Hydaelyn Role-Players

Okay so.. I was reading through the other thread that's up about Miqo'te RP, but I didn't want to derail it with more bodylanguage stuff. I also can't remember if we've had a thread about this before, but here goes: 

I'm looking for people's experiences with their Miqo'te characters and how they have (or haven't?) portrayed their bodylanguage when it comes to tail/ears, and how you generally regard their senses + how you RP out these senses / other miqo'te specific traits. 
Why? Well, it's always interesting for me to know how people do things, it helps me understand why some may react in certain ways out there on the stage. 

I have a Miqo'te alt myself, and have sort of figured out a way to do things that I like, without making it feel too repetitive/redundant. Usually when I emote for his bodylanguage, I only mention tail/ears/etc when it enhances the point or reveals something about my Miqo'tes mood. Of course there are those with complete control over their bodylanguage in some situations, but for my Miqo'te, if he for example gets angry he'll be focusing a lot more on the anger, and wouldn't be trying to unfluff his tail and keep it from swishing about 
When I started playing him, I actually decided to sit down and read about cat body-language and senses. I remember stumbling over things like this site: http://www.catster.com/cat-behavior/cat-body-language 
To me it just always seemed like the right place to start - rather than haphazardly guessing. Obviously, some things aren't really so easy to implement all the time, where as others has. 
When it comes to the senses: 
Sight: Better nightvision for keepers, though not the point where it gets really easy. 
Hearing: What I tend to assume is that Miqo'te have a better detail hearing, rather than longer range like you might find with an Elezen. Also, because the ears are so flexible to move, they'd be able to have the luxury of not turning their heads to hear what is going on around them. 
Smell: Enhances sense of smell, however I never force a smell upon someone, rather I would /tell and ask if or not my Miqo'te would smell something like say another persons scent on their mate. 
Balance: Tails make things easier, I'd imagine. 

And finally, when it comes to purring, I believe that when and why a Miqo'te purrs is culturally determined based on how they were raised and what is the social norm. So for example if the norm has been to idly purr to signalize "I am feeling happy/content" to your fellow miqo'tes, it may be something that a miqo'te would do even around non-miqo'te. 
Or, if a Miqo'te has never been exposed to the concept of purring, they may not know how to pronounce the sound let alone when to produce it, and find it somewhat of an alien concept. 
I do believe that Miqo'te can purr, because even a real life human can train themselves to purr, so if Hyur and Humans are comparable in that sense, it should be possible. 

So anyways that's how I've managed to put it all together. Now it's your turn!

I've always mentioned Aly's ears and tail as if she were a cat, having done some of the same research as you. I know that her tail fluffs up if she's scared, her ears fold back and tail lashes if she's angry. Her fangs sometimes hang on her lip if she's feeling cheeky. I've never left her tongue sticking out like my cat does though...although I'm sure that that would lead to an interesting conversation with fellow characters.

I know RPers who really work well with the other senses. Tessa Jalloh, for instance, is very good at incorporating scent into RP. Tessa keeps tabs on everyone's scent, asking fellow RPers what they think their character would smell like, and then keeps mental notes of that in case she encounters someone or whatnot. I've always looked at people who are able to do that in RP and be awed by it. It's such a cool quirk to have, and to be able to do it well is admirable.

I don't have a Miqo'te, but I've RPed with a fair few.

The most notable and numerous Miqo'te-centric emotes I tend to see is with their ears. Perking up when interested, laying flat when distressed, or even just twitching towards where a conversation is taking place. I've even seen a couple instances of discomfort or embarrassment where one lies flat to be scratched at while the other remains alert.

Beyond that, there's also cases involving tails. Lashing them when irate, settling them in their lap and petting them as a calming gesture. I've even seen one or two cases where some Miqo'te seem to have even greater control of their tail - wrapping it around their waist or moving it where they will and twitching it about. Which... kinda gets me to wondering how much control a Miqo'te has over their own tail.

Fangs, usually, only get mentioned in smiles - whether benign or not.

Good topic!

C'kayah's a silver tongued crime lord. Charisma was not his dump stat. His mannerisms have been practiced and polished in an attempt to let him more easily influence people.

He is also a Coeurl. According to Fates' wonderful guide, Coeurls have a particular focus on dance and body language.

I think the one certainly follows the other. Once he got into a position where he could influence people, the bodily self-control that he got from his Coeurl upbringing helped him to develop the techniques that would work for him.

Consequently, he doesn't do a lot of unconscious things with his body language. At least not around people he's not fully comfortable with. Every swivel of his ears, every lash of his tail, every time he grins and exposes the fangs that are the inheritance from his Moonkeeper grandmother, it's intentional.

But I do try to bring those things into my RP. I tend to play them down, since a lot of his body language is based on reading the people he's talking to and trying to have his body language be comfortable (read: "familiar"; "not noteworthy"). All the same, those parts are there and I use them.

When it's expository in the narrative, I'll emote L'yhta's ears and tail. They perk up when she's focused on something and wiggle when she's very interested, for instance. Her tail swishes back and forth when she's angry, pokes up in greeting or when she's intrigued, and hides between her legs when she's ashamed. As a matter of fact, this thread is a good resource for tail motions. I could probably do a better job at this, but I also don't want these sorts of emotes to dominate what's going on and get repetitive.

I generally don't RP anything sensory that's positive for L'yhta; a trait of hers is being imperceptive. By miqo'te standards, she's especially so. The one negative I do take is that she has relatively poor night vision.

As for physical characteristics, I RP her as being average for an adventurer, which in terms of balance and agility is probably below average for a miqo'te adventurer. She's wiry and quick, but that's mostly a function of the life; the musculature will come with all the walking and running around in the field, and if you're not fast, you're dead.

((To be honest, I'm not sure why this is a separate thread because the other thread was made separately, at least in part, with specifics towards the whole bodylanguage issues with Miqo'te being roleplayed as "just a guy with feline ears and tail" in mind. From... another thread. >.>; That is just my opinion though.))

When I did RP, and RP'd Kage as a miqo'te there were lots of issues. One of them was the fact that the character had to get used to being BIG TALL AND A TAIL. (I mean, going from like 3' to 5' is a difference.)

One thing that Kage found issues with (other than physical attributes) were sense. The sense of smell. So there would be emotes about it. There'd be other emotes also about ear movement and tail movement. The very occasional teeth. Lots of purring because at the time he was... well really happy even though it -really sucked to be him or his friends-.

But to be honest, like was brought up in the previous thread, most of those are placed in the way side or forgotten about when dealing with dialogue and story. The mindset was very much more about getting the story out then to describe every single detail and a lot of times those just weren't as important.

Oof. This seems like too nice a topic to designate to just miqo'te... But I digress.

One of my favorite miqo'te RPers is very tribal and expressive with it and I tend to like that. He bristles when meeting other males, is restless when sitting still, flicks his ears/tail/body parts around, will emote when he smells anything unfamiliar (and is careful to avoid godmodding it). I like it because it's unique to my experience, and conveys very well the quintessential lonely male Keeper experience.

That's all I got I think.

(01-28-2015, 12:55 PM)Kage Wrote: [ -> ]((To be honest, I'm not sure why this is a separate thread because the other thread was made separately, at least in part, with specifics towards the whole bodylanguage issues with Miqo'te being roleplayed as "just a guy with feline ears and tail" in mind. From... another thread. >.>; That is just my opinion though.))

The other thread is a bit more about doing it wrong, like, is not mentioning it wrong or not - I didn't want to derail the thread by asking in there how other people do their bodylanguage stuff with their Miqo's, even though it is related. 

I emote things like that when they seem relevant, like K'nahli's ears pinning down closer to her head when she is uncomfortable or unhappy like how you see in many animals, but I admit that I don't give these things a whole lot of thought. If it feels worth mentioning then okay, I'll go for it, otherwise it may just be an excessive detail. In the case of the ear example then it's obvious body language that can convey a message to those around her, so it serves a purpose.

I neglect to remember the heightened sense of smell at times and as for a tail and balance? Well, that's something that I imagine one would take for granted and not notice(as a miqo'te) so unless you're that person who RP'd turning from a miqo'te into something else then I don't see the point in mentioning it.



(Also I cannot take anyone who "purrs" as a miqo'te seriously. Someone did that recently in the Quicksand and I looked around for them hoping that it was just a manner of speaking and not an actual purr, nor a miqo'te using a pun of sorts, haha.... and it wasn't!)

(01-28-2015, 01:03 PM)Knahli Wrote: [ -> ](Also I cannot take anyone who "purrs" as a miqo'te seriously. Someone did that recently in the Quicksand and I looked around for them hoping that it was just a manner of speaking and not an actual purr, nor a miqo'te using a pun of sorts, haha.... and it wasn't!)

That's exactly how I do it when C'kayah purrs.

Quote:purr pər/

speak in a low soft voice, especially when expressing contentment or acting seductively.
"“Would you like coffee?” she purred"

(01-28-2015, 01:03 PM)K'nahli Wrote: [ -> ](Also I cannot take anyone who "purrs" as a miqo'te seriously. Someone did that recently in the Quicksand and I looked around for them hoping that it was just a manner of speaking and not an actual purr, nor a miqo'te using a pun of sorts, haha.... and it wasn't!)

The rolling of the r's that you see in some miqo'te portrayals and accents could be mistakenly identified as purring, it could be argued. Though... I guess that would be assuming your character verbally goes "rrrrrrrr" when pleased. Also, unless coeurl mannerisms are common knowledge wouldn't the entire concept of "purrs" be unfamiliar territory?

( All that said, and not to be too judgy but I've seen like, three too many miqo'te emote as having scratchy tongues. Not that I have any quote to dispute the biology, but it is probably a detail I need not know thank you ;_; )


EDIT:

(01-28-2015, 01:11 PM)C Wrote: [ -> ]

Quote:purr pər/

speak in a low soft voice, especially when expressing contentment or acting seductively.
"“Would you like coffee?” she purred"

Oh snap, I actually did not know this definition. Disregard my post.

(01-28-2015, 01:13 PM)Kinono Wrote: [ -> ]( All that said, and not to be too judgy but I've seen like, three too many miqo'te emote as having scratchy tongues. Not that I have any quote to dispute the biology, but it is probably a detail I need not know thank you ;_; )

But how are you supposed to know that when they lick your head that your hair is supposed to stick up and be all goofy!?

Also quietly seconding the idea of having a more generic body language thread. I wouldn't mind seeing how other Popotos play to their own unique traits, as well as Roes. Is there something that Roes often do based on their culture? I'm curious.

My characters purr pretty much in the quote C'kayah just gave. Even my Hyur!

As for body language and other things, I tend to follow the kitty tropes since they fit best. I also try to adjust based off the situations, especially with their ears. More often then not I default to the shifting back of the ears for when they're anxious or stressed.

I also love playing around with tails. Xelra loves to entwine her tail with her mate's when they're standing close to one another. She also does it with her sister on occasion, and for her it's a sign of affection and trust. Her tail is overtly sensitive otherwise so letting anyone touch it or come near it is a big deal for her.

(01-28-2015, 01:14 PM)Gegenji Wrote: [ -> ]But how are you supposed to know that when they lick your head that your hair is supposed to stick up and be all goofy!?

...Now I'm actually really surprised and sad and confused that I've never had a miqo'te lick Kino's hair like she's a little mewling kitten.

(01-28-2015, 01:21 PM)Kinono Wrote: [ -> ]

(01-28-2015, 01:14 PM)Gegenji Wrote: [ -> ]But how are you supposed to know that when they lick your head that your hair is supposed to stick up and be all goofy!?

...Now I'm actually really surprised and sad and confused that I've never had a miqo'te lick Kino's hair like she's a little mewling kitten.

I usually just get pet. Or loomed over creepily by someone who looks like they're cross-eyed.



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