#my muse list is also linked for reference and easy accessibility.

[darklypse]

anyway i lied. click the ♡ for a starter and please specify a muse. other multi's— please also specify the muse you want the starter for. [not capped]

[demiurgentg]

The hazards of amateurity

Aside from the fact that amateurity isn't actually a word, the main problem with it is endless, boundless, unrelenting ignorance in just about every field.

On the one hand, it means I get to do a lot of research upon very little provocations. On the other, my Google Fu may set a new definition for "weak" so my research is rarely on point.

Take this Monday, for instance. I decided it was terribly important to know two things in preparation for my new novel (another Pride and Prejudice variation, as yet untitled):

The name of a magazine/ periodical which Lizzy Bennet may have sent a secret message to.

What impact smuggling during the Regency actually had on the war effort and whether or not the War minister (as opposed to the tax department) would have cared enough to get involved.

Now I grant you I should maybe have sought these answers before making the two assumed facts the basis of my new novel. As I did not, I went barrelling around and as a result, my browser history for Monday is somewhat extensive. I'm actually irritated at Google, because it used to be easy to scroll through your history and revisit links, or even export a huge amount of data but now the page just jumps around so I'll be lucky if I ever get to revisit the more interesting-but-not-useful-enough-to-bookmark pages. (If you bookmark everything interesting you need a search engine just to find stuff in your bookmarks.)

So, having done what I can to review my activity, the search process went something like:

I will write the scene where Darcy tries to cheer up Georgiana by showing her a magazine puzzle.

What should the magazine be called? There must be puzzle magazines from the 18th century, right? Ooh, this looks interesting. And it cites this resource.

Sidebar: Did they call them puzzles? Riddles? Conundrums? What does etymonline say? Conundrums is a good one.

Back to the resource from point 2. Oh hey, Jonathan Swift had an enigma published in a journal called Muse's Mercury? Cool name, no wikipedia page. Ooh, they have scanned copies on archive.org. Oh, it's a century older than I want it to be. MF the 1800s are the NINETEENTH century! Get it together girl!

But there must be other magazines on archive.org. I'll filter and see what we get. Ladies Weekly magazine? No (for reasons). Gentleman's weekly? Also no (for other reasons). Oooh, The Weekly Entertainer and West of England Miscellany. Looks good! Is Derbyshire in the West of England? Close enough.

Now for smuggling. Any mention of it in my history books or wiki pages on Napoleonic wars? Nope. Is there any mention of any famous smugglers? Ooh, there's a wikipedia list of pirates. Hmm. They're all American. But there's some books linked as additional resources... and they're no good either.

OK, new tack. Smuggling in the Regency generally. Blog post about Smuggling in Jane Austen's time... And links! To the Liverpool Maritime museum! What a brilliant idea, they're bound to have something. Couple of resources I can't access until I'm in England, but a few websites. One really old one that references a book now available on Project Gutenberg! I do love me some project Gutenberg. (King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 by E. Keble Chatterton) And a book I need to buy. That's fine I can afford one book.

I don't like Darcy calling that magazine the Entertainer, it's too vague. Let's just double check its full name... Oh, no. Published in America. Not Entertainment Weekly in the West of England but to the West of England. Drat. Other options... (for the next half hour I looked at other options. Failed to find any in the right period and country of origin which I could actually use. Then I left the computer to read my code-breaking book, returned and spent another hour on the futile search for a magazine.)

That was Monday. Monday evening I wailed to my husband about how hard it is to find an appropriate journal and suddenly recalled my Full works of Lewis Carroll. It includes a series of mathematical problems which were published in a journal (if you aren't aware, the guy who wrote Alice in Wonderland was a university maths lecturer called Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.) And if I can find that journal, and it's old enough, I'll be in business.

Tuesday morning: the books. Ah hah! Carroll/ Dodgson published his puzzles in the Monthly Packet. Umm, no good. But maybe there's a wikipedia list of magazines published in Britain. There is! Can't filter it by year, so I'll just click the links that look promising aaaaaaand Bingo! There is literally a monthly magazine called "The Monthly Magazine" which published poetry and letters. They would certainly accept an enciphered letter and call it a conundrum.

OK, it's been two days of research, I should probably go and work on other stuff.

I know women weren't accepted in formal education, but why? I wonder if there's something there I can use...

Everyone keeps telling me I'm not neurospicy. I have my doubts.

[alltheficsiwant]

Here We Go Again | Part Four

Part FOUR | The Flayed

Summary: Reader and the gang went for a hospital visit. Hoping it would finally lead them to the source. It supposed to be an easy in and out but the enemy has other plans.

Warnings: Mentions of blood, violence and death. There is also an anxiety filled scene. If this is triggering please be warned.

Words: 2.2k

Author's Note: Here's another part of the series! I am nearing the end of writing this and posting this in Ao3. I haven't been able to tackle the last two parts but I'm getting there. It's short and a bit fast paced.

If you are new here, the link for the prequel of this story is down below together with the previous Parts. Will be creating a master list for this and a main masterlist since my work here in Tumblr is growing. My asks are OPEN. If you want to send some love for the series. Other than that. I'm sorry for any inappropriate 80's references and errors! Enjoy - J xxx

Prequel | Part Three | HWGA Master List | Part Five

“This is absolutely insane,” Eddie offered as the group walked inside the hospital. They had to leave their weapons behind because obviously how can you explain that to the personnel.

We need it because we need to protect ourselves against interdimensional monsters and apparently against people too  that are now being possessed.

No way.

Reluctantly you have to leave that behind to lessen the hurdle. Speaking of the hurdle, you reminded that the nurse only allowed the three of you to go because of some reason that you and Eddie were from out of town. Though now, how are you going to talk your way to let all of you in.

“What the hell is going on?!” The nurse who was the same one that saw the three of you last night exclaimed. She stopped them and stood up. “Missy, did I tell you last night that only two are allowed?” 

“Yes, but they are all her grandchildren and they really wanted–”

“Nu-uh, only two people,” She huffed. Nancy sighed as he looked towards the group.

“Me and Jonathan will go you guys stay–”

“No fucking way,” You cut her off as you walked closer to her. “The two of you will not go there alone. You knew what happened when they tried to stop Billy,” You motioned towards the kids. “You need all the help you can get,”

“We will find a way to catch up with you guys,” Suddenly Eddie spoke in a hushed tone, the group turned towards him. “I might know another way around,” 

“Okay, you and Eddie will do that but you five will stay here—”

“Oh come on Nance!”

“No way!”

“Not a chance”

“Zip it,” Nancy hissed at them as she looked towards the Nurse who glared at them. “You guys will stay here okay? Unless we need you, you guys will stay. Understood?”

No one spoke as they all stared at her. “Do I have to repeat myself?”

“Understood,” They all said in unison and Nancy turned towards you as she spoke your name.

“See you up there,” She said and you nodded.

You and Eddie hastily moved around. The two of you did not wait for Nancy and Jonathan to ride the elevator. You already took off. Eddie led you towards a part of the hospital that looked to be under construction.

“There are ongoing repairs on the floor below where the rooms are. We can access the staircase there and climb our way up,” Eddie explained as the both of you walked through a hallway that is only separated by a plastic sheet.

“Oh gosh, this is creepy,” You looked towards the empty hallway.

“How I wish we had weapons with us,” Eddie mused and you nodded in agreement.

“Come on sweetheart,” Eddie said as he motioned towards where the staircase was. Thankfully there was no one around as it was already night time when the group arrived. Eddie opened the door for you, even the gentleman even in times of crisis and you swiftly walked in.

“Fifth floor right?” Eddie asked as you nodded. “Well, this is only up to the fourth floor then we transfer towards the working side of the hospital,”

“Got it,” You didn’t hesitate as you jogged up. Eddie on the other hand, since he was almost a foot taller than you, easily climbed them two at a time. By the time you reached the fourth floor, you were panting while Eddie was already there with a smirk on his face.

“Don’t start,” You pointed at him as he just raised his hands in defense. Then you walked out of it and into another series of eerily quiet hallways. “Where to?” You looked back at Eddie who walked past you. Though he stopped and offered his hand. You took it as he led the way.

The both of you came out of the construction area and into another hallway. Lights flickered on it and that made you hold your hand tighter to Eddie. Eddie looked towards you.

“Okay, we should have brought those—” The two of you jumped as you heard moaning and voices down the hallway. Quickly the two of you stuck to the walls as you both moved. 

“Please don’t—- argh!” someone pleaded but cut off as a sound of something hard hit something. There was a thud and then silence. Soon, there were footsteps that were heard coming towards the both of you. You and Eddie’s eyes widened at that. The both of you instinctively pressed yourselves against the wall as if it would help and with your free hand covered your nose and mouth. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched Eddie doing the same with his.

The hand that was holding Eddie’s tightened its grip on him while he did the same. The footsteps grew louder and you can’t help but closer your—

Suddenly, a growl was heard then the footsteps took off running towards an opposite direction. You and Eddie waited in bated breath until a loud bang of a door closing was heard. The both of you sighed out in relief.

“I will take a peek,” Eddie mumbled shakily. You can feel him shaking already or is it you? You don’t know but fuck, you really wish you could have sneaked your weapons. You watched as Eddie took a peek then he nodded as he pulled you. Though he froze as his eyes landed on something, you followed his gaze and gasped. A body near where the staircase that leads towards where you should have gone lay there. 

There is blood on the wall and on its body. The body was clearly still as it was just slumped over there.

“Oh my god,” You can’t help but exhale as you fully wrap yourself on Eddie's arm that is holding on to your hand. His grip tightened on you as the both of you stood there trembling.

Suddenly, you jolted and you looked over at Eddie who looked back at you at the same time.

“Nancy and Jonathan,” with that you took off. Eddie called out to you, trying to make you stop but he didn’t have to as Nancy and Jonathan themselves burst out of the door.

“Run!” Jonathan said and you turned towards Eddie who was already waiting on you. The four of you bolted. Not daring to look behind. You clearly hear some door opening and closing but you didn’t care. The four of you have to get out of there.

“In here,” Eddie told them as he led the way towards the construction site. “I know a way out— no not that— shit!”

He was cut off when Nancy and Jonathan blindly took another way. He was about to protest but then he heard the footsteps and you took Eddie’s arm to follow them. The four of you ended up in a different hallway.

You frantically looked around trying to find something or anything to defend yourself.

“Here,” Jonathan walked over to an intercom and frantically tried to call someone.

“It's not working,” Eddie shakily declared.

“In here!” Nancy exclaimed as she ran in a room. The three of you followed behind and you heard Jonathan locking the door. While you looked around trying to find some kind of weapon. You found and saw some scissors and took one. You looked at Eddie who was holding on to a dextrose stand. You looked over and saw that it had a glass opening and moved towards the door. 

Eddie looked at you but you shook your head. He then looked over at the door and his eyes widened.

Nancy tried to call someone but it was futile as the glass window on the door was broken.

“Hi,” A familiar brogue greeted them and you couldn't help but furrow your eyebrows. Though you decided now is not the time for that. You stuck yourself against the wall and watched as a hand reached out for the lock. Before he does, you cried out and slammed the scissor in his hands.

He released a distorted scream as you lifted the scissor and did it again. You watched in horror as black blood trickled his hand. You managed to stab him again but before you could repeat it. He took hold of your hand.

You heard someone shout your name but you were suddenly flung against the wall. You slumped on the ground as you moaned. Pain blinding your eyes momentarily. The man finally opened the door and looked down at you.

“Ha! Harrington is here too. I have been meaning to find her too. It seems she is wanted too,” He mused as he turned towards the group. You watched groaning as he took a step forward. “But I came here for you Nancy Drew,”

“No!” you heard Nancy shout as you finally gained the strength to move. You saw Nancy being thrown. Eddie swung his weapon at the same time Jonathan tried to tackle him. The man you finally recognized as Bruce who was the jerk that Nancy always complained about. Fuck, he is flayed too.

He managed to take hold of Eddie’s weapon and then Jonathan. He proceeded to throw them both off. Though he head butt Jonathan for a good measure while he shook Eddie. 

You looked around trying to find something and found the scissors. You scrambled towards it sluggishly.

“Jonathan!” You heard Nancy shout. You turned to see Bruce lifting a steel chair and bringing it down towards Jonathan’s back. You took that as your cue to take the scissor and ran towards him. You managed to stick it on his arms but he cried out and swung the steel chair. It hit you on the side of your ribs and flung you towards what looked to be a surgical table. You heard Eddie shout and as you lifted your head you saw him tackle Bruce. Bruce was too strong, as he easily deflected Eddie’s attempt and swung the chair on him. Bringing him down beside Jonathan. 

“Eddie!” You can’t help but exclaim as you watched Bruce bring down the steel chair behind his back just like he did to Jonathan. Eddie cried out and that pushed you to get the scissor then ran towards him. Nancy apparently thought the same as both the sharp objects you were holding hit him on the back. 

He cried out and turned around. Throwing the chair as he reached out behind him towards the two scissors. You and Nancy walked back towards each other then towards the door. You both watched as Bruce pulled out the scissors one by one. He looked down at it and looked up at the two of you.

“You bitches,”

Then your names are being called out as Eddie and Jonathan tried to stand up.

“Run!” The both of them shouted and that prompted you to push the steel trolley right in front of you while Nancy ran towards the door.

“Run Nancy!” You shouted at her as you stalled Bruce. You hear Nancy ran out but before you can move Bruce took hold of your neck. You struggled as he choked you and lifted you up. His eyes were void of anything as he smiled at you.

“Lucky you, we have plans for you,” Bruce said as he looked over at you as you struggled to breathe. “We will save you for last before we come for her,” 

Then he threw you off against the cabinets, shattering the glass and you landed on the ground. You cried out as pieces of glass embed on your skin as you laid there. 

You helplessly watched as pain rendered you immobile as he walked out after Nancy. You looked towards Eddie and Jonathan who struggled to stand. The hit they took behind is too much. Eddie crawled towards you as he called your name but you can’t help but whimper back at him.

You watched as Jonathan crawled towards the steel chair and lifted it. Using it as an anchor to try and stand up. Though you gasped as you heard the door open and you turned your head to see Tom.

“No!” You shouted as he walked towards Jonathan and kicked the steel chair. Then he looked around the three of you. 

“Where are you going?” He turned to Jonathan and laughed as he crouched down towards him. 

“Leave him alone,” You grunted out and he turned towards you. Eddie, who was already halfway across, tried to stop Tom by holding on to his thigh but he swiftly kicked Eddie’s hand away. Then for a good measure kicked Eddie on the stomach making him double in pain. 

“No!” You shouted as you finally were able to sit up and then cried out as you felt hands pulling on your hair making you stand up. You struggled and fought against Tom's hold.

“Will you look at that, the princess that Billy boy holds dear,” Tom mused, his voice a timbre too low. He looked over at you. “I’ll take you to him as a final piece, but I have to take care of them first,”

“No!” You continued to shout and then you felt yourself being lifted. You soared through the air until your back hit where the telephones us. You hit the edge of the low cabinets and then stumbled down on the ground. You landed near Eddie as you groaned out. You helplessly watched as he walked over to Eddie first.

You can’t help but cry out as you watch him struggle to stand. Tom just laid a foot on his back and pushed him down. 

“I’ll start with you,” He mused and proceeded to take the steel chair. Making sure that the sharp edge is going to him. He lifted it but then his head was thrown back violently. Black veins appeared on his face as he stumbled. He was hit again on his temple making him let go of the chair. 

You watched with wide eyes as Tom held on to his nose. You took that chance to look around until your eye landed over the scissor. You forced yourself to stand, praying to whoever God it was to give you strength.

Tom also violently got hit again as he got to the floor like a rag doll. You crawl over the scissor and hear that the boys are scrambling to stand too. You shakily held on to the scissor just in time to see Tom trying to stand.

You didn’t hesitate as you plunged the scissor on his neck. He managed to grab you and as he stood still before he crashed over you, pinning you to the ground. 

You hear Eddie shouting your name as you sobbed. You felt his body being pulled away from you and hands grabbed you by the arm. You threw yourself in Eddie’s arms as you cried.

Jonathan stood beside you too as he breathed out before he slowly moved out to find Nancy. You and Eddie stayed there as you cried.

“You did good, baby,” Eddie murmured against your temple as you clutched onto him tighter. “You did good,”

Before you can do anything more, lights inside the room started to flicker and you pulled away a bit from Eddie as you looked around. 

“The lights—”

“Holy shit,” You and Eddie say at the same time. You turned around to see Tom’s body starting to shake. Eddie pulled you away from it with a grunt and you let him as the both of you watched Tom’s body melt. His skin and bones disappeared in exchange of a fleshy substance that started to crawl out of the room. 

Eddie was the first one to move and you followed behind him. Transfixed, as the two of you came out, you looked up and saw Nancy and Jonathan on the other side watching the same substance crawling to the other one.

It met in the middle and started to form another shape. You can’t help but walk closer to Eddie and clutched his arm. Horror etched on both of your faces as the gooey substance formed into a disfigured four legged creature.

As soon as it stilled, it turned towards Jonathan and Nancy and screamed. Your eyes widened as you looked at them.

“Run!” 

To be continued...

[faterpresources]

Anonymous:

Do you have any advice on how to start an rp blog? I feel like there's so much to do and so many specific things, it looks intimidating, but I really want to get into it (and your blog seems like a safe space to ask as a baby in the matter)

Hi! Thanks you for asking and for trusting. I do admit that rping on tumblr can look daunting and there is a series of things that are considered “etiquette” that might not be obvious for newcomers. And the only way to learn is to ask, right? As I’m not sure if you would like something more specific or a step-by-step, I’m going to go through the whole process.

note: this is a repost from an ask in a more reblog-friendly format

1.       Setting up the blog

You might want to make a new e-mail account for each blog you want. I recommend making a gmail/google account, so you may be able to use other services and associate them with your blog. I’ll go into more details in a minute.

Some people would rather have a personal blog and then making the RP blog as a side-blog. Or a “hub” blog and many side-blogs so they have everything centralized. The downside is that you can’t follow people with side-blogs, only the main – and some rpers are a little suspicious of personal blogs, so if you intend to go this route it might be a good idea to state somewhere in your blog that you have a RP blog.

Tip : It isn’t said too often, but I recommend saving your blog’s e-mail and password somewhere, maybe a flashdrive or even google drive. This way, if something happens you will be able to retrieve your account.

When picking the URL, for a very long time tumblr had problems tagging URLs with a hyphen ( - ). I’m not sure if it has been fixed or if there are still some issues, so I recommend only using letters and maybe numbers. Other than that, pick anything that sounds nice to you!

Themes are nice, but not entirely necessary. Not everybody has photoshop skills and all that. Some people do have commissioned themes, but if you want to try your hand at it my first stop is usually @theme-hunter  or @sheathemes . They reblog many themes from many creators, so there are always many options that might suit your needs.  Some creators offer very newcomer-friendly themes that you can configure a lot of things without much hassle but some might require basic HTML knowledge – a few creators have guides on how to properly set up their themes and are willing to and answer questions, so don’t be afraid to contact them! You can also send me an ask, I’m not a specialist but I can certainly help walk you through the basics.

Tip: @glenthemes have very good themes and a basic installation guide here.

When fiddling with the options, try to pick colors that have nice contrast and are easy to read. If you are bad at picking colors or have problems in finding the code for them, I recommend trying this link. There is also this one that auto-generate palettes.

Tip : If you mess with your theme, remember there is the Theme Recovery.

Tip: If you use Chrome or Firefox you can set up different profiles and associate each with a different blog, so you don’t need to log out from any of your accounts.

There are two pages that I recommend having: one is an about your muse. If they are an OC, it is always a good idea to have at least some information out there to make things easier. If they are from a canon source, not everybody is familiar with the material so it might be a good idea to state. For example, if you are going to roleplay as Altria/Arturia, it is a good idea to have a “RP blog for Saber (Altria Pendragon) from FGO/FSN “ somewhere visible. The other page that is a good idea having is a rules/guidelines page. This one can be a little intimidating, but it is usually a way to communicate important things. For example: are you comfortable writing violence? Do you have any personal triggers? There is something you absolutely won’t write? There are things you may figure out along the way and it is absolutely ok to fine-tune this session every now and then. Some people also credit source for their icons and graphics in general in their rule/guideline page.

If you are using the tumblr default themes, when you create a new page you can turn on the option to show a link to the page. If you are using a custom theme, most of the time you will have to link it manually.

Oh, and if you are planning to do a multimuse, it might be a good idea to list which muses you have. The same goes for a hub blog; list the muses and link to the pages.

Icons aren’t necessary but are considered commonplace. You can find some icons I’ve done here but there are plenty of other sources. If you want to do your own icons, keep in mind to don’t make them too big, as a courtesy to your mutuals.

Tip: Anything larger than 300 pixels will be stretched to fit the post. As of today ( 4/29/2021 ) the posts are currently 540 pixels wide. This can be useful as making banners for your blog.

Tumblr allow users to “pin” posts. This mean that they will always visible if you access your blog, even on dash/mobile. You can use this to set up a post with basic links for mobile users or something else. For example, if you are out on vacations and won’t be able to do replies, you can pin a hiatus notice and then remove the pin once you are back.

2.       Introducing yourself

Time to officially join the fun! (insert a “Hi, Zuko here” joke) Don’t worry if you don’t have a fancy promo graphic or anything, most people make their initial introduction with a simple post.

(as you can see, I’m not very good at saying ‘hi’)

Try to introduce yourself in a few lines, but make sure to state which muse you RP as. Some people also like adding their pen name/alias and establishing a brand. Follow as many people as you want that reblogged or liked your post, and tumblr is going to start recommending other blogs that are related to the tags you use normally or have any relation to the people you follow. You can put as many tags as you want, but tumblr will disregard more than 6 tags in their system. Try tags like “<fandom> rp” and “<fandom> roleplay” along with the media, such as “movie” “video game”, “anime” and so on.

It might also be a good idea to follow a few RP memes blogs. They often have options to break the ice, like one-liners that your mutual can send you.

Tip: Don’t forget to turn on the asks and the anon

3.       Practical advice

Alright, now that you have a few mutuals, it is time to get to some general tips:

Tumblr can be a little “iffy”, and a great quality of life extension for RPers and navigation in general is installing the New Xkit extension. They offer a number of options to enhance your tumblr experience, but the ones I consider essential are the “editable reblogs”, “quick tags” and “blacklist”. Get it for Chrome or Firefox.

As a rule of thumb I recommend writing your RPs using Google Docs before posting or replying. By doing this you can do some spell check and if your browser crashes for any reason you can easily recover your work. You can also use Word, Open Office, or any text editor you feel like.

Because I’m a bit of a perfectionist, I also have Grammarly ( Chrome / Firefox ) installed for an extra layer of spell/grammar check. There is a subscription option, but the free one works perfectly fine.

To make things easier to locate, always tag the URL of your RP partner when doing a reply. There are other useful things you can tag, such as open starters, memes, and such.

Risking being obvious here, but when you are not interacting as your character it might be a good idea to tag as “ooc” or “out of character”.

Some people like making google docs with basic info and other useful stuff for easier access on mobile. It is a recent trend, it might be easier to edit as opposed to going through tumblr page editor and dealing with the HTML.  You can find some templates here and here.

Tumblr’s activity can be unreliable, so don’t be afraid of contacting your partner to see if they have gotten your reply after a few weeks. However, some people also enjoy using the RP Thread Tracker in order to be on top of things. It might be a good idea to check it out.

Because of Tumblr shadowbanning and shenanigans, it isn’t unusual for people to have NSFW sideblogs (sometimes referred as ‘sin blogs’). If you want to write smut, it might be a good idea to consider making one.

Some people don’t like replying to asks, as Tumblr won’t let you remove the initial ask. It has become common to see people making new posts to reply to asks.  This is a simple example:

As you can see, I used the mention to have the RP partner notified then I copied and pasted their question on my post and used the quote to indicate it. You can also have fancy graphics, like a line to separate the contents, just do whatever you feel like with the formatting or keep it simple.

To make sure your partner got the answer, I recommend copying the link to the post and pasting on the ask and then replying it privately.  An example sent to my rp blog:

4.       Basic Etiquette

Ok, this is a little subjective most of the time but here are a few things that are considered universal courtesy.

Never reblog someone else’s headcanons. If you enjoy it, maybe it should politely contact the author and ask if it is ok to write something based on their original idea but you should never downright copy or lift something from another creator. It is considered rude, or even theft in some cases.

Don’t reblog threads you are not involved with. It is ok to leave a like, but never reblog. This is because Tumblr can mess up the notifications and disrupt the flow of the RP.

Don’t copy other people’s graphics. It is very rude and sometimes they commission (aka: paid) for it.

Trim your posts. What does that mean? Every time you reblog with a reply, the post tends to get longer and longer, and it can cluster your and your mutuals’ dashes. This is why the New X-Kit’s “editable reblogs” is an almost must-have tool. If for some reason you can’t install X-Kit (if you are on mobile for example), then remove the previous post or ask your partner to trim for you.

Never take control of your RP partner’s muse. This is called “godmodding” and it is heavily frowned upon. It is ok to control your muse and the possible NPCs that you inserted, but never seize someone else’s character. Likewise, it can also be very upsetting if you use what people call “meta-gaming”, applying knowledge that your muse shouldn’t know about the other. For example, let’s say your RP partner’s muse is a vampire, but they have never disclosed that information to your muse, who also doesn’t have an excuse to know that (for example, being a vampire hunter) so it can be quite jarring sometimes. When in doubt, contact your partner.

This should go without saying, but RPing sexual themes with users under the age of 18 are illegal. It doesn’t matter if the age of consent in your location is lower, once you join Tumblr you are abiding by their user guidelines and the law of the state they are located in. If you are an adult, don’t engage minors with these topics, maybe a fade to black would be a better option. If you are a minor, don’t insist or you might cause a lot of legal problems for others.

Try to tag anything triggering. Violence, gore, NSFW. Both Tumblr and the New Xkit have options to block keywords.

When picking PSDs or graphics for your blog, you should avoid templates that change the color of the skin of POCs muses and try to pick the right race/ethnicity of the muse you are going to RP as. I won’t go through a lot of details, as it is a rather lengthy subject in an already lengthy conversation but keep this in the back of your mind.

Some RPers don’t like when you reblog memes from them without sending anything. Try to always reblog from a source or to interact with the person you are reblogging from, it can be rather disheartening to be seen as a meme source rather than a RP blog. This isn’t a rule and some people don’t mind, but it is always a good idea to try to do this.

This might be more of a pet peeve of mine than proper etiquette, but it is ok to use small font. What is not ok is use small font + underscript. Some people have disabilities that might make it harder for them to read it, so it might be a good idea to refrain from using it. Maybe if you feel like doing something fancier every now and then, but I wouldn’t recommend making this a habit.

Mun and Muse are different entities. Remember that it isn’t because a muse does something (especially a villain one) that the mun condones something. Never assume anything about the mun, when in doubt talk to them.

Be mindful of your partners and treat them the way you would like to be treated.

As a rule of thumb, always talk to your RP partner. It is only fun as long both of you are enjoying it.

5.       Closing Words

This got longer than I expected.

Despite all of that, don’t be too worried about not being very good at first. I assure you that you will get better with time, so don’t be afraid of experimenting as long you feel comfortable. And don’t be afraid of saying “no” if something bothers you.

My inbox is always open to questions and ideas, so feel free to contact me anytime!

I would also ask my followers: there is advice I missed/overlooked? Anything you would like someone have told you when you first started? Add your thoughts so I can update this.

Happy RPing!

[green-blooded-computer]

A Guide to RPing on Tumblr

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately, so here’s my complete walkthrough on how to create a Tumblr RP blog. 

If you’d rather view on a Google Doc, here’s a link.

Enjoy.

Create Blog

Howdy, so the first thing you’ll have to do is click ‘register’ and make yourself a blog. You also have the choice of making a sideblog instead. I’m a person who likes to have this separated, so if you are only thinking of playing a couple characters, this might be the way to go for you. Here’s the difference between main/side blogs (taken from Tumblr’s help center):

Choose any url for now (we’ll talk about that later), and go to the next section.

Please note: When you make a new blog, it won’t show up in the search/people’s notifications for a bit of time (a day or so). Make sure you validate your email address asap. 

Get xKit

If you haven’t installed xKit, I highly suggest it. Go to their blog here, and get it for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Opera.

What is it? A little toolkit to make Tumblr easier to use.

When you install it, it’ll pop up on your top bar thing next to the lightning bolt like this:

It’s that thing with the x’s on it.

When you click the x’s this pops up:

Brill.

You can click ‘Get Extensions’ at the bottom and basically choose whatever you want, but may I recommend the following:

1) Editable Reblogs allows you to edit reblogs. Right. This is good because when you are replying to RP threads they tend to get rather long. Some advice that was given to me when I started: when you add your reply, delete everything before your partner’s last reply. So you should have your partner’s post and your post and that’s all. You just click ‘reblog’ and it pops up like normal, except now there’s this little guy:

If you click that, it will make everything in your reblog box editable.

2) One-Click Postage gives you a little box if you hover over the reblog button. It lets you reblog, queue, draft, tag, and add replies right from that page. You can even choose which blog (main/side) you want it to go to.  It looks like this:

The rest I will just say play around with! They are easy to add and take away.

Decide what kind of blog you want.

Multimuse Vs. Single muse: 

Do you want to play one character or a bunch of them? If you choose one character, your blog icon and theme will presumably feature that character or something to do with them. If you choose to focus on one, you should have info about your character available on your blog somewhere. If you choose to have more than one muse, you’ll need a list of the characters you offer and some info about them. 

When choosing a url for a multimuse, choose something that encompasses the spirit of you and your characters.

When choosing a url for a single muse, I go for quotes, nicknames, something about where they are from, what they like, their name, etc. Note: if you have dashes in your url (like mine @strings-have-been-cut) these won’t work with tags. People will have to turn them into separate words or one big word.

I do not have a multimuse, but I have seen them done all sorts of ways. Some people offer characters from all different fandoms, some are just one fandom, one genre, OCs, canons, a mixture...you can do what you like. 

If your blog is not affiliated with any sort of organized game, this is referred to as ‘independent’ often shortened to ‘idie’. 

Your blog description should mention which kind it is. For example: a sci-fi multimuse blog; a Star Trek OC blog; an indie Bill S. Preston Esq. from Bill and Ted RP blog. Details help sometimes. 

Canon Character Vs. Original Character

If you decide to make a canon character, make sure you have it clear somewhere where they are from! Canon characters can be canon divergent (your own version), they can crossover into other fandoms, they can be exactly as they are in your favourite book/show/movie/podcast...each version of a canon is unique and lovely.

If you decide to make an original character, make sure you give plenty of info about them! You want to tell people what fandom they fit into or if they are fandomless. ‘About’ pages are really important for OCs because there is no fanbase for them (yet!).

What should be in your description?

When someone clicks your blog, they will first see a dash preview sort of thing. It shows a description and a small header, along with the posts you’ve made. This description also shows up somewhere on your actual blog and on the top of the page on mobile view. It’s a great spot to give all the info about your blog real quick. I always include the following:

What is it? (Independent Data from Star Trek RP blog)

Age restrictions (21+)

Who you will RP with (mutuals only is called ‘private’ and choosing who you follow back is called ‘selective’.)

Mun’s name (played by [insert your name])

Possibly a link to your about/rules for easy access on desktop and mobile. I’ll talk about this more below. I call this ‘navigation’, but it varies. Note: if you edit your icon/dash header, any html links seem to go away. I’ve needed to go back into the theme customizer and add them back in. To add a link to your description, go into your customizer, go to the description section, and add the html as follows:

<a href=”url goes here”>link text goes here</a>

So mine is: <a href=”https://data-all-in-one.carrd.co”>Indie Data from Star Trek blog.</a>

The description for my Data blog reads: ‘Indie Data from Star Trek RP blog. Click here for navigation. 21+. Private/selective. Played by Fool.

What should be on this blog?

In my experience, you need a couple of pages on your blog to get you started:

About the character - basically a biography

Rules - so people know what you are about

About the mun - so people can know about the person they are writing with

Possibly a link to your ‘ask memes’ tag - see below.

These can be organized however you like, but people tend to look for a few specific things.

About the Character

This should read like a biography. Back in the day, we used to call them ‘character apps’ and they had all your basic info about the character. Sometimes this section contains a subsection called ‘verses’ in which the mun spells out what universes they exist in. Say I had an AU where Data owns an arcade in San Francisco in the 80’s. I’d list that as one of his ‘verses’. This is extremely important for OCs, but very helpful for canons too. 

Data has four: TNG era, TNG movie era, AU where he lives after Nemesis, AU where he’s around during Star Trek: Picard. I gave a little info about both. 

Rules

Rules are usually organized into the things people are looking for before they start playing with you. Some good info to include: 

Mun age

Your policy on adult content

How you deal with tagging triggers

Your policy on following back

Your policy on writing with mutuals vs. anyone

Do you allow personal blogs (non RP blogs) to follow you?

How fast do you reply?

How does your tagging system work?

How do you deal with shipping? 

Here is a link to my usual Rules page for reference. Remember, it’s not wrong if it’s different than mine!

Note: People will look for how old you are. Many people in the RPC are adults, and they want to write with people their own age. If your age is not posted somewhere clearly, they may not follow you back. 

About the Mun 

This is really just a little blurb about you. Some people include their age here. Some people include links to their other blogs. Some people include their Discord info, as that’s really popular right now. It’s just nice to know who you are writing with.

It’s important to note that there are different ways to present all of these blogs. Some people have them as pages on their Tumblr blog itself, some people put all of this (Bio, About, Rules, etc) in a Google Doc and link it, some people use Carrd.co - there are a ton of ways. A friend of mine did this amazing post about some options out there. I personally go for Carrd.co, seeing as I am on mobile a lot and I find it very helpful, but it’s up to you. 

Now I have a blog with all the info. How do I get started?

Well there are a few things you can do to get yourself out there.

Make yourself a promo. It’s basically an advertisement for your blog. If you aren’t good at graphics, you can head to an RP Resource blog and see if they have any you can use with their permission. You can also just post a picture with some info. For me, the info on this promo matches that of my blog description - I want people to know what I’m all about as soon as they look at it. Then you can tag for your appropriate fandom RP. Your mutuals will likely reblog to help spread the word. Yay.

Find a directory for your RPC by searching in the search. This will allow you to a) reblog your info and be listen in a place where people can find you and b) allow you to find others in your RPC in an organized way. Then you can go through, find people you think you’d like to follow, and follow them. 

Make a starter or plotter call. This is, again, just a picture or graphic and some information about it. Here is one I made for Data specifically asking for Picard threads:

I asked for a specific universe and a specific character here. I also put all relative tags in case someone is just searching Tumblr (although I think it’s more for the people who follow me). Here’s a simpler one I made for B-4 that’s a lot more open. 

They don’t have to be super fancy. 

When people see a starter call, they can like your post. This is a quick an easy way to let you know they are interested in a thread. 

4. Ask Memes. Asks are invaluable. There are whole blogs dedicated to ask memes that you can post to your blog, and these can be really easy ways for people to come up with plot ideas or just to read some of your writing. I always keep a link on my blog to everything tagged ‘ask meme’ so if people want to find a meme they have choices!

It seems like there’s a certain aesthetic on these new fangled RP blogs. Do I have to do that?

No! But you can, if you want. If you aren’t good at coding and graphics, there are a lot of RP resource sites that can help you. (Can I recommend this one?) It is nice to have things like a face claim, a nice looking promo, a cool theme, etc. but at the end of the day, we all just want to write and have fun.

Advice?

Look, I’ve only been RPing on Tumblr for a couple of months and I am by NO MEANS an expert. I have gotten all of this knowledge through the help of friends and nice strangers willing to answer questions for me. Here are a few things I have picked up:

Respect people’s rules - We are all shy and all have our own thing going on. If someone says they’re uncomfortable doing one thing, just like...don’t do it.

Talk to other people - Don’t ignore the mun! Unless they really want you to. It’s better to ask questions, compliment writing, talk about your plots and stuff...it’s so much harder than trying to figure out what the other person feels/wants.

Ask questions - I’m a 6th grade teacher, and I get a million and fuckton questions every minute usually. It’s been eye-opening, because now I’m all about asking questions about everything all the time. I think knowledge is amazing. People know all different things, and the most logical way to be a productive society is to share knowledge (that’s one of the main teachings of Surak) so ask some questions! Hell, ask me some questions! Reach out to someone who seems nice!

Okay, that’s all. Good luck!

[charlicpace]

hello pace! we’re a newly revamped skeleton rp about a group of gifted vigilantes trying to protect their decaying city. could we please trouble you for an opinion? thank you so much!

hi there ! of course you can ! because this is the first opinion posted on this blog, i’m just gonna start with a little disclaimer both so you know, and for anybody who also might want an opinion in the future, but the rest is under the cut !

DISCLAIMER: my opinions/reviews are kind of a two in one, and always going to be worded as kindly as possible. everything i say is only said with the intention of helping to improve an rp so it can reach its full potential and thrive, both as somebody with a personal opinion on most things, someone who’s been an admin before, and someone who knows what the rpc is like and what they’re usually drawn to. i’m always going to be nice and try to focus on the positives before critiquing the negatives, and i fully understand and appreciate the hard work that goes into creating an rp; nothing sucks more than having your hard work ripped apart and i will never do that. everything will be split into sections that i think are important, just so i can keep track of what i have or haven’t said yet, and so it’s easier to read and doesn’t look like an intimidating chunk of Opinion ! and finally and most importantly, my opinion is just that ! an opinion ! in the grand scheme of things, the opinion of one person ( yours truly, in this case ! ) really doesn’t matter if i say something you disagree with and don’t wish to change, as you’re free to run your rp as you wish ! however, if at any point you wish for me to take this post down for any reason, please just ask and i’ll happily oblige. i’ll make the most private, but shoot you an im with the link to the private post so you can still refer back to it if you so wish !

spoiler: y’all are going in my rec tag !

FIRST IMPRESSION. immediately, i’m happy ! your theme is clean & tidy, and everything looks really neat and easy to navigate. all important information is easily accessible, and would definitely make me want to navigate around the main further even if i weren’t about to do so for opinion purposes ! your graphics are bloody lovely, and the first post i see when i load the main is a skeleton specifically for a non-binary character, and with a nb fc as one of the suggestions, so already i’m happy, and would be more inclined to consider applying if that was why i’m looking ! genuinely, i wouldn’t change a thing about the main’s appearance, i love it. 

CHARACTERS & FCs.i actually really love skeleton rps ! i could be wrong, but i feel like that’s actually an unpopular opinion these days ? but i love a good skeleton rp myself ! and i think you’ve found a really great balance between giving enough information to spark muse but leaving enough room for creative freedom, which can be hard ! it’s not often that i’m drawn to more than a couple of skeletons at most, but every single one i looked at is intriguing as heck. they’re such well-written characters that it’d be hard for anybody to create a muse that doesn’t end up being multidimensional and interesting —– at least i hope so. i love that there’s nb rep, skeletons specially made for characters of colour, and encouragement for ‘older’ characters. really, it’s great stuff. and writing the skeletons in second person ? genius !

PLOT.genuinely, i love the plot and the way it’s written. there’s enough information there to get a full grip on the rp and the plotline, but the way you’ve written it makes it easy to read, and you can get all the information required without being faced with a big block of text that a lot of people find intimidating. usually, i’d be put-off by the genre of superheros ( nothing to do with it as a genre, i’m sure it’s great, but it’s just not my thing, y’know ? ) but with the way the main is run and the plot in itself would really make that not matter to me ! i’m just a little bit in love with it. the world you’ve built is so intriguing ! 

GENERAL ADMINNING.again, this seems to be a very well run rp ! asks are answered with kindness and openness, and i’d personally have no problem sending an ask your way if i had any questions or approaching you via the ims if i needed to as a member. your dedication also shows in the fact that you guys have recently revamped, and whether it’s to give the rp a boost or to fine tune some things, it shows that you’re dedicated to your group and the members who’ll be joining, and would make me more inclined to apply, too — i love nothing more than dedicated admins. the only thing i’d say on a tad more negative note is that the gif icons you’re using might be a little small for my taste, but they’re nice and bright so don’t cause too much trouble when it comes to seeing them ! your activity limit being six days is very reasonable and considerate, and very much appreciated, and i also love that your rules state not to write godmoddy starters, as i feel like that’s often neglected when it comes to what people think gomodding is. the banning of any text smaller than , the inclusion of a mandatory triggers to tag list, the lack of specific age-bending rules, the opportunity to add any fcs that make you uncomfortable to the app, the fact that you state that anonymous can be turned off or not enabled in the first place, and the fact that properly using people’s pronouns is in your rules… all brilliant, brilliant things. the rp is obviously a safe, inclusive space, and you make that clear by showing and not telling, and it makes me more inclined to want to join and recommend to friends. i also think your starter rule is very fair, as i feel like a lot of rps take it too far as of recently, and make interactions quite limiting by forcing people to reply to starters that don’t fit their muse, or forcing them to take on more threads than they can handle. i think you’ve got the perfect balance, though, and encourage inclusivity and the lack of bubble rping without taking it too far. however, i’d perhaps say that if you’re allowing minors into the rp, the writing of smut at all might not be the best idea, even though the rules you have in place are appreciated, and to maybe add the banning of autoplay on character blogs.

EXTRAS.including questions about the muse in the app is such a brilliant idea ! both for your sake and helping to decipher who is the best applicant to fill the skeleton, but also for the folks applying, as it’ll lead to them to think about their muse a little deeper and think about things in the long-run. i really think it’ll help weed out the people who aren’t looking to stick around, even more than a full-app rp usually does !

ENDING NOTES.my friend, you’ve created something really special here. i genuinely, truly wish you the best of luck, and hope you thrive as it’s really well-deserved ! i know i tend to end up giving the lovechild of a standard review and your average opinion, but my opinion is that this rp is fucking glorious. i’m gonna finish each of these on this blog by asking myself would i consider joining this rp if i were looking for one, and the answer this time is a very firm and enthusiastic yes ! congratulations on your revamp, and for sticking to your rp and the ideas for nearly two years, and good luck !

[angelinuhh]

Hi there A! Could we get a public review from you? Thank you so much and we hope that you have a breathtaking upcoming week! ~ Admin Catie

DISCLAIMER: this review is onlyreflective of my own opinions and is intended to provide constructivecriticism. there is no obligation to listen to or agree with anything said.

OVERALL:

the reality tv junkie in me loves this concept of this rp. and, asI look around, this typifies exactly what I love about the genre: characterdevelopment, fast-paced events and, of course, a healthy dose of competition. Ilove your color scheme and your theme. for a contained theme, I found it incrediblyeasy to navigate—which was a real and true blessing. however, I do think that there are still many things to improve, Ithink a little more consistency and editing in your descriptions and overallaesthetic could really elevate your rp and make it more accessible andattractive to prospective members. I also would like to see a change in yourrules, both in policy and in tone. overall, I wish you guys the best of luck.

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PLOT:

I really do love the rp idea, but I do think the plot page leavesa little something to be desired. For appless rps, especially ones withoutblurbs on the sidebar, you really do need something that is concise, both eye-catching and attention-grabbing, all the while getting to the point. while the content you have on this page isn’tbad, you have a long-ish block of text that can read a little dry at time.

I’ve taken the liberty of editing your plot to take on a more activetone to show you what I mean. while you have no obligation to use it, you dohave full permission to:

 There is no greater motivation in theworld than money – and nowhere is that more present than in ParadiseIsland, MTV’s new reality television show. Sent to a private island inpairs and forced to compete challenges and tasks set by the producers, contestantsoften find themselves doing things they wouldn’t normally do, all for a chance at$750,000.

Here at Paradise Island, the fun never stops. With 24/7 Streaming, viewers are given a real-time seat to the  drama,the romance and more! While binge-worthyshows are great, the 12 million daily viewers know the truth: they never have to find something new towatch again.

After a rigorous application process, including video essays about why theywould like to be on the show, interviews and even a test challenge was preparedto see which finalists caused the most drama or had the most chemistry, thehundreds of potential applicants were narrowed down to just 40. The producersrandomly assigned each contestant into pairs and, for the duration of the show,these partners were to share a room in the mansion and work together to win thegrand prize. 

But what happens next—will loveblossom? Will greed step in? Witha 1/20 chance of winning the $750,000, most of the contestants will do anything to get their hands onthat money, but there can only be one pair of winners.

Who will be victorious in the first Paradise Island?

-        

paradiseislandhq is anappless  23+ pairedmuse roleplay based on reality television. Contestants have been sent to aprivate island and must work in pairs for the chance to win a grand jackpot of $750,000w/ additional prizes. We focus on weekly character development tasks &challenges, plotting between members, in-character drama, and. of course- vacation vibes! Applicants are free toapply for a wanted connection partnership or to have one picked at random foryou!

 If you would like to take a crack at it, here’s what I tried to fix.

Have a more ACTIVE TONE

 thisis a purely stylistic choice, but i would suggest varying up sentence structureand utilizing your bold and italic keys a little more as most people in thegenre do.

Try to avoid going on tangents

Inthe beginning, you start with the motivator of money above all and thenimmediately move to love and status, thus weakening the power of your opening

Ialso did not particularly think the tangent about streaming services in thethird paragraph was necessary. Your goal is to emphasize that the show is 24/7—you don’t necessarily have to explain that.

Is it… $750,000 or $750,000+, because both were used. That needsto be clear.

The first thing I always look for is the synopsis at the bottom,but yours is a little bit long. 

Iwould center it as well. You can do this by entering into the html and putting , I think.

Side note: make sure your navigation tab’s blurb matches the one on this page.

I also spotted a couple of grammar errors. Your biggest and mostfrequently repeated error is run-on sentences and a lack of commas.

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RULES

bh, your rules page was a hugeturnoff for me. I don’t think it was your intention, but it was very blunt, alittle wordy (ik ik… im legit the most wordy person on earth) and read kind of…rude. A a potential applicant and as a reviewer, I just- I wasn’t feeling itand would likely be very wary of applying because of it.  There are also quite a few run-on sentenceshere, so watch out for that.

I’m not going to rewrite the whole thing, but here are a few specificchanges I would make and alternate wordings to your statements.

 Edits

(++) I would put in a HOW WE RP section and add in the stuffabout the tasks, points and challenges. Because that should not go underinclusivity. I also do not understand how it works and I need much moreexplanation. I can guess, of course, but I shouldn’t have to. You need toclearly outline how this rp will be run and how tasks will be delegated and pointswill be awarded. Vaguely stating that there will be challenges and points andwhatever will not work.

(++) Your muses section is very confusing. Especially the agebut also the diversity part. I understand that you feel strongly about this,but I brought it up to some friends and many of them were just as confused as Iwas. I read your FAQ and things did not get any clearer. If I were you, I wouldsimply say “all muses and fcs must be older than 25. Please aim to make yourcharacter’s age believable with your faceclaim.”. And that, “to encouragediversity, if you have more than one character, at least one must be POC.” Asyou have it, it is very murky and kind of defensive?? almost. Like I reallywant people to be over 25, but I guess they can play 23, but also they canactually be 40 but they can play in their 20s. It’s convoluted and I get alittle frustrated trying to read it. In my opinion, you just have to pick asingle age and go with it.

I feel like your unfollow rule is extremely lenient for one ofthese rps. It may lead most of your members being inactive before they getunfollowed.

 .

Alt wordings (some suggestions)

Although it is expected that in-character partnerships will needcharacter development, please make an effort to interact with all member.Bubble RPing is NOT permitted and we aim to make an inclusive environment whereall muns can explore their characters.

Youroriginal statement really put the onus on the RPer like they’re already doingsomething wrong.

We are happy to oblige with hiatus or semi-hiatus requests. Lifecomes up and we want all of our players to be comfortable. However, we onlyaccept these requests through asks that come through our inbox.

Reallythe CAPS and the Do not inform by im… don’t really feel like you want me tocomfortable.

We allow small/medium gifs. Please do not use large gifs. In orderto be accessible we do not allow gif icons under 90x90. >>>>In order to be accessible, large gifs and gif icons under 90px are not allowed.We prefer small/medium gifs.

Feel free to cause in character drama. However, no OOC drama willbe tolerated !! >>> While in-character drama can be fun, OOCdrama will not be tolerated.

idk why but those exclamation points were felt in my soul, man. Sdfjdkf. Look, it’s just a little intimidating.

.

 .

 .

ACCESSIBILITY :

I knowthis sounds like a small thing, but I really am impressed.Container themes are notoriously hard to navigate but I had little to notrouble going through yours. If your rp grows, that muse tab is going to behell to update so I admire your commitment.

My onlycritiques are that

 youneed to finish updating your nav so there are no broken/nonexistent links—whichI’m sure you will do

on your/map page, you have ‘wanted connections’ spliced so both wanted and connectionare links.

I’dmuch rather see a page with all the tags to track than just having them floataround on the navigation. But this is totally up to you to change.

.

.

AESTHETIC/GRAPHICS:.

Lovethem. Whoever did them, mostly, did a good job in maintaining the color scheme.My only critique is that I’m not really feeling the headers for, like, the plotpage and the wanted connections…etc. These harsh black borders and script fontsstand out a lot and, while the images are nice, they have a completelydifferent color scheme (dark blue-ish tones to the warm and tropical orange ofthe rest of the theme). I wish they would! Because otherwise, I really do likewhat you have here.  

.

.

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MORE.

I would edit or remove the first question onyour FAQ.If anyone asks the question, you can say to promote age diversity andthat’s reason enough. As it stands, the question and the answer just makes me confusedand, some of the statements like “actors over 25 have more resources” is justuntrue.

thebiggest flaw that I see in your RP is inconsistency and occasional lack ofclarity. here is a list of things I’ve found that varied from page to page.

1.      Sometimesthe jackpot is 750,000. Sometimes it is not.

2.      Theblurb on your navigation does not match the blurb on your plot page

3.      Yourefer to this rp both as appless and semiappless.

.

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.

.

TLDR; what i would like to see changed, vaguelyin order of most of least importance. Feel free to ignore any or all of these.

REDO your rules page to include a HOW WE RP detailing thepoints, tasks and challenges

 CHOOSEa clear and consistent ruling on your age bending/limits. It might make senseto you and promoting age diversity is very admirable, but, look, we’re alldumb.

EDITyour rules page to be… more affable. It’s not bad as it, but it just helpspeople get through it.

i wrote a few alternate phrasings you can look at

EDITyour plot to be more engaging and concise to really grab people’s attention.

i wrote something above that you may use

DOUBLE CHECK all your pages to make sure that you don’tcontradict yourself in various places.

 as a last note and reminder, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE ANY OF MYSUGGESTIONS. There is no ill-will from me to you. As always, this is notintended to be hate and I genuinely want the best for you guys. However, I amterminally cursed to be nitpicky. I’ve done my very best to make sure my adviceis constructive, but please call me out if you find any of this offensive orcrude.

I genuinely like the idea of the RP and appreciate the work you’veput in. Seeing Dev Patel used--- makes my day. Thank you for your time andpatience.

If you have any more concerns or questions, please feel free tocontact me.

[ccorinnef]

How Do I Find Inspiration To Create?

Inspiration seems to be a tricky and elusive thing. For so many of us it can be flighty and inconsistent, kind of like sunshine in Scotland. I think many people view inspiration as a mad frenzy of activity and creativity from which amazing things are born. And sometimes it can be this way; sometimes I get the urge to create something right at that moment - I just have to get it out of my head into a physical form. Those bursts of creativity, though, are more about the activity than the product, they often stem from a restlessness in my soul.

More often than not, though, inspiration, to me at least, is more of a gentle nudge - a tiny glowing ember in the back of my mind. I’ll get an idea for something and note it down immediately in case I forget, but, usually the ideas sit at the back of my mind, on the edge of my consciousness for days, weeks and months before they come to fruition. I like to ponder over ideas, flip them upside down, think about the process and the outcome, incorporate other ideas, and think about mediums and messages.

As defined by Oxford Dictionaries, inspiration is, “The process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.” Historically, in Greek, Latin and Norse cultures, inspiration was seen as a gift from the gods. The inspired person would be given access to the thoughts of the divine and would no longer be in control of their (the artists’ or poets’) creation. These episodes of inspiration were seen as a frenzy or ‘ecstasy.’ French Renaissance poets also ascribed their inspiration to the divine. Pontus de Tyard described four different categories of heavenly inspiration: “(1) poetic fury, gift of the Muses; (2) knowledge of religious mysteries, through Bacchus; (3) prophecy and divination through Apollo; (4) inspiration brought on by Venus/Eros.”

It wasn’t until the 1700's that inspiration was separated from the divine and located within the mind. John Locke suggested that although entirely random, inspiration was a “natural association of ideas and sudden unison of thought.” While Edward Young described inspiration as “the god within,” Ralph Waldo Emerson and Percy Bysshe Shelley viewed it as “madness and irrationality.” Sigmund Freud decided that inspiration came from within the psyche as a result of psychological conflict, a more scientific way of saying ‘mad frenzy.’ In response to Freud’s analysis artists of the Surrealist movement attempted to tap into the unconscious; they used dream diaries, automatic writing, Ouija boards and poetry. Carl Gustav Jung suggested that artists are “attuned to something impersonal, something outside of the individual experience.”

In their study, ‘Imitation, Inspiration, and Creation: Cognitive Process of Creative Drawing by Copying Others’ Artworks,’ Takeshi Okada and Kentaro Ishibashi sought to understand the “cognitive processes underlying creative inspiration.” They found that participants were inspired to produce new and unique artwork having studied another unfamiliar artists’ work. Okada and Ishibashi suggest that exposure to unfamiliar artwork relaxes ‘cognitive constraints’ and inspires new perspectives.

Another study by Todd M Thrash and Andrew J Elliot found, among other things, that inspiration is uncontrollable, subjective, and linked to ”psychological resources, including self-efficacy, self-esteem and optimism.” People who have more instances of feeling inspired also feel they are more creative. They found that those who are open-minded about feeling inspired were more likely to experience inspiration.  “Mastery of work, absorption, creativity, perceived competence, self-esteem, and optimism were all consequences of inspiration, suggesting that inspiration facilitates flow, creativity, and important psychological resources.”

Inspiration is clearly a significant component to creativity; “Inspiration transforms a person from experiencing a culture of apathy to experiencing a world of possibility.” My main source of inspiration has always been nature, in particular, Scottish landscape. I grew up on the North coast of Scotland where there wasn’t much to do except enjoy the scenery – the connection between the people and the land/sea is so ingrained in Northern Scottish culture it is impossible not to love it. You might have noticed that most of my acrylic paintings are skyscapes and seascapes; these are all based on real references from Scotland, the colours and shapes in the sky have always fascinated me. I am in constant awe of this planet that we call home. The more that is discovered through science about planet earth, the more in awe I seem to get. If you think about the massively wide diversity of life that grows here, in plants, animals, land, water and air, it’s hard not to be inspired.

I feel such affinity for this planet; when I think about all the damage humans have done to the environment I feel physical pain and sadness as though I were feeling the miners digging into my own being and the gas clogging my own air. My focus on natural untouched landscapes, mostly of the Scottish highlands, is driven partly through extreme admiration for those places, and partly through the hope that by focusing on these wild spaces I can raise awareness of global warming, climate change and environmental disaster.  I gravitate towards natural inspirations because I hope that people will see by work and be struck by the desire to preserve and protect wild natural spaces and animals.

I am also inspired by other artists, everyday life and culture. One of my absolute favourite paintings is William McTaggart’s ‘And All The Choral Waters Sang.’ At the time, he was criticised for painting so loosely that parts of the blank canvas could be seen but I love how bold he was with this painting. I have been to visit it many times in Dundee’s McManus Gallery and every time I see it I’m struck with how real it seems. The waves come alive, I can hear the gulls cry and feel the wind lash my face with salty spray. I will always aspire to paint such a powerful painting as McTaggart did with this one.

Another of my favourite inspirational artists is Frida Kahlo. Her paintings are so raw and her use of symbolism shows the viewer exactly what she’s feeling. Her work was pure expression and feeling and it is glorious. I can’t help but be moved whenever I see her work.

Some current artists that inspire me include Frances Cannon, Derek Myers, Holly Exley, Minnie Small, Owen Hope, Elly Smallwood, Henrik Aa Uldalen, Alistair Horne, Krystle Wright, Irina Cumberland, Shawn Coss, Katie Jobling, Sarah Caudle, Anna Llorens, Marianne Lock and so many many many more.

It’s not always easy to find inspiration; some days are just completely blank. I keep a list of ideas of things I want to practice or things I want to draw for those days when I’m not following a particular idea. Always pay attention to your senses when you are out and about, you never know what can strike inspiration. As director Ian Rickson once said, “Inspiration can come at any time, even after it feels like you haven’t been getting anywhere. Keep your stamina up, don’t force too hard, and trust that you will find your way.” 

[nofomoartworld]

Art F City: Michael Jones McKean Makes Museums Existentially Terrifying

Michael Jones McKean: The Ground The Hutzler Brothers Palace Building 200 North Howard Street, Baltimore, MD Presented by The Contemporary Gallery hours: February 18 – May 19th (today!) 10 AM – 4 PM Also on view during Black Ladies Brunch Collective Book Launch Saturday, May 20th and by appointment until May 31st.

Of all the strange art I’ve seen in my life, Michael Jones McKean’s brilliant installation The Ground is the only exhibition that’s given me an honest-to-god nightmare.

That’s surprising, considering the show is essentially a musing on the function and culture of display—in an inoffensive neutral palette—which at moments seems crafted with dry wit. Commissioned by Baltimore’s forever-mission-honing nomadic museum The Contemporary, it could be seen as the latest step in the institution’s attempt to work through some of those issues. Namely: how and why art gets displayed in what kinds of contexts.

The installation comprises one rectilinear white architectural form that bisects a large empty storefront at a slight diagonal. It’s divided into chambers, each containing a seemingly unrelated vignette. A central “atrium”, for example, houses a single, nearly-bare tree and abstract sculpture, all painted cool white. Other displays contain drawing-like sculptures, odd assortments of objects, or curious dioramas. Notably, there’s no didactic text accompanying any of the extremely-didactic-looking displays. One especially sparse cut-out holds hand-sculpted models of various mammal brains. Since they’re unlabelled, the human mind is anonymously lumped in alongside those of whales, cats, wolves, and elephants.

But the series doesn’t quite convey “body horror” per se—if anything, there’s a sense of humor sans the grotesque to much of the work. What’s uncanny, however, is the clinical sterility of the display—a dystopian human zoo that’s, on some level, about the absence of occupants. The creepiness of The Ground is felt almost immediately. Placing it takes some time.

The Ground is installed in one storefront of the sprawling former Hutzler’s department store in downtown Baltimore. It’s a curious, brooding building, parts of which date to 1880. When it opened then, it was described as “a museum of merchandise”, according to the exhibition text. Today, it houses only a massive internet server farm, processing roughly a quarter of the world’s data flows. Unlike so much of Baltimore, the old structure isn’t quite dilapidated, which makes it even more odd. It’s been maintained—just not for human occupation. McKean’s hyper-stylized architectural dioramas (which, by happy coincidence, share the otherworldly shopping-meets-set qualities of The Met’s Rei Kawakubo: Art of the In-Between exhibition design) present a similar paradigm.

It’s a life-sized dollhouse, full of objects that unabashedly show traces of the artist’s hand. Yet the structure itself is immaculate, clearly not built to be inhabited. The absence of bodies is palpably disturbing. In many tableaus, we catch glimpses of hidden corridors and behind-the-scenes access areas—they suggest a physical link between all of these ideas, but of course can’t be explored. The inutility of the space—despite ergonomic signifiers of human presence—is largely what makes it somewhat terrifying on a level I can’t fully explain. Knowing that a structure can’t be known in its entirety is unnerving on a primal level, similar to the architecture of the data networks that pulse elsewhere in the building. Or perhaps the mild panic that sets in when I imagine collecting museums’ vast hidden storerooms and archives—the mysterious infrastructures that govern what we see and how.

Detail

McKean seems to probe that logic of what curators place on view (and into the canon). One of the spotless white cubes holds reproductions of busts throughout art history—from an Olmec-looking head beside Michaelangelo’s “David” to Siddhartha and what I’m assuming is a cubist representation of a face. All are reproduced at the same roughly life-sized scale in matte white.

Below the monochrome world history of representation, a grid of hand-sculpted, full-color human heads floats awkwardly in a void. The specimens span multiple races and genders, and many are demographically ambiguous, suggesting a community of choice. That’s an impression reinforced by their styling—all have different cult-like collars in off-white and face paint that’s somewhere between tribal markings and CV Dazzle. Are these the hunting trophies of an alien conqueror? Practice heads for a strange aesthetician school? An anthropology display from a dystopian future? An obscure nook of the not-so-distant past? Present? Is it worth noting that all but two of them have vaguely concerned expressions on their face?

These are but a handful of the questions raised by each component of McKean’s installation, which is deceptively sparse but jam-packed with content. Which of these details are important and what does it all mean? For an artwork that seems to be about the limits of sculpture, display, or “the collection” as a didactic or narrative tool, the answer to that question could be everything and nothing.

Although the site-specific installation certainly references the vocabulary of retail displays (wig heads, storefronts, IKEA model rooms) it’s impossible to consider McKean’s work independent of the context of the institution which commissioned it. Since The Contemporary (formerly the Contemporary Museum) rebooted itself as a nomadic presenting/granting organization under the leadership of Deana Haggag in 2013, much of their programming has felt like an investigation of what the utility of “a museum” is. The institution has redefined itself by diving unabashedly into its own identity crisis—through diverse artist-centric programing alongside exhibitions and publications that can read as critical institutional self-examination. Much like the Hutzler’s building, The Contemporary now largely serves as a platform for the exchange of information rather than the display of objects of desire. Haggag is about to step down as director, heading to lead granting organization United States Artists, and The Ground feels like the tentative capstone of this brief but transformative era in the museum’s history.

This is a lot of backstory but it’s necessary, perhaps, for understanding the curatorial logic behind an exhibition about curatorial logic—or lack thereof. The last major Contemporary commission was a sprawling installation from Abigail DeVille in the Peale Museum, the Western Hemisphere’s oldest purpose-built museum building, which had sat vacant for years. If that installation embraced chaos to investigate the storytelling potential of museums/objects, the McKean show could be read as a startlingly sterile bookend—turning a black mirror on polished institutional aesthetics. The rhetorical questions about museum-ness posed by these projects feel less like self-indulgent curatorial navel-gazing and more like a fruitful laboratory experiment between institution, artist, and public. (The Contemporary, in a past incarnation, also commissioned Fred Wilson’s seminal Mining the Museum at the Maryland Historical Society a few blocks away in 1993. It’s since become required reading in the world of curation and museum studies.)

Rounding a corner to the side of McKean’s installation, it’s almost easy to overlook one of the show’s most loaded (literally) prompts for thinking about the nature of a collection. A small barely-lit case is embedded in the wall. It recalls the kind of climate-controlled racks data servers are stored in, but on closer inspection is jam-packed with hundreds of small plastic discs containing mysterious specimens (I later picked up an inventory list of what they were: meteorite fragments, seeds, and myriad other objects of interest). If the museum’s origins lie in the Enlightenment-era wunderkammer, this might point to a modern cousin: archives of obsessive preservation. How many of these species will cease to exist outside of university labs or government seed banks within our lifetimes? The expanse of time implied by ancient space rocks and impending ecological disasters is overwhelming.   

The rear side of the display holds a fake-plant-filled grotto like one might see in a natural history museum’s anthropology diorama (arguably the most problematic and loaded genre of curatorial display, on account of its colonial and racist history). Here, though, no “primitive” humans inhabit the cave, only a single bouquet of flowers humorously/creepily placed in the darkest nook. A line of perspectivally-compressed representations of organic and man-made objects—from a horseshoe crab and avocado to roller luggage and an iMac—floats in a non-space above. Like the busts on the other side of the installation, they’re all white, as if they had been fabricated by the 3D printers of Westworld. They feel like props ready to be dropped in to some reenactment of life on a long-dead Earth.

The sci-fi horror of absent bodies is perhaps driven home most directly by the twin displays at the opposite end of the diorama, connected to the “prop” room by a futuristic catwalk. In one flesh-colored chamber, a lumpy frame holds samples of Band-aids in various skin tones—surrogate skin like Pantone swatches of humanity. The frame is mirrored in the chamber above (with the negative space inverted), a minimalist “human habitat” from the present day or not-so-distant future.

The immediacy of The Ground’s allusions and seemingly-unrelated sense of dread is complimented by the slow burn of trying to connect the two (and a subtle, dark sense of humor). In the face of mortality, humanity has always found some small comfort in the idea of legacy. It’s why the powerful of yesteryear commissioned grand buildings with storytelling mosaics or stained glass windows and why contemporary oligarchs bequeath their collections to museums. But knowing how much archeologists, historians, and curators have gotten wrong (or just guessed) when discussing artifacts from the past, how much faith can we place in these professions’ ability to represent us in the future? There is, of course, more to The Ground than that concern. But it’s an inescapable question the more likely societal collapse and extinction-level events seem to become with each passing day—all while we heap ever more useless objects, extraneous data, and tangled history on the archivist’s pile.

Michael Jones McKean | The Ground from theuniformbridgetheory on Vimeo.

One of the few works in the show without a trace of dystopic anxiety, however, is also a bit of an aesthetic outlier (the first detail shot in the video above). A clay bas-relief that seems to sample styles from Mayan, archaic Hindu, and Gothic religious architectural details brought a much-needed chuckle. It depicts a home water birth in a bathtub, with a Madonna figure surrounded by a supportive audience of characters who appear to be plucked from various mythologies (two hooded priest-like figures are blowing kisses). Also in attendance are a collection of trendy houseplants and a cat, who looks slightly confused/disturbed by the ritual it’s witnessing. The sculpture is endearingly human and goofy, very much of the Pinterest era but also timeless. It’s a shame the clay doesn’t appear to be fired, because this would be a perfectly acceptable last trace of humanity left for an alien archaeologist.  

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