With the holiday season in full swing, we want to make it a little easier for people to remain a part of the group while still enjoying time with their family, working extra hours, or just being busier all the way around! We've talked things over as admins, and have worked out what we think is fair for the holidays.
Every character is required to reply to at least one thread per week. If you reply to only one thread during week one, however, replying to only that same thread during week two will result in a strike. This is to help us avoid bubbling!
Twice during the holiday season, we'll be doing 'check ups' where we just make a little list of people who aren't meeting regular rules -- you will not be given a strike! It'll just serve as a nudge so you know where you're at.
If you are the kind of person that has the time to do more than that? Please do!!! This is your time to really ~shine. But this is a fail safe to prevent everyone from being on hiatus at once, and let us all relax a little during the holiday season. Please keep in mind, though: we are still relying on one another to have activity! Got time? Do as much as you can! Diving into drafts/activity? Do your oldest replies first -- grabbing the newest really screws over the people who have been waiting. And always try to put a little priority into replying to starters.
The schedule for checks is as follows:
November 21st -- check-up.
November 28th -- lenient rules.
December 5th -- lenient rules.
December 12th -- check-up.
December 19th -- lenient rules.
December 26th -- no check.
January 2nd -- no check.
January 9th -- lenient rules.
January 16th -- standard activity check.
Gentle heads up: what you can handle at your busiest / lowest point should be a guiding factor in what you should handle always, use this as a gauge to make changes for the new year.
please give this post a like once you have read it! xx
Happy June! We've finally made it into the summer months in Merrock, with June, July and August full of fun things to do around our cozy little coastal town. Under the cut, you can read about our mini events for the months, some reminders, fun things going on, and some maybe not so fun reminders that we always have to go over to make sure to keep this place running smoothly. xx
ON THE CALENDAR !
June 5th -- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL -- school's out for summer!
June 5th -- DONUT DAY -- head out to find special discounts or even some freebies on donuts!
June 8th -- WORLD OCEANS DAY -- visit the Aquatic Conservatory to learn all about the oceans in and around Merrock.
June 12th - 14th -- PRIDE WEEKEND -- more info here.
June 21st -- FATHER'S DAY -- hit up the Supply Shack to make dad a free card and have fun!
June 27th -- SUNGLASSES DAY -- purchase a pair or just show off your all time favorite sunglasses!
CHANGES & UPDATES !
Please take the time to read over our rules. I know it seems silly, but rules are important to any group -- while I'm going to be lax about stuff like posting too many muse posts, I'm not going to be lax about diversity rules or activity standards, so we always want you guys to make sure you know what you agreed to follow upon joining.
we have a new task for the month of June! A moodboard task, but with the fun twist! As usual, tasks are not mandatory, and you have two whole months to work on it, so don't stress or rush.
keep an eye open for a plot drop update early next week! While we are taking a small break to enjoy Pride Weekend and then our big carnival, we'll soon have an announcement about planning for the next big town-run event to help raise money and awareness.
GOALS FOR THE MONTH !
let's try to bring back the good ole two week goal. it's not a rule, I'm not gonna look for it on checks, but keeping your threads replied to in a two week window helps others keep up muse for them and just as importantly, gives others activity! work in order as much as possible, older replies just get older, and skimming off the top helps you, but doesn't help your neighbors.
make sure you're responding to messages! not everyone can reply back within minutes, hours, or even days, but please don't deliberately ignore messages. since I've had a few writers mention to me as an admin that they've struggled with messages, let's just make sure we're not letting people sit on read.
A WORD FROM THE MOD !
Browsing the tags recently, I got caught up in discourse about why the RPC is struggling on Tumblr, and what brought that about. Someone said something that really stuck with me, which is that everyone wants to be a part of a village, but no one wants to be a villager.
I've talked about this before, in regards to making a group what you want it to be by putting in the effort yourself. That you can't sit on the outskirts, can't break rules, can't shrug it off and say 'not me, though' but still expect a group to be what you want it to be. The "I don't owe anyone anything" mentality hurts a group a lot more than you think. Real life comes first, yes, definitely! It's a hobby, not a jobby -- but it's a collaborative hobby that, upon joining any group, you agree to be a collaborating party to.
Put into a group what you want to get out of a group. Do you want to see an active dash? Be active. Do you want to get replies to your open starter? Reply to open starters. Do you want others to keep up their threads with you, to plot with you? Keep up threads with them, make an effort to plot with them. Wanna see others interact with your socials, your tasks, reply to your OOC posts? Do those things for others. We can't care about these things only when it's convenient for us, we have to care about others, just the same.
Treating one another with basic decency, kindness, respect and honesty goes a long way towards building a good village -- and I think that we have one here and a lot of great writers who do just that. We all just need to remember to be the villagers OOC as much as we are IC, and that's a good thing to keep in mind. xx
Happy Pride month! Here in Merrock, we like to do at least a little something special for the community, and this year is no different! Vibrations will be open Friday, June 12th and Saturday, June 13th with free drinks for any who attend the Pride Party, where we will be playing your favorite dance songs and hits. Come out and have a blast! On Saturday and Sunday, from 10AM to 5PM, Cityview Park will be hosting a family friendly Pride Palooza, with all sorts of fun things to do! Hope to see you there.
EVENT: Pride Weekend.
IC DATE: June 12-14, 2026.
OOC DATE: June 12-14, 2026.
LOCATION: Vibrations & Cityview Park.
DRESS CODE: however you would like!
INVITED: Pride Party at Vibrations is for the 21+ crowd in the community, and Pride Palooza in the park is for everyone!
NOTES: there is no drinking at Pride Palooza; food and beverages are alcohol-free. pets must be kept on a leash!
After the big reveal at the town council meeting, Merrockites from all over town have come together to start finding ways to raise money themselves to purchase the land together. First up? Merrock's Spring Fling! It will be a fun street fair style event with lots to eat and drink and plenty of things to do. There will be games, music, art opportunities, and most importantly: the community will come together to make it all happen in a special way. This event will run from May 29th until May 31st. Hope to see you there!
EVENT: Spring Fling.
IC DATE: May 29-31, 2026.
OOC DATE: May 23-31, 2026.
LOCATION: downtown Merrock.
DRESS CODE: casual, fun!
INVITED: absolutely everyone -- adults and kids alike! pets must be leashed for safety.
NOTES: jump under the cut for some fun ideas of ways that you can get involved.
The Spring Fling is a new event in Merrock, hosted to raise money to buy that plot of land and make sure that it doesn't end up in the wrong hands! As such, the event is run by those in the community, and will be in search of:
food and drink vendors. if your character owns or works in an eating or drinking establishment, consider opening up a tent or food truck for the weekend!
shopping. work at a place that offers some fun goods? consider running sales with a certain amount of profits going towards the land for the weekend!
music & entertainment. The Mirage will be charging a cover fee to come watch shows and share a few drinks, so if you're into music, book a slot or two!
fun things to do. if there's something that you can offer to help make the spring fling that much more fun, please let us know!
If you need some fun ideas of things that you can do or volunteer your time towards, how about considering things like:
face painting.
setting up & running a game stand (duck hunt, pick a pop, bingo, get creative).
selling crafts or goods that you make & are willing to donate proceeds from to the good cause.
sidewalk art / mural painting.
baked goods.
arts and crafts for kids.
a coloring set-up.
helping out with local businesses (note: if this business has employees/an owner already, check with them first).
Think about what your character does for a living -- can their work place somehow get involved? Is there a hobby or something that they do for fun that they could somehow incorporate into the fun? Please send me a message or an ask with your ideas or how you would like to get involved, and that will be it! That'll be our fun time for the spring fling -- this is 100% community run, both out of character and in character, so let's make it great. Ideas will be taken up until May 22nd.
Please note: no suggestions here are the be all, end all, any ideas that you have are completely welcome!
CURRENTLY TAKEN:
live mural painting -- Harley Hua.
a lucky prize wheel -- Bardales Inc.
raffle for free services at garage -- Takato's.
selling crystals to keep away bad spirits -- Universal Rocks.
tent of goodies -- Cobblestone Cafe.
rock painting activity -- Celestial Foundations.
dance performance -- Darcy Jessops.
baked goods tent ($10 purchases go to charity) -- Cherry Amour.
spring art lessons & coloring books -- The Color Wine.
Happy 2026, Merrockites! Although we're not quite back to normal just yet -- we're working our way there. As everyone gets back on their feet and moves into regular activity, we wanted to share some important changes to rules, reminders to other rules, and set some goals and improvements for the year ahead. Read on to start off 2026!
ON THE CALENDAR !
JANUARY 1ST -- polar plunge. come join your fellow Merrockites at the beach for a plunge into the icy cold water to kick off the new year fresh.
JANUARY 10TH -- houseplant day. head up to Lavender Lane for a houseplant sale, and also have the chance to plant your own to take home with you!
JANUARY 15TH -- hat day. Benny's and Bella's are both running sales on hats. which means that you should buy one, and then take a selfie in it. or just share your favorite hat!
JANUARY 17TH -- Bryan & Natasha's Wedding. a beautiful day celebrating one of Merrock's couples!
JANUARY 20TH -- cheese lovers day. -- stop in to Taste to get some of the most yummy, scrumptious cheese that you will find in town, and pair it with some other good snacks and drinks!
IMPORTANT STUFF !
moving into the new year, we will have slightly fewer big events happening in town. this is to encourage threads to last longer, and mostly to cut myself a little slack. events are hard work, participation is key to make them great! we will have two galas, a potential trip (highly, highly dependent on dash activity and group morale!), some Benefactor related plot drops, town festivals, and lots of fun things -- including many fun mini events!
& we are open to you hosting your own parties or events! just contact me to find out more.
we'll be doing a short, simple task to start the year off, all about your character's new years resolutions!
RULE REMINDERS & CHANGES !
For the year ahead, there are some rules that are changing, or some rules that we want to remind you guys of to help make the group a better, more balanced place:
moving forward, muse cap is eight (seven, but you can have eight if one of your muses is 50+, disabled, or trans/nonbinary). if you currently play more than seven/eight, you are grandfathered in, but if you lose roles due to inactivity, they cannot be reclaimed (they can be swapped out). this decision has been made based on feedback from current, past and potential future writers, as well as admins examining their own activity & what is and is not feasible.
if your first muse is not filling a wanted connection or a local (can also be someone who moved a while back, and has established connections to town) to Merrock, your second must be! we're making 2026 the year we get back to a close-knit community vibe.
starters need some work! you should always reply to open starters before creating your own (the one and only exception is if you are new to the group!), and you should not create an open starter if you do not have the time or intention to reply back to people. in general, everyone needs to put in a little effort to be inclusive and reply to open starters. you do not have to reply to every open! but you should make an effort to reply to some!
activity rules will be staying the same. everyone gets three activity strikes. on the 4th, you receive a message from admins. if things are not fixed, the 5th strike means the character gets removed. at that point, you must re-apply for them when you're able.
things like bubbling, hail mary replies (meaning you are only logging in on Thursday evenings) get marked on my chart. three marks in a short amount of time will result in you getting a strike.
warnings will be removed with good activity (and fixed issues!). strikes, not often. our requirement is so low (two threads per week), that we feel it's fair to toughen up a little bit, and make sure people are putting in the effort to be fair to their fellow writers.
because of this, you are reminded that you are responsible for your activity -- if you find yourself ending up on check or with a lot of warnings, please evaluate what you need to do to fix these issues.
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT !
one of the biggest areas of improvement within the group is communication. Whether this be with us, as admins, or even more importantly: with each other. If people reach out to you to plot, need help with a plot, ask about threads, please respond to them. We're not saying everyone needs to respond to a message within an hour. Sometimes it may even take a few days! But we need to work on being better at communication as a whole. If I, as admin, reach out to you, please respond as well!
timeliness is the other area where we would love to see a bit of improvement. A goal I'd love to see met for 2026 is that no thread sits longer than two weeks without getting a reply back. Are you going to get in trouble if that doesn't happen? No, things happen, people get busy! But to keep muse fresh and threads flowing, let's work on seeing if we can make that happen.
A WORD FROM THE MOD !
I for one am excited for some of the fun things that we have in store for the 2026 year in Merrock! But I also love our down time in this group, and the camaraderie that we build with one another, the plots that have nothing to do with events, the fun, random things that happen on dash, and we'd love to see more of people building connections with one another, strengthening bonds, all of that good stuff. Like I said, small town vibes! Let's make that our focus moving into the new year.
As admin, I am going to work on being better about my boundaries and avoiding burn out this year. If you need something from me, as an admin, contact me here on main, and please remember and understand that I am also a writer in the group -- sometimes I am online to just write and be a writer, not to be an admin, and also... I'm a human with my own triggers, my own struggles, my own busy times, or bad days -- just like you guys!
I know that there has been some tension, some rough patches, ups and downs this past year. A lot of people had a rough go of it. Let's head into 2026 with an open mind and start fresh. Let bygones be bygones. Drop grudges, take a deep breath, and make this place really shine. xx
Something new and a little exciting this year -- the manager of the Community Garden has opened up a volunteer week for people to come in, help clean out the community garden lots, and allow people to sign up for their own space to garden this year! The greenhouse is also ready to be planted with fruit and veggie starters, as well as flowers. Each day, volunteers are asked to bring along a little snack and drink to share with your fellow Merrockites for a fun picnic-sharing experience, too!
EVENT: Community Garden Week.
IC DATE: April 6-12, 2026.
OOC DATE: April 6-12, 2026.
LOCATION: Community Garden, suburbs.
DRESS CODE: wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty!
INVITED: everyone (human!) is invited! parents and guardians are welcome to bring kids, as long as they're well behaved and you're responsible for them. please leave pets at home.
On April 2nd, 2022, Merrock opened up to the tags, welcoming new writers to the fold after our soft opening the year before, and we were off and running!
Through the years, we've had so many writers who have been with us from day one, who have come and gone and come back again, or even are newer here and have just really fit in and become a part of our family so effortlessly, and we love you guys for that, truly. Each person is part of Merrock's story, and that's special to me.
I do have a handful of important things to talk about in acknowledgement of our anniversary.
to help boost morale and hopefully help you break bad patterns and get back to good spirits, i am clearing the activity chart and giving everyone a fresh start. do a 'new year, new me' kinda thing.
because of the holiday, i will be lenient with the check this week (though i'd prefer not having to do one at all!). if you aren't up to snuff, you'll get a warning.
april 10th's activity check will be when the 'fresh start' begins.
as a reminder, a lot of characters still have the old style bio. i do not update these on my own! if you would like a new style bio, please re-submit your bio with any changes that need made and a high quality, portrait-style color photo of your face claim.
Thank you guys for being a part of Merrock and making it so special. It's appreciated more than you know, and I cannot wait to see what the year ahead brings us! xx
April is a busy little month, with a lot of fun mini events to help you plot and get interactions going, and of course, our big Community Garden Week event happening! Plus, everyone's hard at work getting ready for the Spring Fling next month, the town's first step towards solving the Benefactor problem.
Under the cut, you will also find some important information about face claims to clear the air with some questions we've had lately, and some encouraging words as we head into the next big year of Merrock, as well as general goals for improvement. xx
ON THE CALENDAR !
april 2nd (OOC): merrock's 4th anniversary!
april 4th: easter egg hunt -- join us at the community center for a fun time hunting eggs and getting to meet the bunny!
april 6th-12th: community garden week -- info here!
april 7th: beer day -- meet up at the Garden for one free beer with every food basket purchased.
april 10th (OOC): siblings day!
april 11th (OOC): pet day!
april 15th: world art day -- visit From Brush to Canvas to admire fine art, do some paint and sip at The Color Wine, or stock up at the Supply Shack!
april 20th (OOC): lookalike day!
april 22nd: earth day -- share a photo of yourself out in nature, enjoying our earth to #merrocksocial.
april 24th: arbor day -- stop by Lavender Lane to pick up a sapling and then plant it anywhere you'd like around town!
CHANGES & UPDATES !
zilch as far as changes go from the admin team! as usual, you can read the rules to be sure you're up to date.
our task for march and april is still ongoing! if you didn't have time to work on it last month, make it a goal for this month. xx
GOALS FOR THE MONTH !
continue to work towards activity goals! less last minute log-ins to meet a quota, more being here just to be here and be a part of our community. two threads per week is the requirement, but don't make it a 'last minute, only that' kinda deal. be here to be a part of something special, write with your friends!
communication, collaboration & follow through! it's such a silly thing to say, but an easy problem to solve. roleplay is a collaborative hobby, which means we have to collab and work together. when people ask to plot in the OOC, when you agree to thread, when someone reaches out to you -- follow through. start the thread, make suggestions, reply to messages. it really helps morale and makes people feel wanted!
ON FACE CLAIMS & CHOICES !
Lately, we have been getting anonymous asks about face claims -- whether it be most wanted questions, asking if certain face claims are allowed, or general confusion when submitting applications about what is and is not acceptable right now.
i'm going to link mw/mwm/mwf questions to the suggested faces page and ask our writers. it's not to be rude, i just don't like answering them when it can feel like a "gotcha!" if we don't suggest faces you like when in reality, i want you to choose who you want.
actors are the primary source for FCs. singers, models, athletes are a no unless they're diverse and have proper resources, and influencers are a blanket no.
we can say no at any time if we feel a FC is controversial or will make people uncomfy.
if you join as two characters, one must be diverse, and one must fill a wanted connection. or one character can do both! as long as both requirements are met.
If you ever have any doubt about face claims, just message me! I promise I don't bite, I promise I will help you figure it out. But please come to us off of anonymous, so we can talk 'face to face' so to speak, and handle it like adults. And ask before applying! Just in case. xx
A WORD FROM THE MOD !
April 2nd is our four year anniversary (I'll have a post on that tomorrow)! At least of the day that we opened up to the tags. Can you believe it?! This group (and all of you) are so special to me, and I want to see it continue to thrive and be successful for a long time to come yet.
It takes everyone involved to make a group great and feel like home: it's not just on the admins, and it's not just on the writers. I create a space for you to write, and you write in it (me too, of course). So when I say that it takes all of us, I mean that! I know that life is tough, people are busy, sometimes the world just isn't nice, I appreciate everything you give Merrock. The best way for us to assure our group remains as a safe place to enjoy and escape to is just by being an active, contributing part to it. And as long as you're doing your part, I'll do mine, and we'll keep having a good time together.
