#OOC;;

[biff-adventurer]

roleplay tips: characterization

so it's come to my attention that there's a misunderstanding on what "characterization" actually is. we all know what the phrase implies: we make sure we know why characters do what they do, be it an immediate influence or one from the distant past, as well as the beliefs they hold and the personality traits they display.

however, i've seen people have trouble actually executing the character traits they want to the detriment of themselves and others. this post is meant to clarify the execution of characterization in the context of spontaneous roleplay.

i'll take biff as an example just so no one else feels self-conscious. so biff, poster boy wol, himbo, literal meme incarnate (born from the little comic that goes: i wonder what the wol is doing? while wol is bouncing on the egg mount in the background), hero of eorzea blah blah.

what did i want for this character?

thematic cores: love, adventure. what kind of love? love in all directions; what does it mean to love so fully and so easily? what does it mean to have unfettered compassion for the problems of others? life is an adventure, and i want to see the world. i am full of endless curiosity, i am excited to find all that life has to offer. wherever i go, i love and i learn. because i love you, i will do everything in my power to bring you ease and happiness. (i want to be loved. i want to be worthy. do i matter? i'm sorry. i'm trying my best.)

personality traits: passionate to the extreme, whether it be joy, sorrow, anger, fear, guilt, etc etc. not book smart, but heart smart (he has to be able to make friends somehow). self-effacing, to a fault. temper problems. an insecurity driven need to always be useful to the people he loves, or else he will be irrelevant and forgotten. a strong sense of justice. incredibly stubborn. untrusting toward those he loves, and too trusting of strangers. impressionable. very emotionally sensitive, and wears his heart on his sleeve. pretty standard hero character stuff, anyway.

how do i enact this in roleplay?

spontaneous roleplay often puts roleplayers in situations where they have to make quick decisions while they respond to the simuli around them. since we want to be expedient for the sake of others, it can be hard to see what shape your choices take in the long run.

to deal with this, i look at my character's internal emotional reaction first. then, i go on to consider what possible dialogue choices i have to work with, and what trait each would show about my character. since the telltale games were very popular when i was a younger rper, i tend to map out my characters' responses as though they are part of a telltale storyline.

Biff's Husband: “You have such a soft, tender heart. I love every inch of you.”

the options i can consider here:

"Even the dangly bits?" eyebrow waggle (flirty)

"Yer always so kind to me, husband." (low self-esteem)

"I can't help it. I know how it feels to be a stray." (empathetic)

"And your wisdom protects it valiantly." (grateful)

"I wish I could see it the way you do." (frustrated)

the action or dialogue i choose depends on how i want the RP to go, or what tone we established earlier, or what kind of plots we've agreed to cover. from the above, i chose option 3 because it extends to a greater conversation about feelings and motivations. it lets in the other character while also giving biff a chance to talk about himself in a way that invites someone else to share something vulnerable.

obviously, it demonstrates empathy. the other choices would have lead me down other roads. i usually have a flowchart in my head for how i think this will all play out.

flirty > his husband likely feels dismissed > husband frowns and elbows biff (or worse) > biff is embarrassed for trying to flirt so either he laughs it off or very sadly apologizes > if he laughs, it makes his husband feel dismissed again > suddenly our characters are in a conflict and we're tasked with ushering them out of it, which is a pain > can point toward an unwillingness to open up

low self-esteem > husband feels compelled to comfort him > biff grows upset that he's made it about himself > onus on husband to dispel the situation or let biff sulk by himself > uncomfortable for ooc and ic, and demonstrates a self-absorption trait we don't want (unless this story was originally sought out)

empathetic > husband feels invited into the conversation and shares how he feels like a stray > biff asks him to say more about that > suddenly they're having a deep conversation about their pasts > possible character development or bond deepening

grateful > husband feels appreciated and vows to continue protecting his husband > biff holds him tight > romantic sweet nothings ensue in perpetuity > fluff roleplay activate!

frustrated > husband concerned about biff's temper > biff continues to grow frustrated at his own inadequacies > roleplay turns serious in tone > suddenly i have to find a way to diffuse biff's temper or burden my rp partner with the task > can imply instability of character, which can be dangerous for character and relationship

i apologize if this all sounds very "duh, gwenny, i'm not STOOPID", but i think it's important to make explicit what often goes unsaid, for the benefit of those who can't articulate exactly what they're looking to do. i could give another example involving more conflict, but i think that might be overkill.

all the little choices in dialogue are the actions you're taking in character. not just the literal actions of whether or not you're fighting. what your character says reflects what they believe. if you want them to show up as an empathetic person, you've gotta actively choose empathy or make it obvious to others the way your character speaks that they're coming from a place of empathy. it all adds up to a bigger picture, and suddenly you've realized that you're getting the ending that you wanted, because you worked hard to get there.

obviously, you can't always know how others will receive your character. my character would be a lot louder, cartoonish and unhinged in a closed story than he typically is in roleplay venues. that's because venues are active scenes where we're dealing with other parties who want to have a good time! we don't wanna put a damper on their day unless they're expecting meatball-spicy drama. we often have to give a lot more space for others to be included than we normally would in a fic, where we establish everything on our own.

BUT, having several different choices prepares you for any future misunderstandings. you can tell them your character's motive during that period, but when you are ultimately asked to do something different because of some mistake, you have other choices and a clearer picture of how to have your character create and progress relationships in a story. and you show you are willing to work on both your character and yourself, as well as offer compromises via these other paths, in order to tailor the bond between two characters in a way both parties can agree on.

and it becomes a lot easier to own up to mistakes when you look at your character as both a person that is not you and a literary device meant to convey certain ideas. it's not a personal attack on what you believe, but rather a comment on how people feel from what you've written. that is very useful feedback, for both fics and roleplay writing.

trust me, this comes from years of making incredibly embarrassing mistakes and having to write them into character development unwittingly, because i was an idiot. so unto you i bestow these tools to avoid the shame i suffered......

[laxusthelightning]

(so... ihad to sketch the reunin in my head. and... ya. typical... right? 8))

[herleaf]

LIKE THIS FOR A STARTER (lengths will vary. multi’s please specify a muse)

[notimminent]

Starter Call, anyone?

[peppy-jester]

Last minute re-design for Fizz's Masquerade Ball outfit. Ditched the jester theme //

[divergxxxnce]

for. near future reference

is tumblr gonna get pissy if i decide to post alex boobs on here

[heliacalxrising]

Hi everyone!

I am...so sorry that I've gone radio silent on this blog. It wasn't my intention, I just had a huge drop in my mental health and I just did not have the spoons to deal with anything but some reblogs on my multi and doom scrolling on tiktok.

Anyway, some news! I have been working on clawing myself out of the hole, and then my chronic pain flared up bad in my leg, and the doctors finally discovered -- drumroll please -- I have a tumor! It's just doin' it's thing under my kneecap, growing...causing pain...shifting ligaments... Ya know. It's most likely benign, but there's a small chance it's not, and so I'm scheduled for surgery in literally a month.

I'm going to try and slowly get back on here, if anyone misses me! Because I really miss you guys! The stuff in my drafts is put on hold until I can reclaim muse for them. In the meantime, I'm always lurking on my multi, so you'll know where to find me!

[beyondthebcundary]

A Teeps secret:

I mostly follow people if I don't know them too well if I see their writing and like. There are a few exceptions here and there but it's the same metric for everyone. If I like your writing I drop a follow so I can see more of it (and so i can have stuff to read on my breaks)

Even if I never send you anything (I'm an awkward person) and If I don't like too many of your posts (I don't want to be annoying) doesn't mean anything.

I'm literally just here to vibe nowadays with only recently trying to balance rping and work since I miss writing as these stupid little freaks I love. I just don't wanna end up stepping on toes again cause I'm still kind of bad at reading situations and stuff, but I think I've been getting better at it

And if I every do something that irks you I'd rather it be brought up sooner rather than later so I can, you know, stop doing that. I'm stupid about subtly, this isn't a self dig I'm being 100% serious I will not get it unless its said straight outright.

[dis--parity]

Hey all, right now I'm kind of in a state where I'm taking stock of who I am as a person and how I can be a better friend to everyone who's showed me kindness, and I'm working through it by writing a little more and trying to gently remind myself that people appreciate the stuff I put out. I won't go into detail about what triggered it but it was... sobering. So that's why I'm here a bit more recently.

But while I am, I wanted to share some good news, too!

Today, I got my first consultation for bottom surgery! I'm looking at my first face-to-face assessment sometime in late January / early February, and I couldn't possibly be more excited!

On top of that, I've finally kicked my own ass to get my legal name changed everywhere, including my passport, meaning that with a bit of luck, I'll be able to visit my boyfriend under my own name! The process is... a lot easier than I thought it would be, and I'm trying not to kick myself for not doing it sooner, but it doesn't matter!

This has been your dose of trans joy for today, happy holidays y'all!

[unhinged-greed]

This bitch right here

Is ready for being assassinated //

[fatestouch]

(clears throat) so i have not been around at ALL and im sorry for that—over the weekend i was miserable with an out of nowhere cough, and the literally as i was recovering from THAT, suddenly i have a stye on my left eye, with swelling and such! so my week is going great

[biff-adventurer]

y'all... y'all... i promise, grammar rules aren't there to hurt you... please start a new paragraph for every new speaker... it's not that i don't wanna understand... it's that i literally can't brain b/c i don't share the same brain with you... please i beg you

[puzzledmemories]

((ended up doing blog maintenance earlier than planned. i will get on responding to dms! i've just been, uh, doing some thinking.))

((i've decided to add yuma and nasch on as permanent muses! they have been taken off the test muse page and are in the process of being moved to the permanent muse page; their descriptions are a WIP right now.))

((after a lot of thought, i decided to make judai a test muse! my muse for him is usually strong enough, so he is open for interaction and asks. i know it's been a few weeks since my queue threw any rp memes on my blog... so, uh, feel free to dig through some older ones, or just ask him questions! responses may take a bit as i'm catching up, but i am accepting asks for him.))

((it's so ingrained in me that my face claim has to be a character i'm not rping though. so it took me a bit, but i sat down and made all new icons for the new faceclaim. i had a couple of choices i was between, but a random choice generator locked me into, of course, the option that required me to make the new icons.))

((and of course it picked one of the characters i'm most obsessed with right now. considering sevens and go rush have a smaller fanbase, i don't expect anyone would want to rp with him, which is why he's a faceclaim and not a test muse, so...))

((it's very late, so i intend to fall asleep very shortly. but i'm excited to bring yuga ohdo onto this blog even in just this small way.))

((I'M GONNA TRY TO RESPOND TO DMS TOMORROW I PROMISE. i got very fixated on making new faceclaim icons and coming up with new tags for nasch and yuma. thanks everyone for being patient!))

[melancholicblossom]

{ winds my writing arm back }

[cheekylilfiend]

Why did no one TELL SHOVEL SHE WAS POSTING ON THE WRONG BLOG