#rank heresy discord server

[therealvinelle]

Hello Vinelle! Big fan of your and Muffin's meta. May I ask: I vaguely remember that you two have a discord server, but I am unsure whether that is the Patreon-only server for rank heresy? I know you two have some writing session stream(?) and fanfic challenge as rank heresy blog has mentioned, but may I ask what else would you do on that server? I am not sure whether or not I want to join...I mean, it is always a delight to see you two post here, but I am a bit socially awkward, sometimes being in a big Discord server scares me considering Discord requires more... socialising? That's why I...I can't call myself a Discord person haha. Thank you again and have a nice day!

We used to have two, one Patreon only and one for all, but then we realized that was dumb and deleted the latter (As we had put much better work into the infrastructure of the Rank Heresy server).

Now the RH server is available to all, with only a few channel permissions that you'll never notice making it a special treatment for patreons.

The sub's main attraction is the weekly book club. We gather every Sunday night (10 PM GMT+1) and either Muffin or I or both read a chapter of a book, at the moment it's Deathly Hallows. It's hilarious and horrible, we do it in a normal voice channel so anybody can chime in with conversation or be mute if they want.

There's also the budging new, currently vacationblocked, tradition of watching me play video games. Specifically, Red Dead Redemption 2. The attraction is that I'm completely new to video games and horrified with all the crime, therefore completely and pathetically dependent on the server helping me out and consoling me when bad things happen to Arthur.

Writing sessions wound up not happening much, I suppose if there's interest we could try picking it up again. We also answer questions people may have about our fics.

I think that's about it, a discord is what you make of it.

Happy to DM you a link!

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

So... Where You Going?

For those not in the know, tumblr's doing its swan song and is going down to a skeleton crew for running the site. The site won't be gone immediately, but given how things run on tumblr now (will sometimes be totally unusable, I've had my blog automatically killed for nonsense reasons, held together with duct tape and glue) I'm going to treat this as if it could go down tomorrow or else that it will probably collapse by Christmas.

I'll probably be here until it's no longer usable but I'm not going to hold my breath that that's going to be any significant amount of time.

So, there comes the question of where I am going to go.

@therealvinelle and I have been discussing that and what we're likely to do is pivot what would be text meta into @rankheresy content. Things that would have been long text answers to questions will become episodes (note this is what the episodes essentially are already). We're also looking into doing Q&A style streams/videos where we'd answer questions from the audience to get to what would have been the short/more ridiculous 'what if' kind of things we usually do.

Of course, if people want us to run certain episodes/do certain content, we're open to suggestions and feedback.

As for Ao3, I'm not going anywhere on there, because if I could have shaken the fanfiction habit, I would have years ago. I'm in this for life, baby.

Neither of us have any plans to move all the blog content somewhere else in part because a) nobody seems to know where they want to land yet b) all the existing options are collapsing or else are terrible and I hate them. As much as this place is a hellsite, there's nothing quite like it. This could change but, for now, them's the breaks.

Also, since I've now published things, I can't disappear from online entirely.

So, here's the places you can find me.

Me, Myself, and I

The_Carnivorous_Muffin on Ao3

Amazon Author Page

If you're interested at all in my venturing into original things/what's been going in there, follow the Amazon author page as that will for sure alert you when new things come out, I'll make announcements other places (e.g. discord) but of course that depends on other places existing which who even knows at this point.

Rank Heresy (@rankheresy i.e. me and @therealvinelle meta stuff)

Rank Heresy Spotify

Rank Heresy Podcastaddict

Rank Heresy Apple Podcasts

Rank Heresy Amazon Music

Rank Heresy Player FM

Rank Heresy Google Podcasts

Rank Heresy Patreon

Rank Heresy Kofi

Rank Heresy Discord

Rank Heresy discord will probably become the best place to catch me or @therealvinelle as well as catch any announcements we make. In #announcements we drop anything we update (either the podcast or fics) and #notice-me-senpai channel can be used when you really want to get our attention/have us answer a question (we do lurk there but as of right now it's not a super active server).

Podfic (me and @therealvinelle podfic stuff)

Podfics on Spotify

Podfics on Amazon Music

Podfics on Podcastaddict

Podfics on PlayerFM

Podfics are what it says on the tin, it's me and @therealvinelle podficcing only our own material (which so far is just partway through For The Love of a Woman)

It's been a wild time, friends, hope to see you all in the future.

[rankheresy]

Introducing monthly writing competitions

As some may have picked up on, there have been monthly writing competitions happening on the Rank Heresy discord server. This has been incredibly fun, only we realized recently there wasn't actually a reason for this competition to be discord only. So, we thought we'd expand the monthly writing competitions to tumblr.

How it works

On the first of every month, the entries from the previous month are revealed, and a new prompt is given. A new Ao3 collection where all works are unrevealed (meaning the fic can't be read, it's just "Mystery work") and anonymous will be created, and participants upload their fics to said collection, while letting us know by DM that you are participating (as collection owners can't see your work or your pen name until it's revealed and de-anonymized).

On the first of the next month all entries are revealed (and a new prompt given, because it's the circle of life), and a list of participants revealed. It remains anonymous, however, so that people can have fun trying to guess at how wrote what.

On the fourteenth of every month the fics are then de-anonymized.

Rules

The fic can be of any type or length, so long as it fills the prompt.

Multi-chapter fics are allowed, and they don't need to be finished! The important thing is that what you submit fills the prompt, however many chapters is required for that and regardless of whether the fic is finished. (If this is confusing: the rule exists so that you can be inspired by a prompt to make a bigger fic out of it, but you won't have to pen the whole thing in a month.)

Co-writing is allowed! Just let us know when you sign up, so we can list you and your co-writer together.

Deadlines are soft in this game. Very soft. If you're not ready on the first of the month, never fear, take your time and submit when you're ready. The deadline exists so the competitions wouldn't drag out.

There are no winners of these competitors. We may boldly claim "the winner will be the author whose entry is the most (blank)!" or such, but there has never been a winner nor will there ever be one (unless only one person/team participates).

If only one person/team participates, there will be no point to guessing and the fic will be de-anonymized right away.

A central point of the early competitions that was lost along the way but deserves a mention all the same, is that we wanted to produce the worst of the worst, to give readers that godawful feeling of having gone through a time portal and ended up on fanfiction.net in 2008. The prompts given may reflect this.

Here are all the past writing competition collections, and where new ones will appear.

Feel free to ask questions, or join us on discord (DM for invite) for more writing competition related things.

[hellsbovnd-archive]

dossier.

individual lf rp posts will be made for each character. this is simply an alternate dossier created for ease of access. i guess you can reblog this if you want, but more useful info is on the individual lf rp posts. last updated: 09/14/2019

check out my plot wishlist too!

Leonnaux Altoix  — The Hidden Ace

status: active (main); open for rp, in-game preferred server: balmung (crystal dc) connections: alizarine  «INK» (@alizarinefc), ebonguard - no legacy (@ebonguardls)

For all practical purposes a ghost, this Elezen only appears on public records as far back as three summers ago. It’s likely, then, that he’s chosen to live under an assumed name. He tends to use his appearance to his advantage, passing himself off as a Wildwood whenever it suits his interests—which, given the discrimination that Duskwights face, is more often than not.

He first stepped into the public’s eye as a small-time journalist—and, unbeknownst to all but those closest to him, the proprietor of The Cloak & Dagger (under the alias “Crow”). He is passionate about magicks and has a demonstrated talent for alchemy beyond what one may expect of a man who’s only twenty and one summers old. Shortly after founding The Cloak & Dagger, he retired from journalism to pursue academia full-time.

looking for: business contacts (academic/criminal), a mentor (tradecraft, magic), fellow shroud-born Duskwights links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Percival Rigel  — The Chief Mourner

status: semi-active; open for rp, tumblr preferred server: balmung (crystal dc)

Born to Ala Mhigans fleeing to Thanalan during the Mad King’s reign, Percival’s parents did everything in their power to ensure that her lifetime was one of opportunity rather than one of endless strife. Although her parents died in her teenage years at the hands of Amalj’aa bandits, their work for a trading company taught Percival all she needed to know about running a business—and brought her closer to the woman she would eventually marry, Ilyia Rigel.

However, their happiness was not to last; Iliya died during the Calamity. She was left in full their trading company, and while it is certainly in capable hands, Percival no longer finds any joy in running it and outsources this responsibility wherever possible. Now, at thirty and two summers, Percival finds herself called to horizons beyond the walls of Ul'dah.

looking for: business contacts (mercantile), rogues, fellow ala mhigans? links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Wren Leyland  — The Roundtable Rival

status: semi-active; open for rp, no preference server: balmung (crystal dc)

Where many would benefit from being tight-lipped about their pasts, Wren allows herself to be an open book—that is, if you don’t mind the fact that the story will change just about every time you ask. As a travelling bard, music follows Wren wherever she goes. All that’s really certain about her is that she’s not from around here, and that she’s rarely seen without her violin.

Bursting full of energy, Wren might strike others as a little strange. Those that do, however, would be well-advised to keep their opinions to herself; she has been barred entry from several taverns for inciting one too many brawls, and she has a mean streak when drunk. That said, keeping quiet might not do much good, since it’s just as likely that she’ll pick a fight for the thrill of it.

looking for: rivals, travelling companions, music enthusiasts links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Rosemund Blackthorne — The Final Heir

status: active; open for rp, no preference server: balmung (crystal dc)

Rosemund Blackthorne, born Rosemund de Valieroix, is an Ishgardian Elezen of 34 summers. The head of a house regarded as low nobility, Rosemund quickly plunged his house into debt. Rumors circulated about the family after Rosemund's father was tried for heresy by being thrown from Witchdrop, and in an effort to maintain the House Valieroix's outward social status, he tried to appeal to his peers with lavish gifts, which of course they accepted without giving him what he sought in return.

While the House's good name was cleared along with his father's post-mortem, Rosemund's faith in the church never recovered. Resolving that he could not stand by and watch a broken system prosper, Rosemund took up the sword of the Dark Knight in secret. Since then, he's wielded it to defend those who have no means to defend themselves—namely once-accused heretics and those of low social status, who despite Ishgard's various reforms, still face no shortage of discrimination from above.

looking for: fellow ishgardians, temple knights, noblemen, dark knights, heretics, fine wine and good spirits links: full bio | tag | lf rp

Janos jen Renata — The Imperial Nuisance

status: active; open for rp, in-game preferred server: balmung (crystal dc) 

The third of four sons, Janos has high expectations pushed onto him from a young age. His family name often preceding him (his two older brothers being officers in the military and his father being a high-ranking engineer), it might take a moment to realize that Janos himself is the family's black sheep. Having failed to even get into the Magitek Academy despite having a passion for working with machines and magitek, Janos instead became an Architectus in the military in order to serve his country and make his family proud.

Unfortunately, bad luck and poor judgement led to trouble following in his wake. Where his siblings are marked as loyal and accomplished, Janos himself is marked as negligent at best, and in six years of service, he failed to earn a single promotion or any recognition for his work whatsoever. He was continually reassigned, never working for too long on any one project and occasionally being moved to different posts altogether, and eventually was relegated to simple maintenance work. Now, as a result of circumstances unknown even to him, he's found himself in Eorzea: lost, homeless, and scared—but thankfully not alone.

looking for: fellow Garleans (loyalty optional), fellow engineers, business contacts (magitek component salvagers/etc) links: full bio | tag | lf rp

OOC Information

tracking: #hellsbovnd discord: emet-selch wears prada#5086 main blog: @penvmbral free company: @alizarinefc linkshell: @ebonguardls discord servers: FOR THE SKY (Ishgardian RP Community); COR AUT MORS (Garlean RP Community) pronouns: they/them timezone: NA, active during EST evenings/late nights preferences: med/heavy mature rp, generally lore-strict. 18+ players only. character and plot-driven. looking for: general plot-focused connections/friends! linkshell + discord communities!! i’m not really interested in being recruited to fcs because i happily lead my own but i’ll come hang out if you want company owo

please note that as an extremely goal-oriented rper, i do not enjoy jumping into interactions blind. please make sure that you have a character profile (carrd or tumblr posts only please; do not link me rpc wikis) and some plot hooks ready, and please come with an idea of which of my characters you’d like to interact with as well as which hooks, if any, you are interested in.

please also be aware that as i don’t like to jump into interactions blind, this does mean that i will expect to be able to actually plot out an interaction between our characters, such as the circumstances of meeting and the end-goal for the interaction (which should be more than “intro rp/makes a friend”).

if you are unwilling or unable to do this then i am going to have to pass. sorry!

In-game RP [ ✔ ] Discord RP [ DEPENDS... USUALLY NO ] Tumblr RP [ ✔ ]

unabridged ooc info here.

[stray-snake]

Seeking Connectsions & LFRP  Alaire Daerev

Chaotic Neutral Ishgardian Heretic, Rare-Goods Dealer & Money Lender with a penchant for pretty things & violence. A great many rumors linger about a man who steeps himself in a great many things not altogether legal. 

Alaire is a social creature, craving and seeking out the company of others even if it might simply be in some rank hole of a tavern or speaking with less than reputable folks on the street. While at first glance the well spoken man might come across and level headed and well put together, he is a deep tangle of emotions with a temper to match.

The Basics ––– –

Age: late 30′s - early 40′s. He’s rather tight with specific numbers.

Race: Duskwight Elezen 

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Pansexual

Relationship Status: It’s complicated...

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral/Lawful Neutral 

Physical Appearance ––– –

Hair: Mahogany and kept longer

Eyes: Vibrant Amber-Pink

Height: Edging past 7 fulms

Build: Very large, broad shoulders, with a great deal of upper-body strength and muscle to match. A good head above many elezen.

Distinguishing Features: An old scar across his right eye has been reopened and gashed to something horribly gnarled, flesh burnt and twisted - running from forehead to neck. A few marks now mar his left cheek as well, though those are near faded compared to this. Right eye socket is ruined and empty. These aren’t old injuries.

Common Accessories: Gilded metals are often found as buttons or other additions to the clothing, as are motifs of scales. Nails are well-kept, manicured even despite the fact the he seems to put very little effort into almost any other feature of his person.

Personal ––– –

Profession: Smuggler, Rare-Goods Dealer, Money Lender

Hobbies: Gambling & Betting, Magitek & Engineering, Most anything to do with firearms of all kinds, The Theatre and Musical entertainment

Residence: Limsa Lominsa. Owns an estate in an isolated settlement in Coerthas. Travels between the two often.

Nationality: Ishgardian -- will say Coerthan

Most Frequently Found: .Thanalan, Coerthas, Ishgard, Limsa

Traits ––– -

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between /  Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: Frequently. Drugs: Occasional for recreational purposes or to test product.  Alcohol: Heavy Drinker.

RP Hooks –––

The Criminal Element: While operating his business under a pretense of legality, Alaire is almost eager to step out of lines of the law - hiring and dealing in less reputable practices.

Expensive Taste: All but drawn to things costly and shiny, Alaire is incredibly materialistic on all fronts. Costly clothes, jewelry, performances and people. Upper-class establishments (even if he doesn’t exactly suit the place himself). He adores gambling & betting on others -- especially shows of strength, fighting or tournaments. 

An Interest in Engineering: While he doesn't have expert knowledge with magitek, he has a passion for it. Often inquiring about repair services and frequently seeks rare items or parts of all type and make. (Weapons & Airship in particular)

Trader & Money Lender: If you're looking for longterm or shorter employment, Alaire is almost always hiring. If simply hocking your wares, he has gil to spend! If you find yourself in dire need of coin yourself he will eagerly offer....with hefty interest attached. 

Heretic & Dragonblood: Often overly aggressive to other Ishgardians, the man has a bad temper and strong opinions. Recent peace agreements mean little to a man still bitter about loss

A (somewhat) Silent Investor: A patron of the arts and advancements in engineering, Alaire is quite interested in acting as a financial investor when it’s something he deems important...just be aware he does expect to be involved and relies on contracts. The man has a soft spot for those with ambition...but if you’re looking to simply try and con someone out of coin then it might get interesting for everyone.

Create Your Own.

The above is only a short list to spark some ideas, and I’m more than happy to hear anything and everything else you might have in mind! I am quite open to pre-established relationships as well as always alright with playing the antagonist. 

Rumours ––– (Please inquire if using any of these as hooks)

Murderer: There are are a good handful of deaths with his name attached, though trial shoved aside...usually after a exchange of coin and thanks to the familiar relations with a number of low ranking Flames. 

Aether Sick/Strange Aether: With wan aether that feels stretched and thin, to anyone who can sense it it's as though his very stuff is filtering away. He radiates an unpleasant sort of tang like someone on edge of aether-sickness.

Mother Killed: Sift through the records enough & you'll find a woman killed a dozen or so years back -- hastily tried and executed for heresy. This is a very...sore topic of conversation for him, to say the least.

Missing Records: Alaire's name doesn't find it's way into the public record until just over half a dozen years ago.

Contact & RP Information  ––– –

Please contact me ingame or via Discord -->  (Milesian#9468)

My general RP information is over here: https://toyhou.se/~bulletins/19450.roleplay-stuff 

Contacts, run-ins and general interactions are always welcome! Longer plots/stories or arcs are as well. I prefer ingame RP to Discord, though can do either most oft he time. I'm able to set aside time if we work it out in advance regardless of timezone. I am based on Balmung but feel to contact if you’re from any Crystal server! 

I am not usually looking for for Romance-ONLY RP with this character, but am open to pretty much anything else from Slice of Life to one-shot Run-ins to Darker Themes. 

@mooglemeetI’ve

[therealvinelle]

Do you have a discord that’s open to join ? If it’s private np! :)

Sure do! DM me or the Muffin for link.

It's not a terribly active server, but we do have book club which we do religiously every Sunday at 10 PM (GMT +1) and where we spork Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Muffin reading) and Midnight Sun (me reading).

[therealvinelle]

oh oh oh can you please please prettiest please show us your six cats?

How about one cat, but it’s a video?

[therealvinelle]

You mentioned Love never dies in one of your recent podcast episodes. I would love to hear if you have any more thoughts about that you would like to share here?

Oh little do you know.

@theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin and I first watched Love Never Dies when Andrew Lloyd Webber released musicals for COVID, it was instantly the most incredible thing either of us had ever seen and we watched it again as soon as Muffin came online the next day.

We have since rented it, rewatched it before the 48 hour rent period expired, and I think watched it a fifth time somehow though I don't recall the details for it. It's... very possible we watched it thrice that rent period. One of them was broadcast to the Rank Heresy discord server, so it did have a purpose, we just... also rewatched it...

Love Never Dies is the single funniest, most delightful, most entertaining and glorious musical we have ever seen. Everything about it, from the uncomfortable incest anthem, to TEN YEARS OOOOOOOOLD, to the nonsensical "Devil takes the hindmost!" leitmotif (thought I was having an English fail, but no, Muffin had no idea what that meant either), to the Phantom's great artistic vision being a Coney Island circus extravaganza where girls sing about swimsuits, to said extravaganza hemorrhaging money so Meg has to prostitute herself to keep the lights on, to Christine dying at the end and Ralph says to the child he raised, "Aight son, hope you like phantoms because you'll be living with one from now on. Kk bye", to ALW being so mad the ugly guy he projected on lost the girl that he wrote the whole thing in the first place (um actually Christine loved the Phantom so after the ending scene where she chose Raoul she actually ran back into the opera basement, made love to the Phantom, then ran back again to Ralph. It was a night of passion and the song about it will take ten minutes. Beneath a Moonless Sky, my beloved. Also Raoul is a stupid idiot who spent all his money and Christine regrets everything).

And yes, the above list was only going to be a few lines long but I couln't stop naming beautiful things I loved.

Oh my goodness, another thing I almost forgot (which is sayign something!): the Phantom finds out Christine and Raoul have a child, his immediate response is "Ah, yes, it would be a shame if something... happened... to that child..."

Proceeds to get the child on his own while his parents are distracted, only the child starts playing the piano... my god... the child is ten years old... MY GOD...

This is where we get the incest anthem, the Phantom drops the infanticide plans and starts serenading his son about the beauty underneath, a terrible intense impulse you must follow, and desires we deny ourselves, how his son will accept and embrace it, and... the lyrics are just so bad, alright, and the acting somehow made it worse. Watch at your own peril.

Wild fucking ride.

[therealvinelle]

The way ahead

In light of recent tumblr news, @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin / @thecarnivorousmuffinmeta and I have thought about the way ahead.

We are not going to move our blog activity to a different site, mainly because there's no other place quite like tumblr.

We will export our blogs, I for one am going to answer the best asks that I saved in my inbox and drafts, and we will slowly shift our attention elsewhere.

Here is our plan, as it stands at the moment:

The Rank Heresy podcast Rank Heresy will take the place of our blogs in being where we host our theories and heresies, and we are happy to receive feedback on what most interests people

Q&A livestream sessions What it says on the tin: questions ticking in, Muffin and I answering off the cuff.

Discord community Using our Rank Heresy discord server (invite link) we will continue our activity there as it stands now, hosting writing competitions, streaming things, and the greatly celebrated book club.

Continued presence on Ao3 Obviously.

We will look back on this era with fondness, vague incredulity (it's been a bizarre run), and a host of other feelings, and hope we don't lose touch with too many of you.

[therealvinelle]

what have you been reading/watching lately?? any heretical opinions on them???

I finally watched Lawrence of Arabia, and it was an incredible movie. Instant favorite.

If I am to have a heretical opinion on it then it must be that I now understand fully why @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin kept insisting Peter O'Toole was the ideal fancast for Carlisle Cullen and Tom Riddle both. That man is at once the most charismatic, charming, and compelling man I've ever seen, while also being the goddamn weirdest.

Here, enjoy a clip.

... and I almost forgot that I'm reading Cursed Child. Stumbled upon it in a friend's bookshelf, and now I am reading something I don't even have the words to describe.

The Malfoy family is tormented by the rumour that Draco sent his wife back in time to fuck Voldemort, and Scorpius is his son. The kids bully Scorpius at school over this and Astoria dies from grief. Albus lights his Hogsmeade permission slip on fire because Hogsmeade is full of people and he hates people. Grr, angst. Harry refuses to do his job, and when Hermione finally convinces him to read through his paperwork he is amazed, "I have so much work to do!"

Just, there's a lot happening in that novel. A lot.

For those interested, @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin and I run a book club of sorts on the Rank Heresy discord server each Saturday, where we do live readings with commentary and silly voices. We were making our ways through Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Twilight (she did the former, I the latter) until I happened upon Cursed Child, now we're trying to voice act our way through an entire play. DM me for discord invite, or don't, because I'm not sure we actually want an audience for this.