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[rose;]

I have only a few characters who have bad pasts, and the one isn't even sulky/unsocial like the ones you typically see that have bad pasts around here. He was able to move on.
The one really moody/ill tempered character I have is the one that doesn't have a bad past- he's just like that cause he can be. xP

[princess pudding]

@au revior yess... xD I do have one character that is particularly cheery despite her past history, but that doesn't mean she isn't conflicted inside or dealing with emotional stress. Flawless characters bother me because, going further then how they interact with others, their all happy and perfect by emotion, too.

[mint.]

/awkwardly jumps in

i guess i don't mind perfect characters, but they're rather boring and about as unique as a clump of dirt. they're literally everywhere on here, and i'll admit i have used a few in previous roleplays. but writing about them can get old really fast. i like to be able to create and manipulate different characters, including their flaws.

another thing that bugs me is tormented histories. tragedy happens all the times, but if a character has had his/her parents murdered, been abused, etc. at the same time, shouldn't they be kind of messed up?

yes they should be messed up (theoretically), but I mean, they could be fine (if they go into therapy, etc)

[Guest]

/awkwardly jumps in

i guess i don't mind perfect characters, but they're rather boring and about as unique as a clump of dirt. they're literally everywhere on here, and i'll admit i have used a few in previous roleplays. but writing about them can get old really fast. i like to be able to create and manipulate different characters, including their flaws.

another thing that bugs me is tormented histories. tragedy happens all the times, but if a character has had his/her parents murdered, been abused, etc. at the same time, shouldn't they be kind of messed up?

just.

this.

this is so accurate.

i hate some people's character threads, where you go in and every character is some damaged, dysfunctional beauty queen and they all have the same personality. just, no.

i have a few damaged characters but when i see writing twitches pop up i scrap a character and make a new one in its place. in fact i try to make a new character for every roleplay.

[Smamm]

Okay here's my outlook. Yes, it's very possible to move on; I'm just saying that they're not going to be perfect. There's no way even after moving on your life will be perfect, or memory triggers won't be painful. I notice way too many times that a characters traumatic past has no effect on them now. That's far fetched to me...

[rose;]

Okay here's my outlook. Yes, it's very possible to move on; I'm just saying that they're not going to be perfect. There's no way even after moving on your life will be perfect, or memory triggers won't be painful. I notice way too many times that a characters traumatic past has no effect on them now. That's far fetched to me...

^ smamm says it well.

[wolfie.]

/awkwardly jumps in

i guess i don't mind perfect characters, but they're rather boring and about as unique as a clump of dirt. they're literally everywhere on here, and i'll admit i have used a few in previous roleplays. but writing about them can get old really fast. i like to be able to create and manipulate different characters, including their flaws.

another thing that bugs me is tormented histories. tragedy happens all the times, but if a character has had his/her parents murdered, been abused, etc. at the same time, shouldn't they be kind of messed up?

I am also guilty of using 'perfect' characters in past roleplays. However, I try hard now to give my character some sort of flaw, be it from their history or in their personality, and sometimes even both.

However, as you pointed out, if a character's past is something extreme such as abuse/murder, the character's personality must reflect on that. It bugs me to no end when I read something and the character has a horrible past but happy-go-lucky personality. It's unrealistic and seriously annoying at the same time. Something traumatic like death/abuse/murder[as stated before] would have a prominent affect on the character's disposition.

At the same time though, I do not like overly flawed characters, or characters who are too timid or stumble over every word. Yes I'm aware that these things happen in real life, but if you're going to do that, at least try to understand why and give a good reason.

Another problem is balance. Sometimes a character is too shy or too loud or too mean. I'm not saying make sure your loud outgoing character is equally shy [because that's just a contradiction.] But everyone has a strong point and everyone has a weakness, and if you don't have both of those, it's hard to believe.

edit;; some of you have also made some points on this that I would like to reflect on.

/awkwardly jumps in

i guess i don't mind perfect characters, but they're rather boring and about as unique as a clump of dirt. they're literally everywhere on here, and i'll admit i have used a few in previous roleplays. but writing about them can get old really fast. i like to be able to create and manipulate different characters, including their flaws.

another thing that bugs me is tormented histories. tragedy happens all the times, but if a character has had his/her parents murdered, been abused, etc. at the same time, shouldn't they be kind of messed up?

yes they should be messed up (theoretically), but I mean, they could be fine (if they go into therapy, etc)

That's true, but they would still have conflicting thoughts and emotions. Even people who have good lives have that. :3

@au revior yess... xD I do have one character that is particularly cheery despite her past history, but that doesn't mean she isn't conflicted inside or dealing with emotional stress. Flawless characters bother me because, going further then how they interact with others, their all happy and perfect by emotion, too.

This is exactly what I'm trying to say. ouo

I have only a few characters who have bad pasts, and the one isn't even sulky/unsocial like the ones you typically see that have bad pasts around here. He was able to move on.
The one really moody/ill tempered character I have is the one that doesn't have a bad past- he's just like that cause he can be. xP

But a character who is 'like that cause he can be' must have something, even minor, that makes him think like that. Perhaps it makes him feel in control or something? Or maybe I'm wrong. ouo

edit;; sorry for the long post guyz. ;]

[Artesian]

I think this all boils down to: just be realistic in their personalities. That's all. We're just fussing about symptoms, where people don't connect their histories to their personalities, or make their character too likeable or too pathetic. Just think about it, would anyone act the way your character is? Really? If they would, and they're consistent in their personalities, then fine.

I have a character that is an orphan, but has no desire to find his birth-parents, and is perfectly happy with his adopted family, and is loved by them like a birth-son. Take that, cliches!

[eden .]

in the end I don't have the patience to deal with blatant attention seekers of that fashion. is that really the only history that you can come up with? firstly, those cases are relatively rare. second, you can't play it realistically. I know you can't. third, I don't feel like dealing with your mewling.

[Noel]

I have a few characters with unfortunate pasts, and they aren't the most mentally stable of people(then again, few of my characters are, but that's beside the point).

One of my characters who I revived recently was swept under a pier and nearly drowned when he was nine or so and suffered brain damage and amnesia, and his parents were never found nor could anyone figure out his identity. No one would be fine less then a decade after that. As result his behavior is more of that of a younger kid, as he only remembers living less then ten years, morphed strangely with the actions of the late teenager he actually is. He also has authority difficulties from never having parents, and he interacts poorly with people, and suffering from gynophobia as he never got over his initial feelings as an amnesiac nine year old that they were such foreign creatures he couldn't remember at all. Not to mention being severely hydrophobic after the incident itself.

I just find it so suspicious when people are so opening and nice and perfect, especially if their past's torment ended pretty closely to the start of the roleplay. People can turn out just fine, but it will take time. And in the cases where it's just one traumatic event after another in their past? They're going to have problems.