The Festival of Being Excellent To Each Other

Posted by Kim on December 3, 2015, 9:30am

It might be cold outside, but your heart is about to be filled with warm fuzzies!

It's that special time of year when the RP Repository celebrates the Festival of Being Excellent To Each Other. During this festival, we pause and reflect on what it is that makes RP not just meaningful, but possible -- strong friendships, vibrant communities, and the connection, respect, admiration and trust that we have for our bestest RP partners. And, we talk about ways to keep these relationships evergreen for years, decades and centuries into the future!

This year, we'll be taking a look back at some of the best articles on friendship-craft that have come from FOBETEOs past. Prepare for a week of excellence!

Let them know you care

It's tradition during FOBETEO to take time to thank our RP partners of the past year, for giving us the gift of their attention, time, creativity and talent.

So give the gift of public recognition! Write your RP Partners a kudos to tell them how much you appreciate their time, their brilliance, the effort that they put into creating story hooks and plot twists and special moments. Tell your friends how much you've seen them improve and that their hard work has not gone unnoticed. Tell those who were there when you were going through a hard time what a difference it made. It doesn't have to take a long time, but it's sure to mean a lot!

Every five kudos you write this week will earn you a special winter candle accolade to display proudly on your profile, available only during FOBETEO.

Remember, to be eligible, a kudos needs to contain a clear "why" explaining what makes your friend so special! Don't just say "He's awesome!", tell the world what makes your friend so awesome. Click here for the complete kudos guidelines.

When to speak up

We can't spend months or even years playing with the same group of people without someone going through a hard time and needing a little extra support, an occasional misunderstanding, or perhaps even a full-on argument. That's just the nature of communication, especially via text.

But these things don't have to mean the end of a friendship - or the end of a RP - if we're willing to brave some brief but uncomfortable feelings and hear each other out. Let's begin our look back at past FOBETEO articles on how to tune up a friendship by looking at two pieces about whether or not to speak up when your feelings get hurt:

Why it's best to be honest about hurt feelings
Being Excellent to Each Other and "Being Nice"

Next: FOBETEO Past: Starting a difficult (but important) conversation » « Previous: Meet Moa, the adventuring merchant

Comments

RemanLongtail

December 7, 2015
5:54pm

Hmm, maybe this will be the event that finally gets me to write a few kudos, since I've never done that for anybody before. I just need to figure out who exactly to give them to, that could be a bit tricky...

Lucretire

December 5, 2015
5:51pm

My, this is my first FOBETEO, and already I see so much love from the community... And feel so much shyness on my end.

Here's hoping my first Festival here will be an exciting one! Everyone here is totally amazing!

Kim

December 4, 2015
3:57pm

@Tailbone - I'm sorry you've experienced loss this year! Monday's post may resonate more completely with you.

Tar

December 4, 2015
2:04pm

This was positive for me last year - this time it's an unfortunate reminder that one has let their passions slip away, lost cherished friendships of many years, lost the sense of community as a result, and in general has failed to embrace life. I really like those last two articles posted, but maybe we could also use a "when to let go and move on" piece, 'cause let's be honest - endings are just as real as beginnings and kind communication doesn't always help.

Whoops! That aside, here's to being active and looking forward to next year! I'm still around and care! I hope you all have a nice festival and may the site only continue to grow and foster good things.

Rett

December 4, 2015
5:01am

I think FOBETEO is a great way for mending misunderstandings and even improving friendships and roleplays! I'm really glad to know this kind of event exists, giving me enough courage to speak up and fight the fear inside of me.

Derglet

December 4, 2015
4:18am

Damn, this event is making me think. I still need to think about what would fit the other three, not to mention I've got these other people to- Argh!

All in all, this event is awesome because geez, we all need to think and give credit where it's due, to those who we feel are special and just down-right awesome!

Virus

December 3, 2015
10:17pm

Don't forget everyone!!! Be sure to give Kudos to the characters that you enjoy RP-ing with. It'll mean the world to a friend to see you expressing your love for their hard work!!!

Zelphyr

December 3, 2015
8:04pm

I have a bad habit of forgetting how deserving some people are of kudos. ^^;

linktheriolu

December 3, 2015
6:06pm

Cool i love bragging on my friends! Especially around the holidays! ^^

KingofHaddock

December 3, 2015
4:58pm

Bah humbug!

Pirate

December 3, 2015
3:47pm

'Tis the season to be jolly!

Highjinx

December 3, 2015
3:07pm

*Happy Snow Leopard noises!* YAY!

Darth_Angelus

December 3, 2015
2:49pm

Always a fun time of year

Ariel

December 3, 2015
12:36pm

The community here at RPR is beyond incredible. So much love being sent out!

Kim

December 3, 2015
12:32pm

I'm watching the outpouring of good will and it's making me really teary. My heart is all happy right now. And it's barely after noon on the first day!

Sanne