Because my character told me so

Rper's are strange. At least the group I'm currently talking to and they remind me horribly of Paolini. There's an OOC community and on that community I posted the question, "Just out of curiosity, but has any other muns have the problem where you say your pup is going to do one thing and they just kinda give you the finger?". I realize now it was horribly vague and I should have worded it better. But I've always been of the opinion that if you have your character well done and fully realized that they'll react to situations as they should with out you, the writer, having to consciously say "This is how they will react."

I also am of the opinion that the characters will speak to me. The most recent example of this being when Darian told me he was going to die. I didn't want that and I didn't even think that would happen. I wasn't even planning on it. I knew that I had to raise the stakes somehow and was trying to think of a way to do it and apparently a character death was the way to go and apparently Darian was the one chosen to do it. But as I was writing and these thoughts were tumbling through my head I came to the realization that Darian would be the one to die. Perhaps it was because I felt that I couldn't do any more with his character or a whole host of other things, but to me, it felt like told me this is what he was going to do, and I listened to him, as reluctant as I was to kill him off.

If we recall in a certain Paolini interview (which I cannot find right now) he said that one of the things that he enjoyed most about writing was the fact that he could play god with his characters. And we've seen how flat and horrid they've turned out. Most of the responses I've gotten from the other muns are things like, "No, because they are the direct result of my conscious decision-making." or

"...I hate to break it to you, but that's all your own conscious decision-making. Since, you know, your pup isn't actually real? And is just a fictional character that you, the person at the keyboard, are dictating the actions of through a series of developmental events and established characteristics/traits? (That you, yourself, also made up.)

And if your character 'decided' to 'not forget the Nexus', that doesn't mean he's got a mind of his own. It means that you realized partway down a particular characterization path, the retcon or whathaveyou was a seemingly bad idea or difficult in some way, or things just weren't working out the way you imagined. Not him. You.

Because PROTIP: our characters are not real.

Of course, what I wanted to say "Of course our characters aren't real you stupid idiot I never said that they were, I just meant that they sometimes go in directions you didn't expect them to go, and I put it in a vaguely amusing way to make discussion." But I'm in enough hot water as it is in that group and didn't want it to devolve into a flame war.

But still, the fact that they keep on having to harp on the idea that the characters aren't real and that YOU the mun make the decisions make me feel that they aren't listening to their characters. The fact that they have to make CONSCIOUS decisions on what their characters have to do means that they don't really have their characters down. They don't understand that you don't have to make every decision consciously. If you know the characters well enough they'll do it or you'll make their decisions unconsciously. It's not something you need to stop and think about.

Strangely, most of the people who are having issues with what I said about the characters making decisions for themselves are people who I've had trouble with in the past. We just don't seem to have the same outlook on things apparently. And I think they're so intent on their characters being "puppets" that they forget what makes a good character. I never really like the term Pup and have trouble using it. I prefer using character to pup. And I never really liked RPing with them either. Their characters never seemed to know how to react to mine who were at times rather spontaneous (With Alec more than sometimes) and didn't react to things in the Expected Way. (Expected way is boring anyway.)

Most writers I've talked to say that a good writer is someone who listens to their characters and do what their characters tell them. In no case to they say that their characters are alive but the do somehow indicate that they've "evolved" to such a point that they don't need to think about how a character would react or what they do. They are a fully realized fake person.

What are your thoughts on this?

I'd post a link to the discussion but I can't link to it here. If people want, I shall do it later.

Minor edit of amusement. I think some of the people are surprised that I'm agreeing with them on some points and not devolving into a horrid flaming bitch of you don't agree with me so you obviously don't know what you're talking about. They keep on trying to prove me wrong or something, and I'll agree with them on some points and try and logically explain my points. But then again, I thrive on this sort of shit. I'm also a sick, sick person.

IT'S OVER!!!

Actually, now that I look at it, it seems like they're calling me an idiot. *shrugs* You can't reply but you can look and see if I'm crazy. Yeeesh.

Meanwhile, Silas and Cell Phone Bishop are not dead. I'm sad.

Chapter 100 presented to you in LOLCAT for your amusement.

Bishop: OhMGAWD U R hurt!
Silas: OhMGAWDS I be hurtin u I be horrible person!
Bishop: I be forgiving you. It be my fault.
Bishop: I be flashing back now, k'thanks.

*FLASH BACK*

Bishop: OH NOES! LIFE FALLING APART!!
Other people we don't care about: U BE SCREWED!
Bishop: OH NOES!
Stuff about Opus Dei we don't care about.
OPWDCA: We give you money k? Go away now.
Bishop: U be byin' me off?
OPWDCA: yes.
Bishop: STFU
Teacher: I Wants you.
Bishop: Yay?

*End Flashback

Silas: *goes to hospital* PORK PORK PORK!*
Bishop: U Must be prayin now.
Me: Why you not be dead yet? pleaz be with the dyin now kthanks.

Teh End.


And we're back to Langdon. He has the Cryptex. He has Teabag pointing a gun at him. What is he going to do?! He decides not to answer Teabag's demands. Instead he walks into the middle of the room. Teabag doesn't shoot him. (But we already knew that Teabag doesn't follow the good sense of the Evil Overlord's List) As he does so, Langdon thinks that Teabag wants him to hold the cryptex so that he can weigh the enormity of his decision. If I was Langdon I would have taken the cryptex and run. Because he's being held at gun point by a gimp. A gimp who will not shoot either of them. Instead Langdon thinks that the only way to get out of this is to solve the cryptex puzzle.

He thinks a lot and hurts his head. He looks out in the garden and I get sick.

Gazing out at the rustling trees of College Garden, Langdon sensed her [the goddess] playful presence. The signs were everywhere. Like a taunting silhouette emerging from the fog, the branches of Britain's oldest apple tree burgeoned with five petal blossoms, all glistening like Venus. The goddess was in the garden now. She was dancing in the rain, singing songs of the ages, peeking out from behind the bud-filled branches as if to remind Langdon that the fruit of knowledge was growing just beyond his reach.

Hey look, it's a Paolini moment. Yes. Let's completely stop the story and contemplate the scenery, because I know that's what I would do in that situation, instead of trying to you know... figure a way out? But that'd be silly.

Teabag meanwhile reminisces about how Brilliant He Is. No really. Sophie meanwhile does the typical HE won't open it for you you foul fiend you! No. Really. And then Langdon is all, I'll open it for you.

Sophie: U Be betraying me! NOES!
Langdon: U Be letting her go kthanks.
Teabag: U be giving me the key now.
Three of them: No U BE LISTNING TO ME!!
Sophie: STFU I BE TRUSTING U
Langdon: I BE SAVIN U!
Sophie: STFU!! GIVE ME THE RING THINGY!
Teabag: MINE BE AN EVIL LAUGH! MWAHAHA!!
Sophie: U be giving me the RING THINGY OR U BE SMASHING IT! IZ BE MINE! I SAY SO!
Langdon and Teabag: NOES!!
Sophie: YEZ!! U BE SHOOT ME FIRST BEFORE I GIVE RING THINGY To EVIL TEABAG!!
Teabag: K.
Langdon: NOES!! I Be SMASHING RING THINGY if u due.
Teabag: U be bluffin. U BE LYIN!
Langdon: Damn. Save The GRAIL SAVE THE world GIRL! I be givin u the RING THINGY now.
Teabag: Yay! =D
Langdon: I be lyin! *throws RING THINGY * Bai now!
Teabag: NOOOEESSSS!! *shoots randomly* *tries to capture RING THINGY* NOOEESS IT BE BROKEN!! CURSE YOU AND YOUR SUDDEN BUT INEVITABLE BETRAYAL!! o wait... it be opened? *GASP* It be spell APPLE!
Brown: *LAUGHS* I BE CLEVER!!

... I should probably stop now...

*wanders off and takes anti-manic meds*

*comes back*

Right so meanwhile Langdon and Sophie do NOT skedaddle now that Teabag is helpless without a gun on the ground. Instead Langdon taunts Teabag, by telling him that it was apple because it was an apple that caused the goddess to fall from grace and Newton had an apple fall on his head which should have been on his tomb. Bahdumb chink. *listens to the crickets* And then Langdon shows Teabag that he has the map.

And then enter Fache! Remember him? The police chief? Right. He's there. Snorting like a bull. There is lots of bull imagery here. I shan't bore you with it. Sophie wonders how they were found and Fache says that Teabag showed his id to the guards. Meanwhile Teabag is screaming about how the holy grail is in Langdon's pocket, which probably doesn't mean a damn thing to the police nor do they care. They just cart him off.

Um... meanwhile... Silas, who apparently has a lot of bullet holes in him and managed to carry the cell phone bishop to the hospital without much problem nor stay to get treated dies after going to a garden somewhere... um... ooookay now. Um... Right. I liked the death scene in the movie better. They didn't waste time going around not dying in the movie.

Teabag gets carted off and Fache is like he's nuts. Meanwhile Cell Phone Bishop survives! GASP! But is sad that Silas is dead. Fache gives Bishop money. Bishop says give it to the families of those Silas killed. Bobo meanwhile protects Fache's ass. But not with Lube. >.> SHUT UP I'M ALMOST DONE LET ME HAVE MY MOMENTS!!!

And then we go to Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland and there is shit about pagan symbols and on the rose line and shit. Langdon with Sophie go to said chapel. Blah, blah, they look around. I'm skimming. There's a lot of symbols in the chapel. Jewish Stars and masonic seals and crucifixes and masonic seals and shit. There's a star of David on the ground and Langdon is all like is secret symbol of stargazing priests and later adopted by Israelite kings.

Sophie is all I've been here before. Blah, blah, more coding stuff. Flashback with Sophie. Blah. Docent is all I've seen that box you carry before. And Docent's parents died in a car accident with grandpa and my sister. GASP this is Sophie's brother She has family and grandmother! *GASP* And she goes and remeets her grandmother and is happy. Yay. And Sophie is the holy grail. Yay. blah, I'm bored now. Langdon and Sophie kiss and promise to meet up again.

*snores*

And then Langdon realizes that the Grail's Body is hidden under the Lourve.

The end.

I'd summarize... but I want my grilled cheese sandwich. So, discuss amongst yourselves.

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*Cookies for those who can guess where that's from.