Welcome to Shady Maple Creek… It gets a little weird here. Now, when I say weird, I'm not talking about your average 'cult in the basement of the library' or even Desperate Housewives weird.
Have you ever seen a vampire show up at CVS for his antibiotics and a month's supply of O Positive? How about Wolfman picking up the Sunday post in his tighty whities (would someone get that guy a robe, please?). Well, here in Shady Maple Creek, that's pretty much the every day norm.
Word is, it hasn't always been that way, though, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. This is a story about how the world's most private community became my home… and yeah, it's a pretty strange one.
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Para-Normal is based in the fictional town of Shady Maple Creek, where all things weird, freaky and supernatural gather. Contrary to what those money grubbing journalist hacks like Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker would have you believe in their ridiculous "historical accounts", most of Shady Maple Creek's populace just want to lead ordinary lives. Well, as ordinary as the lives of the strange and extreme can get.
In this story, you'll play one of the monstrous residents in this close knit community. You've grown up here, work here, and someday, maybe you'll raise your own family here. It's the small town dream, with a few little unexpected quirks, here and there, and you wouldn't have it any other way.
Currently, the town is preparing for the upcoming Centennial Celebration. There's a lot to do before the festival, and Mayor Tepes expects everyone to pull their weight, whether its setting up a booth for the flea market, coming up with fun themes for the competitions or helping to keep those pesky Brudermen goblin twins under control, everyone has a job to do and excitement is brewing.
Now if only you could get past the gnawing question of what happened to that bus full of normies that broke down outside the town border a few days back...
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RULES
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The will be a fairly intermediate roleplay, somewhat freeform/slice of life - as we will build the story together as we go along. I will be accepting no more than ten players, and for the time being you may make one character only (this may change, depending on the amount of players).
I will be expecting posts every other week, though more frequently is of course more than welcome. As well, collaborative writing (collab posts) will be expected, but I do ask that if you collab you don't take more than the allotted two weeks to finish/post. I shouldn't need to mention it, but I will because sadly, it's an issue I've come across too often. READ EVERYTHING. RP is a cooperative process and it involves more reading than writing. It doesn't matter if it involves your character or not. Please read it. The other players will extend the same courtesy to you, and you don't wanna be the person who misses something important cause you skimmed.
There are no real length expectations, but I do ask that you shoot for at least a few solid paragraphs in order to keep things moving forward. One liners are not permitted. These rarely serve to drive the plot and are exceptionally difficult by which to respond. Also, they're just lazy. Please be sure to proofread your posts. Errors are fine, and I'm not a grammar snob, but constant unreadable mistakes can be a drag to read.
Content wise, I ask that you avoid gratuitous violence/language. Sexual content of any kind is not permitted - any romance is required to fade to black. Thematic elements are okay, provided you use discretion. If someone is uncomfortable with an idea, don't do it. We all have different comfort levels, but general insensitivity will not be tolerated.
OOC nonsense is absolutely fine, but OOC drama is a no go. If you can't get along with the other players or have a tendency to be argumentative/confrontational, you are probably not gonna be a great fit. Communication is a NECESSITY. If you aren't willing to commit to plotting/chatting with other folk on a pretty consistent basis, you might not wanna jump into this one. We jabber. A lot. It's fun. Please don't ruin the fun LOL.
I don't expect you to live your life around the RP, but ghosts don't make for great players. RL comes first and if you have to take a break or can't post for a period of time that's fine, but please let me know. While I'm happy to accommodate any absences ICly, but failure to reply or inform me of such an absence/hiatus will likely result in your removal from the RP.
I will be utilizing a DISCORD server for chatting/plotting/organization purposes and do ask that if you choose to join the RP you also join this, as it makes it easier for announcements and planning. I'm a busy wife and momma, so I can't always be on Iwaku, but I can check Discord more frequently. The link for the server will be posted as soon as I have reviewed/accepted characters.
Once the character sign ups are posted you will have roughly a week to two weeks to finish the application before I begin the selection process. Characters will not be first come first serve, but will be chosen based on creativity, content quality and your site history (whether or not you've dropped RPs/posting consistency/quality/ability to interact well with others/willingness to plot). Note that if you are new to the site or hide your post history, I may ask for writing samples to clarify.
As always, all IWAKU rules and policies are non-negotiable.
I will absolutely accept questions via PM or DM should any arise!
Most importantly - this RP is meant to be fun. If you're here to be a grimdark edgelord powerplayer, this isn't the town for you.
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DISCORD
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Tricked ya... Nothing here, yet! Come back soon for DISCORD link :-D
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CHARACTER SIGN UPS
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Heyooo LINK to said sign-ups!
As you've probably guessed, in Para-Normal your character choices stem from just about anything weird and wacky. The only real stipulations are no normal folk (as of right now), nothing legendary/overtly enormous (Cthulu/Godzilla types) and steer clear of anything relating to angels/demons. These things may come into play down the line, but for right now we'll stick to standard monster elements.
Inside the town, disguises are optional, but upon leaving Shady Maple Creek, disguises must be maintained. Monsters can stem from anything like vampires and werewolves to swamp creatures to yetis and everything in between.
For now, I'm not going to write a comprehensive list because that feels too limiting. Instead, we'll develop the lore as we go along. I do ask though, that you run your initial concept/choice by me first, so we can go over the ideas and keep things consistent all around.
