aefled replied to your photoset:So then there was that time when James Hudson had...
Northstar has many faults, but his hostility towards Alpha Flight and reluctance to join them are not really on that list. AF did a whole lot to make themselves a very unattractive offer.
And I didn't even post the panel where Box decides the best way to get his injured, emotional teammate to see reason was to yank him from the air by one ankle and bodyslam him against the ground.
Have I mentioned that, though I still like AF, I'm not really sorry that Northstar's with the X-Men these days?
cornflakepizza answered your post: “I only have a week left before the semester starts! What should I...”:
something w hush ^^
Well... remember that teen Jason vampire idea? >.> It's been in the back of my mind all winter break! I have all these scenes in my mind I just have to put them together. Ugh, Tommy taking Jason to a diner and Jason ordering three different types of milkshakes because he can't decide what flavor's best. Jason wearing Wayfarer Ray Ban's like in The Lost Boys cause it's just required, ok? ...>.>
aefled answered your post: “I only have a week left before the semester starts! What should I...”:
Birds! I mean, what?
I know! The bird boys just seem like a nice fit together. S!Dick's siren charms would probably be enough to soothe B!Dick at least enough that he'd be less twitchy. Maybe S!Dick can convince him to bask in the sun for a while and then later B!Dick reciprocates by overly enthusiastically preening the other. ("Uh, that's enough... I think- No really, I'd like to keep at least one wing's worth of feathers!")
I'm sorry this took so long to put together. I've been so sick I couldn't put two thoughts together if I tried.
Once I did start writing this, I realized that my character creation methods are actually really involved and complicated. I will do my best to explain them, but if anyone would like further clarification, just let me know.
I’m going to put this under a cut because it got long.
It is important to note that I leave gender, age, race/ethnicity, and sexuality for the end. As important as each of those factors are, they are garnish that goes on top of the character to finalize them and make them truly unique. But before I can get to the garnish I need to figure out who my character is at their core. To do this I use two main tools that work very well together.
My first tool is called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®/ Keirsey Temperament Sorter. I’m not going to go in depth into how personality typing works because many, many books have been written on the subject. I'm also not going to argue about its scientific validity or lack thereof. This is about applying it to writing and characterization.
For our purposes I will say that there are 16 possible personality types that Keirsey divided into four groups: the NTs (Rationals), NFs (Idealists), SPs (Artisans) and SJs (Guardians). Typing is incredibly useful in writing because it helps us create characters with diverse methods of approaching/dealing with the world.
My second tool is tarot cards. I will not make any claims about the tarot’s ability to foretell the future, however the symbolism of the tarot lends itself remarkably well to telling stories and creating characters. One of the reasons that typing and tarot go so well together is that the four suits of the tarot line up remarkably well with the four types of personalities.
The suit of swords is the suit of thinking, logic and ideas and it matches with the NT/Rational personalities. The suit of cups is the suit of feelings, relationships and morality and it matches with the NF/Idealist personalities. The suit of wands is the suit of creativity, will power, movement and energy and it matches with the SP/Artisan personalities. The suit of pentacles/disks/coins is the suit of responsibility, family, wealth, and the physical, material world and it matches with the SJ/Guardian personalities.
Each of the suits also contains four court cards. The court cards can come in many forms but are usually labeled: page, knight, queen, king or princess, prince, queen, king. In any case, the courts line up beautifully with all 16 types. Now, which types line up with which cards can vary across decks and it is entirely possible that your assignments might not agree with anyone else's, but that isn’t the point. The point is that tarot and typing are good tools to use to create an interesting character seemingly from nowhere. And how you interpret and use them is all up to you.
When I made Lia I did not have a deck on hand so I used an online generator which worked surprisingly well. I drew three cards to start (the top three from left to right) and then another three (the bottom three from left to right). I drew a seventh card for additional ideas, but it was basically more of the same so it has little weight on the reading. Here is what my reading looked like:
The cards I drew were the Queen of Cups, the Ten of Wands Reversed, the Nine of Cups, the Page of Cups Reversed, the Wheel of Fortune (X) and the Nine of Wands. The last card was the Eight of Wands reversed.
The first card is the Queen of Cups. I interpreted her as INFJ. At this point the character could have been male or female, all I knew was that he or she would be an INFJ. Knowing that my character was an INFJ, I knew quite a bit about him or her, generally speaking based on type alone. The other cards are what gave this basic understanding shape.
The ten of wands normally describes a burdensome time that is that result of your own choices and that you have the power to ensure a more pleasant or desirable future for yourself if you use your past knowledge wisely. Reversed, the ten of wands is linked generally with contrarieties, difficulties, intrigues, and their analogies. This is important because it tells me about how my Queen of Cups responds to bad situations or situations that perceived as being bad.
Each of the four types of personalities tends to behave in certain predictable patterns when they are tired, stressed or in some way feel threatened by the people around them. These patterns of behavior are called survival games. NFs like the Queen of Cups play what are called masquerade games. NFs play these games when they feel that they have not been or cannot continue to be authentic, benevolent, and empathic. There are six types of masquerade games, but the reversed ten of wands pointed toward one in particular: the mind reader.
An idealist is playing the mind reader game when she claims to know what others are really thinking/feeling and/or wanting. She will often project her own thoughts/feelings/emotions/desires onto others. There is a strong tendency to attribute negative motives to others, claiming that the others are out to get or persecute them. Anything and everything around her will be misinterpreted to support her conclusions.
Being an INFJ, the Queen of Cups is usually very good at reading and understanding others which is what makes this survival tactic a double edged sword. I decided to give her reason to slightly more distrustful in that she has in the past misjudged the trustworthiness of some of her friends. Thus the following description was born:
“…however she has a history of maybe not picking the best kind of friends. So when she is stressed she tends to assume that the people around her might be out to get her or are lying to her. She has a tendency to assume she knows what others are thinking. (She can see intrigues where there are none.) She is generally very perceptive and good at understanding people; however in times of stress her strength in this area is warped so that hurts both herself and the people she cares about.”
The next card is the nine of cups. This card indicates material and emotional well-being. It is a very happy card and lets us know that our character is doing well in at least one aspect of her life. I decided to attribute this to her work/professional life. Thus the description: “Lia has a college education and is fairly successful and happy”.
The next card is the reversed Page of Cups. I decided to interpret the card both as a person and more generally. The Page of Cups in this deck is an ENFP. Since the card is reversed, I decided that the ENFP is probably unhealthy and is currently the Queen of Cups’ partner. The card also stands for taste, inclination, attachment, seduction, deception, and artifice. Thus I decided that while the Queen and the Page have a very healthy sex life, their relationship is volatile and not particularly happy. They are attached to each other, but not in a healthy way. In part this is because the Page has probably strayed more than once from the Queen and the Queen knows it. I summed this up with the following:
“however she has yet to find an emotional relationship that is truly fulfilling. She is currently in a poor relationship that she doesn’t want to let go of because she’s afraid of being alone. However, she also greatly dislikes the person she is with, despite their healthy sex life.”
The next card is the Wheel of Fortune (X). It is the only major arcana in this reading and it therefore one of the most important cards. The Wheel is the midpoint of the journey that is the major arcana. It is the moment of chance, the dice are rolling and anything can happen. This is external to the Queen, thus plot takes hold of my character. Something beyond her control is happening and I decided to make it initially job related.
The Queen of Cups is going to get a new job in a new city. She will have to leave her current unhappy relationship for this job. In the new place she moves to, the dice continue to roll and her life will never be the same.
The nine of wands was the last card. As this is another minor card, it is once again about the Queen’s personality. The card signifies strength in opposition. If attacked, the person will meet an onslaught boldly; and his build walls that he may prove a formidable antagonist. With this main significance there are all its possible adjuncts--delay, suspension, adjournment. This card is a reiteration of the Queen’s tendency toward suspicion and mind reading. But she does not always see enemies where there are none. “She is quick to defend herself if she feels under attack. She will also ferociously protect the people she cares about.”
The extra card I picked was the reversed eight of wands stands for delays, frustrations and holding off. This card is yet further reinforcement of the Queen’s trust issues. It also indicate her trouble with letting go of the past and possibly her partner.
Up until now I avoided considering the Queen’s gender. I decided to make her female because there are not nearly enough women characters out there. I also wanted her to be older be older, perhaps into middle age. But I realized that the new job possibility did make as much sense for an older, more settled woman. I decided to make the Queen in her late twenties since she could have just finished some advanced degree work or worked a few years in a decent but not ideal job,
I decided almost immediately that she would be bisexual, but did not flesh out her opinions about that yet.
Then it was time to figure out her history. This site is incredibly useful for coming up with names. At random I ended up looking at biblical and African names. The name Lia was one of the first to come up and I really liked it. It’s another way of spelling the Biblical name Leah. Leah and Lia mean “weary”. In retrospect this is very fitting for the character I created because INxJs and ENxPs are the sorts of people who always get told they’re “old souls” or are sixty year olds trapped in six year old bodies when they’re children.
I like the meaning of the surname Afolayan which means "walks with grace, confidence" or "walks like a rich man" in Yoruba. The Yoruba are an ethnic group of southwestern Nigeria and southern Benin in West Africa. I thought the name suited Lia and I liked the idea that she was either from Nigeria or had a parent from there. This was how I decided that her father was from Nigeria. I made him an immigrant to the U.S. because I find the mindset of first generation Americans interesting.
In retrospect I wished I had spent more time on Lia’s middle name. I picked Kamaria because it sounded pretty. It means “bright as the moon” so the meaning is also pretty, but it is a Swahili name. I think if I were to actually write out Lia’s story I’d probably change her middle name to something in Yoruba or to a more “American” name.
I decided to make Lia’s mother an African American woman who was born and raised in the south but moved up North to go to school. She met her husband there and they fell in love. I did not spend a lot of time on it, but if I was to flesh out Lia further, she’d probably have at least two siblings.
Lia is pretty deeply religious just like her mother. This is why I decided to have her be something like a minister or religious psychologist, though I’m not sure which I’d pick in the final version. This created an interesting tension between Lia’s belief and her sexuality. I decided that after some soul searching she would be able to reconcile the two. I am not sure yet how her parents and family handled the revelation, though I’m fairly certain she told them.
And wow. I guess that’s everything. I hope that was interesting.
Not exactly a confession, however: You are my inspiration for all things Dick Grayson and JayDick, particularly of the gloriously hurt comforty and just plain hurty variety, and I am so glad I know you :D you're the best, my dear.
Aww well you've given me so many ideas of horribly painful things to do to him! *chucks Dick off a cliff* You're in the group of blogs that I remember reading when I first stumbled into fandom and I think I should blame you for some of the angst with Dick haha. (ELINOOORE!) Hopefully there'll be some good angst in future... *steeples fingers*
aefled answered your post: “Anyone feel like sending me quickfire prompts? Maybe?”:
*flies in fashionably late* Bird boys! *flies off*
(well it's at least got one bird boy!)
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“You think if you convince me the others will join in leaving, Mr. Wayne?”
“I'm not asking you to vouch for me. The choice is up to each of you.”
“I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, but you can join me in catching dinner.”
Bruce nods and Dick hands him a basket leading him down a path to a small pond. He slowly wades in carefully dipping his hands into the water and pulling out a few crawfish in each hand.
“I’ve been craving a good crawfish boil for weeks. Jason’s really… You’re staring at me Mr. Wayne.”
“You can call me Bruce.”
“Well then, Bruce, quit staring and help me catch more.”
The older man chuckles and quietly follows Dick into the water, by the end of the hour the basket is full squirming crawfish.
“You should’ve taken your boots off your feet must be soaked.” Dick says with a smile. “But Tim knows a drying spell I’m sure.”
“He’s quite a talented warlock for his age. Is Jason his apprentice?”
“Jason… No, he’s- He’s his own warlock.”
Bruce nods thankfully not prying further as the cabin comes into view.
Dick stops them. “I don’t want you to feel unwelcome. Tim and Jason are just weary of adults.”
“And you’re not?”
“I’m not afraid of you.” He shrugs. “Besides, if you try anything you’ll be in a lot worse shape than those crawfish.”
