Popcorn rules
Popcorn??
People app chars, get accepted, play around with them for a little then need to leave for various reasons. And then, someone else picks up the chars and has to account for their absences. In order to make life easier for future muns, we have come up with the following solution for all the inexplicable disappearances:
When a character gets dropped, s/he turns into a giant kernel of popcorn. Yes. Popcorn.
The popcorn kernels reside in unbreakable, magically-protected glass cases in the castle's Popcorn Room. They are not labeled by name; it is impossible to tell them apart. However, there is a plaque at Hogwarts ICly bearing the names of all the popcorned. OOCly, the plaque is maintained here.
How do I popcorn a character?
When you popcorn a character, you must post a comment to the popcorn post to let us know. Please include the following information:
* character's full name
* character's House
* fandom
* a link to the character's application
The first three items are needed so that we can keep track of who's who on the plaque (we do have many characters who share the same first name!) The last item is needed so that when a future player wants to unpopcorn the character, we mods can more easily find your application in order to make a comment requesting the character and its journal be turned over to them.
How do I unpopcorn a character?
Let the mods know you're interested in taking over the character by posting a comment to the OOC questions post (this post is also linked in the community's sidebar for ease of access). Once the mods have re-added the character to the roster and notified you that the character is now yours, you may begin to play as that character.
You should then promptly add your contact information to our contact info post, so that it's known which mun other players should contact to discuss that character -- otherwise, they'd keep trying to contact the former mun! Then it's time for the unpopcorned character to make a post reintroducing the character to the community. Welcome back!
Are there any restrictions on popcorning and unpopcorning?
Yes. There are no posting limits in this community and you are free to stop playing a character any time you like, but you cannot unpopcorn more than three characters per month.
Also, please note that Harry Potter characters are subject to mod approval in unpopcorning just as they are in the application process. Automatic approval will not necessarily be granted for Harry Potter characters to rejoin the game.
New players who wish to take over a popcorned character are required first to discuss their characterization and plans with the players of pre-existing characters who share canon or significant in-game history with the popcorned character, even if the new player does not plan to retain all or part of the in-game history created by the previous player. Ideally, the new player and those existing player(s) who have had such interaction will be able to coordinate their efforts. If not, the existing players are not required to RP with the new player -- no one can be forced to RP with anyone else! -- but this does not necessarily bar the new player from joining the game. Mediation will be attempted by the mod team acting in concert, and the moderators reserve the right to bar the new player from the game if they feel circumstances warrant it.
We ask that you allow three days for the contacted muns to respond to your request to unpopcorn. After that period, if there are no objections that must be worked through, you may unpop the character.
Finally: just as previously squibbed applicants cannot be reapplied, they also cannot be "unpopcorned." A single character cannot be sorted twice, and as squibbed characters have already been sorted once and have no house, there is no place for them in the game.