Infatuation in short LARPs

[alexxkay]

Question for discussion among my LARPing friends:

How do you play infatuation, especially in younger characters, in a 4 hour LARP?

In Celebration, I was a high school junior who had a crush on half the female cast. I remember vividly how I handled that in real life, but it was almost entirely internal, or approaching the objects of affection in very oblique ways. Not the sort of thing that gets easily noticed in 4 *weeks*, much less hours.

I can do the visbly-blush-and-stammer thing when a "target" player walks by, but, just as in real life, the girls don't ever seem to actually notice. Is there some method I'm just not seeing to convey the emotion, short of extreme self-parody? Or is the right answer to just embrace extreme self-parody?

Comments? Suggestions?

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

I've found, the shorter the LARP, the more I have to play things as a caricature, because the less time you have to get your point across. Still, a single glance, or an offhand mention thrown into a conversation -- or even a Freudian slip with the person present -- can be enough to give insight into the relation, and then you never have to mention it again.

I guess I also try stick indications of my character's relations with someone into interactions with *other* people, because in a small LARP it *will* get back to them, or they'll overhear you...e.g., I "accidentally" talked about A___ a number of times as if I knew her to people, even off-handedly calling her "mom" once to someone who had no clue what that could mean; but someone nearby heard, and took the hint well.

Also, the point of infatuation with a person is not necessarily just to about *them*; it's about everyone you both interact with. E.g. Kevin's infatuation with Sarah affected my character, despite me not being involved with either of you in a romantic way. Your reactions there were definitely useful to help me roleplay...