Item discussion: Godmodding/autoing vs. ... censorship?

[notevendarkyet]

This is regarding a recent discussion which started with a question what is the policy on little_chicago and lil_chicago_ooc regarding slash. It devolved into a discussion of something entirely else.


Item one: I'm posting here, because posting on the ooc comm, since I am a mod, may carry more weight; but I really would like to hear your opinions on this, and when things are clarified, I'll make a post that will also be referenced on the profile of the comm, to avoid further confusion.

Item two: I am confused (and maybe - which I shouldn't be - a little angry) at the way my statement was questioned. My original answer came from interacting with writers who are truly outstanding, and through observing how they treat their writing partners. Did I go too far in responding to those comments? If so, I am sorry - but DO let me know if I have.

Item three: At least my idea of little_chicago as one of a common playground. Where we, well, play together. It really makes sense to me that when you're borrowing someone else's toys where you play with that someone else, it is polite to ask.
In your own journal, you are free to write characters exactly as you wish. Those would be your versions of the characters.
But where we write together, and where what you post will be part of the expectation in how you RP the character in the comm? I think it is only fair to ask if the other writer is OK with their muse being written in a certain direction.
That doesn't mean you have to have an ok for every bit of dialogue, action, etc. But if I say, I am going to write a piece where Harry did NOT reject Justine when Thomas sent her over dressed only in a bow? (this is entirely theoretical, mind you!) I will ask Harry's mun. Heh, I will probably ask Thomas' mun too, to know how he would react to such a take.

Item four: Well, of course, there are exceptions. The most obvious being if you're doing a 'dissection of a scene' from canon. Or if you and the other mun have discussed a certain situation already and you know what their take is.

Item five: Where we play together, making decisions that you don't know the partner you're writing against agrees with? Isn't that, well, godmodding? (After a brief consultation with Wikipedia, maybe the term I should be using is Autoing. But in either case... something that is not covered by 'playing nice'.)

Item six: Telling you what to write (or not to), and how to write your muse, would be, well, putting it bluntly, censorship. This is NOT what I am aiming at, though I know what I'm describing, if taken to extremes, would be just that.
Once you have the opinion of the other mun, exactly WHAT is in your fic is entirely up to you. I am the kind of person who, if there is a remark about my representation of other muses, will change what I have written, but that is by no means obligatory.
Even if you don't have the other writer's permission, YOU COULD STILL WRITE IT. You can be a member of the comms, you can use the comm's prompts, and write it. Just please don't post on the comm unless you have an OK.
I'd be the person who would be OK with reading just about anything. If I don't think that what a fic implies about my muse is consistent with how I write them, I may ask that there is an author's note that states that the fic is NOT-rp-canon-compliant. I have put such labels on my work even without being asked in some cases.

Item seven: I think it's all about respect. Asking about another person's opinion when IT INVOLVES their muse is courteous - it's respectful. And for any community to function smoothly, respect is a very, very important building block.

Comments

[whitecourtlady.livejournal.com]

I think it's a matter of talking apples and oranges to be honest. (The discussion)

As muns who write in prompt communities, we're used to writing fic with our sandbox and adding a disclaimer at the bottom saying. The Harry I talked about in said fic has nothing to do with any Harry in the community. Just my twisted imagination.

I think the confusion lies in that it's not made clear (to newbies) that this is a fic/RP community rather than a community like TM only dedicated to Dresden Verse(s). Wherein the fics that we write here are connected to said RP in the community and the characters. That we're using it as a jumping off point. So to speak. At least that is what I'm assuming we're doing.

I could be wrong on that one. If I were to write a fic to the community it's in 'our world' and I would get permission from the muns or at least a heads up. Rather than it being my writing world/sandbox and I'm just expressing my artistic license and posting for others to enjoy in the community.

Just my 2 cents that that is where the confusion is lying with reference to writing fic/posting/playing/getting permissions. I believe they are thinking TM Dresdenverse style rather than fic/RP world with our characters in the sandbox.

[wild-maggie.livejournal.com]

I hear hear on number seven, and I think that's the glue that holds it all together. I mean, my approach on roleplay and roleplay related fic is basically what I did in the OOC comm the other day: "Hey, here's what I want to do with this plot point, anyone else have ideas or objections?" And then, discussion happens.

I really, really don't think we need rules to regulate behavior down to the last protocol. We're all adults here, or near enough I would imagine, and we're certainly all capable of treating each other with respect without needing to have our hand held through it.

[lieu-murphy.livejournal.com]

There's really nothing here I don't agree whole heartedly with.

Most of us talk OOC about things all the time. We're plotting and joking around and so on and it's really easy to send another mun a message to plot things out. The rest of it seems common sense for me.

[raith-wraith.livejournal.com]

I guess I was thinking the community was two things:

1) A collective sandbox for all the dresden muses to play in the same 'verse, so to speak. (though how the tv guys fit in with the novel guys I'm not sure. So maybe two universes). But AUness could also be done. So multiple universes, but we'd use tags or notes or something to differentiate.

2) A Dresden-related community where we could post fic we write that's...Dresden related. The prompts kind of imply this, too.

That being said, it's apparently a sandbox where we can only post fic directly related to the one sandbox universe. (So, like, if I write something where Thomas falls back to the "Dark Side" so to speak and it has nothing to do with the RP verse he's been playing in, I can't post it to the comm. Or if, I write something more canon-based but in which I take another character [er, uhm. Lara or something] off into a place that Lara!mun isn't down with, even if I make a note that it has no bearing on such things, I stil can't post it in the comm. Or if I want to continue some of that AU!RP with younger!Thomas and ickle!Harry, and Maggie!whoDidn'tDie, that can't go in the comm).

Basically, my original thought for this comm was that it would be a single place for any of the Dresden stuff we might get into. Naturally, if we're playing with other people's characters we'd either get permission or make a note that it doesn't affect so-and-so, you've got no disagreement from me on that point. I'd just like to know what we're actually doing here specifically since I was envisioning something a bit more...fluid, I guess. :)

If this doesn't make much sense, blame my headache and ask me to explain better.

[hrothbert.livejournal.com]

I have to admit my confusion also stems from the implication that this is a Dresden-verse community for fic & RP, rather than an RP community that works like a sort of round-robin fic. If that makes sense.

Like Lara!mun, I'm used to writing in prompt communities and playing in my own sandbox. If I write Bob and Harry, I don't need to get the permission of anyone else writing Harry in that particular community because we're not interacting as muses on any level. We're just in the same comm, happily writing our own ficcage in response to the given prompts.

So for someone joining little_chicago expecting "fic" and "RP" to be two separate animals, the implied rules do sound restrictive and confusing.

So if I'm interpreting this all correctly ... Straight RP, sure; that I'll be happy to join in on. But I would be disinclined to post any of my Bob-fics here in response to a prompt because of the requirement to first check (and get implied approval of the plot) from any/all writers of characters referenced in that fic.

[gentleman-tiger.livejournal.com]

In re: item two.

This comm was pointed out to me (and to the rp-mate of mine who asked most of the questions) as an RP and tangentially fic community. I stayed out of the discussion for the most part, but feel moved to say that while I appreciate your vehemence on behalf of your preferred system, not everyone has played in a community like that.

You cite wonderful communities where things work exactly that way, but please realize that some of us* do come from a pure RP environment and are not part of these wonderful communities. A little understanding would be appreciated.


*the round robin format isn't one I'm comfortable in, and now that I realize that that's the nature of the comm, I'll wait and try to get a feel for the nature of the thing before and if I applied. With a straight or asexual character, of course, lest I 'squick' anyone.