Experiences What's one RP trope/topic that makes you leave without discussion?

[LadySnow]

I will automatically nope out of any type of discussion with the following:

Abusive relationships
Stockholm Syndrome/Kidnapping
Possessive and obsessive characters
Teen Angst

I agree with you under the basis that it is only portrayed in a backstory for a character and even then there are limitations. If someone were to incorporate that into current time role play then I would have an issue.

 

[Jannah]

I agree with you under the basis that it is only portrayed in a backstory for a character and even then there are limitations. If someone were to incorporate that into current time role play then I would have an issue.

For me it definitely depends on how it's portrayed.

 

[Hootle]

I agree with you under the basis that it is only portrayed in a backstory for a character and even then there are limitations. If someone were to incorporate that into current time role play then I would have an issue.

I've only encountered people that want to roleplay it. My character obsessing over theirs to the point of harassment.
I can kind of, not much though, understand some of these as backstory for a character. I personally wouldn't do it for mine but when you want me to play a teacher to your student character and include a romance between them, that's a hard no.

 

[FixatedHeart]

Not that much. But romantizing abuse or a sort of illness (physical and/or mental) is an absolute no. I've met some interesting people out there.
Teacher x Student is odd for me as well.
And just anyone who's overbearing or outright dispectful I tend to avoid.

 

[Henery]

Warrior cats. I don't know why; I even read half the first book (before losing it ). I just can't stand playing warrior cats. I don't have anything against the people who like it, but I can't ever play it.

 

[PrinceChaikka]

I'm pretty tough to most topics like violence and dark themes. Some general stuff that others have already said like... Wholeheartedly romanticizing abuse really makes me uncomfortable. If it's a character struggling with that sort of mental battle themselves, it's fine. I feel that most dark topics depend on how well they're handled by the writers, though.

That said, I also have some smaller, more innocuous things that just make me nope out too. Pregnacy is one: just any kind of pregnancy really. I don't really care for extensive talk of drug use either, and although I understand the appeal, I also dislike student settings in general, even college/university. Nothing wrong with the topics, they just aren't my cup of tea.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Wholeheartedly romanticizing abuse really makes me uncomfortable. If it's a character struggling with that sort of mental battle themselves, it's fine. I feel that most dark topics depend on how well they're handled by the writers, though.

I think in general it comes down to “what is the writer trying to say?”

With mental illness if it’s clear they’re just recycling a checklist of movie tropes I nope out. Because mental illness is very rarely what you see in books or TV. And the times when it’s accurately portrayed aren’t fun, quirky, or particularly romantic.

With abuse it’s “does the writer want me to be endeared to this behavior?” If the answer is yes, then I nope out.

I again blame media for teaching people that a lot of red flag behavior is romantic and charming. Because if you have run into it in real life it really isn’t.

I often find asking people that question can get past the movie googled if you will.

“Like okay but if a man broke all your belongings because he wanted you to pay attention to him. Would that make YOU feel better or worse?”

 

[PrinceChaikka]

I think in general it comes down to “what is the writer trying to say?”

With mental illness if it’s clear they’re just recycling a checklist of movie tropes I nope out. Because mental illness is very rarely what you see in books or TV. And the times when it’s accurately portrayed aren’t fun, quirky, or particularly romantic.

With abuse it’s “does the writer want me to be endeared to this behavior?” If the answer is yes, then I nope out.

Yeah! That's a good way to phrase it. The intent of the writer is important when you're dealing with sensitive topics like mental illness and abuse.

The actual subjects themselves aren't something that drive me away, but if someone presents a toxic relationship as endearing, or uses a character that doesn't actually represent the mental illness they have, it definitely makes me uncomfortable.

Like you said, media's definitely to blame for the popularity of that kind of thing, since a lot of really popular movies/shows/etc definitely don't bother to address or portray things with care or accuracy.

 

[toxification]

Age regression, even depicted in a sfw way. I had someone say in the plotting stages of a thread that they thought my character should age regress “because it would be funny”. Made me instantly severely uncomfortable and then I dropped out shortly after

 

[Emeraude]

Ditzy characters.

I think it's just because I don't have the patience for "silliness" in my actual life anymore and cannot stand to roleplay it when I put forth actual effort to avoid it in my offline life.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Ditzy characters.

I think it's just because I don't have the patience for "silliness" in my actual life anymore and cannot stand to roleplay it when I put forth actual effort to avoid it in my offline life.

See I’m like that with clumsy. But only because I’m actually clumsy IRL so the way people write it grinds my nerves. Come to think of it I would probably be called ditzy IRL (as it’s mostly just a precursor, and kinda misogynistic, take on being ADD or ADHD)

And yeah it’s very similar to clumsiness where you have to thread a very delicate balance between realism and theatrics.

Cuz like sometimes my ankles do randomly roll and I do a face plant. But my reaction is usually just “crap did I hurt anything? No, awesome just gonna walk it off like a cat.”

Not teehee I’m so helpless I can’t walk straight.

 

[cuzn]

If we're talking about RP posts in general, people who tell you what gender character to play as really irks me. While I definitely understand it when it comes to romantic RPs, I've been having a lot of trouble connecting with my male OCs as well as my female and non-binary OCs, so it's an immediate "no" when people post something like "I only write MxM" or "I only write MxF and only play the female role"... At this point, any type of exclusion of a certain gender or sexuality really turns me off; even those people who like to say "I never write hetero couples!" tend to get on my nerves. I'd rather let my partner play whoever character they want to play as long as I can play whoever I want to/think would suit the RP best, too.

As far as serious subjects go, I'd say I'm pretty lenient, mostly because I'm a hard believer in the idea that any writer can portray any topic or character well if they have enough skill and talent... Of course, I'd be iffy with a few subjects like pregnancy and age gap relationships, but as far as I've experienced so far I haven't really had any hard no's.

(Of course, that could change as soon as I see a post asking for something really freaky, but I can't think of anything off the top of my head.)

When it comes to things like abuse or very destructive and toxic relationships, I'm not necessarily against it, although I've had experience in those situations so in general I remain cautious towards how the other writer is handling the situation. If they just want to romanticize the idea of abuse or emotional manipulation, I lose interest, but one of my favorite RPs in the past included an abusive relationship and centered around the mental struggle and healing process of the victim, which is a story that I really got attached to... I suppose it all depends on how the writer handles it.

With mental illness, I'm a bit more sensitive towards certain topics, only because I suffer from ASD and GAD on the daily, but I'm always overjoyed to see someone playing an autistic character correctly and someone who realizes the creative potential that autism has without bastardizing it or taking an ableistic or disrespectful point of view.

 

[Prince Lutin]

One thing that would definitely turn me off is poorly-researched names. IRL, names aren't always meaningful. My first name, Erik, means "ever ruler" in Old Norse, and I'm not the ruler of anything. Also, it's jarring to see Japanese characters in realistic settings with names like Ichigo, Rin, Hotaru, and Nagisa. Many of these names are actually pretty rare outside of anime and manga. That's like expecting people from France to have names like Quasimodo and Eponine. Japanese names in non-Japanese settings are even worse, especially when it doesn't make sense. Do you really expect someone in Victorian England to be named Ryu? Russian surnames are gendered, yet a lot of people seem to forget this - a woman is Romanova, not Romanov. Native American names tend to be misused a lot too - oftentimes people will just use the name of tribes. Native Americans do not give their kids names like Dakota, Cherokee, or Cheyenne.

Also, unusual names do not make characters any more special than people with common names. Aerith and Ichigo are no more special than Mary and Jane.

 

[Kaiju Cat]

Damsel in distress trope it can get old there’s a time and place for it not in a zombie apocalypse rp.

 

[nerdy tangents]

One thing that would definitely turn me off is poorly-researched names. IRL, names aren't always meaningful. My first name, Erik, means "ever ruler" in Old Norse, and I'm not the ruler of anything. Also, it's jarring to see Japanese characters in realistic settings with names like Ichigo, Rin, Hotaru, and Nagisa. Many of these names are actually pretty rare outside of anime and manga. That's like expecting people from France to have names like Quasimodo and Eponine. Japanese names in non-Japanese settings are even worse, especially when it doesn't make sense. Do you really expect someone in Victorian England to be named Ryu? Russian surnames are gendered, yet a lot of people seem to forget this - a woman is Romanova, not Romanov. Native American names tend to be misused a lot too - oftentimes people will just use the name of tribes. Native Americans do not give their kids names like Dakota, Cherokee, or Cheyenne.

Also, unusual names do not make characters any more special than people with common names. Aerith and Ichigo are no more special than Mary and Jane.

For anyone curious you can Google “common names from X country in X time period”. Same with surnames actually.

Using baby names sites aren’t always the most accurate so sometimes just googling what names are common and then looking at meaning helps.

Now if you are going the modern route then you absolutely can go hog wild cuz IrL people be just flat out making up shit sometimes.

Although if it’s a foreign country I would at least research naming conventions.

Japanese people like their names to have sensible meanings and you have to look at both first and last name. Also they do not have middle names (neither do Spanish people).

 

[SillyString]

Isekais. Nothing against the people who like that subgenre at all, but most of the isekai rps on this site are "modern folk sent to medieval times". I guess it's not my cup of tea.

 

[powerline]

as someone who loves werewolves, werewolf rps. it’s been such a mixed, often times creepy, bag that i’m instantly weary when i see it.

daily/hourly posting. i don’t got the time nor the brain capacity for that and i applaud the people who can do it.

 

[nerdy tangents]

as someone who loves werewolves, werewolf rps. it’s been such a mixed, often times creepy, bag that i’m instantly weary when i see it.

daily/hourly posting. i don’t got the time nor the brain capacity for that and i applaud the people who can do it.

I’m morbidly curious about what’s creepy about werewolves. I get a lot of OP “I am wolf Superman who can do anything.” But never got anything particularly creepy.

I read a series that in hindsight was hella gross (they like ate people and had weird orgies and were, again in retrospect, a lot of weird writer kinks). But never had anyone try to roleplay that version thank god.

 

[Owl Knight]

as someone who loves werewolves, werewolf rps. it’s been such a mixed, often times creepy, bag that i’m instantly weary when i see it.

I feel like werewolf RPs end up adopting a lot of ABO features so I just assume there is going to be some of those social dynamics anytime I see werewolves mentioned in a search thread and give it a wide berth.

 

[bastion]

People who rp celebrities. Usually kpop or YouTubers. It's just... So creepy. Those are real ass people.

 

[Owl Knight]

People who rp celebrities. Usually kpop or YouTubers. It's just... So creepy. Those are real ass people.

It is a little parasocial, for sure.

 

[nerdy tangents]

Yeah I can see wanting to write a celebrity character (or honestly even a YouTuber). Those are fun roles with juicy drama.

But I think playing a real person would honestly be kinda boring. Like ugh I gotta research Chris Evans actual life? Boo no.

He’s Evan St. Christopher and he is a superhero actor in the upcoming Colonel USA movie. (Ooh no one steal that I might make him a cameo the next time I do my super powered entertainers verse. That’s actually kinda brilliant.)

 

[powerline]

I’m morbidly curious about what’s creepy about werewolves. I get a lot of OP “I am wolf Superman who can do anything.” But never got anything particularly creepy.

I read a series that in hindsight was hella gross (they like ate people and had weird orgies and were, again in retrospect, a lot of weird writer kinks). But never had anyone try to roleplay that version thank god.

In my experience, I’ve seen a lot of werewolf rps where the main focus was supernatural romance, power imbalance, and imprinting on people’s daughters. Which isn’t necessarily bad if that’s your cup of tea, it just makes me very uncomfortable to have “I smell my mate,” thrown at me.

I feel like werewolf RPs end up adopting a lot of ABO features so I just assume there is going to be some of those social dynamics anytime I see werewolves mentioned in a search thread and give it a wide berth.

100% that. I just want to be a cool monster, yk?

 

[Owl Knight]

“I smell my mate,”

Ew

 

[yutohase]

In my experience, I’ve seen a lot of werewolf rps where the main focus was supernatural romance, power imbalance, and imprinting on people’s daughters. Which isn’t necessarily bad if that’s your cup of tea, it just makes me very uncomfortable to have “I smell my mate,” thrown at me.


100% that. I just want to be a cool monster, yk?

Amen to this. I don't know, maybe it's just cause I'm an asexual and don't understand the A/B/O dynamics and the whole "oh look, there's my mate" thing or if it's just that I'm a reasonable roleplayer who doesn't want to break the rules of the site, but I find it much more fun anyways to be a badass werewolf in a superhero/action/adventure story than a seductive werewolf in a romance story. Werewolves are fun because of the dynamics of balancing out these cool powers you get with the bloodlust, or those of whether the wolf is a part of you that you embrace or seek to reject. Not because of any A/B/O dynamics or mating dynamics (which are also scientifically proven to be false in real wolf packs).