Just wanted to give you an update on Crossroads Alpha – we’ve added a new site, Psycho Drive-In!

Psycho Drive-In is a site that focuses on video reviews with its own unique edge – television, movies, and more.  It’s actually the video section of Comics Bulletin moving to it’s own site and striking out to build it’s own direction.  You’ll also notice it’s a bit of a descendent of Indie Haven, from where the theme and look come.

It’s also a site you can write for – I’ve already gotten one new recruit for it – and there’s plenty of things to write on.  There’s also a lot to read if you want a nice juicy review or recommendation!

So go on by!

– Steven Savage

OK, so where are we?

Well, not much frankly.  Last week completely kicked my backside between my book, a reduced workweek, and some events.

• Way With Worlds continues and I’m happily writing on it!  Much more coming.  We’ll also have a guest column.
• I have not started any new serious generators yet, though still want to look at plot/prompt ones.
• In NON-serious generators, thanks to “Guardians of the Galaxy” I am thinking of silly generators for Bad Ass Animals like Rocket Raccoon (“Howitzer Hyena! Bomb Budgie!”) or SF hero titles like Star Lord (“Planet Protector!  Galaxy Queen!”) – though the latter may be useful.

But I’m here and alive.  And apparently imagining the adventures of Galaxy Queen and Bomb Budgie.  Which I would watch.

– Steve

After spending last column talking about characters in continuity, in world building, it’s time to talk about creating characters themselves.

I held this off until talking about the role characters play because of all aspects of world building, Character creation is the one that can (and in my opinion, should) be the most complex. As noted, a character is in a way the summary of the setting, and in turn, extremely complicated. Because they’re complicated, a sense of where they fit is important.

Characters are your setting come to visible, relatable life. Or at least should be.

The problem in discussing “how to create” characters is the process itself is also unpredictable, personal, and unique for everyone – just as characters are unique. So I can’t give you a system or even a list of questions that’ll “do it for you.” In fact, I shouldn’t because we all do this differently.

What I can do is give a list of techniques i’ve used, I’ve encountered, and I’ve coached on to help you create characters. Some you’re doing. Some you aren’t. Some will work. Some won’t – but would work for someone else.

But you can find what works for you.

After all I said it wasn’t simple. People never are – and that’s what you’re creating. (more…)

(I saw this article at the www.OngoingWorlds.com blog, and the original author was glad to let me repost it – I figure it fits our various endeavors here at the Sanctum.   It’s by David Ball.  David Ball is a web developer and writer. He created the www.OngoingWorlds.com website which allows writers/roleplayers to work together on continuous stories. He also occasionally blogs at www.scifiideas.com.)

Mary Sue characters are common in roleplaying and fanfiction, especially if the writer is an amateur and doesn’t yet know the error of their ways. Mary Sue characters are perfect in every way, they’re written so that everyone likes them, they’re smart, incredibly beautiful, incredibly useful, and can do just about anything. They don’t have any character flaws so can tackle any situation in their stride. After a while this behaviour becomes very boring and we’re reminded why decent stories have characters with just the right amount of interesting traits to add realism.

We call these types of characters “Mary Sue” after a Star Trek parody of a fanfiction story (see here for the origins of Mary Sue), but it’s not just females that make Mary Sues, the same annoying qualities can be given to males.

Marty Stu (also called Larry Stu or Gary Stu)

While Mary Sue was a true beauty to behold, and everyone fancied her (or so the writer mentioned), her male counterpart is similar but not the same. He is unbelievably handsome, and females will swoon at his very glance. But he’s also a man of action, in fact he’s the total embodiment of action. He’s strong, daring and athletic and can win any fight. Even if the writer mentions he’s not very physically strong, he’s at least physically fit and fast in a fight.

Marty Stu is also intelligent and extremely useful. He can solve any scenario with his advanced knowledge of astrophysics, nuclear science or computer hacking. He has knowledge well in advance of his years, a skill he shares with Mary Sue. This means he can finish off any story with the least amount of tension or drama, much to the annoyance of any member who wants to create suspense in your roleplaying game.

Because Marty Stu is more about the action than Mary Sue (although of course Mary Sue could be an action hero too), writing about a Marty Stu makes you dangerously close to becoming a god modder.

Einstein Sue

Like the way Mary Sue is perfect at her job, Einstein Sue is the most intelligent character… ever. She (or he) will be the one that always comes up with the best solution to a problem, despite a team of equally qualified scientists thinking about the same problem.

This character type isn’t just limited to roleplaying or fanfiction, you’ll also see it in TV, films and books as it’s a way to roll several boring scientist geek characters into one so that you can consilidate the character development.

Copycat Sue

This is common in roleplay spinoffs from a TV or film series when a member creates a new character that is almost identical to one of the characters from the show. The member can’t think up an original character so they take the character from the show, copy their personality, their upbringing, and creates an identical character. A few things might vary from the original, like they might have swapped gender, or changed the hair colour, or removed a few character traits they weren’t quite sure about, but more or less it’s a copy of the original.

Sometimes the character might even have a similar name to the original, or possibly be a long-lost relative they didn’t know about.

Jerk Sue

A short tempered character who lashes out with her fists, usually at men. Jerk Sue is probably supposed to come across as a feisty, kick-ass, independent woman who can fight her own battles, but actually comes across as an unhinged mentalcase that bullies other characters into getting her own way.

Sympathetic Sue

A character full of angst, this is a type of Mary Sue who wants your sympathy. She’s normally a female character, as they’re generally more emotional characters but could easily also be a male. Sympathy Sue probably had abusive parents, had a hard time growing up on the streets, saw her parents killed or is the last of her species. She cries a lot and might resort to self harm.

In roleplay this could mean the writer has some problems, or wants some attention. Or it could be a genuine character that the member is quite happy to write. There’s a possibility that this character could be played well, and these quirks used to develop a character, but in the case of a Sympathetic Sue, the usual Mary Sue elements have to be there also, and the amount of problems a character has doesn’t equate to the unrealistic and exaggerated amount of depression they have.

Relationship Sue

A common trait of a Mary Sue character is that they’re the perfect girl, and that everyone loves them, so they’re all part Relationship Sue too. But a Relationship Sue is a character who’s only purpose in a story or roleplaying game is to be the girlfriend or wife of another character.

When they’re introduced, they’ll be the absolute ideal girlfriend for the main character, and will be the perfect match in every way.

Lemon Stu (also known as a Casanova)

Lemon Stu is a character usually in sexually explicit fanfiction (sometimes called lemon fiction). Lemon Stu is a sexual predator, he’s the type of character who can sleep with any woman he wants, as often as he wants.

Usually written by a hormonal teenager with a sexual appetite larger than his vocabulary or knowledge of character development.

Just like the Marty Stu, Lemon Stu is perfect at what he puts his efforts into, and this is sex. Lemon Stu will be the best sex his partner will ever have, and he’ll last as long as he wants (or as long as his parner likes). There’ be no awkwardness, nothing will go wrong, and he will perform perfectly every time. He most likely won’t even fall asleep after sex.

Villain Sue

Most villains are given incredible powers to make them hard to kill. Imagine a villain so powerful and so evil that they’re actually impossible to kill. That’s the Villain Sue. S/he is so good at being a villain that you can’t actually kill them. This type of character is usually played by a god modder.

Parody Sue

An intentional parody of a Mary Sue, when a Mary Sue character is created and used deliberately for a joke. Often in this case the name “Mary Sue” is actually used to let everyone else know it’s just a joke. Too much use of a Parody Sue can be just as annoying as the real thing.

If you want to know more about how to spot a Mary Sue see this article and for more variants of Mary Sue character types, see this article on TV Tropes.

– Steven Savage

[Way With Worlds appears at Seventh Sanctum and at MuseHack]

You have built a world. You know it’s origins and its ecology, you know it’s people and their religion, you know technology or sorcery (or both) thta they use. You have a world that is a living-breathing creation, all in your head, and your documents, and your stories.

It’s time to populate it with characters. Sure you’ve probably started early, but we are going in order here.

Most of us creating worlds have them populated with people to tell stories about or to play (in the case of the game). Characters in a way are the start and the result of worldbuilding – the result of the worldbuilding we do to have people to tell a story about. More on that later, however.

So, where do you characters fit into all of this? Well, let’s take a look. (more…)

Hey gang, a quick update.

• As you saw the Magic Guild generator is done.  So now I’m planning my next move – though I need to clear up a few things formatting my next book and the like so I’ll take a week or two before starting anything.
• Way With Worlds continues of course.  For those who wondered, I actually do have a stopping point in mind – essentially revisiting all my past relevant columns, expanding them, and then adding anything new I want to write.  This of course could take well over a year to do.
• Considering implementing the mailing list idea, though that one didn’t get a lot of enthusiasm.  I’ll revisit it in a few weeks as my time is really taken up.

That’s about it for me.  How are you doing?

– Steve

Hey gang, if you’d like to contribute to Muse Hack – or really any one of the Crossroads Alpha alliance sites, be sure to drop by our site and give me a buzz.  We’re looking for people!

Comics Bulletin Is Looking For . . .

• Writers – We’re looking for reviewers and writers..
• Site Personnel – People experienced in site “traffic control” – posting, editing, and more to help behind the scenes.

Indie Haven Is Looking For . . .

• Contributing writer- I need someone willing to write written content for the website. We’re always in need of reviewers, but also people who can write features, news posts and Op/Eds if they are willing. Previous journalism experience welcome, but not required.
• Livestreamers- I’m looking for people willing to play games while doing commentary for our TwitchTV stream. Some video editing and writing skills will be required. Part of the job will entail editing those streams and putting them up on YouTube then posting those vids as posts on our site.

MuseHack Is Looking For . . .

• Contributing writer – Looking for writers who want to focus on geeks, fans, otaku and how they use their interests in career and community building. We’re interested in both general and specific subjects, and are especially interested if one wants to take on a specific focus.
• News Gatherers – I’m looking for someone who can compile relevant news articles into weekly and monthly updates, focusing on news related to.

Seventh Sanctum Is Looking For . . .

• Contributing writers – We need writers who can write on creativity – art, fiction, and more. Prefer themed columns.
• Link Gatherers – We want to publish gatherings of amusing and artistic links relevant to the audience. Light commitment, but we prefer updates every week to every few days.

– Steven Savage

Whew, sorry for the slow update.  Got over my illness, but still had a busy week.  So what’s up?

The Magical Guild Generator is done, and you can use it here.

For those of you not familiar with what inspired it, “Fairy Tail,” it’s an anime I’ve seen that a Sanctum user mentioned – specifically they wanted names of Guilds for wizards based on the series.  In general I think a “band of magical people” generator is a good idea, so I decided to make a Guild generator for Wizards, but also generalize it a bit more to have a diverse set of naming patters.

The end result?  I’d say pretty good.  The names are usable in the majority of cases, and sometimes it gets really inspired stuff.  I think I managed to use both the source material well and make a general generator.

There were also a few insights into language in this case – and for you language buffs, they were:

1. That many names do have a kind of alternating generic/specific pattern – something I explored before, but see prominently here.A guild named Witch Spell or Triton Potion would sound almost “too magical” but something named Witch Gear, Triton Gate, Wolf Spell, or Raven Potion sound find.  “Contextual” language is something for me to explore further.
2. Some terms for people – Queen, Watchman, etc. also act as descriptors/definers, and not just as titles.  Thus you may have a guild like King Triton.
3. I never realized how many names for groups there are – and how important it is to realize some groups are defined by using their number as part of their name.  I mean, there was the Jackson Five – not a guild of magicians by the way – and I believe some Sentai team names had their number as part of their title.  In fact that was part of my Sentai team namer, and again I see now how this is a pattern.

Now that you can go churn out Wizard guilds to your heart’s content, what’s next?  Well I still have the list of what people requested, and a few personal things I want to try.  But with skills re-primed, I think I want to do one of the writing-related requests, like plot twists or writing prompts.

Now I’m formatting a book – and of course always working on Way With Worlds, so as usual there’s no date.  But I admit I’ve got some ideas . . .

– Steven Savage

[Way With Worlds appears at Seventh Sanctum and at MuseHack]

Last column, I looked at writing magic and technology for your setting – and noted that in many ways for the sake of world building they could be treated the same.  I still believe that, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t call out the differences as well.  Or perhaps  I should say “areas of variance,” as it gets complicated, but more on that shortly.

I believe it’s important to loo at differences, as in too many cases creating the magic and/or technology for a setting treats them as the same for all the wrong reason – as opposed to the right ones.  Technology easily becomes hand-woven neutron particle miracle rays, a mythology with lab tools and circuit boards.  Magic can get systematized or explained in such a way it either is technology, or is really just magic wearing technologies clothes and wandering around looking out of place.

So, having suggested that you have to look at them as similar for the sake of worldbuilding, I now want to deal with when you have to look at them differently.  Yes, this may produce writing whiplash, but who said worldbuilding was going to be boring and straightforward?  I certainly didn’t promise that.

Think of it as general and specifics.  In general, they’re the ways people change and affect the world.  In specifics, well . . . (more…)

Just a quick note I had a busy time at work, a convention speaking engagement, and THEN I got “con crud.”  So the new generator is a bit behind.  Fortunately “Way With Worlds” is queued up ahead.

But a few more samples from the Magic Guild Generator.  I’m partial to “The Adamantine Federation,” “Totem Heart Twenty,” and of course “Unicorn Doctor Guild.”

• Angelic Locust Guild
• Codex Tooth Cartel
• Crimson Satyr Guild
• Dashing Sandman Posse
• Demonic Tooth Conspiracy
• Divine Tooth Eight
• Duke Altar Guild
• Faun Dutchess Guild
• Green Chapel Guild
• Iron Lamia Guild
• Joke Wraith Guild
• Potion Tail Federation
• The Adamantine Federation
• The Coffin Troupe
• The Demonic Posse
• The Void Union
• Totem Heart Twenty
• Unicorn Doctor Guild
• Variable Banshee Guild
• White Hippocampus Guild

– Steve