#also i'm super selective at the moment since i'm trying to get muse back

[dreamingofmuses]

New Year's Resolutions: RP Edition

Howdy all, Ash here. I've been having a think while with family this week, and I've decided I'm going to implement some new 'resolutions' to try and help make writing in 2024 be way more successful than in 2023. This will include things from the running of blogs to jobs I really want to get finished. I'm putting them under a read-more to keep the dash nice and clean.

I will say, this has taken me an hour to write up, and I'd recommend you doing likewise if you think there's little ways you want to improve.

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Overall Running of Blogs

I'm going to experiment a new approach to running the blogs. For this, I'm going to put all active blogs to low-medium activity. In other words, even if I am personally lurking on mobile, I won't be constantly writing things if I'm not able to. (Work is just about to get super busy and I'm anticipating chaos)

A queue/schedule function will be used for all blogs. I intend to dedicate one weekday evening to working without interruption on replies. Taking commutes to the city and family visits into account, this is looking to be a Thursday, which is the only day I am neither travelling to the city nor have a guaranteed family visit. Of course, this may fluctuate, but that's what I'm hoping to work with, assuming those things stay as they are.

However! What all this means is that I am going to tentatively take skullandbowties off hiatus. With that blog being quiet, it should be possible to juggle it better now. Plus, it's officially off-season so the demand for him from new blogs ought to be low. I'm very smart :D

I also plan to update all pinned posts. I am aware some of them are marking a vacation from months ago.

Individual Blog Maintenance

Create "New Here?" posts to add to the pinned posts/info tags. This is going to be a very quick crash course on what to expect from the blog, especially where some characters might diverge from fanon expectations.

FINISH. WILF'S. BIO. It's not actually relevant to anything being written on the blog itself at present, but I really want to flesh out his character and show that he was stuck in stories for years, decades even! The doc has the word count to 4,888 at this precise moment. This is a mix of summary and brainstorm. Since it's getting a 'little' out of hand, I intend to have a 'tldr' at the start that people can read, and then longer versions if they're curious to get the full story. Maybe even have it that they can jump to particular parts but... I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Likewise, Noah's version of Space needs to be finished. This one is going to be a summary, but it's a case of making sure the pieces are in place sufficiently to have parts match canon Space, but also make it clear that there is a lot of differences between canon and what he went through, with his plot entirely spiralling away for 'Part 2'. This is at 5,794 words, and the ending has yet to be ironed out...

(I am going to stop creating needlessly long-winded projects for myself that realistically add nothing of value to my blogs. These two projects are exhausting...)

Theauthorlives is returning to a very small multimuse. Any muses that aren't ones I genuinely enjoy writing are being fully archived, unless they are muses that get no traction but I want to keep the possibility open. Details of that will be shared when I do this.

Redo some muse icons (not all of them!). Though the selection I have for particular sets is a lot, I still feel like I'm missing some expressions or poses. I would like to remake one batch of icons for three characters, and finish iconning a third. Replies seem to be shifting toward iconless, but I like them for asks or IC commentaries.

OOC/Mun Related stuff

Following matters that have happened both online and IRL, I've decided to take a step back from actively engaging with people. My focus will be people that I have been in good communication with for the last twelve months (as well as people I don't talk to frequently but am on friendly terms with) rather than people I feel I have to 'chase' after. Saying that, I'm going to try and not let past experiences meddle with anything in with new writing partners - whether these are brand new to the community or people I've not had the chance to properly interact with prior to this. Just be aware that I might not be super outgoing at first. (This is where setting limits and boundaries is good practice, everyone! Don't sell yourself short, and don't spread yourself out too thinly!)

Which is where I now say I want to send even more asks! Not just memes or sentence starters, but general questions about headcanons or muse opinions. I want to get people thinking more.

My stance on Discord still stands, in that it's solely for OOC stuff, but I'm not giving it out to everyone. However, I have been in two group servers that have little-to-no connection with writing rp threads in them. I would hope that I can fully regain my sense of comfort using Discord as a whole.

Art related

Despite socially stepping back, I still want to keep some semblance of 'community' where my blogs are active so people don't feel isolated. For instance, I want to do something that encourages invasions of ask boxes. That was good fun to watch as the chaos began to spread, and when people are good-humoured to go along with my silly ideas.

I want to have one huge art-related event at some point this year. I'm not entirely what or how to do it, but I think it would be a great excuse to practice something. Portraits, comics, something like that. I'll have a think. (For those who remember, the water gun event was supposed to have an art conclusion but plans for that fell through.)

I want to try and upload drawn responses to heythereneighbor once a week if I can. Obviously, this is depending on how busy it is.

I'd also like to try doodling more on other blogs? But I'm not sure if this is even something people want to see anymore. People might prefer I focus on writing if I have free time instead of doodles or little comics.

... the writing blog. I need to do stuff with that in general. Whoops.

Finally, I want to do what I can to the best of my abilities on a particular day. I've always told people over the years that real life comes before rp, and I still stand by that. Whether I'm around or not every day isn't the end of the world. The communities I write in are a lot slower paced than they were when I started, which is great! I need to remind myself that I don't need to be writing just because I have a bit of free time.

[reddragon-cowboy]

Few updates to my rules section ! I hope many whom have followed me have at least glimpsed at my rules section before following because it shows how my mind works . PLEASE READ .

Semi-Selective & Private .

I prefer to interact with mutuals but if you’re interested send me a dm and we can try to work something out between muses. However, I do have the right to decline a muse - this only happens if I feel uncomfortable with the character or type of genre they belong to. Non mutuals are allowed to send asks. And even personal accounts ( non rp blogs) are allowed to as well with the anonymous option.

The highest chance of me following you back is when you have a written bio and rules page available for me to read. It’ll also help if you have a mobile navigation option that links to your information since most times I'm not able to use my computer at the moment.

Communication .

I’m highly communicative. And also as an artist who may take in a client for a commission, communication is specifically important when doing business and makes the process flow smoother & quicker for me. I also don’t like to leave people hanging in my dms and try to answer as soon as I’m able.

With that said, there are times I’ll communicate with a mun either for more info about a scene, info on their muse, etc. Yet, there have been times where I might even ask a simple question about a thread so I can make a proper reply, but the other don’t respond, even for a whole 2 weeks or more despite them interacting on the dash with other threads and the like. By that time I’ve most likely lost some or most interest in the thread ( or even their muse ) because I’ll get the impression they’re no longer interested in my muse or me as a person.

Just a warning, I can’t see us being compatible as partners if you’re not able to communicate with me. Point blank. It’s just the way of how I work as a professional business partner or even in this regard as an rp partner. I only yearn to give out a good reply that’ll satisfy my partner so I don’t make a mistake. Of course, I’ll understand if you’re busy or something happening irl that takes higher priority, but I'd appreciate it if I would be made aware in someway if that's the case.

I also can pick up if someone who used to be super friendly and excited about interacting is now giving the cold shoulder, acting not as interested anymore, or seem to deliberately ignore my dm if I send one. If there is anything wrong, just tell me if I’ve made you upset or anything. We are both adults. Or I’ll just simply unfollow and keep it moving.

I do best with partners who show a mutual interest in me and my muses, as in: talking ooc between muns, sharing ideas, putting forth effort and energy as much as a I am, blowing up my dms or asks, etc. This stimulates me and keeps my mind running due to the fact I'm always tired and lethargic. If our convos seem less enthused or one-sided, it would be difficult for me to determine if you're actually interested or not, and at this point I'd feel like a bother and feel discouraged from interacting, responding to a thread, or sending a dm - I got anxiety so yeah. I'm not too comfy with sending more than one message if the first one or second hasn't been answered cause I'd feel like a bother.

Important note

I'm also aware of the issue between male and female muses, how male muses tend to gain a lot more attention than female muses for whatever reason. I've lived through it and experienced this for many years, and it was soo bad I pretty much left the rpc community because of it. I know when someone chooses to ignore my female when she's brought up and instead focuses on my male muse instead; I'm not dumb and can see it for what it is. I try to give everyone a chance and I love oc's; the hard work people put in to create a dynamic character of their own mind to make something original and new. That's talent and skill on your part and I admire and respect the hard work you put in to create them. But I can also hope you downright don't deliberately ignore my female muse, or more if I choose to make another, or when I ever mention them. Niah is just as special to me as well as Spike, and I talk about them equally.

Following.

I don’t do follow for follow. If you’re following me with the pure intention of gaining a follow in return, you can forget it. It will further tell me you’re not sincere nor truly interested in interacting with me or my muse. In fact, I’m may not be sure why you followed me in the first place. unless you just like my muse or writing then I'm flattered ;3;

When I follow, it’s a huge indicator that shows my interest in your muse for the pure intention of interacting between muses and muns, and with that in mind, I will usually send out a message that shows my interest - I always do. 95% of the time I’m usually the first to reach out to anyone through a dm and wanting to know more about their muse and share ideas.

However, if I do choose to follow you and you don’t follow back or don’t respond to the first message I may send, I’ll get the impression you don’t want to interact with me or my muse, and will decide to unfollow after around 2 weeks has passed so I can keep my dash uncluttered. I’ll also unfollow/soft block if you don’t show interest in interacting with my muse or me at all after around 1 or 2 months. I can refollow though if you are interested.

mun ≠ muse

This really shouldn't have to be said. But whatever Spike might do or say that might cause offense to your muse doesn't imply I dislike you or agree with what he might do. I don't want to be accused thinking I hate them just because my muse might be a little mean or snarky. Spike sometimes ( depending on his mood ) can be rude, crude, wry, and say a misogynic remark- due to his past experiences of betrayal. I don't wanna sugar coat his words or filter him too much. The Spike Spiegel you see in cowboy bebop is quite similar to how I write him with just a few deviations from canon.

Shipping.

I also encourage oc x canon on this blog. I myself ship an oc and canon character on this blog, and I love to see other people do it. As well as canon x canon or self-insert x canon. It's all for fun and inspires creativity !

As for rp, it’s all about that CHEMISTRY BABy! That…oh soo sweet….slow burn of chemistry that will set the heart of this Dragon Heart to sizzle aflame. If Spike teases you a lot, he might like you, or maybe he’s teasing for the fun of it, who knows? But please don’t take it personal if Spike might not like your muse the same way. It’s fine if your muse has a crush on him, but unless you want your muse feelings hurt, don’t force it on him, for he has no problem with turning someone down. Niah is also open for shipping in a seperate verse if you're interested!

Due to Spike's past experiences, I am particularly selective with shipping Spike with other characters but might be open to it if there’s chemistry between muns (ooc) and Spike had many interactions with muse enough to know if their compatible enough.

Anyway, if you don't agree to these rules, you are allowed to unfollow ! Thank you!

[ncquams]

// hi hi! i’m revamping this blog and am interested in getting some new things started! so if you like this, i’ll message you and we can figure something out!