Rotomblr Tips

[rotomblr-tips]

A resource blog for sharing and distributing resources for the Rotomblr community!

Currently run by @halo-halo-kit and friends!

Main mod of the Rotomblr Universe community!

Available Guides:

Internet Safety

Rotomblr Terms and Definitions

Current WIPs:

Roleplay Space Etiquette

Your First Rotomblr Blog Tips and Template

Blog Customization Tips and Resources

[rpmemegraveyard]

ʚ   A POSITIVITY MEME  :  Many folks in the RPC tend to ebb and flow when it comes to life, as does anyone. Whether it’s friends, writing partners, or just a safe place to create, let’s celebrate the positives!

How to play: Reblog this ask meme and a mutual will send you a prompt. Use it to spread positivity by tagging others!

😊 : a blog that always makes you smile 💖 : a blog with the best edits 🌸 : your favorite original character 🤫 : someone you secretly admire 📝 : a mutual whose headcanons you always look out for 🏆 : a blog that deserves more recognition 🔥 : a blog that inspires your creativity 😭 : someone whose writing always hits you emotionally 🌙 : a mutual whose aesthetic you adore ✨ : a blog whose energy makes the RPC brighter 🍂 : someone who consistently spreads kindness

🌼 : a blog whose posts make you pause and think 🌺 : a mutual whose edits or graphics make your day 💫 : a blog you trust to always give good advice or feedback ⭐ : someone whose threads you always save or follow 💌 : a mutual you want to cheer on today 🌈 : a blog that always brings fun vibes 🎨 : someone whose creativity you admire 🎉 : a mutual who deserves a virtual high five 📖 : a blog whose lore or plotting you love 🕊️ : someone who brings peace to the community 🍀 : a mutual you feel lucky to know 💎 : a blog whose content you treasure 🌟 : someone who always motivates you to write more 🎁 : a mutual who’s a gift to the RPC 🛡️ : someone who makes you feel safe 🤝 : someone who was kind to you and how 💌 : a mutual who checked in when you needed it 🌸 : someone whose messages or tags made your day better 💭 : a blog that sparks your favorite memories 🎈 : a mutual who always celebrates your wins

[rotomblr-tips]

“I Love What’s Wrong With Them” Ask Game

Describe…

🐶Something they do that annoys people.

👜One of their bad habits.

☣️One of their most toxic traits.

💀A bad decision they keep making.

💥Something petty they would do when inconvenienced.

💣Something destructive they enjoy doing.

🧑‍⚕️Why they won’t go to therapy.

🃏Whether they are/would be a silly cartoony type of villain, or a truly diabolical individual.

🗞️Something they fully believe, but is untrue.

🗑️The worst thing they’ve ever done by their own standards.

✍️The worst thing they’ve ever done in the writer’s opinion.

🎣A lie they like to tell.

🎙️The worst thing they would say as a joke.

🗣️The worst thing they would earnestly say.

🪧A time when they could have made a better choice but didn’t.

🪦A secret they’ll take to their grave.

👉Something that was/is their own fault but they blame someone else for.

🫠The worst thing that ever happened to them.

😬Something they did that hurt someone by accident.

🤕Something they did to hurt someone on purpose.

❤️When someone they trusted betrayed them.

💔When they hurt someone who loved them.

🌏What they hate most about the world.

⚠️What they hate most about themself.

🚃What they would choose in The Trolley Problem.

😈What started/would start their villain arc.

💅How far they would go to change the world to their liking.

🔫When they took a life.

🍬How they react to unexpected kindness.

🌓Their most redeeming quality.

⛅️What started/would start their redemption arc.

🫴Whether they would let someone help them be better.

👻What they regret most, if anything.

Don’t forget to send an ask to the blog you reblogged it from!

[sporefilled-oc-posting]

Out of Character Rotomblr Ask Game

I have been looking for certain ooc ask games but they've all alluded me so I decided to make my own mess off them (almot none of these ideas are mine originally)

Send 🌙 (or [Moon]) + A theory about arcs/stories/lore and I can confirm it and elaborate, deny it and eleborate or simply say "spoilers" and not elaborate

Send 🌱 (or [Plant])+ A headcanon you have about a certain character, and I'll talk about how canon compliant (or not) it is

Send 🐚 (or [Shell])+ A character, and I'll give a fact/idea I haven't talked about/I think is underrated about them

Send ☀️ (or [Sun]) + Your favourite part of my character/their portrayal and I'll talk about why I chose to do that/the reason behind it

Send 🌺 (or [Flower]) + your own unique ask/ooc questions and I'll answer them to the best of my abilities

[rotomblr-tips]

Rotomblr Terms and Definitions

Included:

The Stakes Tags

Rotomblr-specific Content Warnings

Rotomblr Dictionary

Special Pokemon

In-Universe brands

The Stakes Tags

A tagging system designed to make it easier to find posts geared toward one’s preferred level of danger, drama, and violence, and to avoid ones that aren’t!

Stakes tags examples provided with some example content warnings.

#Casual stakes - For day to day life where the most alarming thing that happens is a character may spill their matcha latte on their new shirt!

#Drama stakes - For when there’s Drama but no immediate danger. Maybe there’s a shouting match, a friendship falls out, or at worst someone gets slapped during a public incident. 

#Medium stakes - There may be some risk or danger. Maybe a pokemon gets stolen Team Rocket style, maybe someone scrapes a knee or gets roughed up, and a trip to the Pokemon Center to get patched up is needed. For adventures mostly on par with the Pokemon anime in terms of danger and violence. 

#High stakes - Characters and/or pokemon could be badly hurt or killed. Bones might be broken, limbs and lives could be lost, emotional turmoil or trauma may occur. 

#Ultra high stakes - Apocalyptic themes or mass death levels of destruction may occur. Cities, countries, or worlds may be devastated or ended.

Stuck between tags? It’s generally better to round up! And be sure to pair stakes tags with any applicable content warnings!

Stakes tags should be used in combination with applicable content warnings! For example, a post about N confronting Ghetsis in a fistfight would be tagged #high stakes and #cw violence. This will make it easy for people who like high stakes violencing Ghetsis to find it, and people who don’t to avoid it. You could even add a #fistfight tag to specify the type of violence.

Rotomblr-Specific Content Warnings

This list is not exhaustive, and you’re encouraged to use specific content warnings in addition to these as applicable. For example, #cw pokemon abuse might want to be accompanied by #cw medical malpractice.

#cw pokemon abuse - Humans abusing pokemon or intentionally putting them into harmful situations.

#cw pokemon consumption - Pokemon being used or talked about as food items such as the slowpoke tail curry in Sword and Shield, or headcanons about eating pokemon.

#cw pokemon death - When a pokemon dies or is killed, or death of a pokemon is discussed.

#cw pokemon predation - Pokemon hunting other pokemon the way animals do in the real world. For example, a swellow snatching and flying off with a wurmple for dinner, a sableye eating a carbink’s gem body, or a dewgong hunting wishwashi.

#cw pokemon theft - Humans stealing pokemon from their trainers, from their habitats, homes, etc.

Rotomblr Dictionary

Common Rotomblr terms, tropes, and ask memes.

Chosen - Basically a legendary/mythical pokemon’s favorite human. A chosen is a character who has received favor from a powerful pokemon (the Patron pokemon) and often has gifts or powers bestowed upon them by their patron. How this is represented varies based on the player writing it. 

For example, a cresselia chosen might have the power to see into other people’s dreams. The patron cresselia may follow them around as a party pokemon, or it may be off doing its own thing.

Eeby/Pokemorph - A pokemon character that used to be a human and is now, for whatever reason of your choosing, a pokemon. Think of that time Bill accidentally turned himself into a clefairy, or the pokedex entries about pokemon that come from reborn deceased humans like phantump.

There is a lot of overlap between these and Sapient Pokemon.

The term “eeby deeby” isn’t as popular as it used to be, but some players still opt to use it. And some players just call them “former humans,” or class them under “sapient pokemon” for simplicity.

(Emoji/Name) Anon - Sometimes people play anon characters that may or may not have their own blogs but sign off each ask they send with a certain emoji, combination of emojis, or a name.

Sometimes they have a theme and ask the same or similar questions each time, sometimes they’re full characters who just don’t have blogs, and sometimes they exist for planned plot/lore purposes.

Faller - A term first introduced in Pokemon Sun/Moon defined as a person who has passed through an Ultra Wormhole. On Rotomblr, this often means a character from outside of Pokemon media who falls into the Pokemon world. 

For example, if someone plays a Sailor Moon who “fell” from her world into the Pokemon world via a wormhole and is now living in Kanto, that’s a faller.

Fusions - Characters that were not born with features from another species but were combined with something else later in life. Usually refers to physically fusing one entity with another, not just mixing DNA from a donor. Scientific malpractice, special tech, magic, and glitches are popular methods for this.

For example, a character was fused with an eevee. They may have features from the eevee, and may retain some of its habits or memories. The eevee may even still have some of its own thoughts and feelings inside their head.

Glitches - Inspired by old pokemon game glitches and the famous Glitch City from Pokemon Yellow, Red, and Blue, some players use a canon in which the universe is formed from code and thus can experience glitches and exploits. Glitch Cities may be real places that can be accessed in addition to the canon regions and towns, and glitch pokemon may exist in these canons inspired by the glitch pokemon that can be found in the games.

Glitches inspired many classic creepypasta such as Lost Silver, and blogs utilizing glitches as a theme may sometimes delve into horror writing.

Often tagged as #glitch pokemon irl or #glitch pokereality

Hybrids/Pokehumans - Characters that are genetically a mix of more than one species, usually a human and a pokemon, or a pokemon and a different species of pokemon. Usually they were born this way. The how is up to the player. Magic, special tech, and/or scientific malpractice are popular backstories.

For example, an eevee hybrid may have eevee ears and a tail, and maybe some ability to use eevee moves.

Magic Anon - An asker with magical, almost unlimited power to do whatever they’d like to the recipient via their inbox such as turn them into a skitty, shrink them down to pocket size, give them Curse Of Sneezes Every Time Someone Says “Blue”, etc. 

These are meant to be fun and whimsical, NOT harmful, distressing to the player, or disruptive to the blog’s ongoing plot. Recipients will ignore Magic Anons they don’t find enjoyable to play with.

These are prefaced as “M!A” or “Magic Anon!” Check if these are enabled in the blog’s pinned if you would like to send one.

If you receive something you don’t want to apply to your character, you are always allowed to delete it!

MMM - “Muse Mixup Madness.” A popular theme players enact where on the 1st of the month their character gets swapped with an au (Alternate Universe) version of themself for the day. 

These can range from silly (“Ash Ketchum from the universe where his starter was a sassy pyukumuku!”) to very serious (“Ash Ketchum where he survived all of his near death experiences from the movies, but one by one he lost his friends instead”).

Every now and then someone will post MMM prompt lists, but more often players come up with their own prompts, and sometimes swaps are used to drop lore or propel a storyline. 

Traditionally, MMM takes place on the 1st of the month, but due to irl schedule constraints sometimes players will use a different day, or play it for more than one day. 

Tag MMM posts as #muse mixup madness.

Musharna Mail - Similar to pelipper mail, this is a method of sending things to a character. However, musharna mail is for sending dreams instead of physical things. 

The original intent of Musharna Mail was to send one’s own character’s dreams to someone else’s character, like a “peek inside someone else’s dreams and guess who it’s from” game. However, Musharna Mail can just be silly as well! Like sending a dream about an eating contest against a munchlax at a nacho buffet.

Responses to Musharna Mails are often “offscreen” posts of the character waking up post-dream, or ic blog posts of the character going, “Wow I had this crazy dream.”

If you receive something you don’t want to apply to your character, you are always allowed to delete it!

Musharna Malice - Same concept as musharna mail, except instead of sending dreams it’s for sending nightmares meant to antagonize the recipient character. 

Mystery Gift - Similar to Pelipper Mail, except instead of sending via pokemon the delivery is transported via the digitization system that allows the player in the games to store, withdraw, and receive items and pokemon at any PC. 

Some players opt to use this when they feel it’s too unrealistic for other characters to know their character’s current location or address in order to direct a pelipper. Many players even opt to have their characters able to receive Mystery Gifts via an app on their phone.

Some players prefer Mystery Gift because they prefer the idea that to reject a gift the character simply hits “Decline” instead of chasing away a pelipper.

These will be prefaced as “Mystery Gift!”

Pelipper Mail - Inspired by Pokemon Mystery Dungeon in which mail is delivered by pelipper! A character calls for a pelipper (the method is up to each player. Using a phone app to call one similar to Uber is common) and it delivers something to another character. Sometimes it’s played like normal mail by the recipient and the delivery goes to the character’s mailbox, sometimes it’s more particular and it’s delivered to wherever the character currently is, and sometimes it’s played more whimsically and strange things like furniture, other pokemon, or even people are delivered. It will be prefaced as “Pelipper Mail!”

Sometimes characters with other bird or long distance travel capable pokemon will send that pokemon instead, so you’ll see things like “Staravia Mail!” or “Abra Mail!”

If you receive something you don’t want to apply to your character, you are always allowed to delete it!

Pelipper Malice - Similar concept to Pelipper Mail, except the delivery is meant to antagonize the recipient. Sometimes it’s labeled differently as “Pelipper Malice”, but sometimes it’s just “Pelipper Mail” and the upsetting delivery.

Pelipper Unmail - An pelipper is sent to the recipient’s location, but instead of delivering something it steals something. Sometimes it’s used to steal people or pokemon. 

This isn’t as common as the other two pelipper services, but sometimes players coordinate to use it for plots or comedic bits.

One more time! If you receive something you don’t want to apply to your character, you are always allowed to delete it!

Sapient Pokemon - Pokemon that are self aware and possess human levels of intelligence. Usually played as characters in their own right. Think of the pokemon from games like Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, or Meowth from the anime!

Self Insert - A character that is inspired by or represents you in the setting. Like the customizable player character in the games, a sona, or a mascot of yourself.

Self Insert Faller (SIF) - A character written as you yourself having fallen from your real life into the Pokemon world setting. Different from a Self Insert in that it’s written as if you have literally entered the Pokemon world from reality similar to an isekai, not just a character based on you who already lives there.

NOTE: SIFs may cause other players discomfort due to the extreme overlap of fiction and reality, so it’s courteous to tag these with #self insert faller and announce the character is a Self Insert Faller in the blog’s pinned intro.

Union Circle - A game feature introduced in Pokemon Scarlet/Violet that allows people to visit each other’s games. On Rotomblr it’s used as a means of transportation between universes when players with characters in different universes want them to visit in person. Player interpretation of how this works for the characters may vary. Some players may choose to stay similar to the game in which a Union Circle is accessed via the Pokemon Center, and for some it’s an app the character can access from their phone.

Some players don’t use Union Circle at all to let their characters traverse universes. It’s just a popular option!

Special Pokemon

Delta Pokemon - From the TCG and some third party games like Pokemon Insurgence. Delta pokemon are pokemon with different typing than their canon designs. For example, canon bulbasaur is grass type, but a delta fire bulbasaur would be fire type. 

Legendaries - In the games, these are powerful, plot-relevant pokemon, typically the header pokemon on the box art or title screen. 

Mythicals - In the games, these are more exclusive pokemon only attainable through special events or time offers.

Most Rotomblr players don’t treat legendaries vs mythicals differently, just grouping all of them under “legendary.” However, for some players’ lore there’s an applicable difference between legendaries and mythicals.

In-Universe Brands

Popularly accepted renames for real brands in the Pokemon world! These are just some of the popular ones, and players are always welcome to come up with and use others!

Rotomblr - Tumblr

Gliscord - Discord

McDonphans - McDonalds

Taco Bellsprout - Taco Bell

Igglygram or Instacham - Instagram

Mewtube - Youtube

Togetwitch - Twitch 

Sawsbucks or Staryubucks - Starbucks

There are no rules about brand names. If one blog’s preferred name clashes with another’s, for example one uses Sawsbucks and another uses Staryubucks, that’s fine! Sometimes players opt to have their characters dismiss it as “Wow, that’s weird. Anyway,” but sometimes they’ll play with it and do something more like “Wow, I wonder if that’s a rival store” or “We must be in different universes /silly.”

Did we miss anything? Share it in the replies below!

Pokeball divider by @pixopix

[rotomblr-tips]

Staying Safe On The Internet

Cyber Safety training used to be common in schools in the 1990’s to early 2000’s as home Internet became new and trendy. The education courses have since disappeared, but we’re online more than ever.

You’re on the Internet all the time. You’re on the Internet right now. You need to know basic Cyber Safety. 

This guide was written primarily with the Rotomblr community in mind but contains information applicable to anyone.

Summary:

For the TL;DRs. 

-Never give away personal information online including your name, age, location, and triggers.

-Everything you share on the Internet is tracked and stored somewhere and it never disappears.

-Any surprise communication telling you you must do something in a hurry or you’ll lose/miss out on something is probably a scam. Never click a link if you don’t know where it goes, and never login via a portal you were linked to.

-Don’t believe everything you read online, especially if it’s written to make you feel justified in hating something or someone.

General:

An extensive list of things to keep in mind while using the Internet. Grouped roughly by theme.

No take backs. Anything and everything you post online will be around forever. Even if you think you deleted something it can be recovered, it might just be slightly more inconvenient. And you have no way of knowing who saved what you posted be it a Tumblr post, a Discord message, or other online platform.

You have no way of knowing who/how many people are seeing what you post. Don’t assume no one is looking just because you have no Tumblr notes or no Discord replies.

NEVER share your real name, age, location, school, or any other information that pertains to your identity. Some people will say it’s okay to share your country, or your time zone, or your state (if you’re in the US), but everything you share about yourself can be used to hone in on you.

If you have to do age verification, lie! Use a YouTube video, a video game character, a TV show character, etc. Do not use your real identity.

Never forget it is EASY to lie on the Internet. Anyone could be lying about anything at any point. 

Be careful sharing photos taken outside or with the sunlight visible. Visible businesses, brands, weather conditions, or even plants or animals may be unique to your area and can be used to pinpoint your location.

Camera and photo apps often save location data in the photo’s autogenerated file name. Screenshotting a photo and sharing that instead can help prevent this, but always check the photo’s file name and data before sharing.

If you’re sharing a photo and need to block out sensitive data, firstly maybe reconsider sharing it at all, or take another picture without the private info showing. If you decide to share anyway, black out the info with an opaque tool, take a screenshot, and share the screenshot instead. It’s possible for someone to reverse the blacking out to reveal the hidden information in the original edit.

Be careful about discussing the weather or events happening near you. Weather phenomena can be very limited across your country. If you point out “Ooh thunder,” someone could easily check the weather radar and see it’s only thunderstorming in one area at that time in your country. Or if they already know your time zone or state they can check and see exactly where in that area it’s storming, and now they know where you are. Same goes for local events and cons. Wait at least 2 weeks between an interesting local event happening and when you talk about it as if it just happened.

Visible stars in a photo can give away your location.

Biometric logins such as fingerprint readers are notoriously insecure because they’re easy to trick.

Crypto transactions are public. 

A VPN does not hide your location or activities. It just changes who someone has to ask for your activity and location history.

Incognito modes are not private, they just don’t save browsing history locally. Activity is still tracked.

On Windows, files ending in .exe are executables meaning they will run a program when opened. If the source claimed it was anything but an executable you should assume it’s a virus and delete it.

Never open ANY download or file that is not the file type you were expecting, or unexpectedly large files. (Ex. You were expecting a .png, but the file says .exe, .vbs, .apk, etc. Or it says .png.exe). Unexpected file types or sizes indicate they could contain executable scripts that may try to install something without your consent such as spyware, malware, etc.

If you have keep me signed in, remember password, remember this device, etc. enabled on any platforms on your device and that device gets hacked, the hacker now has access to all of those platforms. 

Change your passwords every once in a while, and use 2FA when able. There is no single infallible method to protect your device or accounts, so use all of the tools at your disposal to add layers of protection. See the Swiss Cheese Model of using multiple layers of security to decrease opportunities for harm. 

Never plug a random USB you found into a computer. It could contain malware the owner was hoping you’d find. 

You are being tracked all the time. The hottest commodity of the Internet is any and all data corporations can collect on its users.

Were you thinking of sending a death threat via Tumblr anon? Are you harassing someone through an alt account? That’s all stored on a database somewhere. Your Internet provider has records of your activity. It can be traced back to you. Don’t do it.

Companies sell any information they get about you, and data breaches are common. “We delete it right after!” No they don’t. “Our system is completely secure!” No it isn’t.

Microtransactions and gacha games are gambling and are designed to addict you. They bleed money from you over a long period of time so you don’t notice how much you’re spending right away.

Read popups before allowing anything. Is your computer asking you if you’re sure you want to run a program after downloading what you thought was a .pdf? Is that site asking you over and over again to allow it to access something?

Any communication pressuring you to do something is a scam especially if it’s from an account you don’t know, or an unexpected message from an account you do know. Don’t follow their instructions. Never click their links.

Scams often use time or emotional pressure to startle you into complying. That random dm/dm from an old friend telling you your account is going to be deleted soon unless you sign in through this particular portal they’ve provided. That person who says they’ve been waiting for you, so please hurry and make a new account on some other platform so you can chat/get paid/watch a stream/etc. That email that claims the store with something you’ve been eyeing but can’t afford is having a sale but it ends tonight, so click this link to get there quickly. That comment asking for your Paypal name so they can send you some cash that you could really use.

Never follow suspicious or unsolicited links. Never follow that link a suspicious account “helpfully” provided to you to log in/download/verify/etc. Go to your search bar and type in the website’s url or search for it yourself. 

Don’t shit talk people in general. Definitely don’t write callouts, make posts, or spread rumors about people. At best it makes others in the community see you as someone who will harass them for mistakes, and at worst you could actually get sued for defamation of character.

Accusations of pedophilia are a popular tactic to villainize a target or target demographic. Everyone uses “to protect kids” as an excuse for their own predatory or bullying behavior. Everyone from corporations to politicians to political movements. Think of the Tumblr porn ban of 2018 that claimed it was making the space safer for children, then just terminated huge swaths of LGBT+ content for being “inappropriate”. And yet the porn is still here.

Callout posts against people are almost always just harassment disguised as public service. Be especially wary if the target of a callout is a commonly targeted demographic like trans women or people of color.

Screenshots of text conversations/posts are easily edited to make it look like anyone said/did anything. Take these with a grain of salt.

Death threats are a crime in most places. Telling someone you’re going to hurt or kill them or telling other people you want to kill someone can get you in real trouble. See item 21.

Real arrests have been made based on people’s Internet activity. Mostly women who need healthcare access or trans individuals, and this victim list is growing. What do you think happens to you when your behavior or demographic is deemed “dangerous”? Especially if you willingly handed over your identity for “age verification”?

It’s no one’s business how old you are. You do NOT need to announce if you’re a minor or an adult in your bio. If you broadcast that you’re a minor, you’ve just shared some very interesting information with people trying to prey on kids.

Don’t post your triggers! There’s a trend right now to post your DNI’s and/or triggers somewhere public with a big message that says “Don’t talk to me about these!” If someone online wants to upset you this is a How To Upset You guide you just gave them for free. Instead, use content filters and blocks to avoid topics you don’t like, and if you’re in a conversation about something you don’t like you can always vanish and come back later when the topic has passed. Your triggers are your own business, don’t broadcast them.

You’re the only person responsible for keeping you safe online. There’s a rising trend to rely on adults in an online community to protect the teenagers, and for platforms to add age and identity requirements “To protect kids”. But why would you trust complete strangers with your safety? 

The Internet is not a safe place. It can be a safe place to express yourself, to learn new hobbies, to share your interests, to write, to create, etc. But it is NOT plain old safe. The essence of the Internet is anonymity, and this has pros and cons. You get to be your own unique self with no pressure or judgement from your offline life. However, you don’t know who’s watching you or interacting with you at any moment. The Internet is a giant masquerade everyone was invited to where no one knows anything about each other. Your favorite person ever is on the Internet. The worst people you’ve ever heard of are also on the Internet.

Anyone telling you their space is perfectly safe is either foolish or lying to you. This goes equally for people running online community spaces and companies running platforms with age “safety features”.

Be alert. Most of the people you meet won’t have bad intentions, but the few that do are really counting on you to trust they’re like the others.

Be kind. Never forget there’s a real person behind that screen. You don’t know who they are or everything they’re going through. If you wouldn’t say something to someone’s face, why would you say it to them online?

Tips for Younger Users:

The anonymity of the Internet is what allows you to be your own weird self in your own weird space without pressure from your offline life. Don’t let something convince you giving up this privacy is the best way to stay safe.

Companies are not your friends. Any app/website/product/etc that claims to require your personal information to “enhance safety” is lying. Do NOT hand over your personal information like your ID, your learners permit, your school, your real age, etc. This is just a way to easily de-anonymize your account, and you can NOT undo this once they have it. 

Adults looking to take advantage of children often try to lower their guard by treating them like they’re more special than “other kids”. Be wary of people who say things like, “You’re really mature for your age” or “I don’t usually like to interact with minors, but I’ll make an exception for you,” or “My server/group chat is 18+ but I’ll let you slide/I can lower the age limit until you’re old enough”

Be wary of people who seem very eager for the moment you become a legal adult (“turn legal”), or finding out if you’re “old enough”.

Don’t post selfies or share your face on camera! Like all online activity, you can’t take this back, and you never know who’s saving images or screenshots. 

If you’re underage, don’t lie about your age to gain access to content that’s age restricted, ESPECIALLY in a roleplaying community. Adults may feel uncomfortable discussing or writing certain topics with teenagers, and depending on the content it could be a legality concern for the adults. 

You don’t have to give away your age demographic to respect age restrictions. Simply don’t opt into designated adults only spaces, and if a conversation topic comes up that you don’t think you should engage in, just say you don’t feel like discussing that and change the topic, or find somewhere else to hang out for a while.

You can say No. No is a complete sentence. If you don’t want to do/say/write/reblog/roleplay/etc something, you can say no. You don’t even have to explain yourself. If someone gives you grief? Block.

Libraries are good resources for information that may be otherwise restricted.

Everything you share is available online forever. You will not have all the same priorities or beliefs ten years from now, but everything you said will still be here for people to find.

Tips for Older Users:

Be nice to kids. You were one once. Create the space you needed when you were their age. Be supportive of them even if you don’t love their ideas, be kind even when you need to turn them down, and tell them how much you like their ideas when they do something cool especially when they’re just starting out. Be the reason they continue the hobby, not the reason they quit.

There’s a trend right now of making roleplay spaces that are only 18+ or sometimes even 20+ or 25+, or putting “Minors DNI” in profiles even though the blog doesn’t contain any adult themes. Firstly, you can’t actually control what age groups interact with something like a blog, or if a 19 vs 20 year old clicks on a Discord link. Secondly, we all want to hang out with people our own age sometimes, but don’t completely shun newcomers in the community just because they’re younger, ESPECIALLY in a kids media fandom like Pokemon. This media was made FOR them, so they ARE going to be here.

The community will be very empty in a few years if older users don’t help new participants feel welcome.

“Minor” is a legal term not a social term. If you say “That’s not appropriate for minors” what you’re claiming is, “Knowingly distributing that directly to individuals under the age of 18 is punishable by law.” Just because you don’t like something does not make it illegal for it to exist. 

You are taking a risk when you ask if someone is old enough to engage in NSFW themes or topics with you.

Kids lie about their ages to get access to adult content. It’s not cool, but it’s super common. It’s been happening ever since they invented R rated movies for teens to sneak into. If you find out someone did this in your designated 18+ space, just block and move on. Don’t harass a teenager for common teenage shenanigans. You don’t have to forgive them, but you do have to leave them alone and move on.

Going out of your way to accuse people of pedophilia does not actually protect children. It just encourages anxiety in both the new users trying to engage in a space that’s presented as TEEMING with predators, and the older ones desperately trying to just exist without catching the next accusation.

Making a dick joke, shipping adult characters, or acknowledging that sex exists around a teenager is not the same as being a sexual predator of children. 

It’s NOT your job to police what content other people’s children access on the Internet.

If you want to help create a safer environment for young users, model responsible adult behavior for them. Model effective communication, respect for boundaries and space, proper use of tags when able, blocking or ignoring instead of fighting, making newcomers feel welcome, etc. Be a good example for a younger user to reference when they encounter behavior that raises concerns in them.

Have more tips? Share them in the replies!

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hi! my blog got nuked and my rotomblr went with it, back now obviously but I’m not sure if there’s like. etiquette or something for restarting your blog after it gets deleted in a rotomblr context?

Oh no! So sorry to hear that happened to you, but it’s great that you’re back!

There isn’t necessarily an etiquette for remaking after deletion. You can simply remake your blog, and for ease of people recognizing it and understanding what happened right away you can note somewhere in your new pinned intro what your old blog url was (if you have to/choose to pick a new one) and that it got deleted involuntarily.

If you want to be immersive about it, your character can even acknowledge the deletion themself, “Aw man, functional website Rotomblr deleted my old blog for no reason but I’M BACK! Old blog was xyz.”

To find your friends and followers again, it will be effective to go to their ask boxes and send them some asks! “Hey buddy, my old blog got nuked so this is my new one. What’s up with you? Did I miss anything?” They’ll get some asks which always brightens people’s day, and you’ll reconnect with people in the community!

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I think we also need to finish the new terms and definitions guide promptly as well. What are some terms (such as pelipper mail, mystery gift, etc) that you’ve seen around but you feel unclear about?

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The cyber safety guide is almost ready, just doing some final reviews to make sure it’s thorough. It feels a little foreboding though because it focuses on all of the online Don’ts, so I want to post another one of the more whimsical and fun WIP guides shortly after it.

Would you prefer the Your First Rotomblr Blog guide and template, or Blog Design Resources first?