a beginner’s guide to mogai request etiquette
i know that many community members, especially newer or younger ones, deal with confusion or anxiety when making their first requests. it can be hard to figured out if you’re doing it ‘right’, even after looking at how others have requested things. i decided that i’d put together a little guide for those who need it!
always check the user’s request status! check their bio, pinned post, and/or carrd to try and find a request status indicator. if one of these states that requests are open, proceed! if it states they are closed, either save your request for later or request from another blog.
check what types of requests the user does! some users may not list what types of requests they do, but others do, and it’s best to check and make sure the user you want to request from can actually do what you’re asking for. you’ll likely find this list close to their request status!
check the user’s request rules! always make sure you’ve looked at any boundaries the user has with regards to coining. this may include triggers or other topics/content they don’t want to make things related to, the number of requests they’re alright receiving per ask, whether they’re comfortable coining things related to mental illnesses they don’t have, etc. you’ll likely find this in their pinned post or carrd if they have one!
gather your thoughts first! before sending your ask, open up a notes app or something similar and make sure you know what you want to say. this not only helps ensure that your request is typo-free and easy to understand, but can help reduce your anxiety about the wording of your ask!
never request the same term from multiple blogs! as coiners, we’re always trying to avoid recoining terms (creating duplicates of already-coined terms). if you’re requesting things like edits (icons, headers, banners, etc.) it’s totally fine to request that from multiple blogs, but requesting the same new term to multiple blogs results in recoins and in wasted time for the coiners. always request term coinings from one blog at a time, and if they aren’t able to do your request for some reason, then you can request it from another!
don’t be afraid to request complex or ‘weird’ terms! you may feel like the thing you’re requesting is too ‘out there’, but if you just take a look through a few mogai blogs, you’ll find that many of us have coined very ‘odd’ or complicated terms! you don’t have to apologize for having a more detailed gender!
figure out which blog is best for your request! if you have multiple mogai blogs that you’re a fan of, it could be a good idea to look at their blog and see which would be best for your current request. for example, one blogger may enjoy coining cutesy genders and another may enjoy coining scary genders, so requesting a cutesy gender from the first and a scary gender from the second would probably result in the best term/flag for you and the most fun for the coiner!
be polite, but don’t worry too much about your tone! some requesters are very anxious that they’ll come across as rude or otherwise negative in their asks. if you’re worried, try just adding a tone tag or a compliment to the end of your ask! it’s a simple way to mitigate some of your anxiety and indicate to the user that you’re a fan with good intentions.