v1zla's rp guide for folks new to tumblr.
so, you're new to tumblr and you have no idea how to get into rping.
made this guide for your sakes as i've seen a lot of new heu roleplayers spawning in and seeming kind of lost on how this platform works and general rp etiquette. thought i'd make a guide based on both my experiences in prose rp tumblr and askblog tumblr.
keep in mind this mainly encompasses heu askblog culture, which does not seem to employ using icons or gifs as much as prose rp culture does, so this post will not cover that.
starting out.)
if you're completely new to tumblr, you're probably not yet aware of the difference between sideblogs and mainblogs. the difference is very important based on how you'd like to interact with people, so read this part carefully:
mainblogs are the blog at the very top of your bloglist. mainblogs can reblog, like, and send asks, all under their url/username. these are the kind of accounts you're used to on every social platform. it has all the capabilities that you'd expect. you can only have one mainblog per email, so use these wisely, or just have a ton of emails you can keep track of.
sideblogs are all of the blogs below your bloglist that are not the mainblog. sideblogs CANNOT like and send asks under its url/username. if you try to like or send asks, it will always source back to your mainblog.
❗if i'm a sideblog and i want to send an ask to someone, how do i tell them it's me?
simple! you just send an ask on anon, then sign it with the @ of your sideblog, like so:
however, if you don't want to do anon ask + signoff, you'll need your blog to be a mainblog. when asking from a mainblog, it will appear like this:
since you can only have one mainblog per email login, managing multiple rp mainblogs is a bit of a hassle. i save my logins via gmail addresses so i can log in with one click.
now that you've figured out which kind of blog you are/which blog you'd like to make, don't forget to open your askbox and turn anon on.
whether you want submissions to be allowed is up to you. i personally have them off.
roleplaying thread etiquette. )
depending on what sphere of the rp space you're joining; prose rp(aka literate, descriptive rp) or conversational/askblog rp (aka nondescriptive, dialogue based rp), there tends to be varying etiquette. i'm a hybrid blog of both types (both prose and askblog rping) so i suck at balancing both etiquettes, but you don't have to!
response etiquette. )
most of tumblr's rp sphere is known as "public rp," meaning it's visible on the feed for everyone to see. this is best exemplified by how a lot of responses you'll see are likely reblog responses, not done in the comments section (though this can happen as well for shorter form exchanges). however, this does eventually result in reblogs getting pretty damn long and a pain in the ass to scroll past, especially with more literate rp that spans several paragraphs.
in prose rp tumblr, "trimming reblogs" is more commonplace as an etiquette feature (so as to make everyone's lives easier reading-wise and not have duplicate threads spamming the feed) but i have not seen it as often on askblog tumblr. if you'd like to read about trimming reblogs and how to do it, please see this very in depth post on how to go about it here.
❗ if you intend on rping in comment sections, it's best to @ the person you're responding to so they get a notification. it works pretty much the same as a comment section on any other platform; if you don't tag them, they won't see it.
tag etiquette. )
if you're not aware yet, tumblr hates duplicate tags because they have a huge potential for spam. your tags will only apply to the official tag page of said tag on your first post, and not your subsequent reblogs. all subsequent reblog tags are purely for organizational purposes on your own blog (hence why mine, for example, are really fucking short or not even related to the heu).
basically, you can tag an ask answer with "#heu rp" but the following reblogs to that first post will not be reposted in the global tumblr tag page, only your own blog. <- with that in mind though, i discourage tagging every single ask answer with a mainstream tag like that; it can clog and bury promos for other rp blogs and make it more difficult for you to find other rp blogs as well. (i also know of some people blocking rp accounts for spaming mainstream tags, so that will also lessen your outreach to potential anons/askers.)
terms/mod/mun etiquette. )
❗to get this out of the way, an indicator of if you're an adult or a minor is incredibly important in your pinned post.❗
a lot of rp blogs will not interact with you if they do not know your age, as they may be adults rping mature content OR are minors who want to rp with their own age bracket.
❗you do not need to list your exact age; (infact, if you're a minor, it's probably better that you don't) but at least some indicator in your introduction post of the account mod/mun's OOC age is necessary.
character/muse info in your pinned post. )
generally, you'll want at least a pinned post going over your character portrayal or necessary details of your blog (e.g. are you post-canon or during canon? pre canon? an au? etc.)
this is optional, but you'll also want a tags navigation so readers and askers will know where to look for certain content on your blog. here's a small example of what my tags navigation looks like:
❗keep in mind that prose rp pinned posts do look a little different; a lot of prose rpers are pc-only due to trimming reblog features and blog themes, as well as google doc/carrd/pc-exclusive blog character pages. however, if you wanna stick to traditional stuff, you can always just make your pinned post your huge chunk of text character sheet.
communicating ooc. )
this can vary a lot person-to-person. my dms are always open for ooc, but others may not use dms whatsoever and are only reachable via askboxes. the most common way of communicating quickly mid-rp ooc is through tags, usually with an ooc marker such as // ( ) ooc/ || and so on. an example of my own ooc tag:
faq. )
i want to get more interactions! why is no one rping with me?
simple. you’re not interacting with them! sometimes, people are shy, and you’ll have to be a little less shy than everyone else. i’ve been in the tumblr rp space for a good while now, and spectated for even longer; i’ve lost all my nerves about “intruding” in peoples’ askboxes. v1zla as an askblog has only existed for 3 days, and has over 50+ posts of interaction and rp after 72 hours. 70% of them are because i reached out to a stranger i thought was cool, and i interacted! whether that be a follow, sending an ask, or commenting under a post.
this is the basic point: if you want to rp with people, you need to put yourself out there. unlike other social medias, you cannot sit in your own blog and wait for people to come to you; tumblr is a place where if you truly wanted to, you could stay unfound forever even with a public account. it fully, fully relies on YOUR interactions with OTHER people. think of it like a discord server; if you don’t talk to other people, they won’t magically find their way to your dms and befriend you!
how does rp work? is it all improv or preplanned?
in prose blogs, it has more capacity to be preplanned (or as we say, “plotted”). however, i havent observed this much with askblogs. the joy of rp is that the actions and reactions of others are not within our control, and cannot always be predicted. a large part of rp is improv; so get used to thinking on your feet!
what if i portray them wrong? will people hate me? what do i do?!
don’t worry about this, trust me. if anyone is dogging on your FREE, UNPAID, VOLUNTARY portrayal of a character, they need a nice softblock (or hardblock) to the face. rp is about having fun; not everything can or has to be canon accurate.
at the very least, no matter how much imposter syndrome you have, at least you’re not getting your rp nerves out with an ai chatbot or letting ai write your responses!!
think of it this way; you aren’t rewriting canon. you are writing YOUR fanon.
how do i flesh out my portrayal? it feels so shallow compared to what i’ve seen in canon…
if you really want to worry about accuracy, keep in mind that you may be rping a character from a visual media. visual storytelling cannot translate to written storytelling. the closest it will ever get is the original media scripts; so if you want to study how a certain canon character talks, go look at the scripts! most show/film scripts are free and archived online.
now, if you’d like to flesh the character out beyond what’s been shown in your canon material; check out the #rp meme #rp prompt tags, and go through them while answering the questions for your character (preferably typing out how theyd answer them or respond to them). you’ll find yourself being able to warm up to their “voice” pretty quickly.
what’s a “voice” in terms of rp?
every character, even canon, has a canon voice, right? but that may not translate to text; so if you want, you can find a way to portray their unique speech mannerisms. vocabulary, inflections, how much they use exclamation marks, or even if they include laughter in their written dialogue. (“haha” feels pretty different than “he chuckled”, right?)
for a more black/white example, hannibal lecter speaks nothing like nigel banyai. how would you translate that to written dialogue? think about it, then try to apply that to your character.
what is an “indie” rp blog?
that’s me. hey there. an indie rp blog means “independent,” as in unaffiliated with any group. for example, if i was a will graham rp blog with an “official” hannibal rper, i would not be indie; i would be affiliated.
in the same vein, i am currently nonexclusive. nonexclusive means that duncan is not strictly tied to one character relationship, or all of his character relationships exist in different "timelines" unless if discussed/mentioned otherwise ooc. this also means he has no "one" true ship at the moment, unless if i decide otherwise and make a relationship exclusive.
(for example, if duncan decided to date another rp blog's character, and both that character's mod and i declare our characters exclusive, both characters are now "officially taken" and it becomes an official part of both duncan and that other character's lore. if we did not declare them exclusive, that relationship only exists in one timeline that we share, and our respective characters are still open for other characters to romance in separate timelines.)
anyways, that's all i can remember for now. hope this was useful. ciao
