God Why, RP

Because sometimes it hurts to be a literary fascist.

[writersrandomramblings]

Character checker.

[godwhyrp]

I think this applies pretty well to some of the asks we've gotten.

[godwhyrp]

Is there anything more obnoxious than someone bragging about how many characters they have?

[godwhyrp]

PRO TIP: Maybe don’t try to have me help you plan some characters and loose setup for an RP I’m apparently a part of even though I haven’t agreed to RP in the first place.

DOUBLE PRO TIP: Extra don’t if it’s obvious you just want our characters to fuck.

[godwhyrp]

I tried to start a roleplaying forum on Gaia only to be told off and insulted by a bunch of people for not having Pictures in my intro (purely text) and not wanting pictures in the profile skeleton. I wanted them to simply describe their appearance so that there wasn't a huge picture at the top of their post whenever they did something. Is there anywhere I can go to be able to start a quality role play without having to have kawaii desu animu pictures?

We’re totally out of touch when it comes to places to RP, sorry. Gaia doesn’t seem to be a good place if you don’t care about pretty pictures, though. Or quality.

Maybe our followers can be more helpful?

[godwhyrp]

So we don’t really post on this blog anymore and I’m sorry for that, but something happened to me recently that I feel is enough to post here. At first I was going to write up this big semi-dramatic venting post about it, but the whole thing is just kind of funny to me now so I’ll spare you all the theatrics. It might still get a little wordy though, because that’s how I do.

Keep reading

[godwhyrp]

Update: He was still trying to get me to RP sexytimes with him until I just outright told him I wasn't going to. I don't know, I find it kind of weirdly insulting when someone is only talking to me because they think I'll indulge them. Trying to goad me into it with some light *does a thing* style RP out of nowhere will not increase the chances.

[godwhyrp]

So we don't really post on this blog anymore and I'm sorry for that, but something happened to me recently that I feel is enough to post here. At first I was going to write up this big semi-dramatic venting post about it, but the whole thing is just kind of funny to me now so I'll spare you all the theatrics. It might still get a little wordy though, because that's how I do.

Basically, somebody I met online but hadn't talked to for years sends me a Steam message out of the blue. We don't catch up at all before he asks me if I played [series] that he recommended to me back in the day, and that I have a working knowledge of, and also if I RP. This leads to him showing me his RP outline, based on the lore of [series], and it's... Alright, I guess? He's got all his characters lined out, the main one being some rich successful political dude and the other is a female of [race all the creepo fans find super sexy for some reason]. The red flags were at half mast before it even got to the part about how much she loves bondage. yeah.

Now, I'm all passive and non-confrontational at first and my passive ass waffles and tells him I'll sleep on it. I'm nice about it and tell him not to give up and that RP partners are hard to find, but he laments something about how he's been looking for someone to RP this with him for five years and is unrelenting when it comes to getting me to do it, to the point where he says he'll buy me a game if I do. Except I'm, you know, not cool with it. The next day, I decide to cut the bullshit and just tell him I'm not comfortable, and he acts all disappointed like I'm supposed to feel bad for him or something.

And it's like, lol no I'm sorry (I'm not sorry) but I'm not gonna RP your waifu for you.

I've dealt with dudes like this. They act all playful and nice, but it's still pretty clear what they want from you. There's just a very skeevy undertone to the whole thing and I feel like everything is a thinly-veiled attempt to get me to enact some kind of sexual fantasy through RP.

He did this to me years ago too, really wanting me to RP a female [other race] for him in the context of [other series], for whatever reason. I didn't then either, because he kept trying to push me into doing this RP with him instead of actually talking about this series and what we liked about it, or anything of actual substance.

I guess the TL;DR of all this is you shouldn't let pushy, desperate scumlords manipulate you into playing something you're not cool with and you should just throw them in the trash where they belong.

[god-awful-role-play]

personality

is

OPTIONAL

[godwhyrp]

Honestly I can kind of buy a character's personality being non-essential in a profile, because it's the kind of thing that's demonstrated through writing anyway. At the same time, though, it's good for giving other players an idea of what to expect from your character and can maybe help them choose one of theirs who would be a good foil, so. I'd say while it's a not a thing anyone needs to write a novella about, making it optional is sort of silly.

[lady-fey]

When every character has a sob story, no one does.

One of the main faux pas that I see young writers make is this idea that that they need to give every character a tragic backstory. There can be no happiness in the past for our main characters. Their childhoods must be steeped in sorrow to make them deep and tragic because being deep and tragic makes them interesting and no. That is just not true. A character can be interesting even if they had a perfectly normal and happy childhood.

That’s not the reason why I’m talking about this issue, though. I’m bringing it up because of a very real problem that comes with giving everyone a sob story: when every character has one, then no one does.

Read More

[godwhyrp]

Hi! I hope it's not too much trouble, but I was wondering if you had any tips for making three-dimensional characters.

If you want to get into 3D modeling I recommend starting with a program like Blender, it's free and there's a ton of tutorials out there.

But really I know what you actually mean, and the best advice I can offer is just try your best to make them realistic. Think of how real people think and interact, and while you obviously don't have to adhere to that 100% in fiction, part of what makes robust characters robust is that they react to situations in a way that's loyal to their own personality instead of just the archetype they're based on.

- Cos

[fuckyeahmarysues]

So like what if a character doesn't have that bad of a past but still takes it horribly and overreacts to it?

i have a really firm belief that you cant overreact about your own past because events effect people differently. not everyone is gonna have the same reaction to similar situations ; w ;

also i have no idea what you’re trying to ask here sorry anon bb

-t

[godwhyrp]

I think I see what this person is trying to get at: Like if a character's background is devoid of any major tragedies, but there's still things about it that'll make them get emotional, and I think it's entirely possible.

There's more ways to make characters interesting than giving them tragic pasts, I mean not everyone carries a cargo hold full of baggage around, and shitty things that don't involve somebody ending up dead or some other major event can happen to anyone. Things like abandonment, rejection, exile, past mistakes that are comparatively minor and what have you can still hurt.

To other characters who have families that have been murdered by ninjas it probably looks a little silly, but I'd rather see people trying to do more creative things with generally unfortunate incidents than the same angst-ridden, death-filled backstories over and over.

- Cos

[fuckyeahmarysues]

Some of us who are in our 20s(in college here) write sues because we want to and it's therapeutic, nor does it harm anyone. Because of you my friend is afraid to post her stories anywhere and has to send them to me through Skype. You must be so proud of yourselves. You can critique all you like but in the end, it's the author's decision. Get over it.

[10:30:58 AM] j: thank you for totally missing the point of our blog[10:31:03 AM] t: OHHH my god[10:31:11 AM] t: you did it fine internet user[10:31:17 AM] t: you missed the point completely

[10:32:24 AM] t: YOU FUCKIN MISSED THE POINT[10:32:27 AM] t: WENT RIGHT OVER UR HEAD[10:32:31 AM] t: CONGRATS[10:32:38 AM] t: U MUST BE SO PROUD!!!!!

[godwhyrp]

I almost want to argue that writing characters who are unenjoyable to everyone else DOES “hurt” people in that it ruins their experiences in their respective fandoms and RPs, but that’d be a little dramatic and hyperbolic. It’s not really a random internet blog’s fault that your friend is so afraid of random people on the internet whose opinions ultimately don’t matter that she won’t share her writing. If she thinks her stories have issues, then there’s nothing stopping her from trying to fix them and improve her writing. Nobody should be writing to get compliments and ass-pats, you should write because you want to and to get better at it, even if some of it sucks and you don’t want to show it to anyone. Also, most blogs like FYMS will easily comply with takedown requests if you give them a post number and take precautions to make sure their followers don’t go harass people. If getting critiqued or made fun of a little causes someone to be so insecure about their writing that they want to hide it, that’s their prerogative. I know it doesn’t feel very great sometimes, but any creative process is going to come with its own forms of critique and sharing your work requires thick skin sometimes.

(11:06:46 PM) Kaidona Fegkari: If you made the character a Sue on purpose and it made it on a Sue blog, CONGRATS, YOU JUST ACCOMPLISHED WHAT YOU WERE AIMING FOR. If anything you should be fucking laughing someone found it.

[fuckyeahmarysues]

I know I just sent a message like two minutes ago, but I just want to point out, a tragic past is not needed to make a good character. You character can be cool, kind, cute, serious or whatever you want them to be without having some issues during their childhood. While it is a common theme, and it does seem to make the characters more realistic, it's fine to just leave out any gory details. Go without the tragedy sometimes, it's alright to do so, and it's more relaxing to write about happiness.

[deviantartwhy]

Whats wrong with making/having edgy OCs?

No one said there was anything wrong explicitly with having them

But the whole tragic backstory emo emo cry blood stuff is kinda overplayed

If your character is edgy, give them a better reasons to be edgy. Maybe break the trope.

[godwhyrp]

I felt obligated to put ~more words~ on this post I hope that's okay

"""Edgy""" characters often get made fun of on blogs like deviantartwhy and related because:

They are a dime a dozen. Seriously, that shit is like, everywhere. Every open RP community/fandom/social network is rife with them and they're all the same.

Most of the time it's just hilariously tryhard and a cheap attempt at shock value, even though everyone's basically desensitized to it because again, these characters are everywhere.

In RP, they're are annoying to deal with because the grand majority of the time they're either played as being all brooding and dark away from everyone else, forcing everyone's characters to come to them, or they're ~insane~ and go on random murder sprees or something. Then the RP becomes centered around Stabby McCrazypants acting out because nobody loves them.

It's like going LOOK AT ME with a character, because of the aforementioned attempts at shock value and tendency to pull focus toward the 'edgy' character in writing. Instead of having a character who can work well alongside other characters and participate in the plot equally, it's all LOOK AT MY AWESOME OH CEE YOU GUYS LOOK!!!

Bonus points if the character is actually just another character's "alternate personality" because their maker can't keep personalities consistent and/or doesn't have the gumption to play someone who's actually evil.

It's just some sort of half-assed compromise between wanting to have a character who is everyone's friend and who people will like, and having a character who's "cool" and/or "badass."

I'm not saying everyone should avoid these characters entirely or stop making them, just the ones preteens deviantArt like to draw holding knives and covered in spatterings of blood, or looking sad with a bunch of mean words around them.

[godwhyrp]

/post/61177263291/ i saw this when scrolling and i got rly mad bc "bbc" sherlock is on pbs not bbc i cant

You know, I was going to leave this ask alone, but then people being wrong on the internet drives me crazy, so HERE GOES. Just because a show is being aired on PBS does not change the fact that it is filmed and released by the BBC. 

BBC Sherlock, the one with Benedict Cumberbatch, is still BBC's Sherlock, because it is written, filmed, and released by the BBC. Multiple shows and films released by the BBC end up on PBS. For awhile Monty Python's Flying Circus was airing on PBS. It is still from the BBC. Thank you for fact-checking.

--Kai

[godwhyrp]

I just want to take a minute to let you guys know that we still exist and everything, and we do see every ask we get, but if you need immediate answers it is not a very good idea to try and get them from us.

Kai is facing some health issues that would be easily fixed if healthcare in this country wasn't a massive joke and my new major leaves me with so much schoolwork that takes so long to do that it's making me consider quitting my job. Which is a pitiful retail job where I feel worthless at best, so.

We haven't fully abandoned the blog, but things are going to have to start sucking a little less for us before we start posting again.

[godwhyrp]

Hey, I've been keeping the same muse for about... six years now, and I think I might have gotten a little too attached to her over the years- but I have multiple muses. I don't think the rest of my muses are getting enough RP time- and I end up coming up with more and more muses! What do I do?

... You mean "characters", right? I was slightly confused for a second there.It's perfectly fine to have a lot of characters and to continously come up with ideas for them. My 'main' character has been my main character for like, ten years. Sometimes you just have ideas you really like, and that's fine. It gets kind of annoying when somebody does nothing but come up with characters instead of actually do things with the characters they have, but if this stuff is continously coming to you then you might as well let it.I'd say use something like Charahub to keep profiles for your characters in one place, if only for your own personal reference and the ability to keep track of everyone in your roster. I've seen people use Excel spreadsheets too but Charahub is more fun.

- Cos

[godwhyrp]

Have you ever picked your bumhole with your finger?