ok so one of the most common mistakes i see in fan sessions is like 9 times out of 10 the ppl who are sooo eager to rush into starting sburb end up being the ones who have absolutely no idea what to do next whatsoever when they get there
imo there are 2 basic things an oc needs to be successful in a session, even if "success" doesnt necessarily mean beating the game and god tiering
1) a land quest. like, ik i said sburb is the least interesting part and thats still kinda true, but since lands and land quests are so personal i feel like everyone should at least have a vague idea of what their muse needs to learn abt themselves or overcome or w/ever even if they never plan to do their quest. personally i love coming up with land quests broadly but am not v good at intricate details so i usually never hold it against anyone in my own chats. they just need to have Something
2) to be able to establish a relationship of some kind w/ another character. this obviously depends on how receptive other characters are to urs and how well they play off each ofher which u cant always control ofc but it also depends on like not having a 1-dimensional character lol. that kid who speaks in memes 24/7 is gonna stop being interesting to anyone else real fast unless they have depth. the most memorable and well liked ocs are the ones who manage to make an impact on someone else in some way whether thats negative or positive
so if ur oc doesnt have a personal goal theyre working towards (or working against if theyre the kind of person who doesnt believe in destiny and says fuck you to perceived authority, which is perfectly valid!), most of ur rping takes place on the memo. but if ur oc is also flat, eventually ppl are gonna lose interest in them bc every convo winds up being either repetitive or boring. ofc thwre may be someone who takes pity on u but i feel like youd be able to tell the difference?
either way tho thats how u get the ppl in fansessions who are just..... there. technically tolerable and harmless but not compelling in any way
fan sessions are fun!!! in simplest terms is like a loosely plot based unholy mashup between script and paragraph styles
most in-character interactions will be over a group chat memo (script) while anything that happens "irl" will be paragraph, like land quest grinding, meeting other characters in-person, dreamself stuff, etc etc.
the actual plot tends to vary, but for the most part you need to be familiar with at least the very basics of how the sburb machines and lands work. no one really expects you to be an expert tho
however if u dont actually care abt sburb thats fine, its kind of the least interesting part of a fansession
theres a lot of opportunities for building relationships w/ other characters, torture ur own oc or just give them development in a way a slice of life chat wouldnt, and ofc give them cool aspect based god powers. imo the heart of any good fansession is the relationships yc builds with their teammates since thats what drew people to homestuck in the first place
buuuut the biggest drawback in a fansession is often its cooperative nature. ppl who dont know how to hold a convo, ppl who make really baffling rp decisions, and as always the ppl who are unable and unwilling to communicate ooc. id say like 80% of fansessioners are good seasoned rpers but u know how parp is sometimes lol
anywayy im going way too long lmao sorry but i recommend giving a session a shot some day if possible! (oh and lpt: if you join one and end up not feeling it dont be afraid to just drop the chat! its 1000x better than ghosting the chat and hoping the mods will kick you for inactivity. speaking as an occasional fansession mod myself ghosting is such a fuckin pain)
please please please keep infodumping about fan sessions in my ask box. you have no idea how much i enjoyed reading this.
while we're collecting fan session info, other than ghosting, what are some common mistakes that people make? things you wished they knew that they don't appear to?
Joe: Howdy, y'all! This is Joe Hills, live from Double Life² SMP
Joe: I'm standing here by my lonesome 'cause most of the folks are scampering into that Great Big Hole on the horizon
Joe: Can't say I blame them
Joe: And over here we've got some mob murder happening. Oh the humanity!
Joe: Now here's a man on a mission if I've ever seen one. He sure seems to know what he's doing!
Joe: Meanwhile our fellow newbie is doing some good old tree punchin' right at spawn
Joe: Hope that's not a faux pas
Joe: With so many roads to take, how is a regular lil' guy like me supposed to decide? But decide I must, and soon
Joe: Follow Etho
The time for suggesting the course of action is over! An update is being worked on, and the old post finish will now be hidden under a readmore
What will you do?
================================================
This is where action suggestions come in!
If you want to suggest what Joe Hills should do next, please put it in the replies! After 3 days I will collect all the suggestions and choose one or more to base the next update on!
And remember: soulmates are getting assigned soon~