Oh, gosh. I have a few Opinions on roleplay but I dunno how many are unpopular.
- To me, roleplaying is collaborative writing. You’re creating a story with a partner or group of partners, and as such it is important to have a level of trust with the others to effectively exchange ideas and plot points. Dishonesty, manipulative behavior, and the like are not conducive to the creative process and, in fact, make the writing lower quality. If you don’t trust who you’re working with, or are unhappy with who you’re working with for whatever reason, you should not be working with them.
- ERP is no big deal, as long as both parties consent to what is being done out of character. It’s fun collaborative smut writing, and nothing to be ashamed of. Some people think that it somehow is ‘less dirty’ by stipulating they only do such rp within the context of a long-term roleplay relationship, and I think that’s kind of a bullshit, half-slut-shamey take that implies if someone does ERP with new people frequently that they are bad. Purity culture is bullshit, and people need to understand that part of loving yourself is knowing how you want to, ahem, love yourself and be loved by others. (I have a lot of like... one liner type opinions regarding this subject as well that are tangentially connected but not exactly coherent. Send me another ask and I’ll give a text wall about it.)
