#You are not obligated to take part in the Roleplay if you join!

[marshmallowprotection]

It’s a pleasure to be speaking with you today. Every day is a wonderful day but I know my day has been made brighter by meeting you. I bet you’re asking why a stranger would greet you out of the blue, but I promise it’s worth your time. Your tired eyes look so weary, your body looks like it’s on the brink of collapse, and I’m certain you’re in need of rest. I’ve come to offer you a chance at rest from all of it today. All you have to do take this pamphlet and decide for yourself what it is you want out of life. 

Mint Eye is a safe haven for every tired soul who has been stomped on by the rest of the world. Aren’t you tired of being trampled every time you think you’ve beaten the system designed to keep you at the bottom? If you’re at your end of your rope, our organization is just what you need to help you realize what your life’s purpose is truly meant for, and I can promise you it’s not being a cog in a machine that doesn’t appreciate you.

If you think you’re meant to join us in eternal bliss, take my invitation and come inside. My Savior, Mr. Jihyun Kim, is waiting to greet you.

Mystic Messenger Reverse AU Discord Server. 18+ Only.

[Join now!]

[riordanverserpdatabase]

RP Community Courtesy Rules

Hello users!!! It’s come to our attention that there have been some pretty heavy controversies occurring here in our favorite place on the internet, and we wanted to try and do our part to help ease the tensions as much as we can. Let’s preface this post with a little disclaimer before we continue:

The Database is not a regulating body in the Tumblr RP Community, so these rules are merely a suggestion. We are in no way attempting to force anyone to follow them, or make any comments about those who don’t. We just want everyone to have a good time here, and figured evening out the playing field by suggesting a few courtesy rules would be a good idea. If you disagree with any of our suggestions, feel free to disregard our post!

Let’s get started!! Here’s what we have to say:

1. Respecting others, and their ideas.

With so many different people all in one place, you’re bound to see a concept or idea that you disagree with, maybe even one that upsets you. While it’s understandable that you might feel passionate about sharing that opinion (and you are allowed to) it’s important to remember that there are people on the other side of the screen reading what you have to say.

It is never okay to send hate, threats, or other negative things to a user because you don’t like their ideas.

Instead, vent privately to your friends, and block users who are making you uncomfortable so you don’t have to see the things that are bothering you.

At the same time, if you are planning on posting content that contains sensitive topics that tend to be controversial, please ensure it is properly tagged, and understand that you are likely going to make some waves. If you think it’s going to get some push back and you’re not prepared to handle it, keep it private.

2. Tagging with Courtesy

There are LOTS of ways to tag other users in our community. On pinned posts, in tag lists for starters or reblog games, and other places too. Remember that when you tag someone, especially on a pinned post, you’re connecting your accounts in a very public way.

It is usually considered rude to tag people without asking them first. If you are personal friends with them the rules become a bit more flexible, but otherwise it’s most appropriate to ask a user if they are willing to be tagged in something before you do it. This includes tag games, which some people prefer not to be included in.

Many people have a tag list, which is a list of users they’ve already got permission to tag in their posts. We love this idea!!

To aid in making this rule easier to follow, some blogs have started adding these permissions to their bios/pinned posts to make this easier.feel free to join in with us!

Tag games: yes/no

Roleplay Tags: Anyone/moots only/ask first/no thank you

3. Approaching angst carefully

Role playing difficult or sensitive topics is a great way to vent and explore, but sometimes having that directed at one of your characters directly can be a little difficult to handle.

Before starting an interaction that involves angst (such as characters fighting/venting/revealing traumatic backstories) it is polite to ask your partner if they’re comfortable.

You never know what kind of a day someone is having. This permission might change day to day, and some days it might just be a little too much. That also means this permission might change depending on what’s going on in their lives. Be patient and respectful with your Roleplay partners. Take care of them!

In addition, if you are an OC interacting with a Canon Character, and your OC had some kind of negative interaction or relationship with that canon character, understand that the person running that blog is not obligated to entertain your idea, just like you are not obligated to change your OCs backstory.

It is perfectly fine for you to disagree! It is not okay to harass someone running a canon character blog because of something they had no idea was a part of your characters backstory and had no say in creating.

4. Replies; timing and consistency

As frustrating as it may be, nobody here owes anybody else replies. No one is being paid to be here, and so no one is obligated to reply.

Replies may stop for any number of reasons, including:

- people getting busy with school/work/family

-someone becoming uncomfortable with the Roleplay

- a character’s direction changing

- someone feeling like the thread has gone on long enough

- having RP styles that are a little too different

Or even for no reason at all! If someone is not replying to you anymore, there is no need to go after them. They do not owe you, and you do not owe them! Entertain RP partners who give you the quality/speed of replies that you enjoy, and let everyone else mind their own business.

5. Replies pt. 2, the content!!

When replying to someone, the format can vary greatly from blog to blog. While there are no rules, since we are all here to have fun, here are some guidelines that make your replies easy and enjoyable to read!

Make sure that your replies are formatted so that your RP partner can tell which things are actions and which are spoken words!

Here’s an example of an unformatted reply:

Hey, did you want to share?

He smiled, holding out a bowl of candy towards you.

And here are a couple of examples of how you could more clearly format this so you can tell what’s spoken and what’s not:

“Hey, did you want to share?”

He smiled, holding out a bowl of candy towards you.

Hey, did you want to share?

He smiled, holding out a bowl of candy towards you.

“Hey, did you want to share?”

He smiled, holding out a bowl of candy towards you.

In addition to the formatting, content of replies is just as important! It is general courtesy to match the length and style of your role play partner, but it’s not necessary! You can role play any style you like.

However, role play replies should always contain TWO things: a response to the previous reply, and something for your partner to respond to!

It’s hard to respond to short or one word replies sometimes, and equally hard to respond to replies that only answer the last post and don’t continue the action. This can be really simple! Let’s do an example using Dean and Maverick:

Maverick sends a reply to Dean that reads as follows:

Maverick waved in greeting, one hand in his pocket.

“Hey Dean! It’s good to see you. Getting breakfast?”

A too-short reply to this might read like this:

“Hi Maverick!”

In this reply, Maverick’s mun is now responsible for moving the role play forward. They will have to write all the action, and carry the role play all on their own, while Dean’s mun continues responding by only reacting to the action happening in the replies.

For some people, roleplaying that way can be very draining and take the fun out of the responses.

Let’s format a reply that gives Maverick a little more to work with!

“Hi Maverick!”

Dean waved back, smiling brightly.

“Yeah I am! Do you want to come with me?”

See how in this reply, we’ve matched the length of the previous one, and given Maverick something to respond to? It doesn’t have to be a super long reply! All you have to do is give your partner something to do!

Now that you’ve made it to the bottom, we’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that these are only suggestions, and by no means are these hard rules. If you’re new to roleplaying, you may not have known that these are sort of standards of the community, and if you are having trouble getting replies and noticed that you’re doing one or more of these things, that could be the reason!

If you’d prefer to ignore this post and continue doing things the way you were, we’re more than fine to hear that! We love and support all our community members, regardless of their role play style.

We hope some people will find this post reassuring! If you have expressed discomfort with the way some of your friends are roleplaying, you are heard. Please be patient and kind!

[soulprompts]

I had a few quick thoughts in the middle of the night when i read your prompts and comments, so, i thought: ''Just made this roleplay blog a week ago and i'm too insecure to ask anyone for roleplay''

But here i am, reading to get some inspiration even if i don't roleplay right now or have mutuals because everything is foreign to me, thank you very much, at least i can daydream about silly scenarios :")

hi my friend! let me start by thanking you for sending this in, i'm so glad you like my prompts, and i'm very touched that you reached out! i also wanna say that you can absolutely skip the next two paragraphs, i'm waffling, i love waffling, i refuse to change this about myself!

now i wanna respond with a few little-known facts about myself. when i first joined tumblr, years and years ago, i made a natasha romanoff blog because i thought it'd be the best way to start up in the rpc. it took me a month, a MONTH, to so much as follow another soul on that blog. and it was a mess, like i didn't have a rules page, i didn't have a bio, i had very limited understanding of the rpc, i was just this teenager who was beyond pumped to write with people! then i realized my anxiety outweighed the excitement and i did nothing for a solid month.

then, after that month, i guess i just chose a rare moment of confidence to start following people, and they helped me massively, i still write with them to this day! but part of the reason that i wasn't hitting it off with a lot of people was because i really didn't feel comfortable writing natasha romanoff. like, it felt like an obligation. and i suppose i picked her to please people, and i'll always stand by this, it was the dumbest thing i ever did! so then i started writing my female OC, and i am still so lucky to have surrounded myself with friends who love and support her to this day, and because i was passionate about writing her story, i began to gain more mutuals! bc people can pick up on that, yk? they can always tell when you're really invested in something. i wrote five paragraphs about my OCs moisturiser (nivea) and honestly i'm very proud of it!

'blue, why are u talking about this?' excellent question! it's because in the month i was literally taking a vow of silence, i still scrolled through the dash. i wanted to understand the rpc in my own space! i read prompt lists, headcanons, ooc posts, threads, drabbles, metas, you name it. and while i was reading them, like you mentioned, it DID feel foreign!! and that's the BEST way to describe it! it's a whole new language, a whole new set of rules and norms and systems to understand! isn't it absolutely wild how we just expect people to figure it out over night?? madness! you're doing so so well just by being here and getting yourself familiar with this place! even if you spend the next year just reading prompts and thinking of scenarios, you're still doing a fantastic job!

tumblr can be a fantastic place, but it's still a brand new experience, and most of us have been here for so long that we understand the general gist of what's going on. we know the good, the bad and the ugly sides of everything. and what i always strive for in this particular blog is to have a space where people can ask for help and support one another, because let's be honest, if we can't do that, then why on earth are we calling ourselves a community? so if you have any questions, or if you want some help, please don't be scared to ask! i can already tell that you've got the perfect mindset for the rpc!

[awwbuzz]

all was well guidelines

002 // GUIDELINES

community & conduct

REGARDING J.K. ROWLING —

While we use the world & characters created by J.K. Rowling, All Was Well distances itself from her harmful opinions, especially her transphobia, racism, and antisemitism. We’ve tried our best to remove some of the more problematic elements of her lore on site, and encourage and (prospective) members to do so as well. Goblins are no longer a part of our canon, and house-elves have been freed entirely. All Was Well aims to be an inclusive environment welcoming to all, and we have a zero tolerance policy regarding discrimination, bullying, and other problematic behavior.

THEMES & SUBJECT MATTER —

All Was Well is a 21+ site hosted on Jcink Premium. Our rating is set to 3/3/3 meaning we allow the playing of mature and dark subjects, however, the following subjects are not allowed to be played out on our site: rape, non consensual nsfw content, and pedophilia. We also ask that you mind the triggers of our members as well as keep in mind common triggers, and tag them appropriately when they occur.

ROLEPLAYING BEHAVIOR —

We hope that everyone is capable of basic roleplaying etiquette, this is to ensure everything runs smoothly and avoid any conflict between members. Please make sure to tag your content appropriately in post titles, using a [m] to indicate mature threads, and [cw] to indicate content warnings; avoid godmodding, powerplaying, or metagaming in character unless previously discussed; confirm that your writing partner is ok with any possibly triggering subject in a post; and try and match post length as much as you can unless otherwise discussed. Be kind, communicate with each other, and make sure that everyone is on board!

OUR COMMUNITY —

Joining the All Was Well DISCORD is obligated. Our communication and moderation happens through the server, as this is more accessible for everyone to be included. However, you are welcome to turn off notifications except for @ mentions. As for our community, we hope to create a welcoming & safe environment for everyone! We hope that everyone treats each other kindly, plotting flows freely and no one feels excluded, and if there is ever an issue, you feel comfortable communicating this to the staff.

creation & portrayals

REGISTERING AN ACCOUNT —

Before registering a character, please make sure to check our reservations and canons list to avoid any disappointment or misunderstandings. When registering your character, please use the format First Last, with the first initial capitalized. For any spelling errors, please contact the staff to fix it for you!

LIMITATIONS —

Here at ALl Was Well, we assume that you know your own limits and do not take on more than you can chew. There is no limit on the total amount of characters you can play, but only the first four characters are free. After those four characters, we ask that they all have a minimum of five thread posts before you can pick up the next, and so forth. Outside of that, you are not allowed to play more than three major canons total, to ensure they are divided equally between members. We ask that you also do not pick up any characters with close connections to one another, such as playing both Hermione & Harry, or both Draco & Scorpius.

PROMOTING DIVERSE PORTRAYALS —

In order to promote more BIPOC portrayals and gender diversity, the five thread post limit on new characters as referenced above is not applicable provided that the character you pick up is either: black, indigenous (to the Americas, the Caribbean, Australia, Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia), and/or identifies as transgender or non binary.

FACE CLAIMS / PLAY BY’S —

Please make sure to use established public figures to portray your characters, these are people such as actors, models, influencers, and musicians, and should be signed to an official label or agency. Currently we do not allow any faceclaims that are: younger than eighteen, have asked not to be portrayed, are deceased, adult content stars, those accused of either abusive and/or predatory behavior, and those known to be extremely racist and/or queerphobic.

APPROPRIATE CASTING —

When you cast your character, please make sure to keep to keep the following in mind. We use a +10/-10 years guideline for casting face claims in regard to the age of the character they portray, but if your options are incredibly limited (a specific ethnicity, gender identity, etc) we are willing to be flexible with this. However, please message the staff to discuss this first so that we can see if there are fitting options available and sign off in case there are not. We ask that you try your best to keep in mind the face claim’s ethnic background compared to the character. Whitewashing is absolutely not allowed, and we ask that in the case of family connections, you make sure their ethnicity matches as best as possible. We won’t ask you to dive into a face claim’s family history down to percentages, but we do ask that you try to make an accurate casting (i.e. no using Latine and South Asian face claims as biological siblings). Please portray trans / non binary characters and face claims properly. This means no erasing of the face claims identity, and using the proper pronouns. When casting for a trans or non binary character, we prefer the use of face claims that identify as such, but due to the lack of resources, we are okay with cis face claims being used. However, in the case of trans characters, we ask that your face claim matches the gender they transitioned to (so no using a cis man to portray a trans woman, for example).

WIZARDING WORLD DISCRIMINATION —

The wizarding world is very preoccupied with blood politics and the rights of creatures in society, and we find that is enough bigotry for them to deal with. As such, our wizarding world does not include racism, we simply do not allow it to be a thing. When it comes to gender identity and same sex marriage, the wizarding world is also more progressive. Resources are readily and freely available to transition and/or fulfill wishes for biological children, and same sex marriage has been legal for years. There might be some more traditional wixen who still regard this negatively, but it is seen as a very outdated view.

activity & moderation

CHARACTER ACTIVITY —

We have activity sweeps on Discord every month, to check if characters are still participating and have met our requirements. While your focus should always be on real life, we do want to make sure that the site keeps moving and no one is taking up a role they cannot handle. Each character has to have made at least two thread posts that month in order to pass the activity check, and they must post these in the activity check topic on the site itself. If a member fails to meet the activity requirement and has not contacted us regarding a hiatus, their claims will be reopened. The account will be archived for a month before we delete it, and you can contact staff to unarchive it should you wish to reapply. Members can post an absence in Discord if real life is too hectic to focus on roleplay that makes them exempt from this check, and any new members that have been accepted within two weeks of the activity check are exempt from it as well. In order to combat ghosting while having taken characters, we will occasionally check in with members if they disappear for a long period of time without any activity. We also remove members from our Discord if they have been in the server for two weeks or longer without applying / finishing a character for this same reason.

RESERVATIONS —

We allow reservations for face claims, canon names, and occupations. Reservations last a total of seven days after which they will be reopened. The staff offers an extension on reserves of an extra three days, provided you message us before the first reservation has ended. This is to avoid any reservations sitting for a long time without being turned into finished claims.

CHARACTER GRAPHICS —

Don’t forget to add your character’s graphics before submitting them for review. The mini-profile avatar should be 220x450px, the icon avatar is a square image that will automatically resize (but 150x150px is recommended!), and your mood board images should be any square image and will also resize!

SITE MODERATION —

For ease and accessibility, all moderation will happen through our Discord server. We will post announcements, reminders, and acceptances in there, and we have channels to submit finished characters, request topics to be moved or archived, and for thread tags for our members to use. Our server also has a ticket system, where you can make a private channel to message the staff regarding any questions or concerns. This ensures we are all kept in the loop and makes our task easier.

CONTACT WITH STAFF —

We aim to build a good community at All Was Well, but this does not happen without any input from members. Please communicate any possible issues with the staff, don’t let things fester behind the scenes, we are here to help you, but we are not omniscient and might not have noticed an issue! We understand that it can be anxiety-inducing to message us with an issue, especially if your issue is with the staff itself, but it is very important to communicate with us directly to ensure a solution can be worked out. The staff is across different time zones, which means we might take some time getting back to things, so we ask for your patience when it comes to questions and handling certain matters. We are open to constructive criticism and member input, but we do ask that you remain kind in doing so, and remember that the final decision will still be ours.

[akuzeisms]

GET TO KNOW THE AUTHOR

NAME: Sera/Seraphina

PRONOUNS: She/her

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: Tumblr IMs, or Discord if you have my Discord. I don't give out my discord openly, only to those I chat regularly with on Tumblr. You're welcome to ask, but understand that I may say no until a later date when I feel comfortable doing so.

NAME OF YOUR MOST ACTIVE MUSE(S): Ashley (at virmireisms) & Katrina (on this blog). I'm also relatively active on Miranda (solheimisms) and Alisa (furyisms) as well. I check all 4 blogs regularly, usually a few times a day, but I check from Ashley's most often (and usually only hop over to the other blogs to either do replies or send memes directly from their blogs).

EXPERIENCE/HOW LONG (MONTHS/YEARS?): I've been roleplaying since 2006 or so, so I've got well over 15 years. However, I have only been on tumblr since late 2021 or so, specifically in the Mass Effect fandom since February 2022.

PLATFORMS YOU'VE USED: Email, Userplane/Cbox/Chatango (yeeeears ago), forums, Twitter (and I will never go back), and Tumblr. I've also dabbled in D&D a bit, though I haven't played in years (only played 3.5 and 5e, and my last experiences were... unpleasant to say the least, so I'm hesitant to play again unless it's with IRL friends).

BEST EXPERIENCE: Honestly? Joining Tumblr. That's not to say I haven't met a few unpleasant people (who hasn't?) but for the most part, it feels good to have my creativity respected and given the love it deserves. I felt like on other platforms a lot of that was dying out, but it seems in general on Tumblr people actually love that kind of thing. It's refreshing. It feels amazing to have people that I can talk to regularly about our muses and just have fun with.

RP PET PEEVES/DEALBREAKERS: Multiple spacing on replies (around punctuation to separate it a little is fine, but every word is a no-go) because it causes me eyestrain. Tiny icons (same reason tbh). Excessively formatted replies (it's distracting to me/detracts from the writing). Also, people who don't fill out my interest tracker, especially if I fill out THEIRS. I don't mind if you take the time to interact with me and don't fill it out (& some people have it listed in their rules that they don't and that's fine) but my blogs aren't follow-for-follow. I want to interact if I follow. I assume you've read my rules, & if you don't fill it out, you've chosen to ignore my rules, and that is a problem. You're certainly not obligated to interact with all of my blogs, but at least one of them.

FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT: All of the above. I'd say it goes in the order of angst (I'm a sucker for hurt/comfort tbh), smut, and fluff. However, I like there being kind of a mix of things, like a sort of ebb and flow; I can't handle just straight, constant angst; there needs to be breakpoints in the thread to make it flow more naturally, because if there's just too much of one thing, it becomes repetitive and boring.

PLOTS OR MEMES: Both. If we're writing muses from the same verse and/or you have a Mass Effect AU, then memes are great, but if you don't have one/don't know a lot I do prefer plots just to hash something out and have something to work with, and then we can go from there. I like having a general idea of how our muses know each other or would interact to work from for sending memes so that we're kind of on the same page.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: Medium to long. Short replies (1-2 lines) I find very difficult to reply to because there's so little to work with. Medium (2-3 paragraphs average, I'd say) is fine to me, though I'll admit I prefer long. As long as it's within 2-5 paragraphs, that's honestly my comfort zone. I tend to reply to longer threads faster than I do short threads.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: Late at night. I'm a night owl, so I'm that person who'll crank out a bunch of things into the queue in a 2-3 hour timespan from like... 9pm to 12am. Sometimes I can get up early and do a few, but late at night is where I thrive.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S)?: Not really. My muses are influenced/like me in small ways, like... Ashley's favourite flower is dahlias because I really like dahlias, she likes yogurt parfaits because I like yogurt parfaits, but it's generally small things like that which I can relate to. Personality-wise, no, they're not like me.

TAGGED BY: @pessimistics TAGGING: @frstwomn @wcsea @diewithaname @inadxquacy & anyone who'd like to steal!

[dawntrailing]

PART ONE —

Sentence starters inspired by the Gridania Main Scenario Quests. Lines have been altered slightly for roleplaying purposes.

Let us begin at the beginning, shall we?

I have three tasks I wish you to perform.

All you need do is touch its surface.

You can be... uncooperative at times

Like so many people, you are much more charitable when your stomach is full.

Should you happen to come across anyone in need, don't be afraid to proffer a helping hand.

I am certain they will be pleased to meet you in whom they can confide their woes.

The work you offer is unlikely to be of realm-shattering importance.

Prove your worth and build a reputation.

In time, folk will be more inclined to entrust you with matters of moment.

I see you are faithfully following my instructions.

Allow me to offer you a bit of instruction myself.

Truly, few things in this world are so useful to an intrepid explorer.

You need not locate them all at once.

By what right does a fledgling person presume to address me?

You think you can stroll in here, bold as you please, and demand my hard-earned knowledge?

If you had something to curry my favor, then I might reconsider your request.

Come now, this whole encounter reeks of your handiwork.

Don't look so surprised. I smelled you from a malm away.

The conquering hero returns.

You have completed my little tasks, I trust?

It is best you grow familiar with them as soon as possible.

And you took the time to listen to their woes?

I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to lend your talents to one and all.

I am thankful that you are an obliging sort.

It is people like you who will win the hearts of others and pave the way for those who follow.

I pray I can rely on your aid in struggles to come.

Should you need help with anything, please don't hesitate to ask.

What will you ask?

What do you do here?

I spend most of my time serving or welcoming.

I have lost my family, my livelihood, and the will to carry on.

There were times when my grief was so crippling, I could barely speak.

You gave me a purpose and a place to heal, and here I've stayed.

Why is it called that?

I once asked you the very same question.

You told me you simply liked the flower.

The look in your eyes when I said it.

Well, I suppose we all have our secrets.

You never listen to me!

I've told you countless times not to venture outside without my permission, yet you never bother to ask.

You always treats me like a child. It fair drives me up the wall!

Come to join us on the front line? Or perhaps you've questions to ask?

Your food is as bland as it gets. I had heard the rumors, but gods, the water had more flavor!

There's coin to be had hunting bandits, I'll grant you that.

There're times when I long to do something more worthy of song.

I don't give two shites about how the food tastes. All I needs is drink.

<crunch> <crunch> <crunch> <crunch>

You'd do well to take my advice to heart.

There's some as say you're overbearing, but without you, we wouldn't be able to get by.

I myself owe you much and more.

I heard that you show yourself when enraged.

Call me reckless, but I'd love to see one in the flesh... or whatever the hells it is they're made of.

I don't understand you.

You make a great show of doubting me, yet place your trust in beings you can't even see.

Where is the reason in that, I ask you?

Yer one o' them, ain't ye?

This place fair swarms with outsiders o' late. Can't walk ten bloody yalms without bumpin' into one o' ye.

Don't be takin' this the wrong way.

We appreciate the hard work ye do.

'tis hard to be at ease when scores o' strangers walk through yer home every day.

See to it that you do naught which brings me to grief.

The wood... It's watching, you know!

One day, all this'll be mine!

Where in the seven hells were you?

I need to be back there by sundown!

Allow me to assist you.

[better-wcrps]

Players Should Not Have To Fight To Be Included

I’ve heard multiple times that across many roleplay experiences, a new player often feels that they need to fight to be acknowledged or interacted with when joining the roleplay for the first time. This can be both in character and out of character.

This means that out of character, a player is not given context to things like inside jokes, previous plots, or character relationships and interactions that have taken place in the past. These are not provided for the player, they are an after thought at best and usually will require the new player to reach out on their own– which can be difficult and not always worth the effort. This also applies to cliques that have developed OOC, friend groups that are well established and would prefer to talk to each other or go off on tangents that other people can’t participate in (such as playful arguing over something they’ve clearly talked about before outside of the roleplay.) This can even come down to simple ignoring– players will assume that someone else will acknowledge a new member or answer a question.

In character this means that when a new character appears for the first few times in roleplay… they often aren’t interacted with or reached out to. It puts them in a position to just react to what’s happening, irrelevant in the background until they earn the approval and friendship of established players via doing lots of work trying to break the ice. They may feel that their character has to make a scene or do something wild to be noticed, even if it would be out of character for that cat to do so. Only then might some eyes turn their way, or even worse– no one cares at all.

This is a deeply isolating experience and can be a major cause of player loss. Most people don’t have the energy or aren’t outgoing enough to want to put in the work to be a full part of a community– and they shouldn’t have to fight to do so. This is not a fault of the player but a major failure on the part of the staff of these communities and a problem with the communities they run– both existing players and staff need to change.

It is the job of staff to direct and remind players of what they should be doing– managing the community and how the community acts with other people. Staff should step in when they see this happening, and in fact they shouldn’t let it even get to this point. When introducing new players, staff should always make a point to describe their expectations for how existing players will treat new members. Never, EVER let something fall to ‘common sense.’ No matter what you think would be implied– it is never as obvious as you think and often times when people become comfortable in a community essential things can fall to the wayside.

Expectations should include that players will provide context for in-jokes and references new players might not get without being asked. It is also important to emphasize that current players specifically interact with new members, reaching out to them both ooc and in roleplay, getting interested in their character/s, and taking care to acknowledge their messages. A new member should frankly never, at any point, have a message that goes unacknowledged. Accidents happen, but the early moments of someone joining a community are key for their impression of the community. These ground rules are essential to making people feel at home. Staff need to direct players to do their absolute best to make someone feel at home. These reminders should happen with every new wave, no exceptions. There is no time where it isn’t relevant.

However, this responsibility does not fall only to staff. Existing players have the obligation to take the guidelines to heart. If players forget to include context– I encourage that other players bridge the gap and provide it for them. This is a collective effort. It is essential that if a player ignores these tips and stick to their own groups still, that staff step in for the health of their community and remind them to be more inclusive.

To players, I urge you to pay attention when new members are introduced into the roleplay community. Watch for their messages, take notice of their characters, make a specific effort to include them and plot with them. I do think that part of the appeal of joining a roleplay is making new friends, and just because you have made friends already in that roleplay doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make an effort when new people appear. Players know what it’s like to be new and it can be hard, especially in a long-since established roleplay.

I also urge you to please pay attention to how you behave in events or early roleplay with new members. Although it’s understandable and sometimes natural to have your character behave in a way that might be especially attention grabbing– a new member’s first roleplay is not the time for your character to resolve a long standing issue with another existing member, or for your character to have a medical incident (unless the situation calls for it, like a new member’s character being a healer), or for your character to address the group over an issue that new members can’t take part in. It’s isolating. Save those sort of things for another time.

To staff, I suggest you address your community with the above suggestions. Specifically announce this and enforce it as well, provide context on your own, help bridge gaps between players both new and old, and design events that allow new characters to have some spotlight without it falling prey to older members taking charge. I might even specifically say when starting such an event that it’s focused on new members– that existing members are encouraged to join but should for the moment leave any personal in character dramas out of the event to keep the focus on new characters and establishing budding new dynamics with them.

The older a roleplay is, the harder this becomes and the more crucial it is for players and staff to make these accommodations. This is something that can easily cut off the flow of new players and drain a roleplay over time– it isn’t an obvious effect at first, but if your existing players take their friend groups elsewhere, you will have no one to fill the gap if you continue to focus on what existing players you have left rather than helping new members.

If you notice a high amount of player loss within the first few months after an opening, specifically where new members decide not to stay within the roleplay community, you may have this problem. There’s a natural player loss of people who find that the roleplay setting, pace, or environment doesn’t work for them. But if you lose a large amount or a leaving member cites a lack of muse or not feeling engaged– that’s the fault of the roleplay community. It’s easy to be comfortable enough in a community that you forget to be inclusive, but this is something staff should actively be looking out for and preventing. Find problems before they start, for the sake of the players who only want to be a part of the world you’ve made.

[littlemisslol-fic]

Hi, sorry to bother you but I had an idea for an AU where Varian is studying an artifact called the 'Silver Wing' yes I took that from Pokemon, no I am not ashamed. The premise is basically after spending weeks trying to understand the artifact and decipher the scrolls left about it. Turns out it chooses a holder and works in the ways the sundrop and moonstone do by kind of staying inside the heart of the user.

After a very selfless act on Varian's part (rescuing Rapunzel from falling from the balcony, I dunno if you've seen a Silent Voice but its kind of like that scene. He manages to pull her up only to fall himself and in the moment the artifact reacts and brings him back up to the tower safely in what appears to be a gust of wind blowing around him) However after the initial excitement he finds the Silver Wing has disappeared and, you guessed it. It's part of him now. However he starts to notice he has some upper back problems (I'm honestly just deflecting at this point) and after some hours he ends up sprouting some wings. He's super freaked and that's all I got.

I used to roleplay a lot, and have so many ideas, but the rp crowd has kind of died and you are kind of my favorite author. So I was hoping for maybe a little advise? Or if you know an author who co-writes things?

Again, please don't feel obligated to answer. I hope you're doing well. Keep writing your awesome fics! <3

Hey hey! Nah man I’m always down for a chat!

That sounds like a really fun idea for an au! I love a good wing fic, the concept is SO interesting! The big reveal of the flight powers especially sounds really awesome, I live for “oh my god WHAT” moments in fics!! With wings too it’s so easy to hop onto things like preening as a social bonding thing, or other bird things. There’s a lot of possibilities! Imagine rapunzel's FACE lol

As for advice, the best I really have for finding RP partners and co-authors is to join some of the online fan communities! I found my co-writer Iza (for Cor Meum)  on a varigo server, and same with basically all my online friends in different communities! Discord is a great place to start, so is tumblr, but I personally like to drop into places with lots of people since it’s easy to slip in and out of conversations as they go along without getting overwhelmed. Kinda suss out the vibe before jumping in, you know? Your results may vary of course, depending on your personal comfort zones. 

Though I’m not active on any public servers anymore I’m sure they’re out there! Once you narrow down the general masses and find the really devoted fans I’m sure you could find a RP partner or even a group! Same with a co-writer, I find that ramble channels are great to see whose ideas you might vibe with–that’s how I found a couple of my friends! I'm pretty solitary by nature lol, my hobby is sitting alone on a computer, after all hehe

That or sometimes the most fun thing is to write your ideas yourself! To each their own lol. I find that writing out my ideas in a point form outline really helps me get the idea out of my head and into something more tangible–and then once it’s there I can start shuffling around for pacing and ebb and flow and etc etc, taking it from concept to proper outline, and then once all that’s done the writing is easy lmao. You just follow the road map! I find that looking into things like Campbell's hero's journey, the Save the Cat beat sheet, and the like really help while prepping an outline for a good, cohesive story.

ANYWAYS I’ll stop rambling! Thank you so much for the kind words of love!! I’m honored to be your favorite author!! I hope you’re doing good, man! 💕💕

[a-blu-jay]

In the light of the whole doomsday arc and chaos I think it's important to like,,, clarify ? Some points ppl r makin even tho theyre prob not gonna see it.

Also!! This is all /roleplay and talking about the characters not the content creators

Yes, everyone has fucked up. That's what they're ALL going for, especially the ppl takin the lead when it comes to the writin of the script. Everyone is a fucked up character and everyone is a good character with the exception of Dream.

Now to get some more in depth:

Let's start with c!Tubbo. Since the beginning he's been put into tight and bad situations. Watching his friends get exiled, being made a spy for the sake of Intel to win a war which is So Much Pressure, eventually fighting in said war, being made president of the revolutionized country but then immedietly having to rebuild it, later be manipulated to exile his beat friend and brother in arms etc etc. It's a lot of trauma and greif, it's not false to call him a child solider because that's exactly what he is. Schlatt was right, the moment he died the country was doomed, wether that be from Pogtopia, Technoblade, Dream or the inevitability that the leadership would fall onto Tubbo. He's not infallible and he's not experienced. He's a severely Traumatised teenager. But this doesn't necessarily make him a good person.

Next is c!Technoblade because I have some Opinions. He's a fucked up character. Just like everyone else, just in a more transparent way. A lot of the characters hide the bad things they've done in a way to preserve moral righteousness and such. Technoblade has always been clear and transparent he wants nothing more than anarchy, chaos and the fall of L'manburg. Now, acts of terrorism aren't good, they're pretty fucked up. The great thing about his character is that he's so goddman complex. Just like Tubbo and Tommy he's been wronged. And just like Tubbo and Tommy he's a hypocrite. That's what happens when you have morally grey and ambiguous characters. He made his intentions about anarchy clear and Pogtopia made their intentions about Governments clear, they both chose to ignore eachother which in the end made them Hypocrites. A specific point I want to make about Technoblade teaming up with Dream is that Tommy has NEVER been clear with Technoblade with how Dream treated him. Technoblade couldn't have known what Dream did because of Tommy's trauma about speaking about it and Dream's manipulation. Technoblade teamed up with Dream because they shared a common goal, he doesnt trust Dream and has voiced that before. Also! Tommy's point in their argument in the middle of Doomsday was really interesting, he said (I'm paraphrasing) "why can't you just let people love what they love." A thing to note is that Technoblade DID. After the end of the revolution he left to go live in retirment and solitude and let them fight amongst eachother and destroy eachother. The very same Government he predicted to be corrupt then tried to execute him without trial even though they said he'd be given one. Which is a pretty corrupt thing to do. In the end Technoblade was used and just a little bit mistreated but he's not in the right because of that. Again, he can be seen in the lense of a Villain but that doesn't mean he really is one.

Now onto c!Tommy. His character is deffinetly an interesting one! I think his main fault is his own hubris. He's prideful to a default and stubborn when it comes to the idea he could have done something wrong because of how badly he wants to be the/a hero. Now, I'm not saying he HASN'T taken accountability for some things he's said and done because he most certainly has and thus has grown as a character. Another huge fault is his hyperfixation on the emotions and people attached to objects. Honestly? Tubbo logically wasn't wrong, they're just discs. But in Tommy's head they're a symbol of his and Tubbo's friendship. The problem is when he picks these discs over his actual friendship with Tubbo and how Dream has manipulated him. Dream plays a BIG part in why Tommy thinks the discs are so valuable. If you're told enough times and manipulated into thinking objects hold a significant value to the things important to you then eventually they become fiercely important to you and have some weight to them. I think in the beginning, in Tommy's brain destroying the discs meant his and Tubbo's friendship was over because of the part they've played in their friendship. Again, Tubbo only ever saw them as dics, plastic vinyls that drop from mobs and play pretty music. To another point, Tommy is also explicitly Hypocritical, just like Technoblade. He holds onto the fact that Tubbo and L'manburg and it's people are his friends and he cares about him but then calls Technoblade his friend and casts his emotions aside. The problem is the blatant fact that Tommy used Technoblade as a weapon and after being called out that friends don't do that to eachother he ignores it. In this instance he's no better than Technoblade. A kinda big problem is his character development, which really doesn't have a lot to do with c!Tommy and more with how the writers suggest developing him as a character. I think the main thing is that he goes to Tubbo's side saying how the discs never truly mattered to later saying they need the discs. The discs don't matter. What matters is defeating Dream. But just like Tubbo, Tommy is a highly and incredibly traumatised Teenager.

Next is c!Ranboo, the mad lad! I don't really have a whole lot to say? Just some quick analysis of what his characters ideals are and his actions in everything. Looking at his character he's incredibly paranoid, anxious and probably Traumatised from things we the audience don't know. At the end of the day he's a true neutral character. In one of the tweets cc!Ranboo sent it said that as long as Dream isn't hurting the people he (character Ranboo) directly cares about, he doesn't care what Dream does. For a good portion he was against Dream because he cared about everyone nd dream was hurting everyone. He's joined Technoblade and Ph1lza in the Arctic because he thinks that Dream has gotten what he wants, he doesn't know anything about Dream and Tommy's conversation by the end of Doomsday. Also! Ranboo's ideals/beliefs are anarchist by nature and principle. The reason he has a problem with choosing sides between L'manburg and Dream is because of the hierarchy within those sides, and the obligation that you have to fight that comes with picking those sides. Technoblade and Ph1lza both chose to fight under free will and because they chose too without coercion. Everyone is equal there. There's a really good post somewhere talking about it that'll I'll look for that explains it very well. (EDIT: found the post also hopefully i did the link right)

This is getting painfully long so I'm wrapping it up here with a few last things. Everything has always come down to Dream. The reason L'manburg was built was to get away from the oppressive power that is Dream (another point for Technoblade teaming up w dream, he wasn't there for Dreams stuff, he only knew of Schlatt but I digress). Dream has manipulated everyone, he's running the puppet show with the strings tied to his fingers. He's manipulated Tubbo, Tommy, Ranboo, Technoblade, Schlatt, EVERYONE. He's pitted everyone against eachother because he loves the chaos. Because he knows that if they weaken eachother it'll be a lot easier to take control with less effort put in from his part. Dream has always been the main antagonist from the very very beginning. Sure some could say Tommy started it with the discs but Dream was the one who took them in the first place etc.

He's also pitted the audience against eachother. It's really interesting in how he's actually manipulated the audience. It doesn't matter who's on what side or who's wronged who when the cause for all their greif has always been Dream. The fandom is fighting over traitors and betrayals and villain arcs. It doesn't matter, not when Dream is runnin free with the amount of power that he has.

[sinnhelmingr]

SO YOU WANT TO PROMOTE YOUR ROLEPLAY GROUP.

and that’s great! i’m sure you have a fantastic idea to develop your story, and a genuine love for what you’ve created. there’s nothing more harrowing and rewarding than putting your skeletons out there and watching interested players snap them up! i don’t think there’s anyone but the most curmudgeonly indie who will begrudge others for wanting to share their creativity with the community. 

no doubt you’ve poured at least a day or two into the skeletons, the theme, the graphics, and perhaps most importantly, the promo. after all, how will your group get off the ground without reaching out to others? promoting is a time-honored aspect of roleplaying on this site, one that most of us have taken part in from time to time. from the simplest single image to the most ornate multi-panel gif templates, promos are a great way to get your blog out there and invite others to engage with your content.

if. they are used reasonably. promos give you the power to reach out to entire communities that could join your group, and with that power comes great responsibility. this includes recognizing that while you are ready to put in the work to put your group on the map, there are plenty of indies who use the same tags you do. some indie muns might be willing to apply, some might simply scroll past your content, and some will block groups on sight, and that’s the variety you can expect from the independent blogs you share tags with. one thing that all kinds of muns can usually agree on, however, is that scrolling past entire walls of content over and over again is annoying.

really, really annoying. especially in the event that your promo overtakes the tag others are trying to navigate. double that annoyance if trying to take the high road and block/filter out your promo account breaks the tag entirely. with some groups, it becomes obvious that moderators think that taking over a tag is a sure way to generate interest, which might be true... but ask yourself if people complaining about your content is the kind of interest you want.

it seems that recently, a number of rpgs have decided that posting a single or rotating stable of promo graphics upwards of ten to fifteen times a day is necessary to drum up their numbers, and in particularly slow but active tags, the spam can really add up fast. and that is what it comes down to : spam, flooding a tag with your own content so nothing else can rise to the surface. this is the kind of behavior that gets commenters banned on more functional sites, but as we well know, tumblr is not that. thus it falls more to the moderators themselves to, well, moderate themselves.

consider the following before invading a tag:

try to maneuver one of your favored tags from another account. see how long it takes you to find an indie blog, or block your promo account and see if it breaks the tag. this should give you a taste of what indie muns go through trying to maneuver around your flood of content. consider that while you want to build a community of writing partners, so do people outside of your group, and how you might make that harder for them through your promotion tactics.

only post in an rp tag from your promo account. i often see blogs post unrelated content into tags commonly used to promote for new followers, things like mod activity updates from an hq blog or even random asks about fcs. ask yourself what bearing this really has on your promotion, especially in a tag you already use heavily. people have already seen your many graphics -- is an update about you being online or activity checks that could be handled in-house really going to reel in that one person who might not otherwise apply? i suppose it’s possible, but it’s just as likely you’re contributing to a wider audience having to block another account just to make it through to people who will interact with them.

consider changing tags. have you noticed that people aren’t applying from a certain fandom or setting? have you posted in that certain rp tag time and time again only for that latest batch of applications to come up with no results from it? maybe that should be a sign to ease off of the tag for a bit. if you post too frequently, rest assured that users are seeing you, and it’s likely people there aren’t taken by your group. that might be hard to hear, but not everyone has the time or inclination to pour into a group, and that’s okay. shift focus to those fandoms and settings where you are getting some good returns, and if you still need that other tag, try again in the future. chase what works and stop trying to make your group happen where there’s a lack of curiosity.

try looking into alternative tags. imagine how much easier it would be for players to find your account if there was a dedicated group tag depending on the fandom or genre they write for. your page could be more easily accessed by popularity without having to compete with indie account promos, which often rack up a fair amount of likes and reblogs, for space at the top of the page. as there are already some pretty dedicated ‘indie [fandom]’ and ‘indie [genre]’ tags in play, there’s nothing saying that groups can’t employ the same advertising maneuvers.

and above all else, scale back the number of posts you queue in a short amount of time. twenty posts in a day, which i have seen in extreme cases, is inexcusable. even ten in a day has the potential to really upend maneuverability in particularly slow but active fandoms. i want to repeat that your page is being seen, i promise, and if you’re ruining the tag for others by putting out more than one post an hour, you’re being seen for all the wrong reasons. if people have to actively come forward to you asking you to please stop posting so often, consider that you have a problem with oversaturating your group.

of course, no one group of mods is under any obligation to listen to this. the few groups that i have seen others reach out seem to believe that if they don’t post at least three times an hour four times a day some other group will swoop in and steal potential players out from under them. a few that certain mutuals have approached even claim that many promos a day is ‘normal.’ and i would like to say, from the bottom of my heart, it shouldn’t be and you’re part of the reason other mods think that. i want to believe after almost a decade on this site that indies and groups can coexist as they always have, but i know others and i myself are recently at the mercy of scrolling past endless amounts of group promotions to find even one new blog, especially in larger fandoms. some groups have even gone so far as posting in indie rp tags, which defeats the purpose of the tag entirely. with a little courtesy and less obsessive advertising, we can find a middle ground that allows both groups and indies to use the tools available to us to entice new interactions and players alike.

[expressiveanywayface]

Can’t believe my last post here was 4 years ago... So ashamed. I need to fix this!

It was a looooong period, in which I took a rest from touhou fandom and most of my hobbies. A lot of things happened. I managed to get the bachelor degree at economics and now I study to get the magister degree. Now I feel refreshed and think that this blog needs changes.

1. More #outofmasks . That means I will post here my touhou arts, animations and maybe fanfictions if I feel like it. Also I’ll share more of my headcanons and thoughts on touhou girls. I need to be more brave when it comes to expressing myself.

2. I thought a lot about Kokoro, her character development and future. Previousy, I was disappointed by the fact that she always stays a child and doesn’t really learn anything. It has gotten to the point she didn’t know nearly anything at all about the world she lives in. Actually, I have a story in my head that I imagined a long time ago and want to finally bring it to life here, in this blog.

3. About post pictures. I felt obligated to add them and they started repeating at some point. Also there were cases when I didn’t find specific pictures because of my headcanons. But worry not: as I roleplay here, I’ll draw them myself and gather the picture base as full as possible.

4. Other muses? Hmm... Maybe I’ll keep Yumemi. She has a lot of possibilities and I want to include Renko, Maribel and Sumireko as her companions. It will be fun.

5. I’m terribly sorry for the dropped roleplaying branches. It was fun, I don’t regret a single minute spent on writing all these posts, but due to the reasons written above, I won’t continue them. Also you may not want it yourself. If so, I understand. We can start it all over again, but please keep in mind that in the beginning there won’t be pictures or I’ll take them from previous posts if I see it fit.

6. Before I left, I also felt bored when roleplayed only in the canon setting. Sometimes I’ll feel like stepping away from it and come up with some au’s like a school- or sns au. Please don’t be afraid and don’t hesitate to join if you want. I’m still non-selective, after all.

Phew... If you are ready to accept me again, all you need is to write the post and put the familiar tag #expressiveanywayface or wait for my post. It won’t take long this time, I promise. Now, when I suddenly returned, I feel in this blog like home. It feels like a part of my soul that’s always been with me.

[ratmonky]

Lovers After Midnight

Strangers After Midnight

Nothing will make me happier than wearing sundresses indoors while blasting LDR on the speaks and sipping on Prosecco.

AO3 Link

PS: This fic is related to Behind Closed Doors

Warnings: drunk sex, clothed sex, Smelly Bastard Gin

Word Count: 2.2K

 Working at Shinsengumi was exhausting. There wasn’t a single day where you didn’t have nothing to do. Most of your days went with investigating the rebels and trying to locate them down to capture their leader, Katsura.

 At nights, no matter how much you wanted, you couldn’t leave the headquarters, nobody could unless it was related to work. Because of the new regulations vice commander came up with after the mission on the mountains, you were obligated to sleep in the Shinsengumi headquarters and you were on duty almost every day except Sundays.

 Everyone hated the new system but the vice commander said it was necessary to stay in the headquarters at night considering if the government wanted a quick response from the force when they called for help.

 In short, you had become a literal dog of the government, you had no social life or friends outside of work.

 The work was stressful enough but ever since you had started dating the Yorozuya’s boss, you have been having it extra difficult to have time for yourself. Nowadays, you couldn’t slack off from work to see Gintoki so you always spend Sundays with him whenever you could.

 He often complained about your new work schedule and kept insisting on you letting him sneak into your room at night so you two could be alone together. But you refused his wishes since if the vice commander were to spot him in the headquarters, both of you would be in trouble for real this time.

 Considering how busy your new schedule was, a Friday night out with your friends was all you needed after working non-stop for months now. Today was important because it was your first day off from Shinsengumi in months and you had been yearning to see your friends for so long.

 You were catching up with your best friend in the bathroom as your friend’s boyfriend was buying drinks for everyone.

 “Let me see it!” you clung to your friend’s wrist to look at the bracelet she got from her boyfriend. She showed it off with a big smile on her face, as expected it was an expensive piece. With a sigh, you retrieved your hand.

 “Jealous?” Your friend was the only person who knew about your relationship with the useless and unemployed samurai boyfriend. She knew that Gintoki wouldn’t be able to afford anything her boyfriend bought her.

 “Yes,” you giggled, fixing your hair as you talked, “but not jealous of the bracelet. I wish Gin was here.”

 Your friend patted on your back, grinning from ear to ear. “Break up with that guy.”

 “You’re so supportive, thanks!” You pushed her hand away. “It’s not funny, I haven’t seen him in so long.”

 After a moment of silence, she changed the subject. “How’s it living with over a dozen men in a compound?”

 You fidgeted your fingers while she fixed her dress. “You see, they’re all very friendly but the vice commander is so brutal.”

 Her expression changed, “Hijikata?” she spoke while laughing. “He’s so damn handsome, it cancels out every bad thing he does.”

 “Ah, well… he’s handsome but he won’t let my boyfriend see me or let me go out to see him even for five minutes.”

 “Well, dump him then.” Your friend wasn’t surprised. “Sakata didn’t join us because of what? His terrorist friend is in town? He’s useless, he’s not worth your time.”

 “You’re so mean,” you pouted, crossing your arms over your chest.

 It wasn’t Gintoki’s fault he couldn’t be here. If only Katsura wasn’t injured, surely he would have joined you to have fun with your friends.

 (But then why had you heard from Otae that Gintoki’s old friends were at his place and how they were planning to hang out?)

 “That’s just the truth,” she murmured.  “And won’t his terrorist friends get you in trouble? You could lose your job if your boss found out about how close you are with his friends and all.”

 You didn’t answer her because she was right. If someone found out about your connections to the enemy, you would have to commit seppuku.

 Five rounds of drinks were all you needed to forget about everything though. Your friend and her boyfriend were already dancing on the dance floor together. You had promised to join them once you were done with your drink but somehow with each sip you took from your drink, you wanted to go home.

 It was a first. You had never wanted to go home this early before, you weren’t sure if it was because of how tired you were or your friend’s harsh comments about your boyfriend but you weren’t having fun.

 This night out was supposed to help you loosen up and enjoy yourself yet you weren’t even enjoying your drink.

 Decidedly, you went home once your friends returned to the booth you were sitting in.

 The street was mostly empty, and it was freezing cold, you had planned on walking back but as cold the weather was, it was better to take a cab. So you frantically waved your arm to hail a taxi off the empty city street. Slowly a yellow taxi cab rolled to a stop and you sunk in.

 “Where to, ma’am?” came a suave voice. You rubbed your temples, “Uh, to…” you tried to remember. “Yorozu-” you stopped yourself from finishing the sentence. Gintoki was with his own friends tonight, you didn’t want to disturb him. “Shinsengumi headquarters.”

 He hummed in acknowledgment as the car rolled forward. Not more than five minutes, you were in front of the main entrance. You took out your purse, paid the cab driver and thanked him before going inside, trying to look sober to tonight’s guards by the door.

 You laughed to yourself once they let you in. Kicking off your shoes, you stumbled around until you made it to the main building’s hall.

 Swinging around and trying to be quiet, you walked down the hall, making your way to your room.

 Cheerful voices coming from the meeting room echoed through the hall. Now, you had to be extra careful to not make a noise. If you were caught sneaking around, those who were partying in the meeting room would drag you in to join them. And although you enjoyed partying with them, you didn’t want to ruin the mood with your current problems.

 Your stomach wouldn’t stop growling and rumbling, aching to have something to digest, other than the alcohol you’ve been drinking. Your head started spinning, you had to get to your room before you passed out in the hall.

 Sliding open the door to your room felt so refreshing and promising since your head spinning had worsened from when it first started. Walking carefully, you tried to find the light switch in the pitch dark of your room. Finally, with a soft click, you turned on the lights.

 A surprised gasp left your lips when you saw your futon that was supposed to be in your closet, prepared on the floor with someone sleeping in it. With the silver fluffy curly hair sticking out from under the sheets, it was easy to tell who it was.

 “Gintoki?” you called out.

 He didn’t respond.

 You walked over to him, crouching down and pulling the blanket down. He was asleep.

 You had no idea how he snuck inside or why he was here. But he had to go back. Gintoki being here meant trouble for both of you.

 “Ugh,” you grimaced, he reeked of alcohol and tobacco. Although you didn’t smell any better, Gintoki smelled nastier than usual. After covering your mouth with your hand you shook him. “Gintoki, you need to go home.”

 He suddenly pulled you in his arms. You squeaked in surprise but kept it quiet when you remembered how thin the walls were.

 “You’re not even happy I’m here, what kinda bullshit girlfriend are ya?” So, he was faking to be asleep just to play around.

 “I’m happy to see you but you can’t be here.” you struggled in his strong arms, argh he was too strong. “And I need to take a bath. I reek of sweat and alcohol.”

 Gintoki laced his fingers with yours and quickly took you under him, slamming your hands down to the futon over your head.

 You gasped softly when he buried his face to the crook of your neck. “You smell good to me,” he brushed his lips against your pulse point.

 “Stop sniffing me!” you snarled at him nervously. “Now, get off me. Someone could find out you’re here-”

 Gintoki clicked his tongue. “Honestly, don’t you think it’s more exciting that way?” he asked. Then he pulled himself back to watch your reactions.

 Finally getting a good look at him you noticed that he was wearing the Shinsengumi uniform. Not the one you wore. It looked more like the-

 “Vice commander’s uniform?”

 “Ah, this?” Gintoki smirked. “It looks much better on me, right? I thought we could roleplay as the commander and his underling who needs to let him fuck her to keep her position as-”

 “That’s too specific!” you snapped. “Hijikata will kill us, you have to take it off!”

 Gintoki’s smirk grew wider, “Oh? So you want me to strip?”

 You made a small noise of embarrassment, which was all Gintoki was looking for to continue.

 “Gotcha!” He let go of your hands, leaning over you to peck on your lips. He used a hand to pull you closer and fondled your tits over your shirt with the other. You arched your back, wrapping your arms around his neck almost immediately.

 He pushed his tongue inside to part your lips. Luckily he didn’t waste too much time kissing you on the lips. His hands moved south, one hand groping your ass and the other decidedly going inside your shirt.

 “I’ve missed you,” he whispered, earning a silent chuckle from you. “Did you miss me too?” he moaned into your ear as his fingers teased your nipples, hoping to get some cute moans from you.

 When that didn’t work, Gintoki pressed his growing bulge to your groin, rubbing himself shamelessly onto you.

 “Gin, it hurts,” you whispered. The pants’ fabric was too rough, the friction gave him pleasure but possible skin rashes to you.

 “It hurts,” you told him again, trying to politely suggest that he should stop but he chuckled and started humping you more roughly.

 His cock underneath his pants was hard enough for you to be able to feel it throbbing against your clothed sex.

 “Asshole.” No matter how thick the fabric of the pants was, you had managed to soak it up with your own juices. You lifted your hips to show him exactly where you wanted him to grind on.

 “I can’t hear you,” he laughed. Given the new position with you lifting your hips up for him, it was easier for him to grind you down onto the futon with a little too much force.

 “It fucking hurts dumbass!”

 Gintoki covered your mouth with his hand. “Too much.” he whispered, “You’re letting your voice out, someone will hear.” He kept the fast pace going, though. “Or could it be that you want that guy to find us again?”

 You gasped to his hand covering your mouth with Hijikata’s image coming into your mind and Gintoki responded with a long, pleased hum. “You do?”

 Shaking your head, you spread your legs wider. It felt good, his thrusts and the friction of the fabrics now felt amazingly good, weird, it could be because of you remembering what had happened in the mountains.

 Gintoki let out a low hiss. His hips started to move more jerkily and his pace faltered entirely. He pressed himself onto your clothed pussy as hard as he could before his entire body stiffened.  

 You tried to ignore the feeling of the warm yet sticky wetness soaking up your pants along with his own. From the way, he grinned you could tell he was unbothered by the fact that he came inside the pants. Hopefully, he’ll wash them and leave them to dry so vice commander wouldn’t notice-

 He threw himself to your side, closing his eyes as if he was about to fall asleep.

 Or not.

 “You’re hopeless,” you sighed.

 “I love you too!” He wrapped an arm around you to pull you closer. “We should do this often. Next time you should come to my place in your uniform and we’ll roleplay as the anti-foreigner rebel and Shinsengumi-”

 “What’s up with the oddly specific roleplays?” you laughed. The stickiness and the ugly stench were unbearable but you chose to ignore it as you snuggled up to Gintoki. “Did you pick that up from Sougo?” you asked since Okita used to ask you extremely specific questions like this.

 “Soichiro? No?” Gintoki pressed a kiss on your lips, still trying to catch his breath. “It’s definitely Soichiro who’s copying me.”

 “It’s Sougo,” you corrected with a giggle. “Ah, I’ve missed you.” Unable to keep your eyes open, you put your head on his chest. “Goodnight.”

 Gintoki smiled to himself, you were efficiently telling him to stay.

 “Goodnight.”

[dailycharacteroption]

Roleplay Ramblings: House Rules part 1

Substituting Skills

 The first thing you see printed in many tabletop rpg rulebooks is an assurance that you are not obligated to follow any of the rules that follow. You can pick and choose, ignore, or even change and replace the rules that you see if doing so helps give you a better experience.

You might think that a particular spell or class ability is too strong in general, or for the campaign you are running. Alternatively, you might find a gap in what the rules cover that you may have to fill in, but not necessarily, (or necessarily, in some cases) homebrew in an answer for your campaign.

In general though, house rules are generally more on the technical side, rather than having any fluffy to go with them, and help the game go smoothy at the table.

Of course, as a general guideline, house rules can and should be gone over with the whole group ahead of time, including with new players that join a campaign later on. Nothing feels more like being jerked around than a GM denying your actions or abilities based on a house rule that you weren’t made aware of beforehand. It can ruin whole character builds sometimes if, say, a particular feat functions differently than normal or is outright banned.

 This week, I’ll be focusing on houserules that add or change things, rather than take away, since the vast majority of the latter can be chalked up to “The GM doesn’t want to have to deal with this new option, so they ban it.” Which is a whole other can of worms involving a lack of time or desire to learn about the option and incorporate it into the game in a balanced way.

In any case, today we’ll be looking at a common house rule: Substituting skills!

Almost everyone has used this in some fashion before. Nobody in the party has the right skill to progress in the adventure as intended, or they failed a roll on something that can’t be rerolled and is kinda important.

Either way, while the vast majority of skills in Pathfinder represent different things, there is some overlap here and there that one’s goals can be achieved through alternate means. An acrobatics check to supplant climb, a crafting (carpentry) skill check in place of knowledge engineering in regards to structures made of wood, and so on. One might even go as far as to not call this a house rule at all, but rather just good GM sense to keep the story rolling on.

Some, however, are a larger stretch, such as this next example: Using knowledge: religion to identify outsiders, but only if said outsiders are common servants of whatever deity or faith you worship, or are well-known enemies of said faith. The sort of beings that would show up in parables and stories of the faith. GM fiat on what counts as an enemy of the faith in this case.

When making alternate skill checks, it is ultimately the GM’s choice on whether the DC changes. My personal ruling is that if you are tackling the problem in a different way, such as using acrobatics to parkour up a wall rather than climb it, then the DC may not change at all unless doing so would be more difficult.

On the other hand, using an entirely different skillset to try and achieve the same results, such as recalling knowledge using a skill only tangentially related might automatically incur penalties or increased DCs.

 Regardless, this simple house rule is a good quality of life improvement that encourages players to think laterally with their skillsets, and can occasionally let less skillful characters a moment to shine with their skillset.

That does it for today, but I hope you’re looking forward to the rest of this special!

[calamitousrpgarchive]

Hi. This could be a long shot but I used to rp on jcink and I left it almost a year ago to take a break as I found the communities very toxic. I miss my characters and I forgot you there were rp communities on tumblr! I have never rp'd on tumblr before and I'm not sure how it works, as in where is the actual place where written character posts are or where members chat? I'm a newbie to tumblr rp and would love to join. I would appreciate some advice on how to start! xx

Hey there! Thank for for taking the time to reach out to us, we’re more than happy to try our best and give you to tumblr RP rundown! Sorry to hear you had a poor experience elsewhere - rest assured, if you want to be part of Crooked, we don’t bite! (We even have Game Nights !)

A summary of what I’ll try cover: 

Your blog is where you post as your muse/character per se, you can reblog musings and anything you like about your character(s) on here for the group to see. 

Your replies/roleplay interactions are also on here where you can post responses to open starters and engage in all that’s happening! (If you don’t use discord - we use it as our OOC platform, your OOC communications will go on your blog(s) too!)

So, to begin, the way the process of on the dash RP-ing works is generally: You create a tumblr account separate to your personal/main. You can use a little trick in the sign-up process to avoid creating new emails and losing track. For example: 

MyEmailAddress@gmail.com can be used for your personal tumblr escapades! And then, for an RP one, you can use the same email, but format it like this: MyEmailAddress+Character@gmail.com. (It still goes to your same inbox, but it allows you to have multiple accounts - if you’re using them for different groups.)

I already feel like I might have lost you a little here - so, let me continue off this topic... we can always help you set-up later! 

Once you have a tumblr account, you can then decide if you want to keep it organised in the sense of individual character blogs or if you want to compile multiple characters onto one blog; then use the tumblr tagging system to make it clear which you’re using if you have gathered a few muses! We have a mixture in the group who use Mumu blogs (multi-muse) and those who use individuals - it’s purely personal preference! Despite using a Mumu myself here in Crooked, I generally prefer individuals because it makes it a little easier to keep up with the replies I may owe! 

Alrighty, so there’s that ramble added... It’s honestly much simpler to navigate than I may be making it out to be - my apologies! Essentially, you reblog interactions at your pace and create new ones for those to engage in and your threads are you ongoing interactions. If you would like some examples, I’ll list the admin blogs below so if you wanted to have a quick scroll for examples of how we kind of interact - there’s not really a right or wrong way! 

@crxxkedevil , @twistedxpromises & @eternallyxcrooked 

These listed above are all mumu blogs - so we have multiple characters we have compiled into a single blog, whereas we have members that have a main blog and then add side blogs for each picked up OC character. But you should be able to see the method of roleplay in each of these. There is also no rule on length or tense you write in ... you’ll see some variation, I’m sure. As long as it’s understandable and we can gauge interactions, you’re on for a win! Hurrah! 

I feel like that’s the getting started basics kind of covered? Everyone has their own tumblr tagging system on their posts to be able to retrieve former interactions and such. 

A beneficial program (I’d recommended getting.) is a free add-on for google chrome browsers called XKit as it offers the ability to edit posts once they’ve been posted and you can reblog just the newest interaction instead of swarming the dash with previous/repeat engagements. Honestly, if you haven’t realised I’m Queen of the Rambles - you... do now... but truly, we’re all friendly and willing to help you every step of the way! You’ll pick it up in no time, I’m sure! A lot of information and step-by-steps are covered in sections of the Main blog that might give you some insights beyond my explanations! 

As for discord, this is the OOC platform we use for out of character interactions and general day-to-day conversations. (Also, game nights... and lots of other chaos.) It’s also free and is available on both mobile & desktop. There’s no obligation to be part of the server there - but you’re more than welcome to get to know your fellow members and RP-ers! Helps with plotting threads and interactions too.

As a last addition: we’ve broken down the process a little on the Navigation page (Mobile Navigation, here.) so you’re able to look at things pre-application and then post-application to try encourage an ease of access for all. Hopefully by looking at some blog examples of ours and having a meander through the CrookedSoulsRPG main blog that you should find some helpful resources. We also have a resources blog, here if you want to look at gifs and icons... especially if you’re potentially not used to using gifs/icons/gif icons in your interactions, we try to where we can and there’s many faces for inspiration if you haven’t acquired an arsenal of faces yet! 

Thank you again for sending this in! I hope that this somewhat helped you in your starting up process? If you need clarification on more, you’re more than welcome to hit us with all the messages you like, or if you want to pop in an application if you think you’e got the ropes and an idea of what muses/characters you wanna throw into the Crooked world. A quick read down our guidelines to check they’re all good for you and you’re away! 

We’re more than happy to continue helping you through the process in any way we can - we’re all very welcoming! Please, don’t be shy! Believe me, we’re all been there before, we all start somewhere! 

[wethepixies]

Welcome to the third and final part of our staff interview series! This set of interviews focus on some of our most social staff members - our Discord moderators and our social media team. Once again, these pixies had a lot to say, so we’re tucking all of it under the “Keep reading” link!

WTP’s Discord server is the main place for the community to come together - in fact, we just passed 6,000 members! It’s extremely important to keep the server as safe and friendly as possible, and that’s where our beloved moderators come through. Without them, we wouldn’t have the loving WTP community!

Our moderators are Lila Almondpetal, Gloria Flutterflower, Daphne Moonflower, Anastasia Foxheart, Rose Morningmist, and Kassie.

What are some of your favorite memories about the original Pixie Hollow? And what are some things that you’re excited to see again in WTP?

Daphne: If I had to choose only one favorite thing then it would be shopping in Pixie Hollow especially those GORGEOUS gowns from the Queen's Boutique. It was the luxury store of Pixie Hollow, and the gowns they had were on a whole different level. I used to play Pixie Hollow every day as a kid and I even convinced my dad to get me the annual membership. I was able to make a lot of friends from different parts of the world because of the game. My best memories of the game are of Camp Pixie Dust! As for what I’m excited to see in WTP, I am exhilarated about the Tearoom and Animal Derby coming back since those were the only places you could play with other players. They were always packed with other fairies and sparrowmen and I used to hang out in those two places the most.

In her interview, Daphne sent us some pictures of two of her favorite things in Pixie Hollow - a couple of screenshots of Camp Pixie Dust and her favorite gown from the Queen’s Boutique.

Anastasia: Honestly? As a kid, I spent most of my time attending the parties. The minigames there were always so addicting! Gameplay wise, I loved baking and tailoring! I wasn't as invested in it as other Disney MMOs because I never was able to get a Pixie Hollow Membership, but I still loved to play it! It influenced my decision to play the DS games, as well as the Fashion Boutique mobile game! I will say that my love of the original Pixie Hollow has benefited my life in many ways as without it, I wouldn't have so many memories with friends I've made along the way. Also, I would've never found WTP! I think one of my best memories from Pixie Hollow has to be from the one party where I won almost all of the party games. I was pretty young when I was really into Pixie Hollow, so although it's a bit silly, I just remember feeling super proud and feeling like the queen of the party, haha! As a kid, I never really appreciated the quests (although I did do them), so I am excited for those to come back & relive that experience. However, since WTP will not have a paywall for any of the experiences from the original Pixie Hollow, I am incredibly excited to explore The Wilderness for the first time!

Lila: My favorite part of the original game was honestly how open and free it was! There was always so much to do in the game, but I never felt pressured to do any of it if I didn't want to. I could go crazy one day playing games and doing quests, and then I could spend the next day flying around, just admiring the scenery and doing absolutely nothing in terms of progress. There were no obligations at all - I think that's why I remember the game so well. I was also really invested in it - I actually kept a journal about what I did in the game, can you believe it? I would say it's made my life better in a couple of ways - when the game was still open, it was a fantastic stress reliever, and even now I love thinking about it (plus, it led me to WTP!). As for my favorite memory… well, there are so many! I'd have to say my favorite was the time a Sparrow Man and I flirted in the Tearoom using nothing but those preset Speedchat phrases. I don't know who started it, but I'm pretty sure we were both non-members at the time - maybe we were drawn together by those Arrival Day outfits. We ended up drawing a crowd; I remember seeing a lot of clapping emojis and hearts. It was insane! Sadly, we forgot to add each other as friends, so we never saw each other again. I just got out my old journal to check if I wrote down his name - and I apparently did! Figfig, my guy, if you’re out there, I was either Twilight Olivemist or Karina Lightningflame at the time. As for what I’m excited for, I'm super excited for all of the meadows to come back! I loved just flying around and seeing all of the gorgeous artwork. And multiplayer, of course - Pixie Hollow was such a social game. I loved those little things like sitting on a branch and chatting.

Gloria: My favorite part of the original game was definitely the community aspect! I made a lot of friends in Pixie Hollow that were really special to me. It was so much fun to play games and throw parties with other pixies in the Hollow! I played the original game from January 2009 to its closing in 2013. I was really invested in the game and played very often! It definitely helped me embrace my inner child and hold onto magic longer than a lot of my peers, something I am grateful for. One great memory I have of the game was the events. I specifically loved the Silly Days Event, which allowed users to access the Mermaid Grotto. And Camp Pixie Dust, of course! For WTP, I am super excited for questing! It was a really unique experience every time and led to neat storylines which allowed players to unlock some cool items. I really liked the added structure of quests in game.

Rose: I was mildly obsessed with Pixie Hollow for a good majority of my childhood. I was picked on quite a bit when I was younger, so Pixie Hollow became this sort of safe haven for me, where I could express myself without fear of judgement. I spent a lot of my time roleplaying with online friends, pretending to be waitresses in the Tearoom, or secret agents fighting crime and protecting the Hollow – it was a lot of fun. Some of my first ever story ideas came from some of those roleplays, which lead to me starting a blog and later pursuing a career as an author, so I actually owe a lot to the game and the friends I made there. My favorite thing was probably decorating my home – I loved creating different settings with all the furniture I had, from cafés to ice palaces. It was a lot of fun. I'm super excited for multiplayer – I’ve made so many friends through the PBC (Pixie Blogging Community) and WTP, so I can’t wait for when we can hang out in-game.

Kassie: I played Pixie Hollow starting in late 2008 until it closed! Every day after school I would grab my snack and head to the computer to play for at LEAST an hour. Narrowing down my favorite part of the game is so hard!! But if I had to choose I would say getting creative with outfits and color combos! I loved going to fashion contests and seeing other people's creations- that's actually how I met a lot of my friends. I think Pixie Hollow benefited me as a way to escape from the stresses of the real world. Middle school and early high school were difficult seasons for me and it was nice to venture into a mystical land where I felt people truly cared for me. One of my favorite memories was when I met my friend Strawberry. We were mutual friends with someone and we both went to her house at the same time. However, our friend was asleep (remember the lil z's?) and so we started talking and suddenly we became the best of friends! Over 10 years later we are still friends and catch up with each other once in a while. We don't live far from each other so we hope to meet each other someday! Honestly, I’m most excited to have house decorating in WTP! I remember people would spend HOURS decorating their homes and doing the coolest designs- I always concentrated more on fashion so I'd love the chance to redeem myself and design an awesome home!

How did you first find out about the WTP project and what inspired you to start working as a moderator?

Kassie: A lot of my close friends started up the project and eventually invited me to be a part of it as a moderator! In our friend group I tended to be the one to mediate conversations, so I think it was a no-brainer to ask me to moderate.

Daphne: When I got to know about Club Penguin rewrites, I thought there might be a rewrite for Pixie Hollow as well and I stumbled upon a YouTube video which mentioned WTP. I really wanted to help out with the project in any way I could so that really motivated me to become a moderator.

Anastasia: I actually found out about the WTP project through Teresa, on another Pixie Hollow site where she first posted the Bubble Bounce demo! She even DM'd me about potentially helping out as an artist, which I've always wanted to do! However, due to my schedule being a bit too busy to consistently help out with game art, I never felt like I could apply. However, I've always tried to help out in other ways, such as when I was an Event Manager & hosted movie nights! When it was decided that movie nights were going to take a hiatus, I really wanted to continue helping out in the community, and thus, I became a mod!

Lila: I first found out about We The Pixies when I joined a Club Penguin rewrite. I hadn't thought about Pixie Hollow in years, but then I wondered if someone else had rewritten Pixie Hollow, so I looked it up and found WTP! As for joining the moderation team, I'd been pretty active on the server when the application opened up, and I really loved the community. I figured I'd give it a shot - worst they could say was no, right? Well, I ended up getting the role! It’s been a really great job ever since.

Gloria: I found out about We the Pixies while doing some Google searches and checking out the Pixie Hollow community this year. I definitely jumped at the opportunity to apply to be a moderator because I have so much passion for the project and wanted to help out and connect with others who also had interest. 

Rose: I found WTP through Phoebe Bumbleflip’s blog – she published a post promoting the remake and the Discord back in October last year. I don’t have any skills that can really help with the recreation of the game itself, but I wanted to contribute in any way I could, which is what inspired me become a moderator.

(Phoebe is a member of the WTP Hype Squad, you can find her blog here!)

The WTP community is mostly positive, but have you ever had instances where you felt like server members weren't being the nicest? If so, how do you deal with it?

Anastasia: Since I'm new to the staff team, I've only ever come across a handful of issues involving the members, and most of them resolve with ease. Typically, directing people to the rules and giving them a warning is enough.

Lila: With so many people in the server, it's not unusual to see something that isn't so friendly - usually, if an argument starts up in the chat, reminding people of the rules or starting a new conversation fixes things. If things are really bad, I might talk to someone individually and ask them nicely to be, well, nicer.

Gloria: In my time on the staff so far, we have had a couple trolls and people who haven't complied with the rules, and in that situation, we generally like to calmly message the person and ask them to comply with the server rules. In my experience thus far, this usually sorts out the problem. However, if the issue persists, the moderation team would consult each other and figure out how to deal with it further based on the severity of the behavior.

Rose: They’re very rare, but we have had to deal with some disputes with upset or angry members. Usually us moderators will talk and discuss the issue and then decide the best course of action together.

Kassie: There's always going to be someone unkind who comes across the server every now and then. I think the best way to handle it is to tell them what rule they're breaking and WHY it's important that they adhere to the rule. Ultimately, our rules are about respecting everyone in the community. If we can help them empathize and understand respect I think that's making strides not only in the WTP community but hopefully in EVERY community that individual is a part of.

We've had a few events in the WTP community, how does creating one come about and how do you plan it?

Anastasia: Excellent question! As a former Event Manager, I'm the right Pixie to ask!

It all starts with the approval of administration. Once the admins approve of it (and other staff have no issues with it), you can go forward and begin scheduling a time. We typically don't do events without having a proper schedule or time frame. We also try to accommodate other time zones as best as we can, since we know that WTP has Pixies from across the globe! Then, you need to designate certain responsibilities to people. This was the purpose of the Event Managers, since we were in charge of hosting Movie/Game Night. I have a lot of good memories hosting movie nights with Alchemist (Lavender) and Asteria! With other events, staff members are chosen to have either a leading role or a helping hand in making sure the event goes smoothly. Even if they aren't in charge, it is important to note that all events typically require staff supervision. Now, planning it typically involves a discussion among the staff (and any other WTP players that may be involved in helping out). We usually try to make sure that the community voice is heard, and that they can get involved! Our main goal is always to bring everyone together while having fun, and that is the foundation of all our events.

Daphne: The Hype Squad is the creative mind behind all the events we have. Since we can not have in-game events (which we definitely will once the game is fully developed), the Hype Squad tries to come up with flitterific events to keep us in the pixie hollow spirit while we wait. Our former team of event managers was behind the shorter events such as the numerous game nights and movie nights.

Lila: Starting an event is absolutely a team effort - no matter where or who the idea comes from, we like to talk about it for a while first. For example, I had the idea for Meadow Madness one night out of the blue, and I made sure to run it by the staff and Hype Squad before I started anything up. It ended up being a huge success - we had an average of 200 respondents per round, which was pretty neat for something I came up with in ten minutes.

Rose: There’s quite a bit of planning that goes on behind the scenes for events – a lot of events are actually planned by the Hype Squad (which I am a part of) or our social media team. An idea will be presented by a team member, and then we’ll all discuss it – what our thoughts are on the suggestion, and how we’d go about holding it if it were to become an actual event. If everyone on the team agrees and the staff are okay with it, we’ll then start deciding dates for the event and preparing things like banners and announcement posts. Sometimes we’ll also have one of our members act as coordinator too, to make sure everything is running smoothly during the event itself.

Kassie: I'm personally not one of the head honchos who puts events together, but it comes down to listening to a bunch of ideas and trying to figure out which one best fits the needs and desires of the community!

How do you fit working on WTP into your schedule?

Daphne: I finished high school in April and I can't really start college until quarantine is over, so I pretty much don't have anything to do at home right now so it's easy for me to make time for WTP.

Anastasia: I try my best to moderate whenever I can- usually in my spare time. We get a lot of newcomers each day, so there always seems to be someone who needs help getting verified, or a Pixie who needs some other sort of assistance. That's the thing about having such a large community: we always seem to have some moderating to do!

Lila: I actually have the apps I need for moderation (and social media work) on my phone - now that I'm not in school for the summer, I'm traveling a lot, so I don't sit down and use my laptop very often. I think I use Discord on my phone more than my laptop, actually. Using mobile lets me check the server whenever I have a spare moment, so I can keep up with things wherever I go.

Gloria: I have a really flexible schedule in general as school and life goes, so I am able to make time to moderate and spend a lot of time online.

Rose: Mostly by multitasking – I’m almost always online, even if I’m doing other things, so it’s not too tricky to keep an eye on the server throughout the day.

Kassie: It's hard sometimes, but the easiest way for me to stay connected is to keep my notifications on when I'm not busy with the mandatory things in life like my job, planning my wedding, and investing in relationships outside of the community. Giving myself the chance to walk away here and there leaves me refreshed for the next time I log on!

Two of our moderators, Kassie and Lila, also serve on our social media team, so we asked them a special question:

How do you use social media to grow the community?

Lila: Social media is a great place to post about game updates and community events. I've found that few posts get people more excited than posts about new game features. Update posts also let people know that, yes, we are still up and running! Sometimes people think we've shut down already, and social media helps us keep the project alive.

Kassie: Social Media is all about messages. I think what attracts people to join a community is to send a message they resonate with! In WTP's case, nostalgia plays a huge part in growing our community- we are trying to attract people who are excited about something they wish they had again.

One final question for all of our moderators: what’s your favorite part of your job, and is there a way it’s benefited you?

Daphne:  Definitely talking and getting to know so many people from across the globe. I'm always down for making new friends! For me, the most impact moderating for WTP has had is on my people skills. As a moderator, you have to ensure that everyone is following the rules and sometimes people need convincing to follow a rule. It also involves solving any issues related to the game/Discord server and communicating with the members in general, which really develops your people skills.

Anastasia: Honestly, my favorite part of being a mod is being able to interact with the other staff members. They're a really lovely and creative group of people, and it's fun bouncing ideas off of each other and figuring out what's best for everyone in this community! I wouldn't quit WTP for the world! Working for WTP has benefited me a lot as so far, it's helped me work on the ways I can help organize a community. Also, it is helping me work on my time management skills, as well as my ability to work in a team.

Lila: I think my favorite part of my job is, as corny as it sounds, watching this community grow! When I joined, we had maybe 500 users in the server, and we're well over 6000 now. I never thought that so many people would remember the game, but they do. It's remarkable, really. Working for WTP is probably the best volunteer position I've ever taken up. Moderating has really helped me learn how to think things through and get help when I need it. Working on social media has also been great for my writing and graphic design skills - I've got to say that I've gotten pretty good at color combinations!

Gloria: My favorite part of moderating is helping people in the player server and sparking interest and discussion among users. It's so much fun to reminisce about the hollow with other fans. Though I haven't been on the team for a very long time, it has already been lots of fun and I have really enjoyed connecting with the community even more and getting others interested in the revival project. And the other staff members are very cool people that are really rad to work with.

Rose: My favorite part of my job is welcoming new people to the server! Being a moderator has definitely helped with my problem-solving skills – working out ways to handle situations on the server.

Kassie: Being friends with the staff is my favorite part. It is always a joy to log on to laugh and learn with friends. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Asteria and I have created a pretty strong friendship (hopefully she agrees, haha). We've known each other for about 4 years now. She makes me laugh out loud and we've been there for each other in our victories and failures. Her friendship is one I deeply cherish and I hope we get to meet sometime in the future! I care a lot about connection, community, and friendship, so for me, being a part of this team is a way for me to foster those things and be a part of it! I think I've benefited from WTP by learning how to guide hard conversations and disagreements in a respectful manner. Many people think moderators just manage the community, but a huge part of our job is to aid staff in having constructive conversations. There are definitely ruffled wings here and there, but we always get through and I've really grown through those processes!

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Thank you all so much for sticking with us during our interview series! We had a lot of fun answering your questions, and we hope you had a flaptastic time reading them.

[theholycovenantrpg]

CONGRATULATIONS, JORDAN! YOU’VE BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE ROLE OF GADRIEL.

Admin Rosey: Eeeeeee! Jordan you have no idea how much I’m bouncing off the walls because you brought us such an unparalleled Gadriel! I was hoping, with all my heart, that someone would dare to write a character that is full of such unfettered love, and you did it. All the more, you didn’t hold back with the adoration that seems to burrow itself into every single facet of the character. Your para sample was an absolute thrill to read and truly, I couldn’t have asked for someone more capable of delivering the Gadriel we all know and love. Thank you so much for this wonderful application - it had me grinning from ear to ear. Please create and send in your account, review the information on our CHECKLIST, and follow everyone on the FOLLOW LIST. Welcome to the Holy Land!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Alias | Jordan

Age | 23

Personal Pronouns | She/her

Activity Level | I’m not in school or working right now, so I do have quite a bit of free time on my hands. However, I still have real life stuff that crops up occasionally, and I’m currently looking for a job, so  if/when?? (hopefully) that happens I’ll let you guys know! As it stands, I can on average devote a few hours each day to rp’ing, though that might vary depending on the day.  

Timezone | EST

Triggers | REMOVED

How did you find the group?  | I saw Rosey reblog the prerelease advertisement thing and the rest was history. 

Current/Past RP Accounts | https://chandlerrosen.tumblr.com/ 

IN CHARACTER

Character | Gadriel

What drew you to this character? | 

Though there were quite a number of characters I considered applying for at various stages, I kept coming back to Gadriel. Within her character is everything I’m familiar with, and yet nothing that I’ve written before. I study (or studied, technically) early modern literature and art history, with a focus on Catholic theology, so I was initially drawn to Gadriel’s background as a martyred saint. I love her grief, I love the way she grows from it while still carrying it with her. I love her fighting for compassion and pacifism, while still being shrouded by the monstrous aspect of her that has always lingered within. Her love is her driving force, and her vision all encompassing, and for the “greater good,” but she is still so selfish. More on this now!

What future plots do you have in mind for the character? | 

i. beware of false prophets [. . .] ye shall know them by their fruits

The God she loved was not always a benevolent one, but she loved Him nonetheless, the words of the scripture a familiar glaze on her tongue, weaving its way through the air as it settles around her like a warm blanket. These were the words she lived by, and the words she, in another life, died by. But now these words, and the God who fomented them, are obsolete—ash and dust, they swirl around her still, only a faint echo of their former glory. Now, the residents (those who choose to partake in religion) worship the Hundred-Eyed God—instead of fire and brimstone, this new deity promised everlasting serenity. Gadriel, like most residents of Caelum, doesn’t worship the Hundred-Eyed God, but as God’s most devout and loving follower, she is faced with the difficult task of protecting ISOLDE, the All-Seeing Priestess of the faith. Despite her best efforts, Gadriel finds herself liking the mortal, and where once Gadriel would have seen an idolator, she now sees what could turn into a friend. The relationship, however, is tenuous, and Gadriel is very reluctant to let herself become attached to the girl—it didn’t end so well for the last worshipped figure in Gadriel’s life. But more than that, Isolde feels like a punishment, or rather, like she should be a punishment. Sure, it pains Gadriel to watch new rituals when the old ones sit in her bones and on her tongue, aching to be remembered and repeated, but otherwise, her task is, at times, an enjoyable one. So when will the other shoe drop? I’m very interested in seeing how this relationship will develop, and how ESTIENNE will fit into it. The biography mentions that Gadriel would kill to protect ARAEL, presumably she would do the same for Isolde, if only out of obligation (though personal affection may one day be a reason as well). Whether it be Estienne or someone else, how will Gadriel, generally a pacifist, react if Isolde is threatened?

I also think it’s interesting to consider what would happen, not if Isolde is physically threatened, but if her status is somehow threatened, or if someone, say ORIAS or CASSIEL (though there are many others), challenges Isolde (an extension of the Hundred-Eyed God) as someone/something to be worshipped? Zealotry is comfortable for Gadriel, a familiar armor to lace over her chest as she draws her sword, but it has rusted and worn down, a passion without a purpose, without an outlet. I think Gadriel is far from becoming a zealot for the Hundred-Eyed God, and to be honest, I’m not sure it would ever actually happen. However, I can see this going two ways (not necessarily mutually exclusive, either): 

Gadriel develops a love for Isolde similar to the love she felt for God; it would be different, no doubt, but I think part of Gadriel’s worship of God in her mortal life came from, faith yes, but also love and a desire to be loved. Her worship of God was not entirely unselfish, but fervently pious nevertheless. Could Gadriel ever get to the point where she would take up her sword for Isolde, not against imminent danger, but against idolatry? Maybe, maybe not, and if it did, it would be, as I said, much further down the line, and certainly not as strong as the zealotry she exhibited for God, but I do think it’s an important aspect of Gadriel that cannot just be shirked because her God is dead.

Regardless of Isolde and how Gadriel may feel about her, there is still a part of Gadriel, no matter how slowly waning it may be, that fought tooth and nail to worship her God, both as a human and angel. And now, with people cropping up, Orias, Cassiel, Michael, etc. who try to fill that void He left, to be worshipped in their own right, I’m interested in how Gadriel will react. Obviously, Gadriel is not omnipotent, and therefore doesn’t necessarily know the extent to which these various figures have designs on power, on reverence. But throughout the course of the roleplay, I think as their actions reflect their intentions, and as those intentions become clearer, the familiar feeling of zealotry will crop up again, burning inside Gadriel’s bosom as it once had. Perhaps something starts it, perhaps she will see the corruption of mortals, of her fellow angels, even, and she wants to stop it. It’s not something she could do alone, at least not successfully, and depending on where Gadriel is in her development, she might not even care at first. But I still think it would be interesting to explore, and which unlikely alliances she may form to quell the rising of a new, different, idol. 

ii. should intermitted vengeance arm again / His red right hand to plague us?

For every cloud, there is a silver lining, and for every slain deity, a world to be made anew. I don’t think Gadriel has ever been motivated by power, and I don’t think she is now, either. I do think, however, that she believes in a very strong vision of the world, a vision she believed she shared with her God. Of course, without God, Gadriel now has the freedom to reshape her vision, and mold the world into, as the biography states,  “her own vision of beauty.” But that which is beautiful, is also terrible, for beauty without power is vulnerability, a quality Gadriel has shedded like a skin too tight and too itchy to ever be comfortable again. There is an anger inside her, a feeling of righteousness against those she believes have acted unjustly. Namely, MICHAEL and CASSIEL. There are many people she blames for this war, for the death of her beloved God, and Michael’s name is at the top of the list. He clipped her wings, he punished her for her pride (for is hubris not the most base of the tragic flaws?), smearing her face in the dirt of her own folly by naming her the Virtue of Temperance, forcing her to protect a being instrumental to the worship of a new, unfamiliar religion. And still, Gadriel turns the other cheek. To wage outright war against Michael would be foolish, and though Gadriel is privy to foolishness (a lingering effect of her not-so-long-forgotten mortality), she isn’t that foolish. I think the dynamic between Gadriel and Michael is very interesting, and something I’d love to explore. As he hungers for more power, as Gadriel’s resentment of him festers, infecting her life’s blood with boiling wrath, when will Gadriel decide that enough is enough. And who will stand with her? 

Now onto Cassiel. Cassiel’s betrayal of the Cherubim, of Gadriel and her own people (though really, with Gadriel’s part in the war against Michael, I think Gadriel would be put on trial regardless), is another interesting avenue to explore. I mentioned Cassiel above as being a sort of “False Prophet,” and in truth, I think she is the antithesis to Gadriel. Speaking of Cherubim, I think Gadriel and ZADKIEL would actually get along fairly well, as Gadriel is (or at least was) well-liked by her fellow angels, and liked them in return, and I think they have a similar philosophy and moral compass. Would Gadriel and Zadkiel, two angels affected by Cassiel’s actions, end up lighting the spark of retribution against Cassiel? Or will it divide them? Cassiel and Gadriel are two people driven by the notion of beauty, though their definitions couldn’t be further apart. While Cassiel’s vision is of herself, Gadriel sees an eternal peace, filial piety and the burning passion of people who join in communion as one (so really, the concept of the Hundred-Eyed God should be alluring to her, once Gadriel realizes that it aligns with her vision and she could wield it considering Isolde is her charge—I digress). Perhaps Gadriel goes against Cassiel, not necessarily for past indiscretions, but present grievances. 

To create, you must destroy, and from the ashes of the old world will Gadriel’s vision of beauty rise, sheathed in gold with a purity so simple, it can only be considered divine.   

iii. when is a monster not a monster?

The answer, of course, “when you love it.” Gadriel’s connections to Asmodeus, Arael, and Mammon are all thematically concerned with when Gadriel shows her monstrous side, if at all. With ARAEL, Gadriel’s monstrous side is not hidden, because with their level of intimacy, with its purity, Gadriel holds no secrets from Arael. It just rarely (if ever) rears its ugly head. The biography mentions that Gadriel would kill for Arael, and I would like to put that to the test. I don’t know how, or when, but I want Gadriel to become a monster, all for the sake of Arael. She knows of Arael’s grief, but I’m wondering just how much Gadriel knows of Arael’s visits to ABBADON’S domain. If she doesn’t know, then perhaps Gadriel will feel betrayed. Of course, she wouldn’t take it out on Arael, there is very little Arael could do to warrant that sort of emotion from Gadriel, but I do think it would shift their relationship. If Gadriel does know, however, I wonder if Gadriel might try to take it upon herself to help Arael (if it’s unwanted, so much the better), because Gadriel is the picture of self-righteousness.  

ASMODEUS is an interesting case with regard to Gadriel’s monstrous side. She hasn’t quite figured him out, she doesn’t know his sad past, but the glances they share, the stares that betray his longing for something else, someone else, intrigue her. And I think it makes Gadriel feel powerful, this unsaid tension between them, the notion that at any moment, it could all crumble and collapse, that he could, if she so chose. I think she wants to poke and prod at him, maybe from afar at first, and then toy with him, his vulnerability between her teeth, with only gravity (the gravity she is so adept at manipulating) to crush it, or release him from her grasp. Of course, Gadriel is not without compassion, and maybe once she knows Asmodeus’ story, she’ll feel differently. It all depends on what part of Asmodeus she chooses to see: the human, or the demon.

Gadriel’s most monstrous side, her most vindictive and self-righteous, self-satisfying, parts, are shown in her relationship with MAMMON. She spared them, not because she felt pity, not because she cared, or didn’t wish to shed blood, but to show them that she could. She held their life at the end of her blade and laughed when she removed it from his throat. Surely they still harbor bitter feelings towards her, feelings of hatred and resentment, even. In Emma’s app for Mammon, she mentions how she envisions them fighting, even to the death. I fully agree, and am looking forward to their confrontation a lot. Gadriel is, generally, soft, but I want to explore those parts of her that are more monster than divine, more human than angel. 

Are you comfortable with killing off your character? | Yes.

IN DEPTH

Driving Character Motivation | 

In Gadriel’s mortal life, her driving motivation was her love for God, and her desire to be loved by God. The picture of piety, Gadriel shirked near all else to proclaim her love for God, frustrated when others wouldn’t recognize His great power, his all-encompassing love. Even when she became an angel, she was still driven by this love, but now it was realized, it was reciprocated. And rather than have that be diminished upon conquest, it only grew stronger and more fervent. 

Of course, after the war, after her wings were clipped, Gadriel turned into the dutiful angel, obeying Michael’s orders (much to her chagrin). Now she’s driven by her vision of beauty, of peace everlasting and passion overflowing. Love is still very much part of the equation, and the love she feels for Arael, for Isolde (maybe, eventually), also motivates her. But it’s her love for God, and for his vision, that stoke the fire of ambition in her loins. I think Gadriel is tired of constantly being taken for granted, being walked all over, and is using the new world as an opportunity to turn a page in her own life. To become all that she once sought to, to fulfill all righteousness on earth, and to spread her vision to all those who will listen. 

Character Traits | 

(passionate, loyal, empathetic)

(dogmatic, vengeful, obstinate)

In-Character Para Sample | 

“Brothers, sisters, friends, lend me your ears,” she began, standing in front of her fellow angels, on trial for crimes committed against Michael, committed for God. “I stand on trial today, though I believe myself innocent of all crimes, guilty only of being consumed by love. Perhaps my love was misplaced, my loyalty misguided, but is that so unreasonable? Was that not God’s almighty power—to stir inside those who are lost the guidance to follow His will through His love?” She looked around, eyes imploring as she clutched her chest. The room was bright, the sun almost overbearing and artificial, devoid of everything Heaven held, a false divinity imbuing every corner and crevice. She had been here before. But rather than in a spotless room, she was surrounded by dust and the jeers of Romans who believed her guilty of the same crime she was accused of now: treason.

“You accuse me of treason,” she began again, and the lion’s roar in her ear was so loud, she felt as though it was standing across the room from her, not Michael, “but forgive me, I knew nothing else. If my actions offended, let us rectify the situation, together. Let us venture forth, hand in hand, brothers in arms, angels enshrouded in the divinity that is our right, into this new era. But let us not paint this era with more blood than has already been shed; for is that truly what you want your legacy to entail? Fire and brimstone—would you be any better than the God you have deposed?” She raised her eyebrow, scanning the eyes of the crowd as they shifted uncomfortably. An invisible string lifted Gadriel’s spine—perhaps it was her power of gravity, perhaps newfound confidence at the uncomfortability of the angels who wished her dead.

“And how, dear sister, could we trust you?” Michael asked, unmoved, the pinnacle of strength and composure. 

“This is new territory for both of us, brother. This world has never known God’s absence—but together, and only together, could we bring it into a new Golden Age, an era of rebirth and plenty.” Everyone was silent, pondering her words. This silence was deafening, and the lion roared louder. Her heart began to race as she saw the saliva glint off the lion’s teeth, the blood staining its fur from the last human he shred. 

“You seek to do better than God? Well do better. Ff His picture of compassion was imperfect, perfect it. His vision of mercy unfulfilled, fulfill it.” The words stung her tongue as she spoke them against her God, but perhaps she could give Michael and his legions the chance to be better, if that is what they truly sought. “Violence, retribution. This is not the way, and we both know it.” 

Silence still more. Until finally, Michael made his decision. 

“Very well, you have your amnesty. But Gadriel, this can not go unpunished.” He contemplated further, his hands steepled like a church she once worshipped at, before continuing, “your wings will be clipped, and we will watch you. Very closely.” He nodded, but she could tell this wasn’t his desired outcome. 

“Thank you, Michael, for your compassion. You won’t regret it,” she said through gritted teeth, sharp as a lion’s, before she sheathed them. Not now. Not today. Today, she lived, and she will continue to do so, if only to continue God’s work. For so it become us to fulfill all righteousness. 

Extras | 

i. COMPANION: By her side, Gadriel’s companion is a LION. I’m hearkening back to the typological tradition of depicting a martyred saint with the instruments of their demise. St. Lawrence has his grill, St. Catherine of Alexandria her spiked wheel, and so Gadriel will have her lion. 

ii. WINGS: Gadriel’s wings are clipped, but not torn from her back. Right now they don’t extend past her shoulder blades, but at once they were the most radiant, pure, white of the softest down. When they grow back, however, perhaps they will be muddled and murky.