taxonooc | Entries tagged with meme

Hi, Taxon! I meant to make this post yesterday morning, but I've been languishing with The Headache since then -- but since I cried off work sick today, I'll take a minute to put it up now, and I hope you'll all take some time to chime in. This isn't meant to upstage the official check-in post below, so please answer that one before you tackle this one. <3

One thing that's been weighing on my mind recently, is how do other characters actually feel about the Taxon experience? I think we kind of blanketly assume "okay, well, no one likes being imprisoned, duh," but this isn't just any prison, and the reality is that people are more complicated and have more things going on in their psyches than that, and there are plenty of reasons why individual Taxonians might have more complicated feelings about their present circumstances than that. Do they actually all hate it here? Are there some aspects they like?

So, in hopes of each of us learning more about what other people are exploring with their characters, the following little meme:

How does your character feel about being in Taxon --
1) In general, do they like it here?

2) Do they want to stay here? Do they want to leave? Do they have mixed feelings? Do they not much care either way?

3) Is there any reason they might want to stay in Taxon? Is there any reason they might not want to go home to their own reality? Is there anything or anyone they would miss from Taxon that might make them hesitant to leave if they had the chance?

4) Does it bother them that Taxon isn't like their home reality?

5) Is there anything or anyone they particularly miss from their home reality? (Is it pizza? Be honest, admit it, it's probably pizza. Just kidding.)

6) Do they wish Taxon had more fully sentient citizens? Does it particularly bother them that there aren't many people to talk to? Are they lonely or lacking the ability to socialize with large numbers of people, or is this something that doesn't much impact their life/happiness? Or do they prefer it this way?

7) Do they like living in this particular environment (climate/urbanity-wise)? Would they be happier if Taxon looked/felt like someplace else, or does this not much matter to them?

8) How do they feel about the Taxonian economy? Do they enjoy the financial security of Taxon's job/income system? Do they dislike the limitations of the sorts of jobs they are forced to take and/or the boredom inherent in doing them, or do they not much mind?

9) Are they interested in solving The Mystery of Taxon? Are they only interested if they need to solve it in order to escape? Or do they not particularly care what the fuck Taxon is? Do they think there's any point in trying to solve it, or trying to escape?

10) What's their current guess/theory about what Taxon is?

These questions are very freeform -- I put a lot of leading thoughts in there to try and draw out some of the complexities of the questions, but feel free to answer as briefly or as lengthily as you want, or to talk about any other aspect I didn't cover.

There are no right or wrong answers -- whether 95% of all characters have the same exact answers, or every single character feels entirely different, both of those are awesome in the end because it means we have a unified group of people (awesome) or a group of people who are bound to get frustrated with each other and bicker like hell (also awesome). I just figure we should talk publicly sometimes about what's in our characters' heads, not just what they've been up to -- so I thought, what the heck, I'll ask.

TL;DR HOW DOES YOUR CHARACTER LIKE BEING IN TAXON, GO

taxonmods

Island Plot Wrap-up!
Whew! What a long, strange trip it's been, and because of reasons we're going to be wrapping this sucker up a bit early on 5 July. Still, there is time for the aliens to toss one more bit of cliched tropical-themed shenanigans!

Those awake and attentive late at night might have heard drumming from the dark, mysterious depths of the jungle. Explorers of the temple may have happened upon strange idols, and a mural depicting a blood-red moon and warriors driving a rival tribe into the sea.

The figures in these images? The source of the distant drumming? Hamsters. Pygmy warrior hamsters, three feet tall and wielding weapons the size of barbecue tools.

On the night of 4 July the moon shall turn a lurid red, the large hamster idol/hatch will begin glowing, the drumming shall be inescapable, and the temple will be lit with countless torches. SUDDENLY: the war cry of scores of squeaky voices shall sweep into camp, herding the castaways into the jungle which is now riddled with traps such as snares and pitfalls.

By morning, all will be driven to the far side of the island, where they will be met by...a barge. A party barge, manned by Extras, offering safe passage back to Taxon. There will be tropical music, drinks, snacks, a limbo contest, and by early afternoon the city will be in sight (thanks to the aliens doing some quick programming from one cavern to the next). Happy reunions all around, and showers for everyone!

A post for all this will go up soon!

CR Meme

It has been some time since we did one of these, and with things getting back to normal (har har) it is high time to bust one out! This one's a blend of the old State of the Taxon Meme and the last meme we had, so folks can catch up and bounce ideas at once:

taxonmods

Hello Taxonians, Keri here! It is a time of year (at least in the US and A) to express thankfulness and to enjoy the company of loved ones, and I've decided to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to everyone in this game.

THANK YOU!!

To everyone who stayed with us, to everyone who's come back, to everyone who's joined recently: you're singularly fabulous. All of you ARE this game, Dien and Sofie and I are just happy stewards here to keep you entertained, just like you entertain us. Every one of you is unique and inspiring and brings something vital to this game. Thank you thank you thank you.

Now to mark this auspicious (American) holiday I am rolling out an old tradition: the game-wide cuddlepile of mun-love and happiness. Ask each other questions, tell stories, spam with gifs of sparkly ponies or YouTube clips or fanart of dubious taste, all is welcome an encouraged. SHARE THE LOVE, BE THE LOVE.

ALSO ALSO FYI: after a thirty second deliberation by yours truly, the spam comm has been renamed. mobypolishing is now

hamsterball. The banner will be changed when we get to it, meanwhile: STAY AWESOME, TAXON!

taxonmods

HOT FUN IN THE SUMMER TIME
The climate is sticking to mild San Fracnisco, but you an expect things to be hotter down at the brand new beach. Temperatures will max out at 85F/30C, just enough to get the sand nice and toasty between your toes, with a gentle onshore breeze to keep it comfortable.

“Comfortable” would be a good word to describe the entire city this month: there is an overall sense of vacation holidays and a relaxed, resort-like vibe enveloping the town. The Extras will seem just a bit more cheery and helpful, happy to accommodate the citizens’ every wish. Along with this will come a wave of cheesy souvenir shops selling a wide variety of “I ♥ Taxon” t-shirts, mugs, hats, magnets, shot glasses, bottle openers, and stuffed hamster plushies wearing “I ♥ Taxon” t-shirts. Apparently the aliens are tyring their best to be reassuring and welcoming in the newly re-arranged and spiffed-up city.

ALSO: Our very own Buffy Summers is organizing a beach party, so if your character want in on that there’s the post to check out.

REMINDERS
→ PLEASE fill out your permissions meme if you haven't already! We need one from everyone.
→ Head on over here and leave us links to your plurks and twitters to be added for additional contact information, if you're so inclined!
→ Go ahead and make a phone post, too, if you so desire!
→ Don't forget, you can glitch your character individually at any time by going through our glitch requests, get your character more stuff from home with item petitions, and have them earn money by getting them a job.
→ Remember to use the hiatus post in the mod journal when you go on hiatus. A post in the OOC comm is much more likely to escape our notice than a comment to the official post.
→ Check out the calendar for events and the activity records for your current activity check status.
→ TAG ALL OF YOUR POSTS! When you make posts and when you tag into someone else's. Commenting on a post, but failing to tag your character will not count towards the activity check. Please remember to do this so proper credit is given and active characters remain free of being swept.

If all else fails, or is just hard to find, hit up our link directory featured right at the top of the mod journal. Also, you don't have to wait for one of the HMDs to give us your thoughts. If you have ideas for Taxon that you'd like to share with us (including more cultural events, which we’d love to do more of), you can comment at any time to the suggestions or complaints posts.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Since we missed out on Spring Cleaning, we’ve moved it over to the summer!

Last month, in addition to redoing the city map, we updated the templates on the wiki for all your location pages! They now match the character infoboxes and are much easier to fill out without the wiki doing strange things to your line breaks. Don’t forget to check your location/item/vehicle pages and fill out the information on them, including permissions.

We also rewrote the Expanded FAQ, so be sure to check it out! Hopefully the information there now is more clear and concise, and if there’s anything that’s still confusing please let us know. Following the additions we made after the Game HMD, we’ve also expanded the information available on the Aliens, and the Glitch List.

Additionally, after the events of the Sanctuary Glitch last month, when you thread a character leaving the Arrival Room in your intro posts you are free to have them end up on any floor of the Sanctuary itself. We'll be editing the application, basic, and expanded FAQs to reflect the new change!

This month we’re looking to continue our efforts to make all the Taxon information clear, concise, and available for you. We’ll be making more posts throughout the month involving cleaning up our rules and possible changes to the activity check system, polls so we can plan our larger glitches months in advance, and other announcements as new ideas are implemented throughout the game, so please keep an eye on the modly posts tag here in the OOC community.

FREEBIES
In keeping with the atmosphere redolent of summer, the giveaways this month will be decidedly relaxing in nature. Anything your characters would want to enjoy the new water features (swimsuits, sunscreen, towels, snorkels, flippers, goggles, etc.) will be free from the stores and hatches. Other beachgoing gear - lounge chairs, massive umbrellas, colorful fruity drinks with little paper umbrellas - will also be free of charge.

In addition, summer get-together items will be free. Everything from hot dogs to the hibachis to grill them on to the “Kiss the Cook” apron to wear while you’re grilling your free hot dogs on your free hibachi, as well as nasty cheap light beer to swill while all of the above is going on will included on the freebie list.

IS IT REAL? OR IS IT HIDDEN REFLECTIONS?
Starting today and lasting all month long, the shiny bits of Taxon will be behaving oddly. Even characters that normally wouldn't register a reflection will end up subjected to their shenanigans.

→ Regular Mirrors: When a character looks into a normal mirror of any size, it will show them their deepest desires. An image of a loved one they wish they were with, them decked out in the finest bling as ruler of all, a better, stronger version of themselves, whatever you can imagine your character would want most (either above all things or just in that moment) can happen in their reflection.

→ Reflective Surfaces: Other surfaces that can act as mirrors (panes of glass, still waters, shiny metals like doorknobs, knives, or hubcaps, etc.), however, will reflect a character's true nature. Positive or negative, their overall nature or their true feelings in that moment. It may show them as an unrepentant monster, a vision of themselves from the past, give away that they're laughing when trying to fake seriousness, or any other interpretation you can imagine.

These effects will be fleeting and occasional, so feel free to use them as much or as little as you like. You can also have the images shown to your characters in mirrors or other surfaces be visible to others, but that's also up to you.

WE’LL STILL HAVE THE SUMMER AFTER ALL
Take off your heels, find somewhere nice to be alone, do not be sad when the sun goes down, and take your characters for a ride because it is meme time! Catch up on CR, build new stuff, and plan your doings for the month.

taxonmods

I FELL INTO A BURNING RING OF FIRE
For the month of June, the aliens are keeping it simple with near-perfect weather: sunny, mild, breezy days and moonlit, mild, calm nights.

Unfortunately the citizens won't be able to enjoy this for long because they'll be a bit cooped up in the Sanctuary for three weeks. The barrier around the city will shrink to ten feet out from all sides of the Sanctuary, and onto it will be projected a rather bluescreen-looking image of the city.

REMINDERS
→ Make sure to keep the contact list and permissions meme up to date.
→ Remember to use the hiatus post in the mod journal when you go on hiatus. A post in the OOC comm is much more likely to escape our notice than a comment to the official post.
→ Check out the calendar for events and the activity records for your current activity check status.

If all else fails, or is just hard to find, hit up our link directory featured right at the top of the mod journal. Also, you don't have to wait for one of the HMDs to give us your thoughts. If you have ideas for Taxon that you'd like to share with us, you can comment at any time to the suggestions or complaints posts.

CHECK OUT THE CH-CH-CH-CHANGES AT THE WIKI
Thanks to your wonderful input during the game HMD earlier last month, we’ve spruced up the wiki, added pages, and done what we can to make information more accessible for you.

Go take a look at the revamped front page now complete with a full directory of game related pages, steal some code from the blank character sample page, view our (still a work in progress) comprehensive glitch page, and discover neatly sorted characters by type with our new categories!

FREEBIES
Everything you would need for a big ol' slumber party: snacks, chick flicks, bottles with which to play spin-the-bottle, and a selection of board games of the "clearly aimed at preteen girls" variety, such as one based on the Babysitter's Club, Blind Date, Pretty Pretty Princess Dress Up, Candy Land, and so on.

While in the Sanctuary these are the only items the hatches will produce. Do not OD on Funyuns, and remember to take turns when deciding who gets to be Stacey.

THE DAY THE SIGNALS DIED (FOR NOW)
We hope you enjoyed the language glitch, and the radio signals that ended up being involved. For those of you with characters investigating them, here's a quick list of what they'll have found out:

in a directional sense, they were coming from below the city
a more detailed analysis: they were coming from outside the moon entirely, but were amplified by a radio tower somewhere inside the moon and below Taxon itself
it can be assumed the signals were not coming from the aliens associated with running Taxon
the full message as it was intended can be found here; feel free to have characters working on translations and piecing the messages together suss out the general intended message

GET OUT THE MAP
The Taxon Map has undergone an overhaul! We've solidified a lot of information about things like exact size and will be shuffling locations around to keep the characters' experience of the setting fresh and new, even if they aren't.

In all the map-editing we've added features! Water features, to be precise! Taxon will soon have a sizable lake, a modest river system, and beach front property on the ~~fauxcean~~ ocean. If you are interested in these areas please visit (or re-visit) the locations post and we'll get you set up. Also, if you have suggestions for new locations you'd like added (be it a waterpark or a new flower shop, and especially temporary locations that can come and go) go ahead and tell us there! Once we're sure we have everyone's input and are finished setting it up for you we'll make another post all about the map, explaining the new size and the coordinate system.

AND EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS STUCK IN THE MOMENT
In order to facilitate all this change, the Aliens will need some extra time to work. This means they'll need the characters out of the way.

Which means it's time for a forced lock-in down at the Sanctuary!

From June 5th to the 25th, characters will be stuck inside the Sanctuary and the barrier will shrinkwrap itself around the building, making sure characters can go out for a walk but not get too far into the construction zone. It will, however, still project a holographic image of Taxon as they remember it at day and night, no matter how fake it may be.

On the morning of the 5th, bright and early at 5am, characters will wake up in a Sanctuary apartment's bed in the clothes they had been wearing (and with their adorable pets sleeping soundly next to them, should they have any). Their tablets will display a simple explanatory message: "SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE PLEASE ENJOY YOUR STAY WHILE WE ADDRESS CERTAIN TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES."

Throughout their stay, citizens will be able to wander all sixteen stories of the Sanctuary, switch rooms, shack up, or otherwise make do. Their initial waking-up room assignments are in a comment below, but feel free to have them move around!

Now, all this can't go off without some kind of hitch. The first hitch has to do with the hatches: they're kind of broken. One may be on every floor, but they only thing they can provide you is the very specific list of free items for the month. Hitch two deals with the clothes on their backs: they're stuck with whatever they were wearing when the aliens put them in their Sanctuary beds. Since the hatches won't provide for them, their only other option is a stockpile of swimsuits and pajamas that can be found in the storage bins on the storage floor.

Hitch three is a little more involved.

GOTTA CATCH ‘EM ALL
The citizens aren’t the only ones trapped inside the Sanctuary’s walls. Two of the aliens, Mayhem and one of the unusually large Hamsters, will be confined to the building for the duration of the glitch.

Just because they’re inside, though, doesn’t mean it’ll be easy to get hold of them. For the first two weeks they’ll have close encounters and near misses with the citizens. In the third week is when it all changes. We’ll have a plotting comment below to talk to you about how you want characters to capture the notorious aliens. And once they’re captured, they’ll talk.

THE NIGHTTIME WHATIFS STRIKE AGAIN
With everyone soon to be trapped in the Sanctuary, now's a good opportunity to jump in on some new CR and put twists on existing ones. Go get your plot on and fill this bad boy out!

ETA: CONCERNING VAMPIRES AND THOSE INTERESTED IN THEM.

AS IT REGARDS THOSE WITH LIQUID (AND WE DON'T MEAN ALCOHOL, DON DRAPER) DIETS.

There will be blood! A whole two stockpiles of it, actually. But here's the catch: it's with all the other food in the fridges of the third and ninth floor kitchens, which means it can be monitored or stolen or what have you, for all your vampire plotting needs if people are game. As with all the other food it will only be replenished every three days, so once it's gone it's gone until the third day circles back around.

Note: this does not mean your character can take ALL THE BLOOD FOREVER and thus force vampires to starve, or discover still in hiding vampires without player consent; however, if people want to play around with this on either side, go for it! Blood donors, upset vampires, worried citizens... bring 'em on, and see this comment for all your plotting needs.

taxonmods

the "what should i glitch?" meme
glitch n. \'glich\ → a usually minor malfuntion; a minor problem that causes a temporary setback; a false or spurious electronic signal.
Taxon's got all the definitions covered, right? While the game itself, and the setting at large, may experience glitches from time to time, from talking food to spurts of truthfulness to even zombies, characters themselves can glitch on their own. Want to make your adult character think they're back in high school or take it a few steps further and tinyifiy them? Go for it! There's no need to wait for an event when you can simply request to glitch on your own. It can be anything from a step back to an earlier point in canon, to a character that your character's actor plays in a different movie/show/etc. (Such as Glitch being glitched-- no pun intended, we promise-- into Floop, for example.) You can even genderbend your character or make them a slightly, or extremely, AU'ed version of themselves. The possibilities are endless!

But, what if you don't have any ideas? THAT'S WHAT THIS MEME IS FOR. Simply comment with your characters and others will reply to you with glitch suggestions. Rinse, lather, repeat. If you have any questions about glitches, whether it be length and what's allowed and not, please hit up the top comment to this post. Otherwise, suggest away and don't forget to request a glitch if one happens to strike your fancy!

taxonmods

(Also known as RUMI, STOP USING STAR WARS FOR SOTT TITLES.)

ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS
The fog that accompanied the headless horseman is gone, leaving the cool fall air of Point Pleasant to do as it will without influence. Stores will have decorations advertising turkeys and homey Thanksgiving scenes of family and home.

Do try to avoid beating up the Extras for their little empty reminders that you spend the holiday with family. They don't know any better.

REMINDERS
Looks like it's time for another edition of Stuff We Want You To Remember That We Have Because There's A Ton Of Stuff!

→ Don't forget about the calendar, and let us know if you have any events/birthdays/etc. that you'd like us to add!
→ Don't forget about the activity roster we have set up for you, either. AC this month will be delayed until after the bodyswap glitch is over, so please make sure you've passed/will pass.
→ PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, go fill out your permissions meme if you haven't already! We need one from everyone, yes, even you.
→ Also, phone posts. Make 'em if you want 'em!
→ Just like always, we're constantly looking to improve the game for you, add elements you want to see, and change things you think aren't working for the game as a whole. Be sure to toss your ideas and concerns toward our suggestions and complaints post for any need you have.

If all else fails or is just hard to find, remember to hit our link directory, featured right at the top of the mod journal.

BODYSWAP LEFTOVERS
Don't forget that the bodyswap glitch is still going on! On the evening of the 7th, characters will go to sleep swapped and wake up right back where they belong.

We hope you enjoyed it, and remember that if you have any concerns or questions about it just let us know.

MEET THE ALIENS
So, in the interest of adding more metaplot on a smaller scale, and to just mess around because aliens are fun, we'd like to introduce you to the faces (kind of) of Taxon's caretakers that will, on occasion, be interacting with the citizens from now on.

( because we don't want to kill your flists )

If you ever want an alien to pop up in a thread or for a plot you'd like to do, drop us a line! We'd love to help you out, and we're sure the aliens would, too.

FREEBIES
To celebrate not just the usual November holiday, but the glitchy fun of this particular month, the freebies this month are from the 50's!

All TV dinners (mystery meatloaf or wholesome Thanksgiving-y turkey) and cans of Coca-Cola (first sold in 1955) are yours for the consuming, citizens. Just don't be dirty Soviet commies about it.

PLEASANTVILLE
You voted for it, now you have it: the Pleasantville glitch, running from the 7th to the 20th. (We know this only gives one day between the bodyswap and this, but we wanted to a) give you two weeks to enjoy, and b) avoid overlap with the Thanksgiving holiday, when a lot of people won't be around to participate.)

In that early Sunday morning, Taxon will change. Sleeping bodies of the residents will be shuffled into new homes. Programmed possessions will disappear and the city itself will shrink to the size of a cozy small town. Roads out will all slowly circle back. New buildings will appear and everything will be tinged in that distinct feel of retro.

Some of the more noticeable new locales are Taxon High School (go wildcats!), Taxon Drive-In (currently showing TARANTULA and East of Eden), the Stroll Dance Hall (home of all public and dance-y events), Peggy Sue's Soda Shop (no, no one knows who Peggy Sue is but she makes a good root beer float), and the Summit Bar (for those that prefer a less-than-reputable gathering place) that's just down the road from a quaint little lover's lane. And, just to make sure no one is out of work, characters with businesses will find that they still have their jobs, only their workplaces will be appropriately fifties-ified.

Now, Pleasantville comes in two different glitch-y favors for you to choose from.

FLAVOR ONE: Your character will become an AU version of themselves, behaving as if they've always been a part of this era and this version of Taxon.
FLAVOR TWO: Your character is themselves, but they won't be able to upset the status quo and alert AU'd characters of the fact that things are Wrong.

Additionally, there's a few extra things your characters can do to keep themselves busy.

Whether they're AU or not, you can work with your fellow players to arrange family units for your characters. They'll end up in a residential area, while couples and single folk will wake up in a nice 50's apartment complex. High-school aged characters (or just those you feel might be young enough to get roped into a formal education) can attend classes at Taxon High, play football, attend pep rallies, and other noble academic pursuits for the duration of the glitch. There will also be signs up in all the frequented stores and hang-outs for a good old fashioned sock-hop, scheduled for the 19th down at the Stroll Dance Hall.

For your reference and edification, we've got some pictures, music, and wacky advertisements from the era to help you get a feel for the changes.

Have fun, and don't hesitate to ask us any questions you have about it!

MEME
How are things? Good? Have lots of fun adventures in October? Well, tell us about it! It's time for the monthly meme, so fill this out and let us know what your characters have been up to and what you'd like to do with them this November. Arrange your fauxmilies, your AU-ness, or just your poodle skirts and Thanksgiving dinners.

taxonmods

WEATHER
This month, evenings will be chillier and the days cool as autumn marches on! The leaves are changing color and staring to fall, harvest and Halloween themed decorations will be popping up all over the city, and there will be a better chance for breezes and rain. Remember you can check

taxonautumn for up-to-the-minute updates of the weather.

Beware, however: for the second half of the month things are going to get a little spooky. No matter what the forecast feed says, an ominous mist will encroach on the city in the evening, accompanied by a peculiar sense of...dread. You may want to hurry home and lock your doors, just in case :>

REMINDERS
As always, each month we like to gently remind you of things that we have available for you because reminders are awesome.

In addition to our calendar, we now have the activity check roster up for public view! We update it as often as we can, and if you are ever wondering how much you’ve left to do to meet the AC requirements, now that knowledge is only a click away. It’s been added to the footers on most of our information pages as well as that shiny link directory we’ve got set up for you.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, don’t forget about the new permissions meme! Fill it out, leave a link for your fellow players, wreak havoc far and wide. If you don’t fill it out, we might just start pestering you. With lemurs.

Remember, if you’ve got an addition for the calendar let us know so we can put it up lickety-split. And, if you’ve got suggestions or complaints, there’s those posts there for you, too, as well as all of us on AIM, through email, and through LJ PMs whenever you need us.

HMD ANNOUNCEMENT
Thank you to everyone that participated in the Game HMD and the follow up post and poll! The results are in aaaaaaand...

We’re loosening our ties and letting the formats run free!

Not entirely, but pretty close. From now on, you can use brackets in any thread you like, and prose in any thread you like except text, which will remain solely text-y. PLEASE REMEMBER, it is totally okay to mix prose and brackets in a single thread, either because of different modes of communication (text and video) or just because you feel like one or the other. This is about your personal preference and exercising it like a Jane Fonda workout video.

All the appropriate pages like the tablet user guide will be edited to reflect the change ASAP.

FREEBIES
Fall is in full bloom (anti-bloom?), and the leaves are finally falling. In honor of this momentous occasion of seasonal change, all fall supplies will be free for the month of October.

What are fall supplies, you ask? Rakes, bags, leaf blowers, mulches, sweatshirts covered in maple leaves, syrup, possibly also the occasional six-pack of Sam Adams OctoberFest brew. If you think it will supply you for the tasks involving leaves and the managing thereof, it’s free.

PLANETARIUM
Are your characters longing for a little bit of home? Is the fake sky really starting to get to them?The aliens understand, they really do, so to make Taxon a bit cozier they’ve programmed in a planetarium! This beyond state-of-the art facility is capable of reproducing the night sky of any world, so if your character wants to gaze at familiar constellations or brush up on astronomy from galaxies far, far away, they can go right ahead and do that.

The planetarium will be a permanent feature of the city, and yes there will be trippy prog-rock laser shows. Far out!

HALLOWEEN!!!
HEADLESS HORSEMAN
Mind your curfews and don't stay out too late, for as Halloween draws near, a special visitor appears. Starting the 17th and ending at the stroke of midnight on the 31st, the Headless Horseman will be paying a visit to Taxon, tormenting Extras and unwilling residents alike. Heads will roll (quite literally), pumpkins will be thrown and the sound of hoof beats on the wind will follow you wherever you go... We'll have more details on this as the event approaches.

BODYSWAP
So, we heard you want to switch bodies, you crazy kids. This is a pretty self-explanatory kinda glitch, but over-explanation is our drug of choice.

- The glitch starts on the 29th with everyone participating waking up a little stranger than they were the day before, and will continue until the 5th of November. (Backtagging is, of course, encouraged.)
- Characters will switch bodies, like Freaky Friday only without the weird Mother/Daughter limitation.
- No journal trading! No giving out your passwords, not even if you totally super duper trust the other person involved! That leads to the road of accidental LJ suspension and tears. Instead, for those of you who can't get a paid account for the extra icon space, we suggest making a new body-switch journal! Membership to the comms will be open for the duration of the glitch, and you can join with your body-switched accounts and use those. All we ask is that, to avoid heaps of confusion, you put "Character 1 in Character 2's body" in the name field, and you'll be good to go.
- Bodies will retain certain characteristics, to be decided by the player of that character. Say, a human’s mind in a vampire’s body, while in that body, will have access to all the abilities that the vampire has. Things like accents, food cravings, maybe even certain memories or nervous tics are also totally within the realm of “sticking with the body."
- Bodies don’t have to be traded in exclusive pairs. If three of you want to switch your characters around between their three bodies, or even more (!), go for it!
- You can decide things amongst yourselves who goes in which body, OR you can let the mods take the wheel and completely randomize who your character will end up with.

This Sunday (October 3rd), we’ll be putting up a sign-up post with more details on the rules and permissions y’all will need to know for the duration of the glitch. Everyone that’s going to have a character participate, whether you’re leaving it up to the mods to pair you off, deciding yourself, or want to decide yourself but haven’t figured it out yet, needs to reply to that post and fill out our super-tiny little form. It will include a question about what traits your character’s body will retain with a new person inside it and, more importantly, permissions about what the other player is allowed to do with your character’s body for the duration of the glitch.

On the 15th, we’ll make another post with all the finalized assignments on our randomizing end. This post will be up for plotting with your newly randomized buddies, making any changes to your assignments, asking any questions you need answered, and plotting like the dickenses you are.

Then, from the 29th to the 5th, y’all just have a ball with the chaos as usual!

MEME PROPER
Y’all know the drill. Fill out the handy form below for each of your characters to let us know what they've done, who they've done, why they've done it, and what's in store for the coming month Tag around, bounce ideas off one another, and let the ~~good times roooooll~~ CR flow!

taxonmods

WE’LL WHETHER THE WEATHER WHATEVER THE WEATHER
It’s that time of year again, when summer slowly fades back into fall. That means, oh yes, another Taxon weather change! This time you’ll be climately transported to the wonderful city of Point Pleasant, NJ, and you can find the local weather for the season at

taxonautumn.

WE’RE JUST FOLLOWING ANCIENT HISTORY
Just to let you know, we’ve added some information about accessible tablet history to the tablet user guide. The issue wasn’t one we’d thought about before, but now that it’s been brought to our attention we figured it was best to clarify and get all our ducks in a row.

Should your character decide to look at past communications (remember individual player/character permissions, please), they are certainly free to do so. Even as far back as the beginning of the game if you like. The only issue that will arise is if they attempt to look at past communication of versions of themselves that were around before they came to the city. If they try to access anything of that nature, all they’ll see is either static, some “Access Denied” message, a clip from an old H. R. Puffenstuff episode, or some other random thing that isn’t what they want. Again, this will only apply if they’re new to the city and are trying to get to communications made by a different version of themselves that has been dropped.

LET’S SAY IT AGAIN
As always, don’t forget about the calendar and that we will add your events, glitches, and player plots to it at the speed of modliness as soon as you let us know. There’s also a new link directory because we’ve got a ton of stuff and enjoy organization.

We’d also like to remind you that we’re open to any and all communication you have for us. From questions to game-wide plot suggestions to any worries or concerns you have about the game and what goes on in it. Online or off, through email, AIM, or the complaints and suggestions posts, we are always ready to listen. Later on in the month, we’ll be putting up a kind of game-HMD that will become annual like the HMD for players, and we hope to see a big response.

IT’S GREAT TO LEARN
As most of you know, tis the season for going back to school. The aliens know, too, which is why for the month of September all school supplies are free of charge. Everything from textbooks, pens, pencils, and composition notebooks to saucy school uniforms and sweatshirts that say “PROPERTY OF TAXON ATHLETIC DEPT.” are included, and you’re free to twist and bend the definition of ‘school supplies’ as much as you like.

ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
Ch-ch-ch-changes are all around this month, and one of them is in the form of a new location popping up in (wherever the hell we put this bastard).

Taxon Zoo is open for animal-watching business!

For the first two weeks of September, the Taxon Zoo will be having a grand opening celebration. Admittance to the park is free and all throughout there’s a carnival going on to entertain and enlighten anyone who would like to attend. Numerous carnival attractions and rides will be set up, and lucky lucky citizens, the lines will always be short and the booths will always be staffed.

As for the rest of the zoo, it’s pretty standard. There are animals in places where animals ought to go, information kiosks, and the occasional Dippin’ Dots vending machine. Where it gets down right weird is where there’s more than just your average lions and tigers and bears (oh my!). Fictional creatures will be randomly set up between more normal beasts, including a special Giant Hamster exhibit.

The zoo will be around past the end of the month. This means you can have your character get a job there and use it as a general fun-spot-to-go whenever you feel the need. We’ve got a wiki page set up for it, and this is where you come in. If there’s a specific animal you’d like to see there, just add their name and a short description to the wiki page and consider them an established Zoo resident.

Go forth, and enjoy the fun of learning!

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Mameshiba knowledge, that is. For the uninitiated, you can learn more about Mameshiba and see adorable videos here and also here.

Essentially, they’re little beans that look kind of like dogs and tell you random trivia facts from their place in your food, and during the last full week of September (the 19th to the 25th), these little bits of sentient carbs will be coming to Taxon to enlighten the citizens.

How this works and how you decide to play it out (if you decide to play it out at all) is entirely up to you, and we only have a few rules for how this goes down:

Trivia can’t break the fourth wall, though it can be about things/places/people your character doesn’t know of, and if the trivia is about a character in Taxon you should make sure you have permission from the player to use it.

Any kind of food can come to life as long as it: a, is in one piece, and b, is a small part of something your character is eating. Things like meatballs on their spaghetti or the seed in an apple would work, as opposed to the whole plate of spaghetti on the next table suddenly having a face.

Have fun, and try to not let them ruin your appetite too much.

SO I HEARD YOU LIKE TO PLOT
Lo, another month, another delicious CR meme, where we learn more about ourselves... And each other. If you’re hearing the dulcet tones of some special after school special music, then please proceed to the meme and let us know what your characters have been up to and what you want to get them up to this September. If you’ve managed to avoid the after school special treatment, then proceed anyway, and tell us how you did it. We also encourage you to work off any and all feedback you got over yonder.

taxonmods

SUMMERTIME FUN

The seasons are turning once again, and we've decided to let you guys choose what the weather will be like! Later today, we'll be putting up a poll. All you need to do is give us the location you like best for its super summer weather, a link to a current weather feed (RSS) for that location, and when we've got everything together we'll put up a poll for everyone to vote.

POST FORMATS

Just a quick reminder: post formats are visual, voice, holo, location, and text, and they should be put in brackets in subject lines. For more information on the different formats and examples, check out the Tablet Guide.

GENTLE REMINDERS

Don't forget that we have our lovely calendar available for you. Just let us know what kind of event or note you'd like us to add and we'll put it up A.S.A.P.

More importantly, we're here for you. If you have questions or concerns about anything, from wanting to know more about the decisions we've made to player conflict to suggestions on ways we can improve Taxon, we want to hear them! The suggestions and complaints post are there for you, and we love when you use them.

YOUR NOSE ON THE GRINDSTONE, OR: JOBS, CURRENCY, AND CLARIFICATION

There's been some confusion and misunderstandings about the new economy, so here's the deal.

Your character does not have to have a job. It's entirely optional! The supplementary credits they get each month should be enough for them to take care of their individual and basic needs. You can fudge and handwave things like that as you need to. Just try to stay within reason. Handwaving and fudging your character being able to have a relatively nice meal whenever they're hungry is fine; them getting a giant pile of steaks every other day and not going broke is less so.

If you do still want your character to have a job, we hope you aim for something that will encourage further interaction with other characters. The economy is here for you to use as an aid in getting, maintaining, and spicing up CR of all kinds and to keep characters from getting bored. Additionally, for those with vocational jobs (mechanics, doctors, scientists, etc.) your characters will consistently earn a vocational wage as long as they're working. Also, like with characters that can restock their bars/shops at no cost to them, anything these characters hatch to aid them in their work will be at no cost to them. That means things like medicines for doctors, tools for mechanics, and materials for scientists are all free for those who are working in those fields.

Remember, if you have any questions or suggestions on how we can make this new economy more workable and fun, let us know!

MONTHLY FREEBIES

You know, once you have to pay for things the value of something free suddenly becomes much more noticeable. So, each month there will be a certain set of items that characters can hatch or get from stores for free. Each hatch will display a scrolling message about what this month's free items are, and Extras in shops will be all too ready to let characters know what they can give them.

For the month of May, all PUZZLE GAMES and PUZZLE THEMED ITEMS will be free. Liberal interpretations of the theme are highly encouraged and will result in hilarity.

SYSTEM GLITCH: ONCE MORE WITH EXTRAS

After months of pining and a sudden surge of popular demand, for the entire month of May the city will have a song in its heart and dance in its soles.

That's right, it's a musical glitch! Since it lasts the entire month, characters won't be singing all the time, but they'll definitely have plenty of opportunities. There will even be Extras singing about the trivialities of their own Extra lives in the background as music plays from seemingly nowhere. Hell, the Extras can even participate in your character's songs! Dance numbers are always better in large groups taking over shops and streets.

We do, though, have some stipulations:

1. Songs need to be at least a little relevant to the situation and characters at hand. We all loved Godga and Beysus' 'Telephone' video, but if your characters are singing about someone blowing up their phone as they dance through a diner full of corpses, someone best be calling them right that second to a cell strapped with C4. (We're looking at you, Master.)

2. Feel free to use songs that already exist! Tweak them as you need to so that they fit the character/situation, and don't worry about it rhyming. Have fun with a character reacting to singing a line that falls a little flat or ends on a weird word or random observation that's only included because it rhymes. Additionally, feel free to write your own songs and lyrics! Y'all are full of talent and we welcome any way you want to display it. If you need musical-y songs, go ahead and join the community lunatunes and browse the tag !theme:musicals for a good selection that you can get ideas from.

3. If you don't want what your character sings to become IC knowledge in the game, this can go two ways: don't have them sing it, or work it out with players to have other characters either ignore your character's song or forget about it as soon as they're done or make the entire thing a dream sequence or however else you can think to make it work.

4. Speaking of dream sequences, songs can happen however you can think for them to happen. Want a giant dance number with all the Extras knowing the words as music comes out of nowhere for an awesome dance number in the middle of Central? Go for it! Have a hankering for two characters that hate each other sing about their unparalleled loathing even when they wouldn't normally stand to be in the same room? Make it work! Want a tender duet between two lovers that no one else notices? Bring it on! Just need to have your character sing to themselves during a montage of all manner of things going on elsewhere, with other characters unknowingly joining in on the chorus? Do it! Just remember the cardinal rule of OOC communication and do it to it.

5. HAVE FUN! If you don't think you'd enjoy participating, feel free to sit the singing out for the whole month. If you want to have a song and dance number every day, rock on. The musical bug will hit characters and Extras at random (meaning, whenever you want it to), so enjoy the opportunity while it lasts.

Again, it's going to last all month long so use the opportunity for song and dance however you like.

MEME TIME AW YIS

Fill this out to keep your fellow players up to date on what your character(s) been up to in the city and plot together for new and lasting CR. Is that so bad? Not mandatory, but totally encouraged.

aintnoconvict

As if we don't have enough to occupy us:

~History's Mysteries~

Tag in with your character(s)! Others will tag you with questions about your character's past: favorite childhood memories, the worst date they've ever been on, the first time they killed someone/something, a trip to the bagel shop, etc. Respond with an explaination or a drabble/ficlet, tag others with queries, spread the love!

mercurialnature.livejournal.com

✖ Post as your character!
✖ Other people -- characters, players, your mom -- ask you advice.
✖ Give advice in character.
✖ Keep asking, keep giving.

taxonmods

WEATHER

It's warming up and spring is on the way! HOWEVER, we've got another little addition for you: cityweather. The aliens have decided to model the weather around recorded Earth-weather from long ago to give the place a more natural feel, so go forth and friend it to stay up to date on the weather in Taxon, and keep things like this in mind when you post.

*Note: After a few days of fiddling, the feed is a bit spammy on the ol' flist, so you don't really have to friend it. Just make sure you know where it is so you can check whenever you need to.

YOUR MODS LOVE YOU

We understand that there's been a little turbulence and a lot of new people joining in a short span of time, so we want to remind you that we as mods are here for all of you. If you have any concerns or conflicts with other players, we want to help you sort things out and keep Taxon a fun place for everyone.

Remember, we've got the complaints and suggestions posts here for you to use. There's also the FAQ, tablet user guide, and contacting us over AIM if you have a need.

RULES ARE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NUMBER THREE

As everyone knows, we added a new rule to our activity check system last month. This month, we're adding another. Don't worry, it's itty and bitty and will get you by in a breeze.

From now on, to pass activity check per-character you must have at least one post and you need to tag out to at least three separate posts made by three different players.

Now, y'all know we love our original characters here in Taxon. However, after a lot of thought and deliberation between us over the last couple months, we've decided to add a small cap to original character applications.

We now limit original characters from the same social spheres to two each. This means people can only app two original characters per "story," meaning two characters that would reasonably know each other, be related, or otherwise involved, not necessarily two characters per 'verse. If you're already above this limit with someone else, you've been grandfathered into this rule and have nothing to worry about. If you're planning on apping a character that is somehow related or involved in the story of another original character that already has one castmate in the game, then that would not be allowed.

In addition to that, we're also adding a rule that will effect all canon characters, both potential and already in the game that happen to be from ongoing media.

Canon material must be publicly available for three months before it can be considered appable and three weeks before it may be incorporated into the game's canon via canon bumping.

All of these rules have been added to the rules list and are in full effect. In addition to the new rules please familiarize yourself with the old ones. Read all of the FAQ, the tablet user guide, and make sure you know where things like these and the map are. They're here for your benefit and the benefit of the game as a whole. From now on, apps that don't follow rules like fourth-walling or filling each section out appropriately will be rejected without a chance of revision.

TAGGED POSTS AND YOU

You know we love you, but we will roast your hearts on spits and savor the juicy deliciousness of them IF YOU DON'T TAG YOUR POSTS! This means when you comment into a post, you add that character's tag to it. Tagging is what keeps you from failing your activity checks. If you don't tag it, it won't count. SO PLEASE. WE WANT TO KEEP YOU FOREVER. TAG YOUR POSTS.

We've also got shiny new tags for the OOC comm! LET US SHOW YOU THEM!

activity check - for all mod posts concerning monthly activity checks
activity sweep - for all mod posts about characters officially swept in the activity checks
aim chat room - for any and all updates about our chatroom taxontaxoff
aim contacts - for posts about your AIM sign-names and Ace's comprehensive list of us
arrivals - for posts about new characters and players
canon bump - for posts about characters doing a canon bump
character glitch - for posts from players about individual character glitches
firefox resources- for posts about all the lovely things Firefox let's us do with LiveJournal
friend add - for all mod posts about the friend add/remove lists
hiatus - for all posts where someone goes on hiatus or puts a character on hiatus
how's my driving - for the bi-monthly HMD meme
meme - for any and all other memes posted
modly post - for all mod posts ever
permissions - for our very large and comprehensive permissions meme
state of the taxon - for our monthly State of the Taxon game update and meme
system glitch - for all mod posts about glitches that encompass the entire game
wiki - for all posts about our wiki, from updates to questions about coding

Learn them, use the, love them.

GIVE US THE DATE

We'd also like to remind you that Taxon has an Event Calendar! If you'd like anything to be added, from your birthday to a special event that will happen in game, let us know and we'll stick it on there ASAP. This is also where you can find out when OOC events (like the How's My Driving Meme happening this Friday) are happening, complete with short descriptions!

MARCH MADNESS

Taxon won't be doing too much this month, considering everything else going on. However, the aliens couldn't let St. Patrick's day go by without a single hi-jink to show for it. SO, come March 17th, every hatch will only produce alcoholic beverages and green clothes. Some people might even find some four leaf clovers in a stretch of grass. Extras will also end up punching (gently) anyone they see not wearing green. Even each other. Have fun with that.

HOUSE PARTY LOCK IN, OR: FIVE CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN EXIT

Well, okay. We lied a little. Toward the end of the month we're going to have a CR-encouraging event that will involve as many of you little chickadees as we can manage. This is both to encourage interaction between new characters and old and between players that haven't had a chance to thread with one another much in the game so far.

     The Gist - Five characters will wake up in a building together with nothing but themed supplies and a hatch. They'll be stuck there for about twelve hours. And lo, there was interaction.
     The Rules - Unless you are on hiatus participation is mandatory. If you have only one character, then that character is going to be involved. If you have more than one but don't want each one to be in on this for whatever reason, you can only opt in whichever characters of yours you want to participate with.
     The Catch - The mods will be placing the characters in their houses, so you won't know OOC until the week before which house you'll be in or with which other characters and muns. A plotting post will go up in the OOC community then and you can all go hogwild with your plotting of horrors.
     The Fun - Each house will have a theme. One might be a slumber party, another could be sports, or things like music or an actual house party. If you have suggestions for a themed house LET US KNOW! We'd love to hear it and will keep it in mind when we start putting characters together.

Tell us somewhere in your comment to this post (or, um, anywhere; we aren't that picky) which characters you want involved, and if you go on hiatus, TAG YOUR POST (see above) so we know not to stick you in a house you won't be able to participate in.

MEME TIME IS HERE AGAIN

Yes, yes, we know February was a pretty short month, but a lot can happen in twenty-eight days! Fill this out to keep your fellow players up to date on what your character(s) been up to in the city and plot together for new and lasting CR. Is that so bad? Not mandatory, but totally encouraged.

mercurialnature.livejournal.com

[1] Post your characters.
[2] Other characters comment to yours and ask situational questions -- e.g. "What would you do if I asked you out?" or "What would you do if you knew I was lying about this?"
[3] Your characters respond honestly to these "what if"s with what they would do.
[4] ???
[5] Profit.

mercurialnature.livejournal.com

( How is babby formed? )

demimonde

That's a nautical term, ftr, like LAND HO! (which, due to the involvement of land, doesn't really sound nautical - but it totally is) but if you wanted to interpret it as 'this meme is brought to you by Dele, who is also a ho', well, I'm sure I would have difficulty finding anyone around here to strenuously disagree on my behalf. Anyway, I love this shit so, this show: let us get it on the road.

WELCOME TO TAXON'S CR MEME!

Comment to this post listing your characters.

Other people will then reply to your comment requesting some epic TL;DR about how your characters feel about theirs.

Maybe talk about how you feel, OOCly, about the direction of their interaction or what makes this CR really powerful, tragic, or perhaps just straight up wildly lulzy.

Since we p. much always have new folks coming in, if your characters are so new they still need spanking, feel free to use this as an opportunity to ~*discuss potential*~.

It will be epic.

Christopher Walken believes in the beautiful, unvarnished truth. Don't disappoint him, bbs.

taxonmods

FRIENDING MEME

HI EVERYBODY. Because having friends makes us feel fuzzy we present you with an OOC journal friending meme! Fill out the form below for great justice, comment at will and then commence the friending!

:D

PSA: HELP HAITI

We aren't big enough to start our own fundraiser, but we can show you were you can donate if you can. As it is, the ONTD communities for two different fandoms (if there are more, let me know and I'll edit them in) raising money through UNICEF. In addition to those and the ones listed prominently below, there is a list of reputable charity organizations that will help immediately and are raising funds for the rebuilding and recovery effort in Haiti here and a larger list of organizations taking donations for Haiti relief (both those within and without the United States and the UK) can be found here

ONTD:
[Star Trek] + [American Idol]

Elsewhere:
[Doctors Without Borders] + [Red Cross or text 'Haiti' to 90999] + [Disasters Emergency Committee (UK)]

THAT IS ALL, commence friending!

aintnoconvict

Would You Rather:

1. Tag in with your character.
2. The character will, ICly, offer two options, neither of which should be terrific (i.e. "Would you rather get slapped in the face with a dead fish, or traverse a frozen tundra?"). They do not have to be related, although they could be.
3. Respond to others, also ICly, with which option your character would choose.
4. Debate the choices wittily!
5. ...yes, you can post more than one set of options if you like.

GO!

taxonmods

Completely borrowed from elsewhere, hence the lateness...shuuush.

THE TAXON IC NEW YEARS
RESOLUTIONS MEME!

★ Have your characters post with the best & worst
moments of the year (in or out of Taxon, but preferably in - we just want to give new arrivals chance to take part), and a New Years' Resolution
☆ Other characters can see them and comment ICly, nothing carries over in game of course.
★ Happy Belated New Year, all the best for 2010!

taxonmods

It's that time again!

Please comment here with the names of the characters you play and others will reply with their feedback- and it's obviously a given that this feedback will be helpful, constructive and respectful. Also, as amazing as getting ILU comments is, it's nice to hear why, and what we're doing right, just as much as criticism needs to be constructive.

Anonymous commenting is enabled and IP logging is off for your convenience should you require it!