#monstrousupdate

[monstroushq]

Just a small update to let everyone know that Great Expectations has now been added to the accepted literature page! It’s getting to be quite a long  list now, but if there are any Victorian or Gothic novels, or penny dreadfuls, that you would like to see on the list, please let me know, and they’ll be added. It’s lovely to have such a large variety of potentially playable characters from famous works, and I’m sure the list will only get longer.

[monstroushq]

The accepted literature page has again been added to, this time to include characters from Little Dorritt by Charlies Dickens and Varney the Vampire, by either James Malcolm Rymer or Thomas Peckett Prest! If underappreciated Dickensian stories, or underappreciated Victorian vampire stories (with wonderfully corny names!) are your thing, then those might be the characters for you.

The accepted literature page is always expanding as I think of new pieces of Victorian literature that I think will fit into the aesthetic of this group. If there’s a story or penny dreadful missing from the already extensive list that you think should be on there, please reach out and let me know, and I’ll add it to the list. It’s recognised that it’s impossible to have a complete list of Victorian and Gothic literature, and already, it’s quite a long list, so just because something is missing from that page, doesn’t mean we wouldn’t accept it here.

[monstroushq]

I was rearranging my bookshelves today (yes, that’s plural!) when I came across a book I’d honestly forgotten I owned, called Vampires, featuring some of the earliest vampire short stories published in English.

Among those stories we already have listed on the “accepted literature” page, such as Dracula’s Guest and Carmilla, I also found some I wasn’t aware of, namely, The Room in the Tower by E.F. Benson, featuring a wonderfully murderous “evil” vampire called Julia Stone, and The Vampyre by John Polidori (which was written in response to the famous writing competition that spawned Frankenstein).

These seemed to good to pass up on, so I’ve added them to the list of accepted literature (which can be found here). So, if you’re interested in writing a bloodthirsty vampire, look no further than Julia Stone! Or if righting the historical fridging of women is more your thing, then perhaps a vampiric version of Ianthe, or the unnamed “Aubrey’s sister” of The Vampyre would suit you better.

The accepted literature list also now features more classic literature and characters, such as Wuthering Heights, and more characters from Jane Eyre. If there’s a story you can think of that you’d like added to the page, please just let me know! It’s always expanding as I come across new material that I think would be a good fit for this group!

[monstroushq]

A very minor edit has been made to the bestiary page today, to add the inspirations for the creature lore, and alter the vampire’s abilities somewhat. After consideration, I realised that the vampires were potentially a tad overpowered (though they really are in Stoker’s original novel, which is the inspiration for our vampires!) So, their ability to temporary hypnotise humans has been removed. They have still been left with a plethora of powers, such as slightly exaggerated strength, enhanced healing and senses, the ability to scale walls, and the ability to transform into bats, wolves, and smoke. I hope these edits haven’t bothered any of our vampire writers too much. I’m absolutely willing to add the hypnosis ability back in, if there’s call for it!

It’s always difficult, when adapting a creature from a source material, to decide what to leave in and what to remove. If you have any opinions on which powers the vampires, reanimated humans, and soulless humans should possess, do let me know! I decided on the transformation ability because you rarely see smoke and wolf transformations in media (also, regarding scaling walls -- it is both hilarious and creepy, as seen in the 1992 Dracula movie!)

I am also open to adding more creatures to the bestiary, though I’m aware it might get cluttered easily. There was a request for witches to be added, when I first started advertising this group, and I have also considered including werewolves in the roster. Right now, I have no immediate plans to add those species, but if you would like to see them, let me know!

[monstroushq]

I’m going to blame the busy time of year for the fact that I’ve only just realised today that there are discrepancies in the timeline of events in the canon of this group! The plot states that the nineteenth century has just turned, meaning it’s now 1900, but we have a Christmas event currently occurring, meaning it’s 1899 on the dash. The previous timeline on the Main was also a bit of a mess!

In order to rectify this, allow me to clear up a few things:

1: It is currently December 1899, in-game, with the annual Christmas market occurring on Oxford Street. Bodies have been found since August 1899, with the Amateur Detective Society for Females (the A.D.S.F.) being founded in 221B Baker Street only in early November 1899. This makes it a relatively new organisation, just over a month old. If anyone wants their muse to be the founder of the A.D.S.F., please do speak to me! It would be great to have a founder.

2: The previous title of the Main (“LONDON, 1900″) has now been changed to “LONDON, 1899″ to reflect the actual year. I realise this will only be the case for a few days, as our real-time new year will coincide with the in-game new year, but I think it helps make things a tad clearer! The plot and the A.D.S.F. page have also been very slightly altered to reflect the new timeline, and the event post has been edited just a little as well.

3. In order to make the timeline a bit easier to follow, I’ve made a new timeline page here. This features all the major events that I could discern from everyone’s intros, as well as events from the previous (now corrected) timeline. If you want to add your character’s life events onto this timeline, just message me with dates, and I’ll add any events you feel might be important.

As I say, I’m going to blame the busyness of this time of year, as well as my own appalling mathematic skills, for these issues. I can only hope it didn’t confuse anyone too much! It all should be cleared up now. If you notice any errors on the Main, with regards to the plot, timeline, or lore, just let me know!

[monstroushq]

Good morning and merry Christmas! Just a small update from the admin today. In honour of the holiday (and because it’s something I’ve been meaning to do!) I’ve decided that there should be a tag for any edits our members make. A few of our members seem to be very skilled with Photoshop! So, if anyone feels inclined to make a gifset, graphic, moodboard, or anything like that, inspired by the group, you can now use the tag “monstrousedits”! This isn’t a command to go and make something, but should the mood take you, put it in that tag so we can all see it! I hope everyone has a wonderful day, whatever you’re doing. Thank you to everyone for being so present over this busy time of year. We have such a lovely group of people here, and I can’t wait to keep writing with all of you.

[monstroushq]

Hooray! We’re now one application away from setting an opening date! What a wonderful thing to wake up to! Thank you so much everyone, for your applications and creativity so far, especially given how busy I’m sure a lot of you are, with the holidays looming so close. Starting a new group is always kind of a risk, but it’s been received so positively, and I can’t thank everyone enough. I’m really looking forward to getting to know everyone better.

On that subject, I have set up an OOC sideblog, so everyone can chat together before we set up an opening date. I know this is preferable to Discord for some people, so that’s going to be what we do for the time being. If you all want to share your Discord handles with one another, that is completely fine, and we might make an OOC Discord sometime in the future, but joining that absolutely won’t be mandatory.

I’ll be sending out the OOC sideblog link today to the accounts everyone applied from, and I hope to see you all there, so we can break the ice before opening!

[monstroushq]

It has been kindly brought to my attention that there are a few alterations to be made to the rules of the group. I can only apologise for this -- it’s been a while since I admined, and the landscape of RP has changed (rightly so!) since I last did so. I want this group to be as welcoming and diverse as other groups, despite the period setting. For this reason, a few changes have been made to the rules. You can check them out here, but I’ll outline a few below:

You may use actors with non-period resources, in order to allow for a diverse and inclusive range of faceclaims to be used

At least 3 of your muses must be diverse in some way (POC, LGBTQIA+, or older.) This is not to say that all diversities are the same, but diversity besides cis white and straight muses is strongly encouraged in the RPC, and inclusion within this group is of vital importance

One person may pick up a maximum of 6 muses at a time. This has been upped from 3, as I want to give people a chance to explore different muses and points of view. Just because I can’t handle more than 2 muses, doesn’t mean others can’t! One person may apply for 2 muses at once, when first applying

As said in the previous update, original characters are now also accepted! Please just put (OC) at the beginning of your application

All the rules of this group are designed for the benefit of the members in the group. It would never be my intention to exclude anyone, or to silence long-silenced voices. The rules are always in flux, and if you spot something that seems unwelcoming, exclusionary, or problematic in some way, please reach out and let me know. As I say, it’s been a while since I’ve run a group, and I only want to build a place that is welcoming, friendly, and open to all characters and writers.