DIAL-UP USERS BEWARE: THIS IMAGE IF FUGGIN BIG!


..... damn, this took forever to do x_X :3;


Although I included "fandom" in il Maestro's comment, this rant-comic is mainly aimed at RPers and those who develop their characters through interactive play. I guess Mary-Sues are included in this rant as well, but I can honestly tolerate Mary-Sues. Actually, I tolerate many things, and perhaps "rant" isn't the right word for this comic; perhaps "satire" is a far better choice.

The situation above, from all my experiences as an RPer, mostly came from Rhydin, the fictional world in which RPers engage in (regardless of where you're located) on AOL, where I was first introduced to the internet in general. Now, I'm sure all of us are guilty of being complete 'noobs' when it comes to things such as RPing and even fanfiction/fanart, and that's totally fine. Heck, I was guilty of falling into the noobish pitfalls such as having Mary-Sues, OOCness in pre-existing character, etc. Of those from the StarFox fandom, people would probably recognize me as the writer of Falling Stars, Torn Asunder, and In Only Two Months. Ugh, I SHUDDER to remember I wrote those atrocities... .

But I digress.

Because of my experience as a noob and with other noobs, I've developed plenty of tolerance and even sympathy towards newcomer RPers/fanwriters/artists, up to the point where I am willing to offer advice and words of experience in order to help them get out of that phase. I've been long out of it; those who want more of my StarFox fanart, sorry. You won't be getting any unless a rare vibe comes crashing in, but until then, I want to focus on my original artwork.

Which brings me to this comic and the above situation:

Once in a while, I still go to AOL to RP, but no longer as my fan characters of miscellaneous fandoms (such as my pen name's namesake, Imagen, who was/is a StarFox fan character). Since I'm a hyper historical drive (but not piratey, my GOD there are too many PotC wannabes out there....), I RP mainly as either of the above g'li Bamboli Senza Volti--il Servo di Angelo, Detective Rafael Guarini, Maestro Giuseppe Fortissimo, and Signor Giacomo Biaggi (I have RPed as others, but as far as personality goes they're not suitable for spontenaety that AOL RPing demands). Even now, sadly, AOL is still oversaturated with hyperactive armpits-of-the-internet noobs, but once in a while I do find a couple gems that are not only worthy of RPing with, but also to make friends on the internet. ~ArrowRinehart and ~NozomiShiro are two examples of really good AOL RPers whom I've still remained as friends with since 2001 (I think).

Now... I LOVE romance RPs. However, what I hate about it (and romance stories in general) is when they become the sole purpose of the story. I'm talking "all boink and no plot" sort of RPs. They annoy the hell out of me. Yet even with genuinely good RPers with interesting SLs (storylines), in almost EVERY situation I'm in, I've always--ALWAYS--been subjected as the object of affection by another (or groups of other) RPers. I wouldn't mind as much if my character(s) are 1.) Available and 2.) Actively seeking a lover. Unfortunately for everyone, regardless of marital status and such, and with the sole exceptions being Nyt Muir and Freiherr Ulrich von Herrmann (my lonely (and manwhorish) bachelors), all of my characters are never, EVER, actively seeking a lover. For good reasons--it complicates my relation to the RPer, it messes up the canon even if I'm RPing loosely in the canonical sense, and it forces me to be subjected to unnecessary drama in which I am not EVER willing to partake in. It's a stupid mess, yet my characters, regardless of who I was at the moment, are often sought after as lovers, even if that character is supposed to be unattractive (such as Guarini).

But I have ways to get back at people In almost all the situations I was in when these unnecessary romances occur, the other RPer happens to be a girl (and you can REALLY tell she's a girl). The AOL name I use now, "ALPINA05", is ambiguous as to point out gender ("Alpina" is a BMW car model), and since I RP almost primariliy as males (I find RPing solely as a girl as very boring :{ ), people automatically assume I'm male. When I see a stupid romance coming, I typically try to avoid it IC as to give the Mundanes (the RPers) a hint that I really don't like where this RP is going. However, if several sessions pass and they don't take a hint, I would say something along the lines "I'm not sure if I like where this RP is going because my boyfriend wouldn't like it either". As soon as "boyfriend" pops up, the RPing girl would either guess I'm a gay guy or really a chick.

After that, I usually never see them again.



Time: Collectively 5 days
Media: Non-photo blue pencil and Micron pigment pens on sketchbook paper; Paintshop Pro 8, Manga Computones, Blambot Fonts.


Artwork and characters Angelo Servo, Det. Rafael Guarini, Giuseppe Fortissimo, and Giacomo Biaggi are copyright © of ImagenAshyun.
Mary-Sues belong to anyone who hasn't gotten out of that silly phase yet.


Oh, and for the record: the character with the biggest number of "love interests" from RPing is Immy herself, having at least 8 guys from AOL and about 4 elsewhere.