☆ There's a lot of reasons why the rpc isn't as it used to be.
I've mentioned it quite a few times in the past on this blog.
One, we are all adults right now. Our personal / rl lives are taking priorities. We ain't teenagers anymore with a lot of times on our hands. We are going to college, taking our exams and studying more seriously. We are going to work that demands a lot out of us. Some having a steady and stable job that exhaust us by the end of the day and in a good way too while other jobs do it in a bad way. Some of us are getting kids and focusing our attention on them. Some of us are settling down with our partners. While some still love writing, they lean more on personal writing than rping because they don't see the rpc as the same and trying to focus on what's going on irl. A lot of us deal with mental illness and physical pains.
It boils down to energy, motivation, priority, and time. We are getting older and that's demanding from us where we can't deliver as much as we want to.
Two, to those that do stick around, some of us aren't doing things that we normally do. I get it. Anxiety or doubts plaguing us. I'm not saying all of us do this, but some of us do need to throw ourselves out there a little more as the rpc is a two way street of reaching out. If you do wish to see more unprompted asks and random starters, send one. If someone doesn't respond to it or hate you for it, it's going to be painful to deal with that, but we have to move on and focus on those who do cherish these things. There's always going to be that one person who does.
And it is okay to want more. Don't let that last line I just typed out discourage your desire to seek out more.
It is okay to have these two coexist at the same time. Cherish the small amount of people who loves writing with us and want to branch out more to get more people to interact. It can and will coexist. You aren't ungrateful or not cherishing those who stick around. You wish to have more.
All I can say is be encouraged to send out more stuff. Maybe that one step can inspire others to do something similar.
These two points can coexist as well.
Send out unprompted asks and starters when you have the time and energy to do so, but also be encouraged to do so. Perhaps you see a mutual you never interact with before and want to send something; do it. Send something so ridiculous that it cracks you and that mutual up. I know I tend to always send in a crack ask from time to time. As long as it is not ooc for my muses to do so.