Are you ready to take on a new character?

[Cecillia Collins Smith]

In 2009, this site was built on the foundation that: each person could/should make ONE personal account (Usually in the form of: [Your Name] Collins) and then could have UP TO TWO Dark Shadows related accounts. This idea in itself lasted for a while, or at least until early 2010 when at which point over half of the site's users quit, leaving two people (and occasionally a third) to pick up the remnants of all that was left from those who quit, thus why on this site, you will now-a-days find the two oldest members, Myself and Amy, with a LOT of Dark Shadows themed characters (and of course, an equal large amount of Original characters).

Now in the year 2012 (and beyond) we have greatly loosened the ropes that people must adhere by. We still prefer that people make an Original Character account, but it DOES NOT have to be a in the format of: [Your Name] Collins. Your character can be named anything from Betty Collins to Isiah Cumberland and ANYTHING in between! All we ask is that you please, please, PLEASE submit a character profile for this particular character (see Sticky). After we learn more about you and how you function with new characters, we are then more lenient about enforcing character profiles, however they are still a good thing to make. You will find other's character profiles and can post your own in the Blue Whale forum of the site (viewable once you join / log in).

There also comes the question of "What DS character can I play?" Well, although the list is shrinking, exceptions can be made at least 50% of the time. Think you're better at playing Angelique? Great, then show to me a post that you create from scratch as her, and if I feel that you can do a better job at playing her than me, then I will happily pass her over. *Please Note* That although I use Angelique as an example, it doesn't mean that she IS up for grabs or that ANY character can be done like this. Some characters are truly taken and can NOT be bargained for.
**I WILL POST A STICKY OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE (AND POSSIBLY AVAILABLE) CHARACTERS**

So now, you've read this far and still wondering whether or not you are ready to take on a new character. In this specific RPG, having a network of different characters is ESSENTIAL. You will get bored, YES BORED, if you do not possess at least 2 to 3 characters, at least one of which are an OC (Original Character). Trust me, I was once a new user to this site, and within months I went from having 2 characters to having close to 10 . . . it's truly THAT essential. Of course, I don't expect everyone to be able to handle 10+ characters, nor do I advice it. But, the conditioned writer will find that they are capable of handling more than the general newbie.

If you are a FIRST TIME USER to this site, I would like to suggest to you to start off with an Original Character account. Once you have created this account, PLEASE immediately get in contact with ME. During this contact, please address your motives for this site; Are you here strictly for OC play or are you here to join in the DS portion too? If you would like to play in the Dark Shadows portion, then PLEASE provide me a list of characters you would be interested in. Upon this, I will then grant you permission to start off with one of those characters. After you have shown me what you can do with him/her, I will then allow you to have additional characters based upon whether or not you have shown that you can handle the additional workload. If I deny you additional characters at first, please don't give up. It might just be a matter of showing me that you are serious about this site in general; just stick around, socialize with people, and in due time you will likely be granted access to almost everything you desire.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to either contact me via this site (through PM) or email me at: cecilliawhite10@gmail.com