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Author Topic: Times you felt sorry for things you did to your characters  (Read 16862 times)
Lady Revan
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« on: October 07, 2018, 07:30:35 AM »

Okay, I can't possibly be the only writer who's ever felt this way. There are times where I know I've set a character up for something terrible that will totally crush them... and then can't help but to pity the poor things (i.e. building comradery you know will end in betrayal, love interests you know will never work out, sending them out to be killed off, etc.).

What are some of the "worst" things you remember doing to a character?
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Author of: Only Light Can Cast Shadow A pre-KotOR Fem!Revan Fic

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Lord_S_Gray
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« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2018, 09:48:55 AM »

Okay, I can't possibly be the only writer who's ever felt this way. There are times where I know I've set a character up for something terrible that will totally crush them... and then can't help but to pity the poor things (i.e. building comradery you know will end in betrayal, love interests you know will never work out, sending them out to be killed off, etc.).

What are some of the "worst" things you remember doing to a character?

Yep I know the feeling. Probably worst was what happens to Shilea in Children of the Aether...and Cilina as well...heck all of them. The entire series and both sequels Legacy and Fate are responses to that that don't resolve the trauma only make it worse and compound mistakes across generations. The whole incident in legacy on Vyth was pretty harrowing - a complete ugly mess for all involved where a naive girl made a wrong choice and many people died because of it. Wish I could retcon some things sometimes to spare them but the story would just be a utopia without it.
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Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

TheDutchman
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« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2018, 12:22:58 PM »

Wow, where to begin...
I knew G'av was going to be the sacrificial lamb in "Tarnished Knight" and I've had Zearic be one of the star pupils in the School of Hard Knocks (losing his forearm, left calf, left eye, right leg, always last in his class, surpassed by everyone...yeah) BUT it makes for great pathos  Smiley

Kazic is a man who is a great general but a horrible politician whose long life is FULL of regrets. Worse, he's had a millennium to reflect on them.  His saving grace is his last adopted family.

The one I feel the most for is Jorya: tortured, mutilated, betrayed and that's just by age 12.  Then as a young woman she (and Ken) are thrust into circumstances that force them to grow up very quickly indeed.  Now, she's lost her mother (the "rock" in her life) and has other things coming down the pipeline that I don't want to ruin...

Of special note is Aresaea and Saani.  Adoptive daughter to a loving mother (who is sterile), they were together for years, then separated only to see each other again a year later...but everything is different.  And will only get worse.

And there are upcoming events that will lead to even more deaths and calamities but I don't want to give away too much  Cheesy

Yep I know the feeling. Probably worst was what happens to Shilea in Children of the Aether...and Cilina as well...heck all of them. The entire series and both sequels Legacy and Fate are responses to that that don't resolve the trauma only make it worse and compound mistakes across generations. The whole incident in legacy on Vyth was pretty harrowing - a complete ugly mess for all involved where a naive girl made a wrong choice and many people died because of it. Wish I could retcon some things sometimes to spare them but the story would just be a utopia without it.
Yes, the fates of Shilea and Cilina are the Flashpoints that really kick LSG's epic into gear.  But Vyth...there's a reason WHY the Mak'Tor remember it as "The Tragedy of Vyth."  But in actuality, it's a tragedy for EVERYONE involved.

Again: GREAT writing!
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Lord_S_Gray
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« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2018, 09:21:06 PM »

LOL poor zearic is a bit of a punching bag and even when he get 'renewed'...its still not all roses. 


Yes, the fates of Shilea and Cilina are the Flashpoints that really kick LSG's epic into gear.  But Vyth...there's a reason WHY the Mak'Tor remember it as "The Tragedy of Vyth."  But in actuality, it's a tragedy for EVERYONE involved.


Its actually good timing Lady Revan brought this up as these very events will play a pivotal role in the next few chapters of FotA in a (hopefully unexpected way) - if it were a Bond film it would be termed Fate Never Dies.

But yeah art imitates life, people suffer for no reason, trauma is never fully resolved, people end up broken and forever changed, and that amplifies across their responses to new situations in ways that perpetuate more desolation.
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Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

Taegin Roan
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« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2018, 11:55:45 PM »

Oh, I haven't yet done a much that I have wished I hadn't (there will be some soon though). The biggest one I can think of is with Ethan Playn. He really deserved a better end than he got. The only other thing I have really done is killed Denna Eem. He was really the first SW character I created, and because of that, I have a huge amount of love for the character. But it was less of the killing him and more of the effect it had on Taegin Roan afterwards. And then I guess there is a bit with Rowahn that we have yet to see, but at the same time some that we have already seen and that will tie in to what is to come. The battle between Rowahn and Zearic/D'Aylanna tore him down so much but we haven't really seen the effects of it. Yet...

In another universe (actually my superhero universe), I have a couple things that will happen (if I ever get around to writing them), but I can't really tell, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may read them someday.
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TheDutchman
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« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2018, 01:29:43 AM »

LOL poor zearic is a bit of a punching bag and even when he get 'renewed'...its still not all roses. 

Its actually good timing Lady Revan brought this up as these very events will play a pivotal role in the next few chapters of FotA in a (hopefully unexpected way) - if it were a Bond film it would be termed Fate Never Dies.

But yeah art imitates life, people suffer for no reason, trauma is never fully resolved, people end up broken and forever changed, and that amplifies across their responses to new situations in ways that perpetuate more desolation.
Ooooh, "Fate Never Dies"  You're such a tease LSG; now I REALLY can't wait to see where FotA takes us next!

Oh, I haven't yet done a much that I have wished I hadn't (there will be some soon though). The biggest one I can think of is with Ethan Playn. He really deserved a better end than he got. The only other thing I have really done is killed Denna Eem. He was really the first SW character I created, and because of that, I have a huge amount of love for the character. But it was less of the killing him and more of the effect it had on Taegin Roan afterwards. And then I guess there is a bit with Rowahn that we have yet to see, but at the same time some that we have already seen and that will tie in to what is to come. The battle between Rowahn and Zearic/D'Aylanna tore him down so much but we haven't really seen the effects of it. Yet...

In another universe (actually my superhero universe), I have a couple things that will happen (if I ever get around to writing them), but I can't really tell, because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may read them someday.
I have to say, I think that is STILL one of my most favorite scenes!  And I love the opposing perspectives (TR's idea  Grin)!
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Saso Is-kor
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« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2018, 02:34:17 AM »

Oh, this is a really good topic. I first started writing when I hit my teens and so many stories were "peaches and cream" as I like to call it. No stakes, no deaths, no real development because of it. I might end up posting a few of the stories on here eventually so without spoiling a whole lot: I've eliminated rather violently the love interest of my main character who shares my forum name (Saso) and that contributes to his utter hatred of the Jedi and all they stand for. In an unrelated SW story a family loses their daughter aboard the Death Star and the eventual realization scene is rather heartbreaking. The whole story was inspired by that classic stormtrooper t-shirt where he stands there mourning "I had friends on that Death Star." I love that there is a ton of heartbreak in Star Wars if you actually break apart each tragedy separate from the obvious main characters and what they go through.
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Zyn
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« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2018, 12:51:11 PM »

I can't say I've felt sorry for my character in my forum story, but I guess I feel a bit for them in my other works. For example, the main character in my published work got pretty well dumped on in the 2nd book (beatings, fingernail torture, intentional bites by venomous spiders, etc.) While I do feel a bit bad for what I did to him, I have to admit I had a ton of fun writing it all. Does that make me a sadistic person?
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Golden Fedora
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« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2018, 01:29:08 PM »

I have to admit I had a ton of fun writing it all. Does that make me a sadistic person?

nah, you just have imagination (maybe a hint of sadism)

I'm nowhere near finished but most of my characters will end up dead by the main dude's hands, and many of them will be rather violent.
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Karmack
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« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2018, 01:32:54 PM »

I know this is going to sound odd at first but ... I feel sorry for what I've done to my "namesake" character, Karmack.  Particularly as we work through the current story, What You Leave Behind, what he's leaving is any chance of ever having a normal life again.

Ever.

And deep down inside, he knows it.  And he's doing it anyway, because its the only chance so many OTHER people have of ever having a normal, peaceful life.

Beyond that?  Probably the star-crossed romance of Talia and Illian, and how it ended.  But as LSG pointed out, these kinds of things happen in life.  Not writing them makes your stories utopian.  One of my favorite SciFi series is written by David Weber, around a character named Honor Harrington.  I won't give away tons of spoilers, but I will say that many of the prominent characters he develops eventually get killed.  Not all ... but many.  Its painful, but it adds the grit of reality to the story.

The key is to use it well.  I always felt like I didn't get enough out of Illian's death.  That whole story, Zealots, was not as well plotted and planned as I would like.  Just a bit to rushed....
And that's the real regret.  :-)   Not that they die ... but that they don't die well....
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Lord_S_Gray
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« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2018, 09:32:52 PM »

And that's the real regret.  :-)   Not that they die ... but that they don't die well....

I'd say that add to the realism of Zealots, it was almost a comedy of errors how stuffed that mission got, and that is what happens in real life, people get into situations they are ill prepared for and it costs them - mistakes are permanent and not everyone does out in a blaze of glory, some just a whimper. 
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Lord_S_Gray

Surik: "Kreia, what are you—are you a Jedi, a Sith?"
Kreia: "Does it matter? Of course it does, such titles allow you to break the galaxy into light and dark, categorize it. Perhaps I am neither, and I hold both as what they are, pieces of a whole."

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« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2018, 09:37:59 PM »

True enough.  I just wish I'd PLANNED it that way!  :-)
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TheDutchman
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« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2018, 10:43:47 PM »

I'd say that add to the realism of Zealots, it was almost a comedy of errors how stuffed that mission got, and that is what happens in real life, people get into situations they are ill prepared for and it costs them - mistakes are permanent and not everyone does out in a blaze of glory, some just a whimper. 
This is EXACTLY what my take away was from Zealots (PERFECT descriptor LSG  Wink)

In fact Karm, that's one of the reasons that Ilian's death is so tragic: his life was extinguished too soon and not in a "glorious" way at all.  Just like in life.  You may not have planned it BUT you WROTE it that way, and for that: I APPLAUD you Karm.  THAT was a good writing decision and gave gravitas and realism to the narrative.  Awesomely done my friend!
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My sabers:Zearic's Aldrnari, Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, AS; Zearic's shoto, Apprentice v4 w/Obsidian, AS; Graflex SE w/Obsidian, GB; Archon v3 (modded w/ activation box) w/Obsidian, CG; Dark Sentinel v4 w/Obsidian, BR; Sentinel LE v4 w/Obsidian, GB; Initiate v5 w/Obsidian, AS; Sentinel LE v4 stunt, EG; Aeon LE v4 stunt, FO; Dominix v4 stunt, BR; Aeon v3 stunt, SY

Karmack
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« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2018, 10:57:13 PM »

Thanks Dutchman.  :-)  Hopefully the NEXT time I write that kind of disaster it will at least be intentional!  But you guys are right, Zealots was a mess, and in a sense I did intend it to be a mess, but the original intent was toss the characters into an unplanned situation and have them triumph.  I didn't expect it to quite devolve as it did, but then the story took on a life of its own (as they often do) and that's where we ended up. 

Ah, poor Illian...   
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Lady Revan
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« Reply #14 on: October 08, 2018, 11:14:58 PM »

I’m so glad this topic is getting so much love! I feel like I’m learning so much about all of you as writers!


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Author of: Only Light Can Cast Shadow A pre-KotOR Fem!Revan Fic

Twisted Morality (Part III of "Only Light Can Cast Shadow")

I leave my alignment to fate--Light or Dark

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