DE: I'll be in my trailer!

[bjornwilde]

From bornuntotrouble :

Is there anything special you to get in-character before you play? For example: if you listen to music to channel the voice, do you have a specific playlist, artist, or genre you favor over other?

Comments

[ceitfianna]

I don't really have anything for my characters though I'll have the opposite. There are some pieces of music that I connect a lot to characters or times when I was threading and that makes them louder.

When I first started playing in Milliways, I didn't have a lot of music on my computer, so I listened to it all a number of times. Now whenever I hear The Flash Girls especially, I immediately think of threading out Will and Kara (Supergirl) in Wellington. So even though I actually love their music, I've only started listening to it again as its so connected to that time and place for me.

[saphyria]

For Sunshine, I often make tea and then peruse some baking sites for tips and tricks a professional baker might know. Or look up some vegetarian recipes I could have her know.

For Yrael, I often make tea and some sushi. I've gotten pretty good at it, too, though I've only once so far been brave enough to use any other meat than cooked shrimp, crab or smoked salmon. I'm from a landlocked state - I'm automatically suspicious of raw fish at the grocery store (and there isn't really a good fish market here). I sometimes also listen to string remixes of rock music and rock remixes of classical music. :3

For Zelgadiss, I often make tea and re-watch parts of particular episodes of his canon. Usually the parts where he's brooding. ^_^

If you haven't noticed, I often make tea. >_>

[mnr_splinter]

I find it's infinitely easier to play both Splinter and Mike if I've had some kind of candy.

For some reason my best Raph plotting happens when I'm driving. There's just something about being in a car that puts me in a Raph frame of mind.

Brotherly interaction comes to be best while I'm jogging.

I...it makes no sense.

[gavin62truck]

If I'm taking a break or just feeling burned out on the headvoices, I just watch an episode or two of "Rescue Me" (it's pretty much in constant rotation in my DVD player). Other times I just watch this S5 promo a couple times to fire up the swagga, and then I'm good to go.

[bjornwilde]

Music seems to be my best key to unlocking pups, though I can have trouble finding the right genre. I tend to need to be in a good mood and my tastes can be fickle. I also feel I need to know I can sit and thread uninterrupted and if I can't feel that I have trouble unlocking.

That said, Big Band & Swing, Surf guitar and AltRock all seem to awaken Ben. Jessica loves funk metal, funk ska and Trip Hop. Also, for myself, This Mortal Coil always seems to awaken my muse. And for some reason P!nk always makes me think of Andrea Nash (to bring alternative pups into this) and Dr. Strange just needs a Tumblr search for visuals.

Palamedes also seems to appreciate when I do research for him.

Canon rereads/watches are also good for tapping the muse.

[visible_sariel]

Generally, if I'm brewing or drinking lavender tea, I'm playing Sariel. Who's surprised? I've also been known to listen to Helen FM in Castries to get in to a certain headspace for her, especially if she's going to be speaking Kweyol.

On the completely opposite end of things, if I've had a drink of the alcoholic variety, chances are I won't be playing Sariel that evening. A Chanter with boozey woozey in her system (thanks Lilly) is not conducive to writing in Sariel's voice.

[boston_bruiser]

For Voodoo, I listen to a lot of rap. A lot. Particularly Nas ("Hate Me Now" is a great track for the voice), Immortal Technique, and Jay-Z. I used to listen to a lot of Vinnie Paz for him, too, but I think his lyrics suck ass now. His voice is great, his flow's great, and the beats are killer more often than not, but his lyrics are basically paranoid hate speech that he thinks can pass for "raw".

I also work out for the voice - mostly bodyweight circuits. 8-count bodybuilders are particularly effective.

For John, I listen to Johnny Cash, particularly his American albums.

For Mako, I just rewatch The Legend of Korra, particularly the early episodes.

[genarti]

Not really! Honestly, pretty much logging in as the character is my getting-into-character process. If there's a real whiplash of tone or IC energy levels, I'll take an extra moment or two to switch gears. Sometimes I'll go get a cup of tea when I settle down to start, as a mental NOW WE ARE FOCUSING ON THIS signal. (I drink tea a lot, not just for RP, but when I'm RPing I frequently start off with a cup of tea or hot water to hand.)

If I have a new voice, or one I haven't played in a long while, or a mood I haven't written the character in before, I might review a bit of canon or read over some of my canon notes.

[saphyria]

I'm the same way about tea. Tea is my go-to drink anyway, but I often can't settle into a headvoice without a fresh cup on-hand to help me focus.

[newredshoes]

Heh. I quote lines from the canon to myself and giggle. Whisper-shouting "AND IF THE DEVIL COME AND ROAR FOR THEM, I WILL NOT SEND THEM!" gets me there pretty quickly.

[jothra]

Mostly just signing in is enough! Like Gen said, signaling to myself that it is time for this. I do have playlists for all of my characters, though. If I'm not feeling it, that helps.

Playing Deadpool, on the other hand, requires sugar and blaring Ke$ha.

[nocarename]

There's a lot of audio/music when I need an extra push.

Ako gets J-Pop and anime theme songs.
Robo gets podcasts on strange non-fiction or pulp radio drama.
Artemis gets, and she'd hurt me for this if she could, top 40 pop songs.
Tyler tends to pick up classic rock or electronic/dance music.
Janet doesn't really have a sound track, I think. I skip ahead through the foreign language tracks that random kicks up more when I'm treading her though.

[aberration]

For everyone not Elle, I'll sometimes put on some canon to get me in the mood.

For Elle, I pretend harder than usual that her canon doesn't exist. \o/

[nocarename]

I once had a LARP character heavily inspired by Gomez Adams.

I didn't even attempt him without first consuming a pixie stick the length of my arm and as big around as my thumb.

[genarti]

I did use to have a big cup of strong tea and something extremely sugary before playing Honey, back when I did.

Pretty sure that was mostly the placebo effect, and I probably wouldn't have needed it if I'd stuck with playing him long-term, but it seemed a very appropriate ritual to have anyway.

[varadia]

I pretty much sit down and log in. I have trouble playing by e-mail for later posting because of this, by and large.

If I can't just sit and log in to play the character, they usually don't last.

I do have playlists, however, for most of my regulars. Or the ones about whom I have feelings. Or significant relationships. The TARDISfamily has a playlist, for instance.

[silveraspen]

This, basically. :)

[inlovewithwords]

I do have a fairly extensive Smallville!Lois Lane playlist (I should expand it into comics...), and I have a Codex Alera playlist I want to expand a lot. On rare occasions they help with the getting-into-headgear.

For Henry I'll usually rewatch some part of OUaT; the pilot and the S1 finale usually help. Probably S2.

Lois and Tavi (and in MM, Jason) I, uh, almost never need help with. If I do, I'll end up wasting several hours at least watching Smallville (or reading comics) or rereading Codex Alera. So I try to avoid needing help.

[mjolnir_retriever]

I find this a DELIGHTFUL mental image.

And now I want to have part of my process be standing in the middle of the room yelling "HAMMEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!" Sadly, I suspect my housemates and my neighbors might object.

[newredshoes]

But would Thor care if other people objected? IT'S A VALID QUESTION. (Sorry, roommates and neighbors!)

[notinthebook]

I used to only ever play Zaphod when drunk?

He was really the only special case.

[mjolnir_retriever]

Possibly! He is willing to bemusedly indulge his friends' weird hang-ups (no smashing? really? WELL I GUESS) if it isn't about anything important.

But sometimes, y'know, a warrior's gotta do what a warrior's gotta do.

[hey35andholding]

Clemmy and Lady Gaga are interconnected in my mind; I have a Gaga playlist that includes "Hair" -

I have 'ship playlists for Jules and for Dixie that get dragged out when I play with the two of them.

This song when I play Pinkie