One thing that I have wondered for a while is about the use of narrative in RPs, especially ones which are biased or in first person. What I mean by narrative is usually the grey text that describes everything that somebody doesn't say, but are they saying it?

For example, take this:

e.g Someone RPing against me Said:The room was bland and boring, lacking any sort of creativity or imagination on the designers part. It was nearly as fucking boring as Tush. Then, mother walked into the room.

"Hey, mum."

"You were always a fucking disappointment."

"Aw."

Now as you can see, this guy has clearly slipped some trashtalk into the narrative/story, but is it really his/her trashtalk? Because I wouldn't want to fall into a trap of quoting this and replying to it in an RP to then get destroyed because of quoting something that isn't actually said, but merely a description. Is the roleplayer saying this?

(02-17-2016, 06:26 AM)Rebel Star Said: Well, I'd probably say that you could refer to the topic as addressing the narration or voiceover. Either by pointing out that you heard it as a voiceover on whoever's promo or had the narration printed out and go from there.

Yeah, I guess. I was just wondering if there was a universal rule when it comes to these.

It's a tricky situation. People who use the narrative to insult people have to be careful not to accidentally let the narrative shots cross over into OOC, and also remember that some people may see certain types of narrative shots as OOC and take issue with it even where others did not, but I've seen a lot of people who are able to use the tactic very successfully.

As for how to address those kinds of narrative insults when they happen TO you, you're correct that you have to be careful how you respond because if you end up responding how your opponent hoped you might, they could already be waiting and ready to use it against you and make you look crazy or stupid. There ARE a couple of safe, almost surefire ways to react and address such things without falling into a trap, but I don't like to give too much away. Think outside the potato sack and it may come to you.

I generally just go on the rule that if it's in the rp it's fair game, which means so is your response to anything that your opponent calls you on, so long as you don't go OOC as Shane mentioned. Unfortunately its really easy to do without even realizing it so there is definitely a fine line.

Alright, thanks for clearing that up guys.

Sweet, my favorite trick finally got brought up as a potential problem.

I think that the safest way around it is to counter with the same tactic. Do what they did, but better. No one ever said that trash talk has to be words spoken by the character.

Personally, I think uou'll look kind of silly if you quote a piece of trash talk that's disguised as a scene description. I wouldn't try it unless I'm feeling like a total bad ass. I'm not saying it's impossible to do, but don't be surprised if you fall into your opponent's trap and they tear into you about it.