The following messages and disclaimers have been approved and vetted by Dan DeFranco, Owner, CEO, and General Manager. © 2017 LAW. All Rights Reserved.
LAW as an RP platform has the benefit of offering a lot of creative freedom. And while that's a massive selling point, it can sometimes leave users lost on some things, or encourage them to simply emulate what other people are doing, which might make them gloss over/forget a few things when it comes to the shared universe our staff and wrestlers occupy and take part in.
To help with this below is a Q&A format that offers worldbuilding/facts about LAW to inspire ideas and help ground the wrestling company and the canon as a whole. This shouldn't retcon or undo/undermine any existing character traits/arcs/stories/or plot devices. It's merely here to clear the air, assist with stories, and assist with world-building. The next time you have a question about LAW or the universe/continuity it's in, I'm hoping that referring to this will help you.
What does LAW stand for (in canon/in universe)?
We know that LAW an acronym we use to refer to the wrestling company, but what does it stand for? Nothing. You, the user know that it's the site "League of Anime Wrestling" but in canon, the characters only know it to be a placeholder acronym for the wrestling company. Like the SATs or DKNY or other pseudo-acronyms, it may have stood for something at some point, but the meaning was lost over time while the company was being formed. What the letters used to stand for is no longer as important as what it stands for today, the wrestling company that's sweeping the globe.
How big is LAW as a company/product?
When the site was first made, and in the first few years of its life, we've operated under the premise that LAW was created in and operates throughout various parts of Japan. Over time, however, the roster, product, profits, and company as a whole scaled up quite well. LAW now operates at gym facilities, community centers, offices, arenas, and more internationally/in various parts of the world.As such, we'll be holding our midyear PPV's (and possibly other events) in various major cities around the world. Users are encouraged to have any thread or match take place in any major city or really any place they'd like. You are encouraged to do so if it fits a story you have in mind (like a match taking place in a wrestler's hometown, for example). LAW threads are not locked to just Japan!
Additionally, because the company has reached international prominence, you can assume that most high-profile events/matches/occurrences are broadcast/televised nearly worldwide. And that merch is sold nearly worldwide. If you can think of any creative ways to weave that into RP's, that's neat. But if not, don't sweat it. Characters taking credit for LAW's rise/success (either deservedly taking credit or undeservedly) especially if they've been on the roster a while is totally fine.
How big are typical LAW arenas?
I've seen some people (mostly on discord) assume that the average LAW arena is small and that only the events which take place in Koraken Hall are done in a LAW arena. This is actually false. Even your common LAW Arenas are pretty big/decently sized. You can actually see what it's supposed to look like in the background of this website. Behind the clear white portions, you can see the image of an arena. It's been looking at you this whole time.
LAW Arena
What aspects of my character's employment/role at LAW am I free to get creative about?
For the most part, anything. But to give you an idea, you can (either make a story where your character earns these things or just state in their profile outright what they're entitled to) choose to determine your character's salary, perks, sponsorships, streams, prominence on social media platforms, merchandising, the terms of their contract with LAW, what types of matches they're obligated to have or allowed to abstain from, whether or not they have a private locker room or trailer or if they share a locker room with other wrestlers, any special entrances they have when they enter the arena (coming to the ring on a motorcycle, in a car, via helicopter, whatever, just be sure to clear it with your RP partner). You're allowed to get creative.
Conversely, you're allowed to get creative about the drawbacks of employment as well. Does your character have a criminal record? Is that being held against them somehow while they're working for LAW? Are they at risk of being fired? Does your character often risk suspension/disciplinary action for being overly violent/violating rules in or out of the ring? Is your character required to do something that they don't want to do as a part of losing (or maybe even winning a match, idk). The point here is: you're allowed to get creative.
How does time pass at LAW:
In short, IRL time does not mirror LAW time. Matches, events, and threads in general do not necessarily complete in the amount of time that it takes to finish them IRL. Events don't happen in the order that threads and RP's finish. You control the order of events for your character. Got a thread that you're waiting to start that springboards off another thread ending? You can wait for that first thread or end or could start it right away and finish that first thread whenever. Did you have a thread that you started a year ago finally complete? You can add it to your character's timeline/history and say it completed yesterday in your character's timeline. Or you can say that it was a match from long ago. Or you can spoil the outcome and have your character interact with others reacting to the results of the match.
You can always operate under the assumption that your threads are completed in your desired order. It doesn't have to align with anyone else's preference.
The Young Lioness Program:
Full information on the Young Lioness program can be found here. This is a concept that functions like a development program for LAW. It is meant to be a means for newer/younger/more inexperienced wrestlers to get their start in LAW. The program is optional and you as a user and a roleplayer are allowed to determine which of your character fit into this program and if/when they graduate from it after coming into their own as capable/experienced and established LAW wrestlers.
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Disclaimers
The following is a list of disclaimers that I believe most players already knew/believed. But there's always the occasional person that either didn't or that "jokes" about these things not being true. Plus there's always the chance that someone's completely new to wrestling or roleplay and needs these things to be pointed out explicitly. Disclaimer concerning kayfabe at LAW:
In LAW's continuity, matches and events are treated as if they are real/unscripted, and not preplanned. If you're this far in, you can probably suspend enough disbelief to buy into that. A character for one reason or another choosing to throw a match or go along with something because they want to is one thing, but the contests/matches/threads/RP's on this site are treated as if the characters are genuinely acting like or competing as themselves or the gimmick they've chosen, and not like they're trying to follow a script.
Disclaimer about how matches and events get booked:
One way or another, you can always assume matches and events take place with LAW management's blessing being granted in the background implicitly (or explicitly if your RP entails that). That doesn't necessarily mean that management is taking sides or booking for or against anyone. It's entirely possible for a character to be bribing someone to book a match they want or for someone to in good favor with management to get the match they want. It just means that wrestlers don't make the matches or events, management does in the background. Starting next PPV (I'll announce a summer PPV in a month or so), I'll be adding kayfabe explanations to PPV and event announcements detailing management's rationale, goals, and outlook concerning the upcoming event.
Disclaimer about entities/groups in anime/wrestling inspired media like Rumble Roses, Wrestle Angels, Ring Dream, etc.
Of course, it's inevitable that on a wrestling roleplay site, users will adopt/create characters based on characters from these IPs. And that's totally fine. Within the universe LAW inhabits, please assume that Rumble Roses, Wrestle Angels, and other groups like these have real-world equivalent wrestling schools/gyms or wrestling stables that characters at LAW may or may not have history with.
Disclaimer about real-world wreslter's/wrestling companies/wrestling history/legends, etc.
You can assume that for the most part, wrestling history is intact in our universe. And you can reference real-world wrestlers from days gone by. Steer clear of wrestlers that are prominent in the present day.
You're also free to insert your own fictional characters into wrestling history within the LAW universe. Several characters have done so in this "Wrestlers of LAW History" thread, and I encourage you to use it and to post to it if you'd like to do the same.
Disclaimer about the legality of wrestler's actions:
Occasionally, people will (out of continuity, usually on discord) make fun of a character's ability to get away with things that are downright illegal, often joking that LAW as an organization condones these things. That's patently false. If you want characters to be realistically punished for breaking the law (pun intended), that's your job to portray it in your RP's. LAW's Human Resources department, like any human resource department, puts the company first and does not allow LAW to be at fault or sued for things their wrestlers choose to do in front of or behind the camera. You're welcome to have your wrestlers get suspended, fined, denied their desired matches, have their pay docked, or otherwise punished for doing things that are reprehensible, or for crossing the wrong person.
Disclaimer about hentai:
I never really thought this one had to spelled out for anyone, but just to cover all our bases, LAW does not allow the use/participation of characters/wreslters that are minors/below the age of 18. Similarly, all explicit events/matches/happenings where characters are explicitly indulging in hentai/hardcore lewds are not televised/streamed/broadcast/or otherwise shown to fans that are not of age. Live events with hentai matches on the card disallow minors to pull them from the audience for said matches. If you can suspend your disbelief for everything else, you can suspend your disbelief for this.
Links to stuff I wish more people would read
Peace, Love, and Sexy Wrestling Roleplay Stories