#don't worry it's nothing happening at the Tumblr RPC

[sins-of-the-sea]

//I really wish people understand that BOUNDARIES and LIMITATIONS and that I am ONE FUCKING PERSON is not a suggestion that can be ignored. Just because I write a crew of cursed magical immortal pirates doesn't I AM one. And even then, they're still human. I'm human. Gfdi, I wish people would stop forgetting that.

[prettytm]

get to know the author!

name : Punky, Jessica, Bunny

pronouns :  Her/She/Hey You

preference of communication : DMS first to get a feel for each other and then disco please and thank you. It's simpler and easier. And you don't have to worry about tumblr eating shit.

most active muse :  Billy at the moment. Though Josh Washington and Darkling have been poking around like.. Is it time yet?

experience / how many years :  I've been rping since I was 13 on AOL. So. A long, long, long, long time. Or in other news. I'm old as fuck.

best experience : I have a few. The best on tumblr would be the amazing friends I've made along the way. Most of whom are still in my life.

rp pet peeves : Purity police and the RPC being so ruined by the dickbags who think fiction equals reality.

fluff, angst, or smut : Angst and smut. Fluff's alright. I have nothing against it or the people who write it. But if I wanted something fluffy I wouldn't be here writing dark muses or with people who write dark muses. Fluff happens, sure, but it shouldn't always be.. The major plot point of all stories.

plots or memes : Both?? Both is good. Sometimes plotting just doesn't happen or what's plotting doesn't work out well. But memes can be a gateway drug to getting those vibes going, to get the muses to just.. Work together?

long or short replies :  Again, both is good. I don't go into something thinking oh.. This needs to be long or that needs to be short. It's up to Billy and what he has to say.

time to write : At the moment? Morning and evening. I'm working 3:00-8:00 and have a commute. Though my job can be relaxed enough for me to sometimes have time to write.

are you like your muses : Yes, I think we're all like our muses in some little way. But what Billy and I have the most in common are terrible parents. Mothers to be exact. And because of that we don't share the world's delusion that women are all perfect, innocent, never do no wrong humans.

Tagged By: @lt-ghxst Tagging: @misfittcd, @traumamade, @d4ngerous, @usawfulfew, @hexsreality, @griim, @atlatsofstories, @notimminent, @brooklynislandgirl, @morgansmornings and everyone else too. I know I've forgotten too many urls.

[unboundwanderers]

Negativity under the cut. Will try to be clear about my tone as possible in places I feel I have too to try and make sure I make my tone easier to interpret through text. Kept under the read more to keep negativity off of the dash.

I have not been feeling good about my writing recently. It is hard for me to want to keep coming back to Tumblr, because the anxieties that manifest during my long period of time here is creeping back in, and my natural instinct is to just abandon my blog and never look back, keeping myself contained on Discord for as long as I can until I decide that, maybe. Just maybe, things will work out.

I hate venting on the blog. It makes me feel like I am trying to seek out attention, when mostly I'm just screaming into a void. The ramblings of an insane man who is simply barking at a wall. This more really circles back to how hard it is to write OC's on Tumblr. It sometimes and very often times feels like I'm competing for attention. Nobody here has made me feel like that, of course. It's just the way things are, sometimes.

But recently, I feel like I've been really... Pushy? Over excited? I don't think it's right for me to feel put down for being passionate about plots- especially when it's my anxiety causing me to think this way, but I'm worried that I'm being too much. I'm not doing this literally, but I feel like I've been scratching at myself because I'm worrying over things that nobody's talking about. I feel like there are things people aren't telling me about my muses and the way I write them that could benefit my writing and my interpretation if I was just... told.

To reiterate, nobody here has made me feel like this- but to explain the origin of my recent anxiety, I recently tried to get back into finding partners for pairings through Discord. Loose ideas that I wanted to explore but didn't want to bother any established partners with, or at the very least, add more to their queues and drafts. I hit it off with a few partners right off the bat and posted some starters. Things were going pretty well for about a week before each of my partners either began to ghost me or drop me because they "weren't feeling like taking on new plots or ships, and we're planning on taking a break from writing", which is understandable!! However, my anxiety stemmed when I went to repost my own ad, only to see those partners drop more ads for plot heavy stuff and for new ships.

It created anxiety in me. Was it something I did? Was it something with my muses? Was it something I wrote? Was it a bad joke? Did I not use enough tone indicators? Stupid things, really. Nothing worth talking about, so I kept it all to myself. People just don't mesh, and that kind of stuff happens. Then the silence begins to get really loud, and I look at my writing and think to myself, "Is this really as good as I've been hyping myself up about?" And those thoughts mesh into, "are my partners really interested? Or are they faking it..?"

It's... creating stress. It's me building a mountain out of an anthill, but I've never been good at knowing when my excitement is off the rails or when I'm just... overthinking. I'd say this was just scars from previous years in the rpc reopening themselves, but something in the back of my mind won't silence itself because I just can't feel confident in my writing. I'm not writing this post to try and garner sympathy, I'm just examining myself, and trying to explain my own inactivity and selectiveness through openly writing and talking about it. I come home, have a hard time focusing on my drafts, and the anxiety proceeds to worsen that stigma in my mind.

In reality, it's: People are busy, their musings are scattered, their prioritizing their own motivation and responding to who they want to write with, which is nothing different from what I'm doing. However, the anxiety is speaking in a different language, showing different perspectives - false ones: It's you. It's always you, and it won't ever NOT be you.

I don't know why I'm writing this. Perhaps this is just a really long winded way of saying that I'm going to keep my activity focused to the people I really want to interact with, people who I consider close friends and people who I've been eager to write with since I first started talking to them. I'll be slower with new activity and reaching out to new mutuals. If this post made you want to unfollow, I genuinely do not blame you. Despite what I've said- this is not a cry for attention. It is just me unleashing bottled feelings that have been festering since early april.

If you made it this far. Thanks for entertaining my ramble. I hope you're having an amazing day and please don't think that this has anything to do with anyone else but myself. The anxiety is simply hitting hard.

[thedickgraysonrp]

What do you look for in a rp partner?

AND/OR

How do you overcome writer’s block?

♡ Munday Meme ♡

What do you look for in a rp partner?

Oh boy. This is going to be a bit long, so buckle up.

I think what most of what I look for in a RP partner can be divided into three main categories, both in Discord and Tumblr RP: Interest, Communication and Initiative. Now for a bit of an explanation below the line if interested:

Interest: If you don't show interest in what we roleplay, why roleplay at all? That is not to say you constantly need to come up with new ideas or plot devices, or fantasize about our muses doing whatever together 24/7—not at all. It links to one of the rules I state in my rules page, honestly: Quality over Quantity (or both, if possible). Quality in writing, for me, comes when you are actually interested in what happens in a roleplay when you write it. You want it to develop and grow, you want to continue writing a story together, or reach a satisfying conclusion to it. For shorter threads, you want to capture a moment—may it be funny, sad, dramatic or silly, it doesn't matter. It doesn't have to be an endless text wall, too. Sometimes a lot more can be said in a juicy paragraph than an empty text wall of nothing. When you're not interested in what you write, it SHOWS. RPing is a major hobby of mine, has been for years, and even if my interest fluctuates and is a subject of my whims it is clear as daylight when I lack interest and trust me, it probably shows in your writing too. Which brings us right to the next point—

Communication: I 👏 CANNOT 👏 STRESS 👏 THIS 👏 POINT 👏 ENOUGH. One of the things I find majorly lacking in Tumblr RPC is communication between partners. Maybe it's because RPs here are based on threads and not an instant messaging system, or maybe other reasons, but it shouldn't matter! From OOC conversations to deep dives into muses, communication with a RP partner is a MUST, no matter what platform you use. You want to wrap up a thread or not make one out of an ask/meme? You can either discuss it with your partner, note it in your tags, or like the post to let your partner know not to expect a reply (which is a thing here on Tumblr, I learned?). Not interested in that blog/partner? Though it's up for debate on this platform if to do so or not, I suggest just sending a small polite message to that blog/partner indicating that. I can only speak from personal experience, but most of the partners I did so were very civil about it and we parted on good or neutral terms. Sometimes it's not forever, and it means they are not interested at the moment. Of course, if civil communication doesn't happen, there's always a block option. Haven't gotten a reply to your thread for a long time? Don't jump to conclusions, message your partner. Tumblr is a glitchy goose and notifications are shotty at best, it might have just not popped up for them. Or, perhaps, initiating a conversation will trigger them to talk about why they haven't replied since they were scared or worried to talk about it. Want to RP with this new/old blog but don't know how? Talk to them. Who knows? They might have been waiting on the other end to hear just from you. There are a lot of other examples out there. Most of the roleplayers I encountered on Tumblr are really nice and eager to write, and even if things don't work out between you two, you know you've tried. Now, I'm no saint—I myself find it hard to message people sometimes and ask/discuss things because I think I may be annoying/a drag/unwanted/etc. (anxiety yaaay), and one of the things that reassure me it's comfortable and safe to talk to other people is them initiating or talking back. You never know who is on the other side of the screen. I would love to make friends here and share my interests beyond RPing and writing if I feel safe to do so, too. People automatically assume communication means constantly talking to your partner every minute of the day, which is NOT even close, and that's where the third category comes in for me—

Initiative: I intentionally put this here and not with communication to make a point. No, you don't need to talk to your partner every hour of the day and be all over them to show your interest, BUT you do have to show initiative. So what does that mean? To me, initiative links both interest and communication together. Yes, we're all people with things to do outside Tumblr and the RPC, some of us more busy than others and so on. And yes, while roleplaying is a hobby and not a job and you have no obligation to it whatsoever and it's for your enjoyment and pass time alone, you are still writing with someone. Naturally, like every communication, there are expectations on both ends. It is recommended to set those expectations beforehand, of course—may it be stated in your rules (as it always should) or discussed over if anything is unclear. Initiative means showing to your RP partner that you're still present and there's a potential of interest. It doesn't necessarily mean sending asks/memes or answering starter calls (though these are always usually highly welcome if your partner posts those), because we're not always in the mood to write with that specific muse or answer that specific thread. Or, sometimes, we're just busy. Initiative means engaging with their blog, show them you are still interested in it even if it's not necessarily in writing with them atm. Liking that visual they posted or headcanon they wrote for their muse, leaving a comment on something, tagging them in stuff and so on. And if you are interested in writing with them? Don't wait around—ask them if they want to write or send them something. You may not always get an equal level of interest as yours, if at all, but they will know you are there. And that's what counts. You don't need to do this every minute, every hour or every day. But you need to do it. If you'll sit there expecting people to engage with you out of the blue and you do nothing at all, it's most likely not going to happen if you don't initiate. People would most likely assume you are not interested in their muses, writing or blog and just leave you alone. I know how hard it is to take initiative sometimes, it can feel like a big step— it feels that way a lot of times for me too. But it takes two to tango. The sheer amount of times I thought my RP partners don't want to write or be partners anymore because they the engagement was one sided is ridiculous.

So, yeah. Be mindful of yourself and others when roleplaying or engaging with RP blogs.

[rpbetter]

Raven used to be my friend but I had to cut ties recently due to feeling like walking on eggshells everytime we spoke and they never apologized to me for when I brought up something that they did upset me. I really miss them but I don't want to deal with the if it's not about me I don't care attitude.

Pt 2 of Ravens old friend. They reblogged anti fandom posts on their resource blog and I happened to be in that fandom and it hurt. A resource blog shouldn't be doing that.

Hey, Anon! I wanted to post this before I released one of my drafts, as that draft happens to be something I do not want you to misconstrue being about you. Thought about it after the fact and honestly, felt a bit ill over potentially making you think any such thing! The post is about how pushy people can be about what they like (usually as regards fandom) that you don't, and how that can be a contributing factor toward people saying hateful things about fandom topics. It was the quickest of the finished drafts sitting around to edit, so it was being queued, that's all! I do not think you were being pushy about your likes to "deserve" this, and frankly, even if you had? One's meme/resource/help blog is not the venue for shitting on your friends.

Okay, just wanted to clarify, everyone is stressed and feeling judged enough, I don't want to inadvertently contribute to that with any drafted posts!

I'm really sorry this happened, Anon. I don't mean that in a passing, flippant way that looks good on my blog. Not that I mean anything that way lol but I frequently have had "friends" in the past who felt like it was totally fine to reblog, even make original posts, like what you're talking about. Anti-fandom, anti my part of the fandom, my muses, my takes, and so on. Really hurtful things when we'd spoken in DMs about how upsetting it was, then they go and throw full support behind it in front of me.

It would be irritating with a grain of betrayal if it was a friend of a shorter time, or a mutual one doesn't really interact with OOC, but with a closer or longtime friend, it's actively hurtful. It feels like they looked you right in the face, said they do not give a single shit about either what is important to you or sparing your feelings, and went on. Yeah, it's just fiction, but the way we treat each other over fiction is real.

Given the behaviors displayed openly, it's not a shock you received no apology. Whether you got an apology or not, though, good on you for trying to bring it up to them! It's hard to do that with friends, even ones you're more certain won't blow up at you for it. I think if we could all be a little more (calmly, nicely, reasonably) open with each other like this, we could avoid problems that result from things festering and piling up, but it's hard to take that step...and I'm sorry this was your reward for it.

Just as blogs that are not one's RP or personal blogs shouldn't be openly judging and hating fandoms like that, friends shouldn't leave you feeling like you're walking on eggshells.

And, I'm going to say something unpopular here - sometimes, we all are capable of doing that to people we care about. Bad moments in lives combine, there are misunderstandings, sensitive topics, and things we can't entirely control otherwise. I don't like this idea tumblr has that anything other than a perfect, sweet, forever-cheery relationship is the actual height of abuse, so I want to be clear on that because it's just trivializing and blinding people to the possibility of toxic and abusive interactions. When you think "toxic" means "they don't like x, I love x, we don't talk about it," you're not aware of legitimate signs like being too worried to be yourself around them.

It's when this is the typical, established behavior that it's a problem. It's when there's never any meaningful acknowledgment, apology, or attempt at changing that it's a problem. If you constantly feel like you have to be worried about what a friend is going to say or do, it's not a friendship you need to be in, and I'm glad you recognized that and got out of it!

But there's also the idea that this is easy because it's the right and logical choice. It is not, and it's often made even harder because admitting to other friends that you miss the good times with the former one is all but impossible. They're often only reacting out of concern for you, the fear that if you miss this person they watched hurt you, you'll go back to that friendship, but it effectively shuts down a more healthy way of dealing with your feelings by sharing them with better friends who could support you.

So, Anon, it's also fully alright and normal to miss Raven! They were a longtime friend, and the thing about these kinds of friendships, these kinds of relationships in general, is that we seem to fail to realize that if things were straight awful from day one, we'd not have been friends. Of course, there are memories! Of course, you have the impulse to send them a link or that meme you know is their humor! It doesn't stop for a long time, either. That doesn't mean you're fucked up for it, it's something to be ashamed of, or that you're going to drop your better judgment and go send Raven a message immediately and rekindle that friendship. It's okay!

This right here: "I don't want to deal with the if it's not about me I don't care attitude." This is the place you should be in, and I congratulate you on being there because it takes a lot of shit heaped on someone by a friend to get there. Just keep remembering the good things you experienced with them, but always with this in mind, that their end of the friendship appears to have been predicated upon what they were getting out of it only.

Case in point, like everything they displayed to the whole damn RPC that encountered them these last few months, their personal interest and viewpoint was of greater importance to them with that anti-fandom post than a friend was.

I will say, it can be a delicate thing having this blog. I have opinions and takes that most of my friends share, what's important to me tends to run in the same lines as what is important to them, that's the basis of a lot of our friendship. We still disagree! We still have different interests, fandoms, favorite characters, songs, and experiences. Sometimes, I have to address a problem that they could misconstrue, in a totally normal and reasonable way, because while they're not doing whatever in a bad way, others are. I've made a point, more than once, to contact them and talk about it a little preemptively, and that's not just to keep up friendships, it also allows for extra insight from them and better phrasing from me so that other people I don't know won't take it the wrong way either.

Yes, I have some immutable, incredibly hard lines lol I think we all know what most of them are now, but expressing my purely personal opinion on something like fandom is not more important on this blog than anything else. I may genuinely feel like there is diseased connective tissue of disappointing behavior stemming from an origin point in a popular fandom, I'm not going to go off about it on this blog. It's inappropriate as hell, going to make people feel isolated and targeted whether they're my friends or not. Being passionately displeased about that does not have place here, and that's the kind of thing you have to consider, reconsider, force yourself to shut up about when you've got a blog that isn't for RP or a personal, you know?

I don't think everyone is cut out for doing that, and no one is cut out for doing it without ever making a mistake in judgment. Some people really should simply realize that there is nothing wrong with not being in the place in their lives or mental health to put that much effort into being fair or being quiet and concentrating only on memes. If you're one of those people, random reader? I'm serious, it's okay if you can't do it! It's not shameful, I'm also a deeply flawed human being, the quietest, politest, helpful meme blog out there is also run by a flawed human, they're just at a different place with themselves than you are. And. That's. Okay. Just don't hurt other people (and yourself, ultimately) by forcing it, please.

I suppose, knowing that it wasn't important enough to chill and reevaluate for the sake of a friend is some consolation lol what one won't do for friends definitely won't be done for random muns deemed problematic. So, maybe that'll make some other people out there feel a little better, and I thank you for sharing...as much as I wish you had nothing of this experience to share. I know it's an unpleasant one to have had, and I hope you have much better friends!

I promise you that I'll never post anything here that is viciously against any particular fandom or any such thing, and that if you feel like I've been unfair about anything at all, I welcome polite messages as a way of discussing it so we can all be clear and/or learn from each other. I know, I openly admit, it's kind of a draw of the blog, that I have a...um, tone of salt about things lol and sometimes, I don't phrase things the way they deserved. So, it's always okay to drop in for clarification or counterpoint, so long as it isn't being done with a shitty attitude that incites hostilities. Let's do have a legitimate conversation about it instead of hurt feelings!

Thanks again, Anon!

[rutherford-writes-blog]

Hello! I hope its okay to ask! I'm currently making a rp group that I hope to open next week, but the more and more I work on it. The more and more I feel like its going to fail, not because I don't love the plot or the bios I'm writing up! Just because I think people won't take it as serious as me, or even hate it! Do you have any tips or advice that could help me out?

hey there sweetpea!! you’re fine, don’t worry. so, this is a problem i think most people go through including myself (&& that’s coming from an admin that’s had multiple long lasting rps on && off tumblr, including some that had been open for more than a year). the tips i can give you only work if you don’t give up after being open for a day && seeing no apps in the inbox, so keep in mind that these rely heavily on your own dedication to your rp. these are in no particular order.

REALIZE IT WILL BE TOUGH. for some admins, this can be their fatal flaw. they don’t realize that building a community takes time and, after the first few days with seemingly no response from the rpc, they give up. there may be a select few rpgs that have instant success and lots of attention from jump, but you never need to expect your experience to be the same as someone else’s. expect that you will have to go days and days without applications or questions, but don’t give up hope that as long as you stick with it, they will come. basically, as my mama says, “hope for the best, but always prepare for the worst.” remember that you are trying to build a long lasting home for writers to enjoy staying in, so that will take time, dedication, and effort from you as an admin. 

REACH OUT TO RPTS/RPHS FOR OPINIONS AND SHOUTOUTS OFTEN. when you ask a rpt/rph for an opinion, expect some criticism back. seriously consider making changes in areas they mention, but ultimately whether or not you do is up to you. do not stop asking for opinions / shoutouts or sending in promos to different rpts when you get a comfortable number of people in your group. just because it’s booming now, doesn’t mean your member count can’t drop significantly on a dime. you want to keep your rpg’s name in the rpc as frequently as you can so no one forgets it exists.

BE PROFESSIONAL AND POLITE. unfortunately, some people are going to come off as rude in your main’s inbox from time to time, but do not let them get under your skin. you will be well respected and liked as an admin if you remain as calm, professional, and polite as possible. this does not mean bend to their will, but always look for the most polite way to respond to them. keep in mind that a lot of the times, potential applicants will read other messages and determine what kind of an admin you are, and if you’re rude or unprofessional, they may be deterred from joining your group.

A PROMO BLOG WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. the promo blog will need to be queued often, but it’s the most effective way to keep your rpg in the tags at all times, so rpers from all over the world can see your ad at any given time. adjust your queue settings to something you’re comfortable with, but i recommend no less than 30 a day. do not slack off of the promo queue ever.

EXPECT DRY PERIODS. every rp has them. expect a time or times that it will seem like nothing is going on. the dash is slower, you’re not getting apps or questions, and you may feel like the roleplay is dying. this is not true. members rely heavily on the admins of a group to keep it alive, so do not give up on your group if you think it’s slipping into a dry period, just remember that it will pick up again. these can happen several times a year: school semesters, holidays, vacation season etc etc. 

FOLLOW YOUR OWN RULES. i see way too many admins not following their own rules, and it’s mostly their own activity rule. keep in mind that you are the very first member in your rp, and the face of your rp. other members will expect you to set the bar for how to act on the dash. if you’re going inactive and not following the rules you set, then so will the others.

DO NOT GIVE UP ON IT. this is the last tip, but it’s ultimately the most important. it’s been mentioned several times, but i believe i should say it a few more. if you are truly passionate about this rpg and the bios and you really want it to last, then you can not allow yourself to become discouraged and give up. you have to be dedicated and active on the main, keep it updated and be around as much as possible, answer questions as soon as they come in, keep the promo queue full, and do not sweat the small stuff. if you don’t get 20+ apps on the first day you hit the tags, don’t make yourself believe you’re a failure. barely any rps that last longer than a week get instant attention. you have to believe in yourself as an admin and as the creator of the rp that you can make it work and you have to refuse to let it fail. don’t be afraid to introduce an idea that you love to the rpc, and as long as you work hard at keeping the place alive and active, applicants will come.

that is all of the advice that i can give you, but i will extend a few offers to you. i do opinions, shoutouts, && promos on this blog. if you need any of those things, don’t be afraid to come to me again && i’ll help you in any way that i am able! i truly wish you the best && hope to see your new rp killin’ it in the community soon!!