Doing this in reverse-order so I can stick most of my 2nd answer behind a cut:

6. Is there a character that the rest of your fandom adores that you just don’t like/are indifferent to? Who is the character and why?

For the longest time, it was KID/Kaito. I could write a huge long rant about it, but fortunately, through the grace of good writers, I have come to accept him as a good character with a lot of potential. I still hate most of his fans, though, especially when they put him on a pedestal and completely ignore all of the canonical stuff that makes him so interesting. 

There are a handful of other characters that I’m just “meh” toward, but it’s not a big deal. Having such a large cast (most of which is amazing) really helps to dilute what junk does exist. 🙂

2. Are there any plot tropes you are sick of/refuse to RP? If so, what are they and why?

There are plenty… a lot are irrational biases (being stuck in a video game, zombies, etc– you have to have a rEALLY good idea and plan for those or I will NOT be interested AT ALL), but one that I am especially sensitive to and tired of seeing is the unrealistic accidental pregnancy… and moreso when it ends in miscarriage.

And here I will explain why:

It’s a lot harder to get pregnant than people realize. The typical human female has a window of 1-5 days per month that they are fertile. Most average about 3 days. That’s halfway through the cycle. Yes, people can and do get pregnant their first time having sex, but it’s a lot less common than popular media would have you believe.

It’s one thing if you have a couple who oops and keep forgetting their preferred method of birth control, but have very active sex lives (this is realistic and happens a lot); it’s another thing if two characters get drunk and have sex for the first time ever and it’s amazing (your first time is usually very much not), AND they manage to get pregnant. 

Especially if they are in any way unhealthy. For example, I have PCOS. I will probably never get to have kids, despite wanting and trying for them. 

Which brings me to the miscarriage thing.

Yes, it can and does happen. Usually if it’s going to, though, it’s going to be before a woman even knows that they’re pregnant. Most miscarriages aren’t even noticed. Pregnancy is a precarious thing. And speaking as someone who has had one (early on), it hurt and it was sad, but it didn’t ruin my life; it was just like a particularly heavy cycle that came late. It can be very traumatic later on, but don’t do it if you just want to avoid having to write a child.

Don’t do it without good reason. ESPECIALLY since this is one of those sensitive topics for a lot of people. You NEVER know what your writing partner has gone through or is going through. You never know what’s going to trigger someone. Ask. Be sensitive. Do not assume that it’s just okay to do this kind of thing. Err on the side of caution. This also goes for things like suicide, self-harm, rape, etc. 

Pregnancy scares can be a fun conflict, depending on the type of story that you’re writing. It’s a huge, life and relationship changing event. Pregnancy itself can put characters through a whole different set of challenges for your characters, and that can be great. Miscarriages can and do happen. They can be painful, physically and emotionally. 

For the record, I’ll mention that I have RPed the scenario out before, and it can work. I’ll probably do it again in the future, too. I’m actually planning on a pregnancy arc with one RP partner already, because of the juxtaposition of ‘domestic life vs intense professional life,’ which is the overall plot arc for those characters. Pretty sure that the pregnancy will succeed, though, since the characters are both very proficient, responsible people.  

But all of this need to be handled with respect, they need to be realistic, and please, for the love of all that’s holy, don’t use it as trick for cheap drama and lazy writing. It’s insensitive, annoying, and I will be instantly turned off from it.

And, on that note, a brief mention of mpreg: I’m not really a fan of it, but I’ve done one or two scenarios where it worked for me in the past. Both were carefully plotted, involved a lot of pseudo-science/magic, and it was more about a reproductive organ change than anything. There were still a lot of complications, it had a high magic cost, lots of consequences, and was a fairly intensive as far as pre-planning and maintenance and so on. They were emotionally exhaustive plots, and while I think it turned out well and satisfying, it’s not something that I am exactly eager to repeat for the reasons mentioned above. Basically, if I were to run a plot involving that again, it certainly would not be on tumblr.

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