purpledragonrp

[purpledragonrp]

People seem to have forgotten that "proship" was the Fandom norm for the longest time.

Only, it wasn't called proship. It was called ship and let ship. Or minding your own buisness.

If someone had a ship you didn't like or thought was gross, you would avoid them. If they drew art or wrote stories you didn't agree with or like, you would ignore them.

There were tags like smut, whump, and angst to tell people about things they might not want to read. And then dead dove: do not eat for taboo subjects and especially gritty fic.

Then people started to ignore that. Younger fans started to bully people because they disagreed with shipping certain characters. Whether it be because it "wasn't canon", they thought it was gross, or they just didn't like it.

These people began calling themselves "anti-ship"

Pro-ship became a label to show that someone was against anti-ship.

Eventually, the anti-ship movement began to die down. So do you know what they did? They started accusing people. Of being pedophiles, groomers, rape supporters, and more. All because they wrote or drew things that these people didn't like.

They began claiming that THEY were the Fandom norm, and that these "proshippers" were the bad people. They started claiming that proship stood for "problematic shipping"

Due to this, the term "pro-ship" is often misconstrued as to what it means. Many people don't even KNOW what it means.

It means "anti-censorship".

It means that we support someone's right to produce art, no matter how gross, no matter how taboo, no matter how "problematic"

Because it's not hurting anyone.

If it's something you don't want to see? Block the person. Block the tag. Say in your bio that you don't like it. That's what they're FOR!

This was discussed in earlier days of fandom.

"I wonder why people would read a story in a genre they don't care for, then take the time to let the writer know that sure enough, they didn't care for it. That would be like me going to a restaurant, ordering a slice of cherry pie, then asking that the chef be brought out so I can say "I don't like cherry pie, and I didn't like yours either." To continue this analogy into its usual fannish outcome, the chef would say "Well gee, lady, why did you order it?" And I'd say, "Are you questioning my right to order cherry pie?"

-Unknown 2002

Except now, it would be like the person who didn't like the cherry pie and ordered it anyways then demanded that no restaurant serve cherry pie because it was poison. Not only is it a ridiculous request, it's blatantly untrue.

#RPC PSA #RPC Commentary #PSA

[purpledragonrp]

Dialogue tips that actually work:

You are not writing a movie (ignore this if you are). The reader doesn't need to know every word the characters say for the duration of the story. Less is more.

Dialogue can happen within the prose. "And they awkwardky discussed the weather for five minutes" is way better than actually writing five pages of dialogue about the weather.

Balance your dialogues. Surprise yourself with a monosyllabic answe to a dialogue that's ten sentences long. Don't be afraid of letting your character use half a page for a reply or nothing at all!

Don't write accents phonetically, use slang and colloquialisms if needed.

Comma before "said" and no caps after "!?" unless it's an action tag. Study dialogue punctuation.

Learn the difference between action tags and dialogue tags. Then, use them interchangeably (or none at all).

Don't be afraid to use said. Use said if characters are just saying things, use another word if not. Simple. There's no need to use fancy synonyms unless absolutely necessary.

Not everyone talks the same way so it makes sense for your characters to use certain words more often than others. Think of someone who says "like" to start every sentence or someone who talks really slow. Be creative.

Use prose to slow down the pace during a conversation.

Skip prose to speed up the pace during a conversation.

#Writing Advice #Writing

[purpledragonrp]

*This poll was submitted to us and we simply posted it so people could vote and discuss their opinions on the matter. If you’d like for us to ask the internet a question for you, feel free to drop the poll of your choice in our inbox and we’ll post them anonymously (for more info, please check our pinned post).

#A little over 85k! :D #AO3 #Polls #About Me #Writing

[purpledragonrp]

I don't have a DNI and I will never write one in the future. Unless this person has threatened me in my personal life and I've exhausted all options to settle our issues, my personal matters are my own and I will never air my dirty laundry for everyone to see. Some of you take things too personally or feel slighted once and never have a genuine communication with your rp partners, going straight with a DNI and acting as if you're the victim. The rpc is prone to unwanted drama and starting a rumor mill, I can't trust your words without hearing out both parties and that in itself is exhausting.

#RPC Commentary #Drama #Took the words right out of my mouth. #Well said

[purpledragonrp]

I can't speak for the RPC in general, but I can speak for myself, I guess. First, even when I was reblogging promos, I had a strict rule about not sharing a promo unless it was someone I was actually RPing with. Maybe more people have that rule these days, and that's part of the reason?

But realistically, I think the real reason is that the people who've been around longer know that they don't really work, so they don't bother making them or interacting with them. Again, I'm speaking from my own experience, but let me explain what I often saw 'back in the day.'

Promo Trains - everyone in a friend group reblogging each other until the dash was flooded with nothing but promos for each other over and over. 😒 Yay.

Drama - a friend group falls apart due to petty people and their unwanted drama. Now you've got a crap ton of promos you have to go through your blog and delete. 😒 More yay.

Do They Even Work? - I used to have a decent following once upon a time (back when I had the free time to be super active), and even promos of mine that got a fair amount of reblogs NEVER once resulted in any new follows. I mean, that could be on me - maybe my promos just sucked - I've got enough clarity to realize that. 😂 But still...

But what it boils down to (for me) is LOTS of negativity associated with promos; enough that I just don't have any desire to interact with them anymore.

Someone explain to me why the RPC has become deathly allergic to reblogging promos of any kind. Indie, group, doesn't matter. It didn't used to be this way.

#RPC Commentary #Promos

[purpledragonrp]

Has your writing come back yet? I know when I was going through something, it felt like my writing would never come back, but it did, so don't worry. I can't tell you what to do, because it works different for every individual. Some say take a break and don't worry, some say revisit old works that inspired you, some say try new works instead, some say go out in nature. I also heard telling yourself NOT to write works.

First, thank you so much for this bit of positivity, nonnie. It means a lot that you took the time to send something. :)

My writing comes and goes in waves these days. What makes it worse is that sometimes, when I actually have the drive to write, I don't have the time to devote to it, and then when I have the time, there's no drive. Which, I suppose is something most writers experience at one point or another? It's just a first for me. :-/ In the past, things have always come together perfectly when I needed them too. Writing on demand, so to speak. ^_^; It's weird and upsetting to not have that anymore.

I admit I've actually been toying with a couple of new muses when I'm in the mood... which might be part of the key? Not that I don't still love all my old threads and muses, it's just easy to get excited about anything that fans the spark, y'know? And man - what I wouldn't give for a vacation (somewhere with lots of trees and/or mountains.) I think my last bit of major time-off was the 2 weeks I took after my dad died. It would be nice, I think, to just go away somewhere, but do nothing. Just rent a cabin in forest and enjoy the view for a couple of weeks...

Anyway, thank you again, nonnie. I appreciate your message and your suggestions. I want to get to a better place again, and I feel like I'm taking baby steps towards that. I just don't know how long it'll take me to get back to where I want to be. But I haven't given up believing that I'll get there eventually. :)

#answered #anonymous

[purpledragonrp]

What should I do when a piece of fiction is upsetting me, but I can't put it down? It's really hard for me turn it off, because I need to know what happens, even if the ending is worse. I know I can make up my own ending to be whatever I want, because it's not real, but that doesn't help.

So, I'm of mixed feelings on my answer, nonnie, because it really depends on what you mean when you use the words 'upsetting me." Fiction is meant to make you feel things. That's its purpose. Those things won't always be pleasant. I still have vivid memories of a book that I read when I was in grade school - not because I enjoyed the book, but because one of the scenes was so heartbreakingly tragic that even thinking about it (nearly 30 years later) still makes my heart clench and tears fill my eyes. The scene was upsetting because it was meant to be. The author wanted me to grieve along with the main character. And quite possibly wanted me to question whether or not I would make the same choices if I were in the MC's position.

In that kind of situation, my advice is to allow the fiction to upset you. There's nothing wrong with that. Fiction is really the only place where you can explore negative emotions/situations safely (aside from your own dreams, maybe); you can experience that negativity vicariously via fictional characters and stories without putting yourself into any actual danger.

However, if you mean 'upsetting' as in literally triggering, then we're stepping into trickier territory. I'm not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, so I can't say with any ACTUAL knowledge what you should or shouldn't do in a situation like that. But I know what I'd do; I put the book down, accept that the story wasn't for me, and find something else to read. I love stories of all kinds - long or short, new or old, written for kids or adults - they all bring me joy. But I don't care about ANY story enough to put my own mental well-being at risk just to see how it ends.

In your case, nonnie - if you just REALLY need to know how it ends, but reading it yourself is too much, why not ask someone else to read it and give you a summary? You could ask a friend, who might know you well enough to summarize in a way that won't upset you. Or you could try looking around in the book/literature sections of Reddit, and see if you can find a subreddit that might have people willing to give you a summary of some sort. You could also try to find someone on Tumblr who's read the story and ask them if they'd be willing to summarize things for you. That way, you'll learn how the story goes without having to finish reading it yourself.

This may not really be the answer you were looking for, nonnie, but I hope it helped a little. :)

#answered #anonymous

[purpledragonrp]

#Writing Humor #Writing #I feel VERY called out... #:D

[purpledragonrp]

The thing you have to remember, OP, is it's not always about being an 'adult' vs. being a 'minor' when people have a rule like that. It's about their comfort. There could be one hundred different reasons why they're not interested in writing with someone younger. Try not to let it worry or bother you too much. ^_^ There are plenty of great RP blogs out there who don't have age restrictions. Focus on those. And if you find someone who you can't interact with right now, there's no harm in bookmarking them for later. If they're still around when you meet their age requirements, then you can give them a go. :)

i’ve been in the rpc since i was Thirteen. i’m 20 now and still not old enough to interact with some blogs. call me childish but that’s ridiculous. twenty years old is an adult

#RPC Commentary

[purpledragonrp]

why write a story if no one's going to read it?

Sometimes you don't want to share a story with others. Sometimes you do want to share it, but no one clicks on the title. So why bother writing it down if the only person you can guarantee will read it is you?

You need to get it out of your head. It just keeps replaying in your imagination on a loop and the only way to get it unstuck is to pin it down on paper.

You need to figure out what the story is. You have a lot of disjointed scenes or lines that you know are connected but you can't quite figure out how.

There's something in the story that's important to you, and you don't want to lose that thing by forgetting it. Future you might find that thing important too.

You want to be able to go back to the story again and again. Maybe to make adjustments over time. Maybe just to revisit a story that gives you the emotional release you need in that moment.

You want to be able to use text-to-speech to read the story aloud to you. Maybe it's a bedtime story. Maybe it's keeping you company while you do errands and chores.

You want to find out whether you can write a story (because not everyone can).

You want to be able to have almost the same story, but a little bit different, and you want to have it 15 times with slight variations. Then you can go through your own personal menu picking exactly the combination of beats that will satisfy you most on this reading.

You enjoy the process of finding just the right words or phrases or scenes to paint the pictures you want to shape the scene.

You want to find the exact rhythm and syllables and structure to make a sentence really sing.

You don't really have any particular reason, but you know you want to write that story down.

#Writing #writing truth #writer truth

[purpledragonrp]

I don't really get all of the negativity towards the OP on this one. All they seem to want is for these other people to tag the one-liners that they're spamming the dash with. Why it that a bad thing? Isn't properly tagging things still a basic part of RP etiquette? And, I mean... maybe these people are their friends/partners/mutuals, so unfollowing isn't really something they want to do?

Anyway, I think I get where you're coming from, OP. I'm not regularly on my dash anymore, but if I were, I wouldn't want/enjoy a flood of posts like that either. If you don't feel comfortable asking them to tag (either on or off anon), and you can't unfollow them for whatever reason, then you might try some temporary blacklisting of their usernames when it happens? It's not ideal, but it'll do in a pinch. :)

That's assuming, of course, that they aren't ALWAYS spamming... in which case, you've probably got some choices that need to be made in order to best curate your space.

It's nice you guys have fun, but you're also spamming the dash now with one-liners that have no substance. You don't even create a dash game tag. Many people with slow dashes don't like their dash getting flooded by an entire one-liner circus.

#RPC Commentary

[purpledragonrp]

I want to start writing again more regularly. But writing hasn't come as easy for me since my dad died... I know it's not JUST that. There are other factors that all happened around the same time. But it usually comes back to him. How much I miss him, and all the regrets I have - things that weren't done... or said. Because I thought there was time... and there wasn't. There's so much I wish I'd done differently. After losing him it's like my drive to write - to create anything - just evaporated.

Sometimes I can grab it back for a moment or two, wrestle my words into compliance, but they never stay for long. The spark is still there... I can feel it flickering in the back of my head... I just don't know what it's going to take to ignite it... to get things back to how they were.

Maybe I'll never get that back again. Which is another loss of an entirely different kind. But I'm not going to give up on it. I have to keep trying - if only for myself.

#About Me #Queued

[purpledragonrp]

This kind of sounds like you're trolling, OP. Because, yeah - a lot of female OCs are ship-focused. However, so are a lot of female canons… and male OCs… and male canons, etc., etc. Female OCs just get a bad rap for some reason. And yet, some of my most interesting threads have been with female OCs.

The fact of the matter is, most people enjoy writing ships regardless of what kind of muse they write as. It's usually fun, and (generally-speaking) a lot easier to plot out than a thread that doesn't revolve around a ship. Of course, I'm not saying non-ship threads aren't fun, too. They totally can be depending on your partner and the muses involved. But, the point is, ships are fun and easy, and that's what a lot of us are here for - to have fun and relax. So why not cater to the things we enjoy most?

And just to be clear, I say this as a person who has muses across the board - male/female/etc. & OC/canon/canon AU. I'm always interested in ships, but I also try to let my partner dictate what they want out of an interaction. Because I know tend to gravitate towards shipping, I try very hard not to go into any thread assuming that's what my partner wants/expects unless we've discussed it beforehand.

But I digress. Your confession really does read like you wrote it specifically to try and get people upset in the comments. Why else would you make such a generically negative (and easily refutable) statement except to try and rile people up?

I can get people not liking female OC's because SO MANY are so ship/smut focused.

#RPC Commentary #Also - I'm a little sad to see this post has as many likes as it does. :(

[purpledragonrp]

🔹 Someone else's fiction cannot cause you physical harm.

🔹If someone else's fiction is causing you emotional or psychological harm, or distress, you can put it down and not read/watch it.

🔹Your emotional well-being is not the responsibility of fiction writers.

🔹Someone else's fiction is not about your personal trauma.

🔹When reading or watching fiction, you always have the power. You can always stop. You are never reading fiction without your own consent.

🔹Fiction writers are not responsible for other people's mental health.

🔹The content of a piece of fiction does not reflect on the morality of its author.

🔹Just because someone writes about bad things happening, doesn't mean they want those things to happen.

🔹Don't like? Don't read.

#Fandom PSA #RPC PSA #Writing

[purpledragonrp]

This honestly feels like such a shallow complaint/concern for someone to have. Why is 'stealing' a faceclaim something you should even be worried about... unless you know people are only following you for the face you use and NOT for your writing. In which case, why would you want them following you at all? Facechasers rarely make good writing partners.

want to know what the followers of coar think about people saying someone stole their fc. this is mainly for people who use alt fcs for canon characters. do you guys think an fc can be "stolen" like headcanons and ocs can? or do rpers not have any claim over fcs that others use? should people give credit if using the same alt fc for the same character? or is that taking rp too seriously? should people should be able to use whatever fc they want? thought!

#RPC Commentary

[purpledragonrp]

I'm sorry if you're being sincere, OP, but this honestly reads like a rage-bait post to me.

"I bet everyone will start RPing with bots within the next 5-10 years"

If you're not trying to rile people up, and you genuinely believe this statement, then I think you need to take a long, hard look at WHY you choose to roleplay rather than just write fanfiction, for example. Obviously, it's not for the social interaction if AI truly IS preferable to you. So, why use AI at all? Why not just write stories for yourself instead? Why do you need a bot to help you carry the story forward?

You also need to consider that you're probably not the norm when it comes to your reasons for RPing. Most of us are here for the social aspects of it; we take the good with the bad. In my experience, for every 'drama queen' there are ten more genuine writers who want to create stories with you. I'm sorry you've had a hard time finding those kinds of people, but they really are out there. I promise. :)

I finally caved and decided to play around with Character.AI. I hate to say it, but I like it a lot better than RPing with a real person. At least AI won’t ghost me or start drama with me. Only downside is it doesn’t allow NSFW content. I bet everyone will start RPing with bots within the next 5-10 years instead of RPing with each other and people will probably start blaming AI for “ruining RP” or something because they don’t want to admit that the RPC sucks and is full of soulless, backstabbing drama queens who don’t know how to communicate properly.

#RPC Commentary

[purpledragonrp]

I use to get a feeling like this from one of my partner's mutuals. Had her blocked and blacklisted - the whole shebang. Fast forward to a year later and that same person was the one who single-handedly caused the largest fandom drama I've ever had the misfortune of being involved in. I guess what I'm saying, OP, is trust your gut. If someone doesn't sit well with you and you're not sure why, don't try to reason it out. Just steer clear of them as much as you can; it'll probably save you a lot of trouble in the end.

It's super petty and I'm aware. I already have them blacklisted and blocked. I just can't fucking stand one of my favorite partner's mutuals. Everything about their muse and writing makes me roll my eyes. I can only go into so much detail but their presence in our fandom annoys me. I just needed to say it.

#RPC Commentary