Deacon Frost 196 Share Posted April 7, 2019 So; I've been on some boards that have a rule where anything you write in your character's internal monologue is fair game for the other character to react to under the justification of "it was in your body language." I have to admit that I wasn't a fan of that. How do you feel about internal monologue? I recently had a friend venting because the person they were playing with had a weird habit of rewriting her character's internal monologue from their character's perspective and then using it to make their character seem BETTER than my friends. So like, if she said "She felt so awkward about this whole situation, but she was trying to hide it to avoid looking foolish" the other person might say something like "She could see how awkward the woman felt about this situation but unlike her she wasn't trying to hide it; she was calm and collected." How does internal monologue interactions like that affect how you feel about the RP? Do you want no internalizing, a lot, a little? Do you think it should automatically be telegraphed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Shades 676 Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2019 I love internal monologue, and sure, a part of it can definitely seep out through body language, but I also think people should be able to have it and not have it reacted to unless the person writing the post makes it clear in their post. This thing the other person was doing isn't productive to anyone, and I see how this could become annoying very quickly. I did roleplay with someone once who used this 'technique'. So you'd have 'James was a writer' in a character's bio, and their internal monologue might have them worried about their latest novel when they were talking and doing something unrelated, and you had this character 'wondering if he was worried about his crappy novel' when nothing indicated either that they were worried or that they were 'crappy' writers, but it was the way the person found to make themselves superior. I talked to them a couple time, and ended up dropping the threads we had together. TL;DR: Inner monologue is great and relevant, but characters aren't mind readers, and shouldn't have free reign to decide that their character knows something just because it's in the post and use that to put their characters above others. As a player, I'd react the way I described above. As a staff member, I might take a look at my rules and remind the offending member that what they're doing is not okay. Sometimes people do whatever they can get away with. 1 6 2 1 Shady McShaderson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dusk 106 Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2019 This whole thread makes me want to run away screaming. I really dislike people using inner monologue against my characters, unless I make it known that it is something they might pick up on by actually, you know, including it *in their body language* when I write my post. As a member and staff, I would have to say something. On Witchlight it can become trickier since you're dealing with barriers and psyches and the ability to actually sense some of these things. So you need good communication between players and taking posts in context instead of out. This would really fly in the board wide trust that no one will abuse power IC and OOC. Inner monologue can be nice so you as the player gets a feel for the character and the emotion of the scenes between characters, but we must remember that these things are internal and not external and so are not to be used in reply as if they (which can be hard sometimes, I know). 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Kit the Human 757 Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2019 I don't mind how much internal dialogue my writing partner uses, so long as there is something that I can respond to. I think that I'm a bit spare when it comes to internal thoughts, partly to try and avoid metagaming and partly because a focus on body language gives my writing partner something to respond to. Afterall, they can't see what my character is thinking. Most of the time anyway! I may emphasise internal dialogue if I want to broadcast something plainly to my writing partner - usually that's reassurance. I find people who respond to my character's thoughts pretty tedious to write with. I do find that they tend to drop our thread when I stop giving them internal stuff and focus only on what my character is saying, expressing and doing 😄 1 2 3 PSI: an Occult Investigations RP Roleplay Architects: Grab a friend (or many friends!) and just write. You can also find me at: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Quell 249 Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2019 I was talking about this with a friend recently. I have a character who is meant to be the Ted Bundy/Jeffrey Dahmer type that is externally normal and internally ... not-so-much. But my concern is exactly what you guys are talking about. If i start saying things that make him seem scary in his internal monologues, then people act like he's scary when he isn't. I switched to an unreliable narrator, but my friend was like "woah. Now people don't know what is real!" Another friend suggested I just describe action (but boy are WCs hard to hit just describing action, imho.) Anyway. In an ideal world, I would say no-metagaming means this question becomes irrelevant, but in reality, i think this happens a lot. Unless your character is an international super spy their ability to conceal emotions is probably less than expected. If they are hiding them hut but internally steady, just make it clear. That's what i do. "-full blown internal monologue- ... of course, none of this appeared on his face and he simply said..." 1 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormWolfe 556 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Personally, I would not join a site where metagaming / use of OOC knowledge is expected. I hope sites that allow this would have that information in their writing guidelines or rules. If it is not listed anywhere in site guidelines and rules and I learned about this after the fact, I would do one of two things...politely resign and cite the issue as my reason, stop writing much in the way of internal monologue / only write visual cues via facial expressions and body language (very restrictive IMHO). However, I do respect the rights of site creators to decide what they allow and what they don't. Now, I am a fan of internal monologue and narration of a scene so the setting and atmosphere is easily visualized by the other writers. I try to make it clear which bits are open for other characters to see and interpret and which ones are not. We also still have the silly rule against using OOC Knowledge to gain leverage and metagaming. Despite this, occasionally, a writer misinterprets and still uses OOC knowledge in their response. It will happen on occasion and if it is minor (not a major story impact), I let it go. When a writer makes a habit of using it to always make their character outshine mine, I will eventually call them on it. Sometimes I contact them OOC, sometimes I have my character turn it around on them. Perhaps my character is thinking of a petty crime he committed and the other character says something about it. My character immediately gets suspicious and outright hostile, asking who informed on them and how could they possibly know since he's not yet told anyone. No matter how you slice it, it is a slippery slope! 1 2 Someone somewhere went to sleep and dreamed us all alive. Dreams get pushed around a lot, and I doubt if we'll survive. We won't get to wake up, dreams were born to disappear. And I'm pretty sure that none of us are here. ~ None of Us Here by Jim Stafford ~ *your one-stop RPG resource site! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deacon Frost 196 Author Share Posted April 7, 2019 In the case of the board with the no-internal monologue or it's KNOWN the rule was clearly stated and the explanation for it was that it was meant to prevent people from being passive aggressive in their posts. Like acting polite to a character while constantly thinking unpleasant shit at them and not allowing them to respond to the abuse IC. That was a sheeted board so people always had the option of trying something like a sense motive roll to detect the undercurrent of hostility but the Storyteller got sick of a few members sniping at each other. At least that's what I understood. In the case of my friend being unhappy with the monologue one-ups-manship I agree with you. I feel like she should find a way to talk to the other player about it. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elena 546 Share Posted April 7, 2019 2 hours ago, StormWolfe said: I am a fan of internal monologue and narration of a scene so the setting and atmosphere is easily visualized by the other writers. I try to make it clear which bits are open for other characters to see and interpret and which ones are not. So am I. I think internal monologue gives characters depth and shows them as they are, because some people say one thing and think another. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CovertSphinx 710 Popular Post Share Posted April 7, 2019 2 hours ago, Spirit Caller said: In the case of the board with the no-internal monologue or it's KNOWN the rule was clearly stated and the explanation for it was that it was meant to prevent people from being passive aggressive in their posts. Like acting polite to a character while constantly thinking unpleasant shit at them and not allowing them to respond to the abuse IC. That was a sheeted board so people always had the option of trying something like a sense motive roll to detect the undercurrent of hostility but the Storyteller got sick of a few members sniping at each other. At least that's what I understood. That sounds like an OOC problem that staff is mistakenly trying to solve with IC means. Which, in my opinion is just as bad, if not worse than the metagaming issue the rule causes. 3 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Libby 100 Share Posted April 7, 2019 Ok, first: The use of internalized thoughts in your writing is GOLD and everyone should do it. Not only does it build a scene and develop your character in more than just their actions and words, but it's damn amusing to both read and write. I think there is a lot to be said about a writer that adds both speech, body language and movement, action, and internal thought to their post. People as a whole are not one-dimensional being. We think while we speak, we say things while feeling others, and this should ALL make it into your posting whenever possible. Second: There is a special level of hell reserved for people who use OOC information IC'ly (wow is that a word? It's a word now, let's move on) It's right beside the one for people who talk in the theatre. Seriously! If that were the case I would go -off- in some broken fourth wall ranting about how my character could -not- believe that there were some writers who couldn't pull their heads out of their asses long enough to formulate something decent. Also... no! Don't do it! Bad Juju! It is most definitely ooc/metagaming bullshit to do that. I would not stand for it. nope nope, no sir! 1 3 The past is a place of reference, not residence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazetatsu 263 Share Posted April 8, 2019 (edited) I'm not a fan of internal monologue in many cases. Some writing styles don't differentiate it well from other parts of the writing making it great fodder for accidental mindreading mishaps. other times I've seen it used to the extreme with paragraphs of monologue for maybe a sentence or two of action or even nothing to work with at all, leading to frustration to me when I'm trying to come up to a reply to stuff only going on in a character's head. That said, when a post is formatted well, and it's clear what elements of the paragraphs are what, it can be very useful for setting a character's tone and style. I use it most when writing in first person where everything is coming from a character's perspective anyway, or in using a phrase or two to punctuate an action or reaction that I also describe, so that body language supports the monologue. I try to have my internal monologue moments be as relevant to the scene as possible. if it isn't something that's important to the here and now of the story, I'd rather save it for a one shot, or other form of rp-related writing. Also it depends on my rp partners as well, I am likely to start pairing down the amount of monologue I use if my partners start making inferences to things I didn't specify as being part of my character's reactions. Sometimes one can even lie in an internal monologue, with the character's known intent being different than their actual intent and leading to shenanigans later on when a character realizes they've misunderstood a situation the whole time. Edited April 8, 2019 by Kazetatsu 1 My Characters can be Found on Toyhouse Of Being Human, Modern Small Town Supernatural rp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omnitricks 16 Share Posted April 8, 2019 I think that if you put it out there, you should expect it to be used. Of course common sense applies that very detailed monologue wouldn't be discernable barring mind reading powers or something but if you really don't want it to be used (or used against you) you probably shouldn't be putting it out there. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle 53 Share Posted April 8, 2019 I dislike reading and writing internal monologue. For me, it takes away the vital mystery of what's going to happen next, how the other character really feels about mine, and where this interaction is going. If I wanted to know everything about the other character then I'd just write by myself. Also if, on the rare occasion that I offer some small insight into my character's mindset, I get back an answer or rebuttal in the other character's internal monologue, I will never do it again with that player. I'm not here for meta-bullshit internal monologue arguments, that's just bad RP all around. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophie Hatter 38 Share Posted April 8, 2019 On 4/7/2019 at 7:48 AM, Spirit Caller said: I recently had a friend venting because the person they were playing with had a weird habit of rewriting her character's internal monologue from their character's perspective and then using it to make their character seem BETTER than my friends. So like, if she said "She felt so awkward about this whole situation, but she was trying to hide it to avoid looking foolish" the other person might say something like "She could see how awkward the woman felt about this situation but unlike her she wasn't trying to hide it; she was calm and collected." this is something i feel like i saw more in the good old days, but it still crops up and here and there for me. on one hand, i get it. you want to respond to the other character and flesh out the scene, which can be hard if there's not a lot of actions. it's even harder when the other person doesn't make obvious what parts of their narration are observable. but not everything in a post is meant for the other character; narration is mostly meant for the readers. that's why i generally take the extra step to specify. including things like, "soandso was nervous, and felt like character b could tell," or, "character b wouldn't notice, but soandso was seething," in a post makes sure it's clear what's observable and what's not.. if that doesn't work then i usually assume that it's not just the player trying to flesh out a thread and is instead purposeful powerplaying or at the least, carelessness. in that instance i just avoid putting in too much narration and just write what's perceivable to the other character. generally, though, too much of that turns me off to a thread. if it's just sometimes then, whatever, i don't mind too much. but if it's obvious that this person believes their character should know every little thing just because it's included in a post, then i'll drop the whole thing. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Muse 121 Popular Post Share Posted April 9, 2019 I'm not playing my character to be a surprise or a mystery. I'm not writing collaboratively to keep things to myself, but that doesn't mean I'm not selective about internal monologue/dialogue/thoughts/etc. when there are things I actually do want to keep secret or play as a surprise. That said, I'm writing to explore a person, inside and out, and I suppose I choose writing partners who appreciate this and aren't going to metagame away the significance of everything anyway. Chances are, if you're writing with me, you're going to be on the roller coaster of my character's whole life journey—thoughts and dialogue and actions and all. This is also probably why I can't do short form replies. Oh well. 4 2 Thorns: Uprising A Unique Victorian Fantasy Play-by-Post RPG LORE | FORUM | CHARACTER CENSUS | WANTED ADS | DISCORD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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