- Posting Speed
- One post per day
- 1-3 posts per week
- One post per week
- Slow As Molasses
- Writing Levels
- Give-No-Fucks
- Intermediate
- Adept
- Advanced
- Adaptable
- Preferred Character Gender
- Male
- Female
- Primarily Prefer Male
- No Preferences
H O L I D A Y S
It's the holidays! Whether you celebrate something or not, December tends to vary on the busier side of the year. Busiest, most likely. With people scrambling from store to store gathering presents for loved ones, then people running from house to house congregating to celebrate whatever holiday they choose to celebrate. Regardless of creed, color, or class, many often settle down for the beginnings of winter to appreciate the ones around them or to get away from the stress of the world.
For the residents of Chicago, the beginning of December signifies the start of one of the most hectic parts of their adult lives before allowing themselves the time to slump away from the world. For teenagers and college students, December usually means throwing everything in the closet, locking it shut, and letting all that stress of finals and grades melt away. For children, well, for children it means presents!
For you, well, it honestly depends: whether you intend to visit family; get that last minute shopping done; find that one person you love; scramble for a date to show your parents you aren't a lonely hobo; dread the arrival of siblings; or lock yourself away from the world. And whatever you celebrate, it doesn't matter because everyone's coming together in one way or another.
It's the holidays.
What are they for if not the miracle of humanity itself? To maybe do good for a month. Or perhaps to find unity within one another. To find a family, regardless of blood.
For the residents of Chicago, the beginning of December signifies the start of one of the most hectic parts of their adult lives before allowing themselves the time to slump away from the world. For teenagers and college students, December usually means throwing everything in the closet, locking it shut, and letting all that stress of finals and grades melt away. For children, well, for children it means presents!
For you, well, it honestly depends: whether you intend to visit family; get that last minute shopping done; find that one person you love; scramble for a date to show your parents you aren't a lonely hobo; dread the arrival of siblings; or lock yourself away from the world. And whatever you celebrate, it doesn't matter because everyone's coming together in one way or another.
It's the holidays.
What are they for if not the miracle of humanity itself? To maybe do good for a month. Or perhaps to find unity within one another. To find a family, regardless of blood.
R U N D O W N
The idea behind this particular RP would be akin to something like Love Actually or the multitude of multi-character romantic comedies out there (Valentine's Day, New Years). Love Actually is the closest one just because it's based near Christmas—maybe even Death at a Funeral if you're feeling particularly cheeky. It'll essentially surround a group of people—how many I don't know yet—that are somehow interconnected with each other by some means, regardless of creed or culture or religion or what have you (on that note, please no arguments regarding religion or politics, as this is meant to be a lighthearted roleplay). That would take some OOC collaboration on our part, but connecting our characters shouldn't be hard to do. And if anything, I'll throw in some hoops plot wise to get people together in some fashion, so no one's left out. I wouldn't be a GM if I didn't otherwise.
I really wanted a modern roleplay that wasn't set in a High School or Academy because there are plenty of those. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with them, I'm just in too many of them, at the moment, and I'm feeling something broader, in a sense.
If anyone is confused as to where this is set: the area is Chicago (whether that's the suburbs outlying the city or the city itself is entirely up to you) present time, so the end of 2015, going into 2016. I don't have a set ending to the RP, so it could very well go past the end of Kwanzaa (which is January 1st) and start into New Years and maybe end on Valentine's Day, who the hell knows? That is, if anyone here is celebrating that. I didn't want to narrow it down to just Christmas because there are plenty of amazing holidays out there. That's something I'm willing to talk about, though, because if it's easier for everyone to follow, then I'll limit it to one holiday. I'll put which holiday up to a vote, though.
I really wanted a modern roleplay that wasn't set in a High School or Academy because there are plenty of those. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with them, I'm just in too many of them, at the moment, and I'm feeling something broader, in a sense.
If anyone is confused as to where this is set: the area is Chicago (whether that's the suburbs outlying the city or the city itself is entirely up to you) present time, so the end of 2015, going into 2016. I don't have a set ending to the RP, so it could very well go past the end of Kwanzaa (which is January 1st) and start into New Years and maybe end on Valentine's Day, who the hell knows? That is, if anyone here is celebrating that. I didn't want to narrow it down to just Christmas because there are plenty of amazing holidays out there. That's something I'm willing to talk about, though, because if it's easier for everyone to follow, then I'll limit it to one holiday. I'll put which holiday up to a vote, though.
R U L E S
1. All Iwaku rules apply!
2. Anything sexual is permitted, but I do ask that if you do engage in sexual content to fade to black and take it to conversations. I simply don't want anyone getting in trouble regarding things like age and stuff. So pay attention to those stars, folks.
3. Keep language mild. Don't go overboard.
4. Make your characters three-dimensional; no Mary Sues/Gary Stus and the like. In the miscellaneous section of your character sheets, put in the word banana and make it look fancy.
5. I'd label this a romantic comedy, so, uh, keep things realistic.
6. An extension of five: don't be too dark, since this is a lighthearted roleplay. Tragic backstories are fine, but don't make that the core of your character.
7. Don't speed post. Keep at least 2-3 people between your posts. If two characters are having a conversation, take it to PMs, combine all that dialogue into one post and have one of you post it.
8. My word is law, so please adhere to it. If not, I'ma give you a warning. I'll give you two before I boot you.
9. This is intermediate, so I do ask that each of you have a basic grasp of the written language. Quality over quantity, but I doubt you can give a quality post with one sentence, so keep it above 5 sentences per post.
10. I do ask that, at the top of your post, you tell us where your character(s) is/are and to tag the players they're interacting with.
11. You can have as many characters as you'd like, but if I were to put a cap, then 4 is reasonable (I'd count entire families as one character. I ask that characters below 14 be attached to a family). There's no real cap, so you can go over 4 if you think you can handle it.
12. Have lots of fun and be nice to each other. If you have anything offensive to say, I'd kindly like you to keep your shit to yourself. I won't tolerate douchebaggery.
2. Anything sexual is permitted, but I do ask that if you do engage in sexual content to fade to black and take it to conversations. I simply don't want anyone getting in trouble regarding things like age and stuff. So pay attention to those stars, folks.
3. Keep language mild. Don't go overboard.
4. Make your characters three-dimensional; no Mary Sues/Gary Stus and the like. In the miscellaneous section of your character sheets, put in the word banana and make it look fancy.
5. I'd label this a romantic comedy, so, uh, keep things realistic.
6. An extension of five: don't be too dark, since this is a lighthearted roleplay. Tragic backstories are fine, but don't make that the core of your character.
7. Don't speed post. Keep at least 2-3 people between your posts. If two characters are having a conversation, take it to PMs, combine all that dialogue into one post and have one of you post it.
8. My word is law, so please adhere to it. If not, I'ma give you a warning. I'll give you two before I boot you.
9. This is intermediate, so I do ask that each of you have a basic grasp of the written language. Quality over quantity, but I doubt you can give a quality post with one sentence, so keep it above 5 sentences per post.
10. I do ask that, at the top of your post, you tell us where your character(s) is/are and to tag the players they're interacting with.
11. You can have as many characters as you'd like, but if I were to put a cap, then 4 is reasonable (I'd count entire families as one character. I ask that characters below 14 be attached to a family). There's no real cap, so you can go over 4 if you think you can handle it.
12. Have lots of fun and be nice to each other. If you have anything offensive to say, I'd kindly like you to keep your shit to yourself. I won't tolerate douchebaggery.
So here's the character sheet. I ask that you use all of the sections I provided, but you can detail them however you want. I just need to know these particular things. I also don't care what you add onto it.
Tell me if I'm missing anything.
C H A R A C T E R
A P P L I C A T I O N
[Insert Picture Here; Real Life Only; Actor; Model]
Name
Alias/Nickname
Age
Gender
Sexuality
Occupation
Physical Appearance
You can break this up into height, weight, eye color, etc. if you so choose or lump it all together into one paragraph. I personally like to put things like dress wear and stature and how they move and speak here.
Distinguishing Features
What stands out. This can be eye color, freckles, blemishes, scars, tattoos, etc. They don't have a leg? That information goes here.
Ethnicity
Where are they from? Are they Chinese Americans or are they immigrants with a family directly from China? Are they Jewish, German, French? Be reasonable here, though. It's pretty much the things that stand out the most. So if they're 1/18th Cherokee, that's not really something that's all too important in this section. Maybe a nice tidbit of info you can express in the IC, but keep this thing to the two main ethnicity that fully represents them.
Holiday
What they celebrate during December, be it Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, what have you.
Family
Friends
Boyfriend/Girlfriend
Other Relationships
Anything from coworker to boss to family friend to enemy or fellow student. Whatever you feel.
Location
Where they currently reside in Chicago. I ask that you keep this near South Side Chicago. Look at a map! I research all the time; it's a part of writing. Keep in mind that this denotes your character's class and wealth. If they live in Hyde Park, it's likely that they're rather wealthy, affluent individuals.
Here's some help: South Side, Chicago
That'll give you a run down on which areas would likely house who. It's not the most necessary thing, but I'd like to keep things realistic.
Personality
Do give me at least one paragraph. If you prefer to list things off, then you can, but I'd ask that you give me a run down of each listed personality trait. They don't have to be a paragraph each, but if I were to combine each section, then I should be able to consider it a paragraph or more.
Likes
Dislikes
Aspirations
What do they want out of life? This can be long term or short term in relation to their goals.
Biography
At least two paragraphs of what their life has been like and where they're at now.
Miscellaneous
Anything that can't fit into the other sections. This is where you put random tidbit about your character. Are they allergic to shellfish? Do they have any pets? Did they do anything you'd like to specially note here, such as touched Beyonce's foot at a concert?
S E C O N D A R Y
C H A R A C T E R S
This is pretty much for characters that are associated with one of your characters, but isn't integral to the plot enough to merit an entire character sheet. Use this if you have no intentions of making family members actual characters, but do still intend to use them. Also, use this for any character under the age of 14. They're essentially NPCs that only you control.
[Insert Picture Here; Again, Real Photos Only]
Name
Age
Gender
Ethnicity
Relation to Character
Are they a family friend, are they their mother or father or child or sibling?
Occupation
Location
Personality
This can literally be as long as you'd like it to be. If you prefer to list things, you don't have to describe how that relates to how they act.
Miscellaneous
Anything you deem important and necessary. Also just weird tidbits and idiosyncrasies maybe.
C O N C L U S I O N
Because it looks weird without it.
That's everything! :D Please, feel free to ask me any questions or what have you. Or just chat. I don't care. I like to do that. Chatting is fun and awesome. Yes!
And feel free to give me suggestions. I don't bite. Like. Unless you want me to? I dunno.
Also, I haven't seen Love Actually, so you don't need to watch shet to know what to do. Well, maybe you should have a solid grasp of romantic comedies, but other than that, no, nothing required, really. I've watched so many rom-coms it hurts, though. Jesus.
If anyone wants to be my Co-GM, who knows, I may accept your offer. It depends, though. I might not pick one until a little later.
Oh, and just so everyone knows, if they're gonna read through this whole thing, that, while I did set the homes of each character to be in the South Side of Chicago, that's definitely not going to be the only place we're allowed to go. You can venture anywhere within Chicago and it's outskirts, if you so wish. I'll probably be basing things in surrounding areas to get everyone close together, though. Such as a mall or Navy Pier or Chicago's Magnificent Mile and the surrounding Michigan Avenue or Millennium Park, where the Bean is.
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