Author Topic: Let's Make A Character! [Part 2] (Read 3818 times)

Queen Bright · « **on:** August 24, 2011, 07:55:22 PM »

The new classroom was about the same as the old one except it was bigger and there were new chairs and tables since Hikaru had burnt the ones in the last classroom. On the wall written in huge red lettering was "CHARACTERIZATION: INTERMEDIATE." To right of that on the other wall was a large whiteboard, larger than the last.

Regina went to the front of the classroom followed by Hikaru who continued her never ending glare."Welcome to Intermediate Characterization! Which... isn't all that different from Beginner Characterization."

"Oh good one."

"EXCEPT" Regina merely talked over Hikaru's remarks. "Where in Beginner we got to know our already created characters. In Intermediate we will actually get down to creating new characters. So as most of you probably thought that the last class may have been somewhat boring and pointless, Hawkeye and Zak! And somewhat random... Just know, there WAS a method to the madness. To put it bluntly. It was supposed to give you another personality. Well, maybe not that severe..." Regina glanced at Hikaru as she mumbled the last line.

"However, to create realistic believable and well developed characters, one must be in three places in roleplaying. You must be your character and see through their eyes, as their creator, but at the same time not force them for your own needs as an author, only giving them life to their already created personality. That is the first. You must also walk beside your character as their best friend (or enemy) always at their side. That's second. And finally Third, you must be the omniscient narrator. The god that created them and watches their life. If you stay in these three perspectives all at one time when writing your characters, then you may know them more than you know yourself. And you actually may come to develop their personality as another one of your own. ...If they weren't that already."

"Ooh, Foreshadowing?" Hikaru smirked.

"...Shut up." Regina quickly mumbled back then continued. "That was the point of the entire last class. To know your character to the point they're you, your best friend (or enemy), and your creation all at once. And to bring you into that mindset as a writer for future characters you have yet to create. That probably should have been Advanced, but I think it's the most important thing in Characterization to learn. We'll just review it in the end test. For now! INTERMEDIATE!"

Regina then turned around and drew a large circle on the whiteboard "All of you name a gender. That's it. Majority vote will be used."

Zero · « **Reply #1 on:** August 24, 2011, 07:59:06 PM »

Hawkeye closed his eyes for the moment. Genders. So that is what Regina wanted, then it is what she would get and so for a moment he just took a deep breath. Before he could say his answer he went up to Regina and asked her. "Mind turning off your creation's magic?" He asked, looking at Hikaru. "If it is all the same to you I would rather not experience Deceidei fire or Holy fire, or celestial fire for my answer thank you very much."

Beware Ye Who Enter Here · « **Reply #2 on:** August 24, 2011, 08:01:58 PM »

Zak raised an eyebrow and rolled an eyebrow at Hawk's statement. Seriously, not the time to be asking things. It'll just get you burned, literally in this case. He shrugged and spoke quietly, a little distracted. "Female, I guess."

Queen Bright · « **Reply #3 on:** August 24, 2011, 08:07:05 PM »

Hikaru rolled her eyes and remarked back, "Well I'd rather not experience your stupidity for my wasted time in this class."

"Did you learn nothing in the last class Hawkeye?" Regina sighed. "I do not control her. I am her creator in that I give her life. Other than that she is her, I am me. She does what she wants, and I merely just write it. Besides. I could have brought Kurai."

Zero · « **Reply #4 on:** August 24, 2011, 08:10:22 PM »

"Male."

And this time Hawkeye had come prepared, having taken one of the computers from the other room. He typed something on it and moments later two bulky packages appeared. Inside of them, AM emitters. Unwrapping, he turned them on.

Beware Ye Who Enter Here · « **Reply #5 on:** August 24, 2011, 08:19:58 PM »

"Oh God. Pleaaaaaaaase dont do that." Zak said hurriedly, breaking his silence. The thought of actually meeting Kurai was terrifying in and of itself but the fact that Regina couldnt even control her.... He shivered. Addler and Kallen walked in, yawning and stretching. Isaac followed them, shaking his head in an annoyed fashion. "Sorry, I had to wake these two knuckleheads up." He said to Zak before walking over and turning off the AM emitters. "She'll kill you for that." He warned.

Zak shrugged, "Thanks but choose a gender." He was still focused more on Regina and Hikaru. Addler glared sleepily at Isaac as Kallen set his hair on fire. Isaac sighed and put it out with magic. He looked at Kallen bemusedly as she smirked. "Male." He muttered.

"Er, male." Addler said between yawns.
Kallen was snickering at Isaac's face. "Female."

King Jeebus · « **Reply #6 on:** August 24, 2011, 08:35:27 PM »

"Female I s'pose" James winked "Do love the female form after a-" He NEARLY finished his sentence before being slapped over the back of the head by Skye who merely uttered "Male.".
Jay thought for a second before deciding on "Male" as well, straightening his hat and smiling at Hikaru; He could tell he was going to have as much fun antagonizing her as he ever did with Kurai.
SCOUT was being cuddled by Freya at the time "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Can I keep the robot? Pleeeease?" She begged her father. Haseo laughed a little before placing a hand on her head "I think he belongs to someone else honey. Now are you gonna pick a gender for the nice lady?" Freya nodded before piping up with "Girl! Like me and Gen!" SCOUT finally made a noise too, it's thought processes a little disrupted by this young organics energy signals "ichoosemechanic". Haseo nodded along with his daughter, he rightly couldn't care less "I'll pick female too I guess."
Psiko was merely leaning against the nearby wall "Male." Was all he said. AM emitters bugged him so.

Queen Bright · « **Reply #7 on:** August 24, 2011, 08:53:46 PM »

"AM Fields? HAH!" Hikaru smirked. "If I wanted to I could simply blow them up at this moment. But I don't feel like sharing my Technique with your cast of rejects there."

"Just pick a Gender." Regina sighed. "And I choose Male."

"Female! After all, we're so much more superior than those fools who think with their other head."

"Alright, So Seven for Male and 6 for Female with One for ....Genderless?" Regina quickly shook her head. "So Male wins." She turned around and wrote "Male" in big lettering inside the circle on the whiteboard. "Alright, the next assignment I actually learned from a characterization book by Orson Scott Card, an awesome Science Fiction Author. So credit to this method goes to him. But it's a method I used frequently since learning it, and I think it will really make a difference in how we create characters. We're not going to use a template like common character making. We're just going to ask questions. Simple questions. Hard questions. And maybe questions that seem random at the time. If this is confusing. Well, you'll see."

Regina turned back around. "Alright. So why Male? Why did the majority pick a male character?" Feel free to discuss before answering."

Beware Ye Who Enter Here · « **Reply #8 on:** August 24, 2011, 09:18:41 PM »

"I dunno." Addler muttered, shrugging. "I can emphasize with men more?" He said, shrugging tiredly.
Kallen and Zak exchanged glances. Neither of them chose male. Kallen simply leaned on Zak lazily and dozed off as Zak awkwardly glanced at her sidealong.

Isaac shrugged. "I chose what I associate myself with." He said simply, not putting any real thought into the question.

King Jeebus · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:14:51 AM »

James grinned, waving an arm as a joke as if he were allowing his characters to speak.
"It was a choice between two, I simply picked whatever came to mind first" Skye explained, sitting on a nearby desk.
"I picked male because I am male? I dunno." Jay laughed as he himself sat down, Psiko remained stood as he said "Same." Uninterestedly.

Zero · « **Reply #10 on:** August 25, 2011, 06:29:31 PM »

"Well I can think of one good reason." muttered Taji. "No mood swings. Which, given certain people in this room is quite the good thing." He said, making a subtle hint about Hikaru. The others, Rezick, Zane, Lucas, Jonathan, Allen and Ken all were in agreement. "Just in case...." Each one of them cast a barrier around each other, and Hawkeye to protect him from anything Hikaru would do. Solid, and fire resistant.

Queen Bright · « **Reply #11 on:** August 25, 2011, 06:36:58 PM »

Hikaru simply rolled her eyes and ignored them.

Okay... I guess that works.." Regina muttered. "Not exactly what I meant but moving on. What age do we want the character?"

Zero · « **Reply #12 on:** August 25, 2011, 06:41:34 PM »

"Well as for age, how about a teenager of say 16?" asked Taji, as he had no child hood and wondered what such a character would be like. Lucas piped up, and looked at Taji with a scowl. "At least 27 or more so as not to have to deal with teenage hormones or any of that. Rezick looked him over. "150, would possibly be our best option. " Hawkeye looked at Hikaru, and then at Regina and then at the others. "How about 87?"

Beware Ye Who Enter Here · « **Reply #13 on:** August 25, 2011, 06:53:57 PM »

"Er..." Zak said, rolling his eyes. "Mid twenties I guess?" He said slowly, still kind thinking about something else. "Somewhat experienced but not very?" He nudged Kallen gently and whispered to her. "Come on, Kallen. Wake up." She opened a bleary eye and glared at him. "233." She mumbled before going back to her snooze.

Addler magicked some coffee and took a sip, feeling slightly energized by the black, steaming beverage. "A hundred and seven." He said after he took a sip and picking a random number.

Isaac was busy juggling a fireball absentmindedly. "Hrm....." He started. "A thousand! A nice, young age." He decided before yelping as his hair caught on fire. Addler sighed and snapped his fingers, the firing dying.

King Jeebus · « **Reply #14 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:23:55 PM »

"A six year old, just to shake things up a bit." James said, funnily Skye actually agreed with him "Yeah actually... That'd be interesting."
Jay was tapping his fingers on the table "20 year old." He chuckled "Why not?"
Freya started hopping again "10 10 10 10!!!" She smiled "Daddy says thats how many years I am!"
Haseo smiled "I'll go for 10 too."
Psiko sighed, arms still crossed "30, can I leave yet?"

Queen Bright · « **Reply #15 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:35:45 PM »

Hikaru caught Hawk's gaze when he looked at her and stared him dead on, "Are you somehow insinuating that I look old by looking at me first?" She flicked her hand and sent Hawk flying up to the ceiling where she proceeded to bind him in place with energy in the form of ropes. "The idiot will be spending the rest of the class from up there. Let that be a warning."

At glance of what Hikaru did to Hawkeye, Regina edged away from her character and stood a distance from her. "Can't this class agree on anything..." she sighed. "Okay, so we have a large variety of ages. Last but not least, Occupation! This can be racial, their life, or just their job. It doesn't really matter. But when choosing the occupation tell me how the age and gender fit it, and therefore why you chose this occupation for this character."

Zero · « **Reply #16 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:44:56 PM »

Bound to the ceiling Hawkeye could not move. His characters on the other hand were not so limited, as Lucien held out his palm casting a dissolution spell on the energy ropes. At the same time, chains would rise out of the grounds, the same ones that had once been used to hold Koty but now would be used instead to hold Hikaru and prevent her magical abilities. Ken, Jake, Zane, Lucas, Kyle, Narasan and a whole host of other were helping. Each one made a barrier to catch Hawkeye.

"Bounty Hunter or Merc." said Lucien

"Body guard." This was stated by Silen.

"Mentor." said Allen and Lucas simultaneously.

"Combat instructor." said Rezick

"No, your answers are all wrong. Artist is the way to go...." said Hawkeye when he was safely on 2 feet.

King Jeebus · « **Reply #17 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:57:36 PM »

"I picked 6 year old, so like... Small child I guess." James mused, leaning back "It fits because well... He's a child."

Beware Ye Who Enter Here · « **Reply #18 on:** August 25, 2011, 07:59:39 PM »

Zak took one glance at Hikaru's treatment of Hawkeye and backed up a little, taking Kallen with him on accident. She opened a bleary eye and glared at him warningly. One more interruption and she'd make him stay still. "Occupation, Kallen. Occupation." He told her, more worried about Hikaru's wrath than his own character's. She magicked up a couch then pushed him onto it forcefully before sitting next to him and resting her head. "Pirate. Guys like to fight a lot and are very cruel and violent. Being young makes them more violent." She said simply, really, really not caring.

Zak, ever in the awkward position, shifted uncomfortably as he thought for a second. "Er, he's a down on his luck writer. Most writers have a hard time starting out as it is and I think guys often have a harder time getting published. I think."

"A soldier." Addler said at last, sipping the last of his coffee and completely ignoring Hikaru's fierce temper. "Many young men find their way to the path of a soldier to serve their nation." He said solemnly. It was the path he chose, after all and he never once regretted it.

Isaac was feeling the burned spot of his hair as he poked Hawkeye with a stick. "Thats what you get for messing with Sages, young man." He said, nodding solemnly before returning his attention to the question while still poking Hawkeye. "Oh, er, I know! Explorer! Young men are always leading expeditions to unknown places where they quite often succumb to horrible diseases and flesh eating bacteria!" He said quite cheerfully.

Queen Bright · « **Reply #19 on:** August 25, 2011, 08:11:36 PM »

The energy ropes however, refused to budge. "Do you think I'm stupid?" Hikaru muttered. "I've been training in magic for longer than you've been alive. Here's a lesson! Programmed and Controlled. Programmed is a spell one simply lets go and is no longer in the power of the caster. It does what it was in a sense programmed to do. Spells like that are used so one cannot link them to the person that cast the spell. Controlled..." She snapped her fingers and Hawk's bindings tightened. "Stays in the power of the caster till the caster decides to release it therefore giving them the ability to manipulate it in any way, shape, or form possible. This is a controlled."

The chains did nothing and instead turned on their casters due to the fact the type of chain that was once used on Koty were created from Revelation magic, the magic Hikaru had and the characters that cast it had no way of obtaining. It was like trying to turn a dog on its master. The spell would not attack Hikaru for as long as they were Revelation magic.

"Enough fighting, dammit!" Regina swore. "This is a classroom!"

"I'm just cleaning up the trash." Hikaru grumbled and crossed her arms.

Regina smacked her own forehead with her hand, "That trash happens to me one of my current students.... ANYWAYS." She glanced to the whiteboard and wrote down the occupation and ages. "So we have a 6 year old child, a writer in the mid twenties range, and a ...87 year old Artist. Good. Now! Tell me what can go wrong in each scenario. For example. Where are the parents of the 6 year old. How successful is the writer? How does being 87 effect the Artists ability to paint? These are only examples. I want you to really examine what could go wrong in the character you have so far created."

Zero · « **Reply #20 on:** August 25, 2011, 08:18:11 PM »

Too bad his arms were tied up, otherwise he could reach a PDA. Using that, he could type or write something up that could dissolve these ropes. Hawkeye closed his eyes for a moment and then thought of something that might work. "Lucien, #27 in your arsenal. Now. " When strategy #27 did not work, Lucien looked worried for a moment and then hatched and idea. Wait, a spell belonged to a caster as long as it was in their area of power, so what if he changed that about her little energy ropes? In fact, he began to make crystals come out of the top of the ceiling and cocoon around Hawkeye, the crystals needing more magic than the ropes. Thus, they would overwhelm the ropes, allowing him to simply teleport Hawkeye down to the ground. "Hawkeye says that the artist would have many problems with movement, brush strokes and painting."

King Jeebus · « **Reply #21 on:** August 25, 2011, 08:23:04 PM »

"The kids parents are uh..." James thought for a moment "His mother's a big time business woman who barely wanted him. She only tolerates him because she is his spawn. His father was just some drunk guy she met at a party. She doesnt remember him nor does she want to. The kid spends most of his time with his mother's expensive butler, mimicking him and such."
Jay just sighed "Kids fighting again huh?" He chuckled, leaning back in his chair

Beware Ye Who Enter Here · « **Reply #22 on:** August 25, 2011, 08:46:27 PM »

Isaac shook his head sadly and continued to poke Hawkeye. "What'd I just tell you? You cant mess with Sages!" He said, nodding sagely. "The writer is good but he cant get his work out. He has a very oppressive government and when he tries to publish his own books, they burn them! Burn them to the ground in great, big piles of smoldering paper!" He said a little too excitedly. Addler and Zak exchanged looks. "What?" Isaac asked, noticing them."That guy had some great book burnings! He was a total asshole but he knew how to burn a book!"

Zak sighed and facepalmed. "Right, er.... The artist isnt the best at writing what he writes. He likes to write romantic fiction but he cant really develop the characters so the relationship doesnt go anywhere and he's stuck."

Kallen mumbled her agreement from his shoulder. Zak sighed again and ignored her.

Addler put down his mug and thought for a moment. "The man is a truly great writer, however, he has to take care of his parents and siblings so he can only write every so often."

Queen Bright · « **Reply #23 on:** August 25, 2011, 09:05:33 PM »

"Wrong again..." Hikaru looked bored. "Controlled spells require more focus than Programmed spells. The higher power a spell has the more loss of focus you suffer. The more Controlled spells you cast in a battle, the more you have to concentrate. One loss of focus and your spell will either go poof or switch to programmed. The less power a spell consumes the better you can control it." The ropes suddenly caught alight themselves on fire with golden flames; Holy Fire. Due the fact they were controlled by Hikaru, however, they were harmless to Hawkeye. But for the crystals, the fire easily melted them. "Don't use magic if you don't know how it works. You disgrace it." Hikaru glared at Lucien.

"Excellent. Now we're getting somewhere." Regina decided just to ignore Hikaru's antics for now and focus on the lesson. "For Jeebus. What kind of influence is the butler? How does the mother's view of her kid affect the child? How does having no father affect him? What kind of mimcking? What could go wrong in this type of situation? Keep asking those types of questions to the characters's life situation. Not just the ones I ask, but anything you can come up with! Zak, how about all of the above? Issac's scenario sounds good, and so does Addler's and your own. But what about mixing them together? What kind of world have you just created and what else could go wrong with for this guy?

"Hawkeye! how does this crutch as one would put it affect the Artist? What kind of emotion does it bring him? Why did he become an artist to begin with? And What could go wrong? All of you? Ask the simple question that all the smaller questions lead to. What can go wrong in the characters situation? By doing this you start out a character with few things, and ask questions to get their basic life down and from there question it further. Find out what could go wrong for such a character, dig into their past, their motives, their goals, and their entire life. By starting out with just the bare basics."

King Jeebus · « **Reply #24 on:** August 26, 2011, 08:17:11 AM »

"Hm..." James began scrawling on a piece of paper "Yeah, the kid's butler's a nice enough guy but it bugs him that his job appears to include being a nanny too now. The kid mimics him in a sense that he follows him around and essentially tries to help as he can. Because of the lack of proper parental figures, the kid looks up to the butler as his father figure. I suppose what could go wrong is the death or discharging of the butler, or the father coming along looking for custody of the kid."