welcome!

courty is based around a fictional new york city dating app that connects users for everything from dating, friendship, to hooking up and more. we value friendships and family storylines just as much as the opportunity to spark romance, so please join us with the intent of getting to know new people and creating unexpected connections. setting up character journals are allowed to be ic or ooc. your screened post should include a bio of at least 100 words (this excludes basic facts, astrology, word lists such as likes/dislikes, and connections/npcs; detailed facts/bullet points, detailed personality sections, and histories all count). f/o and screened ooc posts must be backdated (click the "date out of order" checkbox when posting the entry). please do not exceed more than two characters per writer without contacting us first; we'll make a judgment based on your current characters' activity levels. as mods, we reserve the right to reject anyone (new or not) we feel won't be a good fit for the community. we do not respond to comments regarding rejections.

before you join

pbs please take time to do research and select pbs with care. because we are app-free and not every member applies with a lengthy bio, we must sometimes assume you have considered your pb's background and identity. the mods take poc and other minority representation seriously, and the responsibility of due diligence lies with you as you set up your character. most pbs' backgrounds are easily googled by virtue of being public figures, and we expect those backgrounds to be respected for poc and other minorities (e.g., we will not accept the use of a cis pb for a non-cis character). if we see a discrepancy when you apply, we will reach out prior to adds. if someone approaches us with valid concerns about current or incoming members, we will reach out for clarification or to discuss changes if needed. if these rules feel unreasonable to you, please reconsider whether courty is the right home for you. finally, regarding problematic pbs: the mods do not know every celebrity or influencer in detail; please do reach out to us if you feel a character's pb is inappropriate for the community. messaging apps (e.g., wire, discord) are prohibited ic. please only interact and participate in journals and communities. breaking this rule will result in your immediate removal and character ban from courty, no matter how long you've been here. sensitive content please be clear and communicative regarding sensitive content. when sharing potentially triggering content or nsfw imagery on the fp, please put it behind a cut and provide a clear trigger warning. when it comes to sharing nsfw images directly, please ask ic or ooc before springing a link like that on someone. even though we're all adults and it's just rp, consent to share nsfw content is important and necessary. complaints about this will be taken seriously and will result in your removal should you not respect this rule. however, please bear in mind that courty began as a smut comm—we welcome adult topics on the fp, so long as they're appropriately disclosed. this means sometimes topics you're uncomfortable with will show up, and sometimes the topics you post may make others uncomfortable. please understand we will not ask for nsfw content that doesn't promote harm to be taken down, nor will we prevent characters from receiving ic criticism for content they choose to display. if you have significant triggers surrounding sexual content or you expect to be able to post sensitive content without potential ic backlash, please consider whether courty is the right community for you.

after joining

intros once you're approved, you have until the next round of adds to run the friends' button and post your intro. when there are substantial adds (typically 10+), we host new member ffas instead; please post your intro as a comment in the ffa if it is active to prevent flooding the fp, but feel free to post directly to the community if the ffa has slowed significantly. starting when you intro, you have 48 hours to respond to most or all of your comments. failing to meet any of the intro requirements will result in removal. you may always ask for an extension if you don't think you can meet this deadline! updates we only require you to update once a month but you are in no way limited to doing so. we like to inspire updates, not force them, so our activity mods provide monthly update challenges, but your updates can still be anything you'd like. we do have a couple guidelines, however! first, lyrics-only posts with comments disabled do not count for your monthly update. please understand this is just to be fair to other members! additionally, if you post an update with comments enabled, you must respond to those comments for your activity to count. for new members, intros count as your update for the month. if you were removed for not completing your monthly update, you must include an update when reapplying. be friendly! courty has thrived so far because of both new and old members who branch out from their established connections, and we ask you to join with that same motivation! the mods are active on the fp and we keep track of activity, so we will notice if you never make an effort. of course, we're all adults with busy lives and some weeks are just harder than others to be active; if we see you around when you can be, we recognize and appreciate that! removals happen during the month and at the end of the month. during the month, removals may occur for two reasons: one, new members who are doa will be removed and two, any member who hasn't run the friends' button in 7 days risks removal. at the end of the month, you will be removed if you haven't met our activity requirements. these include your one update & an attempt at being active. we also do an activity check in the last week of the month. members found to be persistently inactive (i.e., no fp engagement throughout consecutive months) may be removed, and members who have been removed repeatedly for inactivity may have future applications rejected; see below. we have a 3-strikes policy for inactivity-based removal. this means that once you have been removed three times for being doa, not updating for the month, or failing to comment an activity check, any attempts to reapply will be rejected. if this seems harsh, please understand that modding takes a lot of effort, and having to remove and re-add members who do not follow activity rules adds to that effort and raises the likelihood of mistakes during administrative tasks. we also consider this sort of behavior inconsiderate to other members who do follow the rules and communicate with us, regardless of what's going on in their lives. communicate! we're all adults who have lives that should absolutely take priority over rp. so, we just ask that you communicate if you're not in a place where you can be active. let us know if you're going to be very busy for awhile, or if you might not be able to update your flist for a week. if you make an effort with us, we will always be there to do the same.

hiatuses/extensions

hiatuses are given two weeks at a time, with case-by-case exceptions. when requesting a hiatus, you must include a projected return date. this allows us to better track member presence + avoid accidental removals. if you need additional time, be sure to comment us before your return date arrives, as we can't always promise reminders! please note that, excepting special circumstances, you are expected to provide an update for the month(s) in which you were on hiatus within a reasonable timeframe upon your return. extensions unless otherwise noted, all requested extensions last until the 5th of the new month. for example, whether you request an extension on august 25th or 31st, you will have until 9/5 to update. further extensions may be granted, but are unlikely to be given beyond the 10th of the new month. if you expect to have that much trouble meeting your update requirements, please request a hiatus instead.

activities

our activity mods host activities that you ask for, so please always communicate what you'd like to see more of! currently, they host regular secrets roundups (with the ability to opt out), ic and ooc ffas, custom buddy signups, and come up with some exciting comm-wide events, like august's camp courty. in addition to our mod-hosted activities, we welcome and encourage all member activities! of course, please check the schedule in stickies to see what's already on the horizon, and the fp to see if an activity like yours has recently happened. plot posts because plot posts require people to put in a lot of effort and time (both creating and participating in them), we caution against more than one major event every week to avoid burnout. thus, we ask that you submit any comm-wide event or trip to stickies for approval, and be open to date changes if other events have been scheduled. smaller, casual events can go up any time, but any event that you want a significant number of people to participate in must be approved. regarding birthdays, we have many members and thus, a lot of birthdays! many birthday parties every month just aren't feasible. if you'd like to do a party for a character's birthday and several others have birthdays around the same time, please consider getting characters together for combined celebrations.