#also really want to revamp this blog one day my current coding style is not the same anymore (I've been saying this for years lol)

[nationalpark-rp]

Announcement & Updates

Hello, everyone!  Manectric-mod here.  I’m so glad you’re reading this, because Meowth-mod and I have some very exciting news to share with you.  It’s big—no, it’s HUGE news.  This news could knock the socks right off your feet if you were wearing any!  These last few months have been quite the eye-opener for us mods.

Summer is upon us, and we’ve been doing quite a lot of thinking on the future of our fantastic group.  Questions like, “How can we make this group better?” and “What can we do that’s fun and exciting?” crossed my mind on more than one occasion, and our dear Meowth-mod had to listen to me ramble off all my ideas before we came up with something concrete.  And I am so thrilled to tell you that our efforts have finally reached their climax: our brand-new, never-before-seen ideas are coming into play RIGHT NOW!

We mods have tasked diligently over the past few months and now we’re ready to make them live.  So sit back, relax, and read the following post; there’s a lot of new content ahead.

★  NEW THEME  ★

That’s right, friends!  The National Park has a brand-new theme!  I’ve worked very hard on updating our theme, and that not only includes new graphics, but new coding, as well!  Rach, the mun of our very own Giovanni and Prof. Kukui, has gone above and beyond helping me with the more intricate aspects of theme, and honestly, none of these changes could have been made without her help.  Thank you so, so much, Rach!

Here’s a quick run-down of all the new changes:

New theme

Updated pages

Rules

Masterlist

Resources

Group chat (we have a Discord!)

Brand-new mod pages

Isn’t the theme beautiful?  I worked very hard on it.  Gone are the flowers of yesterday, here lies a tribute to the upcoming Pokémon: Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon games! Would you believe me when I said I’d planned on making the sun and moon motif before those games were announced, because I did!  Our old theme was sorely outdated, so I am very happy to have replaced it.

Not only was the theme updated, but every single page on the hub has been revamped to some degree!  The most important of these pages include the Rules, Masterlist, Resources, and Group Chat pages.  Don’t forget about the new admin introductions!

The Rules page has undergone a major overhaul!  They should now be written clearly and concisely, making them much easier to read where they were not before.  The only rule that has been changed is our minimum requirement: players must now write a minimum of six (6) sentences in a roleplay post in order to be considered active.

Both Masterlists, desktop and mobile, have been updated to include characters from Pokémon Colosseum/XD and all of the Pokémon Ranger games. Players now have the opportunity to explore their rosters at length, as well as the chance to write for their Trainer Classes.

Our Resources pages is better than ever before!  Today’s update brings about a more in-depth look at all of the resources available for writers.  Each link has a description as to what each link is about, so you can be confused no longer!  In addition to this, there is more variety of resources to choose from.  The world is your oyster!

The group chat page has also been thoroughly rewritten, so make sure you freshen up on our rules.

We mods have introduction pages!  You may find them on the not-so-secret hidden links on the hub.  Just click on our names!  I have written Meowth’s, and my darling partner has written mine.  We’re like Jessie and James, only cooler and more productive.

  ★  DISCORD SERVER  ★

You heard that right!  Like I mentioned above, the National Park now has a Discord server! Our group chat page has been updated to reflect the new changes, so be sure to go over the rules carefully.

Some of you might be asking “Why the switch?” but others might be wondering what took us so long to get to this point.  For a long time, Skype has been one of the go-to programs for group chats and instant messaging, although now it is easily outclassed by many others.  The most popular chat program now is Discord, and many users have already made the switch. We’ve familiarized ourselves with it, and now we’re ready to make the switch for the National Park, too.

What does this mean for the current Skype group? Well, we’re still going to have one, however it will not be the “official” group chat any longer.  A few members cannot get or use Discord, and must continue using Skype, and so for their inclusion, we are keeping that Skype chat open.  Members are still allowed to join the Skype chat, but our new and official chat is now hosted on Discord.

We encourage anyone who is interested in joining our new Discord server—or if you cannot get/use Discord, our Skype chat—to message us stating that you’d wish to join.  We’ll get back with you and add you to the chat(s) as soon as possible!

★  EXTRAS BLOG  ★

Last but not least we have our extras blog.I have been on the edge of my seat excited to announce this one!  Lovingly called National Park MORE, our extras blog is an all-in-one blog dedicated to you, our lovely members.  This sideblog is a branch of the hub, and will post periodically everything that our hub and event blog couldn’t.

You know those characters we don’t have, but that we really want to write with?  We’ll advertise for them!  Need a little pick-me-up after a hard day?  We’ll cheer you up every week with a little positivity!

Features of the National Park MORE blog:

Character requests

Positivity quotes

Character development prompts

“Can we really request characters?!”

That’s right!  One function of our MORE blog is dedicated to requesting characters!  This means that everyone can go to the MORE ask box and ask nicely for a character to join our group.  Not only will we answer it, but we’ll publish an ad as soon as possible!  Both Meowth-mod and I can name a few characters off the top of our heads that we’d love to see within the group, and I’m sure you can, too.

Members are allowed to request characters via the MORE blog.

In order to request a character, simply state which character(s) you’d like to see.  It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Waiting is the hardest part.  Try promoting interest by reblogging these ads.  The more exposure, the better!

“What’s this about positivity?”

I’m so glad you asked!  This is a feature that almost came as an afterthought.  There are a lot of positivity blogs around on Tumblr, but Meowth-mod and I wanted to create something more personal, something that is dedicated solely to you wonderful members.  The quotes we’ve chosen are specifically to help you create confidence in yourself.

An example of a positivity quote would be something like, “Bad days are only days that are bad. You can get through this.” It’s personal in its own way, and it’s something that we need to remind ourselves about.  As long as we know we can get through a rough patch, we will.

Things will get better; you just have to believe it.  This is the type of advice we want to give, and so we will be posting a positivity quote every week.

“Hold on—did you just say ‘character development’?”

I sure did!  We have a lot more up our sleeve than just character requests and positivity quotes!  There’s more! My dear friends, you’re in for a real treat tonight.  This blog is also dedicated to character development.  Meowth-mod and I know just how much you all love making headcanons and developing your characters, so we came up with a way to help you in that endeavor!

Each month we mods will provide a new character development topic for you all to enjoy.  This will give you a chance to think about and develop new ideas that you may or may not have considered before with your muses.  We hope that with these prompts, your characters will become even more three-dimensional than before!

These character development posts will cover a wide range of topics, including your character’s personality, their past, as well as exploring their intrapersonal relationships.  This way, you can consider all factors of your muse’s life—isn’t that exciting?

Here’s how these character development prompts will work:

We’ll provide you a set of questions and scenarios for you to think about.

You can choose to answer one, some, or all of the questions/scenarios listed. If writing a drabble in response to the prompts is more up your alley, we encourage you to use your creativity and explore your character to their fullest!

There is no limit to what you can do for these prompts.  You are allowed to write in any style you wish, whether it’s a answering the questions, writing a drabble, or any other format you like.

The first character development prompt will post on July 1st, and then on the first of the month from there on out.  Prompts will be numbered and linked in the navigation page on the MORE blog.

Please tag all of your character development prompts as “ #np prompts ” (without quotes).

These character development posts are completely optional!  You can write as much or as little as you want, so let your imagination go wild! Have fun!

Unfortunately, these prompts are supplementary and do not count towards activity.

The idea behind these character development prompts is for you all to be creative.  You should write about what seems fun, and write about what you want to do with your characters.  These prompts exist to aid in your character’s development—so you should enjoy your time doing it!

Meowth-mod and I are beyond excited to see what wonderful works you all can come up with.  We sincerely hope that these questions can help you develop your muse even further than they are already.  And with the amount of talent and passion you all put into your writing already, we know that you will blow us away.

★ STAY TUNED  ★

And that’s all we have for you tonight, friends!  A lot of brand-new ideas have made their way to our humble group, and we couldn’t be more excited to finally be able to share this with you.  Meowth-mod and myself will continue to work hard to make the National Park a great place to be.  These new additions are just the start of it.  We hope that with these new features, your experience here can be even better.

July is a very important month for us, too!  Not only will our first character development prompt post, but it’s also the time for our second summerniversary!  We have a lot of cool ideas for that event, too, so stay tuned for more news!

We hope that you have a wonderful rest of your day!  See you soon!

~ lots of love from the mods at the National Park ❤

[bookishthingsmore]

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The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

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Life and everything else

So, first things first.  Bloggiesta is ending this week, and I managed to completely kick booty.  I kept my list pretty simple. I didn’t want that feeling of failure when it ended.  See… kicked butt!

Bloggiesta To-Do List

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Write 3 reviews

Write 5 discussion posts

Come up with more discussion posts

Complete 2 mini challenges.

Revamp Your Blog Content.

How to Create a 5 day blog series (sort of done. I’ve got an idea in mind. I just need to finish it up.)

Figure out the logistics of starting a podcast

Make sure all my images are named correctly.

Comment on other Bloggiesta participants blogs.

Participate in at least 1 Twitter chat.

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I also finally got to see Beauty & the Beast. We went with our troop, and can I just say…. LOVE! Emma Watson did a fantastic job as Belle. I don’t think I would have liked anyone else in that role.

I finished a ton of books this week.  It looks like my reading slump may be over!!! *throws confetti in the air* I really don’t like reading slumps.

How have y’all been? How’s Spring treating you?

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Last week on the blog

Sunday: The Sunday Post, Review: Ophelia Wears Black, Reveal: More to Me, Bloggiesta Mini Challenge: WordPress Plugins for Book Bloggers

Monday: Review: Hitched, Blitz: Tempting Tanya

Tuesday: Top Ten Tuesday: Books that will make read the whole day away, Recs Needed: Historical Fiction

Wednesday: Blitz: Cole, Review: Dorothy Must Die Stories, Blitz: Extra Credit

Thursday: Reveal: Where Good Girls Go to Die, Reveal: Whiskey Lullabye, Reveal: Love, Me, Review: House Rules

Friday: Blitz: Confessions of a Carpool Captive

Saturday: Review: The Hidden Memory of Objects

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Coming up next week

Monday: Review: Royally Roma, Genre Showcase: Adult Contemporary Romance

Tuesday: Blitz: Crazy for You, Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I can’t believe I’ve met

Wednesday: Review: The Last Chance Matinee

Thursday: Review: The Princess Diarist, Blitz: Getting His, Reveal: Paper Fools

Friday: Blitz: The Courage Test

Saturday:  Steampunk Reading Challenge Quarter 2 Link Up, NetGalley & Edelweiss Challenge April Link Up

Sunday: The Sunday Post, Review: This Lullaby

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On the interwebs

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Review of The Bone Witch via Library of a Book Witch

Ten Book I’ve Read in One Sitting via Peace Love Books

On New Hobbies & Skills via The Perpetual Page-Turner

Blog Tour: Strange the Dreamer via My Friends are Fiction

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Currently reading and what’s up next

Just finished

Extra Credit by Poppy Dunne

Wild Things by Chloe Neill

Dorothy Must Die: Stories Vol. 2 by Danielle Paige

The Hidden Memory of Objects by Danielle Mages Amato

Royally Roma by Teri Wilson

Blood Games by Chloe Neill

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Currently reading

Crazy for You by Rachel Lacey

The Last Chance Matinee by Mariah Stewart

Dorothy Must Die Stories Vol. 3 by Danielle Paige

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Up next

Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean

Don’t Kiss the Messenger by Katie Ray

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Added to my shelves

Review

Toward a Secret Sky by Heather Maclean

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XOXperts

The Last Chance Matinee by Mariah Stewart

Crossroads by Chantal Fernando

A Lady’s Code of Misconduct by Meredith Duran

The Last Resort by R.S. Kovach

Royally Roma by Teri Wilson

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The Sunday Post 3/26/17: I finally saw Beauty & the Beast!! The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Caffeinated Book Reviewer. Life and everything else…