It’s been a pretty slow April on the site, as we’ve been pushing the clans toward isolation. Lionstar has gone missing from NightClan, leaving his clan under the leadership his tyrannical deputy, Poppydeath. This coming month we should see at least one large-scale battle as well as many border skirmishes. Feel free to begin your own border skirmishes and cross-clan conflicts and, as always, try to stay up to date on the Plot Planning Page, lots of exciting things are being exited on the Plot Planning Page right now. All of your input really is appreciated and the plot runs much more smoothly when everyone is on the same page about what should be occurring.

Out of character, we’ve slowly received a handful of members following the registrations opening, including several former members. Welcome, guys! On a more personal note, I may not be around the site much until Mid-May. If you have any questions, please direct to them to the moderators if possible as they’ll be more able to give you a timely response.

Just a few reminders before we jump into the meat of this Monthly Meow. Firstly, please remember to use the exact format provided when using the Character Updates Page. All descriptions and history sections should be in one paragraph (ideally 100-300 words in length) and all redos should be listed separately. If you’re uncertain about formatting or which type of update should be used, most questions can be answered through the Character Updates Guide. Secondly, please don’t change your username more than once every three or four months. As well, the clan populations have become very skewed in the last few weeks. MoonClan has 125 characters, NightClan has 153, DawnClan has 115, and SunClan has 83, so please focus on making new characters in SunClan.

Last Monthly Meow I discussed changes in rules and site procedures over time, so this time I figured I would explore how these changes have affected the plot. However, as I wrote an outline for that subject, I realized that it was much too broad to fit into just one Monthly Meow. This Monthly Meow, the first in a potential series, will be covering different plot elements that are often successful, unsuccessful, or likely to not be approved, in the roleplay presently.

First up are the “automatic rejects”, or plots that aren’t likely to be seriously considered. The biggest one is plots involving the formation of new clans. With the current number of members, which is likely to remain fairly consistent for the foreseeable future, having another clan isn’t necessary and would be a considerable addition to the amount of time spent maintaining the website each week. As well, the formation of a new clan would distort our ability to make balanced alliances and possibly force us to reorganize the map.

While plots inevitably lean on certain characters and members more than others and an perfectly balanced plot wouldn’t be possible, large plot arcs that hinge on one cat, particularly a cat who has not been active in the plot so far, have a very low chance of being approved. Plots of this nature are risky, as the member who owns the character unexpectedly leave, or even just be offline at the wrong moment, and the plot will grind to a halt.

Prophecy plots are rejected for similar reasons, as they require that the plot move in a certain direction and allow for little flexibility. Plots that involve StarClan intervention are also avoided, as this brings up the question of why StarClan hasn’t intervened in the past, as well making them a possible solution for every issue that the clans will face in the future.

Large scale fox or badger attacks (or wolves, or dogs, or squirrels, or what-have-you) are also not something that would work in this roleplay, due to the restrictions placed on interactions with other animals, and the understanding in this roleplay that cats are the only animals (besides humans, who are rarely mentioned) capable of organizing themselves into fairly advanced hierarchies.

Lastly, just plots that don’t make sense with current events don’t get accepted. For instance, if we’re in the middle of an arc involving a blizzard, a forest fire isn’t the direction we’re likely to want to go in in the near future.

What exactly makes a plot successful or unsuccessful are harder to pin down. Plots are generally collections of spontaneous events, such as a certain member being on at just the right moment to have just the right cat say, or say just the right thing—or opportunities like that being missed, guided by planning. Plots can be over planned (such as in the case of some alliances) and come across as too scripted, or under planned (such as the flood arc) and simply have nothing happen.

Members choosing to take initiative in plots is also vital, particularly plots that involve series of small-scale conflicts, but I have difficulty gauging how invested members will or won’t be in plots and so it’s hard to anticipate how much member involvement in these plots we can count on.

One general rule, I find, for plots being unsuccessful is that they include volunteers that don’t specifically have to volunteer. For instance, sickness arcs. Even if members agree to a wide-spread sickness arc, it’s rare for more than a handful of cats in any given clan to be roleplayed as having the sickness and, often, many characters will go about their business as if nothing were happening. This is not a hard and fast rule, though, as the sickness element of the flood arc, when it did get moving, was acknowledged by most cats and many kits did fall ill. Arcs that require volunteers to sign up, such as Weepingstar’s enforcers and victims, tend to be more successful as members have agreed to take the initiative to go through with the plot and thus feel more obligated to actively contribute.

Disagreements within clans, such as the recent overthrow of Locuststar, are also often very successful. This may be because it’s difficult to have cats not notice what is going on and not take sides. By forcing cats to take sides, disagreements between family members and friends is inevitable, so the plot easily gathers attention.

There are some plot elements that work very well at times and just don’t work at other times. For instance, wide spread assassin arcs have been utilized very successfully at several points in the roleplay, from Hawk and Siver’s assassination of Moonstar to Weepingstar’s enforces. However, due to the difficulty in organizing some of these plots or simply because they don’t add to a larger arc very directly, they fall apart.

What plot elements do you guys enjoy? Do you disagree with anything I’ve counted above as typically successful or unsuccessful? Do you think certain plot arcs should be considered more, or can think of anything we haven’t done yet, or have done too much? I know that I tend to enjoy plots centered on gatherings with many characters verbally fighting, especially if there are some more complicated clan politics going on. On the flip side, I don’t tend to be a big fan of large battles, especially if we have several in a role.

MoonClan

Apprentices:

Dusk-kit, Hephaestus, Firstkit, Guardiankit, Eveningkit, Stainedkit, Olivekit, Whisperingkit, Armada, Honeykit: Early May

Tayen’lou, Opalkit: Mid May

Warriors:

Actaeapaw, Vervainpaw, Arumpaw, Trilliumpaw, Sennapaw, Ruepaw, Leechpaw, Tallowpaw, Mochapaw: Early May

Icepaw, Leo, Pisces, Scorpio, Gemini, Sagittarius, Cancer, Virgo, Taurus, Libra, Rabbitpaw, Sestra: Mid May

Hemlockpaw, Callowpaw: Late May

Elders: Redstone, Cinderstep

Deaths: Bramblelight

NightClan

Apprentices:

Hades, Spiritkit, Lakekit, Ares, Bravekit, Riverkit, Wolfkit, Quick-kit, Toxickit, Fallenkit, Lionkit, Coldkit, Goldenkit, Phantomkit, Crimsonkit, Wolf, Cleopatra, Casius, Tibia: Early May

Redkit, Rippedkit: Mid May

Ase, Helheim, Vanaheim, Bloodykit, Owlkit, Snowykit, Sunstone, Sundew, Dogkit, Sunbird, Jotunheim, Goldenkit, Toxickit, Fallenkit, Nightkit, Cherrykit, Violentkit: Late May

Warriors:

Woodpaw, Reaperpaw, Ducklingpaw, Winterpaw, Sinfulpaw, Wolfpaw: Early May

Erepaw, Nectarpaw, Ghoul, Roscia, Sabina, Quietpaw, Spiderpaw: Late May

Elders: Thunderflash, Koga, Raggedshade, Risingsilence, Blackstallion, Wasp, Rivendragon

Deaths: Roxie, Widow, Tawnyfur

DawnClan

Apprentices:

Skeletonkit, Spookykit, Blitzkit, Immortalkit, Mammothkit, Saberkit, Whitekit, Noblekit, Oathkit, Honoredkit, Angelickit, Brightkit, Empirekit, Divinekit, Sacredkit, Scarykit: Early May

Purekit, Hallowedkit, Alphakit, Kingdomkit, Bravekit, Foxkit, Cherishedkit, Holykit, Quailkit, Justkit, Shadekit: Mid May

Pinekit, Oddkit, Captivatingkit, Twokit, Luminouskit, Seventhkit, Scorpionkit: Late May

Warriors and Medicine Cat:

Blitzingpaw, Glowingpaw, Goldenpaw, Zaffrepaw, Ran’yo: Early May

Cobaltpaw, Tenorpaw: Mid May

Elders: Blizzardpelt, Locust-strike

Deaths: Clawtail, Blossomsong

SunClan

Apprentices:

Silokit, Erakit: Mid May

Warriors:

Aspenpaw, Bluepaw: Early May

Coyotepaw, Longpaw: Mid May

Willowpaw: Late May

Deaths: Rushfeather, Gorseflower