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Topic:
The Essential Guide to Original Characters: *challenge winner & updated rules for challenges now up*
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Commander-DWH
Registered:
Nov '03
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Date Posted:
5/18 1:01pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Perigrine, welcome to the thread! The armory is on your left, you'll just have to sign out your armor with the supply officer. Leave a photo ID or anything else, really, for collateral. Or, you could bribe him with muffins. I hear he there's a premium on guunga fruit muffins, and that would put you in good stead. 
As for the discussion topic, all the points have been very good, and very much to the point. Without conflict, our heroes would have nothing to rise above, and thus would not be heroes. And, of course, this comes in various forms. Some characters have gotten the axe, some of them suffer through emotional trauma. One of my OCs even deals with chronic pain and a trick knee, which is not exactly standard pain, but it still sucks for her.
In a universe like Star Wars, characters are defined by how they respond to tragedy and hardship. Any character that we want people to see as heroic and admirable almost has to go through some sort of awful situation, otherwise we'd never see what they're truly made of. So that's why I do horrible things to my characters. It builds character! 
-----signature-----
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Jinngerbread
Registered:
Sep '07
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Date Posted:
5/18 1:07pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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It builds character!
My parents used to use that excuse every time we had to do something we didn't want to do. "It builds character!" Well, even if I didn't believe them at the time, they were right.
Without character building, there can be no story.
-----signature-----
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Jedi_Perigrine
Registered:
Apr '08
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Date Posted:
5/18 6:45pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Commander: Thanks for the welcome! While it seems a little weird, I think I'll try to barter home-made granola that ma-in-law made for the codpiece I require to protect myself from...er...her. Hopefully that's a fair trade. Otherwise, he can have one of my multitudes of fake IDs.
I haven't abused my characters as much as I could have, yet. But, I've got a nice little surprise coming for my main character and he's not gonna like it. Consequently, he might not be my main character for much longer...  SHHHH! don't tell him!
-----signature-----
Look out boards, MamaVader snipped my braid!
Still a Talon!
Visitors+Vacation=Barely any time for writing! WAAH!
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thesporkbewithyou
Registered:
Feb '05
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Date Posted:
5/18 8:14pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Another delurker here. I had this whole thing typed up, but it somehow got lost. This post isn't nearly as good as that one was, but it'll have to do for now.
I'm just going to come right out and say it - I hate mush. I only read it in small doses here and there, because too much of it will rot my teeth. For me, writing mush for the sake of mush is much like writing a PWP. It's nice to get a glimpse of the softer side of life, but I'm almost always left thinking, "Okay. So then what?"
It is my opinion (and also sort of borrowing from what Thumper and Luton have said), that mush is much more rewarding and tolerable a read after you characters have gone thorough some trying times, be it a war or some personal crisis. You run your characters through the mill to see them succeed, and then give them their reward after, be it the girl (ship or otherwise ) of their dreams, or whatever else it is they desire. Because then they deserve it.
Of course, it's slightly different if you're writing the fic from a child's point of view. They're more likely to have random mushy moments just because.
Myself, none of my OCs are going to have any truly mushy in their fic, I don't think. Love will be acknowledged (yes, acknowledged) only to be interrupted by murder and kidnapping, and all sorts of things like that.
I will, however, run them through the mill. They're fighter pilots, after all. 
Jinngerbread posted:
It builds character!
My parents used to use that excuse every time we had to do something we didn't want to do. "It builds character!" Well, even if I didn't believe them at the time, they were right.
Without character building, there can be no story.
Your parents didn't happen to read the Calvin and Hobbes comics, did they?
-----signature-----
Loyal servant ... er ... Padawan of HyperionRising.
E-sis/mutual adoptee/ter of Maggy for a happy almost 3 years
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whiskers
Registered:
May '05
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Date Posted:
5/19 7:45pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Boy, have I abused some of my original characters. For fanfic and RPG purposes, I've created a family tree of characters to be used from 33 BBY to 133 ABY. There are a total of 34 characters. Of those that I've assigned death dates to (which become void if needed badly for an RPG game), 15 of them--nearly half(!)--die before they're seventy. I even have three straight generations (although one of them was only related by marriage) follow this trend, a freakin' hat trick!
Why do I have it that way? I honestly don't know. Perhaps it's because of the fear that if--God forbid--several of them actually manage to die of old age then they'll be labeled as May Sues, or something like that.
In some cases, the harm and death inflicted upon the characters has been strictly for story purposes and was dictated from the first outlines. Others, have been completely random, both in the story and for me.
-----signature-----
R.I.P. E. Gary Gygax
Thank you for D&D
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kecen
Registered:
Jul '05
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Date Posted:
5/20 8:34pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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I have a challenge response up, but not posting the link here XD
It's in my profile under one of the Yuuzhan Vong centric links.
-----signature-----
there is nothing in the world that we can count on
even that we will wake up is an assumption...but i know for a fact that i loved someone
and for about a year he lived in bastion...
Member of the George R. Binks fanclub, whoo!
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Etain
Registered:
May '08
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Date Posted:
5/21 4:08am
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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I hope to finish part one of my challenge response today and send it to Master Ale. (Who should get his mind out of the gutter when reading my stories!!! )
Should be able to post it before the deadlin, and hopefully get the second part up in time, too. 
And, there is again mostly bad stuff happening to my OCs. 
-----signature-----
RC_DARMAN is back! ~ Proud Toastmaster of katriene ~ Sock of MsLanna
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MsLanna
Title: CR GSFF Central
Registered:
Jul '05
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Date Posted:
5/23 5:28am
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Wrong account to edit.
Anyway, got my first half up in Saga.
Clones!
-----signature-----
Padawan owned by Corellian_Ale Procrastinators of the world unite - tomorrow. Proud FanFic Master of Darth_Sathanos I owe Steve Sansweet a cookie. TISSI-1 standing by. 
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OCDatabaseSock
Registered:
Dec '04
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Date Posted:
5/27 12:07am
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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How are we doing revolutionaries?
Only 6 days left to PM us your entries!
(Before midnight Sat.)
Put yer backs into it, we're looking to kick of June with style!
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Etain
Registered:
May '08
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Date Posted:
5/27 2:32am
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Phew. Just when I was about to worry about the deadline.
So I can still hope to fix the monster that is my current entry's second half. 
Aaaaaale! 
*runs off to obtain masterful help*
-----signature-----
RC_DARMAN is back! ~ Proud Toastmaster of katriene ~ Sock of MsLanna
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Stroja
Registered:
May '08
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Date Posted:
5/27 8:27pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Decided it was time to write something over here instead of just lurking about. My first submission to the boards is a response to this challenge, over on the Beyond forum.
And greetings fellow OC lovers 
-----signature-----
Causality - A Far-future saga: http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=28556597 Will engage in repartee for gourmet food.
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Etain
Registered:
May '08
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Date Posted:
5/29 4:51am
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Welcome to the revolution, Stroja.
You will find that we're a rather nice bunch. Provided we manage to post here.
*pokes thread*
Almost dead, I'm afraid. Guess, the revolutionaries are taking some holidays.
-----signature-----
RC_DARMAN is back! ~ Proud Toastmaster of katriene ~ Sock of MsLanna
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Jedi_Perigrine
Registered:
Apr '08
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Date Posted:
5/29 7:41am
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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Pff. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm *always* out to lunch. It's a way of life!
Hi Stroja! <waves>
My submission is not gonna make it for this challenge. It's actually DONE, but I don't want to post a continuation of my story, 2 months early.
Maybe I can take part in the next round.
-----signature-----
Look out boards, MamaVader snipped my braid!
Still a Talon!
Visitors+Vacation=Barely any time for writing! WAAH!
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Thumper09
Registered:
Dec '01
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Date Posted:
5/29 2:49pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
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*hits snooze alarm* ...just five more minutes....zzzzzzz...
Hello to everyone I haven't said hello to yet. Good to have you all here!
I tried to come up with something for this challenge, but alas, all my ideas for it fizzled into oblivion.  I'm looking forward to reading the entries, though!
And this is really, really belated, but the character-building remarks from earlier made me think of Calvin & Hobbes too.
whiskers, I'm really impressed that you have a family tree going back that far for your characters. It's a very good idea, and something that I should do for some of my own characters. I made a bad mistake with my first main OC by not considering his extended family (even basics like grandparents, uncles and aunts) up front, and I've reached a point now where I've gotten stuck trying to explain away their nonpresence in a way that fits his established background and personality. So, ah, no one lift that rug that I nonchalantly swept that issue under. 
-Thumper
-----signature-----
"Like anything worth writing, it came inexplicably and without method." -Karen Eiffel The Way--Imperial pilot OCs, OT: http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28104637 OC X-wing fics: http://www.coronasquadron.com/corona.html
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Commander-DWH
Registered:
Nov '03
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Date Posted:
5/29 3:25pm
Subject:
RE: Essential Guide to OCs - May Challenge: OC Appreciation! New Discussion Topic!
- Date Edited:
5/29 3:25pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Commander-DWH
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Concerning OCs and their family trees... I have to be honest. about 75% of my OCs exist because of the first one I regularly wrote. If I was going to put Leiraya in the KOTOR universe, she needed a character quest. Hence, Kylan. Well, there were two of them, so there had to be others. They needed Jedi Masters! So their respective Masters were born. Well, if there were other Masters, there were certainly other Jedi students knocking around, right? Sure there were! Before I knew what hit me, I'd suddenly developed this entire community on Corellia, and when I want to write new characters, I just add to the cast. It has gotten to be much larger than I'd ever expected, and it's really fun to have my own community to keep track of. I'm more than a little tempted to model it in Sims 2, except I know that will just lead to crazy AUs of my storylines. You should see the one community I have populated entirely by KOTOR characters. It's the most hilarious soap opera ever.
*coughs* Anyway....
I think plotting things out like that is an excellent idea, even if you don't use the OCs right away. I think every OC should come with at least a set of parents. That way, if the subject comes up in the story, you have something to say about it.
And don't forget, those entries are due in two days!
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