(I don't have any roleplay characters, but want to make one.What would be a good idea for a beginner? Definitely want to make someone Half-Life related. Also, what are some red flags? What should I avoid and what would you personally never do that I should maybe know of?)
|| Nice to see you again! You certainly came with a big bunch of thought material, so let me try and sort it by questions here:
Ideas for beginners?
I'm not sure what exactly this means, but I would always recommend: 'Do what you enjoy'. If you're referring to what character to play and/or how to do it, go by your gut feeling! There is no right or wrong, and canon divergence is okay if it serves your purpose. Your blog, your rules. If someone doesn't like it, they don't have to follow. Which takes me to my next recommendation: Don't try to be a people pleaser. If someone asks for something you don't feel like doing [ships, plots, etc.] it's always okay to say 'no'. Remember, we're here to all have fun, that's what both, rules and plotting are for.
What to avoid:
Again, I think that completely depends on your comfort zones or lack thereof. Make sure to take a look at people's rules and see how they handle their blogs, and then decide whether or not you'd work well together. My personal recommendations of what to consider would be:
Be friendly to other people and treat them like you want to be treated yourself.
Don't spam and/or post enormous amounts of ooc, politics or memes. Most RPers don't feel comfortable with that and prefer to keep their dash clean.
Avoid never ending chain posts, meaning, if you reply to someone, copy their reply into the reply field, add yours and then remove the old replies on top. This keeps the post slim and easy to read.
Personal red flags:
Judging by our previous interactions, I doubt you'd cross any of those lines, but here they are nevertheless:
IM/DM-Roleplay. Just.... No! I don't do it. I feel utterly uncomfortable with the sheer thought of non-public roleplay and I will not do it. I am okay with Forum RPs, but I will NOT RP in DMs, via Skype, Discord or anything else that can not be 100% publicly viewed at any time.
Certain Fandoms [Namely MLP, Undertale, anything Furry-related, FNAF, Steven Universe and similar 'Drama'-niches.] I don't per say hate the shows/fandoms, usually I'm indifferent to most of them, but the drama, the toxicity and forced oversexualisation just creep me out on multiple levels.
Roleplay accounts of real people. Nope. I can't even tell why... It just weirds me out and I feel really uncomfortable with it.
And of course the classics: Forcing ships on me, metagaming, powerplaying; or basically someone else trying to control my character's actions, feelings etc. I am always fine with plotting, but forcing something on me I don't want to, will be an insta-block.
I hope this was at least a little helpful! I'd love to see what you'd come up with when making a Half-Life blog. This is a super small niche fandom here on tumblr, but everyone here so far has been super friendly and welcoming, and I am 100% certain you'd be welcomed and appreciated too!