If a love interest has the same name as someone you know in real life whom you’re absolutely not attracted to, does it influence your choices on making said LI and MC romantically closer?
I remember reading an Episode story with an LI who had the same name as my dad. And he kinda looked like him too! Needless to say, I refused to make my MC romance that character and it was always pretty awkward when the LI would flirt with the MC. It was too weird, so I ditched the story almost immediately.
I don’t really think of the main character as being me, but I can see why one would if there was full customization including the name.
I believe that giving the love interest an uncommon name would only make things weirder if somebody happens to know someone with that name.
I know a lot of Daves. If a character is named Dave, I would think nothing of it, but if a character is named something uncommon, I would immediately think of the person I know with that name.
I usually leave the characters default or only change the hair when customization is available.
I would say that if the main character is labeled ‘YOU’ and there is full customization, allow readers to pick their own names (perhaps suggesting a default for those who don’t want to bother).
If a character is limited or not customizable, and it is clear that it is not supposed to be a stand-in for the reader, you should just pick the name yourself and stick with it.
Yes of course, it wouldn’t be an issue at all if the character was simply a character that is detached from the reader. But since this is Episode and we sometimes get to customize the MC from the look, the name, the clothes, and the… personality, I guess(?)… it always feels weird to me when there’s an LI who has the same name as someone I know in real life.
Thank you, I hadn’t really thought about the problem you brought up concerning the “give them a rare name” option. That’s what I chose to do for my characters in the fantasy story I’m writing, but I might let the reader change the name if they don’t like the original one or encounter the same issue I did.
Maybe that’s another solution: Introduce the name you thought of for that character then give the option to the reader to change it… instead of giving them that choice right away?
I personally never name my MC according to my real name, but I do make her look somewhat similar to me.
@Melc144 I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only one who’s come across that predicament
@amberose Thank you for at least validating my feeling of awkwardness But otherwise, do you really not care about names? So if an LI had the same name as someone you knew apart from your family, you’d still feel comfortable with the MC romancing them? (:
The way I see it, in real life you would still date someone despite their name. My boyfriend irl has the same name (first and last name) as the guy who is dating my ex-best-friend-turned-biggest-enemy. I found that pretty awkward at first but it is what it is.
Wow! That’s some weird coincidence life’s thrown your way! It’s true that sometimes we just have to deal with it just like in real life. But I’m not reading a story that features an LI who has the same name as a family member, that’s for sure!
If I’m playing as myself (name customization and + appearance customization) I love customizing LI! Especially when we start dating. It feels like it’s real
I feel if you are going to have CC for the MC, then you should be able to pick the LI’s name, so that is not an issue. It would not be an issue if it was a character that was not customizable and was a clearly defined character by the author.
It depends… if he had the same name as someone I don’t like, then probably so… as he would remind me of that person. Especially as if he was a customizable love interest.
Another thing that I don’t like is when there’s a very despicable character that shares the same name as a family member or a person that’s very close to me… it’s like, ‘That person doesn’t deserve to have such a nice name!’
Oh, I didn’t think about that, thank you for bringing it up! Especially the despicable characters sharing the same name with someone you love in real life… I never came across that, but I know I really wouldn’t be able to read that story for long. So do you think people should get to choose the antagonist’s name too?
Needless to say, I refused to make my MC romance that character and it was always pretty awkward when the LI would flirt with the MC. It was too weird, so I ditched the story almost immediately.
