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There is a stigma with Lalafell, plain and simple. Â There are a number of reasons given at any time, most of them fairly predictable, and anyone who RPs as a Lalafell has probably heard them at some point. Â I have conferred with many other RPers of different backgrounds/races/intensities, and all have said these things at one point or another, while acknowledging that they are making statements which are trivial and predictable. Â The list of replies are as follows (in no particular order, though I could probably rank them too):
1) Lalafell are too cliquey.
2) Lalafell look too much like children for me to take them seriously, romantically or as characters in general.
3) Lalafell are too small.
4) Lalafell are a "troll" race.
5) Lalafell too often play to their cutesy appearance, which makes it hard to take the rest seriously.
There are some more general lines you get, but these pretty much cover everything, and apply to the instance of romantic relationships in RP and often everyday relationships. Â If you aren't a Lalafell, then you will not hear most of these things, and when you do, you will think nothing of them, when in reality Lalafell players who came into the fold of our RP community not thinking about the kind of attitudes towards their character that they would inevitably face, kind of get blind-sided at first, which then evolves into a disdain for RPers (good, casual, heavy, whatever) who immediately fall into these safety net lines to avoid meaningful RP with Lalafell.
A few things about how I view Lalafell, and I suspect about how many other serious Lalafell RPers view their characters that you should take into account before interacting with us (which you wouldn't apparently need pointed out in other situations, but apparently in ours is a "special case").
1) Lalafell are not cliquey, we band together because it is in the nature of Lalafells to do so. Â I don't know why, but the people who RP or Play Lalafell tend to be a sort which likes to interact with others of their race. Â Some are staunch Lalafell supporters to the point that other races become secondary to us, and frankly, I am not sure where that doesn't fit in with lore anyways? Â But I will say, this is not how I am, I only support Lalafell so far against other races, because of the push I feel against us makes me do so. Â As an adventurer, a feeling of freedom of these sorts of things should really be the norm IC and OOC in my opinion.
2) Yes, okay, yes, we look young, we have a youthful look to us and our actions. Â As an RPer who thinks of their IC body as a physical extension of the character which lives in my mind and at my fingertips, I shy away from using many of our physically visible emotes because I feel them contrary to Momoto and how he acts. Â I use some of them ironically or sarcastically when necessary, but that is with friends who know Momoto's mood and general countenance, and who know I am not being cutesy. Â Bottom line, we are not young unless stated, if you can't tell then that isn't our fault, but we should be treated with respect and equality as RPers like any other race, and these statements shouldn't need to be made to any RPer, but hey, apparently that isn't the case!
3) We are small yes, thank you for your observation, we are indeed of a smaller stature. Â I primarily think of Lalafells as the "dwarf" race of the game. Â NPC Lalafells are more often than not, quite serious/evil/very much not children or cute in any way, and that should be a cursor for how you view Lalafell characters: not children. Â The whole appearance of our race is constrained as the other races are, by Japanese stylized designs. Â So unlike "traditional" western dwarves, we do not have long beards, or old man/santa appearances which would be a bit harder for the Japanese fan-base and home-team designers to process into the style of the game, but we should be treated as such: just as tough if not tougher than other races, sexual beings like any other, and often good-natured, but not necessarily cute upon first meeting.
4) I don't think this needs to be addressed, any race with obvious qualities that differ from others will attract trolls, Roes can be trolls for their immense size, Auri can be trolls for their stereotypical "anime" hair and general appearance, and so on...this is not a point to be made...put an afro on anything and it becomes a troll race...
5) Some of us are cutesy, because a girl or boy can think, "Oh what a cute race, I have a character which is jolly and happy and I think this race would fit well!" Â Well, okay...sure, but that sort of personality can fit into any race...a Roe can be jolly, an Auri girl can be happy and cute, and you may pat them on the head out-rightly or refuse to ERP with them or enter "serious" RP relationships with them, but they do not make up the norm, nor would you assume to treat others of the same race the way you treat them.
Alright, well...yeah, that got away from me, I have been avoiding coming to this thread, because as my friends and acquaintances know, I have been a Lalafell since 1.0, when the RP community was entirely different, and we didn't really encounter these sorts of things, so when I returned to the RP community some time later, I was really surprised, then continuously disappointed by how interactions between Lalafells and other races would work out. Â That situation where this sort of thing happened, and it cut off avenues of RP over and over, sort of gets you down, then makes you passionate when the subject comes up I guess.
1) Lalafell are too cliquey.
2) Lalafell look too much like children for me to take them seriously, romantically or as characters in general.
3) Lalafell are too small.
4) Lalafell are a "troll" race.
5) Lalafell too often play to their cutesy appearance, which makes it hard to take the rest seriously.
There are some more general lines you get, but these pretty much cover everything, and apply to the instance of romantic relationships in RP and often everyday relationships. Â If you aren't a Lalafell, then you will not hear most of these things, and when you do, you will think nothing of them, when in reality Lalafell players who came into the fold of our RP community not thinking about the kind of attitudes towards their character that they would inevitably face, kind of get blind-sided at first, which then evolves into a disdain for RPers (good, casual, heavy, whatever) who immediately fall into these safety net lines to avoid meaningful RP with Lalafell.
A few things about how I view Lalafell, and I suspect about how many other serious Lalafell RPers view their characters that you should take into account before interacting with us (which you wouldn't apparently need pointed out in other situations, but apparently in ours is a "special case").
1) Lalafell are not cliquey, we band together because it is in the nature of Lalafells to do so. Â I don't know why, but the people who RP or Play Lalafell tend to be a sort which likes to interact with others of their race. Â Some are staunch Lalafell supporters to the point that other races become secondary to us, and frankly, I am not sure where that doesn't fit in with lore anyways? Â But I will say, this is not how I am, I only support Lalafell so far against other races, because of the push I feel against us makes me do so. Â As an adventurer, a feeling of freedom of these sorts of things should really be the norm IC and OOC in my opinion.
2) Yes, okay, yes, we look young, we have a youthful look to us and our actions. Â As an RPer who thinks of their IC body as a physical extension of the character which lives in my mind and at my fingertips, I shy away from using many of our physically visible emotes because I feel them contrary to Momoto and how he acts. Â I use some of them ironically or sarcastically when necessary, but that is with friends who know Momoto's mood and general countenance, and who know I am not being cutesy. Â Bottom line, we are not young unless stated, if you can't tell then that isn't our fault, but we should be treated with respect and equality as RPers like any other race, and these statements shouldn't need to be made to any RPer, but hey, apparently that isn't the case!
3) We are small yes, thank you for your observation, we are indeed of a smaller stature. Â I primarily think of Lalafells as the "dwarf" race of the game. Â NPC Lalafells are more often than not, quite serious/evil/very much not children or cute in any way, and that should be a cursor for how you view Lalafell characters: not children. Â The whole appearance of our race is constrained as the other races are, by Japanese stylized designs. Â So unlike "traditional" western dwarves, we do not have long beards, or old man/santa appearances which would be a bit harder for the Japanese fan-base and home-team designers to process into the style of the game, but we should be treated as such: just as tough if not tougher than other races, sexual beings like any other, and often good-natured, but not necessarily cute upon first meeting.
4) I don't think this needs to be addressed, any race with obvious qualities that differ from others will attract trolls, Roes can be trolls for their immense size, Auri can be trolls for their stereotypical "anime" hair and general appearance, and so on...this is not a point to be made...put an afro on anything and it becomes a troll race...
5) Some of us are cutesy, because a girl or boy can think, "Oh what a cute race, I have a character which is jolly and happy and I think this race would fit well!" Â Well, okay...sure, but that sort of personality can fit into any race...a Roe can be jolly, an Auri girl can be happy and cute, and you may pat them on the head out-rightly or refuse to ERP with them or enter "serious" RP relationships with them, but they do not make up the norm, nor would you assume to treat others of the same race the way you treat them.
Alright, well...yeah, that got away from me, I have been avoiding coming to this thread, because as my friends and acquaintances know, I have been a Lalafell since 1.0, when the RP community was entirely different, and we didn't really encounter these sorts of things, so when I returned to the RP community some time later, I was really surprised, then continuously disappointed by how interactions between Lalafells and other races would work out. Â That situation where this sort of thing happened, and it cut off avenues of RP over and over, sort of gets you down, then makes you passionate when the subject comes up I guess.