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Old 08-22-2003, 01:40 PM   #9
Maggie
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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If humans could always read the emotions of the people around them, I think it would get rid of a lot of problems in the world.  Actions and facial expressions aren't universal, even when you're only dealing with one species.

I don't usually mind seeing an emote that indicates the general state of mind for the character, but I think it's more realistic to describe the action and leave it open to interpretation.  

An example (which is probably not a good one) would be having a charater walk into the room and another character looks at him, grows pale, looks at the floor and shudders slightly;  the interpretations could be:

The person could have reason to believe the one who entered is a danger.

The emoter could be coming down with a virus that has nothing to do with the person who just entered.

The person who entered could be physically disgusting to the one using the emote.

The person emoting may see something on the floor totally unrelated to the one who just walked in.

There could have been a relationship between the two, and the response could be an attempt to handle grief, embarrassment, fear or any number of other emotions brought on by the end of it.

There are several other ways the same actions/reactions could be interpreted, and I think that only comments or future actions should clarify exactly what the character is feeling.
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