Experiences Whats making you angry today? Rp pet peeves

[sevyn]

I have a friend who bases their character on themself (they did mention this part, so... a self-insert?) in a(n?) RP focusing on a particular school club. This particular character is a female. While she has some problems with her parents, she tends to have others do stuff for her to the point that it's too illogical for a school-themed RP imo (e.g. having like 10-15 NPC students rushing to lend her a pen when she needed one for signing up for the club -- a normal student would've rummaged their bag for their own pen instead). Does such character count as a Mary Sue? Or are there any other terms to describe it instead?

not related to the post itself, but to your uncertainty on whether to use “a” or “an” — it’s an! if a word begins with a vowel sound, you’ll use an, whether or not the word actually begins with a vowel. so you’d say a roleplay, but an rp. similar to that way you’d say an hour, an rv, etc— a would just be used with any consonant sound, like a euro even though euro begins with an e.

anyway, i would call the character something of a mary sue. “everyone loves my character wherever she goes” is a pretty consistent trait in mary sues— sometimes it’s literally a superpower and can be kind of a downfall / drawback in and of itself, but without such nuance, that is just mary sue behavior.

 

[nerdy tangents]

saniachan given the character is a self insert I would say it’s Wish fulfillment. The person probably feels overlooked/invisible and wants to write a story where they get to be popular / the center of attention.

I think Mary Sues are typically a little less self aware.

 

[sevyn]

this is such a minor peeve of mine, but like… the use of “crush” instead of “love interest” it doesn’t make me upset or anything like that, idk what it is, it just makes me cringe i think? the phrasing of it just seems childish in a way, if that makes sense?

EDIT!!!! because i figured out what it is... personally, i tend to place strong barriers between ooc and ic (because, yk, mental disorders that make me more prone to psychosis, meaning that losing the distinction between fiction and reality can be rly bad for me) and like... "crush" is a very personal word, while love interest isn't. crush is used for actual people - you have a crush on that person, that's my crush, etc, you don't call real people your love interest. so i think the use of personal language in rp is just generally an ick for me, because it slowly erases the distinction.

 

[nerdy tangents]

I get the same way when people use you for characters.

So instead of “your character does X” it’s “you do X”.

I’m always immediately like “my character does X.” And if they continue with the “you do blah” then I cut the roleplay.

Cuz I am not a witch or a love interest for you and I’m not roleplaying with anyone who assumes I’m either (for reference most of my characters are in the HP universe).

 

[viceroy]

I have a friend who bases their character on themself (they did mention this part, so... a self-insert?) in a(n?) RP focusing on a particular school club. This particular character is a female. While she has some problems with her parents, she tends to have others do stuff for her to the point that it's too illogical for a school-themed RP imo (e.g. having like 10-15 NPC students rushing to lend her a pen when she needed one for signing up for the club -- a normal student would've rummaged their bag for their own pen instead). Does such character count as a Mary Sue? Or are there any other terms to describe it instead?

TV Tropes might have the term you're looking for: "Black Hole Sue". To quote TV Tropes:

"The Black Hole Sue: Her gravity is so great, she draws all the attention and causes other characters (and, often, reality itself) to bend and contort in order to accommodate her. Characters don't act naturally around her. They instead serve as plot enablers for her, with dialogue that only acts as set-ups for her response. She dominates every scene she is in, with most scenes without her serving only to give the characters a chance to "talk freely" about her. Most people don't oppose her and anybody who does will either realize their fault in doing so or just prove easy to overcome."

So yes, I'd count the character as a type of Mary Sue, especially if these instances happen often in the roleplay. I think that's funny more than anything. Do they all have an after-school club where they agree to swarm her with their own pens the next time she loses hers? Lol

 

[ReclaimerTy]

TW: Mentions of SA
I don't know if this counts as a 'Pet Peeve' or if this is just a rant, but I was a part of the Undertale Community for five years and very often my characters would either get their teeth kicked in or SA. Unprovoked, out of the blue. I've stopped playing minor characters because of several instances. I stopped doing ship roleplays because people were stepping on my characters like rugs and abusing them. Someone will just come by and snap my characters back and move on. Make their characters so op I can't stop them. I would ask them to stop, and they'd find it humorous.
Another Pet Peeve was the constant harmful stereotypes of gay men and homosexual relationships. Playing a popular Sans, like Ink!Sans was a first way ticket to being called 'Mom'. It doesn't help how much BlogTheGreatRouge shoehorned these stereotypes. I grew to distance myself from Femboy and Crossdressing characters because men who dressed femininely were roleplayed as stereotypical, unrealistic women. Gay ships were often abusive, like NIghtmare x Killer!Sans. I couldn't play any popular Sans' without someone playing the most shipped Sans attempting to get with him.
Sorry about the paragraph, it's just always bothered me even a year after leaving the community.

 

[Kaiju Cat]

TW: Mentions of SA
I don't know if this counts as a 'Pet Peeve' or if this is just a rant, but I was a part of the Undertale Community for five years and very often my characters would either get their teeth kicked in or SA. Unprovoked, out of the blue. I've stopped playing minor characters because of several instances. I stopped doing ship roleplays because people were stepping on my characters like rugs and abusing them. Someone will just come by and snap my characters back and move on. Make their characters so op I can't stop them. I would ask them to stop, and they'd find it humorous.
Another Pet Peeve was the constant harmful stereotypes of gay men and homosexual relationships. Playing a popular Sans, like Ink!Sans was a first way ticket to being called 'Mom'. It doesn't help how much BlogTheGreatRouge shoehorned these stereotypes. I grew to distance myself from Femboy and Crossdressing characters because men who dressed femininely were roleplayed as stereotypical, unrealistic women. Gay ships were often abusive, like NIghtmare x Killer!Sans. I couldn't play any popular Sans' without someone playing the most shipped Sans attempting to get with him.
Sorry about the paragraph, it's just always bothered me even a year after leaving the community.

I have no words. I’m so sorry for what you went through. -hugs-

 

[jump.]

i miss multiverse/multifandom threads. threads where you could just throw whatever character you're fixated on into and just. have fun with it. noone seems to make these kinds of threads anymore, and while i myself could make one, i just. don't have the energy to run a thread

which is why it makes me sad there's no threads like that around, there's nothing for me to really sink my teeth into because everything else is so specific/just wouldn't work with the characters i like, yknow? multiverse is fun because it just. works with pretty much any character smh

 

[Murdergurl]

i miss multiverse/multifandom threads. threads where you could just throw whatever character you're fixated on into and just. have fun with it. noone seems to make these kinds of threads anymore, and while i myself could make one, i just. don't have the energy to run a thread

which is why it makes me sad there's no threads like that around, there's nothing for me to really sink my teeth into because everything else is so specific/just wouldn't work with the characters i like, yknow? multiverse is fun because it just. works with pretty much any character smh

really? cause i used to see those ALL the time, and I avidly avoided them. Those are one of those 'nope' settings that I just can't stand. it's too unstructured and without unified direction and lore. And then you have all these clashing themes.

But if that's the kind of stuff you're looking for, they exist in spades as Discord servers. Really, you can't miss em. I try to filter them out, and I STILL find them.

 

[Walliver]

when people don’t actually read the interest check
“Discord Mandatory”
“hey I like this rp can I join without discord”
Like- no????? Did you not read????

 

[noxrequiem]

Not really a pet peeve per se, but it sucks when you can feel your partner losing interest in a rp while you're still super into the idea, or vice versa. It's an awful feeling lol

 

[Edric Blight]

Not really a pet peeve per se, but it sucks when you can feel your partner losing interest in a rp while you're still super into the idea, or vice versa. It's an awful feeling lol

It really does, I agree. Kinda stings, but whatever.

 

[Natasha4E]

Why plot something with me, then role play something else?
I don't even mind role playing something else... Just let me know. I tell people I like to be prepared and know who's going to be in the story, and what it will be about. I want to make sure we both like what we're doing. Once we have the basics, we can improvise the rest.
What a waste of time that was.

 

[Rathian Diablos]

This peeve is with me, myself, and I. I have several characters committed to memory and one that I use often still does not have a proper profile...and while I'm complaining I probably am not going to make a profile for them today either

 

[Murdergurl]

My day off is tomorrow. So, I have tonight free and clear to write. And... I have nothing and no one to write about/with. Sitting here in bed, looking at a night of wasted potential. Oh, well. Guess I'll scroll through Netflix for an hour until I decide that there isn't anything interesting to watch on there, again.

 

[nerdy tangents]

A pet peeve is original characters related to canon characters in a series.

I don’t know why it just bugs me for some reason.

 

[Kaiju Cat]

A pet peeve is original characters related to canon characters in a series.

I don’t know why it just bugs me for some reason.

It bugs me too and when the canon character is suppose to be the last of their kind.

 

[jump.]

wanting to just cave in and make an interest check because you're bored, but knowing that splatoon 3 is just around the corner and the moment you get your hands on it it'll be all you play-

...basically im bored out of my mind but don't really want to commit to things rn bc sploon 3 LMAO

 

[xayah.]

My day off is tomorrow. So, I have tonight free and clear to write. And... I have nothing and no one to write about/with. Sitting here in bed, looking at a night of wasted potential. Oh, well. Guess I'll scroll through Netflix for an hour until I decide that there isn't anything interesting to watch on there, again.

I personally think it'd be best if you post less detailed interest checks and simply ask if there's ample interest in an idea of yours before posting. And I don't want to sound mean, but you genuinely sound like a debbie downer who is blaming the site and its users for your niche interests instead of taking steps to garner interest and fellow rpers. If you can't find a group or enough people to join your idea, why not try a 1x1? Complaining is not going to solve your problem and lack of rps to write for. We've all been in ruts before but instead of lingering with these negative thoughts and emotions, most users take a break or take steps to regenerate muse like finding 1x1s and creating grps alongside others. I encourage you to do the same instead of spending your time ranting on these discussion boards.

 

[sfiorare]

I personally think it'd be best if you post less detailed interest checks and simply ask if there's ample interest in an idea of yours before posting. And I don't want to sound mean, but you genuinely sound like a debbie downer who is blaming the site and its users for your niche interests instead of taking steps to garner interest and fellow rpers. If you can't find a group or enough people to join your idea, why not try a 1x1? Complaining is not going to solve your problem and lack of rps to write for. We've all been in ruts before but instead of lingering with these negative thoughts and emotions, most users take a break or take steps to regenerate muse like finding 1x1s and creating grps alongside others. I encourage you to do the same instead of spending your time ranting on these discussion boards.

seconding this. the only solution is to broaden your interests and find something you like that has an active community, or to take a break.

 

[Murdergurl]

I personally think it'd be best if you post less detailed interest checks and simply ask if there's ample interest in an idea of yours before posting. And I don't want to sound mean, but you genuinely sound like a debbie downer who is blaming the site and its users for your niche interests instead of taking steps to garner interest and fellow rpers. If you can't find a group or enough people to join your idea, why not try a 1x1? Complaining is not going to solve your problem and lack of rps to write for. We've all been in ruts before but instead of lingering with these negative thoughts and emotions, most users take a break or take steps to regenerate muse like finding 1x1s and creating grps alongside others. I encourage you to do the same instead of spending your time ranting on these discussion boards.

seconding this. the only solution is to broaden your interests and find something you like that has an active community, or to take a break.

Guess I'm gonna go on another break then? I've taken two breaks before coming back this last time. First one was about 5 months, and the second was about two. And... I keep coming back to the same. And I'm not blaming the site in particular. I'm on a good handful of sites, and have also joined and left a lot of discord servers.

Kinda tired of saying this but, I don't like 1x1s. I dont remember if it was here or another site where i got into a topic someone posted about ghosting. And I definitely have an issue with not being interested enough in the 1x1 dynamic and if they dont drop me, i eventually get out myself. So i dont even try anymore with 1x1s. Less disappointment for everyone involved. And like i have also stated in plenty, I dont have the time to run a group myself. If I did, I would. And actually, despite knowing I dont have that kind of time to commit to running a group, I DID try and pitch a few ideas recently. Here, and other places. None of them got enough interest to start up. I've even asked to see if people would be interested in GMing an idea I came up with. No takers. No serious ones, at least.

What I'm doing in the meantime, is kinda sorta writing on my own... but it's tentative at best. and my motivation sucks when I'm the only one pushing the story along. its just not the same. its not exciting. it get laborious. thats the reason I seek out group roleplays. Becauseit actually motivates me to get into a discourse with the group. alone. its just a chore

And also.... um isn't this entire thread basically a rant thread? Sorry if I somehow got singled out as a "downer debbie", but literally everyone who posts here is doing so to complain about something. That is the point of this thread.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Murdergurl it sounds like you need to join some writing groups. I know my library offers once a week writing groups IRL and I listen to enough podcasts to know that professional authors will often have writing groups as well.

If you like a specific genre I would Google “Writing groups for (genre)” or look into if your local library offers writing groups.

Heck some times there are even free creative writing courses available. It would depend on your area. Your library would be a good place to check cuz they would have more local information.

Also I think what people mean is less the ranting and the kinda depressive tone you strike. It’s one thing to say “I don’t like this thing people to do.” It’s another to say “I’m bored and nothing interests me.”

One is a pet peeve. The other sounds like you need to talk to a therapist about intrusive thoughts.

*to be clear I’m not trying to say you have depression it’s just you sound more like your depressed then annoyed when you post.*

 

[Murdergurl]

Murdergurl it sounds like you need to join some writing groups. I know my library offers once a week writing groups IRL and I listen to enough podcasts to know that professional authors will often have writing groups as well.

If you like a specific genre I would Google “Writing groups for (genre)” or look into if your local library offers writing groups.

Heck some times there are even free creative writing courses available. It would depend on your area. Your library would be a good place to check cuz they would have more local information.

Also I think what people mean is less the ranting and the kinda depressive tone you strike. It’s one thing to say “I don’t like this thing people to do.” It’s another to say “I’m bored and nothing interests me.”

One is a pet peeve. The other sounds like you need to talk to a therapist about intrusive thoughts.

*to be clear I’m not trying to say you have depression it’s just you sound more like your depressed then annoyed when you post.*

I mean, I'm fine. I have a pretty busy life. I work a lot, i have a 4 year-old to look after. I'm married, etc. I've also mentioned this before but: I don't have time for a lot of my old hobbies. I used to draw, write, dance, paint, read books, etc. etc. But I've whittled down to just one hobby. And that's RPng. Or at least I try to. lol

I'm not depressed. and even if I was, a therapist isn't something i have the time or money for. Not only that, but my parents had sent me to various therapists growing up, and in the end they are all the same and rather unhelpful with issues. They pretty much just tell you that you have to find something that makes you happy, blah blah. I dont need to pay someone to figure that out. online roleplaying is a viable hobby because i can do it at home, after everyone is settled down and in bed for the night (or otherwise on my own hectic and VERY variable schedule). I simply can't go traipsing off to my hobby group after work or on the weekends or whatever to meet with a group. It's just not something I have the availability for. I mean, I can't even respond to RP in "real time" and my reqs state that I have the time to realistically make replies maybe three times a week.

I'm pretty unsatisfied with the selection of movies nowadays, so I don't watch much of that. And I used to play a lot of video games, but I have the same issue there as well. I've looked up and down on stuff from steam and its bleh. I have s stack of books that I'll probablynever get around to reading because every time i think about picking it up, i just get too distracted to finish a chapter and i dunno... it just doesnt seem that appealing.

I really enjoy RPing. At least, i used to. I dont actually get much of it done anymore on account of never finding anything to get into. But I've made elaborate characters and worldbuilds that just sit there. As I have also mentioned before, I feel like I have already passed through my "golden age", and the stuff that I'm interested in doesn't appeal to the general crowd anymore. 10 or 15 years ago, it was easy to get into. Now, not so much.

I actually have better luck getting interests in my idea on adult sites because i think they have a slightly older demographic. But for obvious reasons, adult sites tend to have people focused on a very specific kind of narrative, and story is secondary. (and even then, the interests is fickle at best)

And I've already left, and come back, and left and come back, and left.... etc. And i have come to realize that no amount of hiatus is going to bring back the topics of yesteryear. They are only getting older and more obscure. And try as i might, I just can't bring myself to give a shit about new topics/fandoms/television shows/internet trends

 

[nerdy tangents]

Murdergurl I apologize for using an offensive term it wasn’t my intention to upset you.

My point is that you just seem unhappy with your life as a whole and not as if you have a specific pet peeve. Because whenever people offer suggestions to help make your roleplay experience better you immediately shut them down.

Which I think is where the “downer” comment comes in. It’s not that your ranting it’s just that you seem determined to be unhappy.

 

[Damafaud]

"This RP will be set in [intricate lore that's light in execution and leave room for interpretation of the fantasy world]"

Yes...

"Players will be playing [characters in position to make a significant impact in said society]"


YES

"As for the rules [comes off as a reasonable GM that is open for communication and discussion]

YESYES

"Please post twice a week"

NO DAMN IT