RPC behaviors that need to end with the new year
And this goes for ALL fandom RPCs. These are all things that I have observed at many different points throughout this year. From many different people from many different fandoms. I’ve done my part to be better about some of these myself already. It’s never too late to correct old, bad behaviors and build a community that’s happier and safer.
Confronting people about unfollowing you. Regardless if you were long time mutuals or not, if someone unfollowed you, they probably had their reasons. And they don’t need to justify their choice to you nor do you get to decide if their reason is “good enough” for you. Let people unfollow/soft block/hard block however they want so that they feel safe in the community.
The habits of begging for things from others while not reciprocating. People will exhaust themselves of things to constantly shower upon you if you’re not doing the same every now and then. If you are constantly reblogging memes, constantly asking people to send your muses questions, to write your muses starters and never being the one to do those things yourself… It’s unfair and everyone knows it, yet it keeps happening year after year. If you’re going to ask others for things, be willing to reach out on your own every now and then.
Acting like other people’s rules don’t apply to you. If someone says they don’t RP with a specific fandom/genre that is their choice and you neeed to respect it. If they say they only write a specific way, you need to respect that. If they say they are mutuals only, YOU NEED TO RESPECT THAT. No one needs to justify their rules to anyone. Most people have those rules because someone in their past did things to them they didn’t like and they are trying to prevent it from happening again. It doesn’t matter if you’re a new follower or a long time mutual. Follow each other’s blog rules. If you view yourself as the exception to the rule, you’re part of the reason that rule exists.
Vague blogging about your mutuals. Just. Stop it. Confront people in private or take your hands off of your keyboard. Be a good person and talk to someone if they do something you’re not okay with or just unfollow/block them. Vague-ing on the dash just fills everyone who sees it with unnecessary anxiety and a fear that “Oh god are they talking about ME? Did I do something wrong??” and they have no way to know because you chose to make it everyone’s problem instead of confronting the issue directly.
Emotionally manipulative posts to get people to respond to your stuff. No more making a scene to get people to send you a bunch of stuff. Even worse is when people do this and then delete the posts where they did it as if it never happened. There are better ways to get people to interact with you than cussing at your mutuals. These are your rp partners. They deserve your respect. and tying into #2 up there… Especially don’t do this if you’re not sending things to others as well. This breeds an unhappy and unhealthy RP environment
The lack of respect for RPers of all ages. No one is too old or too young. Stop treating new, young RPers like they aren’t as good by default. Or older RPers like they’re out of touch and don’t belong in the community. And by that same notion, respect if people aren’t comfortable RPing with people outside their own age groups. If a blog is 18+ only, that should be respected- Especially if there is graphic content on their blog. If a minor isn’t comfortable RPing with the 30+ community, we should not be pressuring KIDS to interact with strange adults online.
Pressuring people to leave their safe spaces and RP with fandoms they don’t like or just aren’t in. If someone isn’t comfortable rping with a specific fandom, a specific genre or a specific type of character, they are allowed to have those preferences. Do you have to like it? No. But you do have to respect it. We need to stop this “Just treat them like an OC if you don’t know/like the fandom” stuff because there are always more factors you don’t know. And the ties to the source material that is probably making them uncomfortable will always be there in your muse’s portrayal. Because they are not your OC that you made up. They will ALWAYS be a character from a fandom. No one can just shut off the part of their brain that recognizes something that potentially triggers them and view it as something brand new. Stop expecting people to set aside their boundaries for the sake of your muse(s).
Feel free to add more if you feel the need.
2020 was terrible for a lot of people. There’s no reason that the thing we do for fun to escape life has to be terrible too. Respect and be good to each other in 2021. It’s the least we can do.
