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Maybe you're new to Gaia or to Gaia's Runway Contests, or maybe you simply haven't encountered some of the special terminology we use here. This brief Glossary is intended to cover the most-frequently-used Runway-specific terms. It is a work in progress; please post in the Runway Chatterbox thread in this forum if you want to nominate a new term to be included here.

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Background: For Runway contests, we consider any element which makes the avatar extend all the way to the edge of the avatar box on two or more sides to be a Background. This interpretation means that, for Runway, contests prohibiting Backgrounds also disallow many Frames, even though the Frames are on an upper layer. It also means that most partial background items adding some fire or smoke or a summoning circle or a magical effect or flower petals in the wind are allowed even in themes with a No Backgrounds stipulation as long as they do not obstruct the majority of the background area.

Because this can be a tricky guideline and everyone has their own definition of what qualifies as a Background, here are a few examples of what would be allowed/disallowed that fall into a little more of a gray area:

Backgrounds:
User Image User Image User Image User Image User Image

No Backgrounds:
User Image User Image User Image User Image User Image

For information about Simple Backgrounds, please check here.

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Cluttertar: One of the Classic Gaian Avatar Contest modes, this avatar style requires piling on all the things. Literally, equip as many items as possible. A good Cluttertar will maintain flow and visual points of interest despite being comprised of up to 100 items. Any special sub-category of Cluttertar would be addressed in the Defintion section of that theme. Here is a small set of example Cluttertars.

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Face Mods: This term refers to any item which modifies the default face by equipping something which replaces the eyes or mouth (or both) or adds a nose.
Special Note: Every single nose item is, by definition, a Face Mod and is debarred from all No Face Mods themes.

Before saying, "Yuck! I hate my avatar's face!" be sure to try all the gold shop eyes and all the default mouths (found on the Dress Up page); you have more options than you may have expected, especially if it's been a few years since you took up this challenge.

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Gijinka: Anthropomorphization, particularly with an anime-influenced style. Operating systems, emotions, and food and drink are a few common categories. Because the point of gijinka is to make into a human a creature or thing that is inherently not human, the humanness of the entry needs to be very clear and consistent. A gijinka should not have feathers, fur, or a fantasy skin.

Any Gijinka theme will automatically exclude Scenics but allow Paws.

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Gradient: Shading from one hue to another, often using complicated layering tricks. This is one of the Classic Gaian Avatar Challenges, so it precedes items which already use ombre or gradient. Here is a short set of examples of this style: Gradient Avatar Examples

Rainbow Avatars are a specific class of Gradient Avatar.

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Halfatar: Another of the Classic Gaian Avatar Contest modes, a Halfatar looks like the two halves of very different avatars somehow became magically combined. A horizontal split or diagonal split can be easy these days, but a vertical split has always been more challenging. Bonus points if the two halves portray distinctly contrasting moods and if there is a sharp visual divide between the halves. Here is a gallery of some Halfatar looks.

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I Am Pose: As the name promises, this is one pose of an item, and it replaces your entire avatar with an "I Am" of the item named (for example, one of the first items I ever owned to have such a pose was Titus the Lion; the I Ams replace me with Titus, either in his small form or his large form). Using an I Am pose as the basis for a Scenic is the easiest way to create a Scenic, so certain Scenic themes may ban I Am poses.

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Mods: In the context of Runway contests, this is short for modifications. These are poses that change the shape of the base avatar in some way. Specifically, arm mods modify the base arms; leg mods modify the base legs; head mods modify (and in some cases replace) the base avatar head.

Some contests may require or prohibit mods. If a theme prohibits mods, it means the base avatar's head shape, arm shape, and leg shape must remain after the build is complete. These are throwback themes choosing the style of early Gaia, before poses that let us mod the base were available.

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OCs: Short for Original Characters, OCs are the opposite of Cosplay. An Original Character is one which originates with you, meaning you created that character. If your avatar is displaying a character you created, whether or not you've officially claimed the character anywhere or done any roleplaying with it, that is your very own OC, and you may enter it into OCs Only contests. You must create an OC on the central avatar base for this type of theme; for this reason, the Cloak of Invisibility cannot be used for this type of theme. For the same reason, I Am poses are not allowed for OC-only themes.

By contrast, for Runway, Cosplay means dressing up your avatar as an already-existing, often well-known, character; adaptations of characters you did not personally create count as Cosplay. Some of our contests will disallow OCs or Cosplay or prefer one or the other.

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Paw: In 2k14, Gaia added a new type of avatar base and items to the site. Although the official name was meant to be Animals, the group of Gaians who love these bases and items the most and use them the most call them Paws (and refer to themselves as perma-Paws). Some of our contests are only for Paw avatars.

Wait, though! Before you turn away sadly without entering, go to your Dress Up page! Note the bar above the Save button; you can change into a Paw~! You have five default base choices (Cat, Bear, Wolf, Dog, Bunny), but other furs can be added once you have changed the base to Paw; some are available at gold shop Skin Tyte, while others such as the Elf Furs can be purchased on the Marketplace. Whenever you change your base between Human and any of the Paw choices, your equippable items will refresh, showing you only the items you own which can be used with that base. Paw items can go on any of the Paw bases. Gold shop updates always include Paw versions of the items, so be sure to check out the gold shops if you need to polish up an entry for a Paw Only contest.

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Rainbow Avatar: Another Classic Gaian Avatar mode, the Rainbow Avatar existed in the days before body modification poses or ombres. The Rainbow Avatar shifted through the colours of the rainbow in order using clever layering of Gaia's items. Top to bottom was the more frequently seen, as the left-to-right colour shift is much harder to implement using Gaia's items.

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Rallytar: A (comparatively) recent addition to the Classic Gaian Avatar modes, this avatar type celebrates the style preferred by Gaians who hang out in the Rally worlds and sometimes specifically references the styles dominant during 2010 or so. Lusty Skin (a pose from Lusty Scoundrel), Emo Glasses, Buck Teeth, Grass Skirts, backpacks, Kiki plushies, Monthly Collectibles from 2005 or earlier, slippers (especially Bunnies, Seals, or Penguins) with socks or legwarmers, Striped Stockings, and the like are staples of this nostalgia-evoking look.

Although it may sound restrictive, this style was actually popular for several years, and quite a wide variety of looks can be made for it. Here is my own Rallytar Favs folder to give you ideas. mrgreen

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Scenic: A Scenic is another Classic Gaian Avatar mode, perhaps the most difficult to master. Creating a Scenic involves using special layering tricks (including, but not limited to, sitting and turning around) in order to remove the avatar completely, leaving a background scene. The Cloak of Invisibility (available for human and Paw base) masks the avatar, so using it is an easier way to create a Scenic. Some of our contests either encourage or require such Scenics, and some prohibit them. If a theme prohibits Scenics, you may not equp the Cloak of Invisibility for that theme. Here is a gallery of Scenics.

Please note that a Scenic means an entire scene which at first appears to be avatarless; this is not the same as a background pose, and you may use a background item as part of your look in contests which do not allow Scenics.

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Set Use: Set use is using more than one pose from the same item. Some Gaians include recolors, too. Some Gaians will not vote for an avatar using more than one pose from each item, and some Gaians even limit their inventories by having only one of each item.
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