the player/writer might not want us to know or discover, instead of thinking about what the characters might be feeling or doing at any given moment. RPGing is more central, a bit more direct, than a fanfic. You can easily sideswipe a character's motivations in a fanfic by using tone and point of view and all sorts of things. You can't really do that at all in an RPG. And I think maybe if we will read NA from the standpoint of what the character is immediately feeling and thinking as they write their posts, rather than from the (more meta) standpoint of how the author might be trying to paint the entry, I think we'll get farther in our speculations.
And that's really all I wanted to say. :)
Comments:
| pink_faerie @ April 14 2003, 22:44:27 UTC |
Awww there's player love, reader love. So much love... it's almost Hufflepuff. *SPREADS THE NA LOVE*
It brings people together. *sniff* So sweet.. am I going to gain weight from this?!?!
| delirieuse @ April 14 2003, 22:54:28 UTC |
Here, here! Well said, sir. And may Nraged continue for many more posts. ^_^
(parent)| sistermagpie @ April 15 2003, 07:03:09 UTC |
Excellent point!
Honestly, I think it's obvious that the players here are always in character and it's one of the things I so love about the game. There are times when we obviously know more about the character than the character (not the player) does and times when the character knows more than we do. But if the players started playing to us and writing from the standpoint of trying to throw us off that would have added a totally artificial element that I just don't see any evidence of. Everybody seems true to their characters first and us, well, we're a distant third or something at best. As it should be!:)
| kokopoko @ April 15 2003, 08:13:45 UTC |
You know, I did not know that. When I friended NA I of course read the user info page but no where on there does it say it's primarily a H/D rpg. I had no idea. This changes my outlook of NA now. I don't think I'll be so excited when I see H/D interaction in the future as it is expected. Where until now I was overjoyed because it was not expected.
(parent)| bookshop @ April 15 2003, 09:45:57 UTC |
Well, but I think we mean two different things. When I say "it's an H/D rpg" I'm saying that there is a significant amount of H/D interaction, and that's nothing you didn't already know. Just because it's an H/D rpg doesn't mean that a Harry/Draco outcome is a foregone conclusion. It just means that H/D is one of the pairings whose interaction has been planned in advance from the get-go--the other two are Ron/Hermione and Sirius/Remus. And each of these pairings has not remained static or consistent: Sirius and Remus have an extremely tumultuous, turbulent relationship and have broken up once, Ron and Hermione just broke up and who knows when/if they'll get back together again, and as far as we know Harry and Draco are barely on speaking terms at the moment, so who knows.
I think honestly, all the H/D interaction is unexpected. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that's spontaneous and unplanned until the moment it just *happens* in the minds of the characters playing the parts. Just because you know that something will happen doesn't mean that you know if it will be a positive event or something that will hinder or help them getting together.
I really think, just from seeing these characters interact, that their players aren't even sure whether they'll get together, because I think from their perspective this is a roleplay played as close to real time and as close to real life as possible. I know nobody really expected Hermione and Ron to break up until it was happening, and that, too, is realistic. Harry and Draco themselves don't know that they'll get together, or if, or when, or how, or even if they'll stay together in what can only seem like a wildly unlikely chance at this point that the do. We're watching their characters, but I don't really think we've ever had the benefit of the players nudging us going, 'wink wink, nod nod, don't let this fool you, we're just delaying the inevitable.' the fact that we all *assume* it's inevitable says volumes for the way the characters are being played, because like Sister M said we really are able to know more than the characters themselves--and that, too, is just like real life.
Is any of that clearer, sweetie, or are you still feeling let down? *pats koko*
| kokopoko @ April 15 2003, 10:27:07 UTC |
When I say "it's an H/D rpg" I'm saying that there is a significant amount of H/D interaction
Ah, see I took that to mean H/D slash not characters communicating.
It takes some of the fun out knowing there were pairings planned in advance. But I suppose a bit of planning had to occur. I hope this doesn't mean that other pairings won't happen as I'm immensely enjoying the fights over Millicent. And Ginny/Cho getting together.
There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that's spontaneous and unplanned until the moment it just *happens* in the minds of the characters playing the parts
I'm very glad to hear this. That's what I had assummed was going on. It makes it so much fun when things are not planned out and are spontaneous.
the fact that we all *assume* it's inevitable
I really don't want that to happen. Just like Book 5 in that I don't want to know anything about it. I want it to all be one big surprise. So I hope the fact that h/d sb/rl r/hr has been planned out doesn't mean it's inevitable. I surely hope not. I hope anything will and can happen. McGonagal/Snape! Ginny/Draco! Boot/Bulstrode! Anything goes!
I think the rpg would be stale and not vibrant if they were all trying to stick to the confirmed pairings. But the rpg is not stale at all. It's very vibrant and surprising. So I hope I'm correct in assuming that the players are not dancing around the confirmed pairings and ignoring everyone else.