Viewpoint Portraying Not-for-the-kiddos Series in Fandom/Multifandom

[Crow]

Well, if I said 'Stuff' instead of 'Series' it'd be pretty easy to misunderstand.

Ah yes, ratings. We got stuff like 3+, 10+, 12+(which is the rating for Azur Lane. Gotta protect your 12 year olds from burning sentient beings alive with a magnifying glass and having a motorcycle plate that says B17CH), 16, 18, and all other kinds of stuff depending on which part of the globe you live in. All these exist for your games, your TV shows, your Visual Novels and other things.

Simply put, not everything's for kids. Some things are for teens, and even adults.

Enter Fandom & Multifandom roleplays, where you take any preestablished franchise and enjoy it in roleplay form.

What if someone who is definitely not me up and says, 'I'd like to depict this setting from a non-kid-friendly game' or 'I'd like to portray this character from this non-kid-friendly Visual Novel I got off Steam a bunch of months ago complete with patches from an alternative site'? I.e. not 13+ stuff?

How do you feel? Would you allow and accept these people and their gigs, provided they tone these characters down to fit forum rules?

If you're a person like this described person who is definitely not me, do you think that toning these settings or characters down is disloyal, or can it be done in a way that's loyal to the settings or characters?


As a bit of an afternote, even official series have done this 'toning down'. A good example is the Fate/Series. At the start, it was for adults only. Over time, edgy teens could get into it, then everyone and their mother and their pet cat started to enjoy it thanks to the release of Fate/Grand Order. Now, everything Fate/-related and modern is for a wider audience (for the most part). But I guess that's just marketing, you know?

There's also Key VNs but they're better off as an all-ages thing anyways so no complaints here.

While not exactly the level of non-kid-friendly I'm trying to talk about, Bayonetta's in Smash, as is Snake. That's all I have to say really.

 

[Crayons]

I don't really see the problem as long as they aren't bringing actual non-kid-friendly content into a kid-friendly RP.

 

[Ace Cream]

IMO it's fine as long as they respect other players and played the character to suits the RP's tone. Just because they're from a 18+ franchise doesn't mean they can only do dirty stuffs, except the character is a irredeemable sex addict.

Yes, you can play Crimvael in this 69th holy grail war against Sasuke, Kazuma, Madoka and Pikachu.

 

[Idea]

How do you feel? Would you allow and accept these people and their gigs, provided they tone these characters down to fit forum rules?

I'm not sure if I'm super qualified for an answer here, on account of the fact that I don't participate in RPs where cannon characters are allowed period (especially multifandoms). However, in a hypothetical scenario in which I did, I think I would allow one such character, so long as the player had the skill to keep everything they depict within the bounds of the rules. I don't think being somewhat suggestive even is against the rules, so long as you do so without being overly close to explicit (but take this with a grain of salt).

Beyond that though I don't believe I am responsible for decisions other people make which I didn't incite, and I apply those same standards for others, similar to how I don't believe anyone is responsible for misinterpretations people make of their words. (And to be clear, in this case I am referring to any actions kids might take as a result of becoming cognizant of the characters or works those characters come from, which in my view would be the remaining danger if the remaining criteria established so far was applied).

Of course, if you know for a fact you are working with someone underage a little extra effort still helps, and you should remain aware of what you're passing on. For instance when talking about a property you could explain to them what it is so that they don't feel the need to go look up themselves (you could also say it's not age appropriate, but I think everyone knows by now that isn't exactly a deterrent to kid's decisions).

If you're a person like this described person who is definitely not me, do you think that toning these settings or characters down is disloyal, or can it be done in a way that's loyal to the settings or characters?

Yeah but I think the same of any depiction of a cannon character that isn't by the creators really.

As a bit of an afternote, even official series have done this 'toning down'. A good example is the Fate/Series. At the start, it was for adults only. Over time, edgy teens could get into it, then everyone and their mother and their pet cat started to enjoy it thanks to the release of Fate/Grand Order. Now, everything Fate/-related and modern is for a wider audience (for the most part). But I guess that's just marketing, you know?

Ah yes fate, no end of a headache on that one, especially because there are so many character designs I like but then so much of the art ends up being...less than savory. It can be like trying to find a needle in a haystack sometimes.

 

[nerdy tangents]

So in my experience comfort level has nothing to do with age and everything to do with personal preference.

As even if we look at published examples whether a child watches/reads a work has a lot more to do with what their interests are and what their parents allow than it does with any arbitrary system.

As a teen my mom for instance let me read explicit romance books as long as it didn’t interfere with my work. My sister has been watching horror movies since she was at least a pre-teen. So my mom didn’t really care what the rating as well as long as she figured it wouldn’t scare us or interfere with school work.

So if you are worried about a particular topic I wouldn’t view it as “kid friendly” or “adults only”.

I would ask yourself - hey are my partners comfortable with this topic? does it contribute to the story or is it just something I want to explore on my own?

As long as it fits into the roleplay, doesn’t break the site rules, and most importantly doesn’t upset your partners. Write whatever you want.