How do you play your characters: Part 2

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

A while ago Stephen Maturin-mun wrote up a wonderful post wondering how close characters in Hogwarts_Hocus stick to canon, and how much fanon or personal interpretation bleeds into characterization. Many long essays were written by all.

Time passed, and now we have a lovely collection of new characters, plus older characters that have changed over the months. The question remains: how do YOU play your characters? How much do you take from canon?

Comments

[cafpowgirl.livejournal.com]

h_h!Abby is as canon as possible starting from post-"Bloodbath" in Season 3 of NCIS. I think she'd really be fascinated by the possibility of learning magic and a bit thrown off considering that she has been 'for lack of a better phrase' a science zealot. I try to stay true to that zany, funloving, brilliant if a bit scattered girl that is Abby. Hopefully, I'm doing a good job. ;)

[hot-german.livejournal.com]

Oh, Dieter. Dieter came to be because of a discussion in the IRC channel about how hot Peter/Dieter (Paul Bettany and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) would be, and how the movie Wimbledon was full of slash. As a joke, I filled out the application, and I tried to turn every answer into an innuendo. Dieter just would not leave my head, so I bit the bullet and applied. He gets maybe 30 minutes of screen time in the film. In the film he is friendly and loyal, and promises to support Peter even after being beaten by his best friend. I try to work that in somewhere along with the towel and sex drive.

While searching for pictures of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, I came across this (http://6omdagen.dk/newpic/film/) bizarre commercial, which invovles salad and what appear to be a lawnmower (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Catremistrae/lawnmowerpastamachine1.jpg) pastamaker (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Catremistrae/lawnmowerpastamachine2.jpg). I haven't worked it into Dieter's backstory yet, but it's just too strange to pass up.

Oliver and Lucas

[big-broomstick.livejournal.com]

Oliver Wood is depicted in canon as being burly and the ultimate Quidditch nut. He's never seen outside of anything Quidditch related. Oliver is determined to have the best team at Hogwarts, and he pushes his teammates and himself to the limit.

In h_h this translates into extreme enthusiasm for everything he does. When Oliver came to Hogwarts all of the Quidditch teams were full, so he started an intramural league. Sadly, due to a lack of time and coordination on my part, this never got off the ground. Oliver still recruits for a team that will probably never shape up. He would join the Gryffindor team, but would probably be bitter over the fact that he wasn't Captain or Keeper.

Oliver's enthusiasm has also been used for comedic effect. After eating a tainted chocolate (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/478379.html?thread=23260331#t23260331) Oliver became Potions obsessed, and eventually battled Professor Maturin in Snape's (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/482316.html) honor (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/484097.html). Oliver is friends with Harry, Ginny, and Nemo, who he treats like a little brother and took for a flying lesson (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/397461.html?thread=19096725#t19096725).

Lucas Wolenczak is a bit of a mystery to me. In canon he's a bona fide Marty Stu. He's a sixteen-year-old computer wiz on the most advanced submarine ever built. Lucas' intelligence often saves the day in the first season of SeaQuest. He has very little interaction with people in his own age group, though, so I portray him as being shy toward other teenagers, especially pretty girls. He eventually warms up a bit after getting to know someone. When he's in his element he tends to have more of a sarcastic bent. In one episode of SeaQuest, Seth Green makes a guest appearance as a close friend of Lucas. After talking to Oz during his application, Lucas thinks that Hogwarts is some kind of alternate dimension.

the legend of Morfin

[mightymorfin.livejournal.com]

Oh, Morfin. I never thought I'd be sharing brainspace with Morfin for this long.

My previous remarks on Morfin (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/326681.html?thread=15607321#t15607321) still stand, for the most part. I haven't changed his characterization a whole lot.

Morfin runs around in circles when confronted with something alarming, frightening, or confusing, e.g., Stephen Colbert. However, he's getting a bit more viably social: he has a strong attachment to the Sorting Hat, who gave him sparkly markers, and he is co-organizing a campout with JD.

The biggest change in my conception of Morfin happened, well, just now, when I discovered that I'd forgotten Morfin dies in HBP (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/gauntfamily.html). After a bit of wibbling in chat, we've determined that Morfin really didn't die in Azkaban. He was part of an experimental program to combine Muggle psychopharmacology with traditional wizarding medicine. How this meshes with the backstory where he works at a gas station and volunteers at a petting zoo I have yet to work out, but it's Morfin, anything's possible.

Re: the legend of Morfin

[toujours-sirius.livejournal.com]

I didn't realize Morfin had been employed at a gas station! It's too bad Sirius is too boisterous for him, because they actually have a good bit in common, at least in terms of having been in Azkaban, having gone through therapy, and having had a "career" in gas pumping! Maybe someday they'll discover their common ground and become friends after all. ;)

[fm-elric.livejournal.com]

Oh jeez, where do I start?

My first char Eiko started out as a six year old, very precocious girl. Then she aged up via potion to thirteen so she could be with her sweetheart, Mokuba. She's a spitfire, like she is in canon but is also a closet romantic the way I play her.

Next up is Ultimecia, who is a strange sorceress from the future with a funny accent. There's not much canonically to work with besides that little piece of information! I generally assume when I play her, that she was very lonely as sorceress. She's still a bit megalomaniacal, but mostly craves good company these days. She's currently trying to get into Bakura's pants.

Yuffie is utterly hilarious to play. She's got an unending lust for materia and other shiny things and Vincent Valentine, who may or may not be considered "shiny". She's a hyper, super spastic ninja with no tact at all who likes to punctuate her sentences with "Oh gawd"s and so forth. Subtlety, thy name is not Yuffie. She is also currently Queen of the Bahamas.

I actually apped Ed before Riku, but Ed is the most complicated, so I'll skip him for now. All you need to know about Riku is that he's seventeen, kind of snarky, and just a little bit emo. He's dating Sora, whom he absolutely adores (not that he'd let you know that, ha.)

Next up is ol' Minerva McG. I play her strictly from canon. She has no idea what happened with her and Slughorn, but she has her suspicions. (Although, she tends to ignore them, for the sake of her own sanity.)

Finally, there's poor little Ed Elric. I play him post-end of the anime, but I just ignore the events of the movie. Why you ask? I'll tell you, but if you read this next part, you're going to get spoiled, okay?

Seriously, last chance!

...Okay, anyway, the reason I ignore the movie is because otherwise his little brother Al would be here at Hogwarts with him right now. And obviously, we don't have an Al, so that wouldn't work. But I still play movieverse!Ed because him having attended university in 1920's Munich and being able to speak German is pretty cool. Also? Movie!Ed = teh hawt. Yeah, I'm shallow, I know.

In addition to movie!Ed being cute, he's also a wee bit taller. I play him at a generous 5'4". (Ha!) Anyway, he's nineteen at Hogwarts, and currently abusing his TA privileges to find a way to get back to Amestris and to his little brother. He's the TA for Arithmancy now, by the way.

Recently, Ed has developed a crush on one Hermione Granger. He's obviously quite attracted to her intellect, or maybe he just has a thing for bushy haired girls. Who knows? In Ed's mind, the only reason he's letting himself pursue Hermione is because she might be able to help him with his research. (Of course, research aside, he's still fallen pretty hard for her.) Ed is fairly clueless when it comes to women, however. He spent most of his adolescence in the military, busy with pretty much everything besides girls. When he finally got a chance to relax for a bit at school in Munich, he ended up hanging around with the physics nerds. Maybe his genius intellect will woo Hermione, but he won't have a prayer if it doesn't.

Though Ed has gotten a lot better about this as he's gotten older, he's still got a pretty bad temper. Woe unto the one who calls him short! He's less inconsiderate than he used to be, but his manners are still fairly lacking. He's also got the same problems with tact that Yuffie does. Ed is also fairly good friends with Harry Potter and Ender Wiggin.

[tommypinballwiz.livejournal.com]

I play Tommy as canonicly as I can. My main canon is the movie, but I have to take elements from the original album version as well. Translating from an all singing character to a talking character is a bit difficult, so I've had to use my best judgement when it comes to things that aren't explained in the story.

I have the feeling that making Tommy unable to read or write is a little controversial. But I figured that being deaf, dumb and blind for all those years, he would never have learnt. His years of darkness have a lot to do with his character. And in sticking to canon, Tommy is generally a happy person. Even if he's not that intelligent, he knows more about life than he lets on.

*hopes that made sense*

[waste-lock.livejournal.com]

Controversial? It makes perfect sense to me, and adds dimension to the character.

Kon-El, Victor Mancha, Hermes, Godric Gryffindor, Blaise Zabini, and James Wilson

[superclone.livejournal.com]

Kon: Kon-El tends to wobble precariously between his later characterization and earlier. I intended to use the Young Justice (90s) characterization, which tends to be brash, sarcastic and pretty fun-loving in general. YJ was a mostly-cheery series, and Kon was more the bantery-type. Unfortunately, he needs people to work off, and my Tim was slipping into bat-agnst. Also, I started playing about when I started picking up Titans (the current series), wherein Kon is angsty and mopey and depressive which, sadly, expressed itself in his characterization. Currently I'm trying to return to the YJ-inspired, sarcastic and cheery characterization, since that's the time period he's FROM. So... he's not quite canonical from the time period he's supposed to be from (blame the time-traveling Bats.)

Victor: I do my best to play Vic as canonical as possible. In canon, Victor is, in fact, a complete fanboy. Any time he's confronted with a superhero of some sort he gets a bit excited which extends, in H_H, to DC characters, Lost characters and some Jossverse people. The rest of the time he's calm, serious, if occasionally tense. Vic reacts to most things with resignation-- sometimes tinged with frustration or amusement. He has angst, but mostly shoves it to the side in favor of focussing on the important stuff. (He started off H_H a lot more angsty than he should have been, and has managed to climb out of the hole by fansqueeing a lot.)

Hermes: I'm playing him from the Homeric hymns, which depict him as very young, and very resourceful. That carries over, but a do a lot of expanding, given that he's being translated into the 20th century. I just do a lot of riffing off his basic concepts, rather than sticking to the source material.

Godric: The man is NEVER on-screen in the books. There is almost no canon on him whatsoever, so he's just the Gryffindor stereotype taken to the Nth degree.

Blaise: He has about three mentions in the HP books, but he's shown as a cold, snarky little jerk with good taste in women and some sort of relationship with Draco. I do my best to keep to that. Unfortunately, I have to deviate with canon in that the original version is VERY sensitive to issues of blood, and, unfortunately there are almost no purebloods in H_H. Therefore Blaise is slowly opening himself to talk to blood traitors and maybe the ocasional mudblood.

James Wilson: Probably one of the only sane doctors at the school. Which is... well, pretty IC for him. The betting notebook is a bit non-canonical, though. He's more likely to do quiet, one-on-one office betting pools. But this was funnier.

*incoherent Godric fangirl squeeing*

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

Godric is love. Every time he addresses the Sorting Hat as "my dearest haberdashery," it gives me the giggles. I wonder what he thinks of the Slythendor contingent?

Sarah Williams

[nopower-overme.livejournal.com]

Hopefully I make something in here make sense, as RPing for me is something that is motivated by not-my-instinct – a response not my own, but the characters – and sometimes I know I miss the mark. But here goes!

Sarah Williams

Oh, my Sarah, the character who I never imagined becoming such a brain hog as she has for me. Second in line of appearance (and my first application, Cissa I just adopted), she certainly gets the most of my attention as this is the first time I've RPed her in great depth (Cissa I've been RPing for over a year now).

The Sarah we see in movie canon (rarely do I refer to the book) is a 15-year old girl with a love of drama and very selfish tendencies. She is at times resentful and prefers a world of fantasies to reality, which is not all that uncommon for a teenager girl. She is also someone on the crux of two lives – young girl and woman (her innocence abounds, especially in her ability to trust those who at one point were trying to undermine her, but her womanhood with emotional and mental maturity starts to emerge). She would rather dream than date, or so we are led to believed by her step-mother's comment. She reacts with a temper to situations she feels are not fair (a common theme for her at first) and is introduced to the challenge of the Labyrinth because of her very big mistake. Each challenge she faced she took and, after initial whining about fairness, took quite determinedly. Even more, she learned and grew from it. Even changes to the game, the things that came unexpectedly such as Jareth changing time, she complained about and then got over to move on. While we see do a selfish girl in the beginning, we quickly see that it was a simple, selfish mistake, and this is proven as she refuses to give up. She is even able - despite begin drugged so she will look in a crystal - to remember her purpose within the greatest temptation of all to her, the offer of her dreams of the man she wants to be with and a love that will last. For a fifteen-year-old immersed in fantasy, the idea of 'Goblin Queen' is a very strong pull, which is what the temptation reminds her of, both in the ballroom and in the final face-off. Yet, she focuses and ignores what he says and goes on to win Toby back.

My challenge to myself was playing a Sarah three years older where I could expand on the considerable growth the movie took her through. What happened after the creatures came to party? Never in real life does a story have a perfect ending, and so it happened for h_h!Sarah when I looked at what she would do while looking at the consequences of her choice, the aftermath of the rejection of what Jareth offered, which we don't see. The movie was about her focus on righting her wrong, but after is when she would begin to think about what she was tempted with.

Dramatic in nature, and full of stories of fated romance, there is doubt within her if Jareth's words were in a game or truly some kind of feeling (as she doubts before – her father and mother's love being key). At times thinking she did give something up, she is almost resentful of both Toby and herself – after all, she is human, growth does not mean steps back. Her story told of the King's love for the girl he gave powers to, a great temptation to her romantic heart – and how did she get that book anyway? Was it connected to more, perhaps each object in her room that resembled the Labyrinth. Because everything within her room mirrored aspects there, Sarah had to learn to deal with the notion she was, quite possibly, insane. ((CONT!))

Re: Sarah Williams, TL;DR *headdesk*

[nopower-overme.livejournal.com]

After all, would this not just be a manifestation of her mind to see things as she had in regular life (very much ala Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz movie) within the Labyrinth? Still in contact with her friends – an item I've chosen to give her as wanting at times while struggling to complete the transition to grown up – she had to wonder if it was all part of her imagination. Being overheard did not help, as her step-mother believed Sarah was essentially talking to herself with made up character voices. That discovery led to Sarah's new goal to learn to appear as normal as possible, closing off the most private parts of herself. She remained open and friendly, but there were secrets she did not share. She threw herself into theater in school and academics in equal measure, hoping on would outweigh the other, as even thought she thought she could give up the fantasies, she wanted that actress life too much. Yet, she never quite gets complete confidence (something we see in when she doubts decisions she is almost confident on) which affects her college life. So Hogwarts, for her, was a salvation. Finally she was justified in believing something that crazy, for talking to creatures in a mirror and it is possibly the first time she feels she will belong (and she wants to belong, after begin the child of a divorce and living in a reality that did not accept her fantasy).

And then came “META: The angst that keeps on giving,” and such an innocuous start it was! The meta plot alone deserves it's own 'tl;dr' because of the sheer number of things it uncovers. This plot has shown me more about Sarah that I ever imagined, and I try very hard to let it reflect the things in canon about her determination, her desire for love, her leaps to temper and later shame at that, her fears and more. As it is meta, this means having a whole separate character to flesh out (after all, I would like to know where one ends and the other begins, even if Sarah doesn't), but the conflict of Sarah with the meta-memories is that she and (my idea of ) Meta-Jennifer are much alike in many ways (yet also different, and I hope some of the changes are noticed). It is, however, something she learns to embrace. Her innocence gives her her perspective that something about this was fated (rather than knowing Stephen-mun and I are the evilest puppet masters ever) and that because there may be no cure, she needs to learn to cope. She is canonically someone who adjusts to many situations – she finds a way to deal with what she cannot change, only fighting what she feels is very unfair – and because Sarah herself is beginning to have a whole set of feelings herself for the mix of Stephen-and-meta (and possibly something for the newest experience of meeting Stephen himself without much meta-influence), she no longer sees this as unfair. Hence, why there is the resignation and acceptance of begin the 'other woman.' It is hard to gauge how she would react to River with no interaction to play or knowledge of the situation beyond what Sarah sees of Stephen, and so there is little of that visible in what is seen of Sarah. Sarah does expecting anything (in fact now often is in a state of being prepared for the worst) and delights in what she does get very, very much. It makes her a prime candidate to be a doormat, so long as she gets love out of it – if this was not about emotions like love, I would like to say she would be more resistant to acceptance of this degree. I'd really like to think it, yet I am resigned knowing she would let Stephen do his meanest to her now and outwardly blow it off with the 'he had a reason' excuse. She will still likely react with temper to things, but it is going to take her less time to calm down.

((CONT! I'm sooooo sorry))

[estebanmd.livejournal.com]

My characterization of Stephen Maturin hasn't changed drastically since the last post, but it is continually enriched by revisiting canon. For example, the other day I found out that he doesn't take sugar in his tea. ;)

I've been subjecting him to a lot of cracktastic storylines lately, like the mudwrestling duel with Cox, and the evil clown thing. In truth, this isn't OOC for him; Patrick O'Brian (author of the Aubrey-Maturin books) seems to delight in cracked-out situations such as Jack and Stephen traveling from France to Spain disguised as a dancing bear and a gypsy. So he's not out of place in a crack RPG!

The recent meta storyline with Sarah Williams has been an opportunity to explore Stephen's mind in ways that I hadn't done before. Again I like to consult canon on these things, and you'll get the occasional pedantic footnote in my RPs (I also carry on the practice of posting longer canon excerpts in his LJ, made easier by e-texts). This is the first time I've really gotten to play out his moral ambiguity. Canonically, Stephen can be incredibly duplicitous and manipulative, and unapologetic about it too. (I tend to cite this particular quote often in OOC chat: "‘Now listen, Jack, will you? I am somewhat given to lying: my occasions require it from time to time. But I do not choose to have any man alive tell me of it.’" -- Post Captain) To some extent I haven't been playing that out as much as I could, just because I'm not as smart as Stephen is.

I'd say that right now, while Susan is still very dear to Stephen, his closest friend at Hogwarts is Ryuuji. Taking Ryuuji on as teaching assistant cemented what began really as more a friendship through River than one for its own sake. The evil clown sorting showed Stephen a side of Ryuuji he'd never before seen, and he feels protective of him -- which is hilarious if you actually know the extent of Ryuuji's powers, which Stephen doesn't. He is also touched by Ryuuji's understanding and acceptance of the Sarah meta issues; he was expecting Ryuuji to disown him over that, so to speak. They've bonded over their mutually troubled love lives.

Another major development for Stephen since the first time we posted this meme is his friendship with Professor Lupin. Stephen's most significant canonical friendship is of course with Jack Aubrey, who's really his opposite or complement in so many ways. To play out how Stephen would interact with someone who's very similar to himself is therefore interesting for me, since there isn't an exact canonical parallel. The closest would be his friendship with parson/surgeon's-mate Martin, who has his own personality quirks and is actually quite a different person from Stephen though they get along well (well enough for Aubrey to be a bit jealous). Unfortunately, Stephen is so damned closed-mouthed about personal issues that I haven't been able to ICly let him get into the kinds of conversations I'd really enjoy reading, but he's had a couple of good conversations on the secrets board with Lupin that come close.

I love discussions of characterization; much love for Grant-mun for posting this!

[jd-octor.livejournal.com]

Hi! Ummm, I'm actually not all that sure if I get my characters right, but I can point out how I play them. OK, here goes..

Agnes Nutter: Has almost NO cannon. I really liked her though, so I apped her anyway. I play her as a grumpy, angry and very traditional old lady, who's very ruthless when she has to be. It's hard for people to like her, and even harder for her to like them, but when she makes a friend, she's very loyal.

Jack Shepard: I've been playing Jack as still following Kate like a lost dog and having the occasional snipe at Sawyer. He goes into his cannon twat-mode whenever he speaks to Nny or Gogo, and he wants to help them, but they hate him for it. If Locke shows up *looks at the Doctor* then I can play Jack as annoying as he usually is, because then I can have him go into his "I am right and that's the end of it" form. Jack's such a loveable twat.

John Dorian (JD): JD is actually the hardest to play because I'm so worried about getting him wrong. JD is still quite limited without more cannon scrubs characters, especially Turk, Elliot and the Janitor. I've tried to keep JD as being a klutz, saying randomly stupid stuff and worshipping Doctor Cox. JD completely fell for Jack Harkness, which I didn't expect, so I decided to make JD bisexual. He's going with Jack, and has just begun to be friends with the Doctor and Rose. He's overdue for a good talk/shout from Doctor Cox, so they're going to meet up soon.

Zapp Brannigan: Zapp has been squibbed, but I'm considering him active until we actually do the squibhut thread for him. The Zappapp was basically an attempt to get as many Zapp worthy innuendos and stupid comments into as little space as possible. Zapp was actually fun to play because almost all of his interactions were something Zapp would say in the same situation. I didn't lter him at all. He really is that stupid and sex-driven.

Hermione Granger: I've just picked Hermione up, so I've not had a chance to use her much yet. I'm going to try to stay IC for her and not alter her at all if possible.

[lizzyswan.livejournal.com]

I am terrified of Agnes. *grins*

Legolas and Vincent.

[endless-penance.livejournal.com]

What I wrote about Legolas (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/326681.html?thread=15799833#t15799833) before still holds true, I think. With the addition that he has, more or less, figured out what he feels for Gimli and even told him. Sort of. On an image of a war axe, no less. The two need to get together more! :D

I adopted Vincent Valentine from Alucard's player when he was too busy moving and getting settled to be online. I play him as close to canon as I'm comfortable with, which means he may be just a little less overwhelmingly angsty than he should be. I also play up his canon "attachment" to Yuffie, to where he would have a definite romantic interest in her and actively pursue her, if not for how introverted he is, as well as his other...issues. Not least of which may or may not be the fact he's technically old enough to be her grandfather (around 50-60 years old, though he stopped aging at 27). At least she's legal now?

One clear deviation from canon:
He and Kisuke Urahara had some fun cracky interaction a while back, where Kisuke decided to use him as a test subject and healed Vincent's left arm. I've heard a million and one theories about why he wears the full gauntlet (it's never explained in canon), and decided it's not because he's missing an arm, but because his arm was permanently "shifted" (http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8686/leftarm3cq.jpg) - stuck looking like one of his demon's limbs; blackened skin, claws, scales, etc. So, basically, Kisuke gave him a manicure and meshed synthetic skin over the top, and aside from his unnatural red eyes and lack of aging, Vincent could physically almost pass for human (http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/129/thisisntfromaporno3vo.jpg) now.

It coincided quite nicely with his and Yuffie's trip to the Bahamas, where he must still be, working on his sunburn and very secretly enjoying Yuffie wearing even less clothing than usual...

Re: Legolas and Vincent.

[kisukeurahara.livejournal.com]

That second image makes me cackle with unholy glee he's so damned pretty~~. I don't know what's funnier: the file name, his pose and expression, or that it's so completely him to sleep with guns. ^^

[lizzyswan.livejournal.com]

Elizabeth Swann Wasn't originally my character. I took her over without her going through the horrible popcorning process and I haven't had a huge chance to play her... with a brain. But if she did lose her brain in canon, I think she would be very obsessed by pretty things. I look forward to Jack Sparrow becoming more active, because clearly even in canon, she loves him. She likes to be the centre of attention, and I'll continue her trying to achieve this.

Peyton Sawyer is as in canon as I can get her. She had a chance to be extremely Peytonish through her conversation with Brooke. She is vulnerable, angsty and arty. She has been through a lot in her life, and it shows through; despite the fact she tries to be strong. She just wants a little love and a painting canvas. Oh and her webcam and music back.

Claire Littleton is not actually Claire but an Other. I originally applied as just normal Claire Littleton, but there was a mix up to what season I was playing her. So I took on the role of Other!Claire; Other!Claire is a woman who looks similar to Claire but is on Polyjuice Potion. The Other was originally a black man, but after Agnes Nutter found out and he put her in the hospital wings, he was replaced by the more timid Claire who I play now. She is just playing out some theories of the Others which are shown on the internet. I'm not really giving away exactly what I think on the island, only that 'The islanders shouldn't have left. I have to take them back.'

Domino Harvey has just newly been sorted into Slytherin. She comes from my favourite movie 'Domino' and I hope to keep her as IC as possible. Mainly because I love that Domino and I don't want to ruin her. She's a bisexual ex-model/pornstar from a rich family, her dad died at a young age but this doesn't really affect her. She became a bounty hunter for the money and the kicks. She's a pretty mean fighter and has a foul mouth. She also doesn't let herself get emotionally attached to anyone, but is up for a LOT of fun.

Susan

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

Oh my, so much has happened in Susan's life since the last time (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/326681.html?thread=15554841#t15554841) we had this discussion. Much of what I said then still holds true; in the interim, her ... relationship? sparring? not sure what to call it? with Teatime has intensified, and it is surrounded by a cluster of complicated emotions, including denial (albeit considerably less since Psyche gave her a much-needed whap with a cluebat), fascination, desire, and yes, even a little fear. It seems to be causing her to withdraw emotionally from her other friends, however; even now, she still can't quite discuss it, guessing (perhaps rightly) that she could never explain it in a way that would make sense to anyone else.

She's become friends with Logan, oddly enough; she likes his intelligence and he amuses her, and in his wibblier moments, he brings out a vaguely maternal impulse and a desire to wrap him up in a warm afghan and give him a cup of hot chocolate. At the moment, she's also a bit worried about Stephen -- she was not so much scandalised as deeply concerned by his on-air drunkenness, which didn't seem to be in character for him at all; she's not quite sure how to approach him about it, however, as she doesn't want to meddle.

And DEATH. Their conversation (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/581667.html) pretty much sums up a lot of what has been happening with my characterization of Susan, especially with regard to her heritage. She's gained some perspective on it, and is less bloody resentful of it, even if she isn't completely comfortable with it all the time.

The one aspect of Susan's character that I've probably underplayed is her infamous temper; mostly because very few people here have really pissed her off. The exception, of course, is Gin (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/469107.html), and I thank his mun for giving Susan the opportunity to smack someone upside the head. ^_^

Notes on the rest of the menagerie forthcoming...

Clarification re: Susan

[sensiblesusan.livejournal.com]

"which didn't seem to be in character for him at all"

Clarification: in character from Susan's perspective, that is. From my perspective as mun, it's just fine (and funny as hell). ^_^

James:

[going-stag.livejournal.com]

I took on James for a number of reasons, none of which match up to the way he's become one of my fav chars and one of the easiest to play.

I've said in chat that I kind of play James as an inverted Marauding Harry. But that's very surface.

It'd kind of hard to put words to James. He's just James. He's a care-taker, which I find totally unexpected when it's portayed, even though I know why and where it comes from. He's a leader, cause he likes to take charge. He's a mischief maker cause he's just got a strong sense of justice and fun. Fiercely loyal. And not at all above a couple machinations to get his own way.

I haven't read HP-fic with James in it. So I've no idea what the fanon archetypes are. Though Sirius-mun occasionally mentions that I've topped a few on their arses.

James relationship and interaction to Sirius and (hopefully Remus when I've moved to start that up properly) is based on my thoughts when reading the books that Sirius had a jock crush on James. James knew it, liked it and approved of it. And that Remus was the more grown up/mature one being enticed by James' charisma.

Now, I've never played the role playing games with the dice. But I've heard some talk. And James does have the serious over kill on charisma. It's his special power, it is. And I just try to run with it and play it as best as I can. But he does expect to charm damn near everyone.

And part of my thoughts on why that is, stem from the bits seen of James in the books and from Snapes' utter dislike of Harry and conviction that Harry will charm himself, smile himself, use his reputation to get out of things. Cause -James- I believe would shameless use being 'The One Who Lived'. He's got his own twisted set of ethics where it wouldn't be used to get his way every single time. But he'd use it often enough.

So I guess, James comes from my interpretation of various characters' reactions/ expectations of a Potter.

Feel the James. Love the James. Be the James.

Re: James:

[nopower-overme.livejournal.com]

*feels James up*

*shifty* *accusing* You DID say feel him. xD

Being at h_h has given me an appreciation for characters I did not before (as far as the HPverse is concerned), and shown me things I did not bother to contemplate, and your James is one of characters responsible for that. From the second he entered the game, he's been spot-on and you just keep letting him be better. xD

[conriocht.livejournal.com]

Remus has become much less aggressive and snarky since the popcorning of virtually all his antagonists. Constantly dealing with people who hate him and want him dead definitely brought out his mean streak (understandably, I think). He's still pretty snarky - snarkier than canon, I think - but that's been toned down quite a bit. He's much more of a kindly professor now than he used to be.

The ongoing cracktasticness at H_H has brought out several aspects of Remus's personality that I didn't realize existed before. As someone pointed out, he has this ability to take everything in stride, no matter how weird it is. Sirius coming back from the dead? Great! Being turned into Crowley for a day? Sure! Hunting evil clowns? Good times! The only thing that's really thrown him for a loop is James coming back, and even then, he was able to be relatively calm and rational about it.

In a related vein, I've noticed that he seems to actively enjoy talking to the weirder and more incoherent applicants at H_H. Delirium tells him that she "wants to go to Jupiter and eat tinfoil for dinner," and he just humors her and plays along with her - he thinks it's funny. He did that a lot with Cooper, too (until Cooper really started pissing him off), and it's one of his ways of dealing with Sirius as well. I imagine this quality must come from long experience as a teacher interacting with children - even with adolescents, you need to do a lot of smiling and nodding.

In my previous post, I said I was playing Remus as "mostly straight," mainly because I'm a Remus/Tonks shipper and I'm tired of the constant fanon depictions of Remus as being TOTALLY GAY LOL. Obviously, since Sirius's return and the April Fool's incident with Stephen (as well as Dieter's application - hubba hubba!), this plan has fallen by the wayside a bit. ;) I'm still imagining him as being about a 2 on the Kinsey scale, and for those of you who can't be bothered looking that up, that means "predominantly heterosexual, but more than incidentally homosexual." Which means he can have a relationship with Tonks and still have plenty of slashy UST. Works for me....

I've also been working more on playing up Remus's scholarly tendencies. He's a professor, after all, and I imagine him as an intellectual magpie - the sort of person who's interested in everything and has an odd little store of trivia in his head for nearly every occasion. I've heard some fans claim that his range of knowledge would be limited to DADA, but I've certainly met academics who are far more wide-ranging than that. (For instance, my father is an engineering professor, but is also extremely knowledgeable about history, literature, mythology, and other subjects which have nothing to do with the subject he teaches.) This quality is one of the reasons Remus likes Stephen, who not only shares the quality but piques Remus's intellectual curiosity. Remus likes to study things and figure them out, and Stephen's background and complicated personality constitute an intriguing puzzle for him (which he'll probably never put together, but that just makes it all the more interesting).

Finally, there's Remus's music conoisseurship, which is totally self-inserty and not canon at all (unless you count movie!canon, which I try not to). But I do think it's IC for him to be a music nerd - the sort of person who collects first pressings of records and obsesses over discographies and back catalogues. Being a music nerd myself, I've encountered a lot of people like this, and I think Remus fits the bill pretty well. It also allows me to quote my favorite songs and have more entertaining WART broadcasts. ;) Remus's musical taste overlaps my own to a certain extent, but he likes jazz a lot more than I do, and I like noisy rock n' roll a lot more than he does. I imagine that he likes a lot of cerebral, witty music, which is why I always depict him as being a big Kinks fan (and, by extension, a big Decemberists, Elvis Costello, and XTC fan).

So there's some tl;dr for your Wednesday morning. Have a nice day, I'll be here all week, enjoy the buffet!

[keygirl-dawn.livejournal.com]

Dawn's the character I play most. I almost view this as an extended, interactive fanfic of her post-Sunnydale years. I'm taking the girl we saw in the final season of BtVS--the smart, compassionate Junior Watcher who's a bit of a social and physical kluts with a stubborn streak a mile wide and easily-hurt feelings--and aging her up eighteen months. I'm interested to find out where this will all take her.

[peachykeendeath.livejournal.com]

I try to play Death pretty close to what she was in canon. She perhaps gives a little more away than she did in the Sandman novels, but it's so interesting to see the different ways characters react to her, and the way she reacts to them. Death is very much a static character, as she already knows everything she needs to know and doesn't have anywhere to grow. However, her personality is so charming, and the ways the other characters interact with her so interesting, that I don't think it matters.

[5000yearold.livejournal.com]

Methos is dancing this mix of mostly canon with some slight OOCness--normally, he almost never tells anyone his real name (even Richie didn't know who he really was until after "Chivalry" I think) but otherwise I try to stick to canon personality wise.

We know he's snarky, we know he's into self-preservation, and that he likes beer. We know he's been a doctor, friends with Lord Byron, he is the Death mentioned in Revelation 6:8, and that he's weak in pop culture (his downfall during his Wheel of History tryout, and that he doesn't get into long term relationships with Immortals because its too messy. He also has no problems going into hiding for months or years at a time if the Game gets too heated. He also thinks the concept of chivalry is highly overrated. Thanks to the Methos Chronicles, we know he buried his first teacher alive and took over as Pharoh in the First Dynasty Egypt.

That's most of it! Very little to work off of when you consider the guy is as old as he is! Actually though, it's kind of nice because it's more wiggle room if I need to create some backstory. ^-^

[rogue-nebari.livejournal.com]

I haven't played Chiana or Aayla much here, but I'd like to think I'm keeping them as close as I can to canon. I'm playing it so that Aayla doesn't remember her death so that she can be more lighthearted than I'm playing her on Lost on Crack. I think that she's enjoying the change of pace and scenery, even if she can't explain it. She's a bit more passive than I'd like for her to be, but as I find places to put her I think that'll change. In the comics, she was always very strong-willed, especially after she came back from her little jaunt to the Dark Side. Not remembering dying will definately keep her from being angsty. Basically, I'm just playing her as taking everything in stride.

I'm trying to play Chiana very true to the show, with some extrapolation on how she'd act post-D'argo's death. She's trying to distract herself, basically. She wants the family feeling she had on Moya back, but she's still a product of her childhood/adolescence, which means she looks out for herself first and foremost, is pretty distrustful of others, and won't hesitate to have something nice (whether it's a material comforts, sex, or a tribble) while she has the chance. She probably still has a bit of a self-destructive streak.

TL;DR on Perry Cox

[coxinsox.livejournal.com]

Ooh, huh, this is a really tough question. I'm really picky about canon as a general rule, and I try to keep my characters as canonical as possible... which isn't to say never putting them through weird-ass situations that would never happen in their canon (mudwrestling anyone?) or never letting them grow as characters but I do always try to keep in mind their mannerisms, their attitudes, their quirks, their personalities, even their speech patterns as much as possible. Coxy might put on leather pants but he's never going to stop hating Hugh Jackman. ;)

Specifically... well, Dr. Cox was my first character here and he's obviously gone through the most so far. I've been trying to keep him canon from around the beginning of season 2 -- which is important because that's right before some major changes happen in his life that really make him grow as a person, and I wanted to grab him before that happens. *g* This Perry is alone, emotionally unavailable, alcoholic, angry and egomaniacal. He's also got a really bad habit, which starts to disappear during the course of Scrubs and which I really wanted to stick with, of sabotaging any chance he has at moving forward personally or professionally. I think he's managed to pull off some of that in h_h -- pissing off Crowley and making enemies with Remus I think were both big steps in the wrong direction for him.

Basically I guess I do see Cox here as still fairly similar to series!Cox, despite the addition of things like magic and werewolves and slashy subtext (wait, that's not new at all). He's such a stubborn jackass that I didn't see him being very easily changed by being put in such a different world. He's got a bit of the Granny Weatherwax "iron will" thing going on, although unlike her he definitely does let himself break down, often violently and self-destructively.

I am glad I found a way to make him sort of... work here, I guess, for lack of a better word. When I first apped I still had one big problem which is that I could not for the life of me figure out what he would actually be doing there. Cox A: loves working at the hospital since it's pretty much his entire life and B: hates wasting his time on anything, so at first I was like "Okay, I have no idea." But he's gotten himself really involved in magic study, and I do keep meaning to write up an RP post about what the hell he actually does in the library all day, but basically he's gotten very intense about learning what he just considers to be "more medicine" and I'm glad I managed to work that out for him.

There is also the rather complicated issue of his relationship with JD, which is a little confusing at the moment. In the series they have this crazy codependence thing going on, which Cox really will never admit to -- he's unwilling to even call JD his protege, much less admit that he needs JD in his life. One sort of facet of picking up Cox from where I did is that, while he values JD's opinion much more later on in the series, he needs him more now than he does later when he has other people to take care of. But, of course, they haven't seen much of each other here, because it's not the hospital and they don't need to be around each other, and because Cox has been kind of freaked out thinking JD is in love with him and because JD has been busy with Jack. I think not having JD around is really negatively affecting him, though, even if he won't acknowledge it. But they're going to shout it out soon so I expect that will get better again.

The one other thing that is a little tough is dealing with his ego problem. On Scrubs, Dr. Cox is pretty much acknowledged to be the best doctor at Sacred Heart and in fact I believe he's supposed to be one of the best doctors in the city, and he knows it. So he has a certain amount of cache on the show that he doesn't have here at all. That's been a little tough to work with for both him and me, because we're both used to having people actually listen to him and care what he thinks, whereas at Hogwarts... no one really does. XD; Even JD hasn't really been listening to him since there aren't a bunch of dying people around.

And, of course, there's been a ton of crack, but since that's pretty much canon for Scrubs I don't need to talk about it. ;P

Draco Malfoy

[whinylittlegit.livejournal.com]

Draco, I never wanted as a character. No, really! It all started because we were doing an MST of... something, was it subjugation? in IRC, and they wanted a Draco and I didn't have anyone to play so I figured why the hell not. And then I got massively enabled, and then Blaise came into my life... ;)

The thing is, I really do not like Draco. At all. He's a whiny, spoiled, selfish, arrogant, bigoted little ass and unlike Dr. Cox he doesn't really have any redeeming characteristics. So playing him in a way where I won't utterly hate him yet trying to keep him in character has been a little tough.

Which is why I was THRILLED when I saw Glory's open thread offering to brainsuck people. Crazy Draco is approximately infinity times more fun for me than normal Draco. XD; Not only that but I think the aftermath of this experience will make Draco in general much better and better for me to play. So I'm really excited about this whole thing.

Sirius, Part 1, because I suck at conciseness

[toujours-sirius.livejournal.com]

Creating H_H!Sirius has been kind of like making a really wacked-out cake.

I started with a base batter of canon, as represented in Sirius's main character traits: He's a strong personality, loyal to a fault, highly defensive of his loved ones, and willing to make any sacrifice, even that of his own life, to ensure his friends' safety and well-being. It's not even something that he needs to think about or consider; it's completely automatic. Once he loves someone, he latches on like a pitbull and will do anything for that person. He and James have an extremely close friendship, to the point that I would call them platonic soulmates, and he loves Harry intensely (and not just because Harry is James's son, although I'm sure that's part of it). On the flip side, he is brash and outspoken. He's impulsive and stubborn. He's arrogant and not always sensitive to others' feelings (e.g., during the flashback of "Snape's Worst Memory," he said he wished it were full moon already so that he could go marauding, even though full moon meant pain and agony for Remus), especially when said others are people he's not friends with or doesn't particularly like. He has trouble seeing things from others' point of view. (For example, in PoA, he still doesn't seem to get that telling Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow during Remus's transformation wasn't just a prank, albeit a mean-spirited one, that Snape had coming to him, that it was actually an extremely dangerous stunt that nearly got Snape and James killed and could have resulted in incarceration, or worse, for Remus rather than just the revelation of his secret to Snape.) He's got a bit of an alcohol problem (something that is hinted at in OotP). And he is depressed (again, something that we didn't really see in full force until OotP, when he spent a lot of his time holed up with Buckbeak in his mother's room and moping in general around number twelve, Grimmauld Place, even in Harry's presence).

Into this batter, I then added tweaked bits of canon, kicked up a notch, as Emeril might say. For example, nowhere in canon does Sirius actually mistake Harry for James. But in OotP, during a turf-war fight over Harry's caretaking and how much information about Voldemort and the Order Harry should be privy to, Molly Weasley suggests that this is the case, that Sirius sometimes acts as if he's got his best friend back in the form of Harry. Personally, I think this was just a really low blow and doesn't actually have canonical evidence, but I decided to use it to make H_H!Sirius a bit more interesting. I also took the hinted-at alcohol problem and made it into something much bigger: H_H!Sirius is a true alcoholic. He drinks to have fun and he drinks when he is depressed. In fact, he pretty much drinks all the time, and he does drugs as well--something that he really might have done back in his schooldays as well (but, of course, JKR would never give us that kind of information, as the Harry Potter books are supposedly a kids' series and there's way too much wank out there anyway).

Another bit of canon that I've exaggerated is Sirius's supposed craziness. I imagine some of you will disagree with me, but I don't think canon!Sirius is crazy, not even post-Azkaban canon!Sirius. He was faced with dire circumstances, and he made certain choices to protect Harry, choices that didn't always have positive outcomes, but choices that were made consciously and reasonably, based on his personal morals and convictions and an assessment of the various options available to him. (If anyone's interested, I'm always glad to explain why slashing the Fat Lady made complete sense at the time, why Sirius didn't just walk up to someone like Hagrid during PoA and explain what had happened, and why Sirius had every right to go to the Ministry of Magic in OotP.) H_H!Sirius, on the other hand, is definitely a bit off his nutter at times, especially when he's emotionally worked up. Reason falls by the wayside, and he lets his heart take the lead, even when the end result is something worse than what he was fighting against to begin with. He's like a magnified version of canon!Sirius's more negative traits.

Sirius, Part 2, because I suck at conciseness

[toujours-sirius.livejournal.com]

The last ingredient in the batter is exaggerated fanon, mainly to do with Sirius's sexuality. Fanon!Sirius is extremely gay and very randy, especially when it comes to Remus. I like to think of H_H!Sirius as flagrantly bisexual. He'll fuck anything that walks (or blibbles). Part of that is me just having fun with fanon, but the other part is that all of the shagging is Sirius's way of trying to achieve intimacy in the absence of James and as a way of helping himself deal with all of the loneliness he had to cope with in Azkaban, during his two years on the run, and during the year he was "imprisoned" in his parents' house. I've deviated a bit from the fanon, though, in making Sirius a switch hitter, so to speak. In fanon, Sirius is almost always a top, especially with Remus. H_H!Sirius could take it any which way, and he's definitely a willing bottom, as Cooper could attest to. (Homsar's another story... ;) )

Another interesting detail--one on which James-mun and I agree, thankfully--is that between the two of them, James and Sirius, James is the leader. I think a lot of fanon portrays Sirius as the ringleader, mainly because we know more about him in general and we know he's a strong personality in particular. However, I see Sirius as being content to let James, Quidditch star and all-around cool guy, lead while Sirius instigates. An interesting example of this is the Levicorpus scene, in which Sirius is the one who "sniffs out" Snape for James and then lets James execute the actual "hazing." In H_H, we've exaggerated this to a bit of a dom/sub relationship. Further supporting that relationship is Sirius's sheer ecstasy at having James back from the dead. He's so thankful his best friend has returned that he'll sit, heel, roll over, and, of course, play dead for James; all James needs to do is give the command. Remus is also able to calm Sirius down, to some degree, but James is the one person who pretty much has complete control over Sirius if he wants it.

If anyone's interested in my take on a strictly canon!Sirius, you're welcome to look at my WIP fanfic Yellow (http://miss--sophia.livejournal.com/6381.html) (yay shameless self-promotion!). I draw a lot of H_H!Sirius from the thinking and writing I've done for this fic, but exaggerated out to sometimes ridiculous extents. Hey, you need exaggeration to bring the crack, especially for such a tragic character. ;)

Re: Sirius, Part 2, because I suck at conciseness

[toujours-sirius.livejournal.com]

Another thing I supposed I should add about my approach to playing Sirius is that I purposely try to get caught up in his emotional state. It makes his reactions more genuine, and despite the fact that he's been involved in a great deal of angst, I get a big kick out of going through all that shit with him. Although I'm not a nutjob nearly as intense as he is (I swear!), I identify with a lot of his values, and I like putting myself in his shoes and thinking about what he's going through, really trying to feel it. That's my approach to writing in general, actually. For me, if I can't make myself understand a character's emotions and beliefs (even if I don't agree with them), then I'm not sure I've got enough empathy to write believable reactions for the character. Therefore, I really try to put myself in the scene. Some of this may result in self-insert, I dunno. But since I genuinely like and identify with Sirius, I imagine it works out OK in the end.

Wimsey, Fillerbunny, and Dibbler

[pdbw.livejournal.com]

I have to confess, I've had a hell of a time trying to find things for Wimsey to do, apart from sending him to class and making him request Cole Porter songs for WART. This is owing largely to my decision to place him a few years after the events of Busman's Honeymoon, where he is married, settled, and has a child. Contented!Wimsey is not a very dramatic person. It also doesn't help that I don't have a Harriet or Bunter to play off of. (Will not whine about this. Will not whine.) Many thanks to Methos and Crowley for the No-Drama Club, which at least gets him interacting with other people! It was pointed out to me recently by Jeeves-mun that maybe Wimsey works best as a bastion of good sense and unflappability amid the drama and madness of Hogwarts, and I'd like to do more with that. (Sort of like Adam Young, perhaps, only without the divine powers. ^_^) If someone were willing to put in the advance legwork (and there would need to be a fair amount, and it would probably involve coordination among multiple muns) to give Wimsey something to detect, I'd be up for it.

FB is still sweet, innocent li'l FB. He's less afraid of returning to the needles-in-the-brainmeats than he used to be. He really needs to meet Nemo at some point, I think; they'd get along nicely. I will never give up FB; he started out in his application as an expression of the grimmer and more self-pitying aspects of my personality, and somewhat to my surprise, has turned into something much sweeter and sunnier. This is a good thing. (And may I say that I LOVED it when Dib wrote to him to ask advice about love?)

Dibbler. Augh. I wish I were funny enough to do more with Dibbler. I'm very grateful to GOB-mun for aiding and abetting what Dibbler-funny there's been, especially in the last Secrets Board (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/545201.html?thread=26368689#t26368689). No fear, gentle reader; there will never be Dibbler/GOB -- for one thing, GOB-mun and I find the idea of RPing such entirely appalling, and plus, we both think it's funnier as an unrequited misunderstanding.

Irulan and Aphrodite

[seafoamrisen.livejournal.com]

And now for the characters I've introduced since the last time we had this discussion.

I apped Irulan because I was hugely amused by h_h!Paul (I read Dune and saw the movie at a young and highly impressionable age, and have had a lot of affection for both ever since), and thought it would be fun to torture him (with his mun's permission) with his decidedly unwilling wife. And lo, much fun was indeed had. The two have reached a sort of accord, although they still maintain appearances of mutual disdain, the better to mess with the heads of their fellow students.

Going into it, I knew Irulan had hidden depths -- she must, given the enormous body of work she writes in canon after Paul's death -- and discovering said depths (which Herbert only hints at; at the end of Dune Messiah, we only learn about her change of heart w.r.t. Paul via another character!) has been a lot of fun. She is much more intelligent than she usually lets on, has a wicked sense of humour, and is an acute observer, the last of which is enhanced by her Bene Gesserit training. All of these traits were necessary for survival and maintenance of sanity in the Royal Creche; they also cover for a deeper sadness and bitterness. She is well aware that she's been used as a tool of political expediency (and indeed was destined to be such from the moment she was born), and her resentment of this fact is deepened by her awareness that, under other circumstances, she would have really liked Paul, and possibly even could have loved him. I imagine all this sadness and bitterness being channeled outward in anger and cunning (and, in the tradition of wealthy ignored wives everywhere, extravagant clothes), which accounts for her more villainous actions in canon. Said villainousness is subdued-to-nonexistent at Hogwarts, partly because of the "as long as we're here" truce with Paul, and partly because she is really enjoying the freedom afforded her by the near-complete absence of any expectations -- the first time she's ever really experienced such a thing.

Aphrodite was another character apped with the idea of torturing another character (Psyche, again with mun consent -- in fact, it was her idea). 'Dite is based primarily on the way she's portrayed in the Apuleius retelling of the story of Eros and Psyche (where she is spectacularly nasty, vicious, and shrewish, even to her darling son), with liberal dashes of Bulfinch, Edith Hamilton, and D'aulaire thrown in for balance.

'Dite is, frankly, a bit of a dim bulb, although not without a powerful dose of pure animal cunning and instinct. On the one hand, she is capable of considerable generosity and kindness; on the other, she has a unlimited capacity for spite and, like many Olympians, is a world-class grudge-holder. Playing around a bit with ideas of gods and myth, I decided that, being an older and more primordial sort of goddess, her power and sphere of influence is really all about what you might call "the generative urge". The whole love-and-beauty thing came later; and in fact, she doesn't actually get romantic love or the related complexities of emotion; she figures as long as people are getting it on, it's all good. Hilarity, as they say, ensues (or at least I hope it does), as she tries to make sense of it and generally fails.

Meanwhile, I really need to have her hitting on pretty mortal men more often. I'm still kicking myself for not sending her to Dieter's sorting.

[homsarhomsar.livejournal.com]

When I need a bit of an emotional break from Sirius, it's so great to turn to Homsar. The little guy speaks entirely in nonsequiturs, so all I have to do is sit back and be random--oh, and insert the occasional reference to a board game, tree hugging, Reggie, or that rhinoceros.

Actually, though, good nonsequiturs become a bit difficult to come up with from time to time. When I get stuck, I try to turn to song lyrics and hip-hop lingo, since Homsar does tend to insert these things into some of his statements (e.g., "I'm forever your girl"; "Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk").

The main thing I do when writing Homsar's dialogue is try to hear him saying it in his funny muppetlike voice. If it doesn't sound right, then he wouldn't say it.

At H_H, when doing narrative-style writing, I've had to delve a bit into Homsar's mental state. He sees the world in sort of an abstract way. Sometimes he views people's thoughts as outside of themselves. Sometimes he sees people as board game pieces. And other times he just wishes that rhinoceros were around. It's all sort of made up, since we really don't know much about what Homsar thinks. I've made him a fairly happy-go-lucky guy without much of a purpose aside from playing games with that rhinoceros. He doesn't really read other people very well, nor does he have any interest in doing so. People could be horribly mean to his face and he would never get it. He just sort of wanders around and talks to people. If they seem interested in Jenga and don't act completely confused by what he's saying, he gets extremely happy. Otherwise, he keeps trying--and he never gets that he's the one who's making no sense!

Incidentally, one of my absolute favorite H_H Homsar moments was in Homsar's application, when he had an extended conversation with Stephen Colbert (http://community.livejournal.com/hogwarts_hocus/495271.html?thread=24184487#t24184487). If you missed it, I highly recommend it. Colbert-mun was HILARIOUS and must've worked her ass off trying to come up with interpretations of what was essentially complete nonsense.

[ugly-old-hat.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me that a good bit has changed and I should update.

Lana Lang: I haven't changed anything about the way I've been playing Lana. However, when and if Supes' app is sorted (we have char limit issues), I probably will 1) play her a bit more; and 2) play her more ICly with current Smallville canon. The latter is especially true if we get a Smallville Lex (especially an AmbiguouslyEvilish!Smallville!Lex.

Sara Sidle: Sara has become a little bit of a conundrum for me lately. I based some of her characterization on assumptions I was making about the reasons she was so different this last season (more friendly and generally pleasant, especially). I thought her EAP counseling had done her some good, and she'd gotten over Grissom and was more accepting of herself and others. I was, at least in part, wrong, and I'm not sure whether to incorporate the season finale into the way I'm playing her. I originally decided not to, but a Grissom keeps popping into my head and saying that's a cop out and that I need to at least explain why she's here instead of in Vegas with him and have her admit that was why she was being so much nicer. I'm still trying to figure that out, and that's one reason she hasn't been around much lately.

Ginny Weasley: Not much new to say here, except that I've decided to semi-unretcon the retcon. She won't give out any details about what happened to her from the time she applied to the time Harry showed up, but I consider it canon that she was (and technically is) officially Tom Riddle's roommate but does not live with him, and that he tortured her in general. The retconning was leaving too big of a hole, and frankly, making it impossible for me to understand what I was doing with her. Since Tom's been popcorned, she feels a lot safer, but she will always defer to Harry. Also, the more she tries things, the more she likes them, so she's gotten progressively kinkier.

The Sorting Hat: What can I say? It is every bit the insane, treat-weapon-and-money-loving megalomaniac everyone and everything accuses him of being. ;) Since its vacation to Florida, it's acquired a special fondness for warm climates and beaches. It now has a home in Brazil, thanks to Peter Wiggin, in addition to the island theme park Seto Kaiba built for it, and the house GOB built for it. It fondly remembers every nice thing its been given. With one exception, it doesn't really play favorites, but considers Morfin its most amusing friend, and is very excited about the prospect of a relationship of some sort with Urahara Kisuke. The one exception to the playing favorites rule is actually an anti-exception, of sorts. It still loathes Ginny Weasley. She's the "Canadian Weasley Bear" it keeps going on about attacking.

Santa Claus: I can't decide if I should leave him in stasis except for his once a year visit, actually play him (which doesn't sound much fun) or maybe popcorn him. Meh.

The Doctor--part the first

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

The Doctor as a whole has a LOT of canon—now 28 seasons/series’ worth of it, and a movie. So most of the info that doesn’t have to do with the series of the Ninth Doctor I either know from what little I’ve seen, or I look it up on Wiki.

But the Ninth Doctor here I know, and so I play him as ICly as I can. He’s your average (or not-so-average) Nice Guy who’ll help out anyone and everyone, unless he’s got a damn good reason. Kindly, and just a liiiittle manic. Or a lot, from time to time. And angst. Let’s not forget the heaps of angst.

He’s interested particularly in people who show an interest in the sciences and/or adventure and prove themselves to be smarter than the average person (such as Dib). But like I said, he’ll give anyone a shot unless you’re a heartless murderer or nasty in-general or have screwed up morals. Or are Sawyer. More or less.

He’ll also be more than interested in getting to know anyone that reminds him of himself in some way, someone he can connect to (or thinks he can connect to). That number of people is few, so far. He’ll talk to anyone just because they’re there, and he’ll keep up contact with them if he likes them well enough, but people like Illyria intrigue him probably more than they should. Ah, speaking of Illyria, here is where he’s in conflict with himself. She’s a little bit frightening—he doesn’t doubt her power or her story at all (well, except maybe the GOD part). And he feels that their backgrounds are somewhat similar. So she serves as a reminder to him about his own past (y’know, the ‘damn it my people/home are all gone!’ bit of it). This both fascinates and repulses him. He’d much rather just forget it, but he knows he can’t, and it wouldn’t be right to forget. And because of said similarity, he wants to know if he can connect to her. Sorta love/hate thing going on. Really screws with his head after a while.

Speaking of the angst, you know I’ve gotta put bucketloads on him. I like to think that he’s subconsciously masochistic, just a bit, because when you watch it, some things just stand out. To me, anyway. There’s at least a very obvious self-hatred and need for redemption for almost-double genocide and leaving himself alone in the universe. This all gets covered up by his uber-eccentricity and need to help everyone. Yeah, the Doctor’s always been eccentric, and he’s always helped those in need, but now he wonders if this gives him some weird hero complex, putting himself needlessly in danger for the sake of others. I’m not saying he’s out looking for a fight or anything, really. So by now, he’s starting to question his mental state. He already thinks he’s a bit crazy, though whether that was before or after the Time War, he’s not so sure. I try to play him as happy/normal as can be with a sort of twinge of angst that one can see if they’re looking, because he feels the need to cover it up.

…If that makes sense. <<;

The Doctor--part the second

[ninth-doctor.livejournal.com]

One thing I’m never quite sure how to play is when it comes to his ‘love life’, as it were. Which includes interactions with Jack, Rose, and Claire. Oh boy, this’ll be a doozy… I’m not sure if I can put it down to just one reason why he’s so completely awkward about everything to do with that. Canon-wise, I think he’s one of the most physical Doctors, what with how freely he’ll hold hands, hug, etc. All that, kissing, it doesn’t bother him. And, really, I don’t see him as being unaccustomed to sex. 900+ years and a few times around the universe, it’s a hell of a long time to practice celibacy (which if you go with Susan being his biological granddaughter, you already know he’s no pretty little virgin). So most physical interactions and flirtations don’t faze him. It’s just when it comes down to the thought of sex that’s frightening and intimidating.

Because he’s used to all the flirting from Jack, and it’s pretty obvious how dearly he cares for Rose. Playing him pre-“Boom Town” (I decided this before I had seen said epi), I figure that’s all he’s used to. No kissing Jack, no kissing Rose, just flirts and touches. Quite possibly the main reason is because of emotion being involved. Not to say that he’d jump into bed with anyone a few regenerations back and leave the next morning—that’s more Jack’s style of things. He’s quite certain about all of the emotion involved between the three of them. And he’d rather not hurt them emotionally in any way. Which is why Claire makes things more complicated. Because he’s that Nice Guy, it’s not like he wants to just go ‘oh, whoa, back off, woman’ and possibly break her poor little heart/lose the trust he’s gained. But he’s not known her nearly as long as Jack and Rose, and he feels that if either of them found out, there’d be hell to pay.

What I think makes it all the more awkward with him, the reason he doesn’t just go ahead and have wild threesome sex (thought it’s pretty assured to happen at SOME point) is that he’s not the same person he used to be. The Eighth Doctor was pretty well comfortable with snogging Grace a number of times in the movie. That’s not working here. He’s pretty sure that he’s bad luck, of sorts, and doing much at all would mean it’ll all come crashing down. Because of the Time War, he had to travel alone; for how long, we don’t know. Which is why Rose is somewhat special, because he’s (we assume) the first companion he’s taken on since that event. She’s the one that he decided would help him sort of get out of this shell he put up to keep him from hurting himself and anyone else.

Or something like that, anyway. >>; Wish I didn’t suck at explaining things. Yeah, that turned out long. So I’ll add other stuff if I can think of it. XD;