ways_back_room | On characters, change, and RP

On characters, change, and RP

I'm in the mood for meta. Deal.

It's occurred to me recently that one of the most important parts of playing an interesting character is change. The character has to evolve, to grow, to learn from mistakes and become something else. If a character doesn't, whether for IC or OOC reasons, they become boring. Sure, they may work to help move someone else's plot along, but their own plot, their own arc, will be stagnant. They will cease to move forward, and slowly become boring both to play and to play with. Outside plots and external events can postpone this for a while, of course, but in the end, the appeal will go.

For example, the only reason Anakin is still in the bar at this point is because there is baby!plot I want to finish, and because there are other characters who need him. However, as soon as the baby!plot concludes, I'm retiring him. He finished his character arc months ago. I knew what I wanted him to do and learn, and he's done those things. He doesn't *need* to do more.

Jenny, on the other hand, has barely begun to accomplish what I would like her to do. That's partially because I don't play her enough, and partially because it's not in her nature to do some of the things I want from her, so it will take time for those changes to happen. I can wait.

So think about it. Is your character changing? Have they accomplished what they need to do? Are they stagnant, or is there still more for them to learn?

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There is more for Elaine to learn. A little while ago, I was reading something about plot and I have realized that Elaine is on what is known as a "Mythic Journey": which proceeds thus: Cage, Escape, Quest/Road of Trials, Dragon Confrontation, Home.

Right now, Elaine is still Questing, but she is about to enter upon the "Road of Trials." Because she has so many people that she loves, she will probably never fully retire from Milliways, but there will be a point where she will leave for the next part of her story.

Oh, and if anyone has ideas for Trials, (or a Dragon Confrontation), let me know. :)

Rock.

Good short essay. I think it's something that is forgotten at times.

People who never change in real life are not intelligent enough to learn from life. Characters are the same way.

Dumb characters are boooooooooooooring.

And I don't think Bernard will ever be done. Because I'm insane.

In real life? No one is ever done. So it's fair to have a character that's never done. It's equally fair to have a character who's completed the stage of his or her life that is the bar, and needs to move on -- be that back to their canon, Death, or whatever.

Well sure. S'what I said. :D

:-P

The speed in which

terroristlady left the bar astonished me, but I realized that, due to her beliefs, she couldn't stay in the bar. She wouldn't, and had she been forced to stay she wouldn't have changed at all. She might've become more insane and insufferable to her son, but she'd have no redemption.

Tony, on the other hand...is difficult. Just when I say there's nothing new to him he deals me a card--like, for example, letting Dina out of the cells. He absolutely has not improved from his state a few months ago. He's only distracted himself from it. So, even though I think his whole arch was to reconcile with Michelle, there's still something unresolved there. As long as he ignores his problems there's still the huge possibility that his relationship with Michelle will dissolve, and in that case my only option would be to kill him off.

I'm just reluctant to part ways with him because he's my main pup. Everyone else...I'll get back to you on that.

Okay, I’m aware this may constitute as spamming but I think better as Audrey under Audrey’s journal (der).

Audrey is on her last legs, but not in the sense that she’s leaving last week. There are still a lot of things she must deal with. A big part of her arch will depend largely on her family, if and when they arrive in the bar. So, I’ve no clue when she’ll be leaving, but once she’s unbound that’s probably the last time you’re ever going to see her in the bar.

Erin…hmm. Right now she’s on the brink of making a major life change and I will need to play her through that. I think in order for her to move into the final stages of development she’ll need a true comeuppance in the bar, and she’ll need a moment of true contrition.

And thinking about what’s going on with John will require a space ship so I can go to that planet he’s in that’s orbiting my brain.

I've had to confront some of that with Ray, myself- not in a negative or unwelcome fashion, mind you. It's just that in Ray's own world- heck, right in his application- it's acknowledged that the man had all the general maturity of a, a, I don't know, a very immature thing. The things he's been forced to deal with and look to since coming to the bar have been changing that to a degree that life in an essentially comedic universe was not likely to accomplish. This is part of the reason I've not had Ray ask a healer to fix the Timwar scars on his palms. They serve as something of a reminder of what's really out there, and what he's freely chosen to do, and the sort of consequences that exist in a world not presided over by the Dark and Hungry Gods of Comedy.

Of course, there is also the fact that Ray's curiosity, both scientific and general, is a bottomless pit that will probably never be genuinely satisfied before Last Call. That will probably lead to a lot of interesting material along the way, but for now, he's still working on the Got Some Growing Up To Do story arc.

Charlie's changed a lot since he first came in. Grown up a lot, though I know he's got a lot more growing up to do. It's depended a lot on who is in his life--Claire and Seth were an enormous step for him, one I don't think he could have taken back in the fall--and what's asked of him. I'm excited to have a continuing canon for him and how his story develops will depend, I'm hoping, a lot more on what happens next season.

Asar-Suti changed a whole lot, which was necessary, as in canon he is a) the purple fiery chasm in the lowest level of Valgaard an b) the story of the sorcerer who broke the island in two; that is all.

So, to become interesting, he had to become a person; and he is still doing so, still changing. Especially the recent Hellfly events have taught him lots of new things he will need some time to assimilate...

Grissom is slowly learning the things I want him to learn. However, due to his natural reticence, I doubt I'll be retiring him any time soon.

Sara has done what I mainly wanted her to do: she has opened up and let herself love and be loved. Of course, she's set the stage for later heartbreak for herself and I'm not sure how that will play out.

Inuyasha's barely gotten his foot into the door. *g*

The wonderful way the Titans crew is linked up to the comics means that they're never really going to make themselves bland. Our policy is to not change canon, but enhance it - which means that we always have something interesting to work with. And we add our own plots in as well. So I don't think Kon is going to become unusable for me until the day that he decides he doesn't want to go back to the bar again.

I've found that, for me, leaving characters bound for too long constricts them. Peter became a much more usable character for me after I unbound him. It's the same in every situation. Wally and Jenni are both characters I'd like to play more, but with them being bound, it's not quite working. I don't know why.

Wally is stagnating for me, and I'm trying to find a way to fix it. It probably has something to do with the bound thing. He's finished that plot, he needs to move on.

I like this meta. ^_^

Merriman's character in canon is fairly stagnant -- the reader learns of his different facets and flaws over the course of the Sequence, but it's the rest of the Six who are doing the learning/growing/developing under his general guidance. And so bringing him to Milliways and having him interact with other characters is my way of forcing development onto him, fleshing out the facets and flaws and hopefully making a transition from an archetype to ~~a real boy~~ a character in his own right.

His development, I think, comes from having to provide some sort of explanation or justification for some of his past actions -- discussing Hawkin with Tom Riddle, for example, or being drawn into Guinevere-related plottishness. He's been able to shelve his own emotions for so long that he doesn't quite know how to take them down from the shelf and air them out, so to speak. But in helping other characters with their own problems, he has to deal with those shelved emotions and reflect on the past...which is something he could avoid doing before, because there was a war on.

He's changing, yes. At a snail's pace, but I do believe he's changing. I've a feeling that he'd categorically deny it if you asked him to confirm it, though.

I've a feeling that he'd categorically deny it if you asked him to confirm it, though.

That's the Merry we all know and love *grins*

There would be eyebrowing involved.

*Thinks*

Shelley is from an ongoing canon - which I guess is character development in itself. But she also has a loooong way to go for other reasons. *Eyes Four million plots that popped out of the woodwork*

Vetinari is basically here to become the man he is in the books afer Night Watch events. This will happen. Er. After someone pries the Fae off him in a few years time. Or that there canon's getting seriously AU.

My Plot characters are just that, and will be retired, or kept as support.

My pups are changing, certainly. I get confused when I read the earlier trades of Snow's canon, but then Snow in the fifth trade is just as different from Snow in the first trade as Snow in Milliways is. They both changed, they both evolved due to the insane events they went through, but Milliways helped make things more tolerable for her. She changed, she grew, and she's doing wonderfully here.

Broom . . . well, beyond his initial escape from servitude, he's just living. He sought out employment, he found love, he's doing well, but not a huge change.

Petunia's changing. She resists, but she's changing.

Littlefoot I'll need to play more and get back to you.

Kitt himself has known that there will come a time when he no longer visits the bar as regularly as he does now. To him, the real world is still out there, and he's got a lot to do in it. But he has ties in Milliways - the largest of which being his brother. Until he can support himself outside the bar, he won't be making that step. But... there are those he cares for. While his visits may become few and far between, he won't completely stop until...

Well. Let's estimate a good sixty years or so.

Tim is oh so constantly changng. And I don't think he'll ever leave the bar, he's way too attached to making it safe. I figure when the time comes to put the cahirs up and turn off the lights, He'll be there to give death a hand.

Van Helsing - there is *always* more for him to learn. As he knows little to nothing at all about himself; plus, I have plot ideas for him... just have to organize them and get a couple muns in place to finish some things first.

Connor - Well, he's not developing so much as just hanging out. He's rather laid back and honestly, prefers that he doesn't have to run out and chop some other guy's head off in the middle of the night just b/c the other guy came looking for a fight. He's quite content to stay at Milliways and deal with weird emotional trauma - well, for a while anyway.

Bob the Skull and Harry Dresden - yeah - lumping them together. Bob - not a lot of changing for him to do; he's an air spirit and lacks a little bit of something called 'free will'. It's a thing. And Harry, him I don't want to skew off in any one direction too much b/c I have him following his canon as it gets released. Though I do have to keep him about 6 months or so behind the publication date so I don't spoil those who haven't read the latest. (Book 7 just dropped in May.)

Dawn Summers - Currently, she's following along the canon from the end of S7 of BtVS. Haven't really decided what she's gonna do after that. Probably follow what little tidbits we got from S5 of AtS, with some added details about stuff.

MacGyver - haven't had a chance to play him much lately, but, I may be able to come up with a thing or two for him to do. Poke me if you want a MacGyver for plotty things... ;)

And...

Martouf - he's dead. Apparently, that annoys the hell out of him or something b/c he just *won't* talk to me. I've chucked an alternate version of him into a diff RP in hopes that might get him geared up and moving again (this worked for Harry). *pokes the lazy Martouf pup*

Every time I think I'm done with Tom he surprises me by giving me hints of more layers to peel back and more ways to grow. I think he's accomplished much, but next week or next month something else will likely come up.

Yrael is still learning, still changing, and I have an aim for him in mind, but I am not giving that away at the moment.

Jane is definitely changing, and quickly, for her time is soon to end, once a particular event happens.

My secret character is not changing, and that's the point. He'll be changing, though, once he leaves the bar. For good.

What Roland has needed to accomplish has been mapped out from day one. And if you want to know what that is...look at the end of DT7, and I won't say more, because spoilers.

I wasn't satisfied with the ending in canon. And Milliways is the opportunity to make it right, and to do it canonically -- which to me is the most important thing.

There's still more for him to learn. Probably always will be, because he's Old Long, Tall, and Ugly.

*posts in mun journal because she's lazy*

Eska's nearly done. She's supposed to come to terms with the false dichotomy of witchcraft and wizardry and realise that she is neither and both. The hellfly plot was conceived a while ago and was supposed to run earlier, so by the time it did its role in her character development was unnecessary and just became a means to torture her. I would like her to explore other magics before she leaves, although that may not work out.

Melaka is softening. Ouside of Milliways she had to become independent very quickly and dealt with it by forming a hard outer shell. Milliways takes away the responsibility of Slayerhood and the dangers of living in the Slums and is giving her a chance at a real adolescence. She's formed real friendships, adopted a Millifamily, fallen in love, none of which she would allow herself to do in Haddyn.

I haven't figured out what my other girls need to learn yet. Some of them, like Susan, just aren't changing at all.

Anthy's path has been prepared, as we like to say, from the beginning, and it should be obvious to anyone who's seen her canon. *enigmatic*

I might retire her after that, but it's hard to project that far; it's a pretty damned long path.

They're supposed to have paths and aims? Ohgod, no one told me! *panics* I was just poking them to see what they'd do!

Most of mine don't have laid-out paths either, K. I wouldn't worry.

Also, there will be a quiz afterward.

And Merriman will be on the examination board. ^_^

DAMN YOU ALL!!!

Let me copy off you?

Angel, as Mark pointed out in-game... quite a while back, deserves a second chance. He SO didn't have enough time, and the bar's giving him as much as he wants. Or needs, I guess, but I don't think he'll be going anywhere any time soon.
Jane... her I'm not sure about. The bar's a place where she can have, on average, more intelligent conversations than she can find at home, not to mention a major source of inspiration. Dunno if she'll ever be done. (Kind of toyed with this in the Millific about Daria I wrote - Daria lost track of the bar for a while because she found people in her own world that she could talk to, if necessary.)
Imp is even more difficult to say anything about, mostly because he hasn't been in-bar lately. He'll be back one of these days, I swear, and I at least want him to remember the music with rocks in incident before he's done.

Obi-Wan, as I said before, will leave whenever Anakin doesn't need him around anymore, unless Luke or somebody still needs him.

I've a general idea where I want

md_donighal to go and what I want him to learn. He thinks he's already learned most of it, but I suspect he's wrong.

Strong Bad, of course, isn't about to change. (-8

Barry has changed a lot. He's much more relaxed now about people and life. He knows he's on borrowed time, and has learned how to make the most of it. He's still the same steadfast hero and friend, of course, but he can step away from that when he needs to.

And he's learned how to let go of the mistakes in his past and how to love without worrying about the future.

That said, the end is now in sight. I love playing Barry, and having him be an active member of Security allows for a lot of plot potential. But there isn't a lot more I can do with Barry as a character (which is ultimately why the real Barry Allen will never be brought back in the comics). Somewhere over the next year, possibly sooner, the Speed Force will call and Barry will go. He will say his tearful farewells to Sara, and to all his friends in the Bar, and accept his fate.

Sideshow Bob, however, will probably never change. He should be able to, but since his latter appearances on The Simpsons negate that possiblity, I doubt he will. He is a jerk, albeit a refined and intelligent one, and a maniac, and only an outside force is going to fix that. But it's early for him. Maybe he'll meet a nice manaical woman and see the error of his ways.

I forget the exact quote, but Bigby makes a statement about Fables and change. Fables have inordinate, possibly immortal, lifespans, so they all adapt eventually. Basically, it was something along the lines of adapt or die.

Consequently, change is there, but change is slow and hard to spot. He's largely reactive, somewhat secretive and takes a very long-term view. I don't think his "character arc" will ever be done... he'll leave well before he finishes any such.

I couldn't agree more.

Is Gil changing? No
Has he accomplished what he needs to do? Since his only function is to cook, yes.
Is he stagnant? Yes.

The problem is that he is more or less happy - work, relationship etc - and happy people are completely boring to write and - and this is important in RP - boring to play with.

Milliways is angst driven. Characters with no angst in their lives just putter along and angsty folk flock together. If one is in crisis one doesn't want someone to pat one on the shoulder and offer one a muffin - there's not enough drama in that.

Gil ought to go. Unfortunately Milliways is my comfort blanket and I am unwilling to give it up.

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On characters, change, and RP

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