Holidays

Well, before I get to the more serious part of this post, I'm going to get all the lighter stuff out there first.
So, the holidays are quickly approaching and there was no end of the world. Again. This makes...what? at least ten ends that everyone born by at least 2000 (more if you were born before that) survived. So...yea, expect absolutely everyone of those people who thought the end was coming and were shouting 'the Mayans were right!' to now be saying they never, ever believed it.
Though this makes me want to go run out into the street and yell 'the Mayans were wrong!' But...I won't, much too shy for that. :P (not to mention they weren't wrong, they were just killed off before they could finish their calendar *nods*)

Yep, just sleeping away the 'end' of the world all comfy cozy.

But back to the things that will actually happen. Christmas and the new year. I'm hoping that, for everyone who celebrates Christmas, or Christmas along with other holidays, got all their shopping and decorating done....or, if you're like me, are quickly working on finishing your holiday shopping. As for the rest of you who celebrate Chanukah, Kwanzaa, solely without the addition of Christmas, hopefully you're doing well with setting up for those. Or, for the Yule/Winter Solstice celebrators, I hope you had a good one last night.

Here's a pretty, sparkly holiday tree.

The New Year, though...well I'll probably just post a blog later with a bunch of pictures for it. :)
But the thought of the new year, makes me think of the main part, the serious part, of this blog that I will now get to: drinking and driving.
Over here in the US, not sure about other places, there are endless public service ads about drinking and driving. All with the same message, don't do it. Drinking and driving can have horrible results. Sure, you might get lucky and not crash or hit someone, but what if you did? you'd have to live with the guilt and the lawsuits and the person's friends and family would have to deal with the loss, that's assuming that the person gets killed and not just injured. But there would still be lawsuits for the person who hit them.
Then there is the plain fact that you could get hurt or killed yourself. So the best bet would be to find a designated driver and, also, to not let yourself get int eh car with a drunk person. If you and your friends and family are out drinkin, do not let them drive drunk. I know, i know, that's said over and over again, but it's true. You shouldn't just let someone drive off after drinking.
So, be extra careful if you're driving on the holiday nights, since there will be some people that did drink and are driving, but don't let yourself (or someone you know) be one of them. I hope you all will have a wonderful holiday, whatever you celebrate.
And...for those of you who might read this and suffered through the Sandy Hook tragedy, I hope your Christmas and New Year won't be too weighed down by your loss. I know this will be a hard holiday season, but try to get through it. I know you will never forget your child or friend or whoever but it's bound to get easier as time goes on. But, for now, I hope you can enjoy your holiday as best you can.

Periigu sends love (without the chewing of boots) to everyone this season.

Ayla does as well, not to mention extra cuddles.

OOC vs. IC

I had to write about this because...well a few days ago, some IC stuff got brought OOC and really pissed me off.
There's generally an unspoken rule, sometiems written in some places, that OOC stays there and IC stays IC. it is different then trying to keep SL and RL separate, which is not what I'm talking about and that has many different ideas on it and such. When you're IC, you are playing a character, not yourself, if you want to go be yourself, don't go RPing. yes, you can make a version of yourself IC but that doesn't mean you are your character. No, just no.
Yes, people are generally on good terms if their chars are in a relationship, at least in my experience. Though I don't think it would make sense for people to dislike each other OOC and be in a relationship, even not romantic, IC.
But I'm talking not about that so much as just...general things. Okay, a character messes up, doesn't do something, doesn't know how to do something even if you think they should, why are you going to get pissy at the typist? That's just how the character is you can't help that. All the typist has to do is type what the character wants to say and do, too much OOC interference ruins it. Sure, OOC does affect IC to some degree, but it should not be the other way around.
If you're upset, go yell at the person ICly not go and IM to let them know that you're upset with the person behind the keyboard for what the character did. I mean, really, this isn't like a puppet, it's more like acting. Is it at all logical to get mad at the actor for what the character they play does? No, not all. They're reading lines, going with the emotions the character feels, doing what that character would do. They are not them at the time.
Sure, it might not come natural to some people to think like that...but, at least hold back whatever you want to IM or whatever and think and remember. Sure, you might still be upset OOC, but try not to go bother the other person OOC-wise.
Okay, rant over. But I figured I'd talk about the difference while using some own..personal experience.And, thankfully, i managed to keep all this in my head while IMing the person in question as to not stir up anything...which, again, some people need to learn to do.
Now, I'm really done, i swear. :)

Evil, Evil Timezones

Odd enough, this is one of the topics me and one of my friends in SL get on often, seeing as he's over in Europe someplace and I'm in the US...so that makes for tons of fun.
But that's the thing about SL, it can be difficult to meet up with people or hang around/RP with people then they are way over there someplace. Yes, SL provides a medium for meeting the people over there someplace, but it doesn't get rid of the fact there's the pesky RL that you have to attend to. Which, yes, does include sleep. I have a tendency to be often reminded of this when I'm running around in RP or just chatting with some people, since most of the people on my friend's list somehow manage to be in Europe and such. So that's a lot of hours difference.
Though i do have to say that two of the people i spend most of my online time with...they can manage to stay up rather late. Which I think is just awesome since it actually allows me to IM/RP/whatever with 'em. So...yay!
Of course there's more than sleep added to timezone issues, too. And that would be work and school and family and friends and all the stuff that makes life, well, life. No, of course you can't just get rid of that stuff (you'd probably regret if if ya did) but that does mean you might miss someone who gets online. But, that's okay, because there is this wonderful thing called 'anotehr day'. Yes, yes there might be something you wanted to drag someone (by that I mean TP..though I do managed to get 'dragged' a lot...so maybe i mean dragged too :P ) to show that day specifically, but...while SL is forever changing, there are some things that you can still show some other time.
Basically, yes, timezones can be very evil in the fact everyone can't be working on the same time and someone might have to sleep when you've got hours to go, but...that's the thing about the Internet. Timezones stick around, but the space creating those zones? They're all but erased.

Realism in RP

The healer halfling I run around as.

Yep, I'm writing a blog about RP in Sl, can't really help it as I RP really very often. So it was only a matter of time.
But, right now at least, I'm concentrating on the realistic aspect, why some miss it and why others hit it straight on, things like that. As said under Malla's picture, she's a healer...which means she fixes the constantly injured people up, yet some of those people are running around the next day like they didn't just break a rib. Um..wait, what? So you're saying you went and got yourself patched up, spending someone else's time, just to be all better the next day? Sure, it provides nice RP while healing..but, really, people are just wasting someone's time if they'll be better from major injuries the next day.

Fear the dragon, she will eat you.

And being on this topic, makes me think of one of my friends who plays a dragon. People don't just walk up to a dragon and say 'hey, what's up?' No, they act cautious...minus a few exceptions of course. Seriously, look at her size compared to mine...would you really want to risk bothering that big of a creature? Also, most won't go to try and fight a dragon either, unless they are completely insane. Something possibly twenty times my height and a hundred times my weight? No problem, I'll beat it easy. No, no you won't. Unless you're godmodding, powergaming, or all those banes of RP.
Yes, some characters might have that mindset, but if you're going to go and complain that you got beat and burned by a dragon? There's something seriously wrong. If you can't stand loosing, don't start something you obviously will. Simple as that.
But there's more than that that go into the realism, or lack there of. There's child chars and pregnancies and other such things that take lots and lots of time in RL. But who wants things to take that long in something like a play almost? (note: I'm talking about RP, not the rest of SL) Not many, unless you're dedicated and have nothing else popping up, which happens often enough.
Adult chars seem to age at a normal rate, most child ones though? Not really. Yes, there are some, but msot don't. Then the pregnancies. Who wants to RP that for nine actual months? I've probably met only...one person who's done that. Most things are shortened, true, which might take away form the realism if you don't do it right. But if you shrink it to a set amount of time and plan out how long say a week in real time is compared to the SL/RP time, it's not that bad, really.
Emotions and eating and sleeping and seasons, too. Some seem to forget about food and rest, without an actual IC reason that makes sense. And the seasons...oh gosh, those can be horrible at times. RP in SL...it has slightly different rules. Running around in barely anything in the middle of winter may work out in the larger SL world, but not in RP. People will look at you like you're crazy, ICly at least.
As for thee emotions part...yes, OOC and IC should be separate, but to a point. You need to let yourself feel what your character is, otherwise it won't seem as real. yes, you shouldn't take those feelings with you beyond the RP world your char lives in, but you should keep them locked up for later RP.
I'll take an example that has happened often enough in my RPing. Malla gets upset and cries and feels so, so broken that...yes, i open myself to those feelings and before i know it, I'm typing with teary eyes. But I'm emphathizing, not feeling those things directly. After the scene though, my eyes dry up but I can still act out her grief easily.
And now I'm starting to think I'm getting into something completely different...which I'll throw into a different blog so I don't get too off topic.
But emotions also take time to build up, so that's obviously faster when you're RPing or something than in RL. Kind of like...a book, even, people seem to fall in love or make enemies awfully quick.
Bottom line, realism is a must that people tend to forget. Yes, you're playing a character, in a virtual world, but you could still make it realistic. Which is often enough forgotten, but there are also some wonderful RPers out there who...bring some things to life. (even if they sometimes slip with realism ;) ) And I thank those people, it makes the RP experience so much more wonderful...even with (sometimes especially) with textwalls.
Also, thanks to Salix Southpaw for letting me put her pic in here.

Remember the Strength of Words

    The other day a friend and I were talking about something that is familiar to most, bullying. No, I don't mean the beating someone up kind, I mean the one that is created with words.
    Words are powerful tools as well as dangerous weapons, but many don't seem to realize the impact they have. They say things that scar emotionally, mentally. The bullied may or may not have someone to help them, to talk to. And even if they do, it doesn't necessarily make them feel better. They still hurt and turn those words over in their heads, even without meaning to.
    Years might go by, but those words stay with them, shape them into who they are. Sure, they may get stronger because of that overtime, but they would still be hurting. I can say this because I've been bullied before, and it hurt, it still does.
    As for the bullies themselves...whatever their reason, it isn't enough. Some people have killed themselves because of words thrown at them. And, no, typing words do not lessen the hurt. It may let the bully say something they wouldn't on a normal basis, but it does nothing for bullied. Especially since those words are forever imprinted onto the Internet, into the world.
    Yes, some bullies may be taking their anger and frustration out on others, some might even just be being plain mean for no good reason, not that acting out on others is a good reason though, but that means nothing for the ones who have ended their lives because of the pain they go through.
    Call it teasing, call it protecting yourself, it doesn't matter, it's still wrong and hurtful. Anyone out their who is calling someone names or spreading rumors or whatever, please, stop and think about what you're doing, how it might affect whoever you're talking about. And, remember, they may not show it, but there's a good chance they're hurting.
    And to all of you who are in such situations, just know that it will get better. It might get worse before it does, but it will get better. You will be a stronger person afterwards, just push on.
    Words are forever and can help as well as hurt.