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I RP. A lot. This is not a secret, I certainly don't hide it.
I have characters I've been developing for years. I created the three sisters back in 2001 after playing Majora's Mask and becoming fascinated with the mythology in the Zelda series. I started the drafts for a story I called the "Heroines of Time" which some of you might remember I keep saying I'll eventually write and never... actually do.
I actually have the original drafts of the parts I did write back in 2002 or so, and they went as follows:
Prologue
Part 1: Tamara the Crystal Myst
Part 2: Little Navi
Part 3: Cari the Shadowed Spirit Sage
Part 4: Reunion
Epilogue
Where the prologue is the creation of the three incarnations of the Hylian Goddesses, the first three parts detail what happens when each of them go their separate ways to search for Ganon's soul, part 4 is where the plot takes off and they pool their resources to destroy Ganon with the help of the merry friends they picked up along the way, and the epilogue is what happens afterward. I finished Tamara's part and had the entirety of Cari's outlined and about 30% actually written. I knew what would happen in the fourth part and epilogue and had it mostly outlined, and I also had the prologue written.
As for part 2, I had no freaking clue what would go on there. I had maybe two pages written, but no idea where it would go from that point on. That, and the fact the plot and characters at the time were very two-dimensional and uninteresting... prevented this from being completely written way back when. This makes sense, given I was 12 or 13 when I wrote these backstories and created these characters. I could identify with Cari and Tamara, but couldn't get a read on Navi.
Cari was the bright, happy woman with a heart of gold and an even warmer personality. Especially in the CAC, I drew upon my perception of myself and my role in the group to write this character. She's evolved from just a happy soul to the "cool mom" of the lodge, who protects her brood like a mama bear, but her long lifespan keeps her from developing close emotional ties with anyone, so maybe that love and protection is all just superficial to make people like her as a person and appreciate her while they're around.
Tamara was the sexy, bitchy woman with a smart mouth and broken past; in other words, the brooding angst archetype in any RPG. Also, the opposite to the happy-go-lucky Belldandy of the group. This was the personality type I always wanted to be, but could never pull off due to the fact I'm the exact opposite in reality. So in order to vent the frustrations of wanting to be someone I'm not, I turned to stories and RP instead. Tamara's grown since then as well, evolving past that two-dimensional angst that defined her character by justifying it and having her move on, using her time in the stories as her journey on the healing road.
I saw myself in Cari and I saw Tamara as the person I wanted to be, and used both of them in ECRPG plots and substories with Kitty since 2003 or so. So where does that leave Navi?
...with little to no personality to work from. All she was at the time was a prototype with the mentality of an adult in a child's body. Which, at 12 or 13, didn't seem like that interesting a premise for a character. I tried a couple of test personalities, like a cute, spritely kid who bounces back and forth between both extremes of hyperactivity (happy to bitch in 0.4 seconds). That worked for a short story, but it didn't really take. There were a couple others, but they were basically variations on the same idea.
I finally introduced her to the plot in 2007. After four years of building history with Cari and Tamara, I decided "to hell with it" and threw Navi in with the latest of her trial personalities. She had a very Nagato-ish demeanor - quiet, exceedingly polite, and incredibly well-read. Since she's based on the fairy of the same name, I figured it'd make sense that she's a smart character. She didn't really make friends, and could only hold conversation with one or two of the lodgers. Being an intellectual with few emotions to play with, she couldn't really relate to most people.
And then there was Lee.
Lee, Cari's boyfriend, was determined to make this girl open up to the world and embrace more than just books and facts. From that moment on, she became the plot.
I mean, seriously.
EVERYTHING that has happened since then has been because this woman deemed it so. Lee helped her open up and start relating to people, starting with understanding and developing emotions. This has a nice start - she's interacting with someone and starting to discover the true colors of her personality. Included in these informal lessons, of course, is love and desire.
Cue a dangerous obsession from an emotionally immature woman who decides she wants Lee and will do anything to stay with him forever. Including get herself an adult body (loaded with the ever-confusing hormones that we all get used to in our teens) so she can be beautiful for his eyes, resurrect villains and displace her romantic feelings for Lee onto him when it's obvious he's not gonna just abandon Cari for her, in exchange basically selling her soul to the aforementioned villain and do anything he wants - only to put him out of his misery later and screw with the whole house as they do what they can to protect her from the long arm of the law - of course, when she's actually imprisoned for the things she did to piss on the plot, she tries breaking out and basically starts the massive war between normal and powered citizens by giving the normal people a way to remove abilities. Which, of course, she's immune to due to the nature of her origins, so they still can't stop her and it feels like the entire city is standing with the same astonished expression on their face as this woman still feels like it's her obligation to fix the city.
This is all after she realizes she's the reason the city's so screwed up.
Which only happened recently.
So... this entry doesn't really have a point, I've just had this topic on my mind for awhile and after the events of a couple-days-ago RP, decided I should just sit down and write it. It just shocks me how I've gone from not knowing what to do with this character to... having her be one of my favorites.
I guess some characters just need some time to mature. :)
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