Roleplay: The World Inside

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chaosheart13

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History

In the year 20XX, the Internet VR headset was created to allow people to have a better, more fun experience when it came to using social media and roleplaying sites. The Internet VR headset, however, had unforeseen consequences that would change the entire world.

While exploring the vast space known as the Internet, it was discovered that there were people living inside it. Actual people, made of data. They took the forms of a writer's and artist's imaginations and formed communities that, until then, had remained hidden to the outside world. The revelation stunned many and, as the world initiated contact with them as if they were an alien species, people raced to discover more about these creatures within the Internet. Forget space, the Internet was the next frontier that mankind just had to conquer.

Slowly the world began to adjust living with these imaginary people that were created by writers, artists, and roleplayers. The real world where humanity lived became known as Reality, while the Internet…well, remained being called the Internet. But still, the distinction was there, and mankind began to set up governmental systems for each website. These came to be known as city sites, the vast majority of these Internet people coming from art, writing, or roleplay sites.

As time went on, distinctions began to be made and categories created to separate the people from those from the Internet. The artists, the writers, the roleplayers, they all became known as Caretakers for being the ones responsible to take care of the people they created. Those that lived under a Caretaker's rule became known as Charges. For those that did not have a Caretaker or anyone that would be willing to take care of them, they became known as Wisps. The classification for Wisps fell into two types, Palette and Wireframe.

It is now 2098 and nearly the beginning of the turning of the century. Fashion trends had come and gone, politics were still discussed, and the Internet VR headset upgraded and modified to accommodate the many people that now used the headset to communicate with the people that lived inside the Internet. But even then, there are still many things to discover within the Internet world.

The setting here is none other than IwakuRoleplay itself. In the future, the site had grown and flourished under the many different admins and mods that ran the site. Here, everything seems to be at peace, where one can gather with their Charges to create a story together. Of course, there are the Wisps that would act as NPCs to the population by running shops and the like, along with Wisps without a home to call their own. But the setting isn't limited to Iwaku itself. Many Charges visit from other city sites and the roleplaying site has become somewhat of a tourist attraction due to its history. Every day, there's always something happening within the city site. What will you discover?



Introduction

Hello and welcome to Roleplay: The World Inside! This is set in a little universe I made for a novel/novella I had been writing. Here, players come together with any characters they have created in order to create an expanding and immersive world for everyone to enjoy. You can either play as "yourself" or as one of the Charges people have created. The only limit to anything is your imagination. If you can make it with your imagination, you can create it. There's many things to discover in this open world. What will you discover?



GM(s)

@chaosheart13



Rules

All Iwaku rules apply.

No godmodding or metagaming.

You can have only one Caretaker character. However, there is no limit to the amount of Charges one can have. Please be reasonable and don't create too many characters if you can't handle it.

Please be civil with one another and don't cause OOC drama. If need be, take it to PMs.

Please be respectful to the GM(s) and listen to anything they have to say. Also, come to the GM(s) if you have a question and it'll be answered as soon as possible.

You must post at least one paragraph of content in the IC, paragraph can be three sentences at a minimum. Also, no chatspeak and check for spelling and grammatical errors. I know not everyone knows English well, but please make an effort to spell and use grammar correctly.

Cursing is allowed. Just keep in mind that not everyone is comfortable with it.

Romance is allowed, but if you want to do something that involves overly sexual content, that needs to be taken into the PMs. Or you can fade to black, either one works.

There will be periodic GM posts from time to time to keep the flow of the rp going if it seems like its going nowhere. Just wanted to let people know.

You cannot play as a Wisp. They are the NPCs of this universe, so to speak. You can, however, play a Charge whose Caretaker is offscreen.

Please do not post in the IC until the GM(s) have approved your app.

If one breaks the rules, that person of question will be given a warning. If the problem persists, then they will be removed from the rp.

Fellow GMs must follow the above rules and not abuse their power. They will first receive a warning, then, if the problem persists, be removed as a GM and from the rp.

Most of all, have fun!



Terms

4th​ Wall: A wall that separates the city site from the created world that result from writing or roleplaying.

Adoption: Creating a Charge to be sold to others or just be given for free.

Blank slate: A character without much personality and are, for the most part, completely helpless to do anything.

Caretaker: Someone who creates characters and then roleplays with them, or perhaps simply draws art or writes stories of.

Charge: A character for a roleplay, drawing, or writing.

City site: Websites to the people from Reality, but literal cities to the characters living in that city. Oftentimes, for the Wisps and Charges, the name of the website is shortened and called something else Ex. IwakuRoleplay -> IwaRo

Creative muse: The motivation to create something artistic from nothing. Tends to be invisible and allows people to see their own Charges that are visiting Reality.

Erasure: Deletion of a character. Erasure is a very painful process, with the character in question turning into bits of data before disappearing.

Flesh out: To give a personality to a Charge.

Home: A roleplay group for the Caretakers, a boarding house for the characters that were created specifically for that group.

Internet: A massive network connecting to computers all around the globe. This network is a whole different world and home to the Internet beings, both Wisp and Charge.

Palette: A Wisp that is not just outlines and are filled with color. These tend to be the middle to lower class.

Portal to Reality: ERROR. ERROR. THIS INFORMATION IS HIGHLY CLASSIFIED. ANY SUBJECT KNOWN TO USE THIS WILL BE TERMINATED.

Reset: To change a Charge's past, look, or something else in order to fit them into a story they are not originally from.

Reality: The world Caretakers live in, separate from the city sites. In other words, the real world.

Splitting: Taking inspiration from one's Charges to create a new Charge.

VR headset: A virtual reality headset designed to immerse the people using the Internet into an almost lifelike experience whenever they come on the Internet.

Wisp: A character not owned by a Caretaker.

Wisp catcher: The official police force that also acts as a detective agency to the people inside the Internet. They handle crime that occurs in the city sites.

Wireframe: A Wisp that is made up of only black outlines and nothing else. They happen to be see through, the black outlines the only indicator that they're there. Most are seen as the very poor of the city sites.

World: A world created by an artist, writer, or roleplayer that is separate from the city site and the Internet as a whole. The worlds created act as a home away from home, where the Charges experience life in a constant loop from a certain scene.

Zone: A section of a city site that is based on the genres the city site has.



Background Information

  • The type of governmental system in this particular city state is a republic. At the head is the prime minister. He is voted in by the representatives that represent the people. All governmental positions are held by Charges, regardless of their background. Behind the scenes are the mods and admins that keep the site running smoothly. Meanwhile, the prime minister, the representatives, and the judges make sure that appropriate laws are passed at to uphold those laws, though the laws are more for the Charges rather than the Wisps. Usually, it's the Charges that hold these positions of power.
  • This system was created some time after humans from Reality discovered that there was another world that was inside the Internet. For this system, people are able to create their own beings and bring them to life. These are the Charges, and only people from Reality have this kind of power to create life.

    To create a Charge, there is a special room with various tubes used to color the Charge and several terminals that artists, writers, or roleplayers use in order to create one. They have complete freedom over their creation. If one wanted to use a predetermined picture, they would slide it in a slot on one of the terminals and work from there. For writers or roleplayers who use written description, they simply type out what their Charge looks like and several machines are used to create the Charge in question. If the character is still fleshing out, one may put the Charge in question in a storage room that acts as a cryo chamber. The Caretakers can decide whether or not to use the VR headset to create Charges. If not using the headset, it's just creating artwork or writing something down, without seeing what's going on in the Internet world.

    When Charges are made or when a Caretaker takes in a Wisp, they need to be registered under the system that was set up long ago when the first city sites were established. When registered for the first time, Charges are given ID cards with their face and name on it, as well as a serial code number. The ID is used to make sure to separate Charges from Wisps and must be used for going out, whether it be going to work, heading to a restaurant, going shopping, etc. A Charges ID and their registration as Charges under the system have to be refreshed every few years in order to continue being a Charge.

    A Caretaker's word is absolute. Even though Charges have free will and may protest, sometimes the Caretaker dictates how they live their life. Naturally it does affect their Charges, but in the end, the decision is left to the Caretaker. Relationships between Caretakers and Charges vary. Some are doted upon while others are treated coldly, it all depends. Caretakers are also the only ones, aside from the Wisp catchers, that can Erase. However, they can only Erase their own Charges, not anyone else's. Erasure usually happens when the Caretaker has either grown bored of the character and/or can't seem to find a place to put them in. Just as Caretakers can create life, they can also make a Wisp one of their Charges if the Wisp so desires.

    Although, they can change a Charge to their very whim, putting them in alternate universes and the like, changing up their backstory, their personality, anything they can think of. This process is known as Reseting, where anything about a Charge can change. This is seen as terrifying to most Charges, but a fact of life to people from Reality.
  • Caretakers are generally the flesh and blood of an Internet site. As long as Caretakers keep creating, then the site will continue to draw in people. Without Caretakers, creative sites usually crash and burn.

    A Caretaker's avatar, when entering the Internet world, wears the clothes Caretakers wear in real life. However, one can customize their avatar using various clothes shops that are largely run by Wisps. These customization stay on the avatar when the Caretaker logs out. While accessories are allowed, a Caretaker can't have the body parts of another species. The avatars need to be strictly human.

    Caretakers usually earn Internet money by drawing artwork of their Charge, writing stories or poems about their characters, or just simply making a roleplay post with them. The amount earned varies from city site to city site. But sometimes, the amount of money they make is not enough and so their Charges have to take side jobs in order to live. City sites that are similar to each other, like two roleplaying sites, have the same currency. Meanwhile, the currency is different if the categories for the site is different, like a roleplaying site with an art site.

    When meeting another Caretaker, the face is usually shown as featureless, without eyes, nose, mouth and the likes, to protect one's identity and encourage anonymity. However, if they so choose, Caretakers can choose to show their real face to others that they trust. Beware if you do this, however, for who knows what might happen when you show yourself to others with bad intentions. Charges of a Caretaker can see what their own Caretaker's face is like, but the face will be featureless when seeing other Caretakers, once more to protect anonymity.

    There are several different places Caretakers and other people of Reality can interact with. One are chatrooms, where its shown as a large room that Caretakers can bring their Charges into with the VR headset. There are some refreshments available in these chatrooms to make the Charge's stay welcoming. Another is threads; here, Caretakers can send messages to each other through an interface, much like a computer. And finally, there are the instant messaging systems. These act like a city site of their own, though the places are usually represented by whatever color the instant messaging site uses. It its much like the chatrooms in this regard, except on a larger scale.
  • Charges are automatically registered under the governmental system upon their birth. They are given an ID card to separate them from Wisps. When born, Charges are usually told by another Charge or the Caretaker themselves about what to expect and explain to them everything they need to know about the world they live in. When told to a Charge whose setting does not match the current technology used, they are encourage them to feign ignorance and pretend that that level of technology doesn't exist.

    Charges cannot age, although if thrown into a setting where they are a different age than they were born with, they can shift between ages. Same thing happens with their sex if thrown into a setting where they turn into the opposite sex, along with shifting into the different species they become if thrown into a setting where they're species is different. They keep all the powers that result from these changes. Charges can die, as long as it's not aging. They tend to leave a body for several days before collapsing into paint.

    On that note, Charges can come together to have children. The children will age, as they are not registered in the governmental systems until the parents see fit to register them under the system. Most wait until they're old enough to handle themselves before registering them. Charges can also come together with Wisps to procreate. It is currently largely unknown whether Charges and Wisps can procreate with a person from Reality.

    Charges are affected by the story or roleplay they're put in, no matter what. Though Charges can choose whether or not to relive the memory of a story or roleplay, they are still very much affected and could possibly have PTSD if they a thrown into hard situations.

    Outside of roleplays, stories, or artwork, Charges tend to go to school or get a job if it suits them. They live life normally similar to how people in Reality live, but with more advanced technology that is created through the imagination. They can choose to live out in the Internet or within their own world created for them. There are teleporters situated in Homes and in the house they are given when a Caretaker becomes a Caretaker for the first time that lead to the worlds they come from.

    In areas where roleplay happens, Charges are sent to a place called Home that acts as a boarding house for them. Here they can mingle with the other Charges that were also put in the Home, though they're still very much connected with the house given to Caretakers. They can choose whether or not to live in the Home, though it's common courtesy to do so. Though if they live in a city site that is an instant messaging system, there are no Homes to stay in.

    Sometimes Charges choose to stay in the world that was created for them, rather than intermingling with other Charges within the Internet world that serves as a link between their world and Reality. There, they live life that's stuck in a loop, forever playing out a regular day within the world they live in. Traveling to the world created for them is simple, there are teleporters located within their Home or within the house given to a Caretaker that can be used to transport them into their world. Time stands still when in that world and only seems like a few minutes have passed when they return to the Internet world.
  • Wisps are born from the abyss, a place no one really knows about other than a few rumors surrounding it. The most Wisps can remember about the place is that it's pitch black and that they weren't fully conscious until they are born. Wisps are born as ideas created from people's imagination. Some are born from clichés like a cloaked figure, while other times the imagination is specific and the person doesn't realize that they just created a Wisp. Wisps created in the latter method tend to remember who their creator is.

    There are two kinds of Wisps, Palettes and Wireframes. Wireframes are made of black lines and are generally see through, not transparent, but completely see through. They have much weaker immune systems than Palettes and Charges and, as a result, tend to die fairly quickly. They are usually the poorest of the poor and are largely discriminated against. Palettes, meanwhile, look like regular Charges, with color filling their outlines. Most are either poor to middle class, though there are some upper class Palettes.

    A Wisp's lifespan is dependent on whether or not the Wisp is a Palette or Wireframe and by the species a Wisp is. Usually, when they die, Wireframes turn into black string while Palettes turn into splashes of paint. Bodies can be recovered, but the recovery team needs to move fast in order to preserve the body.

    While Caretakers don't really create Wisps, they can take a Wisp under their care and make them officially their Charge. On the flip side, a Charge could leave its Caretaker and become a Wisp. This usually only happens if the Caretaker has been gone for a long time. Wisps cease to age when becoming a Charge, while when Charges become Wisps, they start aging again after a few years once the system registers them as a Wisp.
  • Police and detectives rolled into one, Wisp catchers are the ones to deal with Wisps on a day to day basis. Usually, they are handed out missions concerning the catching of a Wisp in question and are usually given a general profile of their target. They then track them down through various means. It depends on whether they let the Wisp they caught go or Erase them from existence. Wisp catchers have all sorts of fancy gadgets to use when catching a Wisp, like nets and tasers. However, it comes out of their paycheck, so the gadgets are rarely used. Though each Wisp catcher works on their own separate cases, in case of terrorism, they are called to combat the individual terrorist. Wisp catchers are paid both in Internet currency of the city site they work with and in real life.
  • Though Charges and Wisps can be writers or artists, they cannot become a Caretaker. That is strictly for the people of Reality. No one knows why they can't become a Caretaker of their own, but that is the way things simply work.

    Charges that belong to a certain fandom are, interestingly enough, also seen within the Internet. The thing is, they have their own face and personalities that may mirror the fandom character. They also have a mask of the person they are imitating and wear it whenever the need to roleplay said fandom character arises. Multiple fandom characters that are the same person from canon can be created. Many suffer a sort of identity crisis when it comes to portraying their fandom character.

    Some Charges are created for the purpose of being sold to or gifted to another person. This process is called adoption. What currency is used for the adoption is dependent on the city site and its views on adoption. For example, an art site would welcome and constantly trade and sell the adoptables to another person, while for a pure roleplaying site the idea of adoption is not really heard of and most don't really practice the trade. Some can view this as slavery, but in the end it's a part of life.

    Sometimes a Caretaker gets an idea from one of the Charges they have and use that to create a new Charge. This is a process known as splitting and does not harm the Charge that the inspiration is taken from. The newly created Charge might be born from a desire or a personality or even an appearance. Charges born from this process are still very much their own character.




Areas of Note

Bullet train stations: This bullet train connects the different sections of the metropolis, allowing everyone to get to where they need to go. It also extends to other city sites.

Iwaku airport: A majority of tourists come from here from a different city site.

Slums: This is where the majority of the poor live. Crime is at an all-time high here, naturally.

City plaza: The heart of the city, it is surrounded by shops.

Residential area: This is where a majority of the middle class Charges live.

Skyscraper district: A section where tall apartment buildings that reach for the skies exist. Each skyscraper has hundreds, if not thousands of rooms available. A good majority of Wisps with jobs live here.

Governmental district: This is where all the main governmental buildings are, which also includes the Wisp catcher HQ.

Wisp catcher HQ: Where Wisp catchers are given their tasks and where all data on Charges and Wisps are kept.

Admin area: This is where the Charges of moderators and admins live. It's also a place where admins and mods can discuss issues about the city site in general.

Charptopia: A large expanse of land where people from Reality can come together to chat. There are many different chatrooms on there with many different features. Charges can come with their Caretakers here if they so desire.

Horror zone: A zone created with the horror genre in mind. The slums is located within this zone.

Sci fi zone: A zone created with the sci fi genre in mind. A space station that one can teleport to after they pay admission is a popular tourist attraction. Here is where some of the greatest minds known to both Internet and mankind live. The skyscraper district is located here.

Fantasy zone: A zone created with the fantasy genre in mind. The parks and forests here sometimes hold castles where the rich live.

Steampunk zone: A zone created with the steampunk genre in mind. Here is where many inventors come and share their works in progress with each other. Also holds some of the greatest minds in history. The residential area is located here.

School zone: A zone created with the high school drama genre in mind. Most schools and colleges are situated here.

Romance zone: A zone created with the romance genre in mind. Here, many lovebirds come and socialize. There's a lot of shops in the romance zone, mostly catering to young couples and the like.

Fandom zone: A zone created with the fandom genre in mind. It is a mishmash of territories. This part of the city is where fandom Charges often interact. This is the heart of the city, the first and most important to be created.

Star zone: The more risque part of the city site, the star zone is where one can go and have, ahem, a "good time." This zone has many clubs and brothels as there are strippers and hookers. The star zone is divided into two separate sections, Red star and Blue star.



Character Sheets

Name:
Username: (What is the username your person uses while on the Internet?)
Nicknames: (Either real name nicknames or username nicknames. Can have multiple.)
Appearance: (Can be a written description or a picture. All kinds of pictures accepted. Must be human.)
Age:
Gender:
Sexuality: (Optional)
Personality:
Occupation/Grade: (If a student, put down what grade they are in.)
Role: (What is your character's role within the Internet? Simply being a Caretaker? Being a Wisp catcher? Or maybe even a mod or admin to the city site? Note that mods and admins can also be Caretakers, but not Wisp catchers. Wisp catchers can also be Caretakers as well.)
History: (Optional)
Other: (Anything you want to add?)

Name:
Nickname: (If applicable)
Appearance: (Can be a written description or a picture. All kinds of pictures accepted.)
Appearance Age:
Gender:
Sexuality: (Optional)
Personality:
Species:
Powers: (If applicable)
City site of origin: (What website did they come from?)
Side job/Grade: (If applicable. If a student, put down what grade they are in.)
Caretaker Given Backstory: (Optional)
History: (If a former Wisp. Optional)
Other: (Anything you want to add?)
 
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