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snowblindmemes2016-04-12 05:45 pm
harlequinofhate) wrote in snowblindmemes2016-04-12 05:45 pm
-This is Not a Meme-
Hey, it's a not-meme.
One thing I always find fascinating in this hobby is what draws people to the characters they play so this is me asking you that.
You can answer in list form, prose form, whatever form you're most comfortable with and with as much or as little detail as you want.
One thing I always find fascinating in this hobby is what draws people to the characters they play so this is me asking you that.
★ What drew you to your characters? What do you find fun about them? What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult? What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury? ★
You can answer in list form, prose form, whatever form you're most comfortable with and with as much or as little detail as you want.
no subject
Zell has the energy level I enjoy in a character. And he's completely ridiculous. He's dumb, but has these little talents and surprising smart moments that make it fun to figure him out.
What do you find fun about them?
How excited he is and how friendly he can be. Some times I like when he gets emotional (poor sad losers have to deal with most of that).
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
Easy- probably him reacting to everything.
Difficult- remembering to keep in touch with all of his cr. HE LIKES ALL OF THESE PEOPLE and wants to keep up with them all.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
I wanted to app in Snowhell since it opened, but kept going back and forth on who to bring. Finally brought in Zell because I was really feeling him, and I wanted to see him actually relax about being teased and grow as a character. He still has a long ways to go, but I don't regret my choice.
no subject
Complicated answer, that. A myriad of reasons. I think the most obvious is his sense of fierce loyalty and love to those who matter to him. And the strong sense of doing the right thing, too. Zack's obviously very shounen. Ridiculously shounen. But he also has these very human moments and that's what honestly sold me to his character. He has a lot of doubts and questions himself continuously which I always felt a lot for. He's not perfect. He fails a lot. But he faces those failures head on and keeps trying and trying and pushing and pushing and I think that sums up a lot of what it is to live life.
He has a lot of growth as a person, going from being the naive teenager burning to be a hero to just doing all he could to make things right- despite all the bad that happened to him and all the betrayals. And above all, he's someone who would give their life to that. Not to be all flashy and earn the title he'd wanted so much to in the end, no. But because he simply could not abandon his friend, even if it unfortunately cost him his life. Not that he wanted to die and not that he would want to put himself into that situation first thing- but still that willingness if push came to shove and it was protect that person even if it meant dying instead of living and abandoning them. That kind of willingness and courage after all he'd been through is something that really ultimately got me to pick him up.
I think lastly? I just really needed a different character type from who I had been playing for years and years. Prior to picking up Zack, I had been playing Xion from Kingdom Hearts for what was going on about... four or five years? I think more leaning towards five. I was very burnt out from her because I had done so much with her. So, picking up Zack was like this sudden, big fresh breath of air for me. Very unexpected. Very unplanned. As in. Was considering more or less retiring from RP at that point because nothing seemed to click.
But then there was Zack. And he was just so different. The polar opposite of Xion in a lot of ways. Someone who fiercely knew who he was and who he wanted to be. Someone a lot more experienced and someone who would be the type to take others under his wing instead of being taken under someone else's wing. It's a very big jump, but I think considering the profession I'd taken up for myself, in some ways, it's funnily suiting that he ended up being who I hopped to after Xion.
★ What do you find fun about them?
I absolutely love having the choice to be shameless with him. He can be a very free spirited, gives-no-shits-what-others-think sort of character at times. Sometimes it's to the point that after I write a tag, I'm literally sitting there at my desk covering my face because I'm so embarrassed by what he just did because it's something I would never personally do. But it's something that I feel he would have no issue doing. I definitely love playing out his lighthearted side where he's capable of joking and teasing and basically being a shit. It's not so common in this game because of the heavy setting, but it really makes for an upswing in all the downswings and serious tones that the game tends to carry.
I also am really weak for his general upswing. The way he tries to be there for others and be strong for others and carries the world. (Zack is really an idiot, okay. But a wonderful idiot.)
★ What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
The easiest thing to do is definitely the shitposting with him. My humor runs pretty parallel with what I feel would be his although he takes it to the next level through action a lot. I also really connect easily with the very loose mentor habits he can have considering my own background as a teacher. It's a very big guilty pleasure for me and I absolutely love playing it out.
The most difficult parts of his characterization? Probably keeping the balance between allowing him to have bouts of weakness and times when he is sad and overwhelmed and frustrated. But showing that in a way that well conveys that without utterly collapsing his characterization as this strong person. Despite all that he's been through, Zack's remained a strong-willed person and a leader in his canon, so it's definitely something of a top priority I want to convey. But I equally want to show the effect that Norfinbury has had on him. It leads to this tricky balancing game.
Additionally, he is more a leader type than I am. I tend to march to my own drum, so I have to kind of remind myself of that and continue to make myself aware of that on an active level. Here and there, it's tricky to translate things into Zack talk. Because I talk way more than he does and my speech pattern is choppier than his.
★ What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
Partly just... whim? Mostly because the premise and different setup of the game interested me, what with the idea of exploring a map and nosing around for things and trying to uncover things that way. It's definitely a very different game from what I would usually pick to play at regularly and that has sometimes challenged me. It's complicated, you really have to think a lot about what you're doing all the time, and you really have to be on top of things, too.
But I like the challenge. I've needed it. And I really think Zack's made it work for the type of character he is versus the usual characters I would have brought in. I'm really glad I ended up picking him up and bringing him here.
★ The verdict?
I absolutely love playing Zack to bits and I'm still stoked that I brought him here. I feel like I have some really rewarding, exciting CR going on with him in Norfinbury and I cannot wait until summer when I'm less stressed from work to get him a bit more out and about than I've had him. @@ This school year is killing me.
no subject
I love that Tifa isn't exactly what she seems on the surface—she's tough, but she hides a lot of her issues underneath that. She's sweet and motherly, but has a lot of hatred and anger for ShinRa, can be surprisingly ruthless, and so on! Once you look past the way she presents herself and start really delving into how she opens up around certain people (Cloud and Barret especially), a lot of complexities become obvious, and it's fun to figure those out!
What do you find fun about them?
Tifa gets along with a ton of different types of characters, and it's always easy to get cr with her. She can also take care of herself, but she's a very vulnerable person, as well, and really struggles with being alone.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
Easy: Most of her interactions with others, her tendency to focus her concern on others rather than herself, and her general fussing.
Difficult: Sometimes it drives me crazy that she isn't quick to open up, because I really want her to be honest with some of her cr, but she just isn't there yet! It can also be difficult for me to strike a balance on confidence with Tifa. This is the first time I've played OG Tifa, and she does a lot of growing in the two year gap between FF7 and ACC that she just doesn't have here. She's a strong character, but she has some wicked insecurities.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
I guess this is kind of a longer answer. I used to be in Animus, and I loved it, but I had to leave before endgame. Once I found out about Snowblind, I was determined to app! I'm also a horror junkie, and Tifa is good at getting knocked down and forcing herself back up over and over again. I thought the psychological aspect in particular would be fun to play with, especially with her canon point, since there's so much trauma she hasn't dealt with and isn't ready to deal with. One goal is eventually getting her to realize that she needs to take care of herself and stop putting the well-being of her friends before her own all the time.
no subject
What drew you to your characters?
An excellent question! Honestly it's been a really long time since I first got into Hetalia, so I can't remember my first impressions very well. But I think it was mostly that I really liked England's sense of humour and found him one of the most entertaining characters in the cast. I'm sure there is something about us Americans loving mean British guys in there too I mean come on. Plus, we got to see some of England's ~hidden depths~ fairly early on with the Revolutionary War episodes (I watched the anime first RIP me), and I wasn't really expecting that out of a series like Hetalia, so that really sold me! Amusingly enough I actually played China at first and had an extremely hard time getting the hang of England, even though I really wanted to play him.
What do you find fun about them?
A lot of things! For being so incredibly stubborn, England is actually a pretty versatile character. I think I have the most fun when he is being teased about something really embarrassing but not necessarily hurtful; he has very overblown reactions and super obvious denial in regards to these kinds of things and I think that is when I get to best show the spirit of the really ridiculous parts of Hetalia. Usually in horror games, the more serious side of the nations gets more screen time, but really they are all ridiculous characters so it brings me joy when I get to have England involved in sillier things every now and then.
I also sort of like that England is so obstinate about not addressing his own feelings, because it gives me the opportunity to practise creative dialogue and non-verbal emotional cues to portray what he's feeling. It can be a very fun challenge and exercises my "show not tell" muscles! Another thing I really enjoy is getting to write so much sarcasm basically all the time. I think we can all relate to this sometimes when it is necessary to be polite in normal daily life.
I find a lot of things about playing England to be super fun but I will move on with my life here okay okay.
What aspects of them do you find easy?
Definitely the sarcasm...that is my main avenue for humour besides puns so it comes pretty naturally to me. I've been playing England for a while now so his reactions to things are often second-nature, which is nice since I can just jump at things without overthinking them (I overthink a lot of things, it's a curse). Really, the personal and emotional sides of England are what come easiest to me, since that is just analysing his personality rather than doing hard research. Not that I mind doing research but it's a lot tougher and more time-consuming than just cranking out an emotional tag. (´Д｀)
What aspects of them do you find difficult?
A lot...of things... ಥ‿ಥ I'm pretty much constantly struggling with making sure he sounds English; using the right terms for things, the colloquialisms, the spelling...by nature of his silly canon, he is a bit more exaggeratedly English than actual English people, but I still try my best to keep it sounding more like "an English person who happens to like being very verbose" instead of "an American trying WAY TOO HARD to write an English character". I am not sure how successful I am at this but I try...
Really the research aspect in general gives me trouble since I try to be careful with random internet-based sources. Obviously the history aspect, and there is A LOT OF history and I have a very bad memory so whenever something comes up that I'm not as familiar with I am always like SWEATS TRIPLE-CHECKS RESEARCH FOR AN HOUR, and then I have to consider how it might translate into Hetalia terms and it's just a mess. And of course England is super into a lot of things I just don't have a lot of knowledge of. I can usually manage the literature, because I am decent enough at English that I know what to look for even if I haven't necessarily read a lot, but England's obsession with classic rock music is the absolute bane of my existence. щ(ಥДಥщ)
Also it can be difficult to build really strong CR with England since he is so closed off and isn't the type of person to test interpersonal boundaries unless he's really emotional, so it's sometimes hard to get him to stop holding people at arm's length.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
I was drafted. I don't know how to not play England and Mel is keeping me hostage (◉‿◉✿)
NO I KID
mostly. England has such massive issues with trust and being in control that shoving him at jamjars is always fun, and because of what he is, he'll always have motivation to keep trying to go home, so I don't really have to worry about breaking him down to total hopelessness. He's a very resilient fellow! Of course, he's also used to being able to take any kind of physical beating and never worry about dying, so taking that away really puts a dent in his stability and I love playing with the way it chisels at his pride and ups the stakes regarding what he'd be willing to do for another person. Plus, setting the game in what is apparently an actual country has super potential to mess with Hetalia characters so that has been very fun so far.no subject
My answer is very boring but! When I very, very first got into RP around ten years ago, I only did so because my best friend at the time had started playing Zack and really wanted to play with a Cloud and decided that I would be perfect. After that initial experience I really only kept up with him in particular because once I got into it, I found out I really liked RPing and wanted to continue. It wasn't until I had been playing him for about a year, a year and a half that I actually really started exploring him as a character and getting to know him, and from that point on it was because I actually really loved him.
What do you find fun about them?
His sass and his dorkiness. Especially when he comes into contact with another sass master or another dork. He's also relatively easy to get CR with, just because he tends to start off as indifferent towards everyone and his opinion goes from there, so basically he gives everyone a chance at least once.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
The dorkiness and the sassiness is definitely easiest. The hardest is the fact that he tries to speak in as few of words as possible and I am a really big talker, so it's sometimes difficult for me to realize he wouldn't phrase things in the same way I would.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
I've been in horror games before and they were always a lot of fun! That and I was looking to get back in RP, and Snowblind was on the smaller and slower side and everyone was super friendly from the very beginning, so I knew it would be a great place to get back into the swing of things.
no subject
What drew you to your character?
The hat.
OKAY NO Fiona is a very different character from the types I usually play, and also very different from Tifa! I thought that would be an interesting contrast, and ensure I could do very different things with both of them. Also, Fiona is just SO COOL. I was originally drawn to her confidence, but I love the complexities of her character, I love her weird friendship with Rhys, I love how smooth she is and how naturally she thinks on her feet. She has a definite tough girl persona, but she's a total softie for her sister Sasha, and a lot of her softer side shows on occasion with Rhys and the robo kids, too.
What do you find fun about them?
She's a con artist, and this makes her inherently manipulative and not quite what she seems. She doesn't trust easily, but once she does, she's very ride or die for the people she cares about. Her sarcasm is also a lot of fun, and her selfishness is kind of liberating to play in a weird way? Her aforementioned confidence is also great, because she really only cares about the opinion of a handful of people.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
Easy: Honestly, Fiona is so new I'm still nervous about most things with her. One of the easiest things for me is that she has a very clearly delineated group of people she cares for and people she doesn't much care about. She'll do almost anything for the former, even if that negatively impacts the latter. She's also very opportunistic, and doesn't really hesitate to screw over that aforementioned latter group to help herself.
Difficult: At this point, a lot of things. I don't play many funny characters, so making sure her quips and jabs are funny or at least amusing is difficult. She can also be pretty mean, which is not something I play often. I'm always a little paranoid about her voice, and I'm in that stage where I'm still really really heavily thinking through every action I take with her. THE STRUGGLE.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
When I first joined Snowblind, I expected there to be a lot more backstabbing for resources and hoarding, but everyone was surprisingly kind and helpful! I thought it would be cool to play someone who would be the opposite, and wouldn't really hesitate to take a stock of rations meant for emergencies only, or to scalp people when trading, etc. In general, I wanted to play a more morally gray character in a very grueling setting. Also I would 100% be lying if I said the amazing Borderlands cast wasn't part of the reason.
no subject
I think initially it was just that I thought he was hot in an off-beat sort of way. I am not a deep lady. Past that, however, Haurchefant is a character that grew on me. He didn't leave much of an impression at first but ultimately I found myself caring about this quirky elf NPC. He is honorable and fiercely loyal but there is a sense of someone tragic and angry beneath that, if you really look. The Dragonsong War short story about him is rather sad.
As a character to RP I really took to him because he was different from my usual "type" which tends to be secretive, dark characters, characters fighting an inner darkness, and literal supervillains.
What do you find fun about them?
He has a capacity to be a very fierce enemy to anyone who angers him but is usually a bright, upbeat person who tries his best to see the good in people. Sometimes he is outright flirtatious. I really enjoy playing both of these sides and trying to meld them into a believable whole. His energy is a lot fun in general. I also, believe it or not, like writing his speech patterns.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
I don't know how well I do at his speech but I feel like it comes pretty easily to me. Determining how he feels about certain other archetypes is also very easy since he wears his heart on his sleeve.
The hard thing is really trying to make him feel like a believable whole. The canon is a bit strange because Haurchefant was heavily censored in the English client up until the new expansion. Because of this there are strange inconsistencies if you look at the character too closely, which is something you have to do in RP. I also don't like relying on headcanon too much and the canon for Haurchefant is fairly limited compared to other characters in the game. There is certainly enough to play from but I like a really, really expansive amount of canon to draw from when I play a character.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
He seemed like a good fit for a first character here! He is honorable, friendly and social and willing to work with others towards a common goal. Ishgard, his home, was frozen over in the Calamity so he is used to surviving in harsh, freezing, monster-infested conditions with limited supplies. Of course he is not used to the sort of psychological horror that happens here and that is another reason I picked him. There are many things here that do frighten him and drag him out of his comfort zone and playing out his reactions to these things and his IC growth from them is always fun.
no subject
Ecks was originally created for a tabletop campaign set in an original universe, and she's probably the most sharply defined tabletop character I've played. I was initially drawn to her core character concept because I've always found Frankenstein's monster characters very appealing. A character like that is the ultimate outsider looking in, and I've always loved how that kind of character can be both very dangerous and very vulnerable. It was also really interesting for me as a player to come up with a character who had to be good-aligned for the sake of the campaign despite coming from a world overrun by evil, and specifically despite her creator being evil.
What do you find fun about them?
Everything! It's fun to see how other characters react and what assumptions they make about her. I've also enjoyed letting her mimic other characters, some more subtly than others, because it lets me play around with how she relates to other people.
I discovered really early on even in tabletop play that I love having her ask awkward or disturbing questions, because she doesn't take anything for granted, doesn't understand a lot of social norms, and doesn't know when to keep her questions to herself. She's refreshingly naive, but at the same time she has all these dark experiences already under her belt. She can be really innocent in some ways even at the same time that she's a seasoned hitwoman -- it goes back to that juxtaposition of dangerousness and vulnerability.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
While it's nice that I can just let Ecks be the most awkward duck in the world when it comes to social interaction, it can be difficult to be sure I'm conveying naive rather than stupid. She's supposed to be quite intelligent, just bad at reading people.
I don't find her speech and writing patterns hard, though; she's actually my easiest character to write at present. I think it's because she's so straightforward within her own mind and basically just says what she means.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
I'd been tempted for a while to translate Ecks from tabletop to DWRP, but I'd held off because I didn't know what I'd do with her in a SoL game like I usually play. I think I could play her in a non-horror game now that I've had more practice playing her in DWRP style, but Ecks can be a somewhat passive character and I think I would have floundered if I hadn't been able to throw her into a survival situation. Snowblind is much more similar to tabletop RP than the other journal RPs I've been part of, so the transition was easier for me than it has been when I've translated other tabletop characters to DWRP.
no subject
It's honestly hard to say! I've been playing Enoch for, what, four and a half years now? Something like that. And I still have no idea why I latched onto him to RP with when I played the game. A thing I really grew to love about him as I played is the way his worst flaws and greatest virtues are the same things, just dependent on severity and context, and how the narrative isn't afraid to have him fail but doesn't deprive him of success in a way that isn't justified by his own or someone else's actions.
But those are just things I came to appreciate as I played him. Honestly, I guess I just...had a feeling about him.
What do you find fun about them?
...Can I just say everything? Because I love all of it, even the difficult parts.
His overactive empathy, definitely, if I have to name something specific. For good or ill, I love seeing the results it gets. It's such a strong influence on him it overpowered cultural norms even before he went to Heaven (he had his eye on a lady and was primarily concerned with how she felt, but couldn't work up the courage to ask her, instead of the region-typical norm of...well, that not mattering whatsoever). And now it's even worse because he's broadened his horizons so much, seen so many cultures, had actual angelic input (or lack thereof) on things various peoples claimed were divine mandate, he's pretty much without a distinct cultural identity of his own. In game settings he tends to adopt a temporal identity instead.
I love playing out conflicts of religious experience like you have no idea. El Shaddai/SMT CR is perfect in a way only El Shaddai/Undertale has been able to match so far.
I love that he tends to develop bonds on both sides of a conflict but almost always fails at actually using it to mediate the way he'd like, too.
Just...all the things about him, okay? He's fun. I could keep talking all night.
(Did you know that in the Book of Enoch itself, Enoch is one of the few biblical/apocryphal characters who openly shows dismay at people God is explicitly punishing? He falls to his knees and weeps for suffering he can't even see except in the form of motes of light in columns of fire or something similarly abstract and not involving organic-looking shapes at all. Did you think that empathy came from nowhere?)
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
Easy: Well, his speech patterns come relatively easy to me now? To the point where I attempted to pick up a post-apocalyptic American complete with future slang and kept having to go back and edit her tags because I'd keep using turns of phrase nobody uses seriously today.
Hard: I have to research constantly. When was this made? Would Lucifel have conceivably shown him this? Where's this plant indigenous to, again? How long have we been doing this thing, as a species?
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
Loyalty to the mod team? I ran Enoch for 2/3 of their previous game and I loved the way they handled it, even if it wasn't always perfect. I felt at home there, and they haven't lost that atmosphere. Also Enoch is terrible with isolation and I never got to play with it in the way I was able to play with it here. Sure, he spends as much time with a group as possible but the threat of separation is so much higher than in any other game, it's great.
no subject
Joker has been one of my favorite fictional characters for a long time. When he's written well he is entertaining to read about. Scary, yes, but also genuinely funny in a dark way. When I first got into him he wasn't written as a "force of nature" as much as a person - a person with wants and desires. There is some depth to the character that I started to notice in time. It's interesting that he sees himself as a force of evil in a world that's already gone mad. It's interesting that he actually believes people have souls because he refuses to believe the world in all of its awful is all there is. In some ways I think he really does think of himself as the tragic protagonist of his own life story and an uncelebrated genius. He manages all of that while still being a completely remorseless, unmitigated asshole. He's evil and he loves it, you have to respect that.
What do you find fun about them?
The chance to be a villain is forever fun to me. I am actually a game designer by profession so I genuinely enjoy coming up with ludicrous schemes and having other players react to them. Even if nobody actually interacts with my character, I love seeing my shenanigans give others a chance to build new and interesting CR. On top of that the Joker is also a good comic relief character. He's always full of life and energy and when he isn't that's when you know things are going very, very badly.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
Easy: His voice comes to me fairly easily (I hope) and I never have trouble thinking up insane antics for him, though not everything I think up is very good.
Hard: He is much smarter than me so I have to research things a lot but within reason. Obviously his passion for explosives is not something I want to Google in depth. It's also hard getting the right balance of witty, funny and terrifying. He should read as all of those things.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
I played the Joker for a long time a few years ago with varying levels of success. Looking back on it I felt like there were choices I'd do differently but I never thought I'd play him again... Then I joined this game and the idea to bring him here kept nagging at me. He is so perfectly not suited to the game. He doesn't like cooperating, he kills people, he's only ever in it for himself and he is terrible at survival situations. Where he does fit in is he is very curious and willing to learn more about the world he's trapped in.
Since he cannot cause mayhem on the scale he normally enjoys, he has to take a quieter approach to things. This means I can dig more into the psychology of the character. He makes a great character to play opposite Haurchefant, too.
no subject
For House and for... well a lot of my characters, it's their wit. I have a very sarcastic sense of humor, and witty characters who can snark with the best of them are some of my favorites.
What do you find fun about them?
For House, it's honestly the negative CR. I enjoy it and enjoy playing out the IC consequences of his actions and attitude. While he does get smacked around in canon, he is ultimately something of a Karma Houdini a majority of the time. Getting to play out things in a setting where he doesn't have his Main Character Immunity is very enjoyable.
For Watson, it's getting to play the Straight Man to all of the crazies running around. John, in general, is fun because I also enjoy toying with the IC expectation of him being sweet and gentle and fluffy because of the way he... is, and him actually being an adrenaline junkie who can make a kill shot through two windows at a considerable distance with a handgun.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
I'm not sure if I should admit that House being a complete asshole is incredibly easy for me to write... but it is incredibly easy for me. Quips are kind of a staple on my mom's side of the family as a flock of New Englanders. So, I grew up with ribbing being a form of affection. It's harder writing him in his more vulnerable moments purely because I'm wary about going too far into the 'look at his manpain' territory. House is somewhat sympathetic, but he is also an objectively terrible person most of the time.
For Watson, again the snark is easy for me. Harder for him is balancing his trust issues with his empathy m.o. I have to remind myself that he's not going to open up to most people but for a small piece to show them that he understands their situation and can connect.
Oh, and medical things. I know nothing about medical things beyond the shows. So I have to look up stuff. A lot.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury?
The idea of throwing House into an icy hell amused me on a terrible level. I've also wanted to explore more of his addiction issues from earlier in the canon and see what might happen if he had to deal with them much earlier than canon shows.
For Watson, I wanted a character who could be less abrasive toward the NPCs (and PCs) for plot things. Also, another case of wanting to see how Watson would handle a different track from canon.
no subject
As for Jim himself - I was rewatching the movie with my brother and we were talking about how messed up his relationship was with Silver, even in the end, and it got me thinking about how fragile his progress was and how easily he could still be turned around. At the time I'd been sniffing around Bakerstreet and thinking about getting back into DWRP and I realized Jim would be a pretty good vehicle for doing something longterm.
What do you find fun about them? Watching him grow both positively and negatively in unexpected ways.
being a shit. Playing out his flaws. Developing deep CR that's surprisingly good for him in the middle of Snowhell (he's having positive character development?? am I doing horror game wrong??)also, terrible nicknames.
What aspects of them do you find easy or difficult?
Easy - His uncertainty and insecurities come fairly easily, as does his goofy teasing sense of humor. Heartwarming music swell moments. Immaturely picking fights and talking shit.
Difficult - Getting him to actually talk to people about anything that's going on in his head. Striking the balance between teenage NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME manpain and general rebelliousness with being a genuinely good kid with a lot of potential. It is... an ongoing struggle, as is working out the balance between 'realistic consequences for what he's seen in Norfinbury after living a relatively ordinary life back home' and 'wangst.' Finding ways to show that he's actually really freaking smart because a) I am not and b) there are a limited number of applications for his brand of intelligence in Norfinbury.
What made you decide to bring them to a setting like Norfinbury? The fragility of his character growth that I mentioned above. He's had basically a few months of self-esteem building from a guy who completely yanked the rug out from under him and a few big moments of triumph after a few years of self-destructing to the point that the adults in his life seem to be at the end of their rope with him. At this point, he knows that he's been awful and also knows that he is capable of being better than that. So he's still at a crossroads and could still go down the wrong path.
Enter Norfinbury, world's shittiest crucible. :D
I almost took Jim to a different game entirely before hearing about snowblind by chance and going YES THAT I NEED THAT and I don't regret it a bit. I don't think a less punishing setting would've been half as much fun.