The Creative Feels Workshop

[Gimfalisette]

Over the last year I have put a lot of conscious effort into improving my use of the feel command. Whereas previously I felt really awkward about feels and had little idea what to do with them, often they are now my favorite part of roleplay, and I feel like an ace RPer when I come off with a really awesome feel. My favorite scenes by far are the ones where other players and I are flinging off evocative emotes, subtle hemotes, witty or poignant dialogue, and creative feels all at the same time. (Well, I assume those bastards are using feel too, but I know -I- am.)

Perhaps you would like to improve your use of the feel command, for your own and the imms' amusement, or simply to get into your character more deeply. Therefore I'm starting this thread to share with you, and invite sharing back: What works for you, what's creative and fresh, what gets you really into your character?

Credits: First, to Delirium for initially sparking my interest in feels by some very nice ones in a log in original submissions. Second, to Fathi for ongoing discussion with me of feel-styles and a lot of creative examples. She calls them "feelmotes," and I think that's a pretty good descriptor for advanced feels. Third, to the many players I've interacted with over the last year who have given me tons of stimuli on which to base my characters' feels.

When it comes to internal dialogue, the think command is pretty straightforward; that's where your character's conscious thoughts can be put into words. However, the feel command is not so straightforward or obvious...the beauty of it is that it's really up to you to be as creative as you like, and you're not restricted by the conscious-thought mode of thinks. Here for your consideration are some categories of feelmotes and ways to spice up what you're doing.


Use Synonyms for Emotions, and a Broad Palette
Emotions like anger, happiness, and fear are very basic, but those are not the only possible words you can use to describe those states; nor are those the only possible emotions. Using more synonyms, and painting with a broader palette of emotions can improve your feels.

• Anger: Rage, fury, spite, annoyance, irritation, bitchiness, crankiness, cantankerous
• Sadness: Melancholy, ruefulness, regret, depression, loneliness, heartsickness, despair, the blues
• Fear: Worry, anxiety, nervousness, terror, horror, a chill down your spine, paralysis
• Desire: Lust, horniness, avarice, greed, envy, passion, ardor
• Love: Adoration, fondness, affection, protectiveness, empathy
• Happiness: Peace, contentment, satisfaction, joy, euphoria
• Humor: Amusement, mirth, snark, sarcastic
• Other: Pride, smugness, haughtiness, conflicted, wavering, strength, weakness, beauty, ugliness, disgust, confidence

Use Additional Descriptors and Modifiers
We don't feel most emotions at some "average" level. Add modifiers that quantify how much of the emotion is being felt. Also, use adjectives to describe the quality of that emotion.

feel achingly sad

feel radiantly happy

feel mildly annoyed

feel more bored than any other person, ever

feel barely human, you're covered with so much shit from latrine-cleaning


Physical Feels
Feels that involve the physical body in some way. Sometimes the physical feel also implies emotional content.

feel a terrible ache in your lower back as you bend once again to dig for rocks

feel dizziness from too much Way-talk

feel like you want to punch someone

feel that your body is completely satisfied after that incredible sex

feel an intense craving for a good hit of spice

feel the ginka pie hitting the inside of your mouth like the most amazing taste ever

feel an excruciating, searing pain as the templar removes your hand

feel your blood seeping from the wound


Mental Process Feels
The things we feel aren't all just physical, or emotional. Many things we "feel" are parts of thought processes, but are not concrete enough to put into actual words by using the think command. States like wondering, imagining, daydreaming, contemplating, remembering, realizations, mental clarity or haziness, being mentally or emotionally overwhelmed are all thought processes that can be put into feels.

feel your mind turning to pleasant memories of that whore who works the Gaj

feel a money-making scheme coming on

feel overwhelmed and overstimulated by the Sergeant's insane ranting

feel your mind drifting into a daydream about shagging that Fale Lord, being rich, and owning a steel sword

feel a moment of total clarity as you realize who killed Malik

feel your mind rapidly flipping between revulsion and titillation at the thought of seeing that elf naked


Thought Feels
Feels of this type could often be alternately expressed as thoughts. For myself, it just seems like these things flow better as feels, because I know in RL I don't think in words mostly. So I express similar things for my characters in feels, rather than in thoughts. If I had to put them in thoughts, honestly, most of them wouldn't get put out there, just due to the awkward factor.

feel like you really wish that Amos would leave you alone about the topic

feel that you're probably the most capable person, ever, for the job

feel not one bit like working today


Analogous or Metaphorical Feels
Feels of this type allow you to express what your character is feeling without actually attaching an "emotion" word.

feel light and free as a breeze

feel a tower of strength

feel like you're standing on the deck of a sinking silt-skimmer

feel like the whole world has just crumbled out from under you

feel like Tek himself was never such a pimp with the ladies


Edited to add suggestions.

[Yam]

Mudsex Feels
In case you've never had real sex and you don't know what happens.

feel your hips buck and churn in waves of ecstacy
feel pain rack your body as lightning bolts explode deep within your genitals! <- That's for people who mudsex magickers. Filthy, filthy magickers.

[Mood]

Mudsex Feels
In case you've never had real sex and you don't know what happens.

feel your hips buck and churn in waves of ecstacy
feel pain rack your body as lightning bolts explode deep within your genitals! <- That's for people who mudsex magickers. Filthy, filthy magickers.

Haha.

On topic, you should totally add 'cantankerous' to your list. I love that word.

[Gimfalisette]

you should totally add 'cantankerous' to your list. I love that word.

Ooh, good one. Added.

[Lizzie]

...and then there are the biological feels:

feel another fart coming on.
feel the merchant's feather cloak tickling your nose, and you're about to sneeze.
feel the chunks of this morning's bowl of gruel rising up in the throat, just about to blow.
feel squishy. (a female thing for mudsexers)
feel a bug bite on the left breast itching uncontrollably and needing to be scratched.
feel your overly full bladder start to leak a little after that last giggle.
feel the baby's head pushing up against your colon (and dozens of mind-numbing, gruelling, and potentially fun-to-rp variations of internal pregnancy feels)

[Rairen]

An off-shoot of thought feels:  Conversations.  (aka, the voice of reality for whatever my character is trying to persuade herself into.)

You think, "No, I can do this.  All I need to do is approach the hot ranger and asking for his name."

You feel that if it were REALLY that easy, you still wouldn't be standing here in a storm pretending to rub sand out of your eyes because you don't want him to notice you're staring.

You think, "... Traitor."

You feel irritated.


And, ah, grammatical corrections.

You feel wholly inevitable.

You feel holy inenviable.

You feel neither holy nor inevitable, except in that you inevitably can't be enviable.

^-- Happens embarrassingly often. 

[staggerlee]

An off-shoot of thought feels:  Conversations.  (aka, the voice of reality for whatever my character is trying to persuade herself into.)

You think, "No, I can do this.  All I need to do is approach the hot ranger and asking for his name."

You feel that if it were REALLY that easy, you still wouldn't be standing here in a storm pretending to rub sand out of your eyes because you don't want him to notice you're staring.

I can't express how much I like that and am going to start using it in my inner dialog if I ever have time to play again.   Thanks for posting that.

To clarify, what I like is both the visceral and editorial use of the feel.  Using it for feeling makes sense, but using for an editorial voice and to help construct a narrative is awesome.  It could really put a literary element into the game that I find a bit intrusive in emotes.

[Is Friday]

Thank you for post. *concentrates on feels*

[Gimfalisette]

I do that too.

think (an argument with yourself coming on) I'm going to ride out whether I get permission or not.

think (the other side snapping back) You're an idiot! What makes you think you'll get away with it?

[FuSoYa]

These are all good and pretty much how I look at feels.  I definitely stay away from just feeling emotions...

I tend to do things like:

You feel like such a badass that everyone in here should be kissing your feet.

Not exactly but you might get the idea.

Brandon

[FantasyWriter]

I do that too.

think (an argument with yourself coming on) I'm going to ride out whether I get permission or not.

think (the other side snapping back) You're an idiot! What makes you think you'll get away with it?

I do this alot.


My favorite:
feel the urge to kill.... rising!

feel like you could just slap the mess outta the sorry excuse for a templar.

[touringCompl3t3]

I like the original post.

[Qzzrbl]

This was insanely informative, especially to someone like me who doesn't use think or feel all that much because he's never really had much experience with it, and only really uses feels and thinks every once and a while as a courtesy to whatever psions might be around.

I think this thread may even be archive worthy.

[Wicked]

This came out of a couple logs of mine.
** Random feelings **
You feel exasperated, giving a mental eye-roll.
You feel a twinge of amusement.
You feel bored. So bored. So very, very bored.
You feel ..... zzzzzzz.
You feel -really- fucking pissed.
** The possibility of a brawl in a tavern **
You feel the level of boredom decrease slowly, being replaced by dry amusement.
You feel the boredom level rise again. An attempted ass-kicking might've been funny.
** Thoughts on person trying to strut their stuff **
You feel completely -un-interested. Been there, done that.
** After a quick search of the pockets **
You feel immensely relieved at having -not- forgotten to get rid of contraband.
** Trying to hold a conversation while someone crawls on you **
You feel pressured to remain neutral and unaroused - a very hard battle to win.
You feel the uncomfortably tight pants feel much less.. uncomfortable since the cuddling and smooching has ceased.
You feel once more the strain of trying to ignore wandering hands. And the pressure of unyieldingly tight leather pants.
You feel conflicted. Do, don't.. A serious war of possibilities.

[Kiri]

One of my favorite feels is "grouchy and out of sorts." 

In the early days of my PC's employment, there was a lot of feeling "devastatingly lonely" and "homesick" accompanied with thinks of "Why the fuck am I here? I want to go home!"


Though my favorite of all time is still:

>think (feeling bored) Fuck I'm bored.


Thanks for the post, though, it's jumpstarted a desire to be even more "feely."

[Shiroi Tsuki]

I need to really be into my character, or really be into the moment, to let loose with some really inspired feels.  I can think all the time, but feeling requires a certain mood on my part.

[Vessol]

Whenever I think of the 'Feel' command I think of this comic.

[Ammut]

I've been using feel a bit more lately.  I like the ideas thrown around in this thread and think it will help me use the feel command a bit better 

I generally use simple concepts like paranoid, upset, drunk, spiced and a variety of other one word feelings.

[deviant storm]

Yesterday, I felt very horny. At a totally inappropriate time. And no, I didn't bring that feeling into being.

Think: Feck, not now!



Thanks, whoever that was.

[Belgoikiss]

Anyone have any examples of indepth feels included with think?

I find that I have a lot of trouble getting past one-three word feels with those. Maybe I'm just not inspired enough.

[deviant storm]

feel like you have a case of the blue devils coming on.
feel like you have the world in the palm of your hand.
feel like you don't belong.
feel as if everyone's watching you. (for those paranoid moments)
feel like someone ran their beetle/inix over your head (hungover)

Personally I don't see anything wrong with the short ones, too. I'm new at the feel command, I don't recall it being used or I just didn't use it four years ago back when I played more.

Feel optimistic!
Feel passionate
feel frustrated

But it's a style choice.

[Tisiphone]

Anyone have any examples of indepth feels included with think?

I find that I have a lot of trouble getting past one-three word feels with those. Maybe I'm just not inspired enough.

feel all of the blood drain from your face.

hemote goes pale, blood draining from ^me features

think (so terrified that you have trouble standing straight) Oh...Tektolnes' glorious jade balls...the Lord Templar knows I've been working for the Guild.

think (warm liquid run down your legs) I'm dead. There's no doubt about it. He's going to cut off my head, suck out my soul, and leave me screaming in agony for eternity.

phemote pants develop a damp spot in the crotch.

[Fathi]

Anyone have any examples of indepth feels included with think?

I find that I have a lot of trouble getting past one-three word feels with those. Maybe I'm just not inspired enough.

Lifted directly from a log of one of my old characters having a panic attack, emotes and assorted crap removed:

Feeling unused to the tight press of the crowd, you think:
  "Just keep breathing. Keep your eyes on him."

You feel the familiar rush of warm, spreading adrenaline.

Feeling like her heart might just hammer out of her chest and flop about on the floor, you think:
  "There's so many of them. And they're all... so... sososo... loud."

You feel a desperate clinging need to escape, her toes twitching feebly with the longing to run.

You think:
  "You could just leave him and run for it. They don't need you here. They don't understand."

Feeling entirely out of her element, crushed within the city's walls, you think:
  "Please. Please, just let me go. Any excuse. Anything."

You feel suddenly sick and suddenly aware of the fact that she is hyperventilating.

Feeling emotions riot inside her mind in a brawl for dominance, you think:
  "This is so much harder than it should be."

You feel that, post emotional-brawling, fear emerged as the clear victor and beat all her other feelings fucking senseless.

[Archbaron]

Anyone have any examples of indepth feels included with think?

I find that I have a lot of trouble getting past one-three word feels with those. Maybe I'm just not inspired enough.

Lifted directly from a log of one of my old characters having a panic attack, emotes and assorted crap removed:

Feeling unused to the tight press of the crowd, you think:
  "Just keep breathing. Keep your eyes on him."

You feel the familiar rush of warm, spreading adrenaline.

Feeling like her heart might just hammer out of her chest and flop about on the floor, you think:
  "There's so many of them. And they're all... so... sososo... loud."

You feel a desperate clinging need to escape, her toes twitching feebly with the longing to run.

You think:
  "You could just leave him and run for it. They don't need you here. They don't understand."

Feeling entirely out of her element, crushed within the city's walls, you think:
  "Please. Please, just let me go. Any excuse. Anything."

You feel suddenly sick and suddenly aware of the fact that she is hyperventilating.

Feeling emotions riot inside her mind in a brawl for dominance, you think:
  "This is so much harder than it should be."

You feel that, post emotional-brawling, fear emerged as the clear victor and beat all her other feelings fucking senseless.

This is beautiful.

[Belgoikiss]

Thanks folks! Great ideas, and nice log Fathi!