Clarification about Pairings

All right y'all. There's been a lot of confusion floating around about this 'pairing' business, and I think we all need to get on the same page. It'll be a helpful refresher for us old timers, and a good eye-opener for those of you who are a little newer with us. Remember, you can always post in the Plots and RP Requests board to advertise yourself for RPs, or to keep track of your pairings/threads lists.


ONE PAIRING, ONE AU RULE - Ye Olde Rule of Thumb
This rule was established before my time as an admin, for the following reasons (among others) :
- People would break off into pairs and NOT RP with other people, excluding them completely.
- There were instances where two people who were dating, or who really liked each other, would pair together IN SOME WAY in every AU. While this isn't an issue, they excluded other people and made the atmosphere generally awkward.

Of course, there were other reasons, but these were the main two in regards to the enforcing of the rule.


PAIRINGS

Here, 'pairings' aren't necessarily sexual or exclusive. The basic definition of 'pairing' is two people RPing together. It is usually sexual in nature (that's been the case), but it could just be a RP where two people wish to RP without the interference of other people...in order to advance their backstory or personal plots. Many other places called this a 'Closed RP', or a 'Private RP'.

The amount of 'pairings' you have in an AU will depend on the premise of the AU. For example, it is a lot easier to be exclusively tied to one person in Harry Potter than it is in Carnaval. Each RPer needs to keep the setting as well as their own personal preferences in mind when thinking about pairings. A good few questions to ask are:

- Am I going to do a pairing, or a relationship?
- Am I going to allow more than one person to pair with me?
- Is this the right AU/setting for that?

This is different from 'relationships' because in a relationship, a character is more exclusive. The rule is better read "ONE SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP PER AU", because it's not very nice to cheat on a person you're married to, now is it? Again, the seriousness of the relationship (whether cheating is allowed, etc.) is up to the players in the relationship (Carnaval is a perfect example, yes?)


THE PAIRINGS RULE, CLARIFIED

To clarify, you may have more than one pairing per AU, AS LONG AS BOTH PEOPLE ARE OKAY WITH IT. If someone wishes to be exclusive without calling it a relationship, please do respect their wishes. However, you may not have more than one relationship in an AU.

This rule will revert back if players do not both actively participate in open RPs and stick to private, pairing-centric RPs. It may be reverted back on an individual basis or for the forum as a whole, depending on how bad it has gotten.

***

I wanted to clarify for EVERYONE what is going on, since I've heard multiple things from multiple people. This doesn't have to be a rule (unless it gets super confusing), but please keep it in mind as you set up your RPs. Remember, plot-centric RPs, or RPs that create or move a plot forward are always better...and the more the merrier~

As always, questions and discussion can be posted below, or sent via PM to me.

I encourage you to make your own list in the Plot and RP Requests boards, so that you can keep track of your own threads as well as help others keep track of yours (and so you can stalk theirs). It's a great place to toss around plot ideas without having to worry about timezones or missing things on the chat.

All RPs that have mature content in them will be rated as well (figured I'd mention that again...not like everyone needs a refresher XD).