something big going down in clown town

[socksuke_uchiha]

Rundown: rpanons is an anonymous community for role-play related topics. This place serves as a forum for game discussions, canon discussions, RP solicitations (ATP, game ads, open memes), and advice. The occasional off topic comment is inevitable, but please keep heated social and political topics to their respective communities. Posting them here will only get them frozen. Subsequent threads made to bypass a freeze will then be deleted.

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Comments

CHARACTER ADVICE

[socksuke_uchiha]

using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

for people who play characters who narrate their own stories: do you use first or third? would people find it odd to see first person prose used in brackets, even if it's thematically appropriate to the character?

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

You sound new if this is a question you have to ask... at best, you can indicate where their narration/thoughts are, like "Wow, he thinks, this sure is a big mug for a small drink, I paid too much" but nobody will write "[This sure is a big mug for a small drink, I paid to much] I want to speak to the manager"

op

[(Anonymous)]

not new! i know it's not common but it's very prominent in the canon that i'm curious what people would think since i know it would be out of place, but if it can have a place with certain characters.

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

I stick to third for actions but give internal monologue instead of exposition.

E.g. [ He turns the doorknob. ‘I dread what's on the other side of the door’ he thinks. ] vs what I'd normally do [ He turns the doorknob, dreading what's on the other side. ]

op

[(Anonymous)]

thanks! i was wondering about mixing it up like that, too.

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

personally fine with it if it is canon-appropriate e.g. harry dresden, divergent, twilight etc. but i think it is harder to write 1st person well in interactive threads, and takes dedication to character and openness to others not matching style or feeling comfortable with it.

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

i've seen first person done in brackets by someone who, i think, was attempting to emulate the unique delivery of their canon

i found it confusing and off-putting and didn't tag them, but lots of other people thought it was very cool and loved it. so i think that's the kind of mixed reception you should expect. if it's a popular character and you're a good writer, you won't hurt for tags imo

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

i sometimes mix in first-person thoughts in italics, but very, very sparingly, because of the ic/ooc divide, i don't really see first-person prose catching on, however thematic to the canon. i'd find it really off-putting in anything explicit, whether smut or gore/horror, for instance.

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

i've seen both mspa and persona players use second person in an attempt to emulate their canons, so in theory i don't think it would be much worse to use first person

but in practice i personally avoid it (as someone who plays from a canon that utilizes first person) because i don't want to cause confusion

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

funny you say "odd" because i saw an odd thomas once who wrote their prose/brackets in first person many years ago, probably because that's how the books are written.

it was a weird choice but if it helps someone write the character better, i guess it's not hurting anyone. but i still think for most characters, third person is better unless you're using it as a gimmick like that odd thomas.

Re: using first person in prose

[(Anonymous)]

third person. i'm rping, not emulating canon.

extreme reason: i wouldn't try to animate a cartoon character's responses.
boring reason: i know that non-matching tenses can be distracting for people even if they're not a deal breaker, and i'd just rather not do that.

Re: CHARACTER ADVICE

[(Anonymous)]

i've done it for one character who did it in canon. it got good reception from people who were canon familiar but it did get weird looks from people who didn't. nobody seemed actively offended, just kinda weirded out.

if you're okay with that then go for it.

sa

[(Anonymous)]

lmao misfire

OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

two things:

rather than attempt #6 (i think) on bringing a canon character here too and eventually losing muse from being extra perfectionist, i decided to just bring one of my ocs over. he has a combo of religious trauma and is a sexual assault survivor, so i'm not sure how to navigate that in regards to opening up to other characters here, especially if there ends up being smut.

also: how does DW generally feel about genderfluid ocs? i'm not sure if it'd come across poorly or not... this version will probably be different but i'm not sure how much to adapt lol.

i have a sensitivity reader who can help with both aspects, but i still want to know if it's going to fly or not ahead of time, yknow?

Re: OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

1) just provide content warnings prominently in his journal and in the subject lines of tags that talk about those issues. if the smut is going to involve it heavily, talk to other players ahead of time and be mindful of their personal opt outs and preferences. some people will want to avoid it completely, others may be fine with it. you might also want to include an opt out post in his journal in case people want to let you know privately that they don't want to have threads with him

2) generally fine and nobody cares, ignore anons who say otherwise

Re: OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

+1 on both counts

Re: OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

bluntly, very few people want to work through sexual assault recovery rp, so tread carefully. warnings are your best friend, and don't take it personally if someone doesn't want to tag you or engage with it. they might just not like the subject matter or want to deal with it in pretendy funtimes, they might find it triggering for personal experience reasons, they might not trust a write they don't know to handle it well. etc. just be considerate and clear.

genderfluid ocs are fine.

Re: OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

ty for the honesty guys! this is really helpful :o

i'm thinking it'd be easier to bring him way way later so he's processed it, had enough experience to feel comfortable (not necessarily have to bring it up at all in rp) and can focus on him having fun re: gender. would that work better?

i usually prefer light-hearted rp in general, i just don't want to be stumbling if something comes up i can foresee now lmao

Re: OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

i suppose. it's up to you. i personally probably wouldn't load an oc up with that kind of trauma if i wanted light-hearted rp, but i'm not about to tell you what to write.

Re: OCs, smut and gender identity

[(Anonymous)]

counterpoint to the above anons: some people are excited to play with those topics, so having it clearly stated in your journal also allows people who might not reach out otherwise to know you're interested in being engaged

Characters from settings with modern politics and rl personalities

[(Anonymous)]

I've been rewatching Inside Job, and been having a desire to play some of the characters. However, I've realized that a lot of the humor of the series is based off not just playing off real-life personalities in the context of a global conspiracy, but how politics and corruption are closely intertwined with it.

Given politics is a very no-no topic, especially in RP when people want to wind down, I've wondered how would it be best to tread those topics, especially since they may deal with sensitive issues such as authoritarianism, sexism, surveillance, and the like.

Re: Characters from settings with modern politics and rl personalities

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know the canon but I think the politics thing depends on what it is. If it's your standard TV show thing, fine. If they're going on about Trump and Biden, no.

Re: Characters from settings with modern politics and rl personalities

[(Anonymous)]

seconding anon above; we aren't purity culture weirdos here and plenty of fantasy canons deal with authoritarianism, sexism, surveillance, etc. Some of us like that kind of stuff! Some don't care for it, and that's okay. You would probably do fine to just avoid naming names and refer to them as The President if it's something like that? You could also always add a quick blurb in your top levels or if you're tagging someone new for the first time like, [character cw: backstory involves x y z, if you're okay with that?]

I don't think you should have to neuter yourself too much but I think doing some prefacing/warning and mild 'coding' is respectful and least gets the point across without having to be Too Real about it. Also, there's always opt-out posts and permissions posts! That's literally what they're there for. You aren't responsible for what someone chooses to interact with, just reasonably warning them in advance for what you have to offer.

Re: Characters from settings with modern politics and rl personalities

[(Anonymous)]

i don't think that bringing in a character or playing out threads that involve a lot of modern politics and intrigue are necessarily a NO here - lots of people are down to play around with themes of politics, corruption, and discrimination, esp at... how would i put it, like higher levels of government and governance than us rando normies would ever really experience, forex an agent for the CIA, an ambassador for the UN, son or daughter of a modern monarchy, etc.

but i do think it should be a solidly opt-in sort of deal and you should lay out the kind of topics you'd be interested in playing out and let people pick and choose which ones they're interested in engaging with. obvs different people will have different limits, prefs, and topics they want to avoid. someone might be down to do a thread that's fully set in the here-and-now with all of the current trappings and political figures we've got rn, but not want to include ongoing election controversies, or decide they want to skip on the transphobia or rollback of reproductive rights or what have you because certain things hit too close to home or just aren't worth engaging in fictional pretendy times with.