Shared Wonderlands

[Ember.Vesper]

I don't think Lance's first impression was wrong, Reilyn. What you're doing sounds very much like what roleplaying can be if everyone is committed and trusting and emotionally open. It's the emotional engagement that makes the scene real. I find it a lot easier to tune out meatspace using speech rather than text, but that may be because I'm a lot more familiar with in-person interaction.

 

Vesper mentioned in our last PR that taking turns in intentionally structured conversation was the best exercise we've ever done together. It hadn't occurred to us to include the idea in visualization practice.

 

-Ember

[Ranger]

Cat and her bro have kind of a shared wonderland I guess when they role play. It's a combination of multiple wonderlands, and depending on what the RP is about determines what the shared world is like.

 

I have trouble participating because Cat will kick me out by accident, but also because I'm like this weird insider who got caught in the middle of things.

 

Sometimes the shared wonderland feels more realistic than when Cat tries to visualize me, but now that I think about it, visualization has never been an issue during an RP session.

 

For privacy reasons, I won't talk about what happens in the RP, but it's entertaining to watch. I like it when Cat thinks about her "story ideas" too because the visuals are the same in terms of quality. We believe these "story ideas" are Cat naturally hypnotisong herself though, but I think something similar happens in an RP.

[Guest Reilyn-Alley]

Oh! I forgot to add that something which made a difference for us (we tried it both with and without) when Lance and I were trying the intra shared wonderland experiment was we still took the time to dictate our actions to each other. It was done the same as the text version with an outside person just.. without the text or computer or outside distractions stifling immersion. Basically, we were co-authoring a scene to each other, in as much surface detail as we wanted to, in order to help the other person really envision what was going on.

 

So, as an example, I want to give Lance headpats and tell him he means a lot to me. We describe events in either detached mindspeak or full-on mouth-moving talking in wonderland, if that doesn't seem too silly. This may vary between systems and even current mood and level of immersion what seems best. It might have gone something like this...

 

(In mindspeak, or even doing mouth-moving talking in wonderland if that doesn't seem too silly, I dictate: I walk up to you and crack a smile, bring my right hand up to give several loving headpats to your head. I meet your eyes and say with a conviction-

 

Then I definitely say this part out loud. "We are in this together to the end, little bro!"

 

Maybe I finish up with a firm pat on the shoulder or something, specifying which hand and how hard. 

 

All that gets my actions across pretty well, I think, gives him a lot to work with to fill the gaps of imagery and makes it easier to focus. It's also a bonding experience because hey, I wouldn't have said it, let alone gone into caring detail if I didn't mean it and besides, we have little problems conveying emotions to each other and experiencing those so now we have a whole detailed experience the feelings. Imo, sounds a lot better than just a faint visual image of me headpatting and speaking. Detailing the experience even makes me think about it deeper and express myself easier. It's a great exercise for both of us in several ways.