[Edreina's Scrapbook] When All is Silent, I Still Hear Waves

[Edreina]

In response to Traverse: Bioware makes some amazing games. It's not deserving of the bad rap it constantly gets just because it upsets a few fans. People have to realize that to have that many fans to begin with, they have to be doing something right. (This is unrelated to anyone's comments, but I don't feel like making it a second post ) Mini-Rant Time! Yaay! Everyone loves to read these... Right? Darn. Anywhoozles. Talking to a friend of mine about Mizahar and about Edreina in general the other day. She asks me about her past and I give her my whole "grew up on the Anchorage, had a happy childhood, blah blah blah" bit and she goes on to say "Well I'd never read that." ...Uh, okay. I'll bite. "Why's that?" "As much as I hate to say it, there wasn't enough drama in her pre-creation. She didn't lose a parent or a sibling, she was not emotionally scarred by something... Furthermore, you don't have an overall drive, no large archetypes to speak of. Where is the old man that taught her how to be awesome? Where is the prophecy? Where is the cool sidekick? It's just not a compelling read." At this, I was a little stunned to say the least, but I understood. No one wants to read about a character's happy life, no one wants to read about how a character has no form of PTSD to speak of. It's just not interesting to them. At least... not on the surface anyhow. When I made Edreina, I meant for her to defy stereotypes by being stereotypical. She doesn't need a wretched back story to make her interesting, at least not in my mind. She had a happy childhood, yes, but it was a Svefra's childhood. She was raised by the pod, by a community where people worked together and had lots of fun being out on the beautiful Suvan: this has led to the naivety that she now struggles with. Her biological-parents were not always together, often choosing to pair with others when it suited them, but this did not scar Edreina, she had no evil-step-parent to speak of. And yet, now, she finds herself in a relationship with one who's customs vary drastically from hers and finds herself torn between to styles of living. Edreina was not scorned so badly by a man when she was younger that she now sees love as completely pointless and hates every man she meets. In fact, she is too quick to trust most people; that goes back to the aforementioned naivety. Yes, Edreina has lacks super-abilities (aside from swimming but, c'mon... that's a given. xD), has no arch-nemesis, and there is no prophecy written about her. She is no absolute badarse on the battlefield, no Ms. Independent-who don't-need-no-man-but-to-polish-her-sword-and-lick-her-boots, but no simpering, helpless damsel either; she is learning how to defend herself and yes, she often petches it up and leaves with bumps and bruises. Is that so wrong? She does not want to kill others, but will do it if her own life is on the line... Sorry I did not make her a doormat. But does that make her boring? Honestly. Give me your opinions here because I've been receiving so much flak on this lately that it's annoyed me to the point of writing this. >.> I was told that her story is lacking archetypes. But is it? (I'd look up TvTropes for this bit, but I'm too afraid of getting caught up on that damned site to do it xD) Most obviously, Edreina embodies the same Archetype as does Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" (:O You didn't see that one coming? Look at the hair! XD) She was born to a place that was very isolated (if you don't count the handful of outsiders that sometimes stopped there on their way to somewhere else) and now longs to see what the world is like out there. She even falls in love with a man from on land and that tears her between living at sea and upon the earth. Alright, so I did not plan that one while creating her, but it is starting to get creepy. XD Now I just need a little crab buddy to croon a lovesong to Edreina and Raz when things start to get cute. Yep, I said cute and Raz in the same sentence. Bite me. She also falls along the same line as do Belle and the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast". That is, of course, neglecting the fact that while Reina is making Raz more gentle in some ways, he is also tempering her mettle. It's a two way street. But, seriously, their relationship does not make sense from the outside. She is fun and carefree while he is... a pincushion. xD (As Baldy said, someone beat Raz with the ugly-stick one too many times.) Edreina is also the young woman looking to find herself while exploring the world- I'm spending too much time defending my character. Either you like her or you don't. Either way, I'm glad I made her and I look forward to continuing her story, to seeing her grow. If you read all of this, kudos! Feedback is always appreciated. As a reward: Have some cute! :

[Taylani]

I actually like Edreina's character and ...well I make all my characters the same way. They are all pretty boring pre-creation, happy childhood etc and so forth. Why? Because I prefer to build my character's odd quirks via IC interactions with other people. My characters really are just barely sketched until they get dumped into IC situations. Take Taylani for example, just for the sake of having some reason to have her outside of Syrilas she had to have the trait of being a bit over protective of perceived wronged individuals. Nothing major, I just needed an excuse (as flimsy as it was) to have her dumped outside all vulnerable and such. That little tiny trait has developed into a ..stubborn streak.. (poor Fallan and all my plots) that I am really enjoying discovering.

If I were to have had Taylani already have been destroyed by some horrible loss in her "past" then she would not be half as fun to discover now. I have been shamelessly reading some of your threads (yes I am a thread lurker) and I get the feeling from reading some of the earlier ones with Reina that you have really developed her ICly for the most part too. I enjoy watching the character grow as I go through the threads, not have one already static.

Hope that makes sense

[Edreina]

Exactly! You worded my own thoughts better than me! XD I truly want for Edreina to develop and grow IC instead of having to be "repaired" IC. Reina was... really rough, to say the least, at first. She started out with a basic idea and I'm really happy to see how she has grown. I hope to continue this trend as I carry on.

And I already adore Taylani as a character. Keep up the good work!

[Taylani]

Taylani is definitely developing into something that is kind of special to me. I will keep her going if you keep Reina going so I have stuff to reads!

[Edreina]

Pardon while I spam pictures of Edreina. I've gone though and changed the colors of her eyes in all of them and cropped them to be decent. This should hopefully save time/innocence for anyone who makes me pretty things XD

I've left them at full size and resolution so that others have plenty to work with... So pardon how massive they are.

Pics :

Just so I can find this easier in the future: Explosiveassburgers

[Edreina]

Any of you watching Attack on Titan? This video made me think of that... :3

[Arundel]

Cracked up. I love Vines.



You know you'll watch it. Slowly but surely, you'll watch all 700+...

[Edreina]

This one made my life, Arun.

:3 He's so darn fine. -swoons-

[Arundel]

I remember when he lost all that weight and went from adorable to MOAN. Now when he talks I can barely hear him over my thighs trembling... what? *Whistles nonchalantly*

P.S.: Love his Drake & Josh reference.

[Edreina]

Did you just... o////o

Oh my.

We're just going to bury that comment and move onto the next page. XD