Mouthy Fun

[greenstorm]

Okay. Arrive in Vancouver around 3:30 or 5pmish, I think that's the plan. Now that that's straightened out:

I really like roleplaying. I realise after this absence, getting back to it, that it's not just an escapist activity or a time-waster. I get to create these complex characters, plus I get to have them say stuff like:

"I've noticed a distinct tendancy amongst our elected officials to alienate anyone, no matter how well-wishing, on contact," Evangeline says casually to Sky, her smile wry, "and you seem to have the knack. I'm beginning to think I should run myself."

to said elected official, or:

"They're revolutionaries," Evangeline says to the Centauran, though she makes eye contact with Sky, "shit disturbers who up until a little while ago were trying to overthrow a powerful status quo. Now they have the power and they're running a little wild. One hopes it will pass." She smiles at Sky, inclines her head, and says, "thank you, Sir. Or may I call you Sky after the drinks come?"

My characters are all so much more clever than I am. They know what's going on. They form clever theories and say them well. Or they don't, but if they don't that's deliberate on my part and not because -I- don't know what's going on. Bah, scrap all that. It's just fun.

You can tell it's fun because I stay up far too late doing it.

Oh, yeah. I tend to make characters with the qualities of my SOs, because my SOs are insufferably cool. So... yes... I made a character who juggles. Now I get to think up twenty million ways to pose juggling, like so:

Amber casually tosses the other shot glasses back into the air, one then the other, until she's got them looping evenly again. They fall into her hands with quiet little smacks and she sends them up again, glittering in the bar's lighting. She slides to her feet and wanders across towards Kaz's seat, smiling still. "Hello there, stranger," she says, her eyes on the glasses.

Fear me!

What's that? Double entendre in the title? For shame! Well, mild shame, in any case. Just a bit of shame. Er... I think, somehow, that I'm up too late. I'll finish off those scenes and head to bed now in the hopes of making sense another time. Be well.

Comments

[darthmaus.livejournal.com]

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the possibility of developing characters that are more clever than their originator... I'd love to be able to do it, so my characters were freed of my own limitations, but as I don't understand how to be especially clever I can't generate characters that are.

I should go to sleep. That made no sense :-)

[greenstorm.livejournal.com]

I find when I stop worrying about what I think the character will do and whether I understand them, they spring full-fledged into being and start ordering me around, reacting to situations on their own, and surprising the hell out of me. On the other hand I'm in a collaborative environment and so they respond to an environment which isn't under my control -- there's more of a random or surprise element in there altogether. And I'm in something close to realtime where I don't have the ability to fall into the overthinking trap.

I do find that I really like analysing why they did stuff, afterwards, and it's a lot easier than analysing a real live human being since you have a ton more information (and perhaps they're less complex? ;), but I realise I have that penchant for motivation analysis on anyone.