|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Distinct Conversationalist
|
 Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 10:55 pm
So. Backstory: I was thinking about my characters one day, and trying to (shock) actually write something, and I found that, despite having worked with them for a rather long time, I was having some difficulty. I decided to ask myself random questions about each of them... and then the questions stopped being so random. This, my friends, is what I think makes up a character. Except for the last two. That was just for fun.
Please note two things: First, as an exercise, this is only useful if you have a good idea of who your character is and have probably worked with them for quite a while. Second, you get out of it what you put into it. If you answer with one word per question in under a minute, you probably haven't gained a lot. Really, it's just a framework for understanding your characters.
And now, the questions, along with some explanation as to what it all means.
1. What is his/her greatest desire?
... hoo boy. This is actually inspired by my (limited) exposure to Lacan, so it's kinda tough to explain. Basically, what do they want out of life? What do they think would make them happy, regardless of whether they know it or not, or whether it would work or not. Their primary motivation, aside from #2... or at least, what would be motivation, if the way were clear.
2. What is his/her greatest fear?
Pretty much the opposite of #1. Probably something they're fairly aware of, on some level. Even if they are in denial about it.
3. What is his/her stance on religion, mysticism, etc.?
Wherever there's people, there's people trying to explain things. This is how your character views those explanations. Are they religious? Do they actually believe any of it? Do they care?
4. What is his/her greatest weakness?
Their one quality that, by its very existence, makes them the most vulnerable.
5. What is his/her greatest strength?
The one quality that contributes more than any other to their ability to be effective.
6. What was his/her childhood like?
How They Got To Be How They Are, Part I. Okay, not everything comes straight out of childhood, but where are they coming from? What was their socioeconomic status like? How did their parents treat them? Were there any particularly important events that they remember or that shaped them?
7. How did he/she get to be where he/she is today?
What particular chain of events ended them up in the situation in which they begin the story?
8. How intelligent is he/she?
What are their intellectual strengths and weaknesses? How deep are they? How smart do they come off? How smart do they think they are?
9. How motivated is he/she?
How likely are they to act?
10. What would he/she perceive as a threat?
This sort of builds off of #2 and leads into #11. What scares them enough that they will act with some urgency? What do have that they place enough value on to defend?
11. What does he/she do when threatened?
Their reaction to the above. What they do when the going gets mildly tough.
12. If that doesn’t work, what does he/she do? (panic reaction)
... what it says? This is a sort of failure state; it's what happens when they don't think they can avoid whatever's going to happen, and they don't like it.
13. How does he/she solve problems?
The method they use to get from point A to point B.
14. How does he/she think the world works? (paradigm, honestly and dishonestly)
Their important theories on society, life, what have you.
15. What does he/she think of him/herself?
Pretty clear.
16. What do other people think if him/her?
In general, your (purely theoretical, mind you) generic person A's reaction to them.
17. How strong is he/she, emotionally?
What they can withstand, and the manner in which they can withstand it. How close they are to collapse. The geography of the path that leads to said collapse.
18. What is most important to him/her in an honest, relatively functional relationship?
The qualities possessed by those that they let get especially close to them, be it friends, amiable enemies, or romance.
19. What fictional character does he/she resemble, and how is he/she different from that character?
Probably not who they were based off. (if they were) Someone with similar demeanor, characteristics, or background. Also important: understanding how your person is not a clone of them.
20. What is a quote that could represent this character or his/her role in the story?
Just for fun, something that can kind of begin to sum them up. By someone else. Sort of a practice in summary and application, sort of springing from some really screwy reasons of my own.
So... I'd love to see what people work out for this. It's probably best if you include a name at the top, in case it's someone who's appeared here before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 11, 2009 8:13 pm
I'm tempted to use Vitae, but seeing as how I always default to him, I ought to try someone else. I guess I'll see how this works with Sabine.
So, Sabine Marshall:
1. What is his/her greatest desire?
She wants an apprenticeship with laBlank, the medic who heads the Temple Hospice in Emanon. She wants this because she wants to excel at medicine. She wants to excel at medicine because it's become her replacement for deep, meaningful relationships. She also actually likes taking care of people, which is why she doesn't just give up medicine on the spot when she meets Nathan again.
2. What is his/her greatest fear?
Her greatest fear is most likely losing another loved one, be it to death or distance.
3. What is his/her stance on religion, mysticism, etc.?
Sabine is her world's version of a good Catholic girl. She goes to mass and believes every word of it. Lights candles and prays, and definitely believes in heaven. Probably even believes pets go to heaven. If rosaries were used in her religion, she'd carry one around with her.
4. What is his/her greatest weakness?
Not that she doesn't have a weakness, but either I don't know what it is or it's there and I just can't put my finger on it.
ETA: As Irian pointed out, she is too dependent on others.
5. What is his/her greatest strength?
Her compassion, her knowledge of medicine, and her willingness to put aside her own opinions of people and treat them fairly, whether or not she likes them.
6. What was his/her childhood like?
Her childhood was pretty normal until her mother died when she was nine. She buried her grief by becoming emotionally attached to Nathan, who was subsequently sent to school when Sabine was twelve, just before her father remarried. Nathan's schooling wasn't necessarily a bad thing until he stopped coming home. The last time Sabine saw or heard from him was when she was fourteen. After that, to get her mind off things, she was apprenticed to Rebecka, the town herbalist. Just as she had buried her grief by focusing on Nathan, she buried her sadness by focusing on learning. And so it has proceeded.
7. How did he/she get to be where he/she is today?
Ciora, Princess of Calmare, went missing. Jericho came up with some hare-brained scheme to have Sabine stand-in for Ciora, since they look similar if you're a block away and near-sighted, and somehow he talked the Lord Regent into agreeing to said hare-brained scheme. (I'm sure the Lord Regent has some other scheme up his sleeve. Somewhere. I just haven't figured out what it is yet. But Jericho's idea can't be their only option, obviously, since it sucks.) Jericho sent a letter to Sabine, all painted over with lies about how laBlank is looking for an apprentice and he's already put in a good word for her, but she needs to be interviewed in person. He pulls strings and otherwise acts as a grand force of deus ex machina to get her away from her hometown, then promptly gets them all kicked off the train. They wind up sheltering in a cave overnight, Yinda wanders off and finds the old Scilonian catacombs, they discover Vitae, and by that point their fates have already been so royally ******** over there's really no turning back. Not that fate really plays a part here at all.
8. How intelligent is he/she?
Sabine has had five years worth of hands-on experience and book learning in her chosen field of study, so she's pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the human body and what makes it sick. Or, you know, what people in the 1700s though made people sick. Bad air and all that.
She's not particularly smart when it comes to the world and politics and all that, so she comes off as a bit naive a good portion of the time. I'm not sure whether or not anyone would consider her "deep." And I get the feeling she doesn't consider herself especially smart, as she probably considers "smart" to be Vitae's brand of history/literature nerd smart.
9. How motivated is he/she?
So far, she seems to be taking matters into her own hands as a last resort, when it's clear that nobody is going to make things easier for her. She's not entirely reactionary--she knows when something is urgent enough for her to act now, and I'm not necessarily talking in the medical sense.
10. What would he/she perceive as a threat?
Death or permanent injury to herself or others is a definite threat. She definitely values human life enough to act with urgency. And she has the sense to protect herself from creepy guys.
11. What does he/she do when threatened?
I have no idea what she does when physically threatened, actually. Scream, make a scene, put up a fight, I don't know. If I knew a specific kind of threat, I might be able to come up with something more specific. And there are varying degrees of threat, you know, like the threat you feel when you realize you've accidentally put yourself between a mother bear and her cub, and the threat you feel when the mother bear notices you and decides you must die for your transgression.
12. If that doesn’t work, what does he/she do? (panic reaction)
I don't know, stand there trying to come to terms with the inevitable? I've honestly never backed her into a corner with something nasty staring her in the face. Never really felt the need.
13. How does he/she solve problems?
Identify problem. Identify solution. Calculate whether solution is attainable. Decide whether or not it's likely she'll get help attaining solution. Proceed regardless of getting help or not.
14. How does he/she think the world works? (paradigm, honestly and dishonestly)
She knows the world can be nasty, but never suspects exactly how nasty it can get. Never suspects, for instance, that Jericho could be double-crossing her. And she believes to the end that Nathan can be salvaged, even when he's completely ******** nuts. Even when he's essentially been mashed into a pulp. Still salvageable. Not sure if that translates to a belief that all people are inherently good, or just rabid devotion.
15. What does he/she think of him/herself?
She hates having curly hair, particularly in the spring and summer when the weather is alternately rainy and humid. In those conditions her hair frizzes to the point of gaining sentience, after which it generally turns against its host. She's also resigned to the fact that she can't change this.
Physical traits aside, she has moments when she questions her motives for wanting to improve her place in the world. Is she ambitious, or overambitious, or just plain overconfident?
16. What do other people think if him/her?
They probably think she's nice enough, but easily influenced and naive. Driven, maybe, and useful enough in her field of choice, but not much use other than that.
17. How strong is he/she, emotionally?
I'd say she's pretty strong emotionally (a great deal stronger than, say, Nathan), though if someone she cared for dearly were to die or cut her out of their life entirely, I'm willing to say that it would completely undo her. Bring back all the separation anxiety from her childhood and render her a weepy little mass of depression with nothing left to counteract the bad feelings.
18. What is most important to him/her in an honest, relatively functional relationship?
Well, she's never been in a relationship, her only real childhood friend has evolved into Nathan, and the people she's friends with she didn't exactly choose. But I guess the people she does willingly involve herself with are all gentle in their own way, and do things for the public good. Bah, I don't know.
19. What fictional character does he/she resemble, and how is he/she different from that character?
I don't really know of a character Sabine resembles now, but I had initially based her (very loosely) on Aeris from FFVII. Innocent, sweet healer-type. I think she even had a thwopping stick for a while. Now she's a bit less sugary-sweet and innocent, and definitely doesn't have a fatal saving-the-world complex.
20. What is a quote that could represent this character or his/her role in the story?
I got nothin'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Distinct Conversationalist
|
Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 6:45 pm
Kita, ladies and gentlemen. Oh, I've done more, but... not posting them now.
1. What is his/her greatest desire?
To see possibility in a future that is not Absolute s**t. To have faith in something or someone, that future especially.
2. What is his/her greatest fear?
Betrayal or rejection by someone she trusts.
3. What is his/her stance on religion, mysticism, etc.?
She is intrigued by it, and while she sees many of negative consequences, she is nonetheless attracted to the idea of worship of an absolute god.
4. What is his/her greatest weakness?
Her insecurity and half-hidden cynicism.
5. What is his/her greatest strength?
Her flexibility in willingness to accept things as they seem to be, alongside her knowledge of and precise reliance on her own abilities.
6. What was his/ her childhood like?
She was adopted by the founder of the Vanguard of the People’s Revolution at a young age, and remembers little or nothing of her birth family. She was raised as a bit less than a daughter and a bit more than a servant- protégé would probably be the best word for it. She was a good kid, wanted to be loved more than she was, or could be. She saw through her adoptive father’s hypocrisy fairly quickly, although she did not want to and continued to act as if she had not.
7. How did he/she get to be where he/she is today?
She never voiced her misgivings and continued to act as her father’s perfect protégé until the present near-collapse of the Vanguard.
8. How intelligent is he/she?
More so than she lets on. Good at quick thinking and snap decisions, but too afraid of real introspection and fond of action for much of anything else. Will pick up on detail without trying to and process them without knowing it. An empirical thinker, despite her attachment to emotion.
9. How motivated is he/she?
Moderately so. She gets what she thinks needs doing done, but don’t expect her to be excited about it.
10. What would he/she perceive as a threat?
A Hannibal Lecture, (someone trying to convince her the world is Absolute s**t) someone she should be able to trust acting unpredictable, apparent proof against something she wants to believe in.
11. What does he/she do when threatened?
Most often, she resorts to sarcasm, confrontation, and finally violence.
12. If that doesn’t work, what does he/she do? (panic reaction)
Get all angsty and mope. (retreat)
13. How does he/she solve problems?
By rushing at whatever looks like it’s connected to the problem, even if she knows it’s a trap, relying on her skills to get her out, and just sort of hoping to find out what’s really going on later.
14. How does he/she think the world works? (paradigm)
For whatever reason, people are essentially good, but they do bad things. If freed from the power structures that bind them, they would not have to do bad things, and the world would be a happy shiny place full of unicorns and flowers.
15. What does he/she think of him/herself?
She distrusts her tendency towards cynicism, but has embraced it in a form of biter self-punishment. She feels undeserving of her own inherent grace and good looks and the reactions they elicit, and seeks to distance herself from them.
16. What do other people think if him/her?
At first, they tend to admire her seeming nobility and modesty, and in some cases, (when they aren’t offended by it) her casual, irreverent demeanor. If they see through this to her tired bitterness and conflicted insecurity, the reaction tends to be annoyance, rather than sympathy.
17. How strong is he/she, emotionally?
She’s tough, but not strong. She has a great deal of endurance, and until she reaches the point of collapse, she will show very little weakness and function very well. However, once she reaches it, she'll be an absolute mess and have a great deal of trouble with any sort of recovery.
18. What is most important to him/her in an honest, relatively functional relationship?
Never having reason to doubt them, a bit of distance, (literal or metaphorical) and that they never voice their appreciation for or belief in her.
19. What fictional character does he/she resemble, and how is he/she different from that character?
She’s a bit like an older (or… more mature or something) version of Kuchiki Rukia, but with an earlier adoption and less positive support.
20. What is a quote that could represent this character or his/her role in the story?
“She lives by disillusion’s glow,” –Razorlight, ‘Wire to Wire’
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 9:34 am
Raincrow 4. What is his/her greatest weakness?Not that she doesn't have a weakness, but either I don't know what it is or it's there and I just can't put my finger on it. Overdependence on others? It appears to come up as a weakness throughout the post. Cute avatar, by the way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 6:48 pm
Ah, thanks for pointing that out, Irian. That's very true.
xd You like the outfit? I'm so goff. rolleyes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 7:34 pm
Indeed, I am fond of the outfit. It's a cute Lolita, so it's acceptable. wink
Plus, I just sort of assume the guy is Vitae, and that makes me giggle. xp
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 4:49 am
Albrecht Johannes Gotthard
1. What is his/her greatest desire?
To prove that 'witchcraft' is not evil.
2. What is his/her greatest fear?
That he's wrong about his greatest desire.
3. What is his/her stance on religion, mysticism, etc.?
Knows magic exists, but leans toward Agnosticism insofar as to where it comes from.
4. What is his/her greatest weakness?
His cynicism.
5. What is his/her greatest strength?
His pragmatism, lol.
6. What was his/ her childhood like?
Fairly uneventful until age 7 when his magic manifested on his skin in a 'witch mark'. After that, he was ostracised and hated/feared.
7. How did he/she get to be where he/she is today?
His parents' refusal to abandon him resulted in his determination and dedication to loved ones and his mission.
8. How intelligent is he/she?
Very. Most of it natural, the rest the result of a lifetime of studying and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
9. How motivated is he/she?
Extremely. He sees it as his purpose in life to prove that those who can use magic without circles and runes are not 'marked by evil'.
10. What would he/she perceive as a threat?
The only thing he actually *feels* threatened by is the way he feels for Gershwin. It frightens him. Outside of emotion, he deals daily with physical threats.
11. What does he/she do when threatened?
Withdraws, pushing emotional threats away however possible. In the case of a physica threat, he has too much pride and tends to stand up for himself then get beaten for it.
12. If that doesn’t work, what does he/she do? (panic reaction)
Releases his magic. It's not crazy powerful, but it'll still mess someone up and isn't easy to control.
13. How does he/she solve problems?
With study and analytical observation.
14. How does he/she think the world works? (paradigm)
Thaumaturges are (for the most part) overbearing politicians and snakes while 'Witches' are misunderstood people in need of saving. He's not completely wrong, either.
15. What does he/she think of him/herself?
As a vindicator of the helplessly persecuted. Despite this, he's not terribly arrogant. Prideful, yes, but not arrogant.
16. What do other people think if him/her?
As an upstart witch, untouchable because of his high-ranking society parents.
17. How strong is he/she, emotionally?
He can handle a lot of emotional abuse, but ultimately his pride tends to be his downfall...
18. What is most important to him/her in an honest, relatively functional relationship?
He doesn't believe he has time for relationships if he is truly dediacted to his mission.
19. What fictional character does he/she resemble, and how is he/she different from that character?
He has a bit of a Snape thing going on. He's hated, reviled, but still working for the good of the world. He's dour and quick-witted but, unlike Snape, has a (slightly) visible sense of humor that's not cruel but can be caustic.
20. What is a quote that could represent this character or his/her role in the story?
"You're walking on gallows ground, and there's a rope around your neck and a raven-bird on each shoulder waiting for your eyes, and the gallows tree has deep roots, for it stretches from Heaven to Hell, and our world is only the branch from which the rope is swinging." -Mad Sweeny in American Gods by Neil Gaiman
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
