Today was my first day back in it for a while. It had been a LONG time since I'd opened someone - after a decent run of having girls to fuck that did not require any opening and then about 5 months of low confidence.

I'd got into my head a pretty negative thought pattern of - 'I am going to fail - I shouldn't bother opening' - so I went out with the aim/question:

Will opening (and failing) three times make me feel better about myself?

Short answer yes - here are the details (which I would very much appreciate thoughts on):

HB8 Lone Wolf browsing old books on market stall

I walk over to her:
Me: So - are you a writer too?
Her: LOL - no
Me [Slightly Panicing]: Oh - so are you just browwsssinnggg?
Her: Yeah - my boyfriend likes illustration [shows me a page from the book she's looking at]
What does this mean? And how should I react?
I think I went silent for a little bit - not sure what to do.
Me: Don't you love the smell of them?
Her: Yeah - it smells so comforting.
Me: Would you buy a perfume?
Her: No - not right now.
Me: No! I don't mean right now. I mean would you buy that book sent as perfume? I'm not just walking around randomly selling perfume.
Her: LOL - ummm - maybe. I love the smell but I'm not sure I'd like to smell like it.
Me: I don't know. It smells nice though.
Could I have done something more here? Been slightly sexual: "I don't know - if you/someone was wearing it and I came up and inhaled it - I'd be like WOW that person smells so comforting/wise/whatever"
Her: So do you write?
Me: Ha - No.
Her: So why did you ask me if I write too? So random.
I perhaps stupidly controlled the urge to be forward here - "because I thought you were beautiful and I wanted to talk to you" was in my head
Me: I don't know. For fun.
Her: Haha OK.
Me: My mum is a writer though.
Her: I don't think that's the same.

More fluff and 30 seconds of silence - then she said "Well have fun with the books". Goodbai.

INTENSE HB7.5 in 3 set with GREAT shit testing skills

This was a fascinating experience - saw 3 decent girls (HB7.5 the hottest) standing near a caravan serving mexican street food (part of a major food chain) - looking at the stall.

I walk over.

Me: Hey - I just wanted to check you're not going to eat here.
Them: What??
Me: I represent the society for Authentic Mexican Food. Mexico pays me to go around and stop people eating Mexican food from chain restaurants.
I have a dumb smile going on - they know I'm just talking shit.
HB7.5: Oh really!
Grabs my hand lower arm and walks me over to the counter where they are serving the food.
Me: Shit - you're good.
HB7.5 (To man behind the counter): Guess what he [me] just said to me? He has something he wants to tell you.
Me - quickly trying to work out how to flip this madness: She told me she thought you were really cute and she wanted me to tell you.
HB7.5: I did NOT say that! He said that this wasn't authentic Mexican food.
Man behind the counter - probably confused as fuck: Did you say that?
Me: No - she said that.
HB7.5: No - he said.
I think we rabble for a little longer. She walks over back to her friends and I go with her.
HB7.5 (to friends): Guess what he said when I told the man what he told us - He told him that I had feelings for him.
Me: It was pretty good right. You were good too. I had to flip the script as much as I could.
HB7.5: Yeah - it was good.
Quasi awkward but slightly goofy silence.
Them/HB7.5: So did you just come over to tell us not to eat here???
Again - I held back being forward. I wanted to say "No - I thought you were cute/hot" to HB7.5 - but I've always been scared about being forward - which I think is something I need to change. Do I???
Me: Ummm - yeah. Goodbye.

Third encounter was dry. Not worth mentioning. But doing my three 'fails' made me feel great by the end of it.

So both situations had a similar theme where I held back being forward/saying the girl was good looking - is that something I should do? I've never really done it in the early stages of talking to girls before?

I feel like my LACK of being forward turned two quite interesting hellos into weird spots - where as if I was forward they would have made more sense. He is a little weird - but he thinks I'm hot - so he came over to talk. Which is less weird than just being weird for no apparent reason (I think?).

Thanks very much for any help.

I completely agree. It looks to me like you have fun and humor and conversation skills. But it also looks to me like you are a little lost.

In example 1, she stated she had a boyfriend. Why did you continue? Or you could have teased her about it. If you had been more sexual, she may not have mentioned the boyfriend.

It sounds to me like your tone and ideas are too casual. Not sexual enough.

In example 2, you started a funny roleplay, and your response was also humorous. But you either A.) Should not have let her take you over to the counter or B.) Not let her take you back to the table. You let her take over, and when you still didn't hit on her, she asked you that question that made you freeze up.

It sounds to me like you are in a stage of just practicing with women. I myself never really went through this stage, since I get most of my hookups through being a dancer. There is nothing wrong with what you are saying or doing--it's just that you are getting the results of someone who is trying to get more comfortable with women. Since you really want to have sex with them, being funny and bantering is conflicting with what you really want to do.
This is what I mean. You are focusing too much on "opening" instead of actually having sex with women. Trust me. I went through this stage, and women were all very awkward to me, and little came of it. I actually stopped getting laid regularly because of it, and it also messed up how I was doing as a dancer.

Here is a little game to try--just go very direct.

Make eye contact with a woman (this helps) and then walk straight up to her and say something sexy, like, "Hi. I wanted to tell you that you have gorgeous skin." Few men have the balls to say something like that. You will get rejected more often, but that is normal--you cannot get every woman.

Oh and I should mention that since you are in London, it may be more difficult to get eye contact. But I find that this drastically increases success. After all, you and the woman are starting a seduction, it's not just you hitting on her.

Hey Horrifying,

Thanks for your post. A super deep and correct point that was way outside my train of thought.

Used your thinking over the weekend and had far better results - and made far better connections with the girls I talked too.

Thank you homie!