IC, OOC, and Godmodding

No one likes to be told what to do and how to play their character. This is a space where anything is possible, as long as it's thought out and well executed. The line between IC and OOC should be pretty well-known by now, but to revisit - don't play someone else's character for them. That's godmodding. If you're told something OOC, then that means you only know it OOC. Don't take things IC unless they naturally progress that way in character. Please don't make assumptions. If in doubt - ask.

Activity and Journals

All journals must be IC related. No exessive underscores, numbers, or letters. If we can gather at least part of their first or last name from the journal, you're okay. All journals must have an OOC and IC contact post. The IC post can be locked, but we ask that OOC posts remain unlocked. We ask the same for entries containing information about characters. No one can approach you for a line, if they don't have information about your character.

We require at least one entry a month. It can come in the form of writing - scene, narrative, first-tense entry containing at least three paragraphs with more than four sentences each. We also encourage interactive posts (lyrics, Instagram), but they will not count toward activity. If there happens to be a game-wide thread that month, it will count for activity. But when using threads for activity, there needs to be at least five responses from the person submitting the scene.

Updated friends' lists and commenting other characters regularly also counts toward activity. If you do not keep up with these, you will risk removal. Complete inactivity for two weeks will put your character up for removal, as well as friends' lists that have not been updated in two add/removal cycles. If your character is added after the 15th of the month, you will be excused from that month's activity, as long as you do a first post for your character. Characters with patched members of the club are required to comment in all plot posts and be active when game-wide plots are happening. If you're not active, you will risk removal. Characters that hold officer positions will risk demotion if they are not active enough.

We know that a lot of writers like having more than one character in the game at a time. That's fine with us, but as of right now, there is a four character max for each writer. If you're not honest about who you play, we will remove you from the community. We will also reject any multiple characters if we feel that you aren't currently active enough with those you have in game. You can always reapply them later, but we're looking at quality over quantity. There's no time limit on when you can apply characters, but activity goes a long way with us.

Removals are done on the 30th of every month. If your character is an officer and is removed with activity checks, you have twenty-four hours to reapply and reclaim your character's position within the club. After twenty-four hours, it will go up for a vote in game. The character voted into the vacated position has the choice of either recently being voted in, or having held the position from a start-date of their choosing.

Played-Bys

If you feel that the celebrity fits the muse of your character, we generally won't have much of an issue with them. The five-year rule does apply, but we understand that there are some celebrities that could pass for younger then five years. If you want to make your character younger or older than the five-year margin, shoot us a message and we'll discuss it. We also ask that, when choosing a played by, we're able to find them on Famous Birthdays or on Google Search. If you cannot, we won't feel comfortable accepting the face in our community. No one wants to anger anyone, so we do reserve the right to ask you to change your played by if the choice raises any type of concerns.

How to Apply

We are a laid back community. Tidbits about a character, or history tends to change as you get rolling with a character. Or you start out with things set, and something comes along that wasn't in play at the start. For that reason, we only require full name, age/dob, occupation, club affiliation, marital status, ten tidbits, and connections when applying. If you want to write a biography about your character, it's more than welcome! But, we feel it's more fun to figure out a character as you go. Because we don't require a biography, we do ask for at least two journal entries and two scenes when submitting examples. If we feel that your character would not be a good fit, your application will be deleted. We also ask that incoming writers check the taken list to see what names are already in use. We don't want multiple characters with the same name, it tends to create confusion in game. We also ask for basic grammer and puncutation. Run-on sentences often get confusing and sometimes come off with a different point. We get that some things slip through the cracks, but if you just blatantly do not use one or both, it can be reason for rejection.

If you want to bring in an old lady, that's more than fine. But we ask that all old ladies apply with their patches, or at least within one add cycle of each other. We don't want a bunch of old ladies in game, with no patches. It creates confusion. If you apply as an old lady, but have no patch within two add cycles, your status will be downgraded to single or girlfriend/wife until your patch is in game. Sweetbutts are single, they belong to the club. They cannot be claimed, but favorites can be announced.

Patches & Officers

While we are a community set in a town, a good portion of this community will center around the fictious motorcycle club, Dead Knights. More information about club rules and what to expect in playing a member can be found here. Everyone is allowed to have more than one male character that is a patch, but we ask that only one of those male characters be an officer. Nomads are allowed, as long as there is an eventual intention to patch into the Deadwood charter. We will not accept gay patches, sorry.

We don't want to discourage anyone from creativity or applying as an officer. However, there is an added level of expectation to officers as far as activity. If we feel you are not active, or cannot handle officer status with your character, your character will be downgraded to patch and a vote will happen in game to fill the vacated officer position. The patch that was downgraded will not be elligible to apply for the vacant position and we reserve the right to not warn writers before this happens. It's up to you to be active.

Serious Lines

Pregnancy is a normal part of life. Babies happen and accidents happen. All pregnancies must be approved before they are played out in game. This includes the method in which they come about. Just so we can clarify details and make sure that research is done. Sweetbutts will be in trouble for getting pregnant and possibly face a loss of title. Do your research, make sure everything is planned out between both parties before doing anything. If one writer is unsure or unwilling, it will not happen. We do reserve the right to deny a pregnancy if we feel that it isn't realistic. Also, if we have an overabundance of a certain gender, we will ask some baby genders to be changed, just to keep things balanced. Writers will have until the character reaches sixteen weeks in their pregnancy to decide gender and complications. If we do not have an answer for gender, one will be randomly chosen. Complications will be listed as N/A after sixteen weeks, unless we're notified in time.

Other serious lines (involving dead, drug use, serious injury) must be run by the mods for approval. We don't want to stifle creativity, but we need to make sure that we know what is happening in game, that way there isn't an overabundance of the same line happening. We also need to make sure that proper research has been done and that all writers are respected while writing. If one person wants to do a line that involves another writer, they must be notified. If they do not agree, it will not happen. If we find out that another writer was involved without their permission, the one will be scrapped immediately. Chances are, we'll approve just about everything. If we don't, we will probably just ask for the line requested to be postponed.