Getting This Family Back Up Again - Activity Thread

Hello there, guests and members of Dango Daikazoku!

Allow me to introduce myself for those who don't know who I am, or... just for old times sake. My name is Miyuki but most of the members simply prefer to call me Miyu. I play as Kazue Masumi, Sanae Furukawa, and the soon-to-be Sora Shirogane! This thread is not only to boost up the long needed activity for Dango Daikazoku, but to see who are the ones checking back here still or not.

It may just be me but I have grown to love this site and all the members that are a part of it. I made a promise to a wonderful person - a promise that I not only intend to keep but will do my best to make sure it is achieved. I want to keep this wonderful place going no matter what, and that promise is not the only reason why. If it weren't for this website, I never would have met the wonderful people that I consider my good friends and family. It may seem foolish of me, naive even, to keep on trying on a place that has been inactive for months...

But I don't want to give up.

So, let the call begin!

Let's find a way to bring this place back up in activity everyone!

[Densetsu Karu]

Apr 1, 2014 19:35:36 GMT -6 @miyuki said:

Hello there, guests and members of Dango Daikazoku!

Allow me to introduce myself for those who don't know who I am, or... just for old times sake. My name is Miyuki but most of the members simply prefer to call me Miyu. I play as Kazue Masumi, Sanae Furukawa, and the soon-to-be Sora Shirogane! This thread is not only to boost up the long needed activity for Dango Daikazoku, but to see who are the ones checking back here still or not.

It may just be me but I have grown to love this site and all the members that are a part of it. I made a promise to a wonderful person - a promise that I not only intend to keep but will do my best to make sure it is achieved. I want to keep this wonderful place going no matter what, and that promise is not the only reason why. If it weren't for this website, I never would have met the wonderful people that I consider my good friends and family. It may seem foolish of me, naive even, to keep on trying on a place that has been inactive for months...

But I don't want to give up.

So, let the call begin!

Let's find a way to bring this place back up in activity everyone!

This is almost a month late, but I feel kind of touched seeing this post. (Did you mean to post it on April 1st?!)

Once and a while I come back here just to remember. It was a great time, here on DD. I met a lot of people on this website who have impacted my life in so many ways. Not only that, but my writing skill had been greatly improved in my time here.

Some days, I look back on this site, and the times we had just leap out at me. I ask myself, "would you do it again?" Some days, the answer is yes. Yes, I would. Other days, the answer is no. Thing is, if it were to happen, I think DD's revival would be best done as a reboot on a completely new site. There are too many old threads and characters that are long-gone on here, and the new ProBoards basically screwed up everything. It may be best to pick up and move to a new board, start fresh, and go on from there.

I do not have the resolve for such a task, unfortunately. To be perfectly honest, I've moved on. My current writing interests have brought me away from DD and into other genres, and so I have no drive to even try DD again. I feel that maybe this is why many of the others have disappeared, too. Or it's just me. Could just be me. I am by no means closed off to the idea of RPing again, but not... not here. I hate to admit it, but that's the way it is.

I guess this whole post is kind of pointless, but I wanted to at least acknowledge you. Maybe I even offered some interesting food for thought.

It was nice posting here again.

[Mizukami Ayumu]

This is a world that has ended.

(But I don't want to think it has.)

Again, even later, here I am. Are you still there?

This site... it is by no means my first, but it is a place that I've been long in, and a place that I want to continue, even now that all signs of its continuing seem hopeless. Perhaps because Clannad brings me a certain nostalgia (as some may have deduced from my little alternate universe post), and perhaps because of the site itself, and the many things that have happened here... nostalgia again. I have often faulted myself for clinging to the past--- I wonder if that's what I'm doing, now, again, here.

But enough of my feelings. This thread, and the other thread that Vivo made (Vivo, you didn't give me any PS's, hrmph! I guess I haven't given you as much trouble as Akira, huh) sound like eulogies, which somewhat depress me. From a genre-savvy standpoint, it almost feels like our little doleful paragraphs are becoming even more a death knell than the dearth of posts that has plagued this place, our place. (I'm kind-of curious about who Miyu made a promise too. I've made all sorts of promises behind people's backs.)

Nonetheless, I am here. I haven't been always here--- life has always abducted me time and again, but I have always found myself coming back. Sazanami reporting in, the roleplayer of Mizukami Ayumu and Fujibayashi Ryou. I'm kind-of sure Akira must be around, somewhere, too.

Still, from a more practical perspective, we would still need more people for a revival. I don't know who've I've been talking about it... probably Akira, since he always messages me in Skype (haha)... that perhaps we need to do something more than we've been doing. We can't just wait. I'm not so sure what to do, though, so I'll be throwing ideas off the top of my head. We can do a reboot of the timeline, or something? I just don't know if we could do it without Celena... and probably an advertising spree too, or interest checks in other websites, though I'm also not sure how to go about that... aaaah >.<

In any case, I'll be dropping by. I've forgotten if I have you on Skype, Miyu. What's your handle there?

[Okazaki Tomoya]

Alright, alright, I admit I screwed up. It wasn't until a day or two after that I realized it but by then it was a bit late to edit it in. So to make it up to you I'll reply to you here now (Maybe edit in that extra PS in the future).

Frankly, I think a revival is impossible at the moment. And that's because we lack the one thing we were desperately scrambling for shortly before the site died. People. Anyone really, preferably those with a good deal of passion. As our own members faded away nobody new joined us. With that said though, I do have plenty of ideas if there were to be anyone out there interested in realizing the dream with me. I've done quite a bit of forum searching and one thing I have yet to find is a slice-of-life based anime RPing forum. About the closest I've ever gotten was highschool/small town/college based forums that use real life models as there basis, but what always rubbed me the wrong way was how it seemed to predominately function around the one thing I think slice-of-life can do without. Drama. Now don't get me wrong. Drama is a part of life, it can't be avoided, and trying to ban it is downright silly. Even Clannad is CLASSIFIED as a drama. But that isn't quite the type of drama I mean. I'm more referring to the, gossip-ridden, he said/she said what?! variety of drama.

Don't get me wrong, in small bursts its fine - but don't we already have more then enough of that in movies and television shows? Soap operas may be sustainable for a time, but they lack the real depth of true characters that are required to make a story, or a world for that matter, sustainable. This is why I've always loved slice-of-life based anime, especially when they are done well. So on to my idea:

Essentially, combine them all. The main focus of K-on is a group of girls forming a light music club. Main focus of Hyoka is a small group who's part of the Literature group and solves mysteries in there spare time. Clannad, of course, is mainly based in the drama club. Love & Chunibyo is based on a club they made up all on there own. Nodame Contabile is mainly focused on orchestras and the more hardcore classical music variety. My point here is that combining all of this into a single forum shouldn't be a problem at all. This way, not only can people roleplay from there favorite slice-of-life animes, but they can also roleplay with characters in other animes as well. Naturally there will be some difficulties and confusion, such as conflicts of clubs or essential plot elements linked to a characters school of origin. But there's no reason why we can't make this work. Once again though, it takes a dedicated group of people. It's no secret that Dango Daikazoku doesn't look all that impressive after the forced change from Proboards. It would take advertisers, people willing to work on the look of the site, and most importantly, people who would be interested in role-playing.

So what do you guys think? Is it worth a complete overhaul and revamp? Anyone qualified enough to take on some of these tough jobs? If not, that's okay too, but in case anyone truly is up for a revival, this is what it would take.

[Sakagami Tomoyo]

Whoa... it's amazingly sweet seeing you all post here, Miyuki, Saz, Legend, and Vivo. Maybe it's the beginning of summer that's bringing us back to our old home; at least, that's the case for me. Like Legend, my life outside of Dango Daikazoku and my other interests have pulled me away from DD. Since I'm here though, DD clearly has held a place in my heart even after all this time (of course, a lot of it has to do with my kind-hearted friends here!)

I've been studying at university and I've hardly had time to do schoolwork. I'm not sure if I could continue writing throughout the school year; but as I say, I believe the phrase "I don't have time for it" translates better to "I'm not willing to put in the time required." However, Vivo, I think that idea is great! It would be tough for me to post throughout the school year since I have other interests and obligations that take priority over writing, and I usually have a tough time writing a post in less than in hour, I don't want to join and not be a consistent member. If you decide to go with it, I'd be more than happy to help setting up the site during these summer months (graphics, advertising, etc).

I'm surprised to hear that you weren't able to find other slice-of-life RPs. You're right though; the internet is abound with high school, college, and town roleplays, but they all are dramatic and very... un-Clannad, if you will. I'm sure if we were to expand the scope of the roleplay, we'd still have a niche in the RPing community. My only concern is, if the member base were to grow, how one would keep the site focused on family, life values, and the deep bonds between characters rather than focusing on popular dramatic matters? Using those anime series you named as a basis would help set the tone; perhaps you can build the universe while incorporating locations from every one of them? I'm not quite sure; the universe could be like a mash-up of those series... I'll think more on it later.

All in all... I think it could work!

Nice to see you all again.

[Okazaki Tomoya]

We wouldn't. Well, not really. It wouldn't be as clear or as big a theme as it would be here. It would still definitely exist though, just more in the background. To be honest, that's how most of these anime's I've named work. Maybe they focus more on solving mysteries around the school or are really into this light music club they all made up together, but ultimately what keeps our interests in all of these anime's are the characters, there relationships to one another, and how they grow both as people and in relationship to each other. Sound familiar? If anything this will not only give more people the opportunity to join, but adds enough spice and variety into the slice-of-life genre that soap opera drama won't be needed for there to be legitimate interest to join. That's the hope at least. This idea rides on a lot of hope. It rides on the hope that it's possible to succinctly and adequately advertise. It rides on the hope that the site can be made and actually look half way decent. And most importantly it rides on the hope that people join. Like...minimum 10. Which doesn't usually sound like a lot but, as we've so painfully discovered, actually is, and can be hard to attain. To be honest I think it would work beautifully and the only REAL flaw I see is getting people who want to join from the perspective of an anime I, or other mods/admins I suppose, haven't seen. At that point it would be difficult, especially if they are a canon character, to determine if they are doing said character justice. But assuming people have some free time they could easily check out a few episodes with said character and get a good understanding and whether they are doing them justice. Another potential issue is over-saturation of characters/universes/canons/what have you, but if the member base is relatively small this shouldn't be an issue, and I think any issue of overpopulation can be dealt with as it comes.

But yeah, that's the last hope/spiritual successor to this site. It's unlikely to happen but if anyone is willing you can count me in.

In the end I decided to come back and check in. Clannad and Fruits baskets were the first two anime I was ever introduced to and for that reason it holds a special place in my heart. I left the site some time ago due RL issues. I wasn't here for very long at first but unless this place closes down, I plan on sticking around this time plus I have grown in regards to rp'ing since I left. I use to be Kaori Honda on here but I am going to be Kaori Tachibana now. I agree with Okazaki's idea, and I am on a another site which is a Love Hina rp sit but it allows characters from other series on there and it works quite well. So I think it could work on here too. 

Hi there. It really has been a while. I came back to the site, knowing it was dead, but I wanted to see if there was a sign of activity at all. To my surprise, this thread was sitting there and sparked a great deal of nostalgia and affection in me. I've always loved DD, and in my opinion, it was one of the only RP's of its kind. I enjoyed the simple, laid-back feel to it, and the interactions and relationships between the characters were interesting enough. I used to think the site's death was due to the slow, mundane nature of the RP but I now see I was wrong. It was simply activity, and as some people stopped coming on, others followed in suit. It's nobody's fault, it's simply how life (real life) is, it comes before role-play unfortunately, so nobody can be blamed. A part of me is very sad because I never really got to RP Avery's full potential, and show that she was more than the obnoxious westerner stereotype. When first joining, I made her too unapproachable and rude to really form relationships, which was one of the central points of DD, or at least to really get everything out of it. When I did edit her to fix this, it was already too late and the site had dwindled to a state of sleep and silence. I still want to RP Avery (different name or not, but still the same concept) and to this day, I've really failed to find a RP in which I could get into at my own pace like I did with DD. Either the site functioned too much like a clique, (and I couldn't seem to fit in while still maintaining my comfort zone), the members weren't very welcoming and friendly, or my muse died due to personal issues which thus stumped my creativity.

Even during my time on DD, I was (and am) dealing with a horrible depression I've been battling since I was about 5 years old and all of the things that come with perpetual unhappiness. It made me sad, it made me angry and it made me very paranoid. My problem was never anything IC-related but OOC. I couldn't seem to relax and think things through and my times of hiatus weren't because of anything in particular, but because of my own misery. It made me my own worst enemy, and I'd often lash out at people who cared about me, or cave in and not talk to anyone for days. I had a horrible alcohol problem back then but thankfully that's over now. There's a lot of other things that contributed to my behavior and outlook but I'm not going into a pity party; I like to think now that while my problems and issues still exist, I can handle them better. I had no issues with any members of the site, I want to make that clear and looking back, I actually liked the people I got to know. It was pleasant and fresh, compared to all the other sites I had been on prior to DD and even to the present. My self-esteem and anxiety aren't the best, and I worry a lot that other people hate me, or that I won't fit in a functioning community, albeit an online one. Communities themselves seem to be a problem to me, and have been for as long as I've been RP'ing. Large numbers of people in one group seemed to trigger my depression and lead to severe self-doubt and self-deprecation and from there, it would become all downhill. Only now have I really been able to see things at least a little more clearly and give DD its credit where its due. However, I want to move on to a more productive and relevant thought.

Like Vivo said, a lot of the so-called slice-of-life RPs out there now are based on real-life FC's complete with predictable characters and trashy, shallow drama meant to spur activity and interest but this isn't what we need, or what DD needed. We just needed something to really bring people's characters together, something that everyone can participate in and really get character interactions going. A school appeared to be the answer but without actual classes being RP'ed and a stable sense of togetherness, characters were all over the place and there wasn't great initiative to interact. For a while, I had ideas to respark the whole club theme, but I think the site was already too dead by then. Seeing this thread and its replies restores new hope. Even if DD itself won't see a revival, I'd very much be interested in a new attempt with a whole new forum to boot. I'd help in anyway I could if it means RP'ing again, because my creativity has been stumped for a long while. I miss you guys. People called/call me Paris, and I played/play as Avery Vanderbilt. I'm definitely willing to put a hand in if others are too.

Here's my contact info and if anyone is reading this, don't hesitate to add me.

skype: southernbellewithlemon
email: [e-mail]

[Gourlay Atsumori]

Hello All:

Though most of you don't know me, I have decided to commit to this post. I stumbled upon this site about a month back and began to scroll throughout the posts. I must say, many of them were both inspiring and awe evoking. It showed me that talent was in the most unlikely place.

However, I was startled to find that this site was dead. How had this happened? When did all the meticulously crafted literature begin to crumble into nothingness?

After I questioned Okazaki about it (I don't know his username) it appeared that inactivity was the catalyst to an apocalypse.

Now, I have not spent time here, and have not gained any treasured memories to recite, or funny jokes to recall. But, I can say this. This was a wonderful family that deserves to be reunited.

In answer to the introspection on why slice-of-life Rp isn't as fulfilling, I believe I have the answer. Anime Rping is limitless. In anime, there are no bounds to your appearance, nor are there any qualms about the characters from Clannad being involved. 

Also, I'm fairly sure that one cannot traverse to a school Rp and incorporate the sophisticated inner clockwork of the many worlds in Clannad. Such a concept is what makes the anime unique when compared to others.

Maybe all but three of you have left, considering the last post to this thread was over a month ago. Or, perhaps you have lost interest.

Regardless, I will stay and continue my silent observation of this website, also offering my involvement in any event of this site's endeavors.

[Okazaki Tomoya]

Hey man welcome back. So before Proboards decided to change everything we actually had a side bar with more information about the site. It had a nicely written plot section that I'm a bit proud of as well as information of Admins and Mods and a C-Box. So in regards to the RP post you made, don't worry I don't have any intention of taking it down.

The only thing I might recommend is if it would be possible to have posts done in 3rd person (Enforcing RP etiquette in a dead forum. Clearly you can see why I'm so popular). This is more for RP flow over personal preference as a 1st person writing style firmly implants the character as the central focal point of the narrative. Anything and everything that occurs is through there eyes and perceptions. This makes it jarring to read when switching from character to character (multiple 1st person RPers RPing together) and even more so when switching from one character in first person to another in third person. When everyone RPs in third person the narrative flows a bit smoother as you see the actions of every character from a more impartial standpoint. You can still keep all of the thoughts/feelings/actions as you would via first person but avoid the jarring disconnect from post to post.

Now I'm just curious to see who (or maybe I should say if) will respond to your thread and how they will go about doing so. I do thank you sincerely though for making it in the right section of the forum and gracing these hallowed halls with some new life.

P.S: Also if for whatever reason you wanted to RP in the world of Clannad as a character, feel free to make a character app. I'll even review it for you myself. Then you can role-play with...well I guess a few of us here. I'll try to get involved myself...though I will admit, Tomoya is the type of person who can't just hop into any thread out there so it might need to be pre-planned just a tad.

[Gourlay Atsumori]

I find it amusing that I made a character application only a few moments ago before  reading this. I thank you for your offer in reading my application. And yes, I suppose you are right in saying that Tomoya can't just jump into a thread. He is a bit... Antisocial.

[Densetsu Karu]

Hello again.

I've finally restored our fabulous sidebar to this graveyard of a forum, and... well, it's a sight to behold. I'm feeling even more nostalgic than usual tonight. For our new guest, this is essentially what our forum looked like back in the day. It's not exactly the same, but it was a very similar layout to this before the ProBoards update broke our themes.

I'll admit, seeing this light, this "hope," I am tempted to take up the pen and return to this world once again... I can't promise that it will happen, but I thought I should mention that I am considering it.

I will, at the very least, continue watching. Thank you for your light, traveler.

[Yasuda Erina]

I guess I'll be jumping into this discussion now, though I don't know that many people are still here and reading. ^^;;

A lot of others here have already stated the same thing, but DD was a special place to me as well. Though this is the first time in several months that I've come near the forums, I've constantly thought about this place and wondered how people were doing. There are several other RPs I've joined over the years, but none that I was as attached to as this one. Like others, I was pulled away by a combination of life and changing interests, but I always thought somewhere in the back of my mind that I could always come back at any time... But then the board just sort of died and I wasn't sure whether it was worth returning to.

If enough people are serious about trying to revive this place though, I'd certainly be interested. c: It's been a while since I roleplayed, and I'd love to be a part of this community again.

[Fuukami I. Iryna]

Here I am...

It's been a while.

Akira, reporting!

(even though I'm using my other alter ego, Iryna)

How's everyone doing? I had been trying to keep this forum alive but a certain member I frequently RP with went MIA and I couldn't continue. Furthermore, stress and other real-life matters pulled me away.

I am still formulating future ideas so that if this place can revived again, I can rejoin.

I currently have 3 characters, all original: Narukami Akira, Fuukami Ivanova Iryna, and Kirishima Anzu.

'Tis a joyous sight to see nearly all of us reuniting for even just a moment at this home. I merely started this thread on a whim - perhaps with even a small flicker of hope barely lighting within myself in a rather troublesome time. It honestly warms my heart and causes me to relax knowing that even if this site is a "dead" one, it will still have quite a few of us around to care for it. Even return to it while attracting some attention after goodness knows how long. I haven't been attached to any place for too long that proved to be enchanting except for this one (which happened to be my first), and the only site that I could truly call my home.

No, I genuinely didn't mean to start it all on the 1st of April (LEGEND, I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE THAT) nor do I myself tend to ever part from this place. I believe that the rest you who have returned understand, and that is certainly being proven here and now with your posts, and spirit.

I alike a few would like to do what I can for this place despite being one of the more younger members before this place faded into a state of silence, and even if any of you would like to just roleplay for old times sake, I return to check this place more often than not. I will admit that I know I am a part of the site's fall of inactivity - we all are in a sense no matter how hard few tried to keep it active. I'm honestly just touched that this thread is still being replied to, and I'm actually very relieved that I even posted this in the first place as a number of you are still returning to this place every once in a while, and alive.

Regardless, I feel that even if we're slowly feeling the waves of nostalgia hit us deeper with each pulse or just simply checking on this home, that we all can perhaps breathe some life bit by bit wherever we go. I didn't know some of you very well and others more than I could have ever imagined. So, let us all work together if we decide to go through with the operations led by our own.

To end this rather short-winded reply...

Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Daikazoku~...



Keep on pushing through, everyone.
Never give up hope.