General Roleplaying Terms

Actions - Non-verbal cues usually within asterisks, brackets, or dashes. Example: Olivia: Don't look at me, it was /his/ idea. \*points to Alistair\*

Admin/Sage/Leader — The person in charge of that particular roleplay, group, blog, wiki, etc. for that time. There are eight within the LivVerse and one is usually active at any given time.

AU — Alternate Universe. The world that strays from the canon either slightly or entirely.

Canon — The original source information (TV show, book, game, etc.) that the characters came from.

Closed Roleplay — The thread/roleplay is closed off to outsiders and is only welcome to those that are mentioned and/or already involved. #ClosedRoleplay is a hashtag commonly used to make it clear that the roleplay is closed off to those not already part of it.

Face Claim (FC) — The “face” of your character. The celebrity, actor, anime character, etc. that is used to portray the appearance of your character.

Fade To Black — Often used within sexual situations where the players end/skip a scene, though the actions are thought to be played out despite not being typed, and the scene picks back up after the skipped scene would have ended. Usually written as #FadeToBlack.

Future Week — When, in a roleplay, the roleplay jumps into the future a decade or more, but only for one week. The word week can be subbed out for Day, Month, Year, etc.

Godmodding — A character whose abilities are limitless. Often acts of forcibly causing something to happen, i.e. making someone else’s character move without consent, is godmodding.

Headcanon — Something that the individual or fandom believes to be true in the story, show, etc. and it generally makes sense, but hasn’t been confirmed by the creators of the media. More or less, a ‘personal’ canon.

IC — In character. That relating to what occurs in game/post by the characters.

MainVerse — The main universe in which the character is played and is where most of their story takes place. Example: LivVerse, ZeldaVerse, DesVerse, etc.

Mary Sue/Gary Stu — Used to describe a character that is often times ‘perfect’ in every way, is capable of upstaging other characters no matter what, they can pick up on any task and master it in no time, uses writer knowledge in their roleplays, can see a conversation happening even though their character isn't within earshot or even nearby, etc. Usually a perfected self-insert.

MC — Abbreviation for main character.

Moniker — A nickname or alias, often used by the writer.

Multiple Storyline Character — A character in which the events of one thread have absolutely no effect on the events in another thread in anyway, shape, or form, and are known to be played out in completely different universes regardless of any similarities. Each partner has their own universe that is played with said character, so the events with another partner do not interfere with others.

Multishipping — Coincides with Multiple Storyline Character, in which the romantic involvement which one character in one thread does not interfere or coincide with the romantic relationship with another character in an entirely different thread. This means that a character can have as many relationships as they would like, as each one is in a different universe and none of the partners know of the others’ existence in anyway, shape, or form.

Mun — The person behind the character. A.K.A the roleplayer or writer.

Muse — Often referred to either the player’s character, or things that inspire the player.

Narrative - Storybook format. Example: \*Katie dampened a washcloth in the motel sink and started to clean off the white, pristine feathers of her wings with quick motions. Without a word, Sam crept into the washroom just to startle Katie. When her sapphire orbs glided upwards to investigate why the hairs on the back of her neck were at attention, she jumped at her husband's mischievously smirking image in the reflective glass above her. She then squealed, once her heartbeat restabilized to normal\* Sammie!!

NPC — Non-playable character. This is when the player controls the actions of a character that may not be tied to the story permanently, such as pedestrians, waiters, office workers, etc. These may also be side characters that are tied to the story, though only played and controlled by one player.

NSFW — Not Safe For Work. Any material that would not be suitable outside of private viewing.

OC — Original Character. One that is not related in any canon material. Made up by the player.

One Line — One sentence of post length.

OOC — Out of Character. Discussions that are done between the players and do not directly consist of the actions happening in the RP.

Open Post or Open RP — A post open for anyone to reply to so that a roleplay is started. Sometimes, more than one person is allowed to join, which is specified either in the title of the post, or in the hashtags.

OTP — One True Pairing. Players personal favorite pair of love between characters.

Prose — Writing in prose is like writing a book, with actions described in the first or third person and speech enclosed within quotation marks. Prose is appropriate for all situations, but should especially be used in situations heavy on action.

PSA — Public Service Announcement. Generally used when making an important or should-be-wide-spread announcement for followers, groups, or people beyond those looking at your time line.

RP — Roleplay.

RPG — Roleplay Group.

Self-insert — A character that resembles the mun via personality, looks, etc. and is, generally, an exact reflection of the mun.

Semi-Selective — When a writer will sometimes be choosy with who they decide to roleplay with. Out of person A, B, and C, they may roleplay with B and C, but decide not to roleplay with A for whatever reason.

Ship/Shipping — Short for relationship. The act of shipping two characters together is to engage the two of them in an official relationship. The thought of shipping two characters together is approval of the thought of the two engaging in a relationship

Shorthand — Shorthand is the format of writing speech and enclosing physical action within asterisks \*, brackets [], parenthesis (), dashes -, slashes /, or anything else. Shorthand is most appropriate for dialogue heavy interaction. This is LivVerse's default writing style.

Smut — The writing of erotica/18+ material. Smut involves sexual intercourse, oral sex, handjobs, etc.

Starter — The opening/beginning post of the roleplay. The very first post of the roleplay, to ‘start’ it.

UST — Unresolved Sexual Tension

Verse — ‘Universe’ or the world in which the roleplay is set.