Thursday DE

[needsmoreresearch]

Talking about feelings: is it something your characters can do? Their feelings, other people's feelings? What about identifying their own feelings in the first place?

Comments

[have_no_mercy]

All three of mine think feelings are a weakness. None of them are as good at hiding them as they think they are.

[likeroaringlions]

>_> This question was brought to you by William having a brief moment of emotional resonance with Emcee's song earlier...and him then not knowing what to do with that and so far failing to make any sort of useful conversation out of it. Because I have a thing for characters who are bad at identifying and discussing their inner mental life.

[i_am_your_host]

*pats William*

[likeroaringlions]

there are circumstances in which he isn't awkward but those circumstances are all in the 15th century :/

[maid_of_tarth]

Brienne of Tarth has a pretty wide emotional range and she's good at identifying her feelings. As far as other people's feelings go...she's actually not bad at that either. She's pretty good at reading others' motivations. She's very skeptical of anyone claiming to have feelings for her, but that's for valid, realistic reasons. Her one big mistake, feelings-wise, was that she was blinkered by the intensity of her romantic feelings for Renly Baratheon (and by the fact that he was really good at pretending to be a perfect chivalrous king).

Fantine feels things very intensely and is...less good at sussing out others' feelings. She is a very straightforward person. She's not blindly trusting, but she takes the most straightforward interpretation of others' motives until given reason not to. If her boyfriend is acting like he's in love with her and living with her as if he's her husband, then he's probably committed to her and their child, right? Right? (Wrong.)

Combeferre has so many feelings, though a lot of them are about abstract ideas and discovery and science. He will sometimes share those feelings about abstract ideas and science at times when other people have more pressing concerns (like when they're about to get killed by a cannon). That said, he's good at using emotionally manipulative speeches to strike at other people's feelings, so he's not at all bad at reading people when he needs to.

Jehan Prouvaire is a Romantic poet, so he's basically a professional feels-er. His emotional reactions, and his interpretation of others', tend to be on the melancholy side.

[bjornwilde]

Sabine does feelings and recognizes when others need to acknowledge theirs. She is somewhat shab at expressing her own, especially when it comes to shame or deep seeded guilt. Anger or mistrust are much easier for her to express, as are joy or wonder.

Eliot does casual feels. He is somewhat nihilistic with the world, but cares about people. He expresses himself in a foppish or flippant manner. There will come a point where he discovers he still can find something beyond Margo to deeply love. It will give him hope and it will turn out badly.

[clayforthedevil]

Djali is a self-sufficient caprine, secure in her own self-knowledge and kindly aware of others. She expresses her emotions in a healthy, headbutt- intensive sort of way.

Gringoire is very good at talking about the feelings he realizes he has! Which are minimal, and mostly related to architecture, Djali, and wanting to avoid suffering. He chooses to ignore any internal rumors of other feelings, to the point where he doesn't realize he's doing that anymore. He doesn't worry about what other people are feeling, except in a very practical are-they-about-to-hit-me-or-maybe-open-to hiring-a-poet way.

Bahorel has never ignored a feeling in his life, and would consider any suggestion he do so to be Direst Treason, and also bourgeois, probably. He's fairly canny about other people's feelings--it was kind of his job, if he could be said to have had one at all-- and is very good at knowing what he's feeling, and he will tell you about it, in florid detail, if you want. Or if you don't. THE FUTURE IS FLAGRANT EMOTIONALISM!! *dives off a cliff in the Arctic*

Joly is very good at talking about his feelings , if they're about Science or The Republic. On a more personal level, errrr. Uh. He's not The Worst, but if he weren't quite happy to mostly let things go Assumed on the personal front, he would have a very different Most Intimate Friend. He gets interrogative with other people only about physical feelings or under Dire Circumstance.

[onceaviking]

Feelings?
What feelings?

Nobody wants to talk about that.


Unless it can get you laid in which case, play along.

[camwyn]

Ellen's okay with talking about hers and listening to other people talk about theirs. She's had a fair amount of training in it as part of her chaplaincy work.

Shephard, on the other hand, is only really good at talking about feelings in the context of 'okay, does it feel more like stabbing or burning?'-type situations.

Varric is pretty glib about this kind of thing and tends to avoid getting too indepth about his own feelings if he can avoid it. He's more likely to open up to Hawke than other people.

El Santo is not really from a tradition of men talking about feelings, but he is fairly good at listening.

Stacker Pentecost doesn't do talking about feelings because that is what the Drift is for.

[hasthehighground]

Clint is bad at identifying his own feelings, or knowing why or when he should discuss them, but if he is asked to he is careful to identify what he understands and communicate that. It bothers him when he can't identify a root cause for how he feels. He's fine with other people's feelings, though anyone who talks about them regularly or in ways he's not familiar with is automatically coded as a civilian.

Quatre is an empath. He's not super fond of discussing his own feelings, partially because he doesn't realize he's an empath (he thinks he's very good at reading people) and thus doesn't often understand when his feelings aren't clear to others especially as he doesn't work to hide them (though he's not super-expressive except when delighted). He's okay with other people's feelings! They're great! It is a clear sign of being a complex complicated human being which is the best <3

Chuck hates feelings D:. WE ALL HAVE THEM, NO ONE CARES he says loudly. THEY JUST MAKE IT HARDER TO SAVE THE WORLD. But ugh okay if you talking about them will make you better at saving the world later he guesses you can??? but he's not happy. there's psychiatrists who'll help you with that shit. (This doesn't really go for friends, but he's still intensely awkward and self-monitoring when feelings become a thing.) He's terrible at his own emotions, and can mostly only identify irritation/anger/"being ok". He has no idea why the vast majority of them occur beyond people being frustrating dipshits.

Melinda is very aware of her own feelings, and she will never tell them to you. She wishes you'd return the favor. :|

Darcy is cool with you having feelings! You do you, man. She will try to be helpful. BUT PLEASE DON'T ASK HER ABOUT HERS. (She may share, sporadically, but any sort of prying will make her re-clam up.)

Sebastian is vaguely but pleasantly bad at feelings. He is aware of some of his, and he's ok with having them, and pretty ok at identifying why he has them, but he has no idea really how to cope. Other people having feelings is cool! He will do his best.

John Connor is extremely good at identifying and assessing his own emotional state and what that means for his capacity to react in a logical and/or productive manner (though he does have some flaws). He doesn't really get the idea of actually processing his emotions, though he knows that it's important in order to remain operational. Other people's emotions are uncomfortable, because it's super awkward, but they're both important for gathering data and helping out makes him feel kind of normal and useful to the real world. It's nice?

Legolas doesn't know what you're talking about. Nope. >.> *RUNS AWAY TO THE TREES*

[just_cant_lose]

Jim is acutely aware of his feelings, and he is weirdly honest about them - to himself - because, what, he's going to apologise to anyone for them? Not a chance. He'll feel whatever the hell he wants to, thanks.

He's aware of them because from a young age, he was also aware of what he lacked. Like, people saying 'can't you understand why so and so is feeling bad about their dog dying?' and he'd say yes, and then go and consider why the truth was no. And other people being scared of stuff, he doesn't get that. He doesn't really feel fear, but if he gets a hint of adrenaline or nerves or whatever, he just embraces it and throws himself into whatever he was going to do anyway. Emotions are chemical reactions to stimulus; he doesn't let them get in the way of what he wants. He still has them, he just controls them.

And then there's Sherlock. Not an emotional blind spot, quite the opposite. He's well aware of what he feels about him, and why, and how, and knows that there's a conflict that should get in the way. But he just embraces the conflict, and is sitting back to see how it plays out when all is revealed. Emotion is both nothing to do with the final game, and everything to do with it. He likes that duality.

[thebattycakes]

HOMGOSH NOOOOOO. All of mine are the worst at feelings.

Matt Murdock is a good listener, and that's not just in referring to his super sense of hearing. He engages well, asks the right questions and doesn't interrupt when it comes to others talking to him, but as far as him talking about himself? He is a closed book in a dark well and of the type who thinks that stuffing feelings and everything else going on with him way down deep is the best way to operate. Naturally this doesn't work forever and eventually bad things happen, but that doesn't stop him from doing it.

Logan doesn't talk about his feelings ever ever. Unless they're angry feelings, and then he doesn't so much talk about them as he expresses them violently. He's also not the best sympathizer, but for whatever reason people do choose him as a person to talk to. Maybe because he doesn't judge.

Hellboy is a child, prone to fits and tantrums and mood swings that never really address how he's feeling, they're just expressions that he's unhappy and he's more likely to punch someone in the face as he is to talk to them about it. He's also not that great with other people's feelings. Empathy is hard to come by with him, and perspective is something he generally lacks. He's gotten better at it, and those closest to him are the ones who'll see the biggest difference, but it's very easy to call Red kind of a jerk.

Charlie Kenton doesn't have feelings, and he either doesn't recognize or he disregards the feelings of others. He's very self-centered and maintains a tough-guy persona. Feelings are for other people.

Bill Pardy is great about caring about other people, not so much about worrying about himself. His isn't for stoic reasons, he is just programmed to put everyone else first and that tends to lead to him covering up his own feelings for the sake of others. He operates under 'I'm okay' so that others won't have to worry about him.

The Tick doesn't have feelings and doesn't understand the feelings of others. He's a costumed crimefighter, everything is awesome, why wouldn't it be? The only time he's ever had to face that mighty foe named Depression is when Arthur disappeared and that was a very fast slide into a very dark place. Once Arthur was returned, though, he perked right back up.

[i_am_your_host]

Emcee is...complicated. I've come to realize that he's a kind of an empath. He feels what other people are feeling a little too strongly, and that's why he often closes himself off or avoids getting too close. Yet he cares so much about others that he'll forsake his own emotions and well-being for theirs. It's only with certain people that he's comfortable enough to let his walls drop. He would rather hide his negative feelings, but sometimes he'll express them through song, and in turn, hide behind the performance.

(I think basically when he says "I don't care much" in the song, he actually really does care a whole lot but wishes he didn't.)

[mightbeagoodone]

Steve is generally good at understanding emotions and talking about them. He's not controlled by them, except in a few very special circumstances; i.e., anything to do with Bucky.

Furiosa has a lot of rage. She doesn't talk about it. She just acts.

Sherlock thinks he's all logic and reason, but of course there's the paradox of that big heart and frequent childishness. He can see when people are having emotions, but he doesn't always understand why they're having that particular one. And he doesn't even try to be logical about Jim; love isn't logical and he's not going to try to justify it.

[harryhotspur]

Hotspur is only capable of expressing one feeling, and that feeling is Mad. No matter what is happening on the inside, it will be expressed as anger. Other people's feelings are an interesting theory that he's not entirely sure really exists.

Marius has MANY FEELINGS, and has never learned healthy ways to express them. So they tend to bottle up and then EXPLODE OUT in incredibly dramatic forms like crying on a tree for two hours, hugging strangers, and trying to commit suicide by barricade.

Viola also has a lot of feelings, but is much, much better than the other two at identifying and processing them. She is also much more keenly attuned to other people's feelings.

[likeroaringlions]

hey now be fair to hotspur
"Horses" is a valid emotional state too

[genarti]

Enjolras is a Victor Hugo character so y'know is pretty solid with identifying his own feelings, and generally good at talking about them! He doesn't necessarily talk about negative ones unless he feels it would be somehow useful to do so -- he might vent his righteous anger, but he doesn't find it cathartic to talk about personal irritation or grief for its own sake very often -- but positive ones, you bet! WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR ABOUT HOW MUCH HE LOVES HIS FRIENDS AND FRANCE AND REPUBLICAN IDEALS. And he doesn't hesitate about the negative ones if he does see a reason to. Other people's feelings he's even more ready to talk about (within certain limits, which mostly come down to 19th century gender divide stuff). Much like Bahorel, though to a lesser extent, being tuned into other people's feelings was sort of part of his job, if you want to call it that.

Cosette is a 19th century European bourgeoise lady. Being attuned to other people's feelings, and then managing them, is absolutely her job. She's pretty good at it! Which is good, given her loved ones and how universally godawful they are at doing that for themselves. Talking about her own, and being attuned to her own, she's... more hit-or-miss on. She's good at expressing happy feelings! Superficially unpleasant ones, she might; serious negative feelings, she tends to bury deep and hide away and never show or think about, as much as she can. It's not necessarily the most healthy or helpful of approaches.

Thor is really pretty rock-solid on the emotional intelligence! He's good at identifying his own feelings, by and large. (He's got a few blind spots and a few thing he willfully tries to ignore out of existence, e.g. doubts about his father's decisions, but by and large.) He's generally either good at talking about them, or good at going "Yep, I'm not in a good mood but I don't want to talk about it, let's pick a different subject." He's pretty good at identifying and talking about other people's, too -- again with some blind spots, in this case sometimes not noticing when other people aren't enjoying something he likes or are feeling resentful about something he thinks is all in good fun, but again, by and large.

Kazul is generally good at identifying her own feelings, but not super great at talking about them. She's only willing to talk about other people's feelings if she really likes them, or if they're making an interesting story out of it. Or if they're kids or something.

Doctor Dinosaur is uh. Good at talking loudly about a very, very narrow range of his own feelings, and that's about it.