Prettiness Guilt

[In Dreams]

Does anyone else get this? My PCs are usually based, appearance-wise, on someone who inspires me, appearance-wise. Mostly fitness models.

So, I'm always at least kind of pretty wherever I RP. But pretty isn't very Zalanthan.

Then I feel guilty. Should I be more into playing horrifically ugly PCs than I am?

[Barzalene]

I am probably the biggest prettiness snob playing. My PCs are often skeptical of the overly pretty, and sometimes derisive.

I, am telling you, player to player, play the PCs that please you. There is no pleasing me and the hordes of armchair (computer chair critics.) We won't be happy. We are overly critical. We are often assholes. I am your worst critic and I am telling you, unequivocally, write your PCs for you, not me. And don't feel guilty.

As an aside, I usually try for regular looking people.

[Narf]

Does anyone else get this? My PCs are usually based, appearance-wise, on someone who inspires me, appearance-wise. Mostly fitness models.

So, I'm always at least kind of pretty wherever I RP. But pretty isn't very Zalanthan.

Then I feel guilty. Should I be more into playing horrifically ugly PCs than I am?

I haven't played a truly ugly character in ten years, and yeah I feel guilty about it.

[Patuk]

Not pretty per se, but for stat reasons my warriors/rangers are allof the max height/weight kind, and if that correlation were to be changed I'd stop doing this at an instant.

[valeria]

I usually try to make my characters ugly or average, but everyone assumes they are pretty anyway unless they're godawfulclearlyfugly, so play what you want, I say.

[chuci]

Word choice matters a lot in perception.  Thin, svelte, lithe, curvaceous vs rawboned, sinewy, lanky, muscular.

[Talia]

I usually try to make my characters ugly or average, but everyone assumes they are pretty anyway unless they're godawfulclearlyfugly, so play what you want, I say.

formula for "pretty"

=IF("gender"="female","yes","who the fuck cares")

[TheWanderer]

^ she gets it

[Ender]

I'd say mostly try to avoid words that indicate levels of hygiene and living that would be nearly unheard of for a commoner, and avoid absolute and subjective terms

unblemished - life is hard, there are diseases and no healthcare. The sun is harsh and so are people's lives, you're going to have blemishes.
porcelain - sun's gonna burn you up good.
silky hair - where are you getting that conditioner?
perfect - subjective/absolute - no one is perfect or has perfect features
attractive - subjective
alluring - subjective

Also, just because you're rich doesn't mean you're healthy or attractive.  I'd like to see more nobles ravaged by the effects of inbreeding and waaay more gout riddled fat Doran Martells than sexy wickedly grinning Oberon Martells.

[Malken]

Does anyone else get this? My PCs are usually based, appearance-wise, on someone who inspires me, appearance-wise. Mostly fitness models.

So, I'm always at least kind of pretty wherever I RP. But pretty isn't very Zalanthan.

Then I feel guilty. Should I be more into playing horrifically ugly PCs than I am?

It's a game, as long as you don't break documentation (like elf riding mounts, your pretty PCs wanting to marry gemmers), play whatever makes you happy

People will bitch about your characters no matter what.

[Talia]

go put some coded disfigurements on your PCs, nubs



Ahem, sorry.

OFFICIAL STAFF ANSWER: Be inspired by what inspires you. Write what you want. Play what you want.

Love,

Someone who writes flowery, lavish descriptions of horrible monsters

[Narf]

porcelain - sun's gonna burn you up good.

There's been a lot of debate on whether the Zalanthan sun would in fact cause sunburn. Is it a Red Star? Is the atmosphere shifting the color? How well does the atmosphere protect, given the lack of industrial revolution? How effective are Zalanthan microbes at replenishing the UV blocking elements in the Zalanthan sky?

Zalanthas' physical properties are a bit to vague to say for sure who's going to get sunburned and who won't. Clearly it's hot, but we don't really know what the UV radiation situation is. Maybe there's more, maybe there's less.

[Delirium]

There's been a lot of debate on whether the Zalanthan sun would in fact cause sunburn. Is it a Red Star? Is the atmosphere shifting the color? How well does the atmosphere protect, given the lack of industrial revolution? How effective are Zalanthan microbes at replenishing the UV blocking elements in the Zalanthan sky?

Zalanthas' physical properties are a bit to vague to say for sure who's going to get sunburned and who won't. Clearly it's hot, but we don't really know what the UV radiation situation is. Maybe there's more, maybe there's less.

[Eyeball]

Well, Narf has it right. People like to write descriptions about skins beaten brown by the sun and the like. And at the same time, there's no penalty for standing out at high-noon naked without a parasol or for being pale as an albino. It's open for debate.

[Beethoven]

My male PCs are almost always relatively pretty and my female PCs are almost always rugged, muscled sidewalk-spitters.

[BadSkeelz]

My first PC was based on a young Ron Jeremy and then subjected to three RL years of harsh Zalanthan living.

So I'm not saying that PCs based on porn stars live longer, but anecdotal evidence suggests it may be true.

[Delirium]

Well, Narf has it right. People like to write descriptions about skins beaten brown by the sun and the like. And at the same time, there's no penalty for standing out at high-noon naked without a parasol or for being pale as an albino. It's open for debate.

Not everything has to be coded. There's no coded response for emoting that you've just pissed on an NPC templar, either.

Think outside the box a little, sure, but I'd beg you not not to do so in ways that simply justify ridiculousness (like ignoring the effects of the sun on your skin just to get away with being "pretty" by modern standards).

[Beethoven]

Certain kinds of magickers might have a decent excuse to have paler/less scarred/less sunburnt skin than mundanes.

[In Dreams]

porcelain - sun's gonna burn you up good.

There's been a lot of debate on whether the Zalanthan sun would in fact cause sunburn. Is it a Red Star? Is the atmosphere shifting the color? How well does the atmosphere protect, given the lack of industrial revolution? How effective are Zalanthan microbes at replenishing the UV blocking elements in the Zalanthan sky?

Zalanthas' physical properties are a bit to vague to say for sure who's going to get sunburned and who won't. Clearly it's hot, but we don't really know what the UV radiation situation is. Maybe there's more, maybe there's less.

I've actually kind of had thoughts regarding this! But it's mostly based on evolution and the age of the world.

Namely, how long ago did Armageddon get Armageddony?

Within the last two thousand years, was Zalanthas lush and green with a temperate climate, including things like clouds and rain? Ten thousand years? A hundred thousand years?

If it weren't very long, people would be relatively similar to Earth-people, and would probably be affected by the sun like you'd expect from real world equivalents. We'd all be either hiding in the shade all the time or bloody sure leathery-skinned and red. Oh, and dying of skin cancer.

But, obviously, people would have evolved to tolerate it better if it were longer than that. Has Zalanthas always been like this? If so, people are probably pretty well-adjusted to the sun there.

EDIT: Ooooooops I'm going offtopic! But, I figure I'm going to wind up making pretty PCs one way or another. I do try to keep it within the bounds of Zalanthan-hot, at least, and whatever body type I've gone, I like to think my PCs usually have a good reason for looking the way they do.

[Patuk]

I'm not sure if evolution really needs to factor into it. Hispanic people are noticably darker than the Europeans they are descended from.

[Delirium]

Do whatever you want, but recognize that if you must play a pretty pretty princess, your character is outside the (virtual, reality-of-the-gameworld) norm and try to reflect that in your roleplay. How and why is their skin so pale? Why are they so fit and well-fed? What do they do to keep their appearance up to standards? More simply, why are they the way they are? Can you come up with a plausible in-character reason that doesn't push reality norms for your appearance?

Exceptionally pale characters should be more likely to be considered unnatural freaks, not attractive.

[Marauder Moe]

Within the last two thousand years, was Zalanthas lush and green with a temperate climate, including things like clouds and rain? Ten thousand years? A hundred thousand years?

So it's been about 2000 years since the Dragon first showed up and made a mess of things.  If Zalanthas was more temparate before then, that's how long you'd have to biologically adapt.

[Eyeball]

Think outside the box a little, sure, but I'd beg you not not to do so in ways that simply justify ridiculousness (like ignoring the effects of the sun on your skin just to get away with being "pretty" by modern standards).

That's the point; it's never been established that the Zalanthanian sun would cause sunburns. I'd rather that this be clarified before telling people how to roleplay.

[In Dreams]

To be honest I don't know that written descs actually even matter that much. I think people more often notice what you're wearing than how many scars or muscles you write in the main desc. I imagine the sexiness of your sdesc is what people notice and get judgey on foremost.

Well-RPed is the most attractive feature a PC can have on a text medium anyway.

[bardlyone]

Exceptionally pale characters should be more likely to be considered unnatural freaks, not attractive.

I would think it would be a lot more like in Asian countries here, where lighter skin is considered better because it means you don't have to go out and work in the fields/go on ridiculous contracts, etc - almost default meaning that you are richer, and/or higher class and that that is below you, in all but a few cases which might involve mutations.



People will get creative in their pursuit of the ridiculous ideal, whether wearing a full mask on the face while outside, or through using bleaching creams on the skin to try and lighten it.

And I would imagine that most people who are pale IC are pale for logical reasons, like that they aren't outside all the time, they're nobility, or they're mutants.