This, as opposed to my general search thread here, is going to be a very specific, very literary, and very direct. This is an itch I’m trying to scratch, not the only type of RP I’m aiming for. Head there for a bit more info on me & my general style & wants. Stick around if the title hooked you.
Firstly, here's a bit of general RP info & a primer on my particular style
Male / He, Him
Flunked Classics Major
27 years old
21+ For Characters & 25+ for Partners
30-70 /Smut-to-Story ratios
500-2k words per response
Daily - Bi-Daily OOC /
Daily-Weekly IC replies
HST Time Zone
Firstly, here's a bit of general RP info & a primer on my particular style
Male / He, Him
Flunked Classics Major
27 years old
21+ For Characters & 25+ for Partners
30-70 /Smut-to-Story ratios
500-2k words per response
Daily - Bi-Daily OOC /
Daily-Weekly IC replies
HST Time Zone
I write in third person, past tense, usually with a more detached narrative perspective rather than a tight focus on one character’s inner monologue. I lean toward the purple end of the prose spectrum by most people’s standards: atmosphere, metaphor, slow-burn setup, and the occasional sentence that refuses to die politely. I’m a Texan; I like endless metaphors, stray riddles, and a little thunder in the wallpaper. Sue me.
To be direct, and to not waste anyone’s time: For this specific search, I am interested in male characters who may be romantically or sexually passive, who can be pursued rather than made the pursuer, and who are firmly under 5’10.
For this thread & search in particular, this is the barrier to entry.
There’s far more complexity in this search than ‘I want him to be submissive & short’; those aren’t even the primary goals in making these types of characters. But I’d much rather shorten the net than sift through a bucket of fish I didn’t mean to catch. So let me dig into what I mean by 'Romantic Men' & 'Knightly Women.' And then let's see what arenas I'm aiming to throw them into.
Romantic Men
The real aim is in the title: Romantic men, in the true sense of the word.
That is to say, men who are beautiful, idealistic, soft, passionate, and sometimes entirely unsure & uncertain. With depth & vulnerability - not a Gothic Tyrant or Lancer. The type that might get teary-eyed at a grand vista, one who’s allowed to cry more than once in a story, and who might show more emotion than a stone. In short, it’s about complexity and a richer set of emotions. I want more levers to play with and more emotional building blocks to build with. Not a series of 6-ft ideologues who only swap their skin, preferred muscle, & hair color.
When I talk about ‘unsure’ and ‘pursued’ and ‘passive,’ I mean to countermand the trope of the male character being the sole engine in an RP. The Tyrant that provides all the lust, all the power, all the narrative force, and all the pressure. Not directly swapping the roles & playing the Damsel to a woman’s Ravager, but not shying away from getting close to it.
Knightly Women
To be frank, transitioning now to the 'Knightly Women' archetype I’m looking for is really more about finding something I'm interested in. I just am not interested in writing against or even lusting after women for the sake of them being women. Yes, I’m annoyed at the implied effort & dynamic of ‘mafia boss x good girl’. But to be brutally honest, the usual innocent good girl, alt-brat, or chaotic harlequin types are not what I’m looking for here.
When I say ‘Knightly Women’, I mean women who act like knights. Here, I’d directly say I’m looking for a Lancer in court dress—Ulysses in a frock, Caligula be damned.
Passion, intensity, boldness- but tempered by Chivalric-like code and a sense of duty or purpose. I’d swap the youthful note of a typical Lancer with a more Queenly or Mature bend- but I wouldn’t want to get distracted by it either. I want to explore how a swap in genders might change that archetype- but I likewise don’t want to give a woman power and then obsess over the fact that she has it. Yes, I want to preserve that power & force of will, but I want to separate it from a more typical virginal ‘Elizabethan’ archetypes as well. To honestly look at that reality, rather than get stuck on grounding it in or measuring it against our own history.
I suppose it’s more about trying to figure out what chivalric code would look like if women held the swords and men held the fans. Not to simply swap the genders and be done with it- or drool over the fact that one woman was more manly than men. But to sink into that reality, and go beyond the surface level of what it would mean. And that’s what I’m hoping you, as a writer, will help me define.
To be frank, transitioning now to the 'Knightly Women' archetype I’m looking for is really more about finding something I'm interested in. I just am not interested in writing against or even lusting after women for the sake of them being women. Yes, I’m annoyed at the implied effort & dynamic of ‘mafia boss x good girl’. But to be brutally honest, the usual innocent good girl, alt-brat, or chaotic harlequin types are not what I’m looking for here.
When I say ‘Knightly Women’, I mean women who act like knights. Here, I’d directly say I’m looking for a Lancer in court dress—Ulysses in a frock, Caligula be damned.
Passion, intensity, boldness- but tempered by Chivalric-like code and a sense of duty or purpose. I’d swap the youthful note of a typical Lancer with a more Queenly or Mature bend- but I wouldn’t want to get distracted by it either. I want to explore how a swap in genders might change that archetype- but I likewise don’t want to give a woman power and then obsess over the fact that she has it. Yes, I want to preserve that power & force of will, but I want to separate it from a more typical virginal ‘Elizabethan’ archetypes as well. To honestly look at that reality, rather than get stuck on grounding it in or measuring it against our own history.
I suppose it’s more about trying to figure out what chivalric code would look like if women held the swords and men held the fans. Not to simply swap the genders and be done with it- or drool over the fact that one woman was more manly than men. But to sink into that reality, and go beyond the surface level of what it would mean. And that’s what I’m hoping you, as a writer, will help me define.
Their Arena
For the arena itself, I’m deliberately flexible. I’m less attached to one genre than I am to the kind of pressure placed on the dynamic.
I’m open to slow-burn, quick-inferno, political plots, worldbuilding-heavy premises, court drama, martial settings, religious tension, quiet domestic drama, Gothic atmosphere, mythic fantasy, historical alt-worlds, or stranger genre blends. But for this specific search, I want the plot to serve the romantic structure rather than bury it.
Usually, I enjoy a balance of plot-driving character and character-driving plot. Here, I want the world to act as a foil for the pairing: its laws, customs, dangers, ranks, taboos, wars, rituals, and expectations should sharpen the question at the center of the dynamic.
I want to explore the central theme of Romantic Men & Knightly Women, and the arena should provide more questions & filters to it.
If you’ve made it past those thousand words, I thank you for your time. Now, let me try and pull this literary muse lusting into the scope of an actual Roleplay. We’ll start with the usual tray of pairings, and I’ll have a few defined appetizing plots [WIP], but I’d just as much rather we create something from scratch together. Bread, butter, & plots all taste best when made by hand. For the arena itself, I’m deliberately flexible. I’m less attached to one genre than I am to the kind of pressure placed on the dynamic.
I’m open to slow-burn, quick-inferno, political plots, worldbuilding-heavy premises, court drama, martial settings, religious tension, quiet domestic drama, Gothic atmosphere, mythic fantasy, historical alt-worlds, or stranger genre blends. But for this specific search, I want the plot to serve the romantic structure rather than bury it.
Usually, I enjoy a balance of plot-driving character and character-driving plot. Here, I want the world to act as a foil for the pairing: its laws, customs, dangers, ranks, taboos, wars, rituals, and expectations should sharpen the question at the center of the dynamic.
I want to explore the central theme of Romantic Men & Knightly Women, and the arena should provide more questions & filters to it.
Pairings - M (left) x F (right)
Captured Engineer x Rogue Hauler (Sci-Fi)
Hiding Outlaw x Town Teacher (Western)
Mage’s Apprentice x Local Witch (High Fantasy)
Speak Easy Bartender x Undercover Prohibition Agent (Period drama, 1930’s)
Hostage-Ward x Foreign King’s Advisor (Late Medieval- Eastern Europe)
Unwilling Revolutionary Icon x Republican Upstart (French Revolutionary Era, Europe / Latin America)