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how-to: character conversations

There is nothing more discouraging when your character is trying to converse, but the other character keeps shutting you down or alternately, does not reciprocate.  It can be disheartening, exhausting, and no fun.  Even more importantly, it’s bad RPing. 

Examples of shut downs:

the character keeps giving negative responses

the character belittles or dismisses the other character’s thoughts, suggestions, questions, then does not add anything

the character is too shy or afraid to speak or take any action; waits for the other character to take initiative

the character challenges the other character to impress them somehow, before they decide to engage

the character refuses to engage in any way: refuses to consider ideas, shows no interest, abruptly leaves

the character will answer questions but then will offer no follow-up

there is a lot of internal exposition, but then the character only responds with a word or two

If you realize your character consistently uses a few of these tactics, you may think: “but my character is grumpy/an asshole/anti-social/really shy/scared/bitchy/a loner/hates people/has issues!  It’s natural for them to act that way!“

This might be true, but the Mun/Player does not have to write that way.  There is a difference between the Mun’s character’s personality, and the Mun’s writing. RPing is interactive and it’s a two-way street.  As a Mun, it is your responsibility to figure out how to be engaging and encouraging to your partner, regardless of your character’s personality.

Below the cut are some suggested ways to improve RP interaction, and make things fun for both RP thread partners.

There are three sections:

Classic Improv

‘The Best’ vs ‘Show Your Work’

Are You Not Entertained?

Keep reading

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If your character has a trait you consider one of their key features and it is never challenged in anyway, that trait will probably have about as much impact as their “tiny mole on their left buttcheek” trait. 

For that trait NOT to fall totally flat, one or more of these things need to happen:

The trait exacerbates a situation in a bad way. (An extremely honest and trusting character reveals an important secret to the Big Bad’s lackey)

The character is given a choice to either act according to their traits or to subvert them. Often the subversion has the better outcome. They either maintain their trait and take a risk, or character development ensues. (A greedy character must escape. Leaving behind their riches goes against their very being, but it would allow them to escape easier. If they try to take some of their treasure with them, they do so at massive risk.)

 The character is put in an environment or must work with a person that opposes their trait. (An extremely tidy person must live in their slob cousin’s filthy apartment for a week. / The character has a debilitating fear of being alone and they are stranded on their own on an island.)

The character is put in a situation that requires them to suppress their trait (A hotheaded character needs to have polite discourse with someone they hate)

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Your Character’s Personality

Personality is the most important thing about your character.

So, whenever I see character sheets, most people just put a little paragraph for that section. If you’re struggling and don’t know what your character should say or do, what decisions they should make, I guarantee you that this is the problem.

You know your character’s name, age, race, sexuality, height, weight, eye color, hair color, their parents’ and siblings’ names. But these are not the things that truly matter about them.

Traits: 

pick traits that don’t necessarily go together. For example, someone who is controlling, aggressive and vain can also be generous, sensitive and soft-spoken. Characters need to have at least one flaw that really impacts how they interact with others. Positive traits can work as flaws, too. It is advised that you pick at least ten traits

people are complex, full of contradictions, and please forgive me if this makes anyone uncomfortable, but even bullies can be “nice” people. Anyone can be a “bad” person, even someone who is polite, kind, helpful or timid can also be narcissistic, annoying, inconsiderate and a liar. People are not just “evil” or “good”

Beliefs:

ideas or thoughts that your character has or thinks about the world, society, others or themselves, even without proof or evidence, or which may or may not be true. Beliefs can contradict their values, motives, self-image, etc. For example, the belief that they are an awesome and responsible person when their traits are lazy, irresponsible and shallow. Their self-image and any beliefs they have about themselves may or may not be similar/the same. They might have a poor self-image, but still believe they’re better than everybody else

Values:

what your character thinks is important. Usually influenced by beliefs, their self-image, their history, etc. Some values may contradict their beliefs, wants, traits, or even other values. For example, your character may value being respect, but one of their traits is disrespectful. It is advised you list at least two values, and know which one they value more. For example, your character values justice and family. Their sister tells them she just stole $200 from her teacher’s wallet. Do they tell on her, or do they let her keep the money: justice, or family? Either way, your character probably has some negative feelings, guilt, anger, etc., over betraying their other value

Motives:

what your character wants. It can be abstract or something tangible. For example, wanting to be adored or wanting that job to pay for their father’s medication. Motives can contradict their beliefs, traits, values, behavior, or even other motives. For example, your character may want to be a good person, but their traits are selfish, manipulative, and narcissistic. Motives can be long term or short term. Everyone has wants, whether they realize it or not. You can write “they don’t know what they want,” but you should know. It is advised that you list at least one abstract want

Recurring Feelings:

feelings that they have throughout most of their life. If you put them down as a trait, it is likely they are also recurring feelings. For example, depressed, lonely, happy, etc.

Self Image:

what the character thinks of themselves: their self-esteem. Some character are proud of themselves, others are ashamed of themselves, etc. They may think they are not good enough, or think they are the smartest person in the world. Their self-image can contradict their beliefs, traits, values, behavior, motives, etc. For example, if their self-image is poor, they can still be a cheerful or optimistic person. If they have a positive self-image, they can still be a depressed or negative person. How they picture themselves may or may not be true: maybe they think they’re a horrible person, when they are, in fact, very considerate, helpful, kind, generous, patient, etc. They still have flaws, but flaws don’t necessarily make you a terrible person

Behavior:

how the character’s traits, values, beliefs, self-image, etc., are outwardly displayed: how they act. For example, two characters may have the trait “angry” but they all probably express it differently. One character may be quiet and want to be left alone when they are angry, the other could become verbally aggressive. If your character is a liar, do they pause before lying, or do they suddenly speak very carefully when they normally don’t? Someone who is inconsiderate may have issues with boundaries or eat the last piece of pizza in the fridge when they knew it wasn’t theirs. Behavior is extremely important and it is advised you think long and hard about your character’s actions and what exactly it shows about them

Demeanor:

their general mood and disposition. Maybe they’re usually quiet, cheerful, moody, or irritable, etc.

Posture:

a secondary part of your character’s personality: not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Posture is how the character carries themselves. For example, perhaps they swing their arms and keep their shoulders back while they walk, which seems to be the posture of a confident person, so when they sit, their legs are probably open. Another character may slump and have their arms folded when they’re sitting, and when they’re walking, perhaps they drag their feet and look at the ground

Speech Pattern:

a secondary part of your character’s personality: not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Speech patterns can be words that your character uses frequently, if they speak clearly, what sort of grammar they use, if they have a wide vocabulary, a small vocabulary, if it’s sophisticated, crude, stammering, repeating themselves, etc. I personally don’t have a very wide vocabulary, if you could tell

Hobbies:

a secondary part of your character’s personality: not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Hobbies can include things like drawing, writing, playing an instrument, collecting rocks, collecting tea cups, etc.

Quirks:

a secondary part of your character’s personality, not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Quirks are behaviors that are unique to your character. For example, I personally always put my socks on inside out and check the ceiling for spiders a few times a day

Likes:

a secondary part of your character’s personality, not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Likes and dislikes are usually connected to the rest of their personality, but not necessarily. For example, if your character likes to do other people’s homework, maybe it’s because they want to be appreciated

Dislikes:

a secondary part of your character’s personality, not as important as everything else. It is advised you fill this out after. Likes and dislikes can also contradict the rest of their personality. For example, maybe one of your character’s traits is dishonest, but they dislike liars

History:

your character’s past that has key events that influence and shape their beliefs, values, behavior, wants, self-image, etc. Events written down should imply or explain why they are the way they are. For example, if your character is distrustful, maybe they were lied to a lot by their parents when they were a child. Maybe they were in a relationship for twenty years and found out their partner was cheating on them the whole time. If their motive/want is to have positive attention, maybe their parents just didn’t praise them enough and focused too much on the negative

On Mental and Physical Disabilities or Illnesses

if your character experienced a trauma, it needs to have an affect on your character. Maybe they became more angry or impatient or critical of others. Maybe their beliefs on people changed to become “even bullies can be ‘nice’ people: anyone can be a ‘bad’ person”

people are not their illness or disability: it should not be their defining trait. I have health anxiety, but I’m still idealistic, lazy, considerate, impatient and occasionally spiteful; I still want to become an author; I still believe that people are generally good; I still value doing what make me feel comfortable; I still have a positive self-image; I’m still a person. You should fill out your character’s personality at least half-way before you even touch on the possibility of your character having a disability or illness

Generally everything about your character should connect, but hey, even twins that grew up in the same exact household have different personalities; they value different things, have different beliefs. Maybe one of them watched a movie that had a huge impact on them.

Not everything needs to be explained. Someone can be picky or fussy ever since they were little for no reason at all. Someone can be a negative person even if they grew up in a happy home.

I believe this is a thought out layout for making well-rounded OCs, antagonists and protagonists, whether they’re being created for a roleplay or for a book. This layout is also helpful for studying Canon Characters if you’re looking to accurately roleplay as them or write them in fanfiction or whatever.

I’m really excited to post this, so hopefully I didn’t miss anything important…

If you have any questions, feel free to send a message.

- Chick

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skwalkerluke replied to your post:skwalkerluke replied to your post:@skwalkerluke...

honestly, i aspire to your level of dedication; yet here i am, a huge trashcan who still hasn’t even come up with his own character (not even kidding rn).

It’s okay. I’m an idea factory as far as characters are concerned. Just hit me up if you’re really stuck and I’ll throw at least three potential frameworks at you which I sadly never got around to using myself.

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It's Sexual Sunday so...

send my muse inappropriate questions

flirt with them anonymously or not

try to make them blush

kiss them at random

send me terrible pickup lines 

get my muse hot and bothered 

Pretty much this is your excuse to do what you want to my muse and see if you can get away with it. So go crazy! 

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Hanging Out TOKYO with BEAMS 【三辻茜】

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❤️

Mutuals send me a ❤️ & I'll compliment you. 

Oh my. Where do I even start with you?    All right, let me ramble. First off, I believe I’ve been quite vocal about my soft spot for Irina, so I’m just going to go ahead  and thank you for creating her. Your headcanons for her are always intriguing, and I love hearing what you’ve come up with for one of my favorite characters by far. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about your other characters because I’ve only really gotten a chance to peek into Irina’s headspace but it’s clear to me that you care about  all your characters.

Beyond that, you’ve been so, so helpful in providing useful advice whenever I ask for it as I awkwardly stumble my way through the RPC. Likewise, you’re automatically ten times cooler because we’re roughly in the same time zone and you’re actually -clenches fist- awake when I am.

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Mutuals send me a ❤️ & I'll compliment you.

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this is a blog that will not judge you based on your ability to be grammatically correct / fluent in the english language. meaning, if you’re having difficulty replying to a thread because of language barriers — i will be 100% empathetic. meaning, i won’t reblog posts critically bashing roleplayers based on their writing style, because i don’t know the struggles that each person goes through in regards to writing. meaning, i won’t nitpick little grammatical errors in your reply.

please don’t ever feel inferior because english is your second language or you have a disability that keeps you from formulating “the perfect sentence.” the fact that you’re trying is enough, and you don’t have to prove anything to anyone. 

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YOUR FANDOM LAY DOWN

answer the questions below and then tag some people.

tagged by: (indirectly) by @snarkomancy tagging: everyone who wants/ hasn’t done this yet

YOUR FANDOM: Witcher YOUR MUSE: Síle  de Tansarville  (or Sheala de Tancarville) and an OC who also has a witcher verse

OTHER MUSES YOU HAVE PLAYED FROM THE FANDOM: Technically, I haven’t had much of a chance to play Síle yet because I’ve mostly been busy reading the series and developing her on the side. However, I’m hoping to write with everyone in this lovely fandom soon because they’re all so very welcoming and talented from what I’ve seen!  They make even an awkward noodle like me feel at ease. MUSE(S) YOU’D WANT TO PLAY FROM THE FANDOM: Tamara Strenger, Dandelion, Dijsktra, Felicia Cori, Dudu, Eilhal

FAVORITE CHARACTER(S):  YENNEFER. PHILIPPA. SHANI. DANDELION. DIJSKTRA ( SUCH A BASTARD I WANTED TO PUNCH HIM SO OFTEN???) FAVORITE EPISODES/BOOKS/GAME: Time of Contempt.   FAVORITE PLOTLINE(S):  Tbh, pretty much every quest in the games. Loved it. As for the books, there’s not much to say yet because I’ve only started reading the books. LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER(S): Eredin. They all seemed rather flat as far as character development or depth went in the game, so all they did was give me a headache - especially since there was so much wasted potential in my humble opinion? SOMEONE YOU FEEL IS UNDERRATED: Margarita!

FAVORITE THEORY: That Radovid is the child from Falka’s curse rather than Ciri. Someone wrote a really detailed explanation of it it’s on my blog somewhere and it just makes perfect sense. (Didn’t even know about that theory but it does sound interesting.) LEAST FAVORITE THEORY:  Hmmmm... A STORYLINE YOU’D CREATE: Give me a whole series of books about the mages and their history please. A STORYLINE YOU’D CHANGE: Pretty much everything CDPR did to the Lodge.

WHAT CROSSOVER DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR FANDOM:  Dragon Age, Mass Effect WHAT CHARACTER FROM ANOTHER FANDOM WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE APPEAR IN YOUR FANDOM?:  Flemeth!

IN THE WORLD OF MY FANDOM, I’D BE:  No clue.