Omeglelock Network

This blog aims to encourage good roleplay etiquette by opening a dialogue within the omeglelock community. Content on this blog is solely opinion; we respect the fact that the community is diverse.

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We’re back after a pretty long break- sorry about that! Replies will be queued!

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Is it not ok to use an old prompt you like from someone else? I used to do a prompt with someone on email and they stopped replying maybe a year ago and I liked it so if theyre not on omegle anymore cant I use it myself?

Well, firstly I’m very sorry you lost a roleplay you were enjoying. That really is a shame. Secondly, I feel like your heart is in the right place. I know how it feels wanting to revive a particular dynamic you enjoyed. 

However. If you did not write it, you do not own it, and you do not have the right to present it as your own. If you have the permission of the original owner, that’s fine. Totally fine. 

If you do not have the permission of the original writer, no matter how long ago you found the prompt, you still shouldn’t use it. Why? Lots of reasons. 

It can damage the reputation of the original writer. Should you do something problematic while using the prompt, that prompt will be associated with that. Should your quality of writing be poor, you might damage the original owners chances of finding a partner who wants to reply to that prompt. Should the original owner see you using your prompt, they’re going to be a little hurt.  

We’ve had lots of asks lately about stolen prompts, and everyone has felt a little helpless to see their work being blatantly stolen. It’s just not nice. 

Please, please write your own prompts. If you like an idea, by all means recreate it. Reword it. Do something to make it unique. Do not take someone else’s work word for word. Don’t change just one or two words. Start from scratch. And if you can’t, then you shouldn’t be taking credit for the work put in by someone who can. 

I’m sorry you lost your roleplay, but please have enough respect for your partners not to take credit for their work. Yes, it’s a hobby, but it’s a creative hobby. People do work hard.

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I don't care so much with text posts because they take less effort, but this is 100% my prompt down to the same words, same punctuation. I remember writing it. I know no one owns an idea but couldn't they have changed up the wording just a little bit? The mormor tag is full of prompt thieves. I care less about text prompts because they take less effort, but everyone's getting stuff stolen right now and I think it's probably the same person. dd1ae90fb8a9af24

We’ve had an awful lot of stolen prompts from the Mormor tag this week. As you said, when it comes to a text prompt there is little we can do. It really could have been a coincidence, though when you’ve written something specific and see it copied word for word there is a very good chance it has been stolen. 

I’m glad you seem to have a positive attitude about it. We’ve had a few people reach out about stolen prompts via IM and other asks, and they’re often quite upset. Not that I blame them, but it’s great that you’ve got a level head. 

I agree that if a prompt is going to be stolen, especially a text prompt, it takes very little effort to change the wording to make it unique to them. Sorry to see your work has been taken!

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I feel like this was really unnecessary and they just wanted to make someone feel bad for their prompt. babd3affd20627dc

This blog is all about being diplomatic. So I’m going to consider both sides of the argument here, though I will be honest and say I have my own opinion. My opinion is simply that, an opinion. I would really love to hear what other people have to say about this. But first, I’ll argue both sides. 

Teenlock is a very common AU. It often slips out of the Teenlock tag, no matter what ship you happen to be in. As you pointed out, as long as it is not triggering or in the wrong ship tag, there really is no harm in it. As it is so harmless, it seems to be one of those exceptions to the ‘stick to your tag’ rule. 

It really is just an extension of a ship, whereas a tag like Parentlock or Omegalock throws additional characters or rules into the dynamic. Not everyone has signed up for that, but we have all signed up for an exchange between two characters. Personally, I feel that Teenlock does not drastically alter that exchange between those characters. 

On the other hand... Teenlock does count as an AU. When you throw a ship into your tags, you expect that ship. If you want extensions of that ship, you have the option to add them. If you don’t want those extensions, you simply don’t add them. 

As your stranger pointed out, there is a big movement to compartmentalise prompts to their exact tags, for the sake of everyone. Hell, that’s a big part of what this blog is trying to do. It is great to have an efficient tagging system, and like they said, should everyone be in the right place, they’ll have more chance of finding someone interested in their prompt.

Now, as far as I’m concerned, Teenlock is not much of a problem. It really is harmless, and doesn’t change very much in terms of dynamics. No additional rules are really thrown in, and as long as there is no extreme content that would belong in the Darklock tag, I don’t see a problem with it being used in mainstream tags. It’s one of those exceptions that has been so common for so long and does so little harm, I don’t think it needs policing. I think we need to find a line between policing things that are actually harmful, and between allowing people to relax and have fun.  

I know a lot of people who use Omegle to roleplay are teenagers themselves and often it is easier for teenagers to relate to teenage characters. I think it’s great that we have a platform for young writers to be creative and I think policing that to the extreme is only going to put people off. 

I truly do not think that your stranger had any intentions of making you feel bad for your prompt. I’m very sorry that you did feel that way. I think they were just looking for a way to put their opinion out there, and it really is a shame that they landed on your prompt to do that. If that stranger happens to come across this, please do feel free to comment further and get your side across. 

My opinion is no more valid than yours, whoever might be reading this. Really. I’m always hesitant to offer an opinion because I worry that people might think I’m trying to dictate the way our community should operate. So, please offer your own opinions. We’re more than happy to publish your side of the story and hear what the general consensus is. We’re all welcome to our opinion and if you disagree, don’t hesitate. Again, this is a community platform.

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I know this is primarily for Omegle, but since the site is often down/glitchy, are there any other sites you recommend for Sherlock roleplayers to connect one-on-one with people with similar interests? Thanks. :)

Not a problem, we don’t mind covering other roleplaying platforms! 

Shamchat was popular at one point in time. Very different, and I much prefer omegle, but there is a market for roleplay over there. You put in a character, and hunt down other characters. Slightly frustrating to use, but once you get accustomed to it, it’s easy enough. 

Tumblr has a fairly active community too. Again, different dynamics, different set of unwritten rules, but much easier to navigate. 

I hope this helps! If anyone knows of any other platforms, please do let us know.

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Someone stole my prompt. It's a Mormor prompt about Jim sneaking out of his Catholic boarding school to meet Sebastian. He jumps over a wall and that's basically it. Someone's been using it tonight, so could you please post this so people are aware it's been stolen?

Sorry to hear that! If the prompt thief reads this, please don’t steal work that doesn’t belong to you.

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I don't know how to feel about "autistic!lock" in general, but this prompt is going around. I also think its kind of lazy to just throw in multiple ships? Just me? e06ebb2d0ff3813b

I think autistic!lock is a very valid thing. Plenty of characters are coded as autistic, and even if they weren’t I think it’s perfectly acceptable to interpret a character as autistic if you choose to!

I do understand the caution when it comes to autistic!lock on omegle. I have seen prompts that reinforce negative autistic stereotypes, and prompts that put autistic people in abusive situations as a result of their autism. I do believe that people should proceed with caution and be respectful when exploring autistic!lock, though again, it’s a very valid thing. 

The untagged parentlock is a shame, though thank you for trying to explain why it should be tagged. 

And as for whether the multi-ship thing is lazy? Yeah, I suppose it could be interpreted that way. It isn’t hard to change your names depending on what tag you connect with, but then I suppose if someone was on mobile it’s not as easy to switch up names when you’ve got a long prompt. A little irritating to read, but not especially problematic!

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PLEASE include Johnbastian in the list!! We need more people in that tag I love it so much

Absolutely will! It’s a lesser known tag for sure. Hopefully we can attract a few more people to your ship. 

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It makes me really sad that people on Omegle just randomly leave in the middle of a rp with no explanation. I understand when they leave after a couple of lines in, but imagine having 2+ hours long thingy going on and then they suddenly leave. As a person whose first language isn't English, it makes me pretty anxious. I never know if I made any mistake in my reply or do they just simply hate what I wrote or did their omegle bug and I should try to search for them. Sorry for the rant, lol.

Never apologise for coming to rant! 

I understand. It can be disheartening when someone disappears after putting so much time into a role play. I think it’s good etiquette to at least thank a partner for their time before leaving, even if you don’t want to continue elsewhere! 

More credit to you for roleplaying in a second language! That takes skill, and I think you’ve got a great grasp of written English. 

Perhaps they lost connection and got a technical error, or simply didn’t think to let you know they had to leave. Sometimes it gets to a stage in the night where you’re too exhausted to keep going. There are lots of reasons someone might disconnect, so try not to be too hard on yourself! We’ve all been there. 

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can I recommend the tag omorasherlock for the people who are into omorashi and related kinks? Maybe tag omeglelockassholes on this post too so they might see it, they've had many posts on the issue and this tag being used by those interested could solve everyone's problems

Sure! When we make a master list of tags we’ll be sure to include it. It would be nice to have somewhere for those interested to go. 

Is that an active tag at the moment or could it be shortened to omoralock or something a little more uniform? 

Thanks for the suggestion! 

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It’s funny how quickly they disconnect when you decide to make your character fem too! That’s a shame. 

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Based on your last ask: Maybe you could try making a beginner tutorial or something? I see a lot of newbies struggling with etiquette or how to craft an engaging, fair prompt for both players to enjoy, and I think those first, frustrating experiences might drive new players away from RPing on Omegle.

That’s a great idea! I think people who are new to the community may struggle to acclimatise to the unwritten rules, and often find themselves put off by rejection. A tutorial is something that might help for sure! 

If anyone has any tips we can offer new members, send them our way. We’d like this to be a collaborative effort within the community. What do current roleplayers want beginners to know? 

Thanks for the tip!

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So I have a mormor prompt that is basically about therapy- both involved are adults. I don't feel like I should have to justify why I want to do it, it's just an interesting dynamic to me. Anyway I had someone tonight just troll the prompt and end it by sending me some link to that dumb 'thats what I call edgy' meme. If they ever read this, I just want them to know that they're kind of an asshole- I don't see why you get a kick out of making someone feel bad when they're just trying to have fun.

No problem. We publish everything we’re asked to, anon! 

I hope the person responsible does come across this. Providing that the prompt was in the appropriate tags, and any content that may have made someone uncomfortable was flagged up in advance, you should never have to justify what you want to write about. I’d elaborate, but anon covered this one quite nicely themselves! 

Spending your time mocking people online is what I call edgy. 

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What tags are active like at all on Omegle, even outside of rp tags for the Sherlock fandom? I've looked up tags that were fairly active when the show was still running and now I don't connect with anyone on them. Which tags do you think are the absolute most active on Omegle, even non-Sherlock ones?

That’s a good question! And unfortunately, it’s not very easy to answer. 

When talking purely ships within the Sherlock tag, we know there is varying activity in Johnlock, Sherstrade, Mystrade, Viclock, Sherlolly, Holmescest (beware that this is a ‘cest’ ship), Jimlock/Sheriarty, Seblock, Morbrook, Johniarty, Johnbastian, Moliarty, and… Mormor. 

I single out Mormor as I’d estimate that 95% of our content comes from people in the Mormor tag. Anyway! This list is not comprehensive, and we will be making a list of ships, active or not, in the near future. 

If we’re talking about extension tags to compliment the ship, we’ve got a lot of activity! Teenlock, Unilock, Parentlock, Omegalock, Femlock, Angstlock, Darklock, etc. Try mixing and matching your tags to find a combination that works for you.

If you’re looking purely for discussion, try just ‘Sherlock’ or character names.

Outside the Sherlock community, my knowledge has a lot of gaps. I’m not sure where to direct you, but I do know that there are a lot of active role players in tags like Supernatural, Marvel, Harry Potter, Teen Wolf, Homestuck, and every Anime you could think of. The best way to find an active tag is to throw yourself in and be patient. You can also check tags on tumblr like “___ rp” to see if there are any logs up there. 

Finally, it’s a good idea to try on different days at different times. There are ‘peak’ hours for roleplaying! Some tags will be dead on a Wednesday morning, but alive on a Saturday night. Timezones influence activity too- it’s all trial and error. 

Hope this helps!

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How do I save a log?

This opens up a separate window with your whole chat saved. You can then keep the log in bookmarks, in a word document, or share it to one of your social media platforms (if that’s your thing!) 

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I really wish people would learn about the right tags. Did you ever think about making that list of ship names to help clear the confusion? 97a6560ba438812a

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Your response was very helpful; it’s nice to point people in the right direction. Often, they just don’t know what tags are available for them. And, on that note, we definitely will start composing a list of ships, though I’m sure it won’t be entirely comprehensive. We’ll get to it! 

If you have time in the future, perhaps explain why those tags are better suited, or direct them to a resource like our FAQs. Sometimes people just don’t understand. 

You were informative and polite, so thank you for doing that! 

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I would really appreciate some more content from you guys. Maybe look at some already posted logs or something if you are lacking submissions?? I really enjoy your take on the community, and some less toxic comments might really make it strive, but I do think you guys need to push out a bit of content to actually gather some more followers/submissions? x

Thanks! We’re so glad you’re enjoying what we’re doing here. 

All of our mods work or study full time, hence a little absence. We currently have a few unanswered submissions that require a little thought before posting. 

We do get a few asks a week- surprisingly, the majority are off anonymous just asking if we’ve heard from their lost partners. Many aren’t appropriate to post publicly. 

We’re always happy to get new submissions though, and would also like to be posting more! I’ll chat with the other mods and see how we feel about offering comment on pre-existing logs, though the majority would have to come from blogs doing a similar thing to what we do. We’d hate to undermine the opinions and hard work put in by those blogs. 

Your support is appreciated! We’ll try harder to get out there <3