|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 5:21 pm
See, I was thinking in terms of like… the Coyote, Anansi, even Loki, but Tinker Bell would count too, albeit on a smaller scale. And that is hard, all things considered. Sorry to see you're having some trouble in that area. Like I said, I've never had the opportunity to read the Trilogy, but I hope it gets cleared up.
On the death matter, I think the question of mortality versus immortality is a prickly one, because it's impossible to generalize when all Children are so different. Also, the fact that the Book Children and the City People differ in more ways than just their lifespan could cause a disconnect in how they view their lives versus how they perceive the ephemeral existences of the People. There's opportunity for compassion and pity, certainly, but an inability to die can also sometimes make its mark in the form of arrogance. It's ultimately going to depend on whether or not they empathize with the City People to start. Since your Book Child seems to care, and you're edging him/her in that direction anyway, that sort of makes the decision. As for the history section, I think making it up as you go along wouldn't be such a bad idea. I typically just start with basics, since I don't want to box myself in, then move on from there.
I don't have any quests or such up as of yet; the only steps I've taken thus far are perusing the thread and guild and musing to myself. I did enter for the Tiger in the Tiger's Bride contest, but he's looking to be pretty popular (which is only natural), so I should probably start redistributing eggs into other baskets at this point. A City Person would probably be the easiest route in terms of acquiring a playable character, so I may start there.
Again, sorry for the setback you're encountering. I'm not sure what to suggest, aside from maybe tossing in some characteristics that aren't as closely related to the Trilogy or characters in question. Just because s/he hails from those books doesn't mean they can't also be their own person. If appearance is also an issue, which it seems to be, you can try for a more stable, less vague description? The potential for malleability is what's being called into question, from what I can see.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:00 pm
Mmm...those are all very good points. I think a lot of this is bothering me because whenever I start a new character, I just start playing them and see how they turn out. Often in the past when I've tried to say, 'this character will be sly and selfish', they turn out being the exact opposite and not what I meant to do at all. I've also tried to make nice characters who turn out to have a temper and can get really nasty, so I really don't know what to do as far as planning when I know they're going to change through rp. I can't help that; they just do.
I think that's why I start with stereotypes of characters - because I know that they won't end up that way as I play them out. Like you said, it's a good way to start with basics and let them evolve or flow from there. Since it seems I'm expected to plan out the whole character now, though, I'm kind of stuck. While I know the traits I'm starting off with are very similar to multiple characters of the book, I also fear that if I create a character that is nothing like the characters of the book, then they will have nothing to do with the book they embody and thus not really be the spirit of the book they're supposed to embody. x_x Except maybe in appearance, but I can't be sure of that, because I don't know how he/she is going to look either.
I didn't want to define how he/she looked precisely because I didn't want this to be a cosplay character. I really like the idea of a character that embodies a whole book rather than just one or two characters, but I have no idea how to go about doing that. I'd like to make them their own character, but then what link are they supposed to have to their book other than memorizing the whole text?
Oh, I see~ In that case, I wish you the best of luck! I agree about the city person, and if you choose that route, I'll look forward to seeing what kind of character you come up with!
Haha, and thank you, but no need to be sorry. XD This is my own problem. I guess the best I can do is just keep experimenting. As far as the malleability, one of the main characters (in fact a great deal of the characters in the book) are shape-shifters, and I think that's what Vamps was saying; that she thinks I can't come up with a form because I'm stuck on the shape-shifter aspect. In truth, though, I just don't want to end up making a description that looks essentially like one or two characters put together, which is all that's coming to me in my head. x_X
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2011 6:27 pm
Well, one thing I find especially helpful whenever creating characters is just choosing one or two characteristic of myself or maybe one of my friends.
For Arashi, I just started with his intelligence. Because it was a specific sort of intelligence, I could develop around that point and continue on about different aspects about him.
This bit is copied from me, but exaggerated and altered a bit. I can make all the things in the Lego book just by looking at the picture, but when it came to actually making houses and buildings from my own imagination, I just stared at a bunch of blocks. XD
And I'll have to agree with you about starting off and playing with a character. At the end of the day, my characters usually stray from their profiles and develop into entirely different people. But at least they had the basics of a person down already.
Mm.. And if you want to encompass an entire book, try to avoid the trilogy because a whole lot happens in three books but rather choose a single one. It might help. And you don't have to have it connect to a character. Arashi is actually more related to the 'storyteller' who's not really a character.
Also, if you can, I'd suggest just choosing an entirely different story. It might be easier to create a character from a shorter or simpler story, like a folk's tale or a fairy tale.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2011 6:19 pm
t h e C a r d M a s t e r
Hm, that's a good suggestion, but I think I just have too many characters that are like me or people I know, so instead I try to make characters who are the opposite of that. I suppose I could try to elaborate on a random characteristic, but then I'm worried that the resulting character won't act like the embodiment of the book they come from at all. x_x
Actually, I did choose a single book from the trilogy. The trilogy is called the Bartimaeus Trilogy and the last book from it is called Ptolemy's Gate. I asked the mule about a series of books or a trilogy, and they said that I could just stick to one book of the series/trilogy, which is why I picked the last book. It's my favorite and it encompasses most of the things I loved from the whole trilogy.
If the book children are not connected to the characters in the book, then what relation are they supposed to have to the book they are the spirit of other than memorizing their script? The storyteller aspect is an intriguing one, but unfortunately I can't do that with this particular book because it's told in both first and third person alternating between chapters.
I could easily think up a million other folk's tales or fairy tales that I like, such as Toads and Diamonds or Hongyu, the Fox Fairy but Ptolemy's Gate from the Bartimaeus Trilogy is my most favorite of all the books I've ever read and I really wanted to make a book child for it. ^_^; I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but if I can't manage to work out something and force myself to come up with an adequate character for it, then I don't really have much of a motivation to make any other book child.
Thank you very much for your help and suggestions! It means a lot. <3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
