#it's hard to explain what it is about tolkien's writing style that creates that effect

[nerdolopedia-blog]

The Importance of Histories in Fantasy Worlds

On some occasions I stumble into a fandom, get a glimpse, and walk out. This is either because I don’t find it as interesting or the fan base is incredibly intense. This is how I felt with The Lord of the Rings and Middle-Earth. I have seen all the movies (and at the time of writing not the extended editions) and read the Hobbit when I was younger. As I venture deeper into the world of fantasy writing, I have realized that I know very little about some of the roots of our modern day fantasy culture. So I started reading Lord of the Rings. At the time of writing I am nearly done with Fellowship of the Ring.

I now find myself way too deep to get out. It’s gotten to the point that I started looking up YouTube videos about the lore of Tolkien’s universe. I am even now motivated to get through the three volumes of Lord of the Rings simply so I can get to The Silmarillion. Why? Because I am obsessed with how deep the lore is in his universe. Not just that, but the amount of history the world seems to bleed. It made me realize something really important about worlds, one that I had only touched on because of player questions. Why do certain “man”-made things exist the way they do?

I have though hard on the ecologies of my world and work very hard at answering why certain natural things exist the way they do, because history has less impact on them. I only has impact in events that change habitats, and those are much quicker to answer. However for man-made structures this can become much more of a rabbit hole because there is so much history behind even a single ruin.

History Creates Meaning

I’m going to keep coming back to ancient ruins because it’s something that I love to work with. They are ancient places often shrouded in mystery with unknown creatures inhabiting them. They are places of danger and adventure. However slapping a ruin down in a location because you want to have that adventure is just lazy, and honestly will come off quite flat.

Adding history to the ruins will help you in constructing something far more meaningful and mysterious. I’m going to take the ruins of Osgiliath from The Lord of the Rings as my example. From various sources I uncovered that there is a history to the place, one that is actually really interesting and explains a lot about the motivations of individuals. It used to be a grand place that more or less had a large string of tragedies befall it until it withered, died, and then ruined. Why were the people of Gondor trying to fight for it? Because it had meaning to them. That meaning had a long history of those people.

If you have a place that is considered sacred, or a lost temple to some god, or even a lost mine, consider the history behind the place. This lets you build specific features into these locations. Perhaps the grove is sacred because during a long ago war, an Ent sacrificed itself to seal away an ancient evil and now a great tree rests where it fell, and that felling the great tree would unleash the evil. For a lost temple, why is it lost? Was there a massive rockslide that isolated it from the world or some event that cause the monks to seal themselves away? For a mine when was it lost? This would tell the style and age of garments. Did the mine collapse? Maybe the awakening of some ancient being caused the entrance to collapse sealing the workers inside. There is so much more I can expand on this but the more history you have to the place the more you can flush it out and make it seem real.

Past Conflicts Create Current Grudges

We all know that Dwarves hate Elves and Elves hate Dwarves, but why? As much as I would like to blame kale, it most definitely is not the reason. This is one of those common tropes we pull from Tolkien’s world without much thought as to why. If you dig into it Tolkien actually has an explanation. There is real history in their grudges, a series of events that lead to mutual distrust. Sticking in grudges for the sake of having grudges gives no depth and no emotion to those grudges and makes them out to feel empty and the character just like a jerk.

These past conflicts can be simple misunderstandings or breakdown of communications. By having it be a simple solution it is entirely possible to include this in your games to allow two groups to make amends or at least start down the road toward it. The past conflict could be central to your plot. Something like a disagreement over possession of a dangerous artifact that happened behind closed doors could lead to conflict, with the true reason being hidden from public view.

An Aside on Racism

In my example I use different races of people in these grudges. This will come off as racism and is a heated debate within the RPG community. Some insist on using it because its part of the history while others want to do away with it all together. I am using this example largely because it is the most well known grudges between two large groups of people to help me illustrate a point. I do not want to tackle the problems with racism in games in this article and I don’t believe I am qualified to be able to do the topic justice.

Characters Create History, and Vice Versa

Just like histories help flush out places, so do they create places for people. Too often when writing histories have I had to include a notable person(s). Often I will leave the name blank as I am working on the history as a whole, but they are key to that history. Who Gandalf the Grey and the Balrogs are gives great meaning to their motivations. A civil war cannot be fought because an adventure calls for it. It has to have people who are upset with what one faction is doing. The people have no reason to revolt if the King isn’t cruel or unwanted by the people. No one goes around thinking “You know, maybe we should have a revolution”.

Why don’t they think that? Because there is history leading up to strife. While people cause events to happen, those events affect other individuals. This is a never ending cycle of cause and effect that we call history. In reality if you look at our actual history, this is what happens ALL THE TIME. You want to get better at writing histories in your fantasy world, pick up a history book or go watch stuff on YouTube. Those can be more entertaining and consumable.

Now this isn’t the end of it. We also get the cases where historical events create a character down the timeline. A country that is punished for war crimes has someone just zealous enough who is suffering from the punishment that they rise up to create even MORE conflict. Sound familiar? If not that’s fine. This is basically what happened with Germany and the rise of Hitler.

Artifacts of the Past

This is the topic of history I feel I see the most of when it comes to RPGs. The idea is that the magic items and artifacts you find in game have a history to them. Heck Tolkien’s work does exactly that with several of the magic swords that they find. Glamdring, the sword that Gandalf carries, belonged to an ancient elven King. The goblins are even terrified of it. Why? Because that sword has a past, clearly the sword was used in some way against the goblins that THOUSANDS of years after its creation that they recognize it and fear it. When writing your histories think of significant objects that were used in the execution of events. Just look at Christianity. How many artifacts have come just out of the story of Jesus? The nails that stuck him to the cross, the crown of thorns, the spearhead that pierced his heart. Heck the Holy Grail is a prime example of this. History makes these artifacts a symbol of past events and potential shapers of the future. What about the story of Excalibur? I think I could go on for pages of actual historical artifacts but I hope you get my point.

This gets even more interesting when you start to introduce sentient magic items. When an item knows its own past and can inform the wielder of this past, this can create for some amazing story hooks for finding a magical sword buried in a ruin. This doesn’t mean that you need to create a history for every magic item. After all I don’t need a complete history of how a normal potion of healing is located at a shop. Or maybe it can, if you have the setting for it.

Technology Shapes History

In our world we are making constant advancements in technology. It is impossible to say that the advent of new technology would not shape its history. Since I have not delved that deep into the Tolkien universe I can’t say that I know of any examples directly from his world. However I will bring up a different universe that does: Avatar the Last Airbender. In it, there is a clear delineation of power (in the grand scheme of things) between the Fire nation and the other nations. While this does change over the course of the show, the history of the world showed that their advancements in technology (even if powered by relatively primitive means) gave them a leg up in conquering the world.

Now for some real world examples! One of the earliest examples (that I can recall) is the advent of the Chariot in its uses for war. It was a game changer because you could have two people riding for the price of one horse, a driver, and a bowman. If having to charge a bowman on foot wasn’t terrifying enough, now add the fact that they are in a large wooden cart being pulled by a horse AND they are shooting at you. Unless you have a chariot of your own there isn’t much hope of you catching them without dying. And thus the early arms race began! However that isn’t much the point. What this causes is a complete change in the way we fight wars, or get around for that matter. Chariots were created around a 1000 years before they became tools of war.

For something less war oriented let's look at one of my favorite: the printing press. This revolutionized our ability to spread information more reliably. Before the printing press we had to duplicate text BY HAND. For anyone who has written for long periods of time you know how painful this can actually be. I’m not sure I can actually quantify in words just how impactful the printing press is to society and yet it is a real question that we need to ask ourselves when creating our fantasy histories.

The Natural World Shapes History

For those who have even the slightest knowledge of history have probably heard the story of Pompeii, a roman city that was buried beneath the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D. While I am no historian, it is difficult to say that to a society that was so closely religious that the loss of Pompeii had no significance to the people of Rome. It could have been that the fall of Pompeii only solidified religious beliefs that the gods were willing to dole out punishment.

Since we exist in the natural world it is impossible to deny that it impacts our history. What foods are available, what natural disasters occur, what terrain is there that protects us (or lacks protection) from invaders? How many different flood stories come up in the various myths and legends? The ancient civilization of Egypt was centralized on the Nile river and much of their ways of life and belief systems stemmed from the river. Going back to Tolkien the ruins of Osgiliath were located on a river, that river plays into its history and defense.

Conclusion

History is a complex and mysterious topic that we struggle with in our real world. The benefit of writing a fantasy world is that you can fill in all the details even if you don’t bring them to light for your readers as these histories will impact portions of your world. Creating histories for existing elements of your world may help you determine the impact it has on other elements of your world as well. It brings a level of depth and immersion for the more curious players and readers in your world.

#History #fantasy #ruins #technology #characters #Lord of the Rings #Osgiliath #grudges #conflict #natural world

[c9sneaksen-blog]

A Deeper Look : Dreamer with thefandomambassador

Fluffiness comes, and fluffiness goes. Love can pick your heart up, make it flutter, put a smile on your face, and set you down once more on a tiny cloud where you can soak in the sunshine, and bask in the sweetness. But sometimes, just before that love comes to full potential, shadows of doubt can be manifested in ways that feel like nothing can shatter the cold that has grown walls around  your heart, preventing warmth from getting in. thefandomambassador, one of our most very talented and wonderful writers here at the blog took all of us on a journey with her enchanting story Dreamer. A tale of two hearts, one warm, and one grounded by cold. Perfect for each other, yet, conflicted by resistance and the fear of letting go. thefandomambassador let’s us in on the thought process behind Dreamer, and just how beautiful finding balance can be.

1.) Where did the idea for Dreamer come from? Could you share some insight on how you came up with the plot for this story?

A : Interestingly, Dreamer was more of the type of story in which you get the first line down and your imagination goes to work on the rest of it! I like to call it my Tolkien moment. When I was jotting down some random thoughts and notes for a new story, the opening line for Dreamer just randomly came to me. “Jensen wasn’t a dreamer”. Well, why wasn’t he a dreamer? Why didn’t he believe in wishes? The line intrigued me and I wanted to explore the concept more. I ultimately chose to reflect some of my own thoughts onto Jensen. I consider myself a realist and I often have a hard time believing in things. Why should I believe that someone could love me? Do dreams really come true? Should I waste my time on wishes if they’re not going to come true? I put these thoughts onto Jensen almost as a way to figure some things out for myself. In the plot, I decided that I wanted Jensen to have a little journey in his own mind where he can realize that he can be loved and dreams do come true. As I wrote, I just really let go. I wanted to convey that dream-like, slow and smooth feeling and I really just let my muse take over as I wrote.The rest of the scenes and anything in between came along as I wrote since I tend to be more of a spur of the moment writer!

2.) In the beginning, you start out with stating that Jensen is a realist, not a dreamer. Then in the next couple paragraphs, Jensen is kind of reinforcing this set of very strict morals and beliefs mentally. He also doesn't believe in wishes. Why does he hold himself to such hard standards?

A : I can’t say that I know Jensen personally or have seen even half of his personality and characteristics, but as I got more and more into Cloud 9 and Jensen as a player, I began to see these strict mental guidelines that Jensen built for himself. He has this perfectionism about him where he seems like he won’t be satisfied until he’s the best. This no-nonsense mindset that he has in game, I reflected into Jensen’s character in Dreamer.  He holds himself to these standards because he doesn’t want to face the pain of being let down or something not living up to what he thought it would be. In Jensen’s mind, he doesn’t allow himself to dream or wish anything because he figures that he will be let down in the end. He thinks that he’s saving himself from the pain of disappointment or heartbreak. Where I see Sneaky as the wearing his heart on his sleeve kind of guy, I see Jensen the type who always hides his feelings or emotions in fear of being less-than-perfect. He doesn’t want to mess up the mental utopia he has built around himself. Giving in to wishes or dreams would mess up the strict real world he has given himself and he doesn’t want to face that. This also comes from that “pessimistic perfectionist” mindset where he needs to have these hard standards in order to become the best possible.

3.) Seeing as how hard Jensen is on himself about being a realist, what is it then that triggers him sometimes to enter that warm and dreamlike state? He obviously also doesn't like the fact that as hard as he tries to fight it, he can lose his grip on reality.

A : Not to be a big sap here, but it’s Sneaky! I think a part of Jensen’s fierce and stubborn realism is because he know’s Sneaky is the dreamer. If he let’s go and succumbs to Sneaky’s almost gravitational pull, he knows he will be lost to the dreams. So Jensen’s dreamlike state in the beginning is when he’s drunk and his grasp on his strict guidelines is slipping as he is falling for Sneaky. Jensen knows he can easily become the dreamer that Sneaky is, but he’s too scared to let go. His dreamlike state is a mixture of a few too many drinks and the effect that Sneaky’s presence has on him. When Jensen finds himself slipping and losing himself to that feeling, he knows he has to get out of there and snap himself out of it before he does something stupid.

4.) The way you bring stars into this story, I have to say was really well done. Describing them to be as dragons, holding on to secrets that may not ever be revealed unless they become a supernova ready to explode. It painted such an amazing picture of just how turmoiled Jensen is over his feelings that it almost hurts to read. Why and how has Jensen managed to get to this place with his feelings? Why has it become so hard for him to deal with them?

A : Thank you! The stars were something that kind of slipped into my story without me realizing and then before you know it I had some symbolism there! Yeah, I wanted to portray a distinct difference between Jensen and Sneaky at that moment, so if Sneaky was associated with the warmth and dreams, then Jensen was the cold and untouchable. Jensen got in this place with his feelings because of his stubbornness. If Jensen just let go when he realized he was in love with Sneaky, he could go out and confess to him. However, the emotionally constipated dork he is, Jensen decided to let his feelings fester which always leads to some self-loathing. I have found that the longer you wait, the harder it gets to deal with feelings or emotions. To apply the overused euphemism, Jensen simply needed to rip the bandaid off and get it over with. However, that “star” inside of his just boiled and burned and left it all feeling worse than ever. It hurts Jensen to deal with it because the star is almost like a tumor now. It has been growing inside of him and it controls him. He needs to let it all explode. He’s all bottled up and needs to get these feelings out before it destroys him.

5.) Jensen and Sneaky’s dialogue in this story is so simple and sweet, and surrounded by so much detail and description, which in my opinion, made the dialogue so much more effective. Could you share some insight on your decision to write the story with this style? How important is it for the readers to be able to understand Jensen’s state of mind and inner conflict to truly be able to appreciate the beauty of the simplistic dialogue?

A : Ah, thanks for noticing! I actually used this as a bit of a study for me. I tend to rely on heavy dialogue a lot and I specifically tried to work on a more poetic and descriptive writing. I wanted to make this a very abstract style story with a lot of imagery. I find that stories like those can often connect the reader a lot better because it gives them direct control over the setting and scene. Their own minds are supplying images for the descriptions that I write, so it’s definitely a very intimate and personal writing style. I wanted to portray it like that because the story is a very deep look into Jensen’s mind. I wanted it to be clear that these were his thoughts and the reader was in his mind. There’s nothing more personal than seeing into a character’s thoughts so it’s a very delicate style and I’m very glad it came through so potently! It’s really important that the reader can connect with Jensen and effectively “see” through his thoughts. If I was not able to communicate Jensen’s inner dialogue and conflict, then the writing style would be lost on the reader. So if the reader can successfully make a connection with Jensen, then the simplicity speaks for itself. This style is definitely super-intimate so it tends to be very emotional and abstract, which is why I wanted to use it with this story!

6.) Just as you’ve contrasted reality and dream with cold and warmth, you’ve also contrasted Sneaky and Jensen – Sneaky as someone who does believe in things like miracles and wishes, and Jensen who doesn’t, a true realist. What does their differences contribute to Jensen’s inner turmoil overall?

A : Their differences are created by Jensen’s inner turmoil. Jensen effectively alienated himself from Sneaky in his stubbornness and as he built those wall around his mind. As their distance fluctuates throughout the story, you can see how their differences and contrast changes as well. In the beginning, the contrast isn’t as sharp because Jensen feels closer to Sneaky and he’s dropped his walls just a bit. Then outside is when Jensen feels the most distanced from Sneaky. He’s cold and lonely. Just him and the stars out there, two untouchable forces. So when Sneaky comes outside, he brings that warmth with him and they are closer to that equilibrium and ease of mind. The more guilty Jensen feels about him loving Sneaky, the more he desires to distance himself from him. The contrast is created by Jensen’s turmoil because his own stubbornness is hurting himself as he tries to deny his feelings.

7.) In many ways, Sneaky’s personality balances Jensen’s. The way you’ve written and created it is like the sun and moon, the warmth and cold, etc. And it’s almost as if saying one can’t exist without the other. But can you explain how important balance is for personalities such as theirs?

A : Ah yes, exactly! With the contrasts, I am trying to communicate that Sneaky is effectively Jensen’s “other half”. Balance is extremely important between Jensen and Sneaky’s personalities. Like I said in the above question, they need to reach that equilibrium in order to achieve that peace and balance. Jensen alone is too severe. Everything about him just screams cold and alienation. Sneaky alone is that sunny heat, but because Dreamer was more of Jensen’s story I didn’t take the time to explore Sneaky’s situation. If Jensen’s cold was threatening to freeze him, then I believe that Sneaky’s warmth very well could’ve burned him up as well. Every side has it’s own differences, but Sneaky was just as lost without Jensen as Jensen was lost without Sneaky. So they needed to balance these personalities before they could destroy themselves with it, which was an extremely important part of Dreamer. Sneaky brings that warmth to Jensen’s cold and together they can reach a perfect balance.

8.) Why do you think up to the very end, Jensen was trying to fight off that warmth that Sneaky brought to him? It’s like he very much wanted it, but he struggles so hard to let go of that grip on reality. Deep deep down, what is it that Jensen truly wants?

A : Ah, I’m sorry to say that I’ve cursed Jensen by reflecting my stubbornness onto him! Jensen, despite knowing he was going to lose that battle, had to try one last stand at fighting off what he had so painstakingly tried to avoid. Jensen had spent far too long hiding his feelings and denying himself from this that it was simply a force of habit for him to try to push away. It’s really hard for Jensen to let go of something that he had put so much work into holding onto. Of course, deep down Jensen just wants to love Sneaky and be loved in return. He wants to be able to be free from his cage that he put around himself. He doesn’t want to rely on the cold truth of reality, but he also doesn’t want to be lost to the warm fog of dreams. What he does want is that middle-ground with Sneaky where he can have a dream become reality. In Dreamer, Jensen curses the stars for holding secrets. It’s because he knows that he must go out on a line and actually wish or dream in order for the secret to be revealed. So metaphorically, the secret is whether or not Sneaky loves him back and the wish is Jensen confessing. He won’t be able to find out what the answer to the secret is without making a wish. Jensen’s struggle at the end is very important because it shows how he is able to get the strength to overcome his own mind and his doubt.

9.)  How important was it for Sneaky to finally kind of force that warmth onto Jensen and make that first move? I feel like Jensen would have been at odds with himself for eternity if it’d been up to him.

A : It’s very important for Sneaky to have done that! As we see when Sneaky first comes outside to join Jensen, Jensen is upset by his presence. He doesn’t want to face Sneaky, not after he just barely lost himself to the dreams. But in the classic Sneaky way, he pushes forward because he cares about Jensen. Sneaky knows Jensen’s limits and he knows how to read him like a book. Although Jensen’s mind may have told him that he didn’t want Sneaky out there, his heart was telling him that it was all he needed. It’s definitely a joined-effort to get this relationship going. Jensen is hurting too much to push past his defenses and he needs someone to help him. Sneaky is the obvious answer here, which is why him noticing Jensen leaving the party, coming out to find him, and knowing to bring the jacket means so much. The jacket is another kind of, unknowing metaphor that crept up on me. Jensen of course, insists on going outside in the middle of winter with no jacket and Sneaky knows him so fully and so perfectly that he brought the jacket. And not just any jacket, but his own jacket because he knows it will comfort and calm Jensen. And maybe the jacket and the warmth and the scent triggered something in Jensen so that he could find that bravery and finally let the ‘star’ explode. Jensen for sure could have been at war with his own mind for ages. Not that he didn’t love Sneaky enough to push through, but he needed that extra push from Sneaky, that sign of hope. Jensen needed some sort of validation because he thinks he isn’t enough and that no one could ever love him. The fact that Sneaky loves him and knows to come out and find Jensen when he disappears and to bring a jacket with him, means the world to Jensen and is the exact moment when he starts to let loose and allow himself to feel that love.

10.) What can we expect in the future of your writings?

A : Ah man, I have a lot in the future! My mind works faster than my actual body does, so I have a ton of ideas and half-written stories lying around. I will usually get out of random stories relating to what is going on in the eSports world, so if anything happens I might find a flash of inspiration and write something. I was actually going to write something for Worlds, but never got around to it because of my schedule, but if things slow down I might try to do a Worlds reflection story! I’m also about 7k in on a Sneaky/Jensen/Meteos fantasy soulmate AU, which does not receive very much attention from me, unfortunately, but hopefully I might actually do something with it someday. In the future, I want to experiment more with the abstract/poetic style of Dreamer so you might see another one coming like that! Otherwise, humor and fluff will always show it’s face when I write sneaksen (or any other ships in that case). I like to write AU’s a lot too, so I might mix it up a bit with one of those! (Harry Potter, apocalypse, modern wizard, high-school, marriage proposal and asexual Jensen are all some things I’ve been wanting to write!) Also, for anyone out there, I do take requests, so if anyone wants to see something specific from me, just send a message over my way and I will do my best to bring it to life through my writing! I’d also just like to say that this means the absolute world to me and thank you for the support and love for my writing! I’m so glad that my stories are being enjoyed and this feedback is just incredible! I will continue writing for sure and I hope to grow a whole garden of sneaksen in this awesome fandom!

A HUGE thank you to thefandomambassador for taking the time to let us in on the secrets behind this charming and beautiful story! Cannot wait for the next journey you’ll take everyone on!

To read Dreamer, click here.

#c9sneaksen #thefandomambassador #Dreamer #Sneaksen fic

[find-your-rp-partner]

I NEED YOU LIKE YOU NEED PEANUT BUTTER

Name: I go by Lontice or Atlas. I don't prefer one over the other, so take your pick c:

Age: I am an 18 (soon to be 19) year old college student. I, of course, understand that academic and work related responsibilities come first and foremost. Likewise, I'd greatly appreciate if you'd afford me the same courtesy.

Timezone: EST. However, be it that I am in college, I kinda run on my own timezone.. I am still very active throughout the day and partially throughout the nights. I'd only every really be gone a few days before a big assignment or towards finals, the usual; anything else and I'd tell you immediately c:

About Me: My favorite genres are mystery, drama, romance, and fantasy. Now, that is not to say I'm against participating in any role-play where those are not the focus points, just that I have a weak spot for those themes (and robots; can't go wrong with an epic robot, it's scientifically impossible).

When it comes to writing, my style leans heavily on witty or meaningful dialogue, flowery descriptions (I'm no J.R. Tolkien though), and sarcasm. Each of my characters has their own specially tailored way of thought and speech. I also like them to be as realistic as possible. If they're intended to be intelligent, then they'll use a lot of jargon, they'll be heavy on wording, and they'll have less dialogue and more thought-based text. If the character is a complete idiot, they'll talk a lot more, any thoughts will be simple and use only common words, and you can be sure their intentions will be a lot more straightforward.

Character design is incredibly important to me. I like them to be thought out, multilayered, have their own quirks and triggers, and more or less have a backstory that can explain their present behavior. I am always excited to learn about a character in the story as well as out of character. 

Fandoms or Originals: Originals all the way! They can be characters you've used before and want to further develop, or ones you created on the spot because you felt like experimenting with a different set of traits. As long as you're happy with them, it's fine with me. Besides, if they don't work out, we can always just find some creative way to kill them off and implant a new character to take their place, bwahaha!! Or, you know, be lame and make them skip town I:

Paragraphs or Dialogue: Third person, paragraph format. My favorite format. The only format! I don't necessarily care how much you write, just how much content you've managed to stuff in there. I love to write, but if I don't have anything to react to, I'm going to spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to slap something together only to present you with a sloven mess. At my best, I can write seven pages worth of material; at my worst, I've written a meager, half page.

I'm really not all that hard to please! I only ask that your writing is at least comprehensible (mistakes happen to the best of us), that you only give me a response you're happy with, that you contribute to the plot, and that you'll throw me a bone once in a while and have your characters ask my characters questions (it'll honestly make me the happiest person in the world).

What I’m Looking For: This one is a bit tricky, because I'm searching for two specific things at the moment, and I am simply dreadful at conveying my thoughts properly (this ad alone took me over two weeks to finish).

a.) First and foremost, a long-term rp partner, someone who is willing to speak out of character. Bring me your awkwardness, tell me your troubles, share your interests and sense of humor! I've found that friends make the best role-players (at least, for me), and I'm always thrilled to learn about someone new.

b.) Secondly, a role-play partner (doesn't have to be long-term) who will finish this gosh darn rp with me. It's been collecting dust for a year now, and I need to put an end to it before this thing drives me crazy; I'm quite literally having a Tell-Tale Heart episode over here.

To keep things short, it's a mystery-fantasy involving my character, Blair, a blind witch with a severe case of amnesia. Though she's perfectly content being a guitar tutor in Paris, she has a bit of a problem.. Her past-self used a spell that broke her soul into pieces and essentially gave her a bizarre case of split personality disorder. One of these personalities wants to find someone willing to lift the spell and restore Blair to her former self, but of course, this personality is a bit more deceiving than she lets on and will do just about anything to get your character to take her side instead of the other's.

If you're interested in helping my with this demon, please let me know c:

Do's and Don'ts: Like the rest of humanity, I've got a breaking point. For heaven's sake, please don't be a one-liner and/or godmodder.. If your character is an angle/demon/elf hybrid with an angsty past and the ability to see people's "true intentions" and manipulate time, then they're way too much for me XD Believe me, I've already role-played with someone along those lines before; I'm not ready for round two. Now, if your character is a healthy mix of strengths, weaknesses, backstory, and personality, then we're going to be a-okay!

Don't ghost on me. Please? Look, if you're going to go through all the trouble to contact me, correspond back and forth, and presumably start an rp, then maybe take a little time to tell me if you need to take a break for a while. A day without a word from you? Cool, no problem. A week? That's strange, but I'm sure your schedule is way too busy for you to have sent me a quick: "lawlz, be back in X amount of time!" A whole month and I'm going to assume you no longer want to talk. I've waited nine months at one point for someone's response only to have my partner reply with the most incomprehensible one-liner I've ever seen. The soul crushing effects it had on me are indescribable; I 'bout lost my flipping mind. Just, don't ghost, 'kay? Communication is vital.

Now, I usually end up carrying the rp. I get bored easily, so I might end up killing someone here, amputating an arm there, maybe even make one of my characters go psycho insane and plot against your character somewhere along the lines. As much as I love creating conflicts and sharing ideas about how to better improve the plot, it gets tiring to always be the one doing all the work. I'd like to enjoy the story and be the one reacting once in a while...

Be honest! If you've got a problem with how the rp is going, or you just don't think things are going to work out, simply tell me! I'm more than happy to work things out and make everything more enjoyable for the both of us. I will never meet honesty with hostility.

Contact: Ultimately, I use google doc to write the actual rp, but I use gmail or skype to talk out of character.

My email and skype are the same: [email protected]

Tell me a bit about yourself! What's your writing style? Do you have a role-play horror story? Any do's or don'ts of your own? Heck, what's your favorite ice cream flavor? Don't pick strawberry though; fruits don't belong in desserts, and I will fight you on that one XD

Thanks for reading this far, and I look forward to hearing from you c:

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