13674 Island Sunset Blvd,
A street not quite a main street, in the town of Nashua, just a few miles down from Lovell and a two to three hour train ride from Herford, depending which side of the both cities you were coming and going towards. On this street in the city of Nashua, in a location not really remarkable, was a dormitory. Not a school dormitory, no this location was just far enough away to be considered inconvenient to the average student, to whom a twenty minute transit by bus plus waiting times couldn't compete with the housing right across from the school. This was a private dormitory and boarding house, open for any young people who were looking for a place away from home to stay at.
Maybe these people were refuges from the city of Herford, which despite being larger, had an inferior college and schooling system. Perhaps they fled to Nashua to attend their local college before transferring to a real college, one that was above community college level. Perhaps they were simply avoiding the expensive housing in Lovell, and didn't mind an hour long commute to the school of the arts housed in that city? Maybe they wanted a degree from that famous university or to graduate from that amazing high school that shared its grounds, but did not enjoy the stuffy artistic nature of the town itself. Maybe they were simply original denizens of Nashua, overlooked by its larger and richer neighbor Herford, and its smarter and more artistic neighbor in Lovell, and simply needed that spark of independence that comes from moving away from home, with none of the inconveniences of losing all family and friends.
Yes, there were many reasons for a person to settle down in Nashua. Its high school was absolutely ordinary, which to some was appealing. Its community college was very accepting of transfers and students from out of town, and its students tested very well. It would not be difficult to go to the larger town of Herford on days off to see the sights and perhaps shop around the more expensive stores a little, and of course who could resist spending a day in Lovell, with its public art at almost every street corner?
Put simply, Nashua was ordinary, and so was 13674 Island Sunset Blvd. Owned by a grumpy older lady, helped by her rebellious younger daughter, it was an unassuming place whose only real feature was being less than three blocks away from a bus stop, supermarket, convenience store, and that it took only one bus stop to get to the local arcade, and three more to get from there to the college. With its red brick walls and cozy interior, the ad that its owner Greta put out in local papers was decently appealing, she thought. Gretchen, her granddaughter, even put the ad on craigslist as well, there would be a few ways to have found the place. A trip to the local civic centers together and they had also placed quite a few flyers around the town.
With this, Greta's could rest easy on her social security payments with people paying rent to her, and she could perhaps teach her rebellious granddaughter some respect by making her help around the Dorm.
And so, this was the situation at 13674 Island Sunset Blvd, an unremarkable place centered in a slightly more remarkable town that was itself overshadowed by two more prestigious neighbors.
People would gather here, but it didn't really matter what happened with them. There was no underlying story, no intricate plot of deception. It was simply a new home for people transitioning through their lives, and if they happened to grow and develop a little, then all the better for the world around them.
RP focus overview and Rules:
This rp does not focus on paranormal, fantasy, or mystery. This RP is slice of life in its purest form. That said, please DO adapt your fantasy or supernatural based characters to rp in this roleplay, and please do let us know in your character sheet that they have such an origin. The point of this rp is character interaction and development. No characters will be forced to interact, work together, or even get along. In fact, I suppose I won't even force you all to live in the dorm. The boarding house is our primary setting however, and I'd advise you make your characters fit inside or around the lifestyle of said boarding house.
The following rules and guidelines are meant to allow the RP to move properly and to manage expectations about the roleplay. Some can be taken with a grain of salt or interpreted as you wish, and if you feel like just plain defying one, please PM me about it and we can talk. So long as the quality of the RP does not suffer from it, I'm all ears to your ideas fellows.
That said, the rules are the following:
1: There is no maximum on the number of characters one may have. Rather, everyone must have a minimum of two.
2: For every character you make that we agree goes a bit too far beyond the ordinary in any way, for example a tragic past, rich background, or absurdly talented, you must make a character that's talents would fit very easily into an ordinary life. This does not mean your balancing characters cannot be interesting or unique, this is just to prevent this RP from being overrun with dramatically over-dramatic characters.
3: Please do not post in excess when other Rpers are nor present unless your scene is obviously detached from any form of involvement with other characters. If your posts will create a page with just you or a group of people, please perform the RP in PMs and then compile the results into as few posts as possible.
4: Do not create predetermined events in OOC. Possible romances or rivalries can be discussed, but please let the characters interact in a realistic way without bias.
5: That said, I do encourage thought-crafting in OOC about possibilities. This can also be used to make sure people don't post too fast in a scene you mean to interact with.
6: Please do consider attempting to get together with a friend and creating two characters together with some previous history. It is far more realistic to have some of these present in a RP like this than to have everyone be strangers to each other.
6.5: Include a random sentence blurb about the hidden rule to me inside your character profile. I will owe you the mutual respect of reading your profile thoroughly enough to find it, and will inform you when I do.
7: I expect Rpers to follow general site guidelines when it comes to godmodding and to behave appropriately for an advanced RP section.
8: However, I do not agree that length = quality. In some cases, a realistic conversation would involve each character speaking quickly in sequence, interrupting others, and generally not having room between interactions for a page a post. In such cases however, try to compact several peoples posts into as few as possible.
9: Respect other Rpers and their characters, and above all, respect your own character. Come into the RP with the mindset of improving, defining, and exploring your characters and the characters of others.
10: Enjoy the RP you kind soul who listened to all of this rambling.
Character Sheets:
Username: I will moving all profiles to my first post, so this is necessary.
Name: Characters name.
Age: Middle school-any ages allowed. Focused on College age, but there are no rules on this.
Gender: If your character does not fit the Gender binary, start with their preferred identity if applicable, and then technical terms for ease of understanding.
Schedule: What hours do your character keep, if any? Does this ever change?
Education level: Characters current level/status in educational system.
Life goal: Characters overall goal/dream in life, if applicable.
Current goal: Characters more immediately important goals.
Appearance: Appearance, with as few details as possible on why. Must be written, pictures hotlinked if included.
Personality: An overview of a characters tendencies when interacting with others, pet peeves, and other details. Leave history out of this as much as you can to leave your profile easy to read.
Reason for moving into dorm: Why is your character moving into the dorm? Also a short overview of more immediate history.
Romantic/Sexual Experience: Because why not. List as detailed or as undetailed an account as you wish on your characters romantic and sexual exploits, for reference.
History: Life story I guess. Go nuts. Pull all those other details together.
Notes: For any details you feel we may need to know about. Perhaps your goals development wise with your character, details you may wish to inform us all of, or maybe the characters origins RP wise. Use as a sort of Misc section, and feel free to drop this one if you have nothing to put here.
Gretchen and Greta:
Username: ProxyPawaa
Name: Gretchen Flores
Age: 63
Gender: Female
Schedule: Rises at eleven, sleeps at midnight. Sometimes stays up later reading or watching television. Impossible to wake while sleeping.
Education Level: Graduated high school.
Life Goal: Raise Greta into a respectable young woman.
Current Goal: Manage to resist insanity while trying to fulfill life goal.
Appearance: Gretchen may be sixty three, but if it weren't for her fading hair and the wrinkles just starting to set in onto her facial features, you would never believe that she were so old. Thanks to regular workout routines with yoga on Wednesday’s and occasional dancing to instructional tapes she remains limber and in good shape for her age. Her hair color was originally a deep dark brown, but is overtaken and mostly Silver, with occasional strands of her original hair color. Her eyes though remain an enticingly dark shade of blue, a color through which her wisdom shows.
Gretchen is around 5'7, not horribly short but shorter than the average college man perhaps is. Her body is in great shape for her age, but is just starting to develop what will perhaps become a bit of a belly. Her arms still look like she could give some nonathletic men a run for their money in an arm wrestling contest, and the shape her legs are in attest to the fact that she stubbornly insisted on moving furniture into her dorm herself. The last detail of note is perhaps her expressions, which around Greta usually are of a negative variety. Still, her face is capable of fondness and shows it most often behind the younger girls back.
Personality: Gretchen is a busybody, but also a busy body who is very, very tired of being busy. Having worked for her entire life, Gretchen is now very obsessed with the idea of being able to sleep in every morning and spending hours doing nothing. Her incessant need to be active at all times however drives against her, and much of her time is spent doing work around the house and sometimes subsequently complaining about the fact that she is doing work around the house.
Without a romantic partner, job, or hobby, Gretchen's concerns mostly center around Greta and her life choices. She is bored with her life, which makes her very nosy about Greta's life. She is the type to want to feel involved and concerned for someone, but not the type to go the extra mile for them. She is also the type to keep score of everything she has ever done good for someone, and every way they have ever inconvenienced her. She does have a hidden sense of justice, and if she sees someone being bullied(especially a young girl) she is completely willing to go full bitchy grandma mode on whoever is the perpetrator.
Reason for moving into the dorm: She uhhhh... owns it.
Romantic/Sexual Experience: At one point married to Greta's grandfather, the two separated and the man is no longer involved in their life. She has had two relationships since then and both have ended, she has no current partner and doesn't expect to have any new one. She also believes that older people are expected to experience less sexual desire as they age, and that her aging body is less attractive, which furthers that belief that she will remain single until she passes.
History: Gretchens history is nothing extraordinary, she was raised in a christian household and was expected to become a housewife when she grew up. She always had good grades growing up, and was very good at the sports society at the time allowed her to take part in, which she remembers fondly. She could have been incredibly successful with her work ethic in todays world, but in her youth she married the first man her parents approved of, a relationship that lasted fifteen years and ended when both finally admitted they had nothing but hatred for each other.
The only good thing that came out of it was Greta's mother, who from then on felt abandoned by her father. Gretchen raised her daughter alone and was very close with her until eventually, she dated a biker, which Gretchen didn't approve of. When Greta's mother moved out to live with this man, Gretchen started dating again and attempted to ignore what she thought of as her daughters foolishness. Now, she regrets cutting off contact, but at the time she felt incredibly justified.
It was when Greta was six that Gretchen found out that her daughter had gotten in trouble with her biker husband and was going to jail after abusing drugs. She immediately took control and took her granddaughter into her own care, and even now refuses to relinquish her back to her mother, who still to this day struggles with drugs. On rare occasions the two will receive a call or a visit from her, usually involving a need for money. Gretchen usually spares what she can, still caring and loving for her daughter despite her problems.
Notes: I intend her to mostly carry out a background role, showing up when necessary.
Username: ProxyPawaa
Name: Greta Flores
Age: 12
Gender: Female
Schedule: Wakes up early, from five to seven. Often naps during the day, and falls asleep anywhere between nine and midnight.
Education Level: Currently in middle school.
Life Goal: Greta is still deciding.
Current Goal: Drive her grandma insane. Prove herself reliable and trustworthy so that Gretchen gives her some more space.
Appearance: Greta has the same deep blue eyes as Gretchen, along with raven black hair and slightly pudgy cheeks. Greta is not one of those young ladies that started developing early, her chest is still flat as a board, and her body's shape is some mix between a twig and a barrel with little contours of curves in the slightest. If anything, she has a small belly resulting from her inability to keep herself away from sodas and other sugary treats.
Also of note is her fashion, primarily in that it drives Gretchen completely batty. Greta likes to wear shirts with logos of heavy metal bands on them, occasionally wears hoodies and generally dresses in a way that Gretchen perceives as thuggish and indecent. The only thing Gretchen does approve of, is that Greta does not ever wear short skirts or otherwise revealing things.
Personality: Greta is still at the age where she is discovering exactly who she is and what she wants out of life. She is very excitable, bubbly, and prone to being very obnoxious with her humor. She has an excellent work ethic that mirrors her grandma, but prefers to avoid work whenever possible. She is definitely interested in boys, and sometimes girls, but is still at the stage of her growth where kissing is a big deal thanks to Gretchens sheltering. Like Gretchen, she likes to have as much time to herself as possible and prefers to spend time alone, or outside with friends.
Reason for moving into the dorm: Mother went to jail, has lived with Gretchen since she was seven.
Romantic/Sexual Experience: Greta hasn't even had her first kiss yet. Calm down.
History: Greta lives a tumultuous life for several years before being taken in by Gretchen. Living with a mother and father who weren't ready for you was rough on her, and for the entirety of her seven years with her mother she lived in a trailer park and was often made fun of for her ratty clothes. Her father used to be a biker before she was born, and her mother was a naive girl looking for a man on the wild side. Compared to her parents, Greta became the reliable caretaker of the household by the time she was four, and often did laundry and cooked meals for the household.
Around when she became six, her parents began experimenting with hard drugs and drinking more often and her house life became increasingly chaotic. It wasn't a surprise to her when police picked her up to take her to Gretchen's, though it did take her several months to adjust to living with her grandma instead of her mother. She misses her family a lot, and wishes she could see her mother and father more, but has grown accustomed to Gretchen and her new life and knows that staying where she is would be for the best.
Notes: Greta will be the front desk worker in the morning when necessary, so that her mother can sleep in. She works weekends for most of the day as well, and often on days she doesn't have school.
