Subtleties and Subtext

[Wyvern]

So, something that hit me the other day: We're all playing characters that are significantly better at picking up subtext and implications than we, the players and GM, actually are. So, I'd like to suggest that, when such is included in a post, you consider taking a moment to OOC spell out what your character is actually getting at.

For an example, consider the post here. I happen to know that Asai meant to imply that she was troubled by the whole thing with Odin - but the comment gets completely misinterpreted, the context lost, and the conversation just goes very, very sideways.

Of course, we don't want to overdo this; someone with a high psyche, trying to be subtle, might easily forget that not everyone can pick up on things like "It might rain today" being "obviously" a code-phrase for "I'd like to purchase some sheep" (or whatever; insert your own silly example here.) Sometimes subtext is better left as subtext. You can also use PMs or the like to negotiate with someone, figure out which bits of subtext their character might pick up on, or miss, or even misinterpret. Etc.