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Aha! I can post again!! Sry for the long absence; I couldn’t get logged in for whatever reason. I’ve been reading everything!

I had the exact same thing! I’m glad it’s working again!

@wingiby-iggiby

@this-is-not-an-alien

do people like characters because they want to be like that character, or because they are like that character?

Hmm, fascinating question! I think both and neither, let me elaborate!

Like Cathy said, (IDK if y’all saw that post, it isn’t showing up, for some reason?) people like characters that are interesting, not necessarily perfect.

In my opinion, relatability is subjective, and often overrated. I have loved characters that are totally different from me in every way, but I think what makes them relatable, likable, and interesting is their motivations, not their actions. This goes mainly for Fantasy and Sci-fi, but for other genres too. I mean, I don’t think any of us have found out we are a long-lost princess/prince or have defeated dragons and evil empires, or been in a war, but most of us have found out something about our heritage/family we didn’t know, we’ve overcome things we struggled with and gone through hard situations. You can relate to the motivations and feelings, even if not to the events.

(I don’t even know if that rant was relevant, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot)

As for likable characters, I always feel as though the characters are my friends, more than that I ‘become’ the character I’m reading about, so I can either approve or disapprove of their actions. I also admire some characters because they’re awesome XD

Also, I can excuse a lot of dumb decisions in a character if I understand why they’re acting as they are.  If a character spontaneously punches someone that mocked her, I’ll think the character is dumb, but if I know that the character was bullied in the past and still feels like a failure because she never stood up for herself, and reacted out of a deep memory that caused her pain, I’ll sympathize and understand.

And, as Cathy said, characters that have deep flaws, motivations, and conflicting actions are fascinating, even if they do frankly awful things.

On that note, there’s a clear difference between a character doing bad things because of their personality/motivations and a character doing bad things because they’re excused in the story. An example of this I distinctly remember was the book series “Gladiator” by Simon Scarrow. (I didn’t finish them, and I do not recommend them. XD) The books weren’t objectively ‘bad’ as far as I can remember, but I remember how the character’s obsessive and merciless search for vengeance was justified and written as though it was supposed to be satisfying. It wasn’t. I wasn’t rooting for the protagonist (I don’t even remember his name XD) Because I didn’t agree with any of his actions, and especially not with how he was portrayed, as though he was doing the right thing. I can’t exactly explain the difference, but it’s definitely there.

I think a factor is a balance, if all your hero/good characters agree on a point, and all the villain/bad characters disagree, you’ll assume the point is correct. But if a character is believing and acting out of a lie and other ‘hero’ characters disagree with them, you’ll immediately get the feeling that the character might be wrong. I think this is mostly a pitfall with non-Christian authors, but it’s just something I’ve noticed.

So characters who aren’t too perfect are more likely to be liked I think, and characters who do things out of character a little sometimes like the tough girl who cries at least once in the story or the emotional kid who doesn’t cry at a horrible event or the bubbly character who turns serious under a crisis and all that.

And I totally agree with that, Cathy!

And another thing I’ve found out is that I like characters who have at least one scene where they have their metaphorical emotional armor off. It makes you sympathize with them more.

*Three rants and two tangents later*

So…. that’s my opinion. XD

Also, I LOVED the Mysterious Benedict Society! The characters are so so so interesting! My favorites are ‘The Great Kate Weathermachine’, and Constance Contraire. (Her insult-poetry makes me laugh) And I don’t know if you read The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, but the depiction of the Netherlands was SOOO accurate. Especially the ‘why aren’t you in school??’ scenes. I’m not kidding, Dutch people do that. SO. MUCH.

 

He doesn’t have the traditional Schnauzer cut; his ears aren’t cropped, so he’s a LOT cuter than most.

I love Schnauzers! The owners of the stable where I ride have a ton of dogs (Like, I’m not kidding, they have like eight dogs), including regular schnauzers and Giant Schnauzers, who literally look like domesticated teddy-bears. They’re so adorable!

@jasmine

I’m gonna try doing first person with Gwendolyn (I’ve almost never done this before so forgive me if it turns out terrible).

You did a great job!

@rusted-knight‘

Your new character sounds really interesting. I can’t wait to see how he interacts with the others!

@joelle-stone

WOW! That post was amazing! I was actually scared when she was walking across the bridge, you wrote that SO well!

Have you ever heard the song ‘Set The World On Fire’ by Britt Nicole? I heard it today and I was just constantly thinking of Riure. I often think of my characters in terms of songs that describe them or that just sort of ‘work’ with them, and that one made me think of her 😉