Character inspirations
I was thinking today about where all my crazy people come from and thought it might be fun to hear about what other people were thinking when they made their characters. Specifically, I found myself thinking of Nova because of a somewhat obscure reference I made to Ender's Game (that I later took out because it seemed a little too obscure and would be a bother to explain).
When I started making Nova I had my everquest character, Verileah, on the brain. Nova turned out a bit different from her; Verileah had an inner calm that Nova lacks as well as a bubbly side. Nova, in turn, takes Verileah's death wish to the next level (Verileah was a barbarian shaman for those of us who gamed). There are a lot differences, come to think of it, but I'll admit they are a fair bit alike.
I researched Hopi names for quite a bit before I struck on Nova, but I knew that had to be it. Not just because of the Star/Chases Butterflies double meaning, though that certainly struck a chord, but because it was something of a battlecry...that, if nothing else, got a chuckle in guildchat. Those of you who have read Ender's game probably know what I'm talking about now :D. Nova Nova Nova!
And, of course, there is me. Physically Nova actually looks a good deal like me, with the reddish brownish greyish hair and the hazel eyes, though I'm as white as rice on a paperplate with a glass of milk in a snowstorm. I'm taller than Nova, though neither of us handle our height well, and she's more built than I am, but the resemblence is there I suppose. And yeah, I have a Nova side; I reckon they're all sort of aspects of me though.
So, where on earth did Thaddeus come from? Well my mom knew immediately on the name; if my daughter had been born a boy, he would have been Thaddeus James. We hadn't agreed on a nickname, though; Fozz wanted Thad, I wanted Tad. No more kids for me, though, so Thaddeus was my shot at that name *grins*. Appearance wise, he looks pretty Draco-ish, I'd be laughed out of the room I think if I didn't admit that one, though in reality I've had an interesting amount of pretty blonde boys in my life, and he looks a little like them too. I have claimed he resembles a good friend of mine, and this to me at least is very true even though my good friend is half chinese with dark hair. Thaddeus and this dashingly handsome friend of mine have similar builds, but more importantly they have the same bearing, the same carriage.
Temperment wise, I have been lucky enough to know a few men somewhat like Thaddeus, and while men like that are often difficult to be friends with, with their closed off natures and snobbery and aura of thoughtful sadness permeated by this sort of explosive joy every so often before pulling back in a rush, they are also in some way endearing to me. Not that I expected Thaddeus to be a well liked sort...he did better than I thought in that department, though I cling to the fact that he will always have Rupert's persistant dislike as a sort of vindication for me.
I'm not honestly sure who or what else inspired Thaddeus; he so quickly and willfully grew a mind of his own. He is like me in some ways - his hatred of rodents is directly from me, though for different reasons, and we share some of the same dark humor and hidden insecurities.
When I made Dani I had thought of Donna, from West Wing, though she quickly deviated so far from that path that I'm not sure I could point out a single resemblance. She was much more strongly influenced by Corpsman Smith, a truly gifted and remarkable woman I got to know quite well during a two week stay in Bethesda. Their stories are not really similar, but the bearing is there. I don't know how to explain what I mean any better than that :. Oddly enough, she was also influenced by another remarkable woman in the medical industry I am fortunate enough to be friends with.
Both, however, are cat people. Dani is a dog person. I'm not sure where that came from, not being an anything person...I am not fond of furry animals in general, though as a child I had a dog. I suspect I am a one dog woman. It is still possible, in any case, that the dog came from me.
Appearance wise...she's a small pretty type, and I suppose I've always found that sort of woman interesting, being a giant by comparison *laughs*.
In any case...there was a little insight into my inspirations. I could list others, I'm sure, and I have only listed half my characters (though I don't know that there is much point to speaking more about Lykaios, may the gods have mercy on his twisted soul). I may get into Palmer in another post. I'm not so sure about Theo, as this is already on the personal side for me and Theo is by far the most personal of all my characters. Oh sure, I could talk about her resemblance to persephone and get all greek and lit on you guys but...I don't want to :).
I don't think it reduces my darlings *grins* to talk about them in these terms, though I notice most writers don't discuss their character influences, unless the influence is some greek god or literary allusion of some type. That is, in a way, understandable; the influence is only a part of the characters and often times it is only a small part.
In any case. I showed you mine, now you show me yours :D.
I dreamt of Rachyl as early as the middle of high school. She materialized as a character for a dream-based roleplaying board (hence the Pulling Cement Through Cheesecloth post, which is based on that experience up to her dropping the bottle of water). Due to a sudden dearth of creativity, she took a back seat until Nachton opened up.
I really don't know where she came from, honestly. I remember the dream as being of the house, featured strangely enough in Pulling Cement, then watching her as she moved through almost every step up to entering the "Manse". Quite strange. I had her background and highschool years locked down by the time that creative bubble popped.
The rest of her story materialized after Nachton opened, and she grows from there.
I don't think very many people contributed to Rachyl's "birth." She's unlike quite a few people I know, though she'd make a very interesting companion and friend, were she real.
Connie grew from watching Pirates of the Caribbean and Goonies entirely too much. I dreamt initially of the incident in which she was turned, then she slowly filled in the backstory and fore-story til she got into Nachton. Not much to say on her... She was very much a loner and extremely quiet until she met Nyra, then she just blossomed. She does have a bit of my best friend's accent-like tendencies, but that's about the only similarity, honest!
Ana grew from my love of books. I think I generated her on a migraine day. I don't remember much about her up til mid-January? when posting with her finally stopped giving me migraines.
Ellis came first, then Simon. I'll get to them in a minute. Marthinus. He was orginally named Octavio and was going to be spanish, but I was suddenly reminded of the Hunter character in Jurassic 2.
'I've been in the company of death long enough.'
The part where everyone gets off the island. I love that actor, even though I can never remember his name. He's an amazing man with an amazing presence. His accent is captivating and to me he was the perfect Marthinus. Father figure, seemingly emotionless but a man of honor. A credit to the family. He was Kobiashi in 'The Usual Suspects' but his photo that I use in his sig is from Aliens3, personally a waste of film and money but 1, 2, 4 are still kick ass. Moving on.
Kyle Evans was created in 1990 when I was 16 years old. Tall, dark haired, blue eyes and emotionally disassociated, he was the original love interest of Caitlinn Conrad. This was a story I started, but of course never finished. Kyle was her anti-hero which is very much what he is now. The hero who wouldn't, so to speak. The hero who'd look the other way if he could. He is as selfish as he is charming and a joy to write with.
Carol. Carol is the real me. Granted i'm not skinny, white or blonde, her mouth is the slightly exaggerated version of me. Her squealing, jokes, sense of humor...all me. Her lack of remorse, well I'm much nicer =D. She was created as an NPC but after a while demanded a life of her own. She is basically me at 25 and yeah I conversationally curse just like her =x
Simon. He was originally created in the likeness of Fox Mulder, even down to the sad hazel eyes. I struggled for a long time just deciding what he looked like in my head when I finally came across the picture I use now for his avatar. Just some random model on some random googled page, but it was perfect. That was Simon. Tall, dark and full of sorrows. Originally he was to be Ellis total equal. Hell Ellis didn't even start off evil, but Simon and Ellis were a pair. Ying and yang. I remember driving down some road with Mike thinking about the two. I decided that no relationship could be without conflict. Especially unnecessary conflict. Hence Ellis decision to hold Simon's family hostage. It was so stupid and made so much sense. I found that I really enjoyed writing Simon. How withdrawn he was and privately moody like Mulder. He originally was a heavy beer drinker in the beginning, but I've pulled away from that totally. If not for the husband (hi2u disclaimer!), he would be the perfect man to me.
Ellis. Her entire personality was born from 1 scene. I tend to take moments and build around them. From Ellis' trial but electricity to Marthinus standing on a roof top Orchid nursery to Simon and Carol standing at a train station depot at sunset. Her moment was from Alien4, of course. It's the one where Ripley was cloned with the alien Queen in her and became a hybrid of the spieces. She took strength, her acid blood but more importantly, her predatory like personality.
It's the scene where Elgen (pirate captain) gets pulled through the floor and is killed by an alien. Everyone comes running and then an alien comes down the hallway, cornering them only Elgen's body suddenly moves. The alien inspects and is surprised with a shotgun down its throat. The scene progresses and they're figuring out just what Ripley is and if she should be allowed to go with them. The new leader decides that she does. The moment where Ripley looks at Cole (android who wanted to kill her to kill the queen) and gives her this sarcastic, yet sad grin was total Ellis. Always smiling and always finding things funny...when they really aren't.
That character's personality made up half of what Ellis is. The other half is being that type of person who goes one step further than everyone else would. The total disregard for humans, her species and anyone around her. Doing what no one else would...then going one step further. I'm always reminded of some story I heard that I can't recall from where. That during some war where some group of men retaliated to some act of treachery by taking their opponents men and doing such horrible tortuous things to them and then sending the body parts back in boxes. They took hostages and not only tortured, but went one step further than what was humane.
That's Ellis. Evil with red lipstick on.
I created Ellis and Simon having a horrible yet beautiful bond. During the time when I decided that Simon would turn against Ellis, I was always reminded of that defeated yet noble captain of a ship. Doing what he thought was the right thing, till finally a betrayl happened that was so profoundly personal that he's literally torn in half. I love a good conflict, but I hate forced conflicts. Take Moonlighting...the beginning conflicts were great and full of passion but when it turned into a soap opera and at every turn there was SOMETHING WRONG, it got old.
I decided the conflict between Simon and Ellis would be a tangible one. A hate so pronounced, so real you can see it, smell it...practically touch it. It almost makes me giddy. =D
Thanks!
Honestly, Cy just came into being. Inspired by books by Feehan and Shayne as well as other chunks from various other books. I recall one about time travel that inspired things in his history. He doesnt do what I tell him to. Instead of being the goth boy I had envisioned he is more giggilo and as a clanmate pointed out "retired porn star" hehe. He has a secret crush on Mai though it does not get in the way of his growing feelings for Fallon. How he got all protective, I dont know. Cy definately has a mind of his own and every time I try to control him he hisses and claws.
Nyra is me and not me both at the same time. The irony of a vegan pacifist in Nachton tickled the hell out of me and I had to do it. That part is me. The artistic part is not me and plucked wholely out of my imagination and storehouse of novels in my noggin. Her moments of selfconciousness is drawn from many friends and family, as well as myself at times. She just needs to grow beyond it still.
Suki is like Cy. She doesnt do what I envisioned for her. She was supposed to be full of angst and torn by this 'master' and yet she bounces around like a cosplay actress. I envision her now in full sailor jupiter regalia.
Bertrand is a cross between used car salesman, Montgomery Burns and a benevolent art benefactor. He is slimey first and foremost, thinking about money, selling, collecting his own art. Its all about him first and foremost. Who can he meet, what can he sell, how much will it bring. We keep him in the corner counting grains of sand so he doesnt gross us all out too much.
Yeah, im not real inspired by movies or such. More of an amalgam of characters from books. Looks were generated after.
Well lets see, Alex was kind of build on another character I used to play in a rpg I was part of a long time ago, this lady wasn't a vampire however but a vengance demon, her name was Vivianne.
There is a lot of her in Alex, the fiestieness, hot tempered and the dark hair, looks are alot alike, dark eyes and full lips to complete the sultry image.
Alex also has alot of me in her, like me she's a terible flirt, she's spantanious, has a sarcastic type of humor and stands for what she believes in, i'm like that as well, I'm dark haired too and other then having blue/green eyes I think I look somewhat like her (just not that toned lol).
The way she reacts to situations is how I would react as well (well except for the being a vampire, assassin type you get the idea).
While I was walking this Japanese girl just seemed to walk up and start telling her story. It was about as different from the original thought as I could get save her being very old. It worked better in the long run because Mai is very much about the present moment and so her age or past accomplishments aren't something she concerns herself with often which could become very boring to read and write. She finds herself very lost in modern society and that lends a very big weakness to an otherwise strong character. By the time I was done with the walk her history had been completely told and all I had to do was write it down. She was perhaps the easiest bio I've written and she never ceases to surprise me with odd habits.
Alfarinn came from Meegan's story of their creator. From there I picked a nationality in the area and started looking at places for him to be from. I initially got the period in history wrong and thought that they were older than they were which gave me the idea that he was a hunter/fisherman at the time. This stuck despite the different era and was part of the explanation for how he was chosen by his creator. He was seen as a strong warrior but with a family and therefore a good person to care for Megan who had not taken to being turned very well. Later the roles were reversed. Alfarinn and his abilities make him more concerned with people and easily caught up in causes and personal quests of those around him. He's the public face of Evenhet's elders along with Danielle who's a miracle worker and equally driven. Megan is the cold hard calculating business side of Evenhet, willing to do anything for her clan that needs to be done. (or that was the plan anyway)
Jan... Hmm how did Jan show up? I wanted him to have a nice voice and come from the Vienna Boy's Choir in its early days. His story from there came in pieces. He was also very easy to write and remains that way.
Christian's came from the need for a Security Chief of some kind. From there I looked for original places that people had not yet chosen for a nationality. I wanted the person to either be a small man or woman, someone who would look out of place in the job of protecting others. Dani plays a big role in Evenhet and is a small powerhouse so I chose not to do a shorter female character. Looking up Switzerland's history gave me the time of his creation and what he was doing before then. His hobbies and skills formed themselves as the story unfolded.
Sorin was a collaborative effort but the Rumanian heritage came from the earlier thought that was rejected for my personal member of Anantya. Looking up the country's background I found that it was a part of the Roman Empire and that led to looking up people prominent at that time. This led first to Nero's mother, not Nero. From there his story told itself.
Dawn is a direct recombination of two of my ex-girlfriends. God have mercy on my soul.
Serena's background was COMPLETELY revamped for SA. She started I dunno, 10-12 years ago as a loud mouthed New Yorker, all in your face what-you-tawlkin-about? She was a professional dancer working as a stripper with a hot piece of ass girlfriend. hehe. Of course I hate New Yorkers (It's a Southerner thing *nods* ) so she didn't get RP'd very much. But with it being really hard to make most of my char's normal bacgrounds fit SA I decided to revamp her. It was all done with Winter in mind so that's where her death wish and love of extreme sports came from.
Celeste.. she's from the same family as Amberelle but with her I focused on self sacrifice and denial. She's the yin to her twin's yang. (Her twin is a fiery sado-mas leather loving party animal, complete hedonist, all about self gratification and also Gustav's spoiled little favorite) To honor her family's commitments she gives up the only man she ever has/will ever love and it makes her hard and bitter. Her life revolves around work and maintaining honor. For SA she was supposed to come in and be a big antagonist for Amby but I wasn't feeling it, normally I prefer to RP her over Amberelle so it's hard to see her as "the bad guy". Then Katrina happened and everything in New Orleans went haywire so I let her fade back some till I could decide what to do. I think Celest is actually pulled from parts of myself. I am very big on honor and family and I love a good romantic tragedy and it's fun to do her so angsty, I like dark and angsty.. (Especially knowing in the end Cel gets her man AND maintains her family's commitments) Visually she was inspired some by Battle Angel Alita so she looks a lot like Selene from Underworld (who's a rip off of Alita's look IMO) Funny since she was around years before that movie, but Selene is a VERY good example of Celeste's personality, skill and looks.
Redd... she's my #1 girl. She's everything I wish I was in some ways, and has a lot of my faults in others. She started life as an NPC for Xander, the streetwise kid guide type with a tough mouth and rough exterior but a soft interior. Most of that's stayed the same.. Her inspiration was really my teenage self. I was the closed off, skeptical, hair in my face, lacking self confidence, screw the world type. She however is verbal and loud and let's you know exactly what she thinks of you. I had more restraint, but man I really wanted to go off you know =-) She has her own quirky code of honor (again taken from myself) She's a redhead since that's what I prefer, and since it fit her original abilities at the time she was made. I'd say she's been around 13-14 years now. While not the oldest she's one of the strongest voices in my head, so she'd the most developed.
Its okay though we still love you guys
*ducks and grins*
Besides, I've been living in Maryland for almost 2 years now. Although, while one might think that would acclimatize me to a somewhat slightly more southern lifestyle, it has only served to make me ready to claw my way back to NY until there are nothing but bloody stumps where my fingers used to be.
Anyhow, sorry to derail the thread. Because I feel guilty about it, I will share my character inspirations.
*drumroll*
Kem and Aishe are both complete ripoffs of two characters from one of my novels. I altered them to fit in a vampire world. There was no outside inspiration for either one. The end.
Fiona is probably the only charrie to come out that took me completely and totally by surprise. She kind of took over when I started RPing with her ~ she is about as far from my "natural" state as I could possibly imagine. I think she's the part of me that wishes I could simply tell the world that this is who I (believe) am, so just fucking deal with it, ya know? She doesn't care who she offends ~ if they're offended, they aren't worth it.
Colin is the complete opposite and came about while Maeve and I were working on Maeve's bio. The more we talked about Maeve, the more I could see this kind of fatherly, benevolent figure watching over her. The bit about a "pacifist vampire" kept popping up in my head and it all kind of came together. A bit of tweaking, with Mai's wonderfully inspiring help, and Colin was "born."
Elsewhere, my favorite is Khris, an Elemental High Priestess. She's been running around my head for years ~ long before I fell into RPing. In alot of ways, she's the closest to me atitude wise. I don't even have to think about her history ~ it just is. Her Bro-in-Law who I play on the same board (her twin was murdered), has been around almost as long. He's a bit harder to play, since his motivations are kind of obscure at times (he really does not like to sahre ~ even with me, the brat).
Of the others, Rayne was thought up to cover something I'd overlooked, Lance was to try out a male charrie and Kiara was my first RP charrie. She just walked up and announced "here I am" and started talking. I think in alot of ways she's the hardest too play, since she's alot more innocent than I think I've ever been....