Crash Course in the Basics of DWRPing
Okay, so doing RP on Dreamwidth is very similar to RP on LiveJournal, if you were around that corner of the internet back then. If not, I got you fam. Heads-up, I use the terms "journal" and "account" interchangeably- they mean the same thing.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Anatomy of a Comment
This is a comment in the making. We've got the From field, which is the journal you're logged in as, you only should care about this if you have more than one. The Icon Used area on the top right normally has keywords in that arrow-box but I don't have any icons on this account, so. Oops. The Subject Line is often left blank, but can be used for snarky banter between players. It's helpful if you're doing a chain of comments back-to-back. The Message section includes the body of the post itself, using limited HTML coding. Worth pointing out is that
makes text smaller, andmakes text bigger. These can be nested, soasdsadsis real small.The basic setup for shorter-form posts is that thoughts and actions are bundled up into a some sort of container, usually brackets [] or parentheses (). These are then contained in a
classifier so the text takes up less space. Anything the characters actually say is outside of those smaller brackets, formatted normally. Longer-form prose-y posts are a-okay and would use the same sorts of formatting (or lack thereof) if you were writing in a word processor. The above shorter format can be used for more in-depth posts.And sometimes you'll want to chain a series of comments together, often for dramatic/humorous effect to show a character's change in demeanor through a reaction. A player might decide, for example, to have the character react to something very funny by bursting out laughing, chained into a comment of the character shouting about what they're laughing about, and then a third of the character collapsed on the ground, struggling to catch their breath. This sort of approach is only really viable if you've got multiple icons showing that range of emotions- the content of those chained posts can just as easily be condensed into one if preferable.
I do a quick-and-dirty example of this sort of comment chaining below:
1/3 i am so sorry
The hum of the microwave faded into the background, but a glance a the timer ticking down showed that it was almost time, that sugary fizz-slop was almost boiling(????). This train wreck has already started, and despite the horrified gazes of the onlookers, it shows no signs of- ]
2/3
Hehehehe- [ A hand wrapped around the mug's handle, gently removing it from the box. Sure, the soda wasn't boiling like water needs to be for ramen, but... close enough! ]
HahahaHAHAHA- SHIT don't drop it! [ The words came out as if through a fire house as a stumble almost sent the uncomfortably warm mug of soda flying into a wall. Catching himself, he regained composure and breath in front of the sink.
And then he began to pour the soda into the ramen. ]
3/3 this foul deed is done
Does... does this look like it's supposed to turn green? [ The guy's hand then extends the cup. Second opinion needed. ] Did I break it?
BONUS + WARNING
If you try to use them, just look for good opportunities for that marked shift in a character's mood as a point to split comments on. But try not to overuse them, because after a point, you can probably make the comment work better by condensing it into a single comment.