#because you were using beta and I was using legacy editors

[courier2lw]

The distinction made for West made him a little uncomfortable. But there were no pointed looks in his direction so he hoped the Legion wouldn't be making a grab for some dusty amnesiac courier. He highly doubted they would make proper use of his medical skills. From what he'd heard and seen the Legion were stuck firmly in ancient Roman thinking on medical advancements and liked it that way.

West looked up, as if expecting to spot this other power ganger that they'd spared. Or recruited. His attention was brought back with the book shutting, a slight jump. The Sierra Madre wasn't that far from his mind. Things still spooked him more than he cared to admit. He still had trouble sleeping. He couldn't smoke much and knew he fucking shouldn't at all, but it calmed his nerves as much as booze did. But drinking and walking in the desert all day was asking for trouble.

"Nothing. Just the package." West gave a shrug, tapping his courier's bag for emphasis. "Mind if I have a chat with the fella?"

The long list of dead didn't go unnoticed by West. He just couldn't afford to think about it. And it was in the past. What was he going to do about it now? Just one guy against a pocket of Caeser's Legion?

CONTINUED : @courier2lw

One of the scouts returned to their frumentarius’ table with an old, leather bound book. “Thank you.” Gabban barely lifted his eyes to properly receive the young soldier’s salute, and eventually dismissed them with a wave. It wasn’t often that he was dispatched with a troop and his manners betrayed a discomfort with their rehearsed conventions. He’d rather be leading an execution than be responsible for the livelihood of other unfortunate souls like himself.

Most of the names written on the census were unsurprisingly marked deceased, yet he carefully thumbed through the pages and searched regardless of his own thoughts on the matter. “We do get some recruits.” Then a pause as he traced a line down one of the pages. “Though most of us are taken, not gotten.” Profligates should have known this much, he thought, the Legion has never hidden the fact that its armies are made up of captured men.

His hand twitched to a stop as he went down along another string of names. “Well, what a surprise. You’ll be happy to know that your Oliver is alive.” Gabban read the small description his princeps had left behind, this powder ganger had, both literally and metaphorically, won the lottery.

“Though I doubt he’s still around. I’m sure he’d find it difficult to stay after being spared from his execution. There is, however, another surviving powder ganger you could ask. Who knows, they might have known each other.”

The frumentarius snapped the book closed and looked at the courier with a little more interest, a sharpness more befitting of a wolf than a man. “What business do you have with the powder gangers?

[wditdsmutblog]

open to: f/f passing nb (21+)

muse: Tempest LaRoque/30/Linguist

plot: Tempest works as a speech therapist at a local school. The woman is rather surprised while doing a home visit to find that y/m their student's* mother is a former sorority sister of hers. (specifically, they were her senior and official breeding bitch after losing their position in the sorority to Tempest.)(Student is Tempest's child is up to you. There could have always been the chance which terrified y/m)

(tw breeding)

Beta Editor (Continuation available for legacy editor)

A wicked grin appeared on Tempest's lips as soon as the nanny walked away with the child. The woman normally despised home visits because of how clingy and desperate parents could get. But this was about to be very enjoyable.

"Fuck it's been so long. I think it was 2013 or 2014 was the last time I saw you, at your graduation remember?" She said waiting until everyone was of earshot before she leaned into the other woman. Dark eyes flicked down to look over her body before flashing back up again. Tempest was getting excited just remembering all the fun she used to have with them.

"You still have some of the best tits I've ever seen. I'm guessing pregnancy is the reason why they are even bigger than I last remember? God, you were so bratty when I used to use them to get off instead of one of your holes. Ahhh...enough reminiscing I just want to know if your partner knows that child isn't theirs and what you'd be willing to offer to keep me out of the way. After all, I'm sure this cute little nuclear family would fall to pieces if they knew what a whore you really were."

[danhang]

#DANHANG  : independent, literate & highly selective multi - muse roleplay blog ; features canon & oirignal characters from various media. canon + headcanon based. mature themes will be present & properly tagged.

as adored by cherry ( 25+, she / her, gmt + 1 ).  i only use the beta editor, so please do not use the legacy editor when writing with me. DNI : minors & personal blogs

a gentle study on : the obstacles & beauty of adolescence, betrayal & trust, the    power of will & the desire to do good, heroic tendencies  /  heroic    foolishness, beautiful girls have sharp claws too, the desire of  self - indentification &  the perpetual need for validation.

lovingly affiliated with : @kazekamis

rules, muses & mains under the cut ( temporarily )

RULES.

this blog is private meaning i will only interact with mutuals. and while i'm open to all fandoms and crossovers, i reserve the right to not follow back if i 1.) either don't see our muses interacting, 2.) your blog is full of picture posts, 3.) you don't tag your triggers. proper roleplay etiquette and human being sense is required when following me, aka don't be a douche, ableist, racist, homophobe, or proshipper.

i'm not affiliated with any of the fandoms i write.

regarding triggers, they will be appearing on this blog in form, but not limited to, angst, violence, depression, mentions of war, mental health and ilnessess. everything will be tagged accordingly. smut content will be found on this blog only with muses off age and rather scarcely.

i'm not a fast writer, nor do i have the time to reply daily. please don't rush me when it comes to writing because the more you rush me, the less i'm likely to actually reply to you. this is a hobby and i'll always treat it as such.

my portrayal is primarily based on canon material from shows, games, mangas and visual novels, mixed with headcanons i've created for my muses. if you ever have any questions about my muses, feel free to approach me!

muses are multi-ship unless stated otherwise. i do accept mains and wish to be granted the same privilege if i were to accept you as mine. if we ship, i give and expect ship exclusivity. let's have fun. :')

credit icon border, post & blog banners @poetryrph

MUSES.

CARD CAPTOR SAKURA. kinomoto sakura EIGHTY-SIX. shinei nouzen FINAL FANTASY. aymeric de borel, noctis lucis caelum, serah farron, snow villiers, yuffie kisaragi, yuna GENSHIN IMPACT. navia caspar, yae miko HAIKYUU. kageyama tobio, oikawa tooru HONKAI: STAR RAIL. gepard, kafka, robin JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE. higashikata josuke KINGDOM HEARTS. sora LEAGUE OF LEGENDS. alune, luxanna crownguard, zoe MORIARTY THE PATRIOT. sherlock holmes MYSTIC MESSENGER. choi saeyoung PERSONA. kujikawa rise, takamaki ann SAILOR MOON. aino minako TEARS OF THEMIS. marius von hagen

MAINS.

ann: @halchron ( ryuji ; ship exclusive ) marius: @cauterisen ( ship exclusive ) noctis: @halchron ( prompto ; ship exclusive ) oikawa tooru: @kazekamis ( kuroo & sugawara ; ship exclusive ), @violevin, @cauterisen ( ship exclusive ) rise: @halchron ( yu ) sherlock holmes: @violevin snow villiers: @halchron ( hope ), @violevin, @kazekamis ( lightning ) sora: @kazekamis ( kairi ) yuna: @halchron ( tidus ; ship exclusive )

[someotherdog]

character: finn open: m/f/nb plot: finn is a priest at the local catholic church. your muse has called him to their house because their family member (sibling, parent, spouse/partner, anyone that isn't a minor) or roommate/friend has been possessed by a demon. the problem is that finn isn't specifically trained in exorcisms, but he will try to help as best as he can. it's up to you how close finn is to your muse, i.e. if they have a close pastoral relationship, they have feelings for each other, or they never met before. (basically it's the exorcist okay leave me alone it's october!) this post was made using beta editor, please do not reblog it in legacy as i no longer have access to it!

finn, as a rule, didn't make house calls often. in special circumstances, he'd perform sacraments for homebound parishioners, or if someone desperately sought out his guidance, he'd stopped by for a chat. mostly, he preferred to keep churchly business strictly to the church. the optics were better for him to meet in his office or the confessional booth. they had sounded so panicked on the phone, though. what kind of priest would he be if he didn't at least swing by to see what he could do for them? that was what led to him standing on the doorstep, waiting for a moment after he rang the doorbell. when the door finally opened, all he could hear was screaming and sobbing behind them. he thought he could hear someone laughing, too. "hi... you called for a priest?" finn peered around their head, trying to see the source of the cacophony, "what, um, is going on exactly?"

[lieblxng]

@theshytigergirl, @regledesflorale, and @mundanemiseries

It's ok, from what I understand it's been a problem. i miss sonno // understandable, tumblr rlly is the website ever

//sonno comes back a month later to commit arson /j /lh

ikr!!! i missed you guys too, smooch, but holy shit we can't have anything on tumblr 😭sorry for the freak out!! i was trying to figure it out and i thought i got it and while the posts were disappearing out of my drafts after i tried to trim them, i presumed they were just deleted and that's why i kept reblogging it more and more. it even touched other posts in my drafts and posted them, even though i didn't touch them?? here's a good post @theshytigergirl sent me explaining the differences between new xkit, xkit rewritten, the legacy editor, the beta editor, etc!

i personally use both xkits since rewritten is fresh and new--it doesn't have much to it now like new does and im using both the trim reblog function on rewritten and the editable reblogs on new, but new has been causing me a lot of headache since I've gotten back a month ago, constantly logging me out, not trimming correctly, and just being awful in general. i suggest people switching over to beta, and while i don't mind accommodating for legacy, with the personal issues im having with legacy and new xkit, im just gonna have to keep moving legacy posts to new beta posts until everyone jumps over because legacy just shits on me. i don't know why??? I'll try to figure it out more later, but for now, this is the temporary solution im gonna do so i apologize if it's annoying to anyone! we gotta endure this transitional stage together ;;

now imma move that one rp reply i was trying to move over (hope no one hates cookie run now because of me lmao /j 😭) since i have it all coded up and then im gonna go to sleeps because i have three hours of sleepy in me and im cant focus so imma pass out. but! i will reply to things in the morning, at least dms and such :3c thank you for dealing with my bs, and tumblr's bs! you all have a wonderful night, thank you for reading!

[fightaers]

Hey just a question, I saw you said "this blog uses beta". I've seen this on a few blogs. What does this mean exactly? Thanks!

Hellooo! Let me explain as best as I could: it just means I'm currently using a beta-editor, which is the most recent update from Tumblr. Tumblrs have had many updates, especially in the last few years, which had severely impacted the RP writing community ( considering we often need to cut thread posts into a manageable size for easier read + tracking ).

Previously, we were comfortably using Legacy Editor, which really hasn't translated well when Tumblr essentially forced Beta Editor on all of us, because the cutting system was rendered severely unusable once a partner who uses Beta Editor receives a reply from a partner who uses the Legacy Editor system. *I mention this because a lot of us have been transitioning more and more into Beta Editor.

If you're only starting, your tumblr is immediately using Beta Editor, so there really isn't a cause of concern about mixing the two systems together. However, if you've got an older blog you wanted to revamp and continue its usage, the system might still have Legacy Editor as its default. You can easily update this, I believe!

With that said, we still need the latest X-Kit to properly use Beta Editor for cutting purposes. I believe there are many tutorials out there on how to instal and begin syncing it.

So yes, tl;dr "this blog uses beta" is simply that: we are updated to the latest editing update that Tumblr has imposed, and are actively employing it into our replies. It might serve as preference interest than anything else, because new potential mutuals might prefer Legacy Editor writers [if they're still using it], or they might just want to know if we're compatible system-wise so it wouldn't mess with thread-cutting.

I hope this explains it all! Thank you for sending it in <333

[thedcvilherself]

open to: f/f passing nb (21+)

muse: Tempest LaRoque/30/Linguist

plot: Tempest works as a speech therapist at a local school. The woman is rather surprised while doing a home visit to find that y/m their student's* mother is a former sorority sister of hers. (specifically, they were her senior and official breeding bitch after losing their position in the sorority to Tempest.)(Student is Tempest's child is up to you. There could have always been the chance which terrified y/m)

(tw breeding)

Beta Editor (Continuation available for legacy editor)

A wicked grin appeared on Tempest's lips as soon as the nanny walked away with the child. The woman normally despised home visits because of how clingy and desperate parents could get. But this was about to be very enjoyable.

"Fuck it's been so long. I think it was 2013 or 2014 was the last time I saw you, at your graduation remember?" She said waiting until everyone was of earshot before she leaned into the other woman. Dark eyes flicked down to look over her body before flashing back up again. Tempest was getting excited just remembering all the fun she used to have with them.

"You still have some of the best tits I've ever seen. I'm guessing pregnancy is the reason why they are even bigger than I last remember? God, you were so bratty when I used to use them to get off instead of one of your holes. Ahhh...enough reminiscing I just want to know if your partner knows that child isn't theirs and what you'd be willing to offer to keep me out of the way. After all, I'm sure this cute little nuclear family would fall to pieces if they knew what a whore you really were."

This shouldn't have happened, shouldn't be happening. Tempest was a part of her life meant to disappear long ago, shrinking in her review mirror as had the school and the sorority that had pulled her from her position as the golden girl; a legacy turned vice president and on her way to becoming president until she'd instead become a toy for Tempest LaRoque.

If only her husband had allowed her to be in charge of anything; she would have seen the name, she would have known to seek assistance for their daughter elsewhere. Instead, she's now left alone in her living room, face to face with the woman who'd all but owned her, who'd claimed her body perhaps more times in those few years than her boyfriend had, or then he had in the years since they'd graduated and become husband and wife.

"Don't do this, Tempest." There's a boldness to her that hadn't existed in their younger years, not defiant per se, never defiant, but perhaps hopeful that the woman before her had changed and her words were only meant to fluster Emira, nothing more. "This isn't college and we're not...we're not playing games anymore. This is my life, Tempest. My family." She had to respect that, didn't she? Regardless of the high possibility that the child was actually a LaRoque.

[soulrph]

I had a follower run into an issue with the beta post editor yesterday when they accidentally hit ‘Ctrl+Z’ and it deleted their entire reply so when they hit ‘Ctrl+Z’ again to fix it, it didn’t bring the words back like the legacy editor used to.

So if you accidentally hit Ctrl+Z and your reply disappears, IMMEDIATELY hit ‘Shift+Ctrl+Z’ and it will bring your reply back!

I know a lot of people are relying on the Auto Draft Save option that comes with the beta editor now, but because it saves so often and so quickly without warning, most of the time you won’t have time to get to your draft folder in another tab before the auto save will save your draft as is (after your words are gone) so I thought this might be a tip to help anyone who might accidentally hit Ctrl+Z if they’re used to doing so on the legacy post editor.

!!!! HEROIC INFORMATION HERE!!! thank you so much for bringing this up! i admittedly began to panic in case you were asking a question, but you weren't!!! you were answering questions that many people may have had, or will go on to have in the future!!! you hero!! thank you so much for reaching out to inform me and the angels who follow this blog!

[confessionsofa-roleplayer]

I’m laughing at every RP mun complaining now that they have to switch to the beta editor because despite bets being out for over a year now, they didn’t bother to bite the bullet and run it early and get used to it. Now they’re being forced to and that’s hilarious to me. Did you honestly think they were just gonna keep both? Did you seriously think that beta WOULDN’T become the new standard? The way some people on this site are so allergic to change is kind of hilarious. Play around with it and get used to it before the change happens and it won’t feel so drastic. Try it for starters only and use legacy to cut your replies. But don’t just sit on your hands until you’re tumbling face-first down the hill because they yoink the legacy editor away from you when you had plenty of time to play around and get used to it so it’s less jarring.

And let me be clear: I understand the distress some ND people experience from change. I’m not talking about those people. They, at least, have legitimate reasons to be concerned and complain about the change, and I entirely understand. I do still think testing the waters and getting used to it slowly over time may be useful to make the transition easier before it’s gone forever though.

[fullmtal]

UPDATE / PSA. ( hi! )

Okay, so I've had a long break because well, a lot of personal things have been going in in real life affecting my family, myself, and my mental health. I've taken a long break and been a little overwhelmed on my dash but I'm back now and I'm going to ease in slow. Sorry for the radio silence, but hope you all are hanging in!

Also important info, since we all don't really have much choice now, I have switched to Beta Editor and it's on my pinned post.

All replies that were done in legacy will be moved to separate post UNLESS you ask me to drop them or I feel I can't continue them btw please let me know if you want to drop or keep an ask or thread okay? and / or need to clean out some of my stuff by dropping them. Asks I'm still going to get to no matter how late, I find asks and small starters are easier to get to and I haven't forgotten my starters I owe if you all are still interested! It's just been...a hell of a year and I know that a lot of you probably may feel like I do on that. I'm really sorry if you've been struggling or have had issues crop up this year, and I genuinely hope it gets better for you.

I've been kind of scarce on discord save like...two - three people but I'm definitely open to chatting I just am really bad at reaching out right now but please, feel free to poke me I'm not unavailable I promise. I'm just kinda slow, as well, haha, you can see. Lately feels like I've been hit by a truck since we had a major family loss mid-year, and after that things continued to snowball right up until this month as well. I'm hoping for a great new year for all of us and what's important here on my dash is -- Edward is going absolutely nowhere even if I'm easing my way in and keeping mind of my mental health, Edward is always, and always will be my constant. I have no braincells because of him even in hard times!

To all my mains, mutuals, people I see but haven't talked to, writing partners, I really hope you're alright and things get better for you if they're tough. I really needed a break as my mental health was like a thin cord with all that's been and is going on. I think it's going to get better, but I'm now back and easing slowly into my blog once more.

Thanks for being so patient, feel free to hmu on discord if you have me, and also just take care of yourselves okay? Your health is most important.

Lots of love, Lily. PS. Beta really isn't that bad I can't believe I, a goob, am now capable of doing colored font drink something warm or do something nice for yourself today!

[more-than-a-princess]

Continued from here for @scarlxtleaves (I can't edit the previous post because I think it was done with legacy editor and I use beta editor)

"I'm not sure if I'm an efficient ruler yet," Sonia admitted, switching lanes in order to pass a particularly slow truck on the highway. There were speed limits of course, but they were more like guidelines. And the more distance they put between the car and the manor, the greater chance they had of not getting caught. Or at least, not getting caught for a few days, until the group found some way to track them, reach them, and likely be torn between relief and berating the two of them for running off.

Sonia cast a quick, sideways glance to Lupin: considering how he had plan A and contingency plans that often didn't look like contingencies at all, surely he must have considered what would transpire once their holiday getaway ended. Whether they'd seen everything they wished to or they were uncovered early, what did he plan to do? How did he plan to explain it? Or would that task be put squarely on her shoulders? Smoothing over conflict was part of the royal skillset, and while she could do it Sonia still wondered how he'd steer the situation into some sort of resolution.

Preferably better than her own steering, at least where the car was concerned: it was precise and no one was hurt, but with Tokyo well behind them, she could now drive as if she were on a simulated battlefield: carefully weaving with both hands on the wheel and adrenaline in her veins. "I suppose others would be impressed by our fluency in Japanese, but I feel that's almost impolite in a way. Whenever you visit another country where the citizens speak in foreign tongues, it is most appropriate to learn as much as you can so you might communicate more efficiently. Novoselic is a bit of an anomaly: Japanese is the fourth most popular language at home, with French and Italian, and then English, that are spoken more frequently."

But she paused her criticism of tourists to laugh at Lupin's warning. Maybe if she hadn't needed both hands to drive, she could've hid her amusement behind a feminine giggle and a well-placed hand over her mouth. But his advice came years too late, and she was both less-naïve and far more experienced in the exact issue he'd put forth. "I think the term you're searching for is 'gaijin-hunter,' Mr. Lupin!" She told him, as soon as she'd been able to take a breath. "Truthfully, I had a boy stalk me for the greater part of three years in high school, and he was a classmate. And it's not just boys, either: women can be equally interested in, as you put it, 'beautiful foreigners.'"

She grinned as she switched lanes, moving the car into the appropriate exit lane. "Should I look out for you too then, as we obtain food and petrol?" She asked playfully, turning at the light and stopping at a nearby station attached to a FamilyMart. With a 7-Eleven across the street should they need it, it looked like the small town they'd chosen would serve them well. It was only when she'd put the car into park that she'd realized what she'd done: she'd inadvertently called him a beautiful foreigner.

That wasn't exactly a lie.

"Shall we go in and find something to eat?" Sonia asked him in French, quickly getting out of the car. Hopefully she changed the flow of the conversation just as quickly: the last thing she needed to do was make him feel uncomfortable. "I've always seen on television programs that sandwiches are best whilst engaging in long drives, but I've never had the opportunity to indulge in such things." Not when hampers had always been prepared for her, or she ate on the train or plane.

[warbefall]

In regards to my last reblog aka the post editor PSA, currently I’m torn about it! The rest of this post will be under a read more to not clog up everyone’s dash!

I know I owe several people replies, some of which have been sitting in my drafts for the better part of a month now ( not that I’ll ever stress myself to reply to anything in a rush, but it’s a fact that it’s true ). Some of you may have noticed that I tend to quietly prioritise inbox content more than threads, & a part of that reason - albeit a very small part - is the issues with the different post editors.

I started off this account using the new beta editor but still had the option to switch between both editors. Some of my older mutuals might remember when I was still new & experiencing a LOT of stress about this whole post editor fiasco because for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out a happy medium in order to cut my threads properly. I ended up with both versions of XKit installed but ultimately stuck with using the legacy editor as that’s what the majority of the people I had threads with were using at the time & I wanted to avoid the entire headache of it all.

So far it’s been going well but recently I’ve been seeing not only a bunch of existing mutuals making the switch to the new beta editor, but new mutuals who have no choice but to use the beta editor & as a result, maintaining threads has reached a sort of stalemate. Truth be told the main reason I’m slacking on replies is because my depression is peaking & it’s bringing my motivation down, but now adding to that I’m not sure what to do about post editing. I have threads with people that were created initially using legacy editor & so replying to them with the beta editor on my end will break them if I switch, & I also have threads with people created initially with the beta editor that my partners are unable to cut on their end, resulting in new posts being made every time.

Like I said, I’m torn on switching or not! It seems like switching is the obvious answer because it’s an inevitability in the end anyway but sometimes change isn’t that easy! Part of me is considering just scrapping everything & starting interactions all over again from scratch & making sure both me & my partner are clear on which editor we’re using from the get go to avoid any issues. For the time being though, I’ll do what I can but I get stressed easily so please bare with me!

TL;DR : the post editor stuff makes me stressed & confused & I don’t know what choice to make!

[lilacxrosesx]

someotherdog·:

character: dovid open: m/f/nb plot: dovid is a college football player and brother of the beta delta chi fraternity. your muse is the bookish, wallflower type. as far as everyone knows, our muses have rarely ever interacted, but they’ve been secretly having a s/xual relationship for the past few weeks. it’s up to you how your muse feels about it, but dovid personally feels pretty good about having their arrangement; both for the thrill of secrecy and the shame of hooking up with a nerd. based on the mtv show awkward. this post was made using beta editor, please do not reblog it in legacy as i no longer have access to it!

dovid didn’t want to say they were ashamed of them. that was how it seemed though, didn’t it? dovid couldn’t bring them back to the frat house, they’d drag him to hell and back if he walked in with them hand in hand, and he unfortunately cared more about what his brothers thought of him than what the person he had been sleeping with for weeks now did. that was why their trysts had to be done in secret, passing it off as a study session or sneaking away from a party to meet in their room, when everyone else on campus was at his frat house. he laid in their small bed, breathing heavily as his heartbeat began to slow down. another successful ‘meeting’, at least in dov’s opinion, he had to enjoy the post-coital bliss for the few minutes he could; soon his frat brothers would start to wonder where he was, no doubt about to blow up his phone with facetime calls and drunk texts if he didn’t go back to the beta delta chi house within the hour. with a quiet hum, dovid peeled himself off the sweaty sheets and began to collect his clothing, “i gotta tell, i think that was our best one yet!” he boasted, pulling his shirt back over his head, “i love our agreement, man. it’s like… the best of both worlds, y'know? we can just chill together when we want, then go back to our regular lives the rest of the time. it’s awesome!”

was tinsley perfectly aware that a guy like dovid would never in his right mind look her way? oh yes, of course she did. she’d had a crush on him for years. one that plenty of people were somewhat aware of enough to torment her about it, but the sheer fact they were from opposite sides of the spectrum meant that he would never actually talk to her, other than in passing. the day they actual converses more than a few words she was sure she was within a dream because this was dovid she was talking about. even though she was all for this being the 21 st century and anyone could talk to anyone who wasn’t in their social class, but unfortunately alot of people did not agree with her. this was the.. well, she’d lost count of how many times they’d done this now, and really she shouldn’t be complaining because it was a dream come true, but truth be told she had a lot to say about it. her paler skin gleaming with post intimacy as she shifted to sit up, almost in a rush to get the fabric of her dress back onto her body. “yeah.. awesome..” she muttered as she leant forward to attempt to find her underwear within the pile of clothing sprawled over the dorm room floor. she was hoping he’d sense the distaste in her voice but she was sure he might glaze over it. “listen.. dov.. i think we should talk..” she lent her body carefully back on the bed, about to spew her truth, but she knew that might go completely out of the window once she looked at him. 

[writingonjorvik]

If I Could Ask the Devs 10 Questions: A WOJ Interview

I think if you’ve known me for a while, you probably know I would jump at the idea of getting to interview the SSO devs, particularly because they tend to have internalized or cherry picked interviews that only focus on what they want to tell us, and not on the questions the players tend to have about the game. So if I could have an interview with the devs, these are the 10 questions I would ask.

Sidenote: I have 10 core topic questions with some brief follow-up questions for clarity. If you counted, yes, there would be more than ten, but there are ten core areas.

What kind of updates can we expect for this year; in terms of new areas, horses, features, etc.?

When can we expect the return of bigger area expansions with full side quests prepared for them and secrets like in the Harvest Counties and Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur launches?

Speaking of updates, about 80% of SSO community wants to see the older Gen 1 & Gen 1.5 models updated across the board like with the update to Gen 1.5. Considering that this is a super majority, and these horses are paid for content, what does SSO intend to do to meet this request from its player base?

Again, since this content is already been paid for, would an “upgrade” feature for purchased old models require additional payment, making player pay to make already purchased content playable again?

If opposed to updating earlier gen models, why does SSO ignore something a super majority of their players want that seems it would also benefit the devs work load?

How does SSO plan to counter price bloat, like what’s happened on the upgraded pets?

Expected counterpoint: SSO has said that the walking pets are more expensive because of “all the hard work that went into them.” This is both a sunken cost and false equivalence fallacy. It’s the developers’ job to continue to make SSO better, and make better content for the game. That should not result in bloated prices for players, but rather more product that they can spend their money on. Saying that “all that hard work” just went into making expensive content diminishes the rest of the work made on the game and it trivializes the job the devs are supposed to be doing. It’s your job to make content for the game. We should not have to pay extra for something we already paid for, and certainly not at a bloat of 4-5x the initial cost for a few bonus animations.

On the note of purchased content, over 70% of SSO’s player base thinks that the game is overpriced, but 90%, regardless of their opinions on fairness, say they would buy more often if the prices were lowered. Is there any intention to lower the prices around SSO to make it more accessible?

Is there any intention is making supplementary content, like more unique items in the merch store that aren’t simply designs with your logo on them?

Would SSO be able to release the comic in English any time soon?

Are there any plans to rerelease the Starshine Legacy games on Steam or the teams merch store?

SSO prides itself for being a narrative oriented story. Are there any plans to establish an official writing team on SSO?

What about a canon wiki about the series?

One of the things the devs have stated about the genderlock on SSO is that it’s to create a space for women in gaming. Does SSO donate to any charities that support girls to play video games like Child’s Play, Code Liberation, or Games For Change, or charities that help women in general like National Women’s Law Center, Dress For Success Worldwide, Girls Not Brides, or Futures Without Violence?

What actions outside of having female leads and job equality is SSO pursuing to promote gender equality?

Can we expect the ability to get magic powers that we can use outside of cutscenes?

Would this involve the “power-up” system the devs have discussed before?

What kind of new customization can we expect in the future of the game?

Would this include the return of the housing function?

Will this provide more options for other gender presenting players besides femme?

Would SSO consider letting the player input their own pronouns into the game without changing the story in any other way?

Would SSO ever consider switching to an expansion based system over the weekly release schedule?

If not, why is the weekly release better for the game than having larger, less frequent updates?

If they would, what would this mean for daily content, in terms of daily quests and achievements, as well as the payment system for an expansion?

Would SSO ever bring back more fan generated content, like the T-Shirt contest?

With SSO branching out to more unique types of story telling, would SSO hold contests for writing companion short stories or producing audio stories like Texas Bluebells?

Will SSO release a public list of community guidelines, so both players and moderators know what is correct behavior, and so also ensure that moderators are upholding SSO’s rules and not personal ones?

What about an internal reporting system to simplify reporting?

Question I Think Would Be Asked Of Me

1. Why are you so critical of the game?

Ok. Here’s the essay.

I suppose it would be easy to say that it’s out of spite. And there’s probably some of that in there. Some innate bitterness over the fact that the PR team, for a period, actively deleted anything critical, regardless of content. The fact that they outright lied about empirical data the players were giving the devs (see the AQH release). Sure, there’s the fact that I’ve seen and had SSO’s dev team do a 180 on me from offering me a space on the mod team for trying to promote a better community to having their devs and outreach insult and demean me on the basis of my comments being “critical.”

And it does drive me a little nutty to see the devs so successfully have turned their player base on anyone who might critique the game. To see my hard work trying to get players to be decent people in the game turned on its head when I say one word crosswise about something that might make the game better. And I’ve be wrong to say I don’t get frustrated when I talk about changes SSO could apply with after being a gamer for way longer than most of the people debating me, with enough research done on my own to be the basis for a master’s thesis, only to be told by someone who SSO is their first video game telling me how the industry works. But that’s really not it. 

So, here it is:

Star Stable is one of the only non-combat MMOs in the world.

Let me repeat that; Star Stable is one of the only non-combat MMOs in the world. And I imagine that invokes a sense of pride, like you’ve hit some kind of niche. But that’s not a truth because of some lucky chance.

Non-combat MMOs survive on small niche markets, before consistently dying off because of failure to expand beyond their initial targets. And it’s not for lack of trying. People love non-combat games; Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon, Stardew Valley, Nintendogs, Roller Coaster and Zoo Tycoon, the Myst series, so on. But when those games refuse to look passed their niche, to expand and improve, they have historically failed as MMOs because one niche cannot fund an MMO.

And where SSO has survived on the niche market of “horse girl fantasy,” it is most certainly not expanding. SSO talks about its overall player count being in the millions, but ignores that fact that for every unique player there are five duplicate accounts, which is a metric that continues to bloat. That out of 12 million players, only 3% of those players are regularly active, compared to most MMOs which will hit 15-25% of their player base regularly between expansions. And no matter how you swing those numbers, no matter how much more you bloat the prices, that is not a long term lifespan. You can’t survive on that niche.

I genuinely believe SSO could help influence the industry. And I don’t mean that in a “if you follow all my ideas, everything will end up perfectly.” I’m not always right, and I’m willing to admit that. But the fact that SSO has been so resistant to any criticism results in a mob mentality with its core player base and it ostracizes anyone who can’t put up with that attitude any longer. Not only does it put the developers into an echo chamber where they can’t improve, it continues to push away the people who care enough to sit down and explain why they’re frustrated. You tighten that niche. You limit your market. You run out of resources.

And I do think SSO has already made leaps ahead for parts of the industry. The number of people who say SSO was their first MMO, their first game, is amazing. It’s great to see a game helping young people get into gaming, particularly girls who, when I was their age, were bullied for even liking video games. So for SSO to make that platform is amazing. But they cannot abuse that by taking advantage of new gamers who don’t know any better about how games are made or sold. I feel, and I feel this of every company, not just SSO, that there is a moral obligation to do right by people, and not to take advantage of their ignorance. And with such a powerful platform to invite young people into this sphere, into making new games and telling new stories, it is imperative that SSO does right by people.

I’m hard on SSO because I care, immensely. You could say I have a fixation on the game, really. I am invested in the survival of this game. But you can’t survive without getting better. Not to mention, the criticism SSO gets is free! From thousands of people. When I edited my book, I paid over $2,000 for my two editors I worked with, and that’s not even getting into beta readers and reviewers. I would love to be able to get feedback for free like SSO does. Because it’s an opportunity to improve because we are never going to be perfect. And if SSO wants to survive the trends surrounding their genre, then they can leave no room for quarter to people like me. Not out of oppression of people’s voices, but by listening and making a better game.

Thanks for your time.

[markgottliebliteraryagent]

Scandinavian-Inspired Dark Epic Fantasy Author Tina LeCount Myers

Tina LeCount Myers is a writer, artist, independent historian, and surfer. Born in Mexico to expat-bohemian parents, she grew up on Southern California tennis courts with a prophecy hanging over her head; her parents hoped she'd one day be an author. Tina lives in San Francisco with her adventurer husband and loud Siamese cat. The Song of All is the first book of the epic fantasy trilogy The Legacy of the Heavens. Her latest book from the trilogy, Dreams of the Dark Sky, publishes February 2019 from Night Shade Books.

The Song of All and Dreams of the Dark Sky reads more like "Shakespeare" fantasy than "X-Men" fantasy. Do you see the series as leaning more toward literary fiction, or fantasy genre fiction—or can they be read by both audiences?

Of course, my hope is that my books appeal both to readers of literary fiction and genre fantasy fiction. The two readerships are not that mutually exclusive. Readers of Shakespeare and X-men are likely interested in the same things: complex characters, a rich, detailed world, and great storytelling. The relationship between Magneto and Xavier feels very Shakespearean to me. One of the things that I tried to do in writing these two books was give equal attention to both language and fantasy elements. My hope is that readers will find a turn-of-phrase or description as compelling as a sword fight and vice versa.

What do you feel the fantasy genre of storytelling affords you as an author writing closely to that medium?

When I describe The Legacy of the Heavens series to people, I say, “The story is about two ancient warring tribes in the Arctic tundra, and a flawed man who is trying to save his son. It also includes parallel worlds accessed by song, psionics, sequential hermaphroditism, reindeer, and epic sword fights.” Where else but fantasy can a writer have that kind of latitude to explore such diverse elements? Anything is possible in fantasy storytelling.

“...I was equally interested in exploring how to layer mythology over science.”

In addition to your familial history, what drew you to the setting of your novels in the frozen northlands with characters drawn from Scandinavian mythology?

Part of the decision I made in world-building was predicated on the initial debate, and subsequent bet, I had with my husband, to write a fantasy story with science as a foundation. For me, that meant looking at the world I live in and that humans evolved in to find an other-worldly location. I chose the Arctic tundra because of its harsh climate. To survive in the cold with very little sunlight in the winter suggested the possibility of interesting adaptations due to evolution. This region also has a rich mythology to draw inspiration from. So, while my Finnish ancestry played a role in the setting of the story, I was equally interested in exploring how to layer mythology over science.

How did you go about obtaining literary representation and then go on to get published?

The Song of All went through seven edits, including two professional editors, before I thought it was ready for submission. Then I turned my attention to the synopsis, which I still think is one of the hardest things to write. I rewrote the synopsis ten times with the help of one of my beta readers. The query came next. I used every available resource out there to craft my query letter. I researched literary agents both in the Guide to Literary Agents and online. I did Twitter pitches, through #PitMad, to hone my logline (Twitter was still 140 characters then). I also attended writers’ conferences that featured literary agents and book editors. It just so happened that at my second writers’ conference, the San Francisco Writers’ Conference, I pitched you. You were my last literary agent of the day. The "time’s up" bell rang about a minute into my pitch. I was so flustered, but you weren’t phased at all. You asked for the full manuscript and a couple of weeks after that you took me on as your client. If I remember the timeline correctly, you sold The Legacy of the Heavens trilogy within three months of going out on submission.

The Jápmemeahttun—or what I consider akin to "dark elves"—from your novels are unique, in that they can change between male and female—at will. While sequential hermaphroditism does indeed occur in nature among species such as the clownfish, what inspired you to write that aspect into your characters?

The Jápmemeahttun were my way of thinking about and talking about "elves" without ever using that term. I was curious about what living a couple of centuries might look like. What might some of the problems be? What might some of the possibilities be? In particular, I wanted to consider what a social group might look like if individuals experienced both genders, in terms of their physiology and gender roles. So, I did look to nature for examples of hermaphroditism, in particular the sequential form—male to female and female to male—and how it might be evolutionarily advantageous. But while there are some species that change sex at will, the Jápmemeahttun go through a very specific biological process that allows them to transition from female to male in their lifetime.

“The learning curve for me as a debut author in the publishing industry was steep, and I was certainly grateful to have a knowledgeable literary agent...”

Now that you have published your second novel within The Legacy of the Heavens series, what have you learned from the book publishing experience?

The learning curve for me as a debut author in the publishing industry was steep, and I was certainly grateful to have a knowledgeable literary agent, like you, who was open to questions. With the second book, I am discovering that the learning curve is getting even steeper, particularly in terms of balancing my time between, promoting the first book, while preparing the second book for publication, while writing the third. I was raised to be self-sufficient, but I am now seeing the importance of building a team and getting help for things that I just don’t know how to do.

Irjan, the lead character of your first novel, goes through some tremendous character development in the story. What is the driving force behind his drastic change of character and what drew you to that particular literary device?

Irjan’s character development in The Song of All centers on a crisis of conscience, and what happens when the life of revenge and violence that he had relied on no longer served him. In particular, I wanted to explore the consequences of Irjan’s choices, both in his life and in the lives of the people he loved. I think a crisis of conscience or a life crisis is something that most people can relate to. How we handle it also ripples out, maybe not a dramatic as in Irjan’s case, but I do believe that actions have consequences, both intended and unintended.

The audiobook edition of The Song of All, narrated by Ulf Bjorklund, is particularly unique, given that he has a Swedish background and the novel is set in the Saamiland of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. What was it like working with Bjorklund on the pronunciations and character voices of your audiobook edition?

It was an absolute pleasure to work with Ulf and director Max Bloomquist, and the entire team at Brilliance Audio. Max’s background is both Swedish and Finnish, so it really was a Scandinavian production. Max and Ulf also worked with Thomas A. DuBois, the Halls-Bascom Professor of Scandinavian Studies, Folklore, and Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, to make sure they had the correct pronunciation for the Saami words. I always go and listen to the audiobook before I give a reading to make sure that I have the correct pronunciation. I think Ulf really captured the essence of the characters, and I hope to work with him again in the near future.

“You have to love your story before anyone will.”

Do you have any advice for writers out there, aspiring to become published authors?

I would say, write for yourself first. You have to love your story before anyone will. Then, be clear on why you want to be published, because that will inform your decision-making along the way. After that, I think persistence, combined with a positive attitude, is crucial.

Can you give us a sense of what’s to come from The Northern Ones, book three in The Legacy of the Heavens series? Please, no spoilers!

Of the three books, The Northern Ones has much more of a quest element in it. And readers will go beyond the borders of Davvieana to discover more of the outside world. The story is a cross between Rogue One and Marco Polo.

[pctaldrunk]

@caelestcs​ asked   :    4. multiple people threads | 17. fanon interpretations | 30. your choice~   -   TOPICS (ACCEPTING)

4. multiple people threads   -           I’ve done this historically (not on this blog), and...it simultaneously works and doesn’t? In my experience one person always tends to die/fall off the earth/etc. and then the thread’s just stuck there, forever. It’s hard enough to get two people matching up in terms of pace and muse, so like...adding more people to that is just...even more variables. Also sometimes modes of interaction might be different between muns - say I’m super comfy just being chaotic with one mun where I might feel more serious with another one - having them both in the same thread might produce a very confusing dynamic. That being said - I’m always open to trying a multiple person thread. It’s nice when you want to write, say, an ot3, and each muse can have their own mun, etc. etc.

17. fanon interpretations   -          Honestly...to me, roleplay is literally indivisible from fanon. Obviously, basing your entire muse off A Popular Fanpost about Said Character or a Popular Fandom Caricature of Said Character is...well, not necessarily a creative decision I would enjoy or agree with. But no matter how In Character you write your muse (and everyone here is legendary in that art, by the way) - you’re developing dynamics, universes, meanings and growths that would otherwise never have happened in canon. Everyone in the rpc I assume wants to develop their muse/see them grow and change and explore different facets of them that were perhaps not emphasized in canon through interaction and whatever plotting we throw their way - therefore, we all to some degree venture into fanon eventually because we grow larger than and hopefully in other also interesting directions in regards to canon. 

Also, in the year of our lord 2k23 I think the number one thing I sincerely wish for the rpc is to respect each other’s takes. Something something live and let live and let’s not have irl irreconcilable fights over fictional characters, fictional worlds and their fictional lives. Again - let me not pretend to be a saint. There are takes in the general fandom tags and takes in general of specific canon instances, characters, ships, etc. that I roll my eyes at and feel my blood pressure rising about and enjoy less creatively and in terms of complexity - but I won’t say (except jokingly) that those takes are Inherently Wrong. I personally don’t enjoy them, I personally don’t agree with them, but none of us are the author and therefore not one of us is the ultimate right portrayal. Maybe to me the villain is dimensional and full of contradictions and points on which I feel sympathy - but to someone else they might j u s t be the mustache twirling ultimate pure evil. We can feel how we feel and not have to justify it by being “right.” We just...all have different vibes. To quote some S.tephen S.ondheim wisdom, “someone is on your side, someone else is not.” Some may agree with one portrayal more than another but that doesn’t mean the other one doesn’t have its own values. 

That is all given the fanon in question isn’t actually harmful to anyone irl, anyway. I personally tend to stray away from popular fanon because I like to hold onto portrayal notes and emotional conflicts that are unique to me.

30. your choice!    -          I wish we would all just decide if we’re all going to hold on to legacy until we die or if we use beta, tbh : ‘ ) Right now I’m switching between the two editors like a madwoman for all my threads and I literally cannot remember what I wrote in legacy and what I wrote in beta and it’s a tiny bit of a disaster (but shhh)