Viewpoint "I don't get it." What's an RP Fandom/Theme/Idea you could never understand?

[Syntra]

to be fair
I am talking about these dynamics when:
A. The feelings are not reciprocated by the apprentice/employee/student (because rank gives more power to the master/boss/teacher, making that dynamic incredibly creepy)
B. There is an age difference of 10+ years (yes, age is just a number, but the difference between 18 and 38, or even 22 and 42, is a lot.)

also like
I just think it’s creepy and I don’t understand why people like it so much
And that’s what this thread is for

That's fair! Though I have to say, I have pretty much never seen a situation where these feelings weren't reciprocated. Like, it just seemed like a forbidden romance kind of thing to me.

Ironically part of my issue is that there isn't actually any conflict in these stories. If there was I would be a lot more okay with them.

But the level of conflict generated is usually more of the "if these two people had a conversation like well adjusted adults this wouldn't be happening." Not "oh shit their gonna lose their livelihood and possibly face jail time."

Cuz like legit if that was how people addressed these pairings I would be totally fine with them. Are they my cup of tea? No. But that's for personal reasons.

I have no problem with problematic pairings inherently. What I have a problem with is people not acknowledging their problematic (at least in the universe).

It's the same issue with "nerdy" characters. If you want to write a self-righteous character who thinks she's better then other girls that's fine. But don't act like she's something she's not.

Same thing if you legit want to write student x teacher relationship then at least give it realistic stakes.

I get that! Personally, I would consider that to be poor writing. Like, when you choose to tell that kind of story, there should definitely be some consequences, otherwise what's the point?

 

[Syntra]

Well, slice of life's great for character exploration and worldbuilding exploration as well. When you don't really have to move between point A and point B, you get more room to just go to random places and showcase what's there.

In addition, slice of life is fitting for a more episodic style of storytelling. This can be, though isn't necessarily a sitcom-style "everything resets at the end of the episode" kind of thing, but you might be on a tour seeing various places, it might be a school or small town setting with all the typical events and seeing the character's unique approach to them, salespeople taking care of hijinks caused by the magical artifacts they sell, etc...

Yeah, I don't have the attention span for that, lol. I'm not saying it's impossible to do these things, just that I couldn't. I like slice-of-life moments, and they can be a lot of fun, but I enjoy them as a frosting on the cake kind of thing. They can't be the entire cake, for me.

 

[nerdy tangents]

To get off the toxic examples into something a bit more light-hearted ;;

I do not get people who don't give their characters proper names.

Like listen I used to work at a library and people IRL can have wild names. So I get it but there is usually some internal logic there.

Like I once saw someone whose name was Bruce Wayne Batman. It's clear that was a joke by his parents.

But people are out here naming their characters something like Pink Scholar and acting like that's not weird or notable.

I get it that finding names can be hard but it's not that difficult to just pick some random name out of your ass. Like, ain't nothing wrong with a character named Michelle Brown or whatever.

Or if you are gonna come up with some nonsense name give it a reason. Like the above example "Bruce's parents named him after their favorite comic character."

 

[Idea]

Yeah, I don't have the attention span for that, lol. I'm not saying it's impossible to do these things, just that I couldn't. I like slice-of-life moments, and they can be a lot of fun, but I enjoy them as a frosting on the cake kind of thing. They can't be the entire cake, for me.

Fair enough. Since the question in this thread is about what someone doesn't get the appeal to, if I reply I like to try to show the appeal. You never know, sometime you might be able to change someone's mind and broaden their horizons to more things they can enjoy

 

[Inno]

Like no. Seriously. I definitely don't get this, don't want to get it, and am very surprised that I saw it around here. Forbidden romance between brother and sister. Isn't that against the rules or something?

 

[Onmyoji]

Isn't that against the rules or something?

It isn't if it doesn't go into sexual territory. Otherwise we'd have to also disallow historical rps, Game of Thrones rps and such.

 

[Inno]

Well, I've done historical roleplays in the past and that was never something that came up.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Well, I've done historical roleplays in the past and that was never something that came up.

It happened among certain Royal lines, as a way to secure the throne or strengthen the bloodline. IRL the Egyptians come to mind. Game of Thrones is rather famous for it. So it is realistic to an extent depending on the story you want to tell.

Typically speaking incest pairings are more about the succession line and the politics surrounding that.

So if you aren’t doing pairings about who inherits the throne when the current monarch dies then it’s likely not to come up.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I will agree however I do not get incest = I am attracted to a family member.

That is a pairing that makes no sense to me because gross.

I do however understand incest in the political sense. Not my favorite pairing but I at least understand where people are coming from.

 

[Melpomene]

I will agree however I do not get incest = I am attracted to a family member.

That is a pairing that makes no sense to me because gross.

I do however understand incest in the political sense. Not my favorite pairing but I at least understand where people are coming from.

I could see it if they weren't writing romance. Like if it was supposed to be a psychological horror/thriller. Something where it is obviously wrong and there is something wrong with the characters maybe. But not as a straightforward romance.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I could see it if they weren't writing romance. Like if it was supposed to be a psychological horror/thriller. Something where it is obviously wrong and there is something wrong with the characters maybe. But not as a straightforward romance.

I disagree that it has to be wrong. That’s modern sensibilities where romance = physical attraction.

The reason incest is wrong is entirely linked to the idea that having sex with your close relative leads to birth defects. That is why as a society we mark it as taboo.

But if you are going with the assumption that romance has absolutely nothing to do with sex or physical attraction then it's not as big of an issue. At that point, it's no different then a gay man marrying a lesbian in a time period when it was illegal to marry the same gender. It's just folks making the best of a shit situation.

 

[Inno]

It happened among certain Royal lines, as a way to secure the throne or strengthen the bloodline. IRL the Egyptians come to mind. Game of Thrones is rather famous for it. So it is realistic to an extent depending on the story you want to tell.

Typically speaking incest pairings are more about the succession line and the politics surrounding that.

So if you aren’t doing pairings about who inherits the throne when the current monarch dies then it’s likely not to come up.

I am well aware of that. What I'm more talking about is a straight up romance between brother and sister. People can justify it in whatever way they want, I don't get it the mindset behind it nor will I ever.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Actually, this does bring up a tangential issue I have.

When people think romance = physical attraction.

It makes me want to throw my phone against the wall because they are not the same thing.

Romance is an emotional attraction. Sexuality is a physical attraction.

So just because your characters want to bang does not mean you are writing a romantic relationship.

 

[Melpomene]

I disagree that it has to be wrong. That’s modern sensibilities where romance = physical attraction.

The reason incest is wrong is entirely linked to the idea that having sex with your close relative leads to birth defects. That is why as a society we mark it as taboo.

But if you are going with the assumption that romance has absolutely nothing to do with sex or physical attraction then it's not as big of an issue. At that point, it's no different then a gay man marrying a lesbian in a time period when it was illegal to marry the same gender. It's just folks making the best of a shit situation.

Eh, incest is also considered wrong because many modern cases of it are considered non-consensual. Often involving grooming, gaslighting, etc., etc. That's where I'm coming from when I mean it is wrong, as realistically that is where many incest cases come from.

I suppose it is RP so you could play the exception rather than the rule and have characters who are engaged in a healthy and consensual incestuous romance. But I guess I'm too reminded by the usual real world issues that come up with it to be comfortable.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Eh, incest is also considered wrong because many modern cases of it are considered non-consensual. Often involving grooming, gaslighting, etc., etc. That's where I'm coming from when I mean it is wrong, as realistically that is where many incest cases come from.

I suppose it is RP so you could play the exception rather than the rule and have characters who are engaged in a healthy and consensual incestuous romance. But I guess I'm too reminded by the usual real world issues that come up with it to be comfortable.

I am also talking about historical content. So like in Downton Abbey (1912) it is a major plot point that someone must marry their cousin. And it’s just a thing one does.

If it took place in 2012 it wouldn’t happen because women would be allowed to inherit titles on their own (or the titles would be defunct anyway).

See also things like Game of Thrones, where once again title and power are past down primarily through male heirs and women have functionally no rights as human beings. So yeah you are playing with an entirely different deck then IRL in w2022.

If you are committing incest in 2022 or in a society where people have a choice in their romantic partners due to somewhat equitable social standing among genders/class/etc. then you are just straight-up taking advantage of someone. Especially if there is an age difference or power imbalance involved.

It's less of an issue in historical settings (or pseudo-historical settings) because all of society was one big power imbalance. So if you were a marginalized person it didn't matter who you married there was gonna probably be some gross elements involved unless you were stupid lucky.

 

[Inno]

Actually, this does bring up a tangential issue I have.

When people think romance = physical attraction.

It makes me want to throw my phone against the wall because they are not the same thing.

Romance is an emotional attraction. Sexuality is a physical attraction.

So just because your characters want to bang does not mean you are writing a romantic relationship.

Romance has a bunch of different meanings and it is not just an emotional attraction. It seems we're going into something way far from what I originally said. I am entitled to have my opinion as are you. We don't have to agree but there's no need to get upset just because you feel however you do about the subject.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Romance has a bunch of different meanings and it is not just an emotional attraction. It seems we're going into something way far from what I originally said. I am entitled to have my opinion as are you. We don't have to agree but there's no need to get upset just because you feel however you do about the subject.

That wasn't directed at you. It was a tangential point I had about romance.

Meaning it was not relevant to the current topic but something that I thought about in loose relation to the topic of historical romance.

 

[Inno]

When a character is nothing but bad stereotypes.

 

[Walliver]

when you’re only active and interested when the rest of the group is asleep

 

[Idea]

when you’re only active and interested when the rest of the group is asleep

Can relate. Especially cause I'm in a time zone where I'm often either the only one awake, or the one who wakes up to see that all the activity in the OOC happened while you were asleep.

 

[Jannah]

Not gonna lie, I don't really get the outrage. Yeah, these relationships would be fucked up irl, but like... I don't think it's that deep when people write about them? Taboo topics are appealing because they are taboo. That's the point. More than half my characters are unhinged murderers, and that doesn't actually mean I condone real life murder. Isn't that kind of the same thing? Why is it suddenly different when it's romance? Romance =/= self-inserting, imo.

Plus, stories need conflict. Pairings like that generate it naturally, so it doesn't feel weird to me that people gravitate towards them, even if I personally consider such plots to be kinda derivative. I can at least see the rationale.

And as for something I don't get: slice of life. Like, what do you even write about? What's the point? I feel like I'd run out of inspiration within five posts or less.

I get your point completely, especially since I write a lot of dark and taboo stuff myself. I think main issue I have with these things is when the writers romanticize them. When I write these sort of taboo topics it's always made pretty clear within the story that it's fucked up and morally wrong, but not all writers do that. I guess for me it largely depends on how said topics are approached.

 

[Walliver]

when you’re only active and interested when the rest of the group is asleep

OH NVM WRONG THREAD

 

[Inno]

OH NVM WRONG THREAD

It happens.