Firstly, I would like for you guys to have a look at these two people who are open for commissions!
- madame does amazing work and is open and needs more business. She's offering anything from full paintings to cute chibi keychain sculptures to digital art!
- forgottenscales, who did my spinning icon, is open for a few more spinning icons! Go pester him, I know a few people have mentioned to me privately or publically that they love the little spinning Oni. xD

I had a few people interested in my roleplay rant on my last journal which I've decided to go ahead and write. Only now that I think about it, it basically just sounds like me whining. So I'm going to try and write this as amusingly as possible, because these things don't really make me OMGFURIOUS.

I'll start by saying that I've basically been in the 'dragon' fandom in one way or another for thirteen years, at first from playing a dragon video game (Drakan: Order of the Flame, online for the PC... anyone else? I was Fireblood!), then by moving to the otherkin community and finally settling into the furry community. Roleplaying was a big part of all of that.

I suppose I'll first talk about something I touched on briefly in one of my scrap submissions - magic.
We all want our characters to be awesome. And since we all love our characters, none of us want our characters to ever die or be in danger of dying. So I've noticed that a lot - a LOT - of people have these... weird... ultimate Mortal Kombat type finisher moves that they can just pull out at the drop of the hat that can all pretty much oneshot their opponent. This usually runs along the lines of 'controlling' something, like ice or lightning or fire.
Now me, I like to fight. I like to be confrontational. So forgive me if I'm rather abruptly put off by your 'No, no fighting... nah, nah, roll over... no, please stop... no OKAY FINE I WILL SUMMON LIGHTNING TO DESTROY YOU'.
If magic really IS a major part of your character, then it shouldn't only come up when your life's in danger. I like to fight. I'm NOT going to be all 'omg I kill u and ur charrie is dead forever'. And if you do use it, it shouldn't be the end-all-beat-all trick that I'm sure you're intending it to be. If you must use magic, use it responsibly - leave an out for the other person, make it have severe consequences for your character. Otherwise, I swear that I'll ignore it and blame it on Oni's Patented Anti Magic Aura Cloud That Follows Her Around Like She Stinks Super Bad.

I'll just touch on one more thing, since it reminds me - realism in roleplaying.
Kind of runs along the same thing as magic. We all want our characters to be the biggest, the best, the brightest, and the fastest. Unfortunately... that's not quite how it works, and I'm not entirely certain people realize how utterly unimpressive it is to me that my character - who cannot fly, as she lacks both wings and magic - can get outflown AND outrun by basically any dragon. I agree - it makes sense that Oni could easily be outpaced by a flying creature, although how you're managing to make your 10-foot-tall dragon fly as fast as a White-throated Needletail (the fastest flying [as in NOT DIVING] bird, at around 105mph, if I recall correctly) is beyond me. But when your dragon lands on the ground and decides to have a footrace with Oni - who I've designed based off of various running creatures - and you manage to take off at 118mph despite having just flown insanely fast - really puts me in mind of a Wile E. Coyote vs the Roadrunner cartoon. We all know that the cheetah holds the record for top landspeed, at 70mph. I put Oni at having around a 65mph burst or a 45mph sustained. It makes no sense to me that you, a creature that can fly insanely fast, can land on the ground and also completely outrun. And please don't use size as a difference - I know that as you're undoubtedly larger than she, you have a longer stride. But I really doubt that even dinosaurs managed the 118 you're pulling.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is - don't be afraid to give your character weaknesses. THOSE are what make you believable and memorable. So you manage to fly fast with your huge wings? You probably won't fare so well on the ground. Or you're awesome on the ground? Your flying's probably going to be compromised. Even down to personality! I honest to God hope that no one who's roleplayed with me confuses Oni's persona with mine - Oni's an arrogant bitch, to put it bluntly, because it pleases me to portray her that way. She's an amazing animal, and she knows it - she'll preen with flattery and rage at insults. She likes to argue and fight.
I guess, to an extent, that's me, but exaggerated. xD I'm just saying, we can't all be generic 'wise, suspicious of strangers but loving to friends and family, honorable' personality trait'd critters. It's more FUN to play a flawed character! Try it! It's your FLAWS that define your character, not your strengths.

I hope I managed to make people at least think about some of the things I've said! I do love to roleplay - but I'm also picky, and many of the things I've mentioned tend to turn me off. I'm willing to try roleplaying with unrealistic magic-weilding superdragons, but I can't say it's the best time I've ever had. ;]