Playing a very bold MC, his response was like throwing ice water in her face. I tried it with a slightly less bold MC and she had the same response, thinking he’s not at all interested.
I mean, I compare it to F’s patrol scene, where they imply they want to make out to pass the time. Maybe that’s not what they had in mind, but it’s a cute, flirty moment where it’s clear they’re interested. With N… I don’t have a save anymore with a bold character, so I’m operating on memory here, but N isn’t flirting back when the MC makes almost the same suggestion in the same way as F did in the patrol scene, he’s just like ‘nope, i’m not interested in that’.
So it ends up feeling like they’re nicely telling you to fuck off, that they aren’t interested in you that way and ‘want to get to know you better.’ Which, typically, means you’ve just been friend-zoned. Otherwise, you get a response like you get from F, which makes it clear that they’re hot for you but don’t want to rush it.
I guess that’s the difference–bolder characters don’t think he’s responding positively at all, and I get that. I get it from a shyer MC’s perspective since, like I said above, he seems to be a bit less iffy about it all and seems to try to make it clear he’s interested. But a bold character with him just doesn’t work without forcing it (whereas with A and M, it’s fun as hell to put a bold character with them).
Somehow, F manages to convey that better than N, meaning it’s still clear to a bold MC that F wants them, they just don’t want to rush. With N–I think you may be right, it’s just too subtle, at least for the bold MCs I use for TWC. With a shyer type, N’s just fine (and Nate is really perfect for Wolfe because she’ll never be bold with emotions or with sex, though she’s bold in every other way).
Just to make it clear, as a reader I like N, and find the character refreshing. In real life, however, I’d have friendzoned his ass pretty quick, because I don’t do subtle and completely miss it when someone is subtle with me.
