I hate it when people try to force romance. It feels so fake.

@Tyro THANK YOU. SO IT'S NOT JUST ME.

Oh, here's one.

Girl/Woman (Requirement)

Here I go again.

> How would you know the person approaching you is, in fact, female? Because they said so? Bwahahaaaa....
> If the person approaching you is a good roleplayer, would they not be competent presenting both sides of the gender spectrum? If so, what's the problem?...
> Are you just trying to get your thingie off females? Roundabout way of saying so.
Naive, incomplete logic, or nefarious (and still naive most likely) intent.

ARGHAGHLDbasBd;lisugfilsabef;oashdfbb!!!!

@Tyro THANK YOU. SO IT'S NOT JUST ME.

Yeah. It happens way too often. I was driven away from a different site because EVERYONE did it. It kinda felt like a home for virgin teenagers.

It always feels funny to me when people try to get me to do a romance and I'm just thinking to myself "irl This would not be happening, why u force me m8"

Here's another one:

Here's what I look for:

1 ) You're a MALE and 18 or over.

WHY DOES THIS MATTER!? I get wanting to only PLAY male or female characters (can't relate but I guess it's fair) but what difference does it make if the person on the other side of the computer screen has a ding-dong (OR DOESN'T)??!?!?!

I don't know why this continues to annoy me when the people who insist on matching player gender to character gender always turn out to be shitty RPers anyways but lord if it doesn't seem so...I don't know...pretentious? Arrogant?

Here's another one:

<Snipped quote>

WHY DOES THIS MATTER!? I get wanting to only PLAY male or female characters (can't relate but I guess it's fair) but what difference does it make if the person on the other side of the computer screen has a ding-dong (OR DOESN'T)??!?!?!

I don't know why this continues to annoy me when the people who insist on matching player gender to character gender always turn out to be shitty RPers anyways but lord if it doesn't seem so...I don't know...pretentious? Arrogant?

Precisely.

Here's another one:

<Snipped quote>

WHY DOES THIS MATTER!? I get wanting to only PLAY male or female characters (can't relate but I guess it's fair) but what difference does it make if the person on the other side of the computer screen has a ding-dong (OR DOESN'T)??!?!?!

I don't know why this continues to annoy me when the people who insist on matching player gender to character gender always turn out to be shitty RPers anyways but lord if it doesn't seem so...I don't know...pretentious? Arrogant?

Creepy. It's creepy.

If the OOC attributes of your RP partner are that important to you, beyond personality or anything that would affect the dynamic of the RP, then you're interested in what goes beyond the RP, and that's creepy.

If you're INSISTING on it, you're basically insisting on some kind of pseudo romantic relationship with the partner. We just come here to RP, dude.

The funny part is that there is no way for people to verify it. Just like there is no way to verify age.

Sometimes I purposefully RP with people who think I am a gender that I am not, just out of spite. Is that mean?

It's not mean, but it might be dishonest.

While it's not unreasonable to assume someone RPing with you might judge you by your gender (I do, to be honest, but only in so far as vaguely expecting women and men to have certain strengths and interests respective to gender), the terms get foggy when you're enjoying a story but fear they might lose interest if they found out you were x.

Maybe they're a little more invested in the RP's elements than they rightly should be, and maybe you're manipulating them based on that. Or maybe they aren't and it doesn't matter, but you don't want to risk it. It's definitely morally questionable, but the only one holding you accountable is you.

<Snipped quote by Seravee>

Honestly it's either that or a lack of time. I'll want to write and then have to stop and think:

"Right, I want to but I have to go be a responsible adult."

I always want to write when I can't - when I'm driving, at work, in the shower, etc. As soon as I'm sitting at my laptop, I can't remember how.

Here's another one:

<Snipped quote>

WHY DOES THIS MATTER!? I get wanting to only PLAY male or female characters (can't relate but I guess it's fair) but what difference does it make if the person on the other side of the computer screen has a ding-dong (OR DOESN'T)??!?!?!

I don't know why this continues to annoy me when the people who insist on matching player gender to character gender always turn out to be shitty RPers anyways but lord if it doesn't seem so...I don't know...pretentious? Arrogant?

I joined a roleplay where I played a male character. Never claimed to be one, just had the character. The GM sent me flirtatious messages, and my response was something along the lines of "sorry, I'm flattered, but I'm a woman with a fiance I'll be marrying in a year or so." She actually cut me from the roleplay for "not being entirely truthful." I guess people see what they want to see.

It's not mean, but it might be dishonest.

While it's not unreasonable to assume someone RPing with you might judge you by your gender (I do, to be honest, but only in so far as vaguely expecting women and men to have certain strengths and interests respective to gender), the terms get foggy when you're enjoying a story but fear they might lose interest if they found out you were x.

Maybe they're a little more invested in the RP's elements than they rightly should be, and maybe you're manipulating them based on that. Or maybe they aren't and it doesn't matter, but you don't want to risk it. It's definitely morally questionable, but the only one holding you accountable is you.

To be fair, I never lie. I just let them assume what they will.

@Seravee

<Snipped quote by Drache>

I joined a roleplay where I played a male character. Never claimed to be one, just had the character. The GM sent me flirtatious messages, and my response was something along the lines of "sorry, I'm flattered, but I'm a woman with a fiance I'll be marrying in a year or so." She actually cut me from the roleplay for "not being entirely truthful." I guess people see what they want to see.

What the actual fuck.

@Seravee

<Snipped quote by Seravee>

What the actual fuck.

I just chalked it up to be me playing a really believable guy. And I guess I sound pretty sexy too. XD

I always want to write when I can't - when I'm driving, at work, in the shower, etc. As soon as I'm sitting at my laptop, I can't remember how.

I feel your pain. I tend to get bursts of inspiration late at night. It'll be 11:30, I'm about to go to sleep, and then a great idea pops into my mind. Either I ignore it and the steam is gone the next morning, or I spend two hours writing in the middle of the night and I'm a wreck the next morning. There's no winning.

Maybe I'm a were-author. Inspired writer by night, incompetent scrub by day.

(I do, to be honest, but only in so far as vaguely expecting women and men to have certain strengths and interests respective to gender)

You know, I have an optimistic side. It may be hungry, lonely, and scared, having been locked away in the deepest, darkest, coldest region of my heart long ago, but nonetheless it's there, its heartbeat but a whisper in the dark.

The optimistic side of me wants to say that maybe this is what these people are looking for when they demand from their partners a particular shape to their fleshy protrusions. That they think males play male characters more plausibly than females do, and vice-versa, so really, they're just looking for the partners who can write their characters with as much accuracy to their respective genders as possible.

But this is the point where the realistic side rattles the cage and tells the optimistic side to cease its crazed rambling lest it won't get any bread and water for supper tonight.

I never write unless I feel like writing, or if I've promised to write something (which is rare) by a certain time. When writing becomes an obligation, there's no fun in it. And if there's no fun, what's the point?

I see these statuses in the sidebar talking about how their RP partners are lurking and spamming the OOC forums, but not writing posts. Like, who do you think you are? Are they required to devote every second to you? If they have a modicum of free time, MUST they do it writing posts to you instead of chilling out and relaxing? It's a lot easier to spam funny memes then to dig in creatively to write some post for some demanding jerk.

Go to hell. If I'm on the site, I'll do whatever I please. And if you get a post from me, you should be delighted, not placated.

(Disclaimer: This is not in relation to any RP I'm currently doing, I don't feel pressured, this is just my violent reaction to status bar messages and my RP partners of yesteryear who can totally go to hell.)

<Snipped quote by Life in Stasis>

You know, I have an optimistic side. It may be hungry, lonely, and scared, having been locked away in the deepest, darkest, coldest region of my heart long ago, but nonetheless it's there, its heartbeat but a whisper in the dark.

The optimistic side of me wants to say that maybe this is what these people are looking for when they demand from their partners a particular shape to their fleshy protrusions. That they think males play male characters more plausibly than females do, and vice-versa, so really, they're just looking for the partners who can write their characters with as much accuracy to their respective genders as possible.

But this is the point where the realistic side rattles the cage and tells the optimistic side to cease its crazed rambling lest it won't get any bread and water for supper tonight.

Well, to clarify, I don't judge male or female writers for their expected ineptitudes. What I meant is that typically (but not always!) they have certain interests respective to their gender. Women more often like emotionally motivated plots, romances, characters that have lots of feelings, plots that revolve around devotion or tragedy. Men on the otherhand like things a little more visceral and direct, less sappy and more grit.

Basically, men like action movies and women like chickflicks. But in RP terms. And obviously, just like with action movies and chick flicks, this is not universally true. Personally I'm a woman, I hate chick flicks, but I am admittedly drawn to plots that revolve around themes women find alluring, like powerful men and plots motivated by passions.

And though I support and even encourage RPers to play characters across gender lines, they often do it in particular ways. Men who play women often have them come across as pragmatic and sometimes emotionally flat, where women often play men who are a little more emotional and have their hearts on their sleeve than most men regularly are. These are just trends, not bad things. In fact I think women learn a lot about men, and vice versa, by attempting to play one.

Though I'm female, I most often play men, and I take it as a challenge. When I play a guy and people say they have no idea my character was played by a woman, I take it to mean that I played the role out superbly.

Regarding the whole "you need to be this sex to play with me" thing, I think it's as simple as those types of players not being able to fully separate fantasy from reality. They likely feel more comfortable putting the moves on someone controlled by their prefered sex. And honestly, the first time someone wanted to do a romantic sub plot with me it felt awkward. Though I'm not sure if the person being a chick would have been of much comfort in that situation. I mean, I was a dude playing a woman so...