{pin'd} new around here?

[Ten]

Hesitant to join? Feeling intimidated? To those who aren't used to ProBoards, a forum like this one can seem disorienting and overwhelming, and you might be concerned about how your writing skills will stand up compared with that of other scribes. There's no need to worry about that -- trust me, we're a friendly bunch and nobody's going to kick you out -- but it's not uncommon to be unsure at first. Others have felt the same.

So, let the testimonials begin! Whether you're an old scribe reflecting back, a new scribe still learning the ropes, a guest still teetering on the edge of joining, or anything in between, tell your story and let others know that they're not alone.

[Rebecca]

Hey, I'm Rebecca, it's nice to meet you. Although I've been a member of Starless since 2009, I don't think that I qualify as an old scribe yet because I haven't been as nearly active as I should have been! But don't worry my friend, I am back now!

So let's get the elephant out of the room. Starless is really intimidating when you first give it a once-over. When I first looked it over I was like, "omg this is so sweet and so awesome and i really really want to join but there's no way i'm good enough and omg ten is going to rip my character to shreds and blah blah blah + a frowny face". The truth is that Starless is as good as it seems to be, and much more, and it's just super amazing.

At first I was really intimidated by Ten because you would see her on the role play boards and such, but once you get to know her she's very lovable! That being said, everyone here is lovable and amazing! And not to mention very funny. And I wish I would have stopped being a lurker-member (one of those people who is member but you never ever hear from them on the c-box) sooner. It's just so nice to be around people who are so interested in the role play, writing, and helping each other.

And the bios... I think my Littlestorm was ripped apart and every detail that was remotely questionable was questioned and every mistake was pointed out. But I would rather have had a very competent person like Ten helping me create a better Littlestorm and ultimately help me become a better writer then have someone tell me how wonderful my character was and how creative I am. People like that sTaRrrzies (lolwhat? the censors gotcha) me off and get me nowhere. They waste time; I could have boosted my ego myself. But here no time is wasted and everything is discussed in an intelligent manner. It's really quite liberating in a way. /getting cheesy.

I found it kind of hard to get into the role play, though, because I was in awe of the plot and had no idea which side Littlestorm should choose (still don't, really...). I was really nervous to be role playing with such talented and creative writers, but it was that nervousness that made me strive to have perfect and interesting posts. The standards are high, but I like it that way. I'm currently trying to get back into it all; it's really interesting.

And I know my testimonial isn't very long, but I'll come back and edit it in the future! It's been a great ride and is just going to get better. /clicheiscliche

[f i x a t e]

Hello thur. (: My name is Inigo Montoya. You kil-- Hahaha. Just kidding. I'm Fixate, and as of today, I have been a member of Starless for 5 days. Yes that's a short amount of time, but I was stalking it for weeks before. /is creepy/ I never really got enough courage to post, due to my lack of self-confidence and such. I was intrigued by the plot and the general psychological side of it. I finally posted, as a guest, asking my unanswered questions. Then, I joined.

When I first joined, I was somewhat nervous about Ten. Because... well, she's TEN. Hehe. But once I joined and started chatting with her, the intimidation factor wore off, and I realized she's not so scary. (: I was just afraid of what she, and everyone else (with their awesome roleplaying skillz), would think of me and my posting abilities. When I had posted as a guest, one of the things I said was that I was nervous about my roleplaying posts not being up to par. I'd like to quote Ten's response, as it was very reassuring:

Jul 16, 2011 17:09:37 GMT -5 Ten said:

Nobody's going to kick you out, silly. While it's true that long posts are welcome, don't feel pressured to dazzle anyone. I'm sure you can manage three sentences a post. In the end, the important thing is to have fun with this. If you get a detail wrong, another scribe might notify you, but then you just fix it and that's that; no sweat.

Even though Ten said 3 sentences, the length and quality of the other posts put a little bit of pressure on me to make my posts better, too; which I like. It's helping me grow as a roleplayer, and improve in my skills. Going in with the intentions of striving to be a better poster has allowed me to accept my level of roleplaying, since I can't change the place that I'm at in my writing abilities; I can only try and hope for improvement.

I had read through some of the cat bios, and was shocked at how much revision they went through. Ten's questioning on each one made me a little bit hesitant about posting my first cat. Once I posted it, though, and the questions began, I realized that all she was doing was helping me improve the bio. She picked up on little things that didn't make sense, until it was finally right. That was probably the worst part, to be honest, just because people don't like having the flaws pointed out. But in the end, I understood it was for the better, and the "exposing" of my errors only helped me fix them. (:

The first few days, it was kind of quiet around here, but lately Starless has been exploding with activeness. I hope that it stays this way, and that all of you lurkers that are nervous to join finally work up the courage to do so, like me. I'm incredibly glad I finally joined, and don't plan on leaving anytime soon. (:

[Cloud]

Heh. My story is kind of embarrassing.

Before Starless, I was on FoF for a while, and (unfortunately) like many people I disliked and feared Ten at first. I'm ashamed to say I was very rude and nasty to her at first.

Then I read her Journals and realized she was awesome and that I really did not like the people who hated on her, and realized I had been just as bad.

And then eventually I worked up the courage to join Starless after stalking it for a while.

Eventually, I created Darkfur, the telemarketer. I also tried making two more cats who never happened because they made very little sense. After that, I created Pebbletail, then Dottedfoot, Drabheart, and Hailpaw.

And I learned so very much about critiquing, and unique plots, and just awesome stuff all around. I learned about cat genetics and silly members and making things work and debating and many wonderful things without which my life would not be as complete.

I made many friends and had much fun, and here I am, more than a year later.

I hope you all like it as much as I do.

[Reagan]

I haven't been on the site for very long, but I joined it because I was looking for roleplaying game with a more experimental/different feel to it, so that I could create experimental/different characters who might not otherwise fit into a normal Warriors roleplaying game. I lurked around Starless every once in a while in the past, but it looked pretty dead so I didn't join.

I joined when the activity was still low, but at least people were posting on the chat box so I thought I'd give it a go just to see how it would work out. I'd never really heard of Ten before, so I suppose I didn't have the apprehension that apparently other people had. She just reminds me of some female friends I had on LiveJournal/at college, and I'm used to their meticulous, critical ways. Ten barely strikes me as harsh at all compared to them. I used to joke to them that they 'beat me with their words', but they made poor Reagan the robot give them harsh critiques on their writing too, so we all had mutually beneficial but somewhat vitriolic relationships with one another. English majors, they were, and I believe that speaks for itself. My past experiences aside, I can safely say I wasn't intimidated by the critiquing process at all.

I'm enjoying Starless thus far, and I'm currently hoping to create the male calico character I want, due to my fondness for feline genetic mutations.

[Juli]

Man, how long have I seen this place? I've been here since its hayday, back before its inactivation spell. Since then I've definitely grown and evolved as a writer, and have finally had the guts to join! I've been dropping by now and again, and maybe have been here in past lives, but never once had I thought it was intimidating (even if Ten could get on my nerves sometimes x3). It's a great place to be with a great bunch of crazies running it, and I sure know that they're less than scary to be around.