@Mithril -- I don't see how it isn't comparable actually. if you've even been in a tag for a fandom as they're called, for even just a minute, you are going to see AUs. they're literally everywhere. people write fanfiction of other Final Fantasy games' characters in modern AUs. people will RP x character in y setting all the time in those groups of canon characters I mentioned. I've noticed it happens far less with the OCs/player-made characters. people will even draw AUs -- for example, a modern anime's characters in a Final Fantasy AU itself. just look at this: https://www.tumblr.com/search/au (apologies in advance for anything you might need brain bleach for.) then there are the AUs where characters are slightly different, or something happened in the AU differently, or so on and so forth.
to be honest, I think what 'works' on Tumblr or messengers just varies from person to person, pretty sure it's just personal bias for the most part -- but there's no way I'm going to let people here think OP is the only one who would RP using an AU!Fate. I guarantee there are people out there RPing an AU!Fate or RPing with one. while the canonical RPer side of tumblr is a different breed than MMO RPing usually is... rejecting a mix of the genres seems a little more like "this is different and I don't like it!" (ie. personal preference) rather than a complaint that is capable of being discussed. yes, personal preference is 100% okay to have, I realize this, and I also realize I might be sounding way too persistent -- but I am trying to tell people in this thread that this isn't as abnormal or weird as I get the impression they think.
as for the exact name... Â while SE having a rule against it is one thing that OP would probably do best to keep in mind, overall -- there's really not a lot of problem besides that? how far can you bend the policies of "no names from other mediums/products"? given that copyrights can protect a character's basic appearance/name/traits, I can understand why that is a problem given SE's rule... but how far can you take it? if we assume someone with a very generic name is a celebrity, will a username need to be changed despite the popularity of the first/last name beyond the celebrity? and what constitutes "celebrity"? a legal contract with a company... ? how far does that bend?
but the legality regarding the situation in this topic ultimately falls further into the "is fanfiction illegal?" spectrum. if you guys want to talk about that, it's out of my ballpark -- the legal issues, anyway.
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@Tiergan -- you are 100% right. Tumblr RP has roots in fanfiction. that same era where "OMG MARY SUE" used to be thrown around at every writer who even attempted to write a female character that wasn't a canon. (hell, even canons got trashed as a Mary Sue.) of course, most of what I saw was hormonal teenagers writing fanfiction, so of course they'd be rather opinionated. (that's still the case tbh.)
when you say "some guy has his OC doing stuff just as wacky/'badass' as the main characters" I say it doesn't have to feel off -- because while I agree that, say, saving the world ten times is probably a little much, I also think that for an OC to be an interesting one, they need to fit in well with the universe AND give something to it, story-wise. otherwise you have a boring OC. but that's what I see happening to so many OC players -- they're terrified of making an interesting OC because of people disliking OCs simply for the fact that they're original. and there's the inherent problem with that sort of view. thus, to skirt the "original characters can't be awesome (like the main characters)" stigma around canon characters, the OC players just settle for a boring character.
in MMOs this isn't as big a problem given that all the characters RPed count as OCs anyway, but on Tumblr, where the age ranges generally younger, as an OC player you tend to end up worrying more about if this or that RPer will RP with you or not. they might not even care. they might not even try. they don't even have to try, given that RPing is for fun, but it doesn't change the fact that it hurts to be told "I won't RP with you because of my personal bias against OCs." and I see no arguments thus far that those who refuse to rp with OP's AU!Fate would be absolutely the same type of superficial stigma, but in a reverse situation.
(here I am, challenging the norm again... )
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@ArmachiA / Kage -- I'm tempted to ask why you both say MMO and tabletop RPing is too different from fandom RPing to be compared?
to be honest, I think what 'works' on Tumblr or messengers just varies from person to person, pretty sure it's just personal bias for the most part -- but there's no way I'm going to let people here think OP is the only one who would RP using an AU!Fate. I guarantee there are people out there RPing an AU!Fate or RPing with one. while the canonical RPer side of tumblr is a different breed than MMO RPing usually is... rejecting a mix of the genres seems a little more like "this is different and I don't like it!" (ie. personal preference) rather than a complaint that is capable of being discussed. yes, personal preference is 100% okay to have, I realize this, and I also realize I might be sounding way too persistent -- but I am trying to tell people in this thread that this isn't as abnormal or weird as I get the impression they think.
as for the exact name... Â while SE having a rule against it is one thing that OP would probably do best to keep in mind, overall -- there's really not a lot of problem besides that? how far can you bend the policies of "no names from other mediums/products"? given that copyrights can protect a character's basic appearance/name/traits, I can understand why that is a problem given SE's rule... but how far can you take it? if we assume someone with a very generic name is a celebrity, will a username need to be changed despite the popularity of the first/last name beyond the celebrity? and what constitutes "celebrity"? a legal contract with a company... ? how far does that bend?
but the legality regarding the situation in this topic ultimately falls further into the "is fanfiction illegal?" spectrum. if you guys want to talk about that, it's out of my ballpark -- the legal issues, anyway.
---
@Tiergan -- you are 100% right. Tumblr RP has roots in fanfiction. that same era where "OMG MARY SUE" used to be thrown around at every writer who even attempted to write a female character that wasn't a canon. (hell, even canons got trashed as a Mary Sue.) of course, most of what I saw was hormonal teenagers writing fanfiction, so of course they'd be rather opinionated. (that's still the case tbh.)
when you say "some guy has his OC doing stuff just as wacky/'badass' as the main characters" I say it doesn't have to feel off -- because while I agree that, say, saving the world ten times is probably a little much, I also think that for an OC to be an interesting one, they need to fit in well with the universe AND give something to it, story-wise. otherwise you have a boring OC. but that's what I see happening to so many OC players -- they're terrified of making an interesting OC because of people disliking OCs simply for the fact that they're original. and there's the inherent problem with that sort of view. thus, to skirt the "original characters can't be awesome (like the main characters)" stigma around canon characters, the OC players just settle for a boring character.
in MMOs this isn't as big a problem given that all the characters RPed count as OCs anyway, but on Tumblr, where the age ranges generally younger, as an OC player you tend to end up worrying more about if this or that RPer will RP with you or not. they might not even care. they might not even try. they don't even have to try, given that RPing is for fun, but it doesn't change the fact that it hurts to be told "I won't RP with you because of my personal bias against OCs." and I see no arguments thus far that those who refuse to rp with OP's AU!Fate would be absolutely the same type of superficial stigma, but in a reverse situation.
(here I am, challenging the norm again... )
---
@ArmachiA / Kage -- I'm tempted to ask why you both say MMO and tabletop RPing is too different from fandom RPing to be compared?
