#i simply wanted to gush about this block roleplay

[fictional-detective-tournament]

Fictional Detective Tournament!

Rules:

Please only submit characters through the attached form.

The submission deadline is October 22nd.

As the name suggests, no real people. If you have an ambiguous where it’s someone playing a character in a roleplay, feel free to explain how they count as a fictional character and not as the real person playing them and I will consider it.

I will accept different versions of Sherlock Holmes on top of regular Sherlock Holmes as long as they’re intended to be different from regular Sherlock Holmes. (Ie Fate/Grand Order Sherlock Holmes, Moriarty the Patriot Sherlock Holmes, etc.)

I am aware that this tournament has been done before. I do not mean to disrespect anyone who has run this tournament before. I simply would like to run one myself because I love detectives and want to spotlight some of the lesser known ones that I love, as well as ones that are submitted.

Please do not submit characters from media where an author who is openly problematic is still alive and actively profiting off of the work. (Harry Potter, Rurouni Kenshin, etc.) This is my first time trying this, so I don’t have a banlist prepared, hence the broadness. I will look over characters after submission and if I feel that a piece of media could fall under this, I will ask for further opinions.

I will also take characters who aren’t explicitly referred to as detectives if they spend a lot of time in the media they’re from investigating and or trying to solve a mystery. There will a section in the form for justifications and explanations if necessary.

Characters based on real people are allowed as long as they aren’t meant to actually be the real person they represent.

No OCs. Otherwise I would be tempted to include my *7* detective OCs. But feel free to tell me about your detective OCs in the asks and maybe I’ll run that sometime.

Please denote if the character you want me to accept is from an 18+ source. I will accept them if there are SFW pictures of them, I would just like to know so that I can be careful when searching and can tag the polls with them accordingly.

Characters auto accepted because they are the host’s blorbos: Lord El Melloi II/Waver Velvet, All the detectives from the ADA from Bungo Stray Dogs plus Yukito Ayatsuji from Bungo Stray Dogs Another, the main quintent from Tantei Gakuen Q, Lady Love Dies from Paradise Killer, Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan, and the main characters of The Swifts: A Dictionary of Scoundrels (Please read this book.) However, I will accept propaganda for these characters! If I don’t get any, I will write some myself, but I appreciate hearing other people gush about characters I love.

Please be respectful of everyone involved. People being rude in the tags will be blocked.

The form is here!:

About the Host!

I’m Zero! My main blog is at @zero-on-the-clocktower . I’m 19 and use any pronouns. I love detectives and mysteries in general and am happy to give you recommendations if you’d like.

[lvckyonc]

hi, I’m tea ( 29. she / her. est ) and i'm in the market for a few new roleplay partners over on discord. i'm looking for someone that can give me that mumu vibe, with multiple ships that we can bounce around and gush over. of course, you must be over the age of twenty one for me to feel comfortable writing with you, as well as be willing to play all gendered muses as I too would like to play all genders. I am a big fan of slice of life roleplays, as well as modern fantasy & supernatural themes. i've got plenty of plot bunnies scattered around this blog that i'm willing to take inspiration from for ships <3 as for faces, you can find some i like to use here as well as those i'm interested in writing against here. These are not exhaustive, and I am always willing to make muses that fit your wanted opposites as long as you're willing to do the same. my activity is extremely variable, and i sometimes struggle with writer's block. i ask simply for patience, understanding and a willingness to communicate with me without being too pushy for replies. even if i'm not in the mood for replies, i'll always be willing to chat ooc, plot out new ideas or just headcanon about current ships.

if any of this interests you, let me know either by liking this, or sneaking into my messages and i'll see if we vibe a little before handing out my discord <3

[orionshounds]

I’ve been knee deep in dsmp lore streams and I just want to ramble about it

Dream smp lore is so good, it’s so good!!! Not only is the story itself just fascinating, but how it’s presented so uniquely through the medium of minecraft of all things is just so cool. One of my favorite parts of the lore is seeing how everyone on the smp has their own “style” they present it in, and watching them find the way they find the most enjoyment in is so cool. Literally no two streamer’s lore stream quite like each others and it’s just incredible! It just speaks to the flexibility of roleplay as an artistic medium and really shows everyone’s individual personalities. 

Wilbur was dramatic as hell and wrote eloquent speeches. He started a drug operation under the guise as a country, and it lead to a revolution in which he was able to explore the spiral of a man who loses control of everything he had built. And after his arc and he wanted a break from the server? He created ghostbur, an amnesic comic relief with just enough touch of tragedy that he is still able to make heartbreaking monologues when he wants to.

Tommy is able to run around with his friends and cause as much chaos to his heart’s extent, but there is so much more than meets the eye. He is incredibly social and isn’t afraid to start conflict with a lot of people, bringing them into the roleplay. He doesn’t back down from storytelling either. His character goes through terrible situations and he fully explores the trauma that comes from those experiences. His character goes against the “stereotypical” trauma I see alot in media; instead of being shy or scared he’s reactionary, he’s angry, he’s violent, he’s depressed. I’m actually really impressed with the heavy subject matter this 17 year old teen has managed to portray (I’ve connected with it quite personally at certain points), while still being able to keep the light hearted fun that’s so intrinsic to his personality. 

Tubbo isn’t really interested in serious lore as much. Even in dire moments he tells jokes and just has fun. So, in his recent lore, he just streams as normal while putting mysterious writing on screen that he doesn’t acknowledge or have to explain, which I think is just a genius work around for him to participate in lore. He still has his dedicated lore streams sometimes, and when he is in the acting zone he has some of the most powerful moments out of everyone on the server.

Ranboo, while having stake in the greater smp lore, is much more character focused. He presents his lore through long monologues and fucking heart-wrenching voice acting. He loves working in themes of horror and causing a specific feeling in the viewer. So he chooses specific music as a themes for events/characters and creates visual queues in his overlays to draw out that desired reaction. He also values improve a LOT, if something unexpected comes up he just runs with it and he has made huge changes to his lore as early as 30 min before a stream.

Technoblade, while arguably one of the most powerful people on the server, prefers a more light-hearted yet dramatic approach to lore. When Dream was at his house looking for Tommy, Techno had no problem joking around and making fun of him for being homeless. He tore down an entire nation on the server and had so much fun doing it! He’s more of an antagonist than a true villain in my opinion. And lets not forget how dedicated he is to the game, he’s cracked at the craft. He spends hours grinding and creating farms on the smp, for amazing pay offs (his several vault reveals, the withers, etc), most of which weren’t even on stream!

Karl Jacobs is extremely social, so he created Tales from the smp as a way to involve TONS of people in lore while exploring the past and future of the server (it was also a way for viewers who weren’t that well versed in dsmp lore to join and not have to worry about it!). And through this premise, he took the opportunity to develop his own character on the smp; making an incredibly tragic story of a time traveler trying to save his home while slowly loosing his memories. Not to mention the beautifully shot cutscenes of the Inbetween and the Other Side. He includes so many people behind the scenes as well, collabing with other members on lore, hiring building teams and people to make intros and credit scenes, and promoting fanart and fansongs from the community!

Quackity explores his lore through heavily scripted events and amazingly shot cut scenes. While the way he expresses his lore comes at the cost of improv, the payoff of the visuals and story is well worth it! The shots he makes of the smp is downright gorgeous, no to mention he’s the first person to include irl footage in his lore (not counting facecams)! He’s not afraid of thoroughly examining his own character, being one of the only people I can think of that shows us “past events�� leading up to something that has already happened.

Badboyhalo, Antfrost, Ponk, Skeppy, Captain Puffy, Punz, Awesamdude, Hannahxxrose all work together on shared lore and the payoff is amazing! By introducing the Egg, a constant antagonistic force that constantly pulls on character’s relationships with each other, everyone is able to stream together to battle for or against the egg! There’s also plenty of room for people to do individual lore that's more intimate to their respective character. They spend hours changing vines, putting up posters, slowly shaping the smp in a way that makes it exciting to watch streams to see just what has changed everyday. Because there’s so many people necessary to tell the egg’s story, it does comes at the cost of time (the egg has been around FOREVER). However, they all work together super hard and I just admire their commitment to the story they’re trying to tell!

And Sam! He has several different “Modes” his character is in (and an entirely separate character, Sam Nook) that he gets to explore lore with. He’s a terrifying warden, he’s a money motivated businessman, he’s a conflicted lover, he’s a traumatized victim of the egg, and just so much more. Through having so many different “roles” in the rp he gets to explore relationships and plotlines with a whole array of people. Not to mention he’s absolutely cracked at redstone and has some of the most impressive builds on the server.

And Puffy! So much of her lore is calling into question the morality of the server and really makes you step back and think critically about the characters. Her character also has, in my opinion, one of the most interesting relationships with Dream, the main antagonist of the entire server, which is just fascinating to watch unfold. Not to mention she’s one of the first people to start exploring the backstory of her character!

George doesn’t exactly do lore. In fact he’s slept through so much of it it’s become a meme. And you know what? That mad man took that and ran with it. He explains his absence in the story by having his character literally being asleep through it, creating mystery where there used to just be an absence. He’s able to goof off with his friends and have borderline nonsensical streams, then at the end sucker punch the audience emotionally by “waking up” and have the viewers question just what was real and what wasn’t?

The smp has the freedom for people who want more independent lore to be able to explore their character’s that way as well!

Hbomb, Connereatspants, and Purpled don’t have a lot of lore on the smp, generally only coming on to have fun with everyone, but when they do have their moments it unfolds in very interesting ways!

Sapnap, Eret, and Schlatt maybe aren’t as active as some other people, but when they are on they actively participate in lore and have lasting impacts on the story (Ex: Eret’s betrayal, Sapnap’s visit to dream in the prison, Schlatt becoming president).

Philza mostly does his own thing, improving the server or making some bomb ass builds. He has incredibly devastating roles in lore (killing wilbur, blowing up L’manberg for the final time, starting the syndicate with Techno), but he also has quieter moments that speak to the depth his character has, such as fishing with fundy or reminiscing about his dead son and how it went so wrong. Like Techno, he doesn’t like to take lore completely seriously, often laughing no matter what’s happening or teasing chat after something big goes down, but his character is solid with a lot of potential for future lore.

Foolish has only started on his character and its already super interesting. The hints at his dark past as a “god of death” and his current conflict with the egg are intriguing as fuck. Not to mention the MASSIVE builds he does for everyone, helping to progress their lore as well.

Fundy has a lot of freedom with his character to participate however much he wants in lore. While generally he’s a trickster who loves to prank people he has enough tragedy build into his backstory he’s able to break the viewer’s heart with a flip of a switch. Not to mention his recent, almost surreal, stream that explored his character’s disturbing dreams that may or may not predict the future.

Niki is very character driven, exploring her character's grief of losing her best friend and her anger of being ignored in the very country she helped create. She has incredibly emotional moments, and even though she’s on her own building an underground city she still participates in other lore via teaming with jack manifold or the syndicate.

Jack Manifold’s lore is VERY character focused, and while he’s described his story as a “B plot that occasionally intersects with the main plot”, the story he tells is still fascinating. Being pushed aside not taken seriously his whole life, his character develops into a fun cartoony-esque villain who begs to be taken seriously, that has the depth of a truly conflicted person who is torn between wanting revenge on everyone who’s done him wrong and just wanting a friend.

Last but not least, the man himself, Dream. The most fascinating thing about his lore is that absolutely none of it is from his pov. All we know about his character is only from what we see from everyone else’s povs, and in his case it leads to a very intimidating villain! Not to mention, mans owns the damn server and yet has made himself the main antagonist! He is the only character I consider a “true villain” on the smp. His voice acting and writing is downright sinister. I could write a fucking essay on how his character’s obsession with power has led him to the point he thinks himself an unstoppable god

Everyone on this server is stunning and I love all of them!!!!!

[stormblessed95]

To my Tkkr Anon 🥰

1. I think you forgot when I mentioned last time that @kanmom51 sends me these things. Lmao she said she was going to block you, but I'll answer 🥰 you not tagging me, doesn't mean I won't see it 😂

2. What part of my post was debunking or explaining away taekook moments? 😂 Am... am I not allowed to find them cute and talk about them anymore??? I was gushing over the way they clearly bond over and watch tons of memes and silly videos together. To the point where it's become their thing. Isn't... Isn't that what you guys are all saying too? You are just adding "omg husbands flirting" on it as well. I didn't even say it WASNT romantic, I just said didn't say that it was either. Talking in memes COULD be flirting, but it doesn't mean they are flirting either. Lmao I see it as something super cute, but I don't see it as flirting or Romantic. You CLEARLY disagree though and that is fine. I'm not here to change minds 😂 You aren't even the target audience for my posts, yet here you are anyway!!

3. If this was jikook, my post probably would have been EXACTLY the same as it was for taekook, but I'd have less meme material to work with since they don't meme at each other as much as taekook do 😂 I'd have the vminkook ones, the ONE dubsmash they did as 3J, and the Private Mingguk/Mingguk YouTube channel one (all of which I also included in the memes post for tkk as ones JK participated in too.) But that post still wouldn't have been for you either because I'm a JIKOOK BLOG lol

4. I don't think I've ever made a post about how jikook recreate het couples. Maybe I've done a romance movie reference post. Can't remember. But those are based off movies they've said they find Romantic or when they've literally subbed out their names for the character names. Meaning they've made it very clear they are recreating those characters. Lol Romeo and Juliet and Titantic for example. That's on THEM though, not me. They made that connection, not me. And automatically putting them into the role of husband and wife simply because of the meme they recreated were from a husband and wife YouTube channel is very heteronormative of you. Tae was being cute, you have no confirmation that he was trying to roleplay as JKs wife. (Although I do have proof of both vmin and jikook roleplaying as boyfriend/girlfriend together!) Lmao can't you just coo over Tae being cute for JK? I know that I CAN. The amount of people who found their Instagram "flirting" cute should be everyone.

5. "Don't forget to add I love tkk" lmao why do you want us to not like them? Like do you REALLY think we are all just like you and boo on other ships to validate our own? Wouldn't you APPRECIATE blogs that also appreciate your ship even if they disagree about what the nature of their relationship is? I really don't get this logic. Please feel free to explain to me why you don't want us loving them as friends just because we don't think they are boyfriends? Stop trying to push all your toxic narratives about how shipping works onto everyone else please. It's not how I do things here.

Anyways, I'm honestly just enjoying these messages everytime I get them. How many tkkrs do I have on here or is it just you everytime?? I feel like my posts are causing tkkr chaos with the way you guys keep feeling to need to reply to them, but to OTHER people too. Lmao

Me, watching the chaos unfold 😂

And finally anon, please. You don't have to be anon. Clearly you don't know that today seems to be taekook day over on my blog. You could have sent me an ask and been like "ahhh taekook so cute flirting on Instagram" and I would have been like "I KNOW THEY ARE SO CUTE" And we could have shared cute photos. So sad, what a missed connection we could have had 😭 alas

Anyways, taekook boyfriends anon. You are so right. Instagram confirms it. Love that for them! Soooo romantic those two together 😍 they recreate het memes and are so in love. Can they do October 3rd next? That would just totally confirm to me they are in love with each other. People who watch mean girls together are the only people who are meant to be together forever 😭😭😍😍 I can confirm, I've watched it with my husband and we are meant to be 🥰

Does this count as me throwing a tantrum over them talking about me again? Lol probably. 😂 Thanks for the laugh anon. I wonder if I'll see you in my inbox whenever I turn anons back on?

[enixamyram]

Blog Tag

Tagged by @priscilla9993! Thank you!

1. Why did you choose your URL? It's literally just my first and second name backwards. Not much else to it than that. I had a good feeling no one else would have the same URL and it was a dumb thing me and my friends did and laughed about when we were in school.

2. Any side blogs? I have two but I don't really want to name them for shyness reasons, haha! I will say one is a life-type blog that I am sorely neglecting and the others a roleplay blog.

3. How long have you been on Tumblr? I think since 2012, so about nine years. I'm not entirely sure so I went on my blog and searched for what I know is one of my first ever posts (I know it's my first because my hashtags are so messed up on it, haha).

4. Do you have a queue tag? Nope.

5. Why did you start your blog in the first place? I genuinely have no idea. I can't even remember creating this account, let alone why I did. The only thing I can say is that I know some of the original things I posted/reblogged on it were posts about Vampire Knight and Adam Lambert, but I don't think either of them were actual reasons for my starting it.

6. Why did you chose your icon/pfp? I recently got back into anime and my favourite anime of all time is D.Gray-Man. It's fantastically written and the relationship between the characters is genuinely well developed, including the two characters in my icon. They're somehow enemies who still care for each other at the same time and they have some sweet moments together.

7. Why did you choose your header? It was a beautiful piece of artwork from a friend of mine for Curious Archer (Alice and Robin from Once Upon A Time) along with my OC characters as their children. I was so honoured when she did this drawing based off of one of my fanfics and I still look at it so fondly every time.

8. What's your post with the most notes? Pretty sure it's my Avengers Endgame post where I talk about how much I love the way Tony treats his daughter and how well the films made him a dad without changing his entire character. It's also a post I still firmly stand behind 100%.

9. How many mutuals do you have? I have 8, though admittedly we don't talk much anymore. Especially lately which is entirely on me. I've been struggling to stay in contact with people but I'm hoping to change that and start reaching out more.

10. How many followers do you have? According to Tumblr; 1,387 but I wonder how many of them are abandoned blogs because I do not believe that many people care about my ramblings, haha!

11. How many people do you follow? As of right now; 28.

12. How often do you use Tumblr a day? A lot. I tend to be one of those who clicks on it every half hour just to see there have been no changes, come off, and then check again in half an hour.

13. Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Oh boy yes! I've had many fights with other blogs but the worse one I remember being when I was in the Teen Wolf fandom. There with this girl who, quite honestly, was a vile and nasty bully who harassed me even after I had her blocked simply because I didn't drool over a celebrity she obsessed over. We went back and forth a lot back in the day but thankfully enough time has passed that I don't even remember her blog name and I doubt she remembers mine.

14. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts? I think they range from a little annoying to disgusting (talking about the ones saying to reblog or someone you care will get hurt). And honestly, no matter what the cause, topic or reason, the minute I see someone telling me to reblog something I will purposely ignore it. Even if I agree with the whole message it has, I am that petty, I will skip past if completely it tells me to reblog it.

15. Do you like tag games? Yes! They're a lot of fun to do and interesting to see everyone else's answers!

16. Do you like ask games? Again, yes! For some reason I've always loved answering questions.

17. Which of your mutual do you think is Tumblr famous? To be honest I don't know about that. I think a lot of my mutuals are casual bloggers, or mostly on twitter or have gotten fairly quiet over the years. Unless I've got my head in the sand and it turns out I have a mutual others gush over without me knowing, which is entirely possible.

18. Do you have a crush on a mutual? No, not really. I love them as great friends I will treasure but that's about it.

I'm gonna tag: @rollyjogerjones, @lariskapargitay, @iescapedmayday, @superdupermary, @dimplesandcutesmiles, @of-monsters-and-werewolves and @onceuponanovel

[morbidgrl-archive2]

⛧ 𝖕𝖎𝖓𝖓𝖊𝖉 𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖙 :

#𝖒𝖔𝖗𝖇𝖎𝖉𝖌𝖗𝖑:

WELCOME TO MORBIDGRL ! ━━ AN INDEPENDENT SELECTIVE & PRIVATE ROLEPLAY BLOG. MULTI-SHIP & MULTI-VERSE. 21+. WRITTEN BY COUNT( SHE / HER / 28 / PST ) & ESTABLISHED ON : 07/2019 & RE-ESTABLISHED ON : 05/2021.

TRIGGERS - Depression,anxiety,Cotard delusion(is a rare condition marked by the false belief that you or your body parts are dead,dying,or don't exist)self-harm,suicidal tendencies,drugs,smoking,alcohol,bullying,near death experience,NSFW content,smut,the paranormal / haunted objects / cursed objects / cryptids / Ouija boards / ghost hunting - all of this is related to Scout being a paranormal investigator as a hobby. There are also mentions of funeral homes / parlors / morgues / morticians / medical tools / embalming / dead bodies / funerals - due to Scout's parents owning a funeral home / parlor and being professional morticians. A huge key part in Scout and her backstory are - anti-Christian sentiment,misanthropy,nihilism,Paganism and or Satanism and for the black metal concerts Scout helps bring to life with her expert designer skills for their stages which will feature - impaled animal heads,mock crucifixions,medieval weaponry and band members doused in animal blood and some bands will see their concerts Scout helps set up as rituals. She gets paid a pretty penny for helping these bands find girls to lock up in chains and hang onto crosses for the crucifixions and the other stuff she goes out of her way to really put everything together - its why she gets hired so often and is so well known in the ''inner circle'' of the black metal scene. A few other triggers to keep in mind - blasphemous imagery / ideologies,gore,blood,guts,road kill,dead animals. Remember kids,muse does not equal mun! Feel free to black list any of the above for your comfort and safety and don't follow if you find any of the above upsetting / too much for you,utilize the block button to keep yourself safe.

MUN INFO - Hi ! I'm Count but you may also call me Steph. I'm 28 years old,happily taken,and I live in the Bay Area(PDT). I don't work at the moment but I am working towards that goal and I attend a day program for people with developmental disabilities and take a class to help prepare me for a job - I'm intellectually disabled but high functioning,mentality wise I'm about 18,last time I was tested to see where I am mentally for my disability. I suffer from depression,anxiety,and social anxiety and take medication for both my depression and anxiety and I was diagnosed professionally with both at age 13 and I see a therapist and psychologist when needed. I love horror movies,metal,the paranormal and true crime. If you ever want to approach me,let's talk about any of the above and I can gush about how much I'm into those things with you. I don't talk much OOC,though I do try my best to so don't feel intimidated to approach me if you want to talk plotting,or simply saying hello and getting to know each other OOC.<3

GOOGLE DOC - RULES PAGE.

GOOGLE DOC - ABOUT PAGE.

PROMO.

PINTEREST.

[professorjjong]

why&how internet behavior surrounding jonghyun/shinee needs to change.

tw: dec 18, mentions of depression/anxiety, suicide mention, don’t follow the links….

i know there’s probably a thousand and one posts like this but i can’t sleep and i need to add my own voice to this because the behavior i’ve seen, still see and will likely continue to see is just not okay and i feel burdened to present a breakdown of what’s happening and why it needs to stop.

don’t know what i’m talking about? it’s the hijacking of tweets, posts, youtube videos, and other content of shinee & jonghyun meant to praise, admire, or simply gush over them/him by responses like “rip” and “miss u 😢”. it’s not fair, guys.

let’s do a bit of roleplay: let’s pretend you’re a jonghyun stan, and, like i used to do sometimes, you’ve decided to just type his name into google and youtube to just soak in the content. give these a scroll: google youtube google images

(bonus, aka something i’d blocked from my mind: shinee search on google images. if you don’t see what’s wrong, you haven’t scrolled down far enough.

while youtube and a plain google search are much better when you manually exclude the words “death” “suicide” and “funeral” google images is pretty much the same with those super triggering captions, same as before.

that’s just some context for what it’s like to be a blinger/shinee stan. we are constantly, constantly dodging bullets and sometimes we get hit anyway. we are scared of taking in content outside of safe spaces, like on tumblr and twitter, coming from other shawols directly. we run to little accounts dedicated to posting pictures and whatnot, and, sometimes, these places where we thought we’d finally be free from the danger we dodge literally every else, it ends up there too.

imagine this: you’re in a grocery store with a friend/sibling/parent/etc.. you’re standing over the cheese aisle when you remember something funny or cute someone who was precious to you, who has passed away, did. you and your companion laugh, remembering the good times, and smile, when, suddenly, someone else approaches you, looking sad. “rip,” they say. how do u feel?

the answer should be super awful, or angry, or defensive.

it doesn’t matter who this person is: a relative, an old friend, whatever—they did something that you, remembering someone fondly, don’t appreciate. why? because it’s not the right time to make comments like that. it’s not what you want to hear at that moment. you just want to enjoy this good memory that’s come back to you, the beauty, or hilarity or cleverness or whatever of your loved one, not the fact that they’re gone.

there’s a time and place for comments like that, in real life and online. you can make them yourself with a new tweet or post, or by replying to a tweet reflecting on similar emotions. no one’s saying that you can’t miss jonghyun, and i know that “rest in peace” (and its variations) is engrained in many of us as a kind thing to say in times of loss, and you’re probably saying it from a good place, and i appreciate people wishing that jjong is at peace—just, please, be aware of the environment around you before you say something like that.

for many, if not all shinee fans, dec 18, 2017 was one of—if not the—worst day of our lives. time has passed, yes, but not in the same way for all of us. we’re not all the same. i’m able to talk to frankly about what happened: i can express it directly in words and phrases i’m avoiding in this post, speak in detail of the events and my own emotions at the time, but that’s just me. i was twenty-one when it happened, just a few months after i was hospitalized for depression and anxiety. my friends and family were so unbelievably understanding, and i had medical professionals to support me through what was a horrible, horrible time. i can talk about it, i can handle it, but not everyone can handle being suddenly confronted with terrible and traumatic memories brought up by comments like these in inappropriate places. i, as a shawol, put a tw at the top of this post bc i know some people are not okay with reading the stuff i’ve written here. so saying “i’m a shawol” isn’t an excuse for adding something unwarranted and inappropriate to someone else’s tweet/post. we should all have the choice of when and if we want to see comments or content about dec 18.

you don’t know the story of the who made that post, you don’t know the people who will look at it. you don’t know how well they’ve been able to recover from what happened. and you’re giving them zero warning by making comments like that on posts/tweets that are just pictures or videos of him that fans want to look at because we love him and we want to see him just like everyone else wants to see their faves.

i want to look at a picture of jonghyun and gush about his little teethies and his tiny waist and his sparkly, sparkly eyes. i want to go on and on and on about his amazing songs and singing ability. i want to talk about those things! i want to celebrate him like everyone else gets to do with their faves!!! i want tweets and posts about him to be places where we just celebrate him, and all that he was and still is to his fans.

and i know that things are different for jonghyun and shinee fans now. i know that they can never be the same and i’ll probably never be able to just type in his name and see where it takes me. but the fact that a lot of our pain is coming from fellow shawols or kpop fans is so hurtful, and it can be prevented if you just see things from our perspective.

 it can be so triggering to be suddenly reminded of dec 18. yes, i’m doing okay, but it still brings me back, at least in part, to that pain, it reminds me of it when i’m really, really not ready or wanting to think about it. we have trigger warnings for a reason, talking about dec 18 even vaguely can be super triggering, so don’t do it without warning and where it’s not appropriate!! please!!

tl;dr you can make your sad tweets and posts. you can miss him and say “rip”. just make your own tweet, please, and add a warning. don’t invade our spaces where we just want to be happy.

let me be a fan, too, please.

[raw-output]

20 Years.

Two-thirds of a lifetime ago, a ten-year-old boy in a scratchy wool sweater sat huddled under an old down blanket. The first proper snow of the season had come the week before, and the boy hadn’t been dressed for building forts. Now here he was - bored, sick and sweaty. His mother entered the room with a mug of undrinkably hot milk with honey and butter. In her other hand was an issue of GAME.EXE, a computer gaming magazine. The words “HALF-LIFE” were plastered across the bottom of the cover. The boy loved reading, and loved computers, and the milk needed time to cool off anyway. He opened the magazine and flipped to page 8 after finding it in the table of contents. The boy grew older and switched languages, countries and continents, but his favorite game never changed.

-

It’s hard to compress two decades into text, but I will attempt to do so when it comes to my relationship with the Half-Life series that began all those years ago, with that preview article in that magazine.

The article  was written in a second-person perspective that really stuck out to me, and was filled with screenshots that would later turn out to be of an unreleased rough beta version of the game. It ran through several dramatized, episodic descriptions of events in the game, then listed out the weapons used in the game, the enemies you would face and the tactics to deal with them. Finally, there was an interview with Marc Laidlaw himself. This single article was sufficient to make me completely insufferable to my parents for the next few months. “I want to play Half-Life,” I would say. At first, this meant asking to go to an Internet cafe a few blocks away from home, and for money to pay by the hour and use one of their beefy gaming PCs. Later on, it meant asking for a copy of the game, and for time on the “main” home computer - the only machine that could run the game at all, in glorious 320x240 resolution that gave me headaches.

-

A couple of years passed. The move to the US threw everything into a pleasant state of disarray, but the one thing that hadn’t changed was having to ask my parents to use the computer to play Half-Life. I had found one of my own soon after arriving in the States, but it had no sound card. It was there, on my mother’s computer, that I finally beat the game. My thirteenth birthday present was a copy of the newly released Opposing Force expansion. My birthday cake featured an edible photo of myself playing in a fountain in downtown Chicago, which my mother doodled over with brightly colored frosting. I was now knee-deep in toxic green sludge, a crowbar in one hand, and a proud Lambda logo on my chest.

Most kids in my 8th and 9th grade classes didn’t share my enthusiasm for Half-Life. They played console games and were rightfully hyped about the Playstation 2 and X-Box. In search of like-minded people, I took to the Internet. My options for getting online in 2001 were limited to libraries - either during lunch at school, or at the Naperville Public Library, which was a hour-long walk from home. I discovered Planet Half-Life, an offshoot of the Gamespy network. Through it, I discovered the fact that my favorite game was designed from the ground up to be moddable. I learned of Counter-Strike, Team Fortress Classic, and Sven Co-op. I discovered the Handy Vandal’s Almanac and The Snarkpit, two communities focused on level design. Having no reliable internet at home, I downloaded the level editor - then called Worldcraft - onto a floppy drive and brought it home to install. For the first time, I wasn’t simply playing the game. My parents looked on as I worked to figure out the obtuse user interface, trying to remember what I’d read earlier in the day. They raised their eyebrows when I finally managed to compile and run my first level - a hollow, unlit concrete box 512 units across with a single prefab trashcan hovering in the center. There wasn’t much more I could do in the limited time I was allowed to use the good computer, but I had caught the bug. My notebooks were filled with doodles of level layouts, my mind filled with cheesy storylines to match.

Eventually my family moved to a house with proper internet access, and I got a set of hardware with enough power under the hood to run both the game and the editor. It could even produce sound! All the things I could only read and salivate about were now within my reach, and I gorged myself on them. Counter-Strike quickly fell by the wayside, but Team Fortress and Sven Co-Op did not. Natural Selection came out and blew me away with how different a Half-Life mod could look and feel from the original game. I stayed up past midnight, playing, building, and playing some more. I learned that projects can die - when the extremely tongue-in-cheek Scientist Slaughterhouse mod went silent.

The release of the Half-Life 2 trailer took everybody by surprise. I had called one of my like-minded friends and we synch-watched it together, pausing every few minutes to let the video buffer and gush about how amazing everything looked and how much we were looking forward to messing with the modding toolkit. The subsequent beta leak and resulting delays taught me to be patient.

The move to California was not long after, and my patience was immediately put to the test as most of my belongings were stuck with the moving company, including my computer. I must have gone through a full pack of printer paper in less than a month, drawing up concepts and layouts for Xen Rebels, a mod centered around a semi-peaceful human colonization of the realm set after the events of Half-Life. Once my computer arrived, it was right back to the late nights and groggy mornings for me. Our home Internet was bad but workable, and I spent countless hours with the new and more creative mods that were being released, including The Specialists - a strong attempt to recreate the gun-fighting and martial arts stylings of Hong-Kong action movies in a multiplayer game. Around the same time I was introduced to the strange new world of anime, and decided that I simply must change the two throwable knives offered by The Specialists into kunai and throwing needles. This of course required me to learn 3D modelling. At the time, this was done with Milkshape 3D, a model editor compatible with most contemporary game formats. Once again, countless hours of figuring out the interface and the workflow followed, set to the calming tones of the Unreal, Deus Ex and Half-Life soundtracks. Creating models felt a lot more freeform than levels as I wasn’t constrained to a unit grid or forced to use convex geometry, and one day the new throwing weapons were in. I published the modified models on a forum to exactly zero fanfare. Around the same time, I began learning the basics of Photoshop in school, so modelling and texturing went hand in hand. To say my early textures were atrocious would be an affront to honest, hard-working atrocious textures the world over, but I continued my studies. My experience with working in 3D even netted me a 2nd place award at the school art contest - money which I immediately put back into upgrading my computer.

Half-Life 2 came out in November of 2004, to universal praise and celebration. I received the collector’s edition as a present for New Year, along with a copy of Raising The Bar. I beat the game the same morning, without a wink of sleep between unwrapping my present and the final darkness of the credits screen. The SDK didn’t ship with the game, but as soon as it was released I dove in. Soon after, the modding community blossomed, bigger and more vibrant than the original game’s, driven by the incredible flexibility of the engine. One of the first mods that appeared was made by a British man named Garry, and was called simply that, “Garry’s Mod”. It let players interact with the physics engine, and slowly sprouted more and more features. Many players used these features to pose character ragdolls, eventually creating entire comic series with storylines ranging from the comedic non-sequitur to dark and serious. Of course I felt the need to try my hand at it. That lead to the creation of The Plane - the story of Beet, a Combine Elite who managed to break free of his overseers’ indoctrination and find friendship, love, and revenge on his old masters. The only redeeming feature of that story was that it taught me how not to write stories.

I began getting more attached to the Gmod community than the expressly level design one at The Snarkpit. The few levels I publicly released were designed specifically as sandboxes to play and build in. The most popular ones were gm_orbit and rp_bahamut, maps set in space and featuring zero gravity for physical objects, allowing players to build smaller spaceships, or roleplay as the crew of a salvage and exploration vessel. Posting teaser images on the forums taught me a valuable lesson - what it felt like to be the one creating hype, instead of experiencing it. The constant demands were overwhelming. Some would simply want more work-in-progress screenshots. Others would drop ultimatums that unless a certain feature was designed a certain way, they would refuse to use the map. Others yet attempted to worm their way into getting the map early, offering to test it and provide feedback. I had almost deleted each project multiple times before finally releasing it.

Life happened, and things with Half-Life slowed down. When the Orange Box came out in 2006, I attempted to get it at a five-finger discount at a local Target. I got caught. Indirectly thought it was, Half-Life taught me that idiocy often leads to consequences. Buying it legitimately later in the year and playing through Episode Two reminded me that some stories aren’t written to end neatly.

It was in 2007 that I bought a membership for the Something Awful forums, and discovered an avid and very exclusive community of Gmod players. Over the course of the following decade, most of these people remained in constant contact with me, and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future. I became an admin once we opened our serves to the public - moderating the newcomers and mentoring the unskilled. One of the people had a project in mind, and I began creating models again. Miraculously, Milkshape 3D remained compatible with the Source engine, so I worked with it until I learned Maya. This project would eventually become known as Armored Combat Framework, and be released to the Gmod community at large. I learned how to iterate designs based on feedback, and how it felt to work in a well organized team.

Frontier happened around 2010, and was another lesson in teamwork - specifically what happens when things break down without role redundancy. Ambitions ran high, and the hype mounted. The programmer eventually left, and all that remains of the project is the very videos and images that were used to hype it in the first place, and a folder full of now-useless models, maps and textures. That was probably what prompted me to start pulling away from Half-Life and Gmod in general.

Black Mesa came out in 2012 and breathed a new life into my old obsession. I played through the original Half-Life again, then through the remake, noting the differences and the tweaks to make the gameplay more palatable to modern-day players. It felt good, like putting on an old but comfortable jacket. I’d fire up the SDK now and then, mostly to help newer, more driven designers. Two of the guys from Team Frontier went on to work in the industry full-time. There were whispers of a new game in the works, minor leaks of file and folder names hidden away in Valve projects. Episode 3 turned into Half-Life 3. A full sequel, rather than another short episode, as originally planned. “HL3 Confirmed” became a meme, but the people at the top remained silent.

Life kept happening, as it does. I lost people, I found people. I left home. Every now and then I’d fire up HL or BM again, or drop by the old Gmod server. I’d build things and model things, and release none of it to the public. I watched as the Dota International became the most widely spectated event in gaming, making players, sponsors, and Valve millions. The realization slowly started settling in. Then Marc Laidlaw retired, and later posted the Epistle. The workers at Valve spoke of a lack of direction and stagnation that comes with a cornered market. Modding for an engine over a decade old, no matter how advanced, slowed down.

It’s a different world now. Unity and Unreal engines rule the scene. Survival and Battle Royale have become the new buzzwords. Microtransactions. Loot boxes. Streaming integration. Freemium. E-Sports. Mobile gaming. Virtual Reality. If a new Half-Life were to appear today, would it be changed by the zeitgeist, or would it stay the course set by its predecessors? I don’t know. But there’s one thing that the escapades of a mute, bespectacled research associate have taught me more than anything else: hope.

[fyrapartnersearch]

Hello Hello Hello!

Hi there! My name is Shanna and I’m looking for a roleplay partner (obviously lol). I’ve posted on here before and I have met some great people but lately, my thirst for roleplaying is real and I really would like some long term partners who share my interest in creating stories and having fun! I am a big fan of gushing about our character, creating moodboards and playlist of any sort. I am that one who will dig up face claims and share how proud I am of my babies and I hope that you feel the same!

A little about myself. I have been role playing for about eight years give or take and I enjoy it! I love romance, drama, angst, slice of life, real life issues and things of that nature. Sorry, but I’m not really fond of plots centered around fantasy unless there romance and drama involved. And historical/medieval  plots aren’t my thing either. I get somewhat bored, sorry! I usually do M/F or F// with me being female because that’s what I feel comfortable with and usually don’t double because I feel it takes away from one story BUT if there is a pairing you’d like that’s within our plot, I can certainly do that! I also have been craving a little M// just to get my feet wet. It’s been a long time but I think it would be fun with the right plot!

Here are some plots I’m interested in!

Best Friends Turned Lovers

Fairytales (rewritten, next generation etc)

Supernatural (werewolves, incubi, mermaids etc)

College Students Falling in Love

Neighbors

Enemies Turned Lovers

Age Difference ( NOTHING UNDERAGE)

Single Parent (one single parent or both)

Helpful Hand (Someone in a situation that they need help in. pregnancy, abusive relationship, drugs etc)

Love Triangle (where one person is in love with someone else that’s in a relationship.)

Student and Teacher (AGAIN NOTHING UNDERAGE)

There’s probably more and as we talk, i’m sure we can come up with something but that’s all I got in my noggin!

Fandoms that I like

Anime

Danganronpa

Servamp

My Hero Academia (I am obsessed with this. Like if you can play Shinso or Katsuki, or my girls then we are bffs lol!)

Kakeguri

Food Wars

Osomatsu San

Cartoons

Steven Universe

Lolirock

Miraculous Ladybug

RWBY

Homestuck

Ever After High

Monster High

Games

Dream Daddy

Huniepop

Overwatch

Doki Doki Literature

Monster Prom

Smut

Yes, I smut. I love smut but to me, it’s not just about smut. Honestly, if the plot is good and our characters vibe, I can deal without the smut but for the most part, I do not fade to black and I like a good smut scene. But this does mean I want to forget about the plot. To me, the smut is there to enhance the romance and for those who want to simply ignore the plot and just smut, I am not the girl for you. I’m here to create something with you, not for you to jerk off to, plain and simple. Sorry if that comes off a bit crude but it’s just something that bothers me and I feel that I should throw that out there.

My smut do’s and don’ts

Do

Oral/Anal

Public

Light Bondage

Non/Con (if necessary)

Age Gap

Toys

Body Praise

Creampies

Overstimulation

After Care

Vanilla

Impregnation

Don’t

Toilet Play

Feet

Furries

Children

Full on Rape

Blood

Hardcore Violence

Anything that kills or harms our characters basically

Degradation

Sex Slaves

Beastiality

Please let me know what you’re comfortable and not comfortable with. It’s important for both of us to be on the same page when it comes to our plot!

Final thoughts

The one thing I also did want to get across is that I do have other things outside of roleplaying such as a job (maybe two!) and just being out. There are going to be times that I won’t be on or able to roleplay at that time. Please do not spam me. It really makes me nervous and sometimes, it can be irritating. I will let you know if I don’t like something or if I’m going to be gone for the week. I try to be consistent in updating but sometimes I don’t because I’m busy and distracted. A gentle reminder is okay but please do not spam me.

No flirting. I’m starting to lose faith in male rp partners but if you are male, please don’t flirt or make any advances. I won’t be interested and I will block you.

OCC Chatter is my jam! Tell me about your day! Tell me about yourself! I think my partner ship is a lot stronger when we talk outside of RP! It brings us closer together and we can plot stuff out easier. At least, that’s how my thought process works. I also love moodboards and playlist. I love gushing about our characters and our rps. I just think it makes everything smoother plus, I’m always up for making new friends!

And finally, communication. If something isn’t working out, please tell me. Let me know so maybe we can fix it or think of a new plot. If you’re thinking about ghosting me in the near future, please don’t reply. I have had so many people say they want to plot something and just leave before we start. If that is you, please just don’t reply. I want a long term roleplay partner that I can create and talk with!

Contact Info!

Email: hunieangelrp@gmail.com

Skype Seras Nemesis

Kik: shannasplayground92

Tumblr: shannasplayground92

My preference is email but Tumblr and kik are good too since they’re on my phone and I usually go on skype when I’m on my laptop.

[desperatelyseekingroleplay]

Long Term Partner Needed!

Hi there! My name is Shanna and I’m looking for a roleplay partner (obviously lol). I’ve posted on here before and I have met some great people but lately, my thirst for roleplaying is real and I really would like some long term partners who share my interest in creating stories and having fun! I am a big fan of gushing about our character, creating moodboards and playlist of any sort. I am that one who will dig up face claims and share how proud I am of my babies and I hope that you feel the same! A little about myself. I have been role playing for about eight years give or take and I enjoy it! I love romance, drama, angst, slice of life, real life issues and things of that nature. Sorry, but I’m not really fond of plots centered around fantasy unless there romance and drama involved. And historical/medieval  plots aren’t my thing either. I get somewhat bored, sorry! I usually do M/F or F// with me being female because that’s what I feel comfortable with and usually don’t double because I feel it takes away from one story BUT if there is a pairing you’d like that’s within our plot, I can certainly do that amd play the male role! I also have been craving a little M// just to get my feet wet. It’s been a long time but I think it would be fun with the right plot! Here are some plots I’m interested in! Best Friends Turned Lovers Fairytales (rewritten, next generation etc) Supernatural (werewolves, incubi, mermaids etc) College Students Falling in Love Neighbors Enemies Turned Lovers Age Difference ( NOTHING UNDERAGE) Single Parent (one single parent or both) Helpful Hand (Someone in a situation that they need help in. pregnancy, abusive relationship, drugs etc) Love Triangle (where one person is in love with someone else that’s in a relationship.) Student and Teacher (AGAIN NOTHING UNDERAGE) There’s probably more and as we talk, i’m sure we can come up with something but that’s all I got in my noggin! Fandoms that I like Anime Danganronpa Servamp My Hero Academia (I am obsessed with this. Like if you can play Shinso or Katsuki, or my girls then we are bffs lol!) Kakeguri Food Wars Osomatsu San Cartoons Steven Universe Lolirock Miraculous Ladybug RWBY Homestuck Ever After High Monster High Games Dream Daddy Huniepop Overwatch Doki Doki Literature Monster Prom Smut Yes, I smut. I love smut but to me, it’s not just about smut. Honestly, if the plot is good and our characters vibe, I can deal without the smut but for the most part, I do not fade to black and I like a good smut scene. But this does mean I want to forget about the plot. To me, the smut is there to enhance the romance and for those who want to simply ignore the plot and just smut, I am not the girl for you. I’m here to create something with you, not for you to jerk off to, plain and simple. Sorry if that comes off a bit crude but it’s just something that bothers me and I feel that I should throw that out there. My smut do’s and don’ts Do Oral/Anal Public Light Bondage Non/Con (if necessary) Age Gap Toys Body Praise Creampies Overstimulation After Care Vanilla Impregnation Don’t Toilet Play Feet Furries Children Full on Rape Blood Hardcore Violence Anything that kills or harms our characters basically Degradation Sex Slaves Beastiality Please let me know what you’re comfortable and not comfortable with. It’s important for both of us to be on the same page when it comes to our plot! Final thoughts The one thing I also did want to get across is that I do have other things outside of roleplaying such as a job (maybe two!) and just being out. There are going to be times that I won’t be on or able to roleplay at that time. Please do not spam me. It really makes me nervous and sometimes, it can be irritating. I will let you know if I don’t like something or if I’m going to be gone for the week. I try to be consistent in updating but sometimes I don’t because I’m busy and distracted. A gentle reminder is okay but please do not spam me. No flirting. I’m starting to lose faith in male rp partners but if you are male, please don’t flirt or make any advances. I won’t be interested and I will block you. OCC Chatter is my jam! Tell me about your day! Tell me about yourself! I think my partner ship is a lot stronger when we talk outside of RP! It brings us closer together and we can plot stuff out easier. At least, that’s how my thought process works. I also love moodboards and playlist. I love gushing about our characters and our rps. I just think it makes everything smoother plus, I’m always up for making new friends! And finally, communication. If something isn’t working out, please tell me. Let me know so maybe we can fix it or think of a new plot. If you’re thinking about ghosting me in the near future, please don’t reply. I have had so many people say they want to plot something and just leave before we start. If that is you, please just don’t reply. I want a long term roleplay partner that I can create and talk with! Contact Info! Email: hunieangelrp@gmail.com Skype Seras Nemesis Kik: shannasplayground92 Tumblr: shannasplayground92 My preference is email but Tumblr and kik are good too since they’re on my phone and I usually go on skype when I’m on my laptop.

[perilouspretenders-blog]

Monsterhearts 2 Tabletop Roleplaying Game Review by Kristy Cutsforth (Perilous Pretenders podcaster) 

Alright, I’m probably going to get crap for not writing a gushing review for Monsterhearts 2, but I just wanted to be honest since I’m a working artist and I have to be careful what my money goes towards. I love supporting indie role playing games and am even designing my own game currently (inspired by the Hulu tv show, Harlots), but I can’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed by this updated version of Monsterhearts. The thing is, I already LOVE the first book and Monsterhearts is one of my all time favorite games, so you know I felt torn about writing this piece; but I felt I should present the differences between the books so you can make your own choice as to whether you feel you need to buy the 2nd edition or not. If you are a fan, you probably will no matter what I say, this is just my own personal opinion as a Monsterhearts lover and MC. 

I purchased the first book last year, so I felt pretty late to Monsterhearts party already. Maybe if I hadn’t JUST bought the first book, I might not have been so hesitant to purchase this particular update. If I’m going to have to fork over another $10 for a pdf copy, the game better have significantly changed and given me more material to work with as an MC. Avery is already great at understanding queer culture, and the social dynamics of the paranormal romance/teen monster genre. I really enjoyed her inclusion of Asexuality and that she hired a game designer of color to write the section on including racial tensions and dynamics in your towns (probably my favorite new section in this book and the must useful to me as an MC, as I really do care about creating characters of different races in a non-stereotypical way. 

I was hoping to see her expand on the paranormal aspects of the game and include skins from different folklore and cultures. Maybe include more spell options for the Witch? I also feel its important that she explain how to help facilitate and create a horror setting for those who aren’t familiar with the horror genre or who haven’t spent their teen years obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There is a tongue in cheek aspect and humor to good supernatural melodrama ,which may be difficult to grasp if you are only used to straight slasher flicks or paranormal romance that is far too dull to be witty (*cough* Twilight *cough*).

Instead of referring me to a list of movies and books to read for inspiration, please provide me with some inspiration directly from your book. The town maps are a good start, they are included separate from the book for ease of printing in the ebook format, but really don’t include the level of detail I was hoping they would (I would have loved to see illustrated maps with these since the kickstarter did incredibly well).  There are so many wonderful roleplaying games that build rich worlds through their text and give me tons of inspiration to draw on, so I feel it is an industry standard, even for rules light games. Since Powered by the Apocalypse World games are highly dependent on creating worlds on the fly, there needs to be more inspiration to draw on so MC’s don’t get stuck on what to do with supernatural situations and folklore that they may not be familiar with. These could simply be supplemental materials, not all this needs to be included in a core rulebook....it would just be a nice addition she could add in the future.  

Things I really did like about this version of Monsterhearts: I really do like how the moves have been streamlined a bit and that strings are now actually their own separate move on the player reference sheet so that players are reminded to utilize their strings on other PCs and NPCs more frequently.  I like how instead of having the MC pick a stat to highlight and then the PC character with the most strings pick the second, highlighted stats are done away with entirely. My players never remembered to write down XP for using their highlighted stats and how was I supposed to remember who had what stat highlighted? Now, it simply states that XP is earned by rolling 6 or less, which is how I was doling out XP in my games already. Much less confusing this way. Also, you get two set stat blocks to pick from now, based on what your skin would naturally be good and terrible at. I like that a lot, especially for people who like to min-max instead of thinking about what their character is actually good/bad at.  For the move, Lash Out Physically, a change that was made that I really like is that on a 10+ not only do you deal harm, but the opponent is also at a disadvantage because they are “choked up.” Gives more of an incentive to roll 10+ on that particular move, but I guess I would specify more about what that means mechanically from the MC’s point of view. I understand that it will depend on the situation, but it would be nice to have a specific in game mechanic to deal with that, since combat is already so rules light in this game. For me, I would probably give the next person to attack that character an advantage if it happens quickly after they took the first hit and still retain the “choked up” condition.  “A few different moves in the game can lead a character to choke up momentarily. What this means varies depending on the context of the specific situation, but generally involves a temporary faltering or inability to act. It might mean a character going beet red and stuttering, experiencing a moment of panic-related blackout, or letting out a terrified scream and shielding themself from further danger. The consequences vary situationally as well – this might be an embarrassing moment in which a character loses esteem, or a dangerous opening for an enemy during a fist-fight.” pg. 22 Monsterhearts 2 by Avery Adler I also really like how the choices given in some of the moves have been reduced, like in Gaze Into the Abyss in particular. I hated having to read through the long list of choices every time someone picked that move, and it comes up a lot in this game. Now, on a 10+, you get the visions lucidly and instead of having a number of questions to ask the MC, you get a +1 Forward to addressing the situation in game. Makes things more fluid in game to the player and MC that way. On a 7-9, you get the visions, but you are confused and alarmed, that works nicely as well. 

Making the Strings into its own separate move works very well, as I mentioned before. Not only that, but instead of having a huge list of options to choose from, which I think made players less likely to use their strings as they didn’t want to read through all that text (and they were on the back of their player reference sheets), there are only 4 in game options to pick from now:  Tempt them to do what you want, Give them a Condition, Add 1 to your roll against them, or Add 1 to the harm you deal them. 

I knew going in that Avery wouldn’t be including any more skins in the book, but in addition to not creating new official skins, she took away The Chosen from the regular skins selection. I think, what I would have personally done, was  to find a way to make The Chosen less powerful, or given tips on which games to include The Chosen in and which kind of themes won’t work with a superhero type of character. This was already done in the pre-made towns section; they mention which skins would be great to include for the town specified, which I thought was quite smart. 

After running my first game of Monsterhearts, I knew that for my next game I would pick skins that I thought would work well with the scenario and the game was definitely easier to roleplay between the different characters without feeling as forced. I would say if you don’t want The Chosen to be an option, or any of the more mechanically difficult Skins, just leave them out of the pile that players choose from. 

I have run Monsterhearts with one of my players choosing The Chosen and it turned out just fine; I knew she could handle it and that she wouldn’t try to hog the spotlight. I think that is key, making sure you pick a player that is playing for the storytelling aspect, not a min-max style player. You can still pick up The Chosen skin on her website, but if you are going to take out a skin, why replace it with The Hollow (which is basically the character Dawn in Buffy the Vampire Slayer). If you could play Buffy or Dawn, who would you rather play honestly? That’s what I thought.  Oh, and can I mention that I’m psyched that The Ghost skin actually has a more detailed description now for players to read aloud? I mean, “Ghosty ghost, you’re dead” is funny, but c’mon.   “ You used to have a future. Growing up was a painful tumult at times, but at least you were growing. Now you only have a past - unfinished business to take care of before you can leave this world behind. Life is precious. You understand that, now that you’ve lost yours. You just want to help. You just want to be seen. But sometimes even the simplest desires feel so difficult to grasp. Ghosty ghost, you’re dead.”

If you have trouble with world building and creating your own town settings, the second book does have eight towns written up by various game designers. They are only 1 page a piece, however, and mention references to folklore without giving you more information in the text. So regardless, you will still have to do significant research to run games with these towns, but they will give you a place to start.  

If you don’t already own the first book, I wouldn’t hesitate picking this, there is really nothing wrong with it. It is a well written book with streamlined rules and the text reflects that Avery really understands the themes presented. The whole metaphor for teens feeling alone, different, odd, or afraid to reveal their sexuality and playing as secret “monsters” works incredibly well and is the reason this game resonates so much with me personally. Hell, I’m 31 and I’m still figuring stuff out daily, trying to get my life together.  If you already own the first book, maybe wait till it goes on sale and then pick it up? The rule changes can be pieced together through the player reference sheets, skins, and mc reference sheets already available on buriedwithoutceremony.com. 

[bertievi]

what advice would you give someone who is insecure about their rp?

First off I’m completely flappingly flattered that you thought my advice on something like this is at all worthy. It is something I have come across in others quite often.

I’ll say to you what I said to them, there are no real set terms for how anyone should be roleplaying, heck, there are no set rules for how anyone should be writing either. If authors adhered to the same rules as we had when we first started story writing, I fear we would run out of cave wall space. (I do consider rping a form of story writing). You can’t compare JK Rowling to Roald Dahl for example, both are undeniably fantastic authors but have very different styles of writing. Can’t put Picasso next to Michaelangelo and say one is better than the other. My point here is that rping can be great no matter what the style, plot, fandom or muse.

Everyone writes differently, everyone has their own style but it takes a while to figure out what style you are most comfortable with. It took me a long time to decide how it was I liked to roleplay… I say decide, it is just sort of my default that I unleash a muse on another muse and end up writing a lot of para stuff. Figuring out what works for which muse and indeed which partner is part of the challenge, yes, but your style can adapt just as easily as your partners can. Length doesn’t factor into it, if you have a spark of muse that can respond to something perfectly in a single paragraph in one reply but needs a novel in the next, don’t sweat it. The muse dictates their own little actions and sometimes, that’s all your reply needs.

Leading on from that, is your partners! I wouldn’t have a blog if I didn’t have RP partners, after all it is them that do half the work. There are thousands in the community and they’re all different, you WILL find a cluster of people that write how you like to write. However, this comes with a cautionary addition, there are some out there who should be avoided. There are poisonous muses, that’s a given but it’s the toxic muns you need to keep an eye out for, those that get possessive or threaten to do silly things, make call out posts or vague post ooc! And the much more subtle ones that try to control how it is your character develops. In my own personal experience, the latter are the ones that result in a great deal of writers block simply because my character was stifled, what I wanted to explore about my muse with theirs was forbidden as they did not feel it progressed their muse, these I like to call the selfish shellfish (that being said if it’s a personal discomfort, obvs don’t force it on them, just use some common sense regarding it). Instead, surround yourself first with positive people, don’t be shy about poking muns with plot suggestions most are looking for the chance for more threads to explore with another muse. If they refuse, try another mun or see what the chosen mun suggests as a potential plot.

LOVE YOUR MUSE! I mean… I have been, can be and still am a horribly cruel mun to my muses, Bertie is no exception to that (aside from SSGB there hasn’t been reason to be cruel), but it doesn’t mean that I don’t love my muses. I ramble about Bertie to friends in real life, and I even dive into people’s IMs here on occasion to babble on about something he’s thinking, how he’s feeling or how he might react to something another muse he’s interacting with has done. GUSH! And don’t be afraid to. I know for a fact that if I write with you, I want to know how you’re feeling about a thread ours or not, what new aspect of your muse you want to explore, it’s ENCOURAGED to show your excitement for a thread, for your muse just doooo eeeet!

Finally! Everyone and I mean everyone has been insecure about their writing at some point or another. Some people push through it at the beginning, some people were fine and sudden insecurity hits them years down the line. I think there is something of a general mentality when it comes to the people within this community that there is an innate amount of worry that other people will judge how they write. Only! We’re all carrying that worry around with us, we’re all in that same boat staring blankly at each other in the hopes that no one else has figured out we’re insecure.

Do whatever it is you love, whatever it is you’re most comfortable doing and don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks. If someone drops a thread, it’s not the end of the world, try for a new one. If someone throws a hissy fit, be angry, but power on, one person does not speak for the whole community. There are vast oceans of other muses out there, AUs, memes, unofficial groups, and they– each and every single one of them, are in the same exact position as you. Find your style, stick to it, enjoy it, gush and be merry.

In short, don’t be insecure about your rping, it’s not a chore, you’re not here at the disposal of other writers, you have your own style, your own preferences for muses and plots, write because you want to, just enjoy it!

[asgardavenged]

rules

hi everyone i’m estelle & i reside in vancouver canada timezone pst. i thank you for taking the time to read this page as it outlines how imma be running this here blog. there is a quite bit to read here & i’m sorry for that but this is purely to make sure we don’t run into complications & awkwardness when we start interactions.

first off you should know is this is not my main blog, however it will be one of my more active ones. if you need me right away pls check out ashesincaptivity my tony. i am usually always there. i will provide a full list of my blogs in current use in the navigation.

secondly i am a full time student in class from 1-5 monday-friday. i am studying to be a mental health and addictions worker. this program will last until july 2019 so i ask you be patient with me in terms of replies.  most roleplaying will likely be done on weekends. or whenever i have free time / i am not drained from school.

i have a.d.d which stands for attention deficit disorder. i used to take pills for it when i was in grade school but i no longer require them now. that being said i can make many mistakes & even after checking my work time & time again i CANT SEE EVERYTHING. so i ask that if something about the way i write bothers you please tell me. i will not take it as offence ( as long as you are nice about it ) but i do ask you to be patient with me in this regard.

please do not take any icons from this blog they are all made by me & i take pride in my work. if we are friends i may make you some.

i am 21 years of age so nsfw will be on this blog. however i will not be smutting with anyone under the age of 18. well i doubt one of us will go to jail its better safe then sorry. if i fund out you lied to me about your age i will block & unfollow you so fast your head will spin. i do not want to be that guy so please don’t make me be.   also i will not be smutting with just anyone as i am shy bean who is awkward with it.  however if i know you well ooc then i will happily sin it up with you.  any nsfw memes posted will be answered at my comfort zone  so don’t be upset if you don’t get a reply to one.  its all about my boundaries & all. please respect them !

i am not new to the mcu rp fandom however my last/ first attempt was brief. i ask you be patient with me as i learn the ropes here.

PORTRAYAL.

thor is a hella new muse for me so i am going into this a little blind. i am working out my version of him as i go. if my interpretation is not to your liking you may unfollow, no hard feelings !  

SHIPPING

thor is pansexual & panromantic. however i am super super super picky who i ship him with. 

i am a die hard jane x thor shipper & thats my main endgame for him. hes probably the only other muse besides another that never took off that i am super picky with ships.  however i do have a soft spot for thorbruce & will gladly write it !   anything else i would kindly ask you bring up to me in private. i am likely not to pursue a ship with you unless we discuss it. but please don’t be shy i am trash so come talk to me, sell it to me & i will likely agree.  i could also possibly see thunderstrange maybe ? but that one would be highly dependant on the mun & plot.   bottom line if you wanna ship just come talk to me, & i will see what we can do. 

chemistry is always key regardless between muns & muses. please no forcing ships on me or thor thats not cool to either of us.   

to clear it up right here & now, anyone who asks me for thorki is going to be auto blocked. i have no time for this. its disgusting & i am not here for it. i don’t like it but i’m not going to personally judge you for shipping it, as incest doesn’t trigger me it just makes me meh.  however please advised if you rp it i will likely not follow you. again this is not to offend this is just a personal preference.  DO NOT ASK FOR THORKI YOU WILL BE BLOCKED. 

FOLLOWING & UNFOLLOWING.

this blog is MUTUALS ONLY. that being said. i understand some people can’t follow everyone that follows them for a few reasons, but that does nothing to hinder their desire to write. therefore it will be simply as long as I AM FOLLOWING YOU we may interact. ( though i prefer mutuals ) if i am not following you, you may approach me with a plot in mind but i am in no place to agree to said plot. please do not like starter calls, or plotting calls of any kind if i am not following you. it makes me uncomfortable & aggravates me i may take a bit of time to follow back as i am not always on this blog & i need to check out many accounts for follows. please be patient with me. it can take me sometimes a week or more to follow back. i like to make sure i check out everyones blog. & trust me i do check each & every blog that follows me. i rarely unfollow people unless you have either pissed me off ( to which i would tell you ) or have offended me in some way. so unless there was some drama that started leaving me so angry at you that i needed to cut & run. then if you notice me unfollow you please give me a nudge as its likely tumblr being a dick head. 

TYPES OF WRITING & REPLIES.

i am open to all kinds of writing. para, novell, text chatting etc. though the most common form you will get is lengthy as hell shit. when i get into character i get into character hella. so i am all form long threads with lots of feels & character study. though small things with icons are fun too!! i love it all. the only thing i won’t be doing is stuff with big gifs & the like. also i kindly ask given the number of blogs i run ( you can see on my sidebar ) i ask that you be patient with me for replies. if i haven’t replied in a week you are welcome to nudge me, but please do not constantly harass me or i might drop the thread. patience guys & i will get to you.

GODMODING

don’t do it. i control my muse & you control your muse. if you want to control my character go right some fic or make a spock blog. if you mess up once i will remind you. again & we will drop the thread. third time i stop interacting with you all together. ( rules to exercised at my own discretion ) most people stop after strike one so don’t worry about that. i’m sure it will all be hunky dory.

TRIGGERS & TAGGING

i tag edits & gift sets with my own otp tags till someone comes forward asking for blacklisting. then i will use the basic tag if needed. ( i know my otp tags don’t always register in blacklist ) i will not ship tag threads though. sorry not happening. only tags on threads will be tracking tags & verse tags along with urls.  if this isn’t too your liking then feel free to unfollow.  no hard feelings.  

as for triggers i tag *insert trigger* tw  on anything including said trigger ( threads, images etc. )  if i forget to tag a trigger come talk to me & i will tag it for you !! i am very accommodating.

as for my triggers i really don’t have any. but i ask you TAG YOUR natural disasters  & excessive gore.

EXCLUSIVITY  

i am open to it !!! yes very much so. however i have a few rules. if you would like to be exclusive we must have some ooc relationship or ic relationship plotted or established. & if you do ask me & i agree i ask that its mutual. or i will drop the exclusivity. however if i chose to go exclusive to you it DOES NOT NEED TO BE RETURNED. but it would be nice, but i will not bark if you don’t. i will go exclusive with certain people as i see fit.  current list can be found here

exclusives & mains ( x )

OOC DRAMA

keep it away from me. i do not want it. have enough of it to last a life time. ic drama however is wanted & encouraged.  like 99.99999 % of what i do is angst

FINAL THOUGHTS.

so in case this made me sound intimidating i want to assure you i am the furthest from. i am a huge dork who sits around and gushes about her otps all day, and I