Weyrling Lessons

[kestrel]

Hey all. Okay, since there were ideas I had but they were kind of half shot down and half not, I'm going to post up some rules for Weyrlinghood that are a suggestion of what might be done to make it more realistic and about the person and their dragon-more Pern like if you will. Try to think about it from a realistic standpoint and just don't shoot everything down, please...

-No intimate relationships with the opposite sex, nothing beyond friendship
-No guy and girl are allowed to be alone together until 16 months into Weyrling training. (when a male dragon is old enough to fly a female)
-No female dragon can rise before 18 months (greens rise at a turn and a half earliest, golds 2 turns)
-No male dragon can chase a dragon who rises before it is 16 months old.
-No Weyrling under 16 months may leave the Barracks without permission, save on free time, and the WLM will know where you are at all times (sign out sheet?)
-You will attend all Weyrling Lessons or you will not graduate.
-Jr. Weyrlings under six months may not socialize with anyone other than their fellow Weyrlings and the WLM, so that they strengthen and form a solid bond with their dragonet and those who will be their wingmates one day.
-There is a schedule that must be adhered to daily, though what you do with your free time is up to you so long as you adhere to the rules.
-Up until one turn, a Weyrling must always have a Weyrling with them when going somewhere on their own.
-Weyrlings under a turn old may not leave the Weyr unless supervised by an older rider.
-Weyrlings up until 16 months may not leave the Weyr without accompaniment by another Weyrling
-Weyrlings at 16 months may be given leave to leave the Weyr as long as rules are adhered to and they let the WLM know where they are going.
-Male and female relationships may be formed when you are 16 months into Weyrlinghood, but take them very slowly and no physical actions are allowed until 18 months. You may not engage in sexual activity until the first time your dragon rises or chases to mate, however. Whites and Yellows are exempt from this rule, but they may not form relationships until their dragons are two turns, and nothing sexually until their dragons have matured enough.

Okay, now an explanation of why these 'rules' make sense. Feel free to agree or disagree, but this is just base rules for any Weyrling-some are even more lenient as you aren't supposed to really have relationships get physical at all until graduation or your dragon rises (usually at 2 turns with the very rare exception, males are earlier at 1 and a half turns).

Everyone knows that having a relationship that is carried beyond friendship can mentally damage your dragon-even to the point of it going between. Not being alone with a girl/guy ensures that you're not throwing yourself right in front of the 'cookie jar' and that you have a partner to keep you from doing anything. Still, its not like you can't interact at all, which most of you didn't like.

Your WLM will have to know where you are at all times, and leaving the Weyr can cause problems for Weyrlings. What if a mating flight goes on, or they run into trouble with their dragonets with wild felines ect. It's just kind of common sense, too, to keep them all nearby and safe until the dragonets are old enough.

If you don't attend lessons, you don't graduate. Simple as that...you won't know everything you need to and you'll be 'held back' as it were. Lessons are to prep the Weyrlings for Thread and teach them how to take care of themselves and their dragons. No responsible WLM would let an improperly trained pair graduate.

Okay, I know we're all big on relationships here. But there should be limits, really-and Pern isn't just all about the relationships...or it's not supposed to be. I've made it so that relationships can be formed by 'friendship first' and even so that you can have them earlier than 2 turns...which I thought you'd all like. But honestly, this way prevents them from getting too serious before the dragons are ready. I think they're pretty reasonable, but that may just be me? If you look in Hawk's old rules, most of them are pretty much the same, with a few twists.

Comments, suggestions? Please keep in mind the logic behind this and that I've tried to compromise on everything to keep everyone happy and able to socialize with everyone in the Weyr...save under six months old, when you should be concentrating most on forming a bond with your dragon and fellow Weyrlings.

[Kino]

The way I see it? The Weyrlingmaster should be able to go and make whatever rules they want, because realistically...they would. Even if the rules may seem ridiculous. I mean, speaking from a college experience, even teachers in real life do that.

Now here's the 'however'.

What you have to understand is that, ALSO realistically, these characters are all between the ages of 14 and 19. That's the age where decision making? Is not at it's best. The Weyrlingmaster can go and make whatever rules they want, but even if the roleplayer as a IRL person is going to agree with them?

Rules are going to be broken.

That's the way life is. In a lot of people (in this case, character)'s minds, rules are MEANT to be broken. And you cant' get angry at a roleplayer for not obeying the rules, if it's in a CHARACTER'S personality to go and break the rules, or just completely ignore them all together.

I will say, however, to defend the 'relationship concentration' you pointed out, that even though there may have been plotting for future relationships? All the relationships were STARTING OUT right now as friendships, and the plan is "start here, and we'll see where this leads us." So it's not like we're going around thinking "oh hey, we should have our sleep together. Yeah?"

I'll also say this. You keep saying 'pern isn't all about relationships', but putting aside what's real for pern and earth (I mean honestly there's dragons here), realistically? Life IS all about relationships. Maybe not lets-get-into-bed necessarily, but there is ALWAYS something going on with relationships. So whether someone thinks that "oh, in real life it's not all about relationships. that's not how things really happen" I'm sorry to say, that's kind of not true.

Face it, it's human nature.

So it all comes down to this, as far as my opinion goes. I think those rules are perfectly fine. They definitely seem like reasonable rules that a Weyrlingmaster would post and tell the Weyrlings to live by. I also like that if someone is not ready to graduate, they will be held back. (Although I'll ask that it's kept in mind that even if a weyrling does go and break rules while they're going through training, depending on the character and the rule broken they may still be perfectly able to graduate at the same time as all the others). So yes, I think those rules are great for a Weyrlingmaster to implement. Just keep in mind: they are going to get broken.

Broken rules create conflict.
Conflict makes for a good story.
Good story makes for fun roleplay.

It's just the way it is xP

[Spirithawk]

-No Weyrling under 16 months may leave the Barracks without permission, save on free time, and the WLM will know where you are at all times (sign out sheet?)

That is way too strict for Dark Moon. Not leaving the Barracks? I can understand all of the other rules. They were in place before, just its hard to enforce them when no one wants to post. I have never seen a weyr that required this.

"Jr. Weyrlings under six months may not socialize with anyone other than their fellow Weyrlings and the WLM, so that they strengthen and form a solid bond with their dragonet and those who will be their wingmates one day."

Classes serve that purpose, why do they have to avoid socializing? However, its only for 6 months so that could be dealt with. The won't just be wingmates with other weyrlings when they graduate, not in a small weyr like DM. In another weyr, they might be able to but the distribution of dragons isn't enough to keep the weyrlings all in one wing.

The weyrlings already know they aren't allowed outside the weyr. The lake is the farthest they can go unless there is a planned excursion to the beach with the WLM's permission. That I do agree with.

I don't agree with changing the restrictions on when they can participate in a flight. Weyrlings leave the weyr under supervision during a flight until they graduate.

[kestrel]

Kami...why do you think I want to enforce rules? The best part is when they DO get broken. Of course, this is with the realization that every crime has a punishment (reasonable ones of course) so don't be surprised if you find yourself scrubbing latrines or doing dishes, or doing extra push ups!

If there are no rules, there'd be none to get broken. I would appreciate it, however, if this is kept realistic. Ie. not every char would be a rule-breaker or trying to cause trouble. And, in reality? They wouldn't want to be held back unless their personality was so much of a troublemaker that they wouldn't care...which even the most troublesome of the Weyrlings would try to take into account, I'd imagine.

So yeah, there are rules, and yes, I expect the Weyrlings to break them on occasion, but be true to their characters! ie. I don't see most of them purposely breaking rules all the time. But getting into trouble? Occasional sneaking out? You won't always be caught, but you get punished if you do. Keep in mind there's a wher on watch so sneaking out at night? Tricky as hellz.

Anyhow, what I meant is Pern is not all about guy/girl relationships. Relationships in general are what life is about. But not everyone starts looking for someone to potentially pair off with as soon as impressing...and I see it done a lot, which seeing as how your dragon is supposed to be #1 in your life and you just impressed one...I don't honestly see a lot of people wanting to get into a relationship off the hop, and it's made too obvious 'who wants to be with who' from the get go, without any real relationships being formed from friendship. ie. I never see anyone 'falling in love'. It just starts out as 'I just met this person and now I want to be with them'.

I mean that in a nice way, of course...and I have been here about a year and read old threads, so I'm not just saying this as someone just coming in. I'd LOVE to see actual neutral friendships and bonds formed where they take a while to begin liking each other that way. True sometimes you're attracted to a person off the hop, but more often than not, unless you just want in their pants or think they're hot? Relationships are built, not just in a day, but over time.

You're right. Weyrlingmaster does make all the rules, like a teacher. I've tried to be reasonable, though, in mine. I've taken anything I've seen, and tried to downplay it because people here like it to be easy going. I hope I did okay with it...

And breaking rules will not stop you from graduating. You will not graduate if you sleep with someone. You won't graduate if you refuse to not touch alcohol and are warned many times. You will not graduate if you constantly engage in physical fighting. You won't graduate if you are totally an immature lout who refuses to listen to your Weyrlingmaster and gets into a totally unreasonable amount of trouble or is rebellious against him-no Wingleader will have someone like that in their wing and obviously that person is not mature enough to be graduating. But other than that? Sneaking out, the rare romancing and kiss (though there are strict punishments for that, due to the obvious reason)

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Admin's Note:[/hr] I won't even always catch yeh doing it, but if you're caught, expect the punishments to fit the crime, j'ah? XD

As to Hawk: I worded that wrong. I meant that a Weyrling can't leave the barracks at night, after everyone is in and it's just before bed. If they are going to do so then they have to sign out and have a good reason for it. Obviously there are baths and bathrooms in the barracks though, so they shouldn't even need to. Obviously to prevent wandering. The can obviously leave the barracks under supervision and in pairs.

As for only associating with other Weyrlings for the first six months? There is a really good reason for that. Usually I've seen it be up to a year, but once again, I get we're 'not other Weyrs'. It's due to forming a serious bond with your dragons, mostly. You're in a whole new world emotionally, you develop and change a LOT after impression. You may have to do some serious maturing in those six months, and most need that time to realize the seriousness of what that bond means. Also, yes, you'll be in a wing with older riders, but the strongest bonds are often formed with your fellow Weyrlings. You impressed together, you're all going through the same emotions and things at the same time...it's a great way also to encourage people TO form relationships of friendship with others. And it's only the first six months, and ensures they all know where they're at by the time they're ready to interact with anyone. Oh, and there's the fact that young dragons are very controlling as they grow. Their bond needs to learn that they are the ones in control, not the young dragon who hasn't the level of responsibility or maturity to know how to care for itself. In a way they are equals, but when it comes down to it the rider has the final say until the dragon is full grown. Btw, during lunch, breakfast and dinner they can talk to others if they wish in the dining hall.

Realistically, how are you going to keep the Senior dragons from flights? Have every one leave during a greenflight or goldflight? By a turn males are ready to fly females. Greens are ready to fly by a turn and a half. I kept it realistic, you graduate Weyrlinghood by 18 months.
That's a year and a half. So they won't participate in flights until graduation anyhow. *grins* But male dragons fly by a year old...still you could prevent them from it if you wished, and wait until they graduated.

Any other takers?

[Spirithawk]

I would like an outline of how they progress and how old they are when they graduate. I had a timeline but you have it all with the general info. I would also like an outline of your W'ling lessons so I can base Rhia's on for our upcoming plot

I wasn't certain of the timeline for them to graduate so thats why I put that about them not participating in flights until they are graduated and I had mentioned that they would leave the weyr during a flight.

And Kat I know the reasoning behind all this, though I thank you for taking the time to explain it.. I HAVE read the books and I am not so ignorant on the reasons why as it may seem. Simply put, I will not follow the books' every word and rule. I said that I was fine with the 6 month rule, I was simply pointing out that it sounded like they only need to develop rapport with their fellow weyrlings with the way you worded it, as if they would only be in a wing with their fellow w'lings.

If its just at night for the sign in then thats fine. You need to add that, otherwise you will probably get more complaints about that. Signing in with the WLM during the day is a bit too much.

I think you and Kami and many of the other members will never agree on the relationship thing so I think we should all agree to disagree. She was right though, they were not going beyond the bounds of "i like you". There was only one instance of that and that was not done with my permission back when Nike was co-admin. She got her W'ling pregnant. Needless to say I was furious. You need to keep in mind that most of these rpers and their characters are TEENAGERS. Just because we (as older rpers) have progressed beyond the whole "instant attraction" phase, doesn't mean that they have. Teenagers will fall in and out of love and like a thousand times before they finally settle down. They do this in both Pern and in real life. Besides we never really get any scene of this in the books, not that I can remember, so how are we to know if thats how it happens or not? We simply have various weyr rpgs making up their own rules on that. They know they can't take it farther for the sake of their dragons. However, I do agree that plotting like that should happen later. Their dragons WILL control their every waking moment for the first few months. So, yes, they need to hold off on that. I'm not saying that it doesn't need to develop into a more long-term sort of bonding but remember, these W'lings were bonding as Candidates so its not just Impressing and then running off to find relationships. I'm not saying that it doesn't need to be worked on, but its not something like a mispelled word that we can just correct instantly. Its something that is second nature to the majority of these rpers. They'll learn, but the more its harped upon the more resistence you will encounter.