Now that the poll is closed, here's the official results:

➜ Apps will remain screened by default.

➜ Previous RP memories will not be applicable or allowed to be remembered when apping in.

➜ A job set will be implemented.

➜ Allowing OCs is going to involve further discussion. Because the community is still so divided and the poll ran so close between allowing them and disallowing them, then it's important to discuss this further, with just this question alone, in a sort of community forum at a later date.

➜ The change will be implemented in November. The OC debate, if responded to again in favour of allowing them, will most likely be implemented in January. When 4th wall rolls around during October-November, I strongly suggest trying out your OCs so that community members can actually get a feel for playing with them and experience a game including them.

EVENT ➜ BABIES

➜ A lot of shows that are geared toward a child/teenage audience (especially sitcom-like shows) will have one of those typical fake baby episodes. Generally, it involves a couple of kids taking care of an egg or a flour sack as if it were a child, passing or failing their grade depending on how well they take care of the baby.

➜ Instead of getting an egg or a flour sack however, each household will be afforded one actual baby. Sort of. These babies are indestructible, animatronic, and look just like real babies, but if you try to harm it in any way...well, you can't. Why would you want to hurt something so precious, anyway? Pretty much any form of violence won't effect it, neither will drowning (in case it wanders into the pool), trying to eat it (you'll find they're fleshy but not exactly something your teeth can sink into), or throwing it over the gates. If you do happen to throw it over, th baby will pleasantly fall to the bottom, unharmed, but an identical baby will be waiting for you at your home. There's just no getting rid of these cute little suckers. They appear to be about one-year-old, but their actual age is a mystery.

➜ Because these babies are half robot half magic half who knows what, they record their activities and how happy they are. This information is transferred back to the landlord. If you try to deep fry the baby? He'll know. If you treat the baby well? He'll know. Because this is a item regaining event, this will have an impact on if you get your item back or not. Let's talk about how this will all go down oocly and icly.

➜ OOCly, sign ups for the babies start today. Respond to the appropriate thread with your house number in the subject bar, and you will receive a randomized baby. You'll be told the gender and name of your new boy or girl. Make sure that your house number isn't put down twice. Only one baby per house. This event isn't mandatory, but if one person from the house wants the baby, the house gets the baby. Your character doesn't have to interact with the baby, but this means you won't be eligible for an item to get back from home. You'll get the babies icly on the 13th and signups for babies run through this week. At the end of the event, items will be given out via a response to another post. More details will be given closer to the end of the event.

➜ ICly, no notice will be given for the baby. They'll show up on the doorstep with a ring of the doorbell in the early morning with a note card with a simple explanation and their name, along with a pink or blue hat discerning their gender. From there, it's up to you what happens. After the event ends, the baby will disappear, and items (if they are eligible to be given back) will be left in their place.

➜ The event will last from 13th through the 23rd. Any questions you have can be directed to the thread for them.

Make no mistake, this is a mod post! But because the mod account isn't paid, it won't allow for poll creation.

Since the beginning of the game, a lot of character application questions have been asked, especially what kinds of characters would be allowed. With this pool, it will be easy to test the waters on how people feel about these kinds of things. This poll is only for those already in game since they deserve a say in what should be allowed in a game they are already in. This poll will run on majority rule. I will vote, but my vote means as much as yours does. At this point in time nothing will be changed. If a majority would like something to be changed, then it most likely will be done.

Before answering the poll, it's advised that you read a few explanations to the questions asked below the poll itself.

Long time no see! Here's a pretty big list of some updates, welcomes, and the other miscellaneous junk you need to know!

➜ First of all, welcome to all the new players and characters in game! From all of us to you, we hope that you have a wonderful time here and that you stick around for the long haul!

➜ In case you hadn't noticed, the taken list now has a new format. It has yet to be updated after this influx of newbies, but for those of you that weren't accepted this round and are NOT on the list, please go fill out your comment.

➜ School is coming back in session for the children of Holly Heights this month! An announcement will be put up on Sunday that you need to get your butts in school starting Monday, August 13th! Make sure to pick up some school supplies.

➜ As there have been many questions related to a lot of appable characters and changes that want to be made, there will be a poll related to this sometime in the middle of the month. This includes application process questions, whether OCs can be appable, previous game memories, and the like. As of right now nothing is changing but depending on the majority rule, changes will be taken into consideration. Please remember though that AUs will never be acceptable unless they are canon based and have enough information to play off of.

➜ During October and November, Holly Heights will join the line of games that recently had a 4th wall event. Because this can influence in game things, you're all being told extra early to start plotting ASAP! Any and all accounts can be allowed, be they joke or serious, OC or AU. Take advantage of free reign as much as possible. More information about this will come up when the event gets closer.

➜ I felt that it would be important to touch on a concern people had regarding to some recent events that were brought to my attention, though vaguely to preserve anonymity. To simply put it, if you ever have a problem with a player, be they in game or coming into the game, do not hesitate to speak up about it. Numerous people have sent messages to the mod account, sent private plurks, aimed me, and so on regarding problems with players, situations, and the like and it has all been dealt with swiftly, discreetly, and the situations (as I've followed up on them) have turned out for the better. Please do not take situations like this into your own hands for the sake of everyone involved. A simple message could be all it takes for the situation to turn in your favor, though all situations are dealt with with justice and fairness in mind to both sides. Harassment is not tolerated here in any way, be it involving player to player or player to non-player (and vice versa) harassment. Please do your best to bring all problems, issues, and complaints to mod attention, especially before taking matters into your own hands.

EVENT ➜ HOUSECALLS
(ROUND ONE)

➜ Instead of a player only event, this marks the first round of actual NPC involvement outside of central posts. The event is actually extremely simple and easy to participate in, all you have to do is make a post and tag it accordingly.

➜ To get a chance to interact with the landlord, simply post a log or post with the tag &housecall to signal it is okay for interaction. Depending on the type of post, it can be strictly action and oocly "set up" for him (unsuspecting family sitting around, surprise what's up it's your home boy lessie) or just a text post on the network, a video feed, any kind of post you can think of that he can interact on.

➜ If you would like to plan something oocly with other house guests, that's fine! It's not the only option you have. Also, icly, none of this has been discussed or hinted at, so if he shows up, then it's a big surprise. Also, you can try to kill, threaten, hurt him but it won't stick for long. Feel free to throw your worst at him! You can ask any and all questions, but don't be surprised if he doesn't brush you off.

➜ It's unnecessary to sign up or anything, just simply post! This event is meant to be lax and laid back and geared toward those who enjoy NPC involvement! It's possible to post between the 13th and the 23rd (CST). Any posts tagged appropriately between the two dates can be responded to by everyone's favourite, resident landlord. After these 10 days of interaction, he'll disappear until needed again.

➜ A notice will be given when the event starts and when the event ends, both on plurk and on the OOC community. See you in about 7 hours!

AFTER CYCLE UPDATE
Thank you any and all new applicants, as well as the old ones! Holly Heights is growing and increasing in popularity all thanks to you. Thank you for your playing, support, and absolutely everything!

A SMALL CALENDAR CHANGE
In order to better space things and make the mid month event a little easier to manage and participate in, it had been pushed back two days to be from the 16th to the 23rd. Interested in what it is? A post should go up on the 13th, which will also list the Tanabata wish winners.

AESTHETICS
While the taken character list was supposed to be re-done last month, it was necessary to keep it in comment style for the AC this month. It will be redone soon, so please make sure your info is updated and that you have posted to it so you won't be forgotten.

It also appears (on my computer) that a lot of the imgur links have stopped working or result in redirect loops. They're nothing too major, so you won't miss much, but they will be redone or reuploaded sometime soon.

ON APPLICATION CONFUSION
Because there was a lot of confusion on the 7th/8th and when apps would actually close, I will say here that while the date reserves open may fluctuate depending on the number of days in the month, apps will always be open during the first week of the month, no more, no less. This means apps can be submitted from the 1st to the 7th of any month. Apps posted after the 8th will not be accepted, even though the post at the time should say "closed" anyway. I apologize for any confusion this might have caused, and the application page now reflects when they will be open next, as well as reserves.

TTFN
Ta Ta For Now! The next update posts will be focused on the upcoming event and also a new post that will be put up within the month. See you then, Hollies!

AFTER CYCLE UPDATE
Thank you any and all new applicants, as well as the old ones! Holly Heights is growing and increasing in popularity all thanks to you. Thank you for your playing, support, and absolutely everything!

NOTES ON UPCOMING CHANGES
Now, that word strikes some fear in some hearts but don't worry! Just minor fixings and formatting issues will be addressed. A few little application things will be fixed, such as an added section for canon, which will be the basic "link me to your canon and tell me what it is", etc. The Orientation section instructions will be made more clear. As a little sidenote for everyone to remember: if your character is at or over 18, PLEASE fill out the orientation section. That was one of the biggest revision request causers, so to save everyone time and your inbox, please read the application instructions thoroughly! Typos and errors will be fixed, commonly asked questions will be added to the FAQ, and a new HTML based taken list will be implemented. Nothing too major, guys, so don't worry!

"ACTIVITY CHECK"
There's not going to be one for this month! All these new players coming in at odd times kind of nullifies the point and makes it a huge mess trying to figure out who apped in when and what deserves a confirmed AC.

I will say this though: PLEASE REPLY TO YOUR TAKEN CHARACTER COMMENT. That way I don't miss anyone while making the new list. All comments are linked and up, so please respond so you won't be missed!

NEW POSTS
Birthday Post: Characters are now eligible to receive presents on birthdays in the form of obtainable items, albeit they are ones that are mod approved. Simple reply to the post with the filled out form and it will be approved or denied. If approved, the landlord will personally send the gift to your character's mailbox or doorstep. ALL CHARACTERS WITH BIRTHDAYS THAT HAVE HAPPENED WHILE IN GAME SO FAR MAY ASK FOR GIFTS AS OF NOW. THIS MEANS THAT THEY HAD TO HAVE HAD THEIR BIRTHDAY WHILE IN THE GAME TO BE ELIGIBLE.

Customer Service: Anything that you would like to address without the hassle of messages or anonymously can be taken here, now.

TTFN
Ta Ta For Now! The next update posts will be focused on upcoming events, so see you sometime later in the week!

THANK YOU AND THANK YOU AGAIN
Today is the grand opening of the game, and it's going very swimmingly! I can say it until I turn blue in the face, but I want to thank everyone for reserving, applying, asking questions, and supporting this game. It's having an excellent turn out because of all of you and it's extremely beautiful.

FYI, if you haven't stopped by yet, go intro on the log! Now that the log is up, the game is officially open and everyone is free to post individual posts and logs of their own volition.

ATP
As we all know, or maybe you will now, App This Plz is happening on May 5th. Now, the game is new, but that isn't stopping any of you from enabling, enabling, enabling. There will be an ad posted in the new game thread, but I'd also love it if you could give me some insight on some wanted characters you might have, be they canon mates or just people you'd love to see in the setting, so I can make a wanted comment as well. Everyone also is free to make their own wanted canon-specific comments to ATP if you are so inclined.

APP CYCLE
Because the game had such a good turn out from the start, the application cycle will start sooner than expected! The plan as of right now is for apps and reserves to run through May, but then close reserves off when June 1st hits with apps open from the 1st - 8th. This cycle would then run on a month to month basis, just to keep in check with scheduling and the month calendar. BUT this is of course just a plan. Any comments on the matter would be completely welcome.

THE KITCHEN SINK
Though this month is opening month, that doesn't mean it's without holidays and happenings! Mother's Day falls on the 13th of this month and then a little event running from the 18th through the 21st, but more details on those at a later date.

Every 3rd Saturday of the month there will be an interchanging HMD/Love meme for the game. Anon will be off as well as IP logging, but neither of these are mandatory and will stay locked for your security. For the HMD meme, you may link to your own HMD if you don't wish to fall under the IP/Anon constraints. For May 19th, because the game will still be getting into the swing of things, the cycle will start with a Love meme to bring in encouragement and all that other mushy gushy stuff everyone knows and loves. Once everyone has seen strong examples of how each other plays, a HMD meme will happen on June 16th. More detailed rules will be posted on the actual memes themselves, but expect the normal common sense, tl;dr mumbo jumbo as per usual.

These will be posted in the meme community, as well as any other IC memes you'd like to throw out. Feel free to post whatever, whenever, but remember that they shouldn't have IC consequences unless they are relevant to plotting. Any other moderated memes you'd like to see? Please feel free to comment with any requests or opinions on anything related to them, or anything else in the post!