Activity Check Results / HMD

[lucetimods]

The results for the Activity Check are in. Please note that the following characters were either inactive, didn't post to the activity check, or failed to speak to a moderator about their activity. Also added were characters who have joined the game or dropped recently, for your convenience. (And some people who weren't even on the friend/add, for whatever reason...!)

Copy-paste the following here:

manage_circle del_read aryaunderfoot manage_circle del_read capsule_corp manage_circle del_read chinagirl manage_circle del_read degozaruyo manage_circle del_read fortuneprince manage_circle del_read godbent manage_circle del_read handing manage_circle del_read happysmiles manage_circle del_read idealism manage_circle del_read ilyana manage_circle del_read maipokerface manage_circle del_read namedbytheflower manage_circle del_read oogoediamond manage_circle del_read painfully manage_circle del_read sand_lost manage_circle del_read sonpan manage_circle del_read trashed manage_circle del_read twinlionfists manage_circle del_read vulgaris manage_circle del_read imonashark manage_circle del_read amurui manage_circle del_read charitylovehopefaith manage_circle del_read origami_ninja manage_circle del_read precioustool manage_circle del_read heartofdragons manage_circle del_read niepokonany manage_circle del_read bunsofsteel manage_circle del_read nosenobounds manage_circle del_read wannabolt manage_circle del_read all7seas manage_circle del_read trinkett manage_circle del_read herotypical manage_circle del_read greenjacketed manage_circle add_read crystal_stasis manage_circle add_read spellfeather manage_circle add_read future-boy manage_circle add_read wildsaber manage_circle add_read movesfast manage_circle add_read everyonedied manage_circle add_read secretmiracle manage_circle add_read accepted manage_circle add_read comicallyheroic manage_circle add_read gunkonmyboot manage_circle add_read imanapexpredator manage_circle add_read ofnobleheart manage_circle add_read snapturtle manage_circle add_read guerrilla_morph manage_circle add_read kemanorel

A number of you passed the activity check, but barely. (You know who you are.) Try to pick things up, as it's no fun to character-squat.

If there are any mistakes here, please let us know! Additionally, if your character was removed and you're still active, feel free to appeal to one of us about keeping your character. However, please remember next time to stay active and post to the Activity Check. Thank you!

And as always:

HMD

How's My Driving?

This is a crit post for both the community and game and for your characters. If you have something you'd like to see us improve upon with the game, PLEASE TELL US HERE! Anon commenting is on, but if anything gets really nasty there will be warnings and thread-freezing. This isn't required but everyone is encouraged to take advantage of the advice of your fellow players!

Just some pointers: no taking cheap shots, no dragging personal issues into things and for the love of all that is wise and great, please double check your replies and comments before posting them. Sometimes a change in phrasing can make all the difference between a helpful tone and a condescending one.

ALSO ALSO: We'd like to clarify that HMD means HMD- which means it's okay to have both good and bad crit. Some people have expressed concerns about posting good/bad crit when a character already has bad/good crit posted. We'd like to encourage you guys to do it anyway! You can drive well or badly, and even good drivers make mistakes. So give it a try \o

Comments

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Ginia Solana | Original Character | whiskytraitorfirefight
Rue | The Hunger Games | rutagraveolens

Both characters have private HMDS in their journals as well.

[ura_no_ura]

I really like what you've done with Ginia so far, and feel like you've made her into a very compelling character!

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

Ahh, thank you!

[ura_no_ura]

I'm going to come out here and say this right now, publicly, as someone who has struggled with PTSD for 10 years now.

The way you wrote Ginia's PTSD episode was spot-on, very realistic, very respectful, and I really appreciated that you did not glamorize it or make it something it was not. I cannot possibly support your characterization of that moment even more, or encourage you to continue exploring those aspects of her character if you find them important to her overall development or storyline.

[generalflirt]

Okay to preface this I am giving this crit to both of you because I have to assume you guys pre-planned the fight. Because of the fact you likely did pre-plan it, I do feel a little awkward stepping in because you guys must have agreed on things ahead of time, which means you guys felt it was legit. Despite this, I know that I (and one or two other people I asked to back up my opinion) am confused by some of the implications the spar has put out, so I'm going to just hit up both of you and see what you guys think about the concerns.

Now, that spar between Ginia and Kakashi: I think you might have distinctly undersold Ginia's abilities, as compared to other things I have seen out of her and her app.

So here's some bullet points which I can expand on with more of my concerns if you think it's merited or just drop if you don't:
- Ginia is only outclassed by the standards of Luceti and even then only by parts of the population - by the standards of the world at large here she is average or maybe even above average as compared to the MSF, most of the Third Party, and most other enclosures. Admittedly, this one is more observational than anything, but it bleeds into the other points.
- This, and then the fire thing, are what I mean. I don't know if this sort of zone-out quasi-PTSD is supposed to be common for Ginia, but that first comment in particular strikes me as just infantilizing her a bit more than is probably needed.
- Most of the thread, particularly the "taijutsu" portion are very Action-Denied wherein Ginia makes an action and then Kakashi flawlessly (for the most part) counters it. Everywhere here knows Kakashi will probably win, particularly with the ninja speed and reflexes, but unless you liked that or were going for it I find it sort of worrying that you rolled with Ginia not being able to land a single solid hit.
- I am far from suggesting she should have won (particularly with stuff like this that would be neigh impossible to counter without bullshit ninja speed), but I do find it sort of weird you decided to make it such a one-sided slaughter on a character who is a skilled mercenary with years if not decades of experience. It sort of makes for an awkward context for anyone else who plays a normal to make the divide that stark, and sort of discredits the character you created.

However, all of this is only how I (and some others I've consulted) see it, and if you think it's legitimate (particularly with a character you yourself made) far be it from me to question it.

[whiskytraitorfirefight]

I want to point out Ginia really doesn't have that much experience overall; really only seven years and that was starting at a point when she was already an adult (as opposed to most canons where people begin as kids, or even in real life military where people enlist when they're 18-20s). Ginia's a civilian that became a combatant later in her life than most people.

Could Kakashi have pulled back more and let her land a few hits? Yes, but he didn't have to, and he was already pulling back enough to test her. Ginia didn't ask for him to go easy either. And the reality is Ginia's strength isn't in hand-to-hand. Her skills are focused around espionage, support with guns, setting up ambushes, and working in a team.

As far as the two threads, I don't think there's any infantilizing at all. Also what Ginia thinks/feels is different than what is actually true. She can definitely hold her own in a fight and has an impressive set of skills, but is she allowed to feel and think outclassed when compared to someone like a ninja? Yes, yes, she is. And while it depresses her, she also pulls together and makes plans to get stronger (and ally herself with powerful people).

As far as her reaction to fire goes, Ginia has a lot of unresolved trauma relating to fire and car exploding less than three feet from her is a pretty terrifying situation to be in. Here are some links on flashbacks: 1 2 3 4. But if you think her reaction was unrealistic, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

I will say I don't have combat experience, I don't have tactical experience, even with research, what a trained combatant would do in a fight is different than what I think someone would do in a fight. So if I make tactical errors or softball her abilities, that is on me. But as far as this fight goes and how it went, I think it was fine. Kakashi wanted to see what she could do, Ginia showed what she could do.

Again, thank you for your comment, these are things I'll keep in mind for future fight scenes. If you (or the other people you've talked with) have any other suggestions on things to improve, I'd love to hear. You can either comment here or in the HMD located in Ginia's journal (anon off, IP off).

Trigger Warning for the thing this is a reply to, retroactive

[saltprince]

I am not deleting this because that would be unfair to do so, but I am going to say that my wording there was horrifyingly thoughtless of me and I am very sorry for not thinking of that when I was typing it. I don't really have an excuse to give, just that it was really thoughtless of me and it was far from my intention to belittle or upset anyone about their own real traumas. I am replying here to put my apology on the public record in case anyone was looking at it.

[ura_no_ura]

Thank you.

[(Anonymous)]

First of all, I would like to say that I was initially concerned about you re-applying Ginia after previous misgivings over your past portrayal of the character. It had made me, among others, uncomfortable in the past.

But I am here to say that in spite of that and crit posted here, I am very pleased with how you've done things with her. Your portrayal of Ginia's PTSD episode in particular was respectfully well written. You wrote it fairly decently, and it was nice to see. It really shows how much effort you're putting into the character. Thank you so much!

+1

[(Anonymous)]

[reviling]

So, I have a confession: I haven't read Ginia's background info. I've been a really terrible CR partner and just haven't taken the time to do it yet (I'll do it soon, I promise, and if not you're free to kick me). That being said, I think I've mentioned to you that I didn't even realize that Ginia was an OC until after we'd had at least two or three (long) threads together. For me, she's that complete of a character. The way you portray her, her motivations, how she thinks and acts as references back to her past and story makes her feel like a "canon" character from a series that has at least three or four seasons worth of material and then some.

From talking with you OOC and the way you write her IC, it's painfully clear that you've put a lot of thought into her and carefully research the topics that pertain to her. Honestly? It's impressive, and a little intimidating (particularly because I'm often lazy as hell and hardly ever research things I probably should to make my tags sound more realistic).

I don't know anything about what happened in the past with her in the game, or how she used to be, but for me having come in without that experience and the way she relates to Levi, she's been awesome and is by far his strongest non-canonmate CR so far.

So don't let any of this discourage you too much, because we still have a lot of things to play out that I'm really looking forward to ♥ chin up and keep up the good work~