What Happened To The Roleplaying Community
I am aware there are way bigger problems in the world, I have way bigger, more serious problems in my stupid life but I HAVE got to vent about this hobby, even if no one cares. And I understand I am probably going to sound like a boomer complaining about the kids, bc I am def going to say "back in my day" but I feel like I am going insane, okay? Please just hear me out.
I was writing stories since I was a little kid, I started role playing at like 13-14. My last 1x1 roleplay partner was my partner for like 6 years if I did the math right. Then we left the hobby because we felt we had outgrown it and didn't have the energy for it anymore. Now, 3 years later at 34 I have returned to the hobby and I don't know what happened while I was gone but what. the. fuck.
Like I don't even know what to start ranting about first.
Finding someone to roleplay with has been hell these last few months. And if you can find someone who you vibe with they will suddenly just DISAPPEAR one day. What the fuck. One person we have been roleplaying two rps together for MONTHS, I thought we were friends, and she just fucking disappeared??? Like she still logs on, I can see her online, she hasn't blocked me or left the server or anything. She just won't respond to me. HEY, IF YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED ANYMORE, JUST SAY SO. OR BLOCK ME FFS SO I KNOW WHERE I STAND. It's making me so anxious you're just THERE not talking to me for SOME unknown reason. And heres another thing, if you have to take a hiatus because of mental health then like if I message you to check in on you, please for the love god message me back. I am not being pushy I am so genuinely checking on you, I just wanna know you're alive and doing okay.
And the other thing is, people are now only willing to do ONE roleplay at a time. My previous long term partner, we roleplayed MULTIPLE roleplays together. Just counted our old server, WE HAD 43 ROLEPLAYS. Some of them we did at the same time. Some of them fandoms, some of them original stories. I am tried of making a server for like multiple different people to roleplay one thing.
Back in the day, it was so easy to find a fellow femme roleplay partner but since I have been out of the community there are SO many cis hetero men in the space now. And I'm not saying they don't ALSO deserve to enjoy roleplaying as a hobby, they do, but why is every single god damn post on every single god damn fucking website a cis man looking for a female roleplaying partner. Like elliuiqy, a site for adult themed roleplays, almost every god damn post is a man looking for a female partner. I checked and the last time someone was looking for a FxF was a month ago. Yet there are DAILY posts of these dudes. Look, I prefer to roleplaying with other women or femme people. This is in part because I get this wild, uncomfortable anxiety when roleplaying with men. I just feel viscerally uncomfortable, I don't know why! Thats just how my brain and body react. If I could afford therapy it is definitely something I would explore with a professional! But even if that weren't case, cis hetero men, 9 times out of 10 are fucking horrible partners. "If you prefer to rp with women how do you know that?" Because I have pushed myself to roleplay with them despite my anxiety to try and challenge it and, while I am sure there are great ones out there because men are not a monolith (I'm seriously not trying to be like ALL MEN okay, just the many I've experienced, all I can do is speak about my experiences, I'M SORRY), all the ones I have had are fucking terrible as partners and writers.
They will disregard boundaries, they will push you into things you aren't comfortable with and so many of them are just shit at writing. You could write a beautiful long two paragraphs about your character's feelings or sensations they feel or thoughts or all of those things and they will write back basically "He liked it, it made his dick so hard, he wanted to put it in her" Hey, fuck you if write like that. It's like roleplaying with a 2x4. Git gud, you fucking scrub.
And like smut isn't like fun with them, its like they want to get off as fast as possible. They fire off the laziest, weakest responses possible in hopes of moving the plot along to get to the part they wanna get off to. AND THATS COMING FROM FUCKING ME OF ALL PEOPLE. Like I love to fucking write smut, its my favorite thing to write but you've got to build the characters and the world still! Otherwise it's flat and theres no emotion or fun in it. LIKE WHERES THE BEEF DUDE, I WANT MEAT AND POTATOES. ("What about roleplaying with trans men??" I don't know, they've never crossed my boundary of femme partners only, so I have never tried it. No idea how my anxious brain would react. Would it be like that gender affirming bird who bit that trans woman? Maybe.) Roleplaying with men vs women is like the equivalent of the Met Gala before Men started putting in SOME effort. Women would show up in these beautiful elaborate outfits that would leave people in awe, I STILL think about some of the dresses I've seen years later. And Men would show in a basic ass tux. Like why even be here if you aren't even gonna try.
And I have had terrible femme partners to but most of the time they are just like bad at writing but trying to get better. I am willing to forgive bad writing as long as you are working to improve and putting in effort. Like why the fuck would I want to write with someone who doesn't give a fuck about worldbuilding or character building or exploring interesting relationships and dynamics????
Also what the fuck is with people being like "I will only play a woman" [old voice] BACK IN MY DAY you played multiple genders you fuckers. If you preferred to play female characters you reciprocated for your partner by playing a male character in an rp they wanted to do. It wasn't just about what made you happy or what you wanted to do, it was a hobby that required PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION. IT SHOULD STILL BE THAT.
Also, Smut rolepalying doesn't count as literary roleplaying?? SINCE FUCKING WHEN?? Do romance novels not count as NOVELS NOW, what are you people FUCKING talking about!? If I write at least a paragraph that is in the literary style THATS WHAT LITERARY ROLEPLAYING IS OR WAS BEFORE WE DECIDED WRITING SMUT WASN'T INTELLECTUAL AT ALL, FUCK YOU.
And do NOT get me started on the fucking reddit roleplaying community. Wow. What a shit hole. Also, NOW, I have to go to like 50 different websites to try to find a partner. What the fuck is that about?? I used to be able to just post on tumblr "Hey I wanna rp this" and people would swarm. Now? I post on tumblr, I post on Reddit, I post on barbermonger, I post on elliquiy, I post on Iwaku, I post on RP Depository, I am in like EIGHT different roleplaying finder servers. And Tumblr, I post on my rp blog, I post in a rp partner finder community AND I SEND ADS TO ROLEPLAYING FINDER BLOGS. Like the amount of effort I have put in to just find someone, what the hell.
I just, WHAT HAPPENED WHILE I WAS GONE. I'm so tired. I just wanna write smut and filth and fluff and romance and some angst and have fun. Why is everyone behaving this way now, whats wrong with you all, what happened. It used to be a community but it doesn't feel like one now. Theres NO sense of community anymore.
germansingergirl
tangentwithtanner
turnnoffyourmind
gamechangershow
titsay
kianamaiart
prguitarman
