Cille-rp

How to flirt (In and Out of Roleplay)

This is a guide on how to play the game of attracting the desired sex. Whether you are roleplaying or in real life, I’ll try to make this guide as informative and helpful as I can.

First things first, self-pity is defined as “excessive, self-absorbed unhappiness over one’s own troubles”. 

From that, you can obviously tell that a character who constantly pities himself probably likes to bring a lot of attention to himself. However, you should probably establish a reason as to why he acts that way. 

Here are a few reasons you can use as to why he acts that way:

attention seeking (read more about it here), he could simply feel like he doesn’t have enough attention

likes to victimize himself (otherwise known as victim playing, here’s more information about it)

middle child syndrome (more information here)

Remember there could be a lot more reasons as to why somebody would do this, but establishing a back story to explain his behavior will help you play him consistently later on. 

Now, we can move onto how to play a self-pitying character:

he’ll constantly try to shift attention to himself;This happens a lot of time with many people, but somebody who likes to play the victim will always bring the attention back to himself. If somebody is complaining about their own problems, he’ll always find a way to make it seem like he has it worse. For example, if someone mentions that they fell and broke their arm, the self pitying character will immediately break off into a spiel about that one time that he fell and managed to break his arm in three different places. This can be applied to a variety of different circumstances, such as illnesses or things like going through a breakup, etc. 

he’ll complain, a lot;He’ll always find some way to mention that he has a killer migraine or that somebody was being unfair to him, or something. The complaints will obviously increase in amount and get worse if he doesn’t have as much attention. It doesn’t matter how small or big it is, he’ll mention it anyways and go on and on about how he’s absolutely suffering, in an attempt to play on people’s sympathy. 

he’ll over exaggerate to make things seem worse;For example, if he has even a small twinge in his head that’s a telltale sign of an oncoming headache? He’ll go on and on about how he’s constantly suffering from migraines and how horrible it is. If he’s especially attention seeking, he might just blather on about how he fears it’s some sort of cancer or other terminal illness. Another example could be if somebody is short with him or says something that can be taken in the wrong way. He may feel the need to complain about how people are constant treating him unfairly and that he’s really just a victim in all these situations. 

he may make things up;This is especially true if he already has a lot of things that are going great for him. He’ll make things up and victimize himself so others will feel sorry for him. It may be something extremely small or something huge, depending on how much attention they want. 

he may actually believe that he’s the victim in every situation possible;Probably worse than lying to victimize yourself, he probably does believe that he’s been wronged many times before. Will probably whinge and cry about it to anyone who’s willing to listen to him and complain that the world has something against him. 

he’ll twist things around to victimize himself;No matter what it is, he’ll find a way to turn everything into a pity party for himself. Even if someone, for example, is trying to blame him for something. He’ll probably just retaliate by saying how he was the one who was wronged and will probably try to validate it as well by either exaggerating or saying something like “well how can you blame me when I…” and then go on to list all of the things that he is ‘suffering’ from. 

he’ll probably mention himself a lot;Whether it’s something small or something big, he’ll probably feel the need to constantly make himself (and all the things that are ‘wrong with him) the focus of the topic. This is especially the case if he likes it when people are feeling sorry for him or if he has a lot of attention.

That’s all I can think of for now, so I hope this was helpful. If you need more suggestions or want me to elaborate, you’re welcome to come back and ask. Happy roleplaying!

Pick One (or More)

There’s no such thing as just drugs… in the general sense. There are several types of drugs classified by where they come from, what they do to a person, how they’re used, method of taking them, etcetera, etcetera. You have inhalants, cannabinoids, opioids, hallucinogens, stimulants, depressants, and I might even be forgetting some others. 

You have to pick what drugs this character is addicted to, because that is your frame of reference on how he takes the drugs, where he finds them, and what effects they have on him. A character addicted to ecstasy (an stimulant) may act different to one taking dimenhydrinate (an hallucinogen). Why? Because normally stimulants such as ecstasy elevate alertness and increase your energy, while hallucinogens cause alterations of thought, mood, or perception. And while it’s more common to take ecstasy by swallowing, the most common way to take heroin (a depressant) is through injections. 

So it really depends on what your character is looking for, and the access they have to the drugs. Depending on the setting, it may be easier for them to find, say, marijuana than LSD. Even glues, which is common to find because it’s an everyday object, can considered a drug when used the wrong way (inhalants). 

Yet another thing to think about is whether they’re only taking one kind of drug or several. Even drugs mixed with alcohol can be a dangerous, powerful, or plain bad experience. This chart of drug combinations might be useful for you, plus researching how drug x and drug y mix together. 

If you’re going for drugs like marijuana, methamphetamine, heroin, or cocaine, which are a few of the most common gangs sell/abuse, you’re going to have to research how drug dealing works and what it entails for your character. Remember the price of drugs varies on the quality and quantity, and pay attention to this, because your character might not be exactly wealthy. Drugs can actually come in small plastic bags, packages, vials, bottles—it depends on which you pick.

Drug Dealing

Resources: Writing About Drug Dealers

Tips On Writing A Drug Dealer

Character Type: The Drug Dealer

Here’s a couple guides I’ve seen on drug-specific addictions.

(Disclaimer: please don’t rely only on these. They’re starting points)

How To: Play A Character Under the Influence of Marijuana

Characters On Heroin

Heroin Addiction

How To: Play A Character High on Cocaine

How To: Play A Character High on Amphetamines

Drug Reference Guide: Magic Mushrooms 

Drug Reference Guide: Opiates

Drug Reference Guide: Alcohol

Research: LSD

Look at your Character

Your character is where everything starts. There’s no cookie-cutter way on how drugs affect people, and it really depends on your character. Your character’s background, where the need or reason for doing drugs comes from—this is why it’s important to develop your characters beforehand to researching the drug. 

Things like age, how much time they’ve been doing the drug in question, previous experience with drugs, matters, because they’re factors that could make your character’s behavior toward drugs vary. While you aren’t experienced with them, your character might be, and they’ll have to act as such. 

Another helpful tip is to research for first-hand experiences of people with the drug in question. They’re help you grasp how your character might feel than with just general information.

Information on Drug Addiction

Tips on Playing A Drug Addict

Miscellaneous

Research on: Rehabilitation Centres

Writing Withdrawal

Creating Fictional Drugs

Physical and Psychological Addictions

Character Development: The Addict

Valerie’s Masterlist: Drugs & Drug Addiction

Drug/Alcohol Use Links Post

Ah, manipulative people. Oh-so-fun to write, not so much fun when you encounter them in real life. Here are a few things you can implement when writing or roleplaying such a character.

Flattery

Manipulative people will often be incredibly nice and sweet to you, and shower you with compliments to get you to do their bidding; butter you up, if you will. Basically, manipulative people will can be the best friend you’ve ever had as long as that friendship gains them; and once they feel you’re useless to them, they will either be your worst enemy, or treat you like air.

Hidden agendas

Perhaps a manipulative person doesn’t have a hidden agenda when brushing their teeth, but it’s not unlikely for them to have one whenever they interact with others, and that they’re always thinking about ways to get their will through. Don’t pin what they do on chance, but instead consider the fact that there might be an underlying reason for whatever they do in the company of others—until proven otherwise.

Bullying and guilt-tripping

When flattery doesn’t work, manipulative people will often show a more negative side and turn to things such as bullying and guilt-tripping to get what they want. Instead of making you feel like the best person in the world, they will make you feel like the scum of the Earth; chewed on, spat out, and stomped on. Most likely you’ll end up agreeing to their demands; not because you want to, but because you have to.

Stealth

What makes manipulative people so tricky, is the fact that they’re usually rather suave and pretty good at covering their tracks. Chances are you won’t even know you’re being manipulated until it’s too late; if you ever notice at all. Don’t write the manipulation tactics as being used too obviously, but instead, try to slip it into the writing with a little bit of stealth.

That’s pretty much all I can think of right now, so hopefully you got something out of it. Here are some additional links you might find useful:

Character Trait Entry: Manipulative

Creative Writing Plot Ideas: Dealing With Manipulative People

Television Tropes: Manipulative Bastard

5 Behaviors of Manipulative People

I love witty characters and witty people, but I don’t really consider myself one of them. At least not a quick wit that can verbally spar with anyone at any time. But I do know people that can, and there’s a vast array of witty characters just waiting to be reference for writers.

I pride myself on having clever or witty characters, but I’m not as sharp as them. Some say that’s impossible, because they came from my head, right? Not entirely. Like any subject I write, it’s all about empathy and stepping into the character’s shoes. I’m not a dragon slayer, but I can research them and try to put myself into their shoes until I might as well be them. Does that mean I can slay a dragon should one show up at my doorstep? Hahaha no. But I can write it.

So I watch people who are clever and funny, and I see how it comes to them. I try to understand their thought process, and what brings them to that particular comeback. Much to my surprise and fascination, it’s absolutely different for each person. Place two people in the same situation, and they’ll have two completely different comebacks. There’s a million different varieties of wit, and a million different variables that lead them there.

I do the same with characters. How does the writer set up the comeback? How does it fit into the scene? What about their personality inspires that?

So I’m not a particularly quick wit — I have my moments, although they can’t be banked on. But if I sit in front of my keyboard and let it muse for a little while, I can come up with something sharp. If I let my character’s voice flow through my hands, they might pick it up fast enough that it’ll make me laugh. If I gather all the knowledge I can find from others, I might be able to replicate it myself, but even more strongly in my characters.

How To:

Write/play a character who is a rebel.

As a celebration for 300 followers, I’ve decided to write some guides on some of the most commonly misplayed characters on Tumblr - here’s one of them. We’ll be focusing on rebels. In this guide, you will see what the stereotypes of a rebel are, debunking the facts and myths of these stereotypes, some suggested personality traits that a rebel may have, some suggested backgrounds that will tell why they have taken to the “rebel” lifestyle, some FCs who have a “rebel” type look, and lastly, a playlist for characters who are rebels. Enjoy!

Note: I am in no way saying this is an end-all, beat-all guide on how to play rebel characters. I have simply done research and drawn upon my own experiences with rebels. If you feel you have a different interpretation on how a rebel would act, feel free to use that interpretation instead! If you have any suggestions or tips on how to improve this guide, shoot me an ask and I’ll do it right away!

Next, try watching some movies or TV shows with witty characters and pay attention to the dialogue and how the witty jokes are delivered. Some good ones to check out: (TV) Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Gilmore Girls, Firefly. (Movies) Oceans Eleven, Oceans Twelve, Oceans Thirteen, Juno, Iron Man, The Avengers, Pirates of the Caribbean, and also almost every comedy movie made in the 1950s, especially ones that star Cary Grant or Katherine Hepburn. Also, here’s a list of some witty movies, and here’s a list of some witty TV characters. Here are some links that look really helpful and might help you further: Kazza’s Guide to Writing a Witty Character

Basic Tips to Be Witty and Funny

Anonymous asked: How can I make a character that is a master manipulator and no one ever catching on unless the character reveals it?

Anonymous asked: One of my characters is very innocent when it comes to things like sex, alcohol, drugs, etc, despite being 17. How can I write him realistically without having him come off as if he has the mental capacity of a 5th grader?

The “bad boy” is huge in fiction right now, but we seem to have conflated the original idea of a bad boy with a list of domestic abuse signs.  This has caused somewhat of a backlash against anything even resembling a bad boy, but for those who enjoy the trope, there’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater!  Getting rid of the problems can be done without getting rid of the bad boy and the basic fantasy that he embodies.

There are so many different ways to be a bad boy, and it’s not necessary to have a character hit abusive highlights in order to have the appeal.  Try including or focusing on some of the following traits:

The tough-guy look is an obvious note to hit, and there’s no denying that there’s a certain appeal to tattoos and leather.  But there’s varieties in that, as well.  He doesn’t have to dress like a biker; a pair of well-worn jeans or a penchant for brazen belt buckles can do the job just as well.  A general rule of thumb: be more casual and/or blue collar than convention calls for.

No problem! Here are a few tips and links I’ve gathered for you!

Personally, I think you need to have a reason for the facade of being childish and cutesy. They could be childish only in public because they know that this person can bring them what they want. It’s hard keeping secrets in the roleplay because you want your partners to know the character well. But only write the cynical and manipulative as thoughts (in italics) during paras or just write self-paras. I’ve written a character like this before. And basically I use her innocent side as a character in itself. She puts on her makeup and dresses as an armour to protect herself. But when she is alone she takes off these performative things and becomes a different person. I also found certain people where she could be herself around, where this childish and cutesy syntax falls apart and she speaks with more advanced vocabulary and more complicated sentences. That way you can play with the difference in voice. I think it’s also a good thing to incorporate body language as well. By adding “bats eyelashes” or “pouts” or “shifts her weight”, you can easily add this childishness to the way the character works in public. You can also add clumsiness as a trait. I think it’s important that your character isn’t just being childish in order to get something. You can play it that they are always childish and it just so happens that by playing innocent and the victim they can get what they want easier. This means that you really need to figure out why they are being childish in public even though they are cynical and more than that. But this facade should be maintained throughout, or else the public will easily notice that they aren’t… really nice.

Here are a few links that can help:

manipulative tactics

Covert emotional manipulation tactics

9 common tactics of manipulators

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

How could one play a manipulative character- kgillsrpc

Character Development: The Master Manipulator- writingquestionsanswered

A Good Manipulative character- fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment

Jealousy is an emotion that most of us are familiar with and it sometimes drives us to act out of character.  Not one really wants to be jealous, but it’s something that happens from time and time—and it happens to our characters. Ignoring it or pretending that it doesn’t happen might make your characters feel too perfect or unrelatable.

Jealously isn’t necessarily a healthy emotion, but it happens, and it’s something we all have to deal with. Sometimes, however, jealousy drives competition between two people or helps you pinpoint what you want. There will probably be jealousy between your protagonist and antagonist because they might both be interested in something similar. They are always getting in the way of each other’s actions and they both feel like they are doing the right thing. The villain might be jealous of the hero because the hero has what the villain wants. The hero might be jealous of the villain because maybe the villain is stronger. If neither character wants what the other one has, your story will probably be very boring.

When people use jealousy in order to “dumb down” female characters, that’s when there’s a problem with it. Focusing on jealousy between two female characters over a romantic interest shouldn’t be the main point of your story. Acknowledging that these jealous feelings exist and having your protagonist deal with them in a healthy way is a much better way to tackle these issues. I don’t think this should ever be your main source of tension. There should always be more to your plot than two characters grappling with jealousy over the same person. You need to build your characters on something more than wanting what someone else has.

It’s unrealistic to assume that someone wouldn’t feel jealous if their love interest was being pursued by another person, but try to deal with it in an understanding way. Painting someone as “evil” because they want the same thing as you is often a bad idea.  Jealously works when it helps a character acknowledge his or her feelings for another person—for example, Ron Weasley didn’t really thought about how much he liked Hermione until she was with Viktor Krum. It helps reveal the inner most desires of your characters.

Understanding that it’s okay for your characters to be jealous, as long as you don’t let it shape who they are, will help you create more dynamic characters. This is a great way to use emotions to your advantage when writing and understand how emotions will affect the overall story.

I think everyone has an element of narcissism, but it can become extreme in some and is known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder. According to the NHS, NPD falls under Cluster B for personality disorders, associated with a struggle to relate to others and patterns of behaviour that most would consider ‘dramatic, erratic and threatening or disturbing’.

Note that NPD describes, not just a person whom is preoccupied with power, prestige and vanity, but also with personal adequacy. This refers to one’s feelings of self-worth to an extent, i.e. how they feel others view them. Only it’s not just a passing thought, like, ‘I wonder if they like me or think I did that job well…’ but more of a fixation that is fortified by their own feelings of self-importance. So, ‘I did that job very well. I can’t believe they wouldn’t like me or think the same!’

Symptoms

Or in more general terms, characteristics. Here is a condensed version of the same list on Wikipedia:

Strong sense of self-entitlement;

Strong need for admiration;

Lacks feelings of empathy;

Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others;

Jealousy of others, belief that others are jealous of them;

Arrogance;

Unrealistic expectations for special treatment;

Preoccupied with grandiose fantasies (attractiveness, power, wealth, great success).

Narcissistic people are utterly self-obsessed. They believe everybody else’s lives revolve around theirs. They’re high maintenance and difficult to be around and what’s worse, they can’t see why others are so intolerant of them. They have no consciousness of their own narcissism as they believe they deserve all of the wonderful and amazing fantasies they concoct, as well as believing their own self-praises and admiration whilst implanting the same beliefs into others; in short, they expect others to feel the same overwhelming admiration towards them as they experience towards themselves.

So my main tip would be to read up about NPD in general, and to try and think of people in your life who fit the criteria. I know of one or two, and in both cases, others around them couldn’t stand to be in the same room as them. Generally, they were tolerable at first, until their real personality shone through.

Resources

Information/Reference:

Mind: Personality Disorders

How to Spot a Narcissist

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Symptoms

Fictional Characters Who Are Narcissists

Guides:

How To Write Narcissistic Characters

Making Your Characters Behave: How to Keep a Narcissist Character Consistent

WriteWorld: Narcissism

I hope this helps…!

- enlee

More from the ask box:

As someone who has a family member with narcissistic personality disorder, I can say that list was very accurate but also I would add there is a controlling element as well— the need for others to do exactly as the person wishes— and anyone who does not believe their grandiose fantasies or do as they wish, is turned into a villain in the narcissist’s personal mythology. - Anonymous

What you described for NPD actually seems a lot closer to the definition of antisocial personality disorder (sociopathy). A better reference to look at would be the DSM-IV; one can find the diagnostic criteria and descriptive entry for the disease quoted online if they can’t find it in print. If you want a character to have NPD and not just total narcissism, case studies are a great way to get some examples of the types of behaviors that people with NPD show as well. - Anonymous

One thing I’ve always noticed is how some people find it amazingly difficult to write pregnant characters. A couple of months ago I wrote a full story about a pregnancy, and I did my research. So I might be able to help.

» Make sure you want to do this

Keep in mind that a pregnancy isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It takes doctor appointments, a lot of exhaustion, sickness and, most importantly, time. If you didn’t know, it takes about nine months for a baby to be born. That’s almost 275 days. That means that you should only go on if you really want to create a baby in your story, because you can’t skip too much time - it isn’t like the movies where in one scene the lady’s finding out she’s pregnant, and in the other, she’s already in labor. Here’s a tip: if you really want to make your characters happy and thrilled with the news of baby, but you can’t afford the time and sweat that it takes to cook one, you have from 21-23 weeks to write a miscarriage.

» Pre-Pregnancy

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the conception. Even if you don’t write any kind of smutty scenes, you should let the reader know when and where the pregnancy started.

Unprotected Sex: think about how you’re going to put this in your story. If your characters are usually responsible, they won’t simply forget wearing a condom. Think about what is going on: are they completely sane? Are they under the influence of alcohol? Are they high (which, I must say, wouldn’t exactly make your characters irresponsible - it would either get them too horny to care or even more responsible than they already are)? Or are your characters already drowned to each other in a way that they can’t think of anything else? Are they married and actually planned on having this baby? All of this will have an influence on how the pregnancy will flow, and how it will affect people around it.

» The Symptoms

Don’t think your character is going to find out she’s pregnant a week after the conception. It takes some time even for the baby to start, and if you remember biology classes, it’s not a simple process. It will take weeks, maybe months, for the woman to realize that she might be pregnant, and not all of the symptoms come in the first trimester. Usually, the first thing to warn her is that she is free of the devilish blood lost that comes once a month. Here are some symptoms that basically everyone gets:

Absence of Period: every women keeps track of her monthly blood lost, even if not strictly. Of course your character might find herself way too busy or stressed and that will cause her not to realize that it’s been a week, a month, two months without it, but, eventually, she will notice. From the conception until birth.

Small bleedings: sometimes, a woman might bleed a little when she’s in the first weeks or months of pregnancy. It’s nothing much and it doesn’t happen for too long; so it might cause some scare if she already knows she’s pregnant, or some relief if she was only suspecting. Either way, it doesn’t mean she’s not pregnant. It’s completely normal for a woman to bleed in her first weeks. From the first week until the end of the first trimester.

Cramps: every woman has it - which can also cause confusion if she doesn’t know she’s pregnant or is only suspecting it. As you may know, some people experience menstrual cramps before, during or after their periods, and the same happens during pregnancy. From the first week until the birth.

Breasts Increase: it might happen during the first few weeks, but after maybe one month, there will most likely already have a difference. A woman might notice something weird maybe not because they’re growing, but because they’re hurting. Your character’s breasts should get more and more painful at touch. As the pregnancy goes, they will continue to get bigger and bigger, and that might alert other people if she still hasn’t realized she’s got one in the oven. From the second/third week until birth.

Dizziness and Sickness: some movies make it seem like a woman can’t eat, smell or sleep through a whole night without throwing up. The morning sickness will come after some weeks, and it will be a pain in the ass, but not like the television shows. Sometimes it’ll be the middle of the night and your character will wake up to vomit, or it’ll be the middle of the afternoon. Of course she will have a regular time where she will feel sick (when I say that, I mean as around 8am, for example, she feels like she needs to throw up) and in some mornings she will have it, and in others she won’t. Another thing that also is a bitch to pregnant women is that some scents will make them extremely dizzy and even feel the urge to vomit. Remember that it will not happen with everything and your character can easily go through a meal without feeling a thing, and ten minutes later she will sense a perfume that will set her off; other women don’t even feel dizzy about smells at all. Usually from the first couple of weeks to the second trimester.

Stomach Swollen: not like a baby growing, obviously. All of the woman swells and her hands, finger, arms, everything will get bigger. It’s not like she’ll notice it when she wakes up, but when her ring starts to get too small, it’s because something’s not right. From the first couple of weeks until birth.

Urge to pee all the time: this is something your character will need to get used to. It doesn’t only start after she already has a big belly, actually; even from the first weeks of pregnancy, she already needs to go a lot more often than she’s used to, and with a big baby pressed upon her bladder, she’ll barely be able to hold herself together. From the first month to birth.

Tiredness: after a few weeks into the pregnancy, your character should get tired more easily and feel sleepy all the time. It’s not like she won’t have the energy to do anything, but if you’re writing a woman who is usually out in an adventure, she will get exhausted from something she’s used to do and sleep for more time and more often. From the first week to birth.

Cravings: for some reason, people think that cravings only appear after the baby starts to show. To be honest, it depends from woman to woman, but some feel the urge to have something even from the early weeks of pregnancy. Keep in mind that it doesn’t always have the be the weirdest things, but pregnant women aren’t intimidated by something most people would find disgusting. From the first/second month (might be only after the second trimester) to birth.

Change of taste and smell: a woman will become more critical of what she eats when she’s pregnant, sometimes even changing her palate. She’ll also develop her sense of smell, which might cause some dizziness. From the first month to birth.

Gases: don’t laugh. It happens to every pregnant woman, just as the peeing factor. There’s a baby pressing her organs, be nice. From the first couple of weeks to birth.

Mood Changes: it increases as the pregnancy goes on, but your character might experience it since the first weeks. That’s one of the things that will get people to notice how different she is. From the second to the third trimester, she could become so bipolar other people might not even stand being around the pregnant lady. From the first couple of weeks to birth.

Acne: don’t forget the hormones of a woman are all over the place when she’s cooking another human being. It’s the teenage years all over again. It can come in any moment during the pregnancy.

Baby Belly: this one is pretty obvious. The biggest thing to point out is that your character won’t start to show after a month or two in the pregnancy, no matter the whole “it varies from woman to woman” stuff. The baby will only start developing once it has formed organs and stuff, and that usually around the third month, in the beginning of the second trimester.

» Finding Out and Gender

This is something you and only you can define, but there are only a couple of ways for your character to find out she’s pregnant: she will either go to the doctor and be examined, or she will take a pregnancy test. Please keep in mind that pregnancy tests aren’t always right and even if they come off negative, your character can still mark an appointment with her doctor because, really, if she’s not pregnant and is presenting the first symptoms of it, something’s wrong and she must go the a hospital. There is a hormone called HCG, and it is what will tell the doctor if the woman is pregnant or not. There are two different types of exams, the Qualitative, which will only point positive or negative, and the Quantitative, which will not only say if your character is pregnant, but also how far along she is. The level of HCG doubles after 48h into the pregnancy, so the doctors recommend to only take the test after a week of being late, and sometimes a woman might need to do it twice. If the result shows below 50mUl/ml, there isn’t a baby, and until 100mUl, it isn’t determinate. Above it, the woman is pregnant. The gender of the baby will only be available after ten to twelve weeks, and that’s when most of the doctors can identify twins.

» Consequences

Getting off the technical pregnancy issues, you should go back to your story. Think about everything a baby means.

How is your character going to take the news? Sometimes, unplanned pregnancy isn’t welcomed too well, not even by the mother. Your character could easily decide to abort without a second thought or she might just go with it, even if she’s not exactly happy, because it’s her baby and she wouldn’t kill it for nothing in the world.

Think about the father: Is he a decent man? Does he have something going on in his life which doesn’t allow him to be a dad right now? Will she stick with the mother, even if it was just a one night stand, even if he isn’t happy about the baby? Will he be a complete asshole and push the mom to abort?

Think about what will happen to the baby: What if your characters don’t want to kill their kid, but also can’t be parents right now? There is always the option to give the baby away to someone who can and wants a baby. Or what if your characters do abort? Or the woman has a miscarriage? There are different ways to run from an unplanned pregnancy, such as there are ways to make it work. Okay, so maybe the baby wasn’t planned. Maybe it’s what came from a drunk one night stand between two people who hate each other, but it’ll bring those two together. Always create a pregnancy with a reason in mind. There’s not need to get a woman knocked up just for the sake of it.

How are they going to tell the news and how it will affect people around them? A baby isn’t only the responsibility of two people. Don’t forget that this baby has grandmothers and grandfathers, and maybe an uncle, or a borrowed aunt. What if the place where the mother works can’t have a pregnant employee? What if the father is engaged to someone and just found how he’s gonna have a kid? I don’t think a fiancée is fond to the idea of sharing her husband-to-be with a mistress and a baby who isn’t even hers. 

» Abortion, Miscarriage, Stillborns and Teenage Pregnancy

I needed to touch the subject. I’m so sorry to whoever gets triggered with this kind of stuff, but… It can happen.

Abortion: not all countries allow it. For example, I live in a country where the clinics only perform abortions in people who will die from the pregnancy or who were raped (I think there’s something more, but.) Do your research. If the story is going on in the country you live, it’s easier because you know how the thing works. Don’t think abortion is the simplest thing to do. If you’re getting your teenage character an abortion, please notice that most clinics would need parents’ consent. So your girl would end up in an illegal clinic and God knows what can happen from there. As it varies from country to country, it needs proper research.

Miscarriage and Stillborns: a baby dying is only considered miscarriage if it happens until around the sixth month (23-24 weeks.) After that, a baby who dies inside the mom is called a stillborn. Miscarriages vary from woman to woman, and it’s more likely to happen during the first trimester, which is why your character shouldn’t get too focused on building a nursery or anything like that during that time. Your character might bleed the fetus all at once or at different times (it could even take a few days), which, during the first trimester, could be easily confused with the normal bleeding. After the third trimester has begun, a baby who dies is a stillborn, and your character might not even notice it if the baby doesn’t usually kick or move much.

Teenage Pregnancy: a pregnancy is already complicated between two married adults, so imagine between two teenagers who don’t even know what they’re doing. A baby around that age affects a lot more than an adult, not only because neither the girl or the boy are ready to take care of another life, but also because there is school, the social pressure, the parents and the risks. Teenage pregnancies have more risk on miscarriages than normal, so if your character actually wants her baby, she better lay down and take care of herself really well. When you’re writing a, I don’t know, sixteen year old girl getting pregnant, think about yourself when you were sixteen and how frightened you would be. Someone around that age can’t even take care of herself alone, so she needs the support of other people. If the father isn’t willing to compromise (which is more likely to happen if he’s older or the same age, because a baby at a teenage age can ruin the chances of chasing dreams and going to college or whatever else), your character needs to find other people. Don’t try to create a tough girl who can do all of this by herself, because she’ll need to be a lot extraordinary not to break down. She won’t be able to go to school if she doesn’t have people to take care of the baby, and later college, and later work. Teenage girls are scared of taking care of another life, so the parents are a wall of support she can have. Don’t shut her down to friends and family.

» Labor and C-Sections

So you’ve gotten this far (let me applaud you, because damn.) Your character has survived nine months of making a baby and it’s time for her to pop.

Going Into Labor: the first thing that will happen to your character when she goes into labor is her water breaking. She might spill a lot of water or just a few drops, which might not alert her very soon, but - believe me - she will notice when the contractions start. A woman can bleed a little when she’s going into labor either because she’s already too dilated or because the water broke with a little bit of blood spilling, it doesn’t mean much. The contractions should start when the water breaks, and they’re painful as f*ck. Some women describe labor as the worst pain they’ve ever experience, and just a few can’t even feel the contractions until they’re too close and the baby is almost coming.

Labor: I’m not going into details because what you should know is what you learned in health class and if you want that scene to be described really well, you do your research. What you need to know is that once a woman goes into labor, she’ll start getting contractions which are basically her body making path to the baby. It might be the most painful part of the process for some people, but once a woman is settled into a hospital and is dilated enough, doctors will give her a shot that will relieve the pain. Finally, when your character is 10cm dilated, the final process will begin and it’s time for the famous pushes and stuff. I would recommend someone to be with your character because, honestly, it will hurt a lot and she will need someone by her side in case of any complications or anything like that. Labors can variate from just a couple of hours to days (some women take a long time to get the 10cm dilated).

C-Section: your character can choose to have a C-Section if she doesn’t want to go through the pain of the natural birth, so remember that if you want her to do that, she should book a date with the doctor. It can also be arranged if there are any kind of complications either for the baby or for the mom (like, let’s say the umbilical cord is wrapped around the little one’s neck). It is more risky for the baby if there wouldn’t be any problems with the natural birth, so your character will be warned if she chooses C-Section just so she won’t feel pain. What happens during the procedure: your character won’t feel pain because she will be anesthetized from the waist down, but she will be awake to hear the baby crying and even hold it in her arms.

Includes personality, lifestyle, and body and health tips, typical habits and stereotypes, swimming terms, information about swimming over the past few years, possible gif chat starters, and some additional resources to check out.

Note: this is based off of personal experience and stereotypical swimmer lifestyles. Please like/reblog if this helped, thank you!

GUIDE ON HOW TO PLAY A MALE STRIPPER/EXOTIC DANCER as requested by tinchorps