InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "foood stuuuufs"

A Girl (blythe_spirit) wrote,
@ 2011-08-29 13:55:00

The trouble of trying to write a creature who looks human and is trying its best to act human but still making it clear that they are decidedly not is a common one around these parts I've heard.

Mostly I am just glad for current amazing cr, silly memes, and James S. Ruebal for reminding me that I can/should take my time.

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	chthonian 2011-08-29 06:10 pm UTC (link)
	So very common. :D And one of my very favourite things to write, tbh: the too-long pause between blinks, the stiffness in the neck or the alien tilt of the head, the enunciation and idiolect which is just a half-beat off and stilted, something else staring through the eyes and smiling and smiling and trying its darndest to move this clunky human body properly... >:) (Reply to this) (Thread)

blythe_spirit
2011-08-29 06:18 pm UTC (link)

See and I love to read it, love what little i've done with Nina when she's doing such things and not her usual 'wheee I'm out lets drink beers and eat coeds' self. Just trying for a character more consistently making an effort, who really wants to be helpful to humanity for their own benefit is an odd new edge to things. Looking at the world with eyes that don't seem to move while lecturing on why you shouldn't be proceeding with your very human foibles.

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chthonian
2011-08-29 06:29 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, I can see how it could be tiring if it's an effort they're consistently, perpetually making --- it got a bit wearying with Temeluchus, which is why I like spicing it up with moments where he drops the charade and gets to stop trying. Which char is it/what's their deal? :3

(This is the week of Julie pawing at people to hear about their other characters. I just like hearing about the fruits of your mind, man.)

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blythe_spirit
2011-08-29 06:37 pm UTC (link)

The angel Zerachiel, angel of judgement who watches over children, currently choosing to appear about twelve-thirteen. I got the idea partly because (in case I haven't made it painfully clear) I like things that look small but can mess you up without a thought but mostly based on the idea that to be a proper angel- to make certain you keep your unquestioning faith, your black & white mortality, your ability to get close to the people you're supposed to be helping- being an adult human is simply unsafe. The tendencies of those bodies can warp an angels mind.

I think it miiight be a good idea? But I still need to tweak like woah.

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	chthonian 2011-08-29 06:45 pm UTC (link)
	Ooh me likey. & it makes total sense, considering the popular depiction of child-like cherubs --- something in humanity seems to reach out to the idea of angels as looking young and squishy and innocent. :> (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 06:46 pm UTC (link)
	Look squishy and carry a big sword? :3 (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	chthonian 2011-08-29 06:50 pm UTC (link)
	And then burninate the countryside... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 06:53 pm UTC (link)
	Only the sinful sections. :\| (Reply to this) (Parent)

	droa 2011-08-29 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	Muahahaha. The Host should never be human. Or particularly humane. I appreciate that you do you-things and run with that idea. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 08:38 pm UTC (link)
	When it comes to running with ideas I enjoy borrowing an evil laugh and taking a flying leap. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	droa 2011-08-29 08:47 pm UTC (link)
	Because of your fearlessness, I promise to move the rusty metal spikes from where we anticipate your landing to be. ♥ (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 08:53 pm UTC (link)
	You're all so good to me that way. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	fishiesticks 2011-08-29 06:17 pm UTC (link)
	I like doing it through actions, as Julie's delineated, rather than through speech/thought. I feel like you almost can't grasp their thoughts if they're not-human, too different and too indistinct. But I also like the sense of unease they give eeeveryone else. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 06:21 pm UTC (link)
	That is probably what I will end up with. X) It's just writing and understanding the personality section of the app without sounding like I'm doing an anthropology project in the mean while. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	catwo 2011-08-29 06:50 pm UTC (link)
	i love doing that when it is working. when it is not working i rend my clothes and cry many bitter tears. (Reply to this) (Thread)

catwo
2011-08-29 06:52 pm UTC (link)

also i have realized recently that i literally can not write a character without understanding their thinking to some degree, and one of my problems with writing madam in that past has been that i didn't try to get into her mindset because of that very alien quality i wanted to maintain. turns out she gets less human yet easier to work with the more i sift through her thoughts in search of her algorithms and codifications, though i expect mileage varies wildly on that score.

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	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 06:55 pm UTC (link)
	I suspect the sifting through each inhuman thought will be very good advice for me. If I can't understand how they came to a conclusion I frequently get lost. Also for the record? Madam is great. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

catwo
2011-08-29 07:15 pm UTC (link)

another thing that has helped me considerably in the past with my gods and monsters (and verily there have been many xD) is figuring out what they're like in their inhumanity, and how that might sheath itself in a facsimile of being a person, and then rolling with that. like, if a character is a half-human thing i like to have a very distinct idea of what about them specifically is recognizable as human-like, what is distinctly not, what is a blend. and those things that aren't humanistic at all, what are they like? is it akin to a certain type of animal, where there is an emotional response but it is somehow off (easy example: a pack animal will be territorial in a way that is all out of proportion to how a human will be, and so will show signs of that extreme even if they try to conceal it. a weirder one, if you will, because i am me and i am strange: my basilisk would draw closer to warmth whenever possible, since snakes are cold-blooded, and i always tried to capture a certain sinuous feel to him because that was the one commonality i could think of between dragons and snakes, whether it was with his motion or his words or my descriptions, lots of rolling easy sibilance and sibilants and drawn out sssss repetition)? is there something more elemental about them than about the average human that i want to communicate (i wrote a lot of water elementals once upon a time, and one in particular experienced emotions like tides, steady rolling things with persistent, constant overflow and a layer underneath that was all her own and could not be touched. this affected how she spoke, her decisions, even her physical actions, but i never had to state it explicitly - it was just a facet in the back of my mind)?

wow that is a lot of words. hi.

oh, ty for your kind words there, marm <3 i've been frustrated with her for nearly forever so really, that's lovely to hear.

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	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 08:41 pm UTC (link)
	sdf'I did try for something like that with Medusa- her snakes, her lisp, her clear inability to distinguise between her identities- so I can very much see how important it could be for all worlds. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	catwo 2011-08-29 08:57 pm UTC (link)
	she had a lisp? why are you perfect? is it painful to exist amongst us inferior beings? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 09:42 pm UTC (link)
	sdkfjsdafl She was very fun to play! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 08:42 pm UTC (link)
	I do love your words when there are a lot. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	catwo 2011-08-29 08:56 pm UTC (link)
	that is a wonderful thing, since they do tend to travel in packs ._. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	chthonian 2011-08-30 12:35 am UTC (link)
	Holy cow, yes. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 06:58 pm UTC (link)
	I'm partial to pulling my hair out and sighing in a dramatic fashion myself. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	catwo 2011-08-29 07:28 pm UTC (link)
	sometimes i say nonsensical things in a whiny voice. 'but she just sounds sociopathic, not like a pitiless voice from the void beyond' :\| (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	droa 2011-08-29 08:13 pm UTC (link)
	Resident sociopath(s) take issue with that comparison. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	catwo 2011-08-29 08:28 pm UTC (link)
	so do i. only my sociopaths ought to present as such, otherwise i'm just alllll verklempt and the world is woe and soggy french fries. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	droa 2011-08-29 08:48 pm UTC (link)
	Jesus wept. Please don't talk about sociopaths and use a Dor icon again, wonderful and lovely as she is. You do not know what just happened to my brain. (OW.) D: (But gosh, they do look nice next to one another.) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	catwo 2011-08-29 08:53 pm UTC (link)
	well. it isn't like she's not insane in the membrane (insane in the brain). (don't they just? :>) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 08:39 pm UTC (link)
	That is one of the perks of Nina I admit. She enjoys pretending to be 'just' things. Why don't you come closer and see? (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	catwo 2011-08-29 08:55 pm UTC (link)
	yesss i love characters like that :> ...actually that's precisely how my angel is, whoops. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blythe_spirit 2011-08-29 09:42 pm UTC (link)
	lol, but she's so good at it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	chthonian 2011-08-30 12:34 am UTC (link)
	djgkadfl;ka (Reply to this) (Parent)