#without threading the thin line of godmodding?

[005mins]

/ I'm thinking about the stacked d.aybit (lit) from when we got to see that one scene during the lb and thinking about how anticlimatic that moment where he reveals his chest would have been because he just wears so many layers of clothing that taking them all off would take some time, at least some few minutes not to mention that after that, he just puts his shirt and sweater & jacket all back on, so he couldn't have just torn his clothes apart

[anarchy2021]

PSA Day! (Rp etiquette)

{ID: A person standing next to a flipchart. They're thin, and have medium-length brown hair, pale skin, and dark brown ears. The ears are angled horizontally. They're wearing thin-rimmed glasses, and their expression reads as confident. Their hair is partially tied up in a bun. They also have a long tail the same brown as their ears, with brown fur the same color as their hair on the end. They're wearing black trousers, a black waistcoat with a white shirt underneath. Additionally, a black overcoat with gold edges is draped over their shoulders. The inner lining of the overcoat is red, and partially visible behind the person. They have their right hand on their hip, and with their left hand, they're holding a stick up to the flipchart, which reads "RP 101 :)". The 101 is underlined. END ID.}

Greetings! You may not recognize me (unless you were watching the debate perhaps, then, sup) as I admit I’ve been a bit…. Behind the scenes as it were (as secretary of VOID there is a lot of looking at the void, usual routine for me mhm mhm). Regardless, I’m Days (or Nights, either or) and for today’s PSA I’m here (along with some words from our recently freed from totally-not-prison president, Graphite, at a later date) to talk to you about roleplay! More specifically, rp etiquette and terms and how that relates to the DSMP and how it should be talked about. 

Now now, you might be wondering “oh but what is your experience?” Glad you asked! I’m a long term text rper with over 5 years of experience- and my main avenues of rp are rps similar in structure to that of the DSMP- long term improv driven sandboxes that also have important events planned ahead of time in some regard but are often player driven most of the time. Now, let’s get into it!

Head writers/admins

Let’s start off with a pretty hot topic regarding the server, which is the existence of a ‘head writer’ (usually in reference to Mr. Soot). Now, mainy take this as meaning quite literally a writer- like in a show, but, with what information we have I think it’s safe to say he’s not really that and more along the lines of an rp admin/head. The admin’s main purpose is to keep things structured and organized, as well as putting together the events they’re in charge of. This is pretty much how everyone treats the man anyways, BUT, while an admin is in charge of a lot they do NOT have the final say over everything, particularly in regards to the characters and their players. 

Players in an rp for the most part have full control over their characters (within reason and the confines of the rp setting) and an admin enforcing their will onto a character (such as enforcing certain backstory choices that don’t seem particularly wanted. For example, the fridge with c!Phil) is often frowned upon unless there is a good reason for it and discussed with the rper. 

It is also notable that just because there is an admin, that doesn’t mean they’re the sole writer/organizer/etc. It is not at all uncommon for specific subplots and or other important events to be headed by players involved in it in this type of rp. This can be seen in practice with how the Eggpire plotline was headed by BBH and the prison plotline was mainly written by Dream and Tommy. 

Summary:

- head writer/admins do not and should not control everything

- organise and structure events

- players might admin their own smaller plots within a rp

Narrative consequences

Now, another hot topic- especially in regards to character discourse (my abhorred personally). Narrative consequences. These are generally referred to when someone thinks a character is not getting the consequences for their actions in the story that they should, or (more rarely in my experience) when they feel a character is being punished too hard for their actions. While this is an understandable feeling to have, at the end of the day narrative consequences just aren’t much of a thing in roleplay, at least not to the same extent as a book or tv show. 

This is for one simple reason, consequences rely on the character’s actions and how they respond to others around them, if a character does not feel like it’s fit to react or if it angers their character- it is 100% within their right to respond accordingly. 

However, there is also an argument that can be made if a character responds to something in a way that doesn’t align with a character’s usual actions. For a personal example, one time in a rp I was playing a character who was intervening when another character was being hurt, however, my character was met with scorn from being somewhat aggressive regarding it- I felt that this was unfair as none of these character showed the same scrutiny to characters who did worse things, and none of these characters had been established as hypocrites. 

This grudge lasted the entire rp until my character died. This is a point where believing that the consequences to a character are unjust is more or less fair, but, a character simply not getting immediately smited or a character getting scorn is not automatically a point against the character, especially since an rper cannot reasonably make their fellow rpers react a certain way.  

Summary:

- narrative consequences are not the same in RP as in other mediums

- can't force characters to react, or force players to react in a way they don't feel is fit

- but can critique RP if things feel unfairly ooc/inconsistent

Retcons

Next up, retcons. What is a retcon? It’s short for retroactive continuity, in essence it’s when in a piece of media something is changed retroactively- such as a character’s personality, how an event occurred, etc. for an outsider audience perspective retcons are often looked upon unfavorably, as it’s changing something already established which can cause friction among those attached to certain ideas, but in reality retcons are both a neutral concept and fairly normal to occur in rps. 

Rps are (generally) not professional writing, they’re things made up on the fly with perhaps a base to work off of (and depending on the rp, not even that. However in the rps I’ve done we generally had character sheets and the like for backstories and all) and thus sometimes mistakes happen. One of the main causes for minor retcons is when details are confused or left out that would have realistically affected the situation or how characters would have responded to it, unless in severe cases these usually happen on the spot and don’t cause much of a fuss. 

Major retcons often fall along the lines of players and how they choose to present their character. This is especially common when a player is using a character for the first time or even if they’re just new to an rp in general, sometimes as we rp we simply decide to take things in a new direction and sometimes that direction may cause things already established to be retconned, even if not outright stated. 

A good example of this is the enderwalk with c!Ranboo, the enderwalk as it was first introduced is very different than it is portrayed now, likely as a result of Ranboo taking a new direction with his character since then. More widespread retcons may happen if people are unhappy with a certain plot thread, in this case an example would be the canon status of SBI, Wilbur used to push it but Techno (and later Phil) didn’t want it to be canon, so anything about it previously said has been soundly retconned. 

In my own case character retcons very often happen to me when I first use an oc, as the character takes a different shape than what I put on the paper in practice, even sometimes within the same rp (one of my first ocs was practically unrecognizable as the same character in the beginning of an rp as compared to even just a few weeks later).

So, retcons are fine and normal to occur, but, like I said- they’re neutral. A retcon can very well be done poorly and cause problems. This is mainly in issue with retcons made that affect highly established and built upon aspects without discussion with all those who’d be effected, this can cause confusion, plot holes and cause characters to be in a weird limbo if they don’t know how to have their character act without whatever was retconned. Major retcons need to be discussed in order to prevent these problems, and in some cases should be avoided entirely- instead it being better to work for a compromise and rework events rather than removing them. 

Summary:

- retcons are normal and neutral

- small retcons happened frequently in RP to help keep things going in an improv heavy medium. Usually unnoticeable

- large retcons tend to have with new players, or if the story is taking a new direction.

- large retcons require a lot of communication, and sometimes whould be avoided, instead working to compromise and rework the direction of the RP

Metagaming and godmodding

Metagaming and godmodding are two very important terms to know for rp etiquette and if you’ve done any rping you’ve probably seen these words thrown around in rules lists and such already. These are both ultimately negative things that should be avoided at all costs. What are they? Metagaming is when you use information that you know OOC and use it IC even though your character should not have that information. Godmodding is when a character is taken over by another person for one reason or another against the player’s will- such as having a character react to something without letting the actual rper do it. 

The former is a big issue when it comes to discussion of the DSMP and how people interact with it, mainly in the chat and donos. When you are trying to get a character to react to information that they shouldn’t have you are trying to get them to metagame, which is heavily frowned upon in an RP. This is also important to note in discussion, a character not responding to certain important events is not a mark against them if the character has no way of even knowing what was going on, or would not reasonably respond to it with the information they have. 

Summary:

- both frowned upon

- god modding is taking over someone elses character

- metagaming is using out of character information to do in character acting

- Meta gaming is relevant to DSMP particular in how it relates to donos and chats. Don't encourage meta-gaming

All of these factors are important to consider when discussing the DSMP and it’s narrative, it’s not going to function the same as other forms of media nor should it- as once you go in that direction you’re competing with the big boys over at tv and at that point things would fall apart. Improv and it’s unique variables is what makes the DSMP, and anything else like it, special and interesting to follow!

[sicilitude]

13, 28! This is just a dynamic duo.

mun writing questions! 

13. What do you look for in an RP partner?

Honestly if you like, don’t cross boundaries placed in my rules, and respect my muse and characterization (don’t call her pale/thin or godmod etc), then we can rp. I don’t really want to have super high expectations for casual stuff and like, it’s its own kind of fun 

For anything more than that--ho boy  It’s basically just the same as before, but with like  A special interest in AUs, and historical nonsense. I don’t want or expect textbook kinda knowledge. I just wanna like, explore stuff with yah, like goofy moments in history, or neat intersections, or particular angst moments, or what have you  mostly it’s about like, figuring out how to get the most out of how our characters interact with each other. If we can like, work things out so that both our characters have intertwined character arcs that like, mesh well together? Ye, that’s what I’m looking for  That and like, big ol space opera type AUs 

28. What makes you want to back away?

The TLDR is 

I don’t practice reblog karma but if u don’t like, at least send in some numbers or emojis for a headcanon meme before you reblog it

if u repeatedly ask for starters and then disappear after they’re written, and come back 2 weeks later looking for another starter, I’ll be annoyed 

can’t do kids’ trauma. Here I like, am totally okay with you doing it or having it in your backstory and stuff like that, but boi howdy am I not prepared to deal with that in rp format

edge for shock value or like, played off as a quirky lil tidbit XD rawr kinda thing 

if ur muse really only uses my characters for emotional labor I’m gonna be kinda mad 

I just got real ranty so that’s all cut 

There’s a handful of things, but also like, I’m both kind of skiddish and pretty willing to give second chances so like, yeah, keep that in mind

If like, there’s an ask meme like this, where you only have to send in an emoji or a number, and you reblog it without doing that, I’m gonna be a little off-put. It literally takes no effort, and like, it’s just a courteous thing to do? You can totally reblog aesthetics and starter memes and all that kinda stuff and I won’t mind. But like, for headcanon memes? Just be nice and send one in 

Dropping or not replying to starters of more involved threads--like, the kind that you have to plot out in advance--will kinda grind my gears if it happens frequently. I have some hangups about like, asking people to reply to things, so I totally get dropping things now and then, but like, if I write the starter, and then it’s liked and never replied to, and then that happens again, and again, I’m just not gonna write em. I absolutely don’t mind like, small things disappearing, or life getting in the way and you forget and all of that, but like, if it’s a pattern, I’m just not gonna put that effort into it. It hasn’t happened with anyone who I still see around in a while, but there were a few people a while back who would just, send starters in and then ghost, only to pop up and ask for another starter. 

I have a hard time with anything that like, hurts kids. Tragic backstories are great. Vi’s got one, too. She’s basically a 12 year old for almost a millenia and during that time she literally tries to starve her not-her-real-dad Rome by cutting the grain supply off and is an angry kid and all of that, and like, I do understand muses who had really hard childhoods, and people are allowed to do what they want, but I get like, kinda queasy when actually confronted with like, yeah. 

Included in that is like, people with headcanons that seem like they’re only there to be cruel or that like, seem to trivialize pain? I know that’s a very difficult line to draw sometimes, but like  sometimes it really seems like some headcanons just exist to be edgy. And listen. I love edge. Shadow the hedgehog? Love that disaster. Lord Byron? Hell yeah. Serial killer stuff is kinda pushing it on a good day, tho, and like  IDK there’s just some hcs that really read like just, memeing pain in a way that I’m not super comfortable with 

And last thing. If it’s obvious that my muse is only there to like, be an emotional crutch for you muse, I’m gonna drop yah. I play some pretty maternal characters, and Vi being kind of mom-y is natural, but she also has her own problems and dreams and all that, and isn’t there to like, coddle. This used to be a big problem with Maia, where like, some muses would treat her like a really good mom who always knew what to say or was there to be comforting and all of that,, without really acknowledging the fact that Maia isn’t good at those things. 

jfsad;k klAnyway  That was a long ramble, sorry abt that 

[crownedrogue]

MUTUALS, EXCLUSIVES, GRAPHICS. You do not need to be a mutual to send me asks, memes or plot / thread requests. The background, ads, icons & banners etc. for this blog are made by me. Please do not take things that I have made for this blog – they match the aesthetic and I would prefer to keep them only for my use. If you would like the bases for the icons you can feel free to ask me and I will be happy to send them to you and if you would like them personalized, I am usually very happy to do so, though it might take me a few days / week or two (sometimes more) to actually get any graphic requests done depending on life!

MY ACTIVITY! If you’ve ever written with me before then you know the drill. My real life is absolutely crazy between three kids (each in a different school with different after school activities) and my numerous health concerns which tend to keep me away from rp sometimes just because of sheer pain levels or sometimes because of frequent doctors visits etc. Stress is always a huge factor in whether or not I feel up to doing any actual writing, but I am almost always available for plotting or talking or the occasional sk.ype roleplay. I tend to make graphics, banners, backgrounds and the like when I can’t actually write for whatever reason, so never feel like you’re being a bother if you ask if I can make something for you just - as in all things on this blog, patience is definitely key. If I feel pressured or if I start to get anxious about not being able to keep up activity then I tend to panic and just push the whole blog away for a while. Not the best coping mechanism, but it is what it is and this is above all else FOR FUN.

YOUR ACTIVITY! I will never pressure you for replies, though I may bombard your inbox with memes and poke you to plot or chat but never ever feel obligated to reply to anything, be it posts or memes or chats etc. if you aren’t up for it or just aren’t feeling it. Please do let me know if you are dropping a thread just so I know, you don’t need to explain or apologize for taking forever or dropping an interaction or wanting to write on a different blog or for a different character than one that had a lot of interactions with mine. Do always feel free to let me know if you start a new character or blog and would like to plot something with me, I can almost guarantee if we already write together (or have in the past) and you go somewhere new I will be happy to write with you! I may love the characters and plots but the muns behind the characters are the most important things to me. And, as a side note, I don’t care if you take an hour or a year to reply, I will always be happy to see you & it!

FORMATTING. My preference is some very light formatting and icons (of a consistent size - I might, at most, bounce between 100x100 and 200x100 depending on my mood). I don’t care if you format a lot or only a little. If you format a lot I may try and match your formatting but if I am actually pumping out replies at a steady pace I probably will skip it - it’s pretty but my brain only cooperates so often so I want to take advantage of it when it’s actually functioning like a normal human being brain and not a whirlwind of chaos and mini nuclear disasters.

My main turn offs when it comes to other people’s blogs / formatting … I do really really prefer the small font BUT I can work around it. I will probably take the quick second to make your text small when I reblog your reply in order to keep the aesthetic the same on my dash / theme as much as possible. My really big turn off though are using images that are way above the average icon-ish size. It throws everything off in terms of my visual perception and I don’t know, it just. Bugs me. It’s honestly one of the main reasons I can’t join rp groups on tumblr anymore. I don’t know when it started bugging me, or why it bugs me so much, but it just does. I am doing my best to work around that so as not to miss out on the wonderful writers out there so just bear with me!

NSFW & TRIGGERING CONTENT. I will straight up warn everyone now, I love writing dark themes, horror, murder, torture, graphic violence and angsty smut are all like my favorite things ever. However, I am WELL aware that not everyone shares those interests so please note that I will be tagging pretty much anything that I think might bother someone with the simple ‘tw triggernamehere’ tags. Self-harm, drug use, potential noncon/dubcon, mind control, alcoholism, domestic abuse, so on and so forth are likely to appear here. NSFW will always be tagged with just the simple 'nsfw’.

GODMODDING. This one is pretty simple. No godmodding. Don’t write for my characters. Even if you are writing a god, writing someone with the ability to control and puppet others, if you are attacking my character with a miniature nuke and they are standing there in their birthday suit with no way to defend themselves and you know they’re going to be annhialated … you still don’t get to write my character. You write what your intentions are, what you command them to do, how you are influencing them to do something, how you are manipulating their emotions, etc. but I will handle writing the effects of that in my reply! I am always happy to discuss plots and actions before hand, if that would make things easier for you, but I am happy to wing it and work things out as the thread develops too, in terms of harm done, effects of spells or influences etc. so please, just be respectful about handling this and we’ll get along perfectly fine!

DRAMA. Flat out simple: keep it in character. I have been roleplaying for 20 odd years now. I promise you I’ve seen it all and I have always had zero interest in being involved in it. You can always come talk to me if you are experiencing a problem, ic or ooc, with me or someone else, in the sense of I will be happy to try and offer you advice, but in general I can promise you I will not be inclined to throw myself into the middle of anything going on on the dash etc. Please do not assume that this means I don’t care about you at all, I will discuss matters privately when possible, but what it all boils down to is that I am here to have fun and I don’t like poking bears with sticks, pointy or otherwise. Confrontation makes me literally ill, and if this blog becomes a not safe place then no one gets to have fun with it … especially me.

SMUT! As I said a little bit ago, I love writing smut. It is not however the only reason I am here though, at times I’m sure the blog might seem to disagree. I get in moods where it’s all I want to write and then other times I’m just EH SURE. All of that aside, I will not, have not, will never write smut with anyone that is under the age of 18. I understand different states and countries have different age limits where that is concerned but my state / country dictates 18 is the age of consent and there is no smut in the world that is worth the potential and genuine risk of legal actions up to the possibility of incarceration for engaging in sexual content with a minor. Please, please, please do not send me NSFW related asks if you are under 18. Do not like my NSFW starter calls if you are under 18. If we are in a thread that is leading towards potential smut, I will ask you if you are 18. Please do not lie. Legally speaking, it doesn’t matter if you tell me that you are 18 and you aren’t, I am still responsible and they can still prosecute - just like with physical interactions. They really do take this stuff seriously guys and so do I, for a number of reasons, and not just legal concerns!

If you ARE 18+ and would like to do something smut related with me, by all means, let me know. Even if it’s the first interaction, I don’t care. And don’t feel like you can’t make a suggestion regarding kink or interactions out of fear of kinkshaming or anything of the sort. I will write pretty much anything except for pedophilia (again for a number of reasons) and anything involving washroom related functions. Of course, anything NSFW / triggering / explicit etc. WILL be tagged!

GENERAL. Please do not reblog my rp posts if you are not my rp partner in that thread. If you want to promote me you can reblog my promos etc., but please don’t repost my in character interactions. Please reblog your posts as TEXT. When you reblog as link it cuts off a good portion of the text and adds a bulky box to the dash. Please CUT your posts. Two or three replies at most are all that’s needed to keep the feel of a thread / interaction going. Any more than that and one: it takes forever to scroll through the dash and two: i’ve seen it go so far as to have one letter of text per line it’s so thin and thirty lines from the ‘reblog’ function. It’s bulky and generally just not necessary. Each person will have their own tag. This will be simply your URL (minus any dashes) so that you can search my page by /tagged/url for our interactions. (If you want to read someone’s interactions in order, just add /chrono to the end of any tag search!)

If you have read all of this, kudos! I really do appreciate it. You don’t have to send anything in letting me know or whatnot but if you do want to send me an ask with your url & faceclaim – and maybe your name too so I can get to know you! – I will be happy to make you a few icons or a simple graphic of some kind just as a general sign of appreciation for the follow and the time you spend reading all of my rambling!

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone that has supported me, that has put up with me, that has followed me from blog to blog, that I have dropped threads with and been so sporadic with it has to be like a whirlwind. I appreciate each and every one of you and without all of your support and continuous patience, I know that my experience here would have fallen flat and I would not still be here in any capacity so, know that you will always have my gratitude.