All A Thread of Optimism (General Request Thread)

[eldritchcephalopod]

Hello all! I'm eldritchcephalopod, but you can call me Bram, Fish, or any other sort of nickname that you'd like! I've been writing for about 10 years now, and roleplaying on and off for about 7. I do best with 1x1 RP, and am still new to forum RP and public RP in general, so please bear with me through that. Most commonly, I write fantasy and science fiction, but I'm open to branching out to other sorts of genres as well. My roleplaying is very heavily character-based, with plots coming from the characters, so if you're looking to pour love and attention into a set of characters and put them through the wringer, I might be the writing partner for you!

I'm in Pacific time, but I don't mind someone with a vastly different time zone, as long as you're alright with our schedules not always lining up. Since I'm a student and work part-time, my schedule can be rather sporadic, but I'll generally sit down to write more readily during the evenings and nights as long as I don't have a lot of work to do (I stop being functional around midnight, so that's usually when I'll call it quits). I'll also usually try to get replies out in my breaks during the day.

The order for this post, after expectations and limits, is plots, pairings/dynamics, and fandoms (I prefer not to write fandom, unless someone has a pretty compelling plot/character dynamic that I like). Feel free to jump to whichever category you prefer, after reading the expectations and limits.

Sorry in advance for how long it is! I'm a little afraid to try figuring out the tab system.

DISCLAIMER: Apparently I wasn't clear enough in my first draft of this, so I'm editing now to add a disclaimer. When I say "I write a lot of LGBT+ characters," I mean that my characters are all almost exclusively some flavor of queer. I don't write cishet characters. I say in a few places on this thread that I don't have a gender preference for potential romantic pairings, but I should have been more clear: even in a MxF pairing, the character I write will be queer. Either trans/non-binary, or bisexual, or aspec. If that is an issue, this is not the thread for you. I don't care if you write a cishet character, but they have to be okay with my character being queer. Additionally, even though I have a "pairing" section, I don't particularly want to write a roleplay where the romance is the only plot point. Romance is fine, even fun, but I want it to essentially be flavoring to the plot instead of the center of the plot.

• One note on this disclaimer: I love love love platonic pairings and platonic relationships, and would love to write any of my plot ideas centering around a platonic relationship or QPR.

Expectations:

• POV and tense: I write exclusively in 3rd person prose when roleplaying, and I would prefer someone who does the same. Past vs. present tense is negotiable, but I'm used to past tense, so I apologize in advance if I slip into it on accident.
• Length: I am not overly concerned about length; usually my own varies depending on the wants of my partners and the pacing of a given scene. For quicker scenes and dialogue-heavy ones, I prefer the range of 1-2 paragraphs, but openers/slower scenes can stretch for much longer posts. Usually my limit for long posts is ~1000 words, and that usually only happens around the beginning or end of a scene, when there's less direct interaction between our characters. My main request is that each post gives the other person enough to respond to (at least a paragraph), and doesn't take over the narrative entirely unless it has been agreed upon beforehand. If you're writing a longer post and need a reaction from my character to keep it going, just let me know and ask me what they would do/say, and I'll try to do the same.
• Frequency: I'm not a stickler for frequency since life happens and writing is tougher some days than others. I try to do at least one post a day, but this frequency changes based on how busy I am, the average post length, and how many other roleplays I have going on. While the "one post per day" is ideal, there will be days where I just can't reply, and if we do long enough posts or life gets busy, it'll probably end up being more like a handful of posts per week. If something comes up for me and I go radio silent for longer than 3 days, feel free to poke me; sometimes I forget to say something, so it helps to have a reminder from time to time. If you go a week without saying something, I'll probably message you. A month without saying something, I'll assume you've ghosted unless you say something beforehand. On that subject...
• Ghosting: If you want to drop the RP, I would prefer you say something, but ghosting isn't the end of the world. Sometimes people just forget, and that's fine. If you come back after months wanting to pick it up, I'd probably be willing unless I completely lost interest in the story or characters (or if I'm too busy at that moment).
• Grammar and Spelling: Please double-check your posts for typos and other such issues, but I'm not really bothered by occasional typos or points of confusion (that's what the edit button's for, after all!). However, I would like posts to be coherent and readable, and not be completely littered with misspellings and confusing wordings. If there are any major issues that make comprehension difficult, I'll probably say something. Feel free to do the same for me; I try to catch everything, but I don't always manage that.
• OOC talk: I would like us to at least engage in a good amount of planning talk both before and during our RP, but I understand if you're not keen on talking about anything outside the RP planning. I am fine with talking about our daily lives OOC, or just keeping it to brainstorming, as long as you do talk to me about planning/characters/worldbuilding. Let me know beforehand the level of chatting you prefer.
• Other Guidelines: I write a lot of LGBT+ characters, so please be LGBT+ friendly. I would prefer that no main characters are homophobic, transphobic, etc. It would also be good to discuss possible triggering content that might come up and set boundaries for both of us. Additionally, I don't require faceclaims or picture references, a written description is fine. I don't write explicit smut unless we've been writing together for a while (flirting, innuendos, some foreplay, and fade to black are all fine in the right context). Last but not least, of course, following all site rules is a given.

No-Go:

• I don't mind violence, but I would prefer to avoid excessive descriptions of gory injuries, or any strong horror/terror elements.
• I don't write grimdark; when I write, even if we're tackling darker themes, I prefer for there to be a strong undercurrent of optimism. RP is an escape for me, so I'd like for things to turn out well in the end.
• No godmodding, and no taking over my character or dictating what they would say or do. If there's a power system involved in the world, we should discuss it beforehand or when possible issues come up. I'm fine with some pretty broken powers, but they would preferably be talked about.
• No non-con "on screen"; it's okay if it's in a character backstory or alluded to happening "off screen", but I'm not willing to write it out. Dubious con needs to be talked about and agreed upon before it happens. Some dub-con is less dubious than others. Also please no romanticizing it.
• Heavy depictions of mental illness. Again, it's okay as part of a backstory, but I don't have the emotional energy for it to be a big part of the narrative. As with above, no romanticizing.
• No cannibalism (vampires drinking blood are fine, but I'm very squicked out by humanoids eating other humanoids), no explicit smut (as said above, flirting, innuendos, and leadup are okay), no incest, no necrophilia (meaning non-sentient undead or corpses), no pregnancy, no kinks involving bodily waste, no ageplay or pedophilia, nothing against site rules. If something comes up that I didn't think of here, I'll let you know. I would like for you to do the same.
• Genres I don't write: horror/terror, thriller, mystery, historical

Plots:
For all of these plots, I am alright with either keeping things between characters platonic, or seeing if they have the chemistry for a romance. I do tend to write queer characters, so that might affect pairings; if you think you'd like romance to happen eventually, please let me know so that we can make sure our characters have compatible attractions. Some of these plot threads are more defined than others. All of them are malleable, but please don't contact me with a complete reversal or something totally unrecognizable from what it originally was.

• An Unlikely Pair (closed): A mage (my character) researching an ancient magic civilization has to hire a mercenary (your character) for protection as they travel the continent searching for leads on their research. The two have to learn to get along and work together, especially as the mage doesn't have quite the self-preservation instinct that they should, but eventually find themselves bonding as the journey goes on. However, in the process of their research, the mage manages to awaken an ancient evil, and the two of them have to work together to figure out how to trap it once more.
• Occupational Hazard (open): A vampire hunter (my character), retired after an injury, finds themself called in for one last job. The job goes awry, and they take shelter in a mansion that their quarry avoids. As it turns out, the reason lesser vampires avoid the mansion is because it belongs to a powerful vampire (your character). The hunter is trapped in the mansion until they can get rid of the vampires outside, but they and the owner of the mansion come to an agreement: the hunter gets rid of the vampires outside, and they will be sheltered for the duration. For the time being, they have a common goal...
• Superhero Duo (closed): a pair of superheroes who fight crime together (and are preferably close friends), but don't realize that their civilian identities know each other, too. Maybe they're roommates, maybe workplace rivals, maybe childhood friends! I'd like this one to be pretty lighthearted, and involve drama/plot from both their super lives and their civilian lives. We could come up with one central villain, or do more of a "villain/adventure of the week" format.
• High Fantasy Adventuring Pair (or Group) (open): what it says on the tin! Probably a D&D-esque setting and set of characters, though obviously without the RPG format. It would be fun to play around with group dynamics for both fighting and travel.
• Royal/Noble Arranged Marriage (open): maybe it's for an alliance, maybe they've been betrothed to each other for their whole lives; any number of reasons would be interesting to explore!
• Fae Courts (closed): I don't have anything more specific for this, I just love playing around with the idea and the lore of the fae courts! I would prefer all of the central characters being fae. We could do some form of political intrigue, high society schemes, or something more adventure-based.
• Bardic College/Bardic Competition (closed): bards are just fun to write, to be honest! Maybe they're rivals, maybe one's a bard and the other is there to support, etc. (Magic bards or regular bards are okay!) This can also be blended with some other plots on this list.

Pairings:
No gender preferences, but I write LGBT+ characters, so that's likely to affect pairings. I'm alright with writing any combination of genders, though. If you have any plots stemming from these, feel free to PM me with details!
--> ALSO, even though the top few are written with an "x", I would also love love love to write platonic versions of any of these pairings. I love platonic pairings, and if you come to me with a strong platonic relationship dynamic, I will be very very inclined to hear you out.

• Mage x Warrior
• Vampire x Human (maybe Vampire x Vampire Hunter?)
• Merperson x Human (or any land-dwelling fantasy person)
• Royal/Noble x Knight
• Court Sorcerer x Monarch
• Pirate Captain x Tavern Owner
• Enemies to Lovers
• Friends to Lovers
• Rivals (to Lovers?)
• Platonic Partnerships (QPRs especially)
• More..?

Characters:

Spoiler: Faidaelyth

Name: Faidaelyth the Red
Pronouns: they/them, any
Age: approaching 300
Species: red dragon
Occupation: bard
Best Genre/Setting: high fantasy

Faidaelyth was hatched and raised in the Western Mountains as part of a clan of red dragons. Of their kin, Fai was the most interested in the affairs of humans. As soon as they were old enough, they learned how to change their form into that of a human and walk amongst them. Accompanied by one or both of their parents, they often made forays into human towns to learn about their society and cultures, even picking up a lyre on one of their trips.

At the age of 30, now considered grown, Fai was pushed from the nest to establish their own territory and expand the influence of their clan. It took several tries, but eventually they created their own lair and began collecting a hoard of gold and gems. In the meantime, they continued to take various human forms to travel and learn from them, making many acquaintances but refusing to get close to any of them for fear of losing them.

Throughout this time, as Fai grew stronger and wiser with age, the humans of the continent began to fear, then revile dragons. Dragon horns, scales, and wings became sought-after, and poachers grew in prominence as humans found ways to hunt and kill dragons more easily. The dragon population on the continent dwindled, and Fai made the decision to pack away their dragon form until things were safer. They moved their hoard to various hiding spots throughout the continent, packed up their lyre, and chose a human form to stick with for a lifespan.

With treasures from their hoard, Fai funded their way through a university that taught both bardic arts and the arcane, in an attempt to pass off their draconic magic as a learned talent. Now, they travel the continent, writing songs and gathering stories as a new hoard. They are fiercely protective of their own works, and have fought people who tried to steal credit for their songs. Their chosen title, Faidaelyth the Red, is meant as a cheeky nod to the color of their scales, but they live up to it by dressing in shades of red most days.

Fai's chosen form for this lifespan is a short, plump, femme-presenting human with short, curly brown hair, a round face, and a small gap between their front teeth. They wear both dresses and pants, depending on the day, but stick mostly to pants and doublets when they travel. Most of their outfits are some shade of red, and they wear a black hat with a dyed red feather in its brim. They carry no weapons except a crossbow, and carry a lyre for their performances.

Their draconic form is slender and serpentine, with ruby red scales and four short legs. They have jet black claws and two curling black horns on their head, and six feathered wings. The feathers of these wings are as black as their horns, except for on the tips, where they are red like their scales.

Sample excerpt for Faidaelyth:
The Leaning Dwarf was not, to put it lightly, Faidaelyth's first choice of places to stay. No, if they were to make a list of the best places in the kingdom to catch a good night's rest— and they could confidently say they were quite the expert in the art of beauty sleep; their lair had been homey enough to make a gnome weep, before they packed it all away to set off collecting a different kind of hoard— The Leaning Dwarf would be hovering somewhere just below number fifty. The lacquer of the tavern's tables had long since rubbed away, the wood beneath stained with spilled drinks and spilled blood alike, and the floorboards were nothing more than a shoddy patch job of what was maybe once a traversable floor.

Fai could ignore all of that, if the inn had a scrap of hospitality to spare, but they were fairly certain that the barkeep already spat in their drink, which they politely pretended to sip from in order to ignore the group of ruffians in the corner who had been plotting how to steal from them for the past fifteen minutes. They had the distinct sense that if the group executed their plan in the middle of the tavern floor, the barkeep would do nothing to dissuade them. Perhaps he'd even join in.

Of course, they could have stayed at one of the more upstanding establishments in town, but Fai had long since learned that well-behaved taverns told no tales.

... That, and Fai exhausted their current supply of funds several weeks prior, and were nowhere near any of the locations where they buried their previous hoard. The only places willing to put up a bard in exchange for a set of songs were the ones with a crowd that would get rip-roaring drunk to the proper tune, then make terrible decisions due to their intoxication.

Speaking of, it was definitely time to retire for the night, before the band of would-be thieves decided to carry out their plan. Fai pretended to take one last swig from their tankard, which had long-since been emptied out the window behind them, and made their way toward the stairs.

"Where're you headed, little bard?" A tall, willowy woman stepped out from an alcove, teeth bared in a grin. "My companions and I were hopin' to talk to you about your show." She nodded her head toward the group of ruffians Fai had been surveying, and Fai took that moment to strike, grabbing a tankard from a nearby table and smashing it across her jaw. When the woman doubled over in pain, they drew their dagger and stabbed her in the thigh. While she was distracted, as her band was still processing what was happening, Fai lifted a chair and leapt onto a table. If they wanted a show, they sure as hell were going to get one.

Fandoms:
For all of these, platonic or romantic pairings are alright, unless specified otherwise. Again, my preference would be for something from the original plots/dynamics above, but with the right plot/dynamic, I would be willing to write something fandom-related.

• Canon characters only:
  • Fire Emblem games (specifically Awakening, Three Houses, or Echoes): I would love to explore some canon-divergence AUs with some of the plots, or various post-game scenarios, depending on what you might be interested in! All characters are aged to 18+ when written.
  • Ace Attorney: I'm not actually sure what sort of overarching plot would be good for this game but I like it and would love to write some for it, so I may as well put it out there. All characters listed are aged to 18+ when written.
  • Rune Factory 4: This would probably tend more toward slice of life with some action/adventure thrown in, but I'm pretty sure we could pretty easily come up with a more action/adventure-centric plot thread to follow. All characters aged to 18+ (though I'm not certain what all the character ages are, anyway, because they aren't really given? I will not write any romance involving Amber or Kiel, though)
• Canon or OCs alright:
  • The Witcher: To be honest, I'm still working on getting through the games and the show, and I haven't read the books (sorry...), but I consume a lot of fanworks for it and the universe of it absolutely fascinates me, so I would love to give writing in it a shot! I might stumble and definitely won't know all the lore, but I hope you'll be patient with me! Because I'm largely focused on the universe, I'm interested in writing any number of possible plots/ideas under it. I'm aware that it tends to tackle darker/more grim topics a lot of the time, and I'm alright with that, but I would prefer that if we write it, we keep an undercurrent of optimism somewhere in there.
  • The Murderbot Diaries: Okay, let's be honest, Murderbot would hate me for this. I just love the world and characters of TMD, so here I am. A few rules, though: 1) respect MB's pronouns (it/its), and 2) only platonic relationships for MB (it is aroace!!). Some possible things would be exploring the idea of rogue SecUnits (probably through OCs), or more MB + troublesome client interactions. Additionally, this is one where I might be willing to revisit 1st person, just because MB works really well with 1st person POV.
• OCs only, please:
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: It would be fun to explore the lifetime of an OC Avatar, or even a group of benders traveling/working together! I love bending and I love the world and lore of ATLA, and there are a lot of fun things that can be drawn from just the universe! All characters would be 18+.
  • Persona: Specifically, the Persona games. I especially love the aesthetic of the masks and the Phantom Thieves from Persona 5, but I'm not particularly in the mood for writing any of the actual canon characters from any of the games. It would be fun to create a group of Persona users together and the Personas they might use, plus a mystery/issue for them to work through. The games provide a plot skeleton for us to work off of, which is great, but we can be creative with locations, antagonists, etc. All characters would be 18+.
  • Pokemon: I love love love the Pokemon universe and creating Pokemon teams! It would be a lot of fun to create (adult) Pokemon trainers and give them a plot to go with! All characters would be 18+.

If anything catches your eye, PM me and we can talk from there!