Comments on: Reseaching on being an Animal

By: Alex

Alex — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:38:38 +0000

/me watches unseen from the corner, enthralled. Wait, did I just think that out loud?

By: Sand Posthorn

Sand Posthorn — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:31:52 +0000

I’d say most of it is purely instinct. Of course you can learn it by observing actual cats… but it would be hard to achieve if a cat doesn’t live inside of you, hehehe - and holly kitten, I was reading those lines of that book you bought and no doubt recognised myself *rawwwwr*.

By: octoberhush

octoberhush — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:08:52 +0000

Aww, Vint…I don’t act out everything when I’m not roleplaying…it’s too much work! It’s just purrs, meows, and the occasional “Hooo!”

By: black_mamba

black_mamba — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 03:22:35 +0000

Is this gonna Kill You? No i Dont Think so !

By: Vint Falken

Vint Falken — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:46:49 +0000

Although I’m merely a a human who wears ears and a tail and meow at each other, this was an interesting convo to read! =)

By: octoberhush

octoberhush — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:05:11 +0000

Sure thing, that’s why I’m a trainer =)

By: ginsengkyong

ginsengkyong — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:37:23 +0000

hehe.. cool.

Hmm yep Tober I like your idea of just emoting in order for the other to “get the picture”. I do find when people use paragraphs it takes me a while to read it in order to fully understand it so I can reply to it.

I would like to practice with you the simple things of making the character more believable.

By: octoberhush

octoberhush — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:04:20 +0000

Oh we can use scripted objects in Midian, as long as they’re not too heavily-scripted. The server’s pretty overloaded as it is.

But anyway, back to the tail. There’s a number of things I’ve seen cats do with their tails: shake the tip of it like a rattlesnake, swish it back and forth slowly, swish it quickly, fluff up the fur on it, hang it between their legs, raise it up in the air, wrap it aorund themselves, etc. What do all of those actions mean? Hmm. Well, that would be telling. And I’d be a bad teacher if I told you everything

By: quadrapop

quadrapop — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 12:42:45 +0000

ah, wasn’t aware of the no scripting thing in your rp sim, but october has it right- regardless of how you do it, to be most catlike you will need to observe cats closely to understand how they use their tails to add nuance and stress to their body language. Some of it isn’teasily put into words (bit like surfing - if you need it explained, you will never understand).

Good luck and be welcome at my place in SL anytime.

By: octoberhush

octoberhush — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:08:17 +0000

The tail I use is pretty expressive, but it’s automatically scripted. However, it looks very natural. The other way to go is to simply emote what your tail is doing. I do stuff like this all the time in my roleplay…I’ll say things like “The hair stands up on the back of Tober’s neck” or “Tober’s tail thrusts up in surprise”, etc.

It’s important to think about how you can describe what you’re doing, quickly, but with enough detail for people to “get the picture”. This, in my opinion, is what makes a good roleplayer. Anyone can write a whole paragraph detailing exactly what they’re doing, but I find it slows down roleplay. Say what you need to say, describe it with a touch of emote, and you’re done.

Gin, we can practice more of this one-on-one if you want.