#with what i now know of cody

[yellowocaballero]

Character Work

Got an ask the other day that asked me how I developed a character, and there was no room to go into it on that ask at all, but I did want to note something. As a fic writer I feel pretty unqualified to write on how to create a character, but I do have something specific I want to say that I've been thinking for a while. I'll keep it just to that. I'll also say that I'm talking exclusively about writing, and not how you engage with fandom. It is, in fact, extremely fun to make an endless series of meaningless headcanons for random dudes. I'm just talking about in terms of how you approach the character from a writing perspective. Which is...

Your OC makes a bad character.

I mean your Dungeons and Dragons character. I mean the character you have a character sheet for, the character you've thought about for years, the one that you are extremely fond of and who feels like a real person to you. The character that is the character, and to change them would feel like changing a person.

Characters should feel like real people to the reader, but as the writer you cannot think of them as people. They are plot devices and a function of the story. They don't need to be fleshed out before you start writing. The actual creation of the character should take place in the outlining and drafting process.

I'm not saying you aren't allowed to stop and think about their favorite grilled cheeses or their sign. There's a few lists of good questions to ask yourself about your characters before you start writing them, such as their desires and their home lives, but the list of actual questions you need to answer are short. And you should try to stop there, because otherwise you're going to over-develop your character and it's going to get in the way of the story.

Assuming you're writing a character focused story, the character's journey is the plot's journey. But the character and the plot exist in relationship to each other. I think of them as two interlocking gears - some things in the plot just can't happen because Character A wouldn't do that, but some things need to happen for the plot to work, so Character A needs to be the kind of person who would do that. Both the character and the plot are in service of what the story is about (Theme, moral, message, etc). These three things have to line up, and they can't overpower each other. You shouldn't try and make round pegs fit in square holes. If a character doesn't fit in with what you want the story to be about (if the story's about vanity and your character doesn't care about vanity) then you need to change one of those things. You can bend the entire plot and meaning of the story around the character, but damn you better have a character who makes a really fantastic story.

You need a character that makes a good story. Some characters don't make good stories, and you need to work super hard to create a story that fits them. That's fine - that can create a unique and great story. Your character has to be consistent and work along their own internal logic. That is shit you absolutely have to stop and work out in the outlining process. Your character needs to make decisions that feel right to the reader - really good stories have the character making the worst possible decision, but in a way that makes the reader understand that they couldn't have done anything else and still been that character. And, like, obviously, give your characters faults and have them make mistakes. A character who does not do that cannot carry a plot.

Fic writers struggle with this. Of course you...shouldn't...be me and completely disregard every characterization, but I do think you can run into the same problem with your blorbo as your D&D character.

Your blorbos aren't actual guys.

This feels kind of obvious, but sometimes I think people don't feel that way. We write fanfic because we like the characters, and we'd rather use these characters and this setting than use our own. I see people projecting on these characters a lot. Like, a lot a lot. It gets to the point where an attack on the character feels like a personal attack - where people defend the character as if they're a real person because they ID so much w/the character. We all know this is dumb, but it also makes for some really shitty fic. The writer becomes completely unwilling to bend the character at all. And they don't try to make the character good for a story, because that kind of involves a lot of faults and mistakes that they don't like seeing their blorbos make. I sound dismissive but it's pervasive. The character becomes a character who makes them feel good instead of a well-written function of the story. The story suffers. Which is alright for some stories, but if you're writing a heavily character focused story like a lot of fic, then nothing is really propping up this story or making it engaging.

None of that is how I develop a character but that is what I wanted to say about characters lol (fwiw, how an OC is created for me is: "I need a character in this spot or representing this thing. Yoink!"). Of course I spoke hyperbolically and took a hard stance on all of that, haha, and of course all of this is rule of thumb. I'm sure your OC is wonderful. Just don't get caught up in them, okay? Go write. The best possible OC is an OC who is born from a good story. That's how you get rich and real characters.

[coline7373]

"Well? Recess is over and the students are waiting. Aren't you going to say goodbye, Mr. Kenobi?"

"Goodbye, Cody. I hope the students know how lucky they are to have you."

"About as lucky as they are to have you. Now, come on. Kiss me."

"As you wish."

I have been working on this very slowly from the start. It's actually finished? Wow 😆

It was, in my mind, related to the Teachers Obi-Wan & Mustache!Cody AU. Cody doesn't have a mustache there. Sorry 😔

I tried but it looked weird 😅 Oh, well...

Thank you for @codywanfirstkissbingo for offering a wide panel of choices, because some of those prompts are so complicated to do in my head, I was a bit intimidated.

Working myself up to it 👍

[ima-ghost-art]

Here he is!

The one

The only

Husband and Romance Partner to Cody Walsh himself

LOOSE BARON!!!

he's not exactly how I planned but I'm not going back to change it now lol

made sure to add the oogie boogie tattoo that made Cody fall inlove with him too lmao

[weregonnabecoolbeans]

You know what!?!?!

I don’t want to see Cody before TBB finale

Why? You might ask

Well it’s because of the overwhelming sense of dread that has been growing within me the closer we get to the end

If he isn’t there…then he can’t be harmed and I can live in blissful ignorance

[oplishin]

"it's about redemption."

[mudpuddless]

Kal Skirata and Vhonte Tervho armour redesign for edges of providence on AO3

ID in ALT

[miahasahardname]

mental illness

[clever-and-conceited]

Okay, after seeing Randy Orton perform live, I get it.

I absolutely fucking GET IT.

Damn.

[ineffablejaymee]

tbb season 3 spoilers

i said SPOILERS

.

.

.

GODFUCKINGDAMNIT I KNEW SOMETHING TERRIBLE WOULD HAPPEN

the most heart breakinf part was how desperate crosshair was to shoot that tracking device AND HE ALMOST MADE IT

IT WAS LIKE 2 SECONDS TOO LATE

i hate rhis so much

its exactly like plan 99, when wrecker was right there, tech was SO close butba second too late

ihatethisihaterhisiHATERHIS im in so much pain and i CANNOT WAIT ANOTHER WEEK

[rescuehumans-runtotherescue]

Nobody:

Me: what if child washed up on the island somehow and was amnesic and tests were done and the burns find out this person is related to them and woodrow is called to the island to do tests too and it’s found out he’s the father and had no clue he had a kid and child gains memories and their mother is awful and Charlie and Woodrow get legal rights to child and now Kade Dani Graham and Cody have a cousin to get to know

[codychristiantreasures]

HOLY HELL GUYS! I found Cody’s mystery tattoo! I have my memory to thank for this one!

[clonememesfrikyeah]

Rex, trying to give a motivational speech but then it evolved into him casualty talking about his really really fucked up cadethood:

“-I mean yeah all the other kids bullied me, hated me even, and no one liked me or even came near me. Come to think of it I did get shuffled around a lot, but that’s just because my entire original batch was decommissioned. And yeah I did have a lot of near death experiences, but I only needed to be resuscitated a handful of times. Ha, there was that one time a trainer threw me off a platform because they were sick of dealing with all my paperwork, but I pulled myself up by my bootstraps and hauled myself out of the ocean. You know what they say; you want something done you gotta do it yourself, because no one else is going to do it for you! I think I came out the other side just fine and I’m stronger because of it! :)”

The entire 501st: “…whAT THE FUUUUUCK!”

[lablass-2882]

Crack Au fic Snippet #2

Fox: Fox Out.

: Fox is offline:

Tech: .... okay.

Cody: That's normal.

Cody: Looks like it's just the two of us then.

Tech: That will probably be for the best.

Cody: ???

Tech: The device that I have successfully hacked is linked to your device.

Cody: .......

Cody: So, I’m the bait then.

Tech: Precisely

Cody: .......Tech.

Cody: How did you manage to hack the device exactly?

Tech:  I had to temporally take control of your device, commander.  

Cody: And you did this remotely?

Tech: Only momentarily.  I have been monitoring all nine infected GAR accounts since the start of my involvement on this mission.

Cody: ........I should be more concerned about that.

Cody: But, at the moment I just want to catch this bastard.

Cody: Okay how do you plan on getting their attention?

Tech: They are online right now.

Cody: wat?

Tech: The culprit seems to be typing in a solo chat that is locked to any outside influence.

Cody: Okay......

Cody: Do we know why?

Tech: Unknown.  And since we cannot grantee that the culprit will stay online long enough for me to back track the link.  I thought beneficial it to have you interact with them via your own account while I worked.

Cody: .....

Cody: This was just a courtesy call to let me know that I was being used as bait wasn’t it.

Tech: .... I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.

: Hunter is Online:

Hunter: We told him to call you first.

: Hunter is offline:

Cody: .....

Tech: .....

Cody: Alright, lets get this over with.

[itstimeforstarwars]

Actually something I'm really excited to explore in the galidraan au is going to be Cody and Satine interactions. I was gonna write like an actual thesis of why but idc to explain it right now just know it gives me kicky feet whenever I think about it.

[probablygayattorneys]

Given that while I move into Layton, I am gripped by an almost paralyzing fear that the same thing that happened with Ace Attorney is going to happen again, that Professor Layton is going to end up doing something that I cannot forgive, I understand this on a deeply personal level.

[keeps-ache]

[slaps this] 'nother OC for the books