Experiences Whats making you angry today? Rp pet peeves

[nerdy tangents]

seven. i meant that is how this site defines fantasy. Not how the literary genre is defined.

Mostly because this site is using broad categories for prefixes. You are meant to use the filters to clarify what the individual themes of your roleplay are.

It’s why fantasy is the prefix but you can put sub genres of superheroes, magical, realistic, etc. onto the search.

 

[Uxie]

seven. i meant that is how this site defines fantasy. Not how the literary genre is defined.

Mostly because this site is using broad categories for prefixes. You are meant to use the filters to clarify what the individual themes of your roleplay are.

It’s why fantasy is the prefix but you can put sub genres of superheroes, magical, realistic, etc. onto the search.

i see! that said, if i am understanding the prefixes post made by kaerri correctly,, low fantasy (regardless of where it is set) would still get the fantasy prefix, no???

also i’m aware that we’re derailing the thread a little but i would like to clear this up so i don’t tag my rps wrongly

edit: link was broken!

 

[nerdy tangents]

i see! that said, if i am understanding the prefixes post made by kaerri correctly,, low fantasy (regardless of where it is set) would still get the fantasy prefix, no???

also i’m aware that we’re derailing the thread a little but i would like to clear this up so i don’t tag my rps wrongly

They used to have the definitions listed. But yeah the definition was specifically about where it was set geographically and not so much supernatural elements.

Superheroes are a great litmus test. No one is gonna assume superheroes are fantasy.

But if you count the existence of superpowers as realistic then the existence of magic alone can’t be disqualified.

So therefore it has to be something else. It is the world itself being entirely made up and not grounded on earth.

So say your world has vampires and werewolves. If they live on earth then it’s still realistic.

If they live on some made up planet with flying islands and pink rain then it’s fantasy. Because they aren’t on earth.

 

[seven.]

i know i talk so much shit on here, but there is so much shit to be talked??? so here i am. talking shit.

i hate this like… hyper competent role that people push their female characters into. this also applies to the few women in any media that has mostly men tbh, like natasha romanoff as the only female avenger or katara in atla.

idk if that makes sense? but like, when people are like “yep, this character is the only one with functioning braincells, yep! 110% the mother figure, she is the only responsible and controlled one here, the only one capable of being rational and keeping her little [grown ass men] boys out of trouble <3 boys will be boys” or whatever. it is literally! so! boring!! where r the bad bitches? where’s the funny girlies? i need more unhinged women, i love women who are both very smart and capable but also… idiot vibes, love u. also love women who are just completely funny & wild & don’t have to have the fattest brain of all time, bimbos rise it is Such an endearing trait for male characters to have, mfs go insane for it, but i rarely see women characters, ocs or otherwise, with the same. LET HER PARTICIPATE IN THE SHENANIGANS!!! INITIATE THEM, EVEN!!! if we r going to be doing illegal stuff then dont make the female characters be the buzzkill, ihy

 

[Melpomene]

i know i talk so much shit on here, but there is so much shit to be talked??? so here i am. talking shit.

i hate this like… hyper competent role that people push their female characters into. this also applies to the few women in any media that has mostly men tbh, like natasha romanoff as the only female avenger or katara in atla.

idk if that makes sense? but like, when people are like “yep, this character is the only one with functioning braincells, yep! 110% the mother figure, she is the only responsible and controlled one here, the only one capable of being rationale and keeping her little [grown ass men] boys out of trouble <3 boys will be boys” or whatever. it is literally! so! boring!! where r the bad bitches? where’s the funny girlies? i need more unhinged women, i love women who are both very smart and capable but also… idiot vibes, love u. also love women who are just completely funny & wild & don’t have to have the fattest brain of all time, bimbos rise it is Such an endearing trait for male characters to have, mfs go insane for it, but i rarely see women characters, ocs or otherwise, with the same. LET HER PARTICIPATE IN THE SHENANIGANS!!! INITIATE THEM, EVEN!!! if we r going to be doing illegal stuff then dont make the female characters be the buzzkill, ihy

Ok but for real.

Why do all women have to be hyper competent all the time? Why do they always have to be the responsible ones telling the boys how to do their own damn jobs? Like damn yes I love women kicking ass but why do they always have to be hyper-competent while they do it? I wanna see female Sokka's and shit. It just is what we deserve damn it.

 

[seven.]

Ok but for real.

Why do all women have to be hyper competent all the time? Why do they always have to be the responsible ones telling the boys how to do their own damn jobs? Like damn yes I love women kicking ass but why do they always have to be hyper-competent while they do it? I wanna see female Sokka's and shit. It just is what we deserve damn it.

i have to give atla credit. i think the katara thing i referenced is more the work of the fandom, cause she's pretty wild at times, but y'know who's such a good example? toph. matches sokka's energy so well. azula's lil crew is everything to me. suki's also GIVING!!! what'd she say? "i am a warrior, but i'm a girl too." LOVE YOU BABYGIRLLLL!

a lot of media definitely has a "one or the other" type of mentality when it comes to powerful women, whether they're fighters or scientific minds or whatever else. you can't be that and also have a lighthearted, funny or... god forbid, feminine side! the best they'll give us for badass women who are also feminine, is a femme fatale, in which her femininity is usually a weapon and not just like... a fucking style preference, Please. everybody say thank you atla for the well-rounded female characters!

mmm that is a slightly different discussion of powerful female characters and their relationship with femininity, but in some ways i do think it rolls back to my original point of female characters not being able to be less than perfect, or at least has some parallels.

 

[nerdy tangents]

seven. the answer is misogyny, because you have to pit women against each other. So you create a “not like other girls” narrative when your most masculine women are the ones who are rewarded and your feminine women aren’t.

The reason you see more variety in men is because of literally the “Everyman” trope. The idea that the male perspective is default and so of course you need variety. Because all men being the same is boring. All women the same is idk biological fact based on the womb or whatever.

Heavy sarcasm but that is literally why that exits in literature. It’s just misogyny. I try not to get too angry at roleplayers cuz their usually just repeating what they see on TV. And this is a hobby so they don’t have to do in-depth literary analysis. But fuck the people who get paid for a living who recreate that reductive bullshit.”

 

[nerdy tangents]

Added to above it doesn’t bother me in roleplays because I can also change the narrative. Like “I’m excuse me but your character isn’t pulling their weight. So if they could maybe help push the plot forward a bit that would be great.”

I mean I would be nicer about it but I also would just ask them to make their guy less incompetent.

 

[seven.]

the answer is misogyny because you have to pit women against each other. So you create a “not like other girls” narrative when your most masculine women are the one rewarded and your feminine women aren’t.

The reason you see more variety in men is because of literally the “Everyman” trope. The idea that the male perspective is default and so of course you need variety. Because all men being the same is boring. All women the same is idk biological fact based on the womb or whatever.

(Heavy sarcasm but that is literally why that exits in literature. It’s just misogyny. I try not to get too angry at roleplayers cuz their usually just repeating what they see on TV. And this is a hobby so they don’t have to do in-depth literary analysis. But fuck the people who get paid for a living who recreate that reductive bullshit.”

yeah, duh? i'm well aware of the reason behind it. i understand like, not wanting to get annoyed at roleplayers for creating characters like that - i generally don't hold roleplayers to a higher standard than people who literally do this as a job, but that doesn't make it less weird and annoying to me. personally, i'm pretty character driven; characters are the most important part of a story to me, whether that's in published literature or in roleplay. yeah, i'm not gonna go out of my way to diss people who fall into this category, but i'm definitely not gonna write with them or pretend to like their characters. it's literally just bad character creation - to me, that's a sign of bad writing, i don't really care what your reason is. plus, if someone is constantly creating female characters to pit them against each other, or against my female characters, that's not really a good sign of who they are as a person. even more reason to dislike it.

also, i'm not really sure what you're referring to with the everyman trope. that probably has like... the least variety of most tropes, since the everyman is supposed to relate to the average viewer. they're supposed to be pretty ordinary. not sure that it implies that the male viewer is the default, it's just that the character itself is pretty default, so i honestly don't really see where you're coming from.

Added to above it doesn’t bother me in roleplays because I can also change the narrative. Like “I’m excuse me but your character isn’t pulling their weight. So if they could maybe help push the plot forward a bit that would be great.”

I mean I would be nicer about it but I also would just ask them to make their guy less incompetent.

if we're still talking about how women are portrayed, i think you might be misunderstanding. the problem is that women are way too competent instead of being allowed to just chill and be loosey goosey like the male characters often are. i'm not a fan of pushing women characters into a motherly or nanny-like role for a bunch of grown male characters - not saying that every serious, rational woman is trying to be "not like other girls" as you said, just that it's boring when those are the only types of characters i encounter, or just the vast majority rly.

 

[nerdy tangents]

seven. my point is that assuming your playing the female role then just ask the men to step up their participating.

If your playing the male role then don’t let the women do all the work.

It’s not one person writing the narrative so women don’t have to be stuck playing a specific role when other characters don’t play along.

 

[seven.]

seven. my point is that assuming your playing the female role then just ask the men to step up their participating.

If your playing the male role then don’t let the women do all the work.

It’s not one person writing the narrative so women don’t have to be stuck playing a specific role when other characters don’t play along.

imma assume we're not doing the same kinda roleplay, cause this is simply not clicking for me. like i get the general point you're trying to make, but i'm not usually writing just a male or just a woman. i do 1x1 doubles, you seem to be speaking from the experience of a group roleplayer or something.

also, what someone else does with their character is generally out of my control, nine times outta ten if i bring something like this up, it's just gonna start a conflict and they're not gonna change it anyway, or if they do they'll be hella passive aggressive about it, so it's waaay better to just cut it right there. maybe cause i've been writing for so long that i just cannot be bothered, my patience is running pretty thin and i already know what i love vs what i hate, so like... why would i roleplay w someone whose character i cannot stand? usually, these characters revolve mostly around their competence, they have very little purpose outside of being a Badass Woman, so it's hard to ask them to change that without dismantling the character entirely. the whole point i'm making is less that competent woman characters are inherently bad, and more that it's boring the experience the same character again and again, especially since they're so very stagnant and tend to have little personality other than to be stoic, bemusedly exasperated, rational, blah blah blah.

it's also definitely not my responsibility to tell people that misogynistic tropes are bad.

 

[seven.]

also that it's not just in roleplay, but in fandom spaces as a whole, hence why i brought up the atla fandoms' treatment of katara

 

[Lunar Bunny]

Personally, I feel like this problem of hyper-competent females is mostly a western problem, primarily an issue in the United States. I also disagree with Nerdy Tangents in that I don't believe that the idea is caused by misogyny at all but due to feminists (male and female) not really understanding what the public wants. For a long time there was backlash over female characters in media being too dependent on their male counterparts, being seen as weak by the viewers, and so modern writers kind of go above and beyond showing off how amazing, strong and intelligent their female characters are to the detriment of not only the male characters but also to the female characters themselves, ironically. In order not to receive those old criticisms, writers now seem to think that they're not allowed to show women as anything other than the Strong Independent Woman Who Needs No Man trope. Which is boring. This concept probably aligns with roleplayers as well since I often see people too scared to go against the grain in terms of representation the way it's shown on television or sometimes they just don't know how to write anything else. I honestly can't say how you'd resolve this in rp? Because, at the end of the day, it's the other person's character. I guess you could tell your partner that you'd like to see more dimension to their character's personality, more vulnerability or something but... yeah, I'm not sure what can be done about it.

 

[nerdy tangents]

imma assume we're not doing the same kinda roleplay, cause this is simply not clicking for me. like i get the general point you're trying to make, but i'm not usually writing just a male or just a woman. i do 1x1 doubles, you seem to be speaking from the experience of a group roleplayer or something.

also, what someone else does with their character is generally out of my control, nine times outta ten if i bring something like this up, it's just gonna start a conflict and they're not gonna change it anyway, or if they do they'll be hella passive aggressive about it, so it's waaay better to just cut it right there. maybe cause i've been writing for so long that i just cannot be bothered, my patience is running pretty thin and i already know what i love vs what i hate, so like... why would i roleplay w someone whose character i cannot stand? usually, these characters revolve mostly around their competence, they have very little purpose outside of being a Badass Woman, so it's hard to ask them to change that without dismantling the character entirely. the whole point i'm making is less that competent woman characters are inherently bad, and more that it's boring the experience the same character again and again, especially since they're so very stagnant and tend to have little personality other than to be stoic, bemusedly exasperated, rational, blah blah blah.

it's also definitely not my responsibility to tell people that misogynistic tropes are bad.

Okay I think you are misunderstanding me,

What this seems to be at the heart is one progressing the plot by themselves.

But this is a collaborative medium and it is actually super easy to tell your partner “Hey I’m gonna need you to contribute to the plot cuz I don’t like writing a story by myself.”

Or

“hey your character is kinda hijacking the plot and I would like my character to also get a say in what’s happening”.

Basically this isn’t like reading a book where you have a character taking over the narrative and you can’t do anything about it.

Just tell your partner you want both characters yo contribute equally to the plot.

I do it all the time in my 1x1s. If the person throws a fit their not worth writing with anyway.

 

[Inno]

But this is a collaborative medium and it is actually super easy to tell your partner “Hey I’m gonna need you to contribute to the plot cuz I don’t like writing a story by myself.”

Not for everyone. Some people can't take any type of feedback whatsoever.

 

[Melpomene]

Personally, I feel like this problem of hyper-competent females is mostly a western problem, primarily an issue in the United States. I also disagree with Nerdy Tangents in that I don't believe that the idea is caused by misogyny at all but due to feminists (male and female) not really understanding what the public wants. For a long time there was backlash over female characters in media being too dependent on their male counterparts, being seen as weak by the viewers, and so modern writers kind of go above and beyond showing off how amazing, strong and intelligent their female characters are to the detriment of not only the male characters but also to the female characters themselves, ironically. In order not to receive those old criticisms, writers now seem to think that they're not allowed to show women as anything other than the Strong Independent Woman Who Needs No Man trope. Which is boring. This concept probably aligns with roleplayers as well since I often see people too scared to go against the grain in terms of representation the way it's shown on television or sometimes they just don't know how to write anything else. I honestly can't say how you'd resolve this in rp? Because, at the end of the day, it's the other person's character. I guess you could tell your partner that you'd like to see more dimension to their character's personality, more vulnerability or something but... yeah, I'm not sure what can be done about it.

I agree with you.

People started calling them out for relegating female characters to only being damsels in distress or as people who were way too dependent and unable to think/do for themselves (which writers should be called out for that, women are more than just objects to urge the hero along) but then media decided to MASSIVELY overcorrect.

Now women have to never be wrong, imperfect, and hyper-competent. They can't be goofy, clumsy or even hinted at to be not that smart. No, she has to be Jack of Trades, master of all. And then she has to babysit incompetent manchildren and do their jobs for them because they are just too incompetent.

I don't know how it is supposed to be empowering to watch a woman have to babysit grown ass men but, ya know. Girl boss.

And it's hilarious because as mentioned earlier, Toph is a goofy imperfect girl... And she is one of the favorite characters on ATLA. Because she is a competent badass while at the same time having vulnerability and a personality. And maybe if more studio producers can understand that is the the type of product people want when they say "competent female character" then we can actually get some good fucking food.

Unfortunately that is just what some people like. And often they might not even know they are doing it. Quite frankly... The only option is just not RPing with them. It probably is you won't click with them. It sucks, but it is what it is.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Not for everyone. Some people can't take any type of feedback whatsoever.

Well yeah but those kind of people usually aren’t much fun to roleplay with anyone. So better to peel the bandaid off quickly then drag things off.

 

[Houndstar-The-Goon]

Not being able to find an RP that suits my particular interests, heh.
(As much as I hate school, I do find school RPs very fun. It just seems there aren't many around these days for whatever reason. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough?)

 

[Edric Blight]

Not being able to find an RP that suits my particular interests, heh.
(As much as I hate school, I do find school RPs very fun. It just seems there aren't many around these days for whatever reason. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough?)

Really? Hmm, maybe if you make an interest post in a 1 x 1 Interest Check thread and state that you want to do a school roleplay, you'll find some takers.

Like I know I'm SUPER into school RPs, and I think a few other people are too. There are those who despise school-type roleplays and those who love it, like me. It's kinda like my guilty pleasure lmao.

 

[seven.]

Okay I think you are misunderstanding me,

What this seems to be at the heart is one progressing the plot by themselves.

But this is a collaborative medium and it is actually super easy to tell your partner “Hey I’m gonna need you to contribute to the plot cuz I don’t like writing a story by myself.”

i think you might be the one just not getting it, it's not even a problem exclusive to roleplay. and it's also not always just the person progressing the problem by themselves, so that's not what the issue is "at it's heart" buddy. i'm figuring that you've just never experienced this particular problem in the way that i'm talking about, cause you're way off beat here.

Personally, I feel like this problem of hyper-competent females is mostly a western problem, primarily an issue in the United States. I also disagree with Nerdy Tangents in that I don't believe that the idea is caused by misogyny at all but due to feminists (male and female) not really understanding what the public wants. For a long time there was backlash over female characters in media being too dependent on their male counterparts, being seen as weak by the viewers, and so modern writers kind of go above and beyond showing off how amazing, strong and intelligent their female characters are to the detriment of not only the male characters but also to the female characters themselves, ironically. In order not to receive those old criticisms, writers now seem to think that they're not allowed to show women as anything other than the Strong Independent Woman Who Needs No Man trope. Which is boring. This concept probably aligns with roleplayers as well since I often see people too scared to go against the grain in terms of representation the way it's shown on television or sometimes they just don't know how to write anything else. I honestly can't say how you'd resolve this in rp? Because, at the end of the day, it's the other person's character. I guess you could tell your partner that you'd like to see more dimension to their character's personality, more vulnerability or something but... yeah, I'm not sure what can be done about it.

i agree for the most part! i'd still call it misogynistic though... but maybe not. like being so much of a feminist that it turns back around to misogyny, full circle

I do it all the time in my 1x1s. If the person throws a fit their not worth writing with anyway.

literally what i said about not wanting to write with them anyway if they're showing signs of being a poor writer, but turn up i guess

 

[nerdy tangents]

seven. You don’t have to be rude, I am genuinely trying to understand what exactly you want people to do.

You seem to be having an issue with a specific trope. Okay I don’t like tons of tropes.

But I guess I don’t understand what has to do with you participating in roleplays?

That is the part that is not computing for me.

 

[Inno]

When someone decides to have their character's history/background explicitly tie in with my character without having talked to me about it at all. But it's all in the character sheet. Feels just the same as character control to me.

 

[Melpomene]

When someone decides to have their character's history/background explicitly tie in with my character without having talked to me about it at all. But it's all in the character sheet. Feels just the same as character control to me.

I remember once someone made me and their character best buds without asking me first. And I was like... well this is awkward because I'm pretty sure she would hate your character from what I know of them...

 

[Inno]

I remember once someone made me and their character best buds without asking me first. And I was like... well this is awkward because I'm pretty sure she would hate your character from what I know of them...

It's so annoying. Ask first! Communicate. Isn't that what a roleplay partnership is about?

 

[Lunar Bunny]

It's so annoying. Ask first! Communicate. Isn't that what a roleplay partnership is about?

I'm always amazed by how common it is for people to do things without asking. Especially the types that try to take over a roleplay by inserting their own lore without going through the gm first.