You could do something with character callbacks. It lets you add functions that run anytime a certain character speaks.
init python:
def Dialogue_Gap(event,pause=0.0,**kwargs):
if event == "begin":
renpy.pause(pause)
define delay_showing = Character(callback=Dialogue_Gap,cb_pause=0.75)
label start:
"It was quiet."
delay_showing "Too..."
delay_showing "Quiet..."
You could also make it apply to multiple characters at once using config.all_character_callbacks if you want
init python:
def Dialogue_Gap(event,pause=0.0,**kwargs):
if event == "begin":
renpy.pause(pause)
config.all_character_callbacks = [Dialogue_Gap]
define delay_showing = Character(cb_pause=0.75)
define b = Character("Show Talkin' Bob",cb_pause=1.5)
label start:
"It was quiet."
delay_showing "Too..."
delay_showing "Quiet..."
b "Hi"
And if you if you want it to apply to everyone by default, you can change the "pause" parameter to be something other than zero.