Courtship

Oh, so you're character has gone moony-eyed over a certain someone? Well, there are a couple of things you should know before you just jump into the fray.

## Courtship Rules

* Please do not submit anything past our PG-13 rules! These rules can be viewed at here . We understand that love might involve some certain alone time. Art, writing, or logs that do not adhere to the group's rules may remain in your personal gallery. Please do not link inappropriate material in the group chat or discord.
* Both sides must agree to a courtship. Please try not to force the relationship!
* Courtship, in this group, depends on **Heart Events**.
* Heart Events are artworks that work together to express the love or friendship of two characters. This means two people must collaborate. To have a legitimate Heart Event please perform one of the following:

1. A single submission that is a collaborative effort (ex. One person does lines, one person does colors)
2. Two separate submissions (Ex. Two separate colored images, two separate written works, or One colored image and One written work)

* RP logs do not count for Heart Events
* Three Heart Events are required for marriage.

## Marriage

Ah, true love!
It's in the air, and some couples are intoxicated by it! If your character are ready for the next step in their relationship it might just be time to read a few traditions that are followed on Raccolto!

### **Ground Rules**

* Three Heart Events are required for marriage.
* Same-sex marriages are legal in Raccolto, however; same-sex couples must adopt children.
* PCs **cannot** marry NPCs.
* To marry, at least one character needs a **Family Home**.
* One member of the couple will have to note the group with proof of heart events before they can be given a **Blue Feather** for the proposal.
* To officially confirm your marriage, one of three things must be done:

1. You may do a collaboration in the Heart Events.
2. You may perform a public Chat Event RP of the wedding (You may request to see if a mod has time to play the priest if you like).
3. You may do a private Group RP, and submit the RP log.

* Once married, the couple's house status will have the title 'Shared' before it, as they now share the property together.
* A benefit of marriage is the allowance of collaboration on Work-related pieces. Although only one member of the couple will get the work produce. (ex. Spouse A owns a farm, Spouse B owns a ranch. Spouse A makes a sketch of their strawberries, Spouse B colors the sketch. Spouse A would submit the piece because they own the farm, and Spouse A would get the strawberries.)

### **Proposal Note**

So you have all the requirements for marriage? Let's see, love? Check! Let's go propose!
Please note the group with the following when your characters are ready for marriage:

* Link all three heart events.
* Say who the couple is!
* Mention whether you'd like the Blue Feather to be randomly given to one member of the couple (Good if you like the surprise), or if it should go to a specific member (Good if you have planned the proposal beforehand and know who is proposing. )

### **Marriage Note**

Once a proposal has been made, it is time to get down to marriage! Finally, right?
To confirm a marriage please note the group with the following:

* This note should be sent by the opposite member of the couple. (Ex. Person A noted the Proposal note, now Person B notes this marriage note.)
* The two characters who would like to be wed.
* Who is moving into whose home (Family size or higher only).
* Whether you'd like to Group RP the wedding, to Chat Event the wedding in the public chats, or whether you're like to do the wedding like a Heart Event. If it is a Chat Event wedding, please tell us the day and time so that an announcement can be made!
* With that, the marriage is complete!

The couple may now moved into their shared home with the whole of the islands celebrating their union!

## Single Parents

Love is not always easy to find, and commitment may be hard to come by. Yet, some have more love in their hearts to give, and just need to find the right person to share it with.
Perhaps you may have seen children running about Peppy Pichu Playground? Their laughter may make your heart glow with warmth, and their unstable feet drawing from you a need to cradle and protect them. Perhaps it's time you became a parent?

### **Ground Rules**

* You must have been a member of Harvest-Lunatone for one whole year.
* You are not eligible if you have strikes or bans of any kind.
* A single parent can only have one child. If they would like more, they will have to marry.
* Please be sure your character is ready to rear a child! You wouldn't want to have to bring it back to the adoption agency!

### **Entering a Period of Self Awareness**

Are you ready for the responsibility of a child? Are you prepared for this life long commitment of love?
Now is the time to reflect on yourself, to see if a child is how you envision a future.

Each month you must scale the trail to the Divine Spring to pray to the the goddess of fertility, the goddess of motherhood, the Harvest Goddess. She will be your divine hand down your path of self assessment. It is she would will give you courage to walk down this path.

* You may begin this process by noting the group with your desires to become a single parent.
* Once you have been approved to start, the period of prayer will begin and it lasts 6 months.
* Over those 6 months you must produce 1 fully shaded piece with a background OR a 1500 word story each month. That means 6 total by the end.
* These submissions should depict your character either helping the Harvest Goddess in some way (Praying to her, cleaning her shrine or statue, ect.) or spending time with current island children (These cannot be NPC children, they must be children that appear on the Marriage Records page of the inventory.) The latter option can be collaborations with the member who owns the characters and children, or you may ask the member if you may depict your character with their children characters.
* Once the period of prayer has ended, please note the group with your 6 monthly submissions (The mods will check the submission dates).

If all goes well, you will be given the 'OK' to move onto the Adoption Process!
You will follow the rules listed below for adoption, but will not have to do collaborative effort. It will be purely on your own.

## Children

Once a couple is married, they can have a chance at raising a little tyke of their own!
That is, if you think you're ready for the responsibility!

### **Ground Rules**

* The couple must wait till at least one week after their marriage to begin the process of acquiring a child.
* The couple may produce a child naturally, with a surrogate, via donor, or adopt. Bear in mind, surrogates and donors cannot be fellow members.
* Egg groups do not matter!
* A couple may have a maximum of four children.
* A Shiny Crystal Shard may be used on a child, however only one child. You can not have two or more shiny children.

## Natural Birth Rules

### **Prayer of Conception**

* First, the married couple must pray to the Harvest Goddess at the Divine Spring.
* This can take the form of a single piece of art or writing (Which means it does not have to be a collaboration), and a note to the group from the OTHER role-player who did not submit the art.
* Please include a link to the Prayer in the note.
* For twins, this prayer must be a collaborative piece and a price of 10,000pd must be paid in the note (The couple may split the payment, meaning Spouse A pays 4,000pd and Spouse B pays 6,000pd).

### **Pregnancy**

* Once the couple has prayed for conception, the pregnancy will last *nine months*.

### **Prayer of Mercy**

Nine months!? Yes, you all screamed that in shock! However, fear not! There is a way to speed up the pregnancy.

* The couple must, again, pray to the Harvest Goddess at the Divine Spring. This prayer will be a collaborative piece, followed by a note to the group requesting to speed up the pregnancy.
* The prayer subtracts three months off the pregnancy.
* The Prayer of Mercy only works on two children, not four. Twins count as two children.

### **Birth**

Once you have reached the due date (given by the mods) you may send in a note announcing the birth of the child.
Please include in this note:

* Name(s)
* Gender(s)
* Pokemon
* Official birthday of the child/children

### **Want more children?**

A couple, after the birth of a child, must wait three months before they can have another child, by birth or adoption.

## Adoption Rules

### **Search for a Child**

First, one or both of the couple will submit an art piece of the two new parents meeting the children they have decided on. This art piece can be art or writing, and does not need to be a collaboration.
A note from the OTHER role-player who did not submit the art is then needed.

* This note will include a link to the art work, and a 2,000pd adoption fee (This can be split between the couple, ex. Spouse A pays 1,000pd and Spouse B pays 1,000pd).
* The couple may adopt two children at once. To do this, the art piece should be a collaboration, and will need to pay an adoption fee of 4,000pd.

### **Waiting Period**

The couple will not get the child right away, they will have to wait *five months* for their paperwork to go through, and to have their house and background checked.

### **Adopted**

Once you have reached the adoption date (given by the mods), you may note the group announcing that the couple are bringing home their new child! Please include in the note:

* Name(s)
* Gender(s)
* Pokemon
* Official birthday of the child/children

### **Want more children?**

A couple, after the adoption of a child, must wait three months before they can have another child, by birth or adoption.

## Childhood

So you have gotten a kid of your own!
Now there are a few things to know!

Children grow up pretty quickly don't they? From little wailing babes to rambunctious toddlers in a snap!
In fact, children for their first eight years grow pretty swiftly on Raccolto.

### **Rules for Aging a Child**

Each three months a child can be one year older, if you and your partner so choose. However, this will require a picture and a note to the group each year the child ages. Now, if you want to take it slow, feel free to keep your child age two for seven months, or a full twelve!
So, this means in two years, your child can be eight years old. Once they reach eight, they will age normally. So it will take twelve months to turn nine.

### **Children are mPC (Mini Playable Characters).**

This means they are an extension of your character. So they can be present far more often than NPC characters. They can join chat events and role plays, as well as be present in several artworks.
Now, while they are playable characters, remember they are young! Try to avoid allowing your three year old to toddle off to town on its own!

### **Pokemon Companions**

You're never too young to own your first Pokemon! This means even your one year old child may have a Pokemon pet of their own. Yes, children get their own pets separate from mommy and daddy's inventories! You can see what pet children have acquired on the Marriage Record tab of the Inventories.
There is no fee! So note the group with what Pokemon you'd like your child to have!
However, be aware there are limitations. You can only ever have one Pokemon for each child. It cannot be changed for a different Pokemon, and if you throw out the old Pokemon, you cannot regain your child's pet slot. It is gone forever. The Pokemon will also never evolve. It will always be its most basic evolution. So please choose wisely!