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+--- Thread: Hell is other people ... or is it? (/showthread.php?tid=14579)
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Hell is other people ... or is it? - Orion - 08-25-2009
I've got a sudden urge to learn about peoples' motivations and perceptions of their own characters that they write about. What I'd like people to answer is:
1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Celena - 08-25-2009
Oh I love threads like these. I'll get back to you.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Mal Nova - 08-25-2009
1. What do you dislike about your character? I don't dislike him, I'm just use to Retane.
Would you get along with your character if they were real? Sure....
2. Do you like where your character is heading? Yea...
Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?I have a slight vision of where he's headed
3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? Inexperience at the moment.
How do they affect your character? Well, I guess that's a bit obvious.
Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s? Well.... yes... perhaps.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Vad - 08-25-2009
Orion Wrote:1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
Alright, baby. Let's hammer this out! =D
1. I dislike that in that past 5 months while developing Vad & Trixie I have numerous plot-holes in my story because I've tweaked things along the way to my true vision of Vad. His history has remained the same, I just dislike some of the discrepancies between facts in a couple of my early threads.
As for part two, I think I'd get along with Trixie, though I'd have raging wood (this is if she were real and standing next to Vad btw). Vad wouldn't like me, he wouldn't see a reason to care or befriend me.
2. My vision since day one hasn't changed, he's a close combat monster, doing horribly at a range. I also envisioned him being a Mercenary for any alliance willing to pay/convince him to fight for their cause. As for liking this, I absolutely love it.
3. Vad can't use energy attacks. Forming energy spheres and beams and anything under that category is forbidden. They affect Vad, because if he were to use one the exit point would fry itself(IE: cooks his hand). If Vad could use energy, his personality would not change.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Belle Hibiki - 08-25-2009
Orion Wrote:1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
1a. Well, what you mean by "dislike" changes my answer somewhat. There's not much that I actually dislike about him, at least viewed from a writer's standpoint. If there's anything, it's that he has a tendency to be too simplistic. For Belle, the world exists in stark black and white. There aren't really any shades of gray in his moral compass. He thinks like a child, in that sense.
One thing that's going to be really interesting is if that notion is really challenged.
1b. I don't think I would get along with Belle in real life. He's loud, obnoxious, and obsessed, where I am quiet, reclusive, and argumentative. I think we'd probably just learn to avoid each other, because his personality really doesn't work all that well outside of an anime setting.
Orion Wrote:2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
My problem is that I may have too good an idea about where Belle is going. I've had plenty of months to imagine how the current plotline will pan out, and I have a rough outline in my head of the different plot points that might come up. I'm seriously considering throwing a big monkey wrench in there somewhere, because as it stands now, Belle's story is more centered around his side-characters than it is he himself.
Despite all that, I like where he's going. I just hope I won't get bored along the way.
Orion Wrote:3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
Belle is naive and way too trusting. He sees the world in black and white, like I said above, just like a child, but he is also totally willing to forgive someone if they admit fault, just like a child. In that way, he's a lot like a more retarded version of Goku.
He has serious abandonment issues, a one-track mind, and gynephobia. He's obsessed with being better than everyone else in martial arts to the exclusion of almost everything else in his life.
Belle's personality would be completely different without all his various flaws and personal issues. Perhaps over the course of these sagas, he'll start to grow. I hope so, because that would be interesting to see.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Jesper - 08-25-2009
Orion Wrote:1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
I think I would get along with Sophia just fine. Anything I dislike about her personality-wise can be boiled down to a character flaw, and any problem I have as a writer with her is better left for the second question. So...I guess I'm telling you to read on.
Quote:2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
I have no idea where Sophia is heading. She's never been a fighter until Friend or Foe, and even then, she's far from polished. It'll be interesting to see what she does with Kaioken and/or Genki Dama when the time comes.
Anyone who's talked to me about my character knows that I'm at a crossroads with her. I'm at the point where it would make sense for her to keep being a priestess, but at the same time, it would also make sense to her to pursue something that fits her new-found theories and beliefs about her environment.
To be frank, now that I'm not knee-deep in a saga in which I have to experiment with different paths and character choices to get better results, maybe I can stop winging everything so much.
Quote:3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
Sophia is filled with self-doubt. She's been thrown into circumstances that she has no prior experience with, and that makes her feel inadequate when surrounded by all these people who seem relatively comfortable with their lifestyles. It also causes her to hesitate too much, often overthinking about her actions and the consequences that might come from them. In that sense, I suppose she's the opposite of Belle.
As I said before, she's at a point where she has no idea what she wants to do. But I suppose I'll have to focus on that when I get revived.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Celena - 08-25-2009
Orion Wrote:I've got a sudden urge to learn about peoples' motivations and perceptions of their own characters that they write about. What I'd like people to answer is:
1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
1. If there's ever anything I dislike about my character, I always her to my liking as I've done so in the past. I'd probably get along with her because she's easy going but I'd hate that I'd be the one making most of the effort to start conversations. I might even get bored quickly if we were to have conversations.
2. Yes I do and I'm looking forward to writing future RP's involving her in these plans.
Whenever I have difficulty deciding where my character is heading, a new idea always seems to pop up in my mind.
3. Earthlings are definitely my characters flaws. Being on planet earth is a flaw for her. They are much different from saiyans; their behaviors are almost opposite. Being around too many humans is helping to change her into a gentle person. She's aware of the effect these humans have on her and what's worse is that she believes she changing for the better. Zena seems to have lost an edge on her ruthlessness and coldness since her time spent on earth although she still tends to be distant.
Zena's personality would definitely alter with the dismissal of this flaw. She'd return to the ruthless and cold being she once was, unhindered by the weak and foolish emotions of earthlings.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Kaden - 08-25-2009
I almost didn't post this because I think it's more fun to display a character's flaws/problems in the actual writing. I couldn't really resist, though.
Quote:What do you dislike about your character?
At heart, Kaden is pretty dishonest and pretty cowardly. I definitely dislike both of those things about him. Obviously those traits are there on purpose, but they're traits that really bug me, usually. I haven't delved too deep into that part of him, but those traits have definitely been present from the beginning.
Quote:Would you get along with your character if they were real?
Most likely. Kaden seems like a pretty easy guy to get along with.
Quote:Do you like where your character is heading?
Development-wise, yeah I do like where Kaden is heading. There are some definitely possibilities that I hadn't planned on at the time of his conception, but I think they could be pretty fun to explore. That is definitely the fun of writing on a site like Chubbs. You get exposed (sometimes forcibly) to things you wouldn't have normally done when writing on your own.
Plot-wise, I also like where Kaden will be going. My plans, while maybe a little cheesy (I'm working on it to make them less so) should still be fun. Kind of like Belle, I have plans laid out for Kaden that, on their own, could keep me going for quite a while. That's not so much fun, though. I think it's more interesting to start something and then work it through another story-line (like a saga, for example).
Quote:Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
I think a successful character in an RPG is one who can do both. It my mind, Raditzu was one of the ultimate "wing it" characters, which is awesome for throwing him into sagas and random storylines and such. Him showing up to beat back alien invaders just because he was bored made total sense.
The downside, though, was that it made planning harder on me. Figuring out meaningful motivation for a character who didn't really need it was just excessive and I usually didn't do it. Which meant I usually didn't spend too much time working out meaningful storylines (I was actually in the middle of one at the time of the reset and I'm pretty bummed I never got to finish it).
So my goal with Kaden is to allow the same kind of flexibility without sacrificing the ability to easily launch into more significant pieces of his own story. I think I've done a pretty good job so far. Hopefully it stays that way.
Quote:What do you believe are your character's flaw/s?
I think I detailed the biggest flaws up above. Kaden is emotionally reclusive and is afraid of confronting his issues. He bottles them up and then finds ways to rationalize why he doesn't need to do the healthy thing and deal.
While he's been shown to have quite the moral compass, he's hypocritical about it. He vehemently believes in the sanctity of life and following the rules set forth by society, but there's a sharp drop when dealing with issues that the law doesn't cover. As stated before, he doesn't confront his emotional issues and that will (probably) lead to him not considering the emotional impact his actions will have on others. I don't want to say that he doesn't care how he makes other people feel, but that's the jist.
Quote:How do they affect your character?
I probably answered most of that above, but I think character flaws are more defining than anything else in a character. Without flaws, characters get pretty boring.
Quote:Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaws?
Absolutely it would. Kaden's default disposition is housed in his own insecurities. Without those, he probably wouldn't be a particularly nice guy. That's also the reason he clings so strongly to his moral compass, as a compensation mechanism.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Orion - 08-26-2009
Kaden Wrote:I almost didn't post this because I think it's more fun to display a character's flaws/problems in the actual writing.
True, but I like to see how people sum up their characters when confronted with questions. Things like if you're having trouble with your character's direction doesn't always shine through in roleplays.
Plus I think it helps when you're asked a series of questions like this to review aspects of your character.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Belle Hibiki - 08-26-2009
Well, if people are worried about "showing their hand," as it were, remember that you don't have to tell all. I certainly didn't, and my answers are all stuff that has been stated multiple times in open threads. If you're feeling uncomfortable, perhaps look at it that way.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Vad - 08-26-2009
I don't mind revealing my hand. You can't use it anyway. Our OOC knowledge does not carry over into the IC character.
So Orion may know that Vad can't use energy, but his IC self does not.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Kaden - 08-26-2009
Belle Hibiki Wrote:Well, if people are worried about "showing their hand," as it were, remember that you don't have to tell all. I certainly didn't, and my answers are all stuff that has been stated multiple times in open threads. If you're feeling uncomfortable, perhaps look at it that way.
Alternatively, you could look at it like "now that people know X, I can start weaving Y into my writing."
I have to say, any concerns I would have about just telling characters flaws/whatever in an OOC thread are nothing compared to doing the same in the actual prose. I've ended up having to do that with other characters before to keep their actions from being, like, weird or whatever. We don't always have full control over what our characters will be doing.
Vad Wrote:I don't mind revealing my hand. You can't use it anyway. Our OOC knowledge does not carry over into the IC character.
So Orion may know that Vad can't use energy, but his IC self does not.
You're looking at it more like a player in a game talking to another player. We're talking about it more like an author directly talking to the reader.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Vad - 08-26-2009
Not surprising.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Alexander Trafford - 08-26-2009
Quote:1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
His alignment is neutral, and he is apathetic. This is by design, but it bothers me. Since the turnover there hasn't been an emergence of a particularly evil character, and, for some reason, i feel like i'm letting the RPG down by not creating a monster. My original character design for post-turnover was designed to make Minoshia look like a saint, but i was tempted to try something new and went for it. I might regret it, but i'm not sure. There are too many morally straight characters.
Alex's personality, besides all the drug use, is based on the worst parts of my own. The sarcasm, the arrogance, being impressionable, etcetera, but i think we would get along.
Quote:2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
I'm not exactly sure where he is going. Generally i just wing it, because that's the kind of character he is. Although, i wing it with some sense of direction. I know what i want to do with him. There are two paths i might take. One, is based on above and my desire to fill the evil void, the other is classified.
Quote:3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
He's arrogant and a playboy, he's an alcoholic, he smokes, uses hard drugs, and enjoys the company of a prostitute. These flaws define him because they cover the corruptible, impressionable, emptiness of his soul.
No.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Sage - 08-26-2009
Quote:What do you dislike about your character?
All kinds of stuff. She's so shy and uncertain to the point that she's a liability. She holds up decision making and worries too much to make serious decisions on her own. She's very clingy/dependent/needy. Sage is horribly depressed, addicted to drugs, and is deeply traumatized, having become fearful of the world around her. She's extremely sensitive, and carries a lot of baggage. Like Kaden, all of this stuff is on purpose. But if she was a real person, all of this stuff would annoy me.
Quote:Would you get along with your character if they were real?
Not sure. On the one hand, she's a genuinely nice person, honest, intelligent, attractive. But on the other hand, all of those things I listed in the 'dislike' part. Plus she's got no direction in life. But I have no right to complain about that, because neither do I. I usually don't have much patience with people in the 'get to know you' phase, and with Sage... well... she's so fearful and distrustful of strangers, it would take a very long time to even get a normal conversation going.
Quote:Do you like where your character is heading?
Hell yeah. Thinks are developing a touch faster than I'd originally intended but that might be for the best - might prevent people from getting bored of Sage. I'm having a fantastic time writing her and that's important.
Quote:Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
I gots plans. Things is gon happen to Sage, and yeah, a lot of stuff is just "wing" it. Not to rip Kaden off, but I've always been a bit of a dabbler, taking cues from both schools of thought. It's a lot of fun to sort of plan the big ideas and sort of let them chain together on their own, so to speak.
Quote:What do you believe are your character's flaw/s?
Well, uh. Pretty sure I covered that up there. Sage runs from her problems. She's evasive, non-confrontational. Sage can become inappropriately guilty to a fault. Killing someone who tried to kill her, for instance, is a source of great misery for her. Basically I could just copy/paste Kaden's first paragraph on the subject and it would be accurate. Actually, the whole time I've been writing this I've been astounded by the parallels I can draw between Kaden/Sage. So, uh, sorry, Mario (I guess?).
Quote:How do they affect your character?
Well she'd pretty much be a whole 'nother character without them. She might be outgoing, charismatic, or a badass, or whatever.
Quote:Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
No question. Sage is practically defined by her flaws.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Kaden - 08-26-2009
Sage Wrote:Actually, the whole time I've been writing this I've been astounded by the parallels I can draw between Kaden/Sage. So, uh, sorry, Mario (I guess?).
You should be!
>=O
Seriously, though, given that, it'll be interesting to see where our characters end up.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Psyren - 08-27-2009
1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
I dislike how unrefined he is but it will take some time to get him to a point where I feel he is more refined. And well if my character was real I think we would get along just fine as lone as I keep my mouth shut and do as im told.
2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
My character likes to be sure of his options before he undertakes anything so the chances of him winging it are slim. And I do like where he is heading. His interaction so far with mal has been intresting to say the least. And as for my vision he is following the beaten path i have planned and i think its going well. Im just sad that im not a better writer who could make him better but i will do what i can with him.
3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
My characters main flaw is in inability to work well with others. He utterly hates it and makes it known to anyone who wants to work with him. The omission of his flaw just makes others angry towards him in some cases while in others they are pleased with it and only want to use him as a means to a end. Another flaw would be his inexperience with anyone except those he was raised with on Frost. So he lacks alot of knowledge about the universe or its people.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Charles 4 - 08-27-2009
Orion Wrote:I've got a sudden urge to learn about peoples' motivations and perceptions of their own characters that they write about. What I'd like people to answer is:
1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?
3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
1. I dislike the difficulty in writing him. He is a person with no normal socialization, and thus far I don't think I have done a good job of showing that. I haven't developed his character enough and so things are going fast, loose and crazy.
If my character were real it would be strange... the only way I could meet him is probably if he was going to kill me. Lol and then if he is as good as I say he is, then, I wouldn't be meeting him... I would just be suddenly dying.
2. I let spur of the moment things shape my character, so, I do have a hard time seeing too far into the future. The exception being a few ideas such as alliance and such.
3. Charles' falws are subjective, if he is to be interacting with people regularly he definately does have a problem. He doesn't know the social graces of society. If he was to stay a black op soldier then he doesn't have any glaring flaws except a certain amount of unpredictability that may come from growth and learning. If his lack of socialization is taken away he is just a "normal" person. Rp would probably not take a big hit, but the character would also not be Charles. That lack of social education is what makes Charles somewhat unique.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Super Buu - 09-01-2009
Orion Wrote:I've got a sudden urge to learn about peoples' motivations and perceptions of their own characters that they write about. What I'd like people to answer is:I'll leave her flaws to 3. I would find Rose pretty funny but I doubt she'd be my best buddy, too dissimilar. She'd likely treat me as any other person, leaning towards the 'boring'.
1. What do you dislike about your character? Would you get along with your character if they were real?
Quote:2. Do you like where your character is heading? Are you having trouble scoping a vision for them, or do they just wing it?I'm trying not to plan ahead too much, so as to allow Rose to realistically respond to her environmental stimuli (including the actions of other characters) and grow as a person. Er ... character <_<. I had the problem with SB that Belle mentioned, about planning too much and getting bored, so I'm trying to avoid that this time around. That said, I have several ideas of what her future might entail but I'm unwilling to dedicate myself to any single path - which is oddly reflective of Rose's flaws - and don't want to spoil it.
Quote:3. What do you believe are your character's flaw/s? How do they affect your character? Would your character's personality alter with the omission of their flaw/s?
She can be rather sarcastic and/or blunt at times. She doesn't really know what she wants to do in life, right now she's just getting along by emulating other people. She also has difficulty dedicating herself to any one decision if it means being unable to do something else - her comfort zone is where she can always back out if she wants to.
Hell is other people ... or is it? - Orion - 09-01-2009
Why does having something planned make it boring? I have a big story arc involving Orion and I get excited just thinking about it, let alone writing it.