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Hi, I need to say that lately I have been noticing some casual racism among the RP community, specifically anti-asian racism. Along with micro aggressions to some of our trans community members (and hypothetical trans people / characters). I spoke to a couple friends about it, but I am writing this here because I want to ask if weāre the only ones who have noticed this. @/unsungcheerio knows who I am, so if you have seen this and want to help do something about it, you can ask her about me to put us in contact. Please stop the blatant bigotry and donāt play the ignorant card. Honestly it is uncomfortable to interact with the people who pass such comments. We speak anonymously because when we have called such people out, nothing changed. Weāre begging you, listen to people who belong to certain communities instead of speaking over us, or pretending you can decide what is or isnāt offensive to us.
For example: Weāve noticed there is quite a bit of generalising on the forums about āAsiansā and there is lowkey fetishisations about East Asians in particular (which, seeing the recent events in the USA, Iām sure you can tell is a huge problem). I would like to remind people that Asia is a vast, multiethnic and multicultural continent. If you are referring to Japanese people and their culture, please specify that you are referring to Japanese people. Otherwise it sounds ignorant. East Asians, particularly the ones westerners fetishe (Japanese, Chinese, Korean etc.), do not represent all Asians. Why is it that when you speak about Indians you say Indians, never Asians? Because when you make your stereotypical comments about Asians you are most likely referring to East Asia. Stop acting as if Asia is made up of three east Asian countries. Another example would be people choosing to ignore feedback given by our Asian members, and continuing to use theirā¦ tone-deaf characters as if thereās nothing wrong with that despite being approached about it multiple times. You also cannot substitute one East Asian for the other. If your character is Japanese, use a Japanese fc, there are COUNTLESS faceclaims and you can easily reverse search images if you are unsure to check the modelās ethnicity. Please STOP fetishing East Asians, itās gross. Itās not cool nor a compliment, itās degrading. Stop treating us like weāre displayed in a museum. Weāre normal people. Itās cool if youāre interested in our culture and all because it differs from yours, Iām sure many of us would be willing to talk about it if you ask politely and out of genuine interest, but please show some respect. Now, on the trans topic: we have seen some users treat trans people as some fun collectible thing (direct quote: āwe have three of you nowā), and characters like theyāre nothing but their identity or a tokenized character, and in worst cases thereās characters whose trans-ness is compared to a curse. We have also been ignored when weāve spoken up on these matters. Some others simply seem to forget we exist. Overall, these things are really upsetting and do not help making people feel welcome in the community.
Oh damnā¦ Well, Iām sorry that you and your friends have had to experience any of this at all, and I do get where youāre coming from. Thank you for taking the time to speak on this, as I can understand that it can be hard to voice these types of concerns, especially if, as you said, the behaviour hasnāt been changed when it was addressed. Especially with the Stop Asian Hate movement gaining traction right now, I think itās important to bring all of these issues to light.
So:
One of your first points was about the generalizations of Asia as a whole, and I for one am aware that I have been guilty of that, but Iāve been doing my best for a while now to be specific and be like East Asia, or South Asia etcetc or the individual countries. I agree with you about the fact that many people associate Asia with three countries, which is unfortunate because while those countries are great, there are many other great places in Asia which are often glazed over. And, for the love of God people, donāt treat Asian culture as if itās all one thing when the continent as a whole is very culturally and ethnically diverse. The various cultures of Asia are not one-size-fits-all man. Donāt base your knowledge of it on stereotypes either as not only are you wrong, it is tiring and, frankly, offensive to have to hear repeatedly.
And wait, people would get advice from actual Asian people and then ignore it??? Thatās wild to me, because like how do you get literal lived experiences and just not change anything thatās wild
Yeah so I can recall some lowkey examples of East Asian fetishization on here, but I had thought that they had been resolved so it is upsetting to hear that that isnāt the case. I know what itās like to be fetishzied, itās very uncomfortable and itās- so objectifying. I could get into a whole rant about fetishization but lemme not yes. Anyway. Iād like to highlight that fetishizing is not complementary, and it literally contributes to racism. So like. Donāt do it. Itās not hard, literally treat East Asians as the people they are.
And with the trans topicā¦ I genuinely donāt know what to say, thatās horrible >.> I, personally, havenāt seen this but I know that that doesnāt mean it hasnāt happened. Yeah no, trans characters shouldnāt be tokenized, they should be treated like a regular character. I can also imagine that it would be very difficult to hear that transness is a curse if your trans I just- gah Iām sorry you saw that man.
If someone of a minority is telling you that something is harmful, donāt speak over them. Listen. Educate yourself. This is problematic, and itās not going to go away until we all acknowledge our own biases and privileges and foster a community that makes everyone feel comfy and welcome.
These forums are very very against racism and very very for trans rights as well as trans acceptance. That being said, displays of racism or transphobia should be flagged so it can be brought to the attention of the moderators and dealt with accordingly
ya das my two cents
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Yeah, when making an Asian character, I always do my best to find out the ethnicity of the fc.
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I agree wholeheartedly that itās important to ensure a characterās race and ethnicity match with their FC.
Although I know that many users like Pinterest, I think that Tumblr is a wonderful, albeit underused, resource. Countless Tumblr Directories have FCs you can filter by race, ethnicity, age, time period, gender, occupation, etc. with the modelās name, so itās easy to find more pictures of them. I would definitely recommend using it if you want a quicker way to narrow down the options once you have a specific race or ethnicity in mind or if you dislike scouring for accurate information on Pinterest.
Examples of Tumblr FC Directories: x, x, and x.
If anyone doesnāt know how reverse image search works, please PM me too! I can help. :))
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Reading this, I know Iām most likely guilty of saying Asians when referring to primarily East Asians, though if I have a specific ethnicity in mind for what I am saying, I do my best to steer away from a generalization and specifically mention the ethnicity. And I am also aware that I do not always know the actual ethnicity of an fc for my characters when they are East Asian. For that, I know I should do better, and I will apologize for any times where Iāve specified my characterās ethnicity and the ethnicity of their fc has not matched, which I will admit is a factor in why I donāt often portray Asian characters as a whole, and why I tend to err on the side of not being clear in saying my characters are from a specific country (regardless of ethnicity or race). If anyone sees somewhere I could improve, or an mistake I unknowingly make, please feel free to reach out to me. On the topic of trans characters, Iām sorry to hear thatās the case. I personally, try my best to represent the trans characters I make, well. Iāve done research, though probably still not as much as I could have or in the best ways, so I know I probably have a ways to improve. Trans characters are still in a way, a foreign idea to me. They are different from what Iām used to as a cis-female, who doesnāt even know of anyone Iāve met in person that is trans. I try my best to when I make a trans character, to use the experience to push myself out of my comfort zone in writing and character creation, and as a way to grow more used to the trans community. So, especially if youāre someone who is trans, please tell me what you see in my trans characters of ways I can improve. I look at things analytically and with a very black and white view of the world, so I know I donāt always see where a problem can arise from a more feelings based view. I donāt see a lot of these things in the same way others do, but Iām always willing to hear things out, especially when it comes to what I personally could do better.
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Hey anonymous confessor, I understand the frustration and hurt you must feel if this is as bad as you say. It really worries me that it is. I just donāt think that an anonymous confession with a vague reference to specific people doing this is helping. As no one knows who it is about, meaning that everyone here could take offence at being called ignorant RPers who create subpar characters.
As a head, I will just ask that you please talk to the RP staff about it. Issues such as this, are some that we really want to stamp out and would love to find a solution in a more positive way.
El and I have constantly said to either flag posts that do not follow the rules or to first talk to the staff about any issues in the community. Then if it continues or if you feel more comfortable, come talk to us (heads). We will try to help the best we can.
We really do want the best for this community and would much rather it improve than people feel triggered and not heard!
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woa woahw aoh are you descendantā¦
yes it definitely hurts my pride 
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yes i am descendent of sad sherrie bio
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rip sherrieā¦
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how do i ask someone if they still want to be in the RP without sounding pushy or demanding?
@ethereal is lowkey a pro at making sure her tone is conveyed positively so share advice yes
imoā¦ hmm avoid using the 
smiley because everyone knows itās the passy aggro smiley
Emojis in general usually make the tone lighter, at least, I find and maybe add like ājust wonderingā or āno rushā yknow
But honestly if youāre straightforward and just not passy aggro itāll generally come off good tho so thereās probably no reason to stress about itttt
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aww 
thank you chid!!! you are way too kind!!
hmm i am definitely not a pro, but I might say, make sure you let them know you understand/are cool if they do want to leave.
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pro tip: add a bunch of exclamation marks and ā~ā and happy emojis to not seem agressive and demanding
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I recommend avoiding sentence starters like āyou did [this],ā āyou didnāt do [this],ā āyou always,ā and āyou neverā because it may seem like youāre pushing the blame onto them, which might make them defensive. Instead, possibly reword it as āI feelā or āI havenāt felt.ā The content of your message will remain the same, though it will probably sound less accusatory.
Example: āYou never responded to me; do you want to be in the RP or not?ā ā āI havenāt heard from you in a while, so I was wondering if this RP still interested you.ā
Like @ethereal suggested above, let them know youāre understanding or ask them how theyāre doing. Remember that they arenāt simply another RPer who may or may not still want to be in the RP, but theyāre a person who I think would appreciate it if you showed you cared about them. At the least, it would likely encourage them to communicate with you more openly about their availability in the future.
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the amount of insensitivity towards poc characters written by white people sometimes in the community can be upsetting and overwhelming :// honestly makes me stay away because I donāt have the energy to keep correcting people on what should be basic respect. itās the small microagressions that are completely insensitive to a characterās background and culture (noticeably east asian ones) even grouping them together and generalizing them. and even referring to the character by their ethnicity etc. etc. thereās just a lot to unpack tbh, i wonder how they would feel if i gave the same energy back tho. be like 'i gotta work on my white character brbā
LMAO that last line got me I wheeeezed bahahah
Iām sorry though about that yeah, itās not your responsibility to have to correct others so it sucks that you seem to have to quite often. And I get that feeling, it does get really tiring when it feels like people are just nottt senseing, but at the same time, I wanna say at least theyāre trying? Like theyāre making the attempt to make poc charactersāyeah should it be a given to not make microaggressions or be otherwise insensitive? Yes, of course. But if theyāre making the effort to educate themselves and be more aware that theyāre being like insensitive, then thatās good isnāt it? I just feel like sometimes people make honest mistakes and then can be corrected once and improve from there but maybe thatās me wanting to give people the benefit of the doubt idk
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I actually try use RPing as a way to learn with these things because I know that there are people I can ask if Iām doing it right, so Iām so sorry if you see me doing some of them and getting you offended Dx
I think this is something that all the RPers should hear, honestly, so that theyāll be aware of what theyāre doing ^~^
I feel like there are people who are trying, but I think some people get lectured about the topic but still does it again. Iām not referring to anyone here, but Iām saying this so that people who see this will be mindful of their creations the next time : D
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Oooh yes, I get that, that is very very frustrating >.> i donāt get whyyyy like just liisten and research and then changeee thee insensitivities skdjfhg
but so for sure this:
Very yes
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I havenāt been in rp for very long, but I know I wonāt be as involved during the summer, and I already have characters in three separate rps, and Iām afraid I wonāt be able to use my computer or phone (my parents barely allow me to use any electronic during the school year, let alone during the summer!) Iām not trying to be a flake or put them up for adoption, but... will I have to?
Honestly bro just talk with the owners of the rps, Iām sure with them you guys can like figure all o that out yknow. Itās hard for me to comment much when I donāt know the situation and I donāt know the RPs so yeah literally just talk to the rp owners, canāt go wrong there~
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Anon this is so valid. Iām all for correcting/educating people but it does get exhausting when you need to practically work for (?) the same level of basic respect as others >.<
THIS. Itās the small comments brushed off with a āI didnāt mean itā like ??? No, what was (almost always) said was said and meant. Itās about accepting it was wrong and learning from it not brushing it off as something like dropping a plate. I honestly respect people who can own up to their wrongs and learn but when people try using ignorance as an excuse, it doesnāt sit well with me :ā)
Exactly 
honestly Iām glad someone else has pointed this and pls feel free to hmu anon
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anon i agree 1000% with you
educating white people on POC should be their own responsibility, but tbh it feels like a lot of people here are expecting to be given all info in a silver platter
i donāt correct people very often bc i know i can get angry or come off too strong and the last thing i want is to make a mess because my words were not quite right? so props to you for correcting others, i admire the heck out of you for that
honestly i find the microaggressions even more tiring than outright bigoted comments? because those are rare and we can flag them and stuff but a lot of microaggressions seem to get a pass from most forums users? and they happen very often? which makes it worse
and as Clio said a lot of people shield behind the āi didnāt mean it like thatā or something like that? and like
itās about the impact and lack of cultural sensitivity? and in most cases the issues repeat? by the same people? so it really makes me doubt whether they ādidnāt mean itā or not, bc at this point it seems some people just donāt want to respect other cultures
and, again, it should be up to them to educate themselves (and i donāt mean just one google search and clicking the first link)
and, again, as Clio said, hmu anytime bc hoo boy do i have things to talk about
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I agree with Chid that it should not be your responsibility nor any other POCās responsibility to constantly help others, especially in a space thatās supposed to be relaxing and fun. I understand how draining it is and why you would want to take a break. Honestly, I encourage everyone to research before asking people on the forums to provide feedback. This is in regards to anything ranging from culture (links: x, x, and x) to FCs (reverse image search and find the name of the model, rather than assuming based on facial features alone).
I agree. Although I think the community is very open-minded and well-intentioned, people still have to take accountability for the impact of their comments. Itās fineā even encouragedā to experiment with new character ideas, even if you make mistakes. Regardless of how careful we are, it is still a learning process. However, refusing to listen to people and repeating the same mistakes when you likely have access to the same online resources as most people here, is actively choosing to be ignorant. Even people who have lived the experience may not be experts themselves and often need to do supplemental research.
I promise that your writing will absolutely reflect your lack of understanding. It will be more work to write outside of your lived experiences and to explore the identity of people different than your own, but isnāt that what roleplaying is? If you want to stay in your comfort zone and only write what you know, then I think you should stick to a diary.
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