Monday DE: Picture This

[splash_of_blue]

Goooooooood Monday, Milliways!

Inspired by Klaus sitting on the floor to talk to BB-8*... have there been any moments or interactions in Milliways that you would particularly love to be able to see, not just to describe?

More broadly, when writing, do you tend to focus on describing what's happening visually (what your pup can see, what they're doing) or textually/intellectually (what they're saying, what they're thinking)? Does it vary by character?

*I really need to tag that thread. Sorry, Klaus-mun. <3

Comments

[skyhigh_seance]

Mostly I try to do a bit of both - I want to make sure there's enough visually going on to give the other player something to go off of, and enough internal monologue to explain the actions or whatever the pup says. Hopefully, anyway.

(Also, you're fine, I will be happy for the tag whenever it comes. :D)

[angry_friendship_wolf]

With Yamato, I, like Klaus-mun, try to do a bit of both, and make sure there's both visual stuff for the other player to use, and some internal stuff (especially as Yamato will quite often mask his feelings with gruffness).

With Eden, though, I weight it more towards the external. He's meant to be a little bit impenetrable, with his facade masking what he actually thinks about things, so I tend to try to avoid going into any detail about what he thinks.

[i_am_your_host]

It varies by character according to their personalities, and also to give each character a different tone of their own (at least that's my intention).

Emcee's physicality is essential to his whole being, so I do tend to describe a lot of what he notices, his body language, etc. But he's also very introspective, so his internal thoughts are often at the forefront as well, especially if he says the opposite of what he's thinking.

Cassidy is also pretty physical: his posture, the way he sits, how he physically interacts with people (pats, hugs, handshakes, gestures). He expresses most of what he's thinking in verbal diarrhea, so internal monologues don't happen too often, unless he's going through something personal.

Pam is...so Pam. She's very calculated, so she has a lot going on in her head, which I do write out so others can gauge her mood and predict where she's going with her interactions. I understand that people may be hesitant to send their pups her way! Which is why I write out her thoughts if she doesn't say much. Her thoughts may be centered around whether or not she'll eat you, but more often than not, she won't.

[bjornwilde]

I think I have two answers to this. I usually tread some bits of things beyond dialog, both as a means of creating the space and keeping myself from just writing the dialog. I try to give my pups things to do (eating or drinking) or things to notice.

I also have a habit of mirroring what the other mun is doing. If they are describing actions, I'll likely start doing the same. If they are engaging in what I call narrative conversations (i.e. using the narrative of a tag to go into world setting or character expectations), I'll likely start doing the same.

[04_after]

Quatre chosen intentionally!

I tend to focus on this based on how "transparent" the character is... Quatre, for example, is opaque as a boulder. He twinkles, he sparkles, he presents entirely as (and in some very real ways, he entirely is) a warm, friendly, sweet human. He's also a ruthless war leader, CEO, and traditional patriarch. So I mostly live in his body language.

On the other hand, Legolas says most things he thinks, and if he doesn't say them he thinks them very loudly! so he gets a lot of internal verbage because it's pretty likely those around him will pick up his Vibe.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

I vary it depending on who I'm threading with as well as who I'm currently fielding; for instance, in the Bastion/Gabriel Reyes thread, I described the individual motions and noises they made without directly ascribing emotions to their body language, whereas if I'm threading with someone who connects more with robots emotionally, I'm more likely to write something like "Bastion makes an irritated noise" or "Bastion beeps skeptically".

I want to make it apparent what an onlooker would see, but I also use little bits of internal monologue where they seem to fit, and since I'm working in a textual medium rather than just trying to recreate a visual medium I often take the opportunity to make fun of my characters when they do foolish things or stick sneaky puns into the narration even if it means making the POV bobble inconsistently between the inside and outside of the character's head. And then there's matching the style of canon to consider; Thurlow probably gets the most verbose narration because Fallen London is a very narration-heavy game.