Roleplay Pet Peeves

[AceQueen011502]

Well, I never said you were but it kind of comes off that way especially when you use the term cookie cutter to describe them. You don't have to be a different gender or skin color to be interesting and quite honestly I don't really like the idea of gender and sexuality being used as a crutch to try a make your characters interesting (not saying that you are) but characters are much more than their gender and sexuality. I can play a guy every now and then. I can play a bisexual character and I have even played trans, but more times than not she's going to be a black cis female.

I am fully aware of that
But a character’s gender, sexuality, and race is still part of their identity
It’s a small part of them
I don’t use either of those things to make a character interesting
What makes Harper Jackson interesting, as an example, is that she’s the daughter of a Mafia boss born . Not the fact that she’s a black lesbian

 

[Jannah]

I have many non-white characters myself. I love learning about different cultures and stuff and making characters of different cultures is a way to do that. I also have many characters that are Eastern European, something much more familiar to me. It all depends on what I feel like RPing. I admittedly mostly play straight or Ace characters, but they're just easier for me. Plus most of the settings I RP in are historical where same sex relationships were pretty taboo.

 

[Brea The Brave]

I am fully aware of that
But a character’s gender, sexuality, and race is still part of their identity
It’s a small part of them
I don’t use either of those things to make a character interesting
What makes Harper Jackson interesting, as an example, is that she’s the daughter of a Mafia boss born . Not the fact that she’s a black lesbian

Okay but you do realize that it comes off that way from the way that you say it. I won't hold that against you I'm not always the best at explaining what I mean all the time either and often have to find myself explaining myself several times, but you do see how it can come off that way right?

 

[AceQueen011502]

Yeah, but it wasn’t my intention.
I have 21 characters all together (dear Jesus)
And a good portion of them have some sort of diversity to them
Whether it be nationality or gender and sexual identity, but I only have two characters that aren’t cis and a lotta them are straight or white

 

[DapperCat]

Yeah, but it wasn’t my intention.
I have 21 characters all together (dear Jesus)
And a good portion of them have some sort of diversity to them
Whether it be nationality or gender and sexual identity

Don't forget though! I think the focus should always be on the diversity in personality. Man, the worst thing is reading someone play the same character no matter the RP! Haha. But that's maybe just my opinion. I feel diversity is most important in personality, the rest is just the wrapper. I care a little more about the wrapper maybe because I doodle things, but people that don't may care far less about said wrapper!

 

[AceQueen011502]

Don't forget though! I think the focus should always be on the diversity in personality. Man, the worst thing is reading someone play the same character no matter the RP! Haha. But that's maybe just my opinion. I feel diversity is most important in personality, the rest is just the wrapper. I care a little more about the wrapper maybe because I doodle things, but people that don't may care far less about said wrapper!

Every 21of my characters are extremely different from one another in some way personality wise
(A lotta of their personality comes from yours truly and Jay is the closest one to me thus far)

 

[DapperCat]

Every 21of my characters are extremely different from one another in some way personality wise
(A lotta of their personality comes from yours truly and Jay is the closest one to me thus far)

Oh I'm not saying you don't have that! It just wasn't in the list of diversity you put down, so hence I thought that shoulda been included.** Man I can't type.

 

[AceQueen011502]

Also
Dudes, there is nothing wrong with having straight, cis, and white characters
And yes, I am aware that fun is subjective but I, as an aspiring writer, had to expand my horizon when it comes to characters
Most of these pet peeves, especially the diversity part, is mostly towards myself
So, please
Cool your jets

 

[Jannah]

I might just be wary since a lot of the time when people make non-cis and non-straight characters they're badly written and their entire personality revolves around how gay they are.

 

[BackSet]

I feel like I'm responsible for this can of worms that was opened.

 

[Tove]

This is starting to remind me of another thread topic....

 

[AceQueen011502]

Oh I'm not saying you don't have that! It just wasn't in the list of diversity you put down, so hence I thought that shoulda been included.** Man I can't type.

I kinda automatically expect the personality thing tbh since alol of my characters are drastically different and are only becoming even more so

 

[AceQueen011502]

I might just be wary since a lot of the time when people make non-cis and non-straight characters they're badly written and their entire personality revolves around how gay they are.

Gonna point out that none of my characters are like that
Some are very extroverted and loud while some are the opposite
Their sexuality/ gender identity does not define who they are because it’s only a small piece of their identity

 

[Jannah]

Gonna point out that none of my characters are like that
Some are very extroverted and loud while some are the opposite
Their sexuality/ gender identity does not define who they are because it’s only a small piece of their identity

Well for whatever reason a lot of SJW types feel a need to make characters where their entire purpose for existing is to be gay and to tell others how gay they are. Characters who are defined by their sexuality are boring and shallow. Obviously they have no other personality traits if that becomes their one defining factor.

 

[rae2nerdy]

lol i gotta say having one or more people in this conversation blocked is kinda funny. It seems like Ace is just having random out of context conversation with themselves. That said when I look at diversity I look at it from the perspective of a non-white / non-straight person. Almost all my characters are POC because I am a POC myself. Almost all of them are non-straight because I myself am non-straight. (Although since my roleplays are all platonic that last bit is rarely something that actually comes up in the roleplay).

I think a lot of time people get defensive because they feel like it's saying people like them can't be in roleplays. But I look at it from the other way. If you are getting defensive about a someone not roleplaying people like you imagine how THEY feel. When so many characters aren't like them and when they try to add people like them into a roleplay they get accused of being discriminatory or whatever. (Again most of this conversation is blocked so I'm trying to build from Ace's responses on what is being said.)

 

[Jannah]

lol i gotta say having one or more people in this conversation blocked is kinda funny. It seems like Ace is just having random out of context conversation with themselves. That said when I look at diversity I look at it from the perspective of a non-white / non-straight person. Almost all my characters are POC because I am a POC myself. Almost all of them are non-straight because I myself am non-straight. (Although since my roleplays are all platonic that last bit is rarely something that actually comes up in the roleplay).

I think a lot of time people get defensive because they feel like it's saying people like them can't be in roleplays. But I look at it from the other way. If you are getting defensive about a someone not roleplaying people like you imagine how THEY feel. When so many characters aren't like them and when they try to add people like them into a roleplay they get accused of being discriminatory or whatever. (Again most of this conversation is blocked so I'm trying to build from Ace's responses on what is being said.)

Well I'm white myself, but I write a lot of non-white characters because, as I said, I like learning about other cultures. Exploring them through writing is a relatively safe way to do that. If I were to do it in real life I'd probably get accused of appropriation, tokenization, and countless other things.

 

[DapperCat]

I don't know if I am blocked so no clue if my response is readable, haha, but from my perspective it's just 'I don't care' about the outside of a person? Or their gender or what-not. Personally I love diversity, but not when people are bad for having mostly 'cis white' characters you know? I guess the focus on it just is a little off in my opinion. I just really think the inside is the part that makes us!

 

[Tove]

lol i gotta say having one or more people in this conversation blocked is kinda funny. It seems like Ace is just having random out of context conversation with themselves. That said when I look at diversity I look at it from the perspective of a non-white / non-straight person. Almost all my characters are POC because I am a POC myself. Almost all of them are non-straight because I myself am non-straight. (Although since my roleplays are all platonic that last bit is rarely something that actually comes up in the roleplay).

I think a lot of time people get defensive because they feel like it's saying people like them can't be in roleplays. But I look at it from the other way. If you are getting defensive about a someone not roleplaying people like you imagine how THEY feel. When so many characters aren't like them and when they try to add people like them into a roleplay they get accused of being discriminatory or whatever. (Again most of this conversation is blocked so I'm trying to build from Ace's responses on what is being said.)

So it's necessary for you to mention you have most of the conversation blocked instead of just replying to the person you want to have a discussion with? Cool.

 

[Nue]

I think I have a pretty unpopular opinion on this topic, but -
I think someone's race, sexuality, gender, ect. can actually be an important facet of their character, even if it's not a defining trait. It's a part of their identity, after all, and a lot of these characters previously didn't show up in fiction as much because of discrimination, so of course it's important to have characters who are open and proud about their identities when they were marginalised before, I think. And I also think the problem of 'sjws creating diverse characters for brownie points' actually isn't.. as prevalent as people think it is, but these characters are often just scrutinised more because they're less common. People want good representation so they're harsher on them if they're not perfect portrayals. (And there's always the problem of whiny people who don't like the fact that more diverse characters are popping up, but it doesn't sound good to say that so they hide it behind fake concerns about the characters being flat.)

to note tho, I'm obviously not saying it has a proper effect on a character inherently. There's no specific personality traits tied to a certain sexuality or gender. I'm just saying there's a lot of context-based reasons where these things might be an important part of their character, that shouldn't be ignored, and I think they often are. It's a bit of a complicated topic, I guess?

 

[rae2nerdy]

I don't know if I am blocked so no clue if my response is readable, haha, but from my perspective it's just 'I don't care' about the outside of a person? Or their gender or what-not. Personally I love diversity, but not when people are bad for having mostly 'cis white' characters you know? I guess the focus on it just is a little off in my opinion. I just really think the inside is the part that makes us!

Well I think of it as an outsider. So I don't see it as being something I can just shrug off because I understand how frustrating it can be to see no characters like you portrayed in roleplays. And the few that do show up are just a fetish or a joke. I'm not saying you have to add surface level traits to check off some kind of diversity check-list. I'm just saying if you aren't straight/white/cis you might like to see a character that reflect your identity in a roleplay.

I think of it as adding a mental illness to a character.

If you say your character is "crazy" as a means of making it stand out and garner brownie points than you are being exploitative.

If you say your character has X mental illness and use it as a means of exploring your real life lived experience with X mental illness than it can be really powerful

I feel like diversity is just saying - Hey I am not cis, white, straight, whatever but I'd kind of like to see a character like me put into a roleplay. Because it makes the roleplay feel closer to my own lived experience (even if it's just some silly fantasy camp fest)

It's not saying - I'm going to make a character who is nonbinary hispanic lesbian so that I can look cool to all my friends.

 

[rae2nerdy]

So it's necessary for you to mention you have most of the conversation blocked instead of just replying to the person you want to have a discussion with? Cool.

I was mentioning because from my end it does make the conversation funny because I'm missing a lot of the context of what Ace is actually talking about. But if you feel left out I can block you too.

 

[Jannah]

I was mentioning because from my end it does make the conversation funny because I'm missing a lot of the context of what Ace is actually talking about. But if you feel left out I can block you too.

I didn't even know this site had a block feature tbh until you mentioned it. Good to know if somebody ever decides to piss me off lol.

 

[BackSet]

I'm not blocked, am I? I don't recall doing anything to get blocked.

 

[Tove]

I was mentioning because from my end it does make the conversation funny because I'm missing a lot of the context of what Ace is actually talking about. But if you feel left out I can block you too.

Please do block me, please lol that would be the best thing you could do and awesome. That would be one less of a SJW to put their spin on everyone's opinions on this site.

 

[DapperCat]

Well I think of it as an outsider. So I don't see it as being something I can just shrug off because I understand how frustrating it can be to see no characters like you portrayed in roleplays. And the few that do show up are just a fetish or a joke. I'm not saying you have to add surface level traits to check off some kind of diversity check-list. I'm just saying if you aren't straight/white/cis you might like to see a character that reflect your identity in a roleplay.

I think of it as adding a mental illness to a character.

If you say your character is "crazy" as a means of making it stand out and garner brownie points than you are being exploitative.

If you say your character has X mental illness and use it as a means of exploring your real life lived experience with X mental illness than it can be really powerful

I feel like diversity is just saying - Hey I am not cis, white, straight, whatever but I'd kind of like to see a character like me put into a roleplay. Because it makes the roleplay feel closer to my own lived experience (even if it's just some silly fantasy camp fest)

It's not saying - I'm going to make a character who is nonbinary hispanic lesbian so that I can look cool to all my friends.

I can't say I know the feeling of having lack of representation based on skin-tone as an example, but I do with some other things. And as for your point of 'Hey I am not this but I'd like to see this character!' well that's why we can all join and make our own right! I just don't think people are bad for either doing a cis white character or something entirely different. I just personally don't really put too much weight behind it is all. ^^; I don't care if there's a majority of a single thing, as long as the other things are just as welcomed and accepted, and all judged with the same brush. And the brush I use is just... the personality of the character!