InsaneJournal

RP Types, Lingo, & Courtesy
Some time ago I helped mod a newbie-friendly game that tried to welcome players who were transitioning from forum or other styles of RP into journal-style RP. To help them out, I wrote up this post for our newbie guide. When greatestjournal died, I saved it and then recently ran across it again. On the off chance someone finds it helpful, I went through and updated and added to it to repost it here. If anyone has any dissenting opinions or things they'd like to add, comments are welcome!

Journal-style roleplay is, when you first step into it, exceedingly intimidating. Not only does RP itself tend to have its own language, abbreviations, and insularity, but journal-style (be it IJ, LJ, Inksome, or various other journaling venues) also has its own set of unspoken rules. People first stepping into it often feel as if they don't know what to do, or what they're looking for, and even experienced players can sometimes be either clueless or forgetful. This post will attempt to give a general overview of basic RP manners and courtesy, as well as touch on the conventions of journal-style RP and what are generally universally accepted - or preferred, at least - guidelines, and commonly used lingo. I tried to be as general and neutral as possible, but I myself am a fandom and PB style player - so if anything is inapplicable to Celeb, feel free to let me know and I'll add a note to the post.

Basic Types If you're here, then chances are you already know what roleplay is, so we'll leave that alone. Most journal-style RPers get their start in chat rooms, or on forums and then move to journals, though many also start out here. While the variations of games are infinite, there are three basic types: Fandom, PB, and Celeb. Fandom - Fandom RP takes fictional characters already created by someone else and creates a game and storylines based around them. While many of them take place in alternate-realities, they are still some version of a pre-existing character with a set personality and their own pre-existing universe. Take them out of their universe, change their age, their gender - whatever the game allows or asks for, if it's a fandom game, then it's meant to be a canon character. Fandom games come in all shapes and sizes, but the most common ones are games based on popular series, like the Harry Potter books, the Twilight books, the Final Fantasy video game series, or the Supernatural television show. Generally in fandom games based on visual media - such as television or movies - the faces and icons used to represent the characters are the same actors who portray them in the canon. If you want to play Buffy Summers, or Archie Bunker, or Draco Malfoy, then a fandom game is where you should be looking for a home! PB/Played By - PB games are games wherein the player creates an original character and then chooses an actor/musician/celebrity to portray them. While many PB games have themes, or premades that are based on something, the characters themselves are original creations. The icons and faces used to portray a character are chosen based on the character's appearance. Played-By is basically very similar to a casting director for a movie or TV series. Players figure out what their character is like (Do they smile a lot, are they glum, or nervous?) and their basic appearance (Blond? Brunette? Skinny? Plus-Sized? Do they have a beard? Wear glasses?) and then choose someone to "play the role". If you want to play a combative chemistry major who looks similar to Kristen Bell, or a shy wallflower who looks similar to Jesse Spencer, then you should be looking for a PB game! Many PB games will have premades that are based on fandoms - fairy tale reincarnation games, for example, are popular. But these characters are still meant to be original - they want a character who shares some similar traits to Snow White. They don't want the Fables version of Snow White - if they did, then it would be a Fandom game, not a PB game. Celeb - Celeb games are games where the characters played are actual celebrities. While the games are often Alternate Universes, the people/characters are meant to be representations of the actual faces being used in their icons. The game might change details about the world they live in, but Angelina Jolie is still meant to be Angelina Jolie, and William Beckett is still meant to be William Beckett. If you want to play Jennifer Aniston as herself, or Joe Jonas if he weren't famous, then you're looking for a Celeb game, or an AU Celeb game, respectively! While the details are endlessly changeable, these are the basic three types of games that you'll find available. For help finding the kind of game you want, check the advertising tag on this community.

Lingo Roleplayers sometimes speak their own language. While I'm sure I'm missing many, and feel free to comment and suggest any I missed, some of the basic terms and abbreviations you'll see tossed around on the ads communities and games are: AU/Alternate Universe - An AU is a game in which the fundamental universe details are altered in some way. Celeb games where the celebrities are slaves, or Fandom games where the characters are suddenly mermaids are (extreme) examples of AU's. It can also mean something more tame, such as when small or large canon details are altered - a Harry Potter game where Voldemort died the night the Potters did, or a Heroes game where the Petrelli brothers never knew one another. AU's can vary a great deal. Adds - "Adds" refers to when a game has a set day or date where the moderators add new characters into a game. Many people, when advertising, will urge people to get their applications or holds in before the next set of adds are done. (Not to be confused with "ads", which refers to the advertisements used to promote a game.) Aim - Short for AOL's Instant Messenger program, AIM is a common RP tool and facilitator, though many use other instant messenger services as well. (MSN, Gtalk, etc.) It can also refer to a style of play that is done strictly over AIM, as opposed to through threads or email. Many games feature IC screen names where characters speak to one another in-character, and many use only OOC names for the muns to talk and plot, or write out logs. Anon - Anon is shorthand for "Anonymous", and in RP that can mean replies and comments from unregistered people - who are posting without a journal - or playing through journals with no real personal information exchanged between players other than an anonymous journal or screen name. App - Shorthand term for "application", it refers to the application process to join a game. It can be used as a noun, as in the application itself, or as a verb, as in "apping for this_game Asterisk - Asterisk is the "*" character, and in RP it's used to refer to the style of roleplay wherein actions take place within the asterisk's symbols. For example: Jane: *chews on a piece of bubblegum and reads the want ads while waiting for Elroy.* Canon - Canon originally referred to the books chosen to appear in the Bible, and now refers to any fandom's source material - as in the original show/book/game that a fandom is based around. Canon Puncturing - Canon Puncturing is a term generally used only in pan/multi-fandom games where one character may recognize another character from their source canon. As in Sawyer from Lost meets up with Wolverine from the X-Men, and recognizes Wolverine as a comic book character, and tells Wolverine that he knows him as such, thus informing Wolverine of his status as fictional in Sawyer's world. Some games allow Canon Puncturing, some don't, and many will go on a player's personal preference, so it's considered bad manners to do so without checking if it's acceptable first. Cap - shorthand for "capacity", a cap is when a certain gender or character type overbalances a game, and a limit is placed on that gender or type. If a game has too many females, or a Harry Potter games has too many Hufflepuffs, mods may temporarily place a cap preventing more holds or applications for them. CDJ/Character Development Journal - CDJ's are where players keep lists of their current and past characters, do development exercises for their characters, or various other things. Many players will also store and keep track of their examples here, or make a list of their RP preferences, or post character applications for games. Challenge - A challenge is when a previously held character/pb/celebrity is held by another player, challenging the previous hold. Some games disallow the practice, but in games that allow them it is the mods' discretion which character is accepted, if both apply. Comm - Comm is short for "community", and Roleplayers usually use it when they're specifying that they want to play a character at a community, rather than in a private storyline. Cut/Lj-Cut - Cut tags are unique to livejournal-type journals, and refers to the LJ-cut tag, which will hide most of the text or images in a post when viewing a friends page unless the cut is clicked on. Many communities require long posts, or posts with images to be cut. For information on how to use cut tags, take a look at IJ's Faq. Dark/Angst - Angst general means more dramatic, darker lines, sometimes involving more inherently dark themes, or inner turmoil. Dark games generally means the same thing, but can also refer to a more horror-centric leaning. Disney - In an RP sense, "Disney Kids" usually refers to celebrities or PB's who came to fame, one way or another, via the Mouse House. These include people like Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, among others. Drama - Drama in an RP sense often refers to conflicts and difficulties happening OOC, between players, and most players would rather avoid it. It can also be used in a traditional sense, to refer to the drama within a storyline, of course. Dropbox - A dropbox is an OOC post set up in a journal for communication purposes. Responses are often screened, and it's useful for players who prefer to stay anonymous, as well as an easy way for mods to receive questions from players. Example - Many games require examples to apply. Examples are usually past scenes or journal entries that a player feels are representative of their style and quality of roleplay. Example Journal - Players who don't keep CDJ's, or who want to stay anonymous will often keep an example journal to link to examples of their roleplaying style when applying for new games. F-Lock/Friends Locked - F-locking is unique to livejournal-type journals, and refers to having a journal or community that is private to all but friended journals, or members of a community. Many RP comms keep either their OOC comms, or all of their comms f-locked. For more information on how to use f-locking, take a look at IJ's FAQ. Fade to Black/FTB - Fade to Black is when players leave the end of a scene to the imagination rather than writing it out. It's often used when people are uncomfortable playing out sexual situations, or in games where smut isn't allowed. It can also be used to refer to when a thread is faded out on a more mundane note as well - two characters going off to shop, or getting in a car to drive. FBR/Fueled By Ramen - FBR refers specifically to PB's and musicians who perform on the Fueled By Ramen label, but is also used as a catchall term for musicians from that general area of music. Femme - Femme is fandom and RP shorthand for a storyline that involves lesbian women, usually in a romantic storyline, or with the possibility of one. Fluff - Fluff refers to storylines and games that are generally happy. While there may be some mild contact, writers or comms looking for fluff are generally not going to be interested in grittier, darker storylines. GDocs/Googledocs - Googledocs are a service from google where documents can be edited by multiple people at the same time, and are saved online. Many players prefer to log over GDocs rather than in AIM or threads, and post the logs in their communities when finished. Godmodding - Godmodding refers to the act of "playing god", essentially, and means implying or forcing action on another character. It is one of the cardinal rules of RP that you do not godmod another player's character. Some players have different comfort levels in godmodding. See the Courtesy section for more on Godmodding. Het - Het is fandom and RP shorthand for a storyline that involves heterosexual men and women, usually in a romantic storyline or with the possibility of one. Hold - Used to indicate putting a character/celebrity/ or PB "On hold" to reserve them and indicate your interest in playing them. Some games allow challenges, and some don't, it varies from game to game. Home - While everyone knows what "home" means, in ad comms and the like, posts that ask for a home are usually asking for a community that is willing to accept their character or PB. The community/game that a character is housed at is called their home. IC - RP shorthand for "in character", this means that conversations and events are taking place within the character's life, not the player's. An IC Aim conversation between two characters where one character confessed to a murder could be used in-game when the character they confessed their secret to tells the cops. An OOC conversation where a player's mun admits that her character killed someone would have no impact to the characters played. Kid/Pup - a casual term for a character. Many players refer to their characters as their "kids" or their "pups". Log - A log can refer to either an RP scene played out via a medium other than threads - usually AIM - and later posted to the community, or sometimes is just used as a general term to refer to scenes in general. Mandatory Plots - Some games feature where the mods get to choose characters to put in a scene, or have in-game events that all characters have to participate in. Sometimes the characters are chosen by a "scene lottery", where the mods basically draw characters from a hat to encourage random interaction. Metagaming - Metagaming refers to the use of OOC knowledge IC. For example if a Character A's player knows that Character B is secretly dating her boyfriend, but there's no way that Character A himself would know, but he still somehow implies it, then the character is drawing on information he doesn't actually have, even though is mun has it. It's considered very poor RPing. Mods - Mods is shorthand for "moderators", and refer to those who organize, create, or run games. All mods are different, and will set their personal rules and standards for their games. Mun - Mun is shorthand for "Mundane", and refers to the player behind a character. Sometimes alternately defined as short for "man under name". OC - Abbreviation for "Original Character," the term is used most by Fandom-based games that allow people to play characters of their own creation that still fit within the set fandom; i.e. a character who went to Hogwarts with Harry Potter, or Xavier Institute with Kitty Pryde but wasn't mentioned in the books/comics. OOC - RP shorthand for "out of character" this means that conversations are taking place between players, and have no impact on their character's knowledge or reactions. Panfandom/Multi-Fandom - Panfandom games are games that take place in one universe (either original, or an established fandom universe), but allow characters from all fandoms. So they can have Ted Theodore Logan from Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in the same gameworld as Sora from Kingdom Hearts. Multi-fandom games are similar, but they allow only certain fandoms, or exclude certain fandoms, for instance allowing only anime or manga fandoms, or excluding Harry Potter characters. PB - The abbreviation for "Played By", which means the face you're using to represent your character, or the style of play in which PB's are used. Partner/SL Partner - This can be used to refer to either a character's main opposite in storylines - who they play with and interact with the most - or to the player behind that character. Placeholder - Some games prefer threads to be posted in relative order, and will use a placeholder system to do so. A post is put into the community when a log is begun, and later edited to include the actual log. This is usually done to try to keep the community relatively linear. Plot - Plot means a basic storyline, or a complex one, but Roleplayers tend to also use it as a verb, as in "we should plot something", which just means they want to brainstorm for ideas for character connections, or things to play out. Post - Post can be used both in reference to the original journal entry, and also as an alternate term for "tag" (derived I think from "Post Comment"). Both terms are used to indicate that a player has posted for their character to a thread, and can mean "tag, it's your turn". Posting Requirement/Posting Minimum - This varies from game to game, but most games will have a note in their rules to indicate how often a character is required to post/journal, or thread/scene. Premades - Premades are used in PB fandoms and are a specific character type that are set up to be held and played. Examples of these can be high school games, where the premades are typical high-school types such as "The Quarterback", or "The Prom Queen", or more specific premades, such as premades based on fandom characters - like "The Charlie Brown" - who would be a pessimistic, unlucky character with a thing for redheads, perhaps, or "The Gregory House" - who would be a brilliant, damaged sort of man. Premades are meant to be types, though, rather than specific characters, so they are considered part of a PB game, not a fandom game, even in the latter examples - you wouldn't be playing House. You would be playing a character similar to House, but with your own spin and PB. PSL/Private Storyline - A private storyline, or PSL, is a line played between two players, usually through journals or in a private community. It can involve just two characters, or more, and isn't open to application or outside players. Sometimes small groups of players also form private storylines to play their characters in. When communities die off, players will often take their characters into private storylines with their main RP partners. Scene - A scene is a scenario between characters that is played out. It can be any type of situation - from a dramatic fight to a pair of friends looking at photographs, and everything in between. Scenes can be played in any medium preferred by the players - threading, AIM logging, email, googledocs, or anything else, the term isn't specific to any one in particular. Scene Queen/King/Scene - When PB's are referred to as "Scene", they are usually Scene Queens or Kings - celebrities famous primarily online for their myspaces or similar things rather than in traditional ways. They're often colorful and decorated with piercings or body art, and many games don't allow them as PB's, while others actively encourage them. Ships/Shipping/Shippers - "Ship" is a fandom term that refers to following a certain pairing or couple within a fandom. In an RP sense, it usually refers to a romantic pairing between two characters. Shippers can be used as a negative term to refer to those who only RP with their romantic storyline partner, but can be seen as a general term. Short Term - Short term usually refers to lines that are only expected to last for a thread or two, and are often requested by people who only have a limited amount of time to roleplay, or who only want to play out a specific situation. Slash - Slash is fandom and RP shorthand for a storyline that involves gay men, usually in a romantic storyline or with the possibility of one. The term derives from the "/" between names in slash pairings, and started in the Star Trek fandom when Kirk/Spock stories were listed with the names separated by a slash. Smut - Smut means sex. It can refer to anything from vanilla heterosexual sex to wild orgies, and means that the sex is played out, and not left offscreen. Sock - when not an article of foot-clothing, a sock is an alternate journal or alias for a player, and is short for "sockpuppet". The term usually has something of a negative connotation, since most games discourage people from creating sock identities to play more characters with. Squick - Squick refers to things that a player finds distasteful. While it's most often used to refer to sexual situations a player dislikes, it can also refer to scenarios they don't enjoy - excessive angst, or supernatural games or violence. Storybook - Storybook is a style of roleplay where posts are written in past tense, third person, as most storybooks and novels are. Storylines/SLs/Lines - Storylines can be used to describe plots between two or more characters, and can be set up ahead of time, or developed in-game,. They can be a planned plotline that will happen, or an established history between characters that becomes part of the game they are housed in. The term can also be used to refer to more generic connections between characters, such as sibling lines, or roommate lines, or romantic lines. Supernatural - Supernatural can refer to the TV show of the same name, but it usually refers to a game with a supernatural twist of some kind, be it demons, vampires, magic, or anything else of that nature. Tag/Toss - "Tag" is a term used when players post a reply to a thread or log. If a group thread is taking place on the community and the players are in an OOC chat, they may "tag" one another or "toss" to one another to let them know when it's their turn to post for their character. It can also refer to the IJ tag feature. Threading - Threading refers to the journal style of RP where scenes are played out over a community, with replies to communities posts written in the actual posts, rather than played out in another medium. It is generally a slower form of RP than RP done over AIM, and threading-type players often enjoy longer posts and replies than AIM players, but that isn't always the case. Vent - Vents usually refers to one of the venting comms, most commonly rpvents where people can complain anonymously - or non anonymously, if they prefer - about their games (without naming names) or the state of RP in general. There's also a bright side to the vent comms at communities such as braggingrights or youareamazing.

Courtesies Everyone has different interpretations of courtesy and manners and what's appropriate. There are some things that are fairly universal though, and I've tried to touch on some of them here. Feel free to comment with any additions! Ad Comms Ad comms are a great resource, and there's a comm for just about every type of RP you can think of. If you're looking for a specific fandom, for a game setting, or for a theme, there is probably a comm devoted just to that. While most ad comms are made up of ads from moderators looking for players for their games, some of the most frequently used ones, such as pbads, are devoted to a much broader theme, and players often post there looking for homes for their characters. Some of the general courtesies that are appreciated when posting to these communities are: Off The Page - New communities often have so many excited players looking for storylines that you see ten posts in a row, all looking for storylines or players for the same game. It's considered a general courtesy to not post ads for the same game until the last ad for that game is off the first page of the comm. Faces & Names - If you're trying to house a specific PB or Celeb, remember that not everyone can recognize every celebrity at a glance. While their face may be completely identifiable to you from any angle - others might not have the same knowledge, and if they see your ad and want to check their comms to see if that PB or Celeb is taken, it's considered helpful and polite if your ad lists their name as well. (Or, in the case of fandom characters looking for a home, the fandom they're from and the character's name.) Readability - Many people have their browser settings set the way they need them to be in order to read without straining their eyes. Hard-coding in unusual font colors or font sizes in ads often just makes an ad frustrating to read. While wanting to stand out is understandable - remember that it's easier to find homes for characters when people can read your ad without copying and pasting it elsewhere! Comm Spamming - With so many ad comms available, it's easy and understandable to want to reach as wide an audience as possible. But spamming ten communities at a time is more likely to annoy than promote. Spread it out. Remember that the comms specific to your type of game or character are likely to have many of the same players watching them, and you want to entice, not irritate them. Spellcheck - No one expects perfection, but ads are just that - advertising. You want to put your best foot forward and it's a great deal more appealing to see an ad that's spelled correctly than it is to see one with obvious mistakes. Take a minute to check it over before you hit post! Formatting - If your ad has tables or special formatting, make very sure that the tables and tags are closed, otherwise your ad will end up warping the friends page of everyone who sees it, which makes you look careless. Take a minute to check after you post, and make sure you didn't miss something. Godmodding Godmodding means puppeting/playing/moving another player's character for them. This is generally considered one of the largest no-no's in roleplay, but there are instances where mild forms of it are acceptable. Tolerance varies from player to player, but for instance, in a scene where your character knocks on a door, it's usually acceptable to continue as if it was answered (unless there's a reason the other character wouldn't answer, of course.) But in a scene where the intention is for Character A. is to knock and visit Character B., then it generally would be fine to assume B would answer the door, and save the other player having to have a reply that is only him opening the door and saying hello. In a scene where Character A & B are mortal enemies, or having a fight - then the same assumption wouldn't be appropriate, as you don't know if he would answer the door readily. Some people are comfortable with these types of small character-movements to keep a scene going, others are not. It's always best to ask first. More blatant forms of godmodding are always discouraged. Godmodding is often associated with metagaming as well - where characters make use of information a player has OOC to manipulate IC situations. Both of them are frowned upon. For instance, when writing a fight scene between two characters, even if your character is by far the superior fighter, it is still not acceptable to write: Becky threw a hard punch to Helen's jaw, shattering it and knocking the other girl unconscious. Unless you have prior permission from Helen's player to assume those actions, then you're leaving her no room to react, and deciding her character's fate for her. Instead, you would write something like: Becky threw a hard punch toward Helen's jaw, knowing it might well break the weaker girl's jaw and leave her unconscious. This way you've implied what you want to happen, but still given Helen's player wiggle room. Even if Becky is stronger and SHOULD win, that doesn't mean Helen can't try to duck. Even if the outcome is the same, Helen's player may just want to write her reactions before she goes down. Holding Every game will have their own rules and demands. Some will allow anon holds, some won't. Some take challenges, some don't. But whatever the conventions of a game - the basic rules of courtesy always hold true and are appreciated. If you have questions, or are holding a character, say "please" and "thank you". Scan the holds already there since the mod last added to a hold list, and make sure your hold isn't already taken, if games don't allow challenges, and note that you understand that it IS a challenge if they do, and you're doing so intentionally. Make sure and check for caps - if there's an uneven number of male/female holds, or some other character type (a Harry Potter game might limit Slytherins if there's too many holds, for example), many games will put a limit on that sex or character type until the ratio evens out. In games that allow challenges to holds, it's generally considered polite to wait to advertise for storylines until you see which of the holds makes it into the game. While some disagree with that practice, it's difficult for those who are also applying for the game to feel secure making plans with a character who may not make it into the game. Icons Icons tend to follow trends and their importance varies from player to player, game to game. In Celeb roleplay there is often a greater emphasis on obtaining icons of "rares" - candid photographs from a celebrities facebook, or myspace, or a similar source that aren't easily obtained. Icon technique, style, and number is a fairly hotly debated topic among journal-style RPers, and you'll find that many players have a very firm preference. As a general rule though - icons are most often appreciated when they are clear, cropped so that the face within them is easily identifiable, and reflect a range of expressions and atmospheres. There are a number of icon resources available, see the wikicon, or communities such as find_icons or pb_updates. Icon makers usually have their own rules, so when taking icons, be sure and read that icon maker's journal to find their rules, and comply with them. In general, it's considered good manners to credit in the "comment" section beside an icon in the Edit Pictures section. A quick "by iconmaker @ ij" or iconmaker only takes a moment. While anyone can obtain and crop 100x100 pictures into icons - people who maintain icon journals took the trouble to do that and then offer them up freely to save others the time and effort, a note to credit them is courteous, and it will help anyone else who likes that style of icon, or is looking for icons of your PB/Celeb to use for a different game. Leaving Games/Removals When you find that your character isn't suited to a game, or are unable to keep up and have to leave or allow your character to be removed, the actual process varies. Some players prefer to post a note to the OOC to let everyone know, some like to just inform the mods. Some consider it more polite to let their main storyline partners know before the removal happens. However, it is considered a universal courtesy to at least let the mods know via email/aim/dropbox (whatever their preferred contact method) if you decide to leave a game. It is also considered polite to players to "clean out" your character's journal - remove all friends from your flist. This keeps characters no longer in the games from lingering on the friends-of lists of active characters and journals. This can be done via the Edit Friends section of your journal management. If you use firefox, there's even a great add-on that allows you to check or uncheck all ticky boxes at the same time, to make this process easier.