Freelanders: How much of you is in your characters?

[Mystica]

Do you mold your characters after yourself or after someone you know? How do you choose which characteristics to give to what character and how much of that is 'you'?

[jozan]

If you mean our Freelander Charactes, then nothing of me is in my character. But my warder do have a little of me inside him so to speak.

Otherwise I usually try to come up with a character that is as much interesting as possible and fun to play.

[Quibby]

There's a certain aspect of me in all my characters, usually only one major one, though. Mehrin is my cynicism and general fed-up-with-the-world nature. My Dreadlord is an outlet for all of the sadistic tendencies and general desire for chaos. My Aes Sedai is a reflection of tenacity and violence held in check. My newest character (an as-of-yet unintroduced Bander) is my love for tinkering and my general wonder at the world around me.

[keyholder21]

I have to agree with Quibby that there is something of me in all my characters! I don't know if I could write them if not. I tried that before and they always end up morphing as I'm writing them *laughs*. My Blue (Miahna) is my sense of duty, my intelligence, and my tenacity, my Yellow (Carys) is my caring, kindness, and wanting to help everyone. My Lion Tamer (Tensleigh) is my courage, my stubbornness, and my flirty side heh, and my Aiel (Rixan) is my need to prove myself, my love of learning, and my love of family.

[Mystica]

my first character, which was my Aes Sedai has some things from me. She has a great respect for nature and it's creatures and is quite analytical of people. She reads people pretty well and can see through situations.

 

All my characters have something of me, I suppose, but as I've been in a position where I had to create NSW characters and TPC characters I've learned to diversify more.

 

Those of you that play evil characters or characters with bad traits, did you find it always easy to play those? I had to get comfortable with that myself, though I must admit that there is a certain guilty pleasure of having that sort of freedom not to abide by normal standards. Which of your characters do you have the easiest/hardest time playing? The good ones or the bad ones?

[Quibby]

I actually find it difficult to play good characters; it's why I've tried and failed several times to make a Whitecloak. My "good" characters are more morally ambiguous. Mehrin is, more or less, a cold-blooded killer, when it comes down to it. I haven't developed her far enough for it to show, but my Aes Sedai is mildly unbalanced and Machiavellian in nature. The Dreadlord is evil, which makes him simple to write in comparison. Mehrin has his own personal rules that he tries to keep in order not to cross the line. The Aes Sedai has her Oaths to keep her in line. The Dreadlord, though... He has no rules to bind him. He can do what he pleases, which means he can do what I please. I once had him skin a PC's parents alive, simply to throw the character off-balance.

[Kathleen]

Kat, my Green Aes Sedai, is almost me in RP form. Granted I would throw her into battle far sooner than I would run in myself, but I felt as strongly for something worth fighting for as she feels for her ajah and her cause then I would go in like she does; cold steel on the outside, scared as all hell on the inside. Sweet, kind hearted, ready to jump in and help anyone at anytime, but has a back bone when needed. Get hurt emotionally very easily. She is the one who I find hardest to play in the sense that I worry over something happening to her. I've actually cried in rps she was in because it felt like it was happening to me.

 

Seheria (my Yellow/Black Aes Sedai) I love and it does have part of me in it. I don't think I could play her if it didn't. She has my 'up yours, I don't care what you think, i'm doing this my way and you better stand back and stay the blazes out of it" attitude. Only, I don't get that till I get pushed enough where as she's just got it all the time. It took me at least 4 times editing the bio and two chats with Elgee to make her evil enough to be in the Black Ajah. I just don't know how to be evil. The more I play her the easier it gets, but most of it is the fun of playing someone who is so different from me.

 

Adai, my Aiel WO, is the strong, determined, serious side of me. She still has a sense of humor and is gentle, but it is as humourful and gentle a Aiel are haha. She has it in her, but she has to prove herself, and she does it with strength. don't worry her apprenticeship is beating it out of her....sadly for her, I fear I'm still in my apprenticeship, so it may make for an awkward transition to her being a full WO.

 

For the NSW I write, I am always nervous every time I post. For me to write I need to put some of myself in it, but I want to stay true to the character and I can't always connect with them. I don't want put so much of me in them that I take them from what they were to what I make them either though. So I try to limit my use with them.