Character Development Memes are my fave

[awanderingbard]

I've started following referencesforwriters on tumblr, which is a gathering of different resources for writers of all sorts. It's quite a useful blog, I favourite almost everything they post. The other day, someone posted a list of questions that you should know the answers to for your characters. It seemed to have quite good meme potential, and I love me some character development meme. I've removed some questions, as there were many. So,

Give me the name of a character I write or have written, and a number from the list below. I'll answer the question.

1. What is the best thing in your character’s life?
2. What is the worst thing in your character’s life?
3. What seemingly insignificant memories stuck with your character?
4. What is your character reluctant to tell people?
5. How does your character feel about sex?
6. What would your character make a scene in public about?
7. What are your character’s major flaws?
8. What does your character pretend or try to care about?
9. What is your character afraid of?
10. What is something most people in your setting do that your character thinks is dumb?

Feel free to ask for OCs and AU versions of characters. Also feel free to ask for more than one character, or more than one question.

Comments

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

Oops! For some reason I thought you had to answer them all. :)

4,7,10!

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

4. What is your character reluctant to tell people?

The circumstances of his birth is something he usually waits a little before explaining to anyone, not because he's too terribly ashamed, but because it's sort of complicated with the teenage parents, and the hasty marriage and the divorce, and the flighty mum and the awesome step-mum, and the complicated mess of relationships to siblings. Not only is hard to explain but then he has to deal with all the questions, or assumptions that he's a messed up person or they're a messed up family, when really everyone gets along really well and his family is one of his favourite things, even if it's a bit complicated.

7. What are your character’s major flaws?

Alec is, generally speaking, Prince Charming, which means that he's nice and thoughtful and polite and sweet. It also means he's kind to a fault, lets people walk all over him, gets used a lot, and works himself to the point where he feels overwhelmed by the all the responsibility he's taken on when he didn't need to.

He's also very good at expressing his surface feelings, but anything that genuinely upsets him, he has a very hard time talking about. The most you will get out of him is 'I am very angry' or 'that was a very bad year', and questioning further is pointless, as he will deflect the hell out of it. Josh is the only one who manages to get much out of him in those situations, usually by getting him drunk and insulting him until he gets angry enough to start ranting. He's very reluctant to place any sort of burden of being looked after onto someone else, and feels he should be entirely self-sufficient, and looking after everyone else. He is very hard on himself if he feels he's let someone down, and is quick to assume he's disappointed someone when he doesn't behave or do as he thinks he should, even if they don't think he should. He and Molly spent most of their early relationship apologizing to each other.

He also gets lost easily, has trouble with spacial perception, can't do math past about a Sixth Year level, makes a mess when he cooks, and has a tendency to get very sassy when annoyed, when has got him in trouble on occasion.

10. What is something most people in your setting do that your character thinks is dumb?

Alec is very bored by social media. He does Facebook, because keeping up with the number of people in his family is just easier when you have updates, but Twitter and Tumblr, and Instagram are just stupid, as far as he is concerned. Molly's love of cat gifs is something he's learned to tolerate, but only because he loves her.

[joonscribble.livejournal.com]

Aw, I continue to love Alec.

but Twitter and Tumblr, and Instagram are just stupid, as far as he is concerned.

A good reason to perhaps not teach teens and young adults. Whether he likes it or not he'd be inundated with the latest social media craze.

He and Molly spent most of their early relationship apologizing to each other.

I have this image of Sherlock witnessing this and doing both a mental and a physical eye roll.

[awanderingbard.livejournal.com]

Aw, I continue to love Alec.

Good, I'm glad. I created him to be just very much Nice Guy Man, without predicting that he would be a permanent fixture, so I've been working at making him a bit more 3D, without losing his Nice Guy Man essence.

A good reason to perhaps not teach teens and young adults. Whether he likes it or not he'd be inundated with the latest social media craze.

He has to deal with it now, a little. He had to ban mobiles in his classroom. Anyone who interrupts class with their phone ringing or receiving a text has to get up and sing a song, if it's not something hugely important (like waiting for the announcement of a new sibling being born, or something). It is a very effective deterrent, though he's had to do it twice himself. Thankfully it's just smart phones he's dealing with, not so much social media. Though his group of genius 7- and 8-year-olds are probably Tweeting about poverty in their spare time.

I have this image of Sherlock witnessing this and doing both a mental and a physical eye roll.

HAHA! And eventually just losing it at their caution with each other.

Sherlock: For the love of God, she wants to have sex with you, you want to have sex with her, go and have sex and stop trying to see if the other one wants to have-- *John sticks a sandwich in his open mouth.* Mmmex!

I've never been able to find a spot for Sherlock to make fun of their age difference, which makes me sad, because he so would.