Blood And Ice: Deeper Into Darkness (A Literate RP)

♕ Fond Farewells & Thank Yous! ♕

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Hello to my wonderful team!! 

It's been a while since I sent out a note, but it's also been a while since there was any real activity on this roleplay. 

It is with a heavy and conflicted heart that I've decided it's time to put away this RP experiment of mine and move on to other things. 

I really have had a wonderful time with all of you, but I feel this RP has run its course. Any story with a complex plot requires activity from all participating, and it's been a struggle to tell the story with an inactive royal family and certain characters having to be replaced numerous times. 

It also requires communication, and both myself and the Plot Faerie have sent out communications that went ignored. Attempts to orchestrate plot using the device of the Storyteller/Plot Faerie didn't work because it takes everyone participating and acknowledging communication. 

Running a large group roleplay is exceptionally difficult, and this was my first try--so I want to thank you all for your patience, energy, and participation. You are really wonderful and innovative storytellers I've come to greatly respect and admire, and would love to work with anytime. 

I also learned some valuable lessons. Most RPs don't last a few weeks, and this one has been around in one form or another since March. I think we can be proud of that! What I did learn was creating a story where the plot is dependent on any character(s) doesn't work out, because when those characters leave or become inactive, it takes the plot with them. 

It's difficult to maintain consistent interest in RPs over a long period of time, especially with younger people who tend to largely be here for the romance, the fandom, or to avoid being bored. I'm proud that we had this RP up and running as long as we did, and people rarely got bored. Even though it seemed like everyone wanted to get married off, even when it didn't make that much sense to do so, we also had some great plot twists here that were completely innovative, and built a story I'll never forget. We were lucky to have some writers here with a flair for the dramatic---I'll love the Tyrells forever because from the beginning, they were playing out their own soap opera, and it never stopped. 

"Every new beginning is some other new beginning's end." 

While it's time for "Blood And Ice" to come to an end because of the difficulty of moving the plot forward without an active royal family and a few other characters, it leaves open the possibility of a new project--something I've discussed with a few of you. 

I'm going to be working on a completely original RP, one with a smaller group of people. It will not be related to any fandom, but will be a creation from my own twisted mind. It will be a truly literate, mature RP (a concept we didn't really stick to here; we ended up doing a lot of 5-sentence posts) for those who look at roleplay as a form of collaborative storytelling. I'm looking to create an RP for imaginative folks who will truly love their characters and invest time and energy into keeping the story going for the long term.

Each writer will bring 2 OCs to the party, and there will be no replacing characters. No character will be completely essential to the plot continuing on. The good news? You can bring your OC from this story to the new one, if you created someone you really fell in love with. The new story will feature some paranormal elements that allow characters to arrive to the story from all different points in time, so if you loved your tormented character in this story, I'm sure you'll continue to love them in the next little soap opera. ;) 

I'll be looking for 10 active, literate RPers, as well as a co-admin and the Plot Faerie, in order to make this new project happen. If there is not interest, I'll just let the idea go. If there's more interest than expected, I'll add spaces for more players. Some lessons I've learned here are quality over quantity when it comes to characters, and to try to minimise player and character turnover. The best stories are the ones that continue on with the same people, and it really was the constant changing of characters that changed everything. 

You've all been great, and there aren't any of you I wouldn't enjoy seeing in the next RP. This one has simply become too difficult to keep as a cohesive storyline with so many cast changes, inactive players, and lack of response, along with it being summer and the lockdown being over. for many. Game Of Thrones is a very large and complex story, and while I think "Blood And Ice" has a lot of story left in it, there just aren't enough people actively invested right now. 

Again, thank you guys so much from the bottom of my heart, and it actually pains me to say farewell to this story. I've loved being a part of it from the very beginning, and thank you to everyone who believed in me, and it, all these months! 

Much love and many thanks to all, and for those interested in the next RP adventure, whether being a staff member or a writer (or both)--please PM me or leave a comment! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This has been an amazing experience. 

~ Alayna (JadedElegance/LadyGuenevere) 

P.S. Thank you to NefariousNephilim for his portrait of my precious Luciana!