PEOPLE
Your mods - or, who all is in charge around here anyway?
OOCly (or, out of character, just involving the muns (people who are the players), etc) the people in charge are your mods. There are currently three regular mods (Sophie, Cam, and Steph Mu Ji) and one bar mod (Bing), who is your go-to person for any and all enquiries about Bar-the-object (see below), and the physical environment of the bar and its grounds. Contact information for all four mods is available on the bar comm info page.
ICly (or, in character, involving the actual game-play, etc) the current head Barman is Michaelangelo.
So I go to the mods with a problem?
Yes! The mods are here to help, not hurt, and they are available for anything. Plus, they just like talking to people. Mods are players too, and all.
But I have a problem with ___ who is a mod.
Talk to a different mod. That’s why there are so many of us! It goes without saying that any question posed to a mod will be treated with strictest confidentiality.
So I should ask them EVERY question I have?
You can, but remember, your other players are there to help you too, and most of them are glad to do so.
Your fellow players - or, where is everyone and what the hell is crackchat?
Crackchat is the affectionate name we have for the AIM chat where you can usually find a few muns (and often more than a few) hanging out. It's a great way to meet people and make friends, as well as keep in contact during a thread. The name of the room changes from time to time, so if you want in, check the Back Room comm, under the 'where's crackchat at?' tag, or ping someone and ask for an invite.
PREMISES
Milliways - or, where am I and what on earth am I looking at?
Milliways is a bar at the end of the universe - in all senses of the word. The physical space of the bar is highly fluid. All that we seem to agree on is that there are tables, booths, a Bar, rafters overhead and occasionally a pool table and an evil karaoke machine. There's also an observation window with a pretty spectacular view (what with that whole 'end of the universe' thing). Additions to the décor include such things as Tonks’s neon yellow bra, signed by her and Aziraphael and framed above the Bar in a gold frame; the shrine to Sirius and Kassandra on one end of the Bar (candles and small bits of remembrance); the door to the lake, the door to the staff quarters, and the door to the kitchens.
What does the area around the lake look like? What about the seasons? Day to day weather?
Well, it’s nebulous. There are gardens and lawn furniture, thanks to Asar-Suti. There are stables and a paddock on one side. There is a greenhouse. There is a Whomping Willow. There is (occasionally) a firing range. There is a rather unusual labyrinth, though nobody quite seems to know where the entrance is. There is a forest. And there are snow-capped mountains. The latter two are metaphysical mobius strips, if you will; for example, if you head into the forest on the east side of the lake, and keep walking, you will eventually emerge from the forest on the west side, back where you started. Same basic deal with the mountains. The Milliways grounds are self-contained. Seasons follow current earth seasons. It’s just easiest that way, and we tend to sort-of-maybe-ish follow Scotland’s weather patterns, but not precisely by any means. For instance, people rarely mention it raining, and yet things are green and nice during the spring and summer. Explanation? Magic.
How much leeway do I really have?
Loads. Some have said the lake is huge; others have said it’s not that big. There are rocks here and there along its edge, as well as small beaches, but they haven’t been all that closely described. If you have a worry about a description, just contact Bing, who is the Bar-mod who handles physical aspects of the bar.
The Landlord - or why am I here and who do I send my angry letter to?
Milliways works in mysterious ways, and many people attribute things such as the appearance of doors to Milliways or random bindings to the shadowy figure of the Landlord. Does he exist? Nobody really knows. One thing's for sure - nobody's ever met or spoken to him, and nobody ever will.
Bar - or, why can this long wooden oblong hear what I am saying, and why is it a she?
Sirius Black, the first (in-game) Barman, bound himself to Bar with a spell called Servete, giving Bar a measure of sentience, and allowing her to serve drinks and food on her own. This spell has grown stronger with time.
What that means is that Bar and Barman communicate on a telepathic level, their personalities bleed into one another, and there’s a one-way physical connection from Bar to the Barman. When you hurt her, you hurt him. The mental connection is both ways, though.
(We don't know why Bar is a she.)
Bar seems to have a personality. What can I have her do, and what do I need to ask about?
Bar generally gives people what they ask for, with certain exceptions. Broadly speaking, she won’t give out things like: commonly illegal drugs; functional weapons, unless she is aware that a practice session is being arranged; things she can’t possibly know about, like maps of the Lost island; living beings. If you have questions about something you need from Bar, contact Bing and ask. Characters can also leave letters or packages with Bar for another patron.
Personality-wise, Bar is fairly motherly, but capricious. She has been known to play jokes, even on her own Barman, and has a habit of fitting patrons out in costume when certain holidays roll around - but she’s not given to wanton cruelty. She has been known on occasion to communicate with people via little notes on napkins, and even to remember birthdays and anniversaries.
The Barman - or, what kind of madman runs this crazy joint?
The head Barman manages Milliways, and, as above, is telepathically linked to Bar herself; apart from the Landlord, who may or may not exist, the Barman is the top dog at the end of the universe. The position is currently filled by Michaelangelo.
Waitrats - or, why the hell are there rats serving drinks? No, seriously, what the fuck? How do they even hold the plates and glasses?
It's a long story, and, like many things about Milliways, one that doesn't actually make sense - it's better to just roll with it. Don't worry, they're clean and mostly friendly, provided you don't step on their tails.
Baby - or, what kind of name is that for a jail system anyway?
We don't know, we didn't come up with it. Baby is the sentient jail located within the Security office. She was created by a patron, Tim Hunter, so that the bar would have a place to jail patrons who violate the (IC) rules. Like Bar, she’s somewhat benevolent, and dedicated to her familiar (currently Andrew Wells), and her job. While she might not look very big from the outside, no matter the number of miscreants she always has enough cells. The front wall of each cell is a clear, impenetrable glass-like substance that can only be opened by Mike or a Security officer.
She can hold anyone. Jailbreaks are not possible.
Security - or, don't taze me/floor me with a ninja kick/paralyze me with magic/turn me into a small animal, bro!
The Security team is a hodge-podge of Milliways patrons employed to make sure nobody breaks the rules - in-character, that is. Members of Security that are on duty can be identified by their badge.
Jobs - or, I'm cold, and hungry, and there are wolves after me! How can I get a job as a ______ in the bar?
First, ping the muns who play the people in charge of hiring and talk to them. Then, in game, have your character ask the people who work there. Sometimes there are positions available. Sometimes there aren't. It's an IC and OOC commitment, though, to have a job. So if you really want one for your character, keep this in mind. However, if you simply want to have your character tend bar once or twice for the lulz, keep an eye on the back room comm on Mondays - there are usually a couple of available Happy Hour shifts available each week, available on a first-come basis.
Some patrons of the bar choose to pay for their food/drinks/room/etc. in cash (or their equivalent commodity), while some characters prefer to put daily expenditures on a tab, which is automatically tallied up by Bar. Generally speaking, how or how often your character chooses to pay off their tab is something you should feel free to handwave - however, every blue moon or so, Milliways does call in outstanding tabs. But don't worry! This is really just an occasional excuse to shake things up and give characters a fun reason to run around panicking about money. If you don't want to actually play out your character paying off their tab, you don't have to.(Of note: over the years, various patrons have donated funds to help with the paying of tabs. The two in effect are the Joe Manco Fund, from which money can be put towards paying the tabs of bound characters, and Phil - don't ask - which covers the tabs of those characters below the age of majority. Disbursement of monies from Phil is automatic; funds from the Joe Manco Fund, however, must be asked for by the characters themselves.)
PLAY
The IC Rules - or, why am I in the cells and what is this traffic cone doing in here with me?
Milliways-the-establishment has three simple rules which patrons are 'forbidden' from breaking. These are:
No violence in the bar - self-explanatory!
No naked(/sex) in the bar - also self-explanatory!
No business in the bar - the cardinal rule, and one which does not mean what you think it means! Go right ahead and exchange goods/services for money in Milliways; nobody minds that. What 'no business' means is that Milliways is neutral ground for everyone - demons don't try to tempt and angels don't try to smite them, vampire slayers keep their stakes in their pockets, Chosen Ones and Dark Lords politely ignore each other, and so on and so forth. Unless you're on the staff here, when you're in Milliways, you're officially off-duty.
Wait a minute - which patrons are 'forbidden' from breaking? What's that supposed to mean?
What can we say? Rules are made to be broken, it's only wrong if you get caught - and as players, we all love a good brawl or a bit of public indecency to liven up the evening. If you want to have your characters break any of the rules above, you are cheerfully encouraged to do so. HOWEVER. Before your character starts throwing punches or stripping down, the one thing you must do is contact the player of a character on Security. With them, you should arrange to either have your character get caught, or agree on an explanation as to how/why they got away with it. To do otherwise would be godding Security as absent/incompetent, and that is a no-no. Remember, communication is always key.
The Endless - or, who are these weirdoes and why do they have power over my character?
The Endless are characters from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series and associated works. They are: Destiny, Death, Destruction, Dream, Desire, Despair, and Delirium/Delight. They are their names, and embody that idea. Yes, they do have power over your character, but this was essentially decided on by the mods as a way to prevent OOC squabbling over whose characters from which canons were the mostest powerfullest Grand High Poobahs of the multiverse, and so on. Cosmically speaking, the Endless are at the top of the heap. BUT, don't worry - the player of an Endless character can't god your character any more than any other player can. As with any other character, if you have questions about interacting with an Endless, just ping the mun.
Bound characters - or, don't you people have homes to go to?
From time to time (because we are all sadists here and find it fun to torment our characters), characters will find themselves unable to leave the bar - generally because the door out has disappeared for them, or is visible but impossible to open. This is generally referred to as being 'bound', and is 100% at your discretion.
Dead characters - or, I feel fine! I think I'll go for a walk!
Yes, dead characters can exist in the bar. And yes, they can leave the bar, though it is up to you-the-player to decide whether or not they do. There is precedent for both bound and un-bound dead characters at Milliways, so that is your choice.
However, it is important to keep a few things in mind:
When you choose a dead character, you accept the fact that they are, indeed, dead, and that there are inherent limitations in that status. Unless your character’s canon dictates otherwise, dead people cannot normally go wandering about. So, should you choose to give your dead character the ability to leave Milliways and come back, there are certain questions you should ask yourself:
What about babytimes? My character is dead - can he/she/it still reproduce?
- What sort of status does he/she/it have in that particular world? Will they be ghost-like (ie, non-corporeal)? Will they be visible only in the dreams of the living? Will they start out as corporeal and fade after some time (the general, unofficial consensus being somewhere between three and five days) away from the bar?
- If you send your dead character to another universe/world and they are able to act as though they are not dead (i.e., walking around, seen by others, living relatively normal existence)... why is that? Was there something that happened at Milliways that allowed that to occur? Ask yourselves good questions about why you're doing what you're doing with your character, and your plots will be all the better.
The short answer is, simply, no, because your character is... well, they're dead.
The longer answer is that if your character comes from a canon in which the dead are able to reproduce, or else there is some spell/talisman/really weird herb etc. etc. from that canon that enables them to do so, then it's a possibility. But as a rule, no, the dead at Milliways cannot reproduce.
OOMs - or, what are these link-posts on milliways_bar, and why are they labeled with Ent-speak?
OOMs (or Out Of Milliways posts) are any RP threads (scenes) that are located off the main milliways_bar community, such as in character LJs or one of the ancillary RP comms. Usually, these are threads that take place anywhere that isn't the physical environment of the (downstairs) bar and grounds. All OOMs must be linked to from the main milliways_bar LJ comm.
Tinytags - or, why is there a rollcall on this entrance post, and why can't my character have a tag?
Blame Livejournal! Milliways has a lot of characters, and so tagging a post according to which characters were featured in the threads became common practice. However, since LJ instituted its tag limit, we no longer have room for any further tags. The tinytags evolved as a way for players to tell at a glance whether a character without a tag was threading in a given post.
Warnings - or, what are we, the Board of Censors?
No, we most certainly are not! However, we do ask that you add an LJ-cut or an OOC warning whenever your post, the OOM it links to, or the comments below, include subject matter that might be disturbing to other players. This includes violence and sexual content, but also might include other subjects such as drug use or detailed discussion of sexual assault.
PROCEDURES
To delete or retire a character, there are just a few simple steps to follow:
- Un-join milliways_bar and any related communities with the the character journal.
- During an open app cycle, email milliways.apps[at]gmail[dot]com saying a) who you are retiring/deleting, and b) the name(s) we know you by.
- That's it! We'll take care of the rest, including striking the character from your list of active pups so that they no longer count towards your limit of ten.
- Well, that's it - except for one thing. If you have retired a character, we will require you to renew that retirement once a year - and don't worry, we'll email you when it's time for you to do so. If you choose to let a character's retirement expire, that character will then be deleted from the game.
But what is the difference between deleting and retiring a character?
Deleting and retiring a character are two of the options available to you when you have a character you no longer want or no longer feel inspired to play - but there are a few rather crucial differences between the two.
Deletion: deleting a character means that the character is removed from the cast list and deleted from the game entirely, effectively giving someone else the opportunity to reboot that character - to app them anew and start again with a blank slate.Retirement: retiring, on the other hand, simply means that the character is removed from circulation. They are marked as '[RETIRED]' on the cast list, meaning that their backstory in the game stays intact and that they are not available for re-apping/rebooting. Unless, of course, you allow their retirement to expire, in which case we will delete them and open them up for new players. (Additionally, if you list a character as retired, you should be prepared for the possibility that from time to time you may have to field enquiries from other players as to whether you would be prepared to consider giving the character up.)
Okay, that's fair enough - but which one should I choose for my character?
Deletion.
Just kidding. It's up to you which one you choose - but a good way to think about it is in terms of a hypothetical Time Travel Scenario. Which is to say: if someone travelled back in time and somehow prevented your character from ever entering the bar in the first place, would it really make a huge difference to the stories of other characters in the game? Really? Reeeaaaally? If the answer to that question is 'no', that it wouldn't make all that much difference to other characters, then you should go ahead and delete the character wholesale. If the answer is 'yes', that it would make a substantial difference to the stories of other characters in Milliways, then you should retire your character instead. What qualifies a 'substantial difference'? Once again, that's something only you can decide.Adopting a character - or, I'm running out of these things and my dad won't turn off his crappy car programs so I can concentrate
Adopting a character out to another player is the third of the options available to you when you have a character you no longer feel inspired to play. The steps for this are slightly different from retiring or deleting a character.
- At any time, email milliways.mods[at]gmail[dot]com with a) the name of the character, b) your contact information, and c) the contact information of the new player. This is the responsibility of the previous player, and ensures the character is transferred properly and no longer counts against their active character limit.
- Make sure the new player has the password for the character's LJ, etc. etc.
As to whether the character is rebooted, or is handed over with their Millicanon (in-game backstory) intact is something you can decide upon with the new player.
Reserving a character - or, I really don't care about this guy's landrover restoration project
If there is a character which, for whatever reason, it would be highly disruptive to your plot/character arc/etc. to have appear in the bar, or which you would prefer that a prospective player contact you before apping, you may apply to have them listed in the >'RESERVED CHARACTERS' section of the cast list.
To reserve a character, simply email milliways.mods[at]gmail[dot]com at any time listing a) the character's full name and canon, and b) why you want to list said character as reserved. As with character retirements, if you choose to put a character on the reserved list, you should be prepared for occasional player enquiries about whether you'd be willing to let the character go.
We do not usually allow reservations simply for the purpose of holding a character until you yourself can app them.
Canon-puncturing - or, what do you mean, you know all about me?
Canon-puncturing is perhaps best explained using an example:
Nymphadora Tonks: *sits at the bar, chatting with a new character*
New character (who is from USA, 2005, so could conceivably have read the Harry Potter books): So! You're fictional! What's that like?
Tonks: Uh. *blank stare* Fictional?
Canon-puncturing is one character telling another that the world from which they came is fictional - which, since all the characters from Milliways are from works of fiction, might soon get very confusing. And while there are quite a few characters in Milliways whose canons have been punctured, it can only be done when the following conditions are met:
'Godmodding,' also referred to as simply 'godding,' is when one player controls the actions of a character not their own, via the comments of their own character. Godmodding is forbidden simply because, if you do not know the player or the character well, it is rude to direct their actions without that player's permission, and can often result in a abuse of that character. For example, if Sylar were to slip poison into Peter Petrelli's drink without Sylar's player contacting Peter's player, Peter's player would be forced to deal with the consequences of a poisoned character whether they wanted that or not. Godmodding can ruin pre-existing plots, and is basically just not very polite.
It should be noted, however, that certain kinds of consensual godding do exist. For example, the mun of Wash from Firefly might have godding rights to Wash's wife Zoe, so that, if asked, Wash can tell other characters where Zoe is and what she is up to, because it would be in-character for Wash to know, even though Zoe-mun might not be available to say. This sort of relationship generally exists between players who trust one another implicitly, and whose characters are tightly interconnected in-game.