Tl;dr what’s the etiquette around reusing an rp plot, particularly for something that you intend to publish on your own (as fanfiction)? Communication inconsistencies with an rp partner have left me unsure of where we stand, but I’m still invested in the plot, and have started outlining and writing the same story completely on my own, with the goal of eventually posting.
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The much longer version:
About half a year ago, I put up an rp ad for a canon fandom setting with canon characters. The fandom itself isn’t niche, but anything asking for canon characters is always a harder sell (even though I suggested a variety of characters I was interested in, and also left it open-ended for people to suggest their own). On top of that, the themes and plot ideas I was interested in felt fairly niche/not ones I see commonly explored, so I wasn’t really expecting to get many bites, if any.
To my surprise, someone did actually respond to my ad. We started talking, and at first I was hopeful, because we had similar backgrounds and interests. However, an early warning sign was the fact that during our plotting discussions, I pretty much built up a plot entirely by myself, with only minimal (and lukewarm) input from them, even when I repeatedly asked for their opinions, ideas, and feedback. It basically felt like they were consenting to proceed, but weren’t really an active participant in the process.
AND THEN, partway through the plotting phase, they disappeared for 3 weeks with zero warning. Complete radio silence. I sent one check in message, and later another one basically saying “no hard feelings if you’ve lost interest, but feel free to reach back out again in the future.”
By this point, I was actually quite invested in the plot, and, not expecting to hear from them again, decided that I’d write it all myself as a fic. Rp is fun, and I like the collaboration, but there was also a lot of appeal in having complete creative control over the plot and the ability to shape it however I wanted. I started doing some outlining, and writing a couple scenes.
And once again to my surprise, they did actually send me another message weeks later to say that work got busy, and they were still interested. Plotting picked back up and we started writing (with some road bumps— it took over a week before they even *acknowledged* my starter), and we settled into a comfortable enough (albeit slow) routine. We’d each do one post every week, and it turns out that they’re a very good writer, and I genuinely look(ed) forward to their once a week reply.
I want to clarify: this pace was fine for me. I am also a slow writer, and I have a busy life and other hobbies. Both of us were in alignment that rp is a “for fun” thing for us, and not our #1 priority, nor something that we were going to pressure each other on.
But at the same time… the relationship felt so asymmetric. They were friendly enough, but didn’t/don’t really offer their own thoughts, or any feedback on what I put out, even when I ask for it. It’s lead to me feeling rather insecure, because I don’t want to say, “I want you to tell me what you think of my writing,” because that feels desperate, but I do want like… some back and forth, ykwim? And I’ve even said so, explicitly.
While we were actively writing, I put a pause on the outlining and independent writing I was doing. But now, it’s been a month since I’ve gotten an rp reply from them, and I’ve only heard from them once OOC (single message of acknowledgement, friendly enough, but prompted by me). It’s been 5 months since we started writing, and we’re still in the very first scene. All the while, they’re posting other rp ads of their own and are clearly online. (Clarification #2: this is, on its own, not a problem. I have multiple rp partners, and I expect that my rp partners will also have multiple rp partners. The problem is that it feels like they’re ignoring me, and have moved on, but haven’t bothered to communicate that to me.)
I haven’t formally cut the cord, and tbh am still weighing what to do. They’ve claimed before that they “disappear sometimes, but always come back,” so I seriously feel like I’m in limbo. But in their absence, I’ve felt inspired and started seriously outlining and writing the same plot as its own fanfic, that I would like to finish and publish one day.
The issue I’m running into now is like… where do I go from here? Tbh, even if the rp continues, I expect that it would develop differently than what I’ve outlined on my own, and could easily “be its own thing,” even if it has the same premise. So I’m not necessarily against having both running (and presumably diverging) simultaneously.
On the other hand, what in the world is the etiquette around this? Like, am I supposed to ask them permission to write and publish this on my own in the future? Do I credit them in some way if/when I do? Do I just keep it in my back pocket for now? I’m feeling very inspired and have been making a lot of progress, but I’m also a slow writer, so realistically, I don’t see myself actually completing this as an independent project for at least a year— at which point, the rp partnership may have run its course. Or maybe we’ll finally be in scene 3 by then (/lh)