Writer A Roleplayer’s Confusion

[Minuteman75]

Hey everyone it's me again. Hope you folks are okay.

I have now realized how much time really is really passing ic-wise and it took me completely off guard. I assume the time skips is for every few years icly.

The thing is I thought there would be more time to roleplay the characters I enjoy so much but admittedly my writing style is so slow. This realization is killing my roleplaying inspiration right now.

Maybe it's because I'm too attached to characters and not being fast enough to finish their arcs before things change or getting not rid of them and just playing new ones. I hope I'm not sounding like I'm blaming anyone because honestly I'm not. Please believe me.

Just confused and discouraged right now as a roleplayer that's all, no more, no less.

 

[Amani Serys]

Don't think about it too hard. The timeline updates are ultimately just there to give the site a sense of progression. Don't let it dictate your personal progression if you don't want it to. Plenty of people (myself included) will continue to age up our characters at our own preferred rates. Around here you just kinda have to accept time is weird and roll with it.

Hope that clears things up for you!

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

You don't really need to worry about keeping with the timeline. It exists as a guideline for where the overall plot is, but ultimately choices about your character can only really be made by you. There are plenty of folks who aren't going to age up their characters simply because they aren't ready yet. This isn't something you're forced to do.

 

[Gabriel Pryce]

Alternatively, dive right in. Embrace the change. Reject fear.

 

[Minuteman75]

I really appreciate all of your patience and advice. It’s just I had plans for writing my Mando finally joining a clan and forming a family or least some of those moments but then to see other characters age up. It made me feel pressured like I have wasted so much time already.

Really sorry everyone guess I'm just too upset right now and need to calm down.

 

[Jasper Kai'el]

Minuteman75

No need to apologize. You just didn't know how the timeline worked. I was similarly scared when I had it explained to me as well. But things are always flexible, and you don't need to feel pressured to do something you don't wanna do. I hope that the rest of your day is far better once your head has cleared.

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Lol yeah, I know the feeling. I had just posted a new bio for my character today, and thinking about having to change all that AND look for new character art AND try to make it match up with everyone else ultimately made me decide not to bother aging up any of my characters. I like the stories I have going right now and have no desire to rush them just because of the timeline update... even if it was sort of tempting to embrace it, if only for novelty's sake.

Keep writing, and take some comfort in knowing that most writers are ignoring the update and continuing on as usual.

 

[Mishel]

Minuteman75 Hey I was right there with you, the update definitely knocked the wind out of the proverbial sails, for a hot minute. I think the best phrase to use in these situations is, 'wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey' in that time is fluid here. It's your story, these are your characters, and you decide when to age them and how much. The timeline is just to give you a sense of progression. You can definitely still do all the things with your characters.

And hey being upset about the update, that's okay, totally valid.

At the end of the day, you decide what you want to do with your characters.

 

[Hex]

Yeah, just ignore it, just because one person decides this is how much time has past for their characters doesn't mean it has to for yours. 26 years more than doubles the age of many characters so writing a fade to black which lasts that long takes away so much. The actual year has always been a bit of a running joke because they're are many characters still about that should really be pushing 200 years old now

 

[Ivory Stroud]

I really appreciate all of your patience and advice. It’s just I had plans for writing my Mando finally join a clan and forming a family or least some of those moments but then to see other characters age up. It made me pressured like I have wasted so much time already.

Really sorry everyone guess I'm just too upset right now and need to calm down.

This isn't at all something you should feel pressured about. I'd hazard a guess that the majority of Chaos completely ignores any time-skips from a Canon standpoint, and carries on exactly like they have been. Chaos time is wibbly-wobbly anyway, so you're under no pressure to move any faster or slower than your own pace. Don't fret about it, and keep on keeping on!

 

[Srina Talon]

Hey everyone it's me again. Hope you folks are okay.

I have now realized how much time really is really passing ic-wise and it took me completely off guard. I assume the time skips is for every few years icly.

The thing is I thought there would be more time to roleplay the characters I enjoy so much but admittedly my writing style is so slow. This realization is killing my roleplaying inspiration right now.

Maybe it's because I'm too attached to characters and not being fast enough to finish their arcs before things change or getting not rid of them and just playing new ones. I hope I'm not sounding like I'm blaming anyone because honestly I'm not. Please believe me.

Just confused and discouraged right now as a roleplayer that's all, no more, no less.

I'm not going to reiterate everything that all the others said because they're spot on.

Mostly - I just wanted to pop in and lend my support for the idea of taking such a large time skip in stride. I've personally written my characters in their "20's" through several timelines and have swapped to marking age as "Adult" in a lot of profiles to keep it simple. Not to say that you would need to do anything of the sort but it is an option if you'd like. There's no need to fret about narratives being chopped, halted, etc. There's no pressure from staff in that regard - You can 100% handle your progression in whatever way works best/makes sense for you.

It's okay not to be okay with something. You also never have to apologize for asking questions. We all care about our characters and respective stories or else we wouldn't be here. Chin up, friend. It'll be all right.

 

[Tefka]

This isn't at all something you should feel pressured about. I'd hazard a guess that the majority of Chaos completely ignores any time-skips from a Canon standpoint, and carries on exactly like they have been. Chaos time is wibbly-wobbly anyway, so you're under no pressure to move any faster or slower than your own pace. Don't fret about it, and keep on keeping on!

There is no rule written on Chaos that enforces time or time periods on people’s writing. However, everyone follows the timelines because there simply is no other anchor available. But everyone has their own interpretation. Everyone has their own pace. This is seen in every roleplay, as for the majority, none are chronologically labeled.

Chaos is just an anthology without numbers on every page. IRL time dictates the flow of events for the most part, and none of us control that.

As for the OP - given the length of time you’ve been registered here, with only a few hundred posts to claim across those four years, I would assume you are not that invested OR anxiety plays a large role in your inactivity. I strongly doubt a timeline update is a triggering factor for you, though.

And if it is, I would suggest maybe stepping away from roleplay, maybe focus on solo-writing where external factors are not at play. Or you can look at how others are dealing with the change, embrace it, ignore it, rage at it. But if you’re shaking like a bunny at the thought of the inevitable time creep, I’d say maybe any environment like Chaos isnt healthy for you.

 

[Minuteman75]

I confess I wasn't that active in the beginning when first joining the site and left a few times before returning.

But I have been trying to make up for it since the latter part of last year and having fun. I may not post every day since joining or have finished every RP but I have come to really enjoy being a part of the Chaos forum.

Real life(good, bad and inbetween) gets my attention a lot of times like it does with others.

Edited: Mostly calmed down now and I thank you all for giving your opinions and advice.

 

[Kei Amadis]

I would echo I maintain their ages at my own pace. Using the timeline for flavor if I want to bring things in.

I tend to age them up as I do threads for them, sometimes with small skips for absences. Even then there are a few I wish I could roll back, as certain ages better fit certain character types.