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 Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 2:09 pm
SO.
A lot of people find making characters hard, and making postcodes harder. Therefore, I've decided to put together a reference for normal users who don't know BBC to make a good-looking postcode.
FIRST AND FOREMOST
A postcode is the code that makes the post pretty. It usually includes a picture of the character, the character's name, a quote from that character or fitting song lyrics. Some are really, REALLY involved, while others are very simple.
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 4:36 pm
MAKING YOUR CHARACTER
The easiest way to make a good character, I've found, is to start with an idea, and build off of that. So, if the story for the RP you want to join is this:
Quote: The year is 3084. The government is harsh, and the Peace Enforcement (read: police) are quick to use violence. In this world, a few unlikely heroes are about to surface. . . . Quote: Username: [your username] Name: [character’s title/name] Age: [character’s age] Gender: [character’s gender] Occupation:Bio: [a short paragraph explaining your character’s past] Personality: [a couple characteristics that describes your character’s attitude] Likes: [list at least five things your character likes] Dislikes: [list at least five things your character dislikes] Appearance: [Picture, or describe] Quote: Username: RikaBooBabyName: Age: Gender: FemaleOccupation: ThiefBio: Personality: Likes: Dislikes: Appearance:
That's a good start, and this one doesn't call for anything too involved. Let's take a look at what comes up next: personality. A character's past always influences their personality. It's a common mistake for characters to have some dark, sad past, and still be happy and cheerful, as if they were totally unaffected. That's wrong. They can act happy while being depressed, sure, but they can't be perfect optimists all the time. So, let's look at our character. She's sneaky, like I said, and we may as well say sly and obviously clever too, because she's not caught yet. Moreover, if she's stealing from people, she confident, and not very polite, so she probably just speaks her mind. Quote: Username: ]RikaBooBaby Name: Age: Gender: Female Occupation: Thief Bio: It was her and her mom, no dad. Her mom didn't have much, being a single parent, so they were poor. She wanted out, any way possible. So, she began to steal for money.Personality: Sly, clever, sneaky, confident, and blunt.Likes: Dislikes: Appearance: Quote: Username: RikaBooBaby Name: Age: Gender: Female Occupation: Thief Bio: It was her and her mom, no dad. Her mom didn't have much, being a single parent, so they were poor. She wanted out, any way possible. So, she began to steal for money. Personality: Sly, clever, sneaky, confident, and blunt. Likes: Music, money, jewelry, rain, having funDislikes: Stupid people, little kids, being dirty, spending money, choresAppearance:
Another note on naming, and on ethnicity: In RP, there are two general ethnicities, white and Japanese. I don't know why. It just is. My advice is to mix it up a bit- Korean and Chinese names are rarely seen. Or, maybe, try a name that doesn't come by often, like Blaine. I highly recommend you switch names, ethnicities, even genders, often, because it's more fun, and you;'ll grow more as an RPer.Quote: Username: RikaBooBaby Name: Feng Li ((Last name, first name))Age: 19Gender: Female Occupation: Thief Bio: It was her and her mom, no dad. Her mom didn't have much, being a single parent, so they were poor. She wanted out, any way possible. So, she began to steal for money. Personality: Sly, clever, sneaky, confident, and blunt. Likes: Music, money, jewelry, rain, having fun. Dislikes: Stupid people, little kids, being dirty, spending money, chores. Appearance: Quote: Username: RikaBooBaby
Name: Feng Li ((Last name, first name))
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Occupation: Thief
Bio: It was her and her mom, no dad. Her mom didn't have much, being a single parent, so they were poor. She wanted out, any way possible. So, she began to steal for money.
Personality: Sly, clever, sneaky, confident, and blunt.
Likes: Music, money, jewelry, rain, having fun.
Dislikes: Stupid people, little kids, being dirty, spending money, chores.
Appearance:
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:02 pm
MAKING YOUR POSTCODE
Now that we have a character, let's make a postcode. If you're having trouble keeping up, try some BBC help links: this one or this one.
Alright, first let's start with the picture. The one I used for the profile wouldn't look good in every single post. I want to bring Li out of the picture, so you can see her. Photobucket has a nice, built-in, no-downloads, free editor I like to use. What I'm going to do is crop the picture.
**Please note that the picture I used in the profile was scaled down, and I'm going to edit the original.**
Here's the finished product, after editing:
Since the image is very tall, I'm going to set it to the side of the post. I want Li faceing into my post, to add interest, so I'll set her to the left, using the  left] command. Please note that even though her face is looking away, her body is turned to the right. With this picture and some others like it, you can have them on either side of the post, but I generally go with the majority of the picture. Not to say you couldn't have a completely awesome code with a character turned away from the post, because you totally can. I just find it easier this way.
Now that that's decided, let's put her name into the code. It'll need to be big, and probably colorful. Bold never hurts. So, let's try that:
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:07 pm
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:26 pm
[IMGleft]http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz105/radxrika/Role-Play/Girls/normal_anime_girl_4-1.jpg[/IMGleft]
[b]20]rod]FENG LI[/color]
That is the code so far. Looks complicated, doesn't it? That's okay, you'll get used to it, I promise. No, I think having the name pressed right up against the picture is squishing it a little, and it could be bigger. As always, changes in red:
[IMGleft]http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz105/radxrika/Role-Play/Girls/normal_anime_girl_4-1.jpg[/IMGleft]
r][b]24]rod]FENG LI[/coor]
Alright! Now, let's add some song lyrics. Google is your best friend, my friends. Search and you shall receive. Now, for Li, some angry lyrics would be best- or, if you want, some hopeful lyrics, because I have a feeling that this character never gives up, ever. Some special quote marks from a special characters page make it look more sophisticated:
❝Who really needs the past
With the allure of something new❞
I think that piece of lyrics from Swimming With Dolphins's song
Silhouettes really fits her. If you put them on opposite sides of the page and of the post itself (meaning, the meat of it; where you actually do the RP) it looks best. Let's test it out:
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:28 pm
FENG LI ❝Who really needs the past
example example example example example example example example example example
With the allure of something new❞
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 5:38 pm
So. the code, so far, is this:
[imgleft]http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz105/radxrika/Role-Play/Girls/normal_anime_girl_4-1.jpg[/imgleft]
[align=center][b]4][color=goldenrod]FENG LI[/color]
[color=silver]11]ight]❝Who really needs the past [/color][color=darkgrey]
[/color][color=silver]1]With the allure of something new❞[/color]
I've added a body color of dark gray for the actual post. See that big empty space in the middle? That's where your post should go. Leaving space like this really helps when you clean it out each time after posting. You should never make it so that you, yourself, can't tell what's what in your own code. Now, note that this is the basic of a code. You could post with this. But, we're going to keep going a little further.
How? We're going to add decorations, also from the special characters page. Remember those links I showed you, for BBC? Those have lists of special characters you can use to make your posts look nicer. Now, I'm pulling the bold out of the name, because I've decided I don't like the way it looks. I'm also going to add a line of special characters between the quotes and the post.
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:16 pm
FENG LI ❝Who really needs the past❞ ≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
example example example example example example example example example example
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎ ❝With the allure of something new❞
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:22 pm
[imgleft]http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz105/radxrika/Role-Play/Girls/normal_anime_girl_4-1.jpg[/imgleft]
nter]24]ldenrod]FENG LI[/color]
lver]11]ght]❝Who really needs the past❞[/color]
ki][align=center]≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎[/color]rey]
example example example example example example example example example example
[/color]aki]nter]≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎[/color]
❝With the allure of something new❞[/color]
That is the code for what's above. Now, let's try adding some special alphabet characters to her name and the quotes. Though, I do caution you not to overuse them- they can look gaudy and tacky if you do.
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:29 pm
ⒻENG ⓁI ❝Who really needs the ρ α ѕ т,❞≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
example example example example example example example example example example
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎ ❝With the allure of something η є ω. . . .❞
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:44 pm
[imgleft]http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz105/radxrika/Role-Play/Girls/normal_anime_girl_4-1.jpg[/imgleft]
ter][color=goldenrod]24]Ⓕ20]ENG [size=24]Ⓛ[size=20]I
[color=silver]11]ht]❝Who really needs the[/color][color=khaki] ρ α ѕ т[/color]ilver],❞[/color]
[color=khaki]nter]≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎[/color][color=darkgrey]
example example example example example example example example example example
[/color]haki]center]≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎[/color]
er]❝With the allure of something [/color]haki]η є ω[/color]r]. . . .❞[/color]
You might notice that I sized down parts of her name that aren't special characters. It's a small change, but it makes a large difference. For variations in looks, try experimenting with differently colored letters in the name, (or perhaps, if they have a first, middle, and last name, making each name a different color), or changing the size of the letters in the name. Also, gradient colors are AWESOME, and Tektek has a really good one. Warning- symbols don't work in it though!
So, I like the look of that, all but the color of the body text, which I'll get to in a minute. Note the colors in this all go together. That's because I chose two colors, and stuck with them. Now, you cannot choose two bright colors- say, red and blue, or orange and green. You're laughing, but I've seen people who do. You have to choose one color that sticks out, and one neutral that can blend in. My standout is goldenrod from the yellow palette. My neutral is silver from the gray palette. Also see that these colors are in and compliment the picture I've chosen. Now, I know those aren't the only colors I've used- I have khaki on there as well. But it's from the yellow range as well, and is muted, similar to silver. So, for my body, I'm having a hard time choosing what color to choose. In a situation like this, it may be easiest to. . . leave it black. But, that looks unsophisticated, you say. Now, if we reduce the size of the body text, the black looks good. And we'll add bold and color for speech, to make it stand out.
Where do you put the speech code when you aren't using it? That is time for one of my favorite commands: size=0. Anything sized at zero will not be seen on the screen, or stretch your post at all, like white text might.
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 7:50 pm
ⒻENG ⓁI ❝Who really needs the ρ α ѕ т,❞≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
example example example example " example speech" example example example example example
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎ ❝With the allure of something η є ω. . . .❞
Speaking:
End:
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 8:00 pm
[imgleft]http://i818.photobucket.com/albums/zz105/radxrika/Role-Play/Girls/normal_anime_girl_4-1.jpg[/imgleft]
nter]enrod]24]Ⓕ[size=20]ENG [size=24]Ⓛ[size=20]I[/color]
ight]❝Who really needs the[/color] ρ α ѕ т[/color]er],❞[/color]
aki]center]≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎[/color][size=10]
example example example example [b]" example speech"[/color] example example example example example
[color=khaki]center]≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎☆≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎[/color]
[color=silver]❝With the allure of something [/color]haki]η є ω[/color]ilver]. . . .❞[/color]
[size=0]
Speaking: ldenrod][b]
End: [/color]
[/size]
Wow, that's it. A medium-involved code. I admit, some people do more than this. But, that part is usually the part that you need to arrive at yourself. I hope this walk-through helped you people, and have a great time role-playing! ❤
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