announcements: birthday event, autopopping, and a poll

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

HH Anniversary Event

hogwarts_hocus has its third birthday on Dec. 13!

To celebrate three years of crack, we're holding a crack-filled event of the sort that HH has traditionally called a "modplot". Like most such events, it will last for a day of gametime but can be RPed out for days of realtime thereafter. And like all such events, it is opt-in. Your characters do not have to participate unless you want them to be part of the event.

On the morning of December 13, some characters will wake up on the astral plane, at an astral Hogwarts, in their "astral" form -- actually, the embodiment of their fanon characterization. (Think Snapes on an Astral Plane, and you'll get the general idea -- Snape as a snarky, sexy Alan Rickman with a yen for BDSM, what?) How you conceptualize your character's fanon/"astral" version is entirely up to you. You can incorporate any aspects of your fandom's perception of the character, or focus on a single trait, or just plain crack the character out. Edited to add: Some muns have asked us whether characters from a canon that has little to no fic -- and therefore no fanon conventions -- can still play on the astral plane. The answer is, certainly you can! We love our rare and obscure canons, especially book canon characters. It's up to you how you think a fanon or skewed version of your character would act.

While the participating characters cavort on the astral plane, their physical bodies will remain asleep at the real Hogwarts (the HH!Hogwarts, that is), and when they awaken on Dec. 14, they will either have forgotten the astral events or remember them only as a dream. This is to prevent unwanted character consequences spreading through the game. The astral plane is like Vegas: what happens there stays there.

The characters who do not participate in the Dec. 13 Airborne Toxic event will simply go about their day in HH!Hogwarts as usual, and you may feel free to play them as well. They'll just think their participating friends are spending a day being lazy or under-the-weather.


Autopopcorning

We're well overdue for a round of autopopcorning. Since HH does not have posting quotas or activity checks, autopopcorning is our solution to the inevitable buildup of inactive characters on the roster. We have not done an autopopcorning since May 1, 2007 -- yikes! Fortunately the mod team was able to use the holiday weekend for some infrastructure work. This round will take us up through applications posted on May 1, 2008.

The rules for autopopcorning remain the same as in the first round. We will be autopopping characters whose muns have been inactive for three months or longer, but we will not be autopopping inactive characters of active muns.

As always, we're listing the characters up for autopopping a week in advance. If you see one of your characters on the list and do not concur with the autopopping, please comment to this post to say that you do not want the character autopopped. It's entirely possible we've missed something; we're more than happy to remove you from the autopopping list, just give us a shout :)

When the week is up, we will be removing all the popcorned characters from the community userlist as well as from the active roster. Their applications will remain linked on the popcorn plaque, and the characters will be open for unpopcorning. We are also removing the characters already on the popcorn plaque from the community userlist.

The following characters will be autopopped on Monday, Dec. 8, barring objection from their players. (Note: because we haven't done this in well over a year, the list is very long; when in doubt, use ctrl+f in your browser to search for your character's name!):


Characters Slated for Autopopcorning on Dec. 8, 2008:

Gryffindor

Vincent Valentine (Final Fantasy VII)
Legolas (Lord of the Rings)
Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun (Slayers)
Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Dick Casablancas (Veronica Mars)
Burger King (advertisement)
Emo Dalek (Doctor Who)
God (Dogma)
Will Turner (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Raphael Enjolras (Les Miserables)
Ash Ketchum (Pokemon)
Syaoran (Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE)
Sarah Jane Smith (Doctor Who)
James Sunderland (Silent Hill)
Tannim Drake (SERRAted Edge)
Dr. Robert Chase (House, MD)
Schuyler "Sky" Tate (Power Rangers: SPD) exspdblue
Patricia "Trisha" McFarland (Stephen King's The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon)
Eragon (Inheritance Trilogy)
Leon Czolgosz (Assassins)
Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story)
Erk (Fire Emblem)
Kouneru (Cornell) (Castlevania)
Yoichi Hiruma (Eyeshield 21)
Roran Garrowsson (The Inheritance Trilogy)
Torn (Jak & Daxter)
Cassie (Skins)
John Steenwilly (David Klass' You Don't Know Me)
Jeanne Fránçaix (The Super Dimensional Cavalry: Southern Cross)
Axel (Kingdom Hearts 2)
Blythe House (House, M.D.)
Gareas Elidd (Candidate for Goddess)
Bart Allen, aka Impulse (DC Comics) impulsivekid
Sarah Williams (Labyrinth)
Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle III (DC Comics)
Violet Parr (The Incredibles)
Zalbag Beoulve (Final Fantasy Tactics)
Russel Tringham (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Kon-El (DC Comics) tktactile
Howell 'Howl' Jenkins (Howl's Moving Castle)
Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter series) fondofcabinets

Hufflepuff

Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) fivebyfive_x
Alucard Tepes (Castlevania)
Joachim Armster (Castlevania)
Flying Spaghetti Monster
Franky (One Piece)
Akabane Kuroudo aka Dr. Jackal (GetBackers)
Galinda Upland (Wicked)
Franz Liebkind (The Producers)
Sarge (Red vs Blue)
Malice Doll (Malice@Doll)
Gunter von Kleist (Kyo Kara Maou!)
Eclipse (Demon Diary)
Raenef (Demon Diary)
Mungojerrie (CATS)
Harry Sullivan (Doctor Who)
Elwood Blues (Blues Brothers)
Jake Blues (Blues Brothers)
Monkey D. Luffy (One Piece)
Kagura (Azumanga Daioh)
Ryuzaki Sumire (Prince of Tennis)
Pinhead (Hellraiser films 1 & 2, The Hellbound Heart book)
Kenny McCormick (South Park)
Peter Griffin (The Family Guy)
Jemima (CATS)
Ellie Nash (Degrassi)
Botan (Yuu Yuu Hakusho)
Laguna Loire (Final Fantasy VIII)
Martha Jones (Doctor Who)
NiGHTS (NiGHTS into Dreams)
Morty (Pokemon)
Ace Ventura (Ace Ventura, Pet Detective)
Bun-Bun (Sluggy Freelance)
Constable Renfield Turnbull, RCMP (Due South)
Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII)
Dale Smither (Heroes)
Pingu (Pingu)
S.A.R.A.H. (Eureka)
Petulia Gristle (Discworld)
Richard (Looking For Group)
Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)
Victor Mancha (Runaways senorcyborg
Cody Bennett (the Dexter series)
Rem (Death Note)

Ravenclaw

Ford Prefect (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
Admiral ZEX (Star Control II)
Byakuya Kuchiki (BLEACH)
Urahara Kisuke (BLEACH)
Dimitri (Sly Cooper)
Dr. Kay Scarpetta (Patricia Cornwell novels)
Eddie Brock (Marvel Comics)
Dr. Guy Secretan (Green Wing)
Dr. Gaius Baltar (Battlestar Galactica)
Rosencrantz (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead)
Polgara (the Belgariad)
Lain Iwakura (Serial Experiments Lain)
Mr. Bucket (advertisement, game)
Dana Scully (X-Files)
Dream (Sandman)
Captain Hector Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Basil of Baker Street (The Great Mouse Detective)
Sgt. Polly "Ozzer" Perks (Discworld)
Rupert Giles (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Spider Jerusalem (Metropolitan)
Agnes Nitt (Discworld)
Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast (Preston and Child novels)
Guildenstern (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead)
The Janitor (Scrubs)
Elliot Reed (Scrubs)
Diogenes Pendergast (Preston and Child novels)
Gojyo Sha (Saiyuki)
Hakkai Cho (Saiyuki)
Morton Rainey (Secret Window)
Rosalind Cameron (Mercedes Lackey, The Fire Rose)
Tick-Tick (Emma Bull, Finder)
Desmond Hume (Lost)
Sally (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Azusa Shiratori (Ranma 1/2)
General Iroh (Avatar: The Last Airbender)
Magical Trevor (Weebls-Stuff.com)
Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls)
Salamander, a.k.a. Ebany (Katherine Kerr, Deverry books)
Dr. Citan Uzuki (Xenogears)
Paris Geller (Gilmore Girls)
"Uncle" Irvin (The City of Lost Children)
Count von Count (Sesame Street)
Tomasso (A Night at the Opera)
328 and 329 (White Rain)
Rukia Kuchiki (BLEACH) rkuchiki
Annie Cartwright (Life on Mars)
Charlie Eppes (Numb3rs)
Dr. Lisa Cuddy (House, M.D.)
Mr. Universe (Serenity)
Reno (Final Fantasy 7) lazyscoundrel
Sergeant Schlock (Schlock Mercenary webcomic)
Darren Nichols (Slings and Arrows)
Tim Drake (DC Comics) not_robin
Brainiac Five/Querl Dox (Legion of Superheroes)
Pearl Fey (Phoenix Wright / Gyakuten Saiban series)
Dairine Callahan (Young Wizards)
Gert Yorkes (Runaways) powervacuum
Mia Fey (Phoenix Wright)
Dr. Jonathan Crane (Batman Begins)
Alfons Heiderich (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Witch Baby Wigg Bat (Francesca Lia Block's "Dangerous Angels" series)
Ssillissa (Larklight)
Jemma Claflin (The Children's Hospital)

Slytherin

Ancalagon (The Silmarillion) will not be popped
Peyton Sawyer (One Tree Hill)
Hoshigaki Kisame (Naruto)
Domino Harvey (Domino)
Zorak (Space Ghost)
Lisa (Girl, Interrupted)
Gojira/Godzilla
Alice (Resident Evil)
Aornis Hades (Thursday Next)
King Cobra (Snakes on a Plane)
Garrett (Thief)
Katou Yue (Angel Sanctuary)
Screwtape (The Screwtape Letters)
Sansa Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire)
Jaffar, an assassin (Fire Emblem)
Lily (Junk)
Kool-Aid Man (advertisement)
Harley Quinn (Batman: The Animated Series)
Cats (Zero Wing)
Hera (Principia Discordia)
Lain of the Wired (Serial Experiments: Lain)
Touga Kiryuu (Revolutionary Girl Utena)
Harken (Fire Emblem)
Evelyn ‘Evi’ Carnahan (The Mummy)
Drusilla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) namedthestars
Old Man Kangaroo (Just-So Stories)
Alex Rider (Alex Rider book series)
Reinette Poisson (Doctor Who)
Ogin (Requiem From the Darkness)
Brook (One Piece)
Lestat de Lioncourt (Interview With the Vampire)
Ayame Sohma (Fruits Basket)
Dr. Gregory House (House, MD) reuben_sandwich
Lester Burnham (American Beauty)
Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)

Sparklypoo:

Anne Gwish (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac)
Michael Kelso (That '70s Show)
Emily Howard (Little Britain)

Bitchiwitch:

Gaz Membrane (Invader ZIM)
Mugen (Samurai Champloo)

Tootsitramp:

Foxxy Love (Drawn Together)
Zapp Brannigan (Futurama)

Thus endeth the list.




OOC community vs main community: a poll!

One final bit of upkeep.
In the beginning, everything in HH took place in a single main community. Earlier this year, at players' request, we started the OOC community h_h_ooc as a place where players could interact out of character -- plot, make announcements, put up memes and fanworks, etc. We are now finding that it is not much used, and are wondering whether we truly need a separate OOC community, but we would like your input on the matter. This poll will remain up for a week. On Monday, Dec. 8, we will close the poll. The following day (Dec. 9), we will let you know what has been decided.

The poll!

[Poll #1307615]

Comments

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Yay, I can participate in the modplot because I'll be home then! Okay, and I view the OOC comm regularly but rarely post.

[nicknamegirl.livejournal.com]

Yaaay! =D

I shall participate! Just have to look into fanon for my characters' fandoms. What fun!

[totallyluminous.livejournal.com]

Fanon for this? Surely you jest.

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

Hee, you can devise your own fanon/skewed version if there's not enough fic in a canon to have established a general fanon!character.

Completely OT

[hopalongmcgurk.livejournal.com]

I want to see Rose Casson on the astral plane. I just finished reading Saffy's Angel, and ZOMG, so much love!
OK, as you were.

[mightiest-black.livejournal.com]

I did promise Smaug's player I'd be up for any plotting between our characters, and it'd be jerkish of me to then let my character go... So please remove Ancalagon from the list? Thank you.

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

Certainly. We may be getting one or two more Tolkien characters in January, though not from the Silmarillion.