#thornewood.message

With it being the start of the new year, we thought it’d be useful to post about a reminder about some of the rules and also instate some new ones to help Thornewood A) run more smoothly, but B) have more fun! 

Here’s our newest rule:

1. All messages regarding mod duties (approving plots, questions about policies, etc.) must be posed in a group chat with the Bee Sisters. 

Lauren and Casey talk every day, so they know what policies were discussed, but it’s easier to have it in a group chat so both sisters can weigh in. Also just helps the sisters streamline their conversations. If you don’t know how to make a group message, don’t worry! We’ll make it for you if we don’t already have one!

Along those same lines: 

2. Please discuss your activity privately with us before messaging the discord. 

This applies more to sudden absences or hiatuses, not “hey I won’t be on today!” kind of stuff. If you’re on a hiatus, please message us first before coming back. There are things we need to discuss (ie: new rules, new policies, when are you coming back? Is it in the middle of an event because then we’re gonna have to tell you to wait, etc.) before you fully integrate into the Discord once more. 

3. Meta-knowledge and God-modding (rule 10)

Your character shouldn’t know anything unless they’re explicitly told. Let’s talk about meta-knowledge first: 

Referencing former threads is very tricky. Unless a character from that thread told you what transpired between themselves and that character, you’re using meta-knowledge. Meta-knowledge sucks all the fun out of roleplaying because if your character just “guesses” about everything that’s actually happened because you’re using what you know as a writer to give your character all the info about Thornewood, there’s no secrets, no news to share, no nothing. Super not fun, you cannot do this. Warnings will be given if we see this behavior starting January 5. 

Here’s an aside about god-modding: You, as a writer, cannot control what another character does/did unless you write them. No ifs, ands, or buts. If Mod Case doesn’t describe her character, Lexus, as “brown haired” please don’t say she is. That’s god-modding. 

Here’s an example of intense god-modding from a past incident with a former member (remember that former member we go off about sometimes? They did this).

If Case didn’t write that Lex was screaming/shrieking/etc., please don’t say she did. Or, message Case and ask “hey, how would Lex respond to [character] (for instance) pushing her?” It says in our rules that god-modding is unacceptable and you’ll be kicked out if you’re caught doing it (more than once). Don’t risk it! 

Honorable mention: don’t meta-disrespect.

THIS IS WAY DIFFERENT THAN META-KNOWLEDGE!

This is by far the rudest thing to do to another writer, and while this hasn’t happened for awhile (remember that evil member who was mean to Hanna? That one, they did this, ya’ll haven’t), it’s always good to reiterate. Don’t ignore a character’s bio. If Keegan is supposed to be smart, he’s smart. If Lexus is supposed to be small, she’s small. Etc., etc. If you don’t feel they’re written that way, it’s not for you to say. You can say someone is being friendly, when they’re typically an intimidating character…but you can’t straight up go, for example, “Cameron wasn’t all that intimidating.” (IE: What the old member did.) If you’re looking to say that, you’d have a better chance wording it like, “Ellie seemed really strong.” Even though Ellie is meant to be a shyer character, you’re not stating she isn’t, you’re just saying your character is perceiving her in another way — which isn’t rude, it’s just how your character is taking her in the moment. It is, however, rude when you straight up go, “nope, they’re dumb/not intimidating/etc.” To reiterate: ya’ll have never done meta-disrespect, ever. You’d get a message immediately. We’d also cry. 

4. If you’re writing “tw: [anything]” in the tags, you need to be putting your photo/text/whatever under a read more. (rule 8)

The whole purpose of a read more is to give a member the option to not see this material. Without a read more, the person still has to experience this triggering content, which really isn’t acceptable or fair. 

To help this: Starting January 5, please don’t put a million tags when creating a read more. We need to allow people who are triggered by the content to see the trigger warning in the tags. IE: So when Mod Case (#exposed) puts AHHH AHH AHH before the trigger warning...Not that helpful. Just keep it simple: thread/chat: [name], tw: [topic]. Or, if there isn’t a trigger warning but you put a read more because you wrote a lot (like four lengthy paragraphs or more) tag it: read more: length. That’s all you need. Feel free to be silly with tags for non-triggering replies. 

5. Mandatory therapy threads (rule 9)

For awhile, many of you didn’t have a therapist so it’s totally fine if you haven’t had a therapy thread. Ever, if that’s the case. However, starting January 5, the mods are going to start encouraging you to have bi-monthly or tri-monthly therapy threads. Obviously, your character will be going to therapy much, much, more often so we don’t feel it’s fair to force you to thread every therapy session. However, to keep with the theme of a mental hospital, therapy threads must occur.

& Don’t forget to maintain a journal! (rule 9)

All patients and staff must maintain a journal. This can either be in the form of a true “dear diary...” entry, or just a tag on your blog. 

6. Reading the announcements 

Unspoken rule, obviously, but please read these announcements fully! The temptation to skim is intense, we know, but these announcements are really important for world-building, policy changes/updates and protecting our OOC community. Therefore, so we know you’ve seen them, please like the announcements upon reading them. If you forget, we won’t ask you to, so please just take this as a suggestion. 

Keep an eye on your activity

Out of all things roleplay, this is one of the most important. Lauren and I will continue consistently posting activity warnings EVERY Tuesday. Therefore, on Monday nights, you should be aware that if you haven’t replied to your thread(s) or haven’t posted a journal entry (as these are the only ways to show activity, not through pictures/audio/quotes), you will be on an activity warning. So far as returning from a hiatus, you have one week prior to the previously stated return date to become active. If you neglect to post for 7 days after your pre-determined return date, you will be on the activity warning posted on the following Tuesday.

Yes, this does mean that if you’re to return on (let’s say) a Sunday, don’t post, and continue not posting through the following Sunday, you won’t be on an activity warning until that Tuesday — some 10 days after your scheduled return. That’s the downside of this policy. However, frankly, it’s your prerogative to abuse this policy, just as it’s our prerogative to give you a warning if you continually do so. You all know who we are and what kind of mods we are. We can count on one hand how many times we’ve given a warning. We are not hard asses. Our activity checks are some of the longest we’ve seen, most groups opting for every 3 days. We’re very forgiving so long as you keep us in the loop. Therefore, we are placing trust in you to stay on top of your own activity — especially upon returning from hiatuses. 

To this end, please be efficient about contacting us about activity warnings (and hiatuses, but we’re going to talk more about activity warnings here because this is a chronic issue), the 48 hour mark is to be observed and vital to our operation so as to ensure members are posting consistently. If you intend to go on a hiatus or leave the roleplay, it’s important you let us know ASAP, preferably prior to appearing on a Tuesday activity warning.

     2. Post open starters

We have a rule here that you must reply to 2 open starters before posting any starter (open or closed) of your own. For the time being, we will suspend this policy in order to foster an environment more conducive to open starters. Brief history lesson: when we first started roleplaying 8+ years ago, this “2 starters per 1 open starter” was a common rule because so many people wanted to post open starters that other open starters would be neglected. However, times have changed and it appears that writers are, now, more wary to post open starters. It’s very important for us to post open starters because our goal, as per writing in a community, is to interact with all characters. 

Therefore, we are suspending our “2 replies to an open prior to posting an starter” rule, and instead encouraging you all to post open starters. To be clear: we want you to reply to open starters. However, in order for this group to be more self-sustaining, we will allow all writers to post open starters without replying to 2 starters first. Let us also be clear: if this rule is abused and open starters remain unanswered, we will revert to our previous policy. Furthermore, this policy does not extend to closed starters. It is paramount that we post open starters, as closed starters only benefit the writer and their writing partner, not the entire community. If you’re posting a closed starter, it is essential that you reply to at least one open starter (preferably two, if two are posted recently) prior to posting a closed starter.

      3. Keep threads current

We want you to continue contributing to current plots. Continuing threads from December in July is a sure-fire way to lose muse. That’s another reason why we encourage you to end threads, because threads that run too long eventually lose inspiration. Therefore, we ask that if you do not see a current starter, please post one yourself. That may have been difficult prior to our new policy, so if your threads aren’t current, we understand. However, we do expect you to adopt this policy immediately. 

       4. Interact with each other

You’re very good at this, but please — continue to interact with all characters. This is the entire reason we write as a community, to utilize a diverse group of characters in order to facilitate intricate storytelling. Please utilize the assets of this community, not only for their entertainment, but for your own. By joining this group, you agreed to follow the rules of this roleplay and write with everyone in an inclusive manner. Please continue to uphold this fundamental value of inclusive writing in our absence. This is made easier by plotting with others, either utilizing the discord or via personal messages. Our goal, as mods, is to write with everyone. We hope, if you can’t have 7+ threads at a time (which is understandable), that you perhaps start with 3/4 threads and work your way to more. 

The mods (particularly Lauren, but please use our group chat so I can be kept in the loop) will be available via discord. We’re hoping to return to you as quickly as possible, but in the mean time, we appreciate your cooperation during this difficult time.

Best,

This almost goes without saying but don’t copy this starter

Finally, please remember that therapy threads require both patient and therapist writers to discuss treatment options. Writers of therapists shouldn’t push patient writers to pursue a certain treatment, but it would be helpful to come to the table with certain ideas for treatment — however, it’s important to understand that sometimes, for plot-related reasons, some characters will attempt to avoid therapy/treatment. This doesn’t mean they don’t have to do a therapy thread, but this does mean perhaps you two will plot to have a combative or non-responsive (minimal dialogue, but that doesn’t mean no dialogue, always give your therapist something to work with, please!) thread. 

If you have any questions, as usual, please don’t hesitate to send us a message on discord!

Happy writing!,