Firstly, I want to address this concern by first stating that while–yes, this is a concern, MJ and I are not obligated to discuss our personal lives to those questioning our activity (on any platform), especially if it’s on anon. I understand the need for anonymity, which is why I’ll be going ahead to answer your question, but we hope that next time a concern might cross your mind, you’ll be able to ask us through our character blogs or our main’s IM instead. That being said…

While I am online every day, I don’t do replies every day. It’s not a choice I make, it’s usually due to my access to reliable WiFi, a laptop that has a serious freezing problem, as well as some personal physical issues that prevent me from sitting at a computer for long hours, every day. Oh, and real life too–it calls to us, surprisingly.

As for the OOC, I do my best to be as inclusive with the members as best as I can, but there’s only so much you can do with the OOC. Not everyone replies to every post, and while there are plenty of times I want to post / rant / make updates, I often digress. Most of the time I feel like it’s a bit useless (for me personally - I’m a little self-depreciating that way, haha) to notify members of every little thing I’m doing or thinking. If you want to plot or chat with me, IMs are my safe space. They’re a million times better for me to get to know other members, and I often prefer it to programs like Discord. Sometimes, you’ll have an OOC that’s boppin’, sometimes you don’t. That being said, MJ and I are two, of the plethora of members we have to keep you entertained.

As for the Discord, I chose to not join the chat for personal reasons. It’s not to mean I don’t want to get to know the members, I really do! I’d hate to play the anxiety card, but I don’t have a good history with ‘chats’ like Discord, because they make me feel overwhelmed and I get terribly anxious and wind up not wanting to talk to anyone/post anything in the chat. This goes for group chats, especially. They’re extremely daunting to the both of us, which is why MJ and I didn’t create an official Discord for the roleplay, nor did we consider changing our minds when we were asked about it before the roleplay opened. The members created the Discord, which doesn’t bother us at all! If it’s what’s most comfortable for our members, we won’t take that away.

Again, this is a personal issue that I don’t expect everyone to understand, but I do understand your concern. I wish I was as extroverted to join Discord as well as hitting up everyone’s IMs every day because I understand the importance of an admin’s communication with their members. However, I hope you can also understand where I come from, and if you had asked me off the main’s anon and come to me personally, I would tell you the same thing. 

As for MJ, you will be seeing her on the dash soon! She’s currently cooking up a bio to finally join us, as it was her initial intention. When this roleplay launched two years ago, it has always been MJ’s plan to watch the dash first and join later. The reasons aren’t deep or malicious, it’s a personal preference (as goes the dash activity, the OOC, and the chat). As for Discord, MJ is in the same exact boat as I am. She reached out and downloaded Discord for the chance to get to know the members personally since she doesn’t have a character (not to mention this being totally out of her comfort zone). However, while she loves the chat and practically tells me most of what you guys chat about, MJ also has obligations and responsibilities that hinder her from being an entirely active figure in the roleplay. She’s told me she’s been watching the dash constantly, making it a nightly ritual to catch up on all threads and drafting ideas for events and plot drops based off of them. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to catch everything since she is only human, which is why we’re devising a method that will help us with that (which will be disclosed in a future post). The stress of running a heavily plot-based roleplay, along with keeping up with in-character interactions and OOC interactions on top of real life duties can get exhausting but she’s still pulling through.

Finally, MJ and I are both very anxious people (lol) with very big ideas and hearts to match, so I hope you understand where we’re coming from. Please keep in mind that we’re running this roleplay too, and it’s not easy. May we remind you: we’re only in our second week of Toxic City’s opening— it’s too early to assume that we’re not “active or involved” when we’re busy putting our hearts into this up and coming event, and the roleplay as a whole. You lose your faith in us too soon.