Yada yada yada, me overexplaining it ;) lol
Someone's comment on another post on here made me think of this idea for a topic. I am aiming for tips and tricks (if you want to share your precious tricks...you may not, and that's okay too
) that help inspire or suggest the reaction you are looking for the other roleplayer to give you (if they so choose). So...instead of plodding along hoping romance develops, for example, you can throw in a few things that make it more likely (such as a cold burst of wind which makes you offer the girl your coat, for example...). Maybe this comes easy to some people, but it doesn't come easy to everyone I think, especially if you're new (like me...ish. It's been 5 or 6 months since I discovered and fell in love with roleplaying). The only problem with this is no one wants their writing to become stereotypical and forumlaic, so watch out for that!
Now, I realize how the idea of this may sound kind of manipulative. LOL. But it doesn't have to be. I've seen experienced roleplayers use tricks that will sort of...let the other party know what they're after, and sort of...set the story up so that the other player's character is in a position to act on that knowlege of what you've just communicated that you want.
One example I've seen that I thought was very clever once was something like, "she wrapped her arms around her body to give herself comfort, because there was no other way for her to get it." I thought that line was genius, because it's basically the other roleplayer suggesting that your character give their character physical comfort without every having to do something heavy-handed, like say "she thought, I wish he would put his arms around me," or write "she leaned against him and put her arms around him." It's all just suggestion, it's "show me don't tell me" and all that. So I jotted that down, thinking, I'm going to use that. lol.
Someone's comment on another post on here made me think of this idea for a topic. I am aiming for tips and tricks (if you want to share your precious tricks...you may not, and that's okay too
) that help inspire or suggest the reaction you are looking for the other roleplayer to give you (if they so choose). So...instead of plodding along hoping romance develops, for example, you can throw in a few things that make it more likely (such as a cold burst of wind which makes you offer the girl your coat, for example...). Maybe this comes easy to some people, but it doesn't come easy to everyone I think, especially if you're new (like me...ish. It's been 5 or 6 months since I discovered and fell in love with roleplaying). The only problem with this is no one wants their writing to become stereotypical and forumlaic, so watch out for that!Now, I realize how the idea of this may sound kind of manipulative. LOL. But it doesn't have to be. I've seen experienced roleplayers use tricks that will sort of...let the other party know what they're after, and sort of...set the story up so that the other player's character is in a position to act on that knowlege of what you've just communicated that you want.
One example I've seen that I thought was very clever once was something like, "she wrapped her arms around her body to give herself comfort, because there was no other way for her to get it." I thought that line was genius, because it's basically the other roleplayer suggesting that your character give their character physical comfort without every having to do something heavy-handed, like say "she thought, I wish he would put his arms around me," or write "she leaned against him and put her arms around him." It's all just suggestion, it's "show me don't tell me" and all that. So I jotted that down, thinking, I'm going to use that. lol.
I'll share a few tips and tricks I've seen, and if you want to, you can share any that you have found to be particularly successful in getting your story to the destination you crave:
Tip number one: (To suggest physical comfort happen) Your character tries to self-sooth in some way, in the presence of another character. Wrapping arms around themselves, rocking, wrapping themselves up in a blanket, wringing hangs, etc.
Tip number two: (To suggest physical romantic intimacy happen) Your character undresses without bothering to leave the room in front of another character.
Tip number three: (To suggest the other character answer a question instead of your character) Your character starts eating and shrugs pointing to their mouth, showing they can't talk because their mouth is full.
Tip number four: (To suggest the other character throw the first punch) Invade their personal space and imply that they're scared to take you on.
Tip number five: (To get anyone to do anything) Tell them that you know they aren't going to do thing X which would benefit you, because [insert reasons], and that you don't blame them for not doing it (hashtag reversepsychology this sometimes kinda works in real life too. Truly understand people and they'll do anything for you. I know will!)
Tip numer six: (To get someone to tell you you're awesome) Tell them that they're more awesome that you are. They will shower you with adoring compliments! *sideeyes Skrifa
*Tip number seven: (To suggest the other character make you food) Show the outward sides of hunger. Stomach growling, looking at food, mouth watering, looking/feeling fatigued while talking about food.
***Also note, of course you may not get the reaction you want.. and that's okay! These are just ideas for possible ways to communicate what you want in the "show me, don't tell me" ways of good writing, not a tool for manipulation or anything like that. Communication and honesty is key! These are basically plot development devices. If you know some, I'd love more! ****
Honestly, I think OOC communication can also go a long way in situations like these.
Personally, I find some the examples above rather obvious and as a result would likely deliberately start messing a little bit with someone who tried to steer my response like that.
I find that the charm of RP is that you don't always get the reaction you might expect. When your character undresses around the other character, the other might not be impressed at all, and the resulting awkwardness would be quite funny.
Same with the punch one; a violent character might take that as a slight, whereas a pacifistic one might still turn the other cheek, putting the ball back in your own character's court.
And to me that is what makes it fun. It's unpredictable.
Though if you do really want a certain interaction to happen, sometimes discussing it might seem less organic, but can also safe you a lot of frustration if someone does not seem to be picking up on your hints. You're probably never going to be able to iron out everyone's expectations beforehand; sometimes you don't even quite know yourself what you're looking for in a particular story, and that's more than fine, but also a good reason to just be open with your RP partner if there's a certain dynamic you really want to develop between the characters.
Personally, I find some the examples above rather obvious and as a result would likely deliberately start messing a little bit with someone who tried to steer my response like that.
I find that the charm of RP is that you don't always get the reaction you might expect. When your character undresses around the other character, the other might not be impressed at all, and the resulting awkwardness would be quite funny.
Same with the punch one; a violent character might take that as a slight, whereas a pacifistic one might still turn the other cheek, putting the ball back in your own character's court.
And to me that is what makes it fun. It's unpredictable.
Though if you do really want a certain interaction to happen, sometimes discussing it might seem less organic, but can also safe you a lot of frustration if someone does not seem to be picking up on your hints. You're probably never going to be able to iron out everyone's expectations beforehand; sometimes you don't even quite know yourself what you're looking for in a particular story, and that's more than fine, but also a good reason to just be open with your RP partner if there's a certain dynamic you really want to develop between the characters.
All of this seems like fairly usual to me except the one about saying "I know you're not going to do this" if someone sent that to me I'd be a little frustrated, like they're making assumptions and what not.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
damnationfromafar wrote:
All of this seems like fairly usual to me except the one about saying "I know you're not going to do this" if someone sent that to me I'd be a little frustrated, like they're making assumptions and what not.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
I agree with everything you just said. And you're right, people already do this, all the time, but I don't think everyone knows how to. Like, for me, I don't do these things in real life (such as being flirty), cause I'm bad at it IRL, so to see how it's shown in role-play helps because otherwise my character would just stuck doing something more heavy handed like asking for a hug or a kiss, which kills the mood. These tricks may not seem like tricks at all to experienced roleplayers, but for me, they're gold. Lol.
And here I thought the best way to get a "reactions" was to show cute photos of nekos/catgirls
Abigail_Austin wrote:
damnationfromafar wrote:
All of this seems like fairly usual to me except the one about saying "I know you're not going to do this" if someone sent that to me I'd be a little frustrated, like they're making assumptions and what not.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
I agree with everything you just said. And you're right, people already do this, all the time, but I don't think everyone knows how to. Like, for me, I don't do these things in real life (such as being flirty), cause I'm bad at it IRL, so to see how it's shown in role-play helps because otherwise my character would just stuck doing something more heavy handed like asking for a hug or a kiss, which kills the mood. These tricks may not seem like tricks at all to experienced roleplayers, but for me, they're gold. Lol.
Yeah I do get that in a sense. I'm super Ace so I don't rarely flirt or anything.
I actually personally think this is more so advice on how to develop and better ones writing.
Good writing is essentially the key to getting any reaction. Books that make you cry are essentially manipulating your emotions right? Haha. But yeah, I think they are good tips in general for writing.
damnationfromafar wrote:
Abigail_Austin wrote:
damnationfromafar wrote:
All of this seems like fairly usual to me except the one about saying "I know you're not going to do this" if someone sent that to me I'd be a little frustrated, like they're making assumptions and what not.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
As for everything else, it seems like the fairly usual way to get into a specific scene. It's just the characters desires, or wants, represented by their body language. Basically everything you mentioned is showing not telling, or implying through dialogue. Which is what most people do in the first place haha.
I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that even if your character undresses in front of someone, that character might still not want to be romantic or intimate, so it will either get you a flirty scene, or the other character being uncomfortable. If your character accuses another character of being scared of facing them, it'll either get them throwing a punch, walking away, breaking down and crying, or accusing your character of being the one who is too afraid to step up with anything but their words.
So, even if you hint at something that you want to happen, if that character doesn't want it to, or they simply have a different response, you're not going to get that thing you want.
If this keeps happening over and over and you're getting impatient waiting for something to happen, talk to the person you're rping with and they will likely say they either were uncertain if it was too soon for something to happen, or they will let you know that it just wouldn't match their characters personality for them to do that thing yet, or at all.
Often times I can see that a character is repeatidly doing something in an attempt to get a specific reaction, but it is simply not the reaction that my character gives, and I am not going to force them into reacting in a way that they simply won't. I'll usually have expostion in ym posts like,
"Five times. He had -insert action- fives times, and she was not blind to this. She knew exactly why he was -insert action-, and each time it made her feel - insert feeling - but, for some reason she refused to -insert action-. She knew why, she just didn't want to admit it to herself. Not out loud anyway..."
That way the other person knows I'm not ignoring their hints.
I agree with everything you just said. And you're right, people already do this, all the time, but I don't think everyone knows how to. Like, for me, I don't do these things in real life (such as being flirty), cause I'm bad at it IRL, so to see how it's shown in role-play helps because otherwise my character would just stuck doing something more heavy handed like asking for a hug or a kiss, which kills the mood. These tricks may not seem like tricks at all to experienced roleplayers, but for me, they're gold. Lol.
Yeah I do get that in a sense. I'm super Ace so I don't rarely flirt or anything.
I actually personally think this is more so advice on how to develop and better ones writing.
Good writing is essentially the key to getting any reaction. Books that make you cry are essentially manipulating your emotions right? Haha. But yeah, I think they are good tips in general for writing.Oh ok, I see. Well thank you for the compliment!
Suwako423 wrote:
And here I thought the best way to get a "reactions" was to show cute photos of nekos/catgirls
I'm sure that works too!
Sprokkelhout wrote:
Honestly, I think OOC communication can also go a long way in situations like these.
Personally, I find some the examples above rather obvious and as a result would likely deliberately start messing a little bit with someone who tried to steer my response like that.
I find that the charm of RP is that you don't always get the reaction you might expect. When your character undresses around the other character, the other might not be impressed at all, and the resulting awkwardness would be quite funny.
Same with the punch one; a violent character might take that as a slight, whereas a pacifistic one might still turn the other cheek, putting the ball back in your own character's court.
And to me that is what makes it fun. It's unpredictable.
Though if you do really want a certain interaction to happen, sometimes discussing it might seem less organic, but can also safe you a lot of frustration if someone does not seem to be picking up on your hints. You're probably never going to be able to iron out everyone's expectations beforehand; sometimes you don't even quite know yourself what you're looking for in a particular story, and that's more than fine, but also a good reason to just be open with your RP partner if there's a certain dynamic you really want to develop between the characters.
Personally, I find some the examples above rather obvious and as a result would likely deliberately start messing a little bit with someone who tried to steer my response like that.
I find that the charm of RP is that you don't always get the reaction you might expect. When your character undresses around the other character, the other might not be impressed at all, and the resulting awkwardness would be quite funny.
Same with the punch one; a violent character might take that as a slight, whereas a pacifistic one might still turn the other cheek, putting the ball back in your own character's court.
And to me that is what makes it fun. It's unpredictable.
Though if you do really want a certain interaction to happen, sometimes discussing it might seem less organic, but can also safe you a lot of frustration if someone does not seem to be picking up on your hints. You're probably never going to be able to iron out everyone's expectations beforehand; sometimes you don't even quite know yourself what you're looking for in a particular story, and that's more than fine, but also a good reason to just be open with your RP partner if there's a certain dynamic you really want to develop between the characters.
I agree with all of that. But what I mean is...I don't mean for these to be thought of as "ways to manipulate your role-playing partner," because that is a waste of time and no fun at all, for either party, and I wouldn't support that.
What I'm mean for these to be thought of as is "ways to communicate what you want.". I'm talking about situations where you have already communicated OOC with your partner, and you both have agreed that this is going to be a romance RP, or that there is going to be a confrontation, or whatever....but someone might not know how to get it there in the story. So yes, I guess these are writing ideas. And those they may seem obvious to many, to me, they're not, because I'm new to role-playing so each of the ways I see used seem like strokes of genuis to me. Could be that I'm just inexperienced! Or socially awkward. Lol. Definitely! So having "formulas" like this seems kind of cool to me...but never to be used to replace OOC communication or manipulate. Does that make sense? Oh and yes I agree, wholeheartedly, that no one should even expect they will always get what they want and it would be no fun if everyone always got what they wanted, because there would be no challenge, no creativity.
So that is a good reminder, and I agree with what you said, actually. Lmao at the undressing thing.... that's true! I guess I picture a romantic setting, and both players want to initiate it, but a plot device is needed to get things started or provoke things in a subtle way is what I see that trick as being for....lol not for doing that out of the blue in say a science fiction roleplay or something and expecting romance to ensue. Haha that was a good example you gave. But no ... in fact maybe "tricks" is the wrong word, because it implies deception. What I'm talking about is just indirect communication and good writing.
Thank you for your comment, it adds a lot of value to this thread!
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