Zelphyr

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Zelphyr's Item Display Case »

• Epic Member
• Gender: Non-binary
• Verified adult

PSAs and Soapboxing

Sometimes I write up posts specifically aimed at community improvement or, honestly, just sort of ranting a bit and hoping it turns out helpful. These get buried in time, of course, but since folks do often seem to find them helpful, I'm going to try collecting links here for easy access. (And I'm not gonna let my negative self-talk about that being narcissistic or something get in the way.)

• Practice Avoiding Ghosting
• Being blocked: Sadness is not innocence
• Hydration Tips
• An Argument Against "Literate"
• Asexual Awareness Week (2018), 2016
• My Brain Lies (An experience with anxiety)
• Considering Mental Health Services?
• "Voting" Players Out - Messy Situations
• I'm not easy to play with
• Fat Characters
• Physically Ill/Disabled Characters
• One-Sided Crushes
• Showing and Hiding Thoughts
• Some notes about copyright (in someone else's thread)
• Another reason you should report bugs

RP Preferences

I thrive on flexibility. I'm typically happy to adjust my characters to fit different settings, and you may notice variability actually built into many of my characters - shapeshifting, wandering, deceptive pretending, etc.

Style: I average 1-4 paragraphs and expect the same of others (but I also tend to mirror, and this can shift my average with you sometimes dramatically, but 1-4 paragraphs is what I consider ideal). I do understand that sometimes a couple sentences is all that can be achieved, and I don't mind posts coming out long when there's a lot to describe. Be clear with description, do your best at grammar and spelling, and I feel first-person should only be used for dialog and thoughts. I also prefer things being written fairly straightforward; show-don't-tell is both fine and excellent, but imagery and metaphors should be clear and sensible, and I do appreciate just having some things told. If something is especially complicated/important to get right, it's also totally cool to send images or videos as reference. (I have trouble picturing things.)

Combat: I'm a mess here and will generally default towards a sort of "write the other into a corner" incorporating what I perceive to be reasonable. Discussion about how we'd like to handle combat (especially PvP) is greatly appreciated; even if it matches my default, having discussed it will still help me approach it more confidently and probably better-informed about what to consider "reasonable," how to address misunderstandings about things like who actually did what, etc.

Other notes:

• If you're not having fun, need a break, aren't sure what to do, etc, that's okay. You're welcome to send me a message so we can try to clear things up, or even just to let me know you want to drop our game. (I might ask why for some things, but "because I want/don't want x" is a valid reason itself; you don't have to explain further if you don't want to or are unable to.)
• I'm not against romance, but it should certainly not be expected.
• I might get into suggestive stuff, but I'd rather not write detailed smut.
• I'm generally fine with character death, limb loss, and other permanent injuries, so long as it makes sense (I may only acknowledge it in that continuity anyway). I'll likely ask you the same before I do anything serious to any of your characters, but it's also nice if you let me know up front.
• Swearing generally doesn't bother me any.
• The more info I can access (even if I don't read it all up front), the more comfortable/confident I tend to feel. I like to understand.
• I have trouble knowing how to properly balance sharing a story and tend to go either DM-ish or only reactive; letting me know if you have plans for something or not, prodding for me to add more developments or control more things, etc, is much appreciated to help me to better balance things out.
• My characters are not puppets; I can influence them directly and indirectly, but they still make their own choices and can really surprise me sometimes. Sometimes this can totally ruins plans we might have made, but I'm happy to discuss how we might be able to work with things and try to find a way forward.
• Sometimes I don't know how to communicate something OOC, or negatively psych myself out, etc; and sometimes I don't realize how some things might make others uncomfortable. It's not your job to manage these things for me, of course, but friendly little check-ins and stuff, even just a quick "I'm having fun with x!" or "I think we should try going for y" can be a big help. (I try to reassure how okay it is to "pester" me in part because it's something I struggle with myself!)

Quick Style Key

This is narrative. It may have emphasis at times.

((This is an out-of-character note.))

"This is spoken dialog."

This is a character's private thought. Some characters protect their thoughts from intrusion, so ask before reading someone's thoughts.

'This is dialog via telepathy. It may be directed at an individual, or it may be a general projection.'

> This is a text or other brief screen text.

(Some variations sometimes happen, especially with things like hand-written notes or translations, but I'll try to keep things clear.)

Just Me

Hullo, I'm Zelphyr, a name combining "zilpher" (a very old spelling of "silver") and "zephyr." Thus: Silver Wind. In the past (and still in some places where I can't change it) I have most notably gone by Dragon Moon and Novalyyn, plus a handful of other short-lived names.

I favor gender-neutral pronouns (whether they/them, some neopronouns, or just using my name), but am not particularly bothered by standard binary pronouns. I may correct binary pronouns if we interact often enough, but there's no need to apologize to me for a honest mistake on this.

I've been roleplaying since my early teen years, and writing even longer. Usually I've stuck to small communities; even in larger ones, it was mostly the same group of people I'd see all the time. At one point, I ran a forum that had its own detailed-and-growing world, but lack of members and activity led me to shut it down (and I lost most of the info I had); references to it still exist in some of my characters.

I have a Chinese water dragon named Scamp. I luffs her.

If I ever seem quiet and withdrawn, it's most likely either because I've gotten thoroughly distracted by something else, or I'm concerned about being a nuisance or coming across as pompous and pushy. I'm silly like that.

Stuff I Do

I've worked a lot of different jobs: food service, front-end web dev, janitor, professional cuddler, etc. I'm unemployed at the moment (and honestly a little lost).

More of my writing can be found on Writing.Com. Other art and more writing can be found on deviantArt. What it comes down to is: I like to make stuff.

Previously Novalyyn

Zelphyr's Characters

• 
  Asher Harbrook
• 
  Chasu Maru
• 
  Indigo Magenta
• 
  Jackson
• 
  Raven and Shade
• 
  The Alabaster Princess

See all 15 characters »