Ello All

[Maxismusstorm]

Hello all, great to be here and I hope I'll be having fun with the rest of you in the joining of this rp. I've read through a thread or so, it's very free spirited and welcoming, I like it. I hope the free spirited, sometimes big mouthed, spitfire Maximusstorm will make a welcoming edition to your site's characters. o0 I'm doubting many of the other characters will take a liking to her though unless they can coop with her sense or humor.

Before alarms are risen, no, she is not one of those Bots who constantly needs a babysitter she can handle herself, most of the time. She's actually one to get some real payback by annoying the holy terror out of her if you don't let her go take a fight on her own every now and then. Let us hope for the higher ups they can take another thorn to their side in seeing she could prove useful. Useful with duct tape anyways.

[Rattrap]

Heya. Good luck with the application.

[Rodimus Prime]

Well, to be honest, I really encourage people to dip their toes in with a canon character over an original. I realize that some people see "originals" as "more creative," but given that there are canon characters who have little more than a name and a one line description, fleshing out from that start can be very creative, and for those who view canons as scarier to attempt, there's not much for other people to call 'wrong' on them, either.

That said, until I've seen the app, I can't really judge much on the character, though is she's a child-like (and I get the impression she is), there are a few caveats on that, anyway. You seem to have hit on the biggest one, though - we don't allow child-likes who require some sort of "caretaker/guardian" unless the player has OOCly worked out with another someone to fill that role ahead of time. Some of us who have intentionally chosen to live a child-free life kind of bristle at being forced into that kind of role in our pretendy-fun-times, and most of us don't want to see our giant alien robot wars derailed into Adventures In Babysitting.

Either way, welcome aboard!

[Maxismusstorm]

^^; Yeah I said she wouldn't be child-like, still trying to figure out her character in all and can't wait to see how she develops if I don't just use a few characters I have written up already. This one wouldn't be child-like, just o0 outgoing in a way everyone wouldn't agree to. This one would definitely be able to hold her own, she is not physically or mentally childish she is just not always the sanest. Well, if she's frowned upon, I could always bring up Crosswire instead. The site I'm apart of kind of died due to some fights and drama I don't want a hand in so. I can always throw in someone who is truly insane. This one is not childish either, unless you count when her systems randomly decides it's nap time after her psycho rein and crashes.

Thank you very much for the welcome ^^

[Emirate Xaaron]

Just as a general note of caution, we're pretty picky about 'insane' characters. We like for mentally ill characters to have their illness well-defined in the application, with an explanation of what is wrong with them and how their illness will make them behave. We also tend to prefer high-functioning mentally ill characters who can more or less get by in their particular society without causing too much trouble. For example, Rampage is a psychopath. He has problems with empathy and understanding the feelings of others, and he tends to be very cruel, even sadistic. However, Rampage is a Predacon, and the Predacons are more or less okay with his behaviour, and so Rampage still functions as a Predacon soldier. For another example, Bluestreak suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, due to some past trauma he's suffered. Certain events can 'trigger' his bad memories, and Bluestreak might need to run out of the room and calm down. However, Bluestreak is still a functional Autobot and does his job.

[Maxismusstorm]

Ehr.. Alright, well, I've thought more of Maximusstorm. In her past, named Echo for her vocal abilities, joined into a neutral sort of group to keep out of the war. Gained her name through the trial and errors that I still need to write up, with a sibling of hers that joined in as well. Finally, deciding to join into the Bots before things went wrong as said in your plot and joining in there.

Not childish, not entirely insane, should be fine? I've kind of been looking here and there and I'm getting a bit nervous about joining here. I don't mean to make anyone here mad, and I must say myself I don't have the best people skills and tend to be rather nervous in a new community.

[Victoria Raines]

It isn't our intent to make you nervous. The characteristics Roddy and Xaaron caution against are issues we tend to see a lot in original characters, especially lately as DotM brings us an upsurge in new applicants (as in nearly every OC app we receive is thus). This is one of the reasons why we strongly recommend new players start with a canon character of pretty basic history/origin; it lets you get a feel for the board, for the format, and for us. Also, canon characters who have an Awesome Special Thing (like Mirage's invisibility or Drift's Great Sword) are a much easier sell than an original character who has an Awesome Special Thing. The same argument applies to Random Personality Quirks, such as Red Alert's paranoia or ROTF Ravage's near-feral nature.

Obviously, we won't be able to give you real feedback until you send in your application. I would like to say that, personally, I like the name Echo much more so than Maximusstorm. The former would seem to refer back to function/ability as many TF names do, and I like to see nods to canon tropes in OCs.

Good Luck!

[Maxismusstorm]

Thank you very much Shockwave, but I don't think I could handle a canon. The only canon I really ever tried out was the movie verse version of Bumblebee. Others said they liked my try because I used his door wings as more emphasis on his current mood or emotions. I've thought of movie verse Ratchet, but I don't think I could handle the nervous wreck I become with a canon character; same with adopting someone else's original character. I get really paranoid, stressed out, and over react then feel like everyone's eyes are on me at all times disapproving. o0 Hmn more of an example.. People have told me I'd do well with Breakdown but I hardly know who that might be. (or TFA Blitzwing) Actually, if TFA Blitzwing is open, if I really have no other choice, I might give him a try. He's free, unpredictable (almost always) and is an explosive ticking time bomb. That, and I very recently had split personalities myself for many years but you know, all good things come to an end. Three of the five/six actually did remind me a tad of Blitzwing's three faces, though tweaked of course. The crazy was more innocent, wondering what it'd be like to rule the world but too childish and lazy to plan for it. She had quite a bit of a sweet tooth. then the hot head- eh I'm rambling on. o0 No one cares. If I really must have a cannon, and if TFA Blitzwing is available, I'd go for him.

[Victoria Raines]

I am going to set aside the parts about your mental health for now because this isn't exactly the place to discuss such things, and just address your concerns in regards to playing a canon character versus an OC.

First, you don't have to try for a canon. Canon's are just easier all around to get approved. Not all "Canon" characters have huge backstory or personality. For example, we have some excellent characters in DZ who are canon "toy only" characters or characters with very little actual canon appearance. Swerve, Wreckage, Skyblast- these are three characters whose players started with just a toy bio and fleshed the characters out. They, in affect, created the characters themselves.

Second, being scared of "messing up a canon" is a pretty common fear. I also play Dreamwave Mirage, and he was my first character here, long before I became an admin. I chose Mirage because he had just enough canon personality for me to work with, but I ganked him from so early in the Dreamwave timeline that I wouldn't have to worry too much about other people's canon interactions with him. So again, while I had a personality (which basically amounted to "rich, arrogant, jackaft") and a tech spec, I pretty much created him myself.

Thirdly, TFA Blitzwing is actually available and requires a shorter app, as he was a previously in play character who was dropped. However, I would like to caution that this is a roleplay site, not free therapy. If the reason you would play him is because of your previous issues, then really, that gives us very good reasons to deny him to you.

Now a bit of friendly advice- I would suggest in the future that you refrain from throwing about such serious matters as mental illness on a board of complete strangers. First impressions count as much on the internet as they do in real life. As a retails sales manager, I auto-dismiss an applicant who shows up to an interview in jeans, flip flops, and a tank top, regardless of their experience or interview skills. If he or she can't be arsed to try and present themselves well when they need a job, why would they be arsed to present my products well after I hire them? The same principle applies here.

[Frenzy]

A bit of free advice from someone who also suffers from mental illness: I would avoid a character who plays to your mental illness. Forcing yourself into their bad situation when it's also your own situation is not healthy.

(Seriously, our previous Dead End player dropped him because playing a chronically depressed character when she was also deeply depressed just made things worse for her.)

I hope to see you in the game soon! The admin aren't trying to discourage you here, they're just trying to help you out so your application doesn't get declined. It may seem a little daunting, but it's not.

Canon characters are easier to get, but that doesn't mean original characters are impossible for a first-time apper, so if that's what your heart is set on, goferit!

[Rodimus Prime]

We understand that it is fun to claim to be 'crazy' and to do silly, wacky things. We understand that people like to talk about 'headcharas' and muses' as if their headcharas and muses can talk to them. However, this is not the same as really being mentally ill. Now, if you really are mentally ill, that is one thing, and we hope you are seeing a doctor for it and have it under control.

However, if you aren't diagnosed and seeing a doctor, claiming to be 'crazy' on the internet tends to just come across as a cry for attention. You don't want people to think that you are just trying to get attention, so it is generally a bad idea to claim to be 'crazy' on the internet, because people will take it the wrong way. Also, we are not medical professionals, so we are not qualified to handle real mental illness. So if you need special treatment due to your illness, we cannot provide it.

Now that I have that unpleasantness out of the way, on the matter of Canon characters vs Originals, like we've said before, canon characters are easy to get, but many players take on original characters as their first characters, and sometimes as their only characters. There's nothing wrong with that. We do ask that applicants for original characters be willing to work with us to make sure the character is appropriate for the game and not too similar to characters (particularly other original characters) already in play, which means not being too wrapped up in the character being a certain way - sometimes it's a good idea to work out what aspects of the character are absolutely essential to you, and what you're more flexible on.

Often, it's eventually a good idea for most players to push themselves outside of their comfort zone and take on a canon character (which, we realize, is often frightening, especially to younger players), but if a person is not ready for it, they're not ready for it, and we certainly have no desire to push a player into it who isn't there yet.

[Maxismusstorm]

Wha? Therapy? Did you people think I was throwing some whoa is me story at you? Good lord I just mentioned it, not to spill the beans of my whole background and sob story. I don't need therapy and wasn't looking for any attention on it at all, the similarities is just what I liked so much about TFA Blitzwing. Small talk, a tiny note?

As more your metaphor, I assure you I normally come dressed in a white blouse dress shirt with my striped black paints and combat boots to throw in a little flare. Overall, it's well kept, I was just trying to be friendly and open to all as my first meeting people here.

o0 And if anything.. Playing a girl with split personalities on another site helped me let my split personalities go. And don't use what I just said as another cry for therapy, I just like to put a piece of myself in my characters. Like.. Fear of spiders, brought that up because a huge one is currently over my bed and needs squished..

Anyways, I'm sorry if I came off as some whiny person who wants everyone to feel sorry for her. I'm NOT like that at all.

----

I knew two people who had their characters as split personalities, and was kind of afraid to have that happen to me so I did loads to avoid it. Other members would say what their characters were thinking and I'd stay out of it, it wasn't like that at all. I don't exactly want to relay too much of what went on with the split personalities I used to have. Also working on straightening myself up to get into the military so.

Claiming to be crazy? Not for awhile, to me, I take it as the hyper fun loving person. Eh... I'm not seeking special treatment or diagnosing at all I wasn't looking for any of this? Did I really rattle people this much?

If I had to be pushed I'd say go for Breakdown but other than being paranoid, worse than myself, I don't know anything else about him.

[Victoria Raines]

MPD is a serious, serious mental disorder. It is not fun. It is not cool. It is tragic. The idea that you find a character appealing because of his similarities to your previous situation comes off as flippant, immature, and quite frankly frightening to me. You see, I have a friend with MPD, and she is broken to the point where she can not recall her actions if one of the more aggressive personalities asserts itself, and she will do violence to herself and to her husband. Years of therapy and medications have not managed to completely repair her. So, yes, on a personal level, your casual treatment of the condition in a public forum did greatly upset me; however, I still attempted to reply to your game concerns in a calm and literate manner.

I have also known more people than I can count who claim to have MPD and really use it as an excuse to not take responsibility for their actions. Again, this tends to color my view of anyone who just randomly drops the "I have/had the crazy" into a conversation, especially when he/she is new in a circle. It tends to send up red flags.

That said, we all have our issues. Some of us have issues who have subscriptions to more issues. *shrugs* That is life.

[Maxismusstorm]

I apologize for any disrespect in that part then. I never had anything that severe other than blacking out and doing odd things like grabbing someone's face when they wouldn't stop talking, or throwing shoes.

As I said having this been 'previous' and not having as much trouble I wouldn't use it as an excuse. I have really random ideas and thoughts now and then as if someone else is handing me writing on paper but I have control over myself.

Well, I feel as if I've already made an unwelcoming bad impression here when I didn't mean to. Thanks for any hospitality anyways, perhaps I'll go elsewhere. Good luck everyone.