power signalling
Kneeling.
Ordered to kneel as punishment or as a show of deference.
Shoved physically to the ground by hands on their shoulders, maybe a kick to the back of the knee.
Picking themself up off the ground but only getting as far as hands and knees.
Crawling because they haven't got the strength to stand anymore.
Dropping to their knees from exhaustion or despair.
Personal space.
Casually invading it.
Uninvited touch - from the deeply creepy to something as simple as a firm hand on the shoulder.
Standing too close - especially if taller or otherwise physically stronger.
Conversely, hurrying to get out of someone's way.
Eye contact.
Staring someone down. Who is the first to look away?
Averting eyes for one's social superiors. Trying to de-escalate by avoiding eye contact.
Too frightened or ashamed to look someone in the eye.
Insisting that someone maintain eye contact while you're talking to them. Insisting that someone never look you in the eye.
Singling someone out just by looking at them.
More generally, Attention.
The room falls quiet when they walk in.
Who cuts in, and who gets talked over. Ignoring those who are beneath your attention.
The excited attention given to the object of respect and idolization.
The careful, wary focus given to a potential threat.
Deliberately attending to something else to appear less threatening. Deliberately burying oneself in something else to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
Codified status behaviours.
Bowing to one's superiors. Bonus points if there are differentiated kinds of bowing for different status differentials.
Soldiers coming to attention when a superior officer comes.
Saluting. Who greets whom first?
Serving food in a particular order.
Standing up when a respected person enters the room.
Non-verbal threats.
Just resting a hand on a weapon, or perhaps even just near a weapon.
Cracking knuckles or rolling shoulders. Clenched fists. The little come-get-some-then life of the chin.
Stepping from a conversational stance into one that's balance for fight or flight.
Pointing a weapon at someone. Casually brushing aside a weapon.
Conversely, de-escalation and surrender.
Open hands, spread in front of them. Hands above head.
(Raised slowly, transitioning from the simple whoa-calm-down gesture to full on surrender as the situation gets tenser.)
Going still. Slow, careful movements being sure to keep hands where they can be seen. Laying down weapons.
Hands on head. Getting down on the floor. Deliberately making oneself vulnerable to prove non-hostile (or non-resisting) intent.
Alternately, deliberately showing "vulnerability" to demonstrate how little of a threat you consider the other person.
The slouch of villainy. Open posture, casual, relaxed in the face of apparent danger.
Casually putting weapons away or turning one's back, confident that they won't do anything.
Signs of fear.
Flinching. Trembling. Closed defensive posture. Tension. Backing away. Fidgeting. Lip-biting.
Arms hugged close to chest. Or refusing to lower defences. Checking for escape routes. Trying to insist that they don't come any closer.
Offer of or requests for help.
Extending a hand to help someone up off the ground. Reaching out a hand in silent plea.
Do they have to ask for help? Are they willing to accept it? Do they get a choice? Who has plenty and who has to rely on the other's goodwill?
Picking someone up off the ground. Carrying them. (Dropping them?)
Adjusting someone's clothes. Withholding aid.
credit:@just-horrible-things // @whetstonefires suggests:
A character can vastly expand their area of influence by laying a hand on a table, for example. If you're standing on opposite sides of a large table, and one of you puts your hand down, that can symbolically take you up into the other party's personal space in a much subtler and more deniable way than actually getting up in their face.
This can be used equally well to convey affection or threat.
