ooc: character meme
Mar. 31st, 2008 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
worldfromafarI saw this 'meme' in the friends-list for one of my other characters, and I've been meaning to do this for Remus but hadn't gotten the chance.
What are five ideas/concepts/etc you keep in mind while writing your character that you believe are essential to accurately depicting them? Why did you choose them? How do they relate to the character’s over all persona?
'Disclaimer': This is, of course, things that I keep in mind for my version of Remus. With this I'm not saying others should keep THIS in mind when writing Remus; this is just my own reference.
1. Remus is a werewolf. Heh, I know, big shocker, right? ;) This is a very obvious one, and one that I always keep in mind. Not just because I have to keep track of moon phases so I can know how his mood should be in different stages of the month, but because being a werewolf has affected Remus tremendously. He was bitten when he was barely turning seven. For better or for worse it helped to mold him into who he becomes. It strengthened his love for chocolate, because his parents would give it to him to help with the potions. It set a 'pattern' to how he presents himself to others, in putting up masks to hide his true appearances. It made him become braver, because how else is a child supposed to face those painful transformations every month?
Him being a werewolf is also a big one, because it gave him part of his outlook to life, and himself. And there's just something about having your body broken every month that gives a person a bit of an edge. His humor, for example, is very, very dry. He's cynical about a lot of things, and he's just not the happy-go-lucky guy. Which works fine with him, thanks for asking. ;)
2. Remus is a Marauder. This, to me, is as important as him being a werewolf. True, he has a lot of masks even as a teenager. True, he's not as mischievous as James and Sirius but there's still a reason why he fit in well with them. The mischief may be quiet and subdued, but it's still there; it just picks certain moments to make itself known. He enjoys a good joke and a good laugh as much as anyone else, no matter how serious he may seem. I can't write him without that Marauder side, because it's a big part of who he was as a teenager and who he still is as an adult. Because, as I said, he may not display it once he's older but the traces of it are still there. Easiest way to see it is when he's with the Marauders, or their kids.
Or, you know, with a batch of Harry's triple chocolate triple weed brownies.
3. Remus spent twelve years "away from the world." When the first war ended, Remus lost the family that he had chosen for himself while at Hogwarts. The Marauders and Lily were the first to really show him what unconditional love was, because at home the relationship with his parents wasn't the best, and in 1981 he lost that. James and Lily were dead. Peter was supposedly dead. Sirius was in Azkaban after he had supposedly betrayed the Marauders. He couldn't offer to take care of Harry because he could barely take care of himself. Shattered and crushed doesn't begin to describe how Remus was on November first of that year, and instead of staying around for the nothing that he had left, he escaped. Where to, exactly, no one knows. He refuses to talk about it, but one thing is certain: he most definitely wasn't happy. He was alone, with little to no money, and the people he loved were all gone. It made him hold that Marauder side of him closer, hiding it deeper. It made him jaded, even more than he was, that cynicism started to sink in, and he became very guarded in general. The Remus that left in 1981 and returned in 1993 was very different. He may have been free, and there was no war, and the Wizarding world was still standing by end of Voldemort's first reign of terror, but to Remus it wasn't. There was definitely a war raging inside him, his world was over, and he was never free.
To this day it still affects him. There's just something about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, added with some survivor's guilt, that just keeps lingering.
4. Remus has a deep need to please others. This ties in with the werewolf part, but I'll go more into depth because it explains some of the 'masks' that he wears on a daily basis.
Remus is used to fitting whatever mold others have of him. At seven he became a werewolf, and his parents didn't take the change very well. To help them and not make them suffer, because in part he has always felt responsible for straying away from his house and allowing Fenrir to attack him, he tried to continue his life as if nothing happened. He'd smile when he didn't feel like it, and he'd just do whatever he had to to be the good son. As he grew older, that need to keep others happy continued. He was thrilled to have friends when he got to school, and he'd look the other way when his friends tormented others (Snape, for example) rather than saying anything because he wanted to stay on their good side. And, as the years passed, this need to keep others happy just continued. By now he doesn't even realize when he's acting or being himself.
5. Remus can be fiercely overprotective. I think this falls more in the RP version of Remus, but he did get to this point for a reason. Remember the survivor's guilt I mentioned? That guilt drives him crazy sometimes. What he has - or who he has, I should say - is the most important thing he holds most dear, and he refuses to lose it again without a fight. He refuses to see those he cares about hurt if he can help it. That's one of the reasons, I think, why he flipped out on Harry in Deathly Hallows over him just using a disarming spell. He saw Harry in danger and couldn't do a thing about it; helplessness is among the worst things that he can feel.
And, well, just in general... He's a lion and a wolf. Keeping those in his pack safe is his number one priority.
What are five ideas/concepts/etc you keep in mind while writing your character that you believe are essential to accurately depicting them? Why did you choose them? How do they relate to the character’s over all persona?
'Disclaimer': This is, of course, things that I keep in mind for my version of Remus. With this I'm not saying others should keep THIS in mind when writing Remus; this is just my own reference.
1. Remus is a werewolf. Heh, I know, big shocker, right? ;) This is a very obvious one, and one that I always keep in mind. Not just because I have to keep track of moon phases so I can know how his mood should be in different stages of the month, but because being a werewolf has affected Remus tremendously. He was bitten when he was barely turning seven. For better or for worse it helped to mold him into who he becomes. It strengthened his love for chocolate, because his parents would give it to him to help with the potions. It set a 'pattern' to how he presents himself to others, in putting up masks to hide his true appearances. It made him become braver, because how else is a child supposed to face those painful transformations every month?
Him being a werewolf is also a big one, because it gave him part of his outlook to life, and himself. And there's just something about having your body broken every month that gives a person a bit of an edge. His humor, for example, is very, very dry. He's cynical about a lot of things, and he's just not the happy-go-lucky guy. Which works fine with him, thanks for asking. ;)
2. Remus is a Marauder. This, to me, is as important as him being a werewolf. True, he has a lot of masks even as a teenager. True, he's not as mischievous as James and Sirius but there's still a reason why he fit in well with them. The mischief may be quiet and subdued, but it's still there; it just picks certain moments to make itself known. He enjoys a good joke and a good laugh as much as anyone else, no matter how serious he may seem. I can't write him without that Marauder side, because it's a big part of who he was as a teenager and who he still is as an adult. Because, as I said, he may not display it once he's older but the traces of it are still there. Easiest way to see it is when he's with the Marauders, or their kids.
Or, you know, with a batch of Harry's triple chocolate triple weed brownies.
3. Remus spent twelve years "away from the world." When the first war ended, Remus lost the family that he had chosen for himself while at Hogwarts. The Marauders and Lily were the first to really show him what unconditional love was, because at home the relationship with his parents wasn't the best, and in 1981 he lost that. James and Lily were dead. Peter was supposedly dead. Sirius was in Azkaban after he had supposedly betrayed the Marauders. He couldn't offer to take care of Harry because he could barely take care of himself. Shattered and crushed doesn't begin to describe how Remus was on November first of that year, and instead of staying around for the nothing that he had left, he escaped. Where to, exactly, no one knows. He refuses to talk about it, but one thing is certain: he most definitely wasn't happy. He was alone, with little to no money, and the people he loved were all gone. It made him hold that Marauder side of him closer, hiding it deeper. It made him jaded, even more than he was, that cynicism started to sink in, and he became very guarded in general. The Remus that left in 1981 and returned in 1993 was very different. He may have been free, and there was no war, and the Wizarding world was still standing by end of Voldemort's first reign of terror, but to Remus it wasn't. There was definitely a war raging inside him, his world was over, and he was never free.
To this day it still affects him. There's just something about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, added with some survivor's guilt, that just keeps lingering.
4. Remus has a deep need to please others. This ties in with the werewolf part, but I'll go more into depth because it explains some of the 'masks' that he wears on a daily basis.
Remus is used to fitting whatever mold others have of him. At seven he became a werewolf, and his parents didn't take the change very well. To help them and not make them suffer, because in part he has always felt responsible for straying away from his house and allowing Fenrir to attack him, he tried to continue his life as if nothing happened. He'd smile when he didn't feel like it, and he'd just do whatever he had to to be the good son. As he grew older, that need to keep others happy continued. He was thrilled to have friends when he got to school, and he'd look the other way when his friends tormented others (Snape, for example) rather than saying anything because he wanted to stay on their good side. And, as the years passed, this need to keep others happy just continued. By now he doesn't even realize when he's acting or being himself.
5. Remus can be fiercely overprotective. I think this falls more in the RP version of Remus, but he did get to this point for a reason. Remember the survivor's guilt I mentioned? That guilt drives him crazy sometimes. What he has - or who he has, I should say - is the most important thing he holds most dear, and he refuses to lose it again without a fight. He refuses to see those he cares about hurt if he can help it. That's one of the reasons, I think, why he flipped out on Harry in Deathly Hallows over him just using a disarming spell. He saw Harry in danger and couldn't do a thing about it; helplessness is among the worst things that he can feel.
And, well, just in general... He's a lion and a wolf. Keeping those in his pack safe is his number one priority.
