You don't have to be a fan of (____) to like and roleplay as a (____)

[Lady_Alizarin]

When it comes to roleplaying as a certain creature, fan-based character, animal, you don't necessarily need to be a fan of a certain story, movie, show, to roleplay as one. Why am I bringing this up? Often times whenever I roleplay as a character that's based off an old legend, or a popular story, some people automatically assume that I'm a big fan of a story the creature is featured in. What really ticks me off is when they say it in a rude way. "I've seen ___ in this movie. It was stupid! And you're stupid for even playing one!" Really? Is that really necessary to assume that I'm playing as (insert speices) because I'm a fan of (insert title)? I'm roleplaying as one not because I'm a fan of this, it's because I enjoy it!

For example, sometimes whenever I roleplay as Melina the manticore, some people would ask what a manticore is. I tell them to read my character bio since it explains what the creature is. Well, there have been a few people who have said, "Oh it's a monster from My Little Pony." Or "It's a beast from Harry Potter." Yes, that's true. Manticores have been featured in those stories. However, there have been a few rude people who have told me, "I guess you're one of those bronies, aren't you? -.-" I would be all like, "No. Why do you ask?" And they would respond with, "Because you're playing as a manticore. You probably got it from MLP. God, I hate that show!" Even after I explain to them that the manticore is not a made-up creature that can only be found in MLP, this person was all like "Yeah whatever, brony." The people I was roleplaying with, as well as a few other people, were backing me up by saying, "Dude, a manticore isn't an MLP creature. It's a real old mythical creature." It's true! A manticore is just an old Persian mythical animal that's been in old stories for thousands of years, way before MLP was around. Authors, and writers have often times mentioned such creatures in their fantasy novels/stories before. MLP wasn't the first to use it in their stories. That guy had the nerve to say I was a "stupid MLP fan" for roleplaying as one when he didn't even know what he was really talking about in the first place.

Let me put it to you this way... we all see dragon characters roaming around the FH maps, right? Dragons are featured in MLP too, but we all know very darn well that MLP didn't come up with dragons at all! Dragons are another one of those old mythical creatures, with many stories and myths shared amoung all cultures of the world. You don't have to be an MLP fan, a How To Train Your Dragon fan, Dragon Tales fan, or an Eragon fan to roleplay as one. There are countless stories in the world where dragons were mentioned and featured in them.  

Another example would be Warrior Cats. You don't really need to be a fan to participate in a Warriors roleplay. I participate all the time, and haven't even read one book in their entire series. Yet some people look at me as one of those stereotyped "powerplaying Warrior fans".
You don't have to be a Lion King fan to like roleplaying as a lion, or a hyena. The Lion King was a great movie, but that doesn't mean that people who roleplay as lions or hyenas are big fans of the movie, and like to strictly play based on the movie.

It's not fair to assume that someone likes to roleplay a certain thing and bash them for it. It's not fair to mistreat someone for playing something you find silly or stupid all because you saw it in a story/movie/show you don't like at all. I say let the people play what they want to. And if you can't say anything nice about, keep your thoughts to yourself because you might make a fool of yourself, and make me get trigger-happy with the block button and/or screenshot button.


And if you are a fan of anything and like to roleplay based on it, pay no attention to the haters. They got nothing better to do but say hateful things to others. There is NOTHING wrong with roleplaying as a fan-based character. Add them to your block list if you must, it will save you alot of time, frustration, and pointless arguing with them.

By the way, has something like this ever happened to you, in any way, shape, or form?  

[darkknight]

I believe that people take what is most popular and compare them to everything. For example, someone would start a cat role-play and instantly be mistaken for a Warrior cat role-play. I do not understand why fictional animals and characters a person would want to role-play as, be compared to something that already exists in popular media. To me, it seems confusing to why I must be into (insert-popular-media-here) because I role-play as (insert-character-here).

Another example would be role-playing as a nine-tailed fox. Think about how many shows there are centering this beast, almost dozens. Next thing you know, people would think you're into Naruto, Pokemon, Digimon, Okami, and ect, ect, simply because you like one particular demon monster. This is not always the case. You role-play a demon fox because you like it, not because you are a fan of a show. You like the historic feel to playing an ancient beast with the power to destory cities with one tail, not because you like Pikachu. The character you role-play as shouldn't be a doorway to others to instantly determine what your interests are then and there.

Even for those who do like to role-play their favorite characters, there is nothing wrong with it at all. There are people who've never read the Harry Potter books or watched the movies, but like a character they'd want to be, like Hedwig. Or vice versa, someone plays an owl character named Hedwig and be compared to the Hedwig from the story. I can name a few shows or books I just hate, but like that one character to say, "Hey, I'd like to role-play this character." It's all about what you like character-wise and what you want to play as, not the shows, not the popular culture, just you.  

[Silhouette]

Yikes, I would hate to have that happen to me. Although the closest I have ever come to that is having people automatically assume that my characters with two-part names (even when they're not even cats/feline!) are Warriorcats. X_x

[Nymphadora]

I've come across cases like this several times. Say for example I'm a lioness named Nala with a completely different pelt colour to that of the Disney Nala. Someone will come up to me and start criticizing me because I 'got the character wrong'. I'm sorry but, just because my character shares the name as a lioness from Disney, does not mean it /is/ that character. Perhaps I simply like the name...

I always have someone assume something or other about my characters... My OC, Nymphadora, for example. She has a very similar pelt colour to Zira. This I didn't notice until people started to point it out. They'd told me I copied the design and that I'm a 'thief' for having colours similar to a lioness in a fictional story... I'm sorry, I didn't know that tan lionesses didn't exist in the wild. please explain, are they all red with pink polkadots and yellow belly stripes? -Facepalm- It seems no matter what character you have, how much you make it 'original' Someone, somewhere picks up on something to relate it to a Book, Film, Series or Comic etc. There's never any winning x.x

[Jango_Fett]

@Nym
too True.

[Nymphadora]

And I have another example. -Facefloor- ~ I created my own species: Merimaph: Some may have seen my little Nymphia running around or even gotten a preset to make your own Merimaph. Now, they look like this:




I didn't know what I was basing her off at the time, it was just a mess around with colours, sizes and models. Still, I have people running up to me and trying to roleplay, classing me as a  ferret, weasel, caracal... That sort of stuff simply because she slightly resembles one or the other... No. :I People just seem to assume... ~ If you want to learn about my Merimaph species click here. There are a lot of features that have been made up that do not relate to any of the listed species previously. You'd have thought the bright green would have given that away... (Without the preset she still has green so there be no excuse >.>) Even if they have read up on my species, they dive in and assume they know everything about my character just because of the little information they know of the species.