In all my years, I can only recall three players who managed to pull off playing kids without triggering my squick reaction and my want of bludgeoning. Two roleplayed theirs in a LARP, and each lady had a thought-out and fantastic character. The other played his in City of Heroes, and his morals are without question (hi Shane!).
Everyone else needs to get the fuck off the bus.
The instances where it's okay to roleplay a minor are very few and far between. If the game itself is set in a genre only for characters of a certain age (Pokemon trainers, for example), or in a school setting (Hogwarts, Bayville High School) it's all right. If all the other PCs are minors, fine. If the player his- or herself is underaged, and APPROPRIATELY MONITORED, then that's fine as well.
But the minute you start sauntering your 14 year old into a club unchaperoned, you need a swift kick in the ass.
How many of you in your online MMO wanderings have come across some minor with the obnoxious attitude of a "Jersey Shore" cast member? Or an overly-sexualized little girl pulling her Lolita act in a club? I don't give a flying fuck if it's "just roleplay" or "not real". YOU SHOULD NEVER SEXUALIZE A MINOR. NEVER. EVER. There is NO justification for it. Don't fucking waste my time trying to justify why you have a little girl in fucking ass-floss sucking a lollipop. I don't give a fuck. I know exactly what you're doing, you appalling pervert.
There was a person who had an underaged character with the ability to absorb energy through her skin - or so his reasoning went, as to why this little girl NEEDED to be like 90% naked. Because, you know, more surface area for her to absorb energy, right? The guild I was a part of to witness this application shot the character down; thankfully, enough people were made uncomfortable when we saw this and voted no. It was readily apparent after several other applications, this (GROWN FUCKING) "man" had a penchant for underaged girl super heroes.
This is the only appropriate costuming for a minor girl in comicdom.
The anonymity of the internet is a double-edged sword. It always seems to bring out the absolute worst in people, and in this instance, it brings all the pedophiles to the yard. Or the sickos who want to be a little kid and get fucked. I don't care if it's your sexual fetish and the roleplay isn't real and you would never, ever do that to a real child. The slope is slippery and no amount of apologizing will ever fix what harm you do to a child.
It is also not an excuse for you to roll up an obnoxious character to try and get away with that sort of behavior. One character that immediately pops into my head was one I saw in City of Heroes. An 8 year old boy who lost his parents, and SOMEHOW had the capacity to procure high-power firearms AND have the alcohol tolerance of a grown man. He tended to ignore any repercussions from people reacting appropriately to a misbehaving, swearing child in public. It is an 8 year old. While I'm sure some parents have taken their little one to the firing range, that does not mean they are Wyatt fucking Earp.
I know in this day and age, people are more reluctant to step in when they see a child being rude in public, because the parent in question sitting there placidly doesn't want to "irreparably emotionally scar" their spawn of Satan. It's not worth the aftermath of doing someone's job for them. But in a roleplaying environment, when the player is definitely known to be above the age of 18 (generally in their 20s), they should KNOW better. Don't cloak it in excuses, you just want to be a twatbasket and get away with it. Fuck you.
Child characters need to be handled by respectful, mature creators, if they are necessary at all. They are not toys to be played with. They are not your vicarious youth reborn. They are NOT your "SAFE SEXUAL FANTASIES", because minors should NEVER be thought of that way. Have I repeated that often enough in this post? If you honestly think that it's all right to view children as sex objects, go see a fucking shrink at your earliest convenience. You need serious help.
I don't want your reasons. I don't care that "roleplay shouldn't be dictated" and I can't tell people who and what they can and cannot roleplay. I will report every single underaged character I see not actually behaving age-appropriate. I will utterly dismiss you as a player if your character is a minor girl jetting for her sugar daddy, or going out of your way to set someone up in disgusting ERP to fuck their reputation. Sure, that player was known to have a thing for Lolis, but lowering yourself to the level of deliberately goading him makes you just as reprehensible as him.
You people disgust me. Go fuck yourselves and stay the fuck out of my games. There is NO place for you there.
