I think you're right, OP, in that it's a difference in what kind of community you're coming from?
I know the kind of environment you're talking about, if it's anything like the tumblr RP blog scene was when I partook - where it's about pursuing "what ifs" and throwing your character into all sorts of weird and wonderful situations to see how they react. In that kind of environment, RPing with a canon is an enjoyable exercise in what happens when an OC meets a famous person, or an idol, etc etc. There's a wide acceptance that different AU's/verses are a thing, so if you meet duplicates it's NBD. And it's acceptable to state that you're exclusive with one particular instance of the canon, too.
But the kind of situation most in-game RPers are in is one where they're roleplaying one character as part of a larger living world, with usually a fairly strict continuity - because communicating details of retcons across everyone who might possibly have seen the scene in question is usually a pain. They stick to "everything that happens, happens for real, and retcons/AUs are a special exception". In this kind of environment, encountering a canon in the open world is a huge "not even touching that", for all the reasons Warren described. There's no way to communicate the nature of different AU's to the entire audience unless the RP is held privately from start to finish, and there's no way to communicate if you're exclusive with an existing RPer for that canon short of whispering the one that just walked up to you and saying "sorry, no can do".
And because most people are RPing regular folk... RPing a canon, or being friends with one, comes with a certain level of political clout that just is not available to others. It has the potential to stray into power-emoting territory in some respects, which I think is why people are wary of it. It also has the potential to tie IC political power into who is and isn't friends with the canon RPer OOCly - who only has that clout because they picked a canon character to play... rather than establishing it the long way around, with genuinely building an IC reputation for themself.
I used to play canon characters on my RP blogs, and I have a few clones of canons on other servers, but... I kinda draw the line at RPing them in-game, especially walk-up style. It's just too at odds with the established culture, and with the type of clashes that can breed resentment.
I know the kind of environment you're talking about, if it's anything like the tumblr RP blog scene was when I partook - where it's about pursuing "what ifs" and throwing your character into all sorts of weird and wonderful situations to see how they react. In that kind of environment, RPing with a canon is an enjoyable exercise in what happens when an OC meets a famous person, or an idol, etc etc. There's a wide acceptance that different AU's/verses are a thing, so if you meet duplicates it's NBD. And it's acceptable to state that you're exclusive with one particular instance of the canon, too.
But the kind of situation most in-game RPers are in is one where they're roleplaying one character as part of a larger living world, with usually a fairly strict continuity - because communicating details of retcons across everyone who might possibly have seen the scene in question is usually a pain. They stick to "everything that happens, happens for real, and retcons/AUs are a special exception". In this kind of environment, encountering a canon in the open world is a huge "not even touching that", for all the reasons Warren described. There's no way to communicate the nature of different AU's to the entire audience unless the RP is held privately from start to finish, and there's no way to communicate if you're exclusive with an existing RPer for that canon short of whispering the one that just walked up to you and saying "sorry, no can do".
And because most people are RPing regular folk... RPing a canon, or being friends with one, comes with a certain level of political clout that just is not available to others. It has the potential to stray into power-emoting territory in some respects, which I think is why people are wary of it. It also has the potential to tie IC political power into who is and isn't friends with the canon RPer OOCly - who only has that clout because they picked a canon character to play... rather than establishing it the long way around, with genuinely building an IC reputation for themself.
I used to play canon characters on my RP blogs, and I have a few clones of canons on other servers, but... I kinda draw the line at RPing them in-game, especially walk-up style. It's just too at odds with the established culture, and with the type of clashes that can breed resentment.
![[Image: tUzrT.png]](https://puu.sh/tUzrT.png)
