#ive been in the oc community for a long long time

[planefood]

Hi trosper!

How did you get people to care so much about your characters?

I had a longgg response planned for this talking about the intricacies of character design and making appealing character stories which while is important and I might make a larger post about it one day.

BUT I've been creating original characters for over 15 years and i've been posting my ocs online for over 10 years, so that being said... I have a LOT of characters. Character creation and making comics have been a passion of mine before I was even old enough to go to school. My first dive into large scale story creation outside of fanwork started with an epic called Prophecy of the Wind that I started in 2012. It was an absolute mess of stories in a strange furry world that made little to no sense.

Here is a cover for said story I made in when I was 12:

While I'll occasionally redraw these characters for fun I have zero plans or interest in working on this story in the future.

I used to beg people to read my story and interact with my ocs when I was a preteen, though with not much luck. This story was admittedly trash, confusing and only made sense to me. But, I worked on these characters anyway for years until I lost interest naturally and started work on a new project. This cycle continued and some projects got mildly popular and others remained obscure. I created things for fun and if people were interested in it that was just a bonus.

But really, I'm gonna be honest, a lot of what gets noticed online is just right place right time and a majority of my followers do not interact with my Tandy Chipperton story or care about the characters. Most are just interested in the character designs or just my other art or posts in general and that's fine. I can't force people to care about my characters anymore than anyone else can. The nature of this kind of art space is that almost everyone has original characters that they want people to pay attention to but from an audience perspective paying particularly close attention to everyones characters is near impossible.

The only advice I have is less direct. Ask yourself: If I saw my story out in the wild online with no context, would it interest me? Would the character designs draw me in? The concept? Ignoring that epic scene you have planned out in your head that you need to read 20 pages worth of character exhibition to get to, what's actually hooking the average person in? What stops it from being filtered into the noise of the internet.

But really, once you stop creating these personal things for fun but instead trying to appeal to some audience, it sucks the passion out of you. While I do spend a lot of time working on making Tandy Chipperton an interesting story, in the end its for me. Its appeal is niche, it's set in a country barely anyone lives, for one. And it doesn't even appeal to people within said country, outside of me. I guess all I'm saying is is create for yourself first and foremost. I understand the want for a larger audience for your ocs, but the unfortunate truth is that there's not a lot you can control in that aspect. How large an audience you have is not indicative of how good your story is. Please go out and enjoy creating just for the love of creating art.

[aamaranthiine]

Roleplay History

The rules are simple! Post characters you’d like to roleplay as, have roleplayed as, and might bring back. Then tag ten people to do the same (if you can’t think of ten, just write down however many you can and tag that number of people). Please repost, don’t reblog! Current Muses: Amalthea | The Last Unicorn Want to Write: Lester DeRosso | Bravely Default (3DS Game) - It's complicated though.. Zelda | The Legend of Zelda series Ezra | DnD OC - hope to add him to a multi blog. Ahru - Legend of Zelda OC - hope to also add her to a multi blog. And a few other One Piece OCs for said multi blog.. lol Have Written: (in terms of 'canons') Gajeel | Fairy Tail Roronoa Zoro | One Piece Eustass Kidd | One Piece Dracule Mihawk | One Piece Sigyn | Norse Mythology Inari | Shinto/Japanese Mythology and 20 years of Original Characters whom are way too many to list. I have primarily always written OCs and very sparingly did established character, usually only at the behest of friends. stolen from: @seaoftales tagging: points at you!

[blobbei-art]

I recently archived all of the old art on my DeviantArt accounts I still have and 14 year old me actually was onto something with pixel art?

Also I dearly miss the experience of this Team Rocket Roleplay(ish) DeviantArt group I joined 2015/16. Having a public group where your OCs just exist very close to one another/live together so you included each other a lot. Very good times!

I hope all these people with their edgy Pikachu OCs are doing good out there nowadays.

[mx-nada]

hey

[kits-ships]

filling out the entirety of this ask game for Olive because i love having fun and getting silly

1. what are the basics of your self-insert? name, date of birth, height, etc.?

Name: Olive Madison Birthday: Sept 14, 1947 (Jumped 44yrs into the future) Height: 5’3 Current home: Maine Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio

2. when in canon does your self-insert come in? do you have a scene in mind for your entrance?

Between ‘The Ark in Space’ and ‘The Sonatran Experiment!’ The Doctor drops off Harry + Sarah Jane to do whatever they need to do and goes ‘ok I’ll pick you up in a day!!” 

But, when he’s by himself, the TARDIS dumps him in the middle of Ohio and he finds Olive injured after a protest. They go on a single adventure after the Doctor patches her up before she becomes a companion. <3

3. how do the other characters generally feel about your self-insert?

Olive is very sisterly/motherly towards other companions, so she’s generally well-liked by them. Some are confused as to why she married the Doctor, others feel the need to stand up for her when she can’t do it herself, and others are like, “How did you get the Doctor to even flirt with you? Hold on, let me get out a pen and paper-”

Some of the villains are intrigued by her, while others only see her as something they can use to manipulate the Doctor. The alien villains in particular see her as weak because she’s a human- including the Master- but he quickly regretted underestimating her after he tried to kidnap Olive and she bit the ever-loving shit out of him.

4. would you be considered a main character, side character, villain, or something else?

She would be a main character for the twelfth season but, after that, she’s a side character with a few appearances a few times each season. There are a few AUs where she might appear more often than that, though!

5. does your self-insert have any special powers or abilities?

No, not really! She majored in botany and minored in culinary arts, but that’s about as far as her ‘special abilities’ go. I’ve considered having the Master try to turn her into a Time Lord as well, but I like that she’s just a lil human :3

6. does your self-insert have any pets?

Olive had a long-haired, black cat when she was little. It grew up alongside her until she was sixteen!

When Olive graduated college, she adopted a kitten named Celeste a month or so before she met the Doctor. Celeste got to live in the TARDIS for a bit and even came to the future alongside Olive.

In a Doctor/Olive/Master polycule, the two Time Lords adopt two ragdoll kittens for Olive! I haven’t named them yet.

With Olive/Master, they come across two orphaned kittens that Olive bottle raises. The Master named them Artemis and Apollo.

7. would any other characters (besides your f/os) have a crush on your self-insert?

I don’t think too much about this, but Harry and Bill might have little puppy crushes on her that they never act on. River having a crush on her would be cute, too!! (Jack has a crush on everyone so he doesn’t count.)

8. what is your self-insert’s orientation?

Olive is bisexual and polyamorous!

9. who are your self-insert’s closest friends?

Excluding the Doctor/Master: Sarah Jane, Jamie, Donna, and Yaz.

10. how do the other characters feel about your self-insert and f/o’s relationship?

Copy and pasting from before: Some are confused as to why she married the Doctor, others feel the need to stand up for her when she can’t do it herself, and others are like, “How did you get the Doctor to even flirt with you? Hold on, let me get out a pen and paper-”

When she’s with the Master, they’re worried and confused. Did he hypnotize Olive? Is she safe? Should they try to help the Doctor win her back? Only Graham ever gets to see how happy she is with the Master after she showed up at her house one day.

With the Doctor/Olive/Master, they are so confused, but they do their best to trust Olive and the Doctor when they say that he’s changed for the better. Still, though, they’re a bit wary of it all.

11. what kind of outfit(s) does your self-insert wear?

Olive enjoys wearing sweaters, t-shirts, jean shorts, skirts, and short overalls! Her style focuses on being comfortable and being able to garden in outfits without ruining them entirely. She also likes to wear sandals but will put on a pair of boots if she really needs to.

12. how would the fandom view your character?

I like to think that they’d see her in a similar light to Rose and River! You either really like them or you pretend they don’t exist so you can focus on shipping Thoscei.

13. does your self-insert have any information about their family?

Olive does not get along with her parents. They took care of her physical needs when she was little, but were not affectionate or very empathetic. When she went off to college, they tried to get her to major in financial accounting so that she could follow in their footsteps, but Olive just moved out and cut ties with them. Her parents had even offered to pay for her classes if she switched majors, but she didn’t wanna!! She wanted to study plants and bake cakes, goddammit!

14. what hobbies does your self-insert have?

She likes to bake, garden, and dabbles in various forms of fiber arts! Olive also enjoys fostering animals.

15. how does your self-insert play a role in the plot of the story? do they help directly defeat the villain, support the heroes, etc.?

Olive is just there to help the Doctor and be cute.

16. freebie! name a fact about your self-insert that you want everyone to know.

I don’t always draw her as such, but Olive is a redhead! Her hair is a very dark copper color but she always assumed it was just brown. It was Donna who pointed it out to her and Olive was so confused. 

(I think an explanation for this would be books and audio dramas describing her as a brunette despite the fact that she’s a redhead.)

[afewfantasies]

🏔️The Retreat 🏔️- Chapter V

Prologue | Chapter I | Chapter II | Chapter III | Chapter IV | Misc references & details

Summary:  Through the promptings of others Lorena and Gale are both forced to confront their personal feelings for each other, while acknowledging the potential for romance & their future.

Pairing: Gale Cleven x Lorena (black fem oc)

Warnings:  None

Tropes: Slow Burn, opposites attract, forbidden love

Word Count: 2K

PART V - Major

Gale had never witnessed a winter prep like this before. Lorena had a strange way of making everything feel like a party with all her personality and ideas to make the mundane fun. There were wood splitting competitions among the boys and stacking competitions. There was no quarrelling as Lorena and Rose were in charge of the harvest and for the first time they were ahead of the schedule in September. A freak frost would have very few consequences on their way of life. Lorena’s sister's visit seemed to do wonders for her well being and in the weeks since her departure there’d already been two letters. Gale kept Felicia’s words close to his chest. He found himself admiring Lorena more and more. Admitting the way her eye’s light when she smiles, the cadence of her laugh, her sense of humour and glamorous nature. He found himself indulging her stories and whims more too. If Felicia thought there was a possibility of happiness between them, then Gale thought there could be a possibility that Lorena could see him the same way all the others did.

“What are you moping about Gale, us soldiers not moving efficiently enough for the Major?” Lorena asks, coming in with a basket of apples to be sliced and hung to dry. Gale smiles at her teasing.

“Wasn’t moping, I just resent there’s nothing to complain about. It’s not good for my reputation” Gale admits. Lorena lights up before laughing a touch. Gale had been opening up to her, it was a wonderful thing. Absolutely wonderful that he was finding his way out of his shell, and beginning to trust her like she trusted him.

“I’ll make a mess of something, you can be sure of it so keep some complaints in your reserves Major” Lorena mocks. He’d inherited the nickname not as a form of respect but admonishment. His small margin for error and serious precision had garnered him the nickname from Lorena. She didn’t understand what surviving a Montana winter was like, what preparation was required to ensure comfort and survival but Gale did. He’d survived the prison camps with next to nothing in terms of food and clothing, and would never endure anything like it again.

“I don’t think you understand how the chain of command works,” Gale says, taking far more than he should. His heart had never let him be too harsh with Lorena. From the moment she appeared in the lodge he had a soft spot for her and that would never change.

“I’m just being a pest, I don’t need a court martial for insubordination” Lorena winks filling the sink with water, it only proves her knowledge of the chain of command. She’d learned a thing or two about the military structure during the 101st’s reunion a few months ago.

“Food is important, it’s always better to have too much of it stored just in case we get snowed in, or the trains get snowed out and provisions stop making their way here. Or we have a long winter” Gale explains.

“When’s the last time anyone can really get in or out?” Lorena asks.

“Depends on the year but after November you’re stuck until around March” Gale explains truthfully. Hesitation washes over Lorena as she does a quick calculation. It would be five months away from her family, five months without consistent communication with them. She’d been silently weighing her options since Felicia’s departure. The heartache of her ex had settled into a bearable wound. As much as she wanted to see them she didn’t want to be forced to remain in a town that felt too muddled by a complicated past and a would be increasingly frustrating present. Lorena didn’t know if she could ever truly be okay with the sight of the man she once loved more than anything happy with someone else. It was the defining reason she had yet to return home, and somehow that bit of self preservation felt cheap. Especially around the likes of Rose and Gale who faced insurmountable challenges head on. A war hero who survived with his sanity intact, and a window making her own way in the wilderness.

The sound of the water stops and Lorena looks up to see Gale has stopped the sink from overflowing. The playfulness is gone from his expression and has been replaced by concern. In a perfect world Lorena could have it all. Her family, friends and home, along with Gale, Rose and the others. Allowing her a moment to herself Gale places the apples into the water where they bob to the surface.

“What is it?” He asks finally.

“My parents miss me a lot, this will be my first Christmas away from them” Lorena confesses.

Her words are just that and Gale can’t help but wonder if there wasn’t another reason for her hesitation. The indication that she missed her ex, that he was one of the reasons she wanted to return. Felicia had been right about his feelings for Lorena, perhaps the older sister was also correct about her sister’s inevitable willingness to take the scoundrel who betrayed her back.

“You can get back home in the spring, it’ll be safer to travel to and from. Felicia can come back with you” he offers now that a world without her under his roof has become inconceivable to him. Lorena scoffs knowing full well that it wouldn’t just be Felicia, it would be her brother and mother as well. Reaching into the basin Lorena begins scrubbing the skin of the apples in preparation for their preservation. Gale stands by her side instead of returning to his task of unloading the hay with the others. His eyes wash over her as stands carrying more than she should emotionally. To Gale there were too many positive qualities to the woman that she should have no insecurities. Feeling the weight of his gaze, Lorena meets him. Something about his blue eyes always seemed to ground her, settle her restlessness and put her at ease. It had been so since the very first time she saw him.

“Gale, we need you - there’s another delivery to be signed for” one of the guys yells from outside.

Gale, we need you. Lorena smiles at the truth of the statement.

“I’m coming!” he shouts, turning back to the door before looking back at Lorena. So it would be a fight after all.

“Whenever you decide to leave I’ll make the trip with you, and if you don’t want to go back your family is welcome here” Gale says with the same commitment to his people that he’d had in the war. It brings a genuine smile to Lorena’s face. The thought of Gale waking through her hometown where he’d stick out like a black swan.

“Maybe you could spend a winter with me sometime and enjoy all the perks of city living.” She suggests making him smile. As long as Lorena saw her future intertwined with his, Gale could be at ease.

“Definitely, I’ll probably be in late. Have dinner with Rose”  He says far more comfortable with stepping out now. Even if it was only a few feet away Lorena’s melancholy weighed him down more than anything else. Lorena’s smile had made it into his dreams and into his heart. It was the only way he wanted to see her now.

…

Rose and Lorena sit on the porch swing watching the boys finish up loading the last few bales of hay for the day. Rose had prepared a hearty dinner that would surely put them to sleep after providing them with adequate nourishment.

“You’re good for him,” the older woman says.

“Huh?” Lorena questions.

“You’re good for him,”  Rose repeats, looking directly at Gale. “He was so angry last year - this entire experience was a nightmare. He hasn’t been angry in months and now he’s finally starting to settle” she says.

“Benefit of time” Lorena says.

“Not just time Lorena, you” Rose says.

“Well, I’m glad I can help,” Lorena responds, making Rose smile.

“Life’s too short to deny yourself the good because of those who’ve mistreated you. We’re all on borrowed time, don’t squander it. You’re young and beautiful and deserve to be loved.”

“Rose? Are you feverish, have you been smoking wild herbs?” Lorena asks, appalled by the older woman's frankness.

“I see the way he looks at you, I’m around. Gale doesn’t make a decision without considering your opinion of comfort. He’s too good a man for most and you’re too good a woman for most. Aside from the obvious facts there’s chemistry there that can’t be denied. Just think about the kind of love he’s capable of Lorena. If he’s been kind, generous and fair with you when you were a stranger.” Rose says hitting Lorena with sobering truths. Looking away from the boys Lorena turns to face Rose who nods with all knowing eyes.

“Gale’s a good man, his heart is set on that gorgeous starlet fiancé that ran away” Lorena sighs knowing intimately.

“He deserves far better than a woman that left him, the man he is and ignored what he was going through.” Rose says and it’s a point Lorena can agree on. “And so do you. I can’t imagine the amount of stupid on that ex-husband of yours. A lady like you being overlooked after staying and being loyal even to this day. Darling you’ve done enough for him. It’s time for you to live for you.” Rose suggests.

Looking at Rose it’s clear as day she’s full of wisdom, she’d always had an omniscient quality to her. Lorena’s silence is only further confirmation of the complicated web of feelings between Gale and herself. Reggie had courted her differently; with large declarations and ostentatious presentations of his affections. Reggie was loud in his love and it was all Lorena had come to know. Gale loved his corners, the quiet and operating in the peripheries if his expertise and leadership were not required.

“So you think I should do what my Ma says and remarry?” Lorena asks, looking into wise eyes.

“I think every woman deserves a taste of the best life has to offer them. You haven’t had it yet and you owe yourself that experience. Someone who cares so much they start digging out an extra cellar in August to prepare enough provisions so that the live-in princess is comfortable” Rose winks before heading into her home.

Lorena sits at a loss for words. Gale stands across the field leading the men in the loading of the barn. Lorena had thought him handsome from day one but she hadn’t thought she was even a contender for his affections, her head hadn’t been in that space when she first arrived. She was nursing her wounds. There was no longing for passion. Only longing for the heartache to cease. And it had. When and where Lorena didn’t know. She could place it. Sometime during the summer after many good days and full weeks. Among the smiles and laughter she’d found peace and Gale had been there every step of the way. Every breakfast, every supper, every night. Every morning he waited to hear movement before getting his day started, and every night he walked across the hall to look in on her before going to bed himself. There’d never been any room or reason for her to think it was something more than otherworldly courtesy. But perhaps with Gale love was the little things, the subtleties, the small kindnesses that add up over time, the careful consideration that makes life easier. The quiet consistency and loyalty that makes you feel a little invincible.

Authors Note: Thanks for reading 💖 I've been in the worst funk lately but the social media algorithm gods have been force feeding so much Austin that my creativity was "re-sparked". Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know how you feel in the comments and re-blogs. The next part is coming and its 🍵 😉

[werewolf-girlfriend]

ive been enabled so let me share some of my thoughts on how to get ur art noticed online

if u want Engagement on ur posts then i believe that its critical to make people care about ur art. the easiest way to do this is to appeal to something they already care about, like fandom, aesthetics/subculture, current events, having fun (people love humor!). a harder but perhaps more fulfilling route is to talk about ur own ocs and projects enough until people start caring about them too

theres an infinite amount of topics people care about out there so id suggest picking something u already care about urself and channel ur art energy there. trying to make art for the most popular things out there regardless own interests is an exercise in misery, id advise against it..! if im allowed to get superstitious for a moment, i do believe that even untrained eyes can tell whether a piece of art was fun to work on or a chore. and besides! if ur having fun then its easier to create more, and the more u create the more chances ull have at getting lucky and having a post seen :)

on a very related note, art is a way to communicate ideas so the quality of the idea being presented in a piece of art is paramount to how popular a post will be. what i mean by this is that technical skill isnt the primary determinant of a posts popularity. if all your posts are portraits of original characters then people will have a hard time connecting with your posts and theyll keep scrolling, even if those portraits are masterpieces! the major exception to this is probably other artists, who ive found usually have a greater appreciation for the technical side of art (we can only speculate as to why..!)

lemme finish by saying that making popular posts and being good at art are two entirely different skillsets, ive seen many incredibly skilled artists with jack shit for notes because they dont give people a reason to care about their stuff NOT TO MENTION its a huge game of luck whether a post will get seen. so dont go insane in pursuit of recognition!

(i dont want to make this post too long so ive included examples from my own art and their note counts with my analysis after the break)

hello and welcome to the extracurricular segment to this post :) i bring yall two pieces from my art blog @werewolf-artfriend:

here we have a portrait of my fursona that im still proud of and a sketch suggesting "what if sniffers (from minecraft) were the size of mountains?" (let it be noted that the sniffer sketch was posted right during the minecraft mob vote = peak interest in the subject of sniffers).

the portrait at the time of writing has a crisp 30 notes, whilst the sniffer sketch has over 2000 notes. from the same artist, on the same blog, posted only a few months apart. i believe this is a good example both of the power of a piece of art having an interesting idea at its core AND of a piece appealing to the interests of the masses

this is of course just two convenient example posts, but i have experienced fan art of popular topics getting thousands of notes a couple of times now, amidst my other furry shit that these days get around 200-300 notes in comparison

this may sound like a really long winded way of saying "fan art make the world go round" but i just want to point out the nuances that

1) it matters what u make fan art of: if a fandom is small or dormant (waiting on new canon content for example) then clearly less people will be excited about the fan art you make. dont expect 10k notes on ur post if the average recent post in the fandom gets around 200 etc etc

2) it doesnt have to be fan art! ive also had some of my bird art get thousands of notes because people simply like birds :) and this applies to ANY topic people care about! the world rly is your oyster on this one

anyway i think ive started rambling dhgdjhgd thanks if u read this far! i hope i got my point across! and if ur feeling down about ur art not being seen then just keep at it okay! keep creating and keep having fun! keep sharing ur ideas and perspectives with the world and ur audience will eventually find u! i love you!

[miaajaade]

The Line Between Love and Hate-

III

Aemond Targaryen X Targaryen!F!OC (Rhaenyra and Daemon’s Daughter)

Previous: Prologue I II next: IV

A/N: ok so I finally got myself to where the story actually differs greatly to house of the dragon and the more creative juices need to flow I have no idea where this is going and I’m sorry if it sucks bad!

Series warnings: Age gap (both characters are of age), incest (Targaryen), death, future smut, slow-ish burn.

No minors under cut:

Everyone on Dragonstone were in high spirits after their journey, save of course for Visenya's father who was slow to trust anything the Hightowers did. Visenya was teaching her younger brothers Valyrian when it was announced that Rhaenys Valaryon had arived on dragon back. Rushing to greet her, Visenya found her mother and Daemon with grave looks on their faces.

"The greens are coming for you Rhaenyra." Visenya was confused at this, we had made peace she thought.

"Mother what is it? What's happening?" She went to her mothers side holding her hand.

"Your grandfather, Viserys, he's dead." Visenya looked at her confused, "They have crowned Aegon in front of the masses, they have usurped my throne."

"What? How? Why?" Visenya had questions bouncing back and forth in her mind, no single thought sticking. Someone had gone to fetch her brothers Daerion and Viserys who were sparring on the beach.

Later Ser Errick arrived, everyone stood on edge wondering why a kingsguard was on dragonstone. Daemon was ready to burn him, but he had always been slightly trigger happy. The knight produced King Viserys I crown, proclaiming that he fought for his queen. There and then they had a small ceremony for those on Dragonstone, crowning Rhaenyra as the Queen of Westeros. This moment signified that a war was very likely to come.

In preparation for what this may mean for them Her mother had tasked the boys to go to Storms End and Winterfell to remind the lords of their sworn fealty to her all those years ago when Rhaenyra was first named heir. Visenya begged her mother to let her go as well, but her mother had none of it, saying that she needed her on Dragonstone. For what, Visenya had no idea.

A Raven from Storms End arrived days later. Visenya had been in the chamber of the painted table with her mother when her father walked in whispering in her mothers ear. All Visenya could hear were the heartbreaking sobs of her mother. She could only think the worst. Viserys was dead.

"Mother? I- how?" Visenya's eyes were brimming with tears at the news she already knew.

" Aegon.. he had gone to Storms End himself, offering marriage to either Aemond or one of his sons. He chased Viserys on Sunfyre. Sunfyre clipped Arrax's wing and Viserys he.. he fell." She had continued on to tell her that Visery's body was dragged out of the water, and was being sent brought back to Dragonstone. Visenya couldn't believe it, she broke down in sobs as her mother brought her close and held her until she could breath. A raven was quickly sent off to Winterfell to bring Daerion back for the funeral. Rhaenyra announced that nothing would be done until the funeral, but Daemon wanted Aegon's head on a spike. Rhaenyra had none of this ordering Daemon to stand down, to mourn the death of his son. She needed him. Visenya in all her years had never seen her father as distraught as he was now.

Visenya had hoped there would be a day when her family could commune and be peaceful. Although she held disscontempt for her uncles she had never felt they had done anything unforgivable to her or her family. After the news from today however, she knew she could never stand the sight of either of them again. The only thing that filled her heart was hatred for the greens. She spent the rest of her days until the funeral hiding in her chambers. She often sat by the window, remembering the childhood she had shared with Viserys and how she longed to go back to simpler times.

The funeral was simple, just their family standing at the pyre offering items belonging to Viserys as they sent him off. As he burned we stood there, drowning in grief but ready to seek revenge for our fallen blood. Visenya was going to do whatever it took to avenge her brother. She would burn them all to the ground. She didn’t care how she would do it, only that she would dedicate her life to bringing him justice.

Unbeknownst to her however, Alicent sent a letter to Rhaenyra. A letter that Rhaenyra would take into consideration, a letter that would change Visenyas life.

My dear friend,

My heart breaks for you, for the loss of your son. A loss I could only imagine. A loss that would reduce to me nothing. I know I take fault in his death. But I am begging you. As a mother and your childhood companion to meet with me. I will come alone, you may bring who you wish. I want to offer you a solution to our perils, one that will not end in the death of anymore of our lineage. I want to offer you marriage, offer you the iron throne for one of your children. Please just give me the chance to explain my proposal.

With love,

Your Alicent

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for “not being able to keep issues in servers separate”

🌻🌷🌹🥀 (to find later)

this all happened a couple months ago now in mid november-ish so i’m sending this late, but i didn’t want to while the situation was ongoing. for the record me and everyone affected have collectively since left both servers mentioned. so. wee

i (23mtf) do a long of long form roleplay, specifically in public oc-based discord servers. these are servers where people will create a setting and then people can join and insert their ocs into the world, and they’re tons of fun! this is a hobby ive had for years now. it’s really important to me as it’s my main creative outlet and i know a good number of people in the community. i’ll often join servers and recognize at least a handful of people there already

around may last year, i joined a new server and things were great, for a while, but then not long after i joined someone new did, i’ll call her X (34nb) for this. when she first joined the interactions we had were fine, but - and i’m still really not sure why this is, i’m not trying to absolve myself if i did do something but i have no idea what i did to warrant this shift even to this day - a few weeks later she just got… extremely passive aggressive and contrary with me, over silly things. most of it was “in character” but it really stuck out to me. i’d have a character say something marginally unconventional and she’d always, without fail, have one of her characters come in to scold them, even if her characters hadn’t been part of the conversation prior. her characters constantly talked down to or insulted mine. she was always talking ooc about how strange her characters found mine. when i tried to get involved in overarching plots, she would often push me out of them, or insist that my characters were only getting in the way, or would insert her characters to do things i’d stated to the group i wanted mine to do, so i didn’t end up able to do anything. it seemed targeted to me because the main character she was doing this with was known to be very kind to everyone else, but for some reason never had anything nice to say about mine. i know none of this is outright bullying but it wore on me greatly. i tried to confront her on this multiple times to tell her it was making me uncomfortable and to please knock it off, and i tried to get the server mods involved when that failed, but the behavior never really stopped and eventually i was content to just… not interact with her

but then a while later i noticed her treating someone else the same way. i reached out to him about it, and he told me that she had done basically everything she’d done to me to him, and he wasn’t the only one. after snooping around a little more i realized that a lot of people in the server had had this problem with her, totaling 7 of us. 7 of us in the group at the time. some people had dropped characters or outright left the group because of her, so 7 isn’t even everyone because it doesn’t include people she’d already driven out that i couldn’t contact. for reference, this server only had roughly 30 people. even if the number of total members was bigger, 7+ still feels like a lot

i tried to take this to the mods of the server again, but (and this is where i’m unsure if i misstepped) i thought it would be right to bring it up to the mods of a separate, larger server that all of us were in together as well. this server had closed to 50-60 members. in my head, if this person has harassed over half a dozen people like this it’d be silly to assume its only a problem in one group, and even if it wasn’t a problem in this larger server it would be better to make them aware of it so they could keep an eye out

the mods in both servers weren’t happy with me, through. even when all 7 people tried to give testimony, both teams claimed there wasn’t enough evidence to support harassment and that they’d talk to her about it, but this didn’t warrant any further action. keep in mind again i’d already had to go to the mods about this same person before, so they weren’t unaware that this happened to me and they had tried talking to her already. then they told me that it was inappropriate of me to bring this up in a server that wasn’t necessarily involved, and that the 7 of us were ganging up against her and bullying her. and i, especially, had been unfairly targeting her

this confused me greatly! i will admit, it’s likely i’ve been snippier with X than i intended. thats on me, i struggle with tone and i have trouble masking my frustration, but i have never once gone out of my way to make her feel bad. she has a generalized anxiety disorder or some such, and before i realized how many people had this issue with her i had been avoiding her for months. i have no idea what i could have said to her that was taken as bullying, because i haven’t been talking to her, period. when i see her in channels i just mute the channel until it’s passed, ive seriously done everything i could to minimize contact because i figured it was a personal issue. i asked both the mods and her directly, in dms, for examples or screenshots of what i said or did so i could adjust my behavior, and i never got shown any. i still as of typing this don’t know what i did to warrant that being said

the mods said they would give her a warning, but they gave me a warning as well, that if i continued like this i would be booted from both servers. they insisted to me again that i’d been clearly bullying her (did not provide examples) and i never should have brought it up to the other server and gotten them involved. i admit i think they might be right on that last point, but i am iffy. i had (honestly still have) justifiable reason to think X is an unsafe person to be around. she pushes people out of the community and cries and gets meek if she’s ever confronted on it in a way that’s distinctly guilt trippy and makes it hard to communicate. i have previously tried to resolve my issues with her in private and she was never receptive nor did she ever accept accountability, or change her actions. if her target calls her out she just starts doing it to someone else. it’s not like her being in a different server suddenly means she’s a different person. if someone like that is in your server, even if you don’t have “proof” that it’s happened in your group, wouldn’t you want to know about it? they kept insisting it had nothing to do with them and it was wrong of me to get them involved. i kind of think this is a cowardly policy to have, that you won’t act on or acknowledge harassment from your members unless it happens right in front of you and is blindingly obvious, but i don’t know

to be clear, i think X is an asshole, so that’s not what i’m asking about. anxiety disorder or not, she is frankly too old and has done this too many times for me to believe it’s unintentional. even if it is unintentional, she’s still hurting people and makes no effort to change. but i’m wondering if i’m an asshole for bringing it into another server. should i have just kept it in the first group?

What are these acronyms?

[bebackthen]

ROLEPLAY ADD || little nightmares, adventure time, ninjago

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im still looking for roleplay partners, preferably long term please. ive got worldbuilding and headcanons and plot ideas for all three fandoms and other things if that'll help. i can write three discord messages per reply if you like longer rps, but if youd prefer shorter rps i can do that as well (though i probably will write more anyway!)

i do adventure time, object shows, and little nightmares!! i can do alternate timelines, AU's and OC's (of which i have for all three fandoms!)

ive got alot of ninjago stuff i can talk about in pms if anyones interested, for ninjago i main garmadon but i can also play kai, cole, pixal, nya, and arin.

for object shows ive got plenty of ocs, or i can do canon characters from (ONE, TNM, ITFT, or AB) most of the characters can be negotiated and talked about in pms.

for adventure time i main iceking (and simon), and can do AU's and AT's and have plenty of AUs and alternate timelines! and headcanons

i like angst roleplays, slice of life, and probably more that i cant think of. i have been roleplaying for years so im willing to communicate with my rp partner and figure something out that we both enjoy !! currently i really want to roleplay with either the adventure time, little nightmares, or ninjago fandoms (though object shows are always welcome!) triggers and stuff can be discussed in pms.

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to give this post some substance beside an rp add here is some little nightmares worldbuilding me and my friend did! all locations are either from the games, comics, or podcast except for: the garden, the warehouse/wrens forest, and the vineyard/the village and the farm. those are some custom places we made for an au/to fill out the world. ^^ and the second map is an up close map for the garden!! i like drawing maps

[onlyplatonicirl]

boom explosion. guess what its been 2 years since i came into your ask box to bother you about blogverse!!! as usual its the roleplayer behind the first lorelcest kid Oleander, Mercury, and most importantly to me, Bv!Shandyo

genuine apologies if you dont enjoy these! thats pretty fair and i get that it didnt affect everyone else as strongly as it did me, i just feel like its important that you know how much youve affected my life positively.

so, i was a bullied, neglected kid with unsupervised internet acess when blogverse happened (still a kid just less, woo!) and blogverse, especially your blog was probably the only part of the internet that i genuinely believed changed me for the better.

the sense of belonging, escapism, and the opportunity to create a character and show them to others like me was incredibly beneficial for me as a person and an artist in the long run, and to this day making OCs, writing, and especially drawing are passions that i consider deeply important to me- passions that blogverse and its community didnt exactly start, but they played a big role in fostering it. i know you just accidentally one day made an entire community that lasted two months but i cannot stress to you enough that it changed my life and i cant thank you & queenie (unsure if they still go by that, sorry) enough for it.

I also majorly admired you (and many others in a lot of the communities you associated with, but especially you) greatly as a person, artist & writer!!! you were my art goal and while that's changed as ive grown, striving towards this goal nurtured a hobby that i now know was/is a special interest to me.

while probably seeming like minor interactions with some kid who didnt know how to write a consistent character to you, to me your patience, kindness & continual creation of art genuinely helped me retreat from my abusive home life, gain a sense of belonging as a bullied autistic child, get better at art n writing, & grow as a person. i still lurk in communities like blogverse, but bv was my first and forever will be cherished in my memory.

so yeah. the things you do affect people whether you think so or not, and while i dont majorly interact with your content anymore, i hope youre well n you keep being great. :)

I want you to know that I’m at a friend’s house right now and she’s cooking herself dinner. I’m reading this paragraph and I literally start tearing up in front of her and she asks me what’s wrong 😭😭😭

Legitimately I feel like I have somehow won at life, like I won a lottery, because I don’t possibly know what I did to deserve messages like this and it makes me feel so amazing to know that I have positively effected the life of another person. That’s all I can hope for in life, and I can feel how much heart went into this letter so I’m trying to respond in turn

Even though at the time of all of this I had just around turned 18 years old, I was still very much a kid who was also trying to escape from a less-than-ideal home life. I never expected an audience when writing tcoti, it was purely my own self-indulgent passion project with my own hyper-specific headcanons. The fact that other people resonated with it so much and it created so many other inspirations as completely unexpected and absolutely baffling to me. I could have never seen it coming in a million years. It changed MY life for the better to know a my own silly utmv ideas literally inspired like. Countless others

I’m also going to share this post with Queenie, because they NEED to see this. Blogverse was her passionate project and I think to know you were as touched by it as she was and loved the writing is amazing. Also I’m showing Slime. @cosmic-chronologer look at this post with your eyes. I didn’t contribute with the writing as much as I should have because of how busy I was, and the real masterminds behind the project go to Slime Queenie and Achro. I hope they see this message!!!!

Thank you for telling me about the positive impact me and the others have had on you, it genuinely makes me so happy to hear. I’m SO happy you’re still continuing to create!! Most of my utmv friends back from then have left the fandom obv but I’m still in contact with most of them :) it means so much to me that you told me, because otherwise I would have never known how you feel!!!!!

I wish you have been well all these years. I loved all the ship kids you made :))))))

[hhighkey]

Decode // Background

Dracule Mihawk (opla) x OC (female)

Rating: mature

Story Contains: live action characters, related and non-related one piece plots, unspecified religion, OC is a nun on sabbatical, trauma, violence, age gap (40 v 23), insecurities and self doubts, possessive / protective behavior, kidnapping, true loves, eventual smut

note, here’s the background/intro! since mihawk won the poll! (cross posted on other sites as well)

Masterlist

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I. Fifteen years old when she was ripped from her mother's arms as she was dragged away. Her father stood motionless in the corner with a bag of money in hand, not enough to pay for the three of them. The pirates laughed. Laughed how he wasn't man enough to take his wife's place, to leave a young lady without a mother. How young Sabine cried and screamed, wallowed as she followed them outside. No pleas to them nor the Father would be heard as her mother was thrown to the ground. The woman yelled at her daughter to look away. Pop. An incessant ringing deafened her as she dropped to her knees, eyesight blurry on the limp body of her mother. A pat on her head. Pirate's cruel laughter reverberated through the air as her life came crashing down. 

Not long after did Sabine find herself on a big boat with luggage at her side. A nervous bubbling in her stomach made her feel sick, knowing where her father was pushing her off to. The Monastery was beautiful- large and expansive old castle with dimmed white bricks. Ivy climbing the walls and up kept gardens littered all about. While faith had been all she had to for years- she accepted her temporary vows with disdain in her blood as doubt pricked her mind. 

II. Eight long years passed, and she'd yet to give herself to the Father- to take her permanent vows. The judging glances and murmurs burned, on how she still adorned the white veil after so many years of service. 

Service. Her faith wavered. Rosary clutched in hand as the winds shrieked through the shattered stained glass of the church's nave. Pews splintered and smashed against walls. Flickering candles around her. Tears streamed her cheeks as the ghastly figure stalked around her as she chanted prayer after prayer. Her body shook. Chills up and down her spine. Red stained the tiled floors of the bishop she'd arrived with. Alone. Scared. Only a light guiding her as she rehearsed everything she remembered. Its black eyes and cursed lips screamed as it dissolved and churned. The small music box vibrated as the raven colored smoke succumbed to the words of the Father. Blood trickled from Sabine's eyes as she heaved, palms on the floor covered in broken glass that left her with bloodied cuts. 

III. Every night was the same. Her sisters gathered around her shaking her calling her name, telling her it was okay as she screamed and writhed. The same figure haunted her dreams. Sabine eventually found the strength to request leave- a sabbatical- so there she sat in a cardinal's office with her plea. And it was heard. How her community looked up to her with awe that an un-vowed nun could keep such a demon at bay- that it made sense how she needed time. But Sabine needed to breathe. She needed to leave the monastery to experience a life she once had before her mother's death. Yearned for seeing girls her age laughing and drinking, wearing dresses she only dreamed of owning, dreaming of marriage to someone who loved her. For faith saw her through and she thanked Him everyday but, she could serve him as herself. Not with the restrictions. This sabbatical she prayed would show her what she truly wanted. 

IV. Gecko Island took longer to reach than she'd have expected. But Syrup Village made it worthwhile. The bustling town, the fresh air- the knowing that she had all the time in the world ahead of her (a year really). A chance to start anew to learn her heart's desire. Sabine felt lighter without her habit on and without the eyes that always stared at a young nun passing through a town. As if she was a two headed monster. A cool breeze fluttered her hair as a yelling carried within ear shot, "Pirates are coming!" 

V. "You should join my crew, find the answers to your doubts. Maybe along the way realize you have a dream whether it be with those church people, with us or.. I don't know!" At first she laughed. Her- a pirate? Pirates changed her life for the worse so it'd been a ridiculous thing for Luffy to say. Yet Luffy's smile was enough to win her over, how could anyone say no to him? And as she saw what those straw hat pirates did for Kaya and she wondered, maybe pirates could change her life for better, or maybe she was desperate. With six months left on her sabbatical and Luffy's oath to bring her back to the monastery in time, Sabine felt genuine excitement for the first time in years as she boarded the Going Merry. 

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playlist

01. all around me― flyleaf 02. lacy― olivia rodrigo 03. like a prayer― madonna 04. slut!― taylor swift 05. roslyn― st vincent & bon iver 06. i caught myself― paramore 07. judas― lady gaga 08. holy (til you let me go)― rina sawayama 09. turning page― sleeping at last

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Character Moodboards—

PINTEREST BOARD

Oakes Sabine

sister mary sabine

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Dracule Mihawk

strongest swordsman in the world

posted : oct 14 2023

edited: july 12 2024

taglist :

[unholy-lamb]

RP CALL // About The Writer

Hey gang!! Call me Lamb. I'm a twenty-two year old cisfem loser in the CST time zone who has been in the RP community way too long. I've been writing since I was about twelve. I'm always fiending for new threads and looking for new people with whom I can write!

I do NOT write with minors or anyone under the age of eighteen.

The Basics

My favorite pairings to write are OC/Canon. I do not write Canon/Canon ships, but I can be persuaded into writing OCs together if we vibe!

I am mostly familiar with writing MxF and FxF ships, and I will ask you to write either one of those for me. I can write any kind of ship for you. I am also more than okay with poly ships.

I am a master at doubling up. Seriously, it's my specialty! Come at me with all your craziest ideas. I adore hearing about OCs and their unique stories. I put the same amount of energy into both threads when doubling. I ask you do the same.

When doubling, I am more than happy to write anyone for you in return as long as they are not someone I'm wanting. Doubling is not necessary if you'd just like to write a canon character.

I have no problem doubling up in another fandom as long as I am familiar with the source material!

My writing style is literate to adv. literate. On average, I write roughly three to six paragraphs in a post. I do tend to do a lot more when writing starters or when the scene calls for it, and I can do less. I tend to mirror my partner's writing length and style.

OOC talk is not necessary, but I heavily prefer it! I love just going wild about headcanons, AUs, silly shitposting, plotting, etc.

I am VERY active in responses. Usually I tend to respond right away and I can write upwards of ten or so posts a day depending on engagement. I ask that my partners be able to post at least once a day to keep up interest! That being said, please let me know if something comes up, I'm more than understanding! We're all adults, adults get busy, no pressure.

My favorite genres/tropes to write are an entanglement of horror, fluff, dead dove, smut, angst, all of it! Give me a bit of everything!

I write exclusively on Discord. Servers are wonderful for organization.

Triggers & The Smut Stuff

NSFW will most likely come up in my threads. I ask that you be comfortable writing it! That being said, I prefer a 70/30 plot-to-smut ratio where the plot and characters take the central focus.

Triggers, limits, and no-goes will be discussed privately beforehand!

Fandoms

i. Cartoons - The Owl House - Inside Job - OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes - Arcane - Gravity Falls & Reverse Falls (AU) ii. Games - Portal & Portal 2 - Lies of P - Resident Evil - Transistor - The Wolf Among Us - Tell Tale's The Walking Dead - The Last of Us - OFF - Boyfriend to Death & The Price of Flesh iii. Internet Based Media - Creepypasta - Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared - Happy Tree Friends - Lackadaisy iv. Shows & Movies - The Boys - Stranger Things - IT (2017) & IT Chapter Two (2019) - The Umbrella Academy

Wrapping Up

Thank you for reading my yapfest! If you're interested, please let me know by DMing me on here or leaving a like on this post and I'll reach out!

[poswiecenia]

KNOWING YOUR PARTNER WELL CAN POTENTIALLY MAKE WRITING TOGETHER A LOT EASIER. REPOST, DO NOT REBLOG !!

NAME: da name is miles. sometimes called kilometers as a joke , ive had the alias satan before ( stemming from the hetalia rpc from all things , we don't talk about that era ) and uh. yeah ? milays. a single mile. 

PRONOUNS: he / they baybee. 

PREFERENCE OF COMMUNICATION: usually discord but if i would rather keep distance until i can figure if we can get some dynamics going it'll likely be through the tags of posts or tumblr im's. 

NAME OF MUSE(s): man. looks at my roster. c'mon now LOL. go here to find out but my main braincell has lumine in it thank u

BEST EXPERIENCE: thinking emoji. probably running into jamey and those currently in my affiliates and developing various oc's and interconnecting plots and stuff that have found their way to the dash itself. its been super uber fun thank u.

RP PET PEEVES / DEALBREAKERS:

honesty when it comes to communication if something isn't a vibe to write anymore. it doesn't save fact not to say anything , it just makes situations even more dire or worse since it begins to pent up and then explode into something really bad. just be honest with what you do wanna write vs what you don't wanna write anymore. while yeah it might upset some people .. lack of communication isn't a price to pay for losing friendships or wild shit going down.

singleshipping. i can't due to trauma. and those who give the vibes that my muse interpretation is theirs and only there's but in a way that makes it uncomfortable ? miss me with that, thanks.

MUSE PREFERENCES: those that have gone through shit but are still able to be kind in some capacity even though it would've been understandable to see them crack and be cruel. characters with morally gray morals and don't see the world as a black and white slate. muses that are also full of sunshine and are innocent and haven't gone through the world to ruin that for them. characters that have a position of power or have immense power themselves and will do anything in their power to keep others safe. sad dads. old men who are tired.

PLOTS OR MEMES:  to begin things i'm usually partial to memes to get things going just due to my own braincell being unsure just yet but once things get going and im like waow this is super cool and will work . . plots fr. both are good and fun but something tickles when i can plot af.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES: both. sometimes i wanna just do itty bitty meme responses and sometimes im totes down to clown with long form replies that are 1k words long or smth.

BEST TIME TO WRITE: honestly whenever. late in the afternoon into the evening sometimes flies more but its very ??? just dependent on my mood ig. sometimes i'll write 4 things then take a nap for 6 hours and then write 4 more LOL. 

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S):  some of my muses i kinda place bits of my brain into but uh ??? probably my oc's im most like bc i put pieces of my hopes into them. but beyond that idk i don't think any single muse i write is like. super like me 100%.

tagged by: @glacialswordsman + @aguilareye ( thank u guyyyyys :3 ) tagging: @draconicfool, @dawnbrst, @fckurselfie + anyone else who wanna.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

HI <3 GOODMORNING <33 pact in ur inbox time...

i think. the best, like, overall real pact propaganda i can give is that i had to stop reading it, like, a third through. like i had to sit down and go okay, i genuinely Cannot do this it will fuck my head up Too Bad. pact is about a little guy being stuck underneath a car and getting dragged along the asphalt until there's just a pulpy mess of bone and flesh and then that mess gets dragged along until there's nothing left at all. it does NOT let up. worm if taylor lost violently and horrifically and got fucked over in deeply personal ways every time instead of winning and never won Once. i still haven't gotten back to it it fucked me UP. <- in the most immensely positive way possible. it's just. radioactive to me personally lmao. i still come back to it for specifically referencing how he writes body horror & his demon world shit. he has the MOST delightful supernatural horror worldbuilding imo what if demons was like making lawyerly contracts with loose hydrogen bombs who want to leave you alive while they eat your face & the only way to prevent that was communicating as clearly and specifically as possible because the whole time they're just waiting for u to slip up... & also. fucked up monsters. u can tell he's having the time of his LIFE describing the most freaks ever.

the best pact propaganda i can give YOU SPECIFICALLY i think is that it is fundamentally about having a fucked up identical mirror twin & about identity and blurring between the two of you and which one's the real one and which one's the good one and is there a good one and who's you and who's them and what's the difference between you and you-in-the-mirror and why are you here and they're there. like i cannot express enough how much the entire almost million word serial hinges on the fact that there are Two Of You when there Wasn't Supposed to be Two Of You. AND ALSO equally as much it is about becoming the horror movie monster lurking in the dark!!!!! the slasher villain!!!!! taking a nice normal guy and then systematically stripping him of his humanity and turning him into a fucked up thing!! and also it gets really transgender about it. anyway. -> propaganda snippets for u i hope u r having a good dayyy <3333

oh fuck yes this sounds SO GOOD. i think I mentioned this in one of my worm posts but wilbow has such a specific way of writing Gross Things that scratches such a nice itch in my mind I can't even IMAGINE what an entire fucking novel of that would do to me. imagine the way i am about worm but × 12 million. holy shit.

ALSO I LOVE THAT I GET SPECIFIC MECORE PROPAGANDA AND THIS SPECIFIC MECORE PROPAGANDA is one of the MOST heart wrenching knife in the gut tropes that I love so dearly . looks at my longest surviving oc from when I was like 13. you've described her. anyway. holy shit dude that's EXACTLY the type of shit I love . I love when there's two of a guy!!!!!!!!!!!! and when it's transgender!!!!!!! fuck dude you can't keep giving me long ass wildbow stories to read I have so many books on my shelf I have not touched yet. my storygraph thinks ive spent the last 2 months not reading bc I've been so deeply entrenched in worm. omg. you've won me over with the propaganda

[blackbackedjackal]

please try to sell me gw2. i really want to like it and ive tried a couple times over the years to get into it, but every time my experience is like: walk for 5 irl minutes -> talk to someone -> kill 20 things -> random world events -> kill 50 things -> go back and talk to the person. rinse and repeat

and then i uninstall the game

Hard to sell it to ya when it's free to play ;0

As a new/returning player I honestly recommend going in with some friends. It's a game were you can absolutely solo PvE with the right build, but I always have more fun playing with my friends for the shenanigans. I also, 100%, recommend plopping an OC in the game. My first characters were both in-game and all their lore is based around GW2, but putting June in there has been hella fun to see how she would handle being in Tyria.

Your first 80 levels are basically to help get you accustom to the game mechanics and the story. Though the story is optional, I recommend playing it so you get more of a feel of Tyria and the history. The story also leads you through the game an the map rather than just taking random quests as you explore. It's really the only mode that gives you a bit of direction in the game.

If you happen to get stuck or have any questions about the game, it's pretty safe to ask the map chat and usually people will help you out, especially in early maps. GW2 is a game that doesn't really teach you how to play, you learn as you go. There's also plenty of YT vids on how to get started and tutorials if you get stuck or suggestions of things to try out as you level. They've also updated the game fairly recently where you now have access to the Raptor mount without needing to have Path of Fire or doing the expansion, which is a HUGE quality of life change while you explore the early maps.

Once your toon hits level 80, that's when you unlock your mastery tracks that will allow you to do more of the endgame content and continue through the living story. Fractals, Raids, Dungeons, Strikes, World Bosses, Meta Trains, Gold Farming, PvP, WvW, FASHION WARS!!, There's a ton to do once you're set up, and again, lots of resources available to help you out (TaCO, GW2 Efficiency, Crafting Guides).

The world is unique. It feels lived in and ever expanding. The lore for all the playable races in the game is really interesting and they do a lot to subvert expectations from typical fantasy stories. Some things are a hit or miss for a lot of folks but there's so much to love about the game even my least favorite parts are like just mid to me compared to the parts I genuinely enjoy. My favorite expansion is Path of Fire + Season 4. The desert maps are my favorites followed by Maguma (begrudgingly). Cantha had grown on me a lot after a million Leviathan Farms for gold lol. THE SEASONAL EVENTS AHHH like again there's just so much to touch on but yeah the long and short of it is it IS a time sink at minimum to get to the more favored content, but even as a old player I still love making new toons and taking them through the early game content again just for fun.

But yeah, free to play, no subscriptions, all expansions are a one time purchase. You've got 10 years worth of content to explore and try out. It's a relatively inexpensive MMO (the expacs can be up to 50% off during certain yearly sales). An overall very helpful community. Any paid content is mostly cosmetics and convenience items, but nothing that gives you an advantage over other players. Basically everyone is grinding towards a similar end-goal, so you can always get the same gear as people through grinding. Nothing is really out of reach and people are always willing to help others out with multiplayer content.

I've been consistently playing for 8-9 years now. It's one of those game where I'm IN it for like a few months then may take a few months off until a holiday event I love is coming up and then I play for a few months again. It's probably the only other game I've sunk as much time into as Pokemon or Skyrim over the years (I jokingly call it Skyrim Online since ya'll won't catch me playing ESO). But yeah just, it's a game I never expected to play for this long and this consistently and it always feels fun to pick back up. Genuinely I do hope you give it another try. I've honestly had the most fun I've had in years with the wave of new and returning players jumping back into the game c: