[ToxicShadow]

Evelon has always been an extremely lax roleplay forum, not confining users to any real rules when it comes to world building around your characters. Some users even have characters from many different universes, so to speak, in spite of roleplaying them all on the same forum, in the same roleplay areas. So I'm curious, what rules does everyone have with their characters and plots?

What sorts of things are canon for your characters? Are they all primarily roleplayed in one world (one universe), or different ones? Are they roleplayed all in the same time, or different times? How do you handle some characters having pet forms and human form? How do handle same gender breedings? What is considered "inbreeding," by your standards? Aaaand so on.

Since I'm starting the thread, I'll give my own canonical ideas, that basically apply to all of my characters.

Over all, almost all of my characters are roleplayed in one world. There are definitely some that originated from another world, but, mostly, they're all found in "Evelon," and in the same time. (I don't play past and future, really, only relative present time.) There are a few exceptions, but usually in the case of the character being able to move through more than one world, or the worlds being connected. That said, nearly all of my characters have the chance to run into one another, and could be roleplayed in the same roleplay, even if they do not all know one another.

Having two parents of the same sex, totally 100% genetic from both, is totally a reality with my characters, and acknowledged by them. I have actually roleplayed one of my male characters pregnant before. My idea of how the LLP and ELE works is that it temporarily equips one partner, or even both, with the organs they need to fulfill the necessary role when it comes to childbearing. Mind, it does not change their appearance, otherwise. As in, a guy doesn't suddenly look totally like a woman. That said, I also operate on the idea that there is no rules when it comes to marrying/lifemating with others, so any gender can freely be with another.

For the most part, for age and when someone is legally an adult, I operate with non-American (US) rules. For my characters, I usually consider 16 to be legal adult age, rather than 18. Of course, this can vary, sometimes, such as with the plot of my 15 year-old-king who, in his kingdom, is of marrying age.

When it comes to breedables and "inbreeding," and with lifemating characters, too, I am totally comfortable with first cousins breeding/lifemating/marrying, so sharing a grandparent if fine by me. It is accepted in some countries, and acceptable in the US, upon either being past reproductive age or being sterile, so close enough. And adopted siblings? Yeah, I'm totally fine with that, too.

Most of my characters retain both human (or human with ears, tails, sometimes a few other features) as well as animal forms and can switch freely between the two. In some cases, though, I have characters that almost entirely stick to one or the other, some that are cursed to stay in one form, or some that are just unable to switch back. In the situation of characters giving birth, the children are born in whichever form their parents were in at the time of giving birth.

Although, then, there are also creatures that are sentient on the same level as "humans," and those able to transform into humans without being able to speak, and there are also creatures that are not sentient to the same level, some of which are eaten. There has been some strange evolution going on. xD;

For most of my characters, some form of magic and such is an accepted part of reality for all of them, although perhaps not widely known in all circles. It could be safe to say that the general populace, all those NPC characters that most of us don't actually roleplay outside of needing a cashier or some such, are without magic and don't suspect a thing. Or, maybe they are somewhat aware, but are living the sad reality of not being magical. Not all of my characters are magic or have special abilities, so.

Aaaand that is all I can think of, at the moment. Anyone else want to chime in?

[Sarah]

Ooooo this looks fun

The majority of my characters are located in one universe, although some have to be played in 'alternate' Evelon because my main cannon cannot fit them. Most are played in around the same time for convenience. My main cast are connected so thoroughly that it would be hard to have them play at times either extreme in the past or future. Most of my characters have many forms, but not many have pet forms. I prefer roleplaying humanoid characters as it is easier for me with movements and sounds and all that. I also have very few 'pet' characters.

I really like writing supernatural stuff, and magic is heavily involved in that so most of my characters are, in some way, magically inclined. Depending on what I'm writing the general population can have either little-no knowledge of this supernatural world, or they will have full knowledge.  

Breedings are kind of magical... Like reproduction is a think that exists, but children still kind of magically appear. Actually I have almost no child characters, so my cannon is one of few children if any at all. I guess this fits though since 99% of my characters are immortal, they wouldn't really feel the need to bring children into the world. Most of that is based on my own opinion of children, other people can have them but I do not want any part.

OH man, I think I would cry if I ever tried to tackle actual family trees based on my breedings. Inbreeding isn't considered inbreeding unless they are cannonically related. Like if Marma and Cooking's Maurice had kids that would be inbreeding because they are siblings in plot, but if Austriel and Nyka bred it wouldn't be inbreeding because they aren't plot related in the slightest.

[Silver]

My characters definitely tend to come from different universes? Or maybe it's just a slightly different version of the Evelon universe. For the most part, I stick to the locations and creatures available in Evelon while roleplaying. Not always, though. I guess it depends on what I'm trying to accomplish.

For example, I have characters that can do magic, some that can transform, and some that aren't 'special' in any way. (I just really love slice of life, okay.) Those characters are usually kept separate, but they don't necessarily have to be. When I play with other people, I tend to adopt their setting or a more generic (or simply not specified) setting to make it easier to move the plot along.

Most of my characters have two alternate universes. That's their pet form, and their humanoid form. They don't transform between the two - they exist in parallel to each other. Everything that happens to the pet, happens to the human, and vice versa. I just pick the one I think is appropriate for the particular roleplay.

I also have Nimbus, who is very rooted in the Evelon universe. He's a half-Lucain guy who raises Evelon pets. So other than himself, all of the pets he is associated with are actually pets. They're just animals, just like their bios on the adoption pages. (Though some of them are quite smart.)

As for kids, I never keep my breeding kids as canon. Sometimes I keep sibling relationships, but I never keep parent-child relationships. I actually have very few parent-child relationships at all among my characters. I'm not sure I've ever noticed that before now!

[ToxicShadow]

Aaah, yes, magical appearance of children (and other characters), is totally a thing that's possible with my characters, too. Usually there are all sorts of different reasons for why one would suddenly come into existence, but yes.

Your post reminded me of a few things that I forgot to include, originally, too.

While I do have a few characters that are children or, rather, that start out as children, my characters usually operate on the idea that they are creatures first (or have aspects from the time that they were creatures). As in, the characters are capable of growing up very fast, depending on the circumstances. (Not all grow up fast, such as those that don't have access to creature forms, but many do.)

For characters that have creature and human forms, the human form appears as an elected age, not an actual age. (I seriously have characters that, in human form, appear the same physically as they did seven years ago, both plot-wise and in actual time.) In some cases, the characters can even choose which age they appear as, more a current age, or a younger age.

There is a lot of case-by-case situations, though.

That said, I suppose it would be normal to consider that most of my characters have a longer life span than the typical human life span of earth.

[Freezair]

Ooooh, fun.

For my characters, I tend to treat Evelon as a sort of "crossroads" universe, where many things are possible and many creatures from other worlds tend to meet. One of my characters, Desmond, even specializes in helping people who have come to Evelon from other worlds adjust to Evelon. I have a fair number of cosplay pets, but most of them tend to be native Evelons who only have personalities inspired by their original forms. For example, one of my most RPed pets, my Lucain Halvard, is actually a cosplay pet, based on the character Double H from the game Beyond Good and Evil. But Halvard eventually evolved into a much different character from his media counterpart, aside from being affiliated with a character named Jade. However, I do have a few "canon immigrant" characters, such as Rygar, who is actually a Monster Rancher Tiger. My view is that when these other characters come to Evelon, their form changes to something more appropriate to Evelon, though they can retain features of their original form, like horns. But many of my characters are aware of a "multiverse" and know that Evelon is special.

For human forms, not all pets have them. Those that do sometimes prefer one form or the other, and can generally swap between them freely.  Some pets have human forms inately, but it's also a skill that can be learned. Creatures can interbreed if at least one of the forms they have are the same. I have two pets, Piper and Aiden, who are half-human half-Pet because they're the offspring of native-born pets who could take human form and humans. However, one thing that doesn't change is the speed at which they grow. Native-born pets grow up much more quickly than native-born humans, though they generally have comparable lifespans. All pet species have the possibility to be sapient, though not all members of them are. My Rejection Kuhna Morceau, for example, is a half-sapient half-non Kuhna hybrid--which is actually an idea I borrowed from a series called The Books of the Named, which is totally rad and you should read it. It's about intelligent prehistoric cats. You like that, right?  Which leads to interesting implications with my first Evelon human character, Imogene "Jimmy" Dashall, since her fear of canines actually makes her, er, kind of racist by my standards. She really is kind of a bitter a-hole these days. Which was, uh, not what I originally anticipated. But I've kind of rolled with it and played it up to make her all flawed and crap.

As for children and their canonicity, it... depends on the breeding, honestly. Most of Kane Peppermint's children and descendants are canon and tied in with his plot, especially because his plot kicked off with "I am getting older and have no children GO TO BREEDING CENTER GET KIDS PLOX." But not all kids are. It sort of depends on the character and if I could see them having children. For example, some of my Lucain Minty's "friends" are actually her children with her best friend, but canonically are just good friends of theirs they met in Terrance Park, since they're all like 7 or 8 canonically and that would be weird.

Oooh, which reminds me. In my canon, the Breeding Center is a sort of a cross between maternity hospital, love hotel, and fertility clinic/sperm bank. It's a really good maternity hospital that ensures safe births and infancy for pets of the breedable species (and other pets, but since we can't breed them, you don't see them there), so a lot of dedicated couples choose to have their children there to ensure they're well cared for. However, a lot of pet species, in a slightly more animalistic way, like looking for mates based on traits they'd like to have in their offspring, be they unique coat colors, strong muscles, or clever brains. So the hospital organizes breedings for pets based on the traits they want in their offspring, and provides a safe space for them to meet and spend time together to see if they want to have children together. It also has... ahem... "facilities" for couples needing a place to be alone, and has things like a big park to facilitate them having romantic days. Sometimes it's intended to be an aid to conception, but not always. This is especially the case for Paragon, since as very large beings, it's hard for them to find privacy.

[Kyrit]

The vast majority of my characters only have a human form or a humanoid form that has some animalistic traits, such as ears, tails, ect. The pet form tends to be a representation for the most part, drawing from their personality, hair color, ect. Though I also often have fun basing their humanoid appearance on the pet form. For example, a character based on an Evergreen might actually have prosthetic legs or their animal form might come out in their clothing. That's not to say that I don't have pets that can switch back and forth (typically my older Evelon characters and ones from before Evelon) or pets that are strictly animal form only, but definitely a lot more common for human form only. Mostly just because it's the easiest thing for me to RP these days.

I'll probably be back to post more at some point, but being dragged away for now. I will say, I love how you view the Breeding Center though, Freezie. It's a great way to think of it.

[Silver]

I have a fair number of cosplay pets, but most of them tend to be native Evelons who only have personalities inspired by their original forms.

Oh! I totally do this too. A group of my Kuhnas, for example, are all based on MLP characters. Except they're Kuhnas instead of ponies, of course, and they're not 100% like their actual counterparts.

Most of my cosplay pets are just Pokémon or Dragons, though, which are more of a species than an individual character. That helps a lot!

[Sarah]

Speaking of cosplay pets... My Destiny cosplay characters aren't native to Evelon. Due to allowances in the Destiny story they came over using Vex technology. Well, and my taken Hunter came via oryx.

[GrayGriffin]

Most of my cosplay pets are explicitly characters from other universes swept into Evelon, although some of them are simply parallels. I think my mental image of Evelon is a very eclectic variety of technology, with both high-tech and steampunk and medieval-type magic existing concurrently. While most of my characters started out as having pure pet forms, I'm creating more and more with pet forms.

I tend to regard any children I keep from breedings as being "canon" to some extent, except in cases where the breeding is clearly AU or purely just platonic interactions. Although I've also played with stuff like the kids being biological children from an alternate universe anyways.