[C&C] Kaden

[Kaden]

And so ends A Paid Vacation. Fun little story. I had a couple of other scenes I could have used (mostly involving Zeke) but I ditched them in favor of ending it.

Any feedback always welcome.

[Kaden]

Should have updated this a while ago. A bunch of stuff's happened since DA and A Paid Vacation.

Taking Action features the unlikely team of Kaden, Sage, and Ander as they go chasing after Edge and his Dragonball.

Seventh of Seven is short, sweet little thread with more interactions between Ander, Kaden, and Sage. The constant back-and-forth between Kaden and Ander is of particular amusement to both of us.

http://www.cdbzrpg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27166Ball-Nanza: the Fightening[/url], aside from having the best name ever, is a showdown between Belle and Team Kaden (that's an unauthorized name, I just couldn't help it) for the Dragonballs, a wish for anything, and the fate of thousands upon thousands of innocent lives lost. Fun stuff. As a group, we decided to keep it a shorter thread, which is why the action was compacted into the last post. Of particular note to any Kaden enthusiasts out there is that this is the debut of Kaden's second-tier transformation: Unseal.

Unleash the Dragon is basically the conclusion to Ball-Nanza. Kaden, Sage, and Ander, after taking Belle's Dragonballs by force, make their wish. While this one involves Kaden, I haven't actually made a post in it and probably won't before Kill Town starts. The courier definitely has some reactions to those goings-on, though, so hopefully I'll be able to work them in somewhere.

As always, any thoughts, comments, questions, or feedback is appreciated. Hell, just knowing other people are reading is helpful.

[Juno]

Definitely still loving Kaden. He's a solid, defined character; I know who he is.

That said, your writing in the spar, possibly due to the whole spur of the moment thing, started off slightly weaker than before, but your second post returned to normal (though I did notice a few outstanding typos I can point out if you'd like). Overall, good stuff. =D

[Kaden]

I'm not surprised at the typos. I definitely should have gotten some sleep around the halfway point of that post.

XD

[Kaden]

http://www.cdbzrpg.com/forum/showthread....post484230

I just finished a fairly extensive update of Kaden's bio, including a short synopsis of all the stories he's been involved with thus far. It was actually more work than I was expecting it to be.

Anyway, it should be easier to keep up-to-date from now on, but I'm curious about whether or not this is useful or necessary. If people find it interesting, or helpful to have little blurbs about the courier's exploits, I'll keep it up. If it's stupid or unnecessary, I... won't.

Not really sure what I'll do in the likely event that I don't get any input on this, though.

[Jesper]

They didn't necessarily help me, since I read pretty much everything. I can see how they would help out somebody new to your character, though. I say keep on doing them if you can find the motivation to.

[Juno]

So, I just finished reading Reunions and Revelations. I skimmed a couple of introspective bits of it for the sake of getting through the story before sleep, but for the most part, I read all of it. It was a very good read.

I particularly like Solina. Has she been back again since then? She totally should be. That also explained your power-ups, too.

[Kaden]

Much appreciated.

Solina hasn't been written directly yet, but she's influenced the things that have happened to Kaden (leaving notes and directions and that kind of stuff) and she'll definitely be making future appearances. I might ditch the way that she talks, though. When I decided to do that, I hadn't realized how limited a motif I was working with. It doesn't really work for more normal conversations.

[Juno]

@Solina: I love the way that she talks. If you do "ditch" it, don't do it completely, lol.

Also, after playing bits of FFXIII, I feel like you should eventually change your Artistic Interpretation to Snow. XD. Sophia could totally be Serah. (I feel like that makes Juno play Hope, and obviously Ashe is Vanille, lol. But who's Lightning? =P)

[Kaden]

I actually thought about that at one point. Decided against it, though. Snow's pretty beefy and that's not what I'm going for with Kaden. There almost certainly will be a picture of Snow in Kaden's bio, but it will be to depict another character.

To the astute observer, I've actually already said who Snow would be.

[Juno]

That was mostly a joke. XD.

But yeah, I remember.

[Kaden]

Someone else came to me with the "Kaden reminds me of Snow" comparison, which I thought was interesting. If I had to pick someone that Kaden is like, in FFXIII, it would definitely be Hope.

[Juno]

Well, obviously you know best.

I definitely think that Snow is a lot more... single-focused than Kaden is, and I think that he is a lot more comfortable in his role as 'hero.' (This is also coming from me only having played up to the beginning of Lake Bresha, so I could be completely off.)

Yeah, I'd place Juno as either Hope or, on a very long stretch, Lightning, personality-wise. I think he's becoming more like Lightning gradually, but I'm not sure that he's there yet.

Annnnyhow. I'm sure you don't want your C&C thread clogged up with my FFXIII obsession.

[Ander]

As promised, if not a bit delayed, for your C&C in my thread.

Well, I guess I’ll start off with the fact that you can put words together to form a coherent sentence. That’s always a plus.

No, but seriously, you have a unique narrative that is a style all your own. You have unorthodox ways of phrasing things (unfortunately no specific example comes to mind), and you mix casual speech with intellectual language, providing a nice balance between the laymen and something a little more refined. Your narrative is easily relatable and readily absorbed, which is probably one of your best qualities. A little bit of a nitpick, but something you do consistently, is once or twice in a post you will accidentally omit a required word in a sentence that gives it a little bit of a hiccup. A few other people do this, including myself, and that’s usually a result of hasty editing (if done at all).

As far as content goes, you’re definitely a minimalist when it comes to action unless a particular scene requires a lot of it. You excel at dialogue and narratives with contemplative or philosophical thought, but when it comes to something physical, you generally tend to skimp over it (in description and importance) in favor of monologue. Sometimes it works to your benefit (if you have a particularly meaningful point you’re trying to get across), and sometimes it works to your detriment (when exposition isn’t the best way to go about things). It may also simply be a vehicle of the character, in that he’s more mental and less physical.

Kaden as a character has a wide range of reactions and emotions, and has conflicting life philosophies just like everyone else, which gives him depth. He’s flexible and ambiguous, which is always highly appealing in a characterization. Kaden is very much the everyman who can be your best friend, a total asshole, or just Joe Blow sitting in a corner. The interesting thing about him is that his development and mentality is completely defined by the characters around him. He’s not so much a chameleon in the sense that he is fake, but he’s malleable in that he reacts accordingly to whomever he is with and whatever situation he’s in. You also have been forced to contend with those who challenge Kaden’s perception of himself, or at the very least, how others perceive him. This provided an interesting opportunity to see what he would do, although you seem confused as to whether it inflates his self-importance or makes him desire to change himself and how he interacts.

And yeah, I gotta say, I like our character dynamic too. Very fun, very fluid, and highly entertaining. Should be awesome.

[Kaden]

Much appreciated, Ander.

The comment about minimal physical description is an interesting one, definitely. It's probably an over-reaction to... well... Raditzu. I'll definitely keep it mind from now on, though.

[Carter]

I began catching up on Kaden, however, I have since then put you on hold. Not due to anything on you as a writer or on Kaden as a character as I am actually enjoying this read. Simply, its because its gonna be a while before my character can hang with yours >.>

However, I felt like giving CnC on what I have read. From everything that I have read on this site Kaden is creepy on a personal level. not that he is actually creepy, but in that he reminds me of myself way to often. I'm sure thats something most can agree with, but his thought process is almost exactly the same as my own. Its creepy.

So much infact that I could not stand Solina, she annoyed me and left a disdained taste in my mouth, however, I still wanted to see more of her. I'm certain thats exactly how Kaden feels about the character.

These feelings I have on your work are top notch and should be a goal for any writer to have with their audience. I'd also like to note that you recieve more than your fair share of praise, yet still tend to remain confident not cocky which is a blessing for any human to have in what they do. I'm really just posting to let you know that your roster is helpful to newcomers and I hope you keep it up. Its fantastic for navigating through your work.

Good job, now, fuck you. That is all.

[Kaden]

Good job, now, fuck you. That is all.

XD

Thanks.

I definitely appreciate people reading my work.

[Kaden]

So, this is something I've been meaning to ask for a while. Does the naming scheme of Kaden's moves make things confusing for the reader?

All his moves just have one-word names and are, very intentionally, not overblown in most cases. In my posts, I indicate a moves's name by simply capitalizing it -- or a conjugation of it. I have a lot of moves (I actually forget whether or not Kaden actually has certain moves or if I just was planning on getting them) which can be a pain to keep track of, but I can think of something else if people are reading through fights and suddenly something happens and seems out of placed because a capitalized letter is not enough to clue someone in to what just happened.

[Piper Juunanagou]

I like the fact that you keep things simple (I had a convention with my old character's moves where they were all boring and almost mechanical-sounding). It's a nice aesthetic thing, I guess. Of course, sometimes I do have to check your roster, but that has more to do with the fact that you have so many moves in your repertoire. That has less to do with you confusing me as a reader and more to do with me simply forgetting things.

[Sigfried Hunin]

I think that if somebody is reading your stuff they ought to take the three seconds it takes to learn all of your techs. They aren't hyper complicated and you can usually understand what they're doing simply by CONTEXT alone. I like the names of your techs and how they operate.