Tefka
L Admin
Answer: You can't.
That's it, it's over, you can stop reading and click back or reply with "haha ok" <insert zoomer emoji> BUT if you want more keep reading.
Q: What is a self-insert and why does it matter?
Well, I've heard it tossed around in other roleplay communities these past few years and it... well, it definitely applies here. For years I've always warned against the clique mentality that threatens these roleplays communities, those of us who've been around a few blocks know what they look like. Back in my more fiery years, it was my main fiery OOC stance that could cripple a community - in conjunction with "corrupt leadership". These're the two things I always warned against if we wanted to keep Chaos around, and I feel like it actually resonated throughout our time here. And now it's come full circle with these new term I've learned RP communities are using, the "Self-Insert".
Q: Ok you didn't actually explain it though.
Well, cliques are just like friends right, literally thats it. We know what those are. The Self-Insert is the person and his/her relationship with the character. How much of that character is YOU.
Q: I write all my characters differently, I can separate OOC and IC, I just want stories.
Right, but that's not an honest response. Some are very good at separation, some aren't, but all are guilty AND IT'S NORMAL. I literally cannot stop being me. I cannot ask you to stop being you. I never expect people to change, though sometimes I hope they do. That's what the Self-Insert is. How much of that character is YOU. Because if you follow that rabbit hole, and your character has all of your flaws, then you're not IC or "In Character".
Q: Okay but like, my character is a Jedi and I'm not, ya derp.
Word, break it down like this.
Have you made any friends here at Chaos in this community? Is it because of your character or because ya'll get along? Do you find yourself writing with those friends more often? Do you find yourself writing with strangers less? That's not 100% SELF-INSERTION bro, and there's nothing wrong with it and it's 100% healthy. Literally everyone here can probably name someone they PREFER writing with.
But... is that because of your character or because of you? Answer that question internally, and that's the first step towards realizing HOW much of a self-insert you have on your hands.
Q: So is like, being a self-insert a problem?
Again, no! Well, not entirely.
It has it's positives, it has it's negatives. A positive would be it's probably a hell of a lot more immersive for you. Writing is likely a lot easier, too. But, to me, the negatives are way worse.
An example of a negative is, now your biases OOC, now they reflect IC. Literally everyone has this. Just as everyone has a writer they prefer, they probably have a writer they don't. And trust me, as an Admin here, I'm aware of the REALITY of this more than any positive virtuous response could attempt to convince me. It is what it is! I'm not about painting reality to be what you think it should look like. Recognizing the ugly makes the pretty prettier. And that's why I lean towards warning against being a Self-Insert.
In my duty here as the Owner, we've had so many bad moments OOC, and I gotta say, most of the non-OOC stuff was because of self-inserts. People getting too invested because they poured themselves into this one character or another. People getting too invested in their faction, and not taking a step back to breathe and recognize this game for what it is. And while I'm about recognizing the ugly, I don't think I need to pull up any examples to actually prove that, I want to believe that we all just know it to be true.
We all have flaws. Self-Insertion for IC isn't a big one for me, but trust me, I'm aware of my many other glaring flaws and I try to work on them. I hope this tutorial on Self-Inserts helps someone recognize one of their flaws, and they try to work on it.
You'll fail. But that's life. If you can't be good at anything else, start with getting good at failure.
That's it, it's over, you can stop reading and click back or reply with "haha ok" <insert zoomer emoji> BUT if you want more keep reading.
Q: What is a self-insert and why does it matter?
Well, I've heard it tossed around in other roleplay communities these past few years and it... well, it definitely applies here. For years I've always warned against the clique mentality that threatens these roleplays communities, those of us who've been around a few blocks know what they look like. Back in my more fiery years, it was my main fiery OOC stance that could cripple a community - in conjunction with "corrupt leadership". These're the two things I always warned against if we wanted to keep Chaos around, and I feel like it actually resonated throughout our time here. And now it's come full circle with these new term I've learned RP communities are using, the "Self-Insert".
Q: Ok you didn't actually explain it though.
Well, cliques are just like friends right, literally thats it. We know what those are. The Self-Insert is the person and his/her relationship with the character. How much of that character is YOU.
Q: I write all my characters differently, I can separate OOC and IC, I just want stories.
Right, but that's not an honest response. Some are very good at separation, some aren't, but all are guilty AND IT'S NORMAL. I literally cannot stop being me. I cannot ask you to stop being you. I never expect people to change, though sometimes I hope they do. That's what the Self-Insert is. How much of that character is YOU. Because if you follow that rabbit hole, and your character has all of your flaws, then you're not IC or "In Character".
Q: Okay but like, my character is a Jedi and I'm not, ya derp.
Word, break it down like this.
Have you made any friends here at Chaos in this community? Is it because of your character or because ya'll get along? Do you find yourself writing with those friends more often? Do you find yourself writing with strangers less? That's not 100% SELF-INSERTION bro, and there's nothing wrong with it and it's 100% healthy. Literally everyone here can probably name someone they PREFER writing with.
But... is that because of your character or because of you? Answer that question internally, and that's the first step towards realizing HOW much of a self-insert you have on your hands.
Q: So is like, being a self-insert a problem?
Again, no! Well, not entirely.
It has it's positives, it has it's negatives. A positive would be it's probably a hell of a lot more immersive for you. Writing is likely a lot easier, too. But, to me, the negatives are way worse.
An example of a negative is, now your biases OOC, now they reflect IC. Literally everyone has this. Just as everyone has a writer they prefer, they probably have a writer they don't. And trust me, as an Admin here, I'm aware of the REALITY of this more than any positive virtuous response could attempt to convince me. It is what it is! I'm not about painting reality to be what you think it should look like. Recognizing the ugly makes the pretty prettier. And that's why I lean towards warning against being a Self-Insert.
In my duty here as the Owner, we've had so many bad moments OOC, and I gotta say, most of the non-OOC stuff was because of self-inserts. People getting too invested because they poured themselves into this one character or another. People getting too invested in their faction, and not taking a step back to breathe and recognize this game for what it is. And while I'm about recognizing the ugly, I don't think I need to pull up any examples to actually prove that, I want to believe that we all just know it to be true.
We all have flaws. Self-Insertion for IC isn't a big one for me, but trust me, I'm aware of my many other glaring flaws and I try to work on them. I hope this tutorial on Self-Inserts helps someone recognize one of their flaws, and they try to work on it.
You'll fail. But that's life. If you can't be good at anything else, start with getting good at failure.