I had a really unsatisfying interaction in a game on Monday that's really not sitting right.
my character's whole Thing is that she's a monster (think vampire, that's not what she is but close enough) raised by her human dad & when she was an adult she left so he could have a normal life. her dad eventually got remarried with step-kids. and my character + her dad have been having an ongoing argument spanning multiple years about whether she should come home, her dad insists it'll be fine, she refuses, her dad keeps insisting which pushes her further away, etc etc.
well we're approaching the very end of the game, like last 2-3 sessions and I'm finally confronting my character's dad and step-mom. in the previous session my dad got kidnapped & we had to save him. my characters step-mom 1) blames my character for putting her dad in danger & says she doesn't want me around 2) says that I can't just walk in and out of my dad's life whenever I want (???) 3) out of nowhere (imo) gives my character an ultimatum that I have to decide (right now!) whether I want to be part of the family or leave my dad forever.
and I hadn't ever really thought about this possibility so it caught me totally off-guard and I just. shut down & didn't know what to do. & my character's dad, who was right there, didn't say anything and seemingly deferred to his wife? and when I finally collected myself and tried talking, any time I asked like "are you just going to blame me any time something goes wrong?" they kept saying shit like "we'll figure it out" instead of like. anything actually helpful.
we ended after that with no real resolution, but the more I think about it the more upset I get because like. that is an INSANE and manipulative thing to say to your step-kid. like the thing they're so upset about is my character moving away & not visiting & her dad constantly pushing the issue. & her dad not stepping in and standing up for his kid really sours my view of their relationship. the most annoying part is that the events of the game proved my character RIGHT, as soon as she got close to her dad he got kidnapped, so her dad was wrong all these years. so it's like. he's blaming my character for getting his feelings hurt bc she wouldn't visit, when doing so would have put him in danger.
on the one hand, thats in-line with what a bad parent would do, but I wrote my character's dad to be a GOOD parent.














