Okay, so doing RP on Dreamwidth is very similar to RP on LiveJournal, if you were around that corner of the internet back then. If not, I got you fam. Heads-up, I use the terms "journal" and "account" interchangeably- they mean the same thing.
Jerks and douchebags and assholes and antagonistic interactions can be... tricky. I've played many of them, and it's more often than not a very fun experience. Since RPing is all about communication and consent and trust, an asshole character can sometimes inherently chafe against the norms of players. In fact, I've seen many instances of poorly executed or poorly received asshole actions completely destabilize playerbases and games! So here's some advice I've picked up that might help.
For Players of Assholes:
OWN IT. When you write a douchey tag, it's a conscious effort on your part. You're crafting each sentence and picking each word with intent. Acknowledge that your character is usually (or is temporarily being) an ass. Accept it, because nobody's going to be sunshine all the time. It's fine, it's human (or whatever race they are!) and you don't need to feel bad about the mere act of writing rudeness.
Expect Resistance! Nobody likes being mistreated. If they're into that sort of thing, then it's likely only in a consensual situation with clear boundaries. So if you make the decision to write your character enacting in assholery, assume that it won't go over well! Characters can push back and even turn the tables! Your character might damage or destroy a relationship. That's fine, those things can be natural consequences of bad behavior! On top of that, players might remark about the character's actions or personality. That's fine too, because if you see some jerkass while you're on a bus, you're probably gonna be like "wow, what a jerk!" And the best way to deal with all that is, uh, the first bullet point. Go reread it if you need to.
Write It Well! This might sound mean, but asshole characters are best served when the writer behind them is going to clearly explain the motives and rationales behind the actions. It doesn't always have to be immediate (an explanation in-character can be fun!) but it needs to be there. If there's rudeness or hostility with no context or backdrop, then your character may as well be a faceless jerk shouting obscenities at someone else from across the street. If you find yourself repeatedly explaining the motive behind a rude action (especially if it's from a character who isn't normally rude!), you've fucked up in writing the action and should either clarify if needed, or weave the information into later posts. And then you drop it! Learn from your mistakes and don't do it again. You and your characters don't defend good days, so don't defend a character having a bad day. Remember, OWN IT because the character is making a conscious choice.
COMMUNICATE, DAMMIT. This is always important! Playing an asshole means you should be willing to play preemptive damage control. As I mentioned in the second point, characters and players will probably be like "wow what an ass." Some characters will eject from the social link forever, while others can get past it, and that's up to you and the people you write with to figure out. If you're feeling attacked for writing an asshole, or if someone feels attacked because you're playing an asshole, be willing to talk about it! You'd be surprised how often I've had lost or damaged relationships between characters that could've been remedied with like five minutes of direct, player-to-player interactions.
Use Progressive Douching! Some characters are always, always jerks. That's fine! But it's very easy for those sorts of threads to just abruptly end, because a character doesn't want to put up with that. So it's important to find ways to turn that rude behavior into substance. Tease a motive in their words or in their actions. Or hell, have them say why they're doing the thing out loud! "You literally just insulted me, pal." If they're taking their frustrations out on someone else, contemplate having them realize this. Most people (and characters!) who feel they've been wronged just want to be heard, so giving the perpetrating character avenues to get that catharsis can be very helpful for everyone. If your character is not really confrontational they can always remember the situation for later, when they might be less in the midst of being a pain. It's never worth it to have a character just do something rude and treat it like an island that nobody can interact with. Some psychologists say that anger is a sort of disguising emotion, that there's always something underneath it like insecurity or regret or shame or whatever else. Honestly, just don't have the character be a jerk in a vacuum. It's a building block.
GROUP THREADS! Okay, this is actually the most dangerous place to have your character be a prick! Here's why: Threads with many characters can have a long delay between tags and can take a while to get anywhere, unless everyone's sitting down to crank out the entire thread back and forth. If you're thinking about why your character is going to be a douche to someone, think about the goal of the thread; it's probably cooperative. If it's not, go wild! IF IT IS A COOPERATIVE THREAD WITH MULTIPLE CHARACTERS you NEED to be conscious of the rest of the group and their opinions. If you don't know and vibe with everyone, you should reach out to the players and see how they feel about the douchey behavior. You're going to have three outcomes here, and I'm going to tell you when you should go ahead with each. If everyone is okay or indifferent towards the rude behavior, put it in the thread and go ahead. If less than half of the players are okay with it or if you really want to have the character do the thing regardless of what anyone else wants, make a splintering thread where your jerk does the thing. If people generally aren't on board with it, fucking don't. Group threads are a huge hassle to coordinate, and if the group gets slowed down or derailed, it could easily frustrate players. The more characters there are in the thread and the more players there are that you aren't super close with, the more you should be leaning towards either a splinter thread or not doing it at all. ALSO in a group thread, if you do throw down a rude contribution, be willing to edit it if people ask. This entire bullet point is just about Communicating. Do it.
For Players Encountering Assholes
COMMUNICATE. Obviously.
Players of Chronic Assholes Can Be Self-Conscious! Sure, it sorta clashes with the whole OWN IT point, but there's nothing wrong an asshole's player being unsure if the character is too much, consistent, realistic, and so on. If they ask, be honest!
CALL THEM OUT. This goes back to communicating but a player is not allowed to get away with being rude or inconsiderate towards other players just because they're playing someone who is an asshole or does a rude thing. "My character is being a jerk so I see your opinion and lol too bad" is just Not Okay. Goes back to that point on progressive douching. Be willing to ask them questions like "If your character does this, mine won't be willing to interact with them anymore, are you okay with this?" or "The motive behind this tag doesn't really feel right to me, is everything on the level here?" If they're defensive to the point where they're offended that you ask questions like these, they're probably not doing a good job of playing an Asshole.
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timeasmymeasure
ON ASSHOLES
Date: 2019-02-28 01:37 am (UTC)