(Dunno if this is where the finished products are supposed to be put, but...here goes!)
(I also want to note, just for safety, that this is only talking about furry characters, not furry identity or anything {except where I clarified with my past experience})
A Tail of a Time - The Allure of Furry Characters
As a writer, I greatly enjoy Roleplaying with a multitude of characters throughout various genres. However, all of my characters are humans, or at the very least, humanoid. Although popular in some areas of the internet, I never saw the appeal of ‘anthro’ (or more accurately, furry) characters. To broaden my horizons and try to understand more about this type of character, I reached out to users on the RPRepository with a request to interview anyone who played furry characters.
Before I dive into what I learned, I would like to better explain my own stance on the matter; although I witnessed successful, well-played furry characters, I also encountered many uncomfortable, strange, or downright creepy furries as well. Such interactions left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the furry fandom, and I avoided it at all costs, keeping my RPs strictly to human characters. This distaste was strengthened when my (at the time) boyfriend expressed his desire to wear a tail around the house and showed extreme sexual attraction to furry characters (this crossed the border from RPing a furry to being a furry, and admittedly blurred the line for me). Such an attraction was not my type of interest and made me exceedingly uncomfortable, especially when he revealed a desire for me to wear furry accessories as well. Therefore, going into these interviews, I admittedly had quite a bias against furry characters, and yet it was that very same bias that drove my curiosity as I yearned to understand just what these players saw in that genre of characters.
When I approached the furry-playing community, one of my main questions was “what is the appeal of a furry character?” The response was overwhelmingly unanimous, and admittedly unexpected; the greatest allure of playing a furry character is the absolute freedom in designing, developing, and playing a character. There are no ‘rules’ for what a furry can or cannot be; it can be as “barely furry” or as “completely feral” as you like, or “anything in-between” (Churchtuary). Churchtuary specifically noted that a furry character isn’t “constrained by the rules of biology,” giving a player immense freedom not only in the physical or visual style of a character, but in their personality as well.
Furry characters make things more “bizarre” according to Ender2639, keeping the plot moving much more than “your average RP.” Also, not only do furry characters have the appearance of an animal, but they can also have the traits as well (an aspect that Churchtuary much prefers). Ender2639 gave the example of “instead of saying “Chloe leapt up in surprise,” a rabbit could literally jump up and hit her head on the ceiling.” Such unique reactions certainly spice up what could otherwise be a droll, regular interaction if done between human characters. Reima pointed out that furries are also much more expressive than humans, because “you can’t look at a human’s ears and see from that what the person is feeling!” A flick of a tail, drooping ears, even hackled fur can all indicate emotion more clearly than a simple frown or widening of the eyes.
Purple_Monkfish, who admitted that she wouldn’t necessarily call herself a furry RPer, said that she greatly enjoys playing around with the culture of a furry world; for instance, “how a cat-like race would view the world vs dog people, or how a spider person’s culture or society might be built.” While some players do seem to stick to more of a human personality within an animal body, many furry RPers prefer drawing inspiration from the animal into the personality of their character. Purple_Monkfish explained this with the idea that cat furry characters would “have a lot of siestas during the day” and not really have “much concept of ownership,” which is heavily reminiscent of a true feral cat’s behavior.
While furry players acknowledge that there is a ‘dark side’ of the furry fandom, many feel that “the roleplaying community could be a little more accepting” (Churchtuary) of furry characters. In fact, furry characters are quite prominent throughout the modern world, without many of us even realizing it. For example, Sonic the Hedgehog is a popular, prevalent furry character. The Narnia series is also filled with furry characters, moreso than human ones. And, for the 80’s and 90’s children, the Redwall series was a great example of the furry genre. We also have popular characters such as Catbug from Bravest Warriors and Finn from Adventure Time, though these both fall more into a comedic genre.
With such positive examples of furry characters, I must agree with Churchtuary that the roleplaying community should be more accepting and welcoming of RPs with non-humanoid characters. Heimdall encourages that “you don’t need to BE a furry to have anthro characters,” having a furry character doesn’t sign you up for any fandom or club. So if you like the sound of a furry character, go ahead and try it!
As for me, this writer is signing off and brainstorming ideas for a brand-new furry character!
(I also want to note, just for safety, that this is only talking about furry characters, not furry identity or anything {except where I clarified with my past experience})
A Tail of a Time - The Allure of Furry Characters
As a writer, I greatly enjoy Roleplaying with a multitude of characters throughout various genres. However, all of my characters are humans, or at the very least, humanoid. Although popular in some areas of the internet, I never saw the appeal of ‘anthro’ (or more accurately, furry) characters. To broaden my horizons and try to understand more about this type of character, I reached out to users on the RPRepository with a request to interview anyone who played furry characters.
Before I dive into what I learned, I would like to better explain my own stance on the matter; although I witnessed successful, well-played furry characters, I also encountered many uncomfortable, strange, or downright creepy furries as well. Such interactions left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the furry fandom, and I avoided it at all costs, keeping my RPs strictly to human characters. This distaste was strengthened when my (at the time) boyfriend expressed his desire to wear a tail around the house and showed extreme sexual attraction to furry characters (this crossed the border from RPing a furry to being a furry, and admittedly blurred the line for me). Such an attraction was not my type of interest and made me exceedingly uncomfortable, especially when he revealed a desire for me to wear furry accessories as well. Therefore, going into these interviews, I admittedly had quite a bias against furry characters, and yet it was that very same bias that drove my curiosity as I yearned to understand just what these players saw in that genre of characters.
When I approached the furry-playing community, one of my main questions was “what is the appeal of a furry character?” The response was overwhelmingly unanimous, and admittedly unexpected; the greatest allure of playing a furry character is the absolute freedom in designing, developing, and playing a character. There are no ‘rules’ for what a furry can or cannot be; it can be as “barely furry” or as “completely feral” as you like, or “anything in-between” (Churchtuary). Churchtuary specifically noted that a furry character isn’t “constrained by the rules of biology,” giving a player immense freedom not only in the physical or visual style of a character, but in their personality as well.
Furry characters make things more “bizarre” according to Ender2639, keeping the plot moving much more than “your average RP.” Also, not only do furry characters have the appearance of an animal, but they can also have the traits as well (an aspect that Churchtuary much prefers). Ender2639 gave the example of “instead of saying “Chloe leapt up in surprise,” a rabbit could literally jump up and hit her head on the ceiling.” Such unique reactions certainly spice up what could otherwise be a droll, regular interaction if done between human characters. Reima pointed out that furries are also much more expressive than humans, because “you can’t look at a human’s ears and see from that what the person is feeling!” A flick of a tail, drooping ears, even hackled fur can all indicate emotion more clearly than a simple frown or widening of the eyes.
Purple_Monkfish, who admitted that she wouldn’t necessarily call herself a furry RPer, said that she greatly enjoys playing around with the culture of a furry world; for instance, “how a cat-like race would view the world vs dog people, or how a spider person’s culture or society might be built.” While some players do seem to stick to more of a human personality within an animal body, many furry RPers prefer drawing inspiration from the animal into the personality of their character. Purple_Monkfish explained this with the idea that cat furry characters would “have a lot of siestas during the day” and not really have “much concept of ownership,” which is heavily reminiscent of a true feral cat’s behavior.
While furry players acknowledge that there is a ‘dark side’ of the furry fandom, many feel that “the roleplaying community could be a little more accepting” (Churchtuary) of furry characters. In fact, furry characters are quite prominent throughout the modern world, without many of us even realizing it. For example, Sonic the Hedgehog is a popular, prevalent furry character. The Narnia series is also filled with furry characters, moreso than human ones. And, for the 80’s and 90’s children, the Redwall series was a great example of the furry genre. We also have popular characters such as Catbug from Bravest Warriors and Finn from Adventure Time, though these both fall more into a comedic genre.
With such positive examples of furry characters, I must agree with Churchtuary that the roleplaying community should be more accepting and welcoming of RPs with non-humanoid characters. Heimdall encourages that “you don’t need to BE a furry to have anthro characters,” having a furry character doesn’t sign you up for any fandom or club. So if you like the sound of a furry character, go ahead and try it!
As for me, this writer is signing off and brainstorming ideas for a brand-new furry character!
Still looking for Slice of Life players to conduct more interviews... send me a message!
2 brave comrades have stepped up to the task... still looking for at least 1 more volunteer
2 brave comrades have stepped up to the task... still looking for at least 1 more volunteer
((Below is my entry... apologies as English is not my native language! ))
Slice of Life is a roleplaying genre which is based on following common daily activities closely matching those tasks that we would actually do in real life, with a lot of casual conversation taking place between the different characters that are often acquainted with one another like family members, a group of close friends, roommates, school friends, workers, neighbours…
FreeJayFly noted that Slice of Life role-play is “the daily lives, or the typical day of someone. It’s not meant to be action-packed, not meant to be too terribly thrilling” rather it follows relaxed modern day lifestyle and Demilicious defined it as “the trials and tribulations of everyday life”.
LightSide-Lucree explained that these daily experiences could be “via the eyes of one person, a few roommates sharing one cramped apartment, or a whole society and its most important figures”. Therefore the scope can vary greatly.
When people consider on the motives for taking part in a Slice of Life role-play it can be for many reasons. Writing about an ordinary life event like going shopping or walking to the park can be a way of relaxing after a difficult day in real life, whilst many remark that character building is a strong reason for partaking in a Slice of Life role-play. The detail of this type of role-play allows writers to build up more detailed and solid backgrounds and personalities for their own characters
When investigating the strongest appeal of a Slice of Life role-play, the reasons given are many. Some writers like the variety because you are interacting with players whose culture and background are different to yours and provide more views than what you knew at the time. Colleges can be different in America, in Europe, in Asia, private vs public education for example and this can broaden the writer’s awareness.
Demilicious stated that it can be seen as “a therapy… It's intriguing and takes the focus off the bad that's happening in our lives”. FreeJayFly has noted that he prefers to slow down his characters to “see how they do in situations that don't demand too much of them” which is a way of exploring hidden or underdeveloped aspects of our characters’ personalities and abilities.
Despite the downsides reported by our players, most of them admit to having partaken in Slice of Life role-plays many times.
Whilst exploring the best characters for this type of role-play KuroSakuranbo14 would choose “someone human, a modern based time frame. Could be a teenager or an adult, just nothing magical”.
LightSide-Lucree added that “even a villain can be tossed into a slice of life, if only to see how the other side works when they're not trying to take over the world” which I think would make for a very interesting role-play and bring about a more humane side to this villain.
On the other hand, FreeJayFly clarified that “any kind of character” could be used for a Slice of Life role-play “it isn't limited to mundane types of characters (i.e. mostly human)” and Demilicious agreed with this statement remarking that “everyone has a life. You can write slice of life with a dragon. You can't tell me a dragon doesn't have to sleep, doesn't have to go and find food and eat” remarking that Slice of Life role-play is not so much about which characters you choose but rather revolves around carrying out daily chores and activities from brushing the teeth, walking around, talking to friends, sharing a meal.
The most common topics for this type of role-play are high school stories, café settings, family style role-plays though it doesn’t necessarily need to be limited to that, so long it can mimic a real life environment.
It is clear that Slice of Life is not necessarily a fast paced type of role-play but rather a simpler, distressing kind which can be a great alternative if you are undergoing a writer’s block or enduring a stressful situation in real life. This role-play would become a place of relaxation that brings a feeling of soothing normality to writers and characters alike.
Having spoken to different writers, who actively participate in Slice of Life role-plays, it seems that Slice of Life can give some people the opportunity to experience a better side of past experiences like going to school or college, confront past challenging situations and use this type of RP as a mediation or therapy to better overcome such experiences. Thus, it deserves greater appreciation, support and promotion.
Slice of Life is a roleplaying genre which is based on following common daily activities closely matching those tasks that we would actually do in real life, with a lot of casual conversation taking place between the different characters that are often acquainted with one another like family members, a group of close friends, roommates, school friends, workers, neighbours…
FreeJayFly noted that Slice of Life role-play is “the daily lives, or the typical day of someone. It’s not meant to be action-packed, not meant to be too terribly thrilling” rather it follows relaxed modern day lifestyle and Demilicious defined it as “the trials and tribulations of everyday life”.
LightSide-Lucree explained that these daily experiences could be “via the eyes of one person, a few roommates sharing one cramped apartment, or a whole society and its most important figures”. Therefore the scope can vary greatly.
When people consider on the motives for taking part in a Slice of Life role-play it can be for many reasons. Writing about an ordinary life event like going shopping or walking to the park can be a way of relaxing after a difficult day in real life, whilst many remark that character building is a strong reason for partaking in a Slice of Life role-play. The detail of this type of role-play allows writers to build up more detailed and solid backgrounds and personalities for their own characters
When investigating the strongest appeal of a Slice of Life role-play, the reasons given are many. Some writers like the variety because you are interacting with players whose culture and background are different to yours and provide more views than what you knew at the time. Colleges can be different in America, in Europe, in Asia, private vs public education for example and this can broaden the writer’s awareness.
Demilicious stated that it can be seen as “a therapy… It's intriguing and takes the focus off the bad that's happening in our lives”. FreeJayFly has noted that he prefers to slow down his characters to “see how they do in situations that don't demand too much of them” which is a way of exploring hidden or underdeveloped aspects of our characters’ personalities and abilities.
Despite the downsides reported by our players, most of them admit to having partaken in Slice of Life role-plays many times.
Whilst exploring the best characters for this type of role-play KuroSakuranbo14 would choose “someone human, a modern based time frame. Could be a teenager or an adult, just nothing magical”.
LightSide-Lucree added that “even a villain can be tossed into a slice of life, if only to see how the other side works when they're not trying to take over the world” which I think would make for a very interesting role-play and bring about a more humane side to this villain.
On the other hand, FreeJayFly clarified that “any kind of character” could be used for a Slice of Life role-play “it isn't limited to mundane types of characters (i.e. mostly human)” and Demilicious agreed with this statement remarking that “everyone has a life. You can write slice of life with a dragon. You can't tell me a dragon doesn't have to sleep, doesn't have to go and find food and eat” remarking that Slice of Life role-play is not so much about which characters you choose but rather revolves around carrying out daily chores and activities from brushing the teeth, walking around, talking to friends, sharing a meal.
The most common topics for this type of role-play are high school stories, café settings, family style role-plays though it doesn’t necessarily need to be limited to that, so long it can mimic a real life environment.
It is clear that Slice of Life is not necessarily a fast paced type of role-play but rather a simpler, distressing kind which can be a great alternative if you are undergoing a writer’s block or enduring a stressful situation in real life. This role-play would become a place of relaxation that brings a feeling of soothing normality to writers and characters alike.
Having spoken to different writers, who actively participate in Slice of Life role-plays, it seems that Slice of Life can give some people the opportunity to experience a better side of past experiences like going to school or college, confront past challenging situations and use this type of RP as a mediation or therapy to better overcome such experiences. Thus, it deserves greater appreciation, support and promotion.
Thank you to all the players who have offered their time and wisdom on this topic "Slice of life RPs".
Now for the real eye opener... and to give full credit where credit is due... I am posting the full questions and answers. I know this is not part of the contest but you may well consider this type of RP in a different light after you read the full answers from this group of volunteers.
1. What type of RP is "slice of life"?
LightSide-Lucree
Slice of Life to me is spelled out as plain as day: a good and healthy slice of day to day life, whether it's via the eyes of one person, a few roommates sharing one cramped apartment, or a whole society and its most important figures.
KuroSakuranbo14
It’s a more modern based rp that’s just on things that happen in life. It can be anywhere form your average teen going to school or the inner workings and drama of a family or a social circle of friends.
FreeJayFly
Personally, I would call it very casual role play. It's not meant to be action-packed, not meant to be too terribly thrilling, just something like going to the library or taking the day off in your own room to do whatever with some friends.
Demilicious
Slice of Life role-play, by definition, are the trials and tribulations of everyday life. I mean, you could go into detail about your character brushing their teeth, but you don't have to. For the most part though, I think that's what deters a good portion of writers from it, because they might be doing so much day-to-day that writing this sort of thing doesn't provide a big enough creative outlet for them, or permit others the escape that they are looking for.
2. Why would you roleplay that?
LightSide-Lucree
That's a good question. Some people see it as just normal people living everyday life in the modern world; if you look at it as just that, I'd also agree that it would get dull really fast. However, it doesn't just cover regular real life: it also covers fantasy, science fiction, horror, suspense... I mean, who wouldn't want to know more about what a vampire might encounter as they pretend to grocery shop for food?
KuroSakuranbo14
I like the idea of drama you can actually live out, it helps more if you've already had it happen in your life. We've all been through high school so that easy to do but you get more variety in a role-play of it than in the real world because where you go to school, most people have similar backgrounds to you because each school covers certain counties or cities. It’s also a nice change of pace from whatever real world things are going on to live again as a teenager, carefree of the issues that comes with adulthood.
FreeJayFly
To be honest, I find it very relaxing in some cases. Much as I love survival and adventure type role play, there is a time where I just want to sit and relax in my RP, and slice of life allows me to do just that. It allows me to mentally recuperate and gather a lot of my own thoughts and helps with piecing together some aspects of character development I would otherwise not actually think of.
Demilicious
I enjoy slice of life role-play because, despite it sounding blatantly banal, it is extremely malleable. I can take any character and write them to have a life. Of course, you can do this with any genre, but there is so much to life that I think some people don't give it enough credit. A good few find life to be boring because it's the daily grind, but slice of life really permits me to get out of that daily grind and go for a walk, so to speak, and smell the roses.
Life is full of ups and downs. You can go scrolling Facebook and find inspirational quotes and people complaining. In role-play you can do all that nasty gossip, and relationship drama and have just be a story, not something that heavily impacts your life and throws you for an emotional roller coaster. Well, not as severely. I guess it all depends on how close you are to that character, but that's why I enjoy it. Life is full of so much substance. Writing it is a way to add meaning to it
3. What is the thing that you like best in this type of RP?
LightSide-Lucree
Now that is a hard one... Basically, slice of life is easily moulded into other genres, and sometimes we don't even know we're doing it until we read over it later! It gives people free reign to explore whatever topics they like: politics, cultures or factions clashing and their effects on an individual people, racial strife between species, the effects of society from the eyes of an outcast... Or funny anecdotes like why you shouldn't let your best friend cook without supervision, or that one road trip that ended up taking a turn for the worse, or even the better. Character development is also another reason why I like it so much: you get to put yourself into a character's head and figure out what kind of trouble (or lack of trouble) they would get into on a daily basis. What are their usual thought process, their morning rituals, etc.... If you have a well-established character, tossing them into a slice-of-life can help you discover things to add to their character that you wouldn't think of before.
KuroSakuranbo14
Variety really. You'll find more interesting characters in the story than in the real world because too many people are glued to their phones while in the Slice of Life rp, you get a better chance at learning the character and you are more in control of what happens than in real life.
FreeJayFly
Definitely the idea of being able to visualise something better than what one has currently in some scenarios. I also personally like to slow down some of my characters from their busy lives in these role plays and see how they do in situations that don't demand too much of them.
Demilicious
I believe I may have answered this already, but there is also the aspect that any creative outlet can give someone and that’s... a therapy, in a way. It's a de-stressor, an escape. In a terrible way it can viewed as the same reason why some may watch daytime television such as Dr. Phil? I think he's still on. I have no idea what's on TV, I don't have cable. But you know, Jerry Springer and the like. Someone else’s' life can be totally terrible, and we watch it for entertainment. It's intriguing and takes the focus off the bad that's happening in our lives. Except when we writers make these stories, we're not only entertaining ourselves, we're being productive, making ourselves an outlet. I think that's a sort of everyday magic.
4. What is the thing that you dislike most in this type of RP?
LightSide-Lucree
Sometimes, slice of life can be too open-ended. It can drag on forever if you don't have a decent ending planned out for it. It's especially prevalent if played alongside the romance and modern genres. Since real life is spontaneous and never ending until the last human or sentient being dies, it's easy to fall into that trap of adding new events and daily adventures to keep the RP going. You soon end up writing from the seat of your pants until the RP eventually stales out. I.e. People forget that they're roleplaying a slice of life, not the entire pie
KuroSakuranbo14
Well, I'd say that would be the overly popular use of high school rps or how everyone makes them more happy than how life actually is. Some use it to live their best life out and lack any kind of drama or trauma.
FreeJayFly
Haha, well, I guess that they can be TOO slow or TOO fast? In a lot of the slice of life RPs that I have been in with others, it is definitely dialogue heavy with little headway toward something else in some scenarios. Other times, some people want to just snap, snap, snap around and it sometimes gets to a point where I sit and wonder "whoa, where are we now?"
I'm guilty of this type of thing as well, because sometimes I'm just not sure what someone wants entirely from me, and I think "oh, maybe I should go slower" or "oh, maybe I should try to get to the next point of this in-game day."
Demilicious
What I dislike most about slice of life is that it can get into ruts, akin to ours. It can go very slow, and you have to think up a way to get out of the boredom, and when you're faced with that potential in a role-play, you know it's time to shake things up a bit and talk to your partner. Makes the writing process much like having a relationship, because at all costs you have to stop the role-play from getting engulfed in this screeching death trap. There always has to be more.
5. How many times have you role played a "slice of life" story?
LightSide-Lucree
Many times, oddly enough. Aside from a few short RPs and adventure stories, the RPs I end up participate in end up having a slice of life element added in.
KuroSakuranbo14
That’s a hard one to answer because I've done a wide variety of rps in the last six years I've been on here so I don't keep up with them all. I'm sure it’s more along the lines of 10+.
FreeJayFly
That's a little tough for me to really keep track of. Last year was a big year for me in terms of slice of life RP -- at least in the beginning of the year. These days, it seems to have dwindled a bit with some outliers here and there that still get responded to. But yeah, I don't think I could give you a definitive numerical answer there. :'o
Demilicious
A lot. I think that's what mainly my husband and I write together.
6. What type of character would you use in a "slice of life" RP?
LightSide-Lucree
Honestly, any character I have or can come up with could easily fit into a slice of life RP. If you think about it, even a villain can be tossed into a slice of life, if only to see how the other side works when they're not trying to take over the world. But I don't really have a specific type; it's whoever I feel is worth looking into their psyche more for development, or is easy enough to RP with for a long period of time.
KuroSakuranbo14
Someone human, a modern based time frame. Could be a teenager or an adult, just nothing magical. I know my character Alex could fit for Slice of life with a few tweaks like changing how his parents died and removing the witch part of his genetics but it would be mostly his young years.
FreeJayFly
Honestly? Any kind of character. I feel like Slice of Life isn't limited to mundane types of characters (i.e. mostly human). I feel like you can still have some sense of magical slice of life. Maybe magic is normal for the character I want to play in a slice of life genre, and magic plays a part in their day-to-day life -- so slice of life for them is literally having those things still play a part in their daily life.
I guess similar to how you see in Avatar: Legend of Korra, where Mako works a part-time utilising his Lightning Bending -- that's just a job for him and it utilises his bending abilities to do that job.
Slice of life is really just that -- the daily lives, or the typical day of someone. So every day types of scenarios that apply toward living casually.
Demilicious
I really love this question because that's just it; everyone has a life. You can write slice of life with a dragon. You can't tell me a dragon doesn't have to sleep, doesn't have to go and find food and eat. That's what we do, except we have convenient little markets. In my opinion, you can use whatever character you've got and have slice of life. It's life!
7. What are the common topics?
LightSide-Lucree
I love exploring the human psyche as a common theme, or the lack of a particular facet to be more precise. What is it like to not know what romantic love is while talking to others who rave about it? Or how is it to not have autonomy over your own actions on a day to day basis and treat it as a normal thing for you? Or not being able to recognize what your feelings are? Seeing characters with these kinds of flaws reacting to new situations that come up every day is one of my favourite topics to touch on. Otherwise, common topics are actually more spontaneous with me: things can go from a shopping trip turned into a amusement park detour, or a tragic accident that tests the friendships of close comrades.
KuroSakuranbo14
I believe the most common topics for that kind of rp are family style rps and high school rps.
FreeJayFly
For me, I really like fairs and arcade type slice of life -- just attending an amusement park, or playing those fair games. After having been introduced to D&D and other forms of table top gaming, I cannot really RP much of anything lately without that sense of chance -- a roll of the dice that determines my characters' fates.
As a general thing, I see a lot of people RP in school settings and café settings. Café I don't mind so much, though I do admit that even I am perplexed by school settings at times since that is a setting I didn't like much in real life and know a lot of other people don't care for in real life. So it is definitely an interesting setting for me to see even as someone who partakes in the general slice of life genre.
Demilicious
You know, I think everything can be common when it comes to slice of life role-play, because everyone has different things they want to get out of a role-play. Some people may do slice of life in a high school setting. That one is majorly popular! Another is people living a 24/7 BDSM lifestyle. It's not solely limited to "I get up, I go to work" and I think that's something that this genre has to fight in a stereotypical sense.
There is an additional tricky question that I asked a couple of players to better understand what Slice of Life is all about. Not necessarily a positive question but rather a more truthful insight in this type of RP.
Answers have been left anonymous to not single anyone out!
8. Roleplaying is often seen as an escape route from real life, to break away from reality, the daily grind, the burdens of life and put distance from repetitive or tedious or sour experiences... why would anyone want to roleplay about real life ? wouldn't that somehow bring to mind relieving dramatic experiences or boring events? like the stress of exams, being suspended from the school or workplace, the disappointment of failed tests or failed work projects, of being bothered and troubled by enemies or friends?
PLAYER 1:
Well, there are some things not everyone has had the chance to live out. Like, my school stopped doing field trips back in 8th grade while some schools kept doing it so I get the chance to live out going somewhere I've never been before at the age of 15 to 18. And there are also the fun parts of having a high school sweetheart and not everyone got the chance to date when they were young. Then there are sports, like, most of my characters are athletic while I am not and in high school, my parents had too crazy of schedules for me to join in on after school activities like sports so I never got that chance for a number of reasons. Also, going back to high school in an rp isn't so bad when you aren't in high school anymore. I graduated two years ago this May 27th, I went to a school where people who could articulate words really well wasn't common, everyone wanted to speak mumbling stuff and lots of kids were rather ghetto so I was a black sheep because I could talk in a way most adults could understand me but most of my peers couldn't so my friend group was these few people who also could talk the right way. I also have ADHD and once people in my school found that out, I was instantly labeled weird or retarded even though its a mild enough case that I haven't needed medication for it since I was 13. So most of my friends were other kids with learning disabilities that got labeled weird or retarded as well for having mild cases of ADD, ADHD, Autism, and so on. So having the chance relive a whole new experience of high school is nice because its not in a hostile environment and I can be so much more than just a disability.
PLAYER 2:
Well, that's kind of the beauty of it, as far as I'm concerned. I feel like slice of life role play can act as a kind of meditation for this very thing. Some people use their characters as extensions of themselves, and there's nothing wrong with that. When they have the ability to put their characters in these situations, it can help build a kind of hindsight for the player should these events come up.
Slice of life is not only something that is done for relaxation (at least not for me), but also as a means to grow as a person. When I'm presented with some of these situations, or re-presented with situations, I can take what I have learned personally and apply it, or take away from the scenario if I feel it useful.
However, not all characters are built the same, and nodding back to one of my previous answers, it's still nice to see what those characters that are not so similar to me reacting at the same general every day thing to help my own character development and being able to think more like my character for my personal stories.
Now for the real eye opener... and to give full credit where credit is due... I am posting the full questions and answers. I know this is not part of the contest but you may well consider this type of RP in a different light after you read the full answers from this group of volunteers.
1. What type of RP is "slice of life"?
LightSide-Lucree
Slice of Life to me is spelled out as plain as day: a good and healthy slice of day to day life, whether it's via the eyes of one person, a few roommates sharing one cramped apartment, or a whole society and its most important figures.
KuroSakuranbo14
It’s a more modern based rp that’s just on things that happen in life. It can be anywhere form your average teen going to school or the inner workings and drama of a family or a social circle of friends.
FreeJayFly
Personally, I would call it very casual role play. It's not meant to be action-packed, not meant to be too terribly thrilling, just something like going to the library or taking the day off in your own room to do whatever with some friends.
Demilicious
Slice of Life role-play, by definition, are the trials and tribulations of everyday life. I mean, you could go into detail about your character brushing their teeth, but you don't have to. For the most part though, I think that's what deters a good portion of writers from it, because they might be doing so much day-to-day that writing this sort of thing doesn't provide a big enough creative outlet for them, or permit others the escape that they are looking for.
2. Why would you roleplay that?
LightSide-Lucree
That's a good question. Some people see it as just normal people living everyday life in the modern world; if you look at it as just that, I'd also agree that it would get dull really fast. However, it doesn't just cover regular real life: it also covers fantasy, science fiction, horror, suspense... I mean, who wouldn't want to know more about what a vampire might encounter as they pretend to grocery shop for food?
KuroSakuranbo14
I like the idea of drama you can actually live out, it helps more if you've already had it happen in your life. We've all been through high school so that easy to do but you get more variety in a role-play of it than in the real world because where you go to school, most people have similar backgrounds to you because each school covers certain counties or cities. It’s also a nice change of pace from whatever real world things are going on to live again as a teenager, carefree of the issues that comes with adulthood.
FreeJayFly
To be honest, I find it very relaxing in some cases. Much as I love survival and adventure type role play, there is a time where I just want to sit and relax in my RP, and slice of life allows me to do just that. It allows me to mentally recuperate and gather a lot of my own thoughts and helps with piecing together some aspects of character development I would otherwise not actually think of.
Demilicious
I enjoy slice of life role-play because, despite it sounding blatantly banal, it is extremely malleable. I can take any character and write them to have a life. Of course, you can do this with any genre, but there is so much to life that I think some people don't give it enough credit. A good few find life to be boring because it's the daily grind, but slice of life really permits me to get out of that daily grind and go for a walk, so to speak, and smell the roses.
Life is full of ups and downs. You can go scrolling Facebook and find inspirational quotes and people complaining. In role-play you can do all that nasty gossip, and relationship drama and have just be a story, not something that heavily impacts your life and throws you for an emotional roller coaster. Well, not as severely. I guess it all depends on how close you are to that character, but that's why I enjoy it. Life is full of so much substance. Writing it is a way to add meaning to it
3. What is the thing that you like best in this type of RP?
LightSide-Lucree
Now that is a hard one... Basically, slice of life is easily moulded into other genres, and sometimes we don't even know we're doing it until we read over it later! It gives people free reign to explore whatever topics they like: politics, cultures or factions clashing and their effects on an individual people, racial strife between species, the effects of society from the eyes of an outcast... Or funny anecdotes like why you shouldn't let your best friend cook without supervision, or that one road trip that ended up taking a turn for the worse, or even the better. Character development is also another reason why I like it so much: you get to put yourself into a character's head and figure out what kind of trouble (or lack of trouble) they would get into on a daily basis. What are their usual thought process, their morning rituals, etc.... If you have a well-established character, tossing them into a slice-of-life can help you discover things to add to their character that you wouldn't think of before.
KuroSakuranbo14
Variety really. You'll find more interesting characters in the story than in the real world because too many people are glued to their phones while in the Slice of Life rp, you get a better chance at learning the character and you are more in control of what happens than in real life.
FreeJayFly
Definitely the idea of being able to visualise something better than what one has currently in some scenarios. I also personally like to slow down some of my characters from their busy lives in these role plays and see how they do in situations that don't demand too much of them.
Demilicious
I believe I may have answered this already, but there is also the aspect that any creative outlet can give someone and that’s... a therapy, in a way. It's a de-stressor, an escape. In a terrible way it can viewed as the same reason why some may watch daytime television such as Dr. Phil? I think he's still on. I have no idea what's on TV, I don't have cable. But you know, Jerry Springer and the like. Someone else’s' life can be totally terrible, and we watch it for entertainment. It's intriguing and takes the focus off the bad that's happening in our lives. Except when we writers make these stories, we're not only entertaining ourselves, we're being productive, making ourselves an outlet. I think that's a sort of everyday magic.
4. What is the thing that you dislike most in this type of RP?
LightSide-Lucree
Sometimes, slice of life can be too open-ended. It can drag on forever if you don't have a decent ending planned out for it. It's especially prevalent if played alongside the romance and modern genres. Since real life is spontaneous and never ending until the last human or sentient being dies, it's easy to fall into that trap of adding new events and daily adventures to keep the RP going. You soon end up writing from the seat of your pants until the RP eventually stales out. I.e. People forget that they're roleplaying a slice of life, not the entire pie
KuroSakuranbo14
Well, I'd say that would be the overly popular use of high school rps or how everyone makes them more happy than how life actually is. Some use it to live their best life out and lack any kind of drama or trauma.
FreeJayFly
Haha, well, I guess that they can be TOO slow or TOO fast? In a lot of the slice of life RPs that I have been in with others, it is definitely dialogue heavy with little headway toward something else in some scenarios. Other times, some people want to just snap, snap, snap around and it sometimes gets to a point where I sit and wonder "whoa, where are we now?"
I'm guilty of this type of thing as well, because sometimes I'm just not sure what someone wants entirely from me, and I think "oh, maybe I should go slower" or "oh, maybe I should try to get to the next point of this in-game day."
Demilicious
What I dislike most about slice of life is that it can get into ruts, akin to ours. It can go very slow, and you have to think up a way to get out of the boredom, and when you're faced with that potential in a role-play, you know it's time to shake things up a bit and talk to your partner. Makes the writing process much like having a relationship, because at all costs you have to stop the role-play from getting engulfed in this screeching death trap. There always has to be more.
5. How many times have you role played a "slice of life" story?
LightSide-Lucree
Many times, oddly enough. Aside from a few short RPs and adventure stories, the RPs I end up participate in end up having a slice of life element added in.
KuroSakuranbo14
That’s a hard one to answer because I've done a wide variety of rps in the last six years I've been on here so I don't keep up with them all. I'm sure it’s more along the lines of 10+.
FreeJayFly
That's a little tough for me to really keep track of. Last year was a big year for me in terms of slice of life RP -- at least in the beginning of the year. These days, it seems to have dwindled a bit with some outliers here and there that still get responded to. But yeah, I don't think I could give you a definitive numerical answer there. :'o
Demilicious
A lot. I think that's what mainly my husband and I write together.
6. What type of character would you use in a "slice of life" RP?
LightSide-Lucree
Honestly, any character I have or can come up with could easily fit into a slice of life RP. If you think about it, even a villain can be tossed into a slice of life, if only to see how the other side works when they're not trying to take over the world. But I don't really have a specific type; it's whoever I feel is worth looking into their psyche more for development, or is easy enough to RP with for a long period of time.
KuroSakuranbo14
Someone human, a modern based time frame. Could be a teenager or an adult, just nothing magical. I know my character Alex could fit for Slice of life with a few tweaks like changing how his parents died and removing the witch part of his genetics but it would be mostly his young years.
FreeJayFly
Honestly? Any kind of character. I feel like Slice of Life isn't limited to mundane types of characters (i.e. mostly human). I feel like you can still have some sense of magical slice of life. Maybe magic is normal for the character I want to play in a slice of life genre, and magic plays a part in their day-to-day life -- so slice of life for them is literally having those things still play a part in their daily life.
I guess similar to how you see in Avatar: Legend of Korra, where Mako works a part-time utilising his Lightning Bending -- that's just a job for him and it utilises his bending abilities to do that job.
Slice of life is really just that -- the daily lives, or the typical day of someone. So every day types of scenarios that apply toward living casually.
Demilicious
I really love this question because that's just it; everyone has a life. You can write slice of life with a dragon. You can't tell me a dragon doesn't have to sleep, doesn't have to go and find food and eat. That's what we do, except we have convenient little markets. In my opinion, you can use whatever character you've got and have slice of life. It's life!
7. What are the common topics?
LightSide-Lucree
I love exploring the human psyche as a common theme, or the lack of a particular facet to be more precise. What is it like to not know what romantic love is while talking to others who rave about it? Or how is it to not have autonomy over your own actions on a day to day basis and treat it as a normal thing for you? Or not being able to recognize what your feelings are? Seeing characters with these kinds of flaws reacting to new situations that come up every day is one of my favourite topics to touch on. Otherwise, common topics are actually more spontaneous with me: things can go from a shopping trip turned into a amusement park detour, or a tragic accident that tests the friendships of close comrades.
KuroSakuranbo14
I believe the most common topics for that kind of rp are family style rps and high school rps.
FreeJayFly
For me, I really like fairs and arcade type slice of life -- just attending an amusement park, or playing those fair games. After having been introduced to D&D and other forms of table top gaming, I cannot really RP much of anything lately without that sense of chance -- a roll of the dice that determines my characters' fates.
As a general thing, I see a lot of people RP in school settings and café settings. Café I don't mind so much, though I do admit that even I am perplexed by school settings at times since that is a setting I didn't like much in real life and know a lot of other people don't care for in real life. So it is definitely an interesting setting for me to see even as someone who partakes in the general slice of life genre.
Demilicious
You know, I think everything can be common when it comes to slice of life role-play, because everyone has different things they want to get out of a role-play. Some people may do slice of life in a high school setting. That one is majorly popular! Another is people living a 24/7 BDSM lifestyle. It's not solely limited to "I get up, I go to work" and I think that's something that this genre has to fight in a stereotypical sense.
There is an additional tricky question that I asked a couple of players to better understand what Slice of Life is all about. Not necessarily a positive question but rather a more truthful insight in this type of RP.
Answers have been left anonymous to not single anyone out!
8. Roleplaying is often seen as an escape route from real life, to break away from reality, the daily grind, the burdens of life and put distance from repetitive or tedious or sour experiences... why would anyone want to roleplay about real life ? wouldn't that somehow bring to mind relieving dramatic experiences or boring events? like the stress of exams, being suspended from the school or workplace, the disappointment of failed tests or failed work projects, of being bothered and troubled by enemies or friends?
PLAYER 1:
Well, there are some things not everyone has had the chance to live out. Like, my school stopped doing field trips back in 8th grade while some schools kept doing it so I get the chance to live out going somewhere I've never been before at the age of 15 to 18. And there are also the fun parts of having a high school sweetheart and not everyone got the chance to date when they were young. Then there are sports, like, most of my characters are athletic while I am not and in high school, my parents had too crazy of schedules for me to join in on after school activities like sports so I never got that chance for a number of reasons. Also, going back to high school in an rp isn't so bad when you aren't in high school anymore. I graduated two years ago this May 27th, I went to a school where people who could articulate words really well wasn't common, everyone wanted to speak mumbling stuff and lots of kids were rather ghetto so I was a black sheep because I could talk in a way most adults could understand me but most of my peers couldn't so my friend group was these few people who also could talk the right way. I also have ADHD and once people in my school found that out, I was instantly labeled weird or retarded even though its a mild enough case that I haven't needed medication for it since I was 13. So most of my friends were other kids with learning disabilities that got labeled weird or retarded as well for having mild cases of ADD, ADHD, Autism, and so on. So having the chance relive a whole new experience of high school is nice because its not in a hostile environment and I can be so much more than just a disability.
PLAYER 2:
Well, that's kind of the beauty of it, as far as I'm concerned. I feel like slice of life role play can act as a kind of meditation for this very thing. Some people use their characters as extensions of themselves, and there's nothing wrong with that. When they have the ability to put their characters in these situations, it can help build a kind of hindsight for the player should these events come up.
Slice of life is not only something that is done for relaxation (at least not for me), but also as a means to grow as a person. When I'm presented with some of these situations, or re-presented with situations, I can take what I have learned personally and apply it, or take away from the scenario if I feel it useful.
However, not all characters are built the same, and nodding back to one of my previous answers, it's still nice to see what those characters that are not so similar to me reacting at the same general every day thing to help my own character development and being able to think more like my character for my personal stories.
My posting length can range from 600 to 4000 words when things get heavy. My personal minimum happens to be around 700 words per post, however.
--
I never thought I’d have to warn people about my word counts, but I do average 750-900 words per regular posts and 4-6 paragraphs per introductions. I like to be matched.
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Match my post length! I write in the ballpark of 350-450 words per each character. That makes for around 4-5 paragraphs, I think? If you give me half of that or, God forbid, a one liner, I will not be staying around. This is non-negotiable.
--
*IF YOU THINK ONE OR TWO PARAGRAPHS IS A LONG REPLY. FOR THE LOVE OF EVERY DEITY DO. NOT. MESSAGE. ME!
--
I never thought I’d have to warn people about my word counts, but I do average 750-900 words per regular posts and 4-6 paragraphs per introductions. I like to be matched.
--
Match my post length! I write in the ballpark of 350-450 words per each character. That makes for around 4-5 paragraphs, I think? If you give me half of that or, God forbid, a one liner, I will not be staying around. This is non-negotiable.
--
*IF YOU THINK ONE OR TWO PARAGRAPHS IS A LONG REPLY. FOR THE LOVE OF EVERY DEITY DO. NOT. MESSAGE. ME!
(Source: fyeahroleplaying.tumblr.com/)
For a lot of Roleplayers on the WORLD WIDE WEB, post size is the gatekeeper to roleplay, and sometimes even communication. Fortunately, RPR is one of the best communities around, full of friendly and helpful folk! So today we're bypassing the suspiciously aggressive RP ads, the quantity-vs-quality debate and getting right to the bottom of...
First off, how do people get started writing so much? I couldn't even use a keyboard when I was born, and even now am only a marginally better writer, as a legal adult. Long-form roleplayers didn't just burst out of their fathers' foreheads ready for battle (or maybe they did) so what got the ball rolling?
My first stop was Tailbone, who is super-friendly, super-creative and with a self-proclaimed style of "Do a lot of reading, take [my] sweet time, and then regurgitate books".
"It's not something I ever got into the habit of so much as something I've always done! It's never been a conscious decision and at times I struggle to be more concise, even when it comes to technical writing (there was a time I tried to go into journalism, but I struggled desperately with the brevity required). It may have something to do with being an avid reader. It could also have something to do with being an anxious overthinker and highly detail oriented. Whatever the case, it's entirely natural for me!". A full-time artist and part-time roleplayer cocobeef laid it out for me in terms of necessity: "Some partners kept on being limp noodles so I would have to do every bit of plot all by myself, therefore had to cover as many bases as possible (controlling the plot, the setting, the NPCs, every other character) and it just landed me in a spot where I’d have to make really long posts."
Here might be a prime suspect among those RPers who insist on a post length: quantity may not necessarily be quantity, but effort is nice, and a thousand words can't possibly come without it. Tailbone added: "Someone who consistently posts with only a sentence or two is unlikely to be offering other players much to work with - so I very much understand trying to avoid engaging with such!"
How about the content and consistency of the posts? In the pet peeve threads that flare up, much is made of whether the words matter. "I do not want to see any more or less words than is required to get the point across clearly and without fluff," Said Kim, an average RPR user. "I can certainly churn out fluff [...] but I don't think it adds anything to anyone's experience and it makes me tired." So how do our heroes avoid this?
Tailbone raised a good point: "It's easy to get caught up in wanting to essentially share your beloved creations – or in this case perhaps overshare." Before that: While fluff can absolutely be entertaining, it can also create an unfortunate cycle of players feeling the need to 'keep up to standard' and follow suit. It can also be very distracting! That being said, I do my best to avoid filler by reminding myself to stay relevant at all times and not jump the gun - which isn't always simple!" Another RPR friendly face, XXI-TheWorld, embraced it within limits: "To be honest with you, sometimes "fluff" is necessary. Not in a sense that you're drawling on about unnecessary descriptions - but it give you the chance to write out the thoughts and history of a character or place. And to avoid filler... Is to "show" a story, as opposed to "telling" it. This includes using dialogue and only using what it necessary to describe actions."
How about people who wish their posts were longer? About that, it was unanimous that progress can't be forced.
From XXI-TheWorld: "I would say to only do it if you choose to. From there, you can work out whatever it is you need to enhance in your writing. Keep reading. Keep writing. Work. It takes a lot of WORK and practice." Tailbone added, "Stop! It's not important. While I tend to write too much, quantity is not the same as quality and length should never be called for as a necessity. The more someone writes and the more they read, the easier description and dialogue will be." cocobeef was all business as usual: "Only do it out of necessity. Don’t fill it with fluff and nonsense. Be clear and concise, trust in your partner’s imagination, and get the post done. "
Out of curiosity (and hoping other people would do my homework for me), I also asked what a long poster thought was a really long post, but everyone's responses were down-to-earth. Tailbone: "I think the only time I've registered the length of a post is when it was an unnecessarily long one ... I otherwise love to read too much to even notice!" XXI-TheWorld had a good point: "Well, the longest posts anybody could ever make are those who've published their novels. Haha."
Thanks very much to everyone who weighed in on this!
Thank you to all the entrants!! 
Announcements soon.
Announcements soon.
Thank you to our three journalists! I learned something about each of your chosen topics!
You've placed in the following order:
1. sland
2. CelestinaGrey
3. Tusitala2017
And will get to choose your prizes in that order, too. Check your PMs!
I look forward to sharing the results of your investigations with the RPR at large, and of course to sending you your well-deserved prizes.
You've placed in the following order:
1. sland
2. CelestinaGrey
3. Tusitala2017
And will get to choose your prizes in that order, too. Check your PMs!
I look forward to sharing the results of your investigations with the RPR at large, and of course to sending you your well-deserved prizes.
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