Welcome to Gaia! ::

The teacher had been reading again but put the book down after a while and glanced at the clock then to the class with a grin. "Ok, now. Still waitin on a few of y'all to turn in your profiles but I'll get the rest of the class started on the next bit now." He pushed himself up from his seat and walked around the desk to perch on its front again before continuing.

"We're gonna take a look at what you've got so far, the concepts in particular, and see what we can do to tweak em. Now, some of you didn't put very much in your concepts, and some put a lot of not-concept stuff in there too but that's ok, we're gonna work on that.

"A concept is the basic, general idea of a character. It's just a few sentences to sum up who that person is. There shouldn't be a lot of detail but you should be able to get a general feel for the character by reading their concept. Important details should be included in a concept (such as their basic personality archetype, if they're not human then what are they, any special powers they may have, any outstanding talents, any goal or driving purpose, anything else that makes them stand out) but you don't want to cram a whole background in there - backgrounds come later.

"Now then, you might have noticed mention of a little thing called archetype. For those of you not familiar with the term it means basically your mold. As much as we like being unique, beautiful snowflakes, every human being on the planet can be (and at least once in their life has been) put into some sort of character classification. This is particularly prevalent in high school when the jocks, preps, nerds, druggies, and whatever other social clicks are in fashion at the time separate themselves out into very noticeable groups which don't get a lot of intermingling. Those are all archetypes. When I say someone is a jock, prep, nerd, or druggie you all get about the same picture in you head as to what I'm talking about. It's a stereotype. Now, by far it's not the be all of who that person is but it's a good place to start cuz, admit it, it's where we all start when meeting someone new. We don't like to admit it, want to think of ourselves as more mature than that, but it's human nature to categorize things into known definitions and archetypes are one of the systems we use for sorting people. We just don't intellectualize the concept - unless we're writers.

"Writers have a whole stable of 'literary archetypes' they use for their characters. Ask the Google overlords about literary archetypes and you'll get several lists. Seriously. Go do that. It'll only take you a few minutes and the research will be good for you." He leaned back with a grin and waited a few minutes, glancing at the clock.

"Ok. Now that at least some of you have done a touch of research you should have a few archetypes to choose from. Keep in mind though that not every archetype is good for every character or RP. Depending on the world and story some archetypes are going to be inappropriate. Like I said earlier about how the shy girls wouldn't do so well in Mr. Pointy-ears' world. Their archetype (the Innocent) is inappropriate. An action-adventure type RP generally requires one of the Heroic archetypes. There's lots of those to choose from but it all boils down to being able to do what needs to be done - not necessarily wanting to (the Unwilling Hero is a popular archetype) but being able to.

"For this particular RP though, a Heroic type isn't required. You can be anything you'd like to be for staying here but keep in mind if you want to take your character out after graduation you'll need to be a little more selective about your archetype. If you want to do an actiony RP later then go with a hero (or villain) of some kind. If you want to do slice of life then choose one of the more mundane types. If you want to play around in a romance pick one of those romancey kinds.

"Case you hadn't guessed, the next assignment's dealing with your archetype. So you kind of need one. So. . . get one. And keep your concepts in mind - make it fit. Then rework your concepts to include that and take out the extra stuff, put in what you need. Keep it simple but enough to get the point across.

"Next assignment will be expanding on the archetype and concept into something more specific by adding layers. All comes together now don't it. First we gotta have a solid concept though. So. What we're gonna do is, instead of me picking your stuff apart, you're going to do it to each other. Each of you needs to offer at least one suggestion to at least one other student on how to make their concept better. Also make your concepts better. Include your archetype to round it out. Now get to it."

Roll Call:

Activating the microphone had been a no brainer. All that was required was a simple sweep with over the marble with a magnet to arm the mechanism. Zane now had that corner of the room bugged.

He only looked up from his work when he heard the rumbling grind that was one of the elves' voice. His initial thought was that the gunslinger was talking to the other elf that was hovering over him, but he was only providing his answers to the teacher's assignment. Zane considered them for a moment, thinking that perhaps that elves had different customs when spoken to. It was possible that they were spoking through a mind link, like they did in Eragon. Or maybe she was just blatantly ignored. Zane went through his bag one last time, fetching a sheet of paper which he scrunched up and lobbed in the direction of the gunslinger. The toss had been aimed for the peak of the man's head. He wasn't counting on it missing -- Zane was a pretty great shot.

He turned back to his work to hid his smirk and returned to attention to his workbook. After taking a glance at his cell phone, he spoke then, mainly as a cover-up for himself in case anyone actually didn't notice his bout of mischief. "Evan has a scar as his distinguishing feature. Scars usually don't come from nothing. If it hasn't been thought of already, maybe he should get a source for it that relates to the entire background of the character. Maybe something related to his artistry or his interest in magic or his helping his...creator." Zane scowled as he read the filthy word from his phone's screen.

He returned his eyes to his worksheet. "I don't like my concept as it's written out currently. It concentrates more on my background and the setting I come from rather than who I really am at the core. If I'd written this, then I'd say that I'm an ordinary high school student. I look like I'm a cool loser who's a bit book dumb, but behind that, I'm secretly this and this. I can be quite the snark knight at times and I have a pair of these in my backpack."

((Edited: minor changes to first and last paragraphs.))

Sigma looked up from the drawing to the teacher as they were addressed, then sat silently as people spoke.

Wild Bill spoke to him. Or to his creator, he was not sure. He also had time to ponder the strange highlighted words people kept using to describe them, and as he wondered about them images flashed in his mind defining them. Sigma briefly wondered if he could do that when a familiar voice told him he could not.

But it was about time he spoke up. So he stood up.

"Most of what my creator doesn't mention he'd prefer if the class found out organically, meaning I tell you of my own volition. This can come about a myriad of ways but I got to like you first. How I got plucked from my life is simple. My creator tore me from my world to a dark space where he asked me a series of questions and judged based on those if I would be able to 'fit in' here or not. I don't see how he could honestly. Then he kept me on standby until I was needed.

"I became needed when my creator decided he had better things to do with his time than be a sarcastic mini-him. So I was put here. You know the rest."

With that he sat. But he felt like he needed to add something, "Since you guys can't read what I and the teacher can, my creator will put whatever begs the question in the subtext."

And so I shall;

Sigma's driving determination is to rescue his sister from a madman who uses entropic corruption at his whimsy. Sigma is the product of said entropic corruption and as a result he is unstable in both mind and body. He makes use of fronts to put people off from him in an effort to not hurt them and in turn not be hurt by them. If pressed he can go berserk and for the purpose of the academy would require direct intervention from his creator.

Despite this he can be a nice guy if one gets past his walls.

Sigma rolled his eyes as he sat in his desk. "All I am is warm fuzzies with this guy" he mumbled to himself.

Having spaced out for a majority of class so far, she finally perked up at the teacher's newest assignment. Practically falling asleep, she shook herself to pay attention and think about what she would do to participate. She wasn't the type to seem so good at school but she definitely had a knack for at least doing decently. It was more that she didn't care rather than not being intelligent.

After a few more moments of the though she raised her hand, and once again, went without waiting for other people.

"I think that Levi's concept has a good basis but he needs to give precise about himself. Not leave the concept as intentions but to make a solid character. Leeway is nice in a character as far as developing it but there should be a solid base so that you can build on a solid foundation." She thought a second more on her words before nodding happy with the wording.

For the next part, she would allow Countess to take over. After all, she wasn't so keen on talking about herself. Besides, Countess was better at giving examples than she. In the mean time, she would focus on trying not to fall asleep.

Edited Concept: Coming from a crumbling society, Eva is little miss kick-a**. Although having control over fire puts her vantage over Noma's (Non-magical humans) it is frowned upon and for this tends to be the cute bruiser. Although she hates attention to her size and looks. She wants to be known for her strength. Due to her defensiveness she can come across as a a bit snarky. and hates when guys don't think of her on their level. Being raised in her world she have sort of a broken bird complex. But that's not something she would openly admit. She would never be seen defenseless.
(thank you tvtroppes)

At some point the teacher had gotten lost behind a massive stack of papers that slowly accumulated on his desk and had started muttering shocked curses under his breath, genuinely surprised by the stupidity contained within as he tried to find his faltering faith in humanity at the bottom of a bottle of aged scotch. Absorbed in putting red marks on papers and wondering how the hell this had happened he managed to somewhat neglect the class he was supposed to be teaching.

And so his wife stepped in to cover.

"Hey, guys." The voice entered the room slightly before the poof of glitter that announced the woman's presence. "Sorry about the delay. End of semester and the boy's got actual work to do - y'all understand," she flashed them a wry grin as she looked the class over. "I believe we're still waiting on at least a few assignments but we're not waiting anymore. If you've not gotten your work done yet then play catch up when you get around to it. The rest of us are moving on." She nodded a bit sharply then looked over the students with a considering smile.

"So - on to the next thing. By now you should have a concept and a few details to work with. Some of you probably have more but we're going to take this one step at a time - baby steps. And don't get too attached to what you've got. Need to be flexible in case things don't work. So, keeping flexible in mind along with your chosen concepts and archetypes, let's work on that attitude of yers," the woman grinned.

"Personality is what makes a person personable - or not," she flashed a grin at D'cund, Lloyd, and Zane. "It's arguably the most important part of who you are so put some serious thought into it. And by that I mean more than listing a handful of adjectives to construe some vague shadow of a person. Seriously think about what kind of person your character is. My favorite way to do this is to take a page from psychometrics and look at some Personality Tests. The internet is full of these things but one fairly standard one is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment (seeing why this class is under the Psychology department?). I, personally, find these things amusing but you don't have to take the whole test - just look at the result things and pick which best fits you.

"Of course that's only the surface picture. No one is going to fit that perfectly so you should work in some deviation from the norm and at least a few layers of conditional personality - where you act differently in different situations. Some people do this more than others but everyone does it at least a little.

"Aaaaand that's your assignment. Look at the MBTI and pick your results then explain how you fit that result with some deviations noted and extra stuff to get a good (or bad) personality going," she smiled at them then gave a glance to the teacher, still buried in work. "He should come out of there in a few days." The woman looked back to the class, "Try to have your work done by then - it would make him feel better." She gave them a slightly pleading look then cracked a wicked grin before disappearing, smile last, into thin air again.

Roll Call:

ISTP, Tombstone wrote down.



Tombstone chuckled. "I can live with that description. As for divergences, it is not so much a need to live on the edge as that it just... happens. Also, I am usually not the type to encroach on others' spaces; I'd prefer to just find a nice area to have to myself without others in it." He sighed. "I am sure there are more examples that I am not thinking of, so if anyone happens to think of some possibilities for me, feel free - hell, feel invited - to speak them."

Tombstone sighed and snapped his fingers. Venom made a noise distinctly similar to the sound of a surprised person being awakened, largely for reasons of being a surprised person being awakened.

If you are going to write a post for me, perhaps you also are going to post it?

Shush, you.

Reina had been surprised by the appearance of the teacher's wife, but was more confused by the glitter that came with it. Why glitter? If it had been meant to keep the students off guard, the wife had certainly succeeded.

When it came to the MBTI assessment, Reina wanted to cringe. She never liked taking personality tests. When she was forced to take this particular test, she found out she was an ISFJ type.



The picture-brought-to-life patted D'cund's arm before leaving and said, "I'll be back." On her way to check on the elf, she passed by Zane's desk and glanced at his assignment. "INTJ? Interesting," she said. She'd have said something more, but her goal was to get to Reina. Maybe she'd get to talk to Zane later.

As the drawing got to the elf, Reina turned pink and frowned. "I-I'm not that much of a doormat...am I?" The drawing simply hugged (although Reina felt it was better described as a death choke) the elf from behind and said, "You're so adorable! No, you're not that bad, but you do have the 'good manners' thing down to a T and you do need to learn to be more social." Isa loosened her grip on the elf and pointed over to Zane. "Why not talk to him? Just because your attempt with the cowboy failed doesn't mean everyone's gonna react like that." Isa then turned Reina's head towards Evan. "Or maybe go talk to him? He likes to draw too. Maybe you guys can talk about art styles."

The drawing hadn't exactly been whispering about what she wanted the elf to do, and Reina seemed to be hiding behind the drawing's arms to avoid looking at anyone. "C'mon. The worst that can happen is that they say they don't want to talk."

Isa moved her arms to rest on top of Reina's head and stared at both Zane and Evan with a smile. "Jeez, just because we're in class, we don't have to be as silent as the dead unless the teacher says something. He's too busy with other stuff anyway to pay much attention to us. Or maybe I'm wrong. What do you guys think?" She also looked over at the others to show that it was an open conversation and was meant to be answered by anyone.

He hadn't realized someone had been looking over his shoulder until he heard the voice reading off his page. It wasn't clear to him why, but suddenly he felt quite self-conscious. With his eyes only, he watched as the facsimile role player wandered to the elf artist he'd questioned earlier. He gritted his teeth, frustrated with the elf's dependance on her 'creator'. It wasn't so much her personality but rather the fact that her social awkwardness was probably caused by this RP of hers that had him on end.

When the drawing looked at him, Zane frowned and quickly averted his gaze back to the sheet of paper on his desk, trying not to attract attention. Right when he was almost convinced that it had worked, the drawing spoke up with a question. Fortune smiled upon him when it wasn't about the ball of paper he had tossed earlier. "I think..." On his face was a sarcastic smile. "That I might be better off dead."