#rpsurvivalguide

Hey guys, just a quick note on something ooc.

If someone does something that upsets you, don’t do something immediately. Get up. Take a deep breath. Walk away for a time and come back when you’re not upset.

If you can’t do that and need to get your thoughts out, get out a pen and paper or a google doc and write out your feelings and response. Save them in a draft or something but DO NOT POST IT. When you write angry and post it, the person you’re writing to and the people who see it will become angry, which means you become even more angry than before. It becomes a self repeating spiral of angry.

Instead, when someone online makes you mad, acknowledge they made you made and unplug. Getting off the internet will provide you the distance you need to cool off and look at things from a different perspective. If you need to vent your feelings to a friend, do it with someone who will keep your confidence (keep it private) and won’t try to act on your behalf (such as getting back at someone for upsetting you).

Everyone deals with conflict and disappointments. But even though sometimes things get us mad and we lose our temper, we need to understand that us being mad doesn’t give us the right to hurt someone else. We need to be more self-aware, recognize when we feel emotionally compromised, and take the hint to take step back and cool off.

Just as social distancing and self quarantine has help stop the spread of COVID-19, so too can us distancing ourselves from certain situations help stop the spread of anger and vitriol that would otherwise spoil many people’s online experience and relationships.

Having these available to other writers/ your rp partners also gives them more material to work with when thinking up threads, asks, and other ways of interacting with your character. However, having them available to you when times are slow or low can also be an incredible comfort and might provide the needed boost to get writing again.

Basically, if you have nothing else to do, write some blog meta for your character(s)! It's a lot of fun, a great writing exercise, and helps encourage both your creativity and others. ^u^ b

When I’m on my rp blogs, I’ve see others, usually rp blogs with new or younger muns, forgo making a Rules page and an About page so as to get into rping sooner. This is a HUGE mistake and I can’t even begin to tell you how important it is to have a Rules and About page available to your rp partners! Because honestly, these two pages are often the baseline for establishing whether or not someone wants to rp with you. Add that with viewing the person’s rp threads, and this is what gives people an idea of whether or not their muse(s) will click with yours.

See, the About Page (aka Dossier or Bio page) is the first look other people will have of your muse(s), where they’re from, etc. For “Canon Characters” (characters not originally made by you that are from other media sources such as books, tv shows, movies, etc.) this info can be easily obtained from official sources and/or added to if there’s little to no info available. This combined with your own personal headcanons helps other people better understand and get to know your portrayal of your character(s).

For Original Characters, having an About page is absolutely necessary simply due to the nature of OCs and the fact that your blog is their first debut and likely the only source of info anyone is going to find. This is where you put their Character Sheet (Name, Age, Appearance, Biography, etc.) for people to see. There are many Character Sheet templates out there but in my experience, the more detail there is, the better off your oc is. Bonus points if you can fit a bit of your character’s “voice” (how they phrase and understand things) somewhere on the page - however that’s not required.

Next is the Rules page. Having a Rules page sets clear boundaries for your blog and yourself as an rper and lets other rpers know that things are all good so long as they don’t break the rules. This page will also help others understand who you are as an rper and what you’re willing and not willing to put up with. Then with ground rules laid, your partner can be free to send in memes, asks and do threads with you without worrying that they’re stepping on your toes or something.

So even if it’s just a 1 paragraph blurb about your character and three rules saying: “All asks welcome. Be respectful. No-god-modding”, these will help others get a feel for you as an rper and decide whether or not they want to rp with you, and visa versa.

For those looking for a good character sheet to build an OC or delve into the traits of a chosen Canon Character, here’s one that I’ve been using for all my OCs here on Tumblr!.

—Mod IE

If you’re looking for a neat looking rp blog theme, try looking at rp blogs you admire/want to follow. Most RP blogs have a custom theme with a link somewhere leading to the theme creator. Those theme creators often have other themes that they’ve made & worked on that are then available to you to use for your rp blog! 

OKAY, so I’m IE. I’m the mod of this here RP Survival blog. I’ve been forum Rping for a good 10+years and it never ceases to amazing me how much changes and how much stays the same. I often talk about my rp shenanigans with my family but after talking with my younger sibs and some other less experienced writers dipping their toes into the vast ocean of Tumblr rp, I found that not a lot know about how to get started and how to survive the often turbulent seas of Tumblr & other text-based rp scenes. 

It reminded me of the struggles I faced as a new rper trying to get the hang of things and the epically painful fails and potholes I encountered on my journey. Tbh, I would’ve loved a quick-start survival guide when I was first on tumblr; a list of things to avoid, how to handle interpersonal situations between muns, group rps vs single rps, all that jazz. And I know I’m not the only one.

So I made this blog in hopes of covering a few areas of tumblr Rp such as blog set up, choosing between having single-muse or multi-muse blogs, dealing with your chosen characters (aka Muses), IC vs OOC interactions, Tumblr Rp slang & etiquette, writing tips, amongst other things. Overall, I want this Survival Guide to be able to help new and old rpers quickly learn and adapt to the continuously changing world of Tumblr rp.

Now, I know I can’t do this on my own. WHO CAN?? But I also know that every experienced rper out there, regardless of fandom, has gone through something in their experience and probably have answers that I don’t. So I’d like to ask you, reader, to send in your questions, your tips, and your experiences in the RP community. No one starts out perfect, but if we work together, we can make Rping with each other that much better.