OOC Bringing up the painful(?) past (AAA111, Drax)

Started by Drax, April 04, 2011, 12:59:53 PM

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Drax

OOC
Hi,
Not sure where we are going with this at the moment, it’s a fairly disjointed at the moment and we don’t seem to be moving forward much.  Whilst the letter s/emails are fine we need to agree to write more.  It would be good if you can ask questions about life and I will try to do the same. I had hoped that she would have more hesitation about the future, but she seems head over heels in love from several years ago and almost seems to be reverting to that age in her letters.
We could carry on writing letters but I sort of want a hook or something to go wrong that changes things that they have to overcome, ideally in their letters, problem is we need to understand what went on ten years ago.  Classic romance ends up overcoming obstacles, perhaps her ex returns? Maybe she needs advice on something, for a friends or something, at the moment the interaction is ( I fell) a little stilted and I know we can improve it.


Also don't forget that I am on Birtish Summer time which is 5 hours ahead I believe,  your last post would have been several hours later, hence missing the evening post when he got in.

Drax
My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent

AAA111

OOC
Hi,
I totally know what you are talking about. I feel like it is kind of just blah right now and we can definitely change things up a bit. Add a little bit of drama somewhere. We can make her hesitant about the future but she tries to hide it really well. Deep down she is really scared that things won't work out. She still loves him but she is really scared still.

What kind of hook do you think would be good for our scene? I think something with a lot of drama definitely needs to happen but I am just not sure what exactly that could be.

Ahhh yes that right I did forget about that? Should I change the times according to her time like if he sent it at 12:00 and she just checked it and replied put like 17:00?

AAA111

Drax

That’s certainly possible, she comes across as naïve, perhaps she had a utopian thought that she could live with him and attend university (I don’t think you have actually specified which one yet, Oxford is closest but not commutable.  Has she thought about everything that happens at university, for example how is she paying for the tuition fees etc, She might have a number of expectation about the UK university system that are actually fundamentally different from the US one. She appears driven about coming over to the UK btut has she really investigated it/done her homework.  If you don’t know – ask – I can probably answer and from her suppositions I’m sure there will be other problems that manifest themselves.
My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent

Drax

Just a heads up but one of the things about writing is to base on reality as much as possible.  Though variants are cool.  The dates are pretty immutable and once days of the week are set against months you can work out what specific dates fall on.  I have based the calendar on this current year,  With regards Oxford there is always lots of information available on the web, it’s a useful tool.  I found the hotel with a Disney search and there are lots of ways to find out information regarding your course.  To be honest I would have expected Kato to have a better idea of the college she was attending at Oxford, although the fictional one is fine, she seems incredibly ditzy, that’s fine but does make conversations difficult at times.  Remember that she is her mid to late twenties and has seen quite a bit of life. 

We probably need to explore some of their backstory OOC as its difficult to guess without conversing a little OOC. Also she might have specific questions about living in the UK, some of the experiences will be very different and if she is ditzy we can have fun if she still thinks England lives in the nineteenth century,  perhaps she is scared because of different social mores that might or might not exist. She might want to know more about where Ben lives, his school,  his hobbies and vice versa. (She will know some of them and vice versa from their time together – again something to pick up in OOC.

-   Thughts welcome and sorry if this seems a rant – it doesn’t intend to be.  Im enjoying this but somehow need to expand upon it. 
My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent

AAA111

I do completely agree with you that I'm definitely a little bit out of everything right now. Would you be able to give me some advice on how we can progress with this roleplay. I get confused with the time and dates and all that stuff. With regard to the school what college would you suggest? i welcome any suggestions because i'm here to make this awesome :)

Thanks and no your not naggin.g

Drax

:)

There are several things that we can do to help move it along to the point where they meet up and contionue the story in person if you wish.  However there are a number of things I think we need to agree on.

Correct the below if I'm wrong

As I understand it they met when they were 16, he lived in the US for about 2 years before returning to England, which besides being home is also where he went to University.  They are both now about 28 years old, its ten years later and have lived 10 years of adult life.  During their high school romance they would have shared everything so we would need to agree on what that everything is, their dreams, loves etc.  Time does change things but I think there will be new thinsg to be added, the fact that he drinks (more culturally aceptable in the UK perhaps) and she doesn't except for the odd glass of wine.  This might of course be a problem but she'll probably wait until they meet to ascertain this.

In terms of the holiday in Florida we should be able to carry that out fairly easily, however when writing in modern day its good to do research and find out about the places to go.  For example I actually looked up the flight times as research, ditto the hotel and restaurant (though he hasn't told her which one yet!). Streetview from google is really useful sometimes as one can describe roads half way around the world without actually being there.

In terms of Oxford, its OK having a fictional college there so stick with the one you have chosen, but read up on one that actually exists and base it on that one. For example she might have chosen Somerville, a google search will reveal more info. Once you have the base facts you can then write the story around it.

In terms of the times and date, if its 09.00 am in the US then the UK time wil be five hours ahead, in other words 2pm,  So if I send an email at 17.00, its noon when she receives it. Generally he has a couple of time slots, morning and evening, though longer in the evening.

I'm new to writing emails/letters but would suggest that during the mail you ask questions about things, some specific some general (but not "I don't know what to do about this", that way I can write more detailed responses and ask questions in response.  At the moment there is an assumption I know a lot about the US where they lived, Ben might - I don't so I can't write about it only reminisce at the moment.

So if you write about something he should know either I need enough info in the post or an ooc comment, but try and leave a hook for me in the letter to respond to, even if just to make up the anecdote.

For example :

"Remember Lucy from school, I bumped into her last week and she has a new bump", gives me lots to talk/ask you about.
"Remember Lucy, I saw her last week" - its too vague, unless you give me something in OOC about her, especially as you may have already formulated a story for her.

In terms of the UK, she has never been so ask some specific questions, please don't make them too generic though.  If you need something explained about the visa/etc which Kat should probably understand I suggest we keep that OOC rather than in the emails as she comes across as an idiot, she has been planning this for years so she must know what she is talking about to have gotten into Oxford.

How do you want the story to progress? My view is that the holioday will go well but dont know what your thoughts are about Oxford, maybe she won't enjoy it or maybe she will try and transfer after a term to somewhere closer to Ben?
My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent

AAA111

:)

Thank you so much for all of this feedback and advice. I definitely think that it is really going to help us out in this roleplay.

Yes I agree with everything you said about the high school romance. I think that we can say that during the course of their romance they shared the dream that they would be together for a very very long time. It was a dream but ultimately it did not work out, obviously. They were a very cutesy couple always saying the "i love you" after getting off the phone or leaving each other. It was hard for both of them when they had to be seperated for 10 years.

Yeah Florida should be good..There is a lot of research that you can do online so when we get to that part we can definitely use that :)

Got ya..so basically just do lots and lots of research..trying to base everything as close to reality as possible. That sounds like a wonderful idea to me :)

With regard to how I want it to progess I think that the vacation will definitely be great but I think that ultimately she will not like the college and the feel of everything and that she will be homesick. That she will want to be closer to Ben so that he can comfort her and take care of her a little bit more. What do you think?

Can you explain to me about the visas..not really understanding that

THANKS ;)


Drax

In order to work abroad or even to stody one needs a visa.

Interestingly it appears as though a student visa for the UK would allow her to work 4 hours a day during term time and full time in holidays.  This might be enough to help support her.  The visa could easily have been arranged by the unviversity and she probably has it already. Two links below help to explain, generally I find Google a great start to locate information such as this.  Still waiting for your next post btw. Now back from Hols :) , sorry about the delay, been catching up with work.

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/

http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/howtoapply/infs/inf29pbsstudent

Applicants intending to study courses, other than English Language, in the UK for more than 6 months will have to apply for their visa under Tier 4 of the points-based system. Our Tier 4: (General) Student and (Child) Student - visa application guide offers deteailed advice.

My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent

AAA111

I was going to post but I went looking and i couldn't find our rp anywhere..I have no idea what happened to it? Should we start a new rp scene..either the same or something else? I looked and couldn't find it..ahh HELP!

Drax

Ivan(t cut and paste from my mobile, but click on your name to thevleft of this thread or mine and then show posts. This should get you to see your historic posts inxluding the thread. Otherwise I'll send it later.
My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent

Drax

My Absences

21 May - May be less around over the next few days as moving house and a lack of internet might restrict.

On's and Off's

Should be able to post at least once per week and its often far more frequent