Discussion Love Interest - 500th Times the Charm Maybe? Need Advice

[Katarine Ryiah]

Alright so first I want to say I'm sorry this post is so cringe. I generally hate looking for love in Alderaan places, but I do genuinely have a conundrum with this character so I figured I'd put this up and seek some advice. I think I've asked this before and my indecisiveness has just kept this character in limbo so lately I've really been working on changing that.

So I started writing this character in 2007. That's a whopping 17 years and naturally in that time she's made connections on the various sites she's been on. I had hopped to turn her story into a family oriented story, with her producing strong Force using offspring and continuing the Skywalker tradition of strong Jedi etc. The issue is none of the romanic connections I've ever made with her stick. It's normal I suppose since obviously 17 years of writing has seen a lot of moving to different communities and let's be honest I do vanish from time to time so can lack consistency. I'd like to move her story forward into a more family oriented story and I've made some really good progress in that regard thanks to writers like Valery Noble who I will forever be grateful for <3

I do have a few options for starting this family story line. I could use an old PC character from a writer whose no longer around. That character and mine had gotten married in the past so I could just turn him into an NPC and roll with a family. The issue here is that I'd be writing the story by myself, and what if that character ever did come back? He had given me permission to write his character a long time ago but I dunno it feels like bad form to take someones pc and turn it into an npc.

I could throw up a new npc and go that way. I could post one of those "whose single" threads and see if anybody is wanting to push a story that way. I could just keep putting this character in stories and see if anything happens organically.

I'd be interested in hearing ideas from others. I've talked to a few different people, both those like Valery who have found a good posting partner for a family and those like Romi who npc the love interest to produce a family story. I can see merits to both side I'm just not sure which to go with, so I thought I'd throw this out and see what advice I get.

 

[Anthony Gray Sun]

...I could use this as an excuse to write Anthony, if you're up for dating a firefighter jedi XD

For real though, I'm up for some potential romance threads. Or if you're wanting something of the fairer sex, I need an excuse to write Ashley Nevermore as well.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

That's actually hilarious because Kat is a Jedi cop lol so firefighters and cops.

But you think a PC is the way to go? Not the npc route ?

 

[Lutin Corveni]

You can date a dashing Imperial Agent.

 

[Anthony Gray Sun]

That's actually hilarious because Kat is a Jedi cop lol so firefighters and cops.

But you think a PC is the way to go? Not the npc route ?

NPC would mean you have more control of the situation, but I think it would be less fun overall. PC romances mean more reason to bring it up, while NPC romances means it's either relegated to the background, or articles you write up yourself. there's pros and cons to both, but I think a PC romance would probably be more engaging in the long term.

 

[Matsu Ike]

WHen it comes to love interests it is great to do it organically.

which is nice to say but on a board it can be really hard. Matsu and Hanna Ike have been together for a long time aand Alli only rarely posts when they can.

BUt I would say have some fun with it, there is the new zeltron dating app so you could end up meeting all kinds of people.

and always coordinate

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

WHen it comes to love interests it is great to do it organically.

which is nice to say but on a board it can be really hard. Matsu and Hanna Ike have been together for a long time aand Alli only rarely posts when they can.

BUt I would say have some fun with it, there is the new zeltron dating app so you could end up meeting all kinds of people.

and always coordinate

So you are more of a fan of just jump into threads and see if I can come up with an organic story but lean towards a pc one rather than an NPC?

 

[Matsu Ike]

So you are more of a fan of just jump into threads and see if I can come up with an organic story but lean towards a pc one rather than an NPC?

yes, it has happened. Shinju my one darksider met Dharma that way and Nico met Via. Syn met Iella randomly in a thread and it was a fun connection.

If I was to suggest it, I would say do like 2-3 first replies and see who shows up. set up the scenario and never know. Jedi Cops can lead to a lot of different things.

 

[Joran Del-Finn]

Like with many stories crafted through communism writing, a family/romance story with another writer can be a blast. Imo it’s all about finding the right partner because once you involve someone else, it’s not just your story anymore, and that can be great!

My 2 cents would be that if you’re interested in finding another person to help you push this narrative, I’d look for someone you enjoy writing other kinds of stories with, someone who you can communicate with and who is willing to take ownership of the narrative along with you.

Conversely if you have a very specific story in mind then it might not be a bad idea to use an NPC so that you can control the variables.

Not sure if I was any help. Sorry if not!

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

Like with many stories crafted through communism writing, a family/romance story with another writer can be a blast. Imo it’s all about finding the right partner because once you involve someone else, it’s not just your story anymore, and that can be great!

My 2 cents would be that if you’re interested in finding another person to help you push this narrative, I’d look for someone you enjoy writing other kinds of stories with, someone who you can communicate with and who is willing to take ownership of the narrative along with you.

Conversely if you have a very specific story in mind then it might not be a bad idea to use an NPC so that you can control the variables.

Not sure if I was any help. Sorry if not!

That does help! Thank you!

 

[Briana Sal-Soren]

I honestly prefer having a PC love interest. In general, I think it's more fun since there's always that element of surprise and not knowing what the other character is going to do. However, that said, I think the key to having a successful relationship between PCs is having a great OOC relationship with the writer beforehand, rather than just jumping in blind and committing your character to someone else's, that you may find out that you do not jive with in the end. It also helps if the character yours is romancing is a 'main' for the other writer (assuming Kat is your main), or they're just really good at writing multiple characters.

Most of the romance's I've done have been pre-planned in some way and always with writers that I trust, which I mostly feel like has worked out fairly well.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

I honestly prefer having a PC love interest. In general, I think it's more fun since there's always that element of surprise and not knowing what the other character is going to do. However, that said, I think the key to having a successful relationship between PCs is having a great OOC relationship with the writer beforehand, rather than just jumping in blind and committing your character to someone else's, that you may find out that you do not jive with in the end. It also helps if the character yours is romancing is a 'main' for the other writer (assuming Kat is your main), or they're just really good at writing multiple characters.

Most of the romance's I've done have been pre-planned in some way and always with writers that I trust, which I mostly feel like has worked out fairly well.

hmm that is a good point. I never thought about main vs not main characters. Thank you!

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

It seems like more people are in favor of a PC to flesh out a family but to let it happen organically or to plan it with a writer that is able to write a character or already has a main character.

I'll leave this up though to see if I get any other advice. I do appreciate it!

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

As a seasoned romance writer on the board, the TL;DR of my advice is:

1. If you are looking to write a story where the romantic relationship is the focus, find a PC. It's just more fun and requires less work. When people say it's best for romance to happen "organically" what they really mean is don't ask someone to create a whole new character to be your PC's love interest or try to suddenly link two characters who have never met before as lovers/spouses, as they would both need to have a pretty detailed history together for it to be believable. Saying to a writer "I think your character and mine should date, would you be interested in that?" still counts as organic even though you are planning the interaction.

2. If you just want to write a character who has a family, the NPC angle typically works better. Involving another writer can actually make family/dynasty stories overly complicated, in my experience. One writer wants to have a ridiculous amount of kids and the other doesn't, the characters are never all living in the same place at the same time, writers go on LOA at the most inconvenient times, children raised by the same parents think and behave in wildly different ways to where you're questioning how they could've possibly grown up together, etc.

I realize now that other people who have posted here before me have already said more or less the same things, so just consider this further confirmation that they are correct, lol.

Katarine Ryiah

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

Kassogtha Cthylla that actually helps a lot. I think what I really want is this character to have a family, not necessarily devote a ton of time to love stories.

Thank you!

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Yeah, if the main interest is to rp family, NPC for the specific partner may go well if you want to just RP the dynamics of a family.

That being said, I had the best family experiences with a PC partner that I OOCLY had a great relationship with communicating and having fun with, and because of that easygoing nature, we naturally rp'd together, and as it so happened, our chars just ended up having great chemistry.

I've had chars who are in solid family relationships that the other writer is no longer here but i still continue their stories because we had such a great base that it just evolved from there regardless if the romantic interest partner isn't there, because at least now there are the kids who are also having their own stories and such. I also have romantic partners where the writers are active and the stories just turn out super awesome ( after they were super patient with me also being out of the picture for so long and thankfully waited love you Makai Dashiell !)

All that to say, find someone you really like and vibe with ooc and see what can pop up; whether it be as a partner for Katherine, or perhaps as a sister/child etc. There is always some sort of pre-planning, even if it is like, hey, let's toss our chars together and see what happens or hey, I found a cool pin interest picture of a kid that totally makes me think they would be a Katherine kid; what do you think about having her rp'd as her child?

Because honestly, it is being able to honestly vibe and have fun with the writer oocly that really has driven loads of great IC storylines for me just by random chats or more aptly, random gif meme's and BOOM, new thread for the chars to do.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

Danger Arceneau thank you! It’s those kinds of connections I would be scared to miss out on, which is why I go back and forth with PC vs NPC.

 

[Rik Perris]

I've written a number of rather successful pairings over the years. Here's what I got:

1) I can 100% echo getting on really well with the other writer that you're writing a pairing with. You'll have so much better of a time with it if you vibe well, can bounce ideas off of each other with ease, genuinely enjoy each other's writing, and they write with other people and write things other than romance. That'll give your pairing more stuff to work with for your story together and imo, it's healthier.

2) Also echoing this - Having someone create a character just to get with yours is honestly a little skeezy. I allowed someone to do that once, and it was just awkward. I've had longstanding writing partners that I've written multiple pairings with, and there's always been some degree of what sort of link is there that would bring them together? And believe me, it's gotta be more than things like 'they're both Jedi' - that just puts them in the same club!

3) What I cannot stress enough is making sure that the other writer is on the same wavelength as you as far as what kind of things they like to write in pairings. Some people can't handle anything that rocks the boat and prefer things along the lines of idyllic fantasy, while others might like some realism (by this I mean tension, drama, the difficult stuff, the tear-inducing stuff, etc). Some people have boundless love for cute things and slice of life, while others might like to limit that kind of thing. Know what your preferences/tolerances are, it simply makes for a more enjoyable experience.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

3) What I cannot stress enough is making sure that the other writer is on the same wavelength as you as far as what kind of things they like to write in pairings. Some people can't handle anything that rocks the boat and prefer things along the lines of idyllic fantasy, while others might like some realism (by this I mean tension, drama, the difficult stuff, the tear-inducing stuff, etc). Some people have boundless love for cute things and slice of life, while others might like to limit that kind of thing. Know what your preferences/tolerances are, it simply makes for a more enjoyable experience.

Solid advice on this here. Totally can't believe I forgot about this. Yeah, it is best to know what sort of things they'd like to write. I'm all about slice of life, drama, and anything that makes it seem like a real relationship / family dynamic, from the drama to the tears, to the cutesie, every day things and then the cool adventurous oh shit went down with the galaxy things.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

You have all given me some great advice. I’m still stuck on the fence but I think I’m at least leaning towards not turning an old pc into an npc. If that writer ever wants to write his character again I don’t want to box their story in.

So it will either be new spanking npc or float Kat around and see what sticks. Either way at least I get some stories out if it