/me emotes.

Emoting is the process of rping. Roleplay is a good writer's paradise. You get to hone your skills into genre, situation, gender, and a million over little details that you didn't know you needed to practice. Here is an example of one of my roleplays. It occurs in Hathian when Callie (my character) finds her long lost cousin (Sadie.)


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Callie Alderton stops at the corner and gazes over at the record store. A small frown creases the lines of her mouth as she looks down to the small snapshot in her hand. The snapshot itself is of a child, a few facts scrawled across the back. Her friend from back home was a detective - he had done all he could. Her uncles dying wish may actually be fulfilled in this moment. That is, -if- it was the same girl. She took one step into the lot tentatively, then two, and then approached the woman on the bench with a slight apprehension. Not out of fear, but rather of what was to come. "Hi.", she said quietly. "Are you Sadie?"

Sadesh Helendale looked up from her daydreaming and focused green eyes on the woman standing near her. She looked her up and down, regardling her in a cold manner. The woman had done too much in her time to just give up her name to some random chick so she lifted a brow in question and replied dryly, "Who wants to know?" She saw the photo in the woman's hand and it just served to grow the seed of aprehension she felt.

Callie Alderton followed her gaze to the picture in her hand. Her face gave an expression of remorse mingled with nervousness. "Just me." She had expected that perhaps she wasn't going to be welcomed with open arms - it was too much to hope for, especially in Hathian. "Here." She handed the woman the picture. It was of a young child that, despite the age, was undoubtedly Sadie herself. On the back was a birthday - Sadie's birthday, along with her current address and description.

Sadesh Helendale furrowed her brow and took the picture in hand, her eyes widening at the sight of something she had never seen yet, knew who it was right away. Had she not be trained to keep a level of composure when surprised, her mouth would have undoubtably hit the ground. She flicked her green gaze up to Callie for the breifest of moments before looking back down tot he faded snapshot and flipping it over. A date which meant nothing to her hovered over information that she found disturbing. The location of her and Tah's home. Her hand came to close to a fist over the picture, creasing it between her fingers and palm as she stood and hissed, "How did you get this?" Her immediate reaction was one of intense faer that she hid with her anger. Had she not killed the man all those years ago, had he lived? Was this woman somehow linked to him?

Callie Alderton saw the look on her cousin's face and could not help but feel painstakingly guilty. "Your father. About a year ago.", she said still in a low voice. "Your mom had it sitting on the mantle for ages before I made the decision to come find you." She might as well not leave anything out. She took out her pack of Malboros and looked up at Sadie. "Do you mind if I smoke?" She kept reminding herself to be extra polite - and some people didn't like cigarettes. She felt a little more at ease at the mention of her aunt who was, by nature, an incredibly soothing person.

Sadesh Helendale narrowed her eyes and shook her head. It was
obvious that the woman was fucking with her. Sadie had long ago given up the idea that she had ever had a family. If she did, they would have looked for her, they would have found her. They would have stopped him. She opened her mouth to speak and raised the hand which held the crumped picture up toward Callie, pointing her index finger at her for a moment before closing her lips again and shaking her head. The short onyx tresses of her hair flying back from her face as she started to stalk past the woman, tossing the picture at her feet as she moved toward the street.

Callie Alderton sighs as she starts to walk past her. "I'm sorry!", she blurts out. And she was - she could only imagine the thoughts running through her head. "I'm sorry.", she repeats, more quietly. Wheeling around, her hair splays out and then settles on her shoulders "I'm Callie." She was Callie, the cousin it looked like, as of right now, Sadie could never come to love. "If you need me...I...well, I'll be around for a while." The nonchalant and carefree facade that had been lifted ever so briefly now retook its place in her demeanor. "I know it must be a lot to wrap yourself around...but...", she trailed off and fisted one hand in her own hair. Turning towards the hospital she starts to walk off before looking over her shoulder. "They loved you so much. Just know that." She continued her stroll down the street.

Sadesh Helendale halted her steps at the woman's claims that her parents loved her and laughed quickly. The bitter nature of it suprised even her as she turned toe to look at the woman. Her eyes scoured the woman's retreating form before she called out, "If they loved me -so- much, they would have looked for me. Seems it was easy for you to do it. Here you are." her hand when to motion out to the picture on the ground, "That girl is dead." She kept a level gaze to the woman as she watched her, a frown tugging down at the corners of her lips.

Callie Alderton turns around again and presses on the corners of her eyes to stop any tears that may come. No need to make a fuss. "They tried. It took -me- this long to find you. And that was with help." Help from a very expensive private investigator that her uncle couldn't afford between cancer treatments. "If you want to know what happened..." What happened to her aunt, who couldn't take the pain living brought. To her uncle, who succamb to it. Her eyes took in the crumpled picture on the floor. "She may be dead. But I know the story behind the corpse." Callie was by no means a weak person. Quiet around those she didn't know, she was a strategist. And the strategy she took know was one of impassive compassion. If her cousin wanted answers, she would get them. But only when she was ready to ask.

Sadesh Helendale laughed low and smug under her breath and regarded the woman for a long time, one that would most likely make one uncomfortable before she spoke, "Doesn't matter if they tried. They failed." Everything she had ever experienced had a double edge to it. If she thought it was good, it always turned out devestating. Why would this be any different? Her only way of dealing with anything anymore was shutting down and not allowing it to sever the fragile hold she had on her sanity. Her eyes did crawl back to the picture again, half of her wanting to run back to it, uncrump it and stare at it's every nuiance, the ohter half wanting the ground to swallow it up and claim it so she could ignore it's meaning.

Callie Alderton grit her teeth at that. Such little faith in her own family, but what was to be expected with a past as dark as Sadie's? And with Hathian as your playground, its easy to see why everything would be tinted a shade of mud. "They died.", she said simply. "They died trying." She presses her lips together as if she said something incredibly vulgar, or divulged a secret to the opposing side. Despite her urge to make Sadie aware of her family, she didn't want to overwhelm her.

Sadesh Helendale shook her head and said quietly, "How do I even know who you are?" Arms came to fold under her breasts as she looked to Callie, "And why would you even give a fuck? No one around here does things without self serving motives."

Callie Alderton bit her lip before making eye contact. "My mother was your father's only sister. I'm your cousin Callie. And your dad was my favorite uncle." Shrugging her shoulders. "I have pictures, documents, all the proof you need. I came to Hathian to find you. I'm staying for reasons that are my own. Either way, it was your father's dying wish that you and your sister be found and helped. If you needed help. I give a fuck because, whether you believe me or like it, you're family. Simply seeing you're alive after what your mom and dad went through is enough motive for me."
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Sadesh Helendale 's face crumpled for one small moment at the mention of her sister. She kept that small, lifeless form tucked back in the corner of her mind. The very mention of her was something that could bring the woman to tears. Wait...no one knew about her sister but Tah. She'd never told anyone that she even existed. It was the one thing Callie could have said to convince her that she was who she said she was. She breathed out her sister's name, "Tali..." She looked down the ground to cover the film of tears that maanged to find her eyes, "Tali is dead. She's been dead for a very long time."

Callie Alderton felt her face contort in pain. One half of her mission was destroyed - she felt every twinge of misery her uncle and aunt would have felt. "I'm sorry.", she whispered. Furrowing her eyebrows together, she sighed heavily. "Is there anything you want to know?"

Sadesh Helendale continued her stare at the ground and breathed in deep. When she finally raised her head to Callie and steadied her gaze on her she knit her brows together and spoke up in a pained voice, "How did they..." she swalloed hard before going on, "How did they die?" She coudl almost smell the sickening sweet, pervasive scent of her sister's body curled next to her. The press of her cold flesh against her. She did her best to mantain her even breath but it would be an obvious effort to anyone looking. '

Callie Alderton shut her eyes tightly for a moment. "Your mother...she..took her own life. After they couldn't find you. About a year after you disappeared." She took a deep breath and continued. "Your father was diagnosed with stage three carcinoma on his lungs. He past away a few years ago. It was his last wish for you guys to be found...I've been looking since his death."

Sadesh Helendale looked to her right and stared off into space as she let the news sink in. She had parents...dead parents. She couldn't help the flood of images that came to dance across her thoughts, the many bodies that had claim her yound flesh far before her time. The slide of the knife into her kidnappers body when she could finally gather the courage to escape. The faces of the people who's life had ended short and terrifiing at her hands. She spoke softly, "Its better this way. They wouldn't have wanted to know me." She turned a hardened gaze back to Callie and bore eyes to her, "And you don't want to know me either." If this woman was truely her cousin, she'd spare her the pain of knowing that her relative was a murderer, a drug dealer and a gang member. Her hand came to rest over the new Rejects band that graced her arm as if she could hide what she was to her cousin.

Callie Alderton for the first time, smiled. Well, it was more like a smirk. "I think I'd decide that shit for myself." She saw the simple gesture of her cousin covering her armband and it all became clear. If she was worried about how she appeared, well, that wasn't a problem. She presented her own forearm forward - it was covered in trackmarks. Leaning down, she pulled up the leg of her pants, at which a bloodied wrench hung simply. "We didn't all take the road our parents would be proud of. I think that I'm more like you than you expect." Putting her hands on her hips, she digs her toe into the asphalt. Her cocky, lazadaisical attitude pushing forth with a vengeance. "My mother wanted me to be a singer or some shit." She laughed dryly to herself. "I'm a mechanic. Your dad's was the first engine I ever repaired." Her uncle was the only one who accepted the way she was. "Your dad was the coolest guy ever. He's adore you if you slit his throat. Don't ask me why he was so nice. I certainly didn't take after him there."

Sadesh Helendale let her eyes travel over the evidence her cousin presented and lifted a brow. her gaze lending itself to Dizzy for a moment before she looked back with a smirk to equal that of Callie's. If the woman did turn out to become a fixture in Sadie's life, she'd knock out whatever shit was making her arms look like that. Drugs were a weakness in her mind. Well, aside from weed that is. Despite Callie's insistance that she and her were more alike than Sadie expected, she traveled on the side of caution. Pressing her heel toward the ground, she moved herself closer. She let out a quick burst of laughter at her not being as nice as her father was, "Yeah, I think that little trait skipped us both." she still wasn't convinced of any of this, really. She had decided to play along for the sake of finding out more.

Callie Alderton shoved her hands in her pockets and grinned. "Glad to hear it." Rocking on her heels, she looks around. "This is the last place I'd expect you to be, to be frank. My friend is a P.I. - we figured the best way to find you was through your attacker. And since we had no clue who that was...we went through all of the sex offenders in the tri-state area. When he finally found the right guy...well...there wasn't much left of him when we got there. It's by fucking chance that we came across you. My guy happens to have another client here, which is how he came across you a few months ago." She seemed proud of her own detective work, rocking back and forth on her heels.

Sadesh Helendale let out a small snort at Callie and shrugged, "Came here with my boyfriend." It still felt odd to refer to Tah as her boyfriend. It was so new that she had no catagory for what they were, the term seemed to fit for now. A small smile formed on her lips at the thought of him, one she fought back down quickly. She still wasn't resting comfortably on their relationship. She would always remember how he had crushed her heart once. A heart that still had a lage Cyn shaped hole in it. She missed her friend but was more then relieved that she didn't have to see her face when she saw her and Tah together. She shook herself from her thoughts at the mention of her kidnapper, turning her eyes to look to Callie as she nodded. The worry that the man still drew breath was quelled. She noticed her cousin puffing up like a proud kid and laughed again, "How long are you sticking around here?"

Callie Alderton (aw's irl at the cyn shaped hole comment) grins. "Least you got a boyfriend, yeah? I'm don't think I'm the commitment type." Thinking about what was next for her in Hathian, she takes a moment or two to deliberate. She had refound Zane, got a pretty good job opening...there was a lot to consider. "I'll be here indefinately until I decide to pick up my shit and move. Found an old friend, and I'm working at the garage. Just tryin' to find my place here, I guess. I'm not really content with the powerless citizen status." Canting her head, she looked at her cousin before watching the street. "How long ya' been here?"

Sadesh Helendale shrugged her shoulder and spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "I love him." It was true. Water was wet, the sky was blue and Sadie would always be in love with Tah. Eric Blackburn, the baby...nothing had been enough to shake her feelings for the man. Again, she tucked back that smile and listened to Callie go on. If the woman proved of any use, she knew some people that could take her places. She smirked at the determination she heard in Callie's voice, it echoed that of her own. Maybe they actually were family after all. Time would tell how true her words would ring. She furrowed her brow in thought as she realized the ramifications of her being here, of what her affiliations might be, if she had begun to form any of them. "So, you only know me, this friend of yours and that's it?" she questioned.

Callie Alderton shrugs and smirks to herself. "Basically, yeah. Met a few people here and there that seemed tolerable. I'm better off not knowing a shitload a' people. Less of a chance to get fucked over. Less people that see you when you're vulnerable." Stretching her arms over her head, she grins at her cousin. "Less people that piss me off and I gotta kick their asses an' shit." She was a private person, even when she was being a team player. It was in her nature not to trust unless there was some kinda foundation. She ran her tongue over her teeth and surveyed the area again. On top of being private, she was paranoid. There was no such thing as too cautious when it came to saving her own ass.