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Post subject: Characterization  Posted: December 18th, 2010, 5:30 pm |
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Joined: 19 October 2007
Posts: 1359
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Gender: Female
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Characters: old, young, wise, rash, bold, shy, amiable or downright intolerable.
I wondered what everyone's opinions on what their favourite traits are, how they like to keep their characters believable, and what they tend to avoid when fabricating people. Pet peeves? Little details that 'make' a character jump out of the screen saying “Look, I'm a real boy”?
Character interactions. Rivalry? Jealousy? Love? Friendship? Blood ties?
Personally, I have a love of discontent and/or insecure characters. I find that I enjoy using them more than others because they've got so many layers of thought. Imperfections, I'd say, make a character much more than their strengths do.
I also must say that I adore nothing better than a good rivalry or bit of jealousy, just so long as it's done properly.
Subtlety is something I use quite a lot. A choice of phrase in what the character says that either reflects their personality, or refers to something within the RPG itself.
What do you think? 
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Post subject: Posted: December 18th, 2010, 5:38 pm |
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Joined: 18 October 2007
Posts: 4502
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I think it’s really important for charries to seem as real as possible.  During my time as an RPer, my charries have kind of developed lives of their own, if you know what I mean? =D They start taking over, telling you how they should be.  I discover their annoying habits, their likes and dislikes, etc. Little things can really build a character up. Like for instance, one of my POTC OCs, Eve, is forever digging her fingernails into the palms of her hands whenever she’s nervous, and Guinevere tends to blush when she’s angry or embarrassed, and her eyes go round when she’s mortified.
I like imperfections too. Also, sometimes when there’s something to dislike about a character, – like Gardenia in Freedom! – that’s good. Think about Gardenia; she’s not the most likeable of people, is she? Trotting around after a tyrant all day long, desperate to please him. But then she’s a very human charrie. She’s consumed by unrequited love and fears, more than anything, failure.
Rivalry and jealousy is also terrific. To me, it’s one of the most important things in a story. Love triangles, especially. As all my fellow POTC RPers know, I love a good love triangle 
I’ll probably do some more ranting in a bit, but for now this is it
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~~Siggy by Lembas~~
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Post subject: Posted: December 19th, 2010, 9:16 am |
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Joined: 10 January 2008
Posts: 2443
Location: Going to Hell in a Handbasket
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Post subject: Posted: December 19th, 2010, 9:52 am |
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Joined: 19 October 2007
Posts: 1359
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Gender: Female
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^ Just a little bit. Part of me misses the old days when our ideas of an exciting post was three lines of character interaction and scenes so full of drama there wasn't room for much else, another part of me loves the style of roleplay I've gained since then.
Talking of Supernatural, Leena! Crikey, I've not thought about her in a while. Angst and a half, that one...
You know, thinking about it, I started Supernatural at about twelve or thirteen. Jeeeeez, that's one terrifying thought. Been at this roleplay stuff for a while, eh?
I love that characters seem to have a life of their own now. Characters that have a sense of self are not only much easier to write for [a reason I don't like writing for others: reading about them is one thing, understanding them completely is entirely another] but they're much more fun to write for. It's like watching a drama unfold rather than actually writing it yourself.
Also, does anyone reread old posts and wonder how the hell you thought of details and such? I see my previous stuff, especially for ongoing roleplays, and I wouldn't even recognise that it's me if it wasn't my characters/under my username...
@ Goldy: I know full well how much you like your love triangles. Even as a fourteen year old schemer you loved them.
I don't mind romance too much, but I don't think some roleplays call for them. Science fiction in particular, I think, should focus more on the plot/the characters rather than interaction. It's important, but the whole point of science fiction is to explore stuff that science says is impossible/unlikely, and littering those RPGs with lovestruck characters isn't very... well, science-fictiony.
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Post subject: Posted: December 29th, 2010, 10:35 pm |
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Joined: 04 January 2007
Posts: 1939
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Okay, my first real character is probably my namesake. Maethoriel is also, coincidentally my least human (in terms of morality) character. She legitimately doesn't care what is going on. If it benefits her she'll do it and if it happens to benefit someone else then okay. I'm a big fan of quirks and turns of phrase that make a character stick out.
Honestly, in RPs other characters (and probably writers) hate her which is the point for me. She's not likable and that suits her just fine. Although, in the current RP she is growing in the way that she's actually picking a side and going against the flow which is certainly fun for me to write.
And for me it is kind of like Andrea for you Lothy, there are so many things that make her 'her' I just can't really describe.
Although, with pirates I'm currently learning that a lot of insecurities are fun to play with as well. I mean, my current favorite female character is just a ball of them mixed together to form a rather dysfunctional human being.
_________________ Heavens no. Hell Yeah.  Set 1: Nurr | Set 2: Me
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Post subject: Posted: December 29th, 2010, 11:33 pm |
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Joined: 13 June 2007
Posts: 8115
Location: Asleep Somewhere... Anywhere
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Ooo, love this thread! <3
~Goldleaf~ wrote: During my time as an RPer, my charries have kind of developed lives of their own, if you know what I mean? =D They start taking over, telling you how they should be.
It might sound bizarre but that is all too true. When creating a character they just... speak to you. As you RP them and stuff they take control... and it's a beautiful thing. 
I gotta say, unconsciously I think LOST (the tv show) has, to some degree, influenced the way I create characters. Like those in the show, I want characters who are scarred/insecure/broken and I want to explore that... explore why that happened, what drove them to do unspeakable acts... and, most importantly, explore the good that can come from even the worst people (ie Henry sacrificing all he had/his honorable position to help his sister). I think everyone has a story and everyone can be redeemed. I also love having my characters related to, rivals with, friends with, etc other RPers OCs. I think it adds much more depth and dimension.
As far as developing OCs... well, sometimes that can take years and years.  By far my favorite OCs are my PotC ones: Joe, Lucette and probably Carmon in particular. What drives me to Joe is that he's not particularly likeable in the common sense. Like, Cole (my other charrie) is pretty likeable, I think. But Joe is kind of rouge-ish. But seeing his past with Lucette you understand why he pushes people away/uses them then dumps them. And Lucette... well, to me, she is an extremely tragic character who brought her misfortunes upon herself. She has no one else to blame so playing all of the pent-up rage and self-loathing which consumes her along with her natural prideful nature is very fun... like conflicting forces dueling inside of her and you never know if she is going to be unspeakably cold or somewhat affectionate. And Carmon I adore 'cause she is most like me... which may make her the most Mary-Sueish, I don't really know. But most of her emotions are a mirror of what my emotions would be were I in that same situation. However, it's fun to play a girl who's so into adventures and when she's actually on them she hates it to death... and it's fun to play her misery and her sweetness. I think with all of the drama and tension and stress all of the other characters go through it's good to have one character who's relatively normal and whose past is relatively normal and who has a big heart.
Also, I honestly think the more past, family, likes, dislikes, fears, etc that you can add onto your character the more human they become 'cause everyone has family they like, dislike, etc and everyone has fears and such.
Has anyone ever felt as though their OCs are sometimes a release for their own feelings? like, if I'm feeling down I can channel that into a particular OC and get out all of my frustration or whatever?
_________________ Chase a couple hearts, we could leave 'em in shreds
Meet me in the gutter, make the devil your friend
Just remember what I said, cause it isn't over yet
Get.Lost.In.The.Dark.To.Find.Yourself
-sig by Loafers-
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Post subject: Posted: December 30th, 2010, 7:44 pm |
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Joined: 29 July 2005
Posts: 11978
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Gender: Female
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Calloniel (PD) wrote: Has anyone ever felt as though their OCs are sometimes a release for their own feelings? like, if I'm feeling down I can channel that into a particular OC and get out all of my frustration or whatever?
Definitely. Though I try not to do this a lot because I don't want my characters to end up sounding Mary-Sue. But I do draw my inspiration from a lot of my own experiences, which I guess is pretty much the same thing.
But I've found that my OC's are also a good way to experiment... like do things that I would never do in real life (i.e., jumping off cliffs, facing death, etc.) And of course it's muchos fun to torment them emotionally, physically, spiritually, [s]gramatically[/s]...  But all in all, they are my children and Vari is my favorite. But don't tell the others that. 
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Post subject: Posted: January 1st, 2011, 6:47 pm |
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Joined: 19 October 2007
Posts: 1359
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^ I don't quite do that, to be honest I hadn't even thought of using characters like that before. It's interesting to hear about. On a similar note, though, I quite like using characters to explore emotional situations that I have very little or no chance of experiencing, most notably morally questionable circumstances where a character has to make a relatively small choice that will define them. I often find that, in real life, such epicly poignant moments are definitely lacking.
Torturing them, though, in every sense of the word, if a definite for me, though. I'd miss half the fun if I didn't test my charries to the absolute limit of their personality and nerve. It's all well and good being calm and composed, but inner turmoil is awesome. Mixed emotions and trying circumstances make me dance like an over-excited fangirl... with is the description that fits my entire being ninety eight point seven percent of the time.
I also think I have a fondness for my least likeable characters the most. Not necessarily the 'bad guys', but just those who you can't easily put into the 'good' or 'evil' categories. Anyone who's familiar with Freedom knows I'm pointedly thinking of Adrianna. I love using her for character interaction, her perception of the world/other people and everyone else's perception of her is fun to watch while it's unfolding.
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